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June 15, 2017
Open Thread 2017-23
Comments
@100 hoarse @93 penelope
my experience with bofa is that you cannot talk to human being there … it’s always a machine. ‘pretending’ to be a human.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 18 2017 4:54 utc | 101
jfl | Jun 18, 2017 12:54:00 AM | 101 “it’s always a machine”
If the machine speaks English, lucky you. I tend to get off-shored call centers in similar situations and due to poor hearing and accent of offshore employee … speak English you bastards.
Posted by: Peter AU | Jun 18 2017 5:08 utc | 102
@49 virgile, ‘The USA’s aim is to weaken BOTH Qatar and Saudi Arabia lead group …’
Saudi Arabia, Israel to establish economic relations for first time: Report
Furthermore, US President Donald Trump, who visited both Saudi Arabia and Israel last month, seems to support a regional peace approach, part of which could be forming ties between Tel Aviv and Riyadh for the first time in history. The US president has already said he wants to pursue “a much bigger deal” in the Middle East, which would include “many, many countries.”
Saudi Arabia has not yet recognized Israel since its foundation in 1948. Saudi authorities thus do not accept Israeli passports, and holders of passports containing any Israeli visa or stamp will be denied entry. However, any prospect of official ties between Tel Aviv and Riyadh will also mean that Saudi leaders might have on their agenda a review of their recognition of the Israeli regime.
… so … the question to the rest of the arab states is … whose side are you on? israel’s? or qatar’s? yeah, i’d say the us/israel are trying to weaken both ksa and qatar … and every other arab and or islamic country in or out of the middle east.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 18 2017 5:10 utc | 103
@ 93 Penelope, 100 Hoarsewhisperer, et al
You may be lucky and get that resolved but I would not expect much out of an organisation having a business plan: What you thinks is your IS ALL OURS, and has reached TBTF status. Only doGs have enough resources to have affect, nothing else. Just think, you are privileged to experience ‘Bank Robbery’ by one of the country’s biggest and best; one that holds a very large fraction of all bank accounts in the nation. Lilly Tomlin took care of Ma Bell, the TBTN (Too Big To Notice) in her day, and there are none to fill that position now so impoverished these times. Best of luck and infinite patience be yours, next time a small locally owned FDIC bank (if one still exists) or Credit Union is a better plan, at least you can find out where they live.
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 18 2017 5:45 utc | 104
An interesting swarm of earthquakes registered in Yellowstone caldera Friday. The fear machine has been engaged; be afraid, very, very afraid. Again. Expect a swarm of Hollywood productions to closely follow. It’s a hyper-super volcano!!!
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 18 2017 6:58 utc | 105
Venezuela,
How it all started,
This revolution will not be televised……………..
2002
‘ Did anyone ask us, the taxpayers, if we cared to fork over a ton of money to the Democrat and Republican parties so some jerks could spend it to overthrow an elected president? Of course not. That’s because this government assumes we work for it, and not the other way around.’
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2002/04/richard-cummings/i-met-her-in-venezuela/
‘
Posted by: denk | Jun 18 2017 8:54 utc | 106
PM: Iraq will never be a place for hostility with Iran
Earlier this week, Iraqi Vice President Iyad Allawi accused Iran of interfering in his country’s decision-making, saying, “We hope that the Iraqis would choose themselves without any involvement by any foreign power,” in reference to a parliamentary election next year.
Speaking during a visit to Egypt, he also accused Qatar of having promoted a plan to split Iraq.
“In Iraq, Qatar adopted a project similar to that of Iran; to split Iraq into a Sunni region in exchange for a Shia region,” he claimed.
the cia’s walking dead never stop walking, or talking … is there even such a position as ‘Iraqi Vice President’?
Iraqi constitution
Article 72:
First:
The President of the Republic’s term in office shall be limited to four years. He may be re-elected for a second time only.
Second:
A – The President of the Republic’s term in office shall end with the end of the term of the Council of Representatives.
B – The President of the Republic shall continue to exercise his duties until after the end of the election and the meeting of the new Council of Representatives, provided that a new President of the Republic is elected within thirty days from the date of its first convening.
C – In case the position of the President of the Republic becomes vacant for any reason, a new President shall be elected to complete the remaining period of the President’s term.
pm abadi :
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has stressed that his country will never be a place for animosity toward Iran after an [ex-]Iraqi vice president made hostile statements against the Islamic Republic.
