Good to know you found an ergonomic solution, b. All the better to have more of your insights on the broader world!

Posted by: frb | Nov 11 2018 16:14 utc | 1

thanks b... glad you have found something to alleviate the pain... i hope you go to a doctor and take a closer look at what is going on.. thanks for the articles which are always interesting and informative!

Posted by: james | Nov 11 2018 16:22 utc | 2

good you are better b, be better more

Posted by: Noirette | Nov 11 2018 17:13 utc | 3

Looks like someone in Austria doesnt like the improvedRussia/Austria relations,
SECOND spy case,

Austrian counterintelligence agent suspected of leaking state secrets to Russia - report

More:
http://tass.com/world/1030277

Posted by: Zanon | Nov 11 2018 17:26 utc | 4

Good to hear that you know what was wrong and are now on the mend, b :-)

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 11 2018 17:33 utc | 5

Step by Step

First they came for the nationalists, but I was not a nationalist so I said nothing.

Then they came for the conspiracy theorists, but that is just a wild conspiracy theory.

Then they came for the free speech advocates, but I'm not allowed to talk about that.

Then they came for whoever they did not like. And they did not like me.

Posted by: Willie Wobblestick | Nov 11 2018 18:16 utc | 6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footmouse

they can be effective if you have sustained arm damage from hand mouse operation

Posted by: bob | Nov 11 2018 18:30 utc | 7

If pain persists, kindly consider purchasing a laptop that is "mouse free," with only a touchpad. MUCH easier.

Posted by: zakukommander | Nov 11 2018 18:47 utc | 8

regarding yemen... the way i see it ksa/uae and possibly some other asshole players are allowed to continue for the profit this generates for the usa/uk and etc... some of it must be to ensure that ksa/uae money flows in a particular direction and not in some other direction... the ugliness of the western states, usa-uk and etc, bowing down to the alter of money is fairly clear to see.. the kashoggi case is further proof of it.. nothing comes of it because ksa leadership is responsible and no one wants to bite the hand that feeds it.. that is the state of moral depravity in the political class of the west at this point.. it is much the same with israel murdering innocent people protesting... no one in the west is going to call them out on it because they are all morally depraved or worse..

grieved left an interesting article on the yemen thread which motivated some very good comments from a number of regular posters.. i tend to see jen's comments are closer to the truth on the fellow being interviewed.. i thought BM's comments were good and generally agreed with a lot of what they said.. i share peter aus view on the houthi and don't see them as psychopathic.. ksa/uae leadership -- that is where the psychopaths reside...

who is the invader here?? who is trying to install a regime favourable to it's longer term game plan for the area? who is being invaded? i side with the houthis in all of this.. i am sickened by the western leaders role in all of this.. we lack moral or ethical leadership on a political level and it really shows here..

Posted by: james | Nov 11 2018 18:48 utc | 9

SOUTH FRONT EXPOSES ITS OWN COWARDLY JOURNALISM

South Front criticizes a story reported by Novaya Gazeta that six Russian mercenaries (presumably Wagner employees) were killed by a bomb in Syria (“Syrian War Report – November 6, 2018: “Russian Mercenaries Casualties” Narrative Resurfaces In MSM”):

"........By November 5, this rumor had evolved and reached Russian media. Novaya Gazeta, a Russian opposition media outlet known for a CNN-style look at the conflict in Syria, claimed that 5 Russian PMCs and 6 SAA servicemen were killed in an explosion somewhere in Deir Ezzor province on November 4........Novaya Gazeta claimed that it had received info from its own “source” in Syria, but failed to provide details of the incident, at least location, and any evidence......."

It's the worst kind of smear (tactic) to compare Novaya Gazeta to CNN. Novaya Gazeta is adversarial to the Russian government in the same way that the Intercept and ConsortiumNews are adversarial to the US government - and they have paid a heavy price for their work. Six of their journalists have been killed since 2001 reporting on unpopular topics. Novaya Gazeta has long been a target of the Russian government. According to Meduza, Novaya Gazeta was once again threatened this past week (https://meduza.io/en/news/2... via @meduzaproject):

".......Someone wants to scare the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. On October 18, a basket appeared outside the paper’s newsroom. Inside was a severed goat’s head and a note reading, “To Novaya Gazeta’s chief editor. Greetings to you and Korotkov!” A day earlier, a funeral wreath was delivered to the office, attached to a note that said, “Denis Korotkov is a traitor to the Motherland.”.........Novaya Gazeta says there’s a defamation campaign against Korotkov underway that claims the journalist endangered soldiers’ families by publishing the personal information of Russian pilots currently serving in Syria.......Denis Korotkov is known for his reports about Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria......."

The Russian government is very secretive about the operations of their mercenaries in Syria and elsewhere. Consequently, reporting on Wagner can have serious consequences for journalists. Reportedly, the six Russians allegedly killed in Syria were Russian mercenaries. Interestingly enough, the state-owned journalists at RT and Sputnik have made no mention of the story about the deaths of six Russian mercenaries in Syria (at their websites) - whether the reports are true or not. This most likely reinforces the truth of the report since they closely adhere to the propaganda of the government.

Three Russian journalists were recently murdered in the Central African Republic (CAR). They were reporting on the presence of the Russian mercenaries (Wagner) in Central Africa. Interestingly enough, a journalist investigating their murders was poisoned and flown to Germany (https://meduza.io/en/news/2... via @meduzaproject):

".......The day he suddenly fell ill with symptoms suggesting he was poisoned, Mediazona publisher and Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov was supposed to receive the final report on an investigation into the deaths of three Russian documentary filmmakers in the Central African Republic, two sources told the newspaper Novaya Gazeta........."

Additionally, Maksim Borodin died in a "mysterious" fall from an apartment complex (https://www.telegraph.co.uk... via @telegraphnews):

".........Maksim Borodin, 32, died on Sunday from injuries sustained in a plunge from his five-storey balcony in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city, on April 12. He had reported extensively for the news service Novy Den about the deaths of Russian mercenaries from the secretive Wagner group in US airstrikes in Syria in February......."

Politician and journalist, Boris Nemtsov was murdered in Moscow. He was known for reporting on the Russian military and Russian mercenaries in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine (“Putin. War”).

Based on past acts of intimidation by the Russian government directed at journalists investigating Wagner, the journalists at Novaya Gazeta are obviously risking their lives to report on the Russian mercenaries allegedly bombed in Syria. It’s just as clear that the Russian government will not allow any investigations into the bombing in Syria forcing Russian journalists to depend on other sources. While South Front rightly questions a Syrian source of Novaya Gazeta, it seems unlikely to me that they would risk their lives for a false story. However, the attempt to smear Novaya Gazeta comparing them to CNN sinks the alternate media to its lowest possible depth. And you wonder how PropOrNot got its start!

Posted by: craigsummers | Nov 11 2018 18:50 utc | 10

Glad you are feeling better b. However when you mentioned stiff shoulder + mouse, it reminded me of a similar injury I had a while back. Turns out it was from sitting too low when typing. An adjustable typist chair with armrests allows one to sit higher when facing the computer with arms & shoulders were resting comfortably... pain was gone very quickly afterwards.

Posted by: Blackfish | Nov 11 2018 19:00 utc | 11

Posted by: paid jerk-off | Nov 11, 2018 1:50:08 PM | 12

Transparent bullshit from the worst paid propagandist ever.

"CNN-style look at the conflict in Syria" clearly refers to CNN practices as described here: CNN Normalizes Suicide Bombers and Embeds Reporters with ISIS and Al Qaeda.

To spin SF's comment into some gross affront against CNN and/or some larger criticism of Novaya Gazeta is a WTF? level of stupidity. In fact, SF's criticism is much broader, they write:

Unfortunately, over the past few years, it has become a common approach for major Western and Russian media outlets to spread wild speculations and staged lie hiding behind “anonymous sources”.

Your foolish clients should demand a refund.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 11 2018 19:19 utc | 12

Posted by: craigsummers | Nov 11, 2018 1:50:08 PM | 12

It's the worst kind of smear (tactic) to compare Novaya Gazeta to CNN. Novaya Gazeta is adversarial to the Russian government in the same way that the Intercept [is] adversarial to the US government

In that case I'd say you're still smearing. Yeah, the Intercept is just as adversarial to the government as you'd expect a billionaire like Omidyar to be.

(I'm probably being too ironic there. There's lots of idiots who really believe in the insane notion of Billionaires to the Rescue.)

Posted by: Russ | Nov 11 2018 19:36 utc | 13

"Novaya Gazeta has also published The New York Times International Weekly on Fridays since 2009. This eight-page supplement features a selection of articles from The New York Times translated into Russian. "

tells one all they need to know about who is working for who....

