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July 1, 2016
Open Thread 2016-23
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on another site, there’s a thread about china’s plan to explore mars in the coming yrs.
the commenters are either murkkans or brits.
there’r the mandatory put down,
‘the chicoms are stealing all our tech’, [2]
the stock gratuitous malice,
‘lets wait for it to blow up’ !
‘send them all to mars, good riddance’
‘let them go and dont let them come back’ !
blah blah blah.
i say,
what have the ‘chicoms’ ever done to fukus to deserve such venom ? [1]
zero, none, nada, zildh.
more to the point, who’s the positive force in the world today ?
why dont we hold a referendum on this , do the world community want a chinxit or usaxit ?
which one should be exiled to mars ,the builder or the destroyer ???
a no brainer eh ?
hehehehe
[1]
actually its a one way fukus assault on china since the opium war.
for the uninitiated, fukus = fuck uk, us.
[2]
yeah sure , the ‘chicoms’ and only the ‘chicoms’ managed to hack a direct conduit into pentagon/lockheed martin/cia and grab whatever they want 24×7,
if u believe this i’ve a bridge …..
Posted by: denk | Jul 3 2016 5:44 utc | 101
@ rg the lg | Jul 3, 2016 12:24:03 AM | 97
Dear Mr./Ms. rg the lg:
{QUOTE} “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.” {UNQUOTE} — Lewis Carroll
On the radical side of the world where I live, words like “fascist” and “communist” don’t actually mean much. They have become, as some would put it “semantically bleached”. (Yes, I sometimes lapse into British punctuation, though am not British.)
Anyhow, I said the particular article, not the author, was fascist.
And yes, I know about the origin of the word “nice”.
And it’s “blues”, not “Blue”.
I take it you’re in a fowl [sic] mood.
Posted by: blues | Jul 3 2016 8:03 utc | 102
Trump tweets ‘Clinton corrupted’ with six-pointed star, drawing accusations of anti-Semitism
https://www.rt.com/usa/349346-trump-clinton-star-david/
So not only is the innocuous use of a six-pointed star now considered grounds for charges of anti-semitism (copyright infringement?), it seems the level of ludicrousness as to what constitutes anti-semitic remarks has reached the point of absurdity:
However, the new tweet included Trump’s constant repetition of the phrase, “America first” – making things worse, as it echoed anti-Semitic rhetoric dating back to WWII.
The phrase “America first” is now considered to be anti-semitic.
That certainly helps in clarifying priorities.
Posted by: pantaraxia | Jul 3 2016 11:07 utc | 103
After Brexit, Germany Should Give Brits Citizenship: Minister
Germany should offer citizenship to young Britons living in Germany given that it was largely older voters in England and Wales who voted for “Brexit” in last month’s referendum, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Saturday.
“Let’s offer it to the young Brits who live in Germany, Italy or France so that they can remain EU citizens in this country,” he said.
Young Brits … maybe the Germans and the Turks could give England Syrians in return?
This is getting nastier and nastier on the part of the “Northern” Europeans. Yet it’s the Brits trying to leave the totalitarian EU who’re portrayed as the racists.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 3 2016 11:28 utc | 104
jfl,
It is clear you didn’t bother to look at the references.
Neither presumably did your friend.
Superstitious is NOT what dozens of retired military men,
who had their fingers on the buttons that would annihilate millions,
are.
http://www.ufohastings.com/documentary
At least watch the trailer.
Posted by: Anon02July | Jul 3 2016 11:33 utc | 105
@99 psycho ‘The world needs to understand that there are not now, nor into the foreseeable future going to be jobs for all seeking employment.’
Mike Whitney made that point at counterpunch today, Another Fed Fiasco: U.S. Bond Yields Fall to Record Lows, speaking of record low 2% coupon on 30-f**king-year treasuries.
The Fed is not “experimenting” with a policy which, it believes, ‘may or may not’ put the economy back on a strong growth-path sometime in the future. No. That’s not it at all. It is continuing to implement a policy that works “just fine” for the people who count, that is, the chiseling bankers and corporatists who own the government and who dictate policy behind the curtain of our political charade.
More free money means higher stock prices and a comforting return to the new centrally-planned market where stocks stay perennially bubbly while the economy staggers along at an anemic 2 percent GDP.
This is why investors are willing to lend the government their money for next-to-nothing for 30 years. It’s because they anticipate that this low rate, low inflation, low growth environment will continue for the foreseeable future. And they’re probably right, too. The Fed and its cronies have an absolute lock on power and investors in the “world’s biggest and most liquid market” (USTs are a $13 trillion market) don’t see that changing anytime soon.
It would be impossible to overstate how pessimistic this view really is. Basically, bond yields are telling us all that there is no hope for the future, that what you see is what you get. There won’t be an economic recovery because an economic recovery is not in the interests of the people who are getting rich off the current policy. So just suck it up and get used to it.
The same folks who looked back upon the Great Depression with nostalgia are gleeful today. Happy Days are here again! That’s right, their offspring are demoblicans … or New Labour. More likely wannabes … they haven’t yet been dragged around the block, as their elders have. Like the Ukrainians, they’ve swallowed the bait: hook, line, and sinker.
Like the Greeks said after the Syriza perfidy, in WWII they came for us, this time they’re just taking our land and exporting us as workers. Like immigrants everywhere, workers with endless debts and rents to remit back “home”.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 3 2016 11:51 utc | 106
…
That certainly helps in clarifying priorities.
Posted by: pantaraxia | Jul 3, 2016 7:07:02 AM | 101
So does this …
Yesterday, July 2nd, was Federal Election Day in Oz. The Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party politicians are all “good friends of Israel.”
The Herald Sun, in its infinite Murdoch-ness, ran an article (on Election Day morning) headlined Greens, Xenophon are ‘anti-Israel’
The article quickly cuts to the chase and AIJAC’s whining about Xenophon’s “parliamentary speeches are also highly and one-sidedly critical of Israel”. It also claims he is a supporter of the Australian Friends of Palestine Association – which supports a boycott on all Israeli products.
(AIJAC) also claims that Greens policy on Israel and Palestine paints Israel as the ‘sole aggressor’, while NSW Greens candidate Lee Rhiannon was accused of using her printing allowance to help create posters against “Israeli Apartheid”.
Senator Xenophon and the Greens both said separately that they support a peaceful two-state solution in the region.
Footnote: AIJAC is the Oz equivalent of AmeriKKKa’s AIPAC and has attracted the not-undeserved epithet HIJACK here in Oz.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 3 2016 13:20 utc | 107
Vltchek lives up to his name, “wolfing”. His views are a bit extreme, and his commentary totally acerbic. But is is worth reading. However, sharing his perspective would require ulcer medications close at hand.
Today, news from the land of lesser evil. My favorite newspaper, NYT, today informed me that Hillary (like Boris and many Afghans, she uses only one name) has an ambitious plan to reduce carbon emissions that avoids any references to carbon tax. Common sense and experts (believe or not, many actually have common sense) view carbon tax as much more effective, and basically, the only practical way to address the problem. But it would be attacked too much by GOP, so Hillary prefers a big program of solar energy etc.
However, a paragraph in the article is an eye opener: Sanders put carbon tax in his program, and he polled better nationwide and in most battleground states, and his advantage over Hillary is among the independents, not Democrats. Independents often want bold solutions and addressing “their problems” (at least, talking about them). However, bold solutions to other problems, like removing Assad from Syria, are not appreciated as much.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 3 2016 13:47 utc | 108
South Fronts latest is about China deploying up to 10,000 troops to the ME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOGSC3yK-Jg
Posted by: Terry | Jul 3 2016 13:55 utc | 109
101;Yes.a red 6 pointed star at that, possibly implying she’s a commie too.
