COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, December 12, 2016

Rex W. Tillerson, Chairman and CEO, Exxon Mobil Corporation, speaks with Economic Club president David M. Rubenstein on Thursday March 12, 2015



The 25 minute mark is an indication of his politics.

36 comments:

  1. Global largest Oil and Gas Companies

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_oil_and_gas_companies_by_revenue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 2, 3, and 4 are all Chinese, and all much larger than Exon!

      Delete
    2. #1 gas provider around here is Quirk Gas Passing, LLC, passing gas out of Detroit, Michigan.

      Delete
    3. ("Passing Gas To Idaho, Hawaii And Beyond")

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  2. FLASHING IDAHO ELEVATOR REPORT: Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, at Trump Tower Today

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  3. December 12, 2016
    Why on earth does Trump want Rex Tillerson at the State Department?
    By Thomas Lifson

    The president-elect that loves surprising the media may have a really big project in mind.  Bigger, even, than huge....

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/12/why_on_earth_does_trump_want_rex_tillerson_at_the_state_department.html

    Who better than 'T Rex' Tillerson to change the world ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. For Ash -

    Trump Is Not A Fascist

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/12/donald_trump_is_not_a_fascist.html

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    Replies
    1. Why would you preface that to me?

      Delete
    2. .

      Why ask why?

      It's Idaho Bob.

      It's another stream of consciousness post by a man who never rises above the semi-conscious state.

      .

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

    4. Perhaps because you once called him a fascist ?

      You once called me a fascist, so I think you need to at least understand the term before you recklessly throw it around.

      It's for your education.

      Delete
    5. You live in la la land Bob and you have trouble distinguishing between reality and the shit you constantly make up and post here. I've never called Trump a fascist, nor you, but I did call Doug one when he wanted to dictate what 'the media' can say - a truth commission as it were.

      Delete
    6. You called Doug a fascist too ?

      I missed that one.

      Delete
    7. There you go again. It's irritating. It is also one of the reasons why I don't bother reading any of your posts.

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    8. Ash, I'm going back to look it up, it's too much work, just try and watch you language from now on out.

      Take it as getting a 'get out of jail free' card for now.

      Delete
    9. I'm NOT going back to look it up....

      Delete
  5. .

    Trump: Lockheed's F-35 program out of control.

    Lockheed executive: F-35 program is 'amazing'.

    .

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    Replies
    1. F-35 program is Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge

      Delete
  6. .

    Today's Edition of

    Bon Mots from Bibi

    including

    Bodacious Musings by Bibi

    'We have more options than you think for stopping Iran accord", PM tells 60 Minutes

    From the Times of Israel...

    Netanyahu has five ideas to discuss with Trump for ‘undoing’ Iran deal


    Bibi's Joke of the Day

    PM also says he wants president-elect’s help in working for accord with the Palestinians on ‘two states for two peoples’

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-wants-to-work-with-trump-to-roll-back-iran-deal/

    .

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  7. Convicting Geert Wilders of “speaking” seems to have backfired
    POSTED AT 10:01 AM ON DECEMBER 12, 2016 BY JAZZ SHAW


    We talked last week about the disturbing instance of Dutch Freedom Party leader and elected representative Geert Wilders being convicted in court of … talking. Wilders was convicted of “hate speech” for participating in a rally where supporters were chanting about wanting “fewer” Moroccans in the country. At the time, the court didn’t impose any sort of jail term or fine on the politician, saying that, the conviction was punishment enough. While they didn’t provide an explicit description, it was obvious that they felt that being convicted would disgrace Wilders in the eyes of the public and they could punish him sufficiently with their disdain.

    Well, according to the next set of polls to come out after the announcement, that plan is just going over like gangbusters. (Yahoo News)

    The party of populist anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders has risen strongly in the polls since the lawmaker was tried and convicted of discrimination, according to a survey published Sunday.

    If legislative elections due next March were held this week, Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) would pick up 36 out of 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, making it the biggest single political group, it found.

    Before the trial began on October 31, the PVV was credited with 27 seats.

    During the trial, but before his conviction on Friday, its estimated share rose to 34 seats. It currently has 12 lawmakers.

    The Freedom Party was already making gains in the polls before the trial and it seems to have been a point of belief (or at least optimistic hope) among Wilders’ detractors that the conviction might stall that surge and turn their fortunes around. That obviously doesn’t appear to be the case and in fact may have backfired on them in a big way.

    If the number of seats his party controls rises from the modest 12 they now hold up to the high thirties or even forty, a coalition with other similarly inclined parties could quickly evolve into the controlling force in their Parliament. And as the Daily Mail pointed out after the trial, that would position Wilders as the leading choice to be the next Prime Minister. And if that happens, the Dutch government will be taking a very different stance on Islamic immigration....

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/12/convicting-geert-wilders-of-speaking-seems-to-have-backfired/

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  8. UK Diplomat: I’ve Met the DNC Wikileaks Leaker and the Person Is an Insider – Not Russian

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/uk-diplomat-ive-met-dnc-wikileaks-leaker-person-insider-not-russian/

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  9. Would this then make it qualifying as a 'false flag' ?

    I'm often confused as to what is a 'false flag' and what isn't a 'false flag'.

    Might John Bolton have it right ?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Iran Stages Massive War Drills...

    Vows to DESTROY Israel and threatens 'WORLD WAR'....DRUDGE


    All the Iranians need is a little more democracy.

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    Replies
    1. Eh, right, Quirk ?

      My own view is they need an entirely new culture, very difficult to create.

      Delete
    2. .

      Really.

      Like what culture?

      .

      Delete
  11. BITTER: Congressman begs Electoral College voters to block Trump...

