this nhs thing is interesting.. why does nhs do it and why does b skip saying anything about it? i am mildly curious..

Posted by: james | Aug 26 2018 19:36 utc | 4

Russia Sends Largest Naval Armada of Syrian War Amidst New Chemical Attack Warnings
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-25/russia-sends-largest-naval-armada-syrian-war-amidst-new-chemical-provocation
“Russia has built up its forces around the Mediterranean Sea in response to reports that the US, France and Great Britain could be preparing to attack Syria…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 26 2018 19:56 utc | 6

Jahbulon @7
Link doesn’t work for me.
I get this response: “Resource Limit Is Reached
The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later.”
That hasn’t happened to me before on a CJ linked article.

Posted by: spudski | Aug 26 2018 20:26 utc | 8

Spudski, Caitlin’s website is being attacked. I’m surprised it ever functions smoothly tbh, with the hounds of hell nip-nipping at it.

Posted by: sejomoje | Aug 26 2018 21:14 utc | 10

sejomoje @ 11
Thank you.

Posted by: spudski | Aug 26 2018 21:27 utc | 12

I concur heartily with Caitlin Johnstone’s plea, but it may already have been overtaken by events. The tsunami of posthumous glurge in response to McCain’s death is astonishing.
Even “Human Rights Watch” has gotten into the act, as I learned from “Jack” posting to Craig Murray’s site”.
See: “John McCain: In Memoriam”. The following is a slightly tweaked version of my reply to Jack:
HRW’s smarmy eulogy is not as surprising as it would’ve been a few months ago. It’s a symptom of the “world turn’d upside-down”– or, to use Trollope’s title, “The Way We Live Now”.
The “soft” progressive-liberal bloc in the US, individuals and organizations alike, have become so pathologically consumed with the conviction that Donald Trump is the Great Orange Satan who must be removed from office forthwith, and by any means necessary, that they hysterically embrace any public figure who opposes (opposed) Trump.
I frequent prog-lib sites in the US, where I live, principally to read and post in the comments threads. The prog-lib moderates are not really of the “left”, a term which has become a semantic placeholder for anyone or anything that doesn’t explicitly identify as right-wing or politically conservative.
But before they were traumatized by, in their view, the abominable Trump usurping the imperial Oval Office Throne, they used to be reliably antiwar, anti-imperialist, anti-military, anti-police state, etc.
Now, the Democratic Party establishment and fellow-traveling organizations have realigned– flipped their lids– to a point in which they reflexively support everything that purports to oppose and undermine Trump. They even regard the nefarious state-security apparatchiks in the FBI and CIA, and the “brutal fixers” in the Department of “Justice” who have been assiduously working to construct a frame-up job, or crucifix upon which to hang Trump, as heroes.
It’s appalling.
The HRW site has an orange header with this message: “Help us to continue to fight human rights abuses. Please give now to support our work.”
I consider their authoritarian-submissive, anodyne tribute to McCain to be a human rights abuse. Physician, heal thyself!

Posted by: Ort | Aug 26 2018 21:30 utc | 14

HRW has always been garbage – and since Ken Roth’s been in charge; unbagged, stinking street garbage. How many times did he “accidentally” post pics of war torn Gaza as “Assad’s”Syria, and “Qadaffi’s” Libya before that? He only grudglingly apologized for the last instance where showed Gaza as “Aleppo”, and only because his twatter was overcome with protest tweets.