91-93;How does that fit with your claims of Zionism?
Personally,its the greatest thing in American politics I’ve seen in years,identifying our enemy,and its whore,the hell bitch.
Deleted since though,but the Lying Times and Wapo both noted it.
Go ahead,call him an antisemite,and see his support grow!
A serial liar croaked I see.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 3 2016 14:03 utc | 110
As we near the Fourth of July, it’s a good time to reflect and try to See How We Are.
See how we are
Gotta keep bars in between us
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Now there are seven kinds of Coke
500 kinds of cigarettes
This freedom of choice in the USA drives everybody crazy
But in Acapulco
Well they don’t give a damn
About kids selling Chiclets with no shoes on their feet
Dry your eyes and walk outside, it’s the Fourth of July….
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 3 2016 14:23 utc | 111
It’s so convoluted: http://www.acting-man.com/?p=45673. kill (killary) proclaims she has “experience” the others don’t have. Sure, she has the experience in how to terrorize and destroy our country, and other, while using her position to become insanely wealthy. kill is a criminal and needs to be locked up forever, in Guantanamo. Prison, not president.
Warning, warning Bill Robinson, expect terrorist attacks this weekend. Deciphered: they’re going to attack you through their “tools” (aka daesh, isis), to keep you in FEAR, aka terrorism. Through fear and division, they control (loot).
The “good ol boys” club of corruption has gotta go! We need to gather the brightest minds amongst us to usher in an age of enlightenment, cooperation and friendship with the rest of the world.
Posted by: Barbara | Jul 3 2016 14:45 utc | 112
104 – It’s the socialization of misery. As long as the stock market is bouyed and there’s a demand from the poor (for dollars, euros, etc), the rich can continue this convoluted trickle-up system of QE, NIRP,ZIRP, etc etc.
It’s the rejectionism by the public that will undermine it. That’s why Brexit has been hated throughout and will be quietly disposed of in the morass of overlong debates and procedural voodoo.
Don’t for a second think that resilient mass demonstrations or some type of Texit or other secession wouldn’t be assailed to lengths that wouldn’t include violence.
Posted by: bbbb | Jul 3 2016 15:37 utc | 113
More of the same. Backlash from the mercenary ISIS force after being used as a pretext for the US and its allies to stage an invasion into Iraq and Syria.
http://www.salon.com/2016/06/30/turkeys_double_game_on_isis_and_support_for_extremist_groups_highlighted_after_horrific_istanbul_attack/
Posted by: Les | Jul 3 2016 15:53 utc | 114
Re: Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 3, 2016 9:20:56 AM | 105
You in Melbs are you? What is your electorate?
I live in the Socialist Republic.
http://sputniknews.com/world/20160703/1042353782/walesa-shootdown-russian-planes.html
So if a warship approaches the border of Poland, from 1/2 way around the world, and Poland logically sends a jet up, that warship has a right to shoot down Poland’s jet? Or is it just Russia that can’t defend its borders? Because the north american terrorist organization says so. And what if Russia were to send a warship to our border to stalk us? Russia would have the right to shoot down our jets? And what then? Stalking = terrorism.
Posted by: Barbara | Jul 3 2016 16:57 utc | 116
@99 psychohistorian.. as b mentioned in his post on june 25th or 26th – the young people constitute a very small part of the picture, but it is the part the msm keep up holding up as some sort of relevant factor.. it isn’t.. they are lying and distorting as usual..
“First, young voters feel cheated of their future because some old, grumpy people voted for Brexit. Well, these young voters of age 18 to 24, tearfully interviewed by the BBC and Channel 4, constitute only 5% of the electorate. Only a third of them voted at all, 70% of those 1/3 of 5% for “Remain”. This is a small part, and a not very interested one, of the population. Who are they to deserve some special attendance?”
Posted by: james | Jul 3 2016 17:53 utc | 117
excellent post today from fb ali on sst with valuable commentary especially coming from bill herschel..
Posted by: james | Jul 3 2016 18:08 utc | 118
@92 UPDATE: Now that I read the article from Mic, called “Donald Trump’s Star of David” Hillary Clinton Meme Was Created by White Supremacists and I learn that it was not created by a graphic designer working for Trump, I think the original pic was propably intended to be anti-Semitc. And my theory is that the most likely scenario is a dump person working for Trump used the image without understanding the intended message. Sure it is possible that the person in charge of tweeting for Trump wanted to send an anti-Semitic message but what I am saying is odds are that the guy is simply ignorant of what the original picture was intending to say by using the red star in that shape. There is a question why the person in charge of the twitter is so stupid and what they consider good sources for graphics.
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Jul 3 2016 22:11 utc | 119
Well Erdo the clown shows his cards once agan
STANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Saturday that Syrian President Bashar Assad was a “more advanced terrorist” than the Islamic State group, despite the deadly attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport that Turkish officials blame on I…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/52-wounded-still-hospitalized-istanbul-airport-attack-143257139.html?nhp=1
Posted by: bbbb | Jul 4 2016 2:29 utc | 120
Posted by: bbbb | Jul 3, 2016 10:29:21 PM | 120
The most comforting aspect to Erdogan’s recklessness is that he seems to believe that he and Bibi have fooled Putin into believing that they’re trustworthy.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 4 2016 3:40 utc | 121
To STOP panicked tyrants & their depopulation mania, the ULTIMATE Damocles sword to REPEL* is deadly space super-storms that may blow up all nukes, as the near-miss extinction event of July 2012: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm
*http://LaserEarthShield.info
Posted by: Repel space Damocles swords | Jul 4 2016 5:51 utc | 122
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 1, 2016 6:10:50 PM | 30
you might want to read my other pieces on this farce: https://investigatingimperialism.wordpress.com/
Posted by: William Bowles | Jul 4 2016 13:40 utc | 123
On Independence Day in the land of the free and the home of the brave…
Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Fourth of July
“Black people will probably vote for Clinton,” he [Mumia Abu-Jamal] said with resignation, “but this symbolizes the emptiness of hope. They fear Trump. They should look closely at the pictures from Trump’s third wedding. Hillary Clinton is in the front pew of the church. Hillary, Bill, Trump and Melania are shown embracing at Trump’s estate afterwards during the reception. These people are part of the same elite circle. They represent the same financial interests. They work for the same empire. They have grown rich from the system. The words they shout back and forth during political campaigns are meaningless. Trump or Clinton will deliver the same political result. They will serve, like Obama, corporate and military power. And if they were not willing to serve these centers of power they would not be allowed to run. Their job is to manufacture hope during election campaigns that ultimately end in betrayal. This is why they spend billions on elections. They need to feed the illusion that our voices matter, that we are participants in their closed systems of power.
“Bill Clinton developed a rural employment program called prisons,” he said. “Prisons are the economic lifeblood of these poor white communities. The only time these people have any contact with black people is when they put them in cells or escort them in shackles. Prisons are the gift William Jefferson Clinton gave to poor, rural whites that keeps on giving.
“The system is broken,” Abu-Jamal said. “It has to be torn up, root and branch. And this has to be done from the bottom up. If we keep electing and re-electing these puppets we will keep getting played. We have to form political parties that reflect our political ideas. We have to stop surrendering to false parties and politicians that do not represent us.”
