ashley albanese 4
Looks like our leadership, in all its wisdom, is banking on the US taking down China.
Far as I can see, Australia is just a forward military base for the US which can be abandoned if things don’t go to plan, leaving us to take the fallout.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jan 27 2018 21:27 utc | 4

@ somebody
(Continued ranting from prior thread ;))
There are a few immediate steps we can only encourage and hope to usher in:
1) the disintegration of the EU into the dustbin of history, which we are now seeing, and which will usher in a relative peacefulness that many people will be shocked by; and…
2) a readjustment of the American economy which will provide the impetus and pressure to scale back the MIC at the behest of a pitchfork’s prong
First, I will say that concerning thr use of the word “globalist” ad nauseum, I am indeed guilty. I am not a scholar of the subject but I believe that looking at it and studying current events, I believe that one can safely assume that it is no good for nobody. Sure, it has its perks: the simplification of the Euro economy has given rise to such things as a cup of coffee being the same price when you step from France into Italy. Convenience is a marvel, is it not? And we should all marvel at our accomplishments. But what if difference is really a good thing, and it keeps the movers and shakers from getting too big? Would you rather have your elites in the same postal code, or be ruled by an invisible hand impervious to biting? If one looks at biblical stories, it’s all there in black and white. The Tower of Babel was a testament to worldly power and was smited by the Lord. The EU is currently being bitchslapped by the same power. For good reason. There is a natural order and we should not try to rearrange that for convenience. I have to run into to Walmart now. BRB.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jan 27 2018 22:42 utc | 6

@nemesisCalling
I wonder of all those calling for the dismantling of Eu ar from the outside of EU…
Are you American far right trolls?
or are you Russian nationalist trolls?
Trolls and semi conscious low bred Neanderthals you are, your continuous hating of the EU project stamps you outright.
So shall we hear another “Greek” story? with weeping through the fingers ?
Please go away.

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Jan 27 2018 22:56 utc | 8

@ 4
Other than to protest loudly about China Australia is no position to do much else. China at 35%-40% is their largest trading partner. You also need to factor their refined fuel imports from South Korea and Singapore without which the country would be crippled within weeks. China rightly refers to them as the US pacific megaphone. Soon they will need to make a choice..China and Belt and Road and the benefits it could bring or follow the US down the drain.

Posted by: 07564111 | Jan 27 2018 23:50 utc | 10

07564111
Looks like Australia has already made its choice. Stamped with made in USA. US/CIA hold the balance of power here. US spooks and arm twister have more influence on our government than national companies. Any that do not comply will be regime changed through the media ect.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jan 28 2018 0:10 utc | 12

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jan 27, 2018 5:42:11 PM | 7
Well, with regard to Germany, the EU project was the longest period of peace for the last 200 years. Same for France.

Posted by: somebody | Jan 28 2018 0:35 utc | 14

@9 DLA,
You do realize that it was NATO itself that destablized the EU? The attack on Libya in particular, followed by the covert and over support for chaos in Syria, that’s what created the massive migration problem that did so much to drive wedges into the EU, between central and western members.
Even before that you had the southern EU members being given second class status, so that’s not very stable. To paraphrase Orwell, ”While all EU member states are equal, some are more equal than others.”
It’s not a bad idea as a trading block, but isn’t that just EEC without the EU? It’s a neoliberal project, anti-democratic, with insufficient restrictions on capital flows – and with the immigration crisis only looking to get worse over time (thanks to global warming), it doesn’t seem to really have much of a future other than as a largely symbolic cooperation agreement.

Posted by: nonsense factory | Jan 28 2018 0:40 utc | 16

Concerning the discussion on “globalism” – and please excuse me if I’ve missed prior discussion, I wasn’t following that point back in the last thread – this word as used today essentially is referring to neoliberal economic policies, which are the handmaiden of neocon “war & plunder” policies. Both doctrines walk hand in hand. The so-called “free trade agreements” remove barriers not so much against free trade as against corporate regulation – this is the whole point of them. The TPP agreement that Trump withdrew from was the most vile such agreement ever yet proposed.
“Globalism”, so called, is the opening of doors in target nations to predatory capitalism, disaster capitalism, the economic part of the John Perkins playbook. As corporatism gains strength in a nation, fascism as Mussolini defined it (i.e. as corporatism) becomes the reality. Maybe the word meant something good once, I don’t know. But it stands for everything bad now.

