I read a headline at Sputnik News I agree with = Italy wants Germany out of Eurozone!

Posted by: Mischi | Jun 3 2018 16:06 utc | 1

Over 24 hour livestream in support of Julian Assange, now a little more than halfway through, featuring interviews with various figures. NYU media studies professor Mark Crispin Miller scheduled for 3pm EST, Lee Camp at 6pm EST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cTqkEsyAKo

Posted by: George Lane | Jun 3 2018 16:51 utc | 2

Its clear Russia throw Iran/Syria/Hezbollah under the bus by working with Israel like this, again, pathtic "friend"...

Russian ambassador confirms ‘agreement’ between Russia, Israel on Syria

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 3 2018 16:59 utc | 3

The mainstream media has barely reported on it, but Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) of the National Regeneration Movement Party (MORENA) is 20 points head of his closest competitor heading into the July 1 Mexican national election. Large corporate employers are holding captive audience meetings with their workers warning then not to vote for AMLO. Vote-rigging is unlikely with such a substantial lead, but assassination can't be ruled out.

Jacobin has a good write-up, The Plot Against López Obrador

Posted by: Mike Maloney | Jun 3 2018 17:11 utc | 4

@4, Mike, the Washington Post a few months ago tried to blame AMLO on Russia, because a supporter of his, John Ackerman, a professor at UNAM, has a show on RT, and Ackerman's wife has been promised a post on AMLO's cabinet should he win. Clearly, he is a Russian spy! Facebook has also promised to fight "fake news" concerning the Mexican election: Mexicans of course can't think for themselves and therefore must be protected from fake news.

It is interesting because AMLO is a very moderate, modest center-left reformer, but even this is too much for the US-led hegemonic order, and therefore AMLO is being and scare-mongered as an evil Chávez-like figure (of course, I would see another Chávez-like figure as a good thing!).

Hopefully AMLO maintains his wide margin enough that fraud is not an option, interesting times ahead for Latin America...

Posted by: George Lane | Jun 3 2018 17:50 utc | 5

The author of "Sacrificing at the Alter of the Euro", Thomas Fazi, is co-author of a book with Bill Mitchell, a founding academic of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), "Reclaiming the State - A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World"

Posted by: paulmeli | Jun 3 2018 18:24 utc | 6

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 3, 2018 12:59:50 PM | 3
(It's clear Russia throw Iran/Syria/Hezbollah under the blah blah blah)

Cheer up Z. Take a break from doom & gloom and scan SST's latest Russian Federation Sitrep May 31, 2018...
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2018/05/russian-federation-sitrep-31-may-2018-by-patrick-armstrong.html

Putin is clearly doing a helluva lot more things right than the Christian Colonial Clowns (and their "Israeli" bosses).

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 3 2018 18:40 utc | 7

Hoarsewhisperer

Doing something right when Russia helps Israel against Iran/Hezbollah/Occupied Syria is something no one should defend.

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 3 2018 18:55 utc | 8

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 3, 2018 2:55:51 PM | 9

Don't you think that preventing a war is in Hezbollah/Iran's interest, too?

Posted by: somebody | Jun 3 2018 19:28 utc | 9

I'd be very surprised if the Jordanian demonstrations lead to anything that would affect regional politics. The Mukhabarat have too much control, supported by US and Israel, of course. It's been made clear to Jordanians that going too far, means Jihadi confusion. Relative satisfaction with your present life, or catastrophe. Of course many southern Jordanians are very Salafi, but previous revolts haven't led to anything. There's no reason yet to suppose that this time will be different.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 3 2018 19:53 utc | 10

Interesting article by William Engdahl on the USA debt trap. Donald Chump and the GOP controlled congress are accelerating the fiscal collapse of the empire but deplorables would have us believe he's a stable genius playing multi-dimensional chess. The neo-cohens surrounding Trump are experts in pump and dump bankruptcy operations. I wonder who deplorables will blame when the next crisis hits ? http://www.williamengdahl.com/englishNEO1Jun2018.php

Posted by: Augustin L | Jun 3 2018 19:57 utc | 11

This is how a meeting of NK leader ans Syrian President is showed on Beep:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44348331
Good grief!

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Jun 3 2018 20:40 utc | 12

somebody

"Don't you think that preventing a war is in Hezbollah/Iran's interest, too?"

Thats straight from zionist propaganda.

Israel is occupying Syrian territory, thats an act of war, Syria, Iran Hezbollah trying to take Syrian land back,
Apparently defending your nation is an act of war according to yourself and other zionists.

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 3 2018 20:42 utc | 13

I think Zanon poster needs to go somewhere else

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Jun 3 2018 20:44 utc | 14

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 3, 2018 4:42:10 PM | 13

I suppose when you are dead you won't care. Real estate is not worth any life - emphasis on any life. Or do you believe god cares which nation wins a war?

Israel seems to have stopped to think it will be other people's life only that will be lost. Or do you think they would negotiate if things looked good for them?

Posted by: somebody | Jun 3 2018 20:52 utc | 15

add to 13

At least Europeans think the desire to fight for country has been overrated in their history ...

Gallup Poll - Willingness to fight for country.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 3 2018 20:58 utc | 16

14 It needs to be discussed.

Israel has become strangely restrained recently, by the way.

This is ynet news.

Analysis: Seeking to turn the strip into Islamic State’s ‘Sinai district,’ radical Muslim organizations fired rockets at the Gaza vicinity communities Saturday night in a bid to get the Israeli army to enter the strip for another round of fighting. Meanwhile, the only reasonable solution as far as Israel is concerned is a long-term arrangement with Hamas. ... Behind the scenes, therefore, Israel should save the Egyptians’ face but seek the involvement of other mediators, who are more skilled in negotiations and have the ability to secure investments in the strip if an arrangement is reached. I am particularly referring to European countries, including the Scandinavians and the Irish, who have already proved their negotiating skills although they are not particularly fond of us.

When it comes to negotiating with clients like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, even the Scandinavian and the Irish are possible mediators.

In other news Israel is burnt by incendiary kites from Gaza.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 3 2018 21:24 utc | 17

thanks b for the great work as always... i would be curious what your view on julian assange is at this point.. i see roger waters has been helping to keep his name in the news via his concerts too.. it seems like the draconian approach taken by the uk with regard to assange is another example of how messed up the uk/britian is on the world stage at this point...

@ 14 den lille abe... i agree with you at this point.. saw this same stupid conversation on a previous thread earlier this week.. at least one knows what the conversation is going to be with zanon at this point... broken record is the phase that immediately comes to mind..

Posted by: james | Jun 3 2018 21:40 utc | 18

somebody

Its very simple Syria is occupied and they have the legal justifications to take their land back, with or without their allies in iran and lebanon, you clearly dont understand this and neither are israel apparently.