Posted by: james | Nov 11 2018 19:39 utc | 14

@17 russ... ditto that... intercept is as often a shill for the empire as not..

Posted by: james | Nov 11 2018 19:40 utc | 15

Jackrabbit @15

According to your link:

"........As the battle for Aleppo gathers momentum and the encircled terrorist factions respond violently to the strangulation of their supply lines and diminishment of their territory in eastern Aleppo, CNN goes to extraordinary lengths to obfuscate US connections to these terror gangs, romanticise the role of terror in Syria and even more astonishingly “normalise” suicide bombers and promote the re-branded Al Nusra as the new “moderates”........"

It's an even worse smear campaign than I imagined. Any links that show Novaya Gazeta is doing any of the above? If South Front is going to smear the journalists at NG with claims they "romanticise the role of terror", "normalize suicide bombers" and re-brand Al Nusra as the new “moderates”, don't you think they should provide a link?

The goal of South Front is obviously to discredit the NG journalists and their reporting (without any links). Interestingly enough, murdering investigative journalists only increases their credibility - like Boris Nemtsov and Anna Politkovskaya. Murdering Magnitsky only increased his credibility (and led to sanctions). Killing journalists can be counterproductive. Look at Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi. The journalists at Novaya Gazeta are obviously courageous and fearless - and six of their journalists have been killed. Some respect would seem to be warranted unless you believe that the Russian government was justified.

Fortunately, the Assad government was unable to target and murder the CNN journalists - unlike Marie Colvin (Marie Colvin Dedicated Her Extraordinary Life to Describing “What Really Happens in Wars” https://interc.pt/2SK33Nl by @CharlesMGlass).

Thanks.

Posted by: craigsummers | Nov 11 2018 20:01 utc | 16

8
What a Fool Believes

Nobody is gonna be a 'House subpoena machine' in Deep Purple Mil.Gov UniParty, they'll be too busy adding porkfat riders to their $1,000B Omnibus Deficit Bills Thee, Four, Five ... n.

Posted by: Anton Worter | Nov 11 2018 20:12 utc | 17

Posted by: paid jerk-off | Nov 11, 2018 3:01:34 PM | 20

You have no credibility and poor ethics.

You are an embarrassment.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 11 2018 20:16 utc | 18

@20. And the goal of CS is to smear and subterfuge as much as it is economically possible for the malcontented bot to spew forth. Go back to your is usual disinformational corner of the Intercept and leave MOA in piece.

Posted by: Time2wakeupnow | Nov 11 2018 20:17 utc | 19

The Best Way To Honor War Veterans Is To Stop Creating Them

The only way to honor veterans, really, truly honor them, is to help end war and make sure no more lives are put into a position where they are on the giving or receiving end of evil, stupid, meaningless violence. The way to do that is to publicly, loudly and repeatedly make it clear that you do not consent to the global terrorism being perpetrated in your name. These bastards work so hard conducting propaganda to manufacture your consent for endless warmongering because they need that consent. So don’t give it to them.

Your rulers have never feared the Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Iraqis, the terrorists, the Iranians, the Chinese or the Russians. They fear you. They fear the American public suddenly waking up to the evil things that are being done in your name and using your vast numbers to shrug off the existing power structures without firing a shot, as easily as removing a heavy coat on a warm day. If enough of you loudly withdraw your consent for their insatiable warmongering, that fear will be enough to keep them in check.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 11 2018 20:44 utc | 20

14

From that dire 19C Futurology, Gas and Oil blew gold dust over the entire globe just a century later, changing a 12 mile a DAY ox-cart trip toward town into a breezy 15 miles an HOUR, increasing the overall pace of industrialing society by an order of magnitude, or more, increasing sanitation, irrigation, electrification and heavy mechanization from zero to hero, as the Age of Sail and the Epoch of the Donkey Cart disappeared everywhere but the most remote regions of the earth.

And if you call right now, Pope Albertus will take your Carbon Tithe over the phone, then issue a carbon credit to some tinpot palm oil plantation dictator, and sell your kids a $100,000 hybrid donkey cart, lol.

Who needs sanitation and irrigation when you can have billions and billions of 100W-if-you're-lucky-and-the-sun's-out solar panels on every square meter of the city, jet black panels smoking in the sun, raising urban temperatures by 20-degrees or more, and making the electrical infrastructure even more fragile.

B-u-u-t Green Jebeezus said we are saved!

"Ring ring ring ring

"Office of the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan!"

"BRRZZZBRRZZZV..."

"Hold please."

President Reagan, it's the Iranian ambassador!"

"Well hello Mr. Assinabindstani, what can I do for you?"

"BRRZZZBRRZZZV..."

"Well I'll get my staff right on it."

[Intercomm clicks]

"Hey Ollie, the Ayatollah wants more guns! Step on it!"

--

On to Tehran!

Posted by: Anton Worter | Nov 11 2018 20:44 utc | 21

Here's an opportunity for this regular MoA barfly to punt a huge THANK YOU to Bernhard for the work he continues to do despite his recent health problems by hunting down and offering links to articles on Tokugawa-era Japan's use of recycling and in particular the use of night soil generated in its major cities as agricultural fertiliser.

For the major part of the reign of the Tokugawa shoguns (1603 - 1867), Japan was closed off from the outside world. The only contact the country had with foreigners was with Dutch merchants allowed to trade in Nagasaki and Nagasaki only. There were no wars Japan had with any other country during this period or within its own borders and I daresay the period of 200+ years of peace was the longest such period that any government could have bequeathed to a nation.

During this time Japan became one of the most urbanised and literate countries in the world and its capital Edo became one of the world's largest cities. The Tokugawa shoguns' demand that all the major daimyo (aristocratic landowning) families spend a major part of each year living in Edo as hostages stimulated an economy that catered to these families' needs for overnight accommodation as they travelled back and forth between Edo and their own landholdings.

Kayo Tajima, "The Marketing of Urban Human Waste in the Early Modern Edo/Tokyo Metropolitan Area"
https://journals.openedition.org/eue/1039?lang=en

"JAPAN'S SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY IN THE EDO PERIOD (1603-1867)"
https://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id027757.html

And a little bonus ... tracing the history of Japan's obsession with hygiene and sanitation from night soil to the famous gadget-ridden Japanese toilet complete with perfume puffers and music (to cover up that familiar tinkle sound):

Marta E Szczygiel, "From Night Soil to Washlet: The Material Culture of Japanese Toilets"
http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ejcjs/vol16/iss3/szczygiel.html

Posted by: Jen | Nov 11 2018 21:57 utc | 22

@Posted by: Zanon | Nov 11, 2018 12:26:35 PM | 5

Not someone in Austria, but the "tip-off" came from a third part country...
I bet the UK...or the US.....

Posted by: Sasha | Nov 11 2018 22:02 utc | 23

24

You're so smart up there, while we are getting drenched

(cue golf claps). He's clearly not getting wet at all, and the only reason he's there is to avoid being hounded by a sycophant press for meeting with Putin, instead of Macron/Merkel.

Posted by: Anton Worter | Nov 11 2018 22:17 utc | 24

What about The Donald refusing visiting veterans cemetery in outskirts Paris because it was raining...
Pompeo also refused to go....They sent the generals instead...

Posted by: Sasha | Nov 11 2018 22:19 utc | 25

28 - 29

Trump met expectations for remaining in his seat throughout a very long ceremony. He wasn't in the rain but a lot of people were, including troops, some of which had to stand at attention, and some old timers who must have been ready to drop.

Posted by: Bart Hansen | Nov 11 2018 23:54 utc | 26

Putin, rain, and war memorials.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTHV5YAlVCg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjPb4r8ZEj4

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 12 2018 0:19 utc | 27

b,

This site has been very helpful for me:

DIY Joint Pain Relief - Frozen Shoulder

Posted by: ADKC | Nov 12 2018 0:45 utc | 28

31

On Parade

This is how we shall parade.

Leftwards, the Opposition to Apartheid,

Glorious veterans of Halt All Racist Tours.

Three rows. Please. Keep in line.

You are each allowed a piece of fruit.

No coffee, tea or Coke. Otherwise you may have to pee.

Rightwards, the Protest Battalions Against Vietnam.

Please keep with your collective.

Those of you who fellow-travelled with the Reds

Have a special pink-enamel button you can wear.

No. You do not get a second line.

It does not matter what you thought that you would get.

Everyone can have sandwiches. Stop complaining.

Yes. You can eat at any time.

No. No hand-wrought signs and banners.

You have to have the proper printed ones.

Swearing at me doesn’t help. I don’t get paid for this.

Yes. The fruit is an orange.

