The problem with b of MoA is his refusal to implement any commentators registration resulting in a flood of trolls deliberately stealing established commentators' nicks and creating flamewars and confusion which effectively kills off fair exchange of ideas and info.
And he's very slow to moderate preferring to err on the side of "freedom of speech".
Did you know that Simplicius started off as a commentator on Saker and was noticed by other readers for his detailed knowledge? If everyone did as you suggested then many of us won't be here at all.
I am sad that the Saker no longer blogs. I liked his point of view on Russia and his acknowledgement that 9/11 was a false flag with Israel involved. A place that even Chris Hedges or consortium news never goes. Whereas before it was the British Imperial and European elites deep state, these days it is an Anglo Zionist deep state.
Few of us can be right about most things, and very likely no one can be right about everything. Perhaps the more one focuses on a given field of knowledge, the broader his blind spots will be. Even Ron Unz admits to having been completely fooled by the Covid propaganda until late last year.
This is another potential benefit of a small community that trusts itself. I would usually be inclined to accept Simplicius' opinion about any topic I didn't understand - provisionally, of course, until I could learn more about it myself.
I understand (sort of) the point about knowing everything, BUT my rule of thumb mind you it has never been proved wrong in my lifetime is that IF every corporate media shill is delivering the same message that goes against normal procedure. You can bet the house they are lying. Stop and think for just a second, the world has never isolated healthy people, ever!
Nonsense,. utter BS, and likely trolling. Covid was never his central focus.
What really happened is that he spent 15 years of his life with the Vineyard which came at a cost to his personal life. His health had somewhat gone downhill. But the big picture is that when he froze the blog, it had accomplished everything it needed to, and the world was entering a new phase with the SMO. . As you can see, Sasker spawned a new generation of people such as Simplicius.
Hats off to Andrei Raevsky for all that he did, which was A LOT!
You are the one spreading nonsense. He would not allow any debate re "novel" corona virus or the deadly clot shots. His actions and words show he was (and maybe still is) an ignorant vaxtard and covidiot.
Now run along like a good little girl and get your 8th or 9th booster.
I liked The Saker as well, not only for specific takes on this or that issue, but for the breadth and depth of his knowledge about civilizational issues. He, of all people, understood the slavic mindset, which most of us in the West have little clue about. That includes his more religious bents, which again, is something most on the West, including devout Christians did not comprehend. After all, the great schism happened long ago and the two spheres of Christianity have greatly diverged (I include catholics and protestants on one side. Bad, I know).
On top of it he coined the famous Anglo-zionist term, which I found apropo. Indeed, to this day we have very very few writers - on any forum - who are as willing to connect the dots. I always understood where the saker was coming from and appreciated his insights, which came from a different direction of my own, yet reached very similar conclusions.
I also liked some of the guest bloggers he had, including ones i disagreed with. I miss them all, The Saker himself especially, and can only hope he is doing well, keeping away from the current mud-wrestling geopolitical hooplas.
One thing I do fault Saker for is his belief in the mainstream falseness on Covid. I think this is because the Russian medical establishment went along with it as did every establishment medicine with their doctors in the world except for a few punished dissidents. So did Moon of Alabama. Although not a Christian myself it didn't bother me that he was a strong believer in the Orthodox Christian Church. There is a strong lack of spirituality in the modern post industrial world so how each of us finds it is a personal choice. With the Catholic church there is the phrase, abstinence makes the church grow fondlers. which they cover up. I have read Muslims believe mentally ill people have been touched by God. This happened to me when I was 18 ti 22. By the grace of some higher power I was able to become relatively sane again. I refused the pharma drugs offered me. After this covid episode I no longer think much of mainstream medicine although it can be useful as in warfare medicine and mechanical like injuries from accidents. Not so good at preventative and actually curing illness. Actually making people healthy so the body can heal itself.