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 3 2018 21:59 utc | 19

I love what is happening in Italy. I always thought that the revolution will stsrt in the southern and central Europe. Italy wants to launch a parallel currency (lira) , and may leave EU. Austria and Hungary will follow ,if this happened. Possibly France. There were huge protests against "La Putain" de Rothschild , Macron .
The Iran nuclear deal and Russian Nordstream are Europe's chance for emancipation .
For who is interested ,I published Ahed Tamimi's portrait at my sites.
https://me582.wordpress.com/
https://artisticexpressions394454247.wordpress.com/

Posted by: veritas semper vincit | Jun 3 2018 22:09 utc | 20

IF the US pulls out of Al Tanf, Putin's apparent backstabbing will look a little bit more like clever strategic thinking.

Then again, the Hegemon seems to be digging in deeper in the part of Syria that matters more, the part that the Hegemon seems determined to control permanently, the northeast. So perhaps it is more a matter of the US giving up something it didn't really want in exchange for something really useful, that is, a precedent set that Syria does not have sovereignty, that its decisions are made for it by others, such as Putin and Netanyahu and -ultimately - the US.

The key is air power. Russia is selling powerful air defense to NEARLY EVERY COUNTRY THAT ATTACKED SYRIA! Now apparently Qatar is in line. Ok, let Putin show some real strategic thinking, thinking that he should have shown long ago, by providing top quality air defense to Syria and Iran. Also, let the SCO bring Iran in as a permanent member. But see, he won't do any of that. Putin prefers to keep a choke collar on both Iran and Syria. He likes to keep his foot on their throats. Putin thinks that miring weaker countries in endless conflicts keeps them dependent, makes him powerful. So it appears anyway. But see, that's exactly how the Hegemon and its vassals think. That is how Israel thinks. Putin's backstabbing love for his 'friends' makes Putin irrelevant. He's just a footnote in the rise of the Hegemon to global rule.

I suspect that there will be a time when Putin and Russia will regret how they treated friends and will find no consolation with the giant circle of fake friends they seem to be cultivating.

Posted by: paul | Jun 3 2018 22:10 utc | 21

If Russia's sensible realpolitik contact with Israel seems to have tripped Zanon's mental wiring, one wonders what electrical devastation may have been caused by Iran's equally sensible realpolitik contact with Israel this past week. But perhaps it was breezed over, as it did not fit in with the tedious Russia-betraying-Iran/Syria pronouncements.

Posted by: Plod | Jun 3 2018 22:13 utc | 22

23 :-))
Actually, Iran says Israel is spreading the rumour to "weaken the resistance".

But Israel does have a problem it needs to solve urgently as Trump and Saudi seem to have cut all aid to Palestinians in Gaza and Jordan. Desperation makes people fight. So in all likelihood Israel is in talks and they have all the backchannels for it since the time of Iran Contra.

Angela Merkel pretends everything is going smoothly but it could mean a rerun of the 2015 "refugee crisis" in Europe - which was sparked by UNRWA running out of money to feed the refugee camps.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 3 2018 22:42 utc | 23

@ Paul 22

"I suspect that there will be a time when Putin and Russia will regret how they treated friends and will find no consolation with the giant circle of fake friends they seem to be cultivating."

Nations have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.

Vladimir Putin is the President of the Russian Federation and as such, responsible for the advancement of its interests, not those of any other country. No one can reasonably dispute that Russian assistance to Syria has been transformative since 2015. Not only has it saved the Syrian government of Bashar Assad from imminent collapse, but its assistance has led to the roll-back of much of the Jihadi threat, along with that of their puppet masters locally and in the West. Russian assistance was the critical element of the salvation of the Syrian Arab Republic; the assistance it received from Iran and Hizbullah would not have been sufficient, on its own, to defeat the threat, hence Qasem Soleimani's visit to Moscow to appeal for Russian assistance.

Syria is not Russia's sole interest in the mid-east, nor indeed in the wider world. Russia is still recovering from 70 years of Bolshevism and the plunder of the Harvard and Chicago boys, along with their oligarchic allies. It still has to contend with a US led Western determination to pacify and enslave it.

Russia does not need military conflict with the West and does not want it. She has not yet recovered her strength sufficiently to battle the West without serious pain and suffering for Russians. Many apparently knowledgeable commentators say that Russia is capable of seeing off any western attack and that may be so, but at what cost? And haven't we already seen how the West, led by the US, having provoked Russia into defensive measures, i.e. Crimea and Ukraine, then tightens sanctions further. This makes Putins mission to develop the Russian economy ever more difficult. So he is walking a tightrope, desperate to stay upright and bring the benefits of development that Russia and Russians deserve.

To mind, if we ever get to where the history of the time is written, Putin will go down as Vladimir the Great. He stand head and shoulders above all of his contemporaries in the international arena.

Posted by: Paul | Jun 3 2018 23:05 utc | 24

Zanon @ 3, 20: All that Russia and Israel have agreed to is that at some time in the near future, any Iranian forces near the Syrian-Israeli border will be leaving.

That is assuming Iran has any military forces near the Syrian-Israeli border in the first place. Do you know if there are any Iranian forces in the area?

If there happen to be none - because maybe all that Iran is doing is providing military advice and leadership to Syrian Arab Army forces, and it is the SAA and Hezbollah forces who are overseeing the area - then there is not much to worry about, is there? And deluded Israel is shooting its mouth off as usual, crowing about how it made the Russians blink.

That Syria is committed to taking back the Golan Heights is a project to be pursued at a later time, when Syrian forces are stronger and have the systems, equipment and munitions to back them up. The Syrians cannot afford at this time to defend that territory and they know it.

Posted by: Jen | Jun 3 2018 23:10 utc | 25

The Guardian has an article up about Masih Alinejad. No mention of her involvement with various anti-IRI organizations - she just portrayed as a heroic individual rather than as an American lackey. You'd think that after the Guardian fell so completely for the Ukrainian "dead journalist" scam that they'd be a bit more honest with their reporting.

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jun 3 2018 23:34 utc | 26

If Russia's dealings with other players results in the unification of all Syrian territories, fine, if not then Z may have a point.

If these agreements result in the Balkaization of Syria, then Russia has truly surrendered to the empire..

Time will tell..

