[K-Dog]

LOWYINSTITUTE.ORG 2026-03-27

The Philippines fuel emergency is a textbook case of a warning hiding in official statistics

The data was there. Manila just didn’t act on it.

CSMONITOR.COM 2026-03-31

As oil prices surge, Filipinos feel the impact of a distant conflict

Even before global fuel prices started surging due to the Middle East conflict, life was already a daily calculation for Romeo Esmenda. He makes a living in Quezon City, northeast of Manila, driving a jeepney.

SUNSTAR.COM.PH 2026-03-26

Marcos assures PH crude oil supply to last until end of June

Chevron Philippines Inc. president and country chairman Pongtorn Tangmanuswong said that supply of fuel is only sufficient until the last week of April.

DEVELOPMENTAID.ORG 2026-04-20

Philippines faces energy emergency as global oil crisis exposes deep vulnerabilities

The Philippines has declared a national energy emergency as a global oil shock triggered by the escalating U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict disrupts fuel supplies and drives up costs across the country.

Trump's WWIII

THESOUFANCENTER.ORG 2026-04-15

The Spillover Effects of the Iran War on Asia

Asia is experiencing shocks and reverberations across multiple economic sectors as a result of the U.S.-Israel vs. Iran war.

Trump's clusterfuck of faults, and his bad decisions has started a tsunami that will smash onto America's shores in the months to come.  For now the waters are calm, but this state of affairs will not remain.

[RE]

True it was followed through with, and after the depression and Stalin crushing the Ukie independence movement, it worked fine.  Also worked OK before under Lenin & Trotsky  before the depression.  After the early problems in China, it worked so well they had to institute a 1 child policy to keep the population from ballooning up too fast.

You conflate the problems of totalitarianism with communism.  They are not one in the same thing.  Capitalism and totalitarianism aren't the same either, together they are called Fascism.  Lotta problems with that system also, as we begin to see now here in the FSoA.

Definitely a phase change coming.  Lots more water evaporating from the oceans and lakes into the atmosphere.

RE

[K-Dog]

True it was followed through with, and after the depression and Stalin crushing the Ukie independence movement, it worked fine.  Also worked OK before under Lenin & Trotsky  before the depression.  After the early problems in China, it worked so well they had to institute a 1 child policy to keep the population from ballooning up too fast.

You conflate the problems of totalitarianism with communism.  They are not one in the same thing.  Capitalism and totalitarianism aren't the same either, together they are called Fascism.  Lotta problems with that system also, as we begin to see now here in the FSoA.

Definitely a phase change coming.  Lots more water evaporating from the oceans and lakes into the atmosphere.

RE

The Soviet Union after 1923 was a degenerated workers' state.  Property was formally nationalized, but political power had been usurped by a privileged bureaucracy that pushed aside soviet democracy and the working class.  Trotsky rejected the sloppy equation of 'Stalinism = socialism.'  as Stalinism was a counterrevolutionary distortion arising from the objective contradictions produced by the material conditions of the time.

Now what will the objective contradictions generated by the material conditions Trump gives to us do.  The contradictions will resolve.  Such are the physics of real life.  How the contradictions resolve will not be pleasant.

[TDoS]

True it was followed through with, and after the depression and Stalin crushing the Ukie independence movement, it worked fine.

Worked fine? Really? The USSR had like a average lifespan of its citizens of like 57 years old under Communism, and the last time K-Dog was talking about the wonders of such a system I posted a picture of a Soviet era kitchen and asked him if he thought the wife would think that was juset jim dandy fine. As expected when uncomfortable truths are so easily revealed, I believe the post generated no answer, such are the consequences of well thought out examples.

You'd be dead already in Stalin's system, you might think that is fine, but it wasn't American's fleeing the US to live in such a fine and upstanding system back in the day.

Also worked OK before under Lenin & Trotsky  before the depression.  After the early problems in China, it worked so well they had to institute a 1 child policy to keep the population from ballooning up too fast.

If you minimize "early problems" as the greatest manmade dieoff in the history, sure, look how great Tibet, Hong Kong, the Uyghurs love the system, and Taiwan isn't arming itself to try and keep subjugation away from them, but to steal American military tech first because they LOVE the idea of being Chinese and are just faking enjoying a free market economy.

You conflate the problems of totalitarianism with communism.

