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October 6, 2017
Open Thread 2017-36
Comments
Whaaaat in the hell is going on with Saudi Arabia and Russia???
Posted by: WithAllWindsAhead | Oct 6 2017 18:09 utc | 1
The usual Kaspersky/Russia hit job: apparently Kaspersky is responsible for a No Such contractor taking No Such attack tools home and installing on his hands me computer. Which was running Kaspersky.
Of course unsaid is that Kaspersky is one of the few AV that flags No Such attack packages as the mascara they are.
ALl AV tools can be used this way, FYI.
Posted by: C1ue | Oct 6 2017 18:11 utc | 2
@WithAllWindsAhead
I guess it’s one more example of able Russian diplomacy, seizing the moment to consolidate her influence in the region.
Posted by: Das Kommentariat | Oct 6 2017 18:27 utc | 3
Hey NMB
Who do you work for? Do they pay well for you to have no morals?
I am offended by your click bait comment and hope others don’t fall for your continued corruption of the “civil” discourse we try to have here.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 6 2017 19:23 utc | 5
Catalonian independence movement bankrolled by Soros, part of making a federal Euroland on ministates under control of the financial oligarchs. http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/10/05/catalonia-media-throwing-gas
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 6 2017 19:27 utc | 6
I’d like to direct fellow barflies to the comments Putin made at the annual Russian Energy Week Forum, http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55767
The moves Russia and China are making in renewables, storage and energy efficiency for entire economy are very aggressive versus the retrogression in Outlaw US Empire energy policy since Trump was enthroned. And with Republicans running Congress, the worsening will accelerate. Talk about threats to national security!
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 6 2017 19:43 utc | 7
@ karlof1 who writes about threats to national security.
Yes, America is being driven into the ground by those that own and control the engine of empire, private finance.
Yes, the world is being brought to the edge of extinction by the same folks that for profit have committed at least a thousand generations of humans to manage the effluent from nuclear energy.
When the God of Mammon fealty sets the incentives by which humanity lives, only a few benefit from the toil of many. Hopefully China and Russia are showing the world a better way to live and we evolve from that example.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 6 2017 20:29 utc | 8
Does anyone have an opinion on what, if anything, is happening with Tillerson?
Posted by: frances | Oct 6 2017 20:56 utc | 9
So, AFP reports that Saudis are buying not only S300’s from Russia, but also THAAD from US. If true, will built-in killswitch on either system render it useless or will they go after each other?
Snark aside, who gets to reverse-engineer the Saudi purchases? Guessing that each system comes with “shepherds” to prevent tech crossover.
Sarcasm aside, agree with WithAllWindsAhead, is Saudi Arabia a free agent now or switching sides after we put up some friction on Yemen?
Posted by: Stumpy | Oct 6 2017 21:06 utc | 10
Frances, it could be that Tillerson is reluctant to quit after only eight months.
Perhaps he sees himself in the position of “After me the deluge”, where his replacement would be John Bolton or some random unqualified congress critter.
Did not know we were in Niger. Will be be taking on all of Africa eventually, save for SA?
Posted by: Bart in VA | Oct 6 2017 22:04 utc | 12
Now here’s a shallow post, but hell, it is an open thread..
The NFL can’t figure out why ratings are down. The speculation is it’s because of the player’s protests. Horseshit!!
It’s because of the greedy advertisers, owners, and the NFL themselves, running advertisements so often it ruins the viewing..case closed!!
As far as the players protests go, more power to ’em. To be black in the U$A today puts your life in danger every time you go out. Colin Kaepernick is a true hero…
Posted by: ben | Oct 6 2017 22:29 utc | 13
reply to: Posted by: Bart in VA | Oct 6, 2017 6:04:52 PM | 12
Thank you, I couldn’t see him quitting either; my concern was if he is being forced out by the Pentagon people that now surround Trump.
We are building up militarily throughout Africa probably because China is becoming a major business presence there and has just set up its first African military base in Djibouti.
Posted by: frances | Oct 6 2017 22:37 utc | 14
psychohistorian @ 8 said:”Hopefully China and Russia are showing the world a better way to live and we evolve from that example.’
hopefully is right, I’ll second that..
And hopefully, what’s going on in the world isn’t just a battle of oligarchs jockeying for
control..
Posted by: ben | Oct 6 2017 22:41 utc | 15
KUDOS to ICAN for the work resulting in the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
Humbug for the lengths the US nuclear weapons industry goes to preserve the mass live human cremation capability!!
Examples here and here
Frances:
So history repeats itself with the exploitation of Africa. This time we and China are the new Cecil Rhodes, King Leopold, et al.
Posted by: Bart in VA | Oct 6 2017 22:53 utc | 17
Highly recommended:
James Baldwin, I am not your negro
Focuses on murders of malcolm, martin and meredith.
Has great footage of JB meeting with Bobby Kennedy.
Also Lorraine Hansberry meeting with Bobby. Fans of Bobby need to watch.
Includes highlights of the debate at Cambridge where JB got standing ovation and Buckley got booed.
I downloaded p2p online, free.