Abadi said late Saturday that he would not allow Iraq to be turned into a battlefield between Iran and the US or the Iraqi soil to be used as a place for animosity against the Islamic Republic.
Abadi criticized Allawi’s remarks against Tehran and Doha as unacceptable, saying that the brickbats were meant to appease Egypt at a time of soured Cairo-Doha relations.
He further censured US support for the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which consists of Kurdish militants, warning that the policy would result in Syria’s disintegration.
At Baghdad’s request, Iran has been providing military advisory assistance to Iraq in its counter-terrorism campaign.
it seems as though the syrian kurds have completed their transformation into tools of the usa/ksa … at least the iraqi government sees them as such. now they have the turks, the iranians, the iraqis … and the syrians? probably … against them. their only ally is the usofa, and with an ally like that you better sleep with a gun beneath your pillow.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 18 2017 11:10 utc | 107
A tragedy 16 years ago at the japan sea,
courtesy of the Usual Suspects….
Japanese trawler sunk by a USN submarine out for a joy ride for MIC big donors.
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2001/02/23/the-sailors-who-fell-from-grace-with-the-sea/
Posted by: denk | Jun 18 2017 16:35 utc | 108
Big news out of Syria today. The rumor mills on Twitter have gone into overdrive, so there’s no reason to post any of it without multiple confirmations.
Both Fars news and Presstv are claiming that the IRGC have fired missiles into IS positions at Deir Ezzor. Fars news reports that the missiles were launched from Iranian airspace as revenge for the recent terrorist attacks in Tehran. That would require the use of intermediate ranged ballistic missiles if I’m not mistaken. If true, there is a clear message for the US in the use of such weapons.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960328001862
Posted by: wwinsti | Jun 18 2017 19:44 utc | 109
US ‘entered’ syria uninvited, to fight US created IS ..
chalk it up to yet another naked aggression feather on uncle sham’s cap.
Gen Votel of Centcom bragged about it, no less
‘We dont need no stinking permission from Damascas’ !
And….
US coalition of killing just shot down a Syrian jet !
Over at Shangrila hotel, Singapore…
The neocon ‘thinktank’,
InfamousInternationalShitStirrer
organised ‘Asian security dialogue’ has just concluded. [1]
Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull, side kick of the west most wanted outlaw,
lectured on a rules-based regional order in which nations could pursue their interests without fear of coercion.
Gawd !
When can the world rid itself of this tyranny of bombs and bullshits ,
?
[1]
A ‘security’ dialoge sponsored by luminaries like
Boeing, Bae, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin….
kinda like a ‘fire prevention forum’ sponsored by professional arsonists,
what could go wrong ?
Posted by: denk | Jun 19 2017 4:37 utc | 110
Posted by: jfl | Jun 18, 2017 7:10:05 AM | 107
I guess the attraction for locals is to carve out the part of Syria that got oil. It won’t be Kurdistan.
Kurdistan would go through Idlib.
Which might be the reason why all the Turkish supported “opposition fighters” were parked there.
Posted by: somebody | Jun 19 2017 5:58 utc | 111
More on “the West, Israel and Saudi support Kurdistan” – or at least that is what the YPG hope for
Representatives from the PYD, U.S., Britain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and UAE discussed the situation regarding Hashid Shaabi forces who recently arrived on the Iraqi-Syrian border, as well as the progress of Syrian government’s forces towards Iraq’s border, local media reported.
The international representatives also called on the YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to regain full control of Syria’s border with Iraq, after the end of Raqaa operation.
The U.S., Britain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and UAE representatives promised to provide Kurdish forces with military and financial assistance. A trade line would also be opened from the Jordanian border to Rojava.
The YPG, the leading group in the SDF, is viewed by the U.S. favorably due to the Kurdish group’s successful fight against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria.
U.S. President Donald Trump has also approved supplying arms to YPG fighters to support the operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIS.
The SDF, backed by coalition forces, have liberated thousands of square kilometers from ISIS since the operation began to isolate the ISIS-stronghold on November 5, 2016.
Posted by: somebody | Jun 19 2017 7:44 utc | 112
more of the same
YPG has jumped the fence to a Saudi, Jordanian “Western” coalition.