Posted by: Grieved | Jan 28 2018 1:11 utc | 18

@ Grieved
Globalism is also blogs like this.
Globalism has been turned into a dirty word as it has been used, same as colour revolutions ect, but I suspect it will also help bring down corporate globalism.
For me, in the latter part of my life, it has brought great interest for cultures and people that are different to my own upbringing.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jan 28 2018 1:22 utc | 20

dh 23
Nationalism, globalism, sovereignty.
There is a word missing. Sovereignty does not seem to cover it but is the closest I can find.
This is the wikipedia definition of sovereignty.. “Sovereignty is the full right and power of a governing body over itself, without any interference from outside sources or bodies. In political theory, sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme authority over some polity.[1] It is a basic principle underlying the dominant Westphalian model of state foundation.”
Also similar to nationalism.
What is the correct word or term for full sovereignty plus respect for other countries and cultures?

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jan 28 2018 2:00 utc | 22

Bio on Greg Palast from Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Palast

Posted by: ben | Jan 28 2018 2:16 utc | 24

globalisation – the information highway (apart from road blocks) – a place where a shitkicker from the mad monks anglosphere (oz) can converse or argue with people from all round the world.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jan 28 2018 2:38 utc | 26

Seems like a discussion on semantics – rocky ground.
Putin once set up two words to explain a thing. He said that patriotism was love of one’s country. Nationalism was hatred of other countries. Great set of concepts, but there’s no real consensus of the meaning of those two words, in any group of people you could assemble at random.
Important to agree on concepts and be wary of words when they’re not solidly established in a broad and functional consensus.
My apologies. I thought “globalism” as I described it was commonly held ground, but it’s not. I respectfully withdraw from the discussion, leaving disaster capitalism as the great enemy, and global fraternity and exchange as the great friend of the ordinary people of the whole world.
The words for all this I leave to others to establish. My apologies again for butting in.

Posted by: Grieved | Jan 28 2018 2:43 utc | 28

@30 Nothing to apologize for Grieved. The term ‘globalism’ means different things to different people. Some see is as paradise on earth ….some see it as a subtle form of hegemony.

Posted by: dh | Jan 28 2018 2:52 utc | 30

@30 No apologies needed… we all learn from each other as we find out there are wider and different perspectives to words and ideas that we thought we ‘knew’. This is one of the reasons I value this blog.
Certainly your contributions over the past several years have added to my perspectives on events. Please be encouraged to continue.

Posted by: les7 | Jan 28 2018 3:11 utc | 32

On something good becoming a dirty word.
Democracy. I like the idea of democracy and it would be good to have it. Democracy requires the voters having accurate information to inform their decision. A hard thing to achieve.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jan 28 2018 3:18 utc | 34

@33 So many of the terms we use today are profoundly affected by the dilemma that Nietzsche described in his statement (I paraphrase): ‘God is dead, we have killed him. And no amount of water can wash the blood from our hands’
This was not a statement of triumph, rather of despair. In the loss of the divine as the source of morality, Nietzsche anticipated that people would invest that authority in other structures – including the state (Nazi-ism, Marxism), the military, economics (‘free-market’ capitalism) etc.
The loyalists in each of those ’causes’ would see all their associated terms positively, just like all adherents of religious systems. Those outside, or those who suffered abuse at their hands, see those terms quite differently.
So Nationalism can be positive (as in pride in the legitimate achievements of your country) or negative (where the people ascribe to the state/nation/race the right to define what is morally right) where the nation has God-like authority to remove from whole classes of people all their rights – even the right to life.
Wikipedia (under types of government) slices and dices your options when it comes to political terms for the ruling elite. Two stand out to me, with the second suffering from an unrecognisable name:
Plutocracy: Rule by the wealthy; a system wherein governance is indebted to, dependent upon or heavily influenced by the desires of the rich
Ochlocracy: Rule by the crowd; a system of governance where mob rule is government by mob or a mass of people, or the intimidation of legitimate authorities. As a pejorative for majoritarianism, it is akin to the Latin phrase mobile vulgus meaning “the fickle crowd”, from which the English term “mob” was originally derived in the 1680s. Ochlocratic governments are often a democracy spoiled by demagoguery, “tyranny of the majority” and the rule of passion over reason; such governments can be as oppressive as autocratic tyrants. Ochlocracy is synonymous in meaning and usage to the modern, informal term “mobocracy”.
Personally, when it comes to describing the state of affairs in the empire, I lean toward a despotic corporatism as being the best description. Others may prefer militarism over corporatism, but when the two forces (the corporate and the military) unify you get fascism.
Again, this is just how I, at this time, understand it.