Posted by: mauisurfer | Oct 6 2017 23:11 utc | 18
Stephen Walt updates his view of the Israel Lobby
http://forward.com/opinion/383901/that-israel-lobby-controversy-history-has-proved-us-right/
Posted by: mauisurfer | Oct 6 2017 23:27 utc | 19
I am providing a write up on the proposed USA Liberty Act and the final sentence.
Freedom doesn’t mean what you think it does
”
And so the USA Liberty Act is exactly what you imagine it to be: a piece of law written to give the illusion of reform by adding reports and paperwork, and yet quietly retains highly questionable spying programs – keeping the real levers of power in the hands of the security services and the Congressmen who wrote the law. ®
”
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 6 2017 23:37 utc | 20
I’m fairly new here and have noticed a couple of comments about linking to SouthFront on MoA. I was just wonder if anyone could take the time to explain the backstory on the SF MoA thing.
Thanks in advance.
Posted by: lurker | Oct 7 2017 1:50 utc | 21
On gun control:
People invariably keep reaching for low-hanging fruit like bump stock while others point out that when risk to gun-ownership increases, sales follow suit. Ergo…if the state is a seemingly benevolent force, then gun sales will decline to the point of novelty and sport.
For all those who wish to restrict gun rights, you should really start with advocating the eradication of military equipment to police forces and national guard (something Obama, to his credit partook AFAIK, with the exception of the infamous incident of DHS purchasing surplus hollow-point bullets). Reiterate this point first before restricting the plebs.
“When there is not even faith in the empire, there is a lack of good faith.”
The state needs to lead the way on this.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 7 2017 1:59 utc | 22
@22 lurker.. no one knows the back story so far as i know… maybe the host himself – b – will comment..
Posted by: james | Oct 7 2017 2:13 utc | 23
lurker @22–
The problem exists with the platform b chose to use–wordpress I think–as it has a list of alleged Fake News sites where comments are automatically sent to the spam bin if they contain that sites URL or even spelt out URLs, ie using dot for . etc. That’s an outline of the issue, which goes much deeper as it’s part of the attempt to censor the internet.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 7 2017 2:45 utc | 24
I came across this quote from George Orwell that seems fitting still.
“We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal.
We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”
George Orwell, 1984
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 7 2017 3:07 utc | 25
@ NemesisCalling about gun control
My suggestion is to link social responsibility to ownership. To me the way to do this is through required registration and required INSURANCE.
The insurance angle needs to be defined so that the premiums are established and evolve to cover incidents like what just happened in Vegas. Applying the total actual cost of the individual and mass killings into the premiums would provide incentives to the ownership group to self manage the premiums down to manageable levels over a few years….at least for those with only one to very few guns.
Think about all the efforts others have reported that is spent to control volumes of chemicals for bombs and such but no required registration for the mainstay killing tool, the gun.
If TPTB can keep us killing each other instead of noticing that we could all live decent lives if human wealth was shared equitably then why wouldn’t they consider it a self licking ice cream cone for them? I makes them profit, keeps the societal fear level up enough for adequate control and culls or provides cover for killing the serious potential trouble makers (those speaking truth to power).
I am sure there is more to a solution that my thoughts but first there has to be a willful agreement and steps to address why people are killing each other as well.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 7 2017 3:35 utc | 26
@Bart in VA | Oct 6, 2017 6:53:00 PM | 17
You sound quite racist to me probably lacking history prospective?
What happened from the past white colonial power did to the natives are far cried from the Chinese in Africa today. The similarity – extraction Africa’s rich natural resources. Cecil Rhodes plunder Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and more. King Leopold II of Belgium the butcher of Congo was responsible for the deaths of 10 million Congolese. Even after Congo gain independent in 1960 they murdered Congolese nationalist Patrice Lumumba replaced with Moïse Tshombe and finally General Mobutu. In Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe did much better manage to last till today with the Help from China.
There are two key differences, China maybe doing exactly the same as pervious colonial power, but China built and ungraded infrastructures – roads, utilities, power generations, railway, school, hospital, airports, dams and etc. And they dun bring the bible with them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merowe_Dam#Financing
Desmond Tutu – “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land. or Chief Dan George said – “First we had the land and they had the Bibles, now we have the Bibles and they have the land.”
China itself suffers more than a century of humiliation from the same invaders and Japan. China the next economic giant going back where previously invades gone before for the same reasons but helped the natives for better future and lives. Like Putin’s Russia Federation and Xi’s PRC, they dun meddle with politics, religion and locals issue or regime change.
The Chinese may be corrupted, stupid, copycats or whatever, but their other interest beside raw resources, they sell what they made from China. There are human right, environmentals and social issue – bound to happen and I’m not blind to it. Let them (China and States) take care with the locals, and former invaders and NGO mines your own fucking business.
People Republic China (PRC) celebrated 68th anniversary October 1st and Taiwan celebrates 106 anniversary October 10th in 2017. Both Chinas cerebrated mid-Autumn festival on October 4th.