The Central Committee wants to keep it all symbolic.

The order of the service is on the printed cards.

No yelling is allowed. The lead protestors in the green hats

Will signal when to chant. Remember this is reconciliation day.

No-one will call out pigs when the cops file past.

Likewise the Vietnam Vets. No baby-killers or spitting.

In the centre please the feminists. No. Heroic Gays

Will be at the back. Remember the Central Comm decision

That only the long Aids quilt can be paraded.

Not the square one.

And it cannot be raised above the shoulder height.

Yes. You can wear the condom medals.

Now, women, please remember, you can link arms

But rocking side to side is not allowed;

At least until we picnic in the park.

There are spare oranges if you lose the one you have.

http://www.itsjustwar.com

Posted by: Anton Worter | Nov 12 2018 0:55 utc | 29

@11 james

I made a comment in that thread regarding the article. It's at #60.

Posted by: Grieved | Nov 12 2018 1:22 utc | 30

26

Speaking of 'perfume puffers', went to A Thousand Suns play this weekend by the Afghan-American author of The Kite Runner. The now millionaire expat author from Kabul paints a deleriously topical #METOO meme about the evils of misogyny and multiple wives, within a place setting of Soviet and Taliban oppression, serving up a perfect tepid aushak dish for the perfume-puffing audience of skinny bleary-eyed greybeards and their skinny grey haired wives, mixed with a younger, better-dressed higher-price-seats crowd of Indian expat Amazon and Microsoft techies.

What struck me more than the author's literary success to be gained by ignoring 17 years of USA machine-war social disintegration-reintegration occupation, and demonizing your own native social constructs (see The Outpost another sanitizing propaganda piece), ...was how much Seattle has changed in those 17 years. The once fun night crowds pub crawl and parking lots around the south Lake Union area of Mercer Street have been completely disintegrated-reintegrated into a sterile expanse esplanade and mixed-use office towers, a 'Green Zone' of sorts for the New Money Elites.

I pointed out the LED-lit esplanades and avenues to my kid, too young to remember, and said, 'What do you see?' He looked, then said, 'Nothing.' 'Exactly,' I sighed. There was not a soul in sight. Just glass and concrete. 'This used to be teeming with night life,' I explained (Just like Kabul, I thought to myself.) My kid had already gone back to his i-Me device.

Seattle, like Afghanistan, is now just another Empty Resource Space of the Imperial Storm Troopers.

Posted by: Anton Worter | Nov 12 2018 1:24 utc | 31

Adam Garrie has a nice retrospective on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the savior of Turkey in the early last century:

Remembering Atatürk 80 Years Later

Turkey hands may enjoy it. My friends in Turkey all spoke of him with the reverence one hears today for Putin. He saved the country, they are sure, and so of course am I.

Posted by: Grieved | Nov 12 2018 1:33 utc | 32

craigsummers said: Interestingly enough, murdering investigative journalists only increases their credibility - like Boris Nemtsov and Anna Politkovskaya. Murdering Magnitsky only increased his credibility (and led to sanctions).

The irony is lost on no one. If a foreign intelligence agency (for example)
wants to increase the credibility of one of it's shills,
or a scribbler whose career has already arrived at its high-point;
then having that person murdered would not only give a shot-in-the-arm to the reputation
of some expendable hack, yet also it would provide *emotion* for mass-media-angloUSA-talking-head mouthpieces - and a bloody shirt with which to excoriate Russia. Great value!

To my mind, it were reprehensible to hire somebody to play the part of an independent
journalist, then turn and cynically poison that person or gun-down him/her some night.

This kind of comic-book-thinking should have NO place in a modern world of reason,
of diplomacy and of respect for the rights of others, nor in the ways of sovereign nations.

That black eye-patched witch died with her camera-crew in Homs, well within enemy-lines
That evil-one died in in an underground military facility of one of the mercenary gangs.

They had taken her to the scene of a murderous gas-attack, that had not taken place yet.

That's why she was taken out. To short-circuit the mass-gassing of more Syrian children.

Colvin's in hell. Nobody made her participate in subverting a government not her own,
of pretending to be anything other than a full-blooded collaborator of terrorists
out of the middle ages, cutting off heads and eating their livers. Will demons feed her
a liver dish for dinner? "yummy, yummy" said the dead tummy of spooky living-corpse reporter.

Posted by: Guerrero | Nov 12 2018 1:44 utc | 33

Jr @ 24: Thanks for that link, an excerpt;

"Veterans Day is not a holiday to honor the men and women who have dutifully protected their country. The youngest Americans who arguably defended their nation from a real threat to its shores are in their nineties, and soon there won’t be any of them left. Every single person who has served in the US military since the end of the second World War has protected nothing other than the agendas of global hegemony, resource control and war profiteering. They have not been fighting and dying for freedom and democracy, they have been fighting and dying for imperialism, Raytheon profit margins, and crude oil."

Now that, is pure unadulterated truth!!!

Posted by: ben | Nov 12 2018 2:00 utc | 34

40

Speaking of White Hats and False Flags, inevitably the 'disastrous Climate Change' meme is being slathered on top of the CA wildfires in Thousand Oaks and Chico, as forest, chapparal and grain chaff burn off, 100% natural, 100% renewable burnoffs.

A typical disaster post:

"The funny thing about all the fires is that the amount of C02 released from the fires puts California in a negative with C02 savings. These fires counteract everything CA does for there (sic) "global warming" If they truly cared they would put in policys (sic) that decrease fires, not increase them like it has been (sic) over the last few decades!"

Where is Good Pope Albertus, correcting this fake transmogrification from forest-fires to fossil fuels? He is a Trusted Authority and Climate Expert©. Why isn't he explaining this is just recycling CO2, not burning sequestered fossil fuels?!

He ain't sayin' nuttin' because that's the beauty of 'Climate Chains'. Everything feeds into Gore's Carbon Tithe and Credits Scheme. Forest Fires? Hell yeah, Climate Change! Charcoal Tail-gate Barbecues? Ssssh, keep that on the down-low! Tropical forests burning in SE Asia? Yeah, that's Climate Change! NASCAR Can-Am 500?! Ssssh, keep that on the down-low!

Chairman Gore is directly facilitating 100 CA burns every year with his logging of SE Asia tropical hardwood forests for Carbon Credit corporate palm oil plantations, and the concommitant genocide of 1,000,000s of violently-displaced indigent campesanos.

Ssssh, keep that on the down-low!

Posted by: Anton Worter | Nov 12 2018 2:18 utc | 35

AW @ 42: Your redundancy is getting very old, but, suit yourself.. "yawn"

Posted by: ben | Nov 12 2018 2:42 utc | 36

US building a new force of zombies to take on Russia. Wahabbi zombies have been the US weapon of choice since the late seventies but now nazi-ism is being nurtured in eastern Europe.
https://www.rt.com/news/443697-far-right-independence-march-poland/

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 12 2018 3:03 utc | 37

I have another link to Xinhuanet that I think is significant

China, U.S. highlight cooperation at new round of diplomatic, security dialogue

The meeting covered a broad range of issues including military , trade, sovereignty related issues and the Korean peninsula issue.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 12 2018 3:48 utc | 38

psychohistorian 45
Thanks for putting that up.
I have the feeling something has changed very recently though I have no idea what caused the change. With the palace coup here in oz, the attitude to China seems to have changed.
Oz politicians seem to be obedient to two masters, US and the English monarch. All are five-eyes but the monarch and the yank seem to have a few differences.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 12 2018 4:11 utc | 39

43

Speaking of redundancy: the Buffalo Woman Haridan Returns

46

That's all you Chairman Gore Maoists got. Sad. Must burn your butt being a 3-time loser on the Carbon Tax. Think of all the carbon being spewed by posting your AGW Climate Chains fester on the gigawatt-roasting internet.

Burn, baby, burn!

Posted by: Anton Worter | Nov 12 2018 4:33 utc | 40

I read the link the b provided about Cesspools, Sewage and Social Murder and thank b for providing an outstanding example of how the God of Mammon makes for bad social decisions.

Ones that we are still living with and will continue to until we replace private with public finance.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 12 2018 5:14 utc | 41

to #43

At some point it becomes reasonable to think "paid troll". Exxon and the rest have an awful lot of money, have a long history of paying folks to throw sacks of feces at the fan.

Posted by: Zachary Smith | Nov 12 2018 5:25 utc | 42

But I also changed the mouse I use from a conventional type to a more ergonomic (and expensive) one.

