It’s time for Mr. Putin to enjoy a barrel of popcorn with extra butter and a glass of his favorite.
Meanwhile, Cameron must be recognizing his week from hell confirms Karma is indeed a bitchez.
The rich irony of the UK media:
~ using the MF leaks to smear Putin and Assad while they ignored the revelations of David Cameron’s father offshore trusts is now reporting wall-to-wall on calls and protests for `Davey to resign.’
And not just resign, but go to prison says Mr. Ken Livingstone, former mayor of London.
Cameron shouldn’t just resign… he should be sent to prison!’ Ken Livingstone tells RT (VIDEO)
https://www.rt.com/uk/338925-cameron-resign-prison-livingstone/
Waiting for the other shoe
Mr. Putin signed a decree to declassify Documents from 1930-1989 said to contain some “very interesting names”
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/04/putin-to-declassify-documents-that-bear.html
[.]
The Russian President said that he has decided to declassify many archival documents, and that he will sign the decree today. And it was signed. Here: http://kremlin.ru/
And he quietly added: “This, as far as I know, according to the information from archive agencies, concerns the period from 1930 to 1989. In these documents there are cases, excuse me, of snitches as well as the innocently repressed, with very interesting names,[.]

Posted by: likklemore | Apr 9 2016 19:44 utc | 4

juannie @2
The best way for the average citizen, imo, to keep up with b is follow the original sources via twitter. To start off with Syria, you can’t beat @EjmAlrai. For American politics, @billmon1 is a good bet. @moscow_ghost is a good aggregator of links. I enjoy @chinahand for more than just Chinese things. @stacyherbert covers economics and all things Max Keiser. It’s easy to build up a stable of folks to follow that match your interests. You will soon be at the head of the class!

Posted by: kafkananda | Apr 9 2016 19:53 utc | 6

@2 juannie.. i agree with you..
@6 kafkananda – i think twitter is for twits.. that said, there are people who can pull all the different tweets together to construct a more informed position… most of us have neither the inclination or time for it which is why b’s moa is an invaluable source of commentary.. the posters here are an additional and wonderful bonus..

Posted by: james | Apr 9 2016 20:22 utc | 8

https://marknesop.wordpress.com/ ie The Kremlin Stooge is a good resource which complements MOA nicely. Great commentary from some bi-lingual Russians supplying the antidote to western poison, esp re: Ukraine.

Posted by: ruralito | Apr 9 2016 20:48 utc | 10

A Syrian woman I met yesterday, from a family of the (liberal) opposition, told me that that Asad is going to win, with a lot of killing. I said no, Putin will forbid the killing. Her old father, long in the opposition, now only wants to return to Syria.
OK it’s only one conversation, but I thought it significant. Most young Syrians in exile don’t see a future for themselves in Syria. However their parents can’t give up, whatever the regime.

Posted by: Laguerre | Apr 9 2016 21:18 utc | 12

@ToivoS 11
The Moslem Brotherhood leaders are probably either in Turkey or Qatar, both resolute supporters of the movement.

Posted by: virgile | Apr 9 2016 23:01 utc | 14

@citizen7 #15: It’s one of the oldest continuingly operating disinformation outlets on the web and has ZERO credibility. Google “Sorcha Faal” for more information.

Posted by: CE | Apr 10 2016 0:27 utc | 16

Meanwhile in the US, I had a conversation last night with two neighbor ladies over a beer on the patio. I talked for 20 minutes about some of the things I’ve learned since the Maidan, including the blanket propagandizing of the US, and they listened.
One lady made the the first sign of resistance, namely, “how do you know this is true?” – a challenge, not a question.
I essentially stopped at that point. I said I would shut up – she said she appreciated what I was saying, not convinced but not disagreeing either. I told her Americans had been screwed. She said, they knew that, and they wanted to know how and why and what to do about it. This was why she was listening to me.
So, as I told the company – and as I’m passing along here, for what it’s worth – let the record show that 2 years ago I couldn’t speak for even one minute until I was called a “Putin apologist” and the NYT of all sources was thrown in my face as rebuttal. Yesterday I could speak for 20 minutes before even the first demand for proof came. Because Americans know they’ve been screwed and they’re interested in finding out why.

Posted by: Grieved | Apr 10 2016 1:05 utc | 18

MoA must be cutting quote close to the bone this last week, attracting some extra trollage. Nice one MoA.

Posted by: MadMax2 | Apr 10 2016 1:57 utc | 20

@Mischi #19
this is my prediction – Marshall plan for Syria sponsored by the Chinese…..
How about instead of Marshall plan, will be Mao Zedong plan?
b, I’ll stay away from the…. you know what, since my position are well known here.

Posted by: Jack Smith | Apr 10 2016 2:19 utc | 22

MRW – if you are around… i enjoyed reading that book ‘mistakes were made, (but not by me)” – very insightful.. thanks for that suggestion which i picked up in some passing commentary at ssr a few weeks ago..thanks for that…

Posted by: james | Apr 10 2016 4:45 utc | 24

Turkey has asked the “FSA”, its proxy, to move to Western Syria to prevent the Kurds from winning territories over ISIS. Turkey will allow the passage of massive weapons provided by the USA to support them.
The USA may appear to go along with this not to antagonize further Turkey, but I guess that the Syrian government and the Russians will be tempted to allow ISIS to totally destroy the FSA and its ‘Turkish’ advisers, giving a blow to Turkey and later allowing the Kurds to occupy the border villages.
We may get bloody confrontation on the Turkish borders soon.
Free Syrian Army may move to western Syria, says FM Cavusoglu

The Free Syrian Army will probably be deployed to western Syria to counter Daesh if ongoing conflicts around it get resolved, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.

