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December 3, 2017
Weekly Review And Open Thread 2017-44

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

Nov 27 – Saudi Arabia – Budget Dilemma Escalates – Salmans Resort To Product Placement?

That question was, of course, not  serious. But the issue documented in those pictures is still a true mystery to me. Why do the Saudi tyrants insist of prominently placing trivial Cisco phones in their official pictures of international meetings? What are the phones supposed to symbolize? Wealth? Style? Command authority? Power?

Nov 28 – Turning The Corner In Afghanistan

The U.S. has "turned the corner" in Afghanistan so often that it is now too dizzy find an exit.

Nov 28 – Last Call – Please Support This Unique Endeavor

Moon of Alabama asked for donations. The response has been uplifting. (If you haven't donated yet, please click above.) It will take weeks until the last donation arrives and a finally tally can be made. A heartfelt "Thank you!" to everyone who donated and helps to keep this site going. Related – sometime  yesterday this blog broke the 25 million pageviews mark! 

Nov 29 – State Department Condemns* Designation Of Media As Foreign Agents (*only applies to Russia)

The U.S. started a spat with Russia by designating Russia Today as a "foreign agents". It laments about press freedom when Russia does likewise. Hypocrites. The latest U.S. move was to deny Russia Today access to the Congressional Gallery and the White House. Russia will retaliate in kind. All "western" media will be banned from reporting from the Russian Duma. To what end was this nonsense started?

Nov 30 – North Korea: "The Missile Program Is Now Complete

The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea aka North Korea demonstrated a new missile that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental U.S.. The huge new missile was the last item missing in its arsenal. It is now a fully nuclear capable. Washington is still in denial of that and speaks of an illegal "preemptive strike" against North Korea. Such a strike would risk the loss of one or more U.S. cities to a nuke shot off in retaliation. The only path forward is through negotiations.

Dec 1 – Flynn's Devastating Confessions: Trump Colluded With Israel, Tried To Fulfill Campaign Promises

The plea deal of Trump's former National Security Advisor turns out to be nothing-burger with regards to the alleged "collusion" with Russia. Flynn lobbied the Russians ambassador in favor of Israel and to fulfill Trump's campaign promise of better relations with Russia. Flynn was stupid enough to lie to the FBI about the content of phone-calls that the FBI had transcripts of. Robert Parry rightly argues that Flynn was intentionally set-up and trapped by operatives of the outgoing Obama regime.

Dec 2 – Yemen – Saudis Throw The Towel – Saleh is Baaack – Russia Wins

Yesterday's post said that former president Saleh was recovering the capital Sanaa from his previously ally, the Houthi. It may have been premature. After having been ousted from most of their positions in Sanaa, the Houthis called up reinforcements and came back with vengeance. As of now they recovered some positions and took over the TV station and other media of Saleh's GPC party. Fighting in Sanaa is ongoing. If Saleh loses this fight the war on Yemen is likely to continue.

Please use the comments as open thread …

Posted by b on December 3, 2017 at 15:14 UTC | Permalink
Comments

The US is losing another war, the war on drugs nearing the fifty-year mark.
The US Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis has submitted an interim report on the half-a-million deaths from drug overdoses in the past fifteen years, on the 27 million current drug abusers, the explosion in fentanyl deaths and the persistence of widespread opioid addiction, and the concomitant mental issues. It’s been reported that no actions have been taken on the report’s recommendations.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 3 2017 16:06 utc | 1

Sat Dec 2 4-week suspension happened over live on-air lie by ross.
lie is at 4:20 mark.
Pause at 7:20 mark u can read the mockingbird statement about it.
ABC Busted Lying/Causes Stock Market to Drop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2cdjQZgEGY

Posted by: schlub | Dec 3 2017 16:33 utc | 2

And this…de-escalation in Yemen?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-03/yemen-rebels-claim-they-fired-missile-abu-dhabi-nuclear-plant

Posted by: sun lu yao | Dec 3 2017 16:45 utc | 3

In watching what is happening in the middle east, Russia seems predictable and solid, good at negotiating with various factions everywhere and coming up with agreements that have give and take on both sides.
Trump is still an unknown quantity – where he stands on various issues and also his political skills.
Seems to be a lot going on in Syria since what I consider the Trump/Kushner/MBS coup in Saudi Arabia.
Kurds talking of re-uniting with Syrian government, Trump supposedly ceasing arms deliveries, and now a report in AMN that the Kurd’s along with US and Russian help have taken the remaining area west of the Euphrates from ISIS. Also a report that rebels are now turning themselves over to the SAA for the reconciliation deal in large numbers across Syria.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Dec 3 2017 17:39 utc | 4