If and when that expensive mouse goes kaput, another Logitech product to investigate is their old "Trackman Trackball" "Marble Mouse" Unlike the earliest trackballs, this one has a laser. It also has some built-in obsolescence in the form of three tiny plastic ball supports which wear out much more quickly than they ought to. With heavy use on my "work" computer, each Trackman lasts less than two years. The upside is that I don't move a single thing except my index finger (the ball) and thumb (button). The internet computer I'm operating now has a cheapo throwaway mouse, but I've adjusted the settings so a tiny move will flick the cursor around the screen with minimal wrist movement. I'm on this machine quite a lot, but I spend more time reading essays and articles than I do "surfing", so the wrist isn't stressed. On that other machine I'm using the cursor a lot!

Again, good luck with the recovery.

Posted by: Zachary Smith | Nov 12 2018 5:40 utc | 43

to #9

Your mention of a "foot" mouse got me to thinking there must be other types. Sure enough, a search turned up a "tongue" mouse.

"Tongue-controlled computer mouse earns Ontario teen a science prize"

That led to even more thinking: I've been using Windows-type computers so long I actually forget learning how to use a mouse. But watching beginners like little kids and older people reminds me how I must have been. Which in turn caused me to realize it would take me about as long as those beginners to switch hands and have a fresh set of muscles and tendons working at the job - if necessary.

Posted by: Zachary Smith | Nov 12 2018 5:57 utc | 44

@50 zac... at this point, that is what it looks like to me..

Posted by: james | Nov 12 2018 7:32 utc | 45

An ergonomic approach is important. Get a properly trained masseur who knows the underlying physical structures. There is a nerve bundle in the shoulder by the neck that is pinched or inflamed. 5 minutes of pressure and intense pain and the condition will be better without medication.

Posted by: Brian Hoyes | Nov 12 2018 8:06 utc | 46

Globally the Climate change industry is worth over 1.5 trilion a year and oil and gas revenues exceed 2 trillion dollars at a much lower profit margin. Not sure why people think the Climate Deceivers dont spend as much as the Climate Deniers. My experience is there are far more paid astroturfers on the internet for the Deceivers. Also, censorship and sponsorships are causing far more alternative media sites to come out in favor of AGW when many of these sites used to ignore the issue. Perhaps the price they need to pay to avoid being shut down

Speaking of corrupt science. Just read Judy Mikovits book Plague, 4 years too late but whatever. The Vaccine Industry despite only 40 billion in global revenues perhaps causes up to 4 trillion in global revenue for its accomplices, thanks to animal viruses and toxins that may be a leading cause of increased alzheimers, cancers, autism/ADD and related disorders, ME/CFS, etc. Scientists like Judy who go up against them meet bad endings. 1/2000 kids used to get polio with most recovering but 1/50 get autism.

Posted by: Pft | Nov 12 2018 8:07 utc | 47

The other is the (adjustable) higher resolution that allows me to use a big screen with very little movement.

Very little movement going across the big screen, though, would mean lower resolution, though, not higher resolution. That is when considered as screen pixels per unit of movement of the mouse. Same number of ticks movement of the mouse to go across larger numbers of pixels on the screen.

Posted by: BM | Nov 12 2018 12:32 utc | 48

b, thanks for your link to Sewage problems in the past. It was interesting reading, some I did know and some I did not know. Sewage is actually not that popular a subject at dinner parties ;)
I have worked in public water and sewage for 20 years before doing teaching. It was a great article and I will use excerpts to shine light.

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Nov 12 2018 12:35 utc | 49

There were no wars Japan had with any other country during this period or within its own borders and I daresay the period of 200+ years of peace was the longest such period that any government could have bequeathed to a nation.
Posted by: Jen | Nov 11, 2018 4:57:36 PM | 26

My impression of the Shogun period (but without knowing in any detail or reliably) is that its brutality and ruthlessness towards its own citizens was pretty exceptional. ISIS comes to mind as the modern equivalent. So if you took one of their citizens OUT of Japan and asked them if Japan was at peace or at war, I suspect they would say it was at war [actually, I really suspect they would say - out of pure fear - that the Shogun was divine and pure peace, but anyway disregard that my meaning is in the impossible hypothetical case where you could remove that fear].

A regime that terrorises its population (and even its elite) cannot be said to be at peace.

Posted by: BM | Nov 12 2018 13:28 utc | 50

The Su-57 is better than the F22 and the crappy F35 ...

"It so turned out and we didn’t choose this specially but if you sum up 22 and 35, you get the figure 57," the Sukhoi chief designer said.

Ha ha, nice one! Says it all!

Posted by: BM | Nov 12 2018 13:45 utc | 51

...
Oz politicians seem to be obedient to two masters, US and the English monarch. All are five-eyes but the monarch and the yank seem to have a few differences.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 11, 2018 11:11:45 PM | 46

Scum-Mo is displaying some very disturbing traits - hardly surprising given that he's a self-styled Christian Zionist.

1. He sees his PM role as telling his constituents what to think which is a rotten substitute for listening to them.
2. The entire leadership of the Liberal Party is so addicted to Spin Tank bullshit that they only ever speak Think-Tank-ese in public.
3. Scum-Mo's official Ter'rist diagnosis of the nutter who slaughtered the owner of Pellegrinis in Melbourne last week is that "insanity is no excuse for ter'rism."
Bibi would be proud.

Scum-Mo will be remembered as the most arrogant, deaf and toxic trouble-maker in Oz's political history.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 12 2018 14:16 utc | 52

#7: He'd be given a medal in Hungary. The west is really going out of their way to give up their lands to the "migrants."

Posted by: morongobill | Nov 12 2018 14:26 utc | 53

@ Posted by: Grieved | Nov 11, 2018 8:33:57 PM | 39

My Turkish friends do not see Mustafa Kemal - Atatürk as a saviour of the country, and they also do not call him "Father of the Turks", but rather they see him as another tool of colonial powers UK and France.

Couple of reasons are:

- He severed Turkey, which was head, from its natural body - Centra Asia and Middle East, and tried to attach it as an appendix to Europe. Are not we witnessing removal of the appendix from Europe these days?

- He severed entire nation from its history and roots by forcing in latin alphabet, in a place of arabic alphabet (not language) in which hundreds of years of Ottoman history had been written in.

- He even changed the dress code ....

Posted by: esx-SA | Nov 12 2018 14:31 utc | 54

Video

During an apology for Canada's past rejection of Jewish refugees, @JustinTrudeau pivoted to condemn BDS, equating it with hate crimes & violence. He used Canada's history of white supremacy to throw Palestinians under the bus (who had nothing to do with this). #cdnpoli #StLouis

Posted by: Zanon | Nov 12 2018 15:52 utc | 55

Good to hear b. spinal compressions even if appearing to be from certain upper or lower body extremities can cause all kinds of havoc. The reclining bed(think bat hanging) and fitness balls are good for elongation and avoidance of pinched nerves and cartilage areas.

Also for excrete management......i enjoyed reading many books from this little library composed of some British physicians and their observing of the east....you could also try many translated works from the physicians or advisors from the courts of numerous dynasties on the web aside from these works..... Enjoy

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library.html

Posted by: jason | Nov 12 2018 17:18 utc | 56

Those who have serious concerns about mass surveillance issues, militarisation and political control would do well to make sure they are not physically on a territory where 5G WiFi is installed: 5G Corporate Grail. Microwave Radiation. Smart cities/dumb people?

The article is essentially about the serious health hazards of 5G, but these pale into insignificance in comparison to the Big Brother hazards. There are plenty of hints in the article as to where 5G is going with respect to the technology of political control, for instance this:

Proponents talk about the facilitation of driverless vehicles and car-to-car “talk,” better Virtual Reality equipment, and, of course, “The Internet of Things” (IoT) – the holy grail of Big Tech that is just vague enough to sound sort of promising. ...

Then there is the 5G proponent who enthused to CBC News (March 19, 2018) about “augmented reality headsets” being replaced by “a pair of normal looking glasses,” which everyone would be wearing in 10 years. Those glasses would “automatically recognize everyone you meet" ...

“Until now mobile broadband networks have been designed to meet the needs of people. But 5G has been created with machines’ needs in mind, offering low-latency, high-efficiency data transfer…. We humans won’t notice the difference [in data transfer speeds], but it will permit machines to achieve near-seamless communication." ...

The main purpose of IoT and the reason it is being pushed is to create ever more surveillance and ever more automation of processing of the surveillance, because the elite are in such a panic now that they are losing control.

What about this Mr Mattis - how would you like a high resolution digital crowd control weapon, pre-installed wall-to-wall in public spaces across the whole of the USA:

Beaulieu refers to the fact that surveillance is becoming big business. “If the data harvested unlawfully from ‘smart’ meters will be worth much more than residential electricity, than what will the unparalleled amount of ‘user data’ harvested by ultra-invasive 5G technology be worth?” Beaulieu also mentions the fact that 5G “emits the same frequencies that are used in crowd control weapons” developed by the Pentagon.

