one more ‘interesting’ headline … SDF Boosts Relations With Saudi Arabia, Praises Its Role In “Stabilization” Of Syria. Îlham Ehmed, kurdish stooge of the usofa sings the praises of the founders and funders of daesh, and the stalwart supporters of al-CIA-duh. looks like the syrian kurds have gone done the same road as the iraqi kurds.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 10 2017 21:28 utc | 104

@james 82
When a number of important/ surprising events occur within a short time frame, I’m reluctant to call it ‘accidental’.

Posted by: smuks | Jun 10 2017 22:18 utc | 106

Worth a read:
“The culmination of nearly 30 years of reporting on Donald Trump, this in-depth report by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston takes a revealingly close look at the mogul’s rise to prominence — and, now, ultimate power”
https://www.amazon.com/Making-Donald-Trump-David-Johnston/dp/1612196322?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0
Question to ponder: Can a leopard change it’s spots?

Posted by: ben | Jun 11 2017 0:09 utc | 108

Also thanks, Grieved@105. It’s a question, isn’t it, which is more important, the actual structure of government or the person in office? I think that now that Trump has gained that position it would be folly to use subversive tactics to overthrow him. He may indeed disappoint us, but then processes could be justifiably undertaken to impeach him for the right reasons, which I believe would also nullify similar actions by anyone taking his place. If it’s done for the wrong reasons this country will still be on the wrong track, or worse. And I don’t care if you call it ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ – that will be a coup if it succeeds.
And I would not be surprised to learn that some others who didn’t vote for Trump, as you say silent ones at present, would also strongly resist yet another spurious impeachment process. If you’re gonna do it, guys, you have to do it for real reasons, for the right reasons!

Posted by: juliania | Jun 11 2017 0:33 utc | 110

smuks@67:
“…it’s good entertainment no doubt, but calling opponents out and fighting publicly is actually a sign of weakness, not of strength. Or it is just theatre to distract from what’s going on…”
You need to turn that statement on its head, smuks. Let it be about those who lost the election, about the media pursuing Trump PUBLICLY and your statement makes plenty of sense. And I would say THAT is all theatre to distract from what’s going on, because the charges they are making against Trump distract us from correcting the actual mistakes he is making, and nobody that he finds credible is warning him against making them. The mainstream press is supposed to be the conscience of America and it is not; it is the conscience of the ultra rich who own it.
What’s going on was expressed best by Robert Parry in a recent article at consortiumnews.com:
“…However, amid the mainstream media’s increasingly frenzied talk about Trump’s potential impeachment, this other remarkable story – how the U.S. Intelligence Community is moving to reverse the outcome of a presidential election – is getting ignored in plain sight.”
Thank you, Mr. Parry; very well said.

Posted by: juliania | Jun 11 2017 0:58 utc | 112

@109 juliana
i think the obsession with trump – that he is ‘the problem’ – is false. from my point of view he’s as much of a sleepwalker through the manse as anyone else. is there anyone who thinks we would somehow be better off if hillary were president? sure the atmospherics would be different … that’s all they have to sell, so they damn well better be different … but that’s it. not a dime’s worth of difference where it counts … where the 1% counts its take. and there won’t be a dime’s worth of difference in 2020, either, between the demoblican and the republicrat.
noirette said it concerning the french election, i paraphrase … the french were unable to cope with the poor choice laid before them … by the elite who select ‘our’ candidates. that certainly goes for us americans as well. that’s why i’m happy to see the result in britain. the ‘people’ saw through the tories and the blairites and elected someone who articulated a real difference : Manifesto: For the many not the few. remains to be seen exactly how that works out, but corbyn was not a selected candidate. the entire establishment hated him. who could hope for a better endorsement.
i just came upon Antonio Gramsci and the Battle Against Fascism. towards the end hedges writes …

Gramsci knew that the elites would continually reproduce conditions and ideologies to maintain or take control. This required the constant vigilance of the critical, revolutionary theorist. There would be a never-ending battle of ideas, those spun out by the elites to justify their privileges and the radical theorists who would expose the ideas as tools of repression and hold up a socialist alternative.
Revolutionary policy for Gramsci did not come from above but from below. It was organic. And the failure, in his eyes, of revolutionary elites is that they were often as dictatorial and disconnected from workers as capitalist elites. The masses had to be integrated into the structures of power to create a new form of mass politics — hence his insistence that all people are intellectuals capable of autonomous and independent thought. A democracy is only possible when all of its citizens understand the machinery of power and have a role in the exercising of power.

