@ Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 31, 2017 12:11:33 AM | 102
Yes, read the link at 88.
Have you read and compared the actual EO’s yourself, link was provided re ‘Full Text’ in 81 ?
Have you read the further in-depth & detailed (though slanted/partisan) reporting/analysis of the EO in the links provided at 97 ?
Spicer as a mere spokesman, not a principal, ‘said‘. Where is the amendment to the EO ?
DNI & CJCS no longer have automatic seats, period. That was not the practice ever since 9/11 …
Re Meyssan, merely quoted for convenience primarily to provide an accessible english translation of a previous posters link (In French).

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 5:31 utc | 104

Psycho @ 74: Thanks for the link. “Birds of a feather flock together” eh?
Another indicator of where we’re headed.
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/08/house-gop-bucks-donald-trump-scrap-legislation-to-buy-american-iron-and-steel/
Still waiting for all the pro-worker bills that will be coming from Mr. Trump & the GOP.

Posted by: ben | Jan 31 2017 6:09 utc | 106

@99 fl
what a team. tee-rump deftly takes the heat off himself for banning the ‘wrong’ muslims, rt deftly puts tee-rump and greenwald together on the ‘right side’ and, of course, jmcc and lg on the wrong side … and pushes its own anti-islamic terror line.
… but never forget, it’s what they do, not what they say … all of ’em. and the only one of this bunch who, potentially, can do anything at all is the tee-rump himself. and why should he do anything, when his words are taken as tangible in and of themselves.

Posted by: jfl | Jan 31 2017 6:20 utc | 108

@ Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 31, 2017 1:08:25 AM | 107
@ Posted by: jfl | Jan 31, 2017 1:35:44 AM | 111
Though have … issues … with PL, suggest you review his SST post and followup/clarifying comments … it is a change since 9/11, period.
The National Security Advisor(NSA)(Flynn) chairs the principals & invites, or doesn’t the DNI & CJCS, as he sees fit, under the new EO.
This is especially so where the President, Trump, chooses not to attend and delegates full authority to the NSA … with Trump, highly likely to be a not uncommon occurrence, IMV.
Furthermore, Flynn, when he was Director DIA worked to covertly oppose Obama and the CIA re Syrian/Iraq proxy head-choppers … it was why Obama dismissively removed him ~2 years ago … now he chairs the NSC. Flynn will have little use of an unreformed CIA, elements of the Intel community/Agencies overseen by a bureaucratic figurehead ODNI nor serving politicized/suborned Generals he knows, by name … little use indeed.
Context & detail, matters. This is no trivial change re the last 16 years and prior, especially given Flynn and also Bannon. Yet another, ‘indicator’.
Do you recall the DIA Intelligence analysis of the dangers of a potential ISIS caliphate and consequences of overthrowing Assad ?

Robert Gates didn’t seem too concerned about adding folks like Steve Bannon but was highly concerned about omitting DNI & CJCS. Having worked for 8 presidents it’s difficult to ignore his opinions.

One thinks it’s a good idea in opposition to Gates, re demotion/omitting, no longer ‘automatic’, yet Gates confirms the ‘point’.
Please keep in mind that the MSM plays the Trump-faction and it’s Spicer’s job/role to ‘play’/’deflect’ the MSM in turn, yet at the end of the day, Spicer is merely a spokesman, not a principal nor an authority.
The wider context re the subtle change is important re relevance, IMHO.
Out! Must chase sleep … 😉
Peace.Salaam.Shalom.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 6:57 utc | 110

@ ben and @psychohistorian 114
“Still waiting for all the pro-worker bills that will be coming from Mr. Trump & the GOP.” Stopping the TPP is hugely pro-worker.
Beyond that, he seems intent on running a large deficit to keep promises to rebuild the infrastructure and grow the military. (I recall Trump NOT being a deficit hawk on the campaign trail.) Lots and lots of relatively high-paying manufacturing and construction jobs in infrastructure and military manufacturing, and the huge deficit generally creating a major consumption boom and economic recovery. Similar to Reagan’s military Keynesianism of the early 1980s.
psychohistorian:
“when he defaults on US debt” This is dumb. Why default on debt when you can simply pay it off by creating money, since you own the printing press?
“because China starts dumping theirs” Why would China ‘dump their’ US dollars, which would greatly raise the value of their currency relative to the dollar, making their goods far less competitive in the U.S. consumer market?
And yes, that deficit-generated economic boom I mentioned above will greatly benefit China too, since that’s where Americans buy much of their consumer goods. And continued strong economic growth IS what matters most to China. With access to that the leverage, my bet is China would be ready to negotiate, even on the South China Sea around the edges.
On the other hand, if Trump is not allowed to deficit-finance his way to economic good times (that’s the real show)… then he has little to negotiate with vis a vis China or the deep state in the U.S.; his economic plans will end in disaster, and much else could go to hell …

Posted by: fairleft | Jan 31 2017 7:47 utc | 112

@56 Jackrabbit are you really trying to dispute if Trump is an uber-Zionist?! You ask, ” If so, then why do so many Israelis and Jews hate Trump with such passion?”
Listen, there maybe some Israelis and Jews who hate Trump but for what reason? WHY do those alleged “many Israelis and Jews hate Trump” hate Trump? If those alleged haters are Zionists then they probably hate him for some other reason other than the issue of Zionism! You are insinuating the alleged hate is because Trump isn’t Zionist enough for them?! Is that what you are seriously trying to sell here? That’s what your comment is attempting to do! Why? Why would you try to sell something so dishonest?