The real purpose of 5G WiFi is clear, and it is not for the benefit of its users.

Posted by: BM | Nov 12 2018 17:38 utc | 57

@54 Pft

Not sure why people think the Climate Deceivers dont spend as much as the Climate Deniers.

Looks like you are at odds with both the "Deceivers" and "Deniers":

Exxon's Own Research Confirmed Fossil Fuels' Role in Global Warming Decades Ago

It was July 1977 when Exxon's leaders received this blunt assessment, well before most of the world had heard of the looming climate crisis.

A year later, Black, a top technical expert in Exxon's Research & Engineering division, took an updated version of his presentation to a broader audience. He warned Exxon scientists and managers that independent researchers estimated a doubling of the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere would increase average global temperatures by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius (4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit), and as much as 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) at the poles. Rainfall might get heavier in some regions, and other places might turn to desert.

Shell Knew Fossil Fuels Created Climate Change Risks Back in 1980s, Internal Documents Show

"With the very long time scales involved, it would be tempting for society to wait until then before doing anything," company researchers wrote in a 1988 report based on studies completed in 1986. "The potential implications for the world are, however, so large that policy options need to be considered much earlier. And the energy industry needs to consider how it should play its part."

And what do the the people that are being affected directly have to say?

NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE-RELATED RISKS AND A CHANGING CLIMATE

DoD recognizes the reality of climate change and the significant risk it poses to U.S. interests globally. The National Security Strategy, issued in February 2015, is clear that climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources such as food and water. These impacts are already occurring, and the scope, scale, and intensity of these impacts are projected to increase over time.

As climate change claims heat up, insurance industry says we need to adapt: Don Pittis

"What we have is evidence that property-related insurance losses from extreme weather are increasing not only in Canada, but also internationally," Thistlethwaite says. "And this aligns with climate change research that suggests that the warmer the atmosphere is, the more extreme weather you're likely to get."

It's a three way apocalyptic race... climate change, peak oil, and nuclear war. Who do you have your money on?

Posted by: Tobin Paz | Nov 12 2018 17:44 utc | 58

Posted by: BM | Nov 12, 2018 12:38:14 PM | 70

While on the topic of the technology of political control, the Publications Department of the EU Parliament published in about 1997 (possibly 1998, or actually I think both - two reports, downloadable from the EU Parliament website) an eye-opening report on the technology of political control, which was a prescient view of what has since developed, such as some of the things revealed by Edward Snowdon. The report compared the then-current technology with the infamous former East German STASI, saying that the possibilities to surveil and control people in Europe in 1998 was what the STASI could only dream of. The same comparison could be made between 1998 and now: what the CIA and NSA can do in 2018 is what the could only dream about in 1998. 5G WiFi is all about the next stage in that same development. An idea for a topic, B?

Posted by: BM | Nov 12 2018 17:53 utc | 59

Hey b
How about getting out. Nice mouce, but really, consider getting some sun on your face. A walk in the forest never hurt anyone. Maybe some fishing, or kayaking. I'm going out on a limb here, but repetitive strain injury is easy to cure.

Posted by: dan | Nov 12 2018 17:53 utc | 60

Shell Knew Fossil Fuels Created Climate Change Risks Back in 1980s, Internal Documents Show
"With the very long time scales involved, it would be tempting for society to wait until then before doing anything," company researchers wrote in a 1988 report based on studies completed in 1986. "The potential implications for the world are, however, so large that policy options need to be considered much earlier. And the energy industry needs to consider how it should play its part."
Posted by: Tobin Paz | Nov 12, 2018 12:44:22 PM | 71

Related, and also about that time (1980's), Siemens was one of the world leaders in developing solar cell technology. On the pretext that the cost of solar cells was too high, Siemens decided to close down their solar research completely, even though the chief technical director of that department argued that in time the costs would come down so much it would be competitive with fossil fuel energy.

Costs did indeed come all the way down - indeed when you take into account environmental costs and decommissioning costs (normally excluded by the corrupt accountants), solar generated electricity is far cheaper than that from fossil fuels or nuclear energy. Even if you include all the real costs that the corrupt accountants hide, solar is competitive with fossil fuels or even cheaper than fossil fuels. Solar panels in China are increadibly cheap - less than US$0.50 per megawatt - and manufactured in gigantic quantities. The capital investment pays off within very few years, but lasts for well over 20 years.

So why did Siemens close down their solar research? Because they were woried about the competition for their ultra-high profit power generation plants - nuclear, coal, and hydroelectric.

Also solar power is democratic power - it works optimally at the local level and can be networked to spread the benefits/share the variation in load. Nuclear/coal/hydroelectric power generation is the opposite - highly centralised, massive investment - and more conducive to political control, less conducive to large scale corruption.

Posted by: BM | Nov 12 2018 18:13 utc | 61

For those interested in Modern Monetary Theory, there is a short article at Naked Capitalism re political framing:

"In recent essays I’ve made reference to a new framing of what is actually happening when the U.S. Treasury issues a bond. It seems to me, this new framing goes to the heart of MMT and might well hold the key to a practical implementation of MMT principles in real world applications. The framing is this:
A U.S. Treasury bond is a certificate of issuance of future dollars. …"

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/11/j-d-alt-treasury-bonds-future-dollars.html

Posted by: spudski | Nov 12 2018 18:13 utc | 62

@ Tobin 71

>> climate change, peak oil, and nuclear war.

Climate change and peak oil might be indirect causes but only nuclear or biological war or "accidents" can wipe out 99% of we humanimals.

So, I'd like to bet on war. Where do I send my wager and, when I win, how do I collect?

...

OT: Climate change taxes or trading might help the empire rob foreigners of their oil, because it changes the dominant narrative in the buyer-seller discussion from:
(a) the seller saying "there's not enough left; now you gotta pay more!" to
(b) the buyer saying "it's not worth extracting your legacy fuel at your asking price, because of all the taxes".

Unfortunately for the empire's serfs, the taxes or tithe will raise prices at the pump. But, the empire's elites get to pay lower prices at the wellhead and pocket the taxes/tithe. What's not to like??

Posted by: dumbass | Nov 12 2018 18:40 utc | 63

Could someone explain Fisk that he must insist to have a page where his articles are listed with a date?
This kind of "googlepicture" collection of titles/pics is making him lose readers. Of course that's part of the general recast of the internet as a dumb collection of icons to click on from a tablet.
https://www.independent.co.uk/author/robert-fisk

Posted by: Mina | Nov 12 2018 19:10 utc | 64

>> Solar panels in China are increadibly cheap
>> ...
>> So ... Siemens ... were woried about the competition
>> for their ultra-high profit power generation plants
>> - nuclear, coal, and hydroelectric ?

This reminds me.

Consider the possibility that the Trump tariffs are related less to the past/present and more to the future. It's a future where the last American non-military industries, housing and infrastructure, are gutted by imported modular homes that feature we-don't-need-no-stinking-grid low-power 12v electronics, charged with solar panels and batteries, and probably better with heating costs, too.

Posted by: dumbass | Nov 12 2018 19:26 utc | 65

BM @ 61

" less than US$0.50 per megawatt -"

A megawatt is 1,000,000 watts. I think you mean per watt.

Oil, nukes, nothing would stand a chance of competing at that price.

Posted by: arby | Nov 12 2018 20:03 utc | 66

I got a Logitech mx vertical too after b, link, I am not looking back it is much more,intuitive to use. I too had strains and aches. I hope they will go away.

Posted by: Den Lille Abe | Nov 12 2018 20:08 utc | 67

severe unmitigated climate change could indeed wipe out a lot of humanity. don't know why some people here fall for the industry propaganda.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 12 2018 21:01 utc | 68

The currently used reference point for the end of the pre-industrial era of 1850 also represents the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA). The LIA represents the coldest phase of the last 10,000 years when mean temperatures deviated strongly negatively from the Holocene average and which therefore are hard to justify as a representative pre-industrial baseline.

There has been significant climate change during the Halocene, and more ahead as we progress toward the inevitability of the next interglacial. Instead of focusing on how to handle inevitable climate change the climate terrorists want you to sacrifice your freedoms and cough up money that will lower your standard if living even more than it has been lowered.

Meanwhile they are also polluting the human genome with animal viruses that promote deevolution. Some scientists proposing addition of lithium to water supplies to alter peoples moods and make them happier (less suicidal). It also makes you dumber

In Eisenhowers famous MIC speech he also says

“... the technological revolution during recent decades ... research has become central ... complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government ... the solitary inventor ... has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields ...