… which is along the lines i tried to articulate @40 Corbyn’s Success Will Revitalize Europe’s Social-Democracy. i think that’s absolutely true. change has literally to pass through and transfrom all of us. once that has happened the transformation of society is trivial, like following the directions to assemble the toys in boxes under the tree at christmas, for we are society and transforming ourselves is transforming society.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 11 2017 2:07 utc | 114

Trump got elected so he can’t be a lousy politician. Maybe he’s a lousy statesman.. I just don’t know right now.
If we end up in another bullshit war then he’s lousy for sure, but if we don’t and make friendships/partnerships then maybe he’s not so bad. If he further screws over the working class then he’s lousy, but if he stimulates the real economy and does something good with healthcare then maybe he’s not so bad.
The people got what they want, which is a businessman in office. I’ll never forget Bill house n-word maher in the 90s professing his desire for a stingy old man obsessed with saving money as president. Now we have one and Maher wants nothing short of immediate removal of Trump. Did I ever mention how much I hate Bill Maher?
Anyway I think Trump currently has a disabled presidency. The Comey testimony gives him a bit of a boon, and if he can play his cards right then the 5th columnists might finally be shoved into the corner.. On the flip side, though, he might check out or just get sick of putting up with bullshit and delegate everything neocons or whatever. He does seem to enjoy fighting political battles

Posted by: aaaa | Jun 11 2017 2:52 utc | 116

I just read a comment on another site that presented a different perspective on Qatar. My apologies if this is simplistic and basic, but I haven’t seen it said here yet.
Suppose cause and effect is simply that Qatar calculated the winning side and decided to switch, and join with Iran? And everything that now follows is the freakout from this? It’s the inverse Rorschach thing where the background becomes the foreground and you see the other side of the picture. It’s also the way all international affairs have always gone throughout all time, and why should this be any different?
A state switches sides. Presumptions and arrangements are forced to realign. The more blind or less nimble of the players are caught flat-footed. I think we know we’re talking about the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia here. One immediate effect of this – maybe – is that Qatari-sponsored mercenaries are no longer being paid. And the US has suddenly stopped aggressive action in Syria. On a dime, it turned. No one quite knows why.
And of course, the switching state has either miscalculated and will be swallowed in the abyss, or has scored a home run, and gained the momentum to jump on the train of the future.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 11 2017 4:27 utc | 118

Grieved @118
You may be right. Remembering that Qatar bought a big stake in Rosneft, and Rosneft just won an oil development contract with the Kurds that gives it access to a pipeline to Turkey, may shed some light on the shifting alliances. Turkey putting troops in Qatar is also telling. The congratulatory statement Qatar made for Rouhani’s election victory might have been the “announcement” that given Iran’s backstopping the Qataris the GCC has lost its grip on a major player in the regional energy economy. Iran calling out KSA on the Teheran attacks is another big signal. You could also say that Syria for now looks like it’s almost out of the woods, so calling a winner and putting some distance between oneself and the losers is probably a good move. Qatar had some skin in the game in Syria and may also be trying to fold early to avoid getting sucked into the aftermath.

Posted by: stumpy | Jun 11 2017 6:03 utc | 120

@106 smuks.. fair enough! i still think trump has bumbled into this.. might be a fracture between saudi arabia/qatar over syria that trump was made aware of, but even this sounds like it is stretching it.. the guy was unaware of the important us base in qatar… i see it more like bhadrakamur in the post mina linked to… trump is oblivious to what he is stepping into, or on..

Posted by: james | Jun 11 2017 7:04 utc | 122

@118 g
i think you’re right. the talk here began here with a rapprochement between iran and qatar on gas pipelines through syria to europe and through pakistan to the east. the hatfields and mccoys, the al-sauds and the al-thanis may hate each other non-stop but the lead starts flying when there’s money involved. i think when it all clears … and i do think it will be sound and fury signifying next to nothing … see if there is not cooperation between qatar and iran on gas … a gas cartel, together with the russians.
Qatar says keen to have ‘positive’ Iran ties amid row with neighbors

“As far as our relations with Iran are concerned, everyone wants positive relations with Iran. Iran is a neighbor,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
The Qatari foreign minister said, “The strategic choice of all countries is to maintain dialog with Iran”, adding “we, in the state of Qatar, support these efforts.”

Breaking: At least 5 Iranian cargo planes arrive in Qatar to deliver food

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:30 A.M.) – At least five Iranian cargo planes supplied with food have arrived in the Qatari capital, today, the AFP News Agency reported.
This latest food delivery marks the second time this week that the Iranians have fulfilled their promise to supply Qatar with much needed food.
As a result of Qatar’s rift with Saudi Arabia, the small Gulf nation has been forced to rely on other countries in the region to fulfill their food demand.

what the rump did in riyadh was give the saudis lessons on stepping on their dics … or the other way round. really makes no difference, the usofa and saudi arabia are playing in the same league now. and at the same level.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 11 2017 8:12 utc | 124

