# entry

guid: http://isystem-tf.com/?p=4317
title: The dubious legend: Jim Simons and RenTec Medallion Fund
author: ;Alex Krainer
link: https://isystem-tf.com/2024/07/08/the-dubious-legend-jim-simons-and-rentec-medallion-fund/
hash: L,�=XV �j�£z
tags: #Uncategorized
content:
<p>The legendary investor behind Renaissance Technologies (RenTec), <strong>Jim Simons</strong> passed away on Friday, 10 May 2024. May he rest in peace. Having said that, I have to address all the fawning commentary that burst forth all over the internet over the weekend. Example: an admirer posted <a href="https://twitter.com/gurgavin/status/1788972147567661394">a Tweet stating in all caps that</a>, “IF YOU INVESTED JUST $1,000 IN JIM SIMONS MEDALLION FUND IN 1988 YOU WOULD HAVE OVER $42 MILLION DOLLARS, [BLA, BLA, BLA…]”</p>



<p>There’s a number of reasons why I don’t buy <em>the legend</em> of the RenTec Medallion fund or their performance figures, and neither should you. Over the last 25 years, I’ve devoted a good deal of time and effort into researching the performance of active investment managers and found that while there are some outliers, over the long term the best among the best tend to perform in the mid to high <em>teens</em>: around 16-17%. The outliers may go to low 20s, but almost invariably, such outperformance (like <strong>Peter Lynch</strong>) overlaps a major boom cycle, or like <strong>Buffett</strong>, they systematically follow the momentum strategy (even while they sell it as ‘value investing’). In that context, it is very extraordinary to encounter a fund that managed to outperform even <strong>Nancy Pelosi</strong>, delivering a 62% performance for over three decades wit zero negative years. According to themselves, that is.</p>



<p></p>



<figure data-sanitized-class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Simons.jpg?itok=C7KNs8F1" alt="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Simons.jpg?itok=C7KNs8F1"></figure>



<p><a href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Simons.jpg?itok=C7KNs8F1"></a></p>



<h2 data-sanitized-class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The strategy: mostly mumbo jumbo</strong></h2>



<p>The company is very secretive, and for the longest time Simons has been reluctant to discuss the fund’s performance. But he has given some interviews, and here’s how he explained the fund’s strategies: “Our trading models tend to be contrarian, buying stocks recently out of favor and selling those recently in favor.” Having spent over 25 years researching markets and price fluctuations, I would award Simons zero credibility points for that particular statement. It is extremely unlikely that the fund earned 62% <em>buying stocks out of favor and selling those in favor</em>. Not. A. Chance!!!</p>



<p>In a November 2000 interview with <em>Institutional Investor</em>, Simons offered a different, but slightly more detailed explanation of Medallion’s strategy: “We look at anomalies that may be small in size and brief in time. We make our forecast. Then, shortly thereafter, we reevaluate the situation and revise our forecast and our portfolio. We do this all day long. We’re always in and out and in. So we’re dependent on activity to make money.” Err… that sounds like high-frequency trading – why hasn’t anyone else thought of that?</p>



<p>I’ve come across another few statements from Simons, including crediting his success to luck (what, for 3 decades straight and without a single ‘unlucky’ year in between?). In all, I never found anything that felt even half-way authentic; it’s all <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-07/worlds-most-successful-hedge-fund-manager-ever-reveals-some-medallions-secrets" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mostly mumbo-jumbo</a> about “a great computing system, good scientists and low turnover,” at the core of the company and about never stopping improving the models to stay a step ahead of competition, bla, bla, bla…</p>



<p>According to Simons, Renaissance was basically doing what all other active hedge fund managers do. Yet somehow they outperformed the best of the best by a factor of 3 – and over a 33-year period!! Why would anyone believe such a story without independent verification (there is no independent verification) is a mystery all in itself.</p>



<p><strong>Believe us… because we say so!</strong></p>



<p>Medallion is open only to company insiders, so there’s no independent administrators, independent accounting nor external auditing of its performance: they can report whatever figures they like and I can think of a few reasons why they might like to spike those figures. Would you be surprised that <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-14/irs-claiming-hedge-fund-owes-it-68-billion-dollars-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a dispute arose</a> when the IRS wanted to collect its due share of those famed profits. It appeared that RenTec short-changed the IRS by a whopping $6.8 billion over a 15-year period. Was it because the firm’s profits weren’t quite as rich as advertised? We don’t know because RenTec settled quitely with the IRS. But wait, there’s more…</p>



<p>In 2005, RenTec launched the Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund (RIEF). Unlike their insider-only Medallion fund, RIEF was open to outside investors and Simons expressed the hope that it could grow to $100 billion under management. Well, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to invest in such a stellar outfit? But somehow, in spite of the very same “good scientists, good computing systems, and low turnover,” RIEF turned out to be a disappointing flop. From launch in July 2005 to its closing in 2009, the fund lost 4.42%.</p>



<p>These figures were reported in a 17 Feb. 2010 Financial Times article by hedge funds correspondent <strong>Sam Jones</strong>. Interestingly however, all traces of that article have subsequently been removed from the internet. That’s a sure sign of power public relations agency work. Another of RenTec’s funds open to outside investors, the Renaissance Institutional Futures Fund (RIFF) performed even worse than RIEF and had a short shelf-life. But wait, there’s more…</p>



<p>Like many famed, high-flying outfits, RenTec has strong deep-state and political connections. Before setting up his investment management firm, Jim Simons worked at the Institute for Defense Analyses under the auspices of the National Security Agency. RenTec’s long-time CEO, <strong>Robert Mercer</strong> (1993-2017) was also recruited from the defense industry (before joining the firm he worked at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base) and became a huge political donor with very extensive involvement in politics. In 2015, <em>The Washington Post</em> called Mercer one of the ten most influential billionaires in politics.</p>



<p>There’s more still, but as fascinating as the case of Renaissance Technologies may be, my point is simple: the legend of RenTec doesn’t pass the smell test and its stellar reputation is almost entirely based on what RenTec and their paid PR agents have to say about RenTec. </p>

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title: "Eva Bartlett Joins RBN Live. Zionists Push Censorship Regime. TRUTH About North Korea"
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
hash: �^4�����NS�KD��c
guid:
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content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/f1733259b8805d5e14c0e6e4b6e5d6b2.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="" eva bartlett joins rbn live. zionists push censorship regime. truth about north korea></p>Conversation on RBN yesterday on matters occupied Palestine &amp; a bit about my DPRK visit (2017) &amp; impressions. <br><br>First pubished here: https://www.youtube.com/live/ACBnHZmxeBw<br><br>My Related:<br><br>-My entries from occupied Palestine, April-December 2007 (https://opt2007.wordpress.com/category/my-entries-from-occupied-palestine-apr-dec-2007/)<br><br>-Overview of time in West Bank (https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/observations-from-occupied-palestine-part-1/)<br><br>-Huwara lines: one of Israel’s degrading &amp; deadly military checkpoints (https://opt2007.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/huwara-lines-one-of-israels-degrading-deadly-military-checkpoints/)<br><br>-We were arrested for protesting Israel’s illegal roadblock cutting Sarra village off from Nablus (https://opt2007.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/arrested-for-protesting-illegal-roadblock/ )<br><br>-Illegal Israeli colonists assault Palestinian farmers &amp; me (https://opt2007.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/illegal-colonists-assault-palestinian-farmers/ )<br><br>-Bil'in entries (https://opt2007.wordpress.com/category/bilin/)<br><br>-Susiya entries (https://opt2007.wordpress.com/category/susiya/)<br><br>-Nablus After the Israeli Military Invasion (https://opt2007.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/nablus-invasion-aftermath/ )<br><br>-Israeli massacre of Gaza December2008-January 2009 (https://ingaza.wordpress.com/photos-and-videos-zionist-massacre-of-gaza-2008-2009/)<br><br>-Israeli massacre of Gaza November 2012 (https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2012/11/)<br><br>-Gaza overview (https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/observations-from-occupied-palestine-in-gaza/)<br><br>-Gaza videos playlist (https://odysee.com/@EvaKareneBartlett:9/Gaza-Strip%2C-from-Nov-2008-March-2013:c?r=EymDGnAtYEjvNCAh13tU3WL6QWGjETBs&amp;lid=ce33a0a4910ada76a21dffe25319f136eb6e96f6)<br><br>-DPRK overview (https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/photo-report-the-north-korea-neither-trump-nor-western-media-wants-the-world-to-see/)<br><br>-DPRK videos playlist (https://odysee.com/@EvaKareneBartlett:9/DPRKorea%2C-a-visit-to-the-north%2C-2017:e?lid=e2e1e1158cfb7640c4e42a3d212b189d7c941c7d) <br><br>[Excuse the blurred background, couldn't figure out how to unblur.]<br><br>

link:
https://odysee.com/EvaBartlettJoinsRBNLiveZionistsPushCensorshipRegimeTRUTHAboutNorthKorea:79b9d43539709edcbada431b1bf8c4dd32a20af5

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guid: yt:video:X3XwqZ5o4s8
title: Assurer l’avenir de la chasse au phoque : passons à l’action
author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3XwqZ5o4s8
hash: J�|+)���P�P�/�1
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guid: yt:video:w_zHBqhE_iE
title: Sealing the Future: A Call to Action
author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_zHBqhE_iE
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guid: https://odysee.com/bill-burch-rtf-science:afc45e2eb6b44dbb41c5b6e8db4095dcdf0a8417
title: Bill Burch RTF science
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/bill-burch-rtf-science:afc45e2eb6b44dbb41c5b6e8db4095dcdf0a8417
hash: �F0bC-0���q-  X
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/AkM37Af7SRA" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Bill Burch RTF science"></p>Since the start of 2008, there's been a quiet monster growing in the USA oil fields of how to dispose of the radioactive isotope laden, toxic heavy metal contaminated waters that come with the oil and gas production. As the number of wells drilled increased, so did the size and extent of the problem - and nowhere is it more evident than the Zombie Wells phenomena happening in the Permian Basin. Three of the five biggest Earthquakes in Texas' history have occured in the last 18 months and the regulators still haven't addressed the issues surrounding the proven groundwater pollution that's already occured.<br><br>Join the Canadian Patriot Review for a special live presentation and Q and A where special guest Bill Burch<br><br>Speaker Bio: William “Bill” Burch is an oilwell firefighter and drilling engineer based out of Houston, Texas. He’s worked in 60+ countries and holds patents in water treatment and hydrogen production. Bill recently ran for executive office in the State of Texas for the Texas Railroad Commission which is one of the most powerful Energy positions in the United States.<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br>4) Buy some RTF Merchandise:<br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/merchandise/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkM37Af7SRA

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guid: 6694b297eb45690001dc9303
title: How to install yt-dlp on Windows, Mac, and Linux
author: ;Corbin Davenport
link: https://www.spacebar.news/how-to-install-yt-dlp/
hash: s���} kU�%:�ʸc�
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content:
<img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/07/2.jpg" alt="How to install yt-dlp on Windows, Mac, and Linux"><p><a href="https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp" rel="noreferrer">Yt-dlp</a> is the best way to download videos and audio from YouTube, SoundCloud, Reddit, and hundreds of other websites. However, it can be a bit complicated to download and install, especially if you're not familiar with command line tools. Here's how to do it.</p><p>The GitHub repository for yt-dlp has <a href="https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?tab=readme-ov-file#installation" rel="noreferrer">standalone executables</a> available to download, but you have to add them to your system's PATH variable manually. Those executables also don't contain <a href="https://ffmpeg.org/" rel="noreferrer">ffmpeg</a>, which is required for converting media formats. It's easier to get yt-dlp and ffmpeg through a package manager, which will set up everything for you and allow for easy updating.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-bookmark-card"><a href="https://www.spacebar.news/yt-dlp-best-way-to-download-videos-audio/" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-container"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-content"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-title">How to use yt-dlp: The best video and audio downloader</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-description">You can use yt-dlp on to save and convert media from YouTube, SoundCloud, TikTok, Reddit, and many other sites.</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-metadata"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/size/w256h256/2023/12/spacebar.png" alt="How to install yt-dlp on Windows, Mac, and Linux" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-icon"><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-author">The Spacebar</span><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-publisher">Corbin Davenport</span></div></div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-thumbnail"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/size/w1200/2024/08/ytdlp.jpg" alt="How to install yt-dlp on Windows, Mac, and Linux"></div></a></figure><h2 data-sanitized-id="how-to-install-yt-dlp-on-windows">How to install yt-dlp on Windows</h2><p>There are a few ways to get yt-dlp and ffmpeg installed on Windows, but the easiest method is with the <a href="https://chocolatey.org/" rel="noreferrer">Chocolatey package manager</a>. Chocolately requires a PowerShell with administrator permissions for installing software, but afterwards, you can run yt-dlp in a regular Command Prompt or PowerShell.</p><p>First, open a new PowerShell with administrator access. You can do that by searching for "powershell" in the Start menu, then right-clicking on the PowerShell application and selecting "Run as administrator."</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/07/image-5.png" alt="How to install yt-dlp on Windows, Mac, and Linux" loading="lazy" width="1644" height="1012" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p>Next, type the below command and press Enter/Return on your keyboard, so the Chocolately installer can run. You can copy the below line and then right-click in the PowerShell window to paste.</p><pre><code>Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process</code></pre><p>When you are asked to confirm, press the "A" key on your keyboard (without typing quotes) and then Enter/Return again. Next, run the <a href="https://chocolatey.org/install#individual" rel="noreferrer">Chocolatey individual install</a> command, which is one very long line that downloads the install script and starts it.</p><pre><code>Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
</code></pre><p>This will start the installation process. When it's done, you will have the Chocolately package manager on your PC.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/07/image-6.png" alt="How to install yt-dlp on Windows, Mac, and Linux" loading="lazy" width="1932" height="1114" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>I already have Chocolatey installed.</span></figcaption></figure><p>Finally, we can run the command to install ffmpeg and yt-dlp. This will also install any required dependencies automatically.</p><pre><code>choco install ffmpeg yt-dlp</code></pre><p>You might be asked to confirm installation again with the "A" key. When it's done, you can try running the below command to verify the installed version.</p><pre><code>yt-dlp --version</code></pre><p>You now have yt-dlp installed! See the <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/how-to-install-yt-dlp/#how-to-update-yt-dlp-and-ffmpeg" rel="noreferrer">last section</a> on instructions for how to keep it updated.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="how-to-install-yt-dlp-on-mac">How to install yt-dlp on Mac</h2><p>The easiest way to get yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and all its dependencies on Mac is using the <a href="https://brew.sh/" rel="noreferrer">Homebrew package manager</a>. It allows you to install many command-line applications and utilities with simple terminal commands, in much the same way you would with a typical Linux distribution.</p><div data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-pink"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-callout-emoji">⚠️</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-callout-text">Homebrew <a href="https://docs.brew.sh/Installation#macos-requirements" rel="noreferrer">currently supports</a> macOS 12 Monterey or newer. If you have an older macOS version, you'll need to install Python and ffmpeg manually, then follow the steps in the <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/how-to-install-yt-dlp/#how-to-install-yt-dlp-on-linux-and-chromebooks" rel="noreferrer">Linux section</a> for installing yt-dlp with <code spellcheck="false">pip</code> and adding it to the PATH.</div></div><p>First, open the Spotlight search on your Mac, either with the search button in the menu bar or the Cmd+Spacebar keyboard shortcut. Type in "Terminal" to find your Terminal application.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/07/image-7.png" alt="How to install yt-dlp on Windows, Mac, and Linux" loading="lazy" width="1424" height="1084" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p>Next, run the below installation command from the Homebrew website. You can copy the text, then Command+V to paste it into the Terminal, then press Enter/Return on the keyboard.</p><pre><code>/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
</code></pre><p>You will be asked for your administrator password, then Homebrew will be installed. Homebrew might ask you to run some additional commands.</p><p>Next, open a new Terminal window or tab, so the changes from Homebrew are fully applied. Then run the below command to install all the software using Homebrew.</p><pre><code>brew install ffmpeg yt-dlp</code></pre><p>This will download and install ffmpeg, yt-dlp, and any required dependencies in one step. When it's done, you can try running the below command to verify the installed version.</p><pre><code>yt-dlp --version</code></pre><p>You now have yt-dlp installed! See the <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/how-to-install-yt-dlp/#how-to-update-yt-dlp-and-ffmpeg" rel="noreferrer">last section</a> on instructions for how to keep it updated.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="how-to-install-yt-dlp-on-linux-and-chromebooks">How to install yt-dlp on Linux (and Chromebooks)</h2><p>Most desktop Linux distributions already have a system package manager, and Python is usually installed, so that skips some steps compared to other platforms. If you are doing this on a Chromebook, you'll need to <a href="https://chromeos.dev/en/linux/setup">enable the Linux container</a>, if you haven't already.</p><p>First, you need to install Python 3 and ffmpeg, if they are not already installed. On Ubuntu, Debian, and other related Linux distributions, run these commands to update your package lists and install the required packages:</p><pre><code>sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip ffmpeg</code></pre><p>Afterwards, you can use the pip package manager included with Python to install the official yt-dlp package:</p><pre><code>python3 -m pip install -U "yt-dlp[default]"
</code></pre><p>The last step is adding the path where yt-dlp is installed, which should be <code>~/.local/bin</code>, to your system's PATH variable. The below command will add a new line to your <code>~/.bashrc</code> file that adds it to the system path, then runs the script so yt-dlp is available immediately. If you use a different shell than Bash, you'll need to use the proper file (e.g. <code>~/.zshrc</code> instead of <code>~/.bashrc</code> for Z Shell).</p><pre><code>echo 'export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH' &gt;&gt;~/.bashrc &amp;&amp; source ~/.bashrc</code></pre><p>When it's done, you can try running the below command to verify the installed version.</p><pre><code>yt-dlp --version</code></pre><p>You now have yt-dlp installed! See the <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/how-to-install-yt-dlp/#how-to-update-yt-dlp-and-ffmpeg" rel="noreferrer">last section</a> on instructions for how to keep it updated.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="how-to-update-yt-dlp-and-ffmpeg">How to update yt-dlp (and ffmpeg)</h2><p>If you installed yt-dlp and its dependencies on <strong>Windows</strong> using Chocolatey, open a new PowerShell as administrator, and run the below command to upgrade all packages.</p><pre><code>choco upgrade all
</code></pre><p>If you're on <strong>Mac</strong> and you installed yt-dlp and other tools through Homebrew, you can run the below command to upgrade all packages.</p><pre><code>brew upgrade
</code></pre><p>If you're on <strong>Linux</strong> and followed this guide, then yt-dlp is installed through the Python package manager and ffmpeg is updated through the system. The below commands will work for Ubuntu and similar desktop distributions.</p><pre><code>sudo apt update &amp;&amp; sudo apt upgrade
python3 -m pip install -U "yt-dlp[default]"
</code></pre><p>The yt-dlp tool usually doesn't need the latest and greatest ffmpeg release, so if you're just trying to fix issues with a certain site not working, updating yt-dlp on its own might be enough.</p>


guid: https://odysee.com/a-new-paradigm-in-cosmology-and-climate:e37ccb3bd20798e2a3783c612d157e60ec830ea1
title: A new paradigm in cosmology and climate science
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/a-new-paradigm-in-cosmology-and-climate:e37ccb3bd20798e2a3783c612d157e60ec830ea1
hash: ��h�v:��'�<���
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/c5V-BQMyqlM" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="A new paradigm in cosmology and climate science"></p>This Sunday July 14, 2024 Richard Moore was featured guest at the RTF lecture series on the topic of a New Paradigm in Cosmology and Climate Science. A wide range of topics ranging from the electric universe model of climate, to metaphysics and philosophy will be developed in this presentation and discussion.<br><br>Richard’s Bio is here: https://cyberjournal.org/about-richard/<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br>4) Buy some RTF Merchandise:<br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/merchandise/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5V-BQMyqlM

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guid: https://odysee.com/yves:77713f892b5413812252aa1527c3ab0c7376c6f7
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/yves:77713f892b5413812252aa1527c3ab0c7376c6f7
hash: U�%���ۡϥ,*�;
title:
Canadian journalist &amp; author, Yves Engler, on Canada's complity in Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza

content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/6c3bf420c0f039aa3aa8471b09cf6a05.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Canadian journalist &amp; author, Yves Engler, on Canada's complity in Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza"></p>I spoke with prolific Canadian journalist and author Yves Engler about Canada's unconditional support to Israel, even, or especially, as Israel has slaughtered up to nearly 200, 000 Palestinians in Gaza (Lancet), or potentially double that number (Gilbert). <br><br>Yves lays out Canada's long history of support to Israel, including during the ongoing Israeli genocide of Gaza, and including over 7 decades ago with Canadian pilots participating in the Zionists'  ethnic cleansing of Palestine. <br><br>He talks about Canada's arms to Israel, and providing components to the fighter planes which bomb Gaza now, and about the Canadians fighting in the Israeli army, and those being recruited by various charities and organizations in Canada.<br><br>Important information you won't hear on legacy media.<br><br>Yves is author of 13 books, and publishes at yvesengler.com &amp; https://www.foreignpolicy.ca/articles?author=57f2952659cc6814c896c9fa   <br><br>He tweets at https://x.com/EnglerYves <br><br>Some of his books:<br>https://www.barakabooks.com/?post_type=dd-product&amp;s=yves+engler <br><br><br>My blog post with related links:<br><br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2024/07/18/canadian-journalist-author-yves-enger-on-canadas-complity-in-israels-genocide-of-palestinians-in-gaza/<br>

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guid: https://odysee.com/rtf-montreal-symposium-part-1-matthew:8f8390cf84071a7059613388e63dc2420771c404
title: RTF Montreal Symposium part 1: Matthew Ehret on Science of History and global dynamics of 1776
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/rtf-montreal-symposium-part-1-matthew:8f8390cf84071a7059613388e63dc2420771c404
hash: ��4<�xI�.�Mh
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/vPDeDNHuRRg" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="RTF Montreal Symposium part 1: Matthew Ehret on Science of History and global dynamics of 1776"></p>Universal History as a Function of Science and Art Montreal Canada July 6, 2024<br><br>Part one: On the Tragedy and Hope of the American Revolution<br><br>In this first of three presentations delivered to a live audience in Montreal Canada, Matthew Ehret introduces the study of history as a function of science and a study of potential (both actualized and aborted) using the case study of the American revolution and the failure of the people of Canada and France to recognize the proper principles of the universe at play during the pregnant moments that pressed upon either nation...<br><br>Watch part 2 here: https://youtu.be/f2z89mzVwFs<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br>4) Buy some RTF Merchandise:<br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/merchandise/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPDeDNHuRRg

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guid: https://odysee.com/rtf-symposium-pt-2-cynthia-chung-on-the:dd77ece3c95d8617cb6af5b6481864ebc581b48b
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/rtf-symposium-pt-2-cynthia-chung-on-the:dd77ece3c95d8617cb6af5b6481864ebc581b48b
hash: ��L�Vpn]�z] ���
title:
RTF Symposium pt 2: Cynthia Chung on the Tragedy of the French Revolution &amp; Jacobin Birth of Fascism

content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/f2z89mzVwFs" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="RTF Symposium pt 2: Cynthia Chung on the Tragedy of the French Revolution &amp; Jacobin Birth of Fascism"></p>Universal History as a Function of Science and Art Montreal Canada July 6, 2024<br><br>Part two: How the French Revolution was subverted, by British Masonic and Dominican psyops, and the 18th century origins of fascism: from the Jacobin Terror to Giuseppe Mazzini and Pan Europa by Cynthia Chung<br><br>Watch part 1 by Matthew Ehret here: https://youtu.be/vPDeDNHuRRg<br><br>Watch part 3 by David Gosselin here: https://youtu.be/L5l3LwqkGMY<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br>4) Buy some RTF Merchandise:<br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/merchandise/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2z89mzVwFs

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guid: https://odysee.com/rtf-symposium-pt-3-david-gosselin-on:44d4c3071f61bde2e2d79527509ad76d194c11ae
title: RTF Symposium pt 3: David Gosselin on Breaking out of Tragedy with Friedrich Schiller
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/rtf-symposium-pt-3-david-gosselin-on:44d4c3071f61bde2e2d79527509ad76d194c11ae
hash: �3T��f�XT�Z��
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/L5l3LwqkGMY" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="RTF Symposium pt 3: David Gosselin on Breaking out of Tragedy with Friedrich Schiller"></p>Universal History as a Function of Science and Art Montreal Canada July 6, 2024<br><br>Part 3: Schiller vs the Savages and the Barbarians (or 'The Art of the Republics) by David Gosselin<br><br>Watch part 1 by Matthew Ehret here: https://youtu.be/vPDeDNHuRRg<br><br>Watch part 2 by Cynthia Chung here: https://youtu.be/f2z89mzVwFs<br><br>Subscribe to David Gosslin's work here:<br>https://ageofmuses.substack.com/ and thechainedmuse.com<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br>4) Buy some RTF Merchandise:<br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/merchandise/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5l3LwqkGMY

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guid: 669ed0ac02d8270001192299
title: What is Firefox supposed to do?
author: ;Corbin Davenport
link: https://www.spacebar.news/mozilla-firefox-privacy-preserving-attribution/
hash: ��+�'���r/5�X�'
content:
<img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/07/firefox.jpg" alt="What is Firefox supposed to do?"><p>Mozilla released <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/128.0/releasenotes/" rel="noreferrer">Firefox 128</a> on July 9th, 2024, with a new Privacy-Preserving Attribution feature that is "designed to help sites understand how their ads perform without collecting data about individual people." That made a lot of Firefox's privacy-conscious users upset, but it's just one component of a much bigger issue facing Firefox and every other web browser.</p><p>Mozilla has a (generally) strong record with user privacy, and the Firefox web browser is safe and secure out of the box. There are a few exceptions to that rule, such as Google being the default search engine in Firefox, and Mozilla using some analytics tracking to help fix bugs and prioritize feature development. <a href="https://librewolf.net/" rel="noreferrer">LibreWolf</a> and other Firefox derivatives have popped up over the years that remove those aspects, achieving a more "pure" privacy-focused web browser.</p><p>Every once in a while, Mozilla adds a new feature or changes some behavior that sparks another outrage cycle (justified or not) from Firefox users. I wanted to talk about the latest incident, the implementation of Privacy Preserving Attribution, but also the bigger picture with what should be expected from web browsers.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="advertising-tracking-but-less-creepy">Advertising tracking, but less creepy</h2><p>First, we need to go over Firefox's Privacy-Preserving Attribution, or PPA for short. Marketing attribution is the process for tracking how many sales, conversions, or other goals originate from a given advertising campaign. For example, when Nike releases a new pair of shoes, it creates multiple ad campaigns to market those shoes on TV, Instagram, and so on. Attribution is how Nike tracks how many shoes were purchased from a given advertisement.</p><p>The most popular way to track attribution right now is with individual tracking. For example, you might click on a web ad for the Nike shoes, and a <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Cookies" rel="noreferrer">cookie</a> is stored in your web browser. If you buy the shoes, Nike's store might check that cookie, so it knows which ad was responsible for convincing you to buy shoes. There are many other ways for attribution to work, but most of them use individual tracking like cookies, which allows other information to be collected with the marketing data. For example, Nike's marketing people might want to know which ad you clicked on and your estimated age, so they know which demographics are buying the most shoes.</p><p>Mozilla's PPA aims to build an attribution system without the creepy individual tracking. Sites can ask Firefox to monitor attribution for advertisements, and then later ask for a report, which is only provided in an anonymized collection "combined with many similar reports by the aggregation service." For example, instead of Nike getting something like, "Billy Bob, aged 29, was one of 728 people in June who completed a purchase from the Instagram ad," Nike would get something more like, "47% of the people who clicked the Instagram ad in June completed a purchase."</p><p>There are other privacy and security measures in Privacy-Preserving Attribution, and <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/128.0/releasenotes/" rel="noreferrer">Mozilla's support page</a> and <a href="https://andrewmoore.ca/blog/post/mozilla-ppa/" rel="noreferrer">Andrew Moore's blog post</a> explain it in more detail. PPA seems like a decent idea to track the effectiveness of ads without compromising user privacy in any meaningful way. </p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-outrage">The outrage</h2><p>Mozilla rolled out PPA in the Firefox 128 update as enabled by default, and there's <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/privacy-preserving-attribution" rel="noreferrer">a checkbox for turning it off</a> in the browser settings. There was no notification or prompt after updating that informed users about the feature. It doesn't help that development on this feature kicked off in partnership with Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-data-privacy-fine-europe-9aa912200226c3d53aa293dca8968f84" rel="noreferrer">many privacy violations</a>.</p><p>Mozilla didn't <em>necessarily</em> hide PPA, because it was mentioned in the <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/128.0/releasenotes/" rel="noreferrer">Firefox 128 changelog</a> and announced in <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/privacy-preserving-attribution-for-advertising/" rel="noreferrer">a 2022 blog post</a>, but I'm sure most Firefox users don't read those.</p><p>Privacy Blog <a href="https://blog.privacyguides.org/2024/07/14/mozilla-disappoints-us-yet-again-2/" rel="noreferrer">complained</a> that "Mozilla still hasn't learned their lesson about sneaking unwanted advertising and features onto our computers." Thom Holwerda at OSNews <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/140247/i-told-you-so-mozilla-working-with-facebook-to-weaken-firefox-privacy-and-anti-tracking-features/" rel="noreferrer">wrote</a>, "the enshitification of Firefox has now well and truly begun." Bryan Lunduke, a right-wing <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmasterrace/comments/unb6uy/what_happened_to_bryan_lunduke/i87z8w6/" rel="noreferrer">transphobe</a> who remains popular in the FOSS software community, proclaimed in a recent video that "Mozilla has been taken over by an anti-privacy, pro-advertising cabal."</p><p>There are <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1e4lb8x/firefoxs_privacypreserving_attribution_data/">many</a> <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1e3jc1n/privacypreserving_attribution_mozilla_disappoints/">other</a> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40965161">comments</a> on social media platforms and forums echoing similar feelings. Mozilla is supposed to be the <em>good guy</em>, and advertising companies are the <em>bad guys</em>. The only acceptable level of tracking is <em>no tracking</em>. It's time to use the vastly superior LibreWolf, which is Firefox but with the developers <a href="https://librewolf.net/docs/faq/#why-dont-you-accept-donations">openly admitting</a> you should have "no expectations" about continued support.</p><p>We don't know yet if PPA will gain traction with advertisers or other web browsers. However, it's now more clear that Firefox (and other browsers, to an extent) have a bigger issue that can't be solved as easily as adding or removing a feature.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-bigger-problem">The bigger problem</h2><p>Web browsers are no longer simple applications that display pages of text and images. They are software ecosystems in their own right, which have to balance the needs of web developers with the privacy and security needs of users. They are the gateway to much of the world's information, from forums to news sites.</p><p>With great power, comes great responsibility. <strong>Web browsers have a dual mandate to display websites (roughly) as they were intended to be viewed, while also providing a good experience to users.</strong> Sometimes you can do both, but those are often competing goals.</p><p>Google Chrome has generally avoided features or changes that could break websites or limit the effectiveness of online advertising, in part because Google is also an advertising company. That's not to say Chrome is actively hostile to users, though. Chrome has far less feature bloat than some competitors, and <a href="https://developers.google.com/privacy-sandbox/blog/user-agent-reduction-android-model-and-version">on occasion</a>, it has removed or limited web features that were too damaging to user privacy.</p><p>Most other web browsers are more willing to break websites or web ads to reach a higher level of user privacy. Firefox has features like <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/02/23/total-cookie-protection/">Total Cookie Protection</a> and <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop">Enhanced Tracking Protection</a>, which makes web browsing a safer experience, but stops short of blocking all advertisements, web analytics, and tracking scripts by default. Safari is also <a href="https://webkit.org/blog/15697/private-browsing-2-0/">aggressive</a> with protections against fingerprinting and cross-site tracking. Other browsers, like Vivaldi, go even further with an integrated ad blocker. <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-brave-browser/">Don't use Brave</a> and <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-opera-browser/">don't use Opera</a>.</p><p>Let's say Firefox went full privacy absolutist, with all tracking and advertising networks blocked by default. That would probably be the best user experience initially, but websites wouldn't make any money from visitors outside of subscriptions, direct donations, or (if they can sell them) direct advertising. It would probably just encourage more sites to stop supporting Firefox completely, which is already enough of a problem that Mozilla <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Compatibility/System_Addon/Release_Process" rel="noreferrer">maintains a list of hacks</a> to make sites work properly in Firefox. Mozilla removing all analytics from Firefox itself would also make fixing bugs and prioritizing development more difficult.</p><p>Most people are not willing to pay for subscriptions to individual sites, <em>especially</em> for written content or videos, which is why ads exist. If this theoretical super-private Firefox started clawing back marketshare—Firefox has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers" rel="noreferrer">around 3% global usage right now</a>—everyone from YouTube creators to major news organizations would suffer for it. If you believe journalism can be sustained entirely from one-off donations, then <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/about/#support-the-spacebar" rel="noreferrer">you need to pay me $5 right now</a> or you're a hypocrite. </p><p>Mozilla is trying to find a balance that protects the privacy of Firefox users, while also not breaking websites entirely and blocking all their ads. It's also proposing features like PPA that address most (if not all) real complaints with data privacy and tracking concerns. I appreciate that Mozilla is trying <em>something</em>, but it also can't bully around advertisers too much with that 3% global market share.</p><p>Funny enough, Google has also been trying to build a more private platform for web advertisements, called <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/google-chrome-privacy-sandbox/" rel="noreferrer">Privacy Sandbox</a>. It has been in development for about five years, and Chrome was expected to start blocking third-party tracking cookies later in 2024. However, those plans are now on <a href="https://privacysandbox.com/news/privacy-sandbox-update/" rel="noreferrer">indefinite hold</a>, because Privacy Sandbox still gives <em>too much</em> data to advertisers (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/uk-regulator-says-googles-ad-privacy-changes-fall-short-wsj-reports-2024-04-19/">even the UK thinks so</a>), and advertisers think it doesn't give them <em>enough</em> data.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-22-at-20-10-52-Calvin-and-Hobbes-by-Bill-Watterson-for-May-01-1993---GoComics.png" alt="What is Firefox supposed to do?" loading="lazy" width="1800" height="590" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for May 01, 1993 (Credit: </span><a href="https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/05/01" rel="noreferrer"><span>GoComics</span></a><span>)</span></figcaption></figure><p>"A good compromise leaves everybody mad," as Calvin would say. So, what is Firefox (or Mozilla) supposed to do here? What are any web browsers supposed to do here?</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-solution-isnt-simple">The solution isn't simple</h2><p>The advertising industry swallows up too much personal data so it can make valuable targeted advertisements. Websites, publishers, and independent creators now rely on the elevated income that comes from targeted advertising, and it's difficult to convince people to pay for content. Taking away the income from targeted ads (assuming nothing else changes) would be a massive blow to many industries and result in more job losses. Respecting the privacy of users is important, but also an opt-in system for tracking will never return useful data, which is <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/551084/microsoft-rolls-back-commitment-to-do-not-track.html">why Do Not Track failed in the 2010s</a>.</p><p>I don't know how to solve all those problems. I'm not an economist or a political policy expert. Privacy-violating targeted advertisements is a monster that has slowly grown over the past 20 years, and killing it without crashing the global economy in the process will not be an easy task. The current path for distributing and funding online content is <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91035879/news-media-layoffs-2024-list-growing-worst-year-financial-crisis">not sustainable</a> for anyone except big tech companies, so <em>something</em> definitely has to change.</p><p>Data privacy legislation in the United States and other countries that lack something resembling the <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-protection-eu_en">EU's GDPR</a> would be a step in the right direction, instead of Google or Mozilla trying to change the advertising industry from the inside. If everyone has to play by the same rules, the drastic difference in income from targeted and non-targeted advertisements could fade away.</p><p>I <em>do</em> know that Mozilla's Privacy Preserving Attribution is not something you should worry about. I also know if someone calls it the "enshitification of Firefox" or the work of an "anti-privacy, pro-advertising cabal," they're either ignorant or simply looking for rage bait clicks from angry Linux users.</p>