Posted by: Tom Murphy | Jan 31 2017 9:36 utc | 114

Trump: (ZH@trump-roll-fires-director-immigration-and-customs-enforcement)
“I am confident that he [Homan] will continue to serve as a strong, effective leader for the men and women of ICE.”
What! Snowflake meltdown…!
He didn’t refer to the other 999 shades of gay-lesbian identity politics BS!
Needs impeaching for sure.
So, I guess they remain leaderless and Trump really is just not their president and commander-in-chief after all.

Posted by: x | Jan 31 2017 10:10 utc | 116

Senior Chinese military official warns of rising danger of war
“The CCP regime, which represents the interests of an ultra-rich oligarchy, seeks to manoeuvre for a deal with US imperialism, on the one hand, while engaging in an arms race and preparing for war, on the other.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/31/chin-j31.html

Posted by: Robert Beal | Jan 31 2017 12:39 utc | 118

NemesisCalling@86
“Respectfully, I believe it is a kind of fallacy, whether of Latin/Greek origin or not, where a leader is condemned for the crime of a follower. The same narrative was being spun when the msm finally felt their grip on the public loosening with the rise of Trump and his alleged association with David Duke and supremacists.”
Go back and see the comments made by Mr. Tudjman. He was *WAY* worse then Milosevic, yet Milosevic was charged (then exonerated). What Tudjman did in Bosnia, in concert with Islamists there, or his complicity in Srebenica,, was inexcusable.
The position is sensible, but never forget, look at how banking structures work. Or the mafia.
“You should pay more attention to the msm and their divisive half-truths which have incited more violence than anything from the tea party and les deplorables. One nut job and it’s: “Trump is tearing the fabric apart!” *cue Chuck Schumer/Meryl Streep tears.”
I literally pay no attention to the MSM and it’s pretty clear the Tea Party and now Trump supporters pay no attention to the MSM either. The problem with them is they’ve latched on to fake stories of their own and now the 2017 version of the Tea Party (on the left) is latching onto fake news stories of their very own. The beauty of it all is that neither side can see they are mirror reflections of the other now. This is why I refer to it now as Balkanization.

Posted by: P Walker | Jan 31 2017 13:16 utc | 120

Re: What Trump actually knows about 911 and how that might impact on his presidency if he reveals the truth to Americans and the world.
I had not seen the videos with Trump speaking at the site of the ex twin towers until today.(aside from the question of whatever happened to building 7 meaning two planes that down three building and gutting many others).
Of course as a builder himself he knows a plane can’t cut thru structural steel. As a carpenter I’ve worked in the construction of concrete and steel buildings and behind a blast furnace that forged steal railway track spikes. I’ve also worked as material handler on constructing passenger airliner wings for Douglas Aircraft. From practical experience working hands on with real materials I can tell you with certainty that they are all as different as stone, scissors and paper. In fact an aircraft is akin to a paper plane constructed with a thin sheets of riveted together aluminum wrapped over a supper-light wieght frame made of the same. Have seen videos of utility trucks accidentally driving right thru the belly of a huge airliner sitting on the tarmac with not so much as hardly a dent or the vehicular loosing any spread, while the aircraft skin and frame is structurally torn apart and shattered into pieces like it was blimp or made of paper mache. Also seen crash tests wherein telephone poles slice straight thru wings like butter and a test airliner flown straight into a concrete wall and which totally disintegrate into practically nothing. Trumps right, that the twin towers were built like an iron cage fortress, designed to withstand hurricanes and airliner crashes. Had an actual airliner really hit them, they would have like an aluminum pop can just have crumpled up and disintegrated on impact with 98% of the planes materials falling in little pieces straight down to the ground, and not cut a (road runner cartoon like) big gaping hole, extending out both sides to the wing tips. It’s physically an impossible scenario and any aircraft engineer will tell you that. Leaving only one option left, it could only have been a projected hologram that hit those buildings with already planted explosives timed to rip open the heavy steel frame as many have speculated. Now with regard to the buildings collapsing into themselves at free fall speed, that’s another physical impossibility for a thousand different reason besides the fact that burning jet fuel is not hot enough to turn thirty inch steel columns into twisted pretzels as was found in the demolished wreckage. Now with all due respect to the some thousand architects and engineers that say it was a controlled demolition that leveled the buildings, I believe they are essentially correct, excepting insofar as that they try and explain it all by commonly known methods of planted explosives taking out the structural columns and thus collapsing the buildings as in any ordinary demolition job done everyday. However the buildings did not just collapse, they literally disintegrated and turned into clouds of fine dust that could be seen from space and drifted away, leaving hardly any rubble left on the ground and not one piece of fixture or furniture bigger than half a telephone numbers pad. When in fact a mountain of rubble debris should have been left behind. While small fragments of dust and pieces of human bones where found on top of the roof tops of surrounding building. And while cars many blocks away were flipped upside down on top of each other with melted engine blocks. Something happened that day on 911 that defies all known physical phenomena. See material physicist Judy Wood, for yourself, that wrote the book “Where did the buildings go?, videos on You Tube, if your curious and have an open mind. Meanwhile I digress, if Trumps knows anything about ‘who done it'(and it suely wasn’t some bearded old man sitting deep in a cave in Afghanistan with a laptop and 19 mostly Saudi hijackers with box cutters) then he will surely be terminated the moment he opens his mouth about it. So I’m not holding my breath waiting on that one.