Posted by: les7 | Jan 28 2018 3:39 utc | 36

the wiki link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forms_of_government

Posted by: les7 | Jan 28 2018 3:42 utc | 38

Can’t agree with you more dh.
Most of my life I have never voted and my good wife would tell me off because we had to pay a small fine. Now we have a multitude of absolutely inconsequential parties on the ballot paper, from the sex party to the motor enthusiasts party. As I am no longer working, I now tick all these boxes at voting time to avoid paying a fine and give a middle finger to the powers that be. Yeah, very small time stuff but whatever.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jan 28 2018 3:49 utc | 40

interesting conversation on globalism and etc….
i think the big challenge for the world is letting economics trump the environment… until that changes, we’re in trouble.. maybe it doesn’t have to be an either/or thing… i do think corporate power and the various trade deals (tpp – canada has bought into this with mexico, so tpp is still happening, although the usa is not presently a part of it) are mostly about ignoring local or national laws or trying to over-ride them so that corporations can have all the power.. les7 calls something like this “despotic corporatism”, but i mostly think of it as just plain corporatism.. it is all despotic…
well, i feel the same way about the accumulation of ridiculous amounts of wealth in the hands of a few as well.. how can this happen when people are struggling to survive on the planet? do these people have no sense of shame? apparently not! they go about their business accruing wealth oblivious to the pain and suffering they are directly, or indirectly inflicting on others.. then there are those types who realize what they have done and try to make amends by changing their ways and staring foundations – gates foundation and etc. etc… to me, why not just not fuck people over, instead of thinking you have to trample on others to get ahead and that the universe can only be seen as a dog eat dog universe? well, i can’t change others, i can only change myself and do what i feel good about and can live with.. thanks for the conversation..
@ 42 john gilberts.. canada continues to go down the wrong road, being sucked into the made in the us bs.. freeland is a warmonger, with undisclosed financial support from soros to continue the war on russia and etc. etc.. i can’t believe we are that stupid to have such a women is such a prominent role here in canada… anyone would be better..

Posted by: james | Jan 28 2018 5:03 utc | 42

My comment was dismembered. This is the correct link:
Krishnamurti on Nationalism
Auto correct is sabotage…

Posted by: nottheonly1 | Jan 28 2018 6:27 utc | 44

The only system of government I can conceive of operating in the interests of all the people most of the time is a system where the world is split into many statelets small enough for there to be only 3 or 3 degrees of separation between the population. All states would conform to a similar constitution with the ‘government’ of each state responsible for local implementation of the agreed global constitution to ensure local conditions were respected.
That government would be comprised of citizens representatives picked by random ballot (like a jury) every 3 years (any shorter and it takes too much of the term to get up to speed).
Every 18 months half the people’s representatives are replaced by a new intake. No one can serve more than one term during the course of their lives.
This would be a trust based position reinforced by everyone getting a decent education on a citizen’s rights and responsibilities throughout their school education. That education would be free of nationalist/cultural/ethnic/religious claptrap.
Of course a certain percentage of citizens are sociopath arseholes – what is it about 8%, so of course that percentage will be mirrored in the assemblies, 8% isn’t good, but it is a helluva a lot better than the 100% we have now.
Assembly members or the public servants employed to support them would be subject to huge penalties if they are found to be acting in the interests of anyone other that the statelet’s citizens.
Not a perfect system by any means, but one that is much more likely to fairly go about decision making than what we have now.
I have a great deal of respect for the average human, who is far more likely to assess a situation objectively and decide on something independent of their personal beliefs than any ‘professional politician’.
There would need to be independent & objective information sources to ensure no arsehole took the opportunity to put their thumb on the scales – details, the nuts and bolts have to go much deeper on such a system than a coupla paras in a post.
The other alternatives such as having a ruling class which governments are selected from, a might is right dictatorship, or pick the best self-interested arse-kissing liar, have all been demonstrated to fail. We need to come up with something different if we hope for humans and/or any other lifeforms to continue existence on this planet.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 28 2018 9:01 utc | 46