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guid: https://odysee.com/the-lost-confucian-philosopher-gu-4:e395611006c13cecd1e95f1bb4e976d894353f34
title: The Lost Confucian Philosopher Gu Hongming and the Chinese Religion of Good Citizenship [part 5]
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/the-lost-confucian-philosopher-gu-4:e395611006c13cecd1e95f1bb4e976d894353f34
hash: �Q~ %��v�h� 
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/zVJ2wgzVSuA" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="The Lost Confucian Philosopher Gu Hongming and the Chinese Religion of Good Citizenship [part 5]"></p>The Rising Tide Foundation reading group continues studying the introductory text to confucian philosopher and educational reformer Gu Hongming (download the essay here: https://risingtidefoundation.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Gu_Hongming_and_Chinese_Religion_of_Good.docx<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVJ2wgzVSuA

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title: Les documents sur les pensionnats indiens se font toujours rares, selon un rapport du Sénat
hash: ,M�� �ebO�*����
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guid:
/fr/salle-de-nouvelles/appa-les-documents-sur-les-pensionnats-indiens-se-font-toujours-rares-selon-un-rapport-du-senat/

link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/salle-de-nouvelles/appa-les-documents-sur-les-pensionnats-indiens-se-font-toujours-rares-selon-un-rapport-du-senat/


title: En souvenir des soldats de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador tombés au combat : sénatrice Petten
hash: �����D�N�H#�ԏ�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
guid:
/fr/sencaplus/opinion/en-souvenir-des-soldats-de-terre-neuve-et-labrador-tombes-au-combat-senatrice-petten/

link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/sencaplus/opinion/en-souvenir-des-soldats-de-terre-neuve-et-labrador-tombes-au-combat-senatrice-petten/


guid: https://christitus.com/crowdstrike-alternatives/
title: Crowdstrike Alternatives
link: https://christitus.com/crowdstrike-alternatives/
hash: n& ��ϧ�p8m52�
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content:
<p>With Crowdstrike proving that it should NOT be used, here are some alternatives for MSPs and Enterprise users.</p>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="why-move-from-crowdstrike">Why move from Crowdstrike</h2>
<ul>
<li>Kernel Panics on RHEL systems June 2024 <a href="https://access.redhat.com/solutions/7068083">https://access.redhat.com/solutions/7068083</a></li>
<li>Global Outage on Windows Systems July 2024</li>
<li>Failure to follow client staging options. (Many MSPs reported that Crowdstrike failed to honor N-1 update policy and pushed updates anyways)</li>
<li>Crowdstrike June 2024 update caused 100% CPU spikes on single core. <a href="https://www.thestack.technology/crowdstrike-bug-maxes-out-100-of-cpu-requires-windows-reboots/">https://www.thestack.technology/crowdstrike-bug-maxes-out-100-of-cpu-requires-windows-reboots/</a></li>
<li>CEO used to be McAfee CTO during global outage in 2010 McAfee update that deleted svchost file and caused BSODs. <a href="https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/defective-mcafee-once-caused-worldwide-meltdown-of-windows-xp-pcs/story">https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/defective-mcafee-once-caused-worldwide-meltdown-of-windows-xp-pcs/story</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="residential-users">Residential Users</h2>
<p>In 2024, just use Windows Defender at this point. There is no reason to pay for an antivirus or security software for a home user in a non-managed scenario.</p>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="msp--enterprise-users">MSP / Enterprise Users</h2>
<p>The list of Crowdstrike Alternatives</p>
<h3 data-sanitized-id="1-huntress">1. Huntress</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.huntress.com/">https://www.huntress.com/</a></p>
<p>Huntress is a unique managed security software in that it does NOT use its own antivirus. They use Windows Defender and have a robust reporting system. Most MSPs and technicians I talk to this is the pick for them. Pricing on this starts around $5 a seat per month and drops to about $2-3 a seat per month with 500+ users.</p>
<h3 data-sanitized-id="2-blackpoint-security">2. Blackpoint Security</h3>
<p><a href="https://blackpointcyber.com/">https://blackpointcyber.com/</a></p>
<p>Blackpoint is the runner-up but also has a good track record in the MSP space. I personally have never dealt with them, but heard good things.</p>
<h3 data-sanitized-id="3-sentinelone-security">3. SentinelOne Security</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.sentinelone.com/">https://www.sentinelone.com/</a></p>
<p>Probably the cheapest on this list, but also has a decent track record. I personally don’t like the client because it is heavy and the reporting is too noisy. However, it does give good protection.</p>
<h3 data-sanitized-id="the-others">The Others</h3>
<p>BitDefender, Webroot, and other popular AV name brands are NOT suitable in my opinion for use in a large environment.</p>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="walkthrough-video">Walkthrough Video</h2>
<div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" loading="eager" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_3NOjLlsp3Y?autoplay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;end=0&amp;loop=0&amp;mute=0&amp;start=0" title="YouTube video" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe>
</div>


guid: https://scottjehl.com/posts/svgtopia/
title: Have It All: External, Styleable, &amp; Scalable SVG
author: ;Scott Jehl
link: https://scottjehl.com/posts/svgtopia/
hash: 3K��/�i�j �� T
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>It has been a few years since I'd last tinkered with approaches for embedding SVG into webpages, but <a href="https://me.micahrl.com/blog/svg-triangle-of-compromise/">a nice post</a> making the rounds today prompted me to take a look back at where I'd last landed. While that post cites a few perfectly good ways to include SVG into a page, here I'll demonstrate a 4th approach that I think hits the center of the venn diagram for External, Styleable, and Scalable SVG.</p>
<h2>External, Styleable, and Scalable SVG</h2>
<p>First, a demo. The SVG below is external (so it's cacheable), styleable, and scalable. Its colors use the global CSS custom properties that are defined in this page below, which could either be shared across icons in the page, or set differently per SVG using CSS selectors.</p>


<div><use href="/sandbox/svgtopia/wrench.svg#icon"></use></div>
<p>For demo purposes, I've made the styles above editable (I put a <code>contenteditable</code> attribute on the style block and set it to <code>display: block</code> if you're curious), so you can edit those rules to see that they carry through not only this page but through to external SVGs. This little editable trick has nothing to do with the SVG embedding though, fwiw.</p>
<h2>How It Works</h2>
<p>Long story short, the <code>svg</code> <code>use</code> element now offers a nice means of referencing SVG symbols, whether they're in the same page or in an external file.</p>
<pre><code>&lt;svg width="100" height="100"&gt;
&lt;use href="/sandbox/svgtopia/wrench.svg#icon"&gt;&lt;/use&gt;
&lt;/svg&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>In this case, the SVG references the external <code>/sandbox/svgtopia/wrench.svg</code> file, plus a <code>#icon</code> hash that points to a <code>symbol</code> element inside the SVG file that contains our wrench icon, which has an ID attribute of that same name.</p>
<pre><code>&lt;symbol id="icon" viewBox="0 0 390 390"&gt;...
</code></pre>
<p>In order for the CSS color variables to do anything with the CSS, the SVG file needs to use those same CSS custom properties for its fills and strokes on its polygons and paths (or whatever else you'd like to be configurable). Note that I've used a style attribute that references the preferred CSS custom property first, followed by the fallback color again.</p>
<p>Here's an example:</p>
<pre><code>&lt;polygon points="145.69 300.383 257.48 300.383 257.48 257.422 145.69 257.422" style="fill: var(--svg-color-2,#64C5E5);"/&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>Of course, this kind of prep is a little tedious, which is why I think some tooling can make it a little nicer. More on that in a sec.</p>
<p>Anyway, from here you can either style the custom properties across the page for a shared color scheme, or target a specific icon by giving the svg element a selector, eg:</p>
<p>HTML:</p>
<pre><code data-sanitized-class="language-html">&lt;svg class="my-icon" width="100" height="100"&gt;...
</code></pre>
<p>CSS:</p>
<pre><code data-sanitized-class="language-css">.my-icon {
  --svg-color-1: red;
}
</code></pre>
<h3>Limitations</h3>
<p>While this satisfies most requirements for including SVG in a page, it doesn't work for SVG files that are on an external domain. So you'll need to self-host the SVG file for it to work.</p>
<p>Also, you won't be able to carry those CSS custom properties through to  CSS background images, or really most any other means of including SVG in your page. It's totally possible though, to reference the same svg from CSS, but you'll need to be happy with fallback colors in the SVG. (See the Iconoclash demo at the bottom for examples that are prepped to work with CSS backgrounds, as they require even more internal prep to do that.)</p>
<h2>Tooling Would Make It Nicer!</h2>
<p>When I'd originally started playing with this approach, I made a tool to handle the preparation. <a href="https://filamentgroup.github.io/iconoclash/demo/output/icons.html">It's called Iconoclash</a> and it's been a little while since I last worked with it, but perhaps it's due for an update?</p>
<p>If anyone's interested LMK!</p>
<h2>Thanks for reading!</h2>
<p>I hope you found this useful and thank you to <a href="https://me.micahrl.com/">Micah R Ledbetter</a> for writing the post that led me to get this up on the blog!</p>


guid: https://scottjehl.com/posts/html-web-components-shadow-dom/
title: HTML Web Components Can Have a Little Shadow DOM, As A Treat
author: ;Scott Jehl
link: https://scottjehl.com/posts/html-web-components-shadow-dom/
hash: �V��H��y�2��*��
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>Well, I swore myself off blogging until I get <a href="https://scottjehl.com/learn/webcomponentsdemystified/">this course</a> launched and sure enough, here I am again. But a little idea about HTML Web Components has been squatting in my brain for a little while and I needed a place to put it.</p>
<p>There's been a lot of great writing about <a href="https://adactio.com/journal/20618">HTML Web Components</a> in the past year, and as an advocate of performant, resilient, progressive enhancement patterns, I'm a big fan of the whole ethos of it. That said, some of the discourse around HTML Web Components tends to conflate a couple of things that I have come to understand need not be conflated.</p>
<p>Those are, 1) wrapping already-useful HTML and augmenting it via custom element lifecycle features is a great pattern for websites, and 2) Shadow DOM is probably not a helpful part of that process.</p>
<p>Now to be fair, I've dunked on shadow DOM a bit in the past myself... such as when it's used as a container for piles of JavaScript-generated HTML that would be better off in the page from the start. But the more I've worked with web components, the more I've come to see that shadow DOM (and slots in particular) may still play an interesting role in the HTML Web Components story.</p>
<h2>Cascading before the light</h2>
<p>A post that led me to come around to this idea was <a href="https://knowler.dev/blog/a-mental-model-for-styling-the-shadow-dom">Nathan Knowler's late 2023 article about shadow DOM styles and the CSS cascade</a>. Did you know that shadow DOM styles cascade before the light DOM styles we typically write in our <em>site.css</em> files and the like? I'll admit that I didn't know that before I read Nathan's post about it. To put it a different way, the styles that sit inside a shadow DOM root are applied to the page's CSS cascade <em>after</em> the "user agent" styles (as in the ones that give you the default appearance of a <code>button</code> element) and after the "user styles" (as in, the ones you can optionally configure in browser settings)–but importantly, still <em>before</em> the global page-level styles that authors like us typically write (eg, your average site.css file).</p>
<p>It's due to this situation that a global, inheritable style like <code>* { color: red; }</code> will override a shadow DOM style <code>:host { color: green; }</code>. Even if that <code>*</code> style comes first in the HTML source, it will be added to the CSS cascade <em>after</em> the shadow DOM's styles in the overall cascade. (That said, if you really do want a shadow DOM style to "win", you can use <code>!important</code> in a shadow DOM rule to ensure it won't be overridden by styles that cascade over it from the light DOM authored CSS. And in that case, <code>!important</code> is considered good practice!)</p>
<h2>Making <em>realer</em> elements</h2>
<p>Anyway, more recently over on Mastodon, <a href="https://sunny.garden/@knowler/112887743077104732">Nathan noted</a> that we might do well to consider our shadow DOM styles and their order in the cascade as a sort of "user agent styles" for our custom elements: providing some default, low-specificity styles for our slotted light-dom HTML elements while allowing them to be easily overridden.</p>
<nice-quote>
    <blockquote cite="https://sunny.garden/@knowler/112887743077104732">
        <p>As we gain further abilities to extend the Web Platform, I think it’s helpful to consider how we might approach our custom elements less like authors and more like a user agent would.</p>
        <p><cite>Nathan Knowler</cite></p>
    </blockquote>
</nice-quote>
<p>I think this a pretty powerful idea. If we think of web components as our tool to create somewhat "real" elements for other authors to reuse, it's neat that we can follow some "real HTML element" patterns when it comes to styling them in ways that defer to the author's preference in the cascade. Light-DOM-only HTML web components can't really offer this in an equally reliable way, because their styles will compete in the same cascade as the other light DOM styles that the author adds, where specificity battles are everything. Depending on where and how those styles are added to the page, they could easily override author styles in ways that aren't as friendly as those that a built-in element would offer.</p>
<h3>Maybe slots make it okay?</h3>
<p>There's a lot of focus on the unique encapsulation aspects of shadow DOM, so it's easy to forget that <code>slot</code> elements flip that on its head: slots are just a window revealing our ordinary HTML elements that sit alongside the shadow root. They receive regular-old styles from site.css as you'd expect, they submit their data expectedly with forms, they don't have the accessibility issues that can occur with shadow DOM, because they're really just regular DOM!</p>
<p>A shadow root with a slot gives us a means to style slotted light DOM in a way that defers to the author, should they choose to do so. Just like a built-in element! This makes me think that there's a world of potential use cases for HTML Web Components that imperatively attach a shadow root and perhaps only use it to insert some styles and a slot, allowing the light DOM that is already there to do what it does well.</p>
<p>Let's try...</p>
<h2>An Example HTML Web Component with Shadow DOM</h2>
<p>I'm going to make a component called <code>nice-quote</code> that is designed to wrap a <code>blockquote</code> element and extend the default <code>blockquote</code> element's presentation a bit, in a light-handed way. It's a simple example, but it should get the idea across.</p>
<p>First, the HTML:</p>
<pre><code>&lt;nice-quote&gt;
    &lt;blockquote&gt;
        &lt;p&gt;Your HTML Web Component should be fine with a piece of shadow DOM sometimes, as a treat.&lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;/nice-quote&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>As for the JavaScript, we'll start with a typical custom element definition:</p>
<pre><code>class NiceQuote extends HTMLElement {
...
}
customElements.define('nice-quote', NiceQuote);
</code></pre>
<p>Now, if I was building a typical HTML web component, I might add a <code>connectedCallback</code> handler next to manipulate or add behavior to the light DOM elements inside <code>nice-quote</code>. And again, that's typically the best lifecycle callback for doing those things, since it runs when the component is actually connected to the DOM (as opposed to say, an element created with <code>document.createElement</code> that is not yet appended), and so within <code>connectedCallback</code> we're able to query for elements inside it. <em>(Small caveat: there are situations when even <code>connectedCallback</code> will run before the element's light DOM children are available to it, and one way to avoid that is to have <code>type=module</code> on your script element, but that's another article).</em></p>
<p>Anyway, instead of <code>connectedCallback</code>, this time I'm going to use the <code>constructor</code> because all I need to do is attach and populate a shadow root, and that's one of those tasks the <code>constructor</code> is good for. So I'll use it to do just that, so I can add a slot and a stylesheet.</p>
<p>Here are those steps.</p>
<ol>
<li>Always call <code>super()</code> first because we're extending the <code>HTMLElement</code> class,</li>
<li>Attach a shadow root,</li>
<li>Insert some HTML in that root: I'll add a style element to contain my CSS, and install a window to see my light DOM elements shine through (that's the <code>slot</code> part).</li>
</ol>
<p>Here's how that looks:</p>
<pre><code>class NiceQuote extends HTMLElement {
    constructor(){
        super();
        this.attachShadow({mode: 'open'});
        this.shadowRoot.innerHTML = `
            &lt;style&gt;...&lt;/style&gt;
            &lt;slot&gt;&lt;/slot&gt;
        `;
    }
}
customElements.define('nice-quote', NiceQuote);
</code></pre>
<p>Okay, lastly, let's add those styles into the shadow DOM. For this, I'm going to use <code>:host</code> and <code>::slotted</code> to style the <code>nice-quote</code> and <code>blockquote</code> elements from inside the shadow DOM (these are some of the few ways shadow DOM styles can style light DOM elements).</p>
<p>Here's that final web component code:</p>
<pre><code>class NiceQuote extends HTMLElement {
    constructor(){
        super();
        this.attachShadow({mode: 'open'});
        this.shadowRoot.innerHTML = `
            &lt;slot&gt;&lt;/slot&gt;
            &lt;style&gt;
                :host {
                    display: block;
                    max-inline-size: 34em;
                }
                ::slotted(blockquote) {
                    margin: 2rem 0;
                    font-family: serif;
                    font-style: italic;
                    line-height: 1.2;
                    font-size: 2em;
                    padding: 1em 2rem;
                    line-height: 1.3;
                    background: #ebfffd;
                    border-inline-start: .5rem solid salmon;
                }
            &lt;/style&gt;
        `;
    }
}
customElements.define('nice-quote', NiceQuote);
</code></pre>
<p></p>
<p>I've added this JavaScript on the page here too so here's how that <code>nice-quote</code> component looks in HTML:</p>
<nice-quote>
    <blockquote>
        <p>Your HTML Web Component should be fine with a piece of shadow DOM sometimes, as a treat.</p>
    </blockquote>
</nice-quote>
<p>Looks nice I hope.</p>
<h2>The Cascade Benefits</h2>
<p>So yeah, perhaps the nicest part of this is that global styles can override the presentation of this nice quote if I'd like, because the component styles cascade before them in order. For example, if I didn't want the <code>nice-quote</code> to make my <code>blockquote</code> text italic, I can override it with a regular <code>blockquote</code> element selector, like this, and that style could come long before the component in source order without any worries.</p>
<pre><code>&lt;style&gt;
blockquote {
    font-style: normal;
}
&lt;/style&gt;
&lt;nice-quote&gt;
    &lt;blockquote&gt;
        &lt;p&gt;Your HTML Web Component should be fine with a piece of shadow DOM sometimes, as a treat.&lt;/p&gt;
    &lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;/nice-quote&gt;
</code></pre>
<p>In fact, I didn't mention it but the first quote from Nathan in this post was using this shadowy component already, and wouldn't you know that several of my site's ordinary styles are overriding it in various ways in this page.</p>
<p>Embrace those priorities of constituencies!</p>
<h2>Looking Ahead</h2>
<p>Admittedly, the example in this post is purposefully simple as it's meant to show the pattern itself without involving too many other concerns. It's likely that an actual component that appropriately calls for this pattern would be a bit more complex, augmenting behavior in addition the styles, to say the least.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear about others experimenting with these sorts of patterns in their HTML Web Components.</p>
<p><strong>Some kind folks read early drafts of this post and offered feedback. I want to say thanks to <a href="https://knowler.dev/">Nathan Knowler</a> and <a href="https://www.mayank.co/">Mayank</a></strong></p>
<p data-sanitized-class="wcdnote">HEY! If the ideas in this article interest you, perhaps you'd also be interested in my course, <a href="https://scottjehl.com/learn/webcomponentsdemystified/">Web Components Demystified</a>:</p>
<a href="https://scottjehl.com/learn/webcomponentsdemystified/" data-sanitized-class="wcdbanner">
    <picture>
        <source type="image/avif">
        <img alt="Web Components Demystified: A COMPREHENSIVE, PREMIUM COURSE ABOUT BUILDING DYNAMIC, FAST, RESILIENT APPS WITH WEB STANDARDS.">
    </picture>
</a>


guid: https://odysee.com/plato%27s-philebus-%28on-the-purpose-of:9a99030879f1fa9d18ed825fc9044f6568decbc6
title: Plato's Philebus (on the Purpose of Pleasure and Nature of the Good) Reading Session 02
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/plato%27s-philebus-%28on-the-purpose-of:9a99030879f1fa9d18ed825fc9044f6568decbc6
hash: �7M��% �x�Hm�@��
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/gSP6tjPtaFs" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Plato's Philebus (on the Purpose of Pleasure and Nature of the Good) Reading Session 02"></p>Reading #2 of The Philebus Dialogue.<br>Click here to access reading #1:<br>https://youtu.be/41_N-S952xc<br><br> the Philebus dialogue, Plato's teacher Socrates tackles these questions and more with a look to the quantized nature of the universe and all ponderable elements within it recognizing that a trifold relationship exists within all things that co-exist as a One, an Infinite and a Many<br><br>Download the Philebus by clicking here:<br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/PHILEBUS-by-Plato.docx<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSP6tjPtaFs

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guid: https://odysee.com/unravelling-the-world-historic:9f9712d301c499cd0959b47173432a173eb4d343
title: Unravelling the World-Historic Achievement Called the American Revolution with Nancy Spannaus
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/unravelling-the-world-historic:9f9712d301c499cd0959b47173432a173eb4d343
hash: ��-X����J���
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/IE6DtxyuOjk" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Unravelling the World-Historic Achievement Called the American Revolution with Nancy Spannaus"></p>As the world careens into a storm of epoch-shifting proportions, it is incumbant on citizens and leaders to keep their heads on their shoulders and move with the greatest poise and understanding of those historical dynamics shaping our world. And so, it is my greatest pleasure to host the historian and author Nancy Spannaus (author of Hamilton vs Wall Street and Defeating Slavery) during this Sunday’s RTF weekly lecture.<br><br>The real nature of the American Revolution has always been controversial, and today is no exception. Was it, as Abraham Lincoln said, a nation dedicated to the principle that "all men are created equal" and dedicated to using the power of government to achieve that goal?  Or was it a complex power struggle, which enshrined the libertarian principle that rejects the idea of the general welfare, and pits the individual against the any exercise of power?<br><br>In her talk today on Sunday Aug. 4 at 2pm Eastern Time, Nancy will introduce this topic with a discussion of the Declaration of Independence, and then delve into a historical review of the "Causes of the American Revolution," and an analysis of "How Revolutionary was the American Revolution." For reference, much of the material in her talks have been introduced in her 2023 book, Defeating Slavery: Hamilton's American System Showed the Way, available from Amazon in ebook and soft cover.<br><br>Buy Nancy's books here:<br>https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNP5RY3N?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_4EV8QVEABBGNWJK0FJRK<br><br>and here:<br>https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNP5RY3N?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_4EV8QVEABBGNWJK0FJRK<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE6DtxyuOjk