@Laguerre | 91
The Guardian once wrote an article expressing similar views to yours.
The fact is that the destruction of the heart of Turkey’s Kurdistan, Sur, has its roots in the military terror thrown at Kurdish villages towns and cities who dared vote for Demirtas in the original 2015 general election denying Erdogan sufficient a majority to ensure smooth passage of his constitutional reforms.
Hundreds of villages, towns and cities were declared military zones and 24hr weeks-lomg, months-long curfews were imposed refusing entry or exit to any civilians.
What happened was brutal revenge carried out against any and all Kurdish, Alevi, or other civilians that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, some even tortured, thousands have been imprisoned including democratically elected politicians, journalists and civil servants, tens of thousands have been displaced.
The world heritage article looks at Sur because of its historical and more importantly cultural significance but the same events have taken place and continue to take place across the region. Currently scores of villages and several key cities auch as Sirnak and Cizre are regularly under 24-hour imposed curfew and civilians are dying.
This is only one aspect to the attack by AKP on the regions communities and culture.
It goes beyond extreme Turkification which is sadly no new thing, beyond some warped concept of Ottoman or Sunni nationalist supremacy to the intentional destruction of anything that does not fit into AKPs neatly written history of Ottoman Turkey, to the intentional relocation of imported extremists and their families; the rounding up and forced relocation of Syrian refugees, the closure of schools and universities etc. Erdogan is deliberately creating a situation in Kurdistan set to explode by deliberately creating high tension situations. We are already seeing street battles between different factions – racist and nationalist mob rule attacking civilians and destroying businesses while the police look on.
In this broader context ‘toursim’ or ‘gentrification’ can not be considered a serious let alone justifiable reason for the destruction of centuries old communities, of livelihoods. But then Turkey has a history … And the process of ‘gentrification’ does not begin with tying a local youth to the back of a police car by his feet and dragging him around the neighbourhood until dead!
Its about power, construction dollars (the state pays its families / mates to build – money-go-round mafia) and ultimately subjugation of minorities.

Posted by: AtaBrit | Jun 11 2017 9:35 utc | 126

Hoarsewhisperer @ 119
“I like to call it Totalitarian Capitalism because the undeniable fact is that people with too much money OWN every Western Government. ”
If the “too much” money was earned on a level playing field, then good. But in this monetary construct, the filed is not level.
It helps to view our socio/political construct as a triangle. Government, society and the central bank represent the 3 corners of the triangle.
Society is where all human interactions take place.
Government is where some members of society huddle, apart from society, to regulate and re-distribute wealth and taking a cut in the process
The central bank creates and injects the medium of exchange that society is obligated to use by law
In this construct, the medium of exchange is injected through privileged gates. But since the monetary and credit creation are constant, the entities that have first access to the newly created credit have an asymmetrical purchasing power advantage over anyone below them.
As money and credit work their way from the Fed Reserve, to either Government or the Primary Dealers and from there, as the money percolates to social programs or commercial banks and from there, into the real economy, the medium of exchange is devalued at every step (because the creation is constant).
The purchasing power asymmetry can only result in the steady transfer of incremental portions of profit towards the owner of the medium of exchange. The only variable is time but the result is guaranteed. This is how title concentrates in the hands of the few.
What these 3 Swiss Scientists discovered is not merely a result of chance
Too, the money that goes towards government to make up for perpetual deficits, is often redistributed to preferred entities. Thus, when GM gets bailed out to ostensibly salvage jobs, the sums disbursed do not contribute to productivity. The sums disbursed do however contribute to political fudging which begets more wasted capital which begets more fudging… rinse repeat.
Hence the reason for example, that since 1980 GDP doubled whereas debt increased 10 fold
GDP
DEBT
Debt does matter and it has real life consequences that manifest through the extinction of the productive economy in favour of state champions that very rarely are economically viable. Hence the monopolisation of the economy via raising barriers to entry and raising the costs of staying in business.

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 11 2017 10:38 utc | 128

@Grieved 118
“Suppose cause and effect is simply that Qatar calculated the winning side and decided to switch, and join with Iran? And everything that now follows is the freakout from this”
This is definitely part of the game, but such a realignment doesn’t happen over night. There’s an ongoing process of Turkey, Qatar, Egypt (UAE & Jordan are next in line) switching sides, which provides the general backdrop to everything else, but no explanation for the current sudden escalation.
The US & allies are well aware of this (which is why they backed the coup), nobody’s caught by surprise here. And what do you mean by “And the US has suddenly stopped aggressive action in Syria. On a dime, it turned.”…?
@aaaa 116
I don’t quite understand why you use so many ‘ifs’ – don’t the last few months provide enough answers to these questions?
@Hoarse 119
“people with too much money OWN every Western Government. They’ve hijacked political parties …”
Fully agreed, but that’s what necessarily happens over time in capitalism. ‘The 1%’ will invariably use their money to buy influence, in order to further increase their wealth & perpetuate the social divide. Once the ‘elites’ isolate themselves from the rest & the divide becomes completely impermeable, the system gets unstable.

Posted by: smuks | Jun 11 2017 12:20 utc | 130

Qatar
Nagging question: Has foreign policy really been bungled this badly or is there something up their sleeves?