There is a new article on ‘Rubikon’, a new German online publication, in the facts that ISIS was created by the US, has been/is armed by the US, has been is protected by the US – including air cover to allow them to move freely in the area Syria/Iraq/Turkey to evade extermination by the Russian SAA Iraqi forces.
It is written in German, but contains original English passages that are referenced and explained in detail. The article is called “Völkerrechtsbrecher und Terrorpaten” – (Law of Nations Violators and Godfathers of Terror)
Although it might not matter to the general population that they are supporting genocide, illegal wars for profit and destruction of sovereign countries that dare to implement policies that benefit their own population, that does not take away the responsibility and the liability to support such a terror regime as the US/France/UK/Germany with NATO being a fulfillment agency for the Plutocrats’ New World Order in which the general population is only means to a profitable end.
It it therefore, that I usually refrain from attributing ‘stupidity’, or ‘idiocy’ to those who are hopelessly obedient and believe every single lie they are told without as much as a whimper, where there should be a revolution that ends the terror reign of the Plutocrats and their willful agents in the regime.
People that behave this way are mentally ill. They might suffer from more than one mental dysfunction, but they are definitely mentally ill. Suffering from the Oslo syndrome is a mental illness that requires treatment in order to break its perpetuating cycle. While gullibility and callousness may not be considered ‘mental illnesses’ (even though they are from a humanitarian view point), in combination with the Oslo syndrome, it creates a free pass the likes of the Nazis were given when they lied the the German population into believing that they are superior to any other race, or people and the creation of the term ‘sub-human’, that created the mental environment needed to perpetrate genocide and murder without much resistance.
What is one to do about this perverted manipulation of the general public, the masses? If the masses are hopelessly helpless and incapable to stand up to their oppressors? Does the Universe demand that living condition further deteriorate to a point, where Americans are rotting in the streets, while the only well off people walk by like in India, because they do not belong to that Kaste?
When I was much younger, I had hopes that mankind would get its shit together and create a fair and equitable world for all members of the global society, to cherish and protect the soil we need to grow food, the air we need to breathe and clean water to drink.
The general population has due to its mental shortcomings allowed a Kaste of criminal psychopaths to run their administrative business. Tax payer are paying for their own demise, for their getting raped, plundered, tortured and extinguished like a cigarette in an egg yolk.
And people wonder why the suicide rate is now astronomically high in most countries on the planet? I that part of their psychopathic depopulation program from the bucket list of Adolf Hitler?
Any idea about what can be done? ‘Voting’ does not garner the desired results obviously. Especially voting for “Evil”, whether be in its greater or lesser version.
I conceive it as preposterous to wish people a “happy holidays” which can only be had by ignoring the terror one’s own Nation is perpetrating on people of color the world over.
“Unwrap Your presents, kids and be happy! Children in the Middles East are phosphor bombed that you can get your model railway and new iPhone…”

Posted by: notheonly1 | Dec 3 2017 19:45 utc | 5

Nothing really new this week , everything going ok ever so slowly.
Boom of Malabama did not report 400 US marines leving Syria, but ther it is they know it is game over. Now it is only the the theocracy Israel that is on the the warpath, but they aint going nowhere Russia drew a red line and the US with its toddler Prez and tax enriching the ultrarich is in shambles (Always have actually!)
American influence waning by the hour, the semites in ME feeling the crunch, Flynn singing an arie, the Dem Neolibs in the US dissolving, the UK finally cut loose from EU (Please sink fast) and the EU and BRIC holding hands. What is not to like?
Ohh you are American… Bad luck!

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Dec 3 2017 19:45 utc | 6

Oh, well. A few typos. Apologies. Starts with “on” and not “in”. Should read “on the facts”.

Posted by: notheonly1 | Dec 3 2017 19:47 utc | 7

The primary drug war the US is fighting is in Afghanistan, in order to keep the billions of $$ from its heroin industry flowing to the big banks (who depend on laundering fees) and the CIA, which depends on this income stream to pay its mercenary armies, politicians, presstitutes, etc etc. Keeping populations addicted and prisons full at home is just a side industry.

Posted by: Perimetr | Dec 3 2017 19:49 utc | 8

Nov 28 – Turning The Corner In Afghanistan
The U.S. has “turned the corner” in Afghanistan so often that it is now too dizzy find an exit.
Nice one, b.
On the other hand, it’s not hard to imagine that their 24/7 immersion in a deluge of relentless spin probably made them dizzy long before they went to Afghanistan…
They do seem to have lost the ability to distinguish spin from reality.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 3 2017 19:55 utc | 9

Notice that someone is now up to its hooliganism again. If only it would freak off with its shortened urls. It likes to use thinly disguised nommes de guerres and get in a post very early.
Polite request: bugger off.

Posted by: ploddy | Dec 3 2017 22:16 utc | 10

-Someone made a video in which the main characters of the Trump administration were arrested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Uy0Uznw4E
Actors (Photoshopped): Micheal Flynn, Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, Steve Bannon.

Posted by: Willy2 | Dec 3 2017 22:35 utc | 11

notheonly1–
Must echo your sentiments and turn back the clock to 1976 and The Kinks song Father Christmas, which many think was done by The Sex Pistols. The conditions that made The Sex Pistols the nasty bad boy band flame to stardom then ignominy are just as rife today. As I told my wife, much damage is done by The Distractors: Soaps, Sports, and Porn with their ability to virtually lobotomize people by the millions. Then there’s the ongoing Dumbing Down Assault despite there perhaps being more tools and resources than ever to educate and inform oneself and community. For more than a decade, I’ve been very open about not paying taxes that support the Outlaw US Empire’s many crimes since doing so is not only illegal, but immoral as well; but I hear very few chearing my actions or saying I’ll do that too. I mentioned a few days ago the two Biggest Big Lies of all time although I refrained from explaining how supporting them erodes your soul–The Christ Myth and the commercialization of its birth using the Santa Claus Big Lie. Celebrating the Winter Solstice and the rebirth of opportunity it represents–and has for many thousands of years–is all the “religion” anyone ought to need.
Essentially, Big Lies are treated as essential truths, sapping strength from the soul and eroding one’s dignity. A Courageous American who recently died of breast cancer wrote The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, several other similar works and numerous essays available at her still existing website, http://truthbeknown.com/ She fought a rather lonely battle and unfortunately is almost unknown. But she took on the Biggest of all the Big Lies, and IMO, is a person we should all try to emulate.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 3 2017 22:38 utc | 12

