The reason why the presidential election looks geriatric and disappointing is that we are trying to convince ourselves to let go of the nation-state. We are all collectively putting on this embarrassing spectacle to make the loss not only palatable but desired.
This is why there are no younger, fresher candidates. This is why voting feels useless. Together, as a group of 320 million, we want national politics to be farcical. We really, really want it because we need an excuse to throw away the nation-state. The very first, the most successful, the most impressive nation-state in history has chosen to be the first in pulling itself apart.
Clarissa's Blog 
And while we are here, Israel is turning into an ethno-religious right-wing hell-hole its own citizens are fleeing from.
https://x.com/martinvars/status/1805931611109597357?t=I57ZhlNtVaeq6BSyPzgX0g&s=19
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Arestovich re the US debates and about Ukraine’s goals for the future:
https://t.me/O_Arestovich_official/5829
For not Russian speakers, he mentions “decades of wars” as the old post-Cold War world order is breaking down. In yesterday’s YouTube discussion with Олег Хомяк and Romanenko, Arestovich said that one of his goals is to keep Ukraine out of those future wars, similar to Spain during World War II, which managed not to enter war despite geographically being at the center of the conflict.
He also compared Ukrainian policy to ‘collective Biden’ – behavior of empty declarations and slogans w/o ability to back them up. F.e. Biden’s “Russia must be stopped” w/o sending sufficient weapons or Ukrainian “we’ll return to 1991 borders” w/o the ability to achieve this goal.
During YouTube discussion, they mentioned Israel and Taiwan as also being specially influenced by those developments, similar to Ukraine.
Btw, this summer feels horrible so far. While the war in Gaza is still going on, Israel-Lebanon war is approaching and may (will!) start by surprise at any second. The Islamic Republic’s UN mission promises “an obliterating war” with all Iranian proxies joining in case of Israel attacking Lebanon.
Meanwhile, our government is entering a new, this time internal, crisis after the High Court’s ruling 4 days ago (more details at the link):
Just a few days ago I read about the bill to raise by one year the age of exemption from reserve duty in order to have more soldiers. Hasn’t passed yet, but the idea is clear…
An analyst on Haredi matters says that:
The parts in bold sound too good to be true, unfortunately.
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One of major newspapers “Yedioth Ahronoth” (Latest News), which is seen as centrist and is “Israel’s largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation”, was sold a few days ago with (ads covering ?) the front page :
(what I remember, saw it on the street and didn’t photograph)
“15 000 dead, 48 (or 72?) hours w/o electricity, not too late to stop the war with Lebanon”
😦 😦
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“collectively putting on this embarrassing spectacle”
It seems less like unconscious collective goal-directed action and more like…. nudging*.
One of the very obvious things about windows 11 is how it makes certain things a little more awkward and time consuming, not impossible or hugely difficult but… a little more awkward. Most of these that I’ve noticed make it more difficult to organize your files…. the intent I think is to nudge users to use ‘the cloud’ (ie someone else’s computer rather than one’s own) to store data.
That’s what the current clusterfuck meltdown of the US political system seems like… a nudge trying to convince people to disengage from the political process.
I’m not going to speculate here about who or why is behind it…. I suspect it is mostly unconscience by the techno-wonk class who dream of being able to ignore existing laws and the public so they can craft their superhuman policy solutions in peace.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory
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Yeah, that.
I don’t buy that this is the will of the people.
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“the will of the people”
The goal is to make rule of technocrat the accepted CW.
I’m reminded of an online interaction with a russian a year or so ago. I ventured that the insanely psychotic rhetoric on russian state tv was not what those screaming it actually believed or even what most vatniks believe…. it’s a show to convince the majority that politics in russia is a cesspool that it’s best to stay clear of.
That’s exactly the vibe I’m getting now from the US: “Do you seriously want to get involved in a fight between two crazy old men who don’t understand anything about daily reality?”
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Seems plausible.
Too bad the technofuture will suck. I am not looking forward to work bonuses being awarded as in-game virtual scrip that can only be spent to buy mods for my avatar.
