Nelson Lowhim's Blog, page 77
October 27, 2019
Head of ISIS is dead.
And he was in Idlib, no less (btw read the link and read the comments, still one of the best places to hear discussions out there). I'm sure some people I know from the South and elsewhere will think highly of Trump's words, nevermind that POTUS "my feet hurt" and can't go to war talking big is all talk no walk, but so it goes that acting the tough guy in the right way will win you more friends among the foolish of the world than any other way.
Of course, quite a few people think this death matters. But from what I've been writing here, it won't. I'm guessing there might be a lull, but for the most part the seeds are there for ISIS2 or something worse in that area. We'll have to see as the great powers fumble around like the oil addicts they are (and, again, the elites everywhere are complicit in all this). Someone will replace him and will be worse (perhaps smart enough not to hold ground against those who have air superiority against you).
Remember 40 protesters (in addition to 100) were killed in Iraq (take a look at this here). This is mainly Shia against corruption, but there is little good to hold on to in this region right now.
Nothing in the the way the great powers have acted makes me think we're looking at anything but a lull coming up (if that). And, of course, there's the conspiracy (and not entirely invalid) theory that Baghdadi was "on ice" much like OBL was (and Hersh has some good work on that).
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Of course, quite a few people think this death matters. But from what I've been writing here, it won't. I'm guessing there might be a lull, but for the most part the seeds are there for ISIS2 or something worse in that area. We'll have to see as the great powers fumble around like the oil addicts they are (and, again, the elites everywhere are complicit in all this). Someone will replace him and will be worse (perhaps smart enough not to hold ground against those who have air superiority against you).
Remember 40 protesters (in addition to 100) were killed in Iraq (take a look at this here). This is mainly Shia against corruption, but there is little good to hold on to in this region right now.
Nothing in the the way the great powers have acted makes me think we're looking at anything but a lull coming up (if that). And, of course, there's the conspiracy (and not entirely invalid) theory that Baghdadi was "on ice" much like OBL was (and Hersh has some good work on that).
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
October 20, 2019
Austerity... again
If you read the piece I wrote over at Patreon, I mentioned how the unrest around the world seems to be growing by the day. There seem to be a variety of reasons, but if they could be put under the "austerity for the people" kind of protests. Over all, I haven't read the specifics in each (take Iraq where the corruption basically reached a breaking point, meanwhile price increases caused it in Chile) but the class warfare whereby the poor are taking it the hardest for some ephemeral good (I'm guessing the "they deserve it" ideology has spread worldwide, while the rich and elites get away with making a killing) seems to matter.
I don't know.
That book, Uncivil Society, only highlighted some aspects of how the Communist governments ended up taking the blame for austerity while the loan sharks did not. So in many of these places there might be a new face, but what else? Does any one remember Greece?
And what happens when we move towards austerity because of Climate Change (not sure if any of this has to do with CC just yet). And if we don't impose such measures, CC itself will impose something much worse, won't it?
I'm not sure, but I'll keep my eyes open. btw, listened to some RT the other night and it was some sad shit. Now, it's probably a few factors better than most MSM here, but it really failed on many levels. The first one was where they talked about Syria and Turkey and the Kurds and not once mentioned Afrin. To not do so is as bad as when the MSM forgets basic context for any one of a million news stories. Well, still listen to it, but always be critical.
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I don't know.
That book, Uncivil Society, only highlighted some aspects of how the Communist governments ended up taking the blame for austerity while the loan sharks did not. So in many of these places there might be a new face, but what else? Does any one remember Greece?
And what happens when we move towards austerity because of Climate Change (not sure if any of this has to do with CC just yet). And if we don't impose such measures, CC itself will impose something much worse, won't it?
I'm not sure, but I'll keep my eyes open. btw, listened to some RT the other night and it was some sad shit. Now, it's probably a few factors better than most MSM here, but it really failed on many levels. The first one was where they talked about Syria and Turkey and the Kurds and not once mentioned Afrin. To not do so is as bad as when the MSM forgets basic context for any one of a million news stories. Well, still listen to it, but always be critical.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
October 17, 2019
The Nobel Prize
Times past, whenever a new face came up on the Nobel Prize for lit, I would rush to buy their books, hoping for some new insight into the madness that is the world. But with the latest one, I barely shrugged. Sure, I read and liked what Olga Tokarczuk had to say about the world, ultimately, her
Flights
really falls short of a great and insightful book, though I do appreciate what she was going for (and the risks she took to that end).[1]
Once, on Twitter someone asked what one needed to be a NP winner and I said born in Europe. I have yet to be proven wrong. Insular would be too nice a word. I don't know why I'm surprised. Look at the greats of the past century. Many did not get the prize. They really should rename so there is no confusion in the future. Your thoughts?
