I don’t have a link for it but the Federal Government has now claimed Michigan is a disaster area so they can get Federal funds even though the disaster was man made criminality. The governor admits that he knew about the problem but did nothing until forced to do so, but won’t resign.
Only in America can you have a war criminal president abusing Federal disaster relief programs to provide cover for political criminality in Michigan. But, be a faith breather because we are going to have AI real soon now…….snark
How low can we go? As low as the global plutocrats take us to protect their private finance and ownership of everything in the world; extinction I presume.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 19 2016 21:01 utc | 3

‎FACEBOOK‬ BANS ‪‎LEBANESE‬ AL-MAYADEEN TV
Links to http://almayadeen.net are now ‪‎blocked‬ on Facebook. The channels Facebook page with 4.670.000 likes has also been deleted. Al Mayadeen may be the most important news channel in Arab world. Al Jazeera is losing popularity. Al Jazeera still had more likes on its Facebook page though, 12 million against al Mayadeen’s 4.7 million.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia blocked their access to Arabsat. Their live link on Livestation is also blocked.

…from Wikipedia
Al Mayadeen (Arabic: الميادين‎; English: The Plazas) is a pan-Arabist satellite television channel launched on 11 June 2012 in Beirut in Lebanon.[1] Its programming is predominantly news. It has news reporters in most Arab countries. In the pan-Arab TV news market it competes against Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, and also against Sky News Arabia and BBC Arabic Television.[2][3] At its founding in 2012, many of Al-Mayadeen’s senior staff were formerly correspondents and editors at Al Jazeera.
Political alignment
The name of the channel, Al Mayadeen, means “the squares” in English, indicating its objective “to provide coverage for the Arab popular actions on the squares of change in the context of the Arab spring revolutions”.[20] The channel argues that it provides journalism, which is “committed to nationalist, pan-Arab and humanitarian issues within the template of professional journalistic objectivity.”[21] In addition, it presents itself as a “free and independent media project” with 500 staff and reporters in Arab and Western capitals.[5] Its slogan is “Reality as it is” and its editorial policy emphasizes that Palestine and resistance movements wherever they are found are its point of reference.[5] It was also stated that the Palestinian cause is the channel’s centerpiece.[22] On the other hand, It is also argued by France 24 and Mohammed Al Jazairy of Asharq Alawsat that Al Mayadeen represents the latest expansion of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in the field of media.[9][13] It is further claimed by Zeina Karam of the Associated Press that the channel’s close ally in Lebanon is the powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah.[23]
Al Mayadeen prefers to refer to the rebels as “terrorists,” and to the actions of the Syrian government against the rebels as “cleansing” when reporting the Syrian civil war.[24] Following its first year of broadcast the channel began to be known by Matthew Keys as “anti-Al Jazeera”.[25]
On 6 November 2015, the Saudi-controlled Arabsat satellite TV organization suspended and banned Al-Mayadeen from broadcasting on Arabsat’s satellite system. The motive was the editorial stances of Al-Mayadeen news programs, including the spirit of Al-Mayadeen’s coverage of the Saudi military intervention in the ongoing civil war in Yemen.[26]

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jan 19 2016 22:33 utc | 5

So the new winter hurricanes are melting the Earth’s ice at a rate perhaps a hundredfold greater than “predicted”, Trump, the dystopic Biff Tannen, is about to become president of US.Corp, and all that has recently illuminated the true state of the new global political system is being restricted, shut down, and marginalized. In Syria, after years of false-flagging subterfuge, the vampire west is now claiming that Assad is paying actors, complete with rotting teeth, to implicate said rogues and thieves for their crimes.
I’m sitting here in a hotel room on a lavish, unnecessary business conference with my husband. I tried to see the beautiful mountains in Pima indian country, but the pollution and contrails have descended. So now I’m watching RT tv, which is effectively unavailable in my red state, and realizing that even though it resembles journalism more than any outfit in history, it’s only a small candle in this vast, dark cave we all seem to be rappelling into. 🙁
Thanks b, for keeping another tiny candle lit.