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jun 11 2017 12:56 utc | 132

Grieved@118:
That makes sense to me. One of the first casualties of the Iraq invasion was first the Al-jazeera reporter killed (can’t remember where that was) in an ‘accidental’ bombing, and then during the actual entry into Baghdad one floor of the hotel ahead of tanks being taken out that happened to have reporters in it. So, Qatar has been a sore thumb even though religiously of the Wahhabi strain of Islam. As we also know well, media is huge in swaying people’s beliefs – (why I don’t watch or listen to any mainstream news, don’t trust my own powers to resist. As you say, Jackrabbit, I am not skeptical enough, and many of us aren’t.)
smuks@115, I’ll agree with you that Trump is a showman, but neither he nor his opposition are clever enough (or absolute enough) to have masterminded every element of the fiasco, positive and negative, that has been unfolding since he decided to run. You might even say that the situation between Trump and the opposing forces in this country is somewhat similar to that between Qatar and the state elements opposing it – they are alike but different, the weakened larger of the two in opposition attempting to assimilate the recalcitrant ‘sore thumb’. That’s why it’s ironic that Trump is still attacking Qatar in his bombast – supposedly (I’ll give you that much) he’s in the same position here that they are there. I wonder if he sees that; he should.

Posted by: juliania | Jun 11 2017 13:51 utc | 134

OJS 100
hmmmmm. A while back it was the US demanding Syria/Russia stop attacking rebels because our “good guys” were mixed with the bad. Now it is the other way around except for one thing, US is attacking forces invited to work with the Syrian government. Good luck with that, Russia. I don’t expect the US to respect your requests.

Posted by: Curtis | Jun 11 2017 15:18 utc | 136

…
Sorry I could not convince.
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 11, 2017 10:58:46 AM | 135
It’s probably not your fault.
Once I get rusted onto an idea, I’m hard to shift. It’s perhaps relevant to state that either Totalitarian or Predatory would have more resonance than Neo-liberal which, at the end of the day, means whatever the Neo-libs want it to mean…

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 11 2017 15:46 utc | 138

@Laguerre | 129
I hadn’t meant to imply that you had lifted your ideas from the guardian, of course.
In my response I was prinarily trying to give you the context which naturally is not the place of the world heritage report to include, and also to point out that it is far from.being an isolated example and that similar activity has been and continues to happen accross kurdiish turkey. Whether you consider the extreme violence with which Sur has been ‘appropriated’ by the state to be relevant context or not is entirely your choice to make but to disregard such violence as a folly is to trivialise it!
Laatly, Who in their roght mind would consider Diyabakir a potential tourist spot?

Posted by: AtaBrit | Jun 11 2017 16:25 utc | 140

|@ Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 11, 2017 11:46:23 AM | 138
I am or was with you about the Neo… . I have never found a good definition elsewhere but have concluded, since it was not current in the public domain in 1993 when I exited the U.S., that it became minted verbal currency sometime in the Clinton42 administration to designate a changed institutional edifice. Libertarian replaced Liberal, Neoclassical replaced historic record, Neoliberal was used to replace New Deal economics, Neoconservative replaced classic conservative failure towards the New Deal and NeoCon replaced reactionary conservative (not overlooking Think tank replaced FDR’s academic based ‘brain trust’). Or something like that. It is all rename and shift necessitated when the word liberal was discredited, discouraged and disowned. Most designation words have become fungible as to original meanings and the syntax resembles living in a carnival house of mirrors, history has become the notes taken at the Mad Hatters Tea Party. YMMD

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 11 2017 17:40 utc | 142

Russophobia and the Logic of Imperialism
http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/russophobia-logic-of-imperialism.html

Posted by: Anon | Jun 11 2017 19:32 utc | 144

Just Before A Massive Gathering At A Stadium, Nazi Ukraine Military Bombs Area, Aiming To Kill As Many People As Possible !

A kindergarten was damaged, and the residential sector. They aimed at where there might be a large number of people,’ said Gennady Kartsev.
‘They shelled just the part where the mass event was supposed to take place – the launch of a gas pipeline. Seven territories were to have come.

not ‘even’ we ever talk about ukraine anymore. it’s just a nazi shooting gallery. stuff like this happens everyday.
completely ‘invisible’ and ‘inaudible’ at ddd&d central in the usofa i imagine.
if it’s possible to convict the msm of war crimes this is the most salient instance of same.
they probably give free airtime to john mccain to flap his lying jaws over ukraine when he deems is necessary.
even he is now head down over his nazi allies in ukraine.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 11 2017 21:44 utc | 146

France’s centrists defeat far-rights once again

French President Emmanuel Macron’s party is set to win an overwhelming majority in the parliament after the first round of National Assembly voting, partial results show.

from the tenor and tone of the headline it looks like the micron has iran in his pocket.
Macron’s party on course for landslide victory in French parliamentary elections

With 90 percent of voters accounted for, Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) and Modem allies had won 31.9 percent support, Interior Ministry results showed.
The conservative party The Republicans and allied center-right Union of Democrats and Independents held 18.9 percent, the National Front 13.8 percent and the Socialists 7.45 percent.

the pied piper – ‘France’s youngest leader since Napoleon’ – leads the children into the woods?

