1937
Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Lugou Bridge – Japanese forces invade Beijing, China.
1954
Elvis Presley made his radio debut when WHBQ Memphis played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”
2005
A series of four explosions occurs on London’s transport system killing 56 people including four alleged suicide bombers and injuring over 700 others.
***
Over 700 ETFs were started last year.
***
Russian car sales are down ~40%, and farm machinery sales are down 33%, while inflation remains high at around 9%, despite interest rates of 21%.
Russia's wartime spending is up 20%. In comparison, oil and gas revenues drop 12%, and Putin has now burned through two-thirds of his (liquid) rainy day fund, potentially exhausting it within a year unless oil prices improve or he cuts military spending.
***
Secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy ... censorship. When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know," the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything -- you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (7 Jul 1907-1988)
***
Democracy and Its Enemies, January 6
January 6th was the day Biden kicked off his reelection campaign. He picked January 6th as it is the anniversary of the attempt of some enthusiasts to demonstrate in favor of Trump's assertion that the election of 2020 had been rigged. What looked like a riot to the whole world became, in the eyes of the press, a tipping point of near Gettysburg or Shiloh proportions. The Republic trembled and nearly fell before an assault of scores of unarmed citizens led by a guy wearing deer antlers.
If Lee had only known.
Let's say these misguided fools and the Antler Guy actually had plans of upsetting the election. It's a big country; how would they have done it? We don't know. But let's say they had some secret plan. How would you rate their chances of success? (Assuming the Antler Guy has some wonderful--if, as yet unseen--planning and leadership qualities.) How would they have fared? Against the Feds? The U.S. Marine Corps? 2500 SEALS?
On the other hand, what if the President of the United States promises 'fundamentally transforming the United States of America'? What if the President is so infirm that all of the executive decisions are deferred to a faceless cadre of unelected government employees? What if the national debt rises so high it destabilizes the currency, prompting an alternative world currency and leaving its citizenry impoverished and in despair? What if the integrity and safety of the country are threatened by hundreds of thousands of unvetted, illegal immigrants crossing the border every month with only cursory attention? What if the government becomes so venal, so corrupt, so insincere, and so inept that the people become estranged?
Which scenario threatens the democracy?
***
Russian car sales are down ~40%, and farm machinery sales are down 33%, while inflation remains high at around 9%, despite interest rates of 21%.
Russia's wartime spending is up 20%. In comparison, oil and gas revenues drop 12%, and Putin has now burned through two-thirds of his (liquid) rainy day fund, potentially exhausting it within a year unless oil prices improve or he cuts military spending.
***
Secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy ... censorship. When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know," the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything -- you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (7 Jul 1907-1988)
***
Democracy and Its Enemies, January 6
January 6th was the day Biden kicked off his reelection campaign. He picked January 6th as it is the anniversary of the attempt of some enthusiasts to demonstrate in favor of Trump's assertion that the election of 2020 had been rigged. What looked like a riot to the whole world became, in the eyes of the press, a tipping point of near Gettysburg or Shiloh proportions. The Republic trembled and nearly fell before an assault of scores of unarmed citizens led by a guy wearing deer antlers.
If Lee had only known.
Let's say these misguided fools and the Antler Guy actually had plans of upsetting the election. It's a big country; how would they have done it? We don't know. But let's say they had some secret plan. How would you rate their chances of success? (Assuming the Antler Guy has some wonderful--if, as yet unseen--planning and leadership qualities.) How would they have fared? Against the Feds? The U.S. Marine Corps? 2500 SEALS?
On the other hand, what if the President of the United States promises 'fundamentally transforming the United States of America'? What if the President is so infirm that all of the executive decisions are deferred to a faceless cadre of unelected government employees? What if the national debt rises so high it destabilizes the currency, prompting an alternative world currency and leaving its citizenry impoverished and in despair? What if the integrity and safety of the country are threatened by hundreds of thousands of unvetted, illegal immigrants crossing the border every month with only cursory attention? What if the government becomes so venal, so corrupt, so insincere, and so inept that the people become estranged?
Which scenario threatens the democracy?
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