An accompanying link tells the story of the Ma and Pa Clinton’s ‘rural employment program called prisons‘. The PLP tries to paint the Leave voters as racists. I imagine that real, institutionalized racism does exist in England … I know it exists in our USofA.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 4 2016 13:53 utc | 124
They’re throwing everything they can at Trump the anti-semite. Trump should know better than to say America First. The Slogan should be Israel First – America Second.
Israel can do no wrong. The USA – by an act of congress – has declared an “irrevocable bond” with Israel. Israel only – and no other nation is so privileged. Anything else is anti-semitism.
This irrevocable bond is like that between a mother and her insane, murderous son. She love him always. She will stand by him to the end – right or wrong be damned. Lay down her life for him, if that’s what it takes.
We’re all Zionists. Our elected leaders have proclaimed it.
Posted by: fast freddy | Jul 4 2016 14:30 utc | 125
64;Well in whiteys defense,although we may have killed,maimed and torched injuns,we didn’t tie people on anthills.:)
20 million?I don’t know about that,its an estimate,but where are the relics and evidence of that population?
A few million yes.
How about the donald,with the 6 pointed star?and the piles of dough behind the hillaryous one?
The best thing I’ve ever seen a pol do.
The truth,at last,hallelujah.
The enemy is not amused.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 4 2016 15:00 utc | 126
A red 6 pointed star;Aren’t all the zionists ex trotskyites?
You have to love it,if you are an American patriot.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 4 2016 15:13 utc | 127
Let’s see if Trump backpedals.I bet he has to somewhat.
But,like in a trial when the judge tells the jury to ignore improper testimony,its out there.
Gary Johnson jumps on the ziotrain,calls Trump antisemitic.
The truth is antisemitic f*ckface.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 4 2016 15:17 utc | 128
125;We aint,the common people,Only the whores of Zion proclaim their felicity.The support for Israel in America might be a mile wide,but its a quarter inch deep.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 4 2016 15:19 utc | 129
Counterpunch;A somewhat good site,but lately consumed with Trump bashing.
They keep up divide and conquer memes.Today some knucklehead was dissing the FFs by saying the common people didn’t support manifest destiny.
Of course they did,at least most.
Its like the racist thing today.If one looks at old movies pre ww2,black people are overwhelmingly depicted as irresponsible unlearned people.And everyone in America was on the same page.
Total hypocrisy.
And believe me,its still out there,unfortunately,and the evils of neocapitalism are making it worse,as people are looking for someone to blame,but most haven’t realized its the zionists,as they divide and conquer US.
They are blaming victims,instead of the perps.
Ah,its good to be the king!(zion)
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 4 2016 15:29 utc | 130
America is a melting pot,and I have a Jewish son in law,with a grandkid on the way.
It has absolutely no effect on my political views.
Trump is the only candidate to call the screw ups screw ups,and the Zionist media is completely against him.
I would rethink your collusion meme.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 4 2016 15:33 utc | 131
Look at how Mexico is out of the news.They have entire villages blockaded and bringing in supplies by air,as teachers revolt against their totally corrupt govt.
Why the hell we are in the ME with our neighbor totally screwed is the power of Zion.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 4 2016 15:36 utc | 132
fastfreddy @125
Criticism like this falls into a trap. Narrow or one-dimensional attacks on/blaming of a country or religion HELP TPTB because they can be depicted as coming from bigots or knuckle-dragger reactionaries (anti-modernity).
IMO the problem is the combination of 1) oligarchs (of all faiths) and/or 2) fundamentalism (of all faiths) in the West and Western-aligned countries. Together they prey on ordinary people like parasites, forming a ‘power structure’ (strengthened by corporate media and circle-jerking elites) that is corrupt and creating a toxic social (and even physical) environment.
Aspects of the (multi-dimensional) problem (not meant to be exhastive):
> Governments: Israel and Saudi Arabia Alliance against Iran – using their combined resources to influence/control US/West
> Oligarchs:– US/Western MIC wants to sell arms
– US/Western Energy Co.’s want to continue their dominance/enrichment
– US/Western Financial Companies: extraordinary profits and control via petro-dollar
– US/Western Other Companies: seek to profit from trade and/or reconstruction
– Gulf State Royal Families
– Jewish oligarchs with global connections/influence> Fundamentalists: Zionists, Christian Fundamentalists, Jihadis
Each of whom thrives on the bad behavior of the others and or governments influenced by the others.
Each of these groups would claim that THEY have no control, THEY only respond to world events. But the sum of their actions is to consume the future of ordinary people and waste the resources of the planet.
Someone (I think it was at Counterpunch) wrote that NWO was already here. ‘Amercia First’ and BREXIT are delayed reactions. The people are always slow to respond because elites have the advantages of initiative and propaganda.
How to cut the Gordian Knot? Many believe that TPTB will cut it themselves because their actions will inevitably lead to war, a financial ‘reset’, social unrest, and environmental catastrophe.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 4 2016 15:57 utc | 133
in re 131 —
Yeah, a consistently pitilessly, piteous bastard.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 4 2016 16:13 utc | 134
I just read this and thought it should be shared. It shows that some want to reign in the global plutocrats…..or at least know who they are.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-tax-trusts-idUSKCN0ZK1ER?il=0
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 4 2016 16:23 utc | 135
Asked to give a toast before the prestigious New York Press Club, John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times, made this candid confession [it’s worth noting that Swinton was called “The Dean of His Profession” by other newsmen, who admired him greatly]:
” There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, as an
independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you
who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know
beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for
keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others
of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who
would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the
streets looking for another job.
If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper,
before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of
the journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to
vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell the country for his
daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting
an independent press. We are the tools and vassals of the rich men
behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and
we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the
property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes. ”
Read more: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/CRASH/JFK_JR/jj.php#ixzz4DSfqBAvm
Posted by: Penelope | Jul 4 2016 17:24 utc | 136
follow-up @133
Another trap is to blame ‘capitalism’. IMO the problem is not so much capitalism as concentration of capital. Oligarchs and their crony’s simply have too much power. The solution for this is well known: progressive taxation. Many people seem to have forgotten this because:
> puppet politicians are mum;
> low-tax propaganda is rampant;
> neolib ideology promotes the individualism that undermines/derails understanding/action.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 4 2016 22:38 utc | 137
I want to share another link to support my position that China is moving and shaking behind the scenes and soon to come out of behind the scenes.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2016-07/04/c_135488302_3.htm
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 4 2016 23:55 utc | 138
joshua landis has a few new articles up on his syria comment blog… worth a read..
Posted by: james | Jul 5 2016 0:34 utc | 139
I want to share another link to support my position that China is moving and shaking behind the scenes and soon to come out of behind the scenes.
…
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 4, 2016 7:55:15 PM | 138
No doubt whatsoever. I’ve been watching CCTV almost every day for more than a year. They’ve revamped their military from top to bottom – with an emphasis on Expeditionary Forces (the away team). Xi has been conducting an International Charm Offensive for many months, and EVERY shitty thing the Shitty Little Country does to Palestinians is briefly ventilated. Imo this regular airing of “Israel’s” crimes has played a major role in USA’s increasing reluctance to publicly support and make excuses for “Israel’s” inhumanity.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 5 2016 3:10 utc | 140
john helmers latest…
AUSTRALIAN ARMCHAIR GENERAL WEAPONIZES HIMSELF IN WAR AGAINST RUSSIA
Posted by: james | Jul 5 2016 5:00 utc | 141
I hate to nag about 21st Century Enigma World, but…
Has anyone else noticed that the bunch of Crooks & Liars known as Ratings Agencies who, together with their Bankster Bosom Buddies, helped to manufacture the 2008 sub-prime crisis, are setting us up for a redux by pretending (once more) that they can be trusted?