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guid: 66b072a61c18c00001cb601c
title: The first year of The Spacebar
author: ;Corbin Davenport
link: https://www.spacebar.news/the-spacebar-year-one/
hash: U�uLc6t�my��t٭
content:
<img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/spacebar-wide.png" alt="The first year of The Spacebar"><p>Today marks the one-year anniversary of <em>The Spacebar</em> going live as an independent tech blog and newsletter. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every reader, take a peek behind the content curtain, and share what I've learned.</p><p>First and foremost, I want to give a heartfelt thank you who has read or shared anything from <em>The Spacebar</em>. I was not expecting anything near the level of support I've received over the past year, and I deeply appreciate it. The email newsletter is closing in on 250 subscribers, and the website has had over 30,000 visitors in the past two months.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-first-year-roundup">The first year roundup</h2><p>I launched <em>The Spacebar</em> on August 7th, 2023 with two articles: <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/visicalc-the-first-killer-app/" rel="noreferrer">a retrospective on VisiCalc</a> and <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-brave-browser/" rel="noreferrer">the "Stop using Brave Browser" article</a>. The second one went "viral" on Mastodon and the Fediverse, with <a href="https://toot.community/@corbin/110850632540369382" rel="noreferrer">the post from my account</a> reaching 477 boosts, and then spreading to other social media sites and forums. There was a huge initial surge of views and subscribers from that one article, which I definitely was not expecting.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-1.png" alt="The first year of The Spacebar" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1097" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>The original site, hosted on Substack</span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The Spacebar</em> was initially hosted on Substack, since it provided completely free hosting (including sending emails) until you hit a certain subscriber count. However, in late 2023, it became more clear that Substack was <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/substack-extremism-nazi-white-supremacy-newsletters/676156/?gift=QOMQv_-OzUwtM49NPzkD3qrbGPZCc7jGHcdGDSsLNWk&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=share">directly profiting from hate speech</a>. The company's executives <a href="https://substack.com/@hamish/note/c-45811343">shrugged off those concerns</a>, which I thought was pretty gross, so I started looking for alternatives.  I ended up moving the site to <a href="https://ghost.org/">Ghost</a>, just like many other newsletters that moved away from Substack, such as <a href="https://www.platformer.news/">Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer's <em>Platformer</em></a> and <a href="https://www.citationneeded.news/">Molly White's <em>Citation Needed</em></a>.</p><p>Content management service (CMS) migrations can be daunting, but <a href="https://ghost.org/docs/migration/substack/">Ghost's documentation and migration tools</a> covered most of the difficult work. Thankfully, <em>The Spacebar</em> started on a custom domain instead of a Substack subdomain, so all links and RSS feed subscriptions continued functioning as normal.</p><p>Ghost's managed hosting <a href="https://ghost.org/pricing/">doesn't have a free tier</a>, which I suppose is the tradeoff for not being subsidized by Nazis. I'm still on the $9/month base tier, which gives me access to a few official themes, up to 500 email subscribers, the ability to inject CSS and HTML code, and the option to set up my own redirects. I used the custom code feature to implement an automatic dark mode in Ghost's "source" theme, which is something Substack didn't support, as well as Google Analytics.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-2.png" alt="The first year of The Spacebar" loading="lazy" width="1479" height="911" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>The Ghost CMS editor</span></figcaption></figure><p>Shortly after moving the site to Ghost, I signed up for Google AdSense ads, in the hopes of at least covering the new hosting costs. I've been using the auto ads feature with custom-set exclusion zones, and as of August 2024, I've had around 173,000 ad impressions, around 500 clicks, and earnings of around $120. After taxes, that hasn't yet covered my $108 upfront purchase for one year of Ghost Pro.</p><p>Unfortunately, Ghost's comment system is fairly primitive, and it was time-consuming to find and delete inappropriate comments after I switched. The article about Brave in particular kept attracting weird people, and switching off comments on that article just made people post them on other articles, so I decided to turn off comments completely and use <a href="https://discord.com/invite/tqJDRsmQVn" rel="noreferrer">the Discord server</a> as a communication pipeline. I would still like to have public comments on the site, but I would need to figure out a different system.</p><p>I continued posting more editorials, guides, and technical analysis through 2024. The other main "viral" success was my <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-opera-browser/" rel="noreferrer">Stop using Opera and Opera GX</a> article, which once again was popular on Mastodon, and was shared a lot on other social media platforms. I didn't expect this site's niche to be "why that web browser is bad," but that's how it turned out.</p><p>It's not often that I get to write something that people pull out of their bookmarks months later to prove a point, but that has now happened with <em>The Spacebar </em>several times. In an industry where most content has a short shelf life, it's cool to see multiple articles on this site continue to be shared as information resources.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-3.png" alt="The first year of The Spacebar" loading="lazy" width="912" height="591" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>A few comments on Lemmy linking to </span><i><em data-sanitized-class="italic">The Spacebar</em></i></figcaption></figure><p>The funniest example of this was someone tagging my personal Twitter account, which has been locked and inactive since 2023, letting me know that my Brave article was linked somewhere that "drove more people to it than away from it." My analytics data reported a massive spike in referral traffic from Facebook, so I'm guessing it was some person or group over there with a big right-wing audience.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/loser.png" alt="The first year of The Spacebar" loading="lazy" width="1186" height="302" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Downloading a crypto malware browser to own the libs</span></figcaption></figure><p>Those people were so mad that they clicked the advertisements a bunch, and I earned around $30 in AdSense income (before taxes) within a week—that's about twice as much as I made in the <em>two months</em> prior to that spike. Wow, they sure showed me!</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-traffic-analysis">The traffic analysis</h2><p>This might only be interesting to other content creators and journalists, but I want to talk about how I've built up referral traffic to <em>The Spacebar</em> over the past year. It has been a lot of organic search and social media traffic, a lot of happy little accidents, and zero dollars spent on advertising.</p><p>I already had a decent following on Mastodon (about 1.5K followers when I started), and I've shared every article on my personal account and <a href="https://mastodon.social/@thespacebar" rel="noreferrer">a dedicated account</a> for the site. I also added a small text advertisement for <em>The Spacebar</em> to a few web apps I maintain, like <a href="https://linkcleaner.app/" rel="noreferrer">Link Cleaner</a> and <a href="https://photostack.app/" rel="noreferrer">PhotoStack</a>, and I have received a few new subscribers from those sources. I also posted <a href="https://soundcloud.com/techtalespodcast/announcements-2023">a short episode</a> to my podcast's audio feed and YouTube channel, revealing the site's launch with a link to subscribe.</p><p>I've also shared many articles on <a href="https://join-lemmy.org/" rel="noreferrer">Lemmy</a>, the federated and open-source Reddit clone. There are very few tech sites and blogs actively sharing their own content to Lemmy, as opposed to the far more saturated landscape of Reddit. It's hard for me to gauge how many views and subscribers I received directly from Lemmy communities, because it has a very tech-focused audience and many users block my analytics code and advertisements, but I do usually get a few new email subscribers if a post does exceptionally well on Lemmy.</p><p>I strongly believe that every publication and content creator, at least in tech or tech-adjacent fields, should maintain a presence on Mastodon, Lemmy, and the greater <a href="https://www.fediverse.to/" rel="noreferrer">Fediverse ecosystem</a>. It's the only social media platform left that doesn't <a href="https://buffer.com/library/twitter-timeline-algorithm/#7-use-links-but-sparingly">punish you for external links</a>, or <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/26/1240737627/meta-limit-political-content-instagram-facebook-opt-out" rel="noreferrer">posting "political" content</a>, or limiting you to just video and images. I don't have an active presence on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, or other mainstream social platforms, so I can't directly compare the performance of those platforms to the Fediverse. Still, Mastodon and Lemmy have been massively important for growing <em>The Spacebar</em>, and I plan to experiment more with <a href="https://bsky.app/" rel="noreferrer">Bluesky</a> in the coming months.</p><p>Google Discover has been another major traffic source. You might not think about it too much (it's the article feed in the Google app, the New Tab Page in the mobile Chrome browser, etc.), but Discover is an incredibly important for big news organizations and publications. It found <em>The Spacebar</em> almost immediately—I got 36 impressions and 12 clicks from Discover on August 8th, 2023, the day after the site went live.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image.png" alt="The first year of The Spacebar" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="898" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Google Discover traffic for </span><i><em data-sanitized-class="italic">The Spacebar</em></i><span> from August 2023 to August 2024</span></figcaption></figure><p>For the first eight months or so, Google Discover didn't promote the site much, except for a major spike in early December. Google really liked my article about <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/tech-news-doesnt-understand-ad-blockers/" rel="noreferrer">the tech media's response to YouTube's anti-adblock measures</a>, and it got around 80,000 impressions on Discover with around 6,000 total clicks. I'm not sure why Discover pushed that article so much, except that there was a lot of interest around YouTube's ad blocking at the time. Since then, Discover has rotated between various articles I published months ago.</p><p>I have also received a decent amount of traffic from search engines. The most popular search queries from Google include "brave browser," "brave browser controversy," "opera gx controversy," and "who owns brave browser." I don't have any magic SEO advice to share here, but I do think it's worth pointing out that my <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-brave-browser/" rel="noreferrer">Brave browser</a> and <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-opera-browser/" rel="noreferrer">Opera browser</a> articles have done well in search traffic, even though they were not written in the typical SEO style at all. Maybe they would have done better if they were more optimized for search, I don't know, but I'm happy they were written in my own voice and still performed well.</p><p>There have been a lot of other random traffic sources, including articles shared by people on Facebook and Twitter/X, other blogs and newsletters, threads on Hacker News, and so on.</p><p>I wish I was able to convert more of these views into email or RSS subscribers, but for now, I'm happier to not have an annoying email signup popup that gets in the way of the reading experience.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-future">The future</h2><p>My current day job is News Editor at <em>How-To Geek</em>, so<em> The Spacebar </em>is still a side project alongside my <a href="https://techtalesshow.com/"><em>Tech Tales</em> podcast</a>, which <a href="https://blog.corbin.io/post/753273211959083008/tech-tales-year-three">just reached its third anniversary</a>. I'm incredibly fortunate to now have a space where I can write about the topics I care about, in the format I want, with my own distribution channels, and people read what I write.</p><p>So, what's in store for the coming year, you may ask? Well, more of the same! I have a few half-written articles I need to finish up, and I want to slowly convert more of the <em>Tech Tales</em> archive into written articles on <em>The Spacebar</em>. I started doing that with the <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/visicalc-the-first-killer-app/" rel="noreferrer">VisiCalc</a> and <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/the-asus-eee-pc-and-the-netbook-revolution/" rel="noreferrer">ASUS Eee PC</a> articles, but I have a lot more episode scripts. I also want to continue experimenting with social media growth, and building up RSS and email subscriptions.</p><p>If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to the <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/about/#/portal/" rel="noreferrer">email newsletter</a> to get new posts in your inbox. You can also follow new posts through the <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/feed" rel="noreferrer">RSS feed</a> (using apps like <a href="https://feedly.com/" rel="noreferrer">Feedly</a> or <a href="https://www.inoreader.com/" rel="noreferrer">Inoreader</a>), <a href="https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMJzS0wsw6u3qAw" rel="noreferrer">Google News</a>, or the <a href="https://mastodon.social/@thespacebar" rel="noreferrer">Mastodon account</a>.</p>

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guid: https://odysee.com/c2:48843fc287906146b09fb7836afd44674a694fc3
title: Camila Escalante on Venezuela's Presidential Election &amp; Opposition Violence
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/c2:48843fc287906146b09fb7836afd44674a694fc3
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<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/c0a4ffca5b7c06cc50d42c87099da6a7.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Camila Escalante on Venezuela's Presidential Election &amp; Opposition Violence"></p>I spoke with Latin America correspondent for Press TV, Camila Escalante, about what she saw and heard on the ground in Caracas, Venezuela, before, during and after the recent Presidential Election. <br><br>A well-travelled, longtime correspondent all over Latin America, Camila brings a deep understanding of the history of the country and region, and of the people. With ample experience in Venezuela in years prior, she speaks with first hand knowledge on the positive changes in the country, in spite of the brutal Western sanctions against the Venezuelan people. <br><br>Follow Camila at:<br><br>X: camilapress<br>Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CamilaPress<br><br>My Related Links:<br><br>-My Venezuela (2019) playlist: https://rumble.com/playlists/YCmDnKNOVWc<br><br>-The US is manufacturing a crisis in Venezuela so that there is chaos and ‘needed’ intervention<br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2019/03/31/us-is-manufacturing-a-crisis-in-venezuela-so-that-there-is-chaos-and-needed-intervention/<br><br>

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guid: https://odysee.com/the-arctic-theater-of-war-or-global:b4545a0beed9dbb02c7fb8fa76a7305dd830b63c
title: The Arctic: Theater of War or Global Cooperation?
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/the-arctic-theater-of-war-or-global:b4545a0beed9dbb02c7fb8fa76a7305dd830b63c
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<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/DncisMFT_BQ" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="The Arctic: Theater of War or Global Cooperation?"></p>In this new film, the Arctic is presented as you've never imagined it: Both as a strategic battleground over the future of the human species today, and as pivot of world history shaping the Russia-USA partnership that saved the Union during the Civil War.<br><br>This film showcases how the Arctic represents either a domain of total warfare, or represents the basis of a new era of rail development and friendship among world civilizations characterizing the end of the 19th century. If you didn't know why Russia sold Alaska to the USA in 1867, or why the two transcontinental railways (Russian and American) completed by 1905 werre meant to extend through the Bering Strait (as was planned by Lincoln and Czar Alexander II) then this film is for you.<br><br>The Arctic: Theater of War or Global Cooperation' introduces this sweeping history and thereby helps the viewer understand the real reasons Canada remained loyal to the British Empire in 1867, and how the age of assassinations and war overturned that paradigm of cooperation ushering in a war-ravaged 20th century. <br><br>We also introduce the attempted revival of this positive vision in the form of the FDR-Wallace plans to build rail and roads across the Bering Strait during WW2, and Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's plans to adopt a northern vision during the 1950s-1960s, leading all the way up to Donald Trump's plans for an Alaska-Canada railway in 2020 and the Russia-China Polar Silk Road today.<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DncisMFT_BQ

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guid: https://odysee.com/VenezuelaEvaBartlett:ac568bccf00831b021bcc3392bd758600906ef5d
title: Venezuela &amp; The Resistance Fight Against Yankee Imperialism with Eva Bartlett
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/VenezuelaEvaBartlett:ac568bccf00831b021bcc3392bd758600906ef5d
hash: 82�Q����5xtH�D
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<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/9086a55a775c6310e51fbc394f2614cb.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Venezuela &amp; The Resistance Fight Against Yankee Imperialism with Eva Bartlett"></p>Wednesday, August 7, 2024<br>[ https://rumble.com/v5a1xeb-venezuela-and-the-resistance-fight-against-yankee-imperialism.html] <br><br>Eva Bartlett, independent journalist who goes to the places she talks about. Based in Russia with extensive, ground-based knowledge in West Asia including Gaza, Syria and Donbass. But Eva has also been to Venezuela which is why she's here today to talk about the similarities the country faces today as well as connections that operation could have in the Middle East.<br><br>"Fi" Fiorella Isabel:<br>===============<br>Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/FiorellaIsabelM<br>Fiorella Isabel on Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-5021915<br>Fiorella In Moscow YT: https://www.youtube.com/@FiorellaInMoscow<br><br>**<br><br>My Related Links:<br><br>My Venezuela (2019) playlist:<br>https://odysee.com/@EvaKareneBartlett:9/Venezuela:1e?r=EymDGnAtYEjvNCAh13tU3WL6QWGjETBs&amp;lid=1e213e88fef5948f7c2faafebe20bf423242a37b<br><br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2019/03/31/us-is-manufacturing-a-crisis-in-venezuela-so-that-there-is-chaos-and-needed-intervention/<br><br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/observations-from-occupied-palestine-in-gaza/<br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/syria/syria-my-published-articles-from-and-on-syria-2014-2022/<br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/the-donbass-my-articles-videos-interviews-from-on-the-donetsk-lugansk-peoples-republics-2019-present/

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hash: FF���;��Φ )�
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guid:
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title:
Témoignages visuels 2024 : Une nouvelle exposition d’art connecte les visiteurs à une étude du Sénat sur la santé des sols

link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/sencaplus/nouvelles/temoignages-visuels-2024-une-nouvelle-exposition-dart-connecte-les-visiteurs-a-une-etude-du-senat-sur-la-sante-des-sols/


title: « La beauté du Canada » : la sénatrice Jaffer se remémore sa carrière de 23 ans au Sénat
hash: _�C� _� ^�� �
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guid:
/fr/sencaplus/personnalites/la-beaute-du-canada-la-senatrice-jaffer-se-rememore-sa-carriere-de-23-ans-au-senat/

link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/sencaplus/personnalites/la-beaute-du-canada-la-senatrice-jaffer-se-rememore-sa-carriere-de-23-ans-au-senat/


hash: |ѱ��I+r�E�q
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guid:
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title:
L’Europe doit abroger son interdiction injuste des produits dérivés du phoque : sénateurs Manning, Busson et Duncan

link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/sencaplus/opinion/leurope-doit-abroger-son-interdiction-injuste-des-produits-derives-du-phoque-senateurs-manning-busson-et-duncan/


guid: https://odysee.com/smf-int2:7b4dc739789503256f7b4009291801c10ce200a9
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/smf-int2:7b4dc739789503256f7b4009291801c10ce200a9
hash: �WA^MZ���f5`NH�
title:
Crimean Tatar &amp; Interethnic and Interfaith Relations Chair, Ibraim Shirin, Counters Western Lies on Crimea

content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/85ab680cf4f354c2c233d6ad4409b733.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Crimean Tatar &amp; Interethnic and Interfaith Relations Chair, Ibraim Shirin, Counters Western Lies on Crimea"></p>This interview was conducted in Simferopol, Crimea, May 2024.  <br><br>Mr. Shirin Ibraim Reshatovich, Chairman of the Commission on Interethnic and Interfaith Relations and Public Diplomacy in the Public Chamber of the Republic of Crimea—is himself Tatar. The West has for years tried to claim Tatars are oppressed in Crimea &amp; didn't support the 2014 referendum to (rejoin) join Russia. Listen to this delightful man to hear the truth on how life improved dramatically for Tatars in Crimea, and for Crimeans as a whole! <br><br>—My related 2019 article after visiting Crimea then: Return to Russia: Crimeans Tell the Real Story of the 2014 Referendum and Their Lives Since (https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/return-to-russia-crimeans-tell-the-real-story-of-the-2014-referendum-and-their-lives-since/)

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guid: 669348d66afab600010010c1
title: This is the best way to download videos and audio
author: ;Corbin Davenport
link: https://www.spacebar.news/yt-dlp-best-way-to-download-videos-audio/
hash: a_���e�$ �IiY�
content:
<img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/ytdlp.jpg" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio"><p>You've probably searched Google for "download YouTube video" and arrived at a weird-looking website with a lot of annoying ads. The weird website does the job, but it might not have the specific quality or format options you want, and it will be gone in a few months when it gets a DMCA takedown. Such is the circle of life.</p><p>There is a better way to download videos and audio from YouTube, SoundCloud, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter/X, and hundreds of other websites. It's called yt-dlp.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="what-is-yt-dlp">What is yt-dlp?</h2><p><a href="https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp" rel="noreferrer">Yt-dlp</a> is an application for downloading video and audio from hundreds of supported websites, based on the older (and possibly more well-known) <a href="https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl" rel="noreferrer">youtube-dl</a> project. It can download content from sites and convert them into different formats, using the <a href="https://ffmpeg.org/" rel="noreferrer">ffmpeg</a> conversion tool when needed. It can also read metadata from the original content source, allowing you to do cool tricks like saving YouTube video descriptions or captions as separate text files.</p><p>The original youtube-dl is still maintained, but it generally seems slower to adapt to breaking changes from YouTube and other sites than yt-dlp, and it has fewer features available. If you find guides or tutorials about youtube-dl, most of it applies to yt-dlp and other forks.</p><p>Youtube-dl, yt-dlp, and its various forks power most download tools for YouTube, TikTok, and other video and audio sites, as well as most third-party clients for YouTube. If you've ever watched or downloaded a YouTube video outside of the official website or apps, it was almost certainly using youtube-dl or one if its variants under the hood.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/07/dlp.jpg" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1125" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p>The one catch is that yt-dlp is a command-line tool, without an official graphical interface. There are some graphical front-ends, like <a href="https://stacher.io/" rel="noreferrer">Stacher</a>, but yt-dlp isn't very complicated.</p><p>The most annoying part of yt-dlp is installing it, especially on Windows and Mac, where you need to get a package manager first. I wrote <a href="https://www.spacebar.news/how-to-install-yt-dlp/" rel="noreferrer">a separate guide</a> for setting up yt-dlp and ffmpeg on any computer. It only takes a few minutes.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-yt-dlp-basics">The yt-dlp basics</h2><p>The basic usage for yt-dlp is running the command in your terminal application (or if you're on Windows, the PowerShell or Command Prompt) with a web address, ideally inside quotation marks to prevent parsing errors. The address can be any video, audio file, or playlist from the <a href="https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/supportedsites.md" rel="noreferrer">thousands of supported websites</a>. For this example, I'll use the excellent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjRV0G6qWgw" rel="noreferrer">ReDoin remix video</a> by JerryTerry.</p><pre><code>yt-dlp "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjRV0G6qWgw"
</code></pre><p>That command will download the video in the best quality available, and if necessary, combine multiple video and audio tracks from YouTube's servers. The result is an MP4 file in the current directory.</p><p>If you don't set the current directory before downloading, the default directory is  probably your home folder. You can run <code>xdg-open .</code> on Linux or <code>open .</code> on Mac to open the current directory in your file manager.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-4.png" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio" loading="lazy" width="1504" height="1078" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p>That simple yt-dlp command downloads a YouTube video to your computer, without waiting for a website to load with a bunch of ads, or clicking buttons in a graphical application. You're not limited to just YouTube, though.</p><p>You can use a command like this to download the video attached to a post on Twitter/X:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp "https://x.com/madebygoogle/status/1814044122661204470"
</code></pre><p>The same works for videos posted to Reddit:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp "https://www.reddit.com/r/OneOrangeBraincell/comments/1bixtnb/my_kitty_was_stuck_in_reboot_loop_while/"
</code></pre><p>Yt-dlp also supports many audio platforms and sites, including ones that normally don't allow downloads. You can download a SoundCloud track like this:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp "https://soundcloud.com/kevin-manthei/egg-101-everything-is-going-wrong"
</code></pre><p>Yt-dlp can also usually understand links to playlists or other groups of content. For example, you can give it a link to a SoundCloud profile or a YouTube playlist, and it will start downloading everything in it.</p><p>Most of my yt-dlp usage is just using simple links, with the tool automatically downloading the best available versions. There are more advanced options, though, which are especially useful for bulk operations and converting file formats.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="converting-media-files">Converting media files</h2><p>Yt-dlp has many options for converting media formats after they are downloaded, as long as you have ffmpeg installed. Going back to that ReDoin video as an example, here's how to download the video and convert it to an MP3 audio file:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjRV0G6qWgw"
</code></pre><p>That command downloads the video, then the <code>-x</code> option tells it to extract the audio track, and <code>-audio-format mp3</code> specifies the format as MP3. When it's done, I have an MP3 file ready to play or import into a music library.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-5.png" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio" loading="lazy" width="687" height="421" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p>You might notice that yt-dlp sometimes downloads videos in MKV, WebM, or other formats that aren't playable on some devices. By default, it will download the best-available version, and combine video and/or audio tracks as needed, which sometimes results in a different file type.</p><p>You can use a command like this (<a href="https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2022/how-download-mp4-youtube-every-time">shout-out to Jeff Gerling</a>) to make yt-dlp always give you an MP4 container file with MPEG video and audio:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp -S res,ext:mp4:m4a --recode mp4 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjRV0G6qWgw"</code></pre><p>I recommend reading through <a href="https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/README.md#post-processing-options" rel="noreferrer">all the post-processing options</a> in the documentation if you want to try other use cases. The ffmpeg utility can handle nearly any media format you can imagine, and yt-dlp can hook into it, so the possibilities are endless.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="how-i-use-yt-dlp-advanced-features">How I use yt-dlp advanced features</h2><p>I've ended up using yt-dlp (and youtube-dl for it) for many different tasks. The easiest way I've found for archiving the episodes of my <a href="https://techtalesshow.com/" rel="noreferrer">Tech Tales podcast</a> is to point yt-dlp to the show's RSS feed, like this:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp "https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:971533159/sounds.rss" --write-description --download-archive downloaded.txt
</code></pre><p>There are a few extra options I'm using here. First, the <code>--write-description</code> argument saves a text file alongside each file that contains the episode's full text description. The <code>--download-archive downloaded.txt</code> argument creates a text file called <code>download.txt</code> with a record of every file that has been downloaded, so when I run that same command in the same folder in the future, it won't try to download every episode again.</p><p>The result is a folder with the original audio file (as uploaded to my host, SoundCloud) and the full description for every podcast episode. I can keep that folder synchronized in my cloud storage. If you are a content creator using a platform supported by yt-dlp, this is a very easy way to back up your work.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-9.png" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio" loading="lazy" width="1313" height="695" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p>I plan on setting up an automation to run this automatically every once in a while, and set my local NAS drives as another backup location, but that's for another day.</p><p>I've also used yt-dlp many times for downloading music from YouTube or SoundCloud that isn't available on other platforms (not piracy), to keep in my local music library. For example, here's what I used to download all the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3i9BHIRvTES0rAWLTOImQE6T1Rix1b5P" rel="noreferrer">Eurobeat remixes</a> from YouTube creator <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWQ4IVOuXa8M9htzbaSKlmg">Vikas Music</a>:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp -i -x --audio-format mp3 --embed-thumbnail --add-metadata --metadata-from-title "%(title)s" --parse-metadata "title:%(title)s" --parse-metadata "uploader:%(artist)s" --output "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3i9BHIRvTES0rAWLTOImQE6T1Rix1b5P"</code></pre><p>This command takes a YouTube playlist link as input, then uses the previously-mentioned <code>-x --audio-format mp3</code> option to convert each file to MP3 format. Then it sets the YouTube video's thumbnail image as the album artwork, the video title as the song title and filename, and the channel name as the artist. After it's done, I can import those songs into my music library, and all the metadata is already there.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-7.png" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio" loading="lazy" width="792" height="421" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p></p><p>Here's another cool trick I've used a few times. Many YouTube videos have captions, either provided by a person or automatically generated by Google's servers. You can download those captions as a text file with a command like this:</p><pre><code>yt-dlp --write-sub --convert-subs=srt --skip-download "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fytVgsx-dlg"
</code></pre><p>If there are no manually-created captions available, you have to replace <code>--write-sub</code> with <code>--write-auto-sub</code>. Then you get a .srt file you can open in any text editor that looks like this:</p><pre><code>3
00:00:16,800 --&gt; 00:00:19,349
[Music]
hello and welcome to another DF retro

4
00:00:19,349 --&gt; 00:00:19,359
hello and welcome to another DF retro
 

5
00:00:19,359 --&gt; 00:00:21,990
hello and welcome to another DF retro
Let's Play video on the PC Time Capsule</code></pre><p>This is a great way to find when a certain word or topic is mentioned in a video, especially when combined with the Find text feature available in most text editors. No more scanning back and forth in a let's play or a conference video—as long as the auto-generated captions are reliable or manual captions are available, at least.</p><p>There's so much you can do with yt-dlp, as evidenced by the <a href="https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/master/README.md#usage-and-options" rel="noreferrer">massive list of options</a> in the project's documentation. It supports countless websites and countless media formats through ffmpeg. Since it's a command-line tool, you can run it as part of a larger script, or automated it with tools like <a href="https://www.redhat.com/sysadmin/linux-cron-command" rel="noreferrer">crontab</a>.</p><p>This is one area where AI chatbots like <a href="https://chatgpt.com/" rel="noreferrer">ChatGPT</a> and <a href="https://copilot.microsoft.com/" rel="noreferrer">Microsoft Copilot</a> are incredibly useful. If you're not sure how to do something, tell one of the chatbots exactly what you want, and ask it to write the yt-dlp command for that task.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/08/image-8.png" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio" loading="lazy" width="934" height="771" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"></figure><p>You should definitely read the command before running it, as you should with all terminal commands you get from the internet, but Copilot has helped me get the most out of yt-dlp and ffmpeg.</p><p>Yt-dlp is one of my favorite command-line tools, it's definitely the best way to save most video and audio media from the web. I highly recommend giving it a try the next time you want to download a YouTube video, podcast episode, or anything else without a built-in download method.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-bookmark-card"><a href="https://www.spacebar.news/how-to-install-yt-dlp/" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-container"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-content"><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-title">How to install yt-dlp (youtube-dl) on Windows, Mac, Linux</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-description">The best way to get yt-dlp installed on your computer, including ffmpeg for media conversion.</div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-metadata"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/size/w256h256/2023/12/spacebar.png" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio" data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-icon"><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-author">The Spacebar</span><span data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-publisher">Corbin Davenport</span></div></div><div data-sanitized-class="kg-bookmark-thumbnail"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/size/w1200/2024/07/2.jpg" alt="This is the best way to download videos and audio"></div></a></figure>

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guid: https://htmhell.dev/33-make-me-one-(input)-with-everything/
title: #33 make me one (input) with everything
author: ;Manuel Matuzovic
link: https://htmhell.dev/33-make-me-one-(input)-with-everything/
hash: �U��g� ����WdH�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>The good intentions were there but in the HTML and Accessibility world, less is sometimes more.</p>
<div data-sanitized-class="section bad">
<h2 data-sanitized-id="bad-code">Bad code</h2>
<pre data-sanitized-class="language-html"><code data-sanitized-class="language-html"><span data-sanitized-class="highlight-line"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&lt;</span>label</span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">for</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>textinput<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&gt;</span></span>First name<span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&lt;/</span>label</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&gt;</span></span></span><br><span data-sanitized-class="highlight-line"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&lt;</span>input</span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">type</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>text<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">id</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>textinput<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">aria-label</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>First name<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">placeholder</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>First name<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">title</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>First name<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&gt;</span></span></span></code></pre>
</div>
<div data-sanitized-id="issues" data-sanitized-class="section">
<h2 data-sanitized-id="issues-and-how-to-fix-them">Issues and how to fix them</h2>
<ol>
<li>The <code>aria-label</code>, <code>placeholder</code>, and <code>title</code> attributes all provide the same informaton ("First name"), leading to the screenreader reading the same text multiple times.</li>
<li>The <code>aria-label</code> is unnecessary since the input is already correctly labeled by the <code>&lt;label&gt;</code> element. <code>&lt;label&gt;</code> elements should be preferred to <code>aria-label</code> since they are also visible to sighted users.</li>
<li>The <code>title</code> attribute is not needed here, as the label and placeholder already convey the necessary information. Using title in this context adds unnecessary complexity.</li>
<li>The <code>placeholder</code> text should provide a hint / example to the user what kind of input is expected, it should not act as a label or contain the same content.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div data-sanitized-class="section">
<h2 data-sanitized-id="good-code">Good code</h2>
<pre data-sanitized-class="language-html"><code data-sanitized-class="language-html"><span data-sanitized-class="highlight-line"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&lt;</span>label</span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">for</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>textinput<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&gt;</span></span>First name<span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&lt;/</span>label</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&gt;</span></span></span><br><span data-sanitized-class="highlight-line"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token tag"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&lt;</span>input</span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">type</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>text<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span> <span data-sanitized-class="token attr-name">id</span><span data-sanitized-class="token attr-value"><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation attr-equals">=</span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span>textinput<span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">"</span></span><span data-sanitized-class="token punctuation">&gt;</span></span></span></code></pre>
</div>
<div data-sanitized-class="section">
<h2 data-sanitized-id="resources">Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/label"><code>&lt;label&gt;</code> on MDN</a></li>
<li><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA/Attributes/aria-label"><code>aria-label</code> on MDN</a></li>
<li><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Attributes/placeholder"><code>placeholder</code> on MDN</a></li>
<li><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/title"><code>title</code> on MDN</a></li>
</ul>
</div>