Only because communists appear to love being totalitarian states. Why aren't you regaling me with stories of how well the North Koreans have it compared to their poor, downtrodden southern neighbors? Are all South Koreans yearning to move North to be free of their capitalist overlords?

They are not one in the same thing.

I agree. Too bad they just LOOK that way sometimes. Like, in between killing off millions because, you know, totalitarians LOVE Communism because it is GREAT for totaltarian rulers to make everyone do what they want.

Capitalism and totalitarianism aren't the same either, together they are called Fascism.  Lotta problems with that system also, as we begin to see now here in the FSoA.

Capitalism has some MASSIVE faults, no one is claiming it doesn't. But some might be arguing it is the least shittiest, plus as the Presidency goes, so can go the US. So when the Orange One's time is done, maybe we'll see a bit more normality return. Maybe.

Definitely a phase change coming.

Already has. It began 10 years ago when Americans thought voting in dementia addled geriatrics was a good idea. Maybe by the fall of 2028 we can hope for a phase change just from NOT doing that again.

[RE]

Definitely a phase change coming.

Already has. It began 10 years ago when Americans thought voting in dementia addled geriatrics was a good idea. Maybe by the fall of 2028 we can hope for a phase change just from NOT doing that again.

New generation coming in!  Don Jr. Vs Hunter Biden for POTUS!  Even betteer, I read a while back Barron Trump was looking to get into politics.  Either party wins, we get the Winkelvoss Twins for Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman.  Da Fed will be replace by the 1st Crypto Bank of the FSoA and the Dollar replaced by a basket of blockchain currencies including Bittcoin, Stablecoin and Moosecoin.  Epstein will be exhumed, resurrected and appointed Secretary of Jailbait Welfare.  Elon Musk will singlehandedly fix the declining birthrate by buying up the White Slave trade and impregnating the entire female population of models in Eastern Europe.

Happy Days are here again.

RE

[TDoS]

Definitely a phase change coming.

Already has. It began 10 years ago when Americans thought voting in dementia addled geriatrics was a good idea. Maybe by the fall of 2028 we can hope for a phase change just from NOT doing that again.

New generation coming in!  Don Jr. Vs Hunter Biden for POTUS!  Even betteer, I read a while back Barron Trump was looking to get into politics.  Either party wins, we get the Winkelvoss Twins for Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman.  Da Fed will be replace by the 1st Crypto Bank of the FSoA and the Dollar replaced by a basket of blockchain currencies including Bittcoin, Stablecoin and Moosecoin.  Epstein will be exhumed, resurrected and appointed Secretary of Jailbait Welfare.  Elon Musk will singlehandedly fix the declining birthrate by buying up the White Slave trade and impregnating the entire female population of models in Eastern Europe.

Happy Days are here again.

RE

Yeah, I didn't think you'd be able to handle the main gist of my post, the entire "communism is good!" angle is just too easy to offset by pointing out...WHAT communism has done, rather than what hopes and dreams would have of it. 

Doomers don't ever like the status quo, I get that, it oozes from their pores and into their words and ideas.But surely you could have done better than your normal littany of anti-establishment rhetoric to combat it? Have ANY of your establishment complaints changed since since King George II of the early 21st century arrived other than the names involved?

[RE]

surely you could have done better than your normal littany of anti-establishment rhetoric to combat it?

Personally, I thought that was very funny and nothing like my normal littany of anti-establishment rhetoric.  Your problem is that you lack a sense of humor.

I didn't have any establishment complaints when King George II of the early 21st century arrived, I wasn't born yet.

RE

[TDoS]

surely you could have done better than your normal littany of anti-establishment rhetoric to combat it?

Personally, I thought that was very funny and nothing like my normal littany of anti-establishment rhetoric.  Your problem is that you lack a sense of humor.

A possibility. Another one is that humour is something easier to interpret in person, involving expressions, tone of voice, more subtle physical clues, etc etc.

You just haranging on what you harang on doesn't give much in the way of clues.

[K-Dog]

Yeah, I didn't think you'd be able to handle the main gist of my post, the entire "communism is good!" angle is just too easy to offset by pointing out...WHAT communism has done, rather than what hopes and dreams would have of it. 

Dismissing "communism" as a failed utopian dream misses the essential point.