Posted by: ben | Jun 3 2018 23:54 utc | 27

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jun 3, 2018 7:34:49 PM | 27

I saw that article and what I found to be most interesting was the comments (which can only be accessed properly if yer signed in), there are no comments pointing out the woman's self promoting hypocrisy but many many comments where the text has been deleted and "This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards" inserted instead.
It is naive to imagine that fishwrap doesn't know exactly what it is doing.
Every sunday the Observer has one or two Zionist propaganda pieces and two or three anti Corbyn attack opinions - particularly regarding brexit, but sometimes the two lies are commingled into an article about 'Corbyn the anti-semite'.
Most readers know exactly what is up as the Observer's comments section used to be filled with "Oh bugger me, it must be sunday, time for our usual anti-corbyn pro-israel nonsense".
Now they get deleted and since the daily hate only allows subscribers to comment, the tory trouts have shifted & are encouraged to clag up the despicable graun whose editor Katherine Viner is losing the rag's money hand over fist.
The only point of interest is which will go broke first, the graun or the crooked zionist 'trust' which props it up.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jun 3 2018 23:59 utc | 28

Yeah, the news that AMLO has a growing lead has been so universally reported, that rigging the election would be obvious. No doubt, leading to yet another country torn apart by protests.

Nicaragua has been rocked by protests that the MSM blames on President Ortega’s plan to cut Social Security. But when I dug deeper, I found out that Ortega had refused an IMF loan, and proposed the cuts so Nicaragua wouldn’t be forced into the IMF debt spiral.

Of course, Venezuela’s protests get a lot of positive coverage in the US, but not getting much mention is that Brazil is experiencing everything we hear that Venezuela is, but it’s because of the neoliberal/Milton Friedman/Shock Doctrine economics of coup leader, Temer. And the people seem to be backing he trucker strike even though it’s caused shortages.

Meanwhile, IMF is busy in Jordan, too.

Several thousand protesters chanting anti-government slogans and calling for King Abdullah to dismiss Prime Minister Hani Mulki have been holding vigils near the cabinet office.

The protesters say a new tax bill backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will hurt the poor and middle class.

Jordanians have seen prices rise with salaries failing to keep up.

The government says it needs the money to fund public services and says the new tax bill will see higher earners pay more.

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 3 2018 23:59 utc | 29

Sorry, my above was addressed to Mike Maloney @4

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 4 2018 0:00 utc | 30

somebody @ 10 said:"Don't you think that preventing a war is in Hezbollah/Iran's interest, too?"

I think the people in Syria would believe there's already a war going on...

Securing Syria's territorial integrity may be worth a wider war. If it were my home, I'd die to protect it. Many people already have.

Screw the empire and her sycophants..

Posted by: ben | Jun 4 2018 0:05 utc | 31

I started a post on Jordan/imf but ran outta time/energy to research it properly. Some of us have been pointing out that Jordan is the next target for the fukusi pr1cks for a while.
The leaders are outsiders imposed upon a population of once were Palestinians whose state is a party to UN arrangements over protection of Palestinian sacred sites in zionistland. Since getting the UN SC to alter those agreements so al Aqusa can be stolen from the Palestinians is believed to be impossible, the next logical move when unable to shift the lines on a playing field is to bring in the bulldozers & rip up the joint turning it into a useless muddy bog of a parking lot.
Without a functioning 'Jordan' the agreement no longer matters.
The zionist scum will do that, killing hundreds of thousands in the process.
The IMF calling in loans made to the foreign leadership, but to be paid for by impoverished Jordanians, is the opening move of a lengthy chess game.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jun 4 2018 0:13 utc | 32

Daniel @ 30: Good and informative post, thanks.

Posted by: ben | Jun 4 2018 0:13 utc | 33

Laguerre @11

Jordan is not so secure. Netanyahoo's Likud Party Charter stated that Jordan is rightly part of Eretz Israel. All those who follow the Revisionist Zionism of Vlad Jabotinsky (Bibi's dad was Vlad's personal aide), include the Irgun, Stern and Haganah militias that "won" first the Zionist war against Britain, and then the Israeli "War for Independence" as well as most Israeli PMs have all been Revisionist Zionists.

From the Euphrates to the Nile.

So, Jordan's "Arab Spring" could well be next on the list.

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 4 2018 0:15 utc | 34

The marathon live stream in support of Julian Assange is still going strong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cTqkEsyAKo. They're over 24 hours now. Surprise guest Jimmy Dore is live at the moment.

Posted by: S | Jun 4 2018 0:18 utc | 35

Paul @25 describes my most realistic views of Putin/Russia. I still have hope that he sees helping to save the sovereignty of Syria and Iran as in Russia's interest.

But I have no doubt that the AZW Empire has not changed its goals as a result of Russia's interference in their Yinon/Clean Break/New American Century plans. To wit:

Israel gets most of Syria up to the Euphrates River. The US gets control of Syria on the other side of the Euphrates. Turkey gets a big chunk of Idlib/Aleppo.

And once that phase is complete, the rest of MENA falls, and the sights shift to Russia/China.

So, if anyone is to prevent the Empire, it's going to take some serious "offers they can't refuse."

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 4 2018 0:31 utc | 36

Ghost Ship @ 27: Shaun-of-the-Dead Walker and Alex Luhn-y might be a little more circumspect in future reporting about Ukraine but I doubt very much that any lessons The Fraudian should learn from the Babchenko hoax murder stunt will sink into its collective mindset.

More likely The Fraudian will stay away from Banderastan for a while until the whole stunt is forgotten and then it's back to the usual Russia-bashing business.

We must remember The Fraudian churnalists have memories worse than the proverbial goldfish.

Posted by: Jen | Jun 4 2018 0:39 utc | 37

Jen @38.... great terminology coinage!

Of course, those media outlets are merely following outlines provided to them by the supra-national financial powers. So, it's not about their memory; it's about them severing their readers' memories.

We have always been at war with Oceania.

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 4 2018 0:50 utc | 38

I forgot to note that when Jordan says "the new tax bill will see higher earners pay more," they're describing "trickle down" VooDoo Economics.

Also, I guess the putsch regime in Honduras has slaughtered enough dissidents that the protests have stopped there. But the whole world is on the verge.

France has been holding protests nearly every week for like two years. Austerity. Police violence. Escalating the war against Syria. And they have the "anti-refugee" protests we see in many other European countries, too.

TPTSB are tearing us apart.

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 4 2018 1:19 utc | 39

George Lane. Thanks for the reminder about the Julian Assange Vigil. Jimmy Dore has really come into his own since the Democratic Primaries.

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 4 2018 1:23 utc | 40

Pretty slow recently aside for events that serve mainly to distract. Calm before the storm me thinks. Bilderbergers meeting next week in Italy of all places. Things should heat up soon with the Kim-Trump meeting and World Cup following , and Israel likes to stir things up in the 6th month of the year and seem to have cleared whats to come with Putin.

Posted by: Pft | Jun 4 2018 1:45 utc | 41

Zanon @ 3, 20:

See here a report by Sputnik News on the presence of "Iranian forces" in Syria:
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201806021065034734-syria-damascus-refugees/

ISRAEL EXAGGERATES SCALE OF IRAN'S MILITARY PRESENCE IN SYRIA

' ... "Iran’s presence does not exist in a way of military presence on the ground in Syria — these are tales told by Israel," [Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem] said at a press conference.