guid: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/the-coming-collapse-of-britain
title: The coming collapse of Britain
author: ;Alex Krainer
link: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/the-coming-collapse-of-britain
hash: � �1#�}�ZnKe�
content:
<p>Quick update: I’ll be joining <strong>Tom Luongo</strong> later today to discuss the contents of this report. It’s bound to be a riot…</p><p>A series of bizarre developments that have unfolded in Great Britain over the last few weeks suggest that its financial system came to the verge of collapse, probably as a consequence of Ukraine’s debt default. The last thing the people in power will tell us is the truth, but if we dig in dark places and connect the dots, I believe the conclusion practically makes itself. The consequences for Britain, and probably for “his majesty’s” other dominions will be extreme. Let’s dive in…</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10b86f48-d2e2-4777-acc5-fa349e6759ef_960x546.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10b86f48-d2e2-4777-acc5-fa349e6759ef_960x546.png" width="960" height="546" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/10b86f48-d2e2-4777-acc5-fa349e6759ef_960x546.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":546,"width":960,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1067670,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h2>The riots that weren’t (quite)</h2><p>The stabbings of three young girls (6, 7, and 9 years of age) that happened in Southport, UK on 29 July apparently unleashed widespread rioting and clashes in Britain, notably between the immigrant Muslim community and what PM <strong>Keir Starmer</strong> called, right-wing thugs. The authorities' reaction has been nothing short of Orwellian including a radical and ongoing crackdown on free speech.</p><p>But it would appear that the riots and clashes haven't been quite as widespread or as violent as the media portrayed them to be. In a recent podcast, <strong>Alexander Mercouris</strong> pointed out that not only did everything seem calm in London, but that a number of his friends and acquaintances around the UK all told him the same, even for the cities where rioting had been reported. Could it be that the government overreacted and exaggerated the threat in order to justify stepping up its authoritarian control which is now gripping Britain?</p><p>Rather than appealing for calm, the government’s messaging clearly aimed at intimidating the population. The UK's <a href="https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1823671812917444803">Home Office warned</a> that "Actions have consequences," and boasted that over 1,000 arrests have been made thus far. British courts already sentenced many people to stiff prison terms for wrongthink expressed on social media and they made sure that these sentences got wide publicity.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd3cede34-2e4b-451c-9b3b-23352f20e35d_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd3cede34-2e4b-451c-9b3b-23352f20e35d_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d3cede34-2e4b-451c-9b3b-23352f20e35d_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":167843,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">Wrongthink shall not be tolerated.</figcaption></figure></div><p>For a supposedly free society, recent <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1821178852397477984">statements by policy makers and public officials in the UK</a> started to sound as though they came from the plot of the 2005 dystopian sci-fi film, "V for Vendetta." The media personalities, even after a lifetime of indoctrination with free speech as the core Western value, suddenly seemed to have <a href="https://twitter.com/liz_churchill10/status/1821224456968192202">no qualms about advocating curbs on freedom of expression</a>.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8afc0827-40f7-4aba-9b5d-a0f55f1c0315_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8afc0827-40f7-4aba-9b5d-a0f55f1c0315_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8afc0827-40f7-4aba-9b5d-a0f55f1c0315_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":127268,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>On Friday, 16 August, I joined <strong>Tom Luongo</strong> at the <a href="https://odysee.com/@cryptorich:e/talex-AUGUST:1">@CryptoRich podcast</a> to discuss the situation, which turned into a bit of a brainstorming session: given that violent crime and knife stabbings are nothing new in Britain (they've been on the rise for years) and that people's resentment against immigrants isn't new either, it occurred to me to wonder, why is the government turning as radically authoritarian? And why now?</p><p>If the crackdown is being deliberately orchestrated and I believe that it is, then what is the reason for it? Our discussion converged on the idea that Britain might be facing an imminent financial crisis which could accelerate her economic and social collapse. My suspicion was that it might have to do with the fact that Britain got overextended in Ukraine trying to regain the leadership, affluence and the prestige which it has been steadily losing over the recent decades.</p><h2>Britain’s long descent</h2><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20325fac-e46e-44c8-86fc-9a77f84db5e9_818x462.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F20325fac-e46e-44c8-86fc-9a77f84db5e9_818x462.png" width="818" height="462" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/20325fac-e46e-44c8-86fc-9a77f84db5e9_818x462.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":462,"width":818,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":600704,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Indeed, Britain's decline has been long in the making. In October 2021 I published an article titled, "<strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/2021/10/27/the-fall-of-global-britain-an-investment-hypothesis/">The Fall of Global Britain - an Investment Hypothesis</a></strong>" together with a <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hHUv3s5iQ8">video report</a></strong> with the same title. Noting that Great Britain is displaying many of the symptoms of imperial powers in decline, I predicted that it won’t revert to simply minding its own domestic business as a neutral island nation. Here’s what I wrote back then:</p><blockquote><p>"<em>Today the UK could be in the early stages of the same sequence of events </em>[as all other imperial powers in decline]<em>: a severe crisis at home coupled with the dramatic loss of international leverage and a very costly addiction to imperial prestige. The UK will likely make all the mistakes made by other powers in that similar position through history: it will suffocate its domestic economic growth by imposing hard austerity at home while at the same time increasing military spending and foreign adventurism. Britain’s public debt will continue to outpace its GDP growth and the government’s budget deficits will be covered by Bank of England’s monetary inflation. This recipe reliably leads to stagflation and possibly to hyperinflation.</em>"</p></blockquote><p>So far, so good: three years later, it is clear that the UK has continued making all the mistakes made by other decaying empires, particularly in terms of foreign adventurism.</p><p>A sudden deterioration, which developed during the course of this year seems to be related to the Western powers’ impending military defeat in their proxy war against Russia. Britain has been the principal cheerleader and sponsor of that conflict, and she seems to have gone "in over her head.” In addition to providing at least £7.5 billion in military aid (nearly $10 billion), Britain gave another £5 billion ($6.5 billion) to Ukraine in financial support. </p><p>Furthermore, Britain has also guaranteed multiple tranches of World Bank loans to Ukraine and many British financial institutions have purchased billions’ worth of Ukraine's bonds. Others made extensive direct investments there. In the timeline that follows we’ll trace the way Britain’s perfect storm shaped up in Ukraine.</p><h2>Timeline of Ukraine’s slow-motion train wreck</h2><p>It is clear that 2024 wasn’t going to be a good year for Ukraine. Public sentiment across Europe picked up on that, as confirmed in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/21/barely-10-per-cent-of-europeans-believe-ukraine-can-defeat-russia-poll">a poll of 17,023 respondents in 12 EU nations</a> conducted in January by the European Council of Foreign Relations. It found that only 10% of the EU citizens believed that Ukraine could defeat Russia. A few weeks later things got still more bleak after Russian forces captured the strategically important town of Avdeevka.</p><p>But in addition to the near-certain military defeat, Ukraine was also facing a looming economic and financial collapse. Ukraine’s economic performance was already dismal before the conflict with Russia started in February 2022. But since that time, it has collapsed by another 25%. With tax receipts dwindling, Ukraine's 2024 budget deficit is expected to rise to nearly $44 billion. If Kiev were to service its debt obligations, they would eat up fully 15% of her GDP, the second largest expense item after defense (which stands at 31.3% of the GDP).</p><p>Keeping Ukraine’s government and military in operation has become entirely dependent on her Western backers. But by 2024, that support began to dry up as more and more decision makers started to doubt Ukraine’s prospects. In late March 2024, while the $61 billion US aid package was still stalled in US Congress, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-receives-15-bln-funding-tranche-under-world-bank-programme-says-pm-2024-03-29/">World Bank approved $1.5 billion</a> in financial support for Ukraine. The draft document on the allocation of these funds underscored the “catastrophic” state of Ukraine’s public finances and acknowledged the “extremely high” risk of cooperating with Ukraine.</p><p>A World Bank official involved with the matter <a href="https://www.rt.com/business/595212-ukraine-bankruptcy-world-bank/">noted that</a> Ukraine was facing bankruptcy. Significantly, he added that, as with previous transactions, the World Bank did not provide its own funds for Kiev, but <em>“once again took advantage”</em> of guarantees from two of Ukraine’s donors, primarily Japan and the UK. Ukraine’s Prime Minister<strong> Denis Shmigal</strong> <a href="https://aboutinsider.com/ukraine-secures-vital-1-5-billion-funding-tranche-from-world-bank/">divulged that</a> out of the $1.5 billion given to Ukraine, $984 million of the sum originated from Japan and $516 million from Britain. But Ukraine is now unable to service her mounting foreign debts.</p><h2>Sunday, May 4, 2024: bondholders pressure Ukraine</h2><p>On May 4, the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/ukraine-debt-payments-russia-war-1c0c301e">Wall Street Journal reported</a> that a group of foreign bondholders, including such behemoths as BlackRock, PIMCO and France’s Amundi put pressure on the government of Ukraine to start repaying some of its debts. Back in July 2022, this group <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-wins-investor-approval-to-pause-payments-on-foreign-debts-11660146243?mod=article_inline">granted Kiev a two year grace period</a> to pause repayments of some $20 billion in bonds they had previously issued. That agreement was due to expire on August 1, 2024.</p><p>According to the media reports, the interest payments on those debts alone would amount to $500 million annually. I’m not sure how they came up with that figure: the bond issues in question are all listed in <a href="https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/PYP2/ukraine-reaches-agreement-with-bondholders/16578910">this document</a> and the average interest rate on these bonds is about 7.54%, suggesting that Ukraine’s annual interest expense was $1.487 billion, nearly triple what media reports suggested.</p><p>And here we’re still talking about only $20 billion out of Ukraine’s total debt of $161.5 billion! Given the catastrophic state of the country’s finances, the repayment of these debts would collapse Ukraine’s government and its economy.</p><h2>Sunday, June 30 2024: one month to avert default</h2><p>The Economist published an article titled, “<a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/06/30/ukraine-has-a-month-to-avoid-default">Ukraine has a month to avoid default</a>,” or until the end of July 2024. Something had to be done.</p><h2>Friday, 12 July 2024: negotiations with bondholders start</h2><p><a href="https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/PYP2/ukraine-reaches-agreement-with-bondholders/16578910">Private discussions began</a> about restructuring Ukraine’s debts with members of an ad hoc creditor committee. The discussions would conclude on July 19. The government of Ukraine was advised by Rothschild &amp; Co as financial advisors and White &amp; Case LLP as legal advisors (odd how the same names tend to crop up in the works wherever a land is drenched in blood). Ukraine <a href="https://www.rt.com/business/600269-ukraine-debt-restructuring-default/">demanded a 60% debt reduction</a> while creditors thought that 22% was <em>“more reasonable.”</em></p><h2>Thursday, 18 July 2024: Zelensky arrives in London</h2><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32a12e3-320b-411d-b2ce-378210491aba_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32a12e3-320b-411d-b2ce-378210491aba_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c32a12e3-320b-411d-b2ce-378210491aba_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":241580,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Zelensky arrived for an official visit to London. First, <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-arrives-in-uk/">upon arrival he met with </a><strong><a href="https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-arrives-in-uk/">General Valery Zaluzhny</a></strong>, former Commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and recently appointed Ambassador to Britain. Later in the day Zelensky participated at the <a href="https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1813988448354681196">European Political Community summit</a> held at the <a href="https://twitter.com/FCDOGovUK/status/1813831570203291844">Blenheim Palace</a> in Oxfordshire along with delegates of 44 other countries. Speaking at the event, Zelensky underscored that the UK had been “one step ahead in its determination to support Ukraine” since the Russian invasion began. </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ac346fd-dfe9-4aa2-837a-7efb9a7bebb9_900x600.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ac346fd-dfe9-4aa2-837a-7efb9a7bebb9_900x600.jpeg" width="900" height="600" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0ac346fd-dfe9-4aa2-837a-7efb9a7bebb9_900x600.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":600,"width":900,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"Photo of European leaders outside Blenheim Palace.","title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="Photo of European leaders outside Blenheim Palace." title="Photo of European leaders outside Blenheim Palace." loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The summit concluded, apparently with the <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2024-07-18/zelenskyy-to-address-cabinet-in-first-downing-street-visit-under-starmer">participants reaching an agreement</a> to target Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers: some 600 vessels enabling Russia to evade West’s oil sanctions. On the sidelines of the Summit, Zelensky also met with UK’s king <strong>Charles III</strong> and Prime Minister <strong>Starmer</strong>. Allegedly, he also met with the <a href="https://eadaily.com/en/news/2024/07/18/zelensky-showed-charles-iii-who-is-the-king-in-britain">representatives of some of Ukraine's financial and corporate backers</a> like BlackRock, JP Morgan, Bridgewater, Blackstone and ArcelorMittal.</p><h2>Friday, 19 July 2024: Zelensky addresses Starmer’s cabinet</h2><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94b3be80-cb6a-4dae-b52f-5b5a86316d69_1333x884.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F94b3be80-cb6a-4dae-b52f-5b5a86316d69_1333x884.png" width="1333" height="884" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/94b3be80-cb6a-4dae-b52f-5b5a86316d69_1333x884.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":884,"width":1333,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2156400,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Zelensky paid an official visit to Prime Minister Starmer and on the occasion <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/show-support-uks-starmer-invites-ukraines-zelenskiy-attend-cabinet-2024-07-18/">addressed the meeting of the British cabinet</a> which greeted Zelensky with a standing ovation. This was the first time another head of state has done so since 1997, when <strong>Bill Clinton</strong> addressed <strong>Tony Blair</strong>’s cabinet. In opening the meeting, Keir Starmer said that, “Ukraine is, and always will be, at the heart of this government’s agenda and so it is only fitting that President Zelensky will make a historic address to my cabinet.”</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11104202-8937-4b85-9b7d-ef0632dd413b_1342x750.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11104202-8937-4b85-9b7d-ef0632dd413b_1342x750.png" width="1342" height="750" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/11104202-8937-4b85-9b7d-ef0632dd413b_1342x750.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":750,"width":1342,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1786967,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">If you can’t, if you can’t give us money, OK, OK, just give us credit and we pay you back!</figcaption></figure></div><p>Addressing Zelensky, Starmer said that, “This is a very, very important meeting for us and you’re very welcome here. It is a real pleasure and a privilege to be able to welcome you to Downing Street this morning. This is a real piece of history.” The invitation extended to Zelensky to speak to the British cabinet, Starmer continued, was indicative of “the esteem you’re held in… in this country and around the world.” Incidentally, this same Friday was also the last day of discussions about restructuring Ukraine’s debts, so we can infer that those debts to private bondholders were among the “very, very important” matters discussed by the Starmer cabinet that day.</p><h2>Monday, 22 July 2024: we have a deal!</h2><p>Almost as soon as Zelensky’s visit in London concluded, the Government of Ukraine <a href="https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/PYP2/ukraine-reaches-agreement-with-bondholders/16578910">announced that a deal was reached</a> with its main bondholders to restructure the country’s near-$20 billion worth of bonds, including a 37% reduction of the amounts owed. But this was only "an agreement, in principle," reached with an “ad-hoc creditor committee,” and it wasn’t binding on all the bondholders. </p><p>Instead, it imposed on Ukraine’s government “the Restructuring as soon as practicable,” to be implemented through a “consent solicitation.” In other words, Ukraine was expected to chase after its creditors and beg them to accept the deal, even offering them a 1.25% “consent fee.” Well, things were about to take a sharp turn for the worse…</p><h2>Wednesday, 24 July 2024: Ukraine strikes the Fitch iceberg</h2><p>Only two days after Ukraine announced the deal with their bondholders, <a href="https://www.fitchratings.com/research/sovereigns/fitch-downgrades-ukraine-to-c-24-07-2024">Fitch downgraded Ukraine’s credit rating from CC to C</a>, reflecting extreme credit risk reserved for countries that "entered default or default-like process." Significantly, Fitch made it explicit that “the publication of sovereign reviews is subject to restrictions and must take place according to a published schedule…”</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5d35ca-f33c-4b44-a557-50c8d3766c4d_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5d35ca-f33c-4b44-a557-50c8d3766c4d_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0b5d35ca-f33c-4b44-a557-50c8d3766c4d_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":42738,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">Bad day: Ukraine and her sponsors struck the Fitch iceberg</figcaption></figure></div><p>For Ukraine, the next scheduled review date was set for 6 December 2024. However, Fitch determined that there was a “material change in the creditworthiness of the issuer” which would have made it “inappropriate for us to wait…” Thus, Fitch brought forward their credit rating review for Ukraine by nearly six months, either because her financial position suddenly and significantly deteriorated, or because <strong>somewhere, someone who had the power to pull strings, decided to capsize Ukraine</strong> (and the UK and EU along with it).</p><h2>Monday, 29 July 2024: stabbings in Southport</h2><p>The stabbing of three young girls took place in Southport, UK. The event reportedly unleashed widespread rioting and clashes around Britain. End of July was also the time when <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/06/30/ukraine-has-a-month-to-avoid-default">The Economist predicted</a> Ukraine would face bankruptcy.</p><h2>Wednesday, 31 July 2024: Zelensky ‘temporarily’ suspends debt repayments</h2><p>Zelensky <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-signs-law-allowing-ukraine-debt-payment-suspension-2024-07-31/">signed a law</a> enabling Ukraine to suspend payments of external debts for two months (or longer).</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faf5f46b9-2a8f-46f1-8b6d-b97a4d4f317d_1500x845.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faf5f46b9-2a8f-46f1-8b6d-b97a4d4f317d_1500x845.png" width="1456" height="820" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/af5f46b9-2a8f-46f1-8b6d-b97a4d4f317d_1500x845.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":820,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":105266,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">July 2024 was a pivotal month which induced the panic, reactions and the fallouts shaping the fall of Ukraine and Britain with it.</figcaption></figure></div><h2>Thursday, August 1 2024: debt repayments freeze takes effect</h2><p>Bondholders’ grace period expires; Zelensky’s unilateral debt repayments freeze takes effect.</p><h2>Tuesday, 6 August 2024: Ukraine launches Kursk incursion</h2><p>Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into the Kursk region of Russia. The plan to attack the Kursk region had been made at least a year earlier, but it was never implemented, most likely because strategically, it made little sense. In fact, Prof. <strong>John Mearsheimer</strong> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlhX30TeGq4">called the attack a fiasco</a>. Here’s a part of his statement:</p><blockquote><p>“I think it was a huge mistake on the part of the Ukrainians to invade Russia. … it's going to speed up their defeat. … It’s a giant killing zone. … the Ukrainians cobbled together a strike force that’s comprised of some of their most formidable fighting forces. That strike force went on the offensive. … you're presenting the other side with a huge number of targets. … the Ukrainians have been losing twice as many armored vehicles on a daily basis than they were in the war before August 6. … I think it [was] a remarkably foolish thing to do. … It's hard to believe that to make the Kursk offensive work, the Ukrainians had to pull forces off the Eastern front where this war is being settled, and where they're in deep trouble. And to pull forces away - it's not only that they didn't send reinforcements to the Eastern front, they pulled forces away from the eastern front. … it's quite clear that the Russians are doing better by the day because Ukrainian resistance is weakening by the day. Because Ukrainians have funneled and are funneling forces away from the Eastern front and into the Kursk region. This, in my opinion, is remarkably foolish…"</p></blockquote><p>Noting that the Russians were taken by surprise at Kursk, the professor thought they were unprepared because “it's such a crazy idea that the Russians didn't think that the Ukrainians would be foolish enough to do it.” </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe01435f2-0da3-4680-9368-a9f645d2ecfd_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe01435f2-0da3-4680-9368-a9f645d2ecfd_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e01435f2-0da3-4680-9368-a9f645d2ecfd_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":291800,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>If Professor Mearsheimer is right, this raises an important question: why did the Armed Forces of Ukraine pull the trigger now, as the country was already on the verge of military defeat and financial default?</p><p>What we do know is that Ukraine launched the incursion only 18 days after Zelensky’s visit in London. Zelensky’s security advisor <strong>Mikhailo Podolyak</strong> admitted that <a href="https://en.news-front.su/2024/08/15/podolyak-said-that-kiev-had-discussed-with-the-us-and-britain-the-invasion-of-kursk-region/">the Kursk invasion was discussed with the British</a>. On August 18, The Sunday Times of London revealed that Britain played the pivotal role in the operation:</p><p>“Unseen by the world, British equipment, including drones, have played a central role in Ukraine’s new offensive and British personnel have been closely advising the Ukrainian military… on a scale matched by no other country.”</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53cee476-8e7c-45b7-9977-939566a58ec2_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53cee476-8e7c-45b7-9977-939566a58ec2_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/53cee476-8e7c-45b7-9977-939566a58ec2_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":45311,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>ZeroHedge commented that the operation was, “<a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/more-disclosures-kursk-op-british-plan-british-weapons">A British Plan With British Weapons</a>.” The leadership of Ukraine gave at least three unconvincing explanations for the incursion: (1) to improve Ukraine’s negotiating position vis-à-vis Russia; (2) to divert Russian forces from the Donbass front; and (3) to create a buffer zone inside Russia.</p><p>Neither explanation made much sense, but the move did create a window of opportunity for the West to talk up Ukraine’s great military success which could prove to be a turning point in the war. Wasting no time, on that same Tuesday, 6 August the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-08-06/eu-governments-give-green-light-to-4-2-billion-euros-payout-to-ukraine">European Council approved 4.2 billion euros in financial support</a> for Ukraine. It would be the first regular payment out of the 50 billion euros financial aid package set aside for Ukraine by the European Union.</p><p>The European Council’s decision to approve the funds was based on the EU Commission's assessment that Ukraine had satisfactorily fulfilled nine reform indicators related to the first regular quarterly payment. These conditions included the government’s public financial management, management of state-owned companies, business environment and energy and mine clearance. </p><p>It was unclear however, whether the European Commission was equally impressed by Ukraine’s credit rating downgrade and the government’s suspension of external debt repayments, but what is important is that <em>somehow</em> the decision was made, and the money was transferred to Ukraine without undue delay.</p><h2>Tuesday, 13 August 2024: Ukraine receives EU funds</h2><p>The European Commission <a href="https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/eng/news/2024/08/13/7192016/">transferred €4.2 billion to Ukraine</a> as part of the first tranche of the Ukraine Facility program.</p><h2>Wednesday, 14 August 2024: WHO declares Mpox pandemic</h2><p>In addition to all this, on 14 August, the World Health Organization Director-General declared Mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. We’re all in this together (again) and now further restrictions on public gatherings and freedom of expression might be justified.</p><p>Another two events coincided with Ukraine’s de facto debt default. On 30 July 2024, Israelis assassinated senior Hezbollah commander <strong>Fuad Shukr</strong> and an Iranian military advisor, <strong>Milad Bedi</strong> in Lebanon, along with five Lebanese civilians (including two children). The following day, on 31 July they also assassinated <strong>Ismail Haniyeh</strong>, the political leader of Hamas, in Tehran.</p><p>We can’t be sure whether all these events are related, but they do have this in common: they all had the potential to precipitate worldwide states of emergency either due to escalation of military conflicts or due to a pandemic. And they all took place within days from Ukraine’s default, which has put the western financial system in jeopardy. Further signs of panic in the banking circles came from the mothership itself…</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F391e8d31-94a6-4447-a970-a91445c3ece9_1499x843.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F391e8d31-94a6-4447-a970-a91445c3ece9_1499x843.png" width="1456" height="819" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/391e8d31-94a6-4447-a970-a91445c3ece9_1499x843.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":819,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":84666,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">And the month ain’t over yet…</figcaption></figure></div><h2>Panic at the Bank of England?</h2><p>On 22 July, the same day when the agreement between the government of Ukraine and the “ad hoc committee” of her private creditors was announced, the Bank of England also <a href="https://www.cmdportal.com/events/the-future-boe-balance-sheet-a-new-system-for-supplying-reserves/">announced</a> a seminar titled "The Future Bank of England Balance Sheet – managing its transition towards a new system for supplying reserves." The seminar took place the same day (a bit of a short notice for most people) and featured a speech by <strong>Victoria Saporta</strong>, Executive Director of the bank’s Markets Directorate. In the announcement, the BOE explained that its “balance sheet plays a key role in helping [the bank] achieve its financial stability and monetary policy objectives.”</p><p>Saporta’s speech, titled “Let’s Get Ready to Repo!” laid out the Bank’s latest thinking on the future of its balance sheet which would transition towards a <em>demand-driven system for supplying reserves</em>. Saporta suggested that the bank would need to accept a “broader range of assets” as collateral to make the system “usable for the widest range of firm business models.” She added that, “The single punchline is that both we, the Bank and you, the market, need to prepare ourselves for increased usage of both our short term and long term repo operations. Or in short, let’s get ready to repo!”</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faeb8f2ac-6295-4735-94f5-9b74cae3b626_1565x815.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faeb8f2ac-6295-4735-94f5-9b74cae3b626_1565x815.png" width="1456" height="758" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/aeb8f2ac-6295-4735-94f5-9b74cae3b626_1565x815.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":758,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1467100,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">Seriously, where do they find these people?!</figcaption></figure></div><p>Here’s how Bloomberg’s macro strategist <strong>Simon White</strong> put it: in a <em>demand-led</em> system, “<em>what banks use to settle balances each day *must* be ‘shiftable’ on to the central bank’s balance sheet in a crisis. If they are not, liquidity is at risk of seizing up altogether. </em>Thus, in a crisis, potentially no asset under this scheme will be turned away.” That could include even Ukraine’s bonds.</p><p>What is clear from this and from the BOE’s language is that the bank is now anxious about Britain’s financial system collapsing and it has resolved to avert the collapse in the worst possible way: by loosening its credit standards and accepting junk quality collateral in exchange for cash. This is the clearest possible sign that the system came to the verge of collapsing. Not so long ago, we had a glimpse of just how fragile Britain’s financial system is. </p><h2>Kwarteng’s “mini budget” was a foreshadowing</h2><p>On Friday, 23 September 2022, shortly after the new cabinet led by Prime Minister <strong>Liz Truss</strong> took over, her Chancellor of the Exchequer, <strong>Kwasi Kwarteng</strong> presented his "mini-budget." The markets did not react well and both the British pound and the price of gilts sold off sharply (gilts are British government bonds). This in turn caused thousands of British pension funds to face margin calls. </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68605c0c-5f49-431f-b6e6-7ed48bd9f515_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68605c0c-5f49-431f-b6e6-7ed48bd9f515_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/68605c0c-5f49-431f-b6e6-7ed48bd9f515_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":363664,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">The red and black labels on their vests read, “Proud to be safe,” I shit you not!</figcaption></figure></div><p>To come up with cash for those margin calls, the pension funds needed to urgently liquidate some of their gilt holdings. However, by Tuesday, 27 September, there were no buyers for long-dated gilts. To avert a price collapse, the Bank of England had to intervene. As the bank subsequently informed the Parliament in a letter dated 5 October, on September 27 and 28, the system had "come within hours" of collapsing. The bank came through as the buyer of up to £40 billion in gilts.</p><p>What’s peculiar about the British financial system is that the taxpayers are obliged to reimburse the Bank of England for any losses it sustains on its balance sheet assets. If the price of gilts on the bank’s balance sheet collapses, British taxpayers must cover those losses and make the bank whole. So, what kind of money are we talking about? As the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ee8e33ee-e16e-459b-af32-5709db6874de">the FT reported last July</a>, the BOE has estimated it will require the Treasury to transfer a total of £150 billion by 2033 to cover expected losses on the central bank’s quantitative easing program.</p><h2>Stand and deliver!</h2><p>So how much is £150 billion? Provided that things haven’t deteriorated since July 2023 (they have), we’re talking £2,240 per man, woman and child in Britain. Stand and deliver: that’s the ransom that the BOE is claiming from them! But given that the British workforce is only about half the population, and that private enterprise accounts for less than 55% of the British GDP, this sum represents nearly £10,000 per employee working in the private sector. </p><p>In all, the situation is impossible and all the cabinet reshuffles and cosmetic patches changed nothing of substance in the UK; they amounted to a sort of rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic as the ship is already sinking. So where is all this headed? Let’s have a peak at the economic and social conditions in the UK to consider the possible outcomes of the crisis.</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe","language":"en"}' data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM" data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor"><div data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Alex Krainer's TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input-wrapper"><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input"></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-button"></div></div></div></div><h2>The dying economy</h2><p> In addition to making heavy direct investment in the “project Ukraine,” Britain has sustained high indirect costs as a consequence of sanctions imposed on Russia. Today, large segments of British society are slumping into Dickensian era poverty.</p><p>According to last year’s figures from <a href="https://www.trusselltrust.org/news-and-blog/latest-stats/end-year-stats/#factsheets">Trussell Trust</a>, the number of people in the UK who needed emergency food supplies from food banks more than <a href="https://www.trusselltrust.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/EYS-UK-Factsheet-2022-23.pdf">doubled in the last five years, to 3 million</a>. One in five households have trouble paying their water bills, and many more are struggling to keep up with their energy bills. Electricity bills in the UK are over five times higher than the European average and will substantially increase this winter again, as the suppliers’ <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy54r9r1355o">wholesale costs increased by 20%</a> over the last few months! It’s little wonder that as many as <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/one-in-four-people-could-be-forced-to-turn-off-their-heating-and-hot-water/">48% of Britons said</a> that they would have to turn down the heat, or switch it off completely to survive the winter financially.</p><p>In February this year, The Guardian published an article titled, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/08/gordon-brown-slams-obscene-levels-of-destitution-in-the-uk?CMP=share_btn_tw">Gordon Brown slams 'obscene' levels of destitution in the UK</a>." Its opening paragraph states that, "Britain is in the throes of a hidden poverty epidemic, with the worst-affected households living in squalor and going without food, heating and everyday basics such as clean clothes and toothpaste..." The Guardian also published a column written by Brown himself titled, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/08/child-poverty-britain-anger-gordon-brown">Tables without food, bedrooms without beds. Grinding child poverty in Britain calls for anger - and a plan</a>."</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2b6c3a35-b304-4c7e-9556-e3a3a96785b9_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2b6c3a35-b304-4c7e-9556-e3a3a96785b9_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2b6c3a35-b304-4c7e-9556-e3a3a96785b9_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":419990,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Brown lamented that in some neighbourhoods of his own home town of Kirkcaldy, 70% of children were in poverty which is the worst he had seen in his lifetime. He described Britain as being "haunted by poverty we thought had been consigned to history." Indeed, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/02/energy-profits-british-gas-prepayment-meters-scandal">as The Guardian put it</a> last year: </p><blockquote><p>“Everything points… to a horrific cliff-edge looming… and an avalanche of debts, defaults, evictions and unpaid bills to follow. ... Put simply, frighteningly large numbers of people just don’t have enough money to absorb the shocks that are coming. Wages are too low, benefits too mean, and the cost of living too high for them to afford even the basics. ... The CEO of one British retailer complained that his stores were losing customers to food banks or simply “to hunger.”</p></blockquote><h2>The parasite is killing the host</h2><p>When businesses are losing sales to poverty, rather than competition, we know that the parasite is killing the host. The parasite, of course, is the banking cartel and it doesn’t care about the plight of the ordinary British people. In an interview last year, Bank of England's top economist, <strong>Huw Pill</strong>, thought that <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/uk-inflation-unexpectedly-comes-red-hot-remains-double-digits">the best advice he could offer to his fellow Britons</a> was to just accept being worse off. </p><p>He literally said that, "Somehow in the UK, someone needs to accept that they're worse off and stop trying to maintain their real spending power by bidding up prices..." Parroting the same mindset, the Bank's Governor, <strong>Andrew Bailey</strong> admonished British workers not to demand pay raises in order to do their part in the fight against inflation.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faf9f7427-0cf8-41f3-8265-1adc26e08aa5_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faf9f7427-0cf8-41f3-8265-1adc26e08aa5_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/af9f7427-0cf8-41f3-8265-1adc26e08aa5_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":83037,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>None of this is accidental; it’s not like Britain has been cursed with the bad luck of having consistently incapable or uncaring governments. Rather, the policy of immiserating the British people has been sustained and deliberate. According to a report written in 2018 by Prof.<strong> Phillip Alston, </strong>UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, a "systematic, willful, concerted, and brutal economic war" was being waged against the poor and vulnerable sections of British society. Since then, things have only gotten a whole lot worse: for British families, “2024 was shaping up to be, financially, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/08/gordon-brown-slams-obscene-levels-of-destitution-in-the-uk?CMP=share_btn_tw">the worst year in living memory</a>.”</p><p>Now, if these policies were deliberate, then what is their objective? Well, Gordon Brown did spell it out in his February op-ed: he called on the chancellor <strong>Jeremy Hunt</strong> (who had then replaced Kwarteng) to "undertake a root-and-branch review of universal credit." But the “universal credit” Brown was mentioning is merely the lure. The actual bill of goods that Brown was selling as he feigned outrage over poverty he himself helped create, was forcing a neo-feudal subjugation on British citizens by making them dependent on the nanny state for handouts. </p><p>This is why his partner in crime, <strong>Tony Blair</strong> has been pushing so hard to introduce a digital ID in the UK. It will be needed to police British people’s obedience and compliance with whatever rules, norms or restrictions that the ruling establishment might demand. It could be vaccinations, confinement to 15-minute cities, carbon quotas, death panels, insect protein fodder, love for the big brother, military conscription, forever wars, etc. Now that their ship has sunk in Ukraine (and in the Middle East), they need these measures in place, yesterday!</p><p>This is not progress toward greater prosperity and freedom but rather a future that George Orwell described as, “a boot stamping on the human face, forever.” Britain’s not so excellent misadventure in Ukraine tore the last shiny fragment from her democratic façade, revealing her feudalistic, authoritarian rule by an unelected, unaccountable and depraved oligarchy. </p><p>History suggests that such regimes ossify and have a certain tendency to drag their host nations into dark ages where they may remain mired in backwardness for generations. It remains to be seen whether the British people will find the strength and determination to fight back and win a better future for the coming generations.</p><p>I sincerely hope that they will fight back. The same fight is gathering for all of us in the Western world. In my next report I’ll address the changes that will likely impact the financial markets in Britain and her dependencies like Australia and Canada. As the empire unravels – good riddance – it will create opportunities for major windfalls, possibly one of those rare occasions worth paying attention to. In concluding, I’ll only foreshadow what I believe is possible by presenting the chart of the German Imperial Bond at the turn of the 19<sup>th</sup> century.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa8c9d234-3be0-4a9c-9cca-24dc1165b0aa_581x329.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa8c9d234-3be0-4a9c-9cca-24dc1165b0aa_581x329.png" width="581" height="329" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a8c9d234-3be0-4a9c-9cca-24dc1165b0aa_581x329.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":329,"width":581,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":114225,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Current British circumstances are in many ways similar to those faced by the Weimar republic a century ago, suggesting that it might travel along a similar trajectory to a similar end.</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/the-coming-collapse-of-britain?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM" data-sanitized-class="captioned-button-wrap"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Thank you for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></div><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/the-coming-collapse-of-britain?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/the-coming-collapse-of-britain?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p><strong><a href="http://linkedin.com/in/alex-sasha-krainer-0b74ab1a">Alex Krainer</a> – <a href="https://twitter.com/NakedHedgie">@NakedHedgie</a></strong> is the creator of <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/">I-System Trend Following</a></strong> and publisher of daily <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/trendcompass/">TrendCompass</a></strong> investor reports which cover over 200 financial and commodities markets. One-month test drive is always free of charge, <strong>no jumping through hoops to cancel</strong>. To start your trial subscription, drop us an email at <a href="mailto:TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com">TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com</a></p><p>For<strong> <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">US investors</a></strong>, we propose a trend-driven inflation/recession resilient portfolio covering a basket of 30+ financial and commodities markets. Further information is at <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">link</a></p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd069815f-52cb-4ad8-a5bc-6ffb872efd6d_1027x553.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd069815f-52cb-4ad8-a5bc-6ffb872efd6d_1027x553.png" width="1027" height="553" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d069815f-52cb-4ad8-a5bc-6ffb872efd6d_1027x553.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":553,"width":1027,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1140235,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>.</p>