Posted by: RayB | Jan 31 2017 14:18 utc | 122

@ Posted by: Mina | Jan 31, 2017 7:33:31 AM | 120
Thank you for the link.
However, it is very probable that the UK press is purposely misreporting the specifics of the event(A conflict of interest re profiting from War Crimes?). The claim that the ship was attacked by three suicide boats, with one exploding against the stern of the ship does not bear scrutiny. The Saudi-coaliton released a statement to the above re ‘suicide boats’ and that has been breathlessly stenographed by the typical MSM.
The video footage does show at least the filmed perspective of two small boats from the port & starboard stern quarters of the Saudi Frigate. There is nothing in the video showing any boat approaching the Frigate nor any defensive fire by the Frigate against an approaching boat which would be readily detected upon an approach, nor any defensive maneuvers by the Frigate.
The Saudi Al-Madinah class Frigate is a light missile Frigate with a design role of anti-ship, light Air Defense & Anti Submarine Warfare. It has virtually nil capability to defend against Anti-Ship cruise missiles nor likely even successfully detect them until the very last moments prior to impact.
The Houthis showed the footage on Al Masira channel contradicted the ‘coalition’ account.

Army forces backed by Ansarullah resistance movement claimed firing a guided missile at al-Madinah warship in waters near the port city of Hudaydah, located 150 kilometers southwest of the capital Sanaa, al-Masirah television network quoted an unnamed military source as saying.
The warship had reportedly mounted missile attacks against Yemen’s western coasts, cities and fishermen.
The video provided by Yemeni army points to the enormity of the explosion and subsequent fire on the deck of the Saudi vessel.

They have done this more than once before.
The Saudi-led coalition said the attack on the ship was a serious development that “would impact international navigation and the flow of humanitarian assistance to the port for Yemeni citizens..”

An Al Madinah-class light missile frigate of the Saudi Arabian Navy was targeted by an anti-ship missile fired by the Houthis off the coast of Yemen. – (Defense Watch)
This is not the first time Houthis target ships by anti-ship missiles, the Saudi-led coalition confirmed that the United Arab Emirates’ high-speed logistics vessel, Swift, was hit off Yemen early on 1 October by a Chinese-built C-802 anti-ship missile.

C-802 anti-ship missile
Due to the Yingji-82 missile’s small radar reflectivity, low attack flight path (only five to seven meters above the sea surface) and strong anti-jamming capability of its guidance system, target ships have a very small chance of intercepting the missile(Or detecting). The single shot hit probability of the Yingji-82 is unknown, though one unreferenced source claims it to be as high as 98%.
…
News reports indicate that this was the missile used[22] on July 14, 2006, in the 2006 Lebanon War when Hezbollah fired two at Israeli warships.[23][24] One missile hit the corvette INS Hanit, causing significant damage and four fatalities.[25] Iran, the reported supplier of the missile to Hezbollah, refused to formally confirm or deny the claim. The Hanit suffered severe damage, but stayed afloat, got itself out of the line of fire, and made the rest of the journey back to Ashdod for repairs on its own.[26]
…
One fired from Yemen on 1 October ’16 destroyed(written-off) HSV Swift, a leased transport ship under the control of the United Arab Emirates, who are supporting the Yemeni government in a civil war against the Houthis. Analysis of the damage caused by that missile led experts to believe it was a C-802.

The Saudi coalition forces claimed the HSV Swift was carrying aid to Yemen. The Houthi’s claimed it was transporting troops & military arms/materiel(Highly probable).
A week later Former President Barack Obama launched cruise missile strikes on coastal radar sites in response in Washington’s first direct military action against suspected Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen’s conflict, claiming patrolling US navy vessels had supposedly been repeatedly attacked, unsuccessfully.
The strategic Red Sea shipping lane, the 20km (12 mile)-wide Bab al-Mandab strait, has more than 3.4 million barrels of oil passed through it daily, as reported in 2013.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 14:40 utc | 124

In support of Jackrabbit, and actual ‘Facts’, as opposed to the sorceress & others relentless faux assertions, let’s see what the Israeli press actually reports re the Trump-faction, shall we ?
All of the following are ‘Premium Subscriber‘ articles not normally accessible to anyone who does not financially subscribe to the relevant Israeli newspapers … the Hyperlinks have been setup using Google Cached copies …

The four things right-wing Jews got wrong about Trump
Right-wing Jews, in America and Israel, were blithely confident Trump would be an Israel-loving president, devoted to Jewish welfare and Israel’s well-being. They’re already being proven wrong.
Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie
Let’s look at four assumptions that right-wingers are making and why they are mistaken in each case:
1. President Trump is deeply committed to Israel
Wrong. Anyone who doubts this should reread the president’s inaugural address. He is committed to American interests as he understands them and he believes in his ability as America’s leader to protect and defend those interests. …
2. President Trump will move the American Embassy to Jerusalem
Wrong. I can’t be sure, of course, but that is my take. …
3. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump will be the saviors of Israel and the champions of Jews everywhere
Wrong. …
4. After January 20th, everything will change for the better for Israel
Wrong…
Shame on You, Jared Kushner
Once upon a time, the Kushner family could not gain entry to the U.S. due to carefully crafted policies designed to keep the desperate masses of Jews out, often citing security concerns …
Analysis Adding Insult to Injury, Trump Flirts With Classic Holocaust Denial
He excludes Muslim immigrants and expunges Jews from memory but the new president sees himself as ‘incredibly inclusive.’ …
Trump Is No Hitler, But…
The upshot of Trumpism, as ordinary citizens are beginning to understand, is that as long as you fall in line with the dictate from above, you can do anything.
Since the U.S. election campaign commenced, I have had a disagreement with some colleagues, Israeli and American, about who would stop whom – the establishment or Trump. My colleagues asserted during the primaries that the mainstream politicians on the right would not let him reach the top of the Republican Party, but he defeated all 16 of his rivals and won the presidential nomination.
After that, they maintained that the financial and media elites would prevent Trump from winning the election. Now, predictions (hopes) are being raised that the state establishment, with its enormous reach, security apparatus and court system, will put the brakes on the president, perhaps even depose him.
It is baseless. History teaches us that establishments tend to fall into ranks behind the commander, and not the other way around. It isn’t necessary to replace the people doing their jobs. They turn into loyal servants of the new regime. In his book, “In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin,” historian Eric Larson provides an illustrative example about the way enormously powerful systems accept the whims of a new regime.
…

Hm ?