Here are China (PRC) National anthem, enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pt0CR2qIs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UctriMuXYS0
Posted by: OJS | Oct 7 2017 4:00 utc | 27
OJS
That’s European music not Asian. Bit disapointing. Had not listened to Chinese national anthem before.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Oct 7 2017 5:05 utc | 28
The latest US/ISIS attack on SAA/Russia seems to have broken the back of ISIS.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-elite-syrian-army-troops-capture-50-percent-isis- capital-city/
US/Israel revived Bagaddadi to inspire the zombies, but even that didn’t work.
looks like US made a deal with an ISIS sector that allowed them to move down to Deir Ezzor, but the Omar oilfields? The US SF/Kurds/ McGirks Raqqa ISIS tribes may have problems there.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Oct 7 2017 5:13 utc | 29
Posted by: Stumpy | Oct 6, 2017 5:06:09 PM | 10
(Russia sells S-400 to Saudi Arabia (& Turkey))
Could sales of S-400 to regimes with an uncertain attitude toward Russia be a sign that S-500 development is complete and will provide a fail-safe for any potential duplicity by such customers?
One assumes that the main superiority factor for the S-500 would be in extended launch detection range and trajectory prediction.
In the Oliver Stone interviews, Putin makes a pointed reference to “the illusion of protection” of Missile Defense systems, adding that Ru’s defense policy is slanted toward harsher and more direct response (to an attack on Ru).
Very early detection of a potentially hostile launch from a known hostile entity would allow time for Russia to demand that the offending missile be destroyed, by its owner, before it crosses a “red line”.
Or else…
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 7 2017 6:17 utc | 30
Peter AU 1 | Oct 7, 2017 1:05:09 AM | 29
First vid two songs. The first song dunno the name something like PRC military blah, blah.. Followed by (national anthem) “March of the Volunteers” as the soldier flip the flag upward just before 2.86min. I love the way the soldier fliping the flag.
From faint memory, “March of the Volunteers” was a common Chinese “folk” song in China’s similar to British Folk Song suite – Ralph Vaughan Williams. This song commonly played on radio soon after WW2 in Asia where overseas Chinese scattered. After the Communist took over the mainland PRC made it their national anthem and was banned.
British Folk Song suite – Ralph Vaughan Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0sC4xbyT5c
There are stories behind the “March of the Volunteers,” music by (Nie Er) and lyrics by (Tian Han), DuckGuckGo searches, read about it. If you like both music with lyric watch, the 2nd video.
Posted by: OJS | Oct 7 2017 6:34 utc | 31
@frances #9
Does anyone have an opinion on what, if anything, is happening with Tillerson?
I have read that Tillerman has a “suicide pact” with Mattis and Mnuchin in Defense and Treasury to all resign if Trump fires any single on e of them. Sorta like the players and the NFL…
Posted by: ralphieboy | Oct 7 2017 7:02 utc | 32
OJS
Watched the second vid and subtitles. Liked the words to their national anthem.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Oct 7 2017 7:16 utc | 33
@1 — it looks like some complex maneuvers underway. I wouldn’t be surprised if KSA gets an observer’s seat at the next SCO Ball. The usd$ based petro-dollar’s days may also be in rapid decline.
A touch self promoting/quoting but nonetheless covers numerous salient points.
“Is Saudi Arabia’s Grand Strategy Shifting?”
Andrew KORYBKO (06/10/2017)
https://orientalreview.org/2017/10/06/saudi-arabias-grand-strategy-shifting/
Posted by: x | Oct 7 2017 7:17 utc | 34
Addendum clarification.
On my daughter’s convocation the university band played British Folk Song Suite, brought me back as a boy traveled with dad across Asia, faint memories of folks and classical music broadcast on radio – Brit, Irish, Chinese and Russian (Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake), both British Folk Song’s suite and March of the Volunteers reminded me of the bygone days. BTW, I’m no classical music lover!
Posted by: OJS | Oct 7 2017 7:25 utc | 35
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 7, 2017 2:17:20 AM | 31
“Could sales of S-400 to regimes with an uncertain attitude toward Russia be a sign that S-500 development is complete and will provide a fail-safe for any potential duplicity by such customers?”
I have been thinking somthing similar for some time. S-500 has made S-400 tech obsolete?
US would like to get their hands on one to find how to get around it, nbut apart from 500 tech being the leader, Russia built the 400 and would know how to get around it. A good thing to flog off to to US colonies/protectorates that may be thinking of going independant.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Oct 7 2017 7:30 utc | 36
@37 — they are defensive equipment. Without a Russian aggressive expansion program then why would it worry Moscow? They probably see it as forward placement in any case.
You can bet your last dollar that: (a) the equipment won’t target and fire at Russian assets/planes; (b) DC don’t have a kill switch; and (c) they are a nice little foreign exchange earner.
The qualitative differences between upgraded S-300 (purchased by Iran); S-400 and S-500 are likely somewhat marginal and all on the upside of very ‘deadly’.
With a likely ‘integrate-able’ S-XXX network in Turkey, Iran, KSA and Antey-2500 missile systems (an S-300 variant) in Egypt the 3 main corners of the ancient regional power blocks are covered (+1). Add a couple of French made Russian helicopter fitted ships to the latter’s Suez security domain (and China’s Djibouti base coming online) and it starts to look like a “pivot-out, ready or not” for the olde Hegemony du jour.
The only regional player left out of this little security nexus is the now fast reconsidering the F35 ‘lemon’, Israel. Nut-an-yahoo must be hoping something happens in ‘Kurdistan’ and/or his puppets in DC raise the heat on Tehran. Mostly optics and theatrics for mass distraction. However, the more belligerent noise he makes the more likely a UN sponsored S-400 equipped Russian ‘peace keeping’ detachment arrives in disputed Golan Heights to stop any Iranian-Israeli flare up — still highly likely once Syrian projects wind down, imo.