Leaving aside Justice and other inconsequential trivia, I still want to know why the Ratings Agencies and Banksters weren’t rounded up, bundled into cages, and drowned like rats in 2009?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 5 2016 6:35 utc | 142
in re 137 —
Uh, given the system’s tendency to monopoly and finance capital (see e.g., Lenin’s Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism), that it produces oligarchs would seem to be a problem of capitalism.
Aren’t you supposed to know finance? Oh, I forget, that’s score-keeping for elite, not the real economy. My bad.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 5 2016 11:37 utc | 143
Hoarswhisperer @142
The Obama Administration had their back. The stole from the future. US public debt increased 183% from 2009 to 2016 during what was supposed to be a recovery(!).
Date . . . . . Debt (Trillions) . . . . . Debt/GDP
Oct 2009 . . . $ 7,550 . . . . . . . . . . 52.4%
Apr 2016 . . . $13,841 . . . . . . . . . . 76.2%
Note: the debt would have been grown much more if not for the Sequester which cut military and social spending equally. (Simply a trick to cut social benefits because the Military budget had to be cut anyway due to wind-down after the Iraq War.)
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
It’s been an artificial, debt-financed “recovery”. They kicked the can. They ‘paid off’ the wealthy with QE and the poor with extended unemployment benefits and food stamps.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 5 2016 14:30 utc | 144
142
The Credit Ratings Agencies are a sham. They are used to either prop up friendlies or disparage enemies. The Obama Admin has been a sick joke. No prosecutions. In fact, they were rewarded.
Moody’s and S&P triple A rated all that bogus paper house of cards. Concurrently, they downgraded anybody that bucked them.
They are, like the MSM which promotes their credibility, part of a corrupt and thus-far unstoppable machine.
As if no one had noticed the criminal actions they perpetrated on the world – triple A rating worthless paper and extremely over -leveraged criminal lending institutions.
Posted by: fastfreddy | Jul 5 2016 14:51 utc | 145
FBI Recommends “No Charges” Against Hillary Clinton
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-05/fbi-recommends-no-charges-against-hillary-clinton#comments
Posted by: crone | Jul 5 2016 15:42 utc | 146
146
Obvious collusion btw Deep Gov, Team Clinton, Team Obama, DOJ and FBI. No question about the illegality of Clinton’s email malfeasance.
Posted by: fastfreddy | Jul 5 2016 15:55 utc | 147
145,6;Yes.The fix came in.It was probably inevitable,as the demoncrats have so much invested in the pos hell bitch to abrogate her candidacy.
But,as she is a much weaker opponent for Trump,and is already in the criminal hall of shame,the poo is gonna stick to her like glue.
Sanders was much more formidable.
I see a Trump landslide.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 5 2016 16:00 utc | 148
I live on LI NY and to this day,I have yet to see a HRC supporting bumper sticker.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 5 2016 16:01 utc | 149
800 new homes in the WB.For Israelis of course.
They are the most arrogant scum in the worlds history,supernuts with nukes.
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 5 2016 16:20 utc | 150
csis poster girl tsai ying wen had hardly warmed her seat when the tw navy ‘accidentally ‘ fired a ‘carrier killer’ missile towards china,
argentina navy shot at chinese fishermen right after pro brics kirchener was deposed by
an uncle scam patsy.
i had anticipated tension in tw strait under tsai’s rule but this was fast,
hehehehe
Posted by: denk | Jul 5 2016 16:30 utc | 151
Ratings agencies and other tumours are part of the make believe economy…a fantasy world. Totally separate from the real economy where stock is up on pitchforks. Sooner or later the market will catch up the deceit.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Jul 5 2016 22:42 utc | 152
So I’d guess you’re in King’s or Zeldin’s district then. And not say Israel’s or Meek’s.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 5 2016 23:07 utc | 154
in re the “landslide” at 148
And how is this supposed to work? The indictment all the haters “knew” was coming (ZeroHedge said so!) and would thereby immediately slay the Dragon-Lady of Chappaqua fails to materialize. The big fix that Bill Clinton supposedly arranged, proves to be for naught. The FBI, pretty much as soon as they wrapped the interview with Mrs. Clinton, said, no criminal intent, no evidence of a breach, no crime.
With DOJ unlikely to think differently, the email server — like the Benghazi “investigation” that spawned it — proved much ado about nothing.
Unlike, say, oh, givin’ your hagiographer/mistress boatloads of classified stuff, so you look you good, like Petraeus did. The Army did not prosecute the adulterous affair (though it has other officers), and it left his rank and pension intact. Not like he’ll need it, as he marched off gracefully to join the ranks of the arms industry.
Mrs. Clinton’s long public career offers plenty of solid material for potentially damaging attacks. If you can’t score on that, you’re not likely to get points off of weak tea like this. How are the Rethuglicans going to replace something with nothing? Dealin’ ain’t quite the same as doin’ when it comes to politickin’.
D**khead Donald so far has not congealed the Rethuglicans around him, murmurings still can be heard about somehow dumping him via rules changes. Will his kids give him the needed post-convention bounce? That seems about the only folks speaking at the convention at present.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 6 2016 0:18 utc | 155
Thanks for sharing. I hope it will be helpful for too many people that are searching for this topic.
Posted by: Shilpa Malhotra | Jul 6 2016 9:10 utc | 156
Amid protests, French government uses emergency powers to impose draft labor law
Amid continuing protests against the Socialist Party government’s (PS) reactionary labor law, Prime Minister Manuel Valls again used Article 49-3 of the French constitution yesterday to impose a new draft of the law in the National Assembly without a vote. Just outside the Assembly, riot police kettled a protest by several hundred people on Concorde Bridge.
Three-fourths of the population opposes the law, and workers and youth are ever more drawing the conclusion that it is impossible to negotiate any agreement with the PS. Facing financial pressure due to repeated strike actions, and beginning to shed illusions that the current protests will stop the implementation of the bill, broader layers of workers and youth are increasingly turning away from the regularly-scheduled union protests.
The WSWS spoke to Quentin, a university student, at the protest yesterday in Paris. “Today, I cannot see based on the PS’ actions how it can claim to be a left-wing party,” he said. “I voted for Hollande in 2012 because I did not want either the ultra-free market policies of [right wing President] Nicolas Sarkozy or the authoritarian policies of Marine Le Pen. And then we ended up getting both.”
Quentin added that the Brexit crisis raised both the crisis of EU institutions and the rise of far-right nationalism. “Now the situation in Europe is getting very political, and the struggle against the labor law is a clear example of this,” he said, adding: “We know very well that this is a law that the EU Commission wants to see passed.”
FRexit coming up?
Posted by: jfl | Jul 6 2016 10:23 utc | 157
The political issues posed by the Australian election crisis
A profound disconnect exists between the political establishment, which serves only the interests of a financial and corporate elite, and the majority of the population, whose primary concerns are stagnant or falling wages, insecure employment, deteriorating services and the bleak future facing the younger generation. The lives of ordinary working people are dominated by instability and insecurity, as austerity measures imposed by Labor and Coalition governments since the onset of the global slump in 2008 compound decades of declining living standards.
Sounds just like the USA … British Neolibraconia, North American Neolibraconia, European Neolibraconia, Australian Neolibraconia … same thing all over the AEs.
Voting for the ‘candidates’ pre-selected for us isn’t working out so well. Maybe it’s time to vote outside the box?