Posted by: jfl | Jun 11 2017 22:41 utc | 148

@149 james
well i agree … but look what’s happening on the ground … kurds are supporting the us/ksa axis … SDF Boosts Relations With Saudi Arabia, Praises Its Role In “Stabilization” Of Syria.
my hopes had been that they’d realized that betrayal was the historic result of carrying water for the usofa, that they would cut a deal with the syrian government and bolt from the us-coalition at an opportune time.
the inopportune time has come, and they seem to be doubling down on the us. of course i don’t know what’s going to happen, but things look bad for the kurds to me at this point.
how many times do they need to get burned? more than two or three apparently.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 12 2017 1:44 utc | 150

@151 hoarse @128 guido
yes, that’s a very interesting report. guest77 posted a link to it a couple of years ago.
i thought it was interesting to sort the table on pg. 33 …

Table S1: Top 50 control-holders. Shareholders are ranked by network control (according to the threshold model, TM). Column indicate country, NACE industrial sector code, actor’s position in the bow-tie sections, cumulative network control. Notice that NACE code starting with 65.66.67 belong to the financial sector.

… by ‘Cumulative Network control (TM, %)’ – the last column on the right – and note who comes to the top, actually the bottom in the printed report – CHINA PETROCHEMICAL GROUP CO. which, despite its name, is classed in the financial sector. and that was in 2010-11. i’m sure it’s no less-well connected today.
you can scroll down to that table and sort it – click on the column headings – here.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 12 2017 5:01 utc | 152

@153 g
there’s never been a problem erecting a moral scaffold around one’s personal crimes, once you’ve got company, once you’re one of the gang. just think of the stories the christians who stole america from and decimated the indigines told themselves – in the case of north america leaving just a tenth alive. think of the cold war and the ‘godless’ commies.
you don’t have to think too hard there as they’re recycling that right now with russians sitting in as the shades of the commies. think of the gooks in southeast asia and the towelheads/sand niggers in the middle east. one of the generals … might have been mad dog himself, the current the secdef, i think it was … said it was fun killin’ ’em. another said “we’d” win because ‘our god was stronger than their god’. gw bush called the war in iraq a crusade. these are religious men!
economics is now just another weapon, part of the panoply of fighting ‘evil’. neoclassical economics is a religion. always was. they puff out their chests and bellow ‘what a good boy am i’, as they deal out the death, devastation, destruction, and deceit.
it’s all for a higher cause. they’re heroes according to their sectarian cult beliefs. not the liars, murderers, war criminals they truly are … they’re just like wahabists … only different.
it’s an innate ‘talent’ we humans all possess, like language, and like language the expression is all the same … only different.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 12 2017 8:58 utc | 154

@ 155 jfl
It is time for some folks to start watching their backs. Who still ranks first in the world for ‘friendly fire’? Godspeed Philippines!

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 12 2017 10:07 utc | 156

The Militarization of Canada: Chrystia Freeland’s Budgetary Coup
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/09/the-militarization-of-canada-chrystia-freelands-budgetary-coup/
“The arrogance of power could scarcely be more dramatically demonstrated. It seems clear that Chrystia Freeland is driving this militarization of Canada. It’s not about defence. It’s about war…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Jun 12 2017 12:02 utc | 158

Many posters here, including myself, have quietly alluded to the rampant pedophilia and human sex trafficking operating in elite circles. We have seen this story before, of course, and netflix new series “The Keepers” offers a devastating portrait of innocence stolen by those sworn to protect it within the Catholic Church and the local government and police force of Baltimore. Hard to forgive netflix for producing and publishing white helmet propaganda, but their documentaries, including “Making a Murderer”, prove they can publish very interesting and thoughtful content.
That being said, why is it that shortly after A.G. Jeff Sessions addresses 1500 law enforcement officers on the subject of child sex trafficking at a conference that addressed child exploitation, that now he is back in the spotlight, testifying to the Senate committee about Russian collusion, meanwhile being drug through the guilt-by-association tactics on the msm’s airwaves?
b called him a dinosaur, and certainly his views on pot are archaic (though will never be enough to stem the tide of the legalization struggles), but I say that anyone with that kind of simple moral compass that can stand up earnestly against these wickedly vile abuses of the elite deserves a little praise. The only question is: can he do anything, or will he be allowed to do anything, at all to combat this?

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 12 2017 18:40 utc | 160

MM2 @159: the spanner was Trump winning
Not really what I was getting at. What I wrote is not pro-Trump. Not sure how you can misunderstand this:

“It is likely that the entire election was rigged and that Trump is the Republican version of ‘faux populist’.” [Obama was the Democratic version].

