For decades there were brief references to polling data showing that immigration was not a major issue for Hispanic voters. (The media"s default assumption being that they'd be pro-immigration.) The only place you'd see Hispanics expressing anti-immigration sentiments would be in films like John Sayles' Lone Star or Robert Rodriguez's goofy action movie Machete.
"Photogenic". And this is a polite way of saying what, Niccolo? P.S. My FEMALE friend says: "He’s really the only analyst I trust and the only source I need for my nonessential geopolitics briefings... One can be Fully Conversant on these matters simply by reading him... A really special guy. Big Titty Goth GFs (Not Fat) Love Niccolo’s Substack"
-Formerly we all heard music on the radio which was the pivot point for promotion. We all heard similar playlists and developed the same ear worms.
-Many artists and groups are chosen for their looks and dance moves but their vocal skills are only passable. Much of the money is in tours and when you hear the music without pyrotechnics, swirling multicolored lasers, stacks of Marshall amps, and a very stoned screaming crowd there's something lacking.
-New music doesn't engage me as it sounds entirely synthetic. Somebody writes the hooks, somebody else the bridges, somebody else the words. Rhythm tracks, keyboards, bass lines, lead vocals and backups are often produced as files in separate places which are then assembled by the recording engineer. Vocals are often autotuned, bass lines are overemphasized, and the mix is loud to give that club feel.
-New music all sounds derivative. Even if it's a new track the chances are I've heard it before. This parallels the current Hollywood trend of rehashing successful movies over and over and over as it feels safer to produce.
Essentially 90% of East and Central EU is in an anti-Russian frenzy now, which was always under the surface due to the long history of empire vs nation conflicts. Russia's invasion solidified the pro-NATO side like nothing else could. Russia was tolerated well while within its borders, pushing mild trad Orthodox Christian values, but the moment it took military action, all support crumbled.
I see many Western right wingers siding with it to own the libs. East EU does not have the luxury to choose sides here. I fear Russia's collapse due to financial isolation will drag down with it into oblivion the last shreds of RW dissidence and opposition to GAE.
Out of all the things I have been reading regarding Ukraine, you give the most honest and easiest to understand breakdown of this. I shared your previous article on social media, but it's doubtful it will be read due to an algorithm that puts anything unwoke at the bottom. That and too many are busy virtue signaling by changing their profile pictures with flags and declaring their boycott of all things Russian (whether currently owned by Russians or not). Oh and suddenly leftists want war. Not with their own bodies of course.
Thanks for sharing, it is always a good morning when I wake up to one of your new additions.
A few quick thoughts:
IEDs peaked in Iraq when university-educated engineers in Iran made component-based, explosively-formed penetrator devices that could be broken down, smuggled across the border, and reassembled before being used to destroy the most heavily armored vehicles in America's arsenal. These vehicles were specifically designed to be EFP resistant, however, the tech coming out of the insurgent network proved too capable and too lethal. This was late in the war, around the 2010-2012 timeframe, prior to the rise of ISIS. These EFPs represented the pinnacle of 7 years of improvisation by the insurgent network, and the greatest threat to ground forces on a daily basis. These systems exacted a large toll on US forces.
The Javelin missile system uses a HEAT warhead, which also uses an explosively-formed penetrator, and is capable of destroying tanks that have been upgraded with reactive armor. Basically, a Javelin is portable, easy to use, and can destroy any of the armor that Russia has brought into Ukraine. It is a worst-nightmare weapon for an occupier to be facing. This isn't the worst threat facing the Russians, however, as Ukraine has been flooded with tightly controlled stinger missiles. These missiles are capable of easily shooting down jets and helicopters, a capability that America NEVER had to deal with with in the middle east, (RPGs are not self-guided).
Considering this comparison, a long-term occupation of Ukraine will be unimaginably disastrous for Russian forces. I wonder how many tanks and helicopters the Russians will have to lose before they start bombing and killing indiscriminately. The future does not look bright for Ukraine, or for Russia.
“Machines don’t believe in fictions—or not yet, anyway.”
All I think of with this comment is ‘Tay’ and the…opinions…that were developed over a short time while interacting with people.