Posted by: jfl | Jul 6 2016 10:28 utc | 158
Posted by: jfl | Jul 6, 2016 6:28:53 AM | 158
The write-in meme seems a pointless and unnecessary interim step (of indefinite, but prolonged duration) on the road to emancipation. It overlooks the fact that politicians already feel that the wishes/desires of voters can be SAFELY ignored. Not voting at all is potentially far more powerful and effective because as soon as the ‘didn’t vote’ demographic exceeds the ‘did vote’ demographic then the Established Order has demonstrably broken down. Even in a Mockracy (the West’s preferential but insipid imitation of Democracy) the majority has a right to call the shots and in this context that means the right to field its own preferred candidates.
Please feel free to disagree and/or suggest something one step better…
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 6 2016 21:45 utc | 159
@159 hoarse, “as soon as the ‘didn’t vote’ demographic exceeds the ‘did vote’ demographic then the Established Order has demonstrably broken down”
I agree with you there, certainly, but superficially, since your suggestion results in the same atomized, impotent electorate in which the drop outs are indistinguishable from the inactive participants, whereas the write-in proposal results in a electorate participating in a radically ‘unorthodox’ manner – ‘write-ins’ rather than ‘didn’t votes’ – seeing its actions, rather than its inactions, perfectly enumerated in the mirror and carrying on from there.
The main thrust is to crystallize that radically unorthodox participation, leading to an empowered electorate realizing its size and so its power and then perfecting it, and thus to radicle political change.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 6 2016 23:36 utc | 160
Almost 300 casualties as massive ISIS car bomb devastates Baghdad
Nearly 95 people were killed and 200 wounded in two bombings in Baghdad on Saturday, most of them in a busy shopping area in central Baghdad as residents celebrated Ramadan, police and medical sources said Sunday.
The attack is the deadliest since U.S.-backed Iraqi forces last month scored a major victory when it dislodged Islamic State from their stronghold of Fallujah, an hour’s drive west of the capital.
Tony Blair unrepentant as Chilcot gives crushing Iraq war verdict
“I believe we made the right decision and the world is better and safer,” he [Toney B. Liar] declared
Does he think anyone not on the MIC payroll in Iraq, MENA, Britain, or the world fails to see him for what he is?
Try him and jail him, and then Bush XLIII and Obama XLIV, as well.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 6 2016 23:38 utc | 161
ortega ‘dictator’ has to go !
ellis the murkkan ‘democracy’ warrior,
‘the deportation of the US diplomats is an indication that the «strategy of constructive, respectful engagement with the Nicaraguan regime is not working». Therefore, on the eve of the November elections in Nicaragua, the US administration «has both the right and the moral obligation to work with civil society groups to advance meaningful democracy».
the refusal to allow observers from the US government or the Carter Center to monitor the elections in Nicaragua is an act that «undermines democracy».
the United States must intervene in order to prevent Nicaragua from ultimately degenerating into a «Venezuela-style» authoritarian regime.
these ‘criminal’ Nicaragua leaders need to be continuously monitored by US law enforcement agencies. «Those connected to transnational organized crime, or enriching themselves at the expense of the Nicaraguan people, will not escape justice to live with their ill-gotten gains once they leave office»’
hehehehe
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/07/04/nicaragua-canal-russian-tanks-and-us-spies.html
Posted by: denk | Jul 7 2016 2:19 utc | 162
NATO NOW OWNS FINNISH AIRSPACE — FREE TO ATTACK RUSSIA
A small story in a rural newspaper reveals the latest escalation in NATO’s preparations for war against Russia using Finnish territory. British planes stationed at the Ämari airbase in Estonia will now “weekly” fly in Finnish airspace. In practice this mean that NATO planes are free to attack Russia from Finland — or in NATO speak — “defend Ukraine’s sovereignty”, without asking permission or even informing the Finnish government.
Operation Barbarossa was launched by German bombers from Finnish airspace. The events today mirror those in 1940-41. Nazi German troops expanded their presence in small steps. The parliament nor even most members of the government were never told of the true purpose of their presence. In June 1941 half a million men attacked the Soviet Union from Finnish territory in a coordinated surprise attack. 100,000 of these were German troops, supposedly on “leave”.
As we (me and my friends) have informed our readers before, the NATO troops that invaded Finland this summer in the name of “exercises” were never meant to leave. NATO has a covert tactic. By rotating troops they achieve permanent military presence, while each unit ostensibly is only on a temporary “rotation”. This latest news is just one more step in NATO’s creeping military occupation of Finland.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jul 7 2016 4:39 utc | 163
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jul 7, 2016 12:39:12 AM | 163
I can imagine how threatened Russia does NOT feel as a result of NATO’s pussies & pansies conducting a pointless and pathetic WWII-ish pantomime in Finland. NATO’s friends are about to have their sorry asses kicked out of Syria, by Russia. Drivel like this helps take their collective mind off the fact that this is a much safer option than confronting Russia directly in Syria. If they’re too scared to confront Russia in Syria then the notion that they’d prefer to confront Russia in Russia is VERY hard to swallow…
NATO is a waste of space and money and as fake as Bibi, Bush II and Bliar’s GWOT.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 7 2016 5:27 utc | 164
Winning the Diplomatic War: Russia calls Normandy Four meeting to stop Kiev offensive
The meeting between State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, G.B. Karasin, and his colleagues from the “Normandy Quartet”, i.e., German Ambassador Rüdiger von Fritsch and French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, was summoned to express concern Russia’s concerns over Ukraine’s actions. The official statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said that Ukrainian troops are preparing a military operation and expressed hope that Russia’s German and French partners will be able to use their influence to pressure Kiev and prevent such a war scenario.
Putin calls Obama, cancels region visits amidst Donbass escalation
On July 6th, two alarming events took place which leave one worrying about the fate of Donbass.
The first event was a meeting held between the State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Grigory Kasarin, and the German ambassador Rüdiger von Fritsch and French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert in which Russia’s concern over Ukraine’s actions was expressed. The official report of the Foreign Ministry published after the meeting noted the activation of Ukrainian armed forces and so-called volunteer battalions in Donbass. Such military activity was also recorded by observers from the OSCE mission. The conclusion drawn by Russian diplomats: “We are faced with the symptoms of a military operation being prepared by the Ukrainian military.”
The second event was the telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama on the evening of July 6th. Among the topics discussed were the situation in Donbass. As the report published on the Kremlin’s website says, “The President of Russia reiterated the importance of Kiev strictly complying with the Minsk Agreements” and stated the necessity of “a full implementation of the agreement on withdrawing the conflicting parties’ heavy weapons and intelligence units.”
Ukrainian forces have been shelling Donbass for weeks. They’ve never really stopped. The folks in the USA might not know that, but that is the case.
These two articles by Edward Popov make the case for Russia’s having built up a case of having warned Ukraine’s enablers that Ukraine has already gone over the top, and that Ukraine looks to be contemplating even more foolish moves, in an effort to preemptively put the blame for any upcoming engagement where it belongs beforehand.
I wonder if France and Germany will tell Ukraine to go for it. I imagine the USA will. I imagine Hillary has another 50 dancing diplomats in the State Department who already have.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 7 2016 8:16 utc | 165
@158, 159, 160
You can see similar misuse of Austerity in a good few western capitalist democracies. More so in the UK than down under in my opinion. And where democracy is failing, as it obviously is, people begin to to voice their opinion in other wats – sometimes bizarre, sometimes creative.