Posted by: x | Oct 7 2017 8:11 utc | 37
All of USA shenanigans in Syria are for the single purpose of buying time for israel – no other reason whatsoever, nothing that serves US interests otherwise. It’s ALL about delaying the eventual confrontation between Syria and israel over the Golan for as long as possible.
Evidently, israel currently doesn’t know how to EFFECTIVELY ready itself for such a war, and I doubt that it will ever be ready for such a war, hence israel’s DESPERATE need to bring in the USA to the Golan battlefield, even at the cost of direct military confrontation between Russia and USA and therefore the commencement of WW3. I see the USA playing along with israel, but only up to a point – Trump DOES NOT WANT A DIRECT CONFRONTATION BETWEEN USA AND RUSSIA, but he will okay feeble anti-Russian proxie ops here and there as token to the jewish lobby.
The Golan liberation war is directly connected to Hezbollah, a Lebanese non-state powerful actor sworn to destroy the zionist regime and all who aid and abet it in the region – you know, the traitors, backstabbers and double-agents, including Arab monarchies, now known as Arab-zionists. Hezbollah, as a non-state actor is not bound to Russian dictates or to American ones, not to Lebanese or Iranian ones either, therefore, if it suited the Hezb’s interests, the Hezb will instigate a domino-effect war that will catch israel out when unprepared for such a sudden and all consuming war on multiple fronts.
So really, I see the Hezbollah as the ultimate wild card in the current Levant war equation. This means that the regions future will be dictated by Hezbollah behaviorism, not American or Russian or israeli behavior.
This is why, above all, I pay more attention to what the Hezb is doing than I do other players in this exhausting-exciting game of tug-of-war.
https://platosguns.com/2017/10/03/war-clouds-gathering-over-israel/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-06/white-house-says-trumps-storm-extremely-serious
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-05/jpmorgan-updates-laws-case-nuclear-disaster-or-world-war-iii
Something big is brewing.
Posted by: Anon | Oct 7 2017 10:33 utc | 39
@39
Sounds like Chicken Little; the sky is falling.
Trump’s mouth exceeds his infantile brain; outrageous becomes the norm, yawn…
Posted by: V. Arnold | Oct 7 2017 10:39 utc | 40
I just read an article quoting The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights ..
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2017/Oct-07/421843-assad-forces-breach-daesh-stronghold.ashx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=transactional&utm_campaign=Newsletter
and was about to comment that a bloke in a semi-detached house in Coventry England was hardly a reliable source, when it struck me that the map referred to in the above article comes from an equally distant source, and he seems to get his info from Washington. So, are we responding to a spoof story, and if not, how do we know?
Posted by: Steve | Oct 7 2017 12:32 utc | 41
Steve | Oct 7, 2017 8:32:18 AM | 42
Well, at least your critical thinking skills are still intact.
I saw a recent interview with the owner of The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
He was asked the last time he was actually in Syria; his reply; 2000.
He has been thoroughly discredited; but the U.S. still loves him…
Posted by: V. Arnold | Oct 7 2017 12:41 utc | 42
james and karlof1
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.
Posted by: lurker | Oct 7 2017 13:10 utc | 43
@all re: southfront
For some time every post appearing on southfront was dropped as link into some random MoA thread. The only way to stop that was to put southfront onto the blog’s block list. Comments that include southfront links are now put on hold until they have been reviewed by me. I then decide to have them published – or not.
Stumpy 10
I’m not sure the Saudis truly viewed their relationship with the US as a marriage at the hip at least officially. What goes on behind the thrones is another matter. The SA outreach to Russia may be to keep us (US) honest and on our toes. And not just the Yemen issue (which Trump hasn’t really sounded off about) but the issue with Qatar. He was on-board at first but the US has pressed Qatar’s opponents to negotiate.
ben 13
NFL’s not just losing to greedy commercial pushers. They stretch the games out. The overpaid players are primadonnas. People now have plenty of options for those 3 hours. And I’m not sure if younger viewership has grown to replace the older ones who’ve dropped out. With some exceptions like rabid college fanatics, I don’t see the big obsession with football as in decades past.
Posted by: Curtis | Oct 7 2017 13:30 utc | 45
…part of making a federal Euroland on ministates under control of the financial oligarchs. Penelope at 6, re. link.
I wouldn’t know about Soros etc. but it is the case that hovering in the EU mind set is ‘regionalisation’ in the sense of weakening the Nation-States and ruling from Brussels over smaller entities that have oh…their own delish drinks and folklore or whatever. Another part of the regionalisation drive is to harmonise, standardise, the various sub-divisions (Lander – tiny French communes, etc. it is a mess.) However, Catalonia seeking independence is totally contra to EU aims. It is not asking for x flavor of autonomy (which it already has) but independence.
The EU ‘works’ (if one wants to call it that!) and has expanded and survived so far in part because it has a very elaborate and rigid rule-book, its reliance on ‘unanimous decisions’ (that does not mean there aren’t ppl sneakily lobbying or making decisions behind the scenes) which is the only way of ‘herding’ these particular cats. If Catalonia splits from Spain, it splits from the EU, there is no way around that, none. It would also lose the Euro though it might continue to use it as tender in a dependency (like Kosovo. Note that breaking up Yugoslavia is not at all like for Spain..)