Posted by: virgile | Apr 10 2016 12:26 utc | 26

Sun Tzu in Syria – response to the Atlantic Council/Bellingcat about the Russian military operation in Syria: https://irrussianality.wordpress.com/2016/04/09/sun-tzu-in-syria/

Posted by: KMF | Apr 10 2016 13:25 utc | 28

In Kiev a switcherew is in the works.
Vickie Nuland’s “It’s Yats” is now out.
He has resigned and will officially submit his resignation to Parliament on Tuesday. Yes, adding, [.]that his government was “the best in the history of Ukraine” and a “manifestation of the new Ukraine.”[.]
Ukraine Prime Minister resigns
https://www.rt.com/news/339119-ukraine-pm-yatsenyuk-resigns/
So, with the real government in that other building, what will change ?

Posted by: likklemore | Apr 10 2016 15:34 utc | 30

ToivoS @ 11,
MB have the home of their official world organization in Turkey now. Turkey is directing ISIS against Egypt in the N Sinai– low level. Couple times Egypt captured ISIS on active missions in Sinai & they were led by Turkish officers. Don’t know if this is a continuation of the MB project against Egypt. Google “Turkey and Muslim Brotherhood” for interesting articles. Of course Egypt killed a lot of them. Egypt has outlawed the two US organizations CANVAS & Otpor who were instrumental in trying to put MB in power in Mideast via “Arab Spring”.
Remember that Saudis are now against MB, supported SISI in overturning MB’s Morsi. (Far as I know Saudi aid still needed to feed the Egyptian people.) Remember, too, US obliged pro-MB Qatari leader to resign in favor of his son, who imm’y fired pro-MB officials. I think it was at this time that Turkey became MB’s home.

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 10 2016 16:58 utc | 32

Might be a push on to make Erdogan more obedient (or absent): Zarab, a Turkish lobbyist arrested by US, possibly to squeeze him for info to leash Erdogan.— http://johnhelmer.net/?p=15389
The article’s long; if you’re going to read part of it I recommend starting under the picture of Zarab w his actress wife. Pretext for the arrest was Turkey’s past breaking of sanctions on Iran.

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 10 2016 17:07 utc | 34

A cute, not-too-arithmetical proof that the world is only over-propagandized, not over-populated.
“So what have we ended up with? Well, every person in the world could live inside of Texas without overcrowding. We could all have water with just the Columbia River alone. And we could easily feed ourselves with just the farmland within the US as it exists.”
http://www.simplyshrug.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63:the-overpopulation-myth&catid=31:general&Itemid=50)

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 10 2016 18:35 utc | 36

The oil barons have long waged wars for monopoly control of gas & oil. But such vast quantities of the stuff was found all over the Mediterranean, the Carribean, the Caspian, and the Arctic that at last the “Peak Oil” meme couldn’t be sustained.
How could the oligarchic class set up a global government against a world of countries developing and enriching themselves? Inexpensive energy would necessarily have that result. So far –through control of the money supply and making oil available only for dollars– they’d managed to keep cheap energy and rapid development from much of the world. They were almost able to keep them down through war, regime change, and looting. But they needed to be reduced further to be forced to submit to the global oligarchy they were building via the Bretton Woods institutions and the trade pacts– and of course through corruption of governments at home and abroad.
It was brilliant to set up a farcical fear of CO2 to mask the oligarchs’ progressive takeover of global energy — a growing embargo on its use, on development, and their longtime hearts’ desire, vast population reduction. They’d long-since prepared fellow-travellers. The West had long been propagandized to share the oligarchs’ horror at the growth of population which made their control more difficult. (Never mind that as soon as a decent living standard is achieved population always falls.) We were propagandized to feel that Man is a cancer, not a part of Nature. And just so, the oligarchs have arranged it that we protest less about the austerity necessary to sacrifice our prosperity and the very survival of those 3d world children– to Gaia, for now our very breath is an incubus upon the pristine breast of Mother Earth.
Oh, dear. I’m sure it’s funny to a properly-detached observer. But I begin to feel only disgust. Adult men & women see that the oligarchs lie to them through the media– lie for their own self-interest in all things political. But still those same men & women claim the innocence of ignorance in believing their ceaseless anti-CO2 propaganda. Every single aspect of the CO2 phobia has been disproven in the scientific arena. But no matter. The Rockefeller Foundations, and Soros through the Tides Foundation and Kerry’s wife’s catsup foundation and the Ford Foundation continue to subsidize the activists to tell fantastic lies, and the long-controlled media continues to print them. http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6ce8dd13-e4ab-4b31-9485-6d2b8a6f6b00/chainofenvironmentalcommand.pdf
And in Britain and Europe last Winter 40,000 human beings froze to death, unable to afford both food and heat in a world that is cutting back on CO2 through raising the price of heating their homes. While adult men & women cling to the myth that their anti-CO2 position is an “alternative” position, while they continue to prevent themselves from knowing that such a media campaign is possible only through the full support of the oligarchs, their banks and foundations and think tanks, their control of the administration including the EPA– and yes, the oil companies! (The Power the oligarchs will gain trumps mere greed.)

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 10 2016 19:39 utc | 38

@ Rufus 37
Speaker of the Rada was tapped weeks ago ~
My reference to “That other building” is where the masters reside. If there was any doubt, see what is meant?
US Vice President Thanks Yatsenyuk for Service
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160410/1037795578/usa-biden-thanks-ukraine-yatsenyuk-service.html
And no reports of President Petro Poroshenko doing so likewise. You’d think.

Posted by: likklemore | Apr 10 2016 23:37 utc | 40

Groysman’s name was floated earlier, but it did not seem to resonate. Yatesenyuk indicated about a week ago he was ready to resign.

Posted by: rufus magister | Apr 11 2016 0:16 utc | 42

I think this could be very serious. If I were anywhere in the EU I’d imm’y pull all funds from the bank. In fact I’m going to draw down here in the US.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-10/austria-just-announced-54-haircut-senior-creditors-first-bail-under-new-european-rul

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 11 2016 1:42 utc | 44

On the earlier open thread I considered the question — Is Sanders building a movement? What sort?
Naked Capitalism bird-dogged this open letter to Sanders, signed by Chomsky and a number of trade unionists, organizers, and intellectuals, urging him to build a movement separate from the Democrats.