…
Important to agree on concepts and be wary of words when they’re not solidly established in a broad and functional consensus.
My apologies. I thought “globalism” as I described it was commonly held ground, but it’s not. I respectfully withdraw from the discussion, leaving disaster capitalism as the great enemy, and global fraternity and exchange as the great friend of the ordinary people of the whole world.
…
Posted by: Grieved | Jan 27, 2018 9:43:14 PM | 30
I would suggest that ‘globalism’ is real, no matter how hazy/informal the definition may be. Today, the word “Global” means all-embracing and is the opposite of “Local” whether it’s applied to religion, social standards, eating habits, banking regulations, or war-mongering habits and regulations.
Imo, a definition of Globalism which excludes any reference to Tax Regulations, Banking Regulations & Tax Havens would be dangerously irrelevant. The 99% are a lot worse off since the perpetrators of the 2008 Sub-prime Scam not only got to keep the Commission & Fees, the bankers who made it possible were rewarded for their chicanery.
In the context of Davos, France 24 had a 24th January 3-minute whinge about the EU’s 28(?) Finance Ministers getting together to decide which of circa 55 known Tax Havens are legitimate and which are not. The F24 whinge was inspired by the cabal announcing that it had removed Panama from a Tax Haven “Blacklist”.
F24’s primary objection to this process is that it is secret and lacks transparency.
And that’s not even THINKING about the fact that, in an Ideal World, the immorality of Tax Havens would be illegal.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 28 2018 10:08 utc | 48

George Orwells ‘Notes on Nationalism’ maybe appropriate on this thread, here is a sample.
“Indifference to Reality. All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage — torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians — which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by ‘our’ side. The Liberal News Chronicle published, as an example of shocking barbarity, photographs of Russians hanged by the Germans, and then a year or two later published with warm approval almost exactly similar photographs of Germans hanged by the Russians(5). It is the same with historical events. History is thought of largely in nationalist terms, and such things as the Inquisition, the tortures of the Star Chamber, the exploits of the English buccaneers (Sir Francis Drake, for instance, who was given to sinking Spanish prisoners alive), the Reign of Terror, the heroes of the Mutiny blowing hundreds of Indians from the guns, or Cromwell’s soldiers slashing Irishwomen’s faces with razors, become morally neutral or even meritorious when it is felt that they were done in the ‘right’ cause. If one looks back over the past quarter of a century, one finds that there was hardly a single year when atrocity stories were not being reported from some part of the world; and yet in not one single case were these atrocities — in Spain, Russia, China, Hungary, Mexico, Amritsar, Smyrna — believed in and disapproved of by the English intelligentsia as a whole. Whether such deeds were reprehensible, or even whether they happened, was always decided according to political predilection”.
“The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them”. http://orwell.ru/library/essays/nationalism/english/e_nat

Posted by: harrylaw | Jan 28 2018 10:35 utc | 50

@Debsisdead | Jan 28, 2018 4:01:50 AM | 49

The only system of government I can conceive of operating in the interests of all the people most of the time is a system where the world is split into many statelets small enough for there to be only 3 or 3 degrees of separation between the population. All states would conform to a similar constitution with the ‘government’ of each state responsible for local implementation of the agreed global constitution to ensure local conditions were respected.
That government would be comprised of citizens representatives picked by random ballot (like a jury) every 3 years (any shorter and it takes too much of the term to get up to speed).
Every 18 months half the people’s representatives are replaced by a new intake. No one can serve more than one term during the course of their lives.
This would be a trust based position reinforced by everyone getting a decent education on a citizen’s rights and responsibilities throughout their school education. That education would be free of nationalist/cultural/ethnic/religious claptrap.