Posted by: sejomoje | Aug 26 2018 21:46 utc | 16

McCain is alleged to have received large donations from nathaniel rothschild (London) and Saudi Arabia
He had also been linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska (As was his 1996 running mate Bob Dole and nathaniel rothschild) and his aids working with Manafrot helped Putin take control of Montenegro , which Derispaka then looted
https://www.thenation.com/article/mccains-kremlin-ties/
I suppose McCain may be inline for a posthumous Knighthood.
I dont have the hate some seem to have for him. Lot of others ahead of him. That said I wont be mourning him. Might be a good week to take a break and binge watch Family Affair or some other 50/60’s TV series

Posted by: Pft | Aug 26 2018 21:55 utc | 18

17
Interesting bit from that link
“P.S. The first ever trial of a Holocaust Denier in Russia is taking place now in Perm, the Doctor Zhivago city. Roman Yushkov, a Perm University Professor, had been sacked; his social accounts erased, his YouTube presentations removed; there is practically no publicity at all. He reposted an article expressing doubt of the amount of Jewish dead, and a local resident of Habad Chassid House reported him to authorities. There is no law forbidding H denial in Russia, but there is a law forbidding to cause interethnic wrangle. The verdict is expected on September 4. ”
Putins Rabbi at work there

Posted by: Pft | Aug 26 2018 22:25 utc | 20

18
Related earlier article on MCCain, Davis (of Davis Manafort) and Follieri with Anne Hathaway.
https://www.thenation.com
/article/mccain-follieri-love-boat/
Here’s the photo
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk
/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/CRUISING-WITH-CRIMINALS.jpg

Posted by: fast freddy | Aug 26 2018 22:53 utc | 22

@ karlof1 | 15
The self-proclaimed Social-Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s words praising the late War Criminal John McCain prove she’s not what she declares.
_____________________________
So many bees have accumulated in my bonnet that by now I should be drenched in a perpetually-flowing coating of honey. One of the bees is what I call Progressive-Liberal Electoral Politics 101.
This refers to the tendency of “lesser-evil” moderates to rebut and reject doubts and criticisms of politicians with supposedly knowing, savvy “inside politics” rationales that explain away the criticisms.
It really hit home during Obama’s 2008 campaign, when an intelligent but moderate “progressive” relative, “Joe”, became infatuated with Bonnie Prince Barry; he vainly hoped I’d become enthralled too. Just a couple of examples:
I was outraged (but not surprised) when Obama reneged on his repeated “vows” to oppose draconian FISA legislation that gave carte blanche to government/corporate surveillance, and immunized corporations who’d illegally and illicitly assisted in conducting such surveillance. Joe responded to my outrage by superciliously explaining, “Oh, he had to do that! He can’t just say and do things to keep progressives happy– he has to reassure a fearful and desperate public that he’s ‘tough’ on national security issues!”
Joe also whipped out this “Oh, he had to do that!” justification at the drop of a hat every time Obama did or didn’t do something that seemed to conflict with his progressive “Third Way” image; when nominee and president-elect Obama packed his transition team and cabinet with reactionary Clintonista retreads and Goldman-Sachs banksters, Joe praised this as a shrewd “pragmatic” gambit to “consolidate his support within the party”. There was always some pat prog-lib catechism blurb explaining why “he had to do that”, case closed.
I’ve seen exactly this logic applied to AOC. To True Believers, if she seems equivocal, or even confused, about the nature of (Democratic) socialism– or, as here, expresses anodyne, conformist, safe positions, they will justify this as sensible reticence. AOC has to appeal to the elusive “center”, and charm skeptical voters by not appearing unduly extreme or, God forbid, radical.
As with Obama and others similarly situated, they pretend that once the ostensible Third Way newcomer is accepted and established, they can and will gradually disclose their true political selves, and act accordingly. Regardless of how often this scenario fails to work as hoped, they remain convinced that it’s both unavoidable and prudent.

Posted by: Ort | Aug 27 2018 0:06 utc | 24

“The billionaire class is not fit to rule” a video from Paul Jay of TRNN:
https://therealnews.com/stories/the-billionaire-class-is-not-fit-to-rule-paul-jay

Posted by: ben | Aug 27 2018 1:13 utc | 26

I wouldnt get too excited about AOC comments. She interned with Kennedy who was good friends with McCain. Interesting that both died on the date of the same cancer (Glioblastomas )
Cant go anywhere in politics on the left without bumping into groups funded by soros
One person is not changing anything anyways

Posted by: Pft | Aug 27 2018 1:26 utc | 28

Top Individual Contributors: All Federal Contributions 2018
And this is just the tip of the iceburg..
https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topindivs.php
Koch brothers are listed at @ # 94. That’s a laugh..