We want something long-term, we want to make something together that is built to last. We want to talk about how we can turn this moment into a movement….
Many of us have developed a deep and healthy mistrust in electoral politics, moving to workplace and community organizing to build popular power. There is a reason for this. Many of us poured our hearts into the presidential bids of the Rainbow Coalition, or the long-shot campaigns of Ralph Nader and other Green Party candidates…. On a deeper level, we feel that the changes we seek cannot simply be voted into existence- we want to bring participatory democracy to life in all spheres of society. For many of us, participation in electoral politics feels like an abusive relationship.
We want this time to be different. Let’s build something real together. Let’s make not just a political revolution, but a social and economic revolution by building not just a campaign for president, but a lasting movement.

The author, Erik Forman, concludes with four practical measures to create an independent political movement out of Sanders 5 million or so voters.

Posted by: rufus magister | Apr 11 2016 12:12 utc | 46

Obomba states if the hell bitch released secrets to our enemies,she didn’t mean it!
Wow.

Posted by: dahoit | Apr 11 2016 13:37 utc | 48

dahoit @48:
Obama also says that his biggest mistake was not to PLAN for Kaddafi’s overthrow.
That wouldn’t be a mistake if Kaddafi’s overthrow was unexpected. But regime change WAS the goal.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
Hillary also inadvertently admitted the same a few weeks ago.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2016 14:56 utc | 50

mdm park is a bona fide sinophile, or in murkkan parlance, a certified *chicom lover*.
she is well versed in chinese classics, mdm spoke in mandarin to her chinese audience in beijing.
she even confessed her *first love* was a lionhearted general from the classic *romance of the three kingdoms* !
no, mdm never wanted to antagonise beijing, especially when china is sk’s biggest trading export market !
she has been dragging her feet over the thaad deployment, inspite of tremendous arm twisting from washington. she is no doubt aware of how her father was bumped off by cia fifty yrs ago, yet she persisted….until now.
it’d seem that the unitedsnake gets what it wants , every single time, it’d stop at nuthin, i mean nuthin, to get its prize, look what it did to malaysia for the past yr.
this is what’s scary about the snake.!
the destroyer claims another scalp, another beijing’s friend bites the dust.
the score so far…
nepal — king birendra entire family wipe out.
sri lanka — prez Rajapakse outsed by murkkan/indian patsies,
thailand — yingluck deposed by *swarming mobs*
jp — pm brougt down by bloodless coup, lucky guy he.
indon — sukarno replaced via a genocidal coup
myanmar — utterly demoralised leaders acceded to the reign of aei poster girl, aung san suki
malaysia — pm najib rule looks precarious.
tw — prez ma replaced by csis alumni mdm cai. [1]
ass carter gleefully rub salt into the wound, they always do.
*china’s assertiveness is driving all its friends away* !
bbc *journo* deign to admonish the chinese fm during a press session
*dont be such a brute, u’r are isolating yourself buddy* !
using such thug’s logic, no doubt its china’s fault when its embassy in ex yugo got pulverished by THREE *smart bomb*, killing 3 1/2 life. [husband and his pregnant wife]
hey *why’d those damn chicoms build their embassy right into our missiles path*
say clinton.
hehehehe
then of course, the official explaination that pentagoon was using an outdated map was so inane , its spokesman was obviously there not to appease beijing but to insult, to rub salt into the wound.
*of course i know u know this is crap, so whatcha gonna do about it…* ???
hehehehe
[1]
in case u dont know what csis does for a living…
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/04/09/csis-a09.html

Posted by: denk | Apr 11 2016 16:06 utc | 52

The “Billionaire’s Club” of the Senate Report “Chain of Environmental Command” are taking the US economy further down, just as outlined in the report. The farcical CO2 phobia as pretext for reducing the very basis of modern industry and transportation– energy. Energy for electricity, for communication, the internet and pumping water to your tap. It’s going to get colder now, Winters are already colder. We’re going to need more energy for heating homes and bigger greenhouses. But we’ve closed all those nasty coal-mines. Never mind that windmills & solar energy are a big expensive flop. We’ve still got Big Oil to rely on. Big, murderous oil the impulse for the sad deaths of men and nations. I’m sure that in a pinch we can rely on them to deliver the oil to power the remnants of our industries and save us from freezing.
Even if Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is exactly the man of great patriotism that we hope he is, even if the rule of law of which he speaks so highly includes an unspoken democracy, even if Russia remains the seat of European morality within a sea of corruption and decadence. Even if.
Whatever his inner convictions he hasn’t acted to free the ruble and Russian economy from the Fed/IMF banking cartel. His words are of integration not of the sovereignty of individual nations with decision-making vested in their citizens. A free market from Vladivostock to Lisbon. Looking forward to further economic integration in the future. Visa-free borders. Yet preserving national sovereignty. Sovereignty w/o control over currency (and therefore of investment and development), trade, or immigration. Just like Greece.
Worst of all he now speaks of global warming, knowing that cutting back energy will cause many deaths when the cold comes, and will impoverish us all meanwhile. Russia is an old nation with much experience of the cyclical nature of the cold. Even young naval officers speak of the diminished ice as “not permanent.” In the past Putin has spoken of “the fraud” of global warming. He no longer opposes it. He is not free to act or even to speak the truth. Or he is one of them sold to us in “the good cop/bad cop routine.” Either way, nobody’s got our back and we must do this ourselves, and soon. The oligarchs prevent rational preparation.