Yes, it remains a deep mystery why Russia went along with the Covid tale. Also I agree this Russian puzzling position did influence both MOA and The Saker. There's something here I don't understand - a real mystery.
like Russia was the first one out with the Sputnik vaccine, which, based on all I've seen and read, was a far superior vaccine both in terms of effectiveness and safety. But it all became muted. Even recently.
Something doesn't add up here. Perhaps there was a bigger threat than the Covid we knew. Perhaps Russia had to play along and mute their own success story.
A day will come and we'll find out what really happened. What the threat really was. And why even Russia - and China - had to play along. For now, I, as the ultimate conspiracy-behind-conspiracies wonk, will guess that both The saker and MoA got the cue to "play along".
The rest of us? none the wiser.....except me perhaps, as I have special sources. Whicvh can never be shared.
On a blog like Simplicius', yes. But Ron Unz, for example, seems to attraact huge numbers of fanatical morons to his comment section. I occasionally write comments there, but don't pay much attention to any replies.
Plus he's clearly using ghost writers in addition to the articles he writes himself. He has a certain writing style (he's not a native English speaker so certain ways of writing and spelling errors usually show up in his own writing), so it's easy to spot the ghost writers due to the very different sentence construction and phrasing etc. It would be better if he did what Larry Johnson does and properly attribute the other writers.
Yeah VP there sure is some unusual syntax that takes a bit to get your head around, actually trips your reading flow up sometimes very rarely but it is amazing none the less in content, volume or information and verification of opinions. I sure wish I could write one tenth as well in another language.
The thing that astonishes me on a daily basis is that antiquated, purely linear form of comment section and how the framework itself is so hostile towards having a conversation, and yet they persist! :)
I always found it quite easy to scroll past the trolls. They are so obvious as to be laughable.
And asking b to moderate more heavily is perhaps asking for too much from a single individual. Besides, the other commenters are pretty good at bringing the trolls to his and the rest of the commenters' attention.
Also I don't really think it's a question of too much adherence to "freedom of speech" in his case. I reckon it's mostly time, of which he has a limited amount (like us all).
Thank you so much for these updates! The writing tips are helpful, too. Unfortunately, I can't subscribe so can't offer hard cash to support your labours but the free articles are most impressive and provide perspectives unseen elsewhere.
S, hands-down you're providing the best analysis of this war. I believe it was from the Saker that I found your work.
As for expanding into other topics, I'll caveat my "yes" vote as other topics relating to this war, especially economic ones. The economic war is such a vital part of this conflict that exploring it seems worthwhile.
Anyways, congratulations! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
I agree absolutely. Until there is some major event, I don't need much detail about what is still merely an SMO. The outcome is a foregone conclusion and it's just a matter of how long and at what costs in dead/wounded people and destroyed infrastructure. There is almost no chance the EU will be so stupid as to send in troops or any other stupid escalation, although it's dangerous to rule anything out.
What we need more understanding of,, are all the other "Fronts" of this global struggle. I'm confident the pace of operations in the Ukraine is mainly dictated by how these other fronts are developing, and only a little bit by frontline opportunities in "404".
I went though a similar process in 2009 for "the economy". I had been paying far too much attention to "the markets" when Charles Biederman let the cat out of the bag, that the markets were fake because the Plunge Protection Team (((the US Treasury))) was intervening on a daily basis and in a big way. Far better to more fully understand what Michael Hudson has been saying on the wider topic of geopolitical economics.
So geopolitical economics, the struggles for legitimacy and the processes of delegitimization. I was blown away by Simplicius' take on what used to pass for the French intelligensia before the 1970's. I'd be very intereseted to know what SImplicius thinks of the dissident movement centered around Alain Soral, and what remains of the Yellow Vests who paid 12 lives for their freedom to protest, if that he has that in clear focus.. Are the Yellow Vests now crouching in fear, or might they be regrouping ? Is Marine LePen and her party a lost cause ? Further afield, I could use a lot more info on the Axis Of Resistance. al-Manar is about as verbose as these tight-lipped people get, and usually it's not much data. But I wonder if there are other good sources. I can't even read Arabic or Farsi alphabets, so accessing primary sources is too much for me. Naim Qassem, the deputy head of Hezbollah wrote its history in "Hezbollah: The Story from Within". It's an understatement to say his book is well worth reading, but it was published in 2006.