But, are you sure this is your own thought project and no that of the US “deep state”?
Curiously, or not so, it fits perfectly with what the US have turned into every country it has been able to put its hands on so far…..
No wonder that you were singled out the other day by the owner of this blog when “supporting” his summoning of one commenter for doing exactly what other dozens more are doing here, like posting hundreds of thousands of words and discussing amongst two people….Obvioulsy, the goal was to getting rid of the inconvenient commenter since a critic whenever she saw something scratchy published here….

Posted by: Fatima Manoubia | Jan 28 2018 11:15 utc | 52

Last comment of mine, @56 was directed at @james | Jan 28, 2018 12:03:23 AM | 45, forgot to add

Posted by: Fatima Manoubia | Jan 28 2018 11:38 utc | 54

Debsisdead | Jan 28, 2018 6:40:29 AM | 58
Indeed; a big tell…

Posted by: V. Arnold | Jan 28 2018 11:51 utc | 56

You dear, Nemesis calling up there!
Please try just read the recent speech by Bolivia´s president Evo Morales – yes, Bolivia!- in an event to heads of state. It ´s just two page stuff and has one thing or two for europeans to get aware of.
I´m throwin U the gloves.

Posted by: augusto | Jan 28 2018 12:18 utc | 58

If a Revolutionary Guard commander really thinks Iran has Iraq and Syria, he’s an idiot. Iranian military and financial expenditures in Iran and Syria are not investments, time purchase of countries. They are expenses, efforts to proactively defend the country. Worse, if anyone really thinks Iran plans to take down Zionism, they’re the idiots. Iran is relying on Europe and Russia to save them from Israel. The Iranian government won’t even fight to defend themselves, just plead for someone else to.

Posted by: steven johnson | Jan 28 2018 14:09 utc | 60

Meet the CIA: Guns, Drugs and Money Counterpunch
In somewhat of a coincidence, today, before reading the above article, I happened to be reading about Pan Am Flight 103 (the Lockerbie bombing), and Robert Mueller‘s intervention into the legal proceedings that took place in Scotland regarding the release of al-Megrahi. Then, while reading the above-linked Counterpunch article, I saw this:
The following year Casey took personal control of an effort to kill Libya’s Moammar Qaddafi, an obsession of the Reagan men. Casey’s deputy, Robert Gates, developed a plan for a US/Egyptian military takeover of Libya, a bold move that would “redraw the map of North Africa.” In the end, Casey went after Qaddafi himself. The Libyan leader’s movements were closely tracked in early April 1986 with the assistance of the Israeli Mossad. A pretext for a move against Qaddafi was confected in alleging Libyan responsibility for a bomb set off in the La Belle nightclub in Berlin that killed an American soldier, Sergeant Kenneth Ford. On April 14, nine F-111s were sent to attack Qaddafi’s compound with a payload of thirty-six laser-guided 2,000-pound bombs. The raid was timed to narrowly precede the evening news and a news release had been prepared to announce that Qaddafi’s death had been an accidental byproduct of this “act of self-defense.”
But the Libyan leader escaped, though two of his sons were maimed and his daughter and a hundred nearby residents were killed by the strikes. There were immediate denials that the Libyan ruler had been personally targeted. “There was no decision to kill Qaddafi,” Casey mumbled. “There are dissident elements inside Libya. They might have seen their chances to rise and launch a coup. I’m sorry that didn’t happen.” Casey later said that the raid on Libya was meant to send a message. “Like Castro and Ortega got the message when we hit Grenada, this attack will scare the hell out of Qaddafi.”
It seems highly likely to me that the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, which occurred in December of 1988, was a CIA operation aimed at swaying the Western public’s opinion against Libya. I note the similarity of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing with the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, in the context of the propaganda value that these incidents had to those who sought to destabilize the respective countries that were blamed for them. Of course, we all know what happened to Qadaffi and Libya, and how Russia is now in the crosshairs of the intelligence/neocon/zionist establishment.