Posted by: L Bean | Jan 19 2016 23:12 utc | 7

I’m in the Wild Wild West of Western Massachusetts (West of the Connecticut River).
I get RT News with no problem.
Are they starting an informatic blockade?

Posted by: blues | Jan 20 2016 0:14 utc | 9

See New VIDEO:Bernie Sanders is Better than Hillary Clinton
See Poll Results PLUS Democratic Debate Shows Bernie Sanders in Good Form. Look at how much better Sanders is that Hillary Clinton. SANDERS: “I don’t take money from big banks. I don’t get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. … I am very proud, I do not have a super PAC. I do not want Wall Street’s money. I’ll rely on the middle class and working families.”

Posted by: Tom Murphy | Jan 20 2016 0:27 utc | 11

And fuck Sanders too. As someone already posted in the last thread, “Assad gassed his own people”, or some such. Sanders is the new Hope-n-Change.

Posted by: L Bean | Jan 20 2016 0:31 utc | 13

@ PetriKrohn @5
The Saudi beast moves with tentacles wrapped around bundles of cash for dispensing. Their money slithers into the pockets of Lebanese officials who mounted the campaign to ban the station from the Arabsat. There was backlash and as far as I know, Al-Mayadeen still broadcasts in Lebanon where it is based. The station incepted when some of Al Jazeera’s most talented anchors and and staff quit the station in protest and disgust following a round of egregious instances of fabrication of news intended to cause cumulative damage to the Syrian state and accelerate the pace of the downfall of the Assad regime. This while Al Jazeera broadcasts shamefully glorified the KSA-funded head-chopping Jihadists and foreign mercenaries already emboldened by the most vicious form of zealotry and a steady stream of funds and arms directly or indirectly channeled via Qatar, Turkey, NATO and the GCC.

Posted by: metni | Jan 20 2016 1:18 utc | 15

metni@15-
Al Jazeera america is still churning out fabrications on Madaya, Ukraine, and pretty much everything else. I’ll be glad when it goes off the air in april.
L Bean@10-
No rt in Texas that I’m aware of, although I saw that their the most watched YouTube news channel, so there’s some audience that’s receptive.

Posted by: Nana2007 | Jan 20 2016 1:40 utc | 17

A glimpse of the on-going drama in Greece. It’s at a low level, for now, but there are irritants that seem likely to cause some flare-up. Despite the extrusion of the Left Platform/Popular Unity opposition, many in Syriza remain uncomfortable with the measures they are imposing.
The current cause of discontent is implementation of another round cuts, this time to pensions. As this is in fact the 12th. or 13th. round of cuts to pensions, and that Syriza needs to pesent a facade of resistance to the Troika, they are balking at more austerity.
Though this informative piece from the Guardian is intended to gently guide the moderate social-democrat or liberal to the default “there is no other option for Greece” position, it does acknowledge the tensions present in the political situation. It notes, for example the increase in social insecurity wrought by Syriza’s recent reworking of foreclosure rules. Done at the behest of creditors, not surprisingly, it makes it easier to foreclose.

But this year will see the Greek state and its citizens pushed further by its three lenders, who have demanded reforms in exchange for assistance. In the weeks ahead, Athens must overhaul the country’s pension system, enforce higher taxes on farmers and forge ahead with aprivatisation programme. The measures will test the resolve of Europe’s first leftwing administration to enact neo-liberal reforms….
In advance of the new round of negotiations over the bailout reforms, he [PM Tsipras -rm] announced at the weekend that his coalition government, in partnership with the populist rightwing Independent Greeks party, would not be caving in to “unreasonable and unfair demands”.

Nah, Comrade Tsipras would never go back on his word after drawing a line in the sand like that, right? And so the Greek proletariat is safe, for now. Or at least the pensioners.
But for how long? Tsipras proposal looks to be a standard fare two-tier giveback; present pensions are safe, but not for future retirees. He’s playing slick with the Troika; the text calls for savings, not necessarily cuts, he says, so much of the the 2bn. or so he needs will come from consolidating the present dozen state pension funds into one. But he also wants to raise employer contributions — a Bozo no-no, as this increases labor costs, says the Troika. According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal, neither Germany nor the IMF is inclined to accept assurances of savings and economic growth instead of real cuts to real people.