... the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. ... we must ... be alert to the ... danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite .”

Wake up people.

Posted by: Pft | Nov 13 2018 2:22 utc | 69

Speaking of corrupt science. Just read Judy Mikovits book Plague, 4 years too late but whatever. The Vaccine Industry despite only 40 billion in global revenues perhaps causes up to 4 trillion in global revenue for its accomplices, thanks to animal viruses and toxins that may be a leading cause of increased alzheimers, cancers, autism/ADD and related disorders, ME/CFS, etc. Scientists like Judy who go up against them meet bad endings. 1/2000 kids used to get polio with most recovering but 1/50 get autism.

IMO we have an unusually energetic 'activist' here. Not only Denial of climate change, but an anti-vaxxer too. The claim is that vaccines cause 100 times their cost in alzheimers, cancers, autism/ADD and related disorders, ME/CFS, etc.

Back in September this poster made a hot recommendation for a booklet written by a wealthy Australian Denier named Ian Plimer. I'd never heard of the man, so I looked him up and found the usual "stuff" - an ignorant and elderly crank.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/books/ian-plimer-heaven-and-earth/news-story/211cf8e7a30d14ff69e97f5bb3ba5cf1?nk=b9173b06adb695a26dae5f30b3bf5b01-1542085533

I used to be bothered by the door-to-door missionaries until I got firm to the point of rudeness with them. If THEY want to do a human sacrifice with their children because of their warped views of Christianity, then I don't want to be disgusted by the sight of their pious faces at my door.

If the anti-vaxxers could manage to kill or cripple only themselves, I'd give them my blessing. Putting their kids and their neighbor's kids at risk is revolting.

The Deniers, cat's paws of the wealthy psychopaths who currently run the US, are working to destroy the only planet we have. Yes, Elon Musk is trying hard to make Mars an escape hatch for the super rich, but that's not going to do anybody worth less than a hundred million bucks a bit of good - even in the fairly unlikely event the scheme works.

Earlier another poster wrote this:

It's a three way apocalyptic race... climate change, peak oil, and nuclear war. Who do you have your money on?

Climate Change probably won't kill us directly, but the pressures from it are already affecting human affairs. People don't starve quietly if given a choice, and the world is heavily armed. Aggressive war using nukes or bio-weapons is probably our fate. "Peak Oil" simply won't be a factor.

Pilots have a "joke" about this sort of thing:

When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.

We have plenty enough coal and oil to get to the "scene of the crash".

Posted by: Zachary Smith | Nov 13 2018 5:47 utc | 70

@B:

I posted a comment about Turkey's Atatürk yesterday (in reply to Grieved's post at 39) which has disappeared, could you check whether it got stuck in the spam filter?

It was timestamped by the server at the time of posting on 12th November at 08:14 AM (i.e. 14 minutes before my posting at 08:28 AM which is there. Thanks.

Posted by: BM | Nov 13 2018 13:53 utc | 71

james hansen was threatened with loss of his job for speaking out about fossil fuel emissions causing climate change; anybody claiming the government is pressing people to lie about it in the other direction is full of it. the bush administration was not notable for its hostility to oil and coal companies, rather the opposite, but you still had a number of government scientists supporting the science rather than the energy companies.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 13 2018 14:01 utc | 72

Putin/Russia needs to stop sucking up to these morons,

US will squeeze Iran with sanctions ‘until the pips squeak’ – Bolton
https://on.rt.com/9ihb

Posted by: Zanon | Nov 13 2018 17:31 utc | 73

Anyone here know of this organization: Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group? Yet another tool Russia has that the Outlaw US Empire lacks. Note the nations gathered together in Daghestan while also taking note of the mantra Putin again repeats regarding the values it shares and promotes with those nations.

It should also be noted that the ASEAN confab in Singapore is in full swing, which this year's combined with the 13th East Asia Summit, with Putin attending both. Meanwhile, Medvedev is in Italy attending the conference on Libya, where again Russia's Foreign Policy Mantra is intoned:

"'Stability is impossible if the prosperity of some is paid by the sufferings of others, even if they are separated by border walls or barbed wire, or waters of the Mediterranean Sea,' the prime minister affirmed. 'We saw all it through the example of Libyan events,' he added. It means that it is necessary to care about the safety of all participants of the international community, consolidate mutual confidence and follow the principles of the UN Charter and international law, the prime minister added. Medvedev is confident that there are chances to succeed in this area." [My Emphasis]

Trump, after his humiliating appearance in Europe is absent yet stays busy hammering out tweets attacking his humiliation. Last, given Trump's performance, this Alastair Crooke think-piece deserves being digested slowly.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 13 2018 17:48 utc | 74

I'd be remiss not to provide this recap of the one-day meeting in Moscow between the primary parties about Afghanistan, although the Outlaw US Empire refused its invitation to attend. The recap closes as follows:

"As the participants of the 'Moscow format' talks agreed, the Russian-brokered consultations will continue. After all, Russia, the Taliban, and the Afghan government all face a common enemy — the Islamic State."

Unmentioned is what nation formed and abets that common enemy.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 13 2018 17:59 utc | 75

@75 karlof1... thanks for the alastair crooke article... trumps twitter missiles, lol.. that is a good way to describe them.. i enjoyed the article and thought the idea of creating a boogie man in the muslim brotherhood to create leverage over turkey.. why don't they go after the real source of al qaeda / isis - wahabbism? the reason - it would be going after ksa and uae, so they are unable to do that.. the usa is long oil and money, and short ethics and morality...

Posted by: james | Nov 13 2018 18:14 utc | 76

The real Turk government attitude toward journalists who publish truths.

james @77--

An excellent question: What/where's "the real source of al Qaeda/isis"? It's not that pseudo-Islamic philosophy; rather, it's the Outlaw US Empire's imperialist doctrine that incorporates the use of Death Squads which have grown to Death Armies. Look at the philosophy employed to justify Gestapo and SS Death's Head brigades and tactics--oh, but where did those come from? How about the Colonization of Africa and the Americas and the enslavement of their peoples and the Pontifical justification for both. And prior to that we have the justifications used by Christendom for The Crusades and their utter barbarism. And the basis for all that was Roman Imperialism and its methods.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 13 2018 18:47 utc | 77

@78 karlof1... i think most folks know the usa approach to the middle east has been to divide and conquer.. the usa's support for ksa/uae in particular highlight an acceptance of the wahabbi death cult and it's adherents - isis and al qaeda.. this fact is not lost on anyone who is following world events with any kind of open mind.. the neo con kool-aid can only fool so many, and unfortunately, it is not fooling many at this point.. people can connect the dots..

regarding the twitter link - yes, i saw that at the time it happened via sana news.. of course turkey is a lot more open then ksa, or uae.. this kind of info never gets out from the closed culture of these shiek fiefdoms... and yes - the usa and uk always turn a blind eye to it, so as to not prevent the oil money from following their way.. that is the sad truth..

Posted by: james | Nov 13 2018 22:26 utc | 78

karlof1
Thanks for linking the Crooke article. I think a lot more of this type analysis needs to be done on Trump. Trump's MAGA and Kissinger's American importance in the world. Crooke goes back to the early post WWII era. Also Trump's 'swamp'. Who is the swamp in Trump's eyes.

I think this interview of Trump when with Kissinger in the White house gives the era when the US was 'great and important' in Trump and Kissinger's veiw. It also gives what Trump considers to be the swamp.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-meeting-dr-henry-kissinger/
"We were on the wrong path before. All you have to do is take a look. If you look over the last 25 years through numerous administrations, we were on a path to a very big problem — a problem like this world has never seen."

25 years make it 1992 that Trump and Kissinger thought US to be great and important. The Soviet Union had just collapsed and US was sole superpower. The swamp is those that frittered away that power.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 13 2018 23:46 utc | 79

PeacefulProsperity
That was an interesting take by Meyssan on the US factions and the link between Trump and Nixon.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 14 2018 1:21 utc | 80

pp and peter au... where is jackrabbit when you need him?? they both belong to the 24/7 war party.. anyone who believes different is fooling themselves as i see it.. that was a bunch of historical fluff from meyssan and completely irrelevant..