Posted by: integer | Jan 28 2018 15:04 utc | 62

New revealing posts on Holly wood deception and western government support for terrorists in Syria from Vanessa Beeley at 21st Century Wire and Clarity of Signal
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO: Al Qaeda Presented as ‘White Helmets’ for the Annual Terrorist ‘Oscar’Nomination
https://twitter.com/VanessaBeeley/status/957594598754406400
http://21stcenturywire.com/2018/01/28/last-men-aleppo-al-qaeda-presented-white-helmets-annual-terrorist-oscarnomination/
Exposing “The Last Men in Aleppo” – FSA Terrorist Psyop and Oscar Nominated Propaganda Campaign
https://clarityofsignal.com/2018/01/24/exposing-the-last-men-in-aleppo-fsa-terrorist-psyop-and-oscar-nominated-propaganda-campaign/

Posted by: Liam | Jan 28 2018 15:36 utc | 64

News out of Yemen, not from the msn so take with a grain of salt. If true, some Saudi generals better get ready for a visit to the Ritz.
http://www.eurasiafuture.com/2018/01/28/breaking-southern-transitional-council-captures-hadi-government-headquarters-in-aden/
http://www.eurasiafuture.com/2018/01/28/houthis-release-hundreds-pro-saleh-captives/

Posted by: morongobill | Jan 28 2018 17:03 utc | 66

@54 Fatima Manoubia.. i wouldn’t be surprised if the gates foundation was / is used like an ngo battering ram in other countries.. i don’t know enough about the gates foundation to say.. i was just using it as an example to show some scoundrel taking people’s money and hard work, and then turning around and making out like they have now become benevolent! i am also unaware of how the gates foundation has been a conduit for the nsa… it wouldn’t surprise me!! thanks for your comments..

Posted by: james | Jan 28 2018 18:09 utc | 68

robert mueller has been involved in a number of investigations that paint a questionable picture on his position in it all too..

Posted by: james | Jan 28 2018 18:17 utc | 70

The timing is always a surprise, but the UAE’s efforts to own and occupy South Yemen, the Yemeni Red Sea coastline and Socotra Island have been in the works for years. All earnestly backed by our (US) Israeli-firster CIA while they pretend to support the ongoing Saudi efforts. The US and Israel, of course, seek a partitioned, destabilized Yemen split on religious lines – Zaidi Shia in North Yemen, a Salafi-run South Yemen and some kind of Wahhabi-nutjob Central Yemen wasteland.
The Saudis might not be putting up much of a fight for Hadi’s corrupt government though. This may be part of a scheme for them to finally back out of Yemen. But the Saudis don’t want to see Yemen partitioned again – the North’s Zaidi Shia are still feared to be ‘agents of Iran’. The Saudis would much rather see the Zaidi and the whole Ansarullah Movement eliminated or at least pacified and subservient to the current, unified Salafist government under Hadi. In any case, they must have some deal worked out with the UAE already – this coup is just theatre.
The UAE, for their part, really has no need for the old North Yemen save for its Red Sea ports and coastlines, and that desire is driven mostly by US/Israeli interests. At this point, the UAE will be satisfied with pushing for a North/South/Central partition. Their Southern Transitional Council lackeys in Aden have apparently made their move to boot Hadi out and remove the PM/cabinet. Funny that one of the reasons for the STC’s success is their supposed hatred of Islamists in Yemeni government and the current Saudi meddlers – the exact sentiments driving the popularity of the Ansarullah Movement and Houthis in the North.
The US is perfectly happy with this development, as a UAE puppet South Yemeni government will have no problem granting permission to the US for use of (or constructing) future bases on Socotra and along the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Bases that will allow us to… I don’t know… guard the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea against Iranians, Soviets and those damn Red Chinese! We’re doing it for everyone (No thanks necessary). If a ‘Central Yemen’ does come about, it will be tailor made for yet another chapter of the US ForeverWar® and some boots on the ground.

Posted by: PavewayIV | Jan 28 2018 18:52 utc | 72

Decentralization is, I think, the word we need. It’s hard while predatory private mercenaries still float freely, but I agree with deb that the break up of these financial powerhouses is absolutely required behavior.
If the United States governments were broken up into the 5000 counties and each county autonomous, what would change? Money printing, foreign wars, and ponzi pension extortion probably to name a few. Might dissolve a couple factory farms to boot.