Eurozone and IMF officials are currently studying the proposal. Some creditors, led by Germany and the IMF, believe Greek pensions remain too generous for the country’s weak economy, despite repeated pension cuts in recent years. Further cuts are anathema to the Syriza-led government and its slender majority in Greece’s parliament…
Syriza officials fear their fragile government could fall if Greece is pushed to enact yet more heavy spending cuts. Creditors, however, don’t believe economic growth will be enough to hit Greece’s agreed budget targets.

They continue to work the hopey-changey thing. As they fasten the chains, assurances that they will someday be lightened are offered. WSJ quotes George Katrougalos, the labor minister who offered the formal proposal, as saying “We still stick to our goal of changing Europe. We have simply accepted that our influence on the long-term dynamics is going to be slower than expected….”
What are their prospects? According to Foreign Policy, none.

Syriza must take a hard and clear stance with its population about the necessary reforms. If Greece wants to remain a member of the Eurozone, this is the road that must be travelled, regardless of the party in government.

FP was particularly keen on privatizations.
While see what sort of influence Syriza can have on the dynamics in coming weeks, especially as the election of a new leader, for the conservative New Democracy party alters the political landscape.
Tsipras’ faced demoralized and discredited opposition parties. The fresh face of Kyriakos Mitsotakis has invigorated the the centre-right New Democracy party and raised the likelihood of firmer resistance from the right. According to F24 talking head Hugo Dixon, “Creditors now have a credible alternative to Alexis Tsipras….” He can no longer risk another general election to discipline Syriza dissidents. While a welcome step, Mitsotakis’ election “may create more surprises” in an already fluid situation.
Mitsotakis has already made some pushback on pensions. Add to this problems with the parliamentarians and rank and file. Lawyers are against the cuts, farmers oppose the new taxes on themselves as well, and seamen working local ferries and transport vessels are launching a two-day strike as well.
The unions generally remain riled up. There is to be a general strike on 4 Feb.
The KKE is pretty clear on what should be done. Their website reports on a meeting the Central Committee Secretary, Dimitris Koustoumpas, had with Tsipras. It quotes him as saying.:

The meeting with the Prime Minister had an institutional character. He informed me about all the issues…. We highlighted the positions of the KKE in the discussion with the Prime Minister and how we see the situation today….
In particular, the measures on the way, aside from those that have already been passed by parliament, but those that are going to be tabled, like the social security legislation and further tax legislation, are hammering the popular strata.
The Greek people must respond dynamically… [with] popular mobilizations so that all the sectors… are ready to fight for substantial changes in a positive direction that will be benefit the people’s interests.

Easier said than done, of course.
In case you missed it, a demo to mourn the 97th. anniversary of the murders of Liebknecht and Luxemburg drew over 10,000. They are perhaps the most critical murders of the Twentieth Century, as they changed the course of the German Revolution.

At the turn of 1918-19, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht founded the German Communist Party (KPD). Shortly after, both took part in the Spartacist Uprising. The revolutionary attempt was bloodily suppressed. Luxemburg and Liebknecht were captured by the right-wing Freikorps and murdered at the behest of Gustav Noske’s Social Democrats on January 15.

The Freikorps were part of the nationalist milieu that spawned the Nazis, in whose later ranks many alumni appeared. Hollande and Blair do not seem to have fallen far from Noske’s tree.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 20 2016 1:57 utc | 19

Here is a ZH posting about Turkey crackdown on academics and the closing bit..
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-19/us-ally-turkey-arrests-academics-crime-signing-peace-petition
”
Chomsky came back with the perfect response:
Turkey blamed Isis [for the attack on Istanbul], which Erdo?an has been aiding in many ways, while also supporting the al-Nusra Front, which is hardly different. He then launched a tirade against those who condemn his crimes against Kurds – who happen to be the main ground force opposing Isis in both Syria and Iraq. Is there any need for further comment?
Game. Set. Match.
”

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 20 2016 2:18 utc | 21

So, La Merkel is anti-TIIP behind the scenes..
”Who is hunting Angela Merkel?”
http://www.voltairenet.org/article189972.html
Interesting article.