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jun 12 2017 20:02 utc | 162

@ jackrabbit
To add to that, you say that other Republicans laid down before Mr. Trump. I think that’s a stretch, unless you think that Jeb! would have consented to being tarred/feathered/castrated before the public eye and have his entire political career/ambitions being flushed down the toilet by a few, simple and honest words outta Trump’s mouth. Yep, I think that’s a stretch. The people have gotten smart finally about picking up the neolibtard and identity-politics rhetoric just like when Rowdy-Rowdy Piper found the sunglasses in “They Live!” granting him the ability to see our alien overlords underneath human skin. There were other repubs in those debates, too, who knew they would have a future in Trump’s cabinet.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 12 2017 20:38 utc | 164

@160 nc
i’m skeptical of the pedophilia meme … i agree that the catholic church seems incapable of eliminating pedophilia from its ranks, and certainly pedophilia is the prey of the stronger on the weaker … but anything netflicks is involved in deserves scrutiny.
i think pedophilia is the new all-purpose excuse for repression of communications. something ‘so vile’ that ‘any measures’ taken to ferret it out and suppress it are ‘justified’. it’s used as an excuse to search and destroy on the internet, for instance.
as well, sessions is a racist of the old school. there’s nothing good about him. the trump show is a disaster … that does not somehow imply that the flip side of the coin, the clinton/obama machines, is any better at all. the reality is that ‘traditional’ politics in the usofa, and not only the usofa, has been completely subverted. there is nothing decent left in the empty shells of the old, top-down political organizations – or in the new ones like en marche!, the top-down, new ‘fake politics’ creation in france.
it seems to me that ‘constructive criticism’ of the ongoing burlesque is a waste of time. it is corrupt beyond redemption, and has been for some time, just not as glaringly as it is now. if we are serious about gaining control it has to be done bottom-up, local organizing, one foot in front of the other. we are the political product that needs to be improved.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 12 2017 21:41 utc | 166

NemesisCalling @163 and 164
It’s not what Circe was peddling at all. Circe was all about Trump hate. He was clearly in the Democratic Party camp. He was what I term an “enforcer”. These are people who attack a faux populist in a crazy hateful way. They keep the faux populist President politically weak, while the “apologists” keep him just strong enough to do carry out his pro-establishment agenda.
The uncynical among us insist that the the faux populist President is forced, FORCED! to cave in to critics. If you don’t have the time or inclination to follow closely, then that is indeed what it seems.
I too was taken in. I was on Trump’s side. Defending against Circe’s shill bashing of him. And I was attacked for that. I was attacked for pointing out that Circe had an agenda. Some here thought that as wrong-headed and biased as he was, Circe should have his say. Like I was trampling on his freedom of speech!! Yet he was mostly just reiterating what WaPo, NYTimes, and CNN were blasting out.
So that got me thinking. How well Circe & Co. “constrained” the faux populist President! How convenient that Trump could be *FORCED* to bomb Syria – for the babies!! Yet Trump had no concern for the children killed days later by the extremists. Then came his dancing with the Saudis and his bullshit vote to abolish Obamacare and his own-goal trash-talking about Comey (does he have tapes?)
Then I realized that we have a political system that is fully and completely owned by monied interests. Especially after Citizen’s United. The only “populist outsiders” that our political system will allow for are fake/faux.
Other clues came to mind. Like: Trump’s asking Putin to find Hillary’s missing emails in July 2016. Like: the sudden concerns for Hillary’s health just before and after her being helped into a van on 9-11. We hear no such concerns any longer but that was still fresh when Trump declared, soon after winning the election, that he wouldn’t prosecute Hillary.
See my blog for more:
– The Greatest Headfake of All Time
– Stand Together or Fall Apart: The Case for Direct Democracy
– How Things Work: Betrayalby Faux Populist Leaders
– Taken In: Fake News Distracts From Fake Election

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jun 13 2017 0:43 utc | 168

Being in the elite has always been about gross displays of power & control to other members hence the trumpet, cigar bill clinton and the sleazy prince randy andy all having ties to children’s pimp jeffrey epstein.
Some may choose to believe there is a difference between aging scumbags forcing their pricks up the assholes of boys and other desperate to assert themselves, old scum suckers forcing their viagra engorged junk parts up the pristine pooh holes of girls. To me it all seems the same twisted, sociopathic child exploitation, whatever the agenda.
Augustus Caesar used to chase naked boy and girl slaves around his Capri ‘getaway’ in equal measure. Alexander 6 the first Borgia Pope, generally preferred the rape and exploitation of girls, Lord Louis Mountbatten uncle of Prince Philip of england and the royal match maker for elizabeth II had two irish boys serving as ‘crew’ when the IRA blew his sorry ass, his boat and tragically all aboard it to smithereens.
Being so powerful that you can safely commit the foulest of all crimes – the destruction of a child, has long been a favourite method for a member of the elite to do the opposite of virtue signalling, to demonstrate rank.
Exposing this foul disregard for humanity in a partisan way which calls out one particular faction of the elite rather than the entire stinking mob of kiddie fuckers is exploitation itself. Sure not as bad as actual child rape but it still uses the misery of a child’s suffering to advance a particular agenda.
All of the victims have a right to privacy which far supersedes any ‘right to know’ or ill-formed freedom of speech justifications.
Oh one more thing while on the subject of sailing, it will be interesting to see if emirates team new zealand who won the amerikas cup challengers cup a few hours ago, which is the right to show billionaire Larry Ellison how to sail on the (comparitively) cheap, will be forced to conceal their emirates sponsorship during the high profile coverage of the finals series.
Since emirates sponsorship includes team naming rights it tough to see what could be done, & is gonna be hugely amusing to watch saudi angst if the kiwi/qatari coalition is competitive against oracle this time.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jun 13 2017 3:45 utc | 170

@ 40
I guess you’d have to be American to consider people carrying guns to be moderate.