Instead, Tehran’s presence in Syria is limited to the work of its military advisers on the Syrian Army’s side, according to the official ..."

This report backed up by Fars News Agency:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970312001020

WALID AL-MUALLEM: NO IRANIAN BASES IN SYRIA

'... Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem dismissed media claims that Iran has military bases and forces in Syria, stressing the need for the US to withdraw from the Arab country.
"Iran has come to Syria at the invitation of the Damascus government and its presence is fully legal. Things said about deployment of the Iranian forces in Syria and the Iranian bases are all originated from Israel and are lies. The Iranian advisors are present in Syria and they have given martyrs; they are fighting should-to-shoulder with the Syrian army. We thank the Iranian statesmen and people for standing beside Syria against terrorism since day one," Muallem told reporters in a press conference in Damascus on Saturday.

He explained that Israel planned to stretch a security zone around its territories with the help of terrorist groups but it failed, "and now Tel Aviv intends to achieve this goal by raising allegations about Iran's presence in Syria" ...'

As I said earlier, Iran is providing military advice and Israel is deluded.

Don't fall for Israeli propaganda and lies.

Posted by: Jen | Jun 4 2018 2:16 utc | 42

@ Daniels who wrote: "TPTSB are tearing us apart."

Au contraire my friend. The elite are tearing themselves apart and hurting many of "us" as they try and stay relevant in the evolving world.

All the trade and territorial bluster from Trump does not signal empire ascendency. When you have a grifter TV showman as the front for empire who surrounds himself with puppets with vacuous or no morals except allegiance to the God of Mammon, what makes it look like they are "winning"?

Dying empire is violating one of Voltaire's precepts of "Act, but stay apart from action."

I admit that the show is going on way longer than most of patience can endure but the beast of empire has to fail itself as we see it doing. It is failing by not providing a collective vision for humanity that all can embrace and it no longer can force its God of Mammon religion on everyone. China et al are providing a much more compelling vision form society and the scales are tipping.....

Global public finance cannot come to soon for me but I will wait and watch empire die of its anti-humanistic tenets so we don't have to pretend or argue with zealots raving that they have merit.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 4 2018 2:20 utc | 43

The following link from ZH is about smarmy Clapper selling his book

Clapper: The U.S. Meddled In Foreign Elections And Conducted Regime Change In The "Best Interests Of The People"

Knowing what we do about Clapper we can assume when he said people he was meaning corporations which we have been told by Mitt Romney are the only people that count.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 4 2018 3:13 utc | 44

@44 psychohistorian

Thanks for your comment au contraire to Daniel. Indeed, the elite are tearing themselves apart, and we are merely the collateral damage - nothing personal.

You said "...the show is going on way longer than most of patience can endure but..." and I will differ slightly to say that I love the timescale. I find it incredibly fast. But not scary. As I've said before, there was a time a mere few years ago when we all feared the fall of empire. But now it seems as if a barrel of honey has been poured into the cog wheels that allows the fall to come down almost vertically and yet soundless, and with no dust, and avoiding innocent villages in the falling, and with all around the minimum of death.

Honestly, I praise this mechanism, whatever it is. And I don't pretend to understand it. But I have the charts and prognoses from a year ago, two years, three, and four. The patient has made a remarkable non-recovery, and may die long before the original forecasts. A miracle.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 4 2018 4:21 utc | 45

Jen

Propaganda comes from all places, see my first link (#3 "Russian ambassador confirms ‘agreement’ between Russia, Israel on Syria"), the quote by the russian official, one cant deny those facts.

It seems that some people here (not necessarily you) have incredibly hard to understand that Russia is working with Israel that they defend Russia and also Israel's actions on Syria.
It was the same with S300, suddenly Syria didnt need it when Russia started to work with what Israel wanted. Its not logical.

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 4 2018 5:42 utc | 46

Anybody notice the bollocks from Sky News , actually giving credence to a supposed counter terror detective who says that the poison must have been dabbed on Skripal's doorknob when he was away at Heathrow picking up Yulia

https://news.sky.com/story/skripal-poisoning-police-must-be-prepared-for-obstruction-in-russia-11391520

Amnesia has set in already. It was Ross Cassidy who picked up Yulia, it took 2 weeks after for his car to be picked up for possible "decontamination"

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5847350/car-russian-spy-sergei-skripal-daughter-yulia/

Does anyone else find this utter nonsense and lack of fact checking both insulting and worrisome.? There is no longer any effort being put in to the deliberate disinformation

Posted by: francesca | Jun 4 2018 5:48 utc | 47

@francesca: The establishment only needs to convince the 90%. Since the quality of propaganda is falling, that must mean that the 90% are getting dumber and no longer need high-quality propaganda to believe the narrative.

Posted by: S | Jun 4 2018 6:10 utc | 48

I forgot to note that when Jordan says "the new tax bill will see higher earners pay more," they're describing "trickle down" VooDoo Economics.
...
TPTSB are tearing us apart.
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 3, 2018 9:19:45 PM | 40

Sorry to nitpick, but although Trickle Down = Voodoo Economics, obliging higher earners to pay more tax is the opposite of TD/VE. Trickle Down is the demonstrably fraudlent Neolib 'promise' used as the standard excuse for REDUCING taxes on the wealthy.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 4 2018 6:10 utc | 49

Ben 32
You could have gone to Syria mid 2015, become a Syrian citizen, told Russia to fuck off in October, and your wish to die for your country would have been realized.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jun 4 2018 7:02 utc | 50

@Jordan

The kingdom is indeed in a tight spot. It is not only the people that are being squeezed but also corporations and prominent exponents of business and industry.

The equation looks ugly.

On one hand -

Jordan's economy produces little that is of interest to foreign markets.

Jordan used to be the purveyor of skilled human capital to the Gulf states (doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, architects and managers) and remittances were a significant chunk of the economy.

The Kingdom's armed services still enjoy a large degree of respect in the Middle East and Jordan has leveraged this reputation in recent years to help regional potentates stay in power.

Agricultural exports are holding their own although this comes at a cost to the state in the form of water subsidies

On the other hand -

Since the first Gulf war and increasingly since the second Gulf war, many Jordanians have returned home to an economy that cannot absorb them and make use of their skills

Many other Jordanians from Europe and the USA have returned too

Jordan's traditional role as mediator between Arab states and Israel is increasingly unnecessary as regional countries have established direct links with the Hebrew state.

Saudi Arabia has recently stopped both their financial support and their oil grants to the kingdom

Although the USA initially threatened to withhold their financial support, it eventually was approved but the arrangement may be shaky

As if that was not bad enough -

Jordan runs a grossly bloated public sector.