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guid: yt:video:yJag5nLgU5U
title: Geometry Nodes in Blender Are Simply AMAZING!
author: ;ukramedia
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJag5nLgU5U
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guid: https://scottjehl.com/posts/web-components-demystified-released/
title: Now Released! The Web Components Demystified Online Course
author: ;Scott Jehl
link: https://scottjehl.com/posts/web-components-demystified-released/
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content:
<p>Big news! My new online course, <a href="https://scottjehl.com/learn/webcomponentsdemystified/">Web Components Demystified</a> has launched and is open for enrollment!</p>
<a href="https://scottjehl.com/learn/webcomponentsdemystified/">
<img src="https://scottjehl.com/assets/wcdlogos/course-ad.jpg" alt="">
</a>
<h2>What's It About?</h2>
<p>There's a shift underway in front-end development. The largest companies in the world are transitioning away from the complicated, bloated frameworks that have dominated our practices in the last decade, and they're choosing to build on standard Web Components instead. Web Components Demystified aims to help designers and developers prepare themselves for this next phase of the web. Level up and learn all about Web Components today!</p>
<h2>What's Included?</h2>
<ul>
<li>12 Video Modules</li>
<li>8hrs of Closed-Captioned Video Instruction</li>
<li>In-Depth Technical Dives</li>
<li>Resilient Reusable Patterns</li>
<li>Practice Prompts</li>
<li>Framework &amp; Library Tours</li>
<li>Certificate of Completion</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm happy to offer team discounts and Purchase Power Parity as well. <a href="https://scottjehl.com/#contact">So please reach out!</a></p>
<p><a href="https://scottjehl.com/learn/webcomponentsdemystified/">Find out a lot more on the course website and enroll today!</a></p>


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title:
Miser sur l’esprit entrepreneurial du Canada pour éliminer le dioxyde de carbone présent dans l’atmosphère : sénateur Deacon

link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/sencaplus/opinion/miser-sur-lesprit-entrepreneurial-du-canada-pour-eliminer-le-dioxyde-de-carbone-present-dans-latmosphere-senateur-deacon/


guid: yt:video:60hG3NcBDI0
title: Missing Records, Missing Children
author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60hG3NcBDI0
hash: [�,��WFtB:%�P[��
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guid: yt:video:RBI2c4u0ObI
title: Archives manquantes, enfants disparus
author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBI2c4u0ObI
hash: ��xX�1�9L�(Y�
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title: Coffee and a Mike: Eva Bartlett
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
hash: D'S�6U4�a�q�`�
guid:
https://odysee.com/quot-coffee-and-a-mike-quot-eva-bartlett-blissfully-unaware-anydownloader.com:7e9040059f2079aaa97fcc547abb1cf2c1cfd416

content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/595f7a137abec2ccab08691bfdc083c3.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Coffee and a Mike: Eva Bartlett"></p>Michael Farris had me on his podcast recently for a conversation spanning many topics.<br><br>First published: https://rumble.com/v5cs0e5-coffee-and-a-mike-eva-bartlett-blissfully-unaware.html<br><br>Please visit his rumble to see where to follow him &amp; how to support his work.<br><br><br>My Related Links at this post: <br><br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2024/08/30/interview-on-coffee-and-a-mike/

link:
https://odysee.com/quot-coffee-and-a-mike-quot-eva-bartlett-blissfully-unaware-anydownloader.com:7e9040059f2079aaa97fcc547abb1cf2c1cfd416

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guid: https://odysee.com/upthinking-finance-emerson-j.-fersch:108c636aaa9f3aea6830b71f86540fc9ecdcbef7
title: UpThinking Finance : Emerson J. Fersch &amp; Cynthia Chung | Energy Wars
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/upthinking-finance-emerson-j.-fersch:108c636aaa9f3aea6830b71f86540fc9ecdcbef7
hash: �| �_Bw�M��E��(
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/FRTw599mFXY" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="UpThinking Finance : Emerson J. Fersch &amp; Cynthia Chung | Energy Wars"></p>We’re being told that there isn’t enough energy to go around, and that we have to focus on green initiatives. But is that true? Dive deeper with us in this episode of UPThinking Finance™.<br><br>**********************************************<br>You can find Emerson J. Fersch’s work on:<br>YouTube: https://themelkshow.com<br>Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1727191<br><br>**********************************************<br>Get Science Unshackled here<br>https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/my-new-book-has-now-hit-the-press<br><br>Cynthia &amp; Matt's books:<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br><br>Watch the Docu-series “Escaping Calypso’s Island” here:<br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/escaping-calypsos-island/<br><br>Watch the Docu-series “The Hidden Hand Behind UFOs” here:<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/2023/11/01/the-hidden-hand-behind-ufos-episode-1-lifting-the-esoteric-veil/<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRTw599mFXY

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title: Collégialité, compromis et Confédération : La Conférence de Charlottetown de 1864
hash: ��K�U���:z *»��
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
guid:
/fr/sencaplus/comment-pourquoi/collegialite-compromis-et-confederation-la-conference-de-charlottetown-de-1864/

link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/sencaplus/comment-pourquoi/collegialite-compromis-et-confederation-la-conference-de-charlottetown-de-1864/


guid: 66da49717dd9eb0001397868
title: These repairable phones still aren't built to last
author: ;Corbin Davenport
link: https://www.spacebar.news/repairable-phones-problem/
hash: :`��^�i�I�Q3R�
content:
<img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/hmd.jpg" alt="These repairable phones still aren't built to last"><p>There's a growing trend of smartphones being sold as more easily repairable, with screens, batteries, or other components that can be swapped out with simple tools. The improved hardware is supposed to extend the life of the device, but many repairable phones still have a problem: the software probably won't last as long as the hardware.</p><p>You may not have heard of <a href="https://www.hmd.com/">HMD</a>, but you've probably seen its phones. After Microsoft purchased Nokia's mobile business, and then <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/microsoft-shuts-down-last-major-piece-of-nokia-purchase-cuts-1850-jobs/" rel="noreferrer">promptly ran it into the ground</a>, some former Nokia executives formed the new HMD company. HMD took over manufacturing of Nokia-branded feature phones, and started selling Nokia-branded Android smartphones <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/01/hmds-first-nokia-android-phone-the-nokia-6-launches-as-a-china-exclusive/" rel="noreferrer">in 2017</a>. Every modern Nokia phone or tablet has been sold by (and usually designed by) HMD, and more recently, the company has started <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/press/mwc-2024-announcements-press-release">trying to making a name for itself</a> and shedding the Nokia brand.</p><p>The smartphone market is crowded, and one of HMD's strategies for differentiating itself has been creating phones with more user-repairable designs. Most modern smartphones are difficult and time-consuming to repair, with iPhones being <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/27/self-service-repair-iphone-massiive-kit/" rel="noreferrer">almost impossible for people to fix</a> without a trip to an Apple-authorized repair shop, so bucking that trend seems like an easy win.</p><p>HMD has now released several Android phones with self-repairs as a main selling point, including the <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/nokia-g-310?sku=610214678638" rel="noreferrer">Nokia G310 5G</a>, <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/hmd-skyline" rel="noreferrer">HMD Skyline</a>, and most recently, the <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/hmd-fusion" rel="noreferrer">HMD Fusion</a>. The back covers on those phones can be removed with a single screwdriver and a prying tool, with relatively easy access to the battery, charging board (in case the USB-C port needs to be replaced), screen, and other components. It's still not the easiest task in the world to do yourself, but <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/collaborations/hmd" rel="noreferrer">HMD has partnered with iFixit</a> to create repair manuals and sell replacement parts.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="hardware-isnt-everything">Hardware isn't everything</h2><p>It's great that HMD is trying to make more repairable smartphones, especially when the only competition has been devices like the <a href="https://www.fairphone.com/nl" rel="noreferrer">Fairphone 5</a>, which starts at €549 (down from its original €699 price) and is only sold in Europe. However, there's a big piece still missing before I would feel comfortable <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/sustainability" rel="noreferrer">calling them "sustainable" phones</a>: the software support.</p><p>The specifications pages for the <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/hmd-fusion/specs?sku=101SQ503H043" rel="noreferrer">HMD Fusion</a> and <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/hmd-skyline/specs?sku=HQ502000461Q0">HMD Skyline</a> explain the phones are only guaranteed to receive two major Android operating system updates and three years of Android OS security patches. There's no guarantee of a release schedule for security updates on the Skyline, while the Fusion will get two years of monthly updates and quarterly updates for the last year.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lehv58xdGUQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Unveiling HMD Skyline: Stunning Camera, Speed, and Repairable" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></figure><p>Those timelines started when the phones were released, so if you buy the Fusion on sale a year from now, you only get two years of security patches. HMD also doesn't provide any mechanism for unlocking the bootloader, <a href="https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/akita/install/">like Google does for its Pixel phones</a>, so you can't install a community-supported version of Android after official support ends.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.hmd.com/en_us/nokia-g-310/specs?sku=610214678638" rel="noreferrer">Nokia G310 5G</a> has <em>no guarantee at all</em> for OS updates and security patches. HMD is bold enough to say on the product page, "The easier it is to repair a device, the longer you can keep it." Why would I want to keep a phone for years that's a security risk?</p><p>Much of the press coverage around HMD's repairable phones has not mentioned the lackluster software support, and it seems like a showstopper for keeping these phones in the long term. If I buy an HMD Skyline for the $499.99 retail price, and then in two years I accidentally drop it and crack the screen, does it really make sense to <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/products/hmd-skyline-screen">pay $95 for a replacement screen</a>? By that point, it won't get any more major Android updates (unless HMD is late with that second OS update) and it will have a year left before it becomes a security risk. I might as well just save up and buy an entirely new phone, or trade it in to get a discount on a new phone.</p><p>I'm well aware most people don't think about security updates on their phones. It's clear that millions of people <a href="https://www.xda-developers.com/android-distribution-numbers-2021/">will keep using outdated and vulnerable Android phones</a> as long as they are still functioning, because phones are expensive to replace. That doesn't mean the short-term software support should be ignored, though, and what's what <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/new-hmd-phones-combine-low-price-with-diy-repair-and-battery-replacement/">many</a> <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/hmds-fusion-is-a-modular-repairable-phone-that-can-wear-outfits">news</a> <a href="https://www.androidpolice.com/magsafe-compatible-qi2-wireless-charging-finally-comes-to-android/">outlets</a> are doing when covering these phones.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="this-is-a-solved-problem">This is a solved problem</h2><p>Fairphone is still the gold standard when it comes to sustainable and repairable smartphones. The company's latest Fairphone 5 <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/87664/fairphone-5-keeping-it-10-10" rel="noreferrer">earned a 10/10 score from iFixit</a> for its repairable design, and Fairphone has <a href="https://www.fairphone.com/en/story/">done a lot of work</a> on improving its supply chain for materials.</p><p>Fairphone's long-term software support is incredible, even when compared to major phone manufacturers like Samsung and Apple. The Fairphone 2 was released in 2015, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/23/22798512/fairphone-2-android-10-beta">received Android 10</a> as its final major OS update in 2021, and <a href="https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/9979180437393-Fairphone-OS">continued receiving security updates</a> until March 2023. That was <em>eight years</em> of software support, and Fairphone allows the bootloaders on its devices to be unlocked, so you can install community-supported operating systems. The Fairphone 4 has <a href="https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/device/fp4/">a port of Ubuntu Touch</a>, for example.</p><p>Fairphone's products aren't cheap, and aren't available globally, but they show you <em>can</em> create truly repairable and long-lasting smartphones. The phones coming out of HMD and other companies are a step in the right direction, but they don't yet meet that threshold.</p>

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guid: https://odysee.com/schiller%27s-on-the-beautiful-%28rtf:62d6efe9232f923b05eb39f4c52117a25eeb93ce
title: Schiller's On the Beautiful (RTF Reading)
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/schiller%27s-on-the-beautiful-%28rtf:62d6efe9232f923b05eb39f4c52117a25eeb93ce
hash: �+����tZ�H�'G�
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/Fd6_sxBMP-M" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Schiller's On the Beautiful (RTF Reading)"></p>Click here to download the reading (translated by William Wertz)<br><br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Philosphical-and-Aesthetical-Writings-of-Friedrich-Schiller.docx<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd6_sxBMP-M

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guid: https://odysee.com/an-afternoon-of-geopolitical-insights:5ccab0877b8a5aa66c4cc9274608bf6978b8ca05
title: An Afternoon of Geopolitical Insights with Joaquin Flores
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/an-afternoon-of-geopolitical-insights:5ccab0877b8a5aa66c4cc9274608bf6978b8ca05
hash: @.�e+;hz�( ��
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<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/-2ABT8rAPBY" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="An Afternoon of Geopolitical Insights with Joaquin Flores"></p>The RTF presents an in depth geopolitical presentation by Joaquin Flores on Sept. 8, 2024<br><br>Follow Joaquin's channel on t.me/NewResistance<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2ABT8rAPBY

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guid: https://scottjehl.com/posts/the-history-of-web-performance/
title: The History of Web Performance
author: ;Scott Jehl
link: https://scottjehl.com/posts/the-history-of-web-performance/
hash: <�KK�/�/4nr5:�
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<p><img src="https://scottjehl.com/assets/history-of-web-performance.png" alt='"History of Web Performance: a timeline. 1989-2013: Everything is slow due to networking constraints. 2013-Present: Everything is slow due to reduced networking constraints."'></p>


guid: https://odysee.com/DZVEr4yf-32036108:580e7c2cf2659f10e2d586f24e39106a40c1a9de
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/DZVEr4yf-32036108:580e7c2cf2659f10e2d586f24e39106a40c1a9de
hash: ����/f���|����
title:
(2019) Accused of Treason and Imprisoned Without Trial: Journalist Kirill Vyshinsky Recounts His Harrowing Time in a Ukrainian Prison

content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/70bf607dcd5e6a4e03adbe22ea5cf04a.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="(2019) Accused of Treason and Imprisoned Without Trial: Journalist Kirill Vyshinsky Recounts His Harrowing Time in a Ukrainian Prison"></p>October 2019:<br><br>In November 2018, I became aware of the case of Kirill Vyshinsky, a Ukrainian-Russian journalist and editor imprisoned in Ukraine without trial since May 2018, accused of high treason. <br><br>Soon after, I interviewed Vyshinsky via email. He described his arrest and the accusations against him as politically-motivated, “an attempt by the Ukrainian authorities to bolster the declining popularity of [then] President [Petro] Poroshenko in this election year.” <br><br>Vyshinsky noted that his arrest was advancing the incessant anti-Russian hysteria now prevalent among Ukrainian authorities, as he holds dual Ukrainian and Russian citizenship. He noted that the charges against him, which pertain to a number of articles he published in 2014 (none of them authored by Vyshinsky), became of interest to Ukrainian authorities and intelligence services four years after they were published. To Vyshinsky, this supports the notion that neither the articles nor their editor were a security threat to Ukraine, instead, he says, they were a political card to be played. <br><br>In early 2019, I traveled to Kiev to interview Vyshinsky’s defense lawyer Andriy Domansky about the logistic obstacles of his client’s case. Domansky viewed the Vyshinsky case as politically motivated and expressed concern that he could himself become a target of Ukraine’s secret service for his role in defending his client, an innocent man. <br><br>Domansky told me at the time,<br><br>The Vyshinsky case is key in demonstrating the presence of political persecution of journalists in Ukraine. As a legal expert, I believe justice is still possible in Ukraine and I will do everything possible to prove Kirill Vyshinsky’s innocence.”<br><br>To the surprise of those following the case against Vyshinsky, in late August 2019 he was released with little fanfare after serving more than 400 days in a Ukrainian prison but still faces all of the charges brought against him by the Ukrainian government and is “obliged to appear in court or give testimony to investigators if they deemed it necessary.” <br><br>By early September, Kirill Vyshinsky was on a plane to Moscow. Despite never being tried or officially convicted, he found himself the subject of a prisoner exchange between the Russian and Ukrainian governments.<br><br>I interviewed Vyshinsky in Moscow in late September. He told me about his harrowing ordeal, the Ukrainian detention system, other persecuted journalists, and what lies ahead for him.<br><br>He also touched on the inhumane conditions he experienced in Ukrainian prisons. He noted that a pretrial detention center as we know it in Western nations is a very different entity in Ukraine and that Ukrainian prisons were so over-crowded that it was common for inmates to sleep in three shifts in order to allow enough standing room for inmates crammed into a cell.<br><br> ...SEE FULL description here: <br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/accused-of-treason-and-imprisoned-without-trial-journalist-kirill-vyshinsky-recounts-his-harrowing-time-in-a-ukrainian-prison/

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guid: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/our-values-killing-pensioners-to
title: Our values: killing pensioners to save money
author: ;Alex Krainer
link: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/our-values-killing-pensioners-to
hash: �� C�\�^g��s%:@
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<p>Nothing says "our values" like reducing deficits by killing pensioners. Britain's new Prime Minister <strong>Sir Keir Starmer</strong> has recently announced his government's plan to cut winter fuel subsidies to 10 million pensioners in Britain. It's a tough decision, it will be unpopular and it'll hurt, but it just must be done. Namely, Sir Keir and his cabinet discovered, to their utter shock and consternation, that there was a £22 billion "black hole" in Britain's public finances! This is an emergency that must be rectified even if it causes some discomfort to a few pensioners.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f405765-23df-46d9-bd91-b95111b39aab_1638x921.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f405765-23df-46d9-bd91-b95111b39aab_1638x921.png" width="1456" height="819" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8f405765-23df-46d9-bd91-b95111b39aab_1638x921.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":819,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2432696,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><p>How much discomfort, and to how many pensioners? Back in 2017, when Tory Prime Minister <strong>Theresa May</strong> floated a similar proposal and Labour was in opposition, their own research determined that cutting winter fuel allowances would kill an estimated <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1946329/Labour-pensioners-dead-winter-fuel-thousands">3,850 pensioners that winter</a>. And that was five years ago - practically the good old days, before the "<a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9491/">typical household energy bills increased by 54% in April 2022 and 27% in October 2022</a>."</p><h2>Selective discernment and sizing of black holes</h2><p>Saving money by killing people may seem wrong, and Sir Keir himself had no trouble understanding this before he was Prime Minister: as recently as May of this year, he righteously lambasted the then PM <strong>Rishi Sunak</strong> about black holes and killing pensioners. He boldly confronted his predecessor: "So will [the Prime Minister] now rule out taking pensioners' winter fuel payments off them to help fund his £46 billion black hole?" </p><p>Yes, you read that correctly: Sir Keir already knew about the black hole and said it was £46 billion, not £22 billion. Well, let's not be too fastidious about these details: the black hole is there and it's size 22 or 46 or some other number, whatever. Who knows, maybe science had changed since May 2024. Whatever the case, Labour is now in government and, confronted with the 22B-size black hole, they no longer see what the big fuss with killing pensioners is all about.  And it’s not exactly like this is a new thing - here’s a Daily Mail headline from 12 years ago:</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ef19c05-2416-44ec-9b02-495553610ae5_919x487.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ef19c05-2416-44ec-9b02-495553610ae5_919x487.png" width="919" height="487" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0ef19c05-2416-44ec-9b02-495553610ae5_919x487.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":487,"width":919,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":92851,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h2>Losing power, regaining the moral compass </h2><p>Meanwhile the Tories, now that they're in opposition, suddenly regained their moral compass: on Sunday, 8 September Tory chairman <strong>Richard Fuller </strong>said that, "this week's vote on the Conservatives motion is a vote to protect millions of vulnerable pensioners. No MP from any party should run scared from stopping Labour's cruel plans... It's time for all Members of Parliament to put aside party politics and do the right thing." </p><p>Again, to avoid any confusion, by "the right thing" he meant continuing to pay out the pensioners' heating subsidies, not plugging the black hole with their corpses. Even the Tory establishment aristocrat <strong>Jacob Rees-Mogg</strong> rushed to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0mVh6CYJm4">seize moral high ground and pile in on Starmer</a>. Apparently, discerning right from wrong is only given to those who are in opposition, then cruelly taken away as soon as they're in power. This is such a wonderful, top-grade democracy, it must be exported everywhere around the world and by force if necessary, especially to dark tyrannical autocracies like Russia. </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F949fd149-fe23-42f3-b6a2-d17aa907412f_1092x607.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F949fd149-fe23-42f3-b6a2-d17aa907412f_1092x607.png" width="1092" height="607" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/949fd149-fe23-42f3-b6a2-d17aa907412f_1092x607.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":607,"width":1092,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1331884,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h2>Meanwhile, folks are cozy in Russia</h2><p>In spite of not enjoying our sterling liberal democracy, it would appear that ordinary Russians don’t fear winter, black holes or utility bills. </p><p>Just yesterday, Irish businessman <strong>Chay Bowes</strong> who now lives in Russia <a href="https://x.com/BowesChay/status/1833123151833616856?t=IVefxdyhb55Tvz3XOkrLrQ&amp;s=03">shared his own utility bill on X</a> and wrote as follows: "Dear Europeans. I've just paid my annual energy bill here in Moscow Russia. It covers all electricity, heating (on all through winter automatically from the city), and Water (hot and cold) and rubbish disposal. It cost me €146 for everything for the entire year." </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a2d1b62-0c84-48c3-bf5f-c875fcf3fe05_888x650.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a2d1b62-0c84-48c3-bf5f-c875fcf3fe05_888x650.png" width="888" height="650" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7a2d1b62-0c84-48c3-bf5f-c875fcf3fe05_888x650.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":650,"width":888,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":600286,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>How does that compare with the democratical UK? In Britain, the average energy bill is a bit higher: it’s <a href="https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/articles/property-news/average-uk-energy-bills-how-to-save-money/">it amounts to £176</a>, or in euros, it’s 209. But that’s <strong>per month</strong>, which works out to just over €2,500 per year - a whopping 17 times what Mr. Bowes pays in Moscow! Given that the average monthly retirement income in the UK is <a href="https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/pensions-retirement/planning-for-retirement/what-is-the-average-uk-retirement-income">only about £1,512</a>, these are very high rates, forcing many pensioners to choose between heating and eating.</p><p>The Russians do seem significantly more comfortable and less anxious about having such basic things as hot water, electricity and heating available to them. They are even free to use wood-burning stoves if they prefer - it’s a luxury that could result in <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11700317/Woodburning-stove-leave-300-penalty-criminal-record-new-regulations.html">a £300 penalty or a criminal record</a> in democratic Britain.  </p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe","language":"en"}' data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM" data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor"><div data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Alex Krainer's TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input-wrapper"><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input"></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-button"></div></div></div></div><h2>Russia’s social welfare state</h2><p>Enjoying certain comforts in Russia is not a fortuitous accident of chance: in its constitution, Russia is explicitly defined as a social welfare state. Welfare of its citizens is the government's core responsibility. In my book "<a href="https://www.redpillpress.com/shop/grand-deception-pdf/">Grand Deception</a>," I highlighted two well known examples of the way this works in reality. Here's one:</p><blockquote><p>During [<strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>'s] first winter as President [in 2000], entire towns and villages across the far east of the country counting as many as 400,000 inhabitants, lost heating for the lack of coal. A serious crisis emerged with mines shutting down, workers out in the streets and even hospitals ceasing to function because of the cold. But the coal for heating was available in Russia, only most of it was already allotted for export. Vladimir Putin didn’t think that Russian people should suffer freezing conditions all winter in order for that coal to be exchanged for American dollars. He decreed that export of coal be stopped immediately and that all available quantities be sent back to Siberia to fuel the boiler stations. ... in Putin’s world, well-being of the people takes precedence over financial profits of the investor class. This concept may seem exotic and alien to Westerners who for a generation had been brainwashed with neoliberal economics where profits trump any and every other concern, including health and well-being of the people. Nonetheless, I believe that beyond the brainwash, every normal person – even western-educated economists – would agree that in a crisis, the decent thing to do would be to take care of the people and let the oligarchs cope with one quarter or a year of impaired profitability of their enterprises.</p></blockquote><p>Unfortunately however, in western liberal democracies, this ability to discern right from wrong depends on being in opposition or, for most public officials, being in retirement. While in power, Western officials seem to lose this faculty. </p><h2>About economic theories and neoliberal ideology</h2><p>Thankfully however, we always have ideology and economic theories to fall back on. They provide a compelling case for why ours is the best economic system in history of creation, why ensuring people's welfare is socialism and therefore bad and evil, and why unscrupulous selfishness by the individual magically yields the best possible outcome for the collective. For decades now, we’d been sold the bill of goods that privatized, for profit, deregulated enterprise automagically result in the most reliable service, enhance consumer choice and lower the costs, and so utilities, trash disposal, postal services, roads, railroads, ports and most other infrastructure has been sold to private investors and turned into for profit enterprises. So far as utilities are concerned, the result is that in the UK, the mothership of neoliberal economics, people pay some of the most extortionate utility bills in the world.</p><p>Well, so far as our ruling establishment is concerned, the solution is that we first need to regime change Russia and get rid of the evil Mr. Putin. He is ruining our neat theories and the ideology they support. Once we can force our neoliberal order along with democracy and freedom onto Russia, everything else will fall neatly into place. It is therefore just and right for the British establishment to call on their nation to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/14/uk-must-be-ready-for-war-with-russia-says-armed-forces-chief">prepare to go to war against Russia</a>, no matter the cost in black holes, freezing pensioners, or any other such undignified trifle. For king and the country, by jingo!</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/our-values-killing-pensioners-to?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM" data-sanitized-class="captioned-button-wrap"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Thank you for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></div><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/our-values-killing-pensioners-to?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/our-values-killing-pensioners-to?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p><strong><a href="http://linkedin.com/in/alex-sasha-krainer-0b74ab1a">Alex Krainer</a> – <a href="https://twitter.com/NakedHedgie">@NakedHedgie</a></strong> is the creator of <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/">I-System Trend Following</a></strong> and publisher of daily <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/trendcompass/">TrendCompass</a></strong> investor reports which cover over 200 financial and commodities markets. One-month test drive is always free of charge, <strong>no jumping through hoops to cancel</strong>. To start your trial subscription, drop us an email at <a href="mailto:TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com">TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com</a></p><p>For<strong> <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">US investors</a></strong>, we propose a trend-driven inflation/recession resilient portfolio covering a basket of 30+ financial and commodities markets. Further information is at <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">this link.</a></p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfad10c9-0923-467e-ab46-1ea168f85659_1456x912.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfad10c9-0923-467e-ab46-1ea168f85659_1456x912.png" width="1456" height="912" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cfad10c9-0923-467e-ab46-1ea168f85659_1456x912.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":912,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":686512,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p>

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guid: https://odysee.com/Maria-Butina:9a036555dc86d31c724f6f7108fbc2e4b2daa951
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/Maria-Butina:9a036555dc86d31c724f6f7108fbc2e4b2daa951
hash: �A�������|��Qy
title:
Maria Butina, Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee member, discusses her politicized incarceration in the United States and describes the horrific conditions in US prisons

content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/00041b1ef719473b808175f9c07d3421.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Maria Butina, Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee member, discusses her politicized incarceration in the United States and describes the horrific conditions in US prisons"></p>Maria Butina was a student of foreign affairs at the School of International Services (Washington, D.C.) in 2018 when she was convicted as acting as an unregistered foreign agent, and was imprisoned for 18 months—including 4 torturous months in solitary confinement.<br><br>In this conversation, Maria describes her incarceration and the harsh, inhumane and filthy conditions she experienced in various US prisons. She was subjected to psychological torture via sleep deprivation and prolonged isolation.<br><br>She now advocates for people facing political persecution. <br><br>“Now I help people who want to come to Russia, looking for asylum here, they fear their own state.”<br><br><br>Excerpts from her memoir, Prison diary, can be read here:  <br>https://www.rt.com/russia/507910-maria-butina-prison-book-journal/<br><br><br>[Regarding my reference to the likewise horrible conditions journalist and editor Kirill Vyshinsky endured, imprisoned without trial for nearly 1.5 years in Ukraine, see my 2019 interview with Kirill.]<br>https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/accused-of-treason-and-imprisoned-without-trial-journalist-kirill-vyshinsky-recounts-his-harrowing-time-in-a-ukrainian-prison/