Posted by: Bolt | Jun 13 2017 5:04 utc | 172

@173 jfl
Very possible. It could be a controlled release only when they have all the pieces in place to reemerge when the public has lost interest.
Btw, The Keepers is pretty apolitical. It is not a hit piece even against the Catholic Church. More like a story of strong women reclaiming their life from the powerful. It was a lot of food for thought. A lot of hope, too.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 13 2017 5:44 utc | 174

| What a treasure trove of considerations with which to greet the day, starting about @165 and subsequent, a banquet of red meat to sink one’s teeth into (a dispensation please from vegetarian style readers for the metaphor). Alas! @166, the first rational and balanced proffering on the subject of accusations of abuse, allegedly sexual of the powerless, generating overwhelming emotional response, removing the rational, balanced state of mind from any following act of justice for both the victim and the accused. What is lost is the idea that both the innocent claiming innocence and the guilty claiming the same use the very same words, a judgment call worthy of the fabled Solomon. Please note: Never before have so many been so isolated, so deprived of human interaction for so long as those in the U.S., several generations are now involved. Whatever interaction they experience is limited to a very close circle of acquaintances, usually not extending much beyond familiar family members, and a few selected others. They are isolated in their private transportation, in their homes, they are isolated in their markets having enormous square meters per expected customer, they are isolated by custom of no physical contact, they are isolated from verbal interactions with any but those who agree with their private opinions – raising ad hominem to defend against assertion, disagreement or question as is evidenced so often these pages this site. The normal European social interaction is entirely alien to those jailed in the North American ‘culture’ above the Rio Grande border with Mexico. The fact that unfamiliarity is the garden that fear readily grows is not understood, and fearful people complete their lack of understanding with reliance on some available fiction in order to explain their experience rather than accepting some likely innocent incident is just what the species does as a social species. Caregivers, teachers and the religious are all deeply involved, as are others, in socialisation and use the cultural tools to accomplish their ends. Meeting the consequences of isolation and the fears generated likely underlays the greater part of the pederast epidemic of recent times. Among the mentor class have been many casualties – at what cost to the wellbeing of the future? Thanks for bringing this often neglected subject to attention, many kudos!

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 13 2017 8:24 utc | 176

177)
Yep. You can understand the wars of the last 20 years and more as an attempt to “free” Caspian oil.
From 2001 George Monbiot: America’s Pipe Dream

Posted by: somebody | Jun 13 2017 10:36 utc | 178

One more on the moral priorities of the UN
UN Chief Admits He Was Pressured Into Removing Saudi Arabia From Child Conflict Black List

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 13 2017 12:08 utc | 180

Turkey sends military team to assess deployment in Qatar amid embargo
should read Turkey balks at deploying troops to Qatar amid embargo
best laugh line …

Erdogan praised Qatar for taking what he called “the most decisive stance” against Daesh Takfiri terrorists alongside Turkey …”

… of course that’s very black humor.
meanwhile, the turkish msm spin the inuendo, catapault the propaganda UAE paid $3bn to finance coup attempt in Turkey: Report

“The minister did not name the country. However, sources from the foreign ministry have confirmed that it was the UAE,” Acet told Daily Sabah newspaper.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 13 2017 22:53 utc | 182

Two civilians killed in the west of Donetsk by the night shelling

Today, the Deputy Head of the local administrative department, Sergey Chub, stated, “The armed forces of Ukraine shelled the Petrov district quite heavily, and as a result of this attack, a young mother and son perished on Luganskiy street.”

just another night in donbass, under the bootheel of the us’ ukrainian nazis.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 13 2017 22:57 utc | 184

| To bring to a close participation in this thread, the following:
Twice I have attempted to elicit an answer to the question raised in Psychohistorian’s repeated litany of ending ‘private finance’, and twice have received silence as the response. It well may be Psychohistorian hasn’t a clue about what they are talking about, a very high probability anyroad. Psychohistorian’s choice to clam up tends to reinforce that conclusion; clamming up is a simple way to provide comfort and security when facing a perceived hostile environment, particularly the threat presented by a crusty old crab out exploring its world and taking sustenance where it finds it. For the clam in its tightly closed bulwarks giving comfort and security, sustenance can only com from its own shite. In refusing to engage Psychohistorian removes themselves from my handful of commentators here I would open comments to find their offerings about any subject. Psychohistorian will need hold their breath until they turn a remarkable shade of blue before this party will engage further, but unfortunately these comments don’t reveal colours. I actually had substantial agreement with Psychohistorian but thought they were upside down and a$$ backwards to try getting where they were going; that conversation will not happen now.
For Hoarsewhisperer, reading something else a thought was born, but as our conversation concerning predatory and totalitarian finance died some time ago it was not proposed, that about the nature of words. The words that are used are either facile and convenient to use, or they contain some measure of wisdom and understanding in transferring meaning to another. I just did not find any of the latter in your use of totalitarian finance, and will leave it go at that. Thanks for your responses, they made me think.
The Canadian twit-twat, young James. For the most part your contributions here raise the question – who the hell do they think they are? Fortunately I am not a recipient of your tinsel estrallations of ardent approval, and rest assured that should such event happen would heartily respond with the advise you place your approbations firmly up your ‘place where the sun don’t shine’. I elide your contributions whenever possible as it is.
To that fool who thought to enter their opinions where they were not called for, I have forgotten your blog handle already and will not waste the time to go back and find out. Your comprehension of economics is zero and only redeeming quality is the sure ability to kill any exchange of ideas as do most who have all the answers to all questions. Feel neglected, you are.
This commentator is reverting to a policy of not reading commentary with the exception of a handful of elite commentators, and not replying to any for any reason, henceforth. The opinions of most here are not worth the candle, based as they are on completely edited materials designed to produce emotional response or unanalysed acceptance. Commencing period of radio silence. ‘b’ got my appreciation of the site earlier.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 14 2017 7:54 utc | 186