Healthcare and welfare costs are out of control

Debt to GDP is approaching 100% (depending on how you count of course)

60% of the Jordanian population is under the age of 30 and largely unemployed

---

In a desperate effort to boost fiscal revenues, the state is implementing a very aggressive tax collection strategy targeted largely at high net worth individuals and their companies.

Substantial retroactive fines and penalties are being applied liberally across sectors with threats of jail time

Predictably this is resulting in a flight of capital and, I suspect, a collapse of fiscal revenue

Put it all together -

Unless something drastic happens soon, this time is different for Jordan

Of course, like in Europe and the West in general, what needs to be done will not be done and everyone is hoping for an exogenous solution.

Arithmetically speaking however, not all countries can expect to receive an exogenous solution neither in the West nor around the world. Many, if not most, will be hung out to dry.

The rise of the exchange value of the US$ guarantees that any country that has sold sovereign debt in US$ will be thrown under the bus in coming months.

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 4 2018 9:12 utc | 51

Jordan is not so secure. Netanyahoo's Likud Party Charter stated that Jordan is rightly part of Eretz Israel. All those who follow the Revisionist Zionism of Vlad Jabotinsky (Bibi's dad was Vlad's personal aide), include the Irgun, Stern and Haganah militias that "won" first the Zionist war against Britain, and then the Israeli "War for Independence" as well as most Israeli PMs have all been Revisionist Zionists.

From the Euphrates to the Nile.

So, Jordan's "Arab Spring" could well be next on the list.

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 3, 2018 8:15:46 PM | 35

The only one I could think of is whether Trump will abandon the US historical policy of preserving Jordan's theoretical independence.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 4 2018 9:37 utc | 52

Actually re 53, I can't think of any greater error that Israel could make than taking over Jordan (other than nuking Europe, which is in the plans). It would give them a wide open desert frontier, impossible to defend against infiltrating jihadis. Any such plan would certainly be refused by the military.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 4 2018 9:45 utc | 53

re guidoamm 52

What you describe has always been the case in Jordan. Government revenue was always insufficient to pay for the state and there have always been external subsidies. Hussein was pretty good at playing the game, switching from one supporter to another. Abdallah, though, is stupid, and has been a dependent vassal of the US and Israel. The threat of course being chaos on Israel's frontier. That hasn't changed.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 4 2018 10:07 utc | 54

@55

Jordan's position has changed. The Gulf states no longer need an intermediary nor do they need (want) Jordanian labor.

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 4 2018 10:27 utc | 55

@56

So what's new?

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 4 2018 10:33 utc | 56

And, frankly, the current king had no choice. It was either go along or have a color revolution on its hands

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 4 2018 10:38 utc | 57

@52 guidoamm,

Debt to GDP is irrelevant. You're pushing a meme borne of an Excel error. Please don't do that.

Posted by: Jonathan | Jun 4 2018 11:06 utc | 58

@59

Indeed, if you belong to the school of thought that money is "owed to ourselves" then, yes, Debt to GDP is irrelevant.

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 4 2018 11:08 utc | 59

LOL more evidence how naive Russia is,

Israel takes part in major NATO drill near Russia for first time
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/06/04/563863/Israel-NATO-drills-Russia

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 4 2018 11:14 utc | 60

Zanon @ 47:

I have rechecked your link to Al Masdar's tweet and followed the link that the tweets links to and this is what the agreement between Russia and Israel is about:
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-ambassador-confirms-agreement-between-russia-israel-on-syria/

'... The Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, told journalists on Friday that there is an agreement between his nation and Israel regarding the removal of Iranian forces from the Syrian-Israeli border.

“I can’t respond whether the agreement is already being implemented on the ground, but the sides involved in the process are satisfied. If it hasn’t happened on the ground yet, it will in the near future,” he said, according to Yediot Aharonot.

Nebenzya could not specify if the agreement was made during the Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s recent visit to Moscow ...'

Now since, according to the Fars News Agency and Sputnik (links to their articles at my earlier comment @ 43)- Iranian and Russian media outlets respectively - Iran's assistance to Syria consists of military advisors, that must mean there are no Iranian troops currently on Syrian territory near the Israeli border. I bet Nebenzya was talking with the straightest of straight faces.

Russia and Israel either basically agreed on nothing or Israel is talking up BS to give the impression that it is staring down the Russians. It is very easy for Russia to say, yes, Iran will have no troops in the area - because there never were any Iranian soldiers in the area in the first place.

The more Israel carries on about non-existent Iranian troops near the Golan Heights, the more stupid it looks.

Best not go down that rabbit hole with Israel.

Posted by: Jen | Jun 4 2018 11:15 utc | 61

53) The new element is that Trump in his genius like stupidity has identified UNRWA as the impediment to stop Palestinian's dream of their right to return.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has opted to cut the $360 million offered in 2017 to a commitment of just $60 million this year, leaving UNRWA scrambling to raise nearly half a billion dollars to guarantee services until the end of the year.

So neither Palestinians nor Syrian (or other) refugees will be fully funded in Jordan. That is over two million of 10 million inhabitants. It is the main business of Jordan to receive Middle Eastern refugees.

The defunding will cause huge problems in Lebanon and Syria, too.

The money UNWRA needs is not that much, by the standards of European and US economies, but enough to deeply unsettle the Middle East (and create new flows of refugees), Europe would need to step in but I do not notice that our politicians develop any sense of urgency.

I think Israel knows they got a huge problem therefore the cries for European (and Russian) mediation.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 4 2018 11:23 utc | 62

The diference now is that nutty wants to ensure he stays in power in israel despite the 'do-gooder' (in their dreams) puritans wanting to take him down for corruption which extends far beyond the scams pulled by sharon or shamir, even mr military procurement kickback Dyan whose scams were pitiful in comparison to the bibi-adelson land grab rorts.
To stay in power nutty needs regular conflict (which he has) tied into 'wins' for the deluded ignorantly superstitous orthodox dummies. Now that amerika has 'given' them all of jerusalem, the likudniks need something else.
The amerikans don't appear to be over the moon about giving the arseholes the green light to take over golan and anyway that is already an on the ground fact as far as the zionists are concerned but grabbing complete control of 'the temple on the mount' or whatever was the lame name for the sh1tbox shack which the hebrew ruling elite abandoned, when they scarpered & left ordinary jordan valley humans behind. Ordinary humans who eventually became believers in Islam and constructed a truly grand mosque, the only mosque other than Ka’abah, mentioned in the Quran. This mosque, al Aqusa, was constructed on the site of the long abandoned four be two shanty hangout, which the four be two's had knocked up then deserted.
Now the indigenous population are about to get ripped yet again, when bibi uses the purloining of a really holy site to ingratiate himself. with the orthodox drongos.