Empire carrying on as if everything’s normal, contrary to the cheerleaders.
Part of Mr. T’s obvious MAGA agenda—by putting everyone else out of bizniss.
note that Jan 29 new effective date, just weeks before the 2018 russia prez election.
In two months, from January 29, these restrictions will begin to operate not only for projects in Russia or in Russian territorial waters, but also for projects outside of Russia in which Russian companies, their subsidiaries or associated legal entities own a share of at least 33%.
“The new package of sanctions should maximize Russia’s costs and contain Moscow’s aggressive behavior”, the US State Department hopes.
In August, US President Donald Trump allowed the introduction of a new package of economic sanctions against Russia, signing the decree.
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/11/new-us-sanctions-against-russia-come.html

Posted by: schlub | Dec 3 2017 23:11 utc | 13

This little known UNODC UN agency has been putting out annually a detailed documented report, now again just out nov/2017, detailing all the poppy growing since the 2001 Afghanistan invasion.
https://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/Afghanistan/Afghan_opium_survey_2017_cult_prod_web.pdf
Figure 1 PAGE 13 is the main chart to see.
But then, where is all that production going? Not to here!:
6.5 Heroin production
6.5.1 Share of raw opium converted to heroin
When estimating the amount of opium converted to heroin, seizures in Afghanistan and in
neighboring countries, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia (e.g.
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), are considered in the model. There are indications of direct drug exports to China and India as well as to other countries by air or land, but the amounts trafficked through those routes are thought to be comparatively small and are not considered in the model.

Posted by: schlub | Dec 3 2017 23:29 utc | 14

Adding @ 13–
Eric Zuesse writes: “According to the only scientific analysis of the relevant data, that has been done in order to determine whether the US is a dictatorship or a democracy, the US is definitely a dictatorship that’s perpetrated by the extremely richest, against the public-at-large;” the study’s from 2014 and is cited by other authors to prove what Zuesse asserts, https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
So, does Zuesse’s analysis differ from anyone else’s, such as Sheldon Wolin’s Inverted-Totalitarianism announced in 2003, or Bertram Gross’s Friendly Fascism from 1980, or is he merely rehashing others work, https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/12/03/how-us-dictatorship-works.html
Perhaps the actual message ought to be: Corporate/Oligarchic/CIA/Deep State control’s been ongoing for 40+ years with little domestic resistance to deter its plans. All the above must be considered when observing Bernie Sanders’s latest attempt to rally the populace to stand up for itself in what’s very clearly a Class War being waged by those controlling the federal government against 99% of the populace, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/12/02/bernie-sanders-takes-his-protecting-working-families-tour-road
My holiday wish is for people to boycott Amazon and remember the kids who have nothing when eating and drinking holiday cheer; find the people working in the trenches helping the homeless and displaced and donate resources to them; and eat some austerity even if you’re not needy in solidarity with millions of unfortunates.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4 2017 0:06 utc | 15

@6,@12
It seems to me that the US military has not gained a victory against a major opponent since 1945. You could count Serbia in 1998-99 as a victory, but that war was only another example, like Panama, of a terror bombing campaign against the “enemy” population. And even those can be defeated, at a cost: eg Vietnam, where we clearly lost. Aside from those three, and various other interventions in Latin America, everything else was a draw. 72 years without a victory worthy of the name.

Posted by: rackstraw | Dec 4 2017 0:06 utc | 16

I guess this is what you get with the puppet of the other faction of global elite….and people thought Clinton II was potentially dangerous….
The US is beating the drums of war agains NK
The take away propaganda quote
”
Commenting on the historic exercise, the US military said that “Vigilant Ace 18 highlights the longstanding military partnership, commitment and enduring friendship between two nations. It is designed to ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and reaffirms the U.S. commitment to stability in the Northeast Asia region.”
”

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 4 2017 0:51 utc | 17

The MIC, Eisenhower’s MIC – of which was was an elite member – whom upon his farewell he thought to warn us about. It was getting biggerer and out-of-control, he said in 1960. Something needed to be done to curtail it or it would devour us.
Well today a billion and a half each day is forked over to the MIC. But the MIC enforces the value of the FIAT currency which it devours. Were it not for the barrel of the gun, the US dollar might be worthless – let alone maintain its status as the world’s best currency.
Trump, with his tax bill to rape the working man, recently used the term “deep state”. The last President that used that term got his head removed. Fifty-five years and not one US president has thought to mention the deep state, secret societies, shadow government, etc.
Perhaps this is why they don’t trust him – he runs off at the mouth. OTOH you couldn’t find a better agent for the Yinon Plan than son-in-law Kushner.

Posted by: fast freddy | Dec 4 2017 0:51 utc | 18

I am happy to be reading these critical stories about Kushner
The link
Jared Kushner 1
The story
”
Haim Saban, a billionaire media mogul, called out Jared Kushner over the weekend for trying to negotiate peace in the Middle East with “a bunch of orthodox Jews who have no idea about anything.”
During a discussion at the Saban Forum in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Saban jabbed Kushner for building a team which has little experience negotiating Middle East affairs.
“I don’t know how you’ve lasted eight months with this lineup,” Saban told President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. “And it’s impressive that it’s still going. There’s not a Middle East [expert] in this group.”
“I mean, how do you operate with people who basically — you know, with all due respect are a bunch of orthodox Jews who have no idea about anything?” he wondered. “What are you guys doing? Seriously, I don’t understand this.”
“I’ll definitely say it’s not a conventional team,” Kushner admitted.
“It’s a real estate issue too, so you’re the real estate [expert],” Saban said sarcastically.
Watch the video below from Fox News.
”
The 2nd link
Jared Kushner 2
The story….small quote
”
Jared Kushner failed to disclose his role as a co-director of the Charles and Seryl Kushner Foundation from 2006 to 2015, a time when the group funded an Israeli settlement considered to be illegal under international law, on financial records he filed with the Office of Government Ethics earlier this year.
”
Jared is going to have to get his Father-in-law to show the world that the rule of law is just for little people…….Hey, War Criminal Kissinger is still not in jail