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guid: 66dfd310df9a990001410fc5
title: Game consoles are now smartphones, and that's okay
author: ;Corbin Davenport
link: https://www.spacebar.news/consoles-are-now-smartphones/
hash: ��mk��� WX �'���
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<img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/1.jpg" alt="Game consoles are now smartphones, and that's okay"><p>Sony recently revealed the <a href="https://blog.playstation.com/2024/09/10/welcome-playstation-5-pro-the-most-visually-impressive-way-to-play-games-on-playstation/" rel="noreferrer">PlayStation 5 Pro game console</a>, complete with advanced ray beams, AI something or other, 1.21 gigawatts, and a bunch of other stuff. There's something here that's more interesting than the hardware, or how much it costs, or if the console should even exist: consoles are now smartphones, and we need to treat them as such.</p><p>Historically, game consoles have been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles" rel="noreferrer">organized into generations</a>, with several years between each model in a series. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was a third-generation console, released in the United States in 1985. It took six years until its replacement, the fourth-gen SNES, arrived in the US in 1991. Then it was another five years to the Nintendo 64 in 1996, and five years after that in 2001, we got the GameCube.</p><p>There were a few reasons why game consoles went several years between upgrades. Many of them didn't offer backwards compatibility, so each new model was starting from scratch with its game library—doing that repeatedly in a short time span just means you end up with a bunch of consoles with very few games. SEGA learned this the hard way, as it released the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32X">32X</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Saturn">Saturn</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast">Dreamcast</a> all within five years (in the US), and then exited the console market entirely.</p><p>Fewer models also makes game development, manufacturing, and sales distribution somewhat simple. If you've ever shopped at Costco or another warehouse club store, or ordered electronics from Alibaba, you know that things are cheaper when you buy them in bulk. Nintendo is getting a <em>fantastic</em> deal for those <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tegra#Tegra_X1">NVIDIA Tegra X1 chipsets</a> that have been in every Switch console sold since 2016. It's also pretty great for game developers to have a single device to test against that has surpassed <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/687059/nintendo-switch-unit-sales-worldwide/">over 140 million units</a>.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-mid-generation-upgrade">The mid-generation upgrade</h2><p>The eighth generation of home game consoles changed that long-running release cycle. Sony released the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_4#PlayStation_4_Pro">PlayStation 4 Pro</a> in 2016 as an upgrade to the 2013 PlayStation 4, and Microsoft created the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_One#Xbox_One_X">Xbox One X</a> in 2017 as an upgrade to the 2013 Xbox One. These were the first modern "mid-generation" consoles, intended to be sold as more powerful alternatives to the base consoles, but not replacing them entirely.</p><p>This was a subtle but important change to the value proposition of game consoles. If you bought a console around the time of release, there could potentially be something better within 3 or 4 years, instead of the more typical 5-7 years. Microsoft and Sony made it clear these were optional upgrades, though, and game developers were barred from making games that were only compatible with the more powerful variant (and they still can't do that).</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g-gp-Voq6MQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Xbox One X – E3 2017 – World Premiere 4K Trailer" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></figure><p>Sony and Microsoft both released new mainstream consoles in 2020: the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, respectively. Four years later, Sony has revealed its new mid-generation-upgrade, the PS5 Pro. Microsoft <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-next-gen-console-confirmed-business-update">previously said</a> it will reveal new hardware before the end of the year, which will likely be a similar mid-gen hardware refresh.</p><p>These mid-generation consoles have received many of the same responses over and over again, such as "why would I upgrade from the original model?" or "it's too expensive." The "just build a PC!" crowd also comes out of the woodwork each time a new console is announced, as if no one had ever considered that.</p><p>The decades-long tradition of generational game consoles has trained most people to evaluate every new console as a direct replacement for the previous model. If I have a PS3, I need to eventually get the PS4. If I have a Wii U, I need to get a Nintendo Switch. That's not true anymore, because mid-gen refreshes have ushered in the era of smartphone upgrade cycles for game consoles.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="the-new-upgrade-cycle">The new upgrade cycle</h2><p>The day before the PlayStation 5 Pro was revealed, Apple announced its new <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/apple-introduces-iphone-16-and-iphone-16-plus/">iPhone 16 series</a> and <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/09/apple-debuts-iphone-16-pro-and-iphone-16-pro-max/">iPhone 16 Pro series</a>. Those are phones that are minimal upgrades over the previous models, with prices ranging from $799 for the base iPhone 16 all the way to $1,599 for the Pro Max with 1TB storage. If you have a recent iPhone, and it's still working well for you, there's no reason to run out and buy the new model.</p><p>I didn't see anywhere near the same number of "that's too expensive!" or "who is this for?" reactions for the new iPhones, but it's not because the value proposition is different. We're just used to companies releasing new smartphones every year, including high-end models aimed at people with more disposable income or more niche needs. Some people buy a new phone when the old one stops working, some upgrade each year, and some wait a few years. A <a href="https://www.assurant.com/newsroom-detail/2023/November/mobile-device-trade-in-programs-growth">2023 report from Assurant</a> said the average age for devices turned in for upgrade and trade-in programs was "just over 3.5 years."</p><p>That's how we should think about game consoles now. We're not getting a new Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch every year, but the upgrades are frequent enough that many of the same principles apply. It does not make sense for most people with a PS5 to go out and buy a PS5 Pro, just as it does not make sense for most people with an iPhone 15 to upgrade to an iPhone 16. The functional lifespans for game consoles are getting longer, just as the lifespans for smartphones are getting longer. You can still play many modern games on an Xbox One or PS4 from 2013, just as an iPhone from 4 or 5 years ago will still handle most typical smartphone functions.</p><p>A more rapid upgrade cycle for home consoles <em>can</em> be a good thing. If someone wants to buy a PlayStation console, they now have an option with newer and more powerful hardware, instead of the one hardware configuration that is already four years old (yes, I know the PS5 Slim is slightly different). The same games are available across both models, so people who already bought or will buy the original model aren't negatively impacted. In theory, everyone wins... except the game developers who now have to test games across more hardware configurations.</p><p>There are certainly valid complaints about the PS5 Pro: the disc drive is a paid add-on, the vertical stand isn't included, and so on. The starting price of $700 makes it a questionable value, but I would also argue that $1,600 iPhone Pro Max is a questionable value for most people. Not every tech product is aimed at the same market, and that's okay—just buy what <em>you</em> need or want to buy.</p><h2 data-sanitized-id="speed-it-up">Speed it up</h2><p>There is one remaining problem with these mid-generation upgrades: they don't last as long as the original models. The Xbox One X is an <em>extension</em> of the Xbox One software and hardware platform, not its own independent platform. Game developers are only allowed to create games for both devices, or ignore both of them. As game developers move on from the aging 2013 Xbox One, the 2017 Xbox One X is also left behind. The same is true of the PS4 and PS4 Pro.</p><p>This is also pretty close to how the smartphone industry works. In 2023, Samsung <a href="https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/samsung-galaxy-s10-updates-discontinued">ended software updates</a> for the Galaxy S10 series from 2019, from the $750 <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-s10e">Galaxy S10e</a> to the $1,000 <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/samsung-galaxy-s10-plus">Galaxy S10 Plus</a>. It doesn't matter if you spent more money on the higher-end model, your device gets the same software support as the base model. However, there wasn't a multi-year gap between the Galaxy S10 Plus and the other models, like there currently is for these mid-generation upgrades.</p><p>If more frequent console generations are here to stay, and backwards compatibility isn't going anywhere, then it might make more sense to do full generational upgrades every few years. No more in-between models with more limited market adoption and shorter software support.</p><p>I know what you're thinking: "I'll have to buy a new console twice as often to play new games!" Game developers target different console generations based on the expected market and technical requirements, and I wouldn't expect that to change if console generations became more frequent. If only a tiny fraction of people own the latest Xbox or PlayStation console, most developers are going to continue making games that support previous generations. This already happened in recent history: adoption of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S were initially slow due to the COVID-19 pandemic and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/05/1147157065/sony-playstation-5-shortage-over">supply shortages</a>, so many games continued to be released for the previous generation. That's still ongoing for games with lower hardware requirements, such as <em>Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth</em> or <em>WWE 2K24</em>, both of which were released this year.</p><p>Again, look at smartphones. There are remarkably few mobile apps and games that require a brand new phone, or only work on the latest versions of iOS or Android. For example, the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.katana" rel="noreferrer">Facebook app for Android</a> currently has Android 9.0 as a minimum requirement—that version was released in 2018, and it was rolled out as an update to some devices released before 2018.</p><p>I don't know if faster console generations will actually happen, or how Microsoft's upcoming Xbox hardware could change the market. I do know that consoles are now much more like smartphones. The hardware is lasting longer, you don't need to upgrade every time, and you can just ignore the overpriced models.</p>


guid: https://christitus.com/winutil-install/
title: The Most Popular Windows Utility
link: https://christitus.com/winutil-install/
hash: ���fƗ�>��E�$�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>This is the biggest update to WinUtil since its inception. It is now a full-fledged Windows utility suite. It has a lot of new features and improvements. It is now a must-have utility for Windows users.</p>
<p>The #1 Most Stared PowerShell project on GitHub!</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://christitus.com/images/2024/winutil-install/top-powershell.webp" alt="" data-sanitized-class="img-fluid"> </p>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="features">Features</h2>
<ul>
<li>Install Programs - Install multiple programs with a single click.</li>
<li>Uninstall Programs - Uninstall multiple programs with a single click.</li>
<li>Update Programs - Update multiple programs with a single click.</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="tweaks">Tweaks</h2>
<ul>
<li>Use standard tweaks to improve Windows performance.</li>
<li>I also recommend using the following advanced tweaks:
<ul>
<li>Disable Microsoft Copilot</li>
<li>Set Classic Right-Click Menu</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://christitus.com/images/2024/winutil-install/advanced-tweaks.webp" alt="" data-sanitized-class="img-fluid"> </p>
<p><strong>Note: DO NOT click everything in advanced tweaks… your system may become unstable.</strong></p>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="updates">Updates</h2>
<ul>
<li>I still recommend Security Updates policy. It delays security updates 4 days and feature updates up to 2 years. This ensures stability and reliability.</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="microwin">Microwin</h2>
<p>The 4 minute install ISO. It is a minimal Windows 10 ISO with WinUtil pre-installed. It is perfect for a fresh install.</p>
<p>No customizations or removals of official Microsoft products… but no added bloatware or apps. Its just like Microsoft used to Package windows during the Windows 7 era.</p>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="official-links">Official Links</h2>
<ul>
<li>GitHub - <a href="https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil">https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil</a></li>
<li>Download - <a href="https://christitus.com/downloads">https://christitus.com/downloads</a></li>
<li>Documentation - <a href="https://christitustech.github.io/winutil/">https://christitustech.github.io/winutil/</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 data-sanitized-id="walkthrough-video">Walkthrough Video</h2>
<div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" loading="eager" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/92SM8Az5QVM?autoplay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;end=0&amp;loop=0&amp;mute=0&amp;start=0" title="YouTube video" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe>
</div>


guid: https://odysee.com/rmskoe:1aa4c6b03e643b34ec5b35217fd68759c35e96a6
title: Ukrainian drone terrorism in my southeastern Moscow district
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/rmskoe:1aa4c6b03e643b34ec5b35217fd68759c35e96a6
hash: !�%J=���������
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/25b931ac0b43fef932c14e77c8dd4608.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Ukrainian drone terrorism in my southeastern Moscow district"></p>Starting early Tuesday, September 10, Russian air defense shot down 144 Ukrainian drones in 9 regions, including 72 drones above Bryansk Region and 20 above Moscow Region, according to the Ministry of Defence. <br><br>Three drones managed to hit three different apartment buildings in the Ramenskoe district, one impact tragically killing a 46 year old woman and injuring at least three other civilians. These were completely civilian, residential, areas. Ukraine sending drones to strike there was pure terrorism. <br><br>Just over one week prior, on September 1, Russian air defense shot down or intercepted 158 drones, some of those again in the Ramenskoe region.<br><br>From my nearby district just after 2:15am Tuesday, I heard the first air defense blasts targeting drones, followed by several more until daylight. <br><br>On Wednesday, I went to the area within Ramenskoe district where the drones impacted. Irina Medvedeva, a friend's sister, was in an apartment next to one of the buildings struck. She witnessed the first explosion which killed Zinaida Akhmetovna.<br><br>While there, we met a man who had come from Kursk (which Ukraine started attacking last month) for a week of quiet. He said he would go back to Kursk, in spite of Ukraine's continued (failed) attacks on the city, spoke of how the people there support their army and said Russia would defeat the Ukrainian terrorism.<br><br>Related links here: https://t.me/Reality_Theories/20594

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guid: yt:video:PRvJeGcgwqs
title: Hyprland Rices and COSMIC First Look
author: ;Titus Tech Talk
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRvJeGcgwqs
hash: � �� ��2Av�65,�
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guid: yt:video:BMTCFv1LvRo
title: COSMIC Desktop Update and Hyprland ML4W
author: ;Titus Tech Talk
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMTCFv1LvRo
hash: F��#Zyo���JDA�d�
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guid: https://odysee.com/how-saudi-arabia-broke-free-of-the:3dcbc87a8c10a81ccf01b98f4f8ed6af520580a4
title: How Saudi Arabia Broke Free of the Empire
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/how-saudi-arabia-broke-free-of-the:3dcbc87a8c10a81ccf01b98f4f8ed6af520580a4
hash: s�/��+����=��P{3
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<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/QI6uowqDxQQ" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="How Saudi Arabia Broke Free of the Empire"></p>On Sunday Sept 15 The Rising Tide Foundation hosted Gordon McCormick who unpacked some extremely important historic lessons of British Imperial manipulation of Southwest Asia and the battle of the two Saudi Arabias.<br><br>Follow Gordon's work on Badlands.substack.com<br>and https://x.com/GhostofBPH<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI6uowqDxQQ

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guid: https://odysee.com/schiller-workshop-of-the-sublime:b757aafa4548fa27e295f586a378312b1b72cc5d
title: Schiller Workshop: Of the Sublime (Reading 01)
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/schiller-workshop-of-the-sublime:b757aafa4548fa27e295f586a378312b1b72cc5d
hash: �yz��k���H�4�\X>
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/Rb2Ri29td88" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Schiller Workshop: Of the Sublime (Reading 01)"></p>The RTF weekly study group dives into the second Schiller philosophical study in the 1794 'Of the Sublime'<br><br>Download the original text here: https://risingtidefoundation.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Philosphical-and-Aesthetical-Writings-of-Friedrich-Schiller.docx<br><br>The previous Schiller reading session can be viewed here:<br>https://youtu.be/Fd6_sxBMP-M?si=sxprQ7jeOQ3Axu7P<br><br>Support the Rising Tide Foundation in the following ways:<br><br>1) Make a donation <br>https://risingtidefoundation.net/support-the-work/<br>2) Subscribe to Matt and Cynthia's Substack<br>matthewehret.substack.com<br>cynthiachung.substack.com<br>3) Buy some books!<br>https://canadianpatriot.org/untold-history-of-canada-books/<br><br>and follow us on www.risingtidefoundation.net and t.me/risingtidefoundation<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb2Ri29td88

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guid: https://odysee.com/TarikCyrilAmarPalestineZionismUkraine:aeb5604abd4a27e2eca6d69730e4d7f202ad2288
title: Tarik Cyril Amar on Palestine, Zionism, and Ukraine's failed tactics
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/TarikCyrilAmarPalestineZionismUkraine:aeb5604abd4a27e2eca6d69730e4d7f202ad2288
hash: w⾾:�5ƂQT���
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/9b0d0553cb5fc9413ea4d7e58c8b4856.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Tarik Cyril Amar on Palestine, Zionism, and Ukraine's failed tactics"></p>Tarik is an author, a historian and an expert on international politics. He has a BA in Modern History from Oxford University, an MSc in International History from the LSE, and a PhD in History from Princeton University.<br><br>Follow him at:<br><br>https://substack.com/@tarikcyrilamar<br>https://www.tarikcyrilamar.com/p/the-icc-israel-and-the-gaza-genocide<br>https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/tarik-cyril-amar/ <br>https://x.com/TarikCyrilAmar<br>

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guid: yt:video:q_vbCwlgdy0
title: Moving Terry Fox’s sculpture in Ottawa / Déplacement de la sculpture de Terry Fox à Ottawa
author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_vbCwlgdy0
hash: #��B�.)\%}��=3�
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guid: yt:video:PYzJvvQbOYc
title: What inspired you to participate in Model Senate?
author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYzJvvQbOYc
hash: z��5y�0턥fF
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guid: yt:video:qd3dyEedZDo
title: Qu’est-ce qui t’a inspiré à participer à la simulation du Sénat?
author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd3dyEedZDo
hash: Uh@�/�gq1�z�F��
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{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/qd3dyEedZDo?version=3","title":"Qu’est-ce qui t’a inspiré à participer à la simulation du Sénat?","description":"Simulation du Sénat : l’engagement des jeunes à son meilleur! \n\nEn mars, des jeunes d’un océan à l’autre se sont glissés dans la peau d’un sénateur – les menant à la Chambre rouge, à la Chambre des communes et dans les salles de comités – pour débattre des projets de loi, étudier des questions importantes et apprendre comment fonctionne le Sénat. Ils ont également rencontré des sénateurs en poste et élargi leur réseau lors d’un événement de trois jours très divertissants!\n\nVoyez ce qui a inspiré ces étudiants de niveau postsecondaire à poser leur candidature pour la simulation du Sénat.️\r\n-----------------\r\nAimez la page du Sénat du Canada sur Facebook http://ow.ly/dSjS307h4in\r\nSuivez le Sénat du Canada sur X http://ow.ly/6TTa307h4vw\r\nSuivez le Sénat du Canada sur​ Instagram http://ow.ly/UDUy307h4oG\r\nVisitez le site web du Sénat https://sencanada.ca","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/qd3dyEedZDo/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://odysee.com/JacquesBaudNATOThreatenedRussia:507d646aac8546eea7d79389636e7466da5256af
title: JACQUES BAUD: NATO ATTEMPTED TO DESTABILIZE &amp; THREATEN RUSSIA DECADES BEFORE 2022
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/JacquesBaudNATOThreatenedRussia:507d646aac8546eea7d79389636e7466da5256af
hash: ��a���4�U�JaJ��
content:
<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/7897330d6cb535bfe20547dfa6718320.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="JACQUES BAUD: NATO ATTEMPTED TO DESTABILIZE &amp; THREATEN RUSSIA DECADES BEFORE 2022"></p>This is a must-listen interview for those who think Russia “invaded Ukraine without reason”, and those who believe the West’s propaganda about Russia “failing” in its objectives, and many other lies put out by Washington and parroted by Western corporate media.<br><br>Former Swiss intelligence, Jacques Baud, on the Ukraine-NATO history that forced Russia to start its Special Military Operation in February 2022.<br><br>He is the author of numerous books, including: “The Russian Art of War: How the West Led Ukraine to Defeat”and “Operation Z: The Hidden Truth of the War in Ukraine Revealed”.

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guid: yt:video:XFy9RvvJik8
title: The AI LIE
author: ;Titus Tech Talk
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFy9RvvJik8
hash: MӢ^�7��L)(�)
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{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/XFy9RvvJik8?version=3","title":"The AI LIE","description":"AI is NOT taking over or getting smarterer... .\n\n►► Digital Downloads ➜ https://christitus.com/downloads\n►► Reddit ➜ https://www.reddit.com/r/ChrisTitusTech/\n►► Chris Titus Tech ➜ https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisTitusTech\n►► Twitch ➜ https://www.twitch.tv/christitustech\n►► YouTube Early Access ➜ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtYg149E_wUGVmjGz-TgyNA/join","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/XFy9RvvJik8/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:kWd7l-epM4I
title: The Truth behind the LTT Linux Challenge
author: ;Titus Tech Talk
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWd7l-epM4I
hash: ult �1�rr��&�}
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guid: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/was-there-a-palace-coup-at-the-white
title: Was there a palace coup at the White House?
author: ;Alex Krainer
link: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/was-there-a-palace-coup-at-the-white
hash: 6g��6� P�|�|
content:
<p>Did we just have a palace coup in Washington?</p><p>The events have taken a very strange turn in Washington DC this month. Britain's new cabinet has made it a priority to escalate the West's proxy war against Russia and to bring the U.S. and other allies onboard by hook or by crook. Part of the agenda was enabling the Ukrainians to strike at Russia with western supplied long-range precision missiles. This wouldn't be a new thing exactly, but the escalation they are gunning for is quite substantial, involving possibly even nuclear weapons.</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe","language":"en"}' data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM" data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor"><div data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Alex Krainer's TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input-wrapper"><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input"></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-button"></div></div></div></div><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46fa5015-eae6-4a08-86ac-816191c9a149_1742x985.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46fa5015-eae6-4a08-86ac-816191c9a149_1742x985.png" width="1456" height="823" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/46fa5015-eae6-4a08-86ac-816191c9a149_1742x985.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":823,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":739177,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The groundwork for this escalation was being prepared for months. In March this year, the Biden administration approved a new "Nuclear Employment Guidance" in preparation to fight and "win" a three-front nuclear war against Russia, China and North Korea. They followed up with plans to deploy long-range nuclear missiles in Germany and Holland. The preparations were being coordinated between the Neocons in the Biden administration, led by the Secretary of State <strong>Antony Blinken</strong>, NATO and the members of British cabinets, both under Prime Minister <strong>Rishi Sunak</strong> and under the new PM <strong>Keir Starmer</strong>.</p><h2>Starmer’s diplomatic charm offensive</h2><p>Since its inauguration on July 5, 2024, the new Labour government in Britain immediately engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity and meetings with many government leaders across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, much of it a charm offensive to “reset” the previously strained or neglected relationships. Within the cabinet’s first ten days, their Defence Minister <strong>John Healey</strong> visited Ukraine, Foreign Minister Lammy called his Ukrainian and American counterparts on his first day on the job, then on July 6 flew straight to Germany to meet with the German FM <strong>Annalena Baerbock</strong>, then to Poland the next day to meet with FM <strong>Radek Sikorski</strong>, and after that, straight to Sweden to meet then FM <strong>Tobias Billstrom</strong>.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64713010-22d3-4263-8cc2-729cdefc03db_1080x1350.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64713010-22d3-4263-8cc2-729cdefc03db_1080x1350.png" width="1080" height="1350" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/64713010-22d3-4263-8cc2-729cdefc03db_1080x1350.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":1350,"width":1080,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2504178,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>On July 9, his fifth day on the job, Keir Starmer flew to Washington for the NATO summit and a meeting with president Biden. On July 16, Starmer’s government published the new “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-strategic-defence-review">Strategic Defense Review</a>” – a “root and branch” revision of UK’s defence, so that it is “secure at home and strong abroad for decades to come.” Of course, all these ambitious initiatives ultimately depend on the <em>special relationship </em>itself. Without it, Britain would be punching way, way above its weight.</p><h2>Trump-proofing the “special relationship”</h2><p>In terms of military power, the UK is pretty much a lightweight with a handicap, so securing the American protection was top priority. Accordingly, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US%E2%80%93UK_Mutual_Defence_Agreement">Mutual Defense Agreement</a> (MDA) between the U.S. and Great Britain needed an urgent upgrade. The agreement was last renewed in 2014 and was set to expire on 31 December 2024. The new major upgrade was <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukusa-amendment-to-the-agreement-for-cooperation-on-the-uses-of-atomic-energy-for-mutual-defense-purposes-cs-usa-no12024">formulated by the British government in July of this year</a>: it would make the MDA indefinite, turning it into a de-facto treaty. The idea was to Trump-proof the Agreement in case the DNC fails to steal the presidential elections again this November. The treaty also joins the two nations’ nuclear programs.</p><p>Indeed, the nuclear saber-rattling does seem to emanate largely from out of London. For example, <strong>Malcolm Chalmers</strong>, the deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Britain's oldest and most prestigious think-tank, proposed already in 2022 that the West should resort to nuclear brinkmanship in order to destabilize Russia. It was this same Malcolm Chalmers who was jubilant about the new Mutual Defense Agreement, seeing it as a diplomatic win for the UK: "It is good news for the UK that it doesn't need to worry about a future US administration using a future renewal [of the MDA] as leverage." How clever! Now we can stir the pot around the world and if things get ugly, the Americans have to come to our rescue. This is a good position from which to manipulate the U.S. into fighting Britain’s wars of choice.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11ccd2cc-ffea-40da-9475-c548299fc6c8_390x521.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11ccd2cc-ffea-40da-9475-c548299fc6c8_390x521.png" width="390" height="521" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/11ccd2cc-ffea-40da-9475-c548299fc6c8_390x521.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":521,"width":390,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":267843,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>This episode once more reinforces the impression that the "special relationship" between the US and the UK is a Master-Blaster arrangement (for those old enough to remember Master-Blaster from the movie Mad Max 3). In this arrangement, Blaster is the powerful, muscular giant who is manipulated around by his Master, a vicious old dwarf riding on the giant's back. Once you start to pay attention to this dynamic, you’ll find more and more evidence that the drive and the ideas shaping the west's permanent wars, especially against Russia, originate from London.</p><h2>Parading the alliance</h2><p>All the diplomatic activity under the Starmer government also involved much public parading of the “special relationship” with the view of projecting the image of a powerful, rock-solid alliance that remains 100% committed to defending the international “rules-based order” and intimidating any uppity newcomer who would dare to challenge it. On 7 September we saw, for the first time ever, <strong>Sir Richard Moore,</strong> the head of Britain’s MI6, and <strong>William Burns</strong> the CIA chief, appear together and on stage!</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F696a0750-057a-4437-89f2-d46359872bef_1350x762.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F696a0750-057a-4437-89f2-d46359872bef_1350x762.png" width="1350" height="762" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/696a0750-057a-4437-89f2-d46359872bef_1350x762.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":762,"width":1350,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1320524,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">The body language is interesting: CIA’s Burns’s body is turned away, legs crossed and arms folded, looking at Moore over his shoulder. Sir Richard’s open, facing Burns and the audience directly.</figcaption></figure></div><p></p><p>For anyone who missed the occasion, the talented Mr. Moore published <a href="https://x.com/ChiefMI6/status/1832414346229785075">a tweet about it</a>, linking to the video recording of the event. Two days later, the pair published <a href="https://t.co/zN2JpVFW2i">an OpEd in the Financial Times</a>, waxing eloquent about the threats to the rules based order and how to defend it. Most importantly, they expressed their iron-clad commitment to defending Ukraine for as long as it takes.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32c037fa-4469-4f5d-9c75-d2721a63f5f8_1319x1106.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32c037fa-4469-4f5d-9c75-d2721a63f5f8_1319x1106.png" width="1319" height="1106" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/32c037fa-4469-4f5d-9c75-d2721a63f5f8_1319x1106.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":1106,"width":1319,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2071940,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The following day, on 10 September, US State Secretary <strong>Antony Blinken</strong> came to London to <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidLammy/status/1833469773218230486">meet with his British counterpart</a> <strong>David Lammy</strong> and the day after they both went to <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidLammy/status/1834189981864132811">visit Kiev together</a>. On the occasion, Blinken and Lammy almost certainly finalized the plan to commit both nations to aiding Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with western-supplied long range precision missiles. Only two days later, the Prime Minister Starmer flew to Washington again to meet with President Biden, ostensibly to “discuss” the events in Ukraine among other things.</p><h2>Something went wrong in Washington</h2><p>Now, the Prime Minister wouldn't normally travel and meet with his U.S. counterpart just to "discuss" things. Their meeting would take place only at the point when the agreement could be signed and announced in a joint press conference: a public showing of their unity, shared objectives and determination. In fact, according to British government sources, the decisions had already been made, and Sir Keir brought all the paperwork with him. However, the signing ceremony never took place and neither did the joint press conference. Something went wrong.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bdaac7c-26cc-4b6b-95e5-a42268e96477_3426x940.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bdaac7c-26cc-4b6b-95e5-a42268e96477_3426x940.png" width="1456" height="399" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7bdaac7c-26cc-4b6b-95e5-a42268e96477_3426x940.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":399,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":5363221,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">The awkward meeting didn’t produce the ceremonial signing or the joint press conference.</figcaption></figure></div><p>It appears that the U.S. military leadership took <strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>'s warning about this escalation seriously. His words are worth pondering carefully:</p><blockquote><p>“There is an attempt to substitute concepts. Because we are not talking about authorizing or banning the Kiev regime from striking across the entire territory. They are already striking with the help of drones and other means. ... The Ukrainian army is not able to strike with modern long-range precision systems of Western manufacture. It cannot do this. It can only do so using intelligence from satellites, which Ukraine does not have. This is data only from EU satellites or from the United States in general, from NATO satellites. … And so this is not about allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike. It is about deciding whether NATO countries are directly involved or not. If this decision is made, it will mean nothing other than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, European countries in the war in Ukraine. This is their direct participation. And this already, of course, significantly changes the very essence, the nature of the conflict. This would mean that NATO, US and the European countries, the United States are at war with Russia. If that is the case, then bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will take appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be posed to us.”</p></blockquote><p>According to some sources, Putin’s warning was reinforced through back-channel communications between the Russian military leadership and their American counterparts who understand that they were being pushed over the edge of total war. In response, it seems that the American military leadership took over the conduct of the US foreign policy, both in terms of military and diplomatic affairs. State Secretary Blinken and his merry band of Neocons appear to have been sidelined. This is why the US-UK agreement to escalate against Russia didn’t get the Blaster’s signature.</p><p>The change in leadership could also be felt in the Middle East. <strong>General Michael E. Kurilla</strong>, the head of U.S. Central Command <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-centcom-chief-meets-idf-generals-presented-with-plans-for-lebanon-operation/">visited Israel</a> last week (the second time in a week's interval), apparently also to announce a new policy. Allegedly, he informed the Israelis that if they provoke a war against Hezbollah or against Iran, the U.S. will not come to their aid: they're on their own. </p><p>The palace coup at the White House wasn’t officially announced and it almost certainly won't be. We will probably only know of these changes with time, by observing the pattern of events. If the U.S. policy really changes course in a substantive way, this would corroborate that the coup did indeed take place. This may seem inconceivable, but it shouldn’t be. Secretary Blinken has been conducting a truly insane foreign policy, inflicting massive damage to the United States in material, strategic as well as reputational terms. Such conduct would unavoidably provoke disapproval and opposition within the ranks of the American defense and foreign policy establishments.</p><h2>When Hitler’s general staff mutinied in 1938</h2><p>The latest escalation, concocted with the British, would put the U.S. in severe jeopardy. The burden of coping with the resulting fallout would fall squarely on the military. At the same time, it remains unclear what, if anything, could be gained from Starmer's and Blinken's reckless adventurism. This is a textbook recipe for provoking a mutiny, and such mutinies do tend to happen at critical junctures throughout history. </p><p>For example, when, on 21 April 1938 <strong>Hitler</strong> ordered General <strong>Wilhelm Keitel</strong> to draft plans to invade Czechoslovakia, German military brass were deeply alarmed – so much so that a group of top commanders, clustered around Hitler’s Chief of the General Staff, <strong>General Ludwig Beck</strong>, hatched a three phase strategy to disrupt Hitler’s reckless pursuit: (1) they would try to dissuade Hitler from pursuing his plans; (2) they implored the British to stand firmly by Czechoslovakia and warn Hitler that Britain would oppose him; and (3) if Hitler persisted in his resolve to wage war, they would proceed to assassinate him. The date for this act was set for September 28, 1938. </p><p>Of course, General Beck and his General Staff had no idea that it was exactly the British who were maneuvering Germany to war (though not against Czechoslovakia but against the USSR), just as they are maneuvering the U.S. to war today. In fact, the most recent episode hopefully helped dispel the idea that the imperial adventures are all hatched in the U.S. and that the UK is only being dragged along reluctantly, their only fault being their unshakeable, steadfast loyalty. </p><p>Incidentally, that’s the same defence <strong>Prince Andrew</strong> used to explain his continuing friendship with the convicted sexual predator <strong>Jeffrey Epstein</strong> (the Prince’s only regret was being "too honourable"). The truth is that through channels unseen and unknown, London is often in the driver’s seat when it comes to fomenting dirty tricks and military misadventures in defence of the empire. Again, the more you pay attention to this, the more unmistakeable the relationship becomes.</p><p>Whatever the case may be, if there was indeed a mutiny at the Pentagon and a palace coup in the White House, the escalation to World War III might have been averted, and this would be the best news you'll read all day today. Meanwhile, on Thursday, 19 September European Parliament voted in favor of escalating the war, but that move might only serve to accelerate the disintegration of the European Union. The MEPs can vote whatever they like, but as Poland’s Foreign Ministery <strong>Radek Sikorski</strong> revealed to the Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus earlier this month, "there is no willingness to enter the war in Western Europe." From Europe, the moves are mostly about grandstanding and virtue-signalling.</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/was-there-a-palace-coup-at-the-white?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM" data-sanitized-class="captioned-button-wrap"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Alex Krainer's TrendCompass! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></div><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/was-there-a-palace-coup-at-the-white?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/was-there-a-palace-coup-at-the-white?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p><strong><a href="http://linkedin.com/in/alex-sasha-krainer-0b74ab1a">Alex Krainer</a> – <a href="https://twitter.com/NakedHedgie">@NakedHedgie</a></strong> is the creator of <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/">I-System Trend Following</a></strong> and publisher of daily <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/trendcompass/">TrendCompass</a></strong> investor reports which cover over 200 financial and commodities markets. One-month test drive is always free of charge, <strong>no jumping through hoops to cancel</strong>. To start your trial subscription, drop us an email at <a href="mailto:TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com">TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com</a></p><p>For<strong> <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">US investors</a></strong>, we propose a trend-driven inflation/recession resilient portfolio covering a basket of 30+ financial and commodities markets. Further information is at <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">this link.</a></p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa8f62ce4-3b71-496d-82b6-6071b87e01c8_1456x912.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa8f62ce4-3b71-496d-82b6-6071b87e01c8_1456x912.png" width="1456" height="912" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a8f62ce4-3b71-496d-82b6-6071b87e01c8_1456x912.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":912,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":686512,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe","language":"en"}' data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM" data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor"><div data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Alex Krainer's TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. 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guid: https://odysee.com/forum-for-peace-american-university-in:d910e56bfe08e77e38640901941b6625f7ebe885
title: Forum for Peace: American University in Moscow Roundtable 02
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
link: https://odysee.com/forum-for-peace-american-university-in:d910e56bfe08e77e38640901941b6625f7ebe885
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<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/XHfwgoI3iu4" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Forum for Peace: American University in Moscow Roundtable 02"></p>In this second roundtable hosted by the American University in Moscow and the Rising Tide Foundation, Matt Ehret, Dimitry Lascaris and Hall Gardner discuss the causes and solutions to the current world crisis.<br><br>The official website for Dimitry Lascaris is here:<br>https://dimitrilascaris.org/about/<br><br>Hall Gardner's website is: https://www.hallgardner.com/<br><br>To register for future round tables (which will be held every two weeks), contact Ed Lozansky or register online here:<br>https://russiahouse.org/american-university-in-moscow/<br><br>Also visit<br>www.risingtidefoundation.net<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHfwgoI3iu4