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 11 2016 17:12 utc | 54

Politicizing Gov’t
> FBI Director drags feet on Hillary e-mail investigation.
> CIA Director makes anti-Trump “will not torture” statement.
And don’t forget: IRS scandal with disappearing emails; no prosecutions over sub-prime mortgage fiasco; No prosecution of Jon Corsine; BP allowed to use toxic chemical dispursants after Gulf Oil spill (despite order not to do so) which reduce estimates of the amount of oil spilled; progress on global warming under Obama??; etc.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
Tell us what you really think!
> Trump today: rails against a “rigged, corrupt” system.
> Sanders: refrains from attacking DNC or media; backtracks, says “Hillary is qualified”.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2016 18:59 utc | 56

james at 23 –
As it was just a quick post before work, and more on the suggested Russian intervention, I didn’t spot it. But I wouldn’t have watched it. I don’t do talking heads on YouTube, and in any case, I have my doubts about Starikov.
Thanks for pointing it out though.

Posted by: rufus magister | Apr 12 2016 0:37 utc | 58

@58 rufus… i know what you mean about talking heads, but this is in russian and has english subtitles – so mostly 8 minutes of reading.. i thought it was quite informative..

Posted by: james | Apr 12 2016 1:07 utc | 60

jas. at 58
Maybe I’ll reconsider, though I prefer transcripts, if possible.

Posted by: rufus magister | Apr 12 2016 2:11 utc | 62

Posted by: jfl | Apr 10, 2016 8:36:53 PM | 43: Artsakh? I found it and an ancient map at wikipedia
Karabakh is a Turkic name, presumably, Azeri. In Armenian this region is called Artsakh. And indeed, in Middle Ages it was an Armenian principality. And then and now it is in Eastern Armenia. Eastern part of eastern Armenia.
Posted by: Penelope | Apr 11, 2016 1:12:02 PM | 54: The farcical CO2 phobia as pretext for reducing the very basis of modern industry and transportation– energy. Energy for electricity, for communication, the internet and pumping water to your tap. It’s going to get colder now, Winters are already colder.
While the globe slowly accumulates heat, the distribution is complex in part because of deep ocean circulation in Pacific. In some years the heat accumulates in the deep ocean and in some it is released, El Nino is one of the forms of that release. The last winter was the warmest on record in Arctic and drastically warmer than the previous, at least in north-east USA.
Most importantly, fossil carbon energy is associated with various kinds of obnoxious pollution and reducing it has assorted benefits. My beef with liberals is that they sabotage the growth of nuclear energy which is the most plausible substitute of carbon. But even without nukes there are plenty of options. For example, natural gas has at least double of energy content per unit of carbon compared with coal. Hybrid cars use about half of the energy of conventional cars and cost about 20% more, but it is more romantic to push electric cars that would use fossil fuels used to generate electricity (if we are not substituting them with nukes). And bicycles save carbon at negligible cost. (American model is to drive to exercise center and use a stationary bike there. Would it be more rational to bike to exercise center and use a stationary car?) USA can half consumption of carbon by half and thrive.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 12 2016 2:47 utc | 64

rufus @59 makes a few points that, upon closer inspection, are weak:

> Sanders seeks NOT to support Hillary but to transform the Party
Hillary and the Party are very much aligned. Hillary says that Sanders ideas are not practical and not well thought-thru. It is highly likely that she (and thus, the Party) will ‘change’ only as much as they have to so as to appeal to most Sanders supporters. That is, Sanders supporters will get lip-service. Sanders might wrangle a cabinet position for himself as a sort of (very weak) ‘guarantee’ that his POV gets aired in a Hillary Administration.
‘Transform the Party’ seems to be a recent notion that both explains Sanders persistence and leads his supporters to believe that they are making a bigger impact on the Party than they are. The fact is, Sanders has been more successful than he or the Party expected, so the promise of ‘influence’ has been upgraded to ‘transform’.
In addition, Sanders is a strange sorta revolutionary leader. He calls Hillary his friend. He still will not attack her on the email issue or her character (he chides her on her decision-making and doesn’t challenge her responses). He won’t attack Hillary/DNC collusion or media bias.
He is chummy with other top Democrats and has benefited from his relationship with them and the Party. Obama campaigned for him. He has caucused with Democrats for many many years. Thanks to the Democrats, he is the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee. Sounds like he swallowed the blue pill, huh?
> Sanders’ run within the Democratic establishment is a necessary evil
There is a perennial debate about how to effect change. ‘Practical’ people say that the duopoly has made it too difficult to effect change with a third-party run. So one must to use the rigged Democratic Party process, they say. TINA!
Our undemocratic money-based political system is corrupt at the core. But we are asked to support that system by trying to change it!?!?!
Sanders KNEW very well the high odds against him when he started. That’s why when he started he talked about simply raising issues. The feckless Left welcomed this meek effort with a low bar for success: a Sanders run MIGHT influence Hillary(!). But critics said that his quixotic run would just make it much more difficult to start a real Movement. Black Agenda Report famously labeled Sanders a sheepdog.
> The Democratic Party is feeling the Bern!
Those who play up the effect that Bernie is having/might have on the Democratic Party are either establishment types or those that have been compromised by the DNC’s identity politics fear-mongering.
This is evident by the vast majority of Sanders supporters who say that they will not vote Democratic if Sanders is not the nominee (they will vote Trump, Green, or stay home).

One other note:

Other commenters note he [Hedges] has endorsed Stein, so he’s not exactly a disinterested observer.
Such an attack is baseless but typical of DNC operatives. Hedges endorsement of Stein is based on principle, not personal gain.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 12 2016 3:38 utc | 66

Syria: an interview with Thierry Meyssan
by Costantino Ceoldo here.
“But the war in Syria is not a revolution, it is a war against two models of society for the Middle East. More than 80 percent of the fighters are foreigners. But they received the support of a very small part of the population, about 5 percent of the Syrians. When the US created the jihadists movement, in 1978, they never think that it will became so great and that it will be supported by some Muslims. What is new, is that the jihadist leaders —financed by Saudi Arabia— had, each of them, 3 women and more than 15 children. Now they are supported by the people who are against the control of fecundity and the modern way of life. It is very strange to see this fight in Syria, a country who give the right of vote and the total equality for women at the same time than Russians, 25 years before the West Europeans.”

