toucana

What point ?

The views expressed were those of the author Aldous Huxley, rather than my own - (You asked me what I thought the final line of BNW meant). You may be curious to learn that Aldous Huxley later wrote another book called The Island (1962) in the final year of his life, which was about a Utopian island state called Pala located in the Indian ocean. This later novel expresses a rather more positive and aspirational vision of a future society which you might find more congenial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(Huxley_novel) In 1946 Huxley wrote a new foreword to Brave New World which anticipated some of the themes in The Island Huxley incidentally died on 22 November 1963, the same day JFK was assassinated in Dallas Texas, so his death went largely unnoticed by the press.

Well it’s not exactly a happy ending is it ? I think it symbolizes the pointless and random nature of human existence, and the futility of seeking perfection in human society.

Have you ever read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ? It was one of two novels I first read aged 16 as a pair of set texts for my English Literature examinations - the other was 1984 by George Orwell - at a time when that date still lay some 15 years in the future ! Suffice to say that Aldous Huxley wrote BNW in 1931 at the height of the Great Depression, and did so as a direct satire and parody of novels like A Modern Utopia (1905) by H.G. Wells, or its sequel Men Like Gods (1923) which is a scientific fantasy set in a Utopia located in a parallel universe. BNW is completely dystopian in every respect Do you remember what happens at the end of Brave New World ? John, the deracinated ‘savage’ rescued from the reservation winds up exiling himself from the ‘World State’ and living in a remote lighthouse following the death of his mother Linda. After a final disastrous encounter with Lenina Crowne, the foetus technician whom he was attracted to, John hangs himself in his lighthouse retreat.

A second factor was the disclosure by a 17 y/o girl that she had a second sexual encounter with Matt Gaetz the same night at a 2017 party involving a threesome - as reported today by CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/matt-gaetz-second-sexual-encounter-minor/index.html

Yes - and SAC is nowadays part of Air Force Global Strike Command AFSTRAT-AIR https://www.afgsc.af.mil All part and parcel of the Pentagon military command structure that Trump now wants to put under the control of a clueless FOX TV presenter. I do seem to recall that in periods of international tension that SAC used to keep a certain number of their B-52 bombers constantly airborne in holding patterns within US airspace, ready for instant deployment - so I'll assume that they had some units orbiting in the Florida Keys area !

I'm just wondering if you understand where the island of Cuba lies in relation to mainland continental USA ? From the southernmost point in Key West in the state of Florida USA , it's about 90 miles to Cuba. https://www.afar.com/places/southernmost-point-key-west For reference, the standard operational range of an unrefueled US B2 Stealth bomber is about 6000 nautical miles (9,600Km), and that of a B52 Stratofortress bomber is about 8,800 miles(14,000Km) https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104482/b-2-spirit/ https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104465/b-52h-stratofortress/ If the US military ever felt a compelling need to respond to a threat, or an actual attack from Cuba, they wouldn't bother launching highly expensive missiles at a target in such close proximity to their own territory. They would simply order SAC to scramble some bombers. At 650 m.p.h (mach 0.84) it would take a B52 around 8.5 minutes to reach Cuba.

Nope - The nuclear missile sites on Cuba were wholly under the control of Soviet technicians and military commanders. Cuban officers had no command authority or launch codes for the IRBMs, only the Kremlin could have authorised their use against the USA. The American invasion plan was rejected for a number of different reasons. The writer David Spanier explains one of them in his book Total Poker (1977) citing David Halberstam’s account of how General David Shoup, Commandant of the US Marine Corps at the time addressed this topic in briefings :

So - which hypothetical scenario is involved here ? i. If Cuba were to launch *non* nuclear Russian supplied cruise missiles at the US mainland ? ii. If Cuba were to launch Russian made missiles armed *with* nuclear warheads at the US mainland? Two very different scenarios - neither of them remotely plausible, or worth any serious discussion. It is worth noting, even at the height of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, that the USA never once considered launching any form of missile strikes on Cuba, even though American U2 surveillance flights had detected 9 launch sites for Soviet missiles with thermonuclear warheads being prepared on Cuban soil. The American military options were confined to conventional airforce and naval bombardement, followed by an amphibious invasion: or a naval quarantine blockade of Cuba. It later emerged that in addition to the IRBM missiles, the Soviets also had up to a dozen 9K52 Luna-M (Russian Луна, - ‘Moon’ ) short range artillery rockets armed with 2 Kiloton tactical nuclear warheads. The presence of these weapons code named Frog 7 by NATO was wholly unknown to American intelligence, or to US secretary of defense Robert Mcnamara. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K52_Luna-M These tactical nukes were under the control of Soviet forces on Cuba whose commanders were tasked with defending the Cuban missile sites, and they had command authority to launch them on their own initiative, without consulting the Kremlin in an emergency. If America had proceeded with the large scale amphibious invasion of Cuba recommended by JFK’s generals, then their invasion force could have been devastated with multiple tactical nukes, and WW3 would have ensued.