There is no chance of getting a stunt like that through the UN even with wilfully ignorant amerikan support because even amerika/israeli puppets of saudi arabia won't wear it. Palestine's long suffering under zionism, christian community have united with their indigenous muslim bretheren and demanded that nutty's nonsense cease.

Of course there is no way in the world the 'chosen people' are ever going to accede to the wishes of 'filthy ay-rabs', so they are planning on punishing for what they consider to be Jordan's unwarranted interference.

The fact that Jordan's barely tolerated & heavily suppressed opposition had demanded Jordan properly stand up to the zionist megalomaniacal adventurism over al Aqusa has played like a red rag to a bull. Nutty will "show em whois boss" by staging a provocation via false flag mercs the zionists have been siccing on to all and sundry in Syria, then sending in the IDF to stop terrorists butcher all military age Jordanians.
Jordan's military is capable but the englanders have been deliberately denying Jordan access to latest war tech since the 21st century kicked off.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jun 4 2018 11:27 utc | 63

@63

In Jordan in particular, some of the slack is being taken up by Europe mainly through the German outfit called GIZ and others.

GIZ is deploying hundreds of millions of Euros on the ground in projects that go from Social Cohesion Through Sport all the way to Waster Disposal & Recycling and everything in between.

Due to a recent reciprocity deal, any money spent on refugees in Jordan today must give rise to the equivalent being spend on Jordanians

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 4 2018 11:35 utc | 64

65 It is GTZ and they have been in Jordan for more than 40 years. I did not notice they got any budget rise to counter UNWRA cuts - their goal is very different, they are supposed to transfer technology (and create German business opportunities), UNWRA is about feeding people.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 4 2018 12:27 utc | 65

Latest Trumpian stupidity:

New US ambassador to Germany under fire for rightwing support

The populist forces this ambassador praises are very non-transatlanticist and very pro Putin, anti Russian sanction and pro Nord Stream II pipeline.

If the plan is to hand Europe to Russia: fine.

If the plan is for the US to be competitive - not so good. European technology plus Russian ressources will be hard to beat.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 4 2018 12:31 utc | 66

re Debs

Jordan's military is capable but the englanders have been deliberately denying Jordan access to latest war tech since the 21st century kicked off.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 4 2018 12:39 utc | 67

Zanon so what do you propose? The SAA should start attacking the Russians too since they're just another power trying to partition their country and not really an ally?
I'm sure that would work out great

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Jun 4 2018 13:34 utc | 68

It used to be GTZ it is now GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH;)

Although they have been in Jordan for many years, recently their activities have dramatically expanded. Today GIZ not only implements programs financed by Germany but they also implement EU programs.

There is a whole constellation of old and new NGOs that have made their way to Jordan in the past 5 years and more keep coming every week.

Be that as it may.

I am not so sanguine that nothing has changed for Jordan.

I feel something has changed dramatically. In particular, this new unrelenting aggressiveness on the part of the state towards both corporations and the people is counterproductive and does not bode well.

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 4 2018 13:49 utc | 69

Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 4, 2018 9:49:58 AM | 70

Yep, they merged with the German Development Service in 2011. Germany has not increased involvement in Jordan. The whole answer to US UNWRA budget cuts seems to have been to rush already allocated funds by other countries. Which means they have run out about half year from then which is now.

Germany seems to use most of its development budget for refugees inside Germany.
Which somehow defeats the object. But will have to increase if/when this blows up.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 4 2018 14:21 utc | 70

YetAnotherAnon

Actually it very easy, Russia should stop helping Israel keep its occupation of Syria and stop approving their attacks on Syria. Above all they should stop trying to get Hezbollah/Iran "out" of Syria.

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 4 2018 14:30 utc | 71

That didnt answer the question of what THE SYRIANS (since this is their country and not the Russians) should do.
You are claiming the Russians are a trojan horse, shouldnt it then follow that they should be considered hostile and expelled?

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Jun 4 2018 14:52 utc | 72

YetAnotherAnon

Since Russia is attacking ISIS, Syria is of course happy with their effort. This issue I am talking about is related to the Golan heights and Israel.

Posted by: Zanon | Jun 4 2018 15:08 utc | 73

Any nation (including the sovereign owners Syria) which attempts to push the zionist scum outta golan faces the wrath of amerika unleashed. This is a red line that cannot be crossed yet.
In addition (and it seems we have to repeat this daily for those who live in cloud cuckoo land) if Russia gets into a blue with israel it will find itself in the middle of a heap of internal dissension since the ashkenazi of russia some of whom are big players in the Russian economy and mobs more in government, just about all of them have been indoctrinated into zionist nonsense will kick up no end.

There is absolutely no upside for russia to buy into Golan (it doesn't aid with pipelines), and lots of downside for them remember what a pain in the arse refuseniks were for the old USSR.
Perhaps one of these wise old dropkicks who appear to believe they know more than Sergei Lavrov about Russia's best foreign policy will edumicate us into why/how/what benefit to russia for buying in to such arrant loony toonz nonsense.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jun 4 2018 15:32 utc | 74

The agreement on the Golan Line between Russia and Israel is as follows: Russia will prevent Hezbollah and any Iranian troops from participating in the SAA's retaking of SW Syria, and Israel will not interfere with the SAA.

Although, as usual, the U.S. disagrees with both Russia/Israel...Says "we must keep the pressure on Assad." Looks like a good cop/bad cop routine to me...Russian strategy/tactics are typically several miles deeper than the U.S.

Posted by: kgw | Jun 4 2018 15:32 utc | 75

Guys, non of you got it. Even prominent geopolitical analyst, M.K. Bhadrakumar now supports my position. I told you that sanctions owned Russia and Russia is begging for a meeting with Trump.

Russia censures Iran, expects Israel to help restore ties with US
http://www.atimes.com/article/russia-censures-iran-expects-israel-to-help-restore-ties-with-us/

1. The sanctions owned Russia. Oligarchs staged a soft coup in the Russian government after the elections.

2. Large parts of the russian economy are controlled by jewish oligrarchs. Roman Abramovich just got an Israeli passport, Putin's friend Rotenberg was given the contract to build the Crimea bridge. Everybody who believes that Russia is "anti-zionist" is an idiot and lost his mind. But the Saker is the funniest of all, believing that Russia is fighting zionists lol.

3. Russia started begging for improved relations with the West and a meeting with Trump.

4. Russia decided to use Israel and jews in order to improve relations with neocons (who are very influential in the US) and the US itself. The whole russian pro-israel pivot is caused by that necessity. In other words Russia started sucking up to Israel because it got owned by the sanctions and is looking for better elations with the US and Israel is the way to open doors in the US.