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 4 2017 1:06 utc | 19

And on the financial war front there is this
Enter the ‘petro’: Venezuela to launch oil-backed cryptocurrency
I doubt if it will be the last attempt to break the private finance hold on the world economies. Maybe it does not have to be successful but be one the of death by a thousand cuts to private finance

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 4 2017 1:38 utc | 20

karlof1 | Dec 3, 2017 7:06:27 PM | 16
&
notheonly1 | Dec 3, 2017 2:45:20 PM | 6
Better late than never, I guess; the U.S. died November 22, 1963.
Sheldon Wolin (rip) was brilliant; his interviews with Chris Hedges are available at TRNN (The Real News Network.
Usian’s are screwed in every way; as long as they behave, they’ll be left mostly alone.
The theft of freedoms and finances is slow but unrelenting.
My advice is to get out while you can; that door will be closed at some point.
I’m glad I’m old; I’ll likely win the death bet.
The single best thing I ever did was to get out of the U.S.; 15 years ago. Make that 2nd best thing; the best thing was marrying my wife…

Posted by: V. Arnold | Dec 4 2017 1:42 utc | 21

@ karlof1 | Dec 3, 2017 5:38:37 PM | 13/16
Dear! As things are unraveling in the most undesirable direction mankind could wish for, I am reminded of one natural phenomenon:
A desert mouse meeting its reptilian predator. The masses are the mouse, the snake is the Plutocracy/Oligarchy/Establishment in their various manifestations.
The mouse will be unable to escape. One could say ‘hypnotized’ and mankind has been watching this since it cared to pay attention to what nature is doing when it comes to survival.
There is one main difference though, in all instances the mice meet their predators, only a very small number gets actually eaten. 87 out of 100 encounters, the mouse won’t be eaten.
The masses are not that lucky. In most instances, the encounter with the regime is deadly. Not in a sense pertaining the encounter in the predators realm, but pertaining the predators invasion into the realm of other masses.
When the owners of the Western hemisphere send their agents into faraway countries, mayhem is but guaranteed. It often cross my mind, how things would pan out, if Mexico, or Canada would something the owners couldn’t live without – even if not interested in resources, but mere control.
How would the American masses react to the same crimes perpetrated onto their direct neighbors? Warthogs firing DU ammunition into crowds containing women and children. Would the masses accept then, too that whatever is done in their name has to be the appropriate action? The article I linked to above leaves no room to wiggle. The Western Isis-Alliance perpetrates war crimes of unimaginable proportions. Civilians are not only not spared, they are intentionally targeted, to demoralize the population. Sort of “remove your democratically elected president from office, or we will kill you.”
In some peculiar way, I am beyond anger about all this. It just saddens me infinitely that the American population is so indifferent to the atrocities and genocide that is done in their name. It might really be the charming them into thinking that it’s okay to “Kill them over there, that we don’t have to kill them over here”, never asking “Why do we have to kill them in the first place?”
What has a young woman ad her children done to me, personally, 10K miles away? People I never had the pleasure to meet are blown to smithereens by people that obediently follow their orders. “Following orders”. What wasn’t a good enough of an excuse in Nuremberg for the little guys, is now program, since the owners’ fulfillment agents are now acting with impunity, they just did what they were told to and those who told them are far above the law, hell , the masses don’t even know their names.
Just listened to “The Myopic View of the World” by Alan Watts. It is this myopic view by the masses of how they see existence/life, that enables the owners to pull off and unleash their unmitigated disaster on the world.
Maybe it also has to do with the perversion of the word “Love”? When Americans proclaim that they ‘love’ their country, but are unable to take it back from the plutocratic hijackers? People love this and they love that, all at the same time they enable a ruthless dictatorial regime that fleeces them until they lose their last shirt?

Posted by: notheonly1 | Dec 4 2017 2:14 utc | 22

British taxpayer money funneled directly to Al Qaeda and associated groups – so blatantly even BBC and Guardian are covering it.. Meaning it’s probably a whole lot worse than what’s been revealed.
The government has suspended a multimillion-pound foreign aid project amid allegations that money paid to a contractor in Syria was reaching the pockets of jihadist groups. . .
Funds come from Britain’s £13bn foreign aid budget which is allocated largely by the Department for International Development but also spent by other departments including the Foreign Office.
The BBC report is better, Guardian soft-peddles it:
The contractor in question, Adam Smith International, has what looks to be a long and shady record as an economic hitman firm, see Sourcewatch:
“DfID paid ASI “more than £500,000 to provide advice to the Tanzanian government,” with over half that amount spent on a video extolling the benefits of water privatisation, the Guardian reported in May 2005. “Our old industries are dry like crops and privatisation brings the rain,” was one statement in the video.

Posted by: nonsense factory | Dec 4 2017 5:12 utc | 23

The single best thing I ever did was to get out of the U.S.; 15 years ago. Make that 2nd best thing; the best thing was marrying my wife…
Posted by: V. Arnold | Dec 3, 2017 8:42:05 PM | 22
Local??
There are no safe places on earth with regime change larking everywhere. Democracy, human right, freedom, blah, blah…
My CPA a New Yorker from Long Island practicing in Singapore. His wife from Indonesia. They wanna me to settle in one of Indonesia Archipelago and her father is villages’ chief…. tempting but, but, but…. no thanks. Further, Jim Roger the hedge fund now living in Singapore. His two daughter’s studies in public school, not American or International School. Malaysia offered “Malaysia’s my 2nd home”. Back to CPA, here in CA, Central Valley a tax preparer changes $250 and CPA more than $2K. BTW in 2016 Singapore (Public school) rank #1 in PISA test 2016 world ranking.
“Singapore has the highest achieving students in international education rankings, with its teenagers coming top in tests in mths (math), reading and science… Pisa rankings, run by the EC, are based on tests taken by 15-year-olds in more than 70 countries.”

