Speculation on Russia

I had a random thought that in hindsight, seems rather obvious and somehow lazy. But I think I'll make a note of it here in the chance there is something to it.

I think Russia (or Russian intelligence), has something very sensitive on the American ruling political class, including some significant Democrats. And quite possibly many other Western leaders. Something big, and something worth holding on to. 

That theory would explain a lot, including the sudden and alarming rise in Western jingoism propagated by our media in lockstep with our uncharacteristically united political factions.

Even if it were true, and even if the Russians cashed in such a claim, I'd imagine it would take many years, possibly decades to confirm, especially in the face of the immense and inevitable push back from pretty much every Western media outlet.

The NYT criticizes blue states, liberals

I'm frankly surprised. Heavy on the criticism but a little light on solutions (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I'd imagine their solutions would largely come from the left.

One thing that continually bothers me about lefties: corruption.  It is a problem and bad for the masses regardless of ideology and identity. But I rarely, if ever see a leftwing politician campaign against corruption. Why is that? Seriously. [edit: after thinking about this, it occurs to me that relatively few pols campaign against corruption regardless of party affiliation, but I still suspect leftist pols disproportionately avoid the topic] 

Elon Musk is like Trump 2.0

[Update: there are conflicting reports that Musk may or may not have donated to the WFP]

Musk has got that cutting, audacious honesty about him (maybe not in all things), combined with loads of F-you money, that he just doesn't give a flying f**k about the status quo and its delicate balance of corruption. 

When he ventures into the swamplands, it's as if the murky waters recede and the miserable creatures hiss and snarl at his presence. He's younger and a bit less prone to making absurd comments, but still has that anti-swamp, screw-the-establishment essence to him like a certain former president.

Disclaimer: I own a tiny sliver of $TSLA stock (less than 1 share), mainly because it was a stupid, but slightly profitable FOMO decision. I'm not a TSLA fanboy and think the cars have serious QA issues, but I do respect Musk and really like where SpaceX is headed (compare SpaceX's goals to any other private space company--it's Star Trek vs the Love Boat in space! All other space companies are a joke). 

Anyway, this happened:

Since it's a day ending in Y, a bureaucrat decides to shame the world's billionaires for not doing enough. CNN gladly obliged in spreading the word (and unsurprisingly managed to screw it up). As you can see, Musk puts the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) on blast, calls their bluff, and puts his money on the table. 

Unfortunately for the WFP, open source accounting is one of Musk's conditions. But corrupt bureaucrats get hungry too! 

So I read the CNN article and watched the video. Nobody said 2% of Musk's wealth could solve world hunger. The headline is a bald-faced lie--in that respect, WFP Chief David Beasley is right that the headline is not accurate. Great job CNN!

As in the article, Beasley says that $6B could help save millions this year. But what happened here indeed?

CHILDREN as young as nine traded oral sex for food from UN peacekeepers in warzones while officials looked the other way, a shocking new report has claimed.

Memos about the sexual abuse in the Central African Republic were "passed from desk to desk, inbox to inbox, across multiple UN offices, with no one willing to take responsibility", the report found.

It added: "The welfare of the victims and the accountability of the perpetrators appeared to be an afterthought, if considered at all."

I suppose no international institution is perfect. But still, that's pretty damn bad. I think most reasonable people would like to avoid giving money to the pedophile fund if at all possible. 

I guess the money is still on the table. All the WFP has to do is publicly reveal a $6B plan for saving millions with open source accounting. Shouldn't be too hard for an organization whose job is LITERALLY TO DO EXACTLY THAT.

Can't be done. They'll open their books anywhere--Earth or space--as long as they're meeting privately. It's all above board they assure us, but our little minds would explode if plans and numbers were tweeted out. Bless their considerate souls.

I'm not sorry. I am desensitized and my humor so dark and I find this sad state of affairs predictably pathetic--that it has been made so public is damn funny. That's how I read these sorts of things. 

The WFP would rather publicly turn down $6 billion (and probably much more from like-minded people if they accepted Musk's reasonable conditions) than be transparent.

The shame game works both ways if your opponent has the balls to punch back. It's refreshing, it's funny, the corrupt are scared to death of it, and it's what made Trump so popular. 

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Meanwhile...