Posted by: Nick | Jan 20 2016 2:38 utc | 23

NYT: Diplomacy and Sanctions, Yes. Left Unspoken on Iran? Sabotage..

What Mr. Obama does not say — because he cannot without describing classified programs — is that many of his own aides believe that an American covert sabotage program that began in the Clinton administration and steadily escalated over the next 15 years also played a critical role in persuading the Iranians to cash in the program.

Are they admitting this as a humble-brag “we got game?” or is it being “leaked” to make them look like bad-asses?
Someone needs to tell the American people that any, many of these acts could have been considered an overt “act of war” … and that the “unitary executive” may kill us all before we even know why.

Posted by: Susan Sunflower | Jan 20 2016 2:54 utc | 25

Posted by: ben | Jan 19, 2016 9:42:38 PM | 24
Thanks ben, excellent “but the best available to date”
Search for Palestine….. NOTHING
….the wars continue millions refugees and more murders…. billions more for Apartheid state their right to defend themselves against teenagers who throw stone at solders, shooting with live bullets.
The lesser of the two evils when will we learn, remember Change you can believe in?

Posted by: Jack Smith | Jan 20 2016 3:03 utc | 27

JS @ 27: “The lesser of the two evils when will we learn, remember Change you can believe in?”
Thanks Jack, yes, I remember. Some Americans knew Mr. O was a “Trojan Horse” candidate, and held their noses when voting. Is it happening again? Maybe, but time will tell. My second link expresses those very thoughts.

Posted by: ben | Jan 20 2016 3:21 utc | 29

nana2007 at 22 —
You’re most welcome. Trying to keep up so I’ll be ready when the Syriza government falls.
I was just on the ‘phone with an old friend, who rang up to mourn the closing of the SWP’s Boston branch recently. We were bummin’ at the lack of struggle here in the US. Occupy was a flash in the pan, we’ll see if BLM has any legs, Sanders democratic “socialism” is an opening, maybe. All the revolutionary left organizations are fractions of their former strength. My buddy thought maybe 10 pct. for most.
Look at the response to the 2008 crash — it aided the right far more than the left, here and in Europe.
There’s a lot more organizational and ideological infrastructure in Europe and elsewhere. Been that way for a long time, let’s hope we catch up before its too late.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jan 20 2016 3:46 utc | 31

“Some Americans knew Mr. O was a “Trojan Horse” candidate, and held their noses when voting. Is it happening again? Maybe..
…and they voted for Obomo twice, again in 2012? You must be kidding me.
Bernie a super politician, will tell you exactly what you wanna hear, believe me sound exactly like the present Liar-In-Chief, Murder-In-Chief….. in 2008.
I’m one of the few lonely, steadfast voters refuse to believe in any Dem or Repug. How can Bernie understands, when we continue to see innocents kids murder, land grab while continue to support the apartheid state.
Bernie said (not exact wording but more or less) …We should have the strongest military…. and help our allies, we should continue use drones…. Edward Snowden committed crimes and should come back and faces the consequences…
When will we learn!

Posted by: Jack Smith | Jan 20 2016 4:22 utc | 33

Posted by: wendy davis | Jan 19, 2016 10:33:25 PM | 30
It’s sincerely depressing that so many alleged Lefties are now..
Don’t votes for any Repug or Dem either in the primaries or in Nov, they’re are all the same Lairs

Posted by: Jack Smith | Jan 20 2016 4:26 utc | 35

P.S…Hey Jack, who do you like?

Posted by: ben | Jan 20 2016 4:29 utc | 37

Thanks for the reply Jack. This I’m afraid, is the best you’ll get from BS on the Israel/ Palestinian issue.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/04/bernie-sanderss-27-years-of-israel-answers/
I would much rather, he,(Bernie) made your announcement, but you’re right, never happen.