Posted by: OJS | Dec 4 2017 12:11 utc | 24

The psycho’s at FOX just can only tell lies about Syria
No matter how trivial the details, they just tell lies. FOX’s Brian Kilmeade was yucking it up about how the Syrian govt was trying to rehab ISIS militants. It turns out that the program they were reporting on was being run in rebel held territory
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-jihadists/turkey-backed-rebels-in-syria-put-is-jihadists-through-rehab-idUSKBN1DS1NM
Of course they continue to neglect any mention of Al Qaeda in N. Syria because now we are only worried about Iran and they have ignored all of Assad’s fighting against ISIS including the conquest of Deir Ezzor and Al Mayadin (which the U.S. coalition used to call the 2nd capital).

Posted by: Christian Chuba | Dec 4 2017 12:34 utc | 25

OJS | Dec 4, 2017 7:11:32 AM | 25
A very interesting reply.
My wife is a local; however, she is a civil servant (teacher), with a masters’s degree from Chula; Thailands premier university.
If safety is what you seek; then commit suicide.
There are no safe places on this earth.
In 2003, when I left, I had a job (in country) and $400 to my name; and I was single and 58 years old.
Your hestitation is understood; but is your hesitation understood by yourself?
Search deep; but not for too long; the window is closing; slowly at first; and then suddenly…all at once…

Posted by: V. Arnold | Dec 4 2017 12:41 utc | 26

Southfront is reporting that Saleh is dead. From the photos, it looks fairly obvious that he was shot by the Houthis, very gruesome, but when is a bullet to the head not gruesome
https://southfront.org/former-yemeni-president-saleh-is-killed-following-tensions-between-his-forcse-and-houthis-photos/
Some might interpret this as the Houthis consolidating control but as bad as Saleh may have been, he was an avenue for political negotiation but the Houthis saw it as betrayal.

Posted by: Christian Chuba | Dec 4 2017 13:08 utc | 27

notheonly1 @23–
Many thanks for your reply!! Never thought I’d meet someone else who owned her premier book. We seem to be on the same plane of being and kindred in many thoughts. Sure wish my 86 year-old ma had a clear mind, but Alzheimer’s has effectively erased hers, an evil despite painless torture for both her primary care giver, me, and herself, most-likely with several more years to go. I’m reminded of Don McLean’s American Pie while writing as I begin another Monday in my day-at-a-time existence.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4 2017 16:54 utc | 28

Meanwhile in other news, Cambodia has outlawed and begun to disband the Cambodia National Rescue Party for colluding with the Outlaw US Empire in an attempt to oust the ruling government through a Color Revolution Attack, http://theduran.com/confirmed-cambodia-disbands-opposition-conspiring-united-states/ This has serious implications for the Empire’s attempt to disrupt/destabilize China’s BRI, which is clearly one of Trump’s policy goals.
The Duran is full of scoops. Besides its several articles on Yemen, we are treated to this otherwise blacked-out news in English: “Months after Russia became the first country to announce the creation of a state-backed Cryptorouble, Venezuela has followed suit, announcing the creation of El Petro, a state sanctioned cryptocurrency to be backed by Venezuela’s extensive reserves of crude oil.” Wow! Dominoes are falling, but they differ mightily from those discussed during the 1950-60s! http://theduran.com/venezuela-rocks-cryptocurrency-world-announce-oil-based-crypto/
Lastly, there’s a rather long article by Joe Lauria: “How Russia-gate Rationalizes Censorship” in service of the New Cold War, https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/04/how-russia-gate-rationalizes-censorship/

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 4 2017 22:16 utc | 29

war games moved up, way up to today Dec 4;
Instead, the North Korean test firing was in response to the unexpected announcement of further US/South Korean military drills to take place starting on December 4. The exercises are, in part, to show off the latest mass murdering “product” of America’s military industrial complex, the USF-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet.
The next American scheduled drill was not to take place until the spring of 2018, yet, while negotiations were taking place, the US abruptly, and to the outrage of everyone involved, renewed exercises. Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, explains:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article60923.html

Posted by: schlub | Dec 4 2017 22:28 utc | 30

Well I never thought I’d say this but the Honduras police are more honourable and moral than the US, the EU and all its constituent governments. It’s not Russia that damaging the west, it’s the stupdity and arrogance of the governments. The rest of the world should be demanding regime change principally in Wahington, London, Paris and Berlin but also in all the other capitals of EU countries.
As to why this has happened, I strongly suspect social media – nobody can escape history now.
Oh, and the Ukrainians have arrested Saakashvili but it’s probably because the Ukrainian oligarchs are worried that he might remove all opportunities for corruption and stop them robbing the country blind which the United States government seems to be happy for them to do so long as they’re anti-Russian. I’m not blaming Trump for this as Obama and Kerry are totally responsible for creating this situation although Trump could have ordered the State Department, Treasury, etc. to desist completely. I can’t help but wonder if many of these crises have been ramped up by the Washington Borg to make Trump’s position untenable so the Borg can get back to their usual state of pillaging the world under Pence.

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Dec 5 2017 10:34 utc | 31

Lol@
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=cU6jUpMHqQc
Moment Georgia’s ex-leader Saakashvili threatens to jump off roof in Kiev after being raided by ukrainian police, calls to oust Poroshenko!

Posted by: Anon | Dec 5 2017 11:59 utc | 32

Saakashvili threatens to jump off roof in Kiev

That sums up Saakashvili perfectly – all mouth and no trousers!