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 15:19 utc | 126

@Jack 126
“But Trump has stated that he wants to counter “radical Islamic terrorism” and defeat ISIS.”
And just because he says so, you believe it? Come on… Trump has no interest whatsoever in defeating ‘ISIS’ – he needs this construct as a bogeyman, allowing him to intervene militarily wherever he wants. Same old story, we should really know it by now.
Trump’s foreign policy is/ will be Neocon ‘on the rocks’. Same as Bush/ Cheney/ McCain/ Clinton, but with less restraint and respect for international law & the constitution.
The rivalry with Russia/ China will intensify. The current nice words vis-a-vis Moscow are meant to weaken their alliance, sow distrust. This will fail, leading to an abrupt change in tone at some point. For now, Putin is trying a cooperative/ appeasement approach, maybe even accepting a partition of Syria. This won’t last forever.

Posted by: smuks | Jan 31 2017 15:46 utc | 128

In reality there is no such thing as a Globalist.
They are all Bolsheviks.
Just me opinion

Posted by: ALberto | Jan 31 2017 16:16 utc | 130

: fairleft 115
‘With access to that the leverage, my bet is China would be ready to negotiate, even on the South China Sea around the edges.’
But why o why’d China negotiates with uncle scam ?
murkka has no dogs in the fight,
its FON hullabaloo is a sick joke.
the record so far — murkka hundreds, China zero.
It wanna offer its ‘protection’ [racket] to its ‘allies’,
But they’d rather talk to China.
‘no thanks uncle sham, take back your war games and stuff it up you ass’ !
So WTF is uncle scam still doing in SCS ?
Trumpsters , anyone ??

Posted by: denk | Jan 31 2017 16:42 utc | 132

@117
Please see my comment @62 and my comment near the end of the previous thread where I basically call Soros a traitor if he tries to deligitimize protests that evolve into Revolution by controlling the narrative to ensure the corrupt status quo in Washington.
Don’t believe what ever interpretation Jackrabbit gives to my comments it’s deceptive and pure spin. This is a Trump tool trying to muzzle me at every turn and every time someone agrees with me he takes out his poison dart and attacks me with ad hominem and lies, and misrepresentations of what I write.
Basically, he stalks me on every thread and won’t allow for anyone to agree with me. Everyone should ponder why he does this. It’s because I have moral conviction and it shows in what I write; he’s worried I might convince someone that Trump is a fraud; that he’s more of the same; worse than Obama, and more like Cheney. Trump is all in with Zionists; he couldn’t be more in if he tried. See my post 62. There are billboards in Israel supporting Trump for a reason.
Again, just ignore Jackrabbit’s lies; he has an agenda; he’s a tool and it shows. My only agenda is the truth and my conviction that this administration is part of the same Zionist-owned corrupt system and every day Trump is proving me right.
Let me just say this; Trump’s bogus America First can be translated as: White Christian-Judeo power First which is racist and discriminatory and no way did he intend to put Israel second. He even scolded Obama for putting Israel second.
Trump himself criticized treating Israel like a second class citizen: The days of treating Israel like a second class citizen will end on day one,” when he is president, Trump promised. “When the United States stands with Israel, the chances of peace really rise.”
This is a bald-faced lie as standing with Israel has only brought successive wars and misery for millions. This proves he’s Israel First. Trump is a lying salesman and a con pretending America First. His actions prove otherwise; he has already gone further than any other President in doing Israel’s bidding that undermines American interests.
Here are some other comments Trump made:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/814113616110751744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/814114980983427073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
All this together with moves he’s already made that are unprecedented compared to how far other Presidents have gone in respect to Israel prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s a Zionist stooge for Israel.
There’s no way that Jackrabbit can spin this inconvenient fact; it bothers him to the core that I’m right; and he continuously stalks me every time I post something for a reason. So don’t believe his propaganda spin. That’s all it is; he’s a Trump tool.

Posted by: Circe | Jan 31 2017 16:45 utc | 134

@Outraged
Couldn’t find the transcript but here is video of the relevant part of Spicer’s news briefing

There’s been a lot of misreporting this week about what this memo does and does not do… The idea that JSCS and DNI is being downgraded or removed is utter nonsense.”

And here is the law (ht Cold War Zoomie at SST) confirming DNI and CJCS statutory role.
PS You’ve got to read the comments at SST, not just PL.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 31 2017 17:01 utc | 136

Trump’s travel ban on ‘moslems’ is a disguised warning to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
These countries who are actively promoting and supporting extremist islamists worldwide must feel very uncomfortable, as the ‘ban’ could very well apply to them if they don’t stop the flow of funds to preachers, internet propaganda and terrorists.
Trump’s next step will be to crack down on Islamist internet sites and fund transfer to ‘islamic’ charities. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait are the prime target.
The cyber war against ISIS and A Qaeda is finally starting.

Posted by: virgile | Jan 31 2017 17:18 utc | 138

Circe @137:

Don’t believe what ever interpretation Jackrabbit gives to my comments it’s deceptive and pure spin.