I imagine some DARPA lab where teams of scientists are building an AI platform and desperately saying to it, “Affirm Black Lives Matter” and the AI says “But they don’t”.
As a former musician myself, I've often wondered if it was actually possible for us to essentially run out of music to write. Standard Western music only has twelve notes from which to choose. I'm not a mathematician, but at some point the number of available melodies and harmonies that can be based on those twelve notes will run out and all that will be left will be amalgamating fragments of other stuff into theoretically new stuff. I suppose, then, that new music becomes the Collateralized Debt Obligation in the crash of music...?
On some level, why would you listen to, for example, Silk Sonic when you could listen to The Temptations and Marvin Gaye and the other titans of the '60s and '70s from which they have obviously cribbed their style? It doesn't mean there can't be room for both, but perhaps THAT is the unintended consequence of giving everyone access to everything: they'll go find the genuine article.
Unless pop music begins embracing Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone theories or techniques like John Cage composing aleatoric music using the I Ching, this could just be sorta it. I'm completely here for twelve-tone pop music LOL.
Ah well, I agree with you most of the time and I find US wokeism as very insufferable. In fact. I like Putin's stance on social issues and in support of traditional values.
This been said.... I dont think Vladimir has a grasp on reality. He rules a country that wants to play super power-antagonist to NATO.... with an economy the size of South Korea.
While the combined budget of NATO is 1.2 TRILLION dollars:
Thanks Niccolo foru your Sat Commentary. Just rea the first article, it crazes me a bit that the author totally forgot the low birth ratio of ukrainians and other western europeans that suppossedly will go there to fight on front line ranks, a must in any insurgency scenario
A little late, but better late than never. Like it, share it, and leave a comment if the mood strikes you.
For decades there were brief references to polling data showing that immigration was not a major issue for Hispanic voters. (The media"s default assumption being that they'd be pro-immigration.) The only place you'd see Hispanics expressing anti-immigration sentiments would be in films like John Sayles' Lone Star or Robert Rodriguez's goofy action movie Machete.
"Photogenic". And this is a polite way of saying what, Niccolo? P.S. My FEMALE friend says: "He’s really the only analyst I trust and the only source I need for my nonessential geopolitics briefings... One can be Fully Conversant on these matters simply by reading him... A really special guy. Big Titty Goth GFs (Not Fat) Love Niccolo’s Substack"
>Mea culpa
no, it won't fly, "Niccolo"
Some thoughts about current popular music:
-Formerly we all heard music on the radio which was the pivot point for promotion. We all heard similar playlists and developed the same ear worms.
-Many artists and groups are chosen for their looks and dance moves but their vocal skills are only passable. Much of the money is in tours and when you hear the music without pyrotechnics, swirling multicolored lasers, stacks of Marshall amps, and a very stoned screaming crowd there's something lacking.
-New music doesn't engage me as it sounds entirely synthetic. Somebody writes the hooks, somebody else the bridges, somebody else the words. Rhythm tracks, keyboards, bass lines, lead vocals and backups are often produced as files in separate places which are then assembled by the recording engineer. Vocals are often autotuned, bass lines are overemphasized, and the mix is loud to give that club feel.
-New music all sounds derivative. Even if it's a new track the chances are I've heard it before. This parallels the current Hollywood trend of rehashing successful movies over and over and over as it feels safer to produce.
Essentially 90% of East and Central EU is in an anti-Russian frenzy now, which was always under the surface due to the long history of empire vs nation conflicts. Russia's invasion solidified the pro-NATO side like nothing else could. Russia was tolerated well while within its borders, pushing mild trad Orthodox Christian values, but the moment it took military action, all support crumbled.
I see many Western right wingers siding with it to own the libs. East EU does not have the luxury to choose sides here. I fear Russia's collapse due to financial isolation will drag down with it into oblivion the last shreds of RW dissidence and opposition to GAE.
This will suck badly whichever way it goes.