    CIA pushes 'conspiracy theory'...

    PODESTA QUESTIONS ELECTION LEGITIMACY...

    White House moves to undermine victory...

    Media try to delegitimize...

    CNN HOST: Trump win a 'national emergency'....DRUDGE


    Crybabies.

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    Replies
    1. Meanwhile:

      Completed Wisconsin recount WIDENS Trump margin....DRUDGE

      bwahaha

      Delete
  12. What fools these humans are -

    The Most Politically Dangerous Book You’ve Never Heard Of
    How one obscure Russian novel launched two of the 20th century’s most destructive ideas.
    By Adam Weiner December 11, 2016

    When Alan Greenspan began his political career in 1974, he asked two people to accompany him to his Oval Office swearing-in ceremony as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers: his mother, Rose Goldsmith, and his guru, Ayn Rand. From the time of his appointment years later as Federal Reserve chair until his retirement in 2006, Greenspan would implement Rand’s ideology of “objectivism” as monetary policy: Counting on market players to self-regulate in the pursuit of their selfish interests, he deregulated the financial industry and scoffed in the late 1990s when warned of the systemic risks posed by the unregulated derivatives market. Soon enough, these “financial weapons of mass destruction,” as Warren Buffet once called them, would explode, destroying the plans and lives of countless Americans in the Great Recession. A congressional inquiry placed the blame for the 2008 financial crisis squarely at Greenspan’s feet, and, under questioning by members of the House, Greenspan admitted that there must have been “a flaw” in his Randian worldview.
    A flaw, yes, but where did it really come from?


    The answer will surprise even the most avid Rand fans. The fundamental idea underlying her objectivism was a twin ideology known as rational egoism—the belief that rational action always maximizes self-interest. And Rand, who wielded the phrase “second-hander” as a cudgel against her enemies, had herself borrowed this idea from the scribblings of her countryman, a Russian writer named Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose 1863 utopian novel, though critically mocked, became an inspiration for Rand’s generation of the early 1900s.

    That’s not all Chernyshevsky is known for. Rand’s aversion to socialism is well-documented, but in Russia, that same Chernyshevsky novel became a user manual for revolutionaries, starting with the author’s radical contemporaries and ending with Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
    Which means that, although he is all but forgotten now, Chernyshevsky was one of the great destructive influences of the past century: first in his home country, where his writing helped spawn the Soviet Union, and now, of all places, in the United States, where his rational egotism continues to reverberate in American political and economic thought. For decades Rand has been a muse to American politicians ranging from Ronald Reagan to Ron Paul to Paul Ryan to Clarence Thomas—not to mention businessmen like Ted Turner and Mark Cuban, to say nothing of Greenspan at the Fed. The libertarian movement claims her as one of its original inspirations. And Rand’s Atlas Shrugged has become a cult classic, continuing to sell hundreds of thousands of copies every year.

    Born in the city of Saratov in 1828, Chernyshevsky was a loyal follower of Karl Marx’s technocratic predecessors, Henri de St. Simon and August Comte, who inspired him with the idea of a scientific utopia run by technical experts.....

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/russian-novel-chernyshevsky-financial-crisis-revolution-214516

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  13. The Donald may rue the day he first stated he'd get rid of ISIS by, basically, snapping his fingers -

    Palmyra
    Islamic State retakes historic city of Palmyra
    Isis-affiliated news channel claims victory for jihadi fighters after intense fighting prompts Syrian military to withdraw

    VIDEO


    Syria’s ancient city Palmyra under control of Islamic State again
    Kareem Shaheen
    Sunday 11 December 2016 11.23 EST

    Islamic State fighters appear to have reconquered the historic city of Palmyra after days of intense fighting on its outskirts prompted a withdrawal by the Syrian military.

    “The catastrophe has happened, I am in absolute shock,” said Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s director of antiquities, in a phone interview. “I am losing hope, it looks like we have lost the city.”
    An Isis-affiliated news channel claimed victory in the battle on Sunday, saying its soldiers had reclaimed control of the entirety of Palmyra, once a Silk Road oasis that boasted some of the best-preserved ruins of antiquity.

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, confirmed the takeover.
    It was the second time Isis has seized Palmyra. In May last year, jihadi militants stormed the city after a week-long siege that ended with the mass retreat of the Syrian military. Militants rampaged through the city’s museums and ruins, blowing up the 2,000-year-old towering Temple of Bel and the Arch of Victory, along with other priceless artefacts, and killed Khaled al-Asaad, Palmyra’s long-serving leading archaeologist.

    Today we will watch that same film again, that horror movie, if they stay in the city
    Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s director of antiquities

    The group also carried out mass executions in the historic amphitheatre.
    The Syrian army, backed by Russian fighter jets, reclaimed the city in March this year in a well-publicised campaign. Moscow organised a musical concert at the amphitheatre shortly afterwards.
    The loss of the city will come as a shock....

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/11/islamic-state-retakes-palmyra-syria

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No doubt they'll take good care of everything.

      https://www.google.com/search?q=Syria%E2%80%99s+ancient+city+Palmyra&rlz=1CAACAO_enUS720US720&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwietI_u4e_QAhVhsFQKHbUXB0YQ_AUICSgC&biw=1091&bih=482#imgrc=GQ3gji10EWPElM%3A

      Delete
  14. December 12, 2016
    The revenge of Sarah Palin
    By Ben Voth

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/12/the_revenge_of_sarah_palin.html

    Sarah....the first to support Trump

    ReplyDelete
  15. Fiorina:

    Shaq's shoe is huuuuuge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FRx6qjrcFY

      Delete
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    http://musclegainfast.com/ef13-muscle-supplement/

    ReplyDelete