'The first oligarch': Russian dissident warns of 'extremely dangerous' development in U.S. America is close to having its first real oligarch, a Russian dissident — and former world chess champion — warned in an interview Sunday. Garry Kasparov, who now chairs the Renew Democracy Initiative, claimed that Elon Musk’s emergence at Trump’s side mixes business and politics in the same way as was seen in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. “There are certain lessons that I think we can learn from Russia in the ’90s,” he said. “The blurring of the lines between business and politics, which is called oligarchy by classical political philosophy ― it’s extremely dangerous.” “Musk could be the first oligarch,” he said. “Having the largest private contractor of the U.S. government potentially being in the position of supervising the entire U.S. budget? I mean, just think about it. If this is not classical oligarchy, what is it?” “Oligarchy is not about the amount of money. Oligarchy is about blurring the line, erasing the line, between business and government.” Musk was put in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency, an as yet unofficial arm of the Trump administration tasked with finding massive cuts in federal spending. Kasparov said he’s waiting to see if Musk will act outside of ethics rules which would require him to step down as CEO of his companies to operate DOGE. “That’s because the concept of “conflicts of interest” doesn’t exist under oligarchy”.
I know you are but what am I? The thing about Thailand's angry divorcee sex-pats is they are at heart, abusers and wanna-be abusers. Abusers are masters of constructing no-win scenarios, trapping their victims in a constant state of fear, guilt and frustration. This tactic, often framed as "damned if you do, damned if you don’t," ensures there is no path to peace, only the illusion of choice within a rigged game. Whether it's demanding compliance and then punishing it as weakness, or rejecting resistance while simultaneously using it to justify greater harm, the goal is never resolution. It’s control. Usually money is involved. By making every decision seem like the wrong one, abusers shift the blame to the victim, perpetuating a cycle of self-doubt and dependency. Peace and a happy life was never on the table for those under an abuser. But sometimes, a sexpat meets a sticky end, caught in a trap they set.
And it begins: UnitedHealthcare executive killed in Manhattan in targeted attack Masked suspect at large, last seen in Central Park Several people passed gunman before shooting Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony to go on as planned UnitedHealth investor conference canceled after shooting NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's (UNH.N), opens new tab insurance unit, was fatally shot on Wednesday morning outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in what police described as a "brazen" targeted attack by a gunman lying in wait for him. Thompson, 50, was shot around 6:45 a.m. ET (1145 GMT) outside the Hilton on Sixth Avenue, where the company's annual investor conference was about to take place. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the gunman remains at large and they are still investigating a motive. More... https://www.reuters.com/world/us/unitedhealthcare-ceo-fatally-shot-ny-post-reports-2024-12-04/ Pandora's box is opened in America (not just for schoolkids).
Having spent half my life in developing countries I don't know, but I know, that open season has been declared and we are going to see the same slip into killing and kidnapping that has always been in the background news, most places I stayed. Well, ya'll thought you wanted to try the deeper end of the pool.
Copycat killings will balloon. As a sniper, though I was conspicuous about killing vehicles, not people, one knows that anybody normally competent can kill anybody, they just have to go and do it. The magic spell has been that people talk themselves out of it because it's not common and they think about getting caught. Normal intelligence will prevent that. Now, the McOligarchy will use the coming copycats to shamelessly add draconian levels of security (and some false flags for sport). Same, every, damned, time.