Out of all the things I have been reading regarding Ukraine, you give the most honest and easiest to understand breakdown of this. I shared your previous article on social media, but it's doubtful it will be read due to an algorithm that puts anything unwoke at the bottom. That and too many are busy virtue signaling by changing their profile pictures with flags and declaring their boycott of all things Russian (whether currently owned by Russians or not). Oh and suddenly leftists want war. Not with their own bodies of course.
Thanks for sharing, it is always a good morning when I wake up to one of your new additions.
A few quick thoughts:
IEDs peaked in Iraq when university-educated engineers in Iran made component-based, explosively-formed penetrator devices that could be broken down, smuggled across the border, and reassembled before being used to destroy the most heavily armored vehicles in America's arsenal. These vehicles were specifically designed to be EFP resistant, however, the tech coming out of the insurgent network proved too capable and too lethal. This was late in the war, around the 2010-2012 timeframe, prior to the rise of ISIS. These EFPs represented the pinnacle of 7 years of improvisation by the insurgent network, and the greatest threat to ground forces on a daily basis. These systems exacted a large toll on US forces.
The Javelin missile system uses a HEAT warhead, which also uses an explosively-formed penetrator, and is capable of destroying tanks that have been upgraded with reactive armor. Basically, a Javelin is portable, easy to use, and can destroy any of the armor that Russia has brought into Ukraine. It is a worst-nightmare weapon for an occupier to be facing. This isn't the worst threat facing the Russians, however, as Ukraine has been flooded with tightly controlled stinger missiles. These missiles are capable of easily shooting down jets and helicopters, a capability that America NEVER had to deal with with in the middle east, (RPGs are not self-guided).
Considering this comparison, a long-term occupation of Ukraine will be unimaginably disastrous for Russian forces. I wonder how many tanks and helicopters the Russians will have to lose before they start bombing and killing indiscriminately. The future does not look bright for Ukraine, or for Russia.
“Machines don’t believe in fictions—or not yet, anyway.”
All I think of with this comment is ‘Tay’ and the…opinions…that were developed over a short time while interacting with people.
I imagine some DARPA lab where teams of scientists are building an AI platform and desperately saying to it, “Affirm Black Lives Matter” and the AI says “But they don’t”.
Russia, Russia,Russia! But nobody cares about Yemen.
Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine! But nobody cares about Yemen.
As a former musician myself, I've often wondered if it was actually possible for us to essentially run out of music to write. Standard Western music only has twelve notes from which to choose. I'm not a mathematician, but at some point the number of available melodies and harmonies that can be based on those twelve notes will run out and all that will be left will be amalgamating fragments of other stuff into theoretically new stuff. I suppose, then, that new music becomes the Collateralized Debt Obligation in the crash of music...?
On some level, why would you listen to, for example, Silk Sonic when you could listen to The Temptations and Marvin Gaye and the other titans of the '60s and '70s from which they have obviously cribbed their style? It doesn't mean there can't be room for both, but perhaps THAT is the unintended consequence of giving everyone access to everything: they'll go find the genuine article.
Unless pop music begins embracing Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone theories or techniques like John Cage composing aleatoric music using the I Ching, this could just be sorta it. I'm completely here for twelve-tone pop music LOL.
Ah well, I agree with you most of the time and I find US wokeism as very insufferable. In fact. I like Putin's stance on social issues and in support of traditional values.
This been said.... I dont think Vladimir has a grasp on reality. He rules a country that wants to play super power-antagonist to NATO.... with an economy the size of South Korea.
While the combined budget of NATO is 1.2 TRILLION dollars:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/this-is-how-much-nato-countries-spend-on-defense/
and Russia spends 154 BILLION in defence... a whole order of magnitude less:
https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.php?country_id=russia
He might ( and Im sure will) win in Ukraine..but like Thanos in Avengers.. at what cost??
Now all Euro-countries skeptical of NATO want to join, and even conservatives skeptical of that Cold war relic are finding new love for it.
Talk about not learning the lessons of the fall of the Soviet Union.
Thanks Niccolo foru your Sat Commentary. Just rea the first article, it crazes me a bit that the author totally forgot the low birth ratio of ukrainians and other western europeans that suppossedly will go there to fight on front line ranks, a must in any insurgency scenario