Posted by: james | Nov 14 2018 1:27 utc | 81

@ james, I have no idea if Meyssan's take on the two factions is correct or if they still exist. I have not looked into them. Virtually all factions in the US believe in US exceptionalism and are willing to go to war for it.
Meyssan's take on the faction behind Trump wanting hegemony rather than globalism I think is incorrect. I would go with Crooke in Mafia style 'business' as Trumps outlook.
In Nixon's time, US was at a somewhat similar stage as it is now. The gold standard had run its course - what was to replace it. I believe Kissinger was the architect of the petro dollar. Nixon took the US off the gold standard long before the petrodollar strategy was completed. Now the petro dollar has run its course and Kissinger is again in the picture.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 14 2018 1:55 utc | 82

@ peter... it is interesting kissingers role in the world and his popping up more recently.. i am not sure what to make of that.. i continue to believe he was partly responsible for the war in vietnam and don't believe he or any other american has been held accountable for their warmongering.. i guess times change and it was a long time ago, but a part of me has a hard time respecting or trusting him - in fact my position is the opposite.. i think the petro dollar and us off the gold standard are very close in terms of the timing.. off gold standard - 1971... petro dollar 1973/1974 area...

i do believe that using swift as a tool of usa foreign policy is a mistake for the usa... weaponizing an international system of banking seems possible though as swift went along with it in 2012.. they are talking of setting up an alternative system which doesn't include the usa and which the usa can't snoop on, but they have yet to do so.. it is amazing how easily people can be persuaded by the bully usa.. the world is changing fast.. i am not sure how it is going to look in a few years, but i do believe the usa is not going to come out of this in a positive way..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Worldwide_Interbank_Financial_Telecommunication

Posted by: james | Nov 14 2018 2:18 utc | 83

@ peter.. here is an article which agrees with your speculation..

The petrodollar system was set up by Kissinger in circa 1975 to drive up the demand for U.S. dollars.

http://www.investmentwatchblog.com/the-petrodollar-system-and-the-petrodollar-wars-explained/

Posted by: james | Nov 14 2018 2:23 utc | 84

pp, james, & Peter AU1

I don't follow Meyssan precisely because of articles like this one. The treatment here is rather superficial but the historical references give it the appearance of something deeper. Furthermore, those historical references are given far too much weight.

There have been numerous studies of American culture but none that I know of find Puritan vs other Christian orders to be of much relevance to American society today. It's notable, for example, that Meyssan's broad brush allows him to ignore the widely-recognized political power of America's Jewish community.

Meyssan's Hegemon vs "Imperialist" conjecture is also suspect. Given that Trump has not remained true to his MAGA rhetoric, Meyssan offers a distinction without a difference. Meyssan conveniently fails to notice that the two President's that came before Trump also failed to live up to their FP rhetoric: George Bush argued for a "humble" foreign policy and criticized "nation-building" while Obama, who campaigned against Bush's militarism, expanded covert ops and regime-change ops while pretending that he had peaceful intent via initiatives like a "new beginning" with the Arab world and a "reset" with Russia.

References to Nixon, Andrew Jackson, and the American civil war need to be fleshed out and put into perspective. IMO, once that is done, it becomes apparent that the connections are vague, tangential, and serve a disingenuous narrative. Nixon is the poster child for US authoritarianism. Andrew Jackson is the poster child for US populism. Romanticizing these dubious connections is more about the MAGA narative and less about Trump himself. Pundits put the cart before the horse when they fail to recognize that MAGA is a POLICY RESPONSE to the challenge from Russia and China, not a Trump invention. (Propagandists do such cart-horse slight-of-hand deliberately.)

For example, Trump faced an environment that is very different, and much more difficult than, what Nixon-Kissinger faced. The Nixon-Kissinger's success with China was easily achieved by playing upon China's distrust of Russia while Trump faces a well-established China-Russian alliance that was forged from distrust of USA.

Nixon's currency moves were driven by crisis. They are nothing like what Trump faces with the dollar.

Crisis 1
Nixon took USA off the gold standard in 1971 because US deficits made the gold standard unsustainable. As the largest economy in the world at the time (by far), the US dollar was already the most important currency, and would continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Crisis 2
US hydrocarbon production peaked in the early 1970's. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 further highlighted US energy insecurity. US desire to secure foreign oil resources and to neutralize the "oil weapon" was aided by Saudi disdain for communist ideology.

What Trump faces
Nixon's ability to deal with crises was eased by US power and credibility of the time. Essentially, Nixon had the wind at his back. Trump must manage relative decline while facing headwinds of distrust generated by Bush's abuse of power, Obama's deceit, the 2008 GFC, neocon stubborn pursuit of hegemonic power, and US close alliance with ruthlessly undemocratic countries.

MAGA is a bi-partisan POLICY CHOICE to move toward more overt authoritarianism to contain discontent and meet the challenge from Russia and China. What appears to be divisive turmoil in the US only helps to usher in this overt authoritarianism. As left agitators rally around radical agendas like "open borders", bathrooms, and toppling statues, the more accepting Americans are of an authoritarian strongman like Trump/Nixon.

The Cold War is back, but it is not like it was when Nixon was President. Today's Cold War is an unnecessary "war of choice" that provides fear-mongering propaganda to forestall discontent about trillions of dollars wasted and extreme inequality that drives the need for a police state.

US is again a leader in hydrocarbon production and is once again a net exporter. US doesn't have the same energy insecurity that it did when Nixon was President.

While the petrodollar made the US dollar the global reserve currency, that strength of that support has been declining for some time as:

1) alternative currencies have become more viable (Euro, Renminbi, SDRs, Turkey traded Gold for Iranian oil for years);

2) the energy component of Global GDP has declined due to energy efficiency and the great increase in value of services;

3) other energy sources are now commercially viable and gaining ground (solar, nuclear);

4) cryptocurrencies allow for a non-State store of value.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 14 2018 7:44 utc | 85

james

Treasury Secretary William Simon made the deal with the Saudis, not Kissinger.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 14 2018 7:50 utc | 86

@B

Can you please write an article about the rise of the neo-nazis and their deep connections with high level politicians and their broad support in the security services - all over Europe, but especially in Germany.

The NPD had long-standing strong links with the Verfassungsschutz, there were massive quantities of records destroyed to impede investigations ... etc. More recently there were the violent disturbances in Chemnitz, and in parallel there have been more and more indications of terrorist false flag plots coming from within the Bundeswehr, linked to right wing extremism. Now there are allegations of violent plots to overthrow government.

The situation is extremely perplexing. Are we on the way to the rebirth of nazism as a dominating power, and the reenactment of the late 1930's? What are the links between the right-wing so-called "populism" of AfD etc rising all the way across Europe, and these clandistine terror networks and networks of influence reaching deep into the military, police and the national security structures? What is the role of Steve Bannon and his "populism" activities in Europe - is this really a new development or is it growing out of something much older and pre-existing?

Right-wing populism is an inherant contradiction, in my view. It is unnatural, it should not be able to generate momentum on its own. My suspicion is that it is specifically managed by the elite as a tool to take the energy out of (naturally left-inclined) popular discontent and re-channel it in a movement under right-wing control. Immigration and terrorism are just vehicles to enable that re-channelling.

Not a very good article, but for what it is worth (eg links) here is an article from Strategic Culture with some relevance.

Posted by: BM | Nov 14 2018 14:30 utc | 87

Another thing

Meyssan writes that Trump:

... represented a political current which had been absent from the US landscape since the resignation of Richard Nixon – the Jacksonians.

Furthermore, I don't know how any "analyst" can uncritically discuss Trumps winning the Presidential election. Instead of gratuitiously noting that Trump prevailed over 17 Republicans and Hillary Clinton, a real analyst would question why Trump was the only populist on the right and note how strange it was that Hillary faced a friend of many years in her contest for the Democratic nomination (Sanders) and then again in the Presidential election (Trump). That would then lead to further questions like: Why did she spurn the Sanders progressives by bringing Debra Wasserman Shultz into her race and selecting Tim Kaine as her running mate and why did she refuse to campaign in the 3 crucial states that would decide the election?

Well, it is clear that "respected analysts" don't peer into places that might be embarrassing to the establishment. But real analysts are unafraid to bring inconvenient facts to the fore. Caitlin Johnstone provides a relevant example in her post "We Are Being Played":

Did you know that Donald Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame? He was inducted in 2013, and he’s been enthusiastically involved in pro wrestling for many years, both as a fan and as a performer. He’s made more of a study on how to draw a crowd in to the theatrics of a choreographed fight scene than anyone this side of the McMahon family (a member of whom happens to be part of the Trump administration currently).

. . .

The more I study US politics, the less useful I find it to think of it in political terms. The two-headed one party system exists to give Americans the illusion of choice while advancing the agendas of the plutocratic class which owns and operates both parties, yes, but even more importantly it’s a mechanism of narrative control. If you can separate the masses into two groups based on extremely broad ideological characteristics, you can then funnel streamlined “us vs them” narratives into each of the two stables, with the white hats and black hats reversed in each case. Now you’ve got Republicans cheering for the president and Democrats cheering for the CIA, for the FBI, ... Everyone’s cheering for one aspect of the US power establishment or another.