Such a big world, and now so many things are happening at once. But the thing I want most, Simplicius, is for you to husband your energy and stay creative. Focus on what you do best. Maybe recruit other writers to your substack. Slava Simplicius !
I posted about the apparent delay of the attack at Crocus until after the election, not a unique insight but I hadn't seen it elsewhere.
Looking forward to your further thoughts about that horrible massacre.
Just think, as bad as that was for Russian people, it is but a few moments of what the Palestinians in Gaza endure for decades....who didn't have the soviet state to respond....
Not to compare suffering, of which there is too much.
Regarding the lack or lesser numbers of younger readers, I believe it is the Millennial problem. They are all interested in instant gratification and many don't have the reading skill beyond "See Spot." Run Spot run." God forbid they would ever make it through Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. I'm 62 and love your content.
True, I should have mentioned this in my comment also. I know a couple of 30 + year old kids who are a little curious about what the hell is going on BUT when I mentioned reading blogs or other sources they looked at me as if I had lost my mind. One of them even said "I am not in school any longer, why would I read???"
Younger generations definitely have had their attention-spans shortened by tv, social media, youtube, and so on. There's also been a decline in education, resulting in noticeable deficiencies in reading comprehension and critical thinking. However, not everyone follows these stereotypes: I'm a millennial, and I've been reading here for awhile (+ recently subscribed).
You are the exception. In my business of negotiating and writing contracts there is a ton of reading. Our company has stopped hiring anyone under 40 for even Junior Contracts positions because their reading comprehension is abysmal. Good thing AI will takeover in 5 - 10 years or having contracts on a Blockchain.
I also think you are the exception who proves the rule. I share the exasperation with the Millenials and their obvious attention span deficit, though I recognize there are always exceptions (I personally communicate with 3 or 4 of those).
Another problem I've noticed with millineials (even more so with the genZ's) is the tendency to take refuge in overt cynicism right off the bat. IOW, there's a kind of fatalism that's crept into this cohort and it's getting worse in the upcoming young generations. IOW, it's like they lost hope for any kind of change - even as the boomers' generation (the likely majority among the readers here) are still in a fighting spirit even if they know they hope against hope.
I'm not sure there is a big difference between generations. As far back as I can remember, liker maybe the late 1950's, precious few Americans understood much of what goes on outside the US or had the wisdom to give a rat's toot. Where I live, there is only the well-off who are proud to be all-American and support whatever the MSM says, and the not-well-off who don't have the time, energy or education to take a good hard look. I am less optimistic about my own country than I have ever been, and that's not the grumbling of an old fart. When karma sends the US some hard knocks, it's a toss-up whether the people will wake up in a good way or not. I"m not looking forward to the inevitable hard knocks, BTW. I live in the US, too, along with friends and family.
I think the cynicism/irony began with Gen X, and has propagated since. Really, generations XYZ have more in common than they'd like to admit. I too am very uncertain of the future.
I found all that advice really helpful, thank you. It certainly all resonated, particularly the point about how important it is to enjoy the authorial voices that we invite into our lives. Mercouris irritates me from time to time, but he is nonetheless indispensable listening, and that is at least partly because I trust him. Ritter is only good for an occasional listen, because his Yankee bombast grates after a while. Your own work has become an essential part of my life and I always settle down to read a Simplicius article with a sense of....the most apt word is 'eudemonia'; the pleasure that comes from pure reason.
Try upping the speed of your video player with Mercouris. He speaks slowly and that can make him come across as long winded. Speed it up and you might enjoy him more.
Yeah, 1.5 X is the only only way I can tolearte his pace and repetitive style. That said he's got great perspective and good insights buried in his circumspect overly polite delivery.