Posted by: ben | Jan 20 2016 4:46 utc | 39

@Jack Smith #40 – agreed, and in that order

Posted by: Grieved | Jan 20 2016 5:02 utc | 41

So here is a link and snippet about Xi’s ME trip via article in Egyptian newspaper…..notice part about Palestine.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2016-01/19/c_135025133.htm
China and Arab countries need to defend regional peace. The world could not be a tranquil place if there is instability in the Middle East. A study of history shows that force is never the right solution to problems, and the zero-sum or winner-takes-all logic is inconsistent with the call of the times. The surest way to finding the maximum common denominator between the interests of different parties is to seek consensus and be understanding and accommodative. As always, China will continue to support the Middle East peace process. China supports the establishment of an independent State of Palestine with full sovereignty based on the 1967 border and with East Jerusalem as capital. China will provide more public goods, and work with Egypt and other Arab countries to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 20 2016 5:22 utc | 43

@ 33 The point is not at all of “believing in” a candidate. the point is it makes no sense to sit on your hands and allow a more extreme candidate to win the Democratic nomination, I am talking about the PRIMARY. I explain these things in my video and mention and link to what I did for the general election last time: VIDEO: Bernie Sanders is Better than Hillary Clinton
For the Democratic primary in 2008 I wasn’t endorsing Obama, I was showing how Mike Gravel was exposing him as a Wall Street whore

Posted by: Tom Murphy | Jan 20 2016 6:27 utc | 45

There are many problems with Bernie.
Chief among these is his willingness to work with the Democratic Party for much of his career. It’s very difficult to lead the charge against the establishment when he supports and benefits from it. For example: before running for President, what efforts did Sanders make to advance his “democratic socialist” ideals? In 2010 he gave an 8-1/2 hour speech against Obama’s making the Bush tax cuts permanent – but it was all show because it wasn’t a filibuster (despite being called one).
His unwillingness to criticize Hillary is another aspect of his close ties to the Democratic Party. WHY NOT make her e-mails an issue? For that matter, WHY NOT attack Hillary in other areas, like militarism? This should be easy to do for a principled man that is at, or near, the end of his career.
And why not make an issue of the media’s coverage? And Democratic Party preference for Hillary to boot? Isn’t it outrageous that Hillary has obtained a large number of super-delegates (party insiders that vote at the Primary) before any primary has been held?
For months after he entered the race, Sanders supporters tried to deflect criticism that he was a ‘sheepdog’ by lauding the candidate for “raising important issues” that might change some of Hillary’s positions (i.e. move Hillary a bit to the left).
Now, the most deluded Sanders supporters think he might have a chance to win OR use Hillary as strawman to compel our participation in the Democratic Primary. They ignore the fact that Sanders chances have improved largely due to TRUMP’s attacks on Hillary (including her email problems) NOT Sanders own efforts to prevail!
And what happens if Sanders DOES win? Isn’t he likely to fill his administration with people from the Obama and Clinton Administrations? Will this low-key, don’t-rock-the-boat socialist make good use of the ‘bully pulpit’ or be as silent as the previous ‘change you can believe in’ President (Obama)?
And what happens to Sanders supporters/voters if he loses? Sanders is not helping to build an independent movement for change. And only such a movement will be successful at changing an electoral and governance system that is designed to squash any real change.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
Anyone that is smart enough to read MoA already knows that the two-party system is a SHAM. It’s a ONE-PARTY system – The Money Party – with two branches. And it very effectively divides those without money and sets them against each other.
Voting for duopoly candidates legitimizes and reinforces this system. Arguments for the relative merits of duopoly candidates (lesser evils and strawmen) only undermine principled action.
VOTE THIRD PARTY or don’t vote.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 20 2016 6:59 utc | 47

Source (post #48):
http://scotthorton.org/interviews/2015/09/17/91715-mitchell-prothero/

Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 20 2016 7:15 utc | 49

@47 Apparently you didn’t watch the debate. He has been going after her.
SANDERS: Well, the first difference is I don’t take money from big banks. I don’t get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.
…
SANDERS: Let me give you an example of how corrupt — how corrupt this system is. Goldman Sachs recently fined $5 billion. Goldman Sachs has given this country two secretaries of treasury, one on the Republicans, one under Democrats.
O’MALLEY: Say it.
SANDERS: The leader of Goldman Sachs is a billionaire who comes to Congress and tells us we should cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Secretary Clinton — and you’re not the only one, so I don’t mean to just point the finger at you, you’ve received over $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs in one year.
I find it very strange that a major financial institution that pays $5 billion in fines for breaking the law, not one of their executives is prosecuted, while kids who smoke marijuana get a jail sentence.
(APPLAUSE)
…
SANDERS: Great ideas, Governor O’Malley, Secretary Clinton, but here’s the truth. If you have an administration stacked with Wall Street appointees, it ain’t going to accomplish very much.
So here’s a promise that I make — and I mentioned a moment ago how corrupt the system is — Goldman Sachs, paying a $5 billion fine, gives this country, in recent history, a Republican secretary of treasury, a Democratic secretary of treasury.
Here’s a promise. If elected president, Goldman Sachs is not going to have — bring forth a secretary of treasury for a Sanders administration.
(APPLAUSE)
I point out in my video that Sanders is not ideal. I say it, I also say that if anyone is interested why he isn’t ideal that I’ll post a link to tweets I have made about him yet no one so far has asked for that link!
And how many times do I have to keep explaining this basic point?: It makes no sense at all to sit on your hands and allow the Democrats to nominate a candidate who is more extreme in foreign policy and worse for the working class! I keep explaining to you that I am talking about the PRIMARY. We get to vote in that AND the general election. I SHOW who I voted for in the general election, CLICK HERE

Posted by: Tom Murphy | Jan 20 2016 7:47 utc | 51

Reading the book guest77 linked to the other day, The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the rise of America’s secret government, Chapter 20, For the Good of the Country …

“Do you think Oswald was a front?” Peyrefitte asked de Gaulle.
“Everything leads me to believe it,” he replied. “They got their hands on this communist who wasn’t one, while still being one. He had a sub par intellect and was an exalted fanatic—just the man they needed, the perfect one to be accused. … The guy ran away, because he probably became suspicious. They wanted to kill him on the spot before he could be grabbed by the judicial system. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen exactly the way they had probably planned it would. … But a trial, you realize, is just terrible. People would have talked. They would have dug up so much! They would have unearthed everything. Then the security forces went looking for [a clean-up man] they totally controlled, and who couldn’t refuse their offer, and that guy sacrificed himself to kill the fake assassin—supposedly in defense of Kennedy’s memory!
“Baloney! Security forces all over the world are the same when they do this kind of dirty work. As soon as they succeed in wiping out the false assassin, they declare that the justice system no longer need be concerned, that no further public action was needed now that the guilty perpetrator was dead. Better to assassinate an innocent man than to let a civil war break out. Better an injustice than disorder.
“America is in danger of upheavals. But you’ll see. All of them together will observe the law of silence. They will close ranks. They’ll do everything to stifle any scandal. They will throw Noah’s cloak over these shameful deeds. In order to not lose face in front of the whole world. In order to not risk unleashing riots in the United States. In order to preserve the union and to avoid a new civil war. In order to not ask themselves questions. They don’t want to know. They don’t want to find out. They won’t allow themselves to find out.”

DeGaulle speaking at arm’s length of the first, experimentally-created, American mass unknown known. Challenged by Robert Kennedy, we doubled down … and we’ve never looked back since, piling unknown known upon unknown known. They tower above us now, and we’ve all come privately to know – and love? as a masochist loves his/her dominatrix – our unknown knowns, right down to our terrorist wars in central Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa, the Ukraine … our wars against terrorism.
I think it’s just like our sham elections at this point. There’s no compromising; compromise is impossible. Evil is the abscence of good, the lessor is just the ‘juvenile’ form of the greater, more massive black whole. It grows by accretion to fit greater’s shoes. So massive that no light can escape. Isn’t that exactly what’s happened since the assassinations of the 1960s? The CIA/NSA/FBI must be ripped out by their roots, just as our elephant/donkey election system must be ripped out by its roots – if we are to survive the coming economic collapse and thrive, from an untainted, sustainable base.
So the first thing to do is to implement democracy throughout the country at the precinct level. That’s the ‘hard’ part, and it won’t be hard at all once we’ve publicly stopped unknowing what we all privately know must be done. It will be fun. A joyous exercise. Small ‘d’ democracy must be in place before we can assume power, but once democracy is in place assuming power is trivial. Then we can proceed with our weeding and restructuring. We’re the only ones here, no one is going to do it for us, let’s just set to it.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 20 2016 8:51 utc | 53