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Dec 5 2017 12:54 utc | 33

#6 ” While gullibility and callousness may not be considered ‘mental illnesses’ (even though they are from a humanitarian view point), in combination with the Oslo syndrome, it creates a free pass…”
While I understand your frustration, you are un-necessarily too harsh and you are also incorrect.
There are always exceptions and you lump everyone together into the same “sheep” wool carrier.
To learn to think critically after age 30 is rare, some people do.
To leave every safe thing behind, in search of the truth is even rarer; still it happens.
Life is not always as we see it. We wear our own blinders and so do you. Take them off and keep your eyes on the exit door.

Posted by: Blinders_OFF | Dec 5 2017 15:55 utc | 34

Russia just banned from olympics, the racism and hatred against russians in the west never ends, its absurd.

Posted by: Anon | Dec 5 2017 18:46 utc | 35

@36
I think I’m going to vomit

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Dec 5 2017 19:14 utc | 36

Is this whole Jerusalem-capital thing mere childish antics in retaliation for being thwarted in just about every other arena in the ME? My gut tells me Trump will backoff at the last minute but it is very hard to see any other consequence of this decision other than shoring up more ire towards the Zionists and the US, and the netgain for the bad guys is just a symbolic show which will bare no fruits for the zionist position. So why then? I honestly can’t think of any reason why Trump would hitch his wagon to the ziomasters.
Because it is stupid. Is Trump stupid, really? We shall see.
My advice for the victors in Syria would be to celebrate joyfully what is due for them and then fortify positions to stay one-step ahead of the zionists. Let them fall and trip over themselves by their own accord. It will be amazing to see what a decade of prosperity and peace the Shia crescent will bring and the pressure such success will place on those shits in the west to behave.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Dec 5 2017 19:30 utc | 37

@39 addendum
Interesting the relationship btw Israel and the wompin’-wahhabis in Syria and KSA. Reports of them aiding al-Quaeda, bringing the wounded from Idleb across the heights into their hospitals. Talk show host Conan O’Brien even went to Israel and filmed “casualties” in an Israeli hospital, elevating their heroism and giving airtime to the freedom fighters taking hurt from the “regime.” But in KSA, there is still a faction of Palestinian activism that decries the embassy being moved to Jerusalem. Is this mere showmanship? What once could have been genuine mistrust of the zionists in KSA has probably turned into an empty show of Arab-solidarity, meanwhile they are all plotting against Iran.
So now that Syria is a failed endeavor, are KSA and the Israelis ready to turn in their chips and throw completely their true-believers in the trenches in Syria under the bus by moving the embassy and thereby shitting on the collective Arab struggle of the Palestinians.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Dec 5 2017 19:48 utc | 38

An excellent article about the emerging Russian and Venezuelan cryptocurrencies is available at Fort Russ. I hope b can find the time for an article on this or perhaps on the entire nature of the ongoing assault on the dollar dominated global financial system, http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/12/russia-venezuela-launch-cryptocurrency.html

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 5 2017 20:11 utc | 39

A couple of interesting articles from Muraselon
https://muraselon.com/en/2017/12/kurds-provide-security-russian-task-force-eastern-bank-euphrates- river/
“Kurdish formations are ready to provide security for Russia’s task force on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Sides in Syria told journalists on Monday.”
https://muraselon.com/en/2017/12/russian-air-forces-supported-kurdish-forces-deir-ezzor-province-672- combat-flights/
“Russia’s Aerospace Force has carried out 672 combat flights, hitting over 1,450 targets in the eastern part of Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province, to provide support to militia units formed by the eastern Euphrates tribes and the Kurds, a source in the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria told reporters on Monday.”

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Dec 5 2017 21:28 utc | 40

now this today:
I guess khibiny has reliable proven repeatibility in the field tests over the past years,starting with the early 2014 incident Black Sea. Only way I see this decree to be backable by something.
But this is the Caspian, landlocked & with 5 littoral nations. So the “foreign military” ban must refer to aerial forces.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Caspian Sea littoral countries have reached a consensus on the bulk of the sea’s long-awaited legal regime and have agreed to ban all foreign military forces from entering the sea.
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2017/12/05/1593432/littoral-states-agree-on-bulk-of-caspian-legal-regime-zarif

Posted by: schlub | Dec 5 2017 22:20 utc | 41

Will Mr T. waiver, or just waver?
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US President Donald Trump appears to have missed a deadline for signing a waiver on a US law requiring its embassy to be moved to Jerusalem (al-Quds), in an act of brinkmanship over one of the Middle East’s most fraught issues.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, described the status of Jerusalem as a “red line” for Muslims that could lead to a severing of relations with the Zionist regime of Israel, while the European Union warned of possible “serious repercussions”.
Some reports suggest Trump may reluctantly announce the signing of the waiver in the coming days, others that he may also announce that he plans to recognize al-Quds as Israel’s capital.
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2017/12/05/1593323/trump-misses-deadline-over-moving-us-embassy-to-al-quds

Posted by: schlub | Dec 5 2017 22:25 utc | 42

Backup for that Caspian Sea littoral state protection agreement signed.
Separ is the fourth Sina-class warship built in the fourth Naval zone and is equipped with 4 Nour or Qader-class missile-launchers with a range of 120 to 250km, a 25mm Fajr-class cannon and another 40mm cannon.
The number of the Navy’s combat vessels in the Caspian Sea increased to 6 after Separ joined the Northern fleet.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960914000373