Posted by: ben | Aug 27 2018 3:09 utc | 30

Pft (19):
“The average person has an IQ of around 96. It used to be 100. About 40% of people run between 60 and 85. The data from US so perhaps other regions fare better”
I noticed a decline during my schooltime (I live in Europe). I also noticed how effective learning material was replaced by garbage. I once scored a 9,5 (out of 10) for a German test (apologies to b) but I really didn’t understand what the text was about. I just chose the only grammatically correct answers by putting a cross in front of them. Putting crosses is a habit of illiterates, as proven by now.
“Fertility rates in the developed world are have been declining since the 1970’s and are below replacement levels in many areas. Hence the need for immigration Life expectancy in the US is lower than 10 years ago due to declines the past couple of years after being stagnant for almost a decade. UK also experiencing recent declines.”
This ‘problem’ is perhaps the solution to overpopulation. Other nations should follow our good example. As for now I sometimes phrase that the world doesn’t need lions, tigres, sharks, alligators and other predators anymore. We are more successful.

Posted by: Antares | Aug 27 2018 6:39 utc | 32

John McCain’s eternal legacy is the presentation of Sarah Palin als a bona fide US political sex bomb. Remember how many media guys publicly drooled over her to prove their cojones? And then along came Donald Trump… What more does anyone need to say.
P.S. You might be forgiven for thinking he was the only US prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

Posted by: Quentin | Aug 27 2018 8:20 utc | 34

Well if there wasnt any doubt that the western establishment wasnt sick before – there are clear evidence now when a warcriminal and a racist like John McCain get all positive support after his death.
His actions has led to millions of dead people and he himself have probably killed off a few innocents in Vietnam.
Scum!

Posted by: Zanon | Aug 27 2018 8:46 utc | 36

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 26, 2018 5:44:12 PM | 15
She is saying that he was a nice person. I have stopped believing a long time ago that people with the “correct” politics are necessarily nice people though it is not exclusive.
I am prepared to believe that war mongering reactionaries can be nice people though I tend to avoid their company.
It is quite possible that people who turn their agression into politics can be nice privately and vice versa.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 27 2018 9:50 utc | 38

Here is an insightful – but depressing – analysis by Finian Cunningham of why the US loves to be bogged down in Afghanistan:
Why US Imperialism Loves Afghan Quagmire

Posted by: BM | Aug 27 2018 11:34 utc | 40

Pft
Sanders is a joke, apparently he’s not alone in the Dems party.
Ocasio Cortez Faces Backlash For Comment on John McCain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwqTMgrQAgo

Posted by: Zanon | Aug 27 2018 13:08 utc | 42

Pft @19
The simplest answer is the Fluorine in the water. Rots the brain and reduces the sperm count. It is a poison. No need for any other explanation.
(I think that Ireland and the US are the only two places that still put Fluorine in the water – I suspect this was done deliberately, but that would mean naming a suspect and what they would gain by dumbing down the population. I don’t know if Fluorine in toothpaste would have as much effect – but un-fluoridated toothpaste is extremely difficult to find)