5. Russia cries "please don't hate us, look at how good and useful we are for Israel".

6. Jeiwsh owners of the US think "Maybe this Putin guy isn't a new Hitler at all, maybe he can be very good for Israel".
7. Israeli lobby pushes for improved US relations with Russia.

Posted by: T | Jun 4 2018 15:34 utc | 76

Debsisdead@29 - American translation help for this wonderful phrase, "...to clag up the despicable graun..."

clag up is clear, but graun? Nickname for the Observer or is this something like muck up the works referring to the organization (or readers)?

Posted by: PavewayIV | Jun 4 2018 16:14 utc | 77

@75 debs quote "(and it seems we have to repeat this daily for those who live in cloud cuckoo land)"... apparently, lol..

@77 T.. not everyone thinks you are so bright - but self congratulatory expressions are funny to see either way.. Bhadrakumar's batting average is very mixed..

@ @78 paveway... graun - that offensive rag - the guaurdian..

Posted by: james | Jun 4 2018 16:54 utc | 78

deal or no deal? e j magniers latest from yesterday..

Posted by: james | Jun 4 2018 17:05 utc | 79

James. @80
Good info there thanks on the link.
I'm wondering how the return of the Russian air craft carrier will fit into that picture ?

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 4 2018 17:42 utc | 80

james @ 80: enlightening article, thanks for the link..

Posted by: ben | Jun 4 2018 17:50 utc | 81

To add- will it be a bargaining chip?
Or active? Maybe both mmm

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 4 2018 17:59 utc | 82

JUNE 4, 2018
Sacrificing Gaza: The Great March of Zionist Hypocrisy
by JIM KAVANAGH

Full article from Counterpunch:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/06/04/sacrificing-gaza-the-great-march-of-zionist-hypocrisy/

Posted by: ben | Jun 4 2018 18:06 utc | 83

It looks like we're witnessing an ongoing major friction in Transatlantica, to put it carefully. Nord Stream 2 adds to the other stuff.

https://www.rt.com/business/428651-us-nord-stream-firms-sanctions/

Also it looks like what I have surmised - that Trump's decision to postpone the steel/alu stuff decision from May 1 to June 1 served as a bargaining chip to prevent Nord Stream 2 (in German)

https://de.sputniknews.com/kommentare/20180604321006144-trump-nordstream-sanktionen-strafzoelle/

but was viewed by Merkel as blackmailing...

There were two other recent news, one that Germany would get the THAAD system, the other one was to build up a special NATO group with 30000 soldiers...

Posted by: mk | Jun 4 2018 18:12 utc | 84

You have to wonder what is going to happen to the USA once they can not threaten the entire world. Will international law finally be applied?
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Bakerpete | Jun 4 2018 18:55 utc | 85

Russia and Syria seem to be using Israeli fear of Iran on their border as a bargaining chip to get the US out of Tanf. If the US does not pull out of Tanf, then Syrian militias, foreign militias backed by Iran and I would guess Iranian advisers will take part in retaking the southern borders.
Isreal for its part wants Iran out of Syria completely rather than just a buffer zone of only Syrian regular military but this will not happen.
As well as advisers and and some foreign militias, Iran also formed or helped form the Syrian NDF which I guess is why the Syrian part of any deal on the southern borders is no Syrian militia involvement.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Jun 4 2018 20:04 utc | 86

- There's one other country (besides Turkey) that's about to descend into a financial crisis: Australia. After a credit bubble of about 17 years now the moment has come that australians no longer

https://wolfstreet.com/2018/06/03/housing-bubbles-in-sydney-melbourne-deflate/

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/06/mortgage-rejections-soar-to-40-of-applications-as-lti-capped/

Quote from the last web article: ".... credit is harder to get.... "

Posted by: Willy2 | Jun 4 2018 20:06 utc | 87

@81 mark2... i dunno! more strategy and posturing, but it is hard to know the rationale behind it or if it has anything to do with getting south syria cleared of isis and etc..

@84 ben / 87 peter... one thing we know for sure... israel has no problem murdering innocent people held siege, or located in bordering countries in order to maintain it's sense of insanity...

Posted by: james | Jun 4 2018 20:27 utc | 88

re 78

Graun(iad) is a reference to the Guardian's poor reputation for correct typesetting.

By the way, the peaceful survival of the Hashemite dynasty is an absolute requirement for Israel's security. If nobody else can be found to fund the necessary subsidies for the Jordanian government (they will never ever reach financial equilibrium; it's impossible), then the US will have to pay. There will be a lot of argy-bargy, but they'll pay in the end. Trump just hasn't understood. Trump may want to cut UNWRA, to punish the Palestinians, but there'll be a quick change of tune, once the Israelis tell him there's a serious prospect of revolution in Jordan.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 4 2018 20:33 utc | 89

I wonder what this will lead to?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/turkey-agree-roadmap-remove-ypg-syria-manbij-180604164548598.html

Posted by: Lavrenty | Jun 4 2018 20:51 utc | 90

James. @ 89
Time will tell ! Being an optimist I'd like to think he's showing a bit of sane muscle,as a sobering influence. Around (as you say) insane (and i'l add) bully's.
From my memory of the school yard that was the best plan for all concerned! Of course the fear is the new muscle does not turn into the next bully, most times not, everyone backs down!! We can but hope.
P.s shocking enough that I have to compare global affairs to a playground !!!

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 4 2018 20:56 utc | 91

ksa bombing yemen in the middle of ramadan. who said they follow 'sharia'?

Posted by: mina | Jun 4 2018 21:22 utc | 92

Mina @ 93
I spent a whole day full on catching up with Yemen the other day. Dear god sometimes I dispair ! What has mankind become! It gave nightmares. I truly hate my government for there part in it. The phrase 'we are human too' came to mind. But I believe in karma, one day it will be are turn to cry that phrase!!!

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 4 2018 21:42 utc | 93

re mina

I'm sure there's some let-out in the shari'a which permits those at war not to fast, even though Ramadan is supposed to be a month of peace.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 4 2018 22:01 utc | 94

The move away from the Petrodollar looks to be gathering pace. How will the Hegemon react? What can it do? Sanction everyone until only the Brits, the Israelis, the Aussies and Canada are left with their crappy stock-market vampire economies?

From today’s (Mon) Global Research: Failures of the Petro Dollar? by True Publica:

"Executive director of the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) Caleb Fundanga said at a forum for financial experts earlier in the week had agreed that there was need to use the Chinese yuan as a reserve currency because China was playing an active role in their economies.

The forum was attended by deputy central bank governors and deputy permanent secretaries of finance from 14 countries that fall under MEFMI.

“The general conclusion is that we should use the yuan more because its time has come. We are doing more business (with China) so it’s natural that we use the currency of the country with which we are trading.
“Just the way we have been using the (U.S.) dollar and the Euro, we want to use the Chinese currency more in our transactions because it is to our benefit,” Fundanga said.