Some good news in my opinion, is in the way, it appears, that Australians has been successful in organising the general population in such a fashion to influence political outcome. Donation campaigns not unlike obomo and Bernies efforts in running for Potus, but aimed squarely at winnable, localised issues. Whether you are for or against the crew at GetUp, they have ruffled a few feathers of the status quo by efficient use of social media and the only language the chosen few ‘doing gods work’ understand – money. One million donators…the market rules eventually.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Jul 7 2016 10:48 utc | 166
Posted by: jfl | Jul 7, 2016 4:16:44 AM | 165
Georgia was a far more serious situation than Ukraine. I’d bet a few thousand bucks that the Yankees/NATO will stay true to form and, if Russia rears its ‘ugly’ head over Donbass, will toss Ukraine in front of the same bus Georgia was tossed under … by Sakashvili’s Fair Weather Friends.
I know ppl think I’m kidding but the Yankees CAN NOT AFFORD to put their Superpower Myth at risk. All we’re ever going to see when the Yankees are faced with an opponent which can retaliate very effectively, is Creative Paralysis and more bluster and whining than usual…
They’re exactly the same as the gutless “Israelis” – if they can’t sneak up behind you and shoot you in the back, or kill your kids while you’re not watching, they don’t want to fight.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 7 2016 13:44 utc | 167
iraq, its all blair’s fault.
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/chilcot-the-worst-kind-of-whitewash/18537#.V35uaBJK8bX
Posted by: denk | Jul 7 2016 15:34 utc | 168
People Above Politics: Political Deal will not Hamper the Turkish-Palestinian Bond
Gazans are emotionally exhausted after ten years of siege, dotted by devastating wars and the lack of any political horizon. Aside from their resistance, undying faith and legendary steadfastness, Palestinians in Gaza have looked up with much hope and anticipation to a few friends. One was Turkey.
The little known fact is that the rift hardly affected trade between both countries. “Though political relations had hit rock bottom, both Turkey and Israel knew business must go on,” Turkey’s TRT World recently reported.
“Business and politics were separated by a Chinese-Wall like efficiency. Trade not only continued, but expanded by 26% compared to 2010.”
Moreover, 2013 and 2014 were one of the busiest years for Turkish Airlines carrying passengers between Turkey and Israel and, in 2015, trade between both countries had risen to $5.6 billion, according to Turkish Statistics Institute, cited in TRT.
If Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, felt the need to re-evaluate his political course as a result of whichever political calculation he found urgent and reasonable, what sin did Gazans commit to be disowned in such a fashion?
It is a “stab in the back”, Gaza Professor Haidar Eid wrote. It is a “cheap manipulation of the Palestinian cause,” complained Gaza journalist, Ghada Albardawil. While others tried to maintain conciliatory language, the disappointment in Gaza – in fact, among most Palestinians – is unmistakable.
it is still incumbent on Turkey, as it is on every other country in the world, not to do business with a government accused of war crimes, including that of Crime of Apartheid, in addition to its continued violations of international and humanitarian law.
With Israel illegally occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and imposing a deadly siege on Gaza, what moral justifications can the Turkish government provide to justify its normalization of ties with Israel?
Indeed, what moral justification is there for any person or country to justify its ‘business as usual’ dealings with genocidal Israel?
But the title of the piece seems to fly in the face of reality. Everyone, not least the Turks and the Russians, seem to have utterly forsaken the Palestinians. The lights are going out in Palestine. Too bad. So sad. Another genocide accomplished.
I know the Palestinians will fight on to the end. But they will receive no help form their ‘friends’ in the Arab world – who are all Israel’s friends now – or from the world at large. First they came for the Palestinians – in 1948 – but I wasn’t a Palestinian, so I didn’t stand up …
Posted by: jfl | Jul 7 2016 21:01 utc | 169
@167, hoarse ‘the Yankees/NATO will stay true to form and, if Russia rears its ‘ugly’ head over Donbass, will toss Ukraine in front of the same bus Georgia was tossed under’
Russia will never start an engagement in Donbass. The question seems to me to be will Ukrainian forces attack Donbass in force, or will Ukraine’s ‘friends’ in the EU and US restrain them? I agree with you that, should the Ukrainians attack, again, that they will be repulsed again, and perhaps this time destroyed … and that NATO/EU/US will do nothing … well they’ll continue fomenting more terrorism in Ukraine and elsewhere, but they will not confront Russia directly.
It seems to me that the EU/NATO would be better served not to have the Ukrainian Wehrmacht, such as it is, destroyed. They were the ones who incited and encouraged all this death, devastation, and destruction after all. To see it all go up in smoke, to have been an adventure of theirs – a flyer – at others’ expense cannot be in their ‘interest’. So perhaps the EU will at least make clear to Porky Poroshenko that there will be no help forthcoming should he reengage on a ‘grand’ scale? And that might keep Porky from pursuing the war? If he still has any control over events in Ukraine? The US – that’s NATO, really – doesn’t care about the consequences of its actions for others – for ‘others’ meaning all those ‘members’ of NATO other than the US – so I would imagine they would encourage Porky to go for it – at least the so-called State Department will – and then pick up the pieces of western Ukraine when the price is finally ‘right’.
If Russia is forced to push the Ukrainians out of Donbass they will certainly have renewed their bona fides there, and perhaps regained respect in the EU as well. NATO will be seen as a ‘paper tiger’. A very expensive one. Good only for starting wars it can’t/won’t finish. Might create an excellent occasion for China to demonstrate its displeasure at the US’ ever bolder maritime ‘adventures’ in the South China Sea as well.
Looks like I’ve come round to your point a couple of hundred words later. Is this what seems likely to happen? Is this what Russia is trying to open up the EU’s eyes to? Or do I have it all wrong?
Posted by: jfl | Jul 7 2016 21:38 utc | 170
Don’t be dissin’ the very capable Wehrmacht by mentioning it in the same breath as the lash-up of demoralized conscripts, mercenary thugs, and brutal fascist militias that are the Armed Forces of the Ukraine. “Glory to the Heroes.” Author Yurasumy sees it as incapable of offensive operations.
The junta’s army has disintegrated and is no longer capable of fighting. Mobilizing new contingents for military service is pointless. The patriotic frenzy has long since been gone….
The poverty of its citizens has made the option of a contract army not so burdensome for Kiev, and the flow of “volunteers” is sufficient for the establishment of its major parts….
However, there is still one thing which will determine the logic of the conflict’s development. A mercenary army is incapable of fighting against an equal opponent and most importantly it is incapable of bearing losses. Mercenaries come to make money, not die for a homeland….
Attempts to reclaim Donbass by force have finally failed.
Kerry is in Kiev now, saying nice things to Poroshenko and his peeps.
And I begin with that thought because there is a deep connection between the ideals celebrated in the United States on July 4th and the goals that Ukrainians have displayed so clearly that they share with us….
Two and a half years ago, thousands of Ukrainians took to Maidan Square in an historic moment of a demand for a sovereign and democratic country that they wanted and deserve…. [Yes, one that screams “Death to the Moskals!”]
To be crystal clear: Ukraine is making a good-faith effort to implement Minsk, no doubt in my mind about that.
Here’s what Poroshenko had to say on the Donbas, Crimea and their expectations for the West.
We dedicated special attention to the problems of counteraction of Russian aggression and the situation in the Donbas. And of course, we both understand that Russia and the militants supported by it have the exclusive – they are exclusively responsible for the failure to observe Minsk agreements. And we believe that Minsk agreements are the roadmap for stability in the Donbas….
Ukraine expects that the Great Five and the Ukraine-NATO format will enable us to coordinate further, further forcing the Russian Federation to de-occupy the Crimea and the occupied territories in the east of Ukraine.