Posted by: stonebird | Aug 27 2018 13:53 utc | 44

Posted by: Debsisdead | Aug 27, 2018 6:00:04 AM | 39
All we can ever do is help provide our brothers and sisters with the knowledge, skills and tools to set about making their own decisions independent of any over arching wannabe authority.
Yes, I think so too. For example I’m dedicated, in action and as a writer, to relocalizing food production and distribution on the basis of agroecology and food sovereignty. (Industrial agriculture, besides being physically unsustainable and doomed soon to collapse, equals physical poisoning and social enslavement.)
Posted by: Pft | Aug 27, 2018 8:28:25 AM | 41
Thanks for the clarification. I think these people all want to play along. Otherwise they wouldn’t choose the within-the-system paths they choose. Ironically, it’s the likes of the Sanders and Stein supporters who are most unequivocally supporters of the status quo, albeit as “constructive critics”, a “loyal opposition”. Regular Republican and Democrat voters could in many cases be doing it more out of inertia or conformism, but an AOC fanatic is definitely a true believer in “American democracy”.
As far as what you said about deterioration, I attribute the physical part to environmental poisons from industry.

Posted by: Russ | Aug 27 2018 15:05 utc | 46

Russ
Clear as a bell: Sanders + Obama + Stein, have, together, proven that the system is rigged.
Obama:
was elected as a progressive that would deliver “Change You Can Believe In”. His deceit is now legendary.
Lesson: Candidates approved by establishment Parties will serve the establishment.
Stein:
was handcuffed to a chair to prevent her participation in Presidential debates.
Lesson: “outsiders” that might actually bring real change will not be allowed a chance to gain control.
Sanders:
was presented as the “real deal”, an independent progressive (! get excited !) but he was only a sheepdog for Hillary (as real progressives warned – but who listens to those losers anyway). This “second bite at the apple” for real change (after Obama’s falseness) further proved that the Democratic Party is nothing but false hope.
Lesson: “Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here”.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 27 2018 15:45 utc | 48

Thanks for the many replies and V for providing The Duran article link!
Long ago when I researched the Continental Congress I came across an adage about representative government: Once you elect someone your job’s only begun for now you must watch him like a hawk to ensure he properly promotes your interests. I thought this the perfect description of what the citizen’s job is after elections as the Congressman’s now in charge of the monies you’ve provided the government via taxes. If your money’s spent unwisely, it’s your job to inform your rep that he did wrong and gets one further opportunity to redeem himself; and that if he fails again, it’s your job to vote him out by finding a suitable replacement. In other words, self-governing via the type of representative system within the USA is actually a fulltime job–if–responsible government that serves the interests of the citizenry first is desired. That’s the Civics I taught. The excuse often given that modern life leaves no time for such citizen management’s a bunch of poppycock. The laziness thus implied seems to have spellbound the citizenry during the early 1900s, either before or during WW1 and has only worsened since.
Many here opine that the system must change. As the above indicates, I disagree. Citizen apathy must be arrested and turned on its head into mass citizen activism; otherwise, the system will never work as designed–nor will any other. What I’ve witnessed over my lifetime proves the necessity of what John Kenneth Galbraith espoused in his 1952 book American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power, which updated Madison’s Checks and Balances political theory and predicted where the USA’s polity would end up if the public failed to rise to the occasion and perform its job as active self-governing citizens. Yes, today’s situation is more dire than the early 1950s regarding the balance of power, but the government cannot function without citizens–and therein lies the power vested within the public. But if the public refuses to use its power, then the government will turn them into serfs as its been steadily doing since the institution of neoliberalism under Carter.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 27 2018 15:58 utc | 50

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1LC16T
So what is TRUMPSTER up to?

Posted by: Circe | Aug 27 2018 16:12 utc | 52

Karlofi @ 51
That’s a lovely concise and fresh discription of where we need to be improving democracy.
To add my bit ! We really do need to fix main stream media particuly news out-lets. If the public are deceived into mistaken voting or into apathy deliberately, then wet sunk ! as we are ! Rubbish in rubbish out !!!
Any suggestions re a media fix ?