While the EU has procedures in place for a negotiated exit (Brexit -> N. Ireland, which would not need to re-join..) it *cannot* countenance unilateral departure. Could not for Greece recall. Madrid, for other reasons, won’t permit it either. Catalonia will NOT become independent. I rather expect that nothing spectacular will follow, e.g. no civil war, etc. The popular will and numbers just aren’t there for independence, and the ‘color revolution’ moves to provoke nasty reactions are stupid and show up some short-term profiteers.
Posted by: Noirette | Oct 7 2017 13:44 utc | 47
Perhaps this is why the Russians were advertising dogs and puppies? I’m waiting for CNN to bring up a new conspiracy theory
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/09/11/pet-store-puppies-linked-to-bacterial-outbreak-among-people-in-7-states-cdc-says/?utm_term=.13017109a725
Posted by: david gerling | Oct 7 2017 13:46 utc | 48
Frankly, we southamericans don´t give a damn or care a dime whether the yankees prefer to use and carry weapons day and night, on the waist or under the pillow … or not.
It´s their problem.
Let them carry them 24/7 at will including on Christmas party.
Provided they do not sell them by the billion and carry them out to destroy and flatten other people and defenseless countries acound the globe.
this is what we care about.
The Australian police has for nearly a year run the by far biggest child pornography site on the internets. (The FBI and DHS ran smaller child porn sites for shorter time periods)
The Norwegian VG dug up the story:
VG exposed the largest child sexual abuse forum. It was run by the police. (long)
Military & Police use of mind control weapons documented in war, war on terror with additional abuses by police in USA:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_nonlethalweapons03.htm
Posted by: JSonofa | Oct 7 2017 15:14 utc | 52
Was the Las Vegas Shooting the work of the CIA? Is it connected to the weapons heist in Israel? Russia has id’d Stephen Paddock as a CIA employee.
Read about the Pyramid Sacrifice here. Conspiracy theory? Russian meddling or truth?
Posted by: JSonofa | Oct 7 2017 15:23 utc | 53
@Curtis #45
If you’ve ever seen NFL players in the locker room after a game, you wouldn’t say they’re overpaid. They actually make much less than athletes in the other major sports, and have shorter careers while suffering more permanent physical damage. NFL players take a severe beating with every game they play.
Posted by: WorldBLee | Oct 7 2017 15:52 utc | 54
The more things change, the more they stay the same…
“Power gives up nothing without a demand.” Frederick Douglass
The following is from a letter written on the 10th anniversary of his emancipation.
The letter is a great read that provides excellent insight into the culture of his time.
“I have often thought I should like to explain to you the grounds upon which I have justified myself in running away from you. I am almost ashamed to do so now, for by this time you may have discovered them yourself. I will, however, glance at them. When yet but a child about six years old, I imbibed the determination to run away. The very first mental effort that I now remember on my part, was an attempt to solve the mystery, Why am I a slave? and with this question my youthful mind was troubled for many days, pressing upon me more heavily at times than others. When I saw the slave-driver whip a slave woman, cut the blood out of her neck, and heard her piteous cries, I went away into the corner of the fence, wept and pondered over the mystery. I had, through some medium, I know not what, got some idea of God, the Creator of all mankind, the black and the white, and that he had made the blacks to serve the whites as slaves. How he could do this and be good, I could not tell. I was not satisfied with this theory, which made God responsible for slavery, for it pained me greatly, and I have wept over it long and often. At one time, your first wife, Mrs. Lucretia, heard me singing and saw me shedding tears, and asked of me the matter, but I was afraid to tell her. I was puzzled with this question, till one night, while sitting in the kitchen, I heard some of the old slaves talking of their parents having been stolen from Africa by white men, and were sold here as slaves. The whole mystery was solved at once. Very soon after this my aunt Jinny and uncle Noah ran away, and the great noise made about it by your father-in-law, made me for the first time acquainted with the fact, that there were free States as well as slave States. From that time, I resolved that I would some day run away. The morality of the act, I dispose as follows: I am myself; you are yourself; we are two distinct persons, equal persons. What you are, I am. You are a man, and so am I. God created both, and made us separate beings. I am not by nature bound to you, or you to me. Nature does not make your existence depend upon me, or mine to depend upon yours. I cannot walk upon your legs, or you upon mine. I cannot breathe for you, or you for me; I must breathe for myself, and you for yourself. We are distinct persons, and are each equally provided with faculties necessary to our individual existence. In leaving you, I took nothing but what belonged to me, and in no way lessened your means for obtaining an honest living. Your faculties remained yours, and mine became useful to their rightful owner. I therefore see no wrong in any part of the transaction. It is true, I went off secretly, but that was more your fault than mine. Had I let you into the secret, you would have defeated the enterprise entirely; but for this, I should have been really glad to have made you acquainted with my intentions to leave.”
Posted by: b4real | Oct 7 2017 15:57 utc | 55
@38 Taxi
I’ve been pondering Sayed Nasrallah’s speech for a week. Thanks for your perspective and work on this matter. Please keep it coming. Saker has a small discussion on this also.