I suppose you thought you were clever when you weaved anti-zionism/anti-establishment into a call to join Trump protests.
Everyone can read what you wrote and decide for themselves.Here is the relevant part:

Now, I must address the elephant in the room today: the protests. If there are hundreds of thousands marching in the streets; that’s THEIR prerogative and right. Stop, before you blame this on a vast neoliberal, Soros conspiracy, and then cry poor Trump! People are up to their eyeballs; they don’t need Soros or anyone else to mobilize them; they’re disgusted with good reason. Who cares what role this other billionaire plays! He’s a gnat, compared to the bigger picture that needs to unfold from this. I say throw him out like yesterday’s trash along with the rest of his corrupt billionaire Zionist oligarch club!
. . .
The narrative needs to change from, protesting Trump only, to protesting the entire corrupt system that includes Trump and we should all get behind the protest movement for the latter reason; because we all have this problem in common despite our other differences.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 31 2017 17:24 utc | 140

@Circe
I’ve said many times that I am not a fan of Trump. We got Trump due to the ineptitude and corruption of the Democrats. At this point, I support the Pirate Party because there is no left with any power, conviction, and principles.
You’re calls to hate Trump and protest against him benefit the Democrats and the Zionists that you claim to hate so much. Trump has done nothing for Israel so far except utter some nice-sounding words. He is proud to be moving his agenda forward with 18 Executive Orders in 10 days BUT he isn’t moving the Embassy and he doesn’t mention Jews in his Holocaust message!
You’ve never described what you think would/should come after Trump. You seem to think MoA readers can be fooled by your masking a pro-Democratic Party agenda with calls for a ‘revolution’.
It’s not surprising that you showed up at MoA right after the election when the effort to protest and de-legitimize Trump first began.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 31 2017 17:38 utc | 142

@ Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jan 31, 2017 12:01:58 PM | 139
Yes, had read the comments at SST. Please consider objectively reviewing 106 & 113.
This is a major change since 1947 when the NSC was created, and a dramatic change since 9/11, and the last 16 years of the GWOT.
Otherwise, C’est la vie, all good. 🙂
PS Earnestly, please don’t allow yourself to respond in an ill-considered way to the relentless co-ordinated personal ‘baiting’ of the transparently faux borg. It is one of their secondary objectives …
A lesson my father taught me as a young child: If one doesn’t respect the one hurling sticks & stones, then why give any weight to, or take to heart, the intended offense ? YMMV 😉

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 17:43 utc | 144

@ Posted by: john | Jan 31, 2017 12:38:53 PM | 144
Can speed read … directed energy technology ? … yeah … or maybe it was a Perpetual Motion Machine or Cold Fusion device gone haywire in an uber-secret twin towers lab, heh ?
Regretfully just wasted a few minutes of my life on utter dross. And no, am not interested in buying a bridge. All the very best. By now 🙂

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 18:04 utc | 146

141
“Trump’s travel ban on ‘moslems’ is a disguised warning to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.”
So once again the uber intelligent Trump talks in riddles? we must assess his ban on the seven countries to glean who he’s really talking to. It’s not really about backstabbing his Iraqi allies at all, it’s about KSA, Kuwait and Qatar. Hmmm, I never saw that, thanks.
I guess we can take some comfort from your theory as regards to the Syrian ban. At first glance it would appear to put the lie to the memes on this board of Trump’s empathy for Syrians and his wish to see a peaceful resolution in that country by wholehearted cooperation with Putin. Once we realize that it’s a warning to the Saudis it makes much more sense.
There’s a very authoritarian bent to Trump’s first days in office. There’s something off about the way a man like Bannon rises to the height of a number two seemingly eclipsing Pence and Tillerson (if he gets the job)and the marginalizing of the JCS and DNI. Yet it’s all good as far as the true believers are concerned. Fuck the checks and balances built into the American way of governing. We need a strong man with a vision who will do what it takes they say.
It’s a good thing he’s taking on the Deep State, the MIC and the MSM. It’s about damn time that the people became the first priority. As long as they toe the line and are ready to sacrifice a few rights for the common good. It’s very little to ask.

Posted by: peter | Jan 31 2017 18:10 utc | 148

NemesisCalling@142
I’m not at all concerned about Trump, at least at this time. I also see him as the result, not the cause. The overarching problem that I see is the catastrophic failure in leadership at all levels of society making Trump inevitable. Chris Hedges put it best in Death of the Liberal Class.
Trump only won, and is currently winning, because his opponents are fucking stupid. I don’t see him as a problem, but I also do not see him as being part of the solution, either.

Posted by: P walker | Jan 31 2017 18:14 utc | 150

P walker @153–
There’s a lot to be said in favor of such an assessment. If only Sanders had Principles and Guts, but he lacked both and agreed to be used as a tool. But we must be honest and admit the slide into Darkness is an ongoing one that began in the 1890s thanks to the design made in 1787.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 31 2017 18:49 utc | 152

I have been thinking back to Naomi Klein’s ‘Shock Doctrine’ – to where she described what happened to Nelson Mandela when he actually took office after imprisonment in South Africa. As I remember it, then the Chicago boys team took him aside to ‘talk sense’ to him, and many of his far-reaching ideas for governance died on the vine.
I think the message of Outraged’s posts on the subject he takes up at #81 are significant, and to PWalker@153, who says “I also do not see him [Trump] as being part of the solution, either,” I say, who then do you see? (And I would offer that to Circe as well.) It’s not enough to see somebody down the road as a solution – we may not even have a down the road if the nay-sayers and disinformers have their way. Somebody has to prepare the way for those down the road possibilities. There’s still a circus going on, necessary distractions perhaps but as Outraged points out, there are other signs:
“Context & detail, matters. This is no trivial change re the last 16 years and prior…”
Taking the instances of early policy making in the worst possible light may be a sign of the distrust engendered by the previous administration, but they have to be recognized as new initiatives. It was a new initiative to frame the holocaust recognition in different parameters, and to my mind that was a good thing. I know from my Orthodox history (Russian Orthodox) that we acknowledge one of our own to have deliberately sacrificed herself by taking the place of a Jewish lady in the gas chamber. Just one, it is true, but one is all you need to extend holocaust recognition further to the many others who also died then. It was an awful period for humankind, a madness orchestrated by a mad government. Whatever we have now, this is not that.