Marxism isn't an abstract wish list.  It is a materialist analysis of how society actually works. Your terrible outcomes weren't inherent to socialism itself, but were the consequences of specific historical circumstances and political errors.  Bureaucracy degenerated workers' power, and sabotaged the international workers revolution.  But that was then, and this is now.

The core socialist aims collective control over production to end class exploitation remain fundamentally sound, and are analytically necessary.

The question isn't whether socialist goals are desirable (they are), but how can these goals be consciously achieved by the working class.  Using democratic means.  Avoiding the pitfalls and errors that lead to authoritarianism.

[RE]

You just haranging on what you harang on doesn't give much in the way of clues.

You need clues to figure out if something is funny?  It's not detective work, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes.

RE

[RE]

CNN.COM 2026-04-28

UAE to quit OPEC in blow to world’s leading oil exporters, as Iran war roils energy sector

• UAE quits oil cartel: The United Arab Emirates will withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) this week, as the Iran war roils global energy markets. The price of oil climbed above $110 a barrel for the first time in three weeks today.

I wouldn't count on this lowering the price of oil anytime soon.  Down the line some though, Demand Destruction could do that.  It will however make the whole energy market more volatile and less predictable.

RE

[TDoS]

Dismissing "communism" as a failed utopian dream misses the essential point.

I didn't dismiss it that way. I just compared RE's perspective on it to the reality of it. Theory and practice are two different things.

Marxism isn't an abstract wish list.  It is a materialist analysis of how society actually works. Your terrible outcomes weren't inherent to socialism itself, but were the consequences of specific historical circumstances and political errors.  Bureaucracy degenerated workers' power, and sabotaged the international workers revolution.  But that was then, and this is now.

Sure. And now the Communists have forced labor camps for the Uyghurs, are making sure that Hong Kong folks aren't so thrilled with their switch from capitalism to being ChiComs again, want to make sure that the capitalists in Taiwan, doing quite well for themselves, are brought to heel and properly....educated...and Tibet certainly understands that difference betweem being free or being...under someone elses bootheel.

China is certainly a long way from Mao killing off 10's of millions in food experiments, so in your mind are they "proper" socialists nowadays? The kind you would happily give up your 4 wheeled status symbols for?

The core socialist aims collective control over production to end class exploitation remain fundamentally sound, and are analytically necessary.

In theory. And if we are talking socialism like Scandanavian countries as compared to China and North Korea, I'd pick Scandanavia for sure.

The question isn't whether socialist goals are desirable (they are), but how can these goals be consciously achieved by the working class.  Using democratic means.  Avoiding the pitfalls and errors that lead to authoritarianism.

Having not asked a question, but just responded to RE and his enthusiasm for a particular socio-economic system, the results of which are already in the history books.

And I think we are currently in some form of mismanaged oligarchy more than anything else. And the oligarchs are going to do their best to keep it that way.

[TDoS]

You just haranging on what you harang on doesn't give much in the way of clues.

You need clues to figure out if something is funny?

I met you before, you pretending to not remember being irrelevant. You had a habit, of saying something, then having this dry little laugh as though what you said was amusing enough to warrant it. I didn't laugh at all, as it was just conversation, and you weren't being funny. It was just some mannerism. You do it in your videos as well.

I don't need clues to figure out what is funny. It is an easy thing, you know it when you see it. In person, or in your videos, you see it everywhere. I do not.

It's not detective work, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes.

RE

Nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes. I didn't laugh when you were yucking it up over....whatever...in Inman either.

[RE]

Granted, my sense of humor is somewhat idiosyncratic and not appreciated by everyone.  The reason I don't remember you is probably because you didn't laugh at my jokes and said nothing worth remembering.  I do remember vaguely meeting a somber little man in disheveled clothing I though might be a homeless schizophrenic off his meds and discussing electric scooters.  He didn't identify himself though, I figured he couldn't remember his name.

RE

[K-Dog]

And now the Communists have forced labor camps for the Uyghurs

Following ethnic rioting, and a series of deadly terror attacks within and outside Xinjiang which Beijing blamed on Uyghurs, President Xi Jinping launched a "Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Extremism" in 2014 that framed Uyghur identity as a security threat.

Seems that their supreme leader is responsible for their camps.  Communism would not have a supreme leader.  Communism has soviets.  Or are you just going to say you never asked a question about Uyghurs now.  As you seem to not know the difference between authoritarianism and communism that would be your next move.