General Votel was Chief of Joint Special Operations Command , Fort Bragg. He was then in charge of President Obama’s targeted assassinations worldwide.
He becomes head of CentCom as the Pentagon has just defined a new strategy regarding Daesh and has sent 3000 more men in Afghanistan and 200 commandos in Iraq. It must retake Rakka (Syria) during the first half of 2016, without our knowing whether or not the city will be returned to the Syrian Arab Republic.
oH-OH. I don’t like this at all. Not a good sign.

Posted by: Penelope | Jan 20 2016 9:45 utc | 55

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 19, 2016 9:02:51 PM | 20
China is Saudi’s main customer, and they did follow UN Iran sanctions in a way.
If anybody can force Saudi Arabia to sue for peace in the Middle East it is China.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 20 2016 10:54 utc | 57

44
The BRIC are bric’d, together with any poor sucker who listened to Soros’ apprentice Jim Rogers, selling EMs toilet paper fiat dream to a nation of US$100 holders, the strongest currency on earth right now, in return for a sack of rats and gribbles.
Only a beard-gumming sweater-chewing old pinko would raise BRIC up a flag and salute that bit of hogswallup. If this crude oil contango goes on longer, we’ll see a dark swan double inversion crack the whip that will leave 4 billion monkeys clutching spindrift in the wake of Titanic the Sequel: ‘Die Fast’, followed by a Noche de los Mil Machetes.
Now I see Trump has nutted Cruz by hiring Sarah for the season, leaving that old socialist windbag Bernie, and a corrupted hag Hillary cat-scratching each other to death, while the Chosen of Tel Aviv and his Empress for the Season Sarah push past 60% of the polls, greater than any Reagan landslide.
Biden! Biden! Biden! is almost a foregone conclusion now. Biden of the Patriot Act and the Ukraine Oil who married his daughter off to some Muj of Hebron, like the Clintons and Bush also did, mutating their bloodlines with some Ashkenazim dark Zinfandel.
Anything for the Almighty $.

Posted by: Chipnik | Jan 20 2016 11:42 utc | 59

add to #56
Full text of Chinese President’s signed article on Saudi newspaper
:-))

China welcomes Saudi Arabia’s joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a prospective founding member; and we will work with Saudi Arabia to accelerate efforts to build the China-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Area. All those efforts will reinforce both our bilateral and multilateral cooperation and yield greater benefits to both countries.
—Let us forge a partnership of expanding cooperation and solitary. China will enhance cooperation with Saudi Arabia multilaterally to maintain regional peace and stability and promote common development. To advance regional connectivity and common development, China has launched the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (the Belt and Road Initiative). We hope and trust that Saudi Arabia, located at the west crossroads of the Belt and Road, will become an important participant of, contributor to and beneficiary of this initiative.
—Let us forge a friendly partnership of frequent exchanges and mutual learning. Frequent exchanges will deepen friendship. China will step up exchange and cooperation with Saudi Arabia in areas such as education, media, think tanks and the youth and enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges and at various levels. I welcome more Saudi Arabians to visit China, and I am sure there is much you can do personally to contribute to China-Saudi Arabia friendship through these visits.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 20 2016 12:01 utc | 61

54
What’s a cell phone?
You’re far more likely to die of metastasizing melanoma and sunstroke, or blood pooling in your leg veins during warcraft grand theft auto, than having your red blood cells stack up like saucers momentarily whenever your cell phone rings.
Then just wear a blue tooth headset or ear buds. It’s not like you have to keep holding the i-puck in your hot little hand liKe some precious jewel-encrusted religious icon.
Next everyone will be worried to death about lead in their Chinese-made refrigerator ice cube dispensor. Oh…wait!!

Posted by: Chipnik | Jan 20 2016 13:06 utc | 63