Posted by: james | Apr 12 2016 4:41 utc | 68

jr at 66
“Vast majority of Sanders supporters”? Really? That seems a little weak. Only one in four, as I noted before, plan at this point not to vote for the Democratic nominee.
Isn’t the Green Party playing at the same “game,” supporting the system by trying to change it through electoral politics? If Sanders with a substantial national movement and organization cannot force his program upon his own party (his at least for now), what luck will the marginal Greens have with them or the Rethuglicans?
And did I not note earlier, Sanders’ intent at the start was not even to influence the Democrats, but merely to raise the issue of inequality? I don’t recall anyone who thought he’d win any primaries, let alone into the double digits. So why not raise the stakes when the message resonates? Be pretty foolish not to press the unexpected advantage.
I personally do not see a need to take-over the Democratic Party; I have repeatedly noted my disagreement with what we socialists call “entryism.” Others see it as useful, I do not. I certainly think any publicizing of most any sort of socialist politics is a good thing. I have held from the first that is the most important possible positive outcome of Sanders’ campaign.
I wonder, who the hell has endorsed Sanders “for personal gain”? That Hedges has a political axe to grind is not irrelevant in evaluating his position. We in the history business (only part-time, sadly) congenitally examine all sources for bias, and we urge it’s wide application in all of life. Such allegations need to be proved, not merely asserted.
I’m unsure if Sanders efforts to revitalize the Democrats will work; perhaps the Millenials numbers will outweigh Wall Street’s wallet, perhaps not.
But regardless of the outcome in November, his politics do not address the central issues — how do workers regain control over the labor process, how do they obtain ownership of the means of production, how do they create and discipline the organic leadership of a proletarian party?
America must have proportional representation! And Carthage destroyed!

Posted by: rufus magister | Apr 12 2016 4:53 utc | 70

rufus @70
You have not addressed my rebuttal of your ‘transform the Party!’ hype which strikes me as just a ‘hope and change’ dog whistle. (Have you changed your mind?) I’ll repeat: 1) Sanders will NOT be able to transform the Democratic Party except by winning the nomination.
To ‘Third-way’ Centrist Democrats like Hillary and Obama the left is but a thorn in their side. Hillary will do little more than provide lip-service to their concerns … because evil republicans (OMG!). And, with Republicans in turmoil, she may think that she doesn’t need Sanders supporters as much anyway.
2) Sanders must win NY. ‘Delegate math’ and polling suggest that he can not catch-up absent a dramatic change like upsetting Hillary in her home state. To do so, 3) Sanders must convince NY voters that Hillary is unelectable.
That he (likely) started the race as a sheepdog calls into question whether he will actually fight hard to win NY. I will be pleasantly surprise to see him engage in that fight.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
My reply to your previous comment:
> “vast majority”

Clarifying: I meant to tie this to those free from identity politics as mentioned in my previous paragraph.
Also, 25% are those that hold strong anti-DNC/Hillary views. It doesn’t mean that the other 75% WILL vote for the Democratic nominee.

> Isn’t the Green Party playing the same game …

No, they aren’t. The duopoly plays a different game. Excluding third-parties from Presidential debates is just one example of that.

> What luck will marginal Greens have …

In a close election, disaffected Democrats/Independents that vote Green in protest could deny Hillary the Presidency. Greens should build on that.
Can Greens alone stop the Republicans? No, of course not. But this is a strawman used to keep voters in the Democratic Party fold – and then to marginalize them and drip-feed change.

> And did I not note earlier, Sanders’ intent at the start was not even to influence the Democrats, but merely to raise the issue of inequality?

Yes you did. As I explained, such a meek beginning was part of what earned Sanders the sheepdog moniker.

> … why not raise the stakes when the message resonates?

Yes. I am hoping that Sanders campaigns like he wants to win. But unless he does (win) he has little hope of ‘transforming’ the Democratic Party.

> who the hell has endorsed Sanders “for personal gain”?

I meant to defend Hedges, not attack Sanders supporters.

> political axe to grind … We in the history business … congenitally examine all sources for bias

The point that you are trying to muddy is that as a sheepdog Sanders meant to deliver voters to a corrupt Party. That Sanders MIGHT (we will see) seek to capitalize on his unexpected popularity to try to take control of the Democratic Party doesn’t change the fact that he was essentially working to support the Democratic Party for much of the race. In contrast, Hedges is pointing out the need for a Movement.
You should try examining your own bias as represented by your convoluted thinking: a socialist that supports Hillary.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 12 2016 6:16 utc | 72

The West’s Terrorist “Catch and Release” Program

For fisheries around the world, the concept of “catch and release” allows anglers to enjoy the fishing experience while preserving the numbers and health of fish populations. The concept of “catch and release” for Western security and intelligence agencies appears very similar – to maintain the illusion of counterterrorism operations, while maintaining the numbers and health of terrorist organizations around the world.
Answering “to what end” the West is allowing terrorists to successfully carry out attacks against Western targets, the answer is quite simple. It allows for the expansion of power and control at home while justifying endless and profitable wars abroad.

A wry observation, right on the mark. I’m sure the victims of the US/EU catch and release program are … more than furious. As we all should be. It’s long past time for the CIA and its European vassals to be put down. They’ve been all pain and no gain for ordinary people all over the world for the past 68 years.