[1] This is usually the argument. I will read her books because of her stance against the idiots in charge of her nation, but this doesn't mean the prize isn't run by insular people willing to give Sweden more prizes than all of Asia.
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Once, on Twitter someone asked what one needed to be a NP winner and I said born in Europe. I have yet to be proven wrong. Insular would be too nice a word. I don't know why I'm surprised. Look at the greats of the past century. Many did not get the prize. They really should rename so there is no confusion in the future. Your thoughts?
[1] This is usually the argument. I will read her books because of her stance against the idiots in charge of her nation, but this doesn't mean the prize isn't run by insular people willing to give Sweden more prizes than all of Asia.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
October 14, 2019
Ah, Facebook.
Well, this news doesn't really surprise me. I mean, what were people thinking still using it? And wasn't it mainly older people anyways? Well, one hopes that this means that such social media sites will be more responsible in the future. Haha. jk. Hopefully there's a President who's willing to break these monopolies up. We'll see about that
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
October 13, 2019
Some thoughts on the craziness of the ME.
If you're a little confused about what's happening in the ME (to include why exactly our media and Senators etc are suddenly giving a fuck about people dying there) then here's a post on it. Yep, paywall. I think I've pretty much predicted most things that have happened in this part of the world and so I'm going to keep doing that, but not for free (also it will be a good way to keep track of things as well).
So here's the post. It's a start of a conversation but also a breakdown of what's going on. Read it if you sense that between the GOP, Trump and the MSM, there's a kind of "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right" feeling to their coverage and glossing over of all matters. Yes, the news is entertainment (as Trump has proven) or at best a kind of higher-class professional wrestling show, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be misinformed to this level.
Here it is. Sign up and enjoy. (also, this how to read the news post I wrote stands up somewhat well. I'd only add that you need to keep away from social media).
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
So here's the post. It's a start of a conversation but also a breakdown of what's going on. Read it if you sense that between the GOP, Trump and the MSM, there's a kind of "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right" feeling to their coverage and glossing over of all matters. Yes, the news is entertainment (as Trump has proven) or at best a kind of higher-class professional wrestling show, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be misinformed to this level.
Here it is. Sign up and enjoy. (also, this how to read the news post I wrote stands up somewhat well. I'd only add that you need to keep away from social media).
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
A short short story
Flash fiction, they said. Here it is. I'm working out all the tiers and costs such. Let me know if you have any questions.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
Slowly Improving at Go
Basically, I'm barely competent at this game now.
Some of the things I thought I would experience, like a kind of vision of seeing the global strategy versus local battles (and knowing when to play each one) has come to pass.
This doesn't mean that I'm good. A semi-decent player still minces me up [1] and can fight better while also keeping strategy in mind, but again, it feels good to not just place stones without really knowing what's up (or as I did before, in a overly defensive posture which might win a fight but loses the war).
Good times. Again, if you haven't tried go, you should give it a try now!
[1] Note I'm 19k as of today. On this site that shows up as `1444, which is about my chess960 rating... my chess rating is essentially horrendous.
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Some of the things I thought I would experience, like a kind of vision of seeing the global strategy versus local battles (and knowing when to play each one) has come to pass.
This doesn't mean that I'm good. A semi-decent player still minces me up [1] and can fight better while also keeping strategy in mind, but again, it feels good to not just place stones without really knowing what's up (or as I did before, in a overly defensive posture which might win a fight but loses the war).
Good times. Again, if you haven't tried go, you should give it a try now!
[1] Note I'm 19k as of today. On this site that shows up as `1444, which is about my chess960 rating... my chess rating is essentially horrendous.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
October 12, 2019
Wow
Just wow. A marathon in less than 2 hours. That's some beastly timing right there. Basically at the pace of what an average person's sprint is (over, say 400m). I mean just damn. I've probably told this anecdotal story many times but when I was in NYC there was a treadmill challenge asking how long you could keep up with a marathoner (this was the US' best one, not even the best in the world, but for us peasants, it's all next to godliness).