Posted by: Mark2 | Aug 27 2018 16:34 utc | 54

Barflies may recall that a dynamic conference including the main political entities within Afghanistan had been announced to convene in Moscow beginning 4 September. Unfortunately, the Afghan government after committing to attending wilted under Outlaw US Empire pressure to decline to attend, thus placing a major spanner in the works. Today at EurasiaFurture, Garrie and Korybko provide 3 separate articles about that and other related developments. I began with Garrie’s item asking “Why is Kabul Trying to Sabotage Russia’s Afghan Peace Conference?” Korybko then observes: “While Everyone Was Watching Syria, The US Tried To Stage A False Flag In Afghanistan” and provides the reasons why. Koybko then informs us the conference was “abruptly postponed,” spinning it as a “strategic delay.”
Lots to digest, but don’t ignore the other articles they published today!

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 27 2018 16:45 utc | 56

Stupid me. That was me at 51, and I guess I messed up the tab key when wanting to reply to karlof1 because my personal info has been wiped out. So I entered his name and post number too early, ending up writing it under Name when I thought I was already at “message”. Sorry about that, I wasn’t trying to want to impersonate people…
Still, I’m not saying most people aren’t a bit lazy, procrastinating and have been made stupider by the system and the media, but they shouldn’t get the whole blame, they’re not alone. Most people in the 20th century didn’t have as much free time / otium as the old voting classes had in ancient times. Specially if you take into consideration that the Roman Republic allowed the majority of votes to the top 20% of Roman citizenry (for many matters, it wasn’t a “one man / one vote” system but a tribe/class system, with a few centuries stacked with the numerous lower classes and the higher (equestrian and senatorial) classes controlling most of the centuries. The Athenian voting body wasn’t even 10% of the people – if you include slaves and women. It was as democratic as you could get at the time, but still far from what we now have.
So, basically, I’m looking at ways to improve democracy and what needs to be done. Curtailing the prevalence of current media, TV to begin with, is of course necessary, but we can’t expect everyone to begin to think independently if most people go back home tired, exhausted and upset because of long hours of work – most of these people will want mindless entertainment and not to have deep profound thoughts and debates about the fate of mankind and of the Universe. Not only do we need educated masses, we also need masses that are far less tied to tiring stupidifying work.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Aug 27 2018 17:18 utc | 58

7
USA has been on a Permanent War Economy since I was born at the end of WW2. Every public national campaign of the illegitimate Deep Purple Mil.Gov UniParty Super State metastasizing has been a domestic social war, the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty, as two fine examples of their glioblastomatic spread.
They are at -$5,000B a year now bleedout of the public wealth, -$800B Deficit thanks to No Taxes for the Rich, -$22,000B National Debt and another -$500B interest-only…FOREVER…debt service to the Global Banks. You can’t get any more dead busted hillbilly broke than that!
Sy Hersh says we are at war in 73 countries. There are over 700 foreign military bases and outposts. Yet many times the private economy collapsed under their pogroms, I was always able to find a mercenary contractor job with their War Machine to save myself from pushing a shopping cart of my belongings up and down the avenue.
Was just talking an hour ago with an old street chum of mine how we lived in hobo jungle wikiups made of pallets, alder branches and vizqueen after Viet Nam, and lived in yurts out in the tundra during the horror of Reagan One. Then he left the country looking for work, and I wised up. Got a cubicle at Livermore Labs on Stars Wars. It was like day and night. Now people called me sir! I set my own goals, no expectations, no deadlines. In fact, not one of Reagan’s Star Wars pogroms ever deployed, except Patriot Missile. That’s why they call it The Blue Team. It’s where all your last life savings go to be interred.
Things are turning rapidly to shite, the US retail market is cratering, and energy and food is spiking. Today Trump announced a New Deal with Mexico and an end of NAFTA with Canada. With his 25% Fed VAT trade tax slush fund and his jinking Hard Right on trade to grow that tax pipeline, he has everyone chattering like gibbons about Trump’s many peccadillos, …but America is a Permanent War Economy!
Embrace the New American Century Eternal Now!
Get Blue Team, or die trying!