Posted by: jgl | Apr 12 2016 12:09 utc | 74

Socialist Senator Explains the Difference Between Democrats and Republicans
I cannot imagine Huey Long to have been a socialist … or if I do, then the ‘real’ socialists will all throw rocks at me. But I love the story of hipopa-lower-em and lopopa-higher-em.
I guess it’s like Thaksin in Thailand, you have to have been there for a good number of the preceding decades in order to appreciate the man.
Huey Newton’s daddy was, and did, and named his youngest after him, too. And Huey P. Newton did claim to be a socialist himself. I thought he was a lot more than that. Of course, it’s always up to the ‘real’ socialists to separate the sheep from the goats, socialism-wise. Comes down to the Trots, alone, as far as I can see. But socialism’s so 20th Century, clanking along like a diesel, a bucket of bolts, quoting Marx chapter and verse; in the 21st Century it’s democracy, solar-powered, all the way.

Posted by: jfl | Apr 12 2016 12:34 utc | 76

@ 74 —
I couldn’t click through on the link. This is what I find thru Google.
http://journal-neo.org/2016/04/12/the-wests-terrorist-catch-and-release-program/

Posted by: jawbone | Apr 12 2016 13:58 utc | 78

polaris 73
*helps youse come up 2 speed*
read my previous posts.
*Headline 3: Washington eager to have Beijing share load in Mideast affairs – interview with Michelle Dunne. – Global Times.*
u still havent provided the source and..
im not sure what’r u getting at ?

Posted by: denk | Apr 12 2016 15:17 utc | 80

@69 jackrabbit
it was one of the more interesting paragraphs in the article… i don’t agree with all of it, or i wouldn’t describe it the way that he does however, but i did find it worth sharing for the juxtaposition of isis and there approach towards women, verses what syria had beforehand.. that maybe 5% of syrians support isis does make sense.. not everyone wants to move back to the dark ages – saudi arabia excepted of course..
not sure where turkey is going in all of it, but i was reading up on some of the history of erdogan which i found insightful.. ever heard of Millî Görüş? the person who founded the movement is Necmettin Erbakan . … it seems to have had significant influence over erdogan to the degree that the idea of secularism is being thrown overboard – along with everything else that erdogan has managed to destroy..

Posted by: james | Apr 12 2016 16:03 utc | 82

@80: source is Global Times interview? Did you read.
The headline of this article contrasts, interestingly, with another which states that China’s neutral position in West Asia likely gives it an advantage in the post-Syrian debacle.
As for Najib, you need a better grip of Malaysian intra-party and communal politics.
He’s unlikely to leave soon – and even in the post Najib era, the commercial and political links with China won’t be undone.

Posted by: Polaris | Apr 12 2016 16:31 utc | 84

Think the “Green” Party will be so great once they “integrate” into the Matrix? Check out:
Quote << "Gormley took over as the new Green Party leader after the election and as the minister for environment, heritage and local government minister in the coalition government. Eamon Ryan, the current leader, became the minister for energy and communications. They respectively sold out the campaigns to save the historic Hill of Tara from a motorway bypass and the farmers and fishermen in County Mayo fighting oil giant Shell in the ‘Shell to Sea’ campaign. They also acquiesced to the blasphemy law, leaving Ireland as the only country in Europe with such legislation. "As the more radical members departed and the electorate became more disillusioned, the party was sucked further and further into the maw of the coalition. It ended up supporting the bailout measures for the corrupt Irish banks and signing up to the highest per capita debt payback terms in Europe. Unsurprisingly the election of 2011 left the party with no seats. It is now struggling to return to its pre-2007 levels of support and still has a long way to go." >> Unquote Red Pepper Magazine
Quote << "The Czech Greens entered a similar Faustian pact with a right-wing party from 2007 to 2009. The fatal fault line in the Czech Republic was not the economy, nor the environment, where the party remained relatively true to its principles, but militarisation and the construction of ‘Star Wars’ missile bases by the US aimed at Russia. "Underlying all this was the fact that the party had been effectively taken over by a right-wing businessman, Martin Bursík, who overawed the membership with promises of funding and improvements in electoral methods. He delivered and the Greens entered government. At the European Green Party conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2008 he argued that the Greens’ natural allies were on the right and that connections with the peace movement were part of the historical baggage that needed to be jettisoned." >> Unquote Red Pepper Magazine
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/when-greens-govern/
Also, the U.S. Repubs have gone full Soviet:
The Colorado GOP Executive Committee has canceled its state primary election, which was said to be “held” on April 8, 2016, and has simply handed all of its delegates over to Ted Cruz without any popular vote at all.
Gotta love those great parties!

Posted by: blues | Apr 12 2016 17:12 utc | 86

@85 jackrabbit.. that is true and i don’t buy that for one minute… however, this is the angle that is being exploited by the war machine and msm.. this is typically a sign reality is completely opposite.. the verdict is still out on Thierry Meyssan.. maybe it comes across different in his first language french.. either that, or he is unwilling to acknowledge some things that seem obvious to me.. hard to know..

Posted by: james | Apr 12 2016 18:47 utc | 88

jgl @ 74, Catch & release! Clever. I read about it years ago in Afghanistan. US had an agreement to turn their prisoners over to the Afghan-leader/US-puppet. US soldiers would see the same detainees walking down the streets of Kabul few days later. They complained. Complained too about having to deliver fertilizer to the poppy fields. US oligarchs seldom let their forces leave: Still occupying Germany and Japan 70 years after WWII. Oh, I forgot, they are “allies”, not much choice.