I don’t have any knowledge to add here, I’m studying all commentary including yours. What I get is this:
Israel is in a military impasse. Hezbollah has stated that it will not pull punches in the next battle. If Israel attacks anywhere it must do so with US support in the air and the Med. But there’s Russia, and if US covering fire touches the Russian presence it either escalates, or – I think more likely – forces an immediate cease-fire/de-confliction agreement.
Israel has its nukes and Hezbollah has its missiles – but uniquely, from the use of either weapon by either side, Israel loses, massively. Surely this is the true shape of the battlefield, and is what prompts Nasrallah’s warning about the humanitarian catastrophe that the Zionists would visit upon the innocent jews? I can’t accept that Nasrallah would speak simply to raise the stakes. There must be truth in his words. Whether or not the Zionists will hear his appreciation of the battlefield shape, is another thing.
Some say Russia wants Israel to survive – as a counter to a growing Iran – and I buy this, though not necessarily from that reasoning. Both nations take the long view, long after the demise of the US, and Iran and Russia have a future relationship whose shape is not completely clear, perhaps, to either nation. But Russia is the current military guarantor for the ME – at least at the tree-top level, while Iran holds the network of roots?
Would Hezbollah move totally against Israel without being restrained by Russia? It seems unlikely to me. Would Russia accept Hezbollah’s limited but devastating military incursion into Israel – say to repulse an attack on Lebanon? I think so.
Golan looks like where all these red lines come together and get sorted out – so we will have more talk and maneuvering as the parties all settle into the appropriate alignment. So things will become more clear and less perplexing. I believe all the parties want this clarity.
In Syria, the Idleb campaign appears to be getting started next. This is where Turkey proves itself and the Kurds get to learn their winnings and losses. Then Golan? It may be coming sooner than otherwise might have been, if Israel is losing its nerve as badly as it appears, and grows desperate for action. In all of the larger theater, of all the players, I would look for Israel to make precisely the wrong move somewhere, and bring great disadvantage upon itself.
Posted by: Grieved | Oct 7 2017 16:18 utc | 56
@56 grieved.. thanks.. i like your reasoning, in particular your last sentence.. i see a similar possibility.. taxi brought his post up on the previous thread as well, and i had encouraged others to read it their too.. glad he posted it here again to solicit additional feedback..
Posted by: james | Oct 7 2017 17:30 utc | 57
Israel’s way out of the impasse is to have US attack Iran. Trump throughout the election was anti Iran and has now surrounded himself with Iran haters. A war against Iran would most likely get rid of the Trump/Russian collusion stuff as well. Going by Trumps rhetoric of late, US going to war with Iran in the not to distant future may be on the cards. The North Korean and other tough guy bhulshit where just for show, but Trump has a genuine hate of Iran.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Oct 7 2017 18:20 utc | 58
Grieved @56–
Don’t forget the corruption morass Yahoo’s mired in and the rather volatile dynamics of the Zionist’s domestic politics.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 7 2017 18:53 utc | 59
JSonofa | Oct 7, 2017 11:23
Indeed “Sorcha Faal” connects too many interesting dots, and has been eerily correct on some predictions of geopolitical events, to be readily dismissed as some “consipiracy nut” or “disinfo” site.
It has a certain bias and “blur” but I understand why it sometimes contradicts itself. “Confusion” is the name of the game, but those who know how to look, can see clearly what’s going on.
Thanks to their “reports”, one can find such gems for example, very important development:
A rare settlement in ACLU’s torture case against CIA psychologists means justice.
Also important to note are Trump’s recent remarks about “the calm before the storm” – is the war against rogue CIA and its masters about to begin?
Off-topic, but also interesting Jihadist arrested for burning a Rohingyan village
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Oct 7 2017 21:49 utc | 60
– An “Interesting” document from the Center Of American Progress (the lobbyshop founded and funded by John Podesta).
“Leveraging US power in the Middle East” (published in 2016)
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/17125124/MiddleEast-report-print.pdf
Posted by: Willy2 | Oct 8 2017 6:36 utc | 61
I don’t usually provide links to Guardian articles but this one is interesting in what it says and doesn’t……its just capitalism….it may get folks thinking but not about the right things necessarily.
How the smartphone is built to addict and influence humans
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 8 2017 7:01 utc | 62
KSA wants to acquire Russian S-400 air defense that might make its airspace “immune” against US aligned military aircraft in case of military conflict.
Result:
6 Oct: US Approves THAAD Systems Sale To Saudi Arabia
6 Oct: UN add Saudi-Led Coalition To Black List For War Crimes Against Children
7 Oct: Gunman Attacked Royal Palace In Saudi Arabia. 2 Guards Killed, 3 Others Injured
US seems really desperate
Posted by: xor | Oct 8 2017 8:05 utc | 63
taxi
your prophecy is compassionate, and even compelling, but its end times overtones smack of religious zeal. makes me wonder who you’re hanging out with.
anyhoo, let’s hope that history finds a more charitable path forward…
…
as a diplomatic brat evacuated from war in Cyprus in the early 60s, i spent 6 months in Beirut…and have fond memories of the experience…trips to the mountains to see the great cedars, the magnificent ruins at Baalbek, walks along the Corniche Beirut, and mostly(go figure), watching the silent, suspended bodies through the ports in the bar under the pool at the Phoenicia Hotel.
that was, of course, well before the Battle of the Hotels.