Posted by: Chipnik | Aug 27 2018 17:20 utc | 60

49
God, love it!
I got 99.9% on my MAT exam, and then could get into any graduate school I want, just because I had a blue-blood New England college education and hung in those circles.
Here’s an example of the MAT ‘intelligence’ (sic) test:
Camembert:Roquefort::Chateaubriand:?
A. Billy Bob’s Smoke House Pork Ribs
B. Schwenkebraten mit Kartoffeln
C. Tagine with rghaif
I mean who the hell but another blue-blood as’hole is going to know the answer, or what the words even mean? They probably have a pornographic exam just like this for prospective Catholic bishops, lol.
That’s not ‘intelligence’! It’s a derelict relic of the English cigar and cognac bankrupt royals club. It’s a screening tool to keep out rif-raf, that’s all it is.
And, I should point out, there is no test prep for MAT vocab or way of thinking in public school. The only test prep we teach there is for passing GED and ASVAB, so you can be inducted into the Permanent War Machine economy.
That itself is a form of societal intelligence. Joining the babbling CALP Ivory Tower consiglieres is no place you wanna be, talking in tongues, groveling for grants.
“Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure. . . but not too many. Not yet, anyway. I guess it hasn’t really hit me yet. It takes things a while to hit me. All I’m doing right now is thinking about going home Wednesday. I’m a moron.”
“Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?”
“Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do.” I thought about it for a minute. “But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess.”
“You will,” old Spencer said. “You will, boy. You will when it’s too late.”
Get Blue Team, or die trying!

Posted by: Chipnik | Aug 27 2018 17:59 utc | 62

Sorry, but the “overworked” and “lack of time” canards given for lack of the public’s political participation is proven false by the 19th Century’s Populists. Plus, there’s the many documented experiences of the early 20th Century’s labor organizers who worked 6-day weeks and were very deeply involved in politics, which is what organizing labor entails as it’s fundamentally political work. There’s a little-known writing genre generated by writers who were also labor organizers whose works were published primarily between the world wars documenting that work which will never be included in any literary canon and have effectively been flushed down the memory hole.
Franklin supposedly said about the type of government formed by the 1787 Constitution: It’s a Republic, if you can keep it. How does one “keep” a government? By holding its leash. What constitutes the leash? Continual, aggressive, collective oversight. The system was clearly set up favoring the “natural aristocracy” as was stated during the debates over ratification as was the only possible solution aside from changing the system–The system was changed by the Bill of Right’s addition. So, whatever happened to the leash?

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 27 2018 19:12 utc | 64

Posted by: james | Aug 27, 2018 12:13:21 PM | 53
“not sure what to do about that..”
I see zero prospect of the Homo domesticus politico-economic class (worldwide) doing anything whatsoever to change, nor of the people changing. The economic civilization, among its many other evils, is designed to kill the human soul.
The Earth itself will have to impose the ecological correction it always does, sooner or later. Economic-humanity will probably contribute with acts of mass psychosis. But there will never be a rational, planned attempt to save civilization. Just look at how, for all the hand-wringing and crocodile-tearing over the climate crisis, the global liberal and STEM class have no answer but to Keep Shopping. In this case for industrial renewables, electric cars, “greener” consumer products, similar fraudulent capitalist deployments. Keep Shopping. And of course driving…
The same goes for all the other ecological and spiritual crises.
What’ll have to happen is what James Lovelock called Gaia’s phase change. Climate chaos and eventually permanent change, along with other ecological revolutions, will carry this out. By now berserk economic-humanity is wielding the weapon of its own destruction, and its homicidal campaign against the Earth has become a kamikaze plunge.
I do have some hope that once the tyrant/parasite is purged, humanity will still exist and be able to return to the ecological ways of living, which by definition are the only human ways of life.

Posted by: Russ | Aug 27 2018 19:40 utc | 66

@66 There is also the question of a large new port that China will be financing.