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 12 2016 22:15 utc | 90

@rufus
Despite your lessons in realpolitik, you seem to think that Hillary/DNC will gracefully acknowledge the ‘new realities’ presented by Sanders supporters and alter their policy positions accordingly.
No. They will only respond to pressure. From whence do you imagine that pressure will come? Sanders has already said that he will support Hillary and he has failed to organize a Movement. As you may recall, Obama also claimed support from the astroturf “Movement” he led in 2008 but that was dismantled soon after he took office.
Furthermore, Hillary has been critical of Sanders and Sanders supporters, and if she is anything like Obama (she is) then she will marginalize them after she is elected with formulations like: “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”.
A Green Party, as the leader/voice of a Movement that is augmented by Sanders supporters, that effectively has a ‘veto’ over Democratic Party success would give the progressives influence that they haven’t had for over a generation.
P.S. I find your concern for workers to be unconvincing. Workers have been shafted by BOTH right-of-Center Democrats and Republicans for 30 years. I believe its much more likely that your support for Hillary stems from your Zionism. It is no secret that neocon support for Hillary is very strong.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 13 2016 1:00 utc | 92

cia training manual
exhibit nepal.
how to liquidate a chicom lover.
——————————–
*On June 1st, 2001, King Birendra, his wife and all his children, were assassinated.*
His younger brother, Gyanendra, succeeded his throne.
turned out that he’d be nepal’s last emperor, ousted by , get this….cia/raw sponsored maoists in 2008 !
*Today, the news media is reporting that Nepali “Maoists” brutally murdered 160 policemen, beheading some in the process. Like with Chavez in Venezuela, one must peer beyond this CIA-inspired corporate media disinformation. The fact remains that Chavez and his supporters are Venezuelan nationalists opposed to American bullyism. Similarly, the so-called Maoists of Nepal, while mostly leftists, are first and
foremost, Nepali nationalists who are attempting to prevent Gyanendra from turning Nepal into another state of India, much like what happened to neighboring Sikkim in 1975. Gyanendra, being part of the Bush Family’s New World Order, is part and parcel of the U.S. plan to throw a cordon sanitaire of pro-U.S. states around China.*
who’d have guessed that these nepalese maoists were sheltered and trained in india !! [1]
*According to unblemished sources in Kathmandu, the king and his family were quickly dispatched by a Nepali army commando unit trained at the time by U.S. Special Operations forces sent by U.S. Pacific Commander in Chief Adm. Dennis Blair (he’s the same guy who propped up Gen. Wiranto with special training while the good general was committing genocide in East Timor). What was to become the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Influence (PSYOPs division) prepared a story, with the assistance of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence agency, that the King and his family were murdered as a result of the Crown Prince going nuts with automatic weapons after being forlorn over his mother’s refusal to allow him to marry a commoner.*
pacom spells TROUBLE for china.
its cic is murkka’s point man in asia, wherever he goes, mayhem follows.
besides the palace massacre and east timor genocide, blair was also complicit in the flight of the boy lama from china, the hainan spy plane fracas in 2001,which cost a chinese pilot’s life.
the current pacom cic harry harris is spearheading an armada to provoke the chinese in scs.
[1]
In 2002, the then terrorist declared Maoist [2] leaders’ from Nepal who were residing in New Delhi had reached an agreement (almost a Treaty) with the Indian government led by BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002.
The agreement had it that the so-called people’s war would in no way be detrimental to the Indian interests in Nepal and in turn India will support the rebel Maoists to grab power in Nepal.
http://www.telegraphnepal.com/headline/2013-08-25/india-exposed:-alien-leader-accepts-nurturing-maoists-of-nepal.html
[2]
*terrorist declared Maoist* needs some clarification, it alludes to the fact that delhi declared nepalese maoists as *terrorists*
BEFORE the nepalese did, yet it’s the benefactor of said terrorists. !

Posted by: denk | Apr 13 2016 3:28 utc | 94

@rufus
diversionary personal attacks

It’s not a diversionary personal attack if it’s relevant. Certain people will never leave the Democratic Party fold because they fear that they or the group they identify with might be denied important rights/privileges. Examples: gays, minorities, poor, etc. The DNC plays upon these fears. In this election season, zionists/neocons are fully behind Hillary and you have proven to have a Zionist outlook.

First, I am a worker …

And I am Christ. Who cares? We are both anonymous commentators. The logic of your position means everything.
I still believe that your position makes no sense. I doubt very much that there are many socialists – as you call yourself – that support Hillary (unless they have an ulterior motive).

You still have not explained …

People that want to change things for the better get this kind of push-back all the time. As though one can’t complain unless one has ALL the answers.
The only guarantee of more human-centered policy is an engaged public. A MOVEMENT. That’s how Sanders could help (if he wanted to be more than a sheepdog). The Greens are not perfect but they are the political party whose values and policy positions are closest to Sanders and Sanders supporters.

We’ve had Republican Administrations in the past. Somehow we survived. The more that people allow themselves to be marginalized and taken advantage of by an unjust system and the candidates it produces, the more that we will all be ground down for their benefit.
Even if Congress is not friendly to a President, the President has the bully pulpit. And the President has great powers in foreign affairs – powers which the neocons covet. That’s why many fear that voting for Hillary is voting for more wars.
War, bubble finance, fraud, trade deals – how much have these things cost workers? Economists now talk of ‘secular stagnation’. Essentially, people don’t have money to buy stuff so the economy is stagnating. All the economic gains have gone to the wealthy. And the Democrats are complicit in that.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 13 2016 4:39 utc | 96