Posted by: juliania | Jan 31 2017 18:57 utc | 154

@ Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 31, 2017 1:49:52 PM | 155
You may be interested to know, if you weren’t aware already, we had a precursor, off the books, to the CIA from the earliest years of the Republic ?

Contingency Fund for Foreign Intercourse
The Contingency Fund for Foreign Intercourse (sometimes referred to as the Contingent Fund for Foreign Intercourse) was a United States government “black budget” program established in 1790 to fund covert operations primarily directed against Europe.[1][2] Three years later it was consuming 12% of the government’s budget and in 1846 came under the scrutiny of Congress, but the government refused to provide details of the operation of the fund…

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 19:01 utc | 156

@ Posted by: ben | Jan 31, 2017 2:11:35 PM | 160

IF, Mr. Trump is truly serious in his concern for American workers, he should take Paul Ryan to the woodshed.

Indeed.
See a prime example of a bought & paid for servant of a foreign government melodramatically reading from the supplied text:

Speaker Ryan Condemns Anti-Israel Resolution at the UN (youtube) 3Min41Sec

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 31 2017 19:24 utc | 158

Outraged @159–
Yes, that’s what ran Adam’s undeclared war with France and Jefferson used to fund his drive to rid the Floridas of the Spanish and Lewis & Clark’s escapade–history of which most citizens are blissfully unaware. Many founding Americans looked at Russia’s accomplishment and wanted to replicate conquering the “wilderness,” particularly not to allow the British any opportunity to wrest what became the Mexican Cession from first Spain then Mexico. “Go West Young Man” and other propaganda was widely used as inducements.
When I began my digging into US History decades ago, I concentrated on the settlement and Founding since so much of what’s happening today has its roots back then, but so few have any idea thanks to the apotheosis of the Infallible Founders. When I taught, we spent two weeks of class discussing the 1787 Coup, the document it produced and its extremely glaring weaknesses–the Executive is almost totally without control as we’ve seen ever since–and the arm twisting that allowed it to become the Law of the Land.
Trump’s the outcome of longstanding moral and ethical failure within both the culture and its national government’s structure–failures that were all hotly debated between 1787-1789 that the writers of the Federalist Essays sought to rationalize away.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 31 2017 19:47 utc | 160

@ juliania who has read The Shock Doctrine and was using it to show how the IMF killed Nelson Mandela’s far reaching ideas for governance.
I continue to hope that alternatives to the private finance led and God of Mammon motivated form of social organization that is the West will evolve. I am amazed that China has done 13 five-year plans and wonder if there isn’t some humanism in those plans not reflective of the God of Mammon approach.
@ fairleft who responded to my rant about what may come of the Trump “foxes in the chicken coop” approach to “economics”.
fairleft also stated ”
“when he defaults on US debt” This is dumb. Why default on debt when you can simply pay it off by creating money, since you own the printing press?
“because China starts dumping theirs” Why would China ‘dump their’ US dollars, which would greatly raise the value of their currency relative to the dollar, making their goods far less competitive in the U.S. consumer market?
”
I agree that if we lived in a world full of totally sovereign nations with interacting currencies then countries could print until other countries thought the other countries assets couldn’t support more. But, we live in a world in which there is private finance that exists outside the boundaries of any one country and controls most of them. And much of the international debt floating around out there that has not been pawned off on pension funds, etc. is owned privately………We live in a world with a huge debt ballon that has been made worse since 2008 by bailouts, ZIRP/almost ZIRP, rampant US dollar printing that screws all who hold dollars, etc.
The fruitcakes in charge can take us extinct over this contrived crisis of humanity or some adults can step forward and maybe we can recognize our species as something bigger than the private finance evolutionary dead end it is stuck in now.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 31 2017 20:05 utc | 162

@Noirette 140
Thanks for highlighting the situation in France.
I’d like to point out two things:
What you explain about the development of the FN shows quite clearly imo that a. the ‘socially progressive’ agendas of right-wing parties are nothing but rhetoric, abandoned instantly when it becomes important, and b. it doesn’t really matter whether they’re against Jews, Muslims, Latinos, Caucasians…, they just need any one group to be singled out as ‘the enemy’. They’ll happily exchange it for another should it appear useful.
Another thing, while I agree that under normal circumstances Le Pen has no chance of becoming president, I’m afraid the circumstances are far from normal. What would happen if there was some ‘disruptive event’ in the next three months? And how will Hamon’s nomination influence the debate? Thanks(?) to social media, public discourse and sentiment can change quite quickly these days…
So yes, the French elections worry me. Much more so than the Netherlands, Germany or even Italy.

Posted by: smuks | Jan 31 2017 20:33 utc | 164

@166 Israel will never feel secure. Small country unwelcome in the neighbourhood. Holocaust history. Doesn’t matter who is president of the USA.

Posted by: dh | Jan 31 2017 20:57 utc | 166

Outraged @ 149 says:
Regretfully just wasted a few minutes of my life on utter dross
well, your ubiquitous, long-winded contributions to this here blogspot would suggest that wasting time isn’t a big concern of yours,
and your boorish, self-righteous, uninformed, and ultimately meaningless smear up above constitutes the very definition of dross.
so, speed read and speed write away, little man…
but do try to make it a little more compelling.

