Moon of Alabama Brecht quote

Monthly Archives

November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
November 08, 2024

'Pogrom' Against Hooligans Accusations Follow A Zionist Propaganda Scheme

There are two recurring schemes in pro-Zionist propaganda:

  • In any conflict the Zionists (or Jews) are always the victims.
  • Conflicts with Zionists always occur out of nowhere, i.e without any provocations and outside of any context. They are thus pure anti-semitism.

On October 7 2023, following provocations of radical Zionists at the Al Aqsa mosque, Hamas soldiers and random Gazans broke from their open air prison and attempted to take Israeli hostages. These were to be exchanged for Arab prisoners in Israeli hands. During the operation the Israeli military ordered its forces to follow the Hannibal directive which says that any potential Israeli hostage shall be killed before it is taken to Gaza.

Various reports have since shown that the majority of those killed on that day were Arabs from Gaza. The majority of Israeli casualties of that day were caused by the Israeli military, primarily by its helicopter forces which fired Hellfire missiles and machine cannons against random cars fleeing the scene.

But the Zionist friendly media reported the Hamas excursion as unprovoked. It seemed to have happened without any context. But there is a context of more then 70 years of expulsion and killing of Arabs up to today.

It also depicted the killed Israeli as the victims killed by the Arab attackers even as Israel's own military admitted that it had killed a large share of them.

A recent incident in Amsterdam follows a similar scheme.

Israel decries ‘pogrom’ in Amsterdam as soccer fans come under attack by rioters - Times of Israel, Nov 8 2024
All Israelis accounted hours after 10 injured, many besieged in hotels as gangs of hooligans — apparently Muslims and Arabs — ambush, beat Israelis after game

The headline suggests that:

Cont. reading: 'Pogrom' Against Hooligans Accusations Follow A Zionist Propaganda Scheme

Posted by b at 15:04 UTC | Comments (329)

November 07, 2024

Palestine Open Thread 2024-268

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

Posted by b at 14:48 UTC | Comments (165)

Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2024-267

News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine ...

Posted by b at 14:48 UTC | Comments (212)

Trump And Ukraine

How will a president-elect Donald Trump handle the war in Ukraine?

I doubt that he will be able to close down the war in 24 hours, as he had promised. I rather think that he will escalate it. As I stated two weeks ago:

I expect the new president to double down on the anti-Russian project in Ukraine ...

A new Wall Street Journal piece on Trump's promise does not give me any reason to believe otherwise.

Trump Promised to End the War in Ukraine. Now He Must Decide How. (archived
Foreign-policy advisers close to the president-elect put forth different versions of a plan to effectively freeze the front line

Like in Trump’s first term, different factions are set to compete to influence the Republican’s foreign policy. More traditionally minded allies such as Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state now in contention to lead the Pentagon, are likely to push for a settlement that doesn’t appear to give a major win to Moscow. Other advisers, particularly Richard Grenell, a top candidate to lead the State Department or serve as national-security adviser, could give priority to Trump’s desire to end the war as soon as possible, even if it means forcing Kyiv into significant concessions.

But what are ways to do that?

Cont. reading: Trump And Ukraine

Posted by b at 11:37 UTC | Comments (578)

November 06, 2024

Election 2024 - Random Thoughts

Some random thoughts on Trump's reelection.

Trump's win in 2024 does not prove that the 2020 election was stolen by Democrats but it raises a new stink about the issue.


bigger

When Biden was pushed out of the race there were calls among Democrats not to rush a choice, but to hold full-fledged primaries. Barack Obama had called for it. But Nancy Pelosi and the Clinton clan kept pushing for Harris. As a vacuous and unlikable person - carrying all the baggage of the Biden administration - she was the most likely to lose.

This is, hopefully, the end of wokeism and DEI nonsense. And of 'trans' children and teens.

Cont. reading: Election 2024 - Random Thoughts

Posted by b at 17:49 UTC | Comments (338)

Election 2024 - Trump Has Won

MoA, two weeks ago:

My hunch is that Trump will win the election. What policies will follow will largely depend on the people he will select to run the show. He had previously chosen people who were opposing and sabotaging his policies. He lacked the authority and/or will to rein them in. I do not believe that he has learned from it.

It currently looks like Trump has won yesterday's election. The presidency and majorities in the Senate and House will be held by Republicans.

That does not change my policy prediction:

I expect the new president to double down on the anti-Russian project in Ukraine and on support for the genocide the Zionist are committed to finish. The U.S. will continue to be bogged down in Europe and west-Asia. The 'pivot to Asia' to counter China's rise will continue to stall. The economic standing of the U.S. will continue to deteriorate.

This is good news for China, Russia, the BRICS project and those involved in it. As the old world order continues to drag itself down the new one gains time and space to evolve from it.

My hope for Europe is that Trump, being afraid of a real confrontations as he is, will lose the contest with Russia. As Emmanuel Todd had summarized:

It is the outcome of this war that will decide the fate of Europe. If Russia is defeated in Ukraine, European submission to the Americans would be prolonged for a century. If, as I believe, the United States is defeated, NATO will disintegrate and Europe will be left free.

Posted by b at 7:42 UTC | Comments (369)

November 05, 2024

Ukraine - North Korean Soldiers Are "Disguised As Buryats"

The story of North Korean soldiers who are allegedly fighting for Russia against Ukraine continues to evolved.

There are now supposedly some 11,000 or 12,000 North Korean soldiers in the Russian Kursk region. They are, supposedly, getting ready to fight against the Ukrainian incursion forces on Russian ground.

I continue to believe that the whole story about North Korean soldiers in Russia is bovine excrement.