Piotr Berman @ 64,
If I read you right you think CO2 is a pollutant. You have consulted sources that seemed to you plausible and you have believed them. Unfortunately, TPTB have expended vast sums to create those sources. Discussion meant for the public is outrageous lies. The scientists that actually measure temp & sea level can cheat only a little because other scientists watch them.
Here is the temperature measurement from Britain’s HADCRUT: https://crudata.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temperature/HadCRUT4.png
The Global graph shows warming from -.3C to +.6C over 175 years. Our mainstream expectation is warming of .75-.85 per century until we achieve the warmth of the Medieval Warm Period or have another Ice Age. You may be able to distinguish the last oscillation of 30 years of warming (approx 1914-1944), then cooling 1945-1975, then warming 1976- 1998 and retaining that warmth. This graph shows the little cheat of a continued warming, but even with this inaccuracy the rate of warming is well within mainstream expectation. In most graphs the El Ninos are prominent, but not in this one. There is no need to resort to CO2 to explain the warming. It is a normal continuation of the past.
Here’s one from NOAA: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/global-land-ocean-mntp-anom/201401-201412.png
Notice that the slope of the line from 1960 to 2000 is roughly comparable to the one from 1905-1940. I think this again indicates that although there was less use of fossil fuels from 1905-1940 the rate of warming is about the same.
I don’t think of El Ninos as a way to release excess heat, which I think is what you are saying? I think basic physical forces cause the mixing of diverging densities, temperatures, pressures, salinities. Anyway that’s as close as I’ve ever come to understanding the factors underlying weather.
EL NINOS. Records of El Nino predate any substantial use of fossil fuels, so they’re not linked to any purported CO2-induced warming. However activists who are documented as being in the pay of the billionaires’ foundations are paid to keep the warming-earth scare stories in the corporate press, so anything and everything is blamed on CO2. El Ninos are caused by a shift in the trade winds with an accompanying change in ocean circulation, as you know, and cause a temperature rise at the surface. This is weather, not climate.
I don’t know why you describe the US warm winter from Dec 2015 through February 2016 as a disaster. In fact it still seems to be continuing this week in the Northeast, the Midwest and the Southeast. They’ve all had snow & freezing temperatures in April. Today there is a frost warning for Illinois, and I think all the way to the Carolinas they’ve lost some of the berry and fruit crops. NH is breaking records for cold. From April 5 to 11 there was snowfall and blizzards in the Urals, the far East, Siberia. It affected at least 6 territories & 4 oblasts. Today Toronto has a record low of -9 C. Southern & Northeastern Ontario had record cold last week. On April 5 Environment Canada reported record lows in 9 cities & expected the cold to continue through mid-April. Quebec & Atlantic Canada also had unseasonable cold. In March Moscow had its heaviest snowfall in 50 years, then another snowstorm in April. I think they all would’ve preferred warmth. But all of this is just weather, not climate. The weather is always breaking records; that’s what it does. What seems a bit unusual to me is that all this occurred while we are still having El Nino.
ARCTIC WARMTH. Several causes: 1. El Nino. 2. The Gakkel Ridge, a 1,000 mile diverging fault between tectonic plates. Intermittently along its length are volcanoes, steam vents, hot water geysers, etc. On October 11, 2014 a hole was actually melted through the main ice sheet by low salinity warm water. I think the ridge is about 4 km down, so the water would have travelled that far and still have been warm enough to melt ice. Volcanic emissions are around 1300 degrees I think. I guess some degree of warming of the seawater in which the ice floats must be occurring. It may be that the air is being warmed to a greater extent by the sea than is usual even in El Nino conditions. Here’s a bit about the Ridge if you’re interested. http://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=377020
3. In the North Pacific, off the coast of Oregon or CA “stationary” masses of water occasionally form. They may be 2-2.7 degrees warmer than the surrounding ocean, and may form about every 5 years. They also form elsewhere, including in the Atlantic. They aren’t well-understood. A large and very persistent one “the blob” formed off the coast of Oregon in 2013. If it finally dissipated it wasn’t until 2016. This had an effect on atmospheric circulation, was said to worsen the CA drought, etc. Interesting new paper links it to volcanism (another tectonic ridge) https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/04/08/possible-explanation-for-warm-ocean-water-off-the-oregon-coast-known-as-the-blob/
4. Arctic ice is 7% below the mean. Both “the mean” and “lowest records” refer only to the satellite record. Climate oscillates 30 years warm/ 30 cool, etc. Our land-based records confirm this. It was actually warmer in the 30s than it was at the height of the present warming in 1998. While surely the Arctic sea ice must have partially melted then too, we don’t have satellite photos of the ice from the 30s.
I will find for you the link where James Hansen and the link where NASA says that the 30s were warmer. Meanwhile here is a link to newsclippings of Arctic explorers who are horrified at the melting of the Arctic long ago. https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/polar-meltdown/ The first few are typed, then you get to the clippings which keep regressing in time. The prior warm period was from about 1914-1944, but of course the ocean holds the heat longer. Also, as we only came out of the Little Ice Age about 1850 it has always been warming since. Mainstream climatology has always expected it to continue warming at about .75-.85C per century until we achieve the temperature of the Medieval Warm Period or have another Ice Age. Of course temperature rise isn’t consistent because it’s affected by the 30 year temperature oscillation and major cooling events like the LIA and El Ninos and La Ninas.
I’ve written too much, sorry. I never get to “talk” to anyone about this stuff.
Will address your other points in a later post. Regards.

Posted by: Penelope | Apr 13 2016 5:35 utc | 98

|Posted on another thread (See: ‘Selective leaks …’ post) as well:
For your consideration:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/13/trolls-trampling-political-discourse-abuse
“”Political debate, a crucial element of any democracy, is becoming ever more poisoned. Social media has helped to democratise the political discourse, forcing journalists – who would otherwise simply dispense their alleged wisdom from on high – to face scrutiny. Some take it badly. They are used to being slapped affectionately on the back by fellow inhabitants of the media bubble for their latest eloquent defence of the status quo. To have their groupthink challenged by the great unwashed is an irritation.””
Since when does any commentator here OWE Funny Fart (exhibit above) an explanation? Is this troll so inept as to be incapable of reading? and the critical thinking to respond without creating self-serving straw-men? This is typical of the techniques used at Ruff’s favourite Bordello to silence dissenting positions – it is here now and the site will suffer for hosting such behaviour. At no point has Funny Fart produced a coherent contribution to the proceedings, rather attacks participants whose contributions make up the motley genius often found in the commentariat. Freedom of speech does not include falsely yelling fire in a crowded theatre, neither does it include that what Funny Fart excretes.
Funny Fart = funny people

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Apr 13 2016 12:37 utc | 100