Posted by: john | Oct 8 2017 11:12 utc | 64
#4 F@ck off with your shortened urls. You’re not welcome here.
PS, this is a polite request.
Posted by: Winky | Oct 8 2017 13:37 utc | 65
@26 Pychohistorian
Start with mandatory gun safety courses. That would immediately actually make people safer and not infringe on 2nd amendment rights. It’s a win win that costs very little to any party. In a country that has ownership of fire arms in it’s founding documents that this isn’t the case already is astounding.
The insurance angle would end up only allowing rich people and law enforcement access, IMO of course.
Call them firearms in all discourse. Just a few of my thoughts on the matter…
Posted by: Tannenhouser | Oct 8 2017 23:58 utc | 66
@ Tannerhouser who is responding to my comment about “gun control”
I like your idea of mandatory firearm safety courses. I would expect the insurance angle to be affordable for individuals with less than say 5 firearms and then make it progressively expensive from there to stockpile weapons.
I am also commenting to provide a link about China that made me feel positive.
Socialism with Chinese characteristics: 10 ideas to share with world
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 9 2017 1:26 utc | 67
Ten minutes of silent bicycle ride, at night, through burning neighborhoods in Santa Rosa
https://youtu.be/X6Eo9jgH9V8?t=11m32s
Winky @65
Agreed. There’s really no good reason for shorten urls.
I never click on one.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 9 2017 20:25 utc | 69
During the weekend CGTN (China) reported that Trump has threatened to designate Iran’s Republican Guard as a ter’rist organisation.
According to CGTN, Iran’s response to this was to warn AmeriKKKa that if Trump follows through on this mischief then Iran will use its missile expertise to attack all AmeriKKKan ter’rists within missile range of Iran – 2000km.
Considering Trump’s impotent bleating about North Korea, I’m beginning to wonder if Trump is attempting to re-brand himself as The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest(s)?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 10 2017 2:20 utc | 70
GESTAPO FINDS MORE JUDEO-BOLSHEVISTS
This is the worst piece of Nazi shit coming out of the Völkischer Beobachter for ages. The “Big Lie” propaganda technique works by inventing words for fictitious claims and slander and then repeating them over and over again as if they were true.
Google uncovers Russian-bought ads on YouTube, Gmail and other platforms – Washington Post, October 9, 2017
SAN FRANCISCO — Google for the first time has uncovered evidence that Russian operatives exploited the company’s platforms in an attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the company’s investigation.
The Silicon Valley giant has found that tens of thousands of dollars were spent on ads by Russian agents who aimed to spread disinformation across Google’s many products, which include YouTube, as well as advertising associated with Google search, Gmail, and the company’s DoubleClick ad network, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not been made public. Google runs the world’s largest online advertising business, and YouTube is the world’s largest online video site.
For your convenience I have picked out the key propaganda phrases (with translations to the original German).
– “Evidence that Russian operatives”
– “Russians” (Judeo-Bolsheviks)
– “Russian agents”
– “disinformation” (Lügenpresse)
– “Kremlin-affiliated troll farm”
– “spread disinformation”
– “Russian effort to spread disinformation online”
– “a much broader problem”
– “Russian meddling”
– “influence the 2016 presidential contest and…”
– “foment discord in U.S. society.”
– “trolls”
– “operatives associated with the Internet Research Agency”
– “Russian-government affiliated troll farm”
– “aimed at fostering division in United States”
– “influence of Russian disinformation”
– “Facebook pages controlled by Russian agents”
– “Russian online influence campaign”
– “mixing disinformation alongside other content”
– “ads that might have originated in Russia”
– “accounts with the language set to Russian”
– “accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency”
– “Russian disinformation”
– “Russian accounts”
– “influencers associated with Donald Trump”
– “RT on YouTube”
– “U.S. intelligence agencies concluded”
– “Putin intervened in the U.S. election…”
– “Google discovered the Russian presence”
– “link Russian Twitter accounts”
P.S. – The article is also available on The Independent: Google says Russia tried to influence US election using adverts on YouTube and Gmail
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Oct 10 2017 9:44 utc | 71
I am encouraged by the link to a study I am providing
Geophysical potential for wind energy over the open oceans
Here is the final paragraph of the conclusion which you don’t have to read but is included for context and the final finding about enough potential to power the world….
”
Therefore, while this study highlights the potential for open ocean wind technologies in the North Atlantic, it also illustrates the need for additional research addressing: (i) the dominant mechanisms of downward KE transport in the region of interest, (ii) the limits of wind power generation at finer spatial scales, and (iii) the potential climate effects exerted by wind farms given their location, turbine specifications, and size. Furthermore, the extent to which the open ocean potential may be used is likely to be strongly dependent on factors, such as sociopolitical and economic constraints as well as technical ingenuity required to construct, maintain, and operate potential wind energy technologies under such remote and harsh conditions, with wave heights frequently exceeding 3 m in the monthly mean (30). Nevertheless, even in the relative calm of summer, the upper geophysical limit on sustained wind power in the North Atlantic alone could be sufficient to supply all of Europe’s electricity. On an annual mean basis, the wind power available in the North Atlantic could be sufficient to power the world.