When Hamas began its resistance operation on October 7 last year, Alexander Mercouris went full-bore charging against Hamas, saying the Hamas leaders needed to be hauled before the ICC. for severe prosecution. I kid you not, the same ICC that filed an illegal prosecution of Putin for allowing children in Zaphorozie to be brought into safety. With the lead prosecutor, a Brit, recently helping to plea bargain down his brother's punishment for raping a teen-age boy.
Let me count the number of stupidities that Mercouris pulled off in one nasty statement.
1. Mercouris showed he has no sympathies for the Palestinians. Typical London blight.
2, Mercouris showed he didn't understand the Israeli end-game genocide. Horribly uninformed, not wondering why the lump under the rug is moving. Never paid attention to observers line Alastair Crooke or Ilan Pappé, among others.
3. Mercouris didn't understand the military, nor the geopolitical brilliance of Hamas' operation. "Not a military person", indeed.
4. Possibly part of item 3, above, but Mercouris allowed himself to be blind-sided by the major change in how the world perceives Israel and Palestine.
In short, Mercouris has no heart and not much of a brain. The only reason I've watched any of his shows since Oct. 7, is when he has on a stellar guest. Other people still think highly of Mercouris, but unless and until he issues a very specific and convincing apology for his hatred of Hamas, I'm done with him. Even at 2x normal speed.
I don't say the same of Alex Christofouru, but AC rarely says stuff I don't know or wouldn't learn elsewhere in the next 24 hours. I used to spend a lot of time watching them, and now I have more time for much better sources.
Great comment, and I somewhat agree on what you say about Alexander Mercouris and Scott Ritter. Add to that Larry J, Pepe Escobar, Col. MacGregor, the lovely Ania, Andrei M, and my daily favourite, the genial Alexander Christoforou and you have enough diverse commentators to switch to when you get tired of a particular style of delivery, (not forgetting a range of spiritual commentators, for this is a spiritual war). Along with Simplicius, all have their hearts in the right place, and are taking us all to the next level, out of this lilliputian world of tit for tat, and small minded thinking.
We have similar tastes, it seems! My overall favourite is Alastair Crooke, whom I sure you will know. Re: the spiritual war, Church of the Eternal Logos is good.
Good to know, fellow seeker of truths. Yes, I read Alastair too, but as I mentioned, flip back and forth depending on my current state of mind, the information overload can be overwhelming at times. Thanks for the tip, much appreciated.
Mercouris was off the charts irritating today on the Crocus savagery. I put him on 1.6 speed and usually fall asleep listening to his golden British tones. But yes, often necessary.
I am partial to his dog who often barks in the background - voicing his/her own displeasure no doubt at this or that opinion. Or perhaps just sharing your (and my) impatience?
Though I think he should also get a cat - for a little variety.
Congratulations my friend!
Well done.
The problem with b of MoA is his refusal to implement any commentators registration resulting in a flood of trolls deliberately stealing established commentators' nicks and creating flamewars and confusion which effectively kills off fair exchange of ideas and info.
And he's very slow to moderate preferring to err on the side of "freedom of speech".
Easy enough to absorb the writer's content without delving into the commentarium.
Did you know that Simplicius started off as a commentator on Saker and was noticed by other readers for his detailed knowledge? If everyone did as you suggested then many of us won't be here at all.
I am sad that the Saker no longer blogs. I liked his point of view on Russia and his acknowledgement that 9/11 was a false flag with Israel involved. A place that even Chris Hedges or consortium news never goes. Whereas before it was the British Imperial and European elites deep state, these days it is an Anglo Zionist deep state.
His weak point was that he was an unrepentant covidiot and utter vaxtard.
Few of us can be right about most things, and very likely no one can be right about everything. Perhaps the more one focuses on a given field of knowledge, the broader his blind spots will be. Even Ron Unz admits to having been completely fooled by the Covid propaganda until late last year.