What I’d guess — either an attempted provocation, which Moscow is volleying back diplomatically, but more likely, and ongoing campaign to harass Novorossiya, while leaving the false impression that the Novorossiya and the Russian Federation are the guilty parties.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 8 2016 0:31 utc | 171
Gene Sharp (or a US Ambassador) comes to Dallas …
5 cops dead, 7 wounded by sniper(s) during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. Enigma World’s most infamous extra-judicial murderer, Obama, condemns extra-judicial murder (from a safe distance, with stand-off weapons) without blushing.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 8 2016 15:58 utc | 172
Obama urges NATO to stand firm against Russia despite Brexit
WARSAW | By Wiktor Szary and Gabriela Baczynska
U.S. President Barack Obama urged NATO leaders on Friday to stand firm against a resurgent Russia over its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and said Britain’s vote to leave the European Union should not weaken the Western defense alliance.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-summit-idUSKCN0ZN2NL
Posted by: okie farmer | Jul 8 2016 16:57 utc | 173
Muslims Will Be Fined for Wearing a Burka in Switzerland
Police in Ticino ticketed two Muslim rights activists, Nora Illi, a Muslim convert, and Rachid Nekkaz, a French-Algerian businessman, US$10,000 and US$204 respectively for wearing their burkas in public. In a 2013 referendum in Ticino, an Italian-speaking region in the south of Switzerland, voters approved a fine of up to US$10,000 for wearing the traditional Muslim veil.
“As school holidays in Saudi Arabia are coming up, the embassy reminds all honorable citizens of the necessity to respect and conform to Swiss rules and regulations in order avoid all problems.”
I guess Muslims are not honorable citizens in Switzerland. Are Catholic nuns allowed to wear veils? Is there a strong xenophobic, fascist streak in Switzerland? Apparently there is, this law was enacted by the Swiss people themselves.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 8 2016 22:47 utc | 174
in re 174
Habits are not veils, they do not cover the face.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 8 2016 23:32 utc | 175
Why Francois Hollande spoke up at NATO summit
“NATO has no role at all to be saying what Europe’s relations with Russia should be. For France, Russia is not an adversary, not a threat,” these words by French President Francois Hollande as he landed in Warsaw to attend the alliance’s summit meeting on July 8-9 bring home the undercurrents in European politics following Brexit.
link to M K Bhadrakumar’s commentary here..
Posted by: james | Jul 9 2016 2:03 utc | 176
In addition to the socio-economic stresses I note at 171, there are a number of political events which suggest the Ukrainian policy toward Novorossiya is in actuality rather as Poroshenko states it. The Banderaists want the West and Nato to “force” the Russian Federation to give back the Crimea and abandon the Russian population of the Donbas. Ain’t gonna happen.
So why persist in the policy? Here’s a clear case where the ongoing, low-level hostilities that Kiev is all-too-willing to provide facilitate Nato policy towards the region. More members, more troops, who need more stuff. It helps bring the Ukraine into Nato.
The state of war has had obvious benefits for the various extremist elements amongst the militias and political parties. But there are recent events that suggest the Banderaists’ ability to wage limited war is not infinite. People will resist.
Assertions of regional autonomy are one way of evading the demands of Kiev. I believe I noted earlier Kiev’s grant of autonomy to the Crimean Tatars (like the Banderaists, collaborators with the fascists in the Great Patriot War), and contrasted that with their resistance to anything remotely like real autonomy for the Donbas. As one would expect, others are chiming in, what, no autonomy for us? Romanians and Bulgarians, particularly.
Areas on the front lines take a more direct approach. Toretsk, the town formerly known as Dzerzhynsk, was the scene of a demonstration which blocked the movement of a UAF detachment.
Fort Russ offers an analysis of the event, in the broader context of the current political situation, The “Toretsk Uprising”: A Nail in the Coffin of “United Ukraine”. Author Eduard Popov states that “The first and main conclusion to be drawn is that the population of Donbass hates the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian occupational troops.”
Other noteworthy observation is that Kiev is all stick and no carrot in its clumsy efforts to obtain forcibly the loyalty of the Donbas. The cabinet and Rada do not comprehend the reality of the opposition in the Donbas to their parochial vision. “Thus, instead of searching for the deep reasons (or even scratching the surface) for mass and total hatred for the Kiev regime on the part of the local population of Donbass, the few supporters of the Kiev regime call for resorting to mass repression.”
Popov also holds that the people of the Ukraine cannot throw of the Banderaists on their own; they need the help of the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics; this has been the line at Fort Russ for a bit, I think. He also points to the recent demands for Romanian and Bulgarian autonomy.
He concludes thusly:
For me there is no doubt that Ukraine has forever lost Donbass – not only the current territories of the DPR and LPR, but all of Donbass. The events in Toretsk do not mean the preparation of a Russian uprising in Donbass, but they do speak to something even worse for the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian idea: the fact that the absolute disparity of forces and the inevitability of brutal repression by the SBU has not stopped the city’s residents from protesting. Ukraine has two choices: either destroy all “separatists” (the entire population of Donbass) or forever leave Donbass. We can see a combination of both options in the future. But in the end, Ukraine will be simply kicked out of Donbass no matter what.
So it seems to me that Kiev would be ill-advised to seriously restart the fighting. The Normandy group will now doubt put the horse back in the barn.
Personal circumstances have put me in a generous mood. So let me note my sadness at New Cold War joining the cargo cult of a Green Presidential victory. They reprint the prescription the good Doctor wrote for CounterPunch as well.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 9 2016 2:23 utc | 177
three nobel prize candidates that the nobel committee never heard of,
an antiwar activist who has been arrested and jailed 60 times ,
a puerto rican separatist who has been in jail 34 yrs, [1]
the guinea’s hunger strike record holder, forced fed since 2000.
http://theviewspaper.net/iromsharmila-manipurs-iron-lady/
http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/07/oscar-lopez-rivera-puerto-rican-political-prisoner/
http://sainthoward.blogspot.sg/2014_12_01_archive.html
Posted by: denk | Jul 9 2016 3:21 utc | 178
correction link,
http://sainthoward.blogspot.com/2014_12_01_archive.html
Posted by: denk | Jul 9 2016 3:24 utc | 179
another demolition job by the ‘wrecker’ !
before
uncle scam played its nk bogeman to the max…
after…..
washington just rammed thaad down sk’s throat. !!
is somebody gloating here?
soon ass carter will tell us how china is ‘isolating itself’,
hehehehe
p.s.
once again, the sane voice is marginalised to the fringe.
Posted by: denk | Jul 10 2016 4:34 utc | 180
prez duterte
*the U.S. imported terrorism to the Middle East, and not the other way around.*
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-07/09/c_135500521.htm
Posted by: denk | Jul 11 2016 16:50 utc | 181
There is not a more current open thread and so I will post this link here: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-07/12/c_135505547.htm
This is a Chinese interview with the Foreign Policy chief of the EU and this is the last sentence of the interview article:
”
According to Mogherini, a more cooperative global order calls for all global players to respect international law and to manage globalization together. “It also calls for reform of current institutions and rules. Our Union is ready to step up its engagement with China on this,” she said.
”
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 12 2016 5:29 utc | 182
NH Union Leader: Sanders Sells Out
Sanders’ righteous indignation against the 1 percent was little more than wind…
I think they have it wrong. Sanders “sold out” long before today.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 12 2016 11:21 utc | 183
Bernie Sanders joins Hillary Clinton’s rally (WATCH LIVE) .Published time: 12 Jul, 2016 15:22. Edited time: 12 Jul, 2016 15:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEgbgqwPPRk#t=3406
I was right Bernie is a liar and no different from any democrats, a warmonger and the endless wars continue. Amen.