A walk in falling snow this morning across a 23 acre green space just a few yards from our home. The 'Tree of Life' is a sculpture by Andrew O'Neill created from the trunk and branches of a Cedar of Lebanon tree that had to be culled because of fungal disease. The arboretum was formally designated a Village Green last year.

Trump world always feels to me rather like the nested reality simulations in this film:

Erstwhile Trump fanboi and accomplice Roger Stone on X just a week ago - some hope 😕

This line from the list of federal programs with expired authorizations which Vivek Ramaswamy is threatening to axe refers to the Federal Aviation Administration, a subsection of the Department of Transport. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aviation_Administration It’s only responsible for air-traffic control throughout the whole of US airspace, and the safety certification of all civilian aircraft flown there, as well as issuing, suspending and revoking pilot certificates - nothing important…

According to a recent post on X, Vivek Ramaswamy who will be running the new DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) in tandem with Elon Musk, now wants to defund all federal programs with expired authorizations. Brian Riedl, an economic policy expert and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute (a highly conservative think-tank) has posted a list of some of the largest expired programs that would be squarely in the crosshairs of any such cuts. The list includes the Veterans Health Care Eligibility, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, America’s Water Infrastructure Act - and many more. Meidas Touch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26mYtMsNX6Q

Matt Gaetz had his iPhone seized three years ago by the FBI on a probable cause warrant, and was under criminal investigation for alleged Federal sex trafficking offences involving a 17 y/o girl. https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-iphone-seized-fbi-sex-trafficking-probe-2021-4 He was widely expected to face criminal charges under the Mann act which bars the transportation of “any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose” across state lines. But the criminal investigation ran into problems with the courtroom credibility of two key accomplice witnesses involved: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-departments-sex-trafficking-investigation-rep-matt-gaetz-seems-rcna49229 The case was formally closed in February 2023 https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2024-11-14/what-are-the-investigations-into-matt-gaetz-trumps-pick-for-attorney-general If confirmed, Gaetz would become the first Attorney General in US history to have previously been under Federal investigation for sexual trafficking and statutory rape. He was previously arrested for a felony DUI offence in Florida in 2008 but the charges were dropped, and the arresting officer fired after the intervention of his father - who was a Florida state senator.

So, Matt Gaetz resigns from Congress on the back of his AG pick by Trump just two days before a *Republican* controlled Congressional House Ethics Committee was due to vote on releasing a highly damaging report on its investigation into accusations of sex-trafficking and drug abuse against him on Friday. Funny that ..

A ventriloquist’s dummy and полезные дураки or ‘Useful idiot’ for Vladimir Putin, who was outed in 2018 by Hillary Clinton as someone the Kremlin was thought to be grooming as a third-party candidate and proxy. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/18/politics/hillary-clinton-tulsi-gabbard/index.html

Trump has nominated Matt Gaetz - yes that Matt Gaetz - as his pick for Attorney General. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/13/politics/matt-gaetz-attorney-general/index.html A guy who was recently under both criminal and Congressional Ethics Committee investigations for Mann Act offences involving the sexual trafficking of minors across state borders, and a 'legislator' who wants to abolish both the DOJ and the FBI.

According to Sky news, Trump has now confirmed the appointment of Elon Musk to his cabinet to co-lead a new 'Department of Government Efficiency' (DOGE for short) with Vivek Ramaswamy. https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trump-confirms-elon-musk-in-his-cabinet-13253406

Inamullah Samangani, head of the information and culture department of the Taliban in Kandahar has formally congratulated Americans for “Not handing leadership of their great country to a woman” - in a post on X. https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/taliban-congratulate-americans-for-not-handing-leadership-of-their-great-country-to-a-woman-385406/

MAGA supporters misunderstand how trade tariffs work so badly that many of them think tariffs are a tax paid by China. This Meidas Touch video includes a clip by YT comedian and activist Walter Masterton in which he explains to a young Trump supporter that trade tariffs are in fact a tax paid by US importers which they will then pass on to US consumers in the form of raised retail prices - which was apparently a Damascene revelation to that young entrepreneur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI_3aZxvrEk In another clip, a US importer points out there is practically nothing you can buy on shop shelves that doesn’t contain (or rely on) raw materials and precursors imported from abroad. Everything will be affected, everything will cost more. Some of Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters are said to be Gen-Z gamers who will shortly find out that gaming consoles like their beloved PS5 or Nintendo Switches will cost up to 40% more. Mark Cuban (of Shark Tank fame) has some sobering words for those who think that the economic consequences of trade tariffs won’t be happening for some time. In reality they are already happening - right now ! Quite a few business employees will shortly discover that they won’t be receiving any Xmas bonuses this December, as US importers adopt defensive positions:

A BBC News article notes that Trump benefited from a massive 14% bump in support from Latino voters according to exit polls. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cze3yr77j9wo Trump garnered almost 42% of the Latino vote in Pennsylvania - almost 5% of the total vote - compared to 27% when he ran against Joe Biden in 2020. When asked to explain why the Latino vote had shifted so decisively towards Trump, members of that community cited principally the economy and inflation. It will be interesting to see if they still feel the same way in about six months time, once the economy starts to crater and inflation rockets after Trump commences a trade Tariff war with the rest of the world.