”
I am not saying that this is the answer but many options are open to our species if we can come up with the social will to break out of our current BS form of social organization based around private finance and the incentives of the God of Mammon.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 11 2017 3:09 utc | 72
Interesting exposure of the double face game by George Clooney:
George Clooney Opposes War Profiteering While African – World Beyond War . . .
[..] It turns out Clooney opposes, not war profiteering in general, but war profiteering while African. In fact, Clooney’s concern is limited, at least thus far, to five African nations: Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, though these are not the only nations in Africa or the world with serious wars underway.
Of the top 100 weapons makers in the world, not a single one is based in Africa. Only 1 is in South or Central America. Fifteen are in Western allies and protectorates in Asia (and China is not included in the list). Three are in Israel, one in Ukraine, and 13 in Russia. Sixty-six are in the United States, Western Europe, and Canada. Forty are in the U.S. alone. Seventeen of the top 30 are in the U.S. Six of the top 10 mega-profiteers are in the U.S. The other four in the top 10 are in Western Europe.
Clooney’s new organization, “The Sentry,” is part of The Enough Project, which is part of the Center for American Progress, which is a leading backer of “humanitarian” wars, and various other wars for that matter — and which is funded by the world’s top war profiteer, Lockheed Martin, and by number-two Boeing, among other war profiteers.
According to the Congressional Research Service, in the most recent edition of an annual report that it has now discontinued, 79% of all weapons transfers to poor nations are from the United States. That doesn’t include U.S. weapons in the hands of the U.S. military, which has now moved into nearly every nation in Africa. When drugs flow north the United States focuses on the supply end of the exchange as an excuse for wars. When weapons flow south, George Clooney announces that we’ll stop backward violence at the demand side by exposing African corruption.
The spreading of the U.S. empire through militarism is most often justified by the example of Rwanda as a place where the opportunity for a humanitarian war, to prevent the Rwanda Genocide, was supposedly missed. But the United States backed an invasion of Rwanda in 1990 by a Ugandan army led by U.S.-trained killers, and supported their attacks for three-and-a-half years, applying more pressure through the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and USAID. U.S.-backed and U.S.-trained war-maker Paul Kagame — now president of Rwanda — is the leading suspect behind the shooting down of a plane carrying the then-presidents of Rwanda and Burundi on April 6, 1994. As chaos followed, the U.N. might have sent in peacekeepers (not the same thing, be it noted, as dropping bombs) but Washington was opposed. President Bill Clinton wanted Kagame in power, and Kagame has now taken the war into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with U.S. aid and weapons, where 6 million have been killed. And yet nobody ever says “We must prevent another Congo!”
What does George Clooney’s new organization say about the DRC? A very different story from that told by Friends of the Congo. According to Clooney’s group the killing in the Congo happens “despite years of international attention,” not because of it. Clooney’s organization also promotes this argument for more U.S. warmaking in the DRC from Kathryn Bigelow, best known for producing the CIA propaganda film Zero Dark Thirty.[..]
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Oct 12 2017 16:08 utc | 73
This is sickening Special Report: Weinstein’s Deep Ties Within Democratic, Hollywood Establishment
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Oct 13 2017 10:59 utc | 74
AS I stated earlier on another topic, I also believe that NOKO crisis is just for gallery purpose.
Iran looks like an easier target and its ardor at fighting the enemies of Assad must be curbed.
So it seems that Trump will decertify Iran in the hopes of generating a response that he may use to
start a war with what looks like an easy victory.
However, Ehud Barak showed last night on CNN and stated that decertifying Iran is a
bad policy because it sends the wrong signal to Kim Jon Un. This intervention is to be seen
with a certain amount of suspicion. What was its purpose? Isn’t decertification the wish of
Netanyahu? Is it one of these declarations that dulls the senses of those about to be
pounced on? Or is it done to hide the hand that wags the dog?
But expect things to flare pretty soon. We will get to know how accurate are the Iranian
missiles and how good the s300 is and how Persian the Gulf is.
Posted by: CarlD |
Posted by: CarlD | Oct 13 2017 13:45 utc | 75
I hope we are witnessing the tipping point and the avalanche ensues disclosing all the dirty secrets of the ruling cabal:
Fresh Out of Twitter Jail, Rose McGowan Drops Rape Bombshell on Jeff Bezos About Harvey Weinstein
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Oct 13 2017 14:18 utc | 76
The HW scandal is blowing up in the faces of the Hollyweird “elite” and their global cabal buddies, it’s worth tracking current developments. I guess the coming 2018 “Oscar Gala”, i.e. evil judeo-masonic AngloZio coven, will be dramatically different from previous years:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/hes-predator-emma-thompson-compares-11334330
uk.news.yahoo.com/harvey-weinstein-offered-myleene-klass-sex-contract-meeting-cannes-film-festival-083303805.html
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-12/did-bannon-just-take-down-harvey-weinstein
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Oct 13 2017 15:39 utc | 77
I guess it ain’t gonna happen:
variety.com/2017/film/news/michael-moore-trump-documentary-fahrenheit-119-harvey-weinstein-1202429430/
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Oct 14 2017 14:14 utc | 78