Posted by: Jack Smith | Jul 12 2016 15:49 utc | 184
Jack Smith @184
Bernie is no ordinary liar. The ‘service’ he performed for the Democratic Party was to act as ‘controlled opposition’/sheepdog. That kind of lie as insidious as it is calculating and collusive.
Bernie calls his fake movement a ‘revolution’ but it has really only been leading his followers into the ‘lesser-evil’ trap.
The Clinton-Obama “Third Way” Democratic Party is the false friend that stabs you in the back.
Vote Green Party.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 12 2016 16:56 utc | 185
in re 185 –
“No soup for you!”
You don’t rate short-term improvement in the here-and-now, you sold-out suck ups. What, you can’t take another twenty years of neo-liberalism, you wusses? Purity of Essence must be maintained ’til the Immaculate Conception of the Green Revolution!
Patronizing abuse is surely the best way to win the masses!
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 12 2016 22:34 utc | 186
“No soup for you!”
Apologists had been spouting Lesser of two evils for more than twenty years and another twenty years till everyone bleeds dry? Alternately, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?
I an’t buying your snake-oil and I’m voting against ppl like you. Try me in real life if I’m some “wusses” so to speak!
Posted by: Jack Smith | Jul 12 2016 23:46 utc | 187
@Jackrabbit
Bernie is no ordinary liar. He’s another Dennis Kucinich sold out on single-payer healthcare.
Excuse me….. Fuck the Dem.!!
“Vote Green Party” YES, vote Green but I’m voting against any Dem. – Black, Tan, Blue, Yellow,
Red any colors and genders. Period!
Posted by: Jack Smith | Jul 12 2016 23:57 utc | 188
@187
Those who put lipstick on pigs forget how offensive the smell is to the rest of us.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 13 2016 0:02 utc | 189
Don’t give a damn how the pigs smell but those who put lipstick on pigs smell even worst and I an’t joking!
…….where is that corpse Tom Murphy?
Posted by: Jack Smith | Jul 13 2016 1:09 utc | 190
in re 189 —
Is that the vaunted “MofA values” again? Too bad about the Greens; Sanders did not gift them his candidacy, so their dreary petty-bourgeois moralism has no hope in November.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 13 2016 1:31 utc | 191
As I have for decades, I’ll be voting for the Reds again. I believe the Socialist Party is on the ballot here in the Garden State. My old favorites, the SWP, seem to be ratcheting down.
But I will not begrudge my fellow proles the hope of some short term amelioration, which if it happens will be due to the pressure of the Sandersistas. Keep doggin’ ’em, comrade!
Especially since Instant Revolution, unlike Instant Karma, is not going to get you anytime soon.
And it would be idiocy to think that electing Trump would result in any real improvement. “Blowing the system up,” as I believe the sentiment expressed for the D**khead Donald, would only strengthen capital’s grip. Given his means of summoning them, the forces he would unleash would rebound to the benefit of the Tea Party faction of the Rethuglicans.
USW President Leo Gerard on Alternet argues that in Trump The 1 percent have their own personal presidential candidate.
Trump’s tax plan, his refusal to raise the minimum wage, his insistence that American workers make too much money, his anti-union stances, all endear him to his fellow 1 percenters. With pledges like these, Trump plans to guarantee that he, and his billionaire buddies, can continue taking too much….
He’s made no secret of his disdain for the plight of the poor and working people. He said he would not raise the minimum wage. That is $7.25 an hour, an amount so wretched it’s impossible for a worker to survive on.
So that’s no increase, versus a doubling of the Federal minimum wage, for all you class-conscious proles following along at home. So clearly, no exploitable difference between the factions of finance capital….
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 13 2016 2:10 utc | 192
surprise, surprise, hague kangaroo court rules in favor of murkkan stooge ph,
farce of the century,
criminal holding court in the scs….!
in nuremburg trial,
chief American prosecutor, Robert Jackson
* the tribunals would certainly be a farce if the United States failed to apply the Nuremberg standards to itself in the future. *
Posted by: denk | Jul 13 2016 3:28 utc | 193
atimes mod real on the ball,
my comment was deleted less than 2 min after posting, hehehhe
Posted by: denk | Jul 13 2016 3:42 utc | 194
Red or Socialist is no different from Sanders they’re still Neoliberal or Dem.
If what you said about Trump are true or worst, I’m all for Trump. This election.
cycle is different for me and many voters out there. We are not voting for but
against the Dem. Time for pitchfork!
Posted by: Jack Smith | Jul 13 2016 5:54 utc | 195
in 195 —
LOL! Expropriating the bankers is just like them running amuck? YOu’re even less informed than Jack Rabid about socialist politics, I didn’t think it possible.
All in for reaction then, now nice for you.
Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 13 2016 11:09 utc | 196
Michael Hudson provides a compact summary of the history of debt and in reviewing a ‘travesty’ of a history of finance.
[T]he practices of Bronze Age Mesopotamia and its neighbors controvert the most basic assumptions of today’s free market orthodoxy, above all its denigration of public enterprise and opposition to government money creation (leaving this as a private bank monopoly), and its refusal to acknowledge logic justifying debt writedowns.
I hope Hudson’s conclusion, based on his empirical study of economics, is reaching others as well.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 16 2016 3:27 utc | 197
US releases Saudi documents: 9/11 coverup exposed
If such whitewashes are required, it is because elements within the US government were aware that Al Qaeda was preparing an operation on US soil, turned a blind eye to it and even facilitated it because they knew it could be used as a pretext to carry out longstanding plans for aggressive war in the Middle East.
The release of even the limited material on the Saudi-US-9/11 connection is a devastating exposure of the criminals in the US government, from George W. Bush on down, and the lies they employed to engineer wars that have devastated the lives of millions.
That seems to be the unavoidable conclusion to be drawn from the 28 pages, and certainly overshadows the already known involvement of the Saudis,
Posted by: jfl | Jul 16 2016 9:07 utc | 198
A certain kind of ivory tower Marxist, who has no inclination or idea of how to find comrades in other political movements, (with Greens for instance) is especially useless and tedious. Utopians, whose socialism has not been informed by suffering, and difficult experiences, certainly have no business hurling charges of “petty-bourgeois” at anyone.
The person in question believes, no doubt, that he is a cut above establishment liberals like Eric Alterman, who write for The Nation. The problem consists in the glaring lies of omission which permeate this kind of discourse. The petulant academic, whose posts appear on this thread, is constantly seen fleeing the interview, and turtling-up, whenever he is exposed to certain kinds of criticism. And tossing out plenty of insults of his own. I am sorry if I exposed him to invective; I probably lost my composure. The difficulty I find in his writing about Trump and Clinton, is that he is endlessly rounding on Trump, with specificity, while only disparaging Hillary Clinton in the vaguest of terms. I say this is intellectually dishonest, and a half-baked kind of analysis.
The lies of omission are not only the most powerful form of lying, but perhaps the most destructive ones, as well. Horrible traits to be described in Trump have their parallel in Clinton. To whom are we delivering the fate and future of our country, if we cast our vote for either of these two? Which of them has the more occult qualities?–the more fastidiously hidden history?–as far as the general public is concerned?
in sk…
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2016/07/citizens-revolt-in-south-korea.html#links
Posted by: denk | Jul 16 2016 15:30 utc | 200