This is another potential benefit of a small community that trusts itself. I would usually be inclined to accept Simplicius' opinion about any topic I didn't understand - provisionally, of course, until I could learn more about it myself.
I understand (sort of) the point about knowing everything, BUT my rule of thumb mind you it has never been proved wrong in my lifetime is that IF every corporate media shill is delivering the same message that goes against normal procedure. You can bet the house they are lying. Stop and think for just a second, the world has never isolated healthy people, ever!
Nonsense,. utter BS, and likely trolling. Covid was never his central focus.
What really happened is that he spent 15 years of his life with the Vineyard which came at a cost to his personal life. His health had somewhat gone downhill. But the big picture is that when he froze the blog, it had accomplished everything it needed to, and the world was entering a new phase with the SMO. . As you can see, Sasker spawned a new generation of people such as Simplicius.
Hats off to Andrei Raevsky for all that he did, which was A LOT!
You are the one spreading nonsense. He would not allow any debate re "novel" corona virus or the deadly clot shots. His actions and words show he was (and maybe still is) an ignorant vaxtard and covidiot.
Now run along like a good little girl and get your 8th or 9th booster.
I liked The Saker as well, not only for specific takes on this or that issue, but for the breadth and depth of his knowledge about civilizational issues. He, of all people, understood the slavic mindset, which most of us in the West have little clue about. That includes his more religious bents, which again, is something most on the West, including devout Christians did not comprehend. After all, the great schism happened long ago and the two spheres of Christianity have greatly diverged (I include catholics and protestants on one side. Bad, I know).
On top of it he coined the famous Anglo-zionist term, which I found apropo. Indeed, to this day we have very very few writers - on any forum - who are as willing to connect the dots. I always understood where the saker was coming from and appreciated his insights, which came from a different direction of my own, yet reached very similar conclusions.
I also liked some of the guest bloggers he had, including ones i disagreed with. I miss them all, The Saker himself especially, and can only hope he is doing well, keeping away from the current mud-wrestling geopolitical hooplas.
One thing I do fault Saker for is his belief in the mainstream falseness on Covid. I think this is because the Russian medical establishment went along with it as did every establishment medicine with their doctors in the world except for a few punished dissidents. So did Moon of Alabama. Although not a Christian myself it didn't bother me that he was a strong believer in the Orthodox Christian Church. There is a strong lack of spirituality in the modern post industrial world so how each of us finds it is a personal choice. With the Catholic church there is the phrase, abstinence makes the church grow fondlers. which they cover up. I have read Muslims believe mentally ill people have been touched by God. This happened to me when I was 18 ti 22. By the grace of some higher power I was able to become relatively sane again. I refused the pharma drugs offered me. After this covid episode I no longer think much of mainstream medicine although it can be useful as in warfare medicine and mechanical like injuries from accidents. Not so good at preventative and actually curing illness. Actually making people healthy so the body can heal itself.
Yes, it remains a deep mystery why Russia went along with the Covid tale. Also I agree this Russian puzzling position did influence both MOA and The Saker. There's something here I don't understand - a real mystery.
like Russia was the first one out with the Sputnik vaccine, which, based on all I've seen and read, was a far superior vaccine both in terms of effectiveness and safety. But it all became muted. Even recently.
Something doesn't add up here. Perhaps there was a bigger threat than the Covid we knew. Perhaps Russia had to play along and mute their own success story.
A day will come and we'll find out what really happened. What the threat really was. And why even Russia - and China - had to play along. For now, I, as the ultimate conspiracy-behind-conspiracies wonk, will guess that both The saker and MoA got the cue to "play along".
The rest of us? none the wiser.....except me perhaps, as I have special sources. Whicvh can never be shared.
I like reading intelligent comments as very few people I interact with locally will talk about these things.
More information can be gleaned from some commenters. We should look upon the comments as an addendum.
On a blog like Simplicius', yes. But Ron Unz, for example, seems to attraact huge numbers of fanatical morons to his comment section. I occasionally write comments there, but don't pay much attention to any replies.