. . .

Would a billionaire WWE Hall of Famer and United States President understand the theater of staged conflict for the advancement of plutocratic interests, and willingly participate in it? I’m going to say probably.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 14 2018 14:55 utc | 88

Speaking of White Hats and False Flags A. Worter @ 35

I bang off flash recalled, lodge it in the trivia footnote dpt. ---

Euan Blair (son of) runs a humanit. ‘biz’ called

WhiteHat

https://whitehat.org.uk/about

You couldn't make it up if you tried!

Yeah Ross Perot, Jack, I mentioned him often (not since 3-4 years) but nobody wants to hear.

Posted by: Noirette | Nov 14 2018 17:12 utc | 89

Peter AU 1 @80--

Here's another assessment somewhat akin to Crooke's, yet terser. But are Macron and Merkel the only two favoring an EU Army that causes the demise of NATO?

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 14 2018 18:28 utc | 90

I need to take a day off to keep up with many brilliant comments and links to follow. Thanks to all!

Posted by: Guerrero | Nov 14 2018 18:39 utc | 91

karlof1 92

Thanks. I believe that Trumps positions that have remained constant throughout the election campaign and through his presidency, plus the actions he has personally initiated all need to be taken into account to see Trump's intentions. There are a number of short lived things that are no more than red herrings for the media or short term domestic coverings that can be ignored, but the constant positions and actions on foreign policy must all be accounted for.
Patrick Armstrong, like Hoarsewhisper thinks Trumps agenda is to take the neocons down, pull US out of foreign entanglements and become part of the multi-polar world. But that does not take into account Trumps position and actions against Iran, more recently the 2018 nuclear posture review, building up or attempting to build up the US military, and now pulling out of the intermediate missile treaty.
Armstrong had an article at SST perhaps a year back on this and I questioned armstrong on Trumps rhetoric towards Iran and he replied that yes that worried him two. At that time, Trump had not initiated any actions against Iran and it was before the nuclear posture reveiw and Trump pulling out of the missile treaty.
The other thing that I believe must be accounted for along with constant positions and actions in any analysis of Trump, is Kissinger.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 14 2018 18:58 utc | 92

Peter AU 1

This is an effective, point-by-point rundown of Trump's broken promises including domestically and foreign policy matters. It is from Robert Reich who is a progressive Academic that has been critical of the Democratic Party. While I would take issue with a few points, overall, it is very fair.

Is Trump a faux populist like Obama? Decide for yourself!

Robert Reich: Trump's 30 Biggest Broken Promises
See the video for explanations of each point.

1. Rich will pay more in taxes

2. Average family will see a "$4,000 pay raise" due to tax cuts

3. Close loopholes used by rich - especially Wall Streets 'carried interest'

4. End North Korean nuclear program

5. Replace Obamacare with something "beautiful"

6. Will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid

7. Protect anyone with pre-existing medical conditions

8. Build a Wall

9. Invest $1 trillion in infrastructure

10. Drain the swamp

11. Reinstitute 5-yr ban on lobbying by individuals leaving government

12. Whip the White House into shape

13. Bring down drug prices by "negotiating like crazy" with drug companies

14. Stop foreign lobbyists from raising money for US elections

15. Provide 6-weeks paid maternity leave to women whose employers don't provide it

16. Tax-free savings accounts for care of

17. Label China a "currency manipulator"

18. Won't bomb Syria

19. Negotiate a "better deal" on the environment (after not participating in Paris Accords)

20. Sue the women who accused him of sexual misconduct

21. Not take many vacations ("if I take them at all") - criticized Obama's frequent time off

22. Push colleges to cut the skyrocketing cost of tuition

23. Force companies to keep jobs in America

24. End DACA (citizenship for children born in America of undocumented immigrants)

25. Revive coal industry and bring back jobs

26. Protect steel jobs

27. Make America safer (gun safety)

28. Make college more affordable

29. Eliminate Federal Deficit

30. Release his taxes

Missing items:

31. Let Russia take care of ISIS

32. Prosecute Hillary

=
Also Note: The trade war with China is NOT about saving US jobs. It is a matter of:

1) Foreign/Military affairs: China & Russia are challenging USA hegemony

2) Access to Chinese market by US companies

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 14 2018 20:40 utc | 93

Promises Trump kept (and who benefited)

1. Didn't sign TPP

Leading to the question: were they ever planning to sign TPP or was that just to develop an anti-China trading bloc?

Democratic support for TPP meant that they had no basis to object to Republicans desire to eliminate business regulations (consumer and environmental protections)

2. Eliminated some regulations (Wall St. and polluters)

3. Moved US Embassy to Jerusalem (Israel)

4. Terminated Iran deal (Israel, MIC)

5. Trade: Renegotiated NAFTA / Trade War with China (Business interests)

6. Business tax cut (Business interests)

Trump believes in the discredited supply-side economics where economic benefits given to the wealthy and business interests 'trickle down' to ordinary people, mostly in the form of jobs. He conflates the strength of business interests with the strength of America and patriotism. Typical corporate fascism.

The trade actions are a mixed bag - China trade frictions are largely due to China's across-the-board strategic challenge. Also, US companies want access to the Chinese market. The trade war with China is not really about US jobs (despite Trump's rhetoric).

Trade negotiation with Mexico is about replacing China and what seems to be a renewed effort to secure 'America's backyard' (Central and South America) and reduce immigration. Some manufacturing jobs may come back but others will continue to leak to Mexico.

<> <> <> <> <> <> <>

The self-styled 'great negotiator' tried and failed to:

- repeal Obamacare - now says will "let Obamacare fail", essentially ending the effort

- eliminate DACA - fought to a standstill

- build a wall on US-Mexican border - got some test walls / Mexico won't pay

- get allies to pay more for defense (mixed results)

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 14 2018 21:45 utc | 94

In the US, any political perspective, no matter how well informed, is judged by how well it conforms to the prevailing narratives pushed by the Parties and their media arms.

Generally, if you start a conversation saying something positive about Trump or his administration, you are immediately judged to be pro-Trump. If you start with criticism of Trump or his Administration, you are judge to be anti-Trump.

This is mental illness. You can't have your own opinion. It must CONFORM to media narratives. Why bother thinking, when the pundits will do it for you?

In this way, any nuanced view is meaningless and is immediately memory-holed by media or individuals. The only source of truth for these zombies is their preferred media, which delivers the tailored messaging that they crave.

I've asked people to consider if both sides are wrong, if there might be some collusion among the political millionaires that serve the interests of billionaires. A few days or weeks later, they have completely forgotten as they blather on about the political outrage du jour.

Political sports is our new spectator sport. The show is free 'cause corporations pay for it!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 14 2018 23:12 utc | 95

@ jackrabbit... thanks for your various posts and the one on the engineer for the petro dollar transition.. it seems that kissinger was front and centre in all that regardless of his role in comparison to simons.. i agree with your take on meyysan..

@94 peter au... that view on trump just doesn't jive with what he has pushed towards iran.. it is more top quality warmonger feed and he has all the minions feeding into it too.. if he was going to be any different, we would have seen something by now.. he is a nothing burger.. the usa continues in the same ditch it has been stuck in for a long time.. pat lang, hw and armstrong may wish it different, but trump is a no show when it comes to changing tracks...

thanks everyone for the commentary..

Posted by: james | Nov 14 2018 23:50 utc | 96

Just read b's latest piece on Nutty. Comment section looks like a carnaval, complete with jesters, trolls and people throwing there hats in the air.
With Erdo working on MBS, UAE calling a truce with the houthi's and opening an embassy in Damascus and now Nutty's problems, its time to sit back and wait for the fog of war and dust to settle to see who has a seat at the chessboard. I am hoping all this is punching a big hole in Trump and Kissinger's plans.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 15 2018 4:49 utc | 97

@99 peter au... ditto...

Posted by: james | Nov 15 2018 5:54 utc | 98

I am copying a line from a Reuters story but refuse to provide the link
"
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told leaders of Southeast Asian nations on Thursday that there is no place for “empire and aggression” in the Indo-Pacific region, a comment that may be widely interpreted as a reference to China’s rise.
"

I guess when you are doing God's work like Pence, blatant hypocrisy comes easily. I suspect the audience was polite and did not laugh him off the stage.

I shudder when I consider how much of Trump still being alive at this point in his term can be contributed to the alternative of Pence as president.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 15 2018 5:59 utc | 99

psychohistorian

Yep. read it not long ago. The piece gives the parts of Pence's speech then goes on to detail US aggression in the region though not putting it as such.

Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 15 2018 6:13 utc | 100