Posted by: dh | Aug 27 2018 19:51 utc | 68

Looks like another missile strike is coming from FUKUS on Syria, and soon. Watch for that chemical attack:
https://southfront.org/us-brings-more-cruise-missile-carriers-to-middle-east-syrian-air-defense-prepare-to-repel-strikes/

Posted by: m | Aug 27 2018 20:09 utc | 70

Posted by: Zanon | Aug 27, 2018 9:11:27 AM | 43
That was a total BS whitewash link Zanon. A complete BS red herring link to a trash site that used the thousands of negative responses to AOC’s sellout praise for the murderous hater McCain to further polish the turd.
Zanon is a waste of space and AO Cortez is disgusting.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 27 2018 21:10 utc | 72

With regard to regime change in Myanmar:
Poking a stick in the spokes of a closer relationship with China would be useful to the US. Might a weaker central authority also facilitate increased production of illegal goods e.g., opium, meth, jade, etc? Chaos is good for transnational criminal organizations!

Posted by: TheBAG | Aug 27 2018 21:22 utc | 74

“Burning in hell: Russian press sheds few tears for McCain” (AFP)
FWIW, I noticed this story on the aptly-named Yahoo site. The spin on McCain’s death has mostly concentrated on what a Great Amerikan he was, in contrast to the brutish, disrespectful Trump.
This is the only one I’ve seen so far that incorporates the raging Russophobic angle.
I assume that Agence France-Presse (AFP) is as compromised as AP and Reuters.

Posted by: Ort | Aug 27 2018 21:27 utc | 76

Looks like the Myanmar puzzle is coming together. The US Americans whom are sleeping. So called liberals saluting the blood-soaked McCain, they’ve no idea that the US government uses Muslims, funds, trains and equips as proxies and agents provocateurs to bust up countries regularly, habitually. Humanitarian Interventions. They want so much to believe in the goodness of the USA.

Posted by: fast freddy | Aug 27 2018 21:41 utc | 78

@76 A key figure in Myanmar is Sean Turnell, an Australian economic advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi. He seems to be strongly opposed to China’s plans to build a port.

Posted by: dh | Aug 27 2018 23:08 utc | 80

>> I assume that Agence France-Presse (AFP) is as compromised as AP and Reuters.
Years ago on Alternet and RawStory, the stories that induced the most eyerolling and vomiting (by me and other readers) for their superficiality, brevity, and bias usually turned out to be AFP.

Posted by: dumbass | Aug 27 2018 23:14 utc | 82

Pft 18
During McCain’s 2008 campaign, a lot of us noticed the Rothschild fundraiser he attended at their mansion in England. By law there cannot be direct money from the Big Boys but they can throw a big ticker party. Michael Collins Piper has a good article about this called John McCain’s Rothschild Connection.

Posted by: Curtis | Aug 27 2018 23:27 utc | 84

Russ@65
“I do have some hope that once the tyrant/parasite is purged, humanity will still exist and be able to return to the ecological ways of living, which by definition are the only human ways of life.”
Perhaps the tryants/parasites plan is to purge a good chunk of humanity to save Gaia. 40% of humans have an IQ between 60-85 and that percentage is rising. With automation and AI coming on, and a technological economic elite , who may be diverging from the masses in an evolutionary divergence comparable to homosapiens/neanderthals
No neanderthals left today although I imagine some of us homo sapiens will be kept around as slaves for the homo domesticus , or for entertainment
Might want to rethink who is going to be purged
Perhaps going from 6.66 billion to 666 million will ease the resource /environmental crunch. 28 years is a movie that gives a hint on how such a thing might be possible. With fertility rates as low as they are and declining, we aren’t that far off. Over the last 50 years the global fertility rate has halved. Below replacement level in much of the developed world and higher rates in poor nations are offset by lower life expectancy

Posted by: Pft | Aug 28 2018 0:26 utc | 86

james @ 78 said:” selling patriotism, flag waving, honouring the troops and all the rest of it is meant to keep the herd believing in the goodness of the usa.. it is complete bs, but hey – bs is good for the garden, which happens to be the military/financial complex at this point..”
Nailed that one james, that’s why it’s always good to “drink upstream from the herd”..
Reading MoA’s threads is a way to do that.