I know quite a few Poles. The big issue for them is Galicia, Lvov. Apparently they have a claim that goes back to Casimir III. It’s in Ukraine now so they aren’t sure who they hate most Russia or Ukraine. They tend to blame Stalin more than Hitler which is strange.

Posted by: dh | Jun 14 2017 12:45 utc | 188

US deploys 2 warships to Doha for joint drills with Qatari navy

Two US navy vessels have arrived in Doha to take part in joint military drills with the Qatari navy amid escalating tensions between Arab Persian Gulf states.
The US ships arrived at Hamad Port south of Doha “to participate in a joint exercise with the Qatari Emiri Navy,” announced the Qatari News Agency (QNA) on Wednesday.
The news agency noted that the crews of the two ships were received by Qatari navy officers.
Also on Wednesday, Qatar’s Ministry of Defense announced that the country had signed a deal to purchase 36 F-15 fighter jets from the US for $12 billion.
According to a source informed about the deal, US Defense Secretary James Mattis and several Qatar representatives were scheduled to meet on Wednesday for signing the deal for the warplanes.
The agreement was signed despite recent criticism by US President Donald Trump, who claimed Qatar supported terrorism.

pay no attention to the man in front of the curtain …

Posted by: jfl | Jun 15 2017 3:10 utc | 190

@190 Crazy! Typical Back Hand type protection racket..

Posted by: Lozion | Jun 15 2017 3:27 utc | 192

i’d looked at youtube for stone’s putin interviews but only found sound bytes of enticement … but they are available … Watch – The Putin Interviews.
there’s nothing ‘new’ in the first 2 of them, to people who’ve been paying attention, but to people who have not …

Part-2, ~44:00 – 45:20
Stone:
Well, one thing is clear … I think the only place in the world where he’s safe [where Snowden’s safe] is here, in Russia …
Putin:
I think so too.
Stone:
… and there’s a great irony in this. In the old days the Russian defectors would go to the United States. This is a new reversal …
Putin:
There’s nothing strange about that today, because however much they try to demonize Russia, Russia is a democratic country, and also a sovereign country.
There are risks to that, but also a great advantage to that as well, because there are just a handful of countries who can really wield their sovereignty. The other countries are burdened with so-called allied obligations. In reality, they have limited their own sovereignty of their own volition.

… that’ll probably just be met with denial in the usofa … but in europe? … it ought to hit like thunderstroke … voluntary slavery.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 15 2017 11:48 utc | 194

Over A Dozen Canadian Soldiers Killed In Donbass, Trudeau Wants More To Come Home In Flag Draped Caskets, Mission Now Extends In Ukraine !

The Canadians first deployed about 600 troops to Ukraine in the summer of 2015 to help train government forces in their fight against Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country. Canada has a large Ukrainian population as an entire division of Ukrainian Nazi-SS men settled there.
The Canadians were required officially to previously stay in the western half of Ukraine, far from the conflict that has continued to rage over the last three years, leaving more than 100,000 people dead. But then this spring a group of “expert” Canadian trainers got lost in Donbass and about a dozen men total were killed in a quick fight with DPR recon forces who mistook them for a vanguard or spearhead element of a more general NATO attack on Donetsk.

i’d missed this story completely. i imagine canadians didn’t. i hope that the 12 slaughtered at the insistence of the canuck-ukrainian nazis were canuck-ukrainian nazis themselves … although i imagine they probably were not.
political deals like this always have a way of killing the ‘innocent’ and leaving the instigators alive to do it all over again … to another ‘innocent’ batch.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 15 2017 13:15 utc | 196

@197 hoarse
i’ve read that firestops within the building ‘were removed’ during the ‘renovation’ (!) … and that now no one ‘is sure’ they were ever put back.
this is criminal … from the people in ‘oversight’ to the contractors … they’re murderers, plain and simple.
there are going to be more than 100 bodies discovered, eventually. it might take ‘months’ (!) to determine how many died according to the cover-up crew … i mean according to the investigation unit.

Posted by: jfl | Jun 16 2017 13:27 utc | 198