Plus he's clearly using ghost writers in addition to the articles he writes himself. He has a certain writing style (he's not a native English speaker so certain ways of writing and spelling errors usually show up in his own writing), so it's easy to spot the ghost writers due to the very different sentence construction and phrasing etc. It would be better if he did what Larry Johnson does and properly attribute the other writers.
Yeah VP there sure is some unusual syntax that takes a bit to get your head around, actually trips your reading flow up sometimes very rarely but it is amazing none the less in content, volume or information and verification of opinions. I sure wish I could write one tenth as well in another language.
The thing that astonishes me on a daily basis is that antiquated, purely linear form of comment section and how the framework itself is so hostile towards having a conversation, and yet they persist! :)
I always found it quite easy to scroll past the trolls. They are so obvious as to be laughable.
And asking b to moderate more heavily is perhaps asking for too much from a single individual. Besides, the other commenters are pretty good at bringing the trolls to his and the rest of the commenters' attention.
Also I don't really think it's a question of too much adherence to "freedom of speech" in his case. I reckon it's mostly time, of which he has a limited amount (like us all).
Congrats and best of luck on a hypersonic arrival to the next milestone!
And when you can, please update us on the partisan activity behind Ukrainian lines - no mention of this ANYWHERE…
Yes, that really interests me, too.
Thx, will try to make note of that in the next update
Excellent suggestion.
Thank you so much for these updates! The writing tips are helpful, too. Unfortunately, I can't subscribe so can't offer hard cash to support your labours but the free articles are most impressive and provide perspectives unseen elsewhere.
S, hands-down you're providing the best analysis of this war. I believe it was from the Saker that I found your work.
As for expanding into other topics, I'll caveat my "yes" vote as other topics relating to this war, especially economic ones. The economic war is such a vital part of this conflict that exploring it seems worthwhile.
Anyways, congratulations! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
I agree absolutely. Until there is some major event, I don't need much detail about what is still merely an SMO. The outcome is a foregone conclusion and it's just a matter of how long and at what costs in dead/wounded people and destroyed infrastructure. There is almost no chance the EU will be so stupid as to send in troops or any other stupid escalation, although it's dangerous to rule anything out.
What we need more understanding of,, are all the other "Fronts" of this global struggle. I'm confident the pace of operations in the Ukraine is mainly dictated by how these other fronts are developing, and only a little bit by frontline opportunities in "404".
I went though a similar process in 2009 for "the economy". I had been paying far too much attention to "the markets" when Charles Biederman let the cat out of the bag, that the markets were fake because the Plunge Protection Team (((the US Treasury))) was intervening on a daily basis and in a big way. Far better to more fully understand what Michael Hudson has been saying on the wider topic of geopolitical economics.
So geopolitical economics, the struggles for legitimacy and the processes of delegitimization. I was blown away by Simplicius' take on what used to pass for the French intelligensia before the 1970's. I'd be very intereseted to know what SImplicius thinks of the dissident movement centered around Alain Soral, and what remains of the Yellow Vests who paid 12 lives for their freedom to protest, if that he has that in clear focus.. Are the Yellow Vests now crouching in fear, or might they be regrouping ? Is Marine LePen and her party a lost cause ? Further afield, I could use a lot more info on the Axis Of Resistance. al-Manar is about as verbose as these tight-lipped people get, and usually it's not much data. But I wonder if there are other good sources. I can't even read Arabic or Farsi alphabets, so accessing primary sources is too much for me. Naim Qassem, the deputy head of Hezbollah wrote its history in "Hezbollah: The Story from Within". It's an understatement to say his book is well worth reading, but it was published in 2006.
Such a big world, and now so many things are happening at once. But the thing I want most, Simplicius, is for you to husband your energy and stay creative. Focus on what you do best. Maybe recruit other writers to your substack. Slava Simplicius !