I wonder where defunded Jihadis will turn to – same alliance?
Israel seems to have come out openly in support.
Posted by: somebody | Jun 19 2017 8:14 utc | 113
Posted by: Mina | Jun 19 2017 11:13 utc | 114
114
Russian military halts Syria sky incident prevention interactions with US as of June 19
So – no airforce for the YPG.
Posted by: somebody | Jun 19 2017 11:14 utc | 115
SOHR: Syrian Su-22 Didn’t Target SDF Fighters In Western Raqqah.
“The fate of the pilot of regime’s warplane is still unknown, where its warplane was dropped in the southern countryside of Al-Raqqah, the warplane was shot down over Al-Resafa area of which the regime forces have reached to its frontiers today, and sources suggested to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that warplanes of the International Coalition targeted it during its flight in close proximity to the airspace of the International Coalition’s warplanes, which caused its debris to fall over Resafa city amid an unknown fate of its pilot, the sources confirmed that the warplane did not target the Syria Democratic Forces in their controlled areas located at the contact line with regime forces’ controlled areas in the western countryside of Al-Tabaqa to the road of Al-Raqqah – Resafa.”
the syrian aircraft was after isis. the us-coalition is looking for a fight. the rump’s aol, left maddog the jarhead in charge.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 19 2017 11:27 utc | 116
Hoarsewhisperer, jfl, formerly T-Bear, and Chauncey Gardiner (a fantastic character you were, Chauncey): thank you all for your comments regarding Bank of America’s taking my $800.00. So far they are trying, oh so casually, to make it between me and the ATM company. But I’m having none of it; my commercial relationship is with B of A. I suppose I’ll have to start massively posting my experience everywhere. I’m also considering picketing my branch.
Posted by: Penelope | Jun 20 2017 1:15 utc | 118
Peter AU, the only reason I mention the windpower technology at about 67 is because it appears to be revolutionary– a break with the limitations of past wind technology. If you determined in advance that it’s no such thing, then you can’t find out about it. No exterior moving parts, not intended to be a feeder into hydrocarbon plants. It’s already up & running in locations in several foreign countries.
As I am aware of the global warming hoax I am not even a proponent of ditching hydrocarbons, but this NEW technology may actually give us a chance to take a sector of energy away from Big Oil & Gas. Don’t make a snap judgement; LOOK at it, please.
Posted by: Penelope | Jun 20 2017 1:22 utc | 119
Incidentally, the world is rife today w reports of HEAT WAVES. Just propaganda, folks. Here’s the facts that even EPA had to admit:
https://realclimatescience.com/2017/06/hot-days-are-climate/
Posted by: Penelope | Jun 20 2017 1:26 utc | 120
FFW 2017,
Peter Koenig,
‘Why’s Venezuela still in uncle sham’s cross hairs ,’
Even after they bumped off Chavez ?
cuz
*Venezuela has oil,
*it doesnt wanna play ball with U.S.,
*it’s friendly with Beijing.
Anyone of the above is enough to provoke a visit from the Economic hitman,
Venezuela has all of them !!
Posted by: denk | Jun 20 2017 7:10 utc | 121
– The website “DollarCollapse” had the following article:
“The Middle East is blowing up”
https://dollarcollapse.com/articles/the-middle-east-is-blowing-up/
Posted by: Willy2 | Jun 20 2017 7:23 utc | 122
– Are these links credible ?
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/18/middleeast/syrian-warplane-shot-down-coalition/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/world/middleeast/russia-syria.html
And then Iran is the “usual suspect” again:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/18/middleeast/iran-launches-missiles-into-syria/index.html
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201706201054783411-tehran-tillerson-remarks/
http://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-arrest-iran-military-elite-oil-627327
How credible is Sputniknews & CNN ?
Posted by: Willy2 | Jun 20 2017 14:06 utc | 123
I’m getting Exceptionally sick of the Yankee huffing and puffing about the kid sent back from North Korea in a coma. Everyone is in an embarrassing rush to forget that if he hadn’t been caught, red-handed, stealing something which didn’t belong to him (in a predictably unpredictable country), his journey would have proceeded as originally planned.
It’s sad, but who is responsible for not warning him about staying out of trouble in a foreign country?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 20 2017 17:42 utc | 124