Posted by: TSP | Jan 28 2018 19:56 utc | 74

Steven Johnson @ 61:
“… The Iranian government won’t even fight to defend themselves, just plead for someone else to.”
Reckon you need to brush up on some recent post-Revolution Iranian history: does the First Gulf War (1980 – 1988) strike a bell?
Also on a previous comments forum here at MoA, someone made a good comment that Iran invests in missile defence as US-initiated economic sanctions against Iran mean that Iran can’t upgrade its airforce to the extent needed to defend the country on at least two, maybe three hostile fronts (from Turkey, Saudi Arabia – and I do not know about Afghanistan and Turkmenistan). It occurred to me also then that spending on missile defence is the economically more efficient (ie more value for money) option as well.

Posted by: Jen | Jan 28 2018 20:45 utc | 76

Since my comment is no longer visible I would like to ask what if anything about it was offensive or deemed unsuitable.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 28 2018 22:20 utc | 78

Grieved. No, you are right. What Peter Au is calling globalism sounds like a hybrid of internationalism, diametrically different (respects sovereignty, for example) and a curious mind. Globalism has always been what it is.

Posted by: Plod | Jan 28 2018 22:50 utc | 80

Sunny Runny Burger@80 – Posts with links to certain websites are automatically deleted. ‘The Duran’ is one, but there are a few others – usually questionable sites. b has been silent on this issue. No idea if this is his choice or something he can’t control. Nobody has a list of which sites are banned. There’s also some logic used to filter out obvious spam – b can move that out of the spam bucket if it’s not. I know – this is no help if you’ve already wrote and submitted a post. As far as I know, b does not screen posts for content. He rarely responds to “Why didn’t my post show up?” queries. I have little else to offer besides considering the links you’re using, if that might apply.

Posted by: PavewayIV | Jan 28 2018 23:32 utc | 82

Thanks PavewayIV, the link was to something written by Caitlin Johnstone on Medium re-posted to ZeroHedge, it is about Assange and subtle censorship and manipulation by artificial intelligence.
On second thought that could well be problematic in Germany these days (again: it’s the third time for them now that they have to live through such nonsense).
The comment displayed on my machine but that’s no guarantee for anything.
I was strident in tone and perhaps unintentionally irreverent against the seriousness of the state of things and the problems we all face. Then I ended the comment with a simple (but very delicious) genuine cooking recipe which might have pushed everything too far into the absurd by being very normal.
I’m going to blame some nefarious (or possibly kind depending on point of view) third party because it doesn’t matter 🙂

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 29 2018 3:44 utc | 84

@85 Sunny Runny Burger.. i would just 2nd paveways comments to you.. sometimes a post doesn’t go thru based on a link in the post.. i am sure it wasn’t anything to do with your cooking recipe! keep posting..

Posted by: james | Jan 29 2018 4:04 utc | 86

Regarding the above mentioned Gates Foundation a very well researched overview :
How to Become a Billionaire (and what to do with it)

Posted by: youss | Jan 29 2018 7:54 utc | 88

86
Very same policy currently applied in egypt and tunisia
Prices are skyrocketting causing real pain to many but the wealthiest part of the lower middle class who managed to stay subsidized while never pay taxes althiugh they are enjoyinh good (but small) businesses is the target

Posted by: Mina | Jan 29 2018 8:07 utc | 90

Paralympics from Russia just got banned from pariticipation, talk about cynical sadists being in charge. But this is what hatred of russians leads to…

Posted by: Anon | Jan 29 2018 11:43 utc | 92

V. Arnold
Indeed, there is no relief in this sick hatred.
Next up seems to be to cancel Soccer world cup in Russia!
Fears for World Cup as FIFA call on Russia whistleblower
https://drfeed.com/fears-for-world-cup-as-fifa-call-on-russia-whistleblower/
Obviously the propaganda will start soon on this to boycotte the event, not to mention the hysteria, psyops on russian election in march.

Posted by: Anon | Jan 29 2018 12:32 utc | 94

Counterpunch has an article about the CIA and some of its black ops.

It advised the Contras to develop “shock troops” to infiltrate Sandinista rallies. “These men should be equipped with weapons (knives, razors, chains, clubs, bludgeons) and should march slightly behind the innocent and gullible participants.”

For some strange reason it reminds of what happened in Syria and later Kiev. Nothing really changes.

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jan 29 2018 21:53 utc | 96

And if you were not quite sure that Trump is not the best US President money can buy there is this
Trump will display the names of reelection campaign donors during State of the Union live stream

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 30 2018 1:32 utc | 98