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Some topical humor:
https://x.com/HistoryMuppet/status/1806732213137911810
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I’ve said this before, and am more convinced then ever, this is not a natural series of events. This is being pushed. I get that most of y’all are either atheists, or believe there is a cosmic being. However I’d like to remind you all once again most of what we are seeing today was prophesied over two thousand years ago. Spoken by Jesus, in the book of Mathew, by John in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, by Danial in the Old Testament, by Isiah in the Old Testament, by Zechariah in the Old Testament. I’m fairly sure there were others as well, but I don’t recall off the top of my head.
The point I’m making is we are at the end of this age, what was spoken of will soon come to pass. Paul the apostle to the Gentiles, (that’s most of us by the way) tells us in 1st Thessalonians 5:1-28 Really the whole is wonderful, but the important part is the first 5 verses. There are three distinct things being said here. 1) As believers we will know the time and season (or at the very least understand that something is different.) 2) That the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. (Now this could be talking about the rapture when we meet Jesus in the air, or 7 years from then when he sets foot on the mount of olives.) The premise is though that the actual day will take people unaware. 3) “But ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” This along with the 1st point seems to imply that those who believe will be generally aware that it is time, even if we might not know the exact hour or day. Which in retrospect would make sense, even if the rapture is on one of God’s feast days. What timezone would it be in, and for that matter what hour? Even if you knew the day, it would still be unknown.
Its kind of interesting, there seems to be a split in the Church. Those who truly believe are doubling down in their faith, where as those who don’t really believe seem to be either leaving, or finding people who are willing to preach abominations and sins. Which again was prophesied millennia ago.
Getting back to the original point. A lot of what was prophesied was frankly impossible before not even 10 years ago. Seriously think about this. One of the most famous/infamous, Rev. 13:16-17 “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Note the phrase, “in their right hand, or in their foreheads” In not on. Until the last decade the technology was not available to have a chip implanted that would contain your financial information. Today is it not only available, but it is spreading. Then there is the abomination of desolation. The antichrist will enter the temple and declare himself to be god. This requires a temple to have been built. Up till the last 10 to 15 years it was laughable. Prior to late 1940s Israel was not but dust and scattered people. How could there be a temple in a nation that hadn’t existed in nearly 2,000 years. Then Israel was reborn. Reborn in a single day, again as was prophecised. Fast forward to the last 10 to 15 years. The Temple Institute has collected the funds, they have already built large portions of the temple to put in place. They have found and trained new priests of the levite lineage. To santify the temple, a burnt offering of a red cow without spot of blemish of any sort, which has never worn a yoke, and under a certain age is sacrificed and burnt to sanctify the temple. There are a handful of red heifers which meet all the criteria now in Israel ready and waiting. Upon the word go, they could build and sanctify the temple and resume worship and sacrifice within 6 months if that. Again only possible within the last few decades after nearly 2 millennia of being unthinkable.
Isaiah prophesied of The burden of Damascus nearly 3 millennia ago. That Damascus would be turned to a ruinous heap in a day. What is interesting is until just under a century ago it was impossible to take place. That is the wars seemed to avoid it, or the weapons needed to turn it into a heap of ruins weren’t available. Today the chances of it happening are not just likely but extremely likely.
There is a lot more, but the bible speaks of these times, and none of it is good other than the return of Jesus, and the escaping of the Great Tribulation by those who believe. So if your not saved now is the time. Seriously find Jesus, before it is too late. We are saved though faith in his blood. He went as the perfect Lamb of God, slain from before the beginning of the world to take our place if we would but believe. It is not God that condemns you to the fires. He is a just and Holy God, it would be against his very nature to allow anything tainted by sin into the perfection that is Heaven. But he is also a loving and kind God. Think about it, he sent Jesus, his only begotten Son, to die a horrible death in payment of our sins. Every sin ever committed or ever will be committed was paid for. It was a gift, our purchased salvation, something we could never do on our own. He died in our place if we would but accept his gift. When you are before the Lord our God will you show up covered in your sins having refused the blood sacrifice of Jesus who’s blood covers our sin, or will you stand before the Lord and without that precious blood covering you having rejected Jesus and be sent away into the darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. The choice is yours, Jesus has already done the work for you, all you need to do is believe in what he did, have faith that his blood will cover you, and trust him. Just call out to him and let him into your heart and be saved. It is not that complicated, he did all the work, you just have to accept and have faith.
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