Some in-shape runners lined up. A harness was placed on them, the treadmill starts up and off the clock goes. At the time, the best time was just under two minutes. If you want, you can give it a try some time. Just know it will be painful. Some truly superhuman levels of achievement here.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
Some in-shape runners lined up. A harness was placed on them, the treadmill starts up and off the clock goes. At the time, the best time was just under two minutes. If you want, you can give it a try some time. Just know it will be painful. Some truly superhuman levels of achievement here.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
October 11, 2019
Next Phase
Hi all, just a quick note that some of the stuff here and elsewhere will slowly be taken down. Not all of it, but some of it. Also most of my new things will be moved as well. Where? Well to Patreon. Yup, both fiction and non-fiction. I know I know, a paywall etc, but I'll try to make sure that some of it you'll be able to see. Shorter, less thought out, pieces will still make an appearance here and there.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
October 9, 2019
Lead and the Boomers
I've been reading a lot about our race issues (mainly white supremacy destroying much of the country) and thinking about the ways we can work towards a better future... but I've also been thinking about how white supremacy (mainly in that boomer cohort) is really a strong part of the reason we're not even doing anything about things like better improving society or Climate Change. [1]
They also look at the backlash to the civil rights, how segregation has returned to much of our society and, of course, how mass incarceration (of black and brown people) was a large part of that (note it's worse than what Stalin did in terms of numbers).
And though some point to the increase in crime (and Coates points out that even black people wanted people locked up) being a result of social services pulled out of many minority neighborhoods [2], what they don't point to is lead.
So I'm not sure if you know but it was mainly lead that was the cause of our increase in crime and the removal of it from gasoline that resulted in the massive decrease in crime. Yes, more lead and not so much any single mayor's policies or the police or mass incarceration. [3]
But what I'm wondering is if this means the boomers are just tainted as a population. Perhaps they're more apt to choose violence or yelling or accepting batshit crazy theories on facebook?
This would explain our politics. There have been several divides, but the main ones seem to be age and rural/urban. I'm now wondering if there's the lead divide. I mean older people have always voted in larger numbers than young people, but now we have people with lead-addled minds doing the voting.
It would seem that it's imperative to counter their votes. I mean, why let a shitty chemical spell the end of the republic?
We'll see, I suppose.
[1] It's long and convoluted, but it would appear that some crazy white people have some sort of defuse idea that the power gained from a carbon economy is their whitehood or something and want to stick to it because of that.
[2] enacted through many things up to and including redlining etc etc etc.
[3] And of course, there is the matter of lead still in our water or paint or soil (old houses etc) that might cause issues here and there.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
They also look at the backlash to the civil rights, how segregation has returned to much of our society and, of course, how mass incarceration (of black and brown people) was a large part of that (note it's worse than what Stalin did in terms of numbers).
And though some point to the increase in crime (and Coates points out that even black people wanted people locked up) being a result of social services pulled out of many minority neighborhoods [2], what they don't point to is lead.
So I'm not sure if you know but it was mainly lead that was the cause of our increase in crime and the removal of it from gasoline that resulted in the massive decrease in crime. Yes, more lead and not so much any single mayor's policies or the police or mass incarceration. [3]
But what I'm wondering is if this means the boomers are just tainted as a population. Perhaps they're more apt to choose violence or yelling or accepting batshit crazy theories on facebook?
This would explain our politics. There have been several divides, but the main ones seem to be age and rural/urban. I'm now wondering if there's the lead divide. I mean older people have always voted in larger numbers than young people, but now we have people with lead-addled minds doing the voting.
It would seem that it's imperative to counter their votes. I mean, why let a shitty chemical spell the end of the republic?
We'll see, I suppose.
[1] It's long and convoluted, but it would appear that some crazy white people have some sort of defuse idea that the power gained from a carbon economy is their whitehood or something and want to stick to it because of that.
[2] enacted through many things up to and including redlining etc etc etc.
[3] And of course, there is the matter of lead still in our water or paint or soil (old houses etc) that might cause issues here and there.
Enjoyed it? Share it via email, facebook, twitter, or one of the buttons below (or through some other method you prefer). Thank you! As always, here's the tip jar. paypal.me/nlowhim Throw some change in there & help cover the costs of running this thing. You can use paypal or a credit card.
Nelson Lowhim's Blog
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