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guid: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/alliance-for-truth-kickstarter-campaign
title: Alliance for Truth kickstarter campaign is on...
author: ;Alex Krainer
link: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/alliance-for-truth-kickstarter-campaign
hash: �k`~12]�(����
content:
<div data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs='{"mediaUploadId":"1ccc8f72-45d5-4fa2-b157-6a03aa6d04d5","duration":null}' data-sanitized-class="native-video-embed"></div><p>Kickstarter page is here: <strong><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/646650391/alliance-for-truth-phase-one">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/646650391/alliance-for-truth-phase-one</a></strong></p><p>In March last year I have introduced <strong>Admiral Davorin Domazet</strong> in my article, “Why hypersonic weapons change everything.” Admiral Domazet said that the conflict we are witnessing in the world today is the clash between Christ and Antichrist. He described it not as a world war but as a much bigger conflict, a “global total war” because it is affecting us all across the world and in nearly every aspect of life. The most powerful sword we can possibly wield to prevail in this struggle is the written and spoken word.</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/alliance-for-truth-kickstarter-campaign?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM" data-sanitized-class="captioned-button-wrap"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading! Sharing this post would be very helpful and highly appreciated!</p></div><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/alliance-for-truth-kickstarter-campaign?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/alliance-for-truth-kickstarter-campaign?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f7a9fa6-a228-4984-900d-bcc2752a8f26_1742x985.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f7a9fa6-a228-4984-900d-bcc2752a8f26_1742x985.png" width="1456" height="823" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8f7a9fa6-a228-4984-900d-bcc2752a8f26_1742x985.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":823,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":2056107,"alt":"","title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" title="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Two veteran Croatian journalists, <strong>Roman Latković</strong> and <strong>Branko Mijić</strong> have joined forces to launch an independent investigative news publishing outfit. I’ve personally known Roman for about 35 years – from even before the 1990s war in the Balkans. His fearless war reporting ultimately marked him for death and he had to flee Croatia in 1996 to save his life. </p><p>Roman is also one of the very few people I know whose personal integrity is beyond reproach. Branko has devoted his life to investigative journalism and is the winner of multiple awards for his journalistic work. He’s also one of the few who had the the professional integrity and the backbone to raise his voice publicly and campaign for the release of <strong>Julian Assange</strong>. </p><p>As we all know however, uncovering and revealing the truth does not pay in today's free world. To the contrary, it has become a punishable offence. But truth is worth fighting for: it is the essential antidote to the chaos that's being fomented by our ruling establishments. </p><p>Truth is the key to humanity's emancipation and our ability to transcend the current state of oppression, censorship and endless wars. I have therefore decided myself to contribute to this project, both financially and as an author. </p><p>A truthful source of reporting from the Balkans could prove particularly important because this region has been designated as one of the flashpoints that could precipitate future European wars. Recall, the assassination of the Austrian archduke Ferdinand, which triggered the descent into the first world war, took place in Sarajevo in the heart of the balkan peninsula. </p><p>At the same time, journalism has been systematically eviscerated in most of the Balkan nations. We need to know what goes on there. If you can, and if you feel so inclined, please consider making a contribution to this initiative which launched on Kickstarter today.</p><p>Roman and Branko are looking to raise 14 thousand us dollars. It is a very modest sum needed to cover the bare essentials. The way crowdfunding algorithms work, even a contribution as small as 1 dollar can make a huge difference as it raises the project's profile and makes it more likely that it will reach its funding objectives.</p><p>This is an all or nothing fundraiser and no money will change hands unless the full sum is reached. Making a contribution (it’s the algorithms again) is particularly important during the next 8 hours. The link to the project's kickstarter page is above, below the video introduction.</p><p>For all who can contribute, I hank you in advance.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fde795ecb-e4d6-4c97-9631-082d6d3ef7ed_673x797.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fde795ecb-e4d6-4c97-9631-082d6d3ef7ed_673x797.png" width="673" height="797" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/de795ecb-e4d6-4c97-9631-082d6d3ef7ed_673x797.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":797,"width":673,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":624090,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p>

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title: Histoires autochtones en pierre : les créatures surnaturelles du Parlement, 4e partie
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author: ;Senate of Canada | Sénat du Canada
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Senate of Canada on YouTube: See for yourself / Le Sénat du Canada sur YouTube : Voyez par vous-même

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title:
Des sénateurs adressent des messages aux jeunes Autochtones à l’occasion de la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation

link:
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title: La réconciliation nécessitera des mesures concrètes et non symboliques : sénateur Francis
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guid: https://odysee.com/MediaWhitewashIsraeliWarCrimes:7c545ab957f8f7ac7bdf04834e7ee4d002cf5498
title: Dr. Assal Rad on How Media Whitewash (and Enable) Israeli War Crimes
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
link: https://odysee.com/MediaWhitewashIsraeliWarCrimes:7c545ab957f8f7ac7bdf04834e7ee4d002cf5498
hash: 1"���)S wː �
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<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/54dec49fc8613cf92cc2e9ff5e745865.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Dr. Assal Rad on How Media Whitewash (and Enable) Israeli War Crimes"></p>Dr. Assal Rad, Middle East Historian &amp; author, breaks down the manifold tactics media use to dehumanize Palestinians and Lebanese (among many others) and whitewash Israel when it bombs, starves and commits acts of terrorism against them.<br><br>Follow her on X: https://x.com/AssalRad<br>

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guid: 66f62d05c940f3000177788e
title: The Mozilla Graveyard
author: ;Corbin Davenport
link: https://www.spacebar.news/the-mozilla-graveyard/
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<img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/IMG_8939.jpg" alt="The Mozilla Graveyard"><p>Some tech companies are more notable than others for shutting down products and services, with Google as perhaps the most recognizable example. Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox web browser, has also accumulated quite the collection of dead projects. I think it's about time we take a trip through the Mozilla Graveyard.</p><p>Mozilla has existed as an independent entity since 1998, when it was founded by members of Netscape to take over development of Netscape Communicator's engine code. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Application_Suite">Mozilla Application Suite</a> was born shortly afterward, which eventually evolved into the standalone Firefox web browser, and the rest is history.</p><p>Mozilla has pulled off a few big successes over the past 26 years, but there were also a lot of projects that <em>didn't work out</em>. Some of them were small-scale experiments, while others were high-profile services and platforms with a lot of time and money involved. A few were being built as possible revenue streams for Mozilla, which could have helped the company rely less <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/15/21370020/mozilla-google-firefox-search-engine-browser">on Google</a> (and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/14/mozilla-terminates-its-deal-with-yahoo-and-makes-google-the-default-in-firefox-again/">previously Yahoo</a>) to cover the operating costs for Firefox. That's something Mozilla still hasn't quite figured out, though I really wish it would, because I like Firefox.</p><p>Some quick notes before we get started. This is not an exhaustive list—I stopped at 20 projects—and some of them were referenced as experiments that were not intended to be long-term efforts. There are also a few projects that died under Mozilla but found new life elsewhere, and I'm still going to count them as Mozilla Graveyard entries. Don't "well akshually" me.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="persona-2011-2014">Persona (2011-2014)</h3><p>Mozilla <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130128201115/http://identity.mozilla.com/post/7616727542/introducing-browserid-a-better-way-to-sign-in">introduced BrowserID</a> as a unified sign-in experience for third-party websites, intended as an alternative to the login buttons for Google, Twitter, and Facebook that were common across the web. Mozilla <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/2012/01/13/mozilla-to-offer-new-user-centric-services-in-2012/">planned</a> for it to be a core component of Firefox OS and the Firefox OS app store, and it was eventually rebranded as Persona. It was <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/08/mozilla-stops-developing-its-persona-sign-in-system-because-of-low-adoption/">discontinued</a> in March 2014 due to low usage.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-marketplace-2012-2018">Firefox Marketplace (2012-2018)</h3><p>Mozilla created the <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Marketplace">Firefox Marketplace</a> in 2012 as an "app store" for installable web apps that worked across Firefox for Android, the desktop Firefox web browser, and phones running Firefox OS. It was similar to the original Chrome Web Store, back when it included installable web apps in addition to browser extensions.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/Firefox-Marketplace.png" alt="The Mozilla Graveyard" loading="lazy" width="500" height="505" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Credit: Mozilla</span></figcaption></figure><p>After work on Firefox OS ended in 2015, there wasn't much of a point in it sticking around. Mozilla promised it would remain functional until at least January 2018, and it was eventually shut down in March of that year.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="thimble-2012-2019">Thimble (2012-2019)</h3><p>Thimble was an online code editor for teaching HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics, initially <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/18/mozilla-launches-thimble-a-web-based-code-editor-for-teaching-html-and-css/">released</a> in 2012. Mozilla <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/01/mozilla-relaunches-its-thimble-online-code-editor-for-teaching-html-css-and-javascript/">reworked it</a> in 2015, based on Adobe's open-source Brackets project. It was <a href="https://medium.com/read-write-participate/a-note-about-thimble-b8ba0a51b8fd">shut down</a> in 2019, though Mozilla allowed Thimble projects to be migrated to Glitch, and the <a href="https://github.com/mozilla/thimble.mozilla.org">source code</a> is still available.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="shumway-2012-2016">Shumway (2012-2016)</h3><p>Mozilla <a href="https://research.mozilla.org/2012/11/12/introducing-the-shumway-open-swf-runtime-project/">created Shumway</a> in 2012 as an open-source replacement for Adobe Flash Player. The goal was to allow Flash-based media and interactive content—which still dominated the web at the time—to be functional without the slow, proprietary, and bug-ridden Adobe Flash Player. It was eventually integrated into Firefox Nightly, but it was seemingly never enabled in the stable builds of Firefox.</p><p>Development on Shumway <a href="https://www.ghacks.net/2016/02/23/flash-replacement-shumway-is-as-good-as-dead/">ended</a> in 2016, as more web pages were phasing out the use of Flash content in favor of HTML5, making Shumway and other similar projects only useful for archived web content. The <a href="https://github.com/mozilla/shumway">source code</a> is still on GitHub.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-metro-2012-2014">Firefox Metro (2012-2014)</h3><p>Firefox Metro was a web browser redesigned for Windows 8 and its 'Metro' application framework, first released as <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2012/10/04/firefox-metro-preview-launch/">a preview</a> in 2012. It could synchronize with the regular desktop Firefox application, and supported the charm bar, touch gestures, and data sharing built into Windows 8.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/metro-screenshot-big.png" alt="The Mozilla Graveyard" loading="lazy" width="1366" height="768" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Credit: </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/14/mozilla-cancels-firefox-for-metro-cites-fewer-than-1000-daily-active-users/" rel="noreferrer"><span>Mozilla / TechCrunch</span></a></figcaption></figure><p>Mozilla <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/14/mozilla-cancels-firefox-for-metro-cites-fewer-than-1000-daily-active-users/">gave up</a> on the Metro app in 2014, as the preview version never passed 1,000 daily active users. Windows 8's Metro design and connected app ecosystem were <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/five-reasons-why-windows-8-has-failed/">generally not well received</a>, and Microsoft ended up backtracking much of it with the arrival of Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, so the failure of Firefox's Metro port was hardly an anomaly. </p><h3 data-sanitized-id="mozillas-servo-2012-2020">Mozilla's Servo (2012-2020)</h3><p><a href="https://servo.org/">Servo</a> is an experimental browser engine, written in the Rust programming language for fast performance and safety. It started as a research project at Mozilla in 2012, and elements of it were integrated into Firefox's Gecko engine, starting with the release of <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/introducing-firefox-quantum/" rel="noreferrer">Firefox 57 "Quantum"</a> in 2017. The Servo-based code <a href="https://hacks.mozilla.org/2017/09/firefox-quantum-developer-edition-fastest-firefox-ever/">made Firefox twice as fast</a> in web performance benchmarks, and generally helped the browser catch up with Chrome in general performance and usability.</p><p>Mozilla laid off 250 employees in August 2020, which included "many of the Servo folks," according to <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24143819">a statement</a> by the Rust core team. The Servo project was <a href="https://servo.org/blog/2020/11/17/servo-home/">transferred</a> to the Linux Foundation later that year, and in 2023, <a href="https://servo.org/blog/2023/01/16/servo-2023/">new external funding</a> allowed development to kick off again. It's still under active development and has a promising future, but its existence as a Mozilla project ended in 2020.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-os-2013-2015">Firefox OS (2013-2015)</h3><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox_OS">Firefox OS</a> was an open-source mobile operating system, originally intended for use on low-end smartphones. It was moderately successful, and had <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/firefox-os-expands-to-nearly-30-countries/">expanded</a> to 14 phones in 28 countries by the end of 2014. Unfortunately, later versions of Google Android with optimizations for low-end hardware sealed its fate.</p><p>I have some fond memories of Firefox OS. I bought a ZTE Open in the bright orange color, pictured above, and I published a few apps on the Firefox Marketplace, including the task planner app <a href="https://github.com/corbindavenport/planr" rel="noreferrer">Planr</a>. I also had Android, Firefox OS, and Ubuntu Touch triple-booting at one point on my Nexus 5.</p><p></p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/OpenII_FireE_SpiceFireOne-Large.jpeg" alt="The Mozilla Graveyard" loading="lazy" width="1276" height="1126" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Credit: </span><a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/firefox-os-expands-to-nearly-30-countries/" rel="noreferrer"><span>Mozilla</span></a></figcaption></figure><p>Development <a href="https://www.pcworld.com/article/418693/mozilla-nixes-firefox-os-bowing-out-of-mobile-race.html">ended in 2015</a>, and it was later forked to create <a href="https://www.kaiostech.com/" rel="noreferrer">KaiOS</a>, which is currently used on many feature phones from Nokia, HMD, Alcatel, Reliance, and other manufacturers.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-launcher-2014">Firefox Launcher (2014)</h3><p>The <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/05/firefox-launcher/">Firefox Launcher</a> was announced as a home screen launcher for Android phones, developed in collaboration with Israeli contextual computing startup <a href="https://github.com/EverythingMe">EverythingMe</a>. Mozilla and EverythingMe were already working on contextual features for Firefox OS, and the Android launcher had some of the same functionality.</p><p>It was supposed to recommend different apps on the home screen depending on your usage and location, and there were plans for sponsored app placements. Facebook was trying a similar project at the time, called <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2013/12/19/facebook-home-redesign/" rel="noreferrer">Facebook Home</a>.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/screenshot_2014-02-05-14-30-45.png" alt="The Mozilla Graveyard" loading="lazy" width="360" height="640" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Credit: </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/05/firefox-launcher/" rel="noreferrer"><span>TechCrunch</span></a></figcaption></figure><p>As far as I can tell, Firefox Launcher was never publicly released. It was similar to EverythingMe's own launcher app, which was real, but then <a href="https://tech.eu/2015/10/25/israeli-startup-everythingme-shuts-down/">shut down</a> in 2015 as the company ran out of money.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="mozilla-webthings-2017-2020">Mozilla WebThings (2017-2020)</h3><p>Mozilla <a href="https://hacks.mozilla.org/2017/06/building-the-web-of-things/">announced</a> a software and hardware framework for Internet of Things (IoT) devices in 2017, called Project Things, which included a standardized data model and API for device communication over the web. Mozilla hoped it would be a "unifying horizontal application layer to bridge together multiple underlying IoT protocols," and it was being developed in collaboration with the W3C, IETF, and other industry groups.</p><p>Mozilla continued working on the project, and <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/announcing-project-things-open-framework-connecting-devices-web/">released a version of the Things Gateway software</a> in 2018 for the Raspberry Pi and other similar devices. It eventually evolved into Mozilla WebThings, and in 2020 it was <a href="https://hacks.mozilla.org/2019/04/introducing-mozilla-webthings/">spun off</a> as an independent open source project. Mozilla shut down its remote gateway services at the end of 2020, but <a href="https://webthings.io/">WebThings</a> still exists with relatively active development.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-for-echo-show-2018-2021">Firefox for Echo Show (2018-2021)</h3><p>Mozilla created <a href="https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/firefox-echo-show">a version of Firefox</a> for Amazon's Echo Show smart displays, primarily for watching YouTube videos, but also usable for general web browsing. It was <a href="https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/firefox-echo-show/releases/tag/v1.0">released</a> in August 2018, and <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/end-support-firefox-amazon-devices">discontinued</a> in April 2021.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-lite-2017-2021">Firefox Lite (2017-2021)</h3><p>Mozilla <a href="https://www.androidpolice.com/2017/10/09/mozilla-testing-another-new-browser-called-firefox-rocket-specifically-indonesia/">released Firefox Rocket</a> in 2017 as a lightweight Android web browser. The initial release had a smaller download size than the full-featured Firefox app, a 'turbo mode' for blocking ads and trackers to save mobile data, and the option to use an SD card for cache and downloads. The best part was the modified Firefox icon in the GitHub repository, with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doge_(meme)">Doge</a> holding a rocket. Sadly, that didn't end up as the official icon.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/img_59dba1d3db109.png" alt="The Mozilla Graveyard" loading="lazy" width="435" height="435" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Credit: Mozilla</span></figcaption></figure><p>It was later rebranded to Firefox Lite, and then was <a href="https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/07/05/mozilla-retires-its-firefox-lite-browser-probably-because-it-wasnt-actually-all-that-lite/">discontinued in 2021</a>, following performance improvements rolling out to the regular Firefox browser. It's pretty funny that Mozilla <a href="https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/25/firefox-lite-now-has-a-useless-travel-planning-feature/">added a travel planning feature</a> to Firefox Lite in February 2020—just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic to shut down international travel for months.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-for-fire-tv-2017-2021">Firefox for Fire TV (2017-2021)</h3><p>Mozilla <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/firefox-is-now-on-amazon-fire-tv-happy-holiday-watching/">released</a> Firefox for Amazon's Fire TV and Fire TV Stick in 2017, developed in collaboration with Amazon. It was primarily made for watching YouTube videos and other web media content that didn't have dedicated Fire TV applications.</p><p>When Amazon and Google <a href="https://www.androidcentral.com/youtube-app-finally-back-fire-tv-devices">ended a long-running dispute</a> in 2019, and the official YouTube app returned to Fire TV, the Firefox browser didn't have much of a reason to stick around. It was <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/end-support-firefox-amazon-devices">discontinued</a> in April 2021.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-advance-2018-2019">Firefox Advance (2018-2019)</h3><p><a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/press/2018/08/firefox-offers-recommendations-with-latest-test-pilot-experiment-advance/">Advance</a> was a Firefox extension that analyzed the user's web history and provided suggestions about what to read next. Mozilla explained in a blog post, "For example, you’re just browsing the internet, and come across a page with a list of the hottest restaurants. Advance starts to recommend similar content around the most popular restaurants so that you can start comparing without having to do all the research on your own." The Advance browser extension was <a href="https://venturebeat.com/business/mozilla-kills-its-experimental-firefox-test-pilot-program-3-years-after-launch/">shut down in 2019</a>, along with all other Firefox Test Pilot experiments.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="mozilla-hubs-2018-2024">Mozilla Hubs (2018-2024)</h3><p>Hubs was first shown off as <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/26/mozilla-hubs-is-a-super-simple-social-chat-room-for-robots/">a preview in April 2018</a>, as a basic web social platform where people could meet and talk in virtual 3D spaces on mobile, desktop, and virtual reality. Mozilla continued adding features like more environments and avatars, and in 2022 <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/29/for-20-a-month-you-can-host-meetings-in-mozillas-mini-metaverse/">a subscription tier was introduced</a> for virtual classrooms, events, meetings, and other similar use cases. Mozilla even <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/01/mozilla-acquires-active-replica-to-build-on-its-metaverse-vision/" rel="noreferrer">acquired</a> Vancouver-based startup Active Replica in 2022 to help work on Hubs.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uXBDogyGXTQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Hello WebXR" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></figure><p>Mozilla <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/13/mozilla-downsizes-as-it-refocuses-on-firefox-and-ai-read-the-memo/">said in 2024</a> that "demand has moved away from 3D virtual worlds," and work on it ended after a round of layoffs at Mozilla. The project was <a href="https://hubsfoundation.org/">transferred to the Hubs Foundation</a>, where development remains active.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-reality-2018-2024">Firefox Reality (2018-2024)</h3><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/18/mozillas-firefox-reality-web-browser-is-now-available/">Firefox Reality</a> was a modified version of Firefox designed to run on VR headsets, available on Viveport, Oculus, Pico, and HoloLens platforms. It could function as a regular 2D web browser application in virtual environments, but could also display 3D web content and VR web apps. Firefox Reality was <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/news/update-on-firefox-reality/">discontinued and removed from app stores</a> in 2022, with Mozilla pointing users to <a href="https://wolvic.com/en/">Igalia's Wolvic browser</a> as a direct successor (which used some Firefox Reality code).</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-notes-2017-2020">Firefox Notes (2017-2020)</h3><p>Notes was a Firefox extension, <a href="https://github.com/mozilla/notes/releases/tag/1.0">initially released in 2017</a>, that allowed users to save notes that would sync with encryption across all their devices. It was <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/introducing-firefoxs-first-mobile-test-pilot-experiments-lockbox-and-notes/">rolled out to the mobile Firefox browser</a> in 2018.</p><figure data-sanitized-class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.spacebar.news/content/images/2024/09/68747470733a2f2f692e696d6775722e636f6d2f6b4f75493275472e706e67.png" alt="The Mozilla Graveyard" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1234" data-sanitized-class="kg-image"><figcaption><span>Credit: Mozilla</span></figcaption></figure><p>Mozilla <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/17/mozilla-shutters-firefox-send-and-notes/">shut down</a> the Notes service in 2020, saying it was meant as an experiment for synchronizing encrypted data. The source code is <a href="https://github.com/mozilla/notes">still available on GitHub</a>.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-send-2019-2020">Firefox Send (2019-2020)</h3><p><a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/introducing-firefox-send-providing-free-file-transfers-while-keeping-your-personal-information-private/" rel="noreferrer">Send</a> was a web service that allowed users to upload files with encryption, and share them as links for other people to download. Mozilla shut it down in mid-2020, as it was increasingly used to distribute malware, and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/17/mozilla-shutters-firefox-send-and-notes/">decided in September 2020</a> not to bring it back.</p><p>Mozilla's Thunderbird team <a href="https://tilvids.com/w/adMtYkCjFQkzBYDoqgAe2R">announced in August 2023</a> that it was working on reviving the project, and it was <a href="https://blog.thunderbird.net/2024/10/thunderbird-annual-report-2023-2024/" rel="noreferrer">mentioned again</a> in Thunderbird's 2023-2204 annual report, but nothing has been released as of September 2024. The <a href="https://github.com/mozilla/send">source code for Firefox Send</a> is still available, and it's accessible through <a href="https://github.com/timvisee/send-instances/">various independent instances</a>.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-private-network-2019-2023">Firefox Private Network (2019-2023)</h3><p>Firefox Private Network was a VPN built into the Firefox browser. Following <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2018/10/22/testing-new-ways-to-keep-you-safe-online/">tests with ProtonVPN</a> and other third-party recommended services, Firefox's own VPN started as a <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefoxs-test-pilot-program-returns-with-firefox-private-network-beta/">beta test for US users</a> in 2019, and it was <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2020/06/09/next-steps-in-testing-our-firefox-private-network-browser-extension-beta/">reworked</a> as a $2.99/month subscription service in 2020. Firefox Private Network was <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-private-network-no-longer-available?utm_source=inproduct&amp;utm_medium=support">shut down in June 2023</a> and replaced by <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/products/vpn/">Mozilla VPN</a>, which is mostly a rebranded version of Mullvad VPN.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="firefox-ad-free-internet-2019-2020">Firefox Ad-free Internet (2019-2020)</h3><p>Scroll, the subscription service that removed ads from many sites (while still paying the sites) for one monthly subscription, partnered with Mozilla to create a Firefox-branded version of the service. The service was <a href="https://liliputing.com/mozilla-teases-firefox-ad-free-internet-for-5-per-month/">announced in 2019</a> as Firefox Ad-free Internet, a $4.99/month subscription. The website explained, "We share your payment directly with the sites you read. They make more money which means they can bring you great content without needing to distract you with ads just to keep the lights on."</p><p>Mozilla <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200308114441/https://firstlook.firefox.com/proxy/v4/">ended the experiment</a> by March 2020, and Scroll itself was purchased by Twitter in 2021. The independent Scroll service <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/5/22711233/scroll-shutting-down-twitter-blue-standalone-subscription-ad-free-article-service">shut down</a> later that year, and lived on for a while longer as the "Ad-Free Articles" feature in Twitter Blue subscriptions.</p><h3 data-sanitized-id="mozillasocial-2023-2024">Mozilla.social (2023-2024)</h3><p>Mozilla <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/mozilla-launch-fediverse-instance-social-media-alternative/" rel="noreferrer">announced</a> its own Mastodon server in December 2022, aiming to "apply the lessons of the past to build a social experience for humanity that is healthy, sustainable, and sheltered from the centralized control of any one entity." Private beta testing started in May 2023, and it doesn't seem like it was ever fully open to the public, according to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240829120957/https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/mozilla-social-faq" rel="noreferrer">an archived version of the support page</a>.</p><p>Mozilla's <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/13/mozilla-downsizes-as-it-refocuses-on-firefox-and-ai-read-the-memo/">layoffs in early 2024</a> included the Mozilla.social team, and the shutdown was <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/17/mozilla-exits-the-fediverse-and-will-shutter-its-mastodon-server-in-december/">confirmed in September 2024</a>. The archived site is expected to remain functional until December 2024.</p><p></p>