Posted by: ben | Aug 28 2018 0:45 utc | 88

Vk@49
Not saying IQ is the best indicator of intelligence but a sustained decline surely has significance
Success has as much to do with luck as intelligence, but surely there is a bell curve when it comes to intelligence and while perhaps not perfectly correlated with IQ, IQ must be accepted as a proxy in lieu of any alternative
measure. At the macro level IQ has value even if its value at the individual level is less so, at least for differences under 1-2 standard deviations
I agree with your distaste for pseudo science. The pseudo sciences of today wish us to believe racial differences do not exist, indeed, they deny race in itself exists. The p value fallacy has eliminated science as it existed ibefore the post WWII period. Since then we have had few scientific break throughs, just better engineering of previous scientific discoveries. Now we have the biggest pseudo science of all which is science based on mathematical models with large numbers of free parameters and numerous dubious data adjustments and assumptions that make up economics and climate science

Posted by: Pft | Aug 28 2018 1:08 utc | 90

Syria: Tens of Children Kidnapped for False-Flag Chemical Attack Videos
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970605000898

Posted by: james | Aug 28 2018 1:31 utc | 92

IQ results are totally dependent on the culture of the population being measured. In instances where the test compilers and those tested share the same or similar culture it may have some limited relevance, but only if it is recognised that subjects or ‘marks’ from other cultures will always score lower than they would if they were being tested using terms from their own heritage.
This was partially recognised at the inception of this flawed device by setting the mean scores from an initial sample at IQ 100, then using whatever actual score was equated to an IQ of 100 as the basis for complete testing of a population. Results were scaled up or down accordingly.
Of course there are obvious problems with that technique, not least of all that for a time in the 1960s and 70’s many educators taught to the test. Students heads’ were filled with current basic mathematical concepts and some outright scams such as teaching kids most of the more widespread metaphors in use by that culture. Apart from the dishonesty of such a move it also petrified normal evolution of language – why stretch yer brain devising a new way of saying something when you had so many established expressions available ‘off the rack’? This caused an increase in ‘IQ” even though there had been no corresponding increase in basic cognition.
Of course back in the mid to late 20th century education systems, particularly amerikan education systems were like the population, pretty much monocultural. If african americans scored poorly that was because they were appreciably stupider than whitefellas. Few questioned that nonsense, but amerika became much more culturally diverse yet for some insane and likely racist reason education and the testing which was alleged to measure its efficacy became even more standardised.
The result is there for all to see, a drop in both mean and average IQ scores despite there being no evidence of a concomitant reduction in the population’s cognitive ability.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Aug 28 2018 1:41 utc | 94

@ karlof1 with the latest Michael Hudson link and the policy paper about my favorite topic……making banking a public utility!!!!
It is nice to read about other folks beating my one note Samba. It would be nice to see the intelligence and energies of Daniel/Mark2 behind the Democracy Collaborative proposal……so now that it is not my idea how about if assumed younger than my 70 Daniel and Mark2 tell this old barfly why they are not joining that army…if not, exactly what army are you advocating for?
And for myself…..until and unless I heal further i am only good for textual white noise about the big picture problems…..but I keep trying….146 neurofeedback sessions over 3 years and now with a 3rd provider that is doing what the other two should have done….sigh

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 28 2018 3:25 utc | 96

I suspect the international scientific community has some opinions about what the “trade” antics of Trump will do to the advancement of science…Good Science is the latest example of US/China folks that aren’t out trying to control their fellow humans…..two new vegetable fatty acids called Nebraskanic acid and Wuhanic acid.
It is nice to read that most of the world tries to keep marching our species forward.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 28 2018 3:46 utc | 98

@87 thanks ben! just my usual rant, lol..

Posted by: james | Aug 28 2018 4:34 utc | 100