Posted by: schlub | Dec 6 2017 0:43 utc | 43

So the prick actually did it! Everywhere the usual consent manufacturers are headlining that Agent Orange has recognised Jerusalem as the capital of apartheid Israel and that the amerikan embassy will be moved into occupied territory.
Needless to say the crooked bastards are having a dollar each way saying that Trump is being irresponsible at the same time as they beat up the likelihood of ‘terrorist’ pushback.
State etc are wetting their pants because this betrayal of Palestine is too blatant to be shrugged off with the usual panegyrics about amerika the peacemaker.
The breaches of numerous agreements are just too large to have a chance of persuading any of the neoliberal zionist-favouring pols across the planet, to simply play along.
The clown prince is particularly concerned because this latest major trump move has put a large hole well below the waterline of the KSA big lie, that sidling up to amerika and israel is the only way to protect the people of Palestine long term. King Abdullah of Jordan is in exactly the same boat and I wouldn’t be surprised if the hashemite dictatorship were the first major casualty of this zionist hubris.
Remember one of the prime purposes the state of Jordan was created for, was to ensure Jerusalem remained independent of political domination by anyone, – without a Jerusalem to protect, Jordan may as well be re-integrated back into the rest of Palestine.
All Arabs across the ME are gonna be outraged by this – it will really piss of ordinary people as well as causing maximum problems for the slew of sleazy pols who have had the last shred of cover for their hypocrisy torn away.
Fuck I’m not an Arab or a follower of Islam yet I feel the need to wipe the shitty ignorant grin off a vacuous amerikan visage with a 12 gauge because of the air of entitled ignorance which sticks to this move just like cowshit to a woollen blanket.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Dec 6 2017 3:36 utc | 44

@ Debsisdead #45 about Trump potentially recognizing Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel
Thank you for your passion about the wrongs of my country. I am sorry my fellow Americans are allowing this to happen….as am I in a sense by not getting myself killed as a martyr going against the current puppets in place…..sigh
I came here to post a comment I found on one of my techies sites that I thought was quite cogent….it pertains to net neutrality but has wider implications….
From fidodogbreath
Re: US Consumer Protection
The cognitive dissonance required to remain in denial of this obvious fact and maintain the delusion that the system is democratic is frankly astonishing.
That’s where the divisive, scorched-earth tribal politics come in. It’s the classic magician’s trick: “Pay close attention to the cards in my right hand,” while the real action is taking place elsewhere.
In the US, the cards in the right hand are red-meat issues that pander to the biases and prejudices of the party bases: gay marriage, abortion, the myriad evils of “the other,” libtards versus Trumpkins, etc. ad nauseam.
Meanwhile, the left hands of both parties are doing the real magic of pocketing the bribes campaign contributions that ensure that the interests of the super-rich are fully represented at the expense of everyone else.
It’s kind of like bread and circuses, except the wealthy get all the bread and the rest only get the circus.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 6 2017 5:07 utc | 45

I guess I want to add that throwing the geo-political ball into the air of relocating the capitol of Israel to Jerusalem seems to go beyond providing cover for the tax bill rape underway.
This move, if taken, will hasten the realignment of countries around the world against what US/Israel can bully into aligning with them.
While I still see the global elite goal of maintaining their power/control being primary, I think that they are setting the world up for an existential slight of hand where the US goes down in flames, declares bankruptcy and stops its empire ways, but behind the scenes private finance shelters its “wealth” in emerging economies like China/India, etc. and they survive to build new puppets strings throughout the New World…….A 10 year play that is about to begin, except where the foundation has already been built so the same producers are in charge of wagging the dog

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 6 2017 5:34 utc | 46

So here is a quote from the latest Paul Craig Roberts rant that shows that there are a few of us awake Americans.
The quote
”
What we are witnessing is the complete looting of America and the entirety of the West. While the Western World collapses, the insouciant, submissive people sit there sucking their thumbs while they are being ruined.
”
The article
Plunder Capitalism by PCR

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 6 2017 5:49 utc | 47

@47 psycho
Duh! I mean…bingo!
Just messin’, psycho. You nailed it. But I do think we are missing something. Israel won’t go down with Uncle Sam, but it will be subdued for a few decades. Uncharted territory. They have never been this far exposed. Plan B or Plan “Fin?” How bad do the Protestant zionists in the US want the Messiah to return? Will Putin save the day?
Find out tomorrow! Same zio-time. Same zio-channel.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Dec 6 2017 5:49 utc | 48

@psychohistorian I’m afraid you may be too optimistic in your prediction this craziness is part of a structured re-alignment, because this move is likely to provoke a multitude of unpredictable responses from the dreaded ‘Arab in the street’.
My guess is that the trump/kushner regime has punted on israeli assurances that all the dyed in the wool opponents of the zionist invasion are old and well past their best before date, that young ME citizens are more interested in issues immediately relevant to themselves, but I do not believe that is the case.
israelis may have convinced themselves the days of the PLO are long past, yet altho younger arabs I know may not display as much passion about Palestine as their parents, it still remains a rallying point, one that exists well outside of sectarian issues.
I wouldn’t be surprised if trump’s mindlessness over Jerusalem didn’t have the same effect on all the Arab world as KSA’s murderous bombing raids have had on the Yemen populace – that is unite previously disparate groups into a single determined whole.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Dec 6 2017 5:53 utc | 49

@ Debisdead with his response to my comment about this being planned
Those unpredictable responses can only exist within a constrained context….our current world with its ownership and commitments to the existing structure (both religious and secular)…but I hope you are right and I am wrong.
@ NemesisCalling for his thoughtless “….Same zio-channel.” comment on this MoA blog…… You are trying to dis b or you are being snarkie with out declaring such.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 6 2017 6:18 utc | 50

The timing of the announcements re Jerusalem and the US staying in Syria as long as it needs suggests intent to incite Arab violence as a pretext for a US/Israeli attack on Lebanon/Syria/Iran (i.e., creating a broader war encompassing most of the ME), which Israeli air attacks on Syria have thus far failed to achieve.