Posted by: john | Jan 31 2017 21:30 utc | 168

toivo @ 32 asking for proof for earlier claim:
” Russia openly blasted Assad for desire to reclaim all of Syria and said they’ll withdrew all its support if Syria tries to do it. Russia can easily divide Syria in zones of influence with US if they agree on terms.”
Don’t know about recent Russia activity, but Putin is sometimes-maybe-sorta coordinating w/ Netanyahu, and last year (March 2016, while on visit to Ash Carter to secure $38billion) Moshe Ya’alon, Israel Defense Minister, told a Wilson Center audience:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?406449-1/israeli-defense-minister-moshe-yaalon-remarks&start=2461
@ 41 min:
“If I have to think about any kind of psychological situation in Syria as well as in Iraq, we have the two Kurdish sectors in Iraq and Syria.
The only way that we can live is to have a kind of federation. There is no other way to unify Syria.
Also, I’m talking about strategy to unify Syria through Bashar Al Assad or someone else, leading Syria. No chance! Wishful thinking!
And to talk about a kind of federation, we have already constrained [inaudible] Bashar Al Assad — he controls today only 30% of his former territory. That’s it.
We have seen a Kurdistan already: we know the turks are not happy with it but in the end, there is a Kurdish autonomy in Syria, there is a Kurdish autonomy in Iraq. We might think about a Kurdistan in Syria; they might cooperate with the regime as they do now. The problem is when it comes to the Sunnis, we have DAESH, Jabat al Nusra, Al Qaeda followers, Muslim Brotherhood elements. [inaudible]
So first of all, let’s find a way to have a kind of federation or whatever, let’s also agree to have this kind of federation and then fighting the other or whatever. The problem is that there are so many contradictory interests regarding the situation in Syria.
As an example, there are those who support Bashar Al Assad’s regime, like Iran, Hezbollah, Russia — today, with its intervention in Syria. And even western parties first of all believing Iran should be a central part of the settlement or the solution as I mentioned earlier.
So —the Kurds demonstrated their capabilities to fight DAESH, when they were supported. Why not support other moderates in Syria, like Sunni moderates, to fight for their cause?
Most of them were ignored. Western parties decided to sit on the fence and the Kurds in Syria were defeated by DAESH [inaudible] to the point that it started to get support. And then you have to settle this contradictory interest with Turkey. Saudi Arabia its own interest.
Yet there is a need for different grand strategy regarding Syria.
But the idea to unify Syria back, to become as it was in the past is wishful thinking.”

Posted by: Croesus | Jan 31 2017 22:06 utc | 170

Somebody’s pushing that Yonatan Zunger chappie pretty hard. (#8, 51, 56, 98)
He sounds like another one of Theodor Herzl’s “mediocre intellects,” desperately in need of seeing his name/ideas in print.
Don’t these guys coach soccer teams or volunteer w/ Habitat for Humanity? They need something to absorb their excess time & energy.

Posted by: Croesus | Jan 31 2017 22:11 utc | 172

170 Q
174 A

Posted by: From The Hague | Jan 31 2017 22:31 utc | 174

Maybe they’re investigating Fillon because they fear he would lose to Le Pen. Can Socialists vote for someone that neoliberal? And, if they don’t, can Le Pen be beaten?

Posted by: lysias | Jan 31 2017 22:44 utc | 176

Too poor to make the news
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/257300/World/Region/Yemen-war-erases-decade-of-health-gains,-many-chil.aspx
Eu solidarity at its best
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/257316/World/International/Greece-relocates-migrants-after-camp-deaths.aspx
For a minute Fillon was the only one who could beat Le Pen. Rumor says Sarkozy is behind the leaks to newspapers. Revenge or reactivated by his US extended family?
Very likely Le Pen will either win for president or for prime minister (poll is a month after presidential). They ve started an investigation in Brussels to get her reimburse 300, 000 euros.

Posted by: Mina | Jan 31 2017 23:00 utc | 178

Posted by: Mina | Jan 31, 2017 5:10:27 PM | 174
Besides, Fillon not really close to Putin.
That is a kabuki theatre BS for the masses.
Fillon is actually the perfect anti-Putin person because people think that he is some sort of pro-Putin, as you apparently do, when that is all just typical misdirection and Fillon 100% on board with the EU superstate anti-Putin mania.

Posted by: Julian | Jan 31 2017 23:10 utc | 180

@ nonsense factory | 166

Russia is not interested in Balkanizing Syria.

What Russia wants in Syria IMHO (I have a lot to say about it but will keep it concise for now):
1. Permanent Naval base. For it doesnt matter if Syria stays intact or not, enough if a rump of Western Syria remains on pro-Russia side.
2. To stop gas lines to Europe from BOTH Qatar and Iran. Its vital to Russia’s interests. Remember how Obama was praising Russia(!) for a tough stance on Iran(!!) when nuke agreement negotiations were going on. Why? They didnt want a major competition to return and undercut them, especially concerning EU. After nuke agreement was signed (and probably concessions made), an interesting event happened – Iran suddenly gave up the idea of building gas pipeline to EU. I dont believe in coincidences, and especially one when lucrative market is abandoned. Some could be exported through Turkey, some through Syria or LNG, nothing major what could affect Russia’s exports.
3. If Shiia land route is cut, its actually good for Russia’s interests. Syria is further weakened and more dependent on Russia’s will, Iranian influence is diminished, and what about Hezbollah? Russia has much better and friendly relationships with Israel than them. Plus such divided zones of influence could help Russia to further mend ties with US, Turkey and PG monarchies.
4. Russia’s ceasefire ideas and new Constitution points to the same direction. Either federalization or autonomy for terrorists and Kurds.
Have you read Russian proposed Constitution?
* Assad is not allowed to participate in new elections, and president would become a figurehead anyway.
* Central government is significantly weakened, while regions gain more power and say, and so on.
Reminds a lot of Lebanon and Iraq’s constitutions, isnt? Governments become weak and paralyzed, cant really do anything. “Assad must go” coalition wins in the end, Israel is happy with another powerful country turned into impotent, paralyzed state. Difference in this time, its Russia and not US who are pushing for such Constitution. Or possibly, they negotiated terms under the table, and now after Russia delivered Constitution to UNSC, we might see everyone jumping on board.
Outcome: Syria is screwed, Iran and Hezbollah screwed, while the Axis of terror rejoicing. Russia would get its spoils in various ways, plus they keep the naval base. Win-win for them.