As I had written two weeks ago:

Ukraine - Threat Of North Korean Soldiers Is Based on U.S. Info Campaign

Shortly after RAND proposed a U.S. information operation campaign around the theme of North Korean soldiers in Russia the Ukrainian military intelligence service under CIA trainee Budanov started to spread rumors of North Korean soldiers soon to fight on the Russian side. The numbers claimed by Budanov have since steadily increased. South Korean intelligence, also associated with the CIA, and U.S. media have joined the campaign. The chair of the House Intelligence Committee is milking the campaign to make political points.

Evidence that was supposed to support the claims has been exposed as being fake. The whole story is thus based on nothing but 'intelligence' rumors which are following a RAND proposed script. Don't fall for it.

Since then new fake news items about the 'North Korean soldiers' have been added each and every day. The numbers have grown bigger. The 'North Koreans' have come more near to Ukraine. Warnings are coming from more and more officials and places.

I have been wondering if and how the people who have spread this nonsense would finally produce evidence for it.

I first though that this would be handled like the fake reports about an Iranian missile transfer to Russia. Such a transfer never happened but Iranian civilian airlines got sanctioned over it. Since then no new reports about any such missile transfers came out. It had been a pure 'information operation', which had used false assertions from anonymous 'officials', that had achieved its purpose.

But there is nothing left to sanction about North Korea or Russia. So what is this about?

The likely purpose of the 'North Korean soldiers' campaign is to get more support for Ukraine.

This, [Zelenski] hopes, will incite western forces to send their own troops to Ukraine if only to counter the North Koreans.

But to achieve that requires to present real evidence. No western country, nor South Korea, will send weapons or soldiers based on pure rumors. There will be requests of real evidence. How can the lack of such be explained?

Today the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, has given a hint how Ukraine will handle this issue (machine translation):

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed the words of the head of the National Security and Defense Council's Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko , that the first "small-scale fighting" had already taken place between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and North Korean soldiers, and the Koreans had suffered losses.
...
Umerov also said that the Russian Federation disguises Koreans as Buryats, so the dead and prisoners must be identified before Ukraine calls the number of enemy losses.

Buryats?

The Buryats are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today live in their titular homeland, the Republic of Buryatia, a federal subject of Russia which sprawls along the southern coast and partially straddles Lake Baikal.

There are about half a million Buryat citizens of the Russian Federation. To western eyes Buryat look Asian and not immediately distinct from people from North Korea. A decent share of the Buryats have taken well paid jobs in the military forces of Russia. There will be several around the fronts in Ukraine.

As soon as some Buryat soldier of Russia will turn up dead, the Ukrainian military will present him as a disguised North Korean soldier. Some black and white photos will be found of a similar looking person in North Korean uniform ...

"There is your prove. Now send soldiers and weapons." will Umerov say.

Either that - or the whole thing will die down and soon be forgotten.

Posted by b at 17:37 UTC | Comments (146)

November 04, 2024

Presidential Election 2024

"Neither is qualified. Both deserve to lose."

Video: Prof. Jeffrey Sachs Q & A at Cambridge Union as published on Oct 30 2024

Starting at 48:06 min (automated transcript, slightly edited):

Sachs:

I will not vote for a candidate that doesn't meet the minimum threshold for being president of the United States and we have two candidates, lead candidates, that don't. And so I decided I'm not voting - period. Because I want a candidate that actually has some possibility of doing something.

Now maybe they will but not based on what they say every day.

It is a profession of love for Israel's murderous reign in the Middle East. Okay, by itself I wouldn't support that. That's enough for me because Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza and it's sickening and it's obvious and we see it every day. And if a candidate can't figure out to say something about then I can't support them. Period.

But then Kamala Harris, who would normally be my candidate because I was a lifelong Democratic Party voter. Although with great disappointment whether they won or lost. Because when they won I was disappointed with what they did. When they lost I was disappointed that my candidate lost. So I've never been happy for a while about us politics.

It's been five miserable presidents as far as I'm concerned from Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden, awful all of them. They brought us to the brink of nuclear war. I can't forgive them for that kind of recklessness.

But when it comes to Ukraine Harris says we stand with Ukraine. Just everybody understand what does it mean to stand with Ukraine, like Boris Johnson stands with Ukraine. It means 2,000 Ukrainians killed or wounded severely every single day. That's not standing with Ukraine. That is standing with the destruction of Ukraine. It's exactly the opposite. And so that's a purely Orwellian idea that we're standing with Ukraine by continuing this war.

And that's what she says because she doesn't seem to have any idea other than what she's told to say or she says her ideas. And either way I can't vote for her.

And with Trump - don't even get me started.

So the answer is I don't see either of them based on what they're saying right now doing much.

But I think there's another point that is important in this. I'm not without hope for a quite different reason and that is that our politics is not determined by American presidents. Our politics is determined by the Security State apparatus. And what is happening right now is not in America's security interest and so they could change their mind.

President Putin said something actually very interesting in an interview in 2017, I think in Figaro. By the time he had three presidents as his counterparts, Bush, Obama and Trump, and he said to this French reporter in 2017.

He said: "You know I've dealt with three American presidents. Now they come into office with ideas but then men in dark suits and blue ties come to tell them how the real situation is and you never hear of those ideas again."

And this is from a very tough-minded leader who was himself KGB he understands how the American system works very well. He understands what the CIA means for American foreign policy. He understands that American foreign policy is very deeply rooted.

It's not this one wins then Obama changes everything and then Trump comes in and changes nothing like that. By the way this has been a consistent foreign policy arguably since 19 certainly since 1991 and arguably since 1945.

- end of Jeffrey Sachs quote

Posted by b at 16:24 UTC | Comments (564)

November 03, 2024

Palestine Open Thread 2024-266

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

Posted by b at 15:29 UTC | Comments (252)

Ukraine Open Thread 2024-265

News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...

Posted by b at 15:28 UTC | Comments (226)