Posted by: mrr52 | Dec 6 2017 12:42 utc | 51

Posted by: mrr52 | Dec 6, 2017 7:42:03 AM | 52
That is possible. Considering the strategic situation it would be madness and likely start WW3.
1 Russia is in Syria.
2 Israel has no protection against rockets (and they do care about their civilian population)
3 Saudi/UAE has no protection against rockets.
It is probably utter stupidity designed to help Trump win the next presidency and unrelated to anything going on in the Middle East.
The long term fuse of this announcement is strange, too. In all likelihood Trump will not announce much today.

Posted by: somebody | Dec 6 2017 13:57 utc | 52

@51
No, psycho. Would never call out b’s blog in the negative. This place and the posters have been formative for me. I was merely being whimsical in that the day-to-day goings on is some new bs that we have to analyze and see through.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Dec 6 2017 14:41 utc | 53

I just heard that vidme, a video-hosting site, is closing their doors, thus bringing youtube competitors to an overall smaller number. It is very expensive to host such a huge amount of data and bandwidth usage that as there becomes fewer and fewer alternatives to youtube, this will force creators onto other sites which in turn increases their costs which will aid in hastening their need to shutdown.
I migrated to vidme for creators that had been blocked for posting war/political documenting videos on youtube, such as ru_videos, a creator who translates Anna news postings. YouTube will soon devour all competition, so not even a whiff of opposition views could be available. The fangs of censorship starting to show results.
Blah blah blah…”interesting times.”

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Dec 6 2017 17:18 utc | 54

2 strong hints that Mr T. may have from the start been trying to undermine the deep states’ actions in Syria at least are that barely weeks after his inauguration, at the 2017 AAwards, we got this event:
One of the two members of the Syrian civil defense unit the White Helmets that planned on attending the Oscars has been blocked from entering the U.S.
Although Khateeb has received a visa to visit America for the Oscars, internal Trump administration correspondence viewed by the AP shows that Homeland Security prevented Khateeb’s passage
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/white-helmets-cinematographer-blocked-from-us-for-oscars-w468908
that short ‘won’ the AA in its category. So, in all the spotlight of the ensuing generated hysteria, remember who was publicly touted as playing lead in the upcoming 1st full length movie on this theme?
Then, just a month ago, the second event where he out of the blue announces he’s retiring from the movie biz, passing on a sure payday!
And I didn’t even know he was an actor.
Certainly not even imaginable after his epic performance in the new category “action comedy” Batman movie he gave the world.
I wonder who put the bug in his ear. Especially when there were many stories mid-2016, leading up to the election, about the huge glitzy fundraisers he was holding in his mansion there, for $hitlary.

Posted by: schlub | Dec 6 2017 17:30 utc | 55

Nemesis re your post #55 here.
bad timing for that vid competitor site to go offline, to be driven to the hydra.
Didja hear or read that utube just announced they’re hiring 10,000 real live (but almost certainly braindead PC bots) to censor the entire utube library,all comments,etc.?
https://nypost.com/2017/12/05/youtube-is-hiring-10000-people-to-police-offensive-videos/

Posted by: schlub | Dec 6 2017 18:37 utc | 56

re 45 Debs

without a Jerusalem to protect, Jordan may as well be re-integrated back into the rest of Palestine.

Much as though I appreciate Debs’ comment, this bit is not right. Transjordan was more part of Damascus before the British/Arab Revolt conquest in the 1WW, although many Palestinians had migrated there in the 19th century. It was the British who decided to make Transjordan an Arab reserve in 1921, excluding it from the area of Jewish settlement.
The issue with Trump and Jerusalem is what the Muslim reaction is going to be. In principle, with Arab autocratic regimes going in with Israel, it should be muted. But autocratic regimes don’t represent their people. The Angry Arab has been highlighting much more angry reactions. Saudi public certainly doesn’t agree with Saudi regime. Quite how far it is going to go, I’m not sure. But Jerusalem is very important in Muslim feeling, it’s a religious thing. Third most holy shrine. What with today’s populism, it could provoke a bigger movement than Netanyahu anticipates. Destabilisation of Jordan is in prospect, as there is a lot of religious anti-regime feeling already. I wouldn’t want to go further, as I really don’t know how things will pan out.

Posted by: Laguerre | Dec 6 2017 19:23 utc | 57

@57
I did read that. Censor the comments? Geeze… Youtube is still the goto for all non-political content, entertainment, and hilarious crotch-injuring videos. For a while, it was a riot to watch sjw tears and rants after Hillary died/lost. I love old music videos on there. It is still good for “knowing your enemy” from their political videos. There is definitely a creeping build of thought police combing the interweb. Hard to say when it will reach critical mass.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Dec 7 2017 0:57 utc | 58

CNN forced to climb down over Trump-WikiLeaks email report
Network said Trump had received email that offered hacked WikiLeaks files – but CNN got date wrong and later admitted material was already in public sphere
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/08/trump-email-key-wikileaks-hacked-documents.
Once again prove how correct Trump is about the fake-news claim he use against the whiny western MSM.

Posted by: Anon | Dec 9 2017 13:56 utc | 59

This is unsettling.
US and Russian Air Forces engaged in Syria, US acts as ISIS’ air force

An American F-22 fighter actively prevented the Russian pair of Su-25 attack aircraft from carrying out a combat mission to destroy the Daesh stronghold in the suburbs of the city of Mayadin in the airspace over the western bank of the Euphrates River on November 23. The F-22 aircraft fired off heat flares and released brake shields with permanent maneuvering, imitating an air battle…The US F-22 pilot apparently panicked when a capable Russian Su-35 multi-role fighter approached, and immediately engaged in evasion maneuvers towards Iraqi airspace.

Posted by: Ian | Dec 9 2017 14:10 utc | 60

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