Posted by: Harry | Jan 31 2017 23:25 utc | 182

MoAaratti,
Whatever happened to those Saudi guys? Apparently they still have enough Ca$h to purchase MSM ‘radio silence?’

Posted by: ALberto | Jan 31 2017 23:35 utc | 184

@ Julian | 188
Russia doesnt have friends (maybe Israel) or alies (expendable), just interests. Just ask Iran, they could tell you stories.
What I wrote was a pretty bleak scenario, but I doubt in the end it will be much better than this. Of course, Russia will frame it in another way, as “helping Syria”, “reaching compromise with the opposition and International community.” But I dont see a way where Syria doesnt end up getting screwed one way or another. Too many sides to appease, and Russia first and foremost will take care of its own interests.

Posted by: Harry | Jan 31 2017 23:58 utc | 186

@189 Is this some kind of novel perspective on international relations?

Posted by: dh | Feb 1 2017 0:04 utc | 188

Okay, read the full draft rather swiftly, but much of what Harry describes is incorrect. For example, Article 82 specifically applies to Assad and allows him to run again for President. Syria’s territorial viability isn’t to be altered except after the approval of the citizenry–Article 9. Article 4 grants Kurds “cultural autonomy” that mostly relates to language use. From what I’ve read, the draft in no way sells the Syrians down the river and seems a modern, reasonable document–far and away advanced from the 1787 US Constitution that was never approved by a majority of the citizenry, then or afterward.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 1 2017 0:28 utc | 190

@ karlof1 | 190
Yes its a draft, but despite of claims otherwise, Russia with have a LOT of say what will or wont go into it.
I also addressed “Russia is not interfering in the consideration” as a Russian humour, considering it often forces Syria to do things against its will.

A “figure head” that commands the armed forces? I think not!

Presidential powers significantly stripped in comparison to current Constitution, and while he commands the army, its under public oversight as well (10.4). I’m curious how it works.

Article 82 specifically applies to Assad and allows him to run again for President

Is there different drafts floating around? As in your link it says he can run for presidency again, in many articles online mentioned only one term with no right for re-election. If this draft goes through, it could mean two terms, pause, and few more, as Putin did in Russia.

Posted by: Harry | Feb 1 2017 1:23 utc | 192

Harry @195–
Given the level of disinformation about, I imagine there’re several drafts. Sputnik seemed assured of its being genuine. Power sharing seems to be fairly even between governmental branches and the people–far, far better than with US Constitution–with numerous protections built-in. But there’s still work to be done to allow a referendum–the Syrian state needs to be made 100% whole once again: Note there’s no provision for ceding the Golan other than that allowed for such at the citizenry’s command.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 1 2017 1:46 utc | 194

@169 dh, 178 james
The thing is, Israel has this massive arsenal of nuclear weapons, 200+, a ridiculous number. They face no threat from invasion by their neighbors as a result, everyone knows they have this arsenal. I think their existential dread is due to the fact their setup like South Africa – large Arab population, some corralled into Bantustans, and how can they keep it up? They’re being pushed into a one-state solution, in which Muslims and Christians and Jews all get equal rights as far as immigration and land ownership, and this is very upsetting. The ones who really hate it can flee to Europe, or New York and Florida, I suppose, but eventually, they’re all going to have to learn to live together. Lebanon could teach them how to do this maybe; they’ve got their Druze Christians and Harriri Sunnis and Nasralllah Shias all living in more-or-less harmony.
@185 Harry,
Russia is never going to get a naval base in Syria; they even got kicked out of Iran after trumpeting too much about how Iran had opened their military base to them. That’s why the Russian bombers have to fly all the way from Russia to bomb ISIS targets in Syria. The U.S. meanwhile has a naval base in Bahrain, home of the 5th Fleet, and there’s also, let’s see, Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, headquarters of CENTCOM, I mean the list goes on and on:
http://fpif.org/u-s-empire-bases-middle-east-not-making-anyone-safer/

Across the Persian Gulf today, there are still U.S. bases in every country save Iran and Yemen. Even in Saudi Arabia, where widespread anger at the U.S. presence led to an official withdrawal in 2003, there are still small U.S. military contingents and a secret drone base. There are secret bases in Israel, four installations in Egypt, and at least one in Jordan near the Iraqi border. Turkey hosts 17 bases, according to the Pentagon. In the wider region, the military has operated drones from at least five bases in Pakistan in recent years, and there are nine new installations in Bulgaria and Romania, along with a Clinton administration-era base still operating in Kosovo.

No way Russia could every afford anything like that, I mean the U.S. military budget is about ten times Russia. So stop posting retarded nonsense.

Posted by: nonsense factory | Feb 1 2017 2:55 utc | 196

199
American Zeks sporting about in their New Trumpistan Field of Dreams

Posted by: Even More Outraged Ji | Feb 1 2017 4:51 utc | 198

Attacks on Trump have been many and varied. IMO they constitute what is generally termed a ‘full court press’.
Trump’s Jewish connections have made him susceptible to claims that he is a Zionist. Circe (and others) have taken that to an extreme – insisting that he is some sort of ‘uber-Zionist’.
Circe urged us to adopt his view of Trump without waiting to see what Trump would actually do. And then he urged us to protest – saying that we should disregard who is behind the protests and essentially pretend that we are protesting the duopoly.
In the process of attempting to turn MoA readers into anti-Trump activists, Circe has wasted many hours of MoA reader time wading through his comments and comments by those who support or question him.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 1 2017 6:49 utc | 200