❤️Wage Peace,
⭐️Keep the Faith
#AttacktheMIMAC
#DeNazthePlanet!
Slava Simplicius! ❤️🔥
Congratulations for the works you have put up a lot of efforts for the good cause of humanity.
May The Lord God suffice you.
Qur'an Surah Al fatihah verse 6 to 7:
Guide us along the Straight Path, (6)
the Path of those You have blessed—not those You are displeased with, or those who are astray.(7)
Yess after all we're free to not read every word.
I posted about the apparent delay of the attack at Crocus until after the election, not a unique insight but I hadn't seen it elsewhere.
Looking forward to your further thoughts about that horrible massacre.
Just think, as bad as that was for Russian people, it is but a few moments of what the Palestinians in Gaza endure for decades....who didn't have the soviet state to respond....
Not to compare suffering, of which there is too much.
30,001 tonight
Brilliant…
Great News Simplicius! Congratulations 🍾
Regarding the lack or lesser numbers of younger readers, I believe it is the Millennial problem. They are all interested in instant gratification and many don't have the reading skill beyond "See Spot." Run Spot run." God forbid they would ever make it through Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. I'm 62 and love your content.
True, I should have mentioned this in my comment also. I know a couple of 30 + year old kids who are a little curious about what the hell is going on BUT when I mentioned reading blogs or other sources they looked at me as if I had lost my mind. One of them even said "I am not in school any longer, why would I read???"
Younger generations definitely have had their attention-spans shortened by tv, social media, youtube, and so on. There's also been a decline in education, resulting in noticeable deficiencies in reading comprehension and critical thinking. However, not everyone follows these stereotypes: I'm a millennial, and I've been reading here for awhile (+ recently subscribed).
You are the exception. In my business of negotiating and writing contracts there is a ton of reading. Our company has stopped hiring anyone under 40 for even Junior Contracts positions because their reading comprehension is abysmal. Good thing AI will takeover in 5 - 10 years or having contracts on a Blockchain.
I also think you are the exception who proves the rule. I share the exasperation with the Millenials and their obvious attention span deficit, though I recognize there are always exceptions (I personally communicate with 3 or 4 of those).
Another problem I've noticed with millineials (even more so with the genZ's) is the tendency to take refuge in overt cynicism right off the bat. IOW, there's a kind of fatalism that's crept into this cohort and it's getting worse in the upcoming young generations. IOW, it's like they lost hope for any kind of change - even as the boomers' generation (the likely majority among the readers here) are still in a fighting spirit even if they know they hope against hope.
I'm not sure there is a big difference between generations. As far back as I can remember, liker maybe the late 1950's, precious few Americans understood much of what goes on outside the US or had the wisdom to give a rat's toot. Where I live, there is only the well-off who are proud to be all-American and support whatever the MSM says, and the not-well-off who don't have the time, energy or education to take a good hard look. I am less optimistic about my own country than I have ever been, and that's not the grumbling of an old fart. When karma sends the US some hard knocks, it's a toss-up whether the people will wake up in a good way or not. I"m not looking forward to the inevitable hard knocks, BTW. I live in the US, too, along with friends and family.
I think the cynicism/irony began with Gen X, and has propagated since. Really, generations XYZ have more in common than they'd like to admit. I too am very uncertain of the future.
I found all that advice really helpful, thank you. It certainly all resonated, particularly the point about how important it is to enjoy the authorial voices that we invite into our lives. Mercouris irritates me from time to time, but he is nonetheless indispensable listening, and that is at least partly because I trust him. Ritter is only good for an occasional listen, because his Yankee bombast grates after a while. Your own work has become an essential part of my life and I always settle down to read a Simplicius article with a sense of....the most apt word is 'eudemonia'; the pleasure that comes from pure reason.
I can only agree Mercouris knowledgable but long winded and Ritter OK but Simplicius best.
Try upping the speed of your video player with Mercouris. He speaks slowly and that can make him come across as long winded. Speed it up and you might enjoy him more.