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guid: yt:video:DphAn3eblgI
title: New Linux Utility Release
author: ;Titus Tech Talk
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DphAn3eblgI
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guid: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/iran-missile-attack-what-we-learned
title: Iran missile attack: what we learned last night
author: ;Alex Krainer
link: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/iran-missile-attack-what-we-learned
hash: �PkS�ۂ��o�`ɍ�
content:
<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d44e960-fc9e-46c2-be30-ef43cd66d2dc_1511x577.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d44e960-fc9e-46c2-be30-ef43cd66d2dc_1511x577.png" width="1456" height="556" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4d44e960-fc9e-46c2-be30-ef43cd66d2dc_1511x577.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":556,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":925296,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>During the night of 2nd October 2024, Iran unleashed their operation "True Promise 2," launching between 200 and 400 ballistic missiles into Israel. As the video footage coming from Israel has shown, many of these missiles reached their targets inflicting substantial damage on the ground. Apparently, some offshore gas platforms were also struck. Claims and counterclaims are a bit all over the place at the moment: Israelis have claimed that the Iranian attack failed and that most of the missiles were intercepted. Netanyahu's aide <strong>Hananya Naftali</strong> even <a href="https://twitter.com/HananyaNaftali/status/1841202859481649297">tweeted a "BRAVO"</a> to Israel's aerial defence systems for intercepting "nearly all the missiles." </p><p>But the footage from last night gives a very different impression; it corroborates those who claimed that many missiles hit their targets. A few of the videos also confirm that the Iranians do indeed possess hypersonic missiles. We also know now that these have a long range and seem accurate enough. This lesson alone could be a game changer.</p><h2>Why hypersonic missiles are a game changer</h2><p>Hypersonic missiles can't be intercepted. The most advanced Western air defence systems can shoot down incoming projectiles flying at up to mach 3. So far as the Patriot Missiles are concerned, their success rate is very poor even at that. Nothing in Western powers' arsenal can defend against hypersonic missiles and this certainly got the Pentagon's attention. The implication is that all US Navy assets and military bases in the Middle East are defenceless, and that Iran has the capability to strike them. </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9422b6-cb06-43fa-8838-a5eb6c29a790_1576x873.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fba9422b6-cb06-43fa-8838-a5eb6c29a790_1576x873.png" width="1456" height="807" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ba9422b6-cb06-43fa-8838-a5eb6c29a790_1576x873.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":807,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":3064292,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>During yesterday's attack, two U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean <a href="https://twitter.com/imetatronink/status/1841285332706394371">launched twelve SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor rockets</a>, their most advanced air defence system. The problem is that the <a href="https://www.aei.org/op-eds/the-u-s-navys-missile-production-problem-looks-dire/">current production rate</a> of SM-3s is down to zero! Thus, even if SM-3s are effective, Western air defence systems are not for the long haul and will deplete rapidly in case of further escalation. </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78f4ec7a-e76e-43f7-a791-884ffa196692_1080x1512.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78f4ec7a-e76e-43f7-a791-884ffa196692_1080x1512.png" width="1080" height="1512" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/78f4ec7a-e76e-43f7-a791-884ffa196692_1080x1512.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":1512,"width":1080,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1230791,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>At the same time, Iran has many thousands of missiles ready. <a href="https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/iran/">Here's what CSIS says</a> about Irans' arsenal: </p><blockquote><p>"Iran possesses the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East, with thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles, some capable of striking as far as Israel and southeast Europe. For the past decade, Iran has invested significantly to improve these weapons' precision and lethality. Such developments have made Iran's missile forces... a credible threat to U.S. and partner military forces in the region.”</p></blockquote><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ed055c7-b394-4bd2-8c6f-22b8c31d306e_1496x1023.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ed055c7-b394-4bd2-8c6f-22b8c31d306e_1496x1023.png" width="1456" height="996" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0ed055c7-b394-4bd2-8c6f-22b8c31d306e_1496x1023.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":996,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1511544,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h2>Hezbollah can shoot 3,000 missiles a day?</h2><p>Then there's Hezbollah. According to a 130-page report titled, "The Most Deadly War of All," compiled by a group of six Israeli think-tanks and based on three years of research and the opinions of over 100 Israeli defence experts and IDF commanders, war on Hezbollah would be, as the report's title suggests, the most deadly war of all for Israel. According to the report, Hezbollah would be capable of launching 2,500 to 3,000 missiles per day, a combination of long-range precision guided and unguided rockets. </p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe","language":"en"}' data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM" data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor"><div data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Alex Krainer's TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input-wrapper"><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input"></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-button"></div></div></div></div><p>The barrages would be launched toward specific targets in Israel with the potential of destroying the Iron Dome air-defence capability. IDF's reserves of Iron Dome and David's Sling interceptor missiles would likely be depleted within a few days from the start of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, leaving Israel exposed to thousands of missiles and drones launched by Hezbollah. This all could result in thousands of casualties and widespread panic among the settlement populations (already an estimated 200,000 settlers have abandoned their settlements  in the north of Israel since the start of hostilities).</p><p>Not to mention, both Iran and Hezbollah have been preparing for this outbreak for over two decades now, and the Iranians now promised a much more painful strike if Israel decides to escalate further. Western powers won't be able to stem the tsunami that Netanyahu is working to unleash, any more than the Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea has been able to restrain the Ansarallah in Yemen.  But therein lies the good news, I think. </p><h2>The good news, inshallah!</h2><p>Certain political factions in Israel and in the West have been working overtime to provoke a major war and draw in both Iran and the United States. Some of the pro-Israel voices are utterly rapturous about the prospect; the things they say sound utterly deranged and surreal. It’s as though they convinced themselves that Israel is somehow endowed with superpowers and that it can instantly turn anyone they wish into a smoldering heap of ashes. They also seem to think that by killing <strong>Hassan Nasrallah</strong>, Israel eliminated Hezbollah. They ignore the fact that Hezbollah is a very extensive military and political <strong>organization</strong>. If the Israelis bombed the Vatican tomorrow and killed the pope, that wouldn't be the end of Catholic Church.</p><p>Indeed, very childish and dangerous delusions gripped the most fanatical cohort of Israel supporters and saner heads must by now be aware of the extremely reckless adventure they’re dragging us all into. If a wider war erupts, all of US, UK and NATO assets in the Middle East are sitting ducks and will be destroyed or expelled from the region. </p><p>Furthermore, an interruption of crude oil traffic from the Persian Gulf would inflict a devastating blow to G7 economies at a time when they least need it. In addition, all of this could be hitting the proverbial fan just ahead of the elections, and they haven't even managed to assassinate <strong>Trump </strong>yet! It is all reckless in the extreme; the odds of victory (which is yet to be defined) are slim to none, while a cataclysmic failure is nearly certain. </p><p>I may be succumbing to wishful thinking myself, but I believe that we will shortly see leaders in the West pull hard on the handbrake and effect the quickest 180 degree turn yet! In the end, perhaps they will arrive at the calculation that sacrificing <strong>Benjamin Netanyahu</strong> and allowing Israel a break so they can sober up and reassess their predicament is a much better deal than following the unhinged fanatics and committing a collective suicide. We'll know soon enough. Who knows, maybe we can avoid World War 3. </p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/iran-missile-attack-what-we-learned?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM" data-sanitized-class="captioned-button-wrap"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></div><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/iran-missile-attack-what-we-learned?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/iran-missile-attack-what-we-learned?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p><strong><a href="http://linkedin.com/in/alex-sasha-krainer-0b74ab1a">Alex Krainer</a> – <a href="https://twitter.com/NakedHedgie">@NakedHedgie</a></strong> is the creator of <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/">I-System Trend Following</a></strong> and publisher of daily <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/trendcompass/">TrendCompass</a></strong> investor reports which cover over 200 financial and commodities markets. One-month test drive is always free of charge, <strong>no jumping through hoops to cancel</strong>. To start your trial subscription, drop us an email at <a href="mailto:TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com">TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com</a></p><p>For<strong> <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">US investors</a></strong>, we propose a trend-driven inflation/recession resilient portfolio covering a basket of 30+ financial and commodities markets. Further information is at <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">link</a>.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3c69459-312b-4e98-ba06-aa46095b665d_1940x1046.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3c69459-312b-4e98-ba06-aa46095b665d_1940x1046.png" width="1456" height="785" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a3c69459-312b-4e98-ba06-aa46095b665d_1940x1046.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":785,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1745626,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p>

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guid: yt:video:Sx7g_u_z5A4
title: COSMIC Alpha 2 is AMAZING
author: ;Titus Tech Talk
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx7g_u_z5A4
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title: Forum for Peace: American University in Moscow Roundtable 02
author: ;Rising Tide Foundation
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<p><img src="https://thumbnails.lbry.com/CUZr3JONq_o" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="Forum for Peace: American University in Moscow Roundtable 02"></p>In this third Roundtable co-sponsored by The American University in Moscow and Rising Tide Foundation, experts Alistair Scott, Martin Sieff and Anton Chaitkin deliver their analysis on the geopolitical landscape and the historic and philosophical undercurrents shaping today's crisis.<br><br>Martin Sieff's work can be accessed at: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B002T3QW26<br><br>Anton Chaitkin's work can be accessed at: <br>https://www.amazon.com/stores/Anton-Chaitkin/author/B005VGWXXA?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&amp;qid=1728269374&amp;sr=1-2&amp;isDramIntegrated=true&amp;shoppingPortalEnabled=true<br><br>Alistair Scott's work: https://pravda-en.com/world/2024/08/28/710925.html<br><br>To register for future round tables (which will be held every two weeks), contact Ed Lozansky or register online here:<br>https://russiahouse.org/american-university-in-moscow/<br><br>Also visit<br>www.risingtidefoundation.net<br>...<br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUZr3JONq_o

link:
https://odysee.com/forum-for-peace-american-university-in-2:d14f75455ccf4516e910f2f9aeee81ab7add0fa9

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title: JACQUES BAUD: US MEDIA SHIFT NARRATIVE ON UKRAINE BEFORE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
author: ;Eva K Bartlett
hash: a"�+�J�G�2��*͒
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<p><img src="https://thumbs.odycdn.com/b3eb93abd78f33b4f23a5be11ba78591.webp" width="480" alt="thumbnail" title="JACQUES BAUD: US MEDIA SHIFT NARRATIVE ON UKRAINE BEFORE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS"></p>Former Swiss intelligence, Jacques Baud, is author to numerous books, and offers critical commentary--while bringing needed historical context--on current issues.<br><br>In this conversation, Jacques speaks on the media's shift regarding reports on Ukraine, noting it aligns with the Biden administration needing some sort of perceived success before election (eg: peace talks).<br><br>He notes that Ukrainian media is more critical (than at first) of Zelensky, with even a recent Kiev Post article stating that the war is between the West &amp; Russia, on Ukrainian territory.<br><br><br>See our previous conversation: JACQUES BAUD: NATO THREATENED RUSSIA DECADES BEFORE 2022

link:
https://odysee.com/BAUDMEDIASHIFTNARRATIVEONUKRAINEBEFOREELECTIONS:4fc4326513f1ddc131b63fd83e613ab751bf5327

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guid: https://canadianpatriotreview.substack.com/p/towards-a-world-of-sovereign-republics
title: Towards a World of Sovereign Republics: The Clash of Two Futures
author: ;Canadian Patriot Review
link: https://canadianpatriotreview.substack.com/p/towards-a-world-of-sovereign-republics
hash: d[�`���"�e��'
content:
<p>Our current society has the choice of either collapsing into a long dark age, or renewing the great birth of mankind which expressed itself brilliantly with the establishment of its first Constitutional Republic via the American Revolution of 1776. As those foolish decisions shaping history would have it, the world of sovereign republics free of colonialism would not be carried into reality with the birth of America.</p><p>All developments leading up to the present crises have been shaped directly by the intrinsic tension between two inclinations. On the one side, we find the spirit of discovery and faith in the perfectibility of the universe and man embodied in the best traditions of the United States of America, while on the other do we find an inclination towards stasis and the pessimistic attitude that not only is the universe a cold, evil place, but so too is the humanity found within it. While history has been a struggle between representatives of these two outlooks, with the advent of thermonuclear capabilities, and the actual possibility of self extermination, no longer is mankind afforded the liberty to tolerate their co-existence. One must prevail.</p><p>Canada must locate its true character within this historical dynamic if it is to overcome the greatest obstacle to its evolution. This obstacle is to be found within the un-principled British imperial system which formed its historical and present behaviour.</p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://canadianpatriotreview.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://canadianpatriotreview.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>It is the design of the present report to shed light several key fallacies embedded within the foundations of Canada’s paradoxical system in order to ensure that she does not remain a tool of those interests intent on subverting the best traditions of humanity during this time of economic crisis and war. Rather, the author intends that these existential crises provide an opportunity of honest self examination such that this great northern territory take up its vital role as a servant to the interests of humankind as a true sovereign nation.</p><p>To re-emphasize; this system has proven to be one of the greatest sources of confusion and evil in our nation’s history and if we are to overcome its intended limitations, we must take a moment and evaluate what underlies it.</p><h2><strong>What is a Sovereign Nation?</strong></h2><p>The very toleration of something as self contradictory as a Party System as a pillar of a nation state, could only occur to the extent that a fallacious idea of sovereignty were maintained. Contrary to popular belief, nations are not the effect of some “social contract” agreed upon to check the innate selfishness of mankind. Nor can it be assumed that empires are simply the natural outgrowth of nations, within a Hobbesian world of each against all.</p><p>Since modern international law and the sacred right to national sovereignty now being threatened by the Blair doctrine of R2P and the `World Government“, is rooted in the <a href="https://risingtidefoundation.net/2021/12/24/15303/">1648 Treaty signed in Westphalia</a>, it would do well to look to that founding document to see first hand upon what basis a nation is to be considered sovereign. In this way, we may re-evaluate to what degree sovereignty has been destroyed under the monetarist system of Globalization… especially in those nations popularly perceived to be the most free and democratic of the world.</p><blockquote><p><em>`That there shall be a Christian and Universal Peace, and a perpetual, true and sincere Amity, between his Sacred Imperial Majesty and his most Christian Majesty as also between all and each of the Allies…That this Peace and Amity shall be observed and cultivated with such a Sincerity and Zeal, that each Party shall endeavour to procure the Benefit, Honour and Advantage of the other; that thus on all sides they may see this Peace and Friendship in the Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of France flourish by entertaining a good and faithful neighbourhood</em></p></blockquote><p>The preamble goes on to outline the need for mutual forgiveness of transgressions, and mutual cooperation of all parties. What is remarkable is that for the first time in history, was a legal framework crafted that not only put an end to war, but established the necessary ingredients foe a durable peace… not as a negation of war, or a list of `do nots`, but rather as a positive principle` of creative change.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa082db4c-310e-4d1f-9cff-255f3564d5ed_387x381.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa082db4c-310e-4d1f-9cff-255f3564d5ed_387x381.jpeg" width="387" height="381" data-attrs='{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a082db4c-310e-4d1f-9cff-255f3564d5ed_387x381.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":381,"width":387,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"","title":"","type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" title="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>One is also struck by the spirit of Grace, Forgiveness and Charity which shine forth in these words, especially the mandate of <em>`the benefit of the other`.</em> This spirit did not embody the vast majority of signers of the Treaty, but rather only a small minority of individuals working directly with its leading architect, Cardinal Mazarin of France. Yet, even so, the principled character of the individual personality, not some mob, was necessary to forge its success, and as an effect has had a durable effect upon the cultivation of personalities born and raised under the new framework shaped by Mazarin and his law. A handful of such personalities would go on to found the United States of America as a direct outgrowth of this revolution in statecraft.</p><p>What we find is that Sovereign nations have a<em> character</em> analogous to the character of what we would classify as the virtuous individual. Just as some individuals are weaker and stronger, some are foolish, and others wise, some are trapped by selfish impulses they themselves don’t fully understand and others by principled motives, so too do we discover nations are similarly defined. As the character of a human is also known as his or her <em>constitution</em>, so too are statesmen obliged not to act as careerists or pragmatists for present concerns as is too often the case today, but rather to ensure the foundation, defence and cultivation of good constitutions which will form the character of its people, in order for its people to reciprocally reinforce and develop their nation’s constitution.</p><p>This fact has been a matter of intense reflection by the most powerful minds and strategists for good and evil throughout history, so it would be wise for any reader to take such considerations as seriously as the founding fathers did when they chose to risk their lives for those universal ideals expressed in the words written on the founding documents of the U.S. republic. It must also be considered when evaluating the unprincipled founding documents of Canada, a nation which, though many believe to be a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world, is actually one of the most tightly controlled colonies of an unseen empire. This British empire advocates nothing less than the reduction of humanity both in quantity and quality as proposed by the likes of Prince Philip<a href="https://canadianpatriot.org/Users/mattehret/Documents/CANADA/My%20Reports/Articles%20for%20Patriot%204/20120911-%20Towards%20a%20world%20of%20Republics.doc#_ftn1">[1]</a>. This has been the legacy of the British Empire System of Empire, of which Canada is still an unacknowledged part, as juxtaposed against the empire’s mortal adversary, the American system of political economy embedded in the United States Constitution.</p><p><strong>We will continue this discussion in a few days with a comparative investigation of the Canadian vs American constitutions.</strong></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://canadianpatriotreview.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://canadianpatriotreview.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h3>Footnote</h3><p><a href="https://canadianpatriot.org/Users/mattehret/Documents/CANADA/My%20Reports/Articles%20for%20Patriot%204/20120911-%20Towards%20a%20world%20of%20Republics.doc#_ftnref1">[1]</a> “Human population growth is probably the single most serious long-term threat to survival. We’re in for a major disaster if it isn’t curbed–not just for the natural world, but for the human world. The more people there are, the more resources they’ll consume, the more pollution they’ll create, the more fighting they will do. We have no option. If it isn’t controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled involuntarily by an increase in disease, starvation and war.”<br>-Prince Philip, founder of the World Wildlife Fund</p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

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guid: /fr/sencaplus/personnalites/rencontre-avec-les-nouveaux-senateurs-du-canada-2024/
title: Rencontre avec les nouveaux sénateurs du Canada 2024
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link:
https://sencanada.ca//fr/sencaplus/personnalites/rencontre-avec-les-nouveaux-senateurs-du-canada-2024/


guid: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/have-they-weaponized-hurricanes
title: Have they weaponized hurricanes?
author: ;Alex Krainer
link: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/have-they-weaponized-hurricanes
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content:
<p>After hurricane Helene wreaked havoc through Southeast of the United States, <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/2024/hurricane-milton">hurricane Milton</a> is about to make landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast, also with catastrophic potential. US Government’s inability or unwillingness to adequately respond to the resulting disasters has unleashed heated discussions on social media, including the speculation that they are somehow deliberately engineering these storms. </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F269de785-9957-4698-a04c-fca1b90db8b5_2880x1620.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F269de785-9957-4698-a04c-fca1b90db8b5_2880x1620.png" width="1456" height="819" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/269de785-9957-4698-a04c-fca1b90db8b5_2880x1620.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":819,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":9501970,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The conspiracy theories can’t be dismissed; our government agencies as well as certain oligarchs like <strong>Bill Gates</strong> have been busy playing God with climate-engineering technologies like cloud-seeding, HAARP (High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), AAI (atmospheric aerosol injections), carbon sequestration, sun dimming, and who knows what else. These technologies exist, and they can and do <em>influence</em> the weather. Here’s the former CIA director <strong>John Brennan</strong> talking about AAI in 2016: </p><div data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs='{"mediaUploadId":"6670d02c-759e-4821-817a-217d5f7f96c8","duration":null}' data-sanitized-class="native-video-embed"></div><p>Clearly, they’re busy messing with the climate. At the same time however, I very much doubt that they are capable of controlling anything much. In fact, tropical storms and hurricanes vividly expose the limitations of science and technology at understanding and forecasting the behavior of complex systems. Hurricane forecasts have greatly improved over the last few decades and the 24 and 48 hour forecasts of their <em>trajectories</em> tend to be fairly good. <em>Good</em> however isn’t the same as <em>accurate. </em>But our ability to predict a hurricane’s <em>intensity</em> isn’t even good. If we can’t predict something, how would we even begin to control it?</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe","language":"en"}' data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM" data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor"><div data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Alex Krainer's TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input-wrapper"><div data-sanitized-class="fake-input"></div><div data-sanitized-class="fake-button"></div></div></div></div><h2>How hurricanes form</h2><p>Scientists’ ability to predict a hurricane’s trajectory has improved thanks to our greatly enhanced understanding of how hurricanes form and why they move the way they do. Here’s a condensed account of what we <em>do</em> know about hurricanes. They likely originate from the low and mid-level atmospheric winds blowing from the east across the Ethiopian highlands. As they blow over these high mountains, they form vortices that drift westward. When they reach the Atlantic Ocean, moist monsoon winds from the Gulf of Guinea inject humidity into the vortices. If enough humidity meets a sufficiently strong vortex, masses of clouds begin forming rapidly.</p><p>Out of the total of around a hundred such easterly waves, twenty to thirty will move each season across the Atlantic with the potential to turn into tropical depressions given the right conditions – primarily high humidity and heat. As water temperatures off the west coast of Africa warm to their late-summer peak, moist air begins to rise high into the atmosphere adding more energy to the system and providing humidity for continued cloud formation.</p><p>For a large storm to form, the following ingredients are required: the ocean’s surface temperature must rise above 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Farenheit); the pool of warm water must span at least a few hundred square miles and be at least 60 meters deep (196 feet); a large layer of warm, very humid air must also be present, extending from the ocean’s surface to an altitude of some 5,500 meters (18,000 feet). In such conditions, normally in place from June until December and peaking from August through October, the atmospheric disturbances caused by the easterly waves can trigger the formation of large storms.</p><p>One element however, must be absent for a hurricane to form: winds in the atmosphere over the large pool of warm ocean must be mild or consistent from the ocean surface to an altitude of at least 12,000 meters (40,000 feet) because strong and varied winds tend to tear cyclones apart. This is the key reason why hurricanes don’t form in the southern Atlantic.</p><p>The trajectory of hurricanes is determined in part by Earth’s rotation, so they predictably move from East to West rising gradually in latitude along the way. A large area of high atmospheric pressure usually present around the Bermudas (the Bermuda high) causes the hurricanes to swerve northwards and then continue to move toward the North-East following the Gulf currents. The regularity of these conditions gives hurricanes a somewhat predictable trajectory as the map below shows.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1cd6ea1e-5eea-4462-bba9-1b9c9fe6f507_1920x1076.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1cd6ea1e-5eea-4462-bba9-1b9c9fe6f507_1920x1076.jpeg" width="1456" height="816" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1cd6ea1e-5eea-4462-bba9-1b9c9fe6f507_1920x1076.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":816,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"undefined","title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="undefined" title="undefined" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">Trajectories of all hurricanes and tropical storms from 1851 to 2019</figcaption></figure></div><p>What I presented above is only a very crude summary of a vast and detailed body of knowledge scientists have accumulated about the formation of hurricanes. But in spite of all that knowledge and a great deal of technology enabling storm monitoring in real time, we can never be sure about which disturbances will grow into hurricanes and which ones will dissipate or pass with only minor rainstorms. The structure of hurricanes is largely variable and can change from one day to the next leaving scientists unsure about how exactly all the factors in the atmosphere interact to cause hurricanes to gain or lose strength.</p><h2>Modelling the storms</h2><p>Mind numbing advances in computer modelling of the storms have enhanced meteorologists’ ability to work out probable outcomes, but not accurate prediction. Weather forecasting models used by meteorologists today fall in three distinct categories:</p><ul><li><p>statistical models,</p></li><li><p>dynamical models</p></li><li><p>hybrid statistical-dynamical models.</p></li></ul><p>Statistical models start with the information such as a storm’s location and the time of the year to make a prediction based on previous observed storms at the same location and at the same time of the year. Such models are based on the assumption that over the next 24 or 48 hours, the present storm will behave similarly to the previous ones. </p><p>Dynamical models analyze all the available information about the storm and its adjacent weather conditions and use the basic laws of fluid dynamics in the Earth’s atmosphere to forecast the future development of the storm. Concretely, scientists use six specific mathematical equations to describe the Earth’s atmosphere: three hydrodynamic equations that rely on Newton’s second law of motion to find horizontal and vertical motions of air caused by air pressure differences, gravity, friction, and the Earth’s rotation; two thermodynamic equations that calculate changes in temperature caused by water evaporation, vapor condensation and similar occurrences; and one continuity equation that accounts for the volume of air entering or leaving the area.</p><h2>Building up the monitoring grid</h2><p>With the rapid evolution of computer technology, scientists could handle increasing levels of complexity these equations entail. They have advanced by modelling the Earth’s atmosphere as a three-dimensional grid consisting of a number of horizontal data points stacked in a number of atmospheric layers. </p><p>One of the first such models was developed in the mid-1950s by the US Weather Bureau. Its grid was rather crude, consisting of a single level of the atmosphere at about 18,000 feet (5,500 meters) and data points spaced 248 miles apart. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Hurricane Center developed a much more complex model consisting of ten layers of atmosphere with grid points 37 miles apart. At the time, computers couldn’t handle this model’s complexity over a large area, so the grid had to move about with the storm, keeping it in the center of an area covering 1,860 miles on each side (it was called the Movable Fine Mesh model).</p><p>In the 1990s, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research center in Princeton, New Jersey developed a model that analyzed data at 18 levels of the atmosphere within three nested grids, the finest of which covered an area of 345 square miles with data points 11.5 miles apart. GFDL’s model thus consisted of some 16,200 points receiving data in time steps of 15 seconds. Even at such fine resolution, the model could only represent a hurricane with an idealized vortex structure based upon only a handful of parameters of the real storm (maximum winds and the distance of maximum winds from the storm center).</p><p>In parallel, the US Navy developed its own, somewhat less detailed model named Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS). NOGAPS consisted of a horizontal grid resolution of about 52 miles with 45 data points in each layer over an area covering 345 square miles. Running on the Cray C90 supercomputer, NOGAPS took about 20 minutes to produce a 24-hour forecast. If the NOGAPS model were run with the finer grid of the GFDL model, it would require about a week’s time to produce a 24-hour forecast. </p><p>Since the late 1990s, further advances have taken place both in increased model resolution,<a href="https://isystem-tf.com/2021/07/02/hurricane-science-for-investors-and-traders/#_ftn1">[1]</a> speed of computation and processing capacity. Nevertheless, the practical reality of the problem seems to be converging upon the theory (of computation): as computer models of storms have gone from cruder to finer grid resolution, their complexity has increased exponentially requiring exponentially greater computing power to produce timely forecasts. A <a href="https://blog.mapbox.com/3d-animated-hurricane-map-from-radar-data-affaed8a3d70">visualization below was generated</a> with data for the hurricane Doublas (July 2020) from NOAA’s Weather and Climate Toolkit:</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac485761-4393-488d-ae18-04908d9b4907_758x474.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_lossy/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac485761-4393-488d-ae18-04908d9b4907_758x474.gif" width="758" height="474" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ac485761-4393-488d-ae18-04908d9b4907_758x474.gif","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":474,"width":758,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The a mount of data that’s collected is impressive, but the resolution is still rather grainy. Nonetheless, the fatal flaw of computer modelling is not only in the resolution of models or in the processing speeds of computers.</p><h2>The brick wall of complexity</h2><p>An impossible problem also lies in the complex models’ sensitivity to input data. Namely, very small differences in the values of initial variables can lead to very large variations in outcomes. The seemingly insurmountable problem in modelling complex systems was discovered by MIT’s theoretical meteorologist <strong>Edward Lorenz</strong>. Lorenz developed a relatively straightforward computer model emulating the weather. </p><p>One day in 1961, Lorenz resolved to rerun the results of one particular simulation starting at the half-way point, using the results he had for that particular point in his print-outs. The new simulation quickly started diverging from the original results and soon bore no resemblance to it.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa42eb6b1-9a7b-4ba5-8e17-6739263aba20_296x156.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_lossy/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa42eb6b1-9a7b-4ba5-8e17-6739263aba20_296x156.gif" width="320" height="168.64864864864865" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a42eb6b1-9a7b-4ba5-8e17-6739263aba20_296x156.gif","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":156,"width":296,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"Picture background","title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="Picture background" title="Picture background" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">Sensitive dependence on initial conditions</figcaption></figure></div><p>The ultimate explanation for this divergence had profound implications for science: while Lorenz’s program took its calculations to six decimal places, his print-outs only showed the values to three decimal places. The minute difference between say, 1.234567 and 1.235 applied in the second simulation led to very large differences in the final results. Lorenz termed this phenomenon, “sensitive dependence on initial conditions.” </p><p>We have every reason to expect that other complex systems will display a similar sensitivity, implying that the problem of accuracy of measurements poses another stumbling block in science’s attempt to get to the bottom of such systems. Indeed, accurate prediction will likely remain unattainable regardless of advances in all areas of research. As <strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3hsdv9A">Bob Sheets</a></strong>, the former director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami put it:</p><blockquote><p>“<em>The grid for the computer models does keep getting smaller and smaller, but we’re still taking in terms of miles, while the actual weather is taking place at the level of molecules.</em>” <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/2021/07/02/hurricane-science-for-investors-and-traders/#_ftn2">[2]</a></p></blockquote><p>Hurricanes, like all other complex systems will continue to defy prediction. Simply, our efforts to understand and predict a system’s behaviour are up against a brick wall of complexity. Beyond the very near-term, the whole business of forecasting amounts to educated guesswork. </p><h2>“They”: cruel, sadistic and stupid juveniles</h2><p>To suppose that anyone would actually be capable of controlling such systems and achieving desired outcomes is to credit them with omniscience and omnipotence that’s beyond the human grasp. It takes a particular mental disposition to venture and play God with our societies, economies, viruses, earthquakes or weather modification technologies. </p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ff32669-49c2-4b81-8964-e264bc8a956a_948x643.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ff32669-49c2-4b81-8964-e264bc8a956a_948x643.png" width="948" height="643" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ff32669-49c2-4b81-8964-e264bc8a956a_948x643.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":643,"width":948,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1497377,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a><figcaption data-sanitized-class="image-caption">Masters of the universe or overgrown brats?</figcaption></figure></div><p>Based on what we’ve seen so far, the people who are inclined to do so have much more in common with cruel, sadistic and stupid juveniles than they do with learned, mature and responsible scientists. They can set things on fire and destroy life, but they wouldn’t know how to create or control something if their degenerate lives depended on it. They are good at one thing only: failing. </p><p>Recall, <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/23-07-2022-who-director-general-declares-the-ongoing-monkeypox-outbreak-a-public-health-event-of-international-concern">on 23 July this year, the World Health Organization declared the Mpox pandemic</a> a public health emergency of international concern. That should have snapped the world into another “new normal,” but the world shrugged, yawned and moved on. They are not omnipotent and they are light years away from being omniscient. They’re losing and we are winning for we have the truth on our side. Slowly but surely we are prevailing in the struggle for truth and we’re doing it every day.  </p><p>The above article was adapted from my 2016 book “<strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/masteringriskanduncertaintyincommoditiestrading_6x9printlayout.pdf">Mastering Uncertainty in Commodities Trading</a></strong>” which was rated #1 book on <a href="https://www.financial-expert.co.uk/">FinancialExpert.co.uk</a> list of “<a href="https://www.financial-expert.co.uk/best-commodities-books-uk/">The 5 Best Commodities Books for Investors and Traders</a>” for 2021 and 2022. You can download it for free at the link above. A more recent title which covers much of the same curriculum is “<strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/alexkrainerstrendfollowingbible_pdf.pdf">Alex Krainer’s Trend Following Bible</a></strong>.” It has not won any awards, but I do believe that it is a better text nevertheless.</p><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/have-they-weaponized-hurricanes?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM" data-sanitized-class="captioned-button-wrap"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></div><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/have-they-weaponized-hurricanes?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share","text":"Share"}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/have-they-weaponized-hurricanes?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p><strong><a href="http://linkedin.com/in/alex-sasha-krainer-0b74ab1a">Alex Krainer</a> – <a href="https://twitter.com/NakedHedgie">@NakedHedgie</a></strong> is the creator of <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/">I-System Trend Following</a></strong> and publisher of daily <strong><a href="https://isystem-tf.com/trendcompass/">TrendCompass</a></strong> investor reports which cover over 200 financial and commodities markets. One-month test drive is always free of charge, <strong>no jumping through hoops to cancel</strong>. To start your trial subscription, drop us an email at <a href="mailto:TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com">TrendCompass@ISystem-TF.com</a></p><p>For<strong> <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">US investors</a></strong>, we propose a trend-driven inflation/recession resilient portfolio covering a basket of 30+ financial and commodities markets. Further information is at <a href="https://isystem-tf.com/solutions/u-s-investors/">link</a>.</p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3c69459-312b-4e98-ba06-aa46095b665d_1940x1046.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3c69459-312b-4e98-ba06-aa46095b665d_1940x1046.png" width="1456" height="785" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a3c69459-312b-4e98-ba06-aa46095b665d_1940x1046.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":785,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":1745626,"alt":"","title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false}' alt="" title="" loading="lazy" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div data-attrs='{"url":"https://alexkrainer.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe","language":"en"}' data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM" data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor"><div data-sanitized-class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div data-sanitized-class="preamble"><p data-sanitized-class="cta-caption">Alex Krainer's TrendCompass is a reader-supported publication. 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