Posted by: Lochearn | Jun 4 2018 23:10 utc | 95

Across the “developed world,” wages have been stagnant or declining for decades. 90%+ of all increased wealth since the Great Recession officially began in 2008 have gone to the richest 1%. And this is not just in the richest country the earth has ever seen (where 1/2 of the citizens cannot afford a $500 emergency).

Europe is torn apart by the “refugee crisis” on top of the ruination of the working classes from IMF-imposed “austerity” economics. In the US, we have groups of Trump haters trading blows with groups of Trump supporters - a serious escalation of the already firmly-implanted hatred between various “identity” groups.

Instead of uniting on huge tracts of common ground, most people are digging even deeper into their entrenched partisan identities.

“Divide and Conquer/Rule” has been a successful strategy of Power since the dawn of civilization, and it’s still working just fine. “Tearing us apart.”

And as I have written, and provided supportive links numerous times, all of these disruptions are either deliberately planned or at least, planned for by the 0.01%.

I asked psychohistorian what actions he thought were needed to overthrow the rule of mammon as he calls the near total control by the supra-national financial cabal, and create the equitable economic structure we both desire. He said none whatsoever. He believes it will just topple itself. And I guess rainbows and unicorns will rise in their place “naturally.”

Power NEVER surrenders willingly. Even if/when the house of cards that is our global financial structure collapses, there is no reason to expect that the good people will rise and the psychopathic/sociopathic rulers of today’s world will scurry off to their hidey-holes.

Name the previous empires that have fallen and were replaced by utopian societies.

Those who are prepared to take control over whatever the new order comes will be those who are planning and preparing for it right now. And we all know who that is.

Who benefits from us believing they will fall automatically, and we need do nothing to cause it, or establish the systems to replace it?

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 4 2018 23:40 utc | 96

Petrodollar has plenty of legs left IMO. US is soon to be the top energy exporter. Chinas policy of devaluation makes it less of a safe haven than the USD. Also besides oil/energy purchases, 90% of foreign currency transactions and 80% of international finance transactions are conducted in USD. Not to mention the drug trade whose dollars are funneled through tax havens to the international banksters , and arms deals not to mention food exports. Furthermore, while China may wish to see the RMB be a bigger player on the global stage, their USD investments are substantial enough that they dont wish to threaten the dollar too much. Their economy benefits from the Petrodollar still.

China is a member of the BIS which largely sets the limits of exchange rates for the major players and enforced by the worlds central banks

BIS has China as among the economies most at risk of a banking crisis, according to their early-warning indicators although some progress in derisking has been made of late. Thats enough to scare off many countries from dumping the dollar and rushing to the RMB

People have been claiming the dollar will collapse for decades. The Euro was supposed to kill it, the increasing deficits and debt was supposed to kill it, and now the RMB. It may happen bit such a collapse will only occur by design to the benefit the elites who run such things

So countries having few options or trying to skirt sanctions or secure loans outside the strong arm of the IMF, alternatives to the USD may be desirable, but thats it. Wont hurt the Petrodollar much, but if it anyone becomes a threat to the Petrodollar remember Libya and Iraq. More than one way for these guys to skin a cat.

Posted by: Pft | Jun 4 2018 23:51 utc | 97

Underneath all the pure noise of the concern trolls runs the pure signal from the ground, that Tanf is the bargain the US can agree to for the peace of mind of Israel, if it chooses. In return for this, Iranians and Lebanese will be nowhere in sight in southern Syria as the fully capable Syrian army liberates the south.

And all of this was made possible some time ago when SAA's movements - as reported by b - turned Tanf into an isolated and surrounded cauldron. Sooner or later, it was going to be useful for the US to give it up, since not even staying as a bone in the throat worked much leverage upon Syria.

And see how the allies have made good use of this position. Thanks james @80 for the Magnier link that updates all this - I'm finding it hard to keep up with him lately, he's cranking it out.

~~

Funny how in relative silence one can simply wait for the next real developments to occur. No need at all to despair and bewail Russia's faithfulness to its spoken word or its commitment to its clear geopolitical imperatives. No need at all for the trolls and the faint-hearted to come around and bitch and moan. One could simply wait, and let those who have won the power on the ground show us what the next moves will be - show the US what the next choices lie before it. Show the world how it continues to win. It's an astonishing concept, but the trolls could just fuck off. And the war would continue unchanged, but with less noise.

~~

And I see that Turkey and the US have agreed a road map to throw the Kurds under the bus that they were already lying under by their own choice. Interesting to see that Turkey goes to Washington and instead of being daunted in the presence of the great white chiefs, simply tells the US how it has to be. And the US agrees. Because, friendship. And an intact NATO.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 5 2018 0:02 utc | 98

@ Daniel who writes that I said no actions were needed to end the rule of Mammon.

I only have the example of how I live my life to share with others and trust that my actions meet your criteria for the world you want to live in....I try. And I see myself as an actor in a bigger play, but one I have little if any "control" over.

The leaders of China and Russia are more prominent actors in that bigger play and they are leading their countries to "stand-up-to" the God of Mammon religion. The are acting on my behalf and for others of our species that share the common enemy of Mammon.

I do what I can to support their actions and suggest you do the same.........."Act, but stay apart from action." (Voltaire)

And please attack the system structure and not current individuals or groups you see pulling the levers....thanks!

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 5 2018 0:05 utc | 99

Hoarsewhisperer | @50

I hate to nitpick, but since when has IMF recommended economic “reforms” that place economic burdens on the wealthy, and provide relief to the working classes and poor? ;-)

You know better than this. Haven’t you read “Confessions of an Economic Hitman?” Of course, most MSM coverage is “sympathetic” to IMF’s “suggestions,” but their history should be clear.

"The government's policies are based on recommendations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)…. The measures are the latest in a series of economic reforms since Amman secured a $723-million (€620-million) three-year credit line from the IMF in 2016. “

“Protest organizers have urged the king to cancel the tax plan, saying the poor are being targeted disproportionately. The king has indicated he's willing to make gestures, saying earlier last week that Jordan's citizens cannot be expected to bear the entire burden of economic reform.

“But the government is also under pressure from the IMF to carry out said economic reforms and austerity measures to rein in growing public debt.”

http://www.dw.com/en/jordan-faces-dire-straits-as-anti-austerity-protests-widen/a-44066409

BTW: Please notice that this article blames Jordan’s economic crisis on foreign aid! That is, first Palestinian and now Iraqi and Syrian refugees are a burden that the “First World” provides aid to prevent a full-on humanitarian crisis.

Which Jordanians are protesting these “reforms?” Not the business owners; the workers and unemployed, poor people.

Posted by: Daniel | Jun 5 2018 0:05 utc | 100