Yeah, 1.5 X is the only only way I can tolearte his pace and repetitive style. That said he's got great perspective and good insights buried in his circumspect overly polite delivery.
A Mercouris video works well for me at 2X speed.
That's deliberate. Mercouris is a (libertarian) pro.
When Hamas began its resistance operation on October 7 last year, Alexander Mercouris went full-bore charging against Hamas, saying the Hamas leaders needed to be hauled before the ICC. for severe prosecution. I kid you not, the same ICC that filed an illegal prosecution of Putin for allowing children in Zaphorozie to be brought into safety. With the lead prosecutor, a Brit, recently helping to plea bargain down his brother's punishment for raping a teen-age boy.
Let me count the number of stupidities that Mercouris pulled off in one nasty statement.
1. Mercouris showed he has no sympathies for the Palestinians. Typical London blight.
2, Mercouris showed he didn't understand the Israeli end-game genocide. Horribly uninformed, not wondering why the lump under the rug is moving. Never paid attention to observers line Alastair Crooke or Ilan Pappé, among others.
3. Mercouris didn't understand the military, nor the geopolitical brilliance of Hamas' operation. "Not a military person", indeed.
4. Possibly part of item 3, above, but Mercouris allowed himself to be blind-sided by the major change in how the world perceives Israel and Palestine.
In short, Mercouris has no heart and not much of a brain. The only reason I've watched any of his shows since Oct. 7, is when he has on a stellar guest. Other people still think highly of Mercouris, but unless and until he issues a very specific and convincing apology for his hatred of Hamas, I'm done with him. Even at 2x normal speed.
I don't say the same of Alex Christofouru, but AC rarely says stuff I don't know or wouldn't learn elsewhere in the next 24 hours. I used to spend a lot of time watching them, and now I have more time for much better sources.
Great comment, and I somewhat agree on what you say about Alexander Mercouris and Scott Ritter. Add to that Larry J, Pepe Escobar, Col. MacGregor, the lovely Ania, Andrei M, and my daily favourite, the genial Alexander Christoforou and you have enough diverse commentators to switch to when you get tired of a particular style of delivery, (not forgetting a range of spiritual commentators, for this is a spiritual war). Along with Simplicius, all have their hearts in the right place, and are taking us all to the next level, out of this lilliputian world of tit for tat, and small minded thinking.
We have similar tastes, it seems! My overall favourite is Alastair Crooke, whom I sure you will know. Re: the spiritual war, Church of the Eternal Logos is good.
Good to know, fellow seeker of truths. Yes, I read Alastair too, but as I mentioned, flip back and forth depending on my current state of mind, the information overload can be overwhelming at times. Thanks for the tip, much appreciated.
Unusually, I think Alastair is even better in conversation than in print. I never miss his talks with Judge Napolitano.
Yes, they are splendid. He never fails to add something new, which is unusual. Most commentators just repeat the same spiel.
Mercouris was off the charts irritating today on the Crocus savagery. I put him on 1.6 speed and usually fall asleep listening to his golden British tones. But yes, often necessary.
Well, yes, I usually put him up to 1.75 or thereabouts. 1.5 sounds like normal speech.
I am partial to his dog who often barks in the background - voicing his/her own displeasure no doubt at this or that opinion. Or perhaps just sharing your (and my) impatience?
Though I think he should also get a cat - for a little variety.
Funny!
I'm wondering if the dog comes from the BBC sound archive, to add a homely ambience; it hasn't been seen in some time.
What a great word description. Yes that’s how I would describe it now as well. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you. It's rare to find a word that fits an experience so beautifully.
Felicitaciones desde México CdMx!
Hola Chilango! Su presidente AMLO logró hoy un jonrón sobre la drogadicción estadounidense, y las familias y la cultura mexicanas. Felicidades.
Thanks for the writing suggestions all common sense and a continuing thank for your regular
informative reports. Now that WAR is declared I expect you will be busier than ever. :: )