Open Thread 2019-20
I've got nothing ...
Posted by b on April 10, 2019 at 16:07 UTC | Permalink
next page ».. then you've got nothing to lose (apologies to B. Dylan)
Posted by: Trisha Driscoll | Apr 10 2019 16:21 utc | 3
The coup happened in earnest on 9/11 and the people who started the Russia probe were just doing what they do: sow division and strife within the domestic population to allow them to continue operating in an unfettered manner in service to their master, Zionism.
Posted by: SlapHappy | Apr 10 2019 16:29 utc | 4
Republicans wanting retribution for an investigation led by a Republican?
Sounds more like a purge to me...
Posted by: ralphieboy | Apr 10 2019 16:32 utc | 5
Interesting story about the illicit trade in exotic species: Seizure of 14 Tons of Pangolin Scales in Singapore Sets a Dismal Record.
Until I read it I had no idea that a pangolin is a scaly anteater that is the most frequently illegally trafficked mammal in the world. Pangolin meat is a luxury item in Vietnam. The Chinese consider drinking a potion made from its scales a cure-all.
Posted by: Mike Maloney | Apr 10 2019 16:53 utc | 6
Demise of the W system.
MAGA
Nationalize the banks and all financial services from fancy hedge funds to scuzzy pay-day loaners. Force, insofar as poss, repatriation of ‘abroad’ capital. Put capital controls in place. (—> ..unemployment !)
Pass to a flat tax (Federal) of say 13% and make sure absolutely everyone pays it, including Corps at 15% or so? (Corp. tax in the US is absurd, hard to discuss as it always is in some kind of fin. landscape) .. Prison if need be. (> unemployment.) Let States be more free (other topic) Big fortunes/profits are basically confiscated to the tune of 70-90 % in the transition phase.
Break up Big Corps, particularly GAFAMs (Google, Apple, Facebk, Amazon, Microsft) into smaller pieces, with the ‘rationale’ (it might fly ...), Competition has to be encouraged, we can’t have Monopolies!
Dismantle the ‘foreign’ military control (bases, etc. etc.) by 50% (again might fly.) Audit the Pentagon, cut, cut, all the graft and scams have to go. (Unemployment again) Quality controls of an independent type (one can dream) must be instored (see b’s post)…Repatriate the personnel (> unemployment)
Social etc. Set up a 2 tier health system. Tier 1 is basic, good, even excellent health care, nationalised (with some room for State characteristics), Tier 2 can be allowed to subsist, private clinics, private insurance (again, this might fly.) This means that 90% of private insurance has to go, the cos. must be terminated.
Dismantle Big Agri in favor of smaller, more ‘lucrative’ for their owners / managers, farms. So, all present subisdies to farms are cut, abolished, and — ppl have to pay more for their food! (then what.. etc.)
My suggestions are perhaps not that great (badly tailored? too piece-meal, not adjusted to collapse?) but this is the kind of thing that needs to be discussed immediately and decided on, even if in a jerky and confrontational fashion.
The end of capitalism, in disguise. US pol structure does not allow for such, as the US (and other West, the US is just a stellar ex.) are ruled by rapacious coproratist (typo) oligarchs. Won’t happen.
Posted by: Noirette | Apr 10 2019 17:17 utc | 7
I watched again last night '911 The Falling Man', it always grips me in a different way, it sends my mind flying.
However I did catch that Thomas Mcginnis was the last voice ever heard from the South Tower and Jonathan Riley was in fact the Falling Man. It took two Canadian journalists to figure this out, the US media circled their wagons afterward.
Posted by: Gravatomic | Apr 10 2019 17:21 utc | 8
Eurasia Wins, Outlaw US Empire Loses might be a better headline for this Escobar report on the outcome of the EU-China Summit in Brussels on 9 April 2019. NATO also just lost its relevance as Eurasia is on the way to becoming one with Europe losing its previous singular significance. So, the next question ought to be: Why sanction Russia when its strategic partner's now also the EU's strategic partner?
That Barr's words uttered at a Congressional hearing--"I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal — it's a big deal"--which provides the impetus for an investigation into the USG's entire "intelligence world" coincided with the above was pure happenstance, you can be sure that will dominate BigLie Media, a point prodding this Ray McGovern musing: "Unaccountable Media Faced with Dilemma in Next Phase of Deep State-gate."
And there's really quite a lot more to dig into. But I think it fair to announce the Western System has just become hybridized in an attempt to save itself.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 17:22 utc | 9
Can attackers inject malice into medical imagery? Fake growths here and there
This can obviously cut two ways - a person with a genuine medical problem could be kept ignorant until it was too late to do anything. More likely though, the tinkering would be the other direction. A hacker could cause his "target" endless anguish and suffering by hitting him with "pictures" of his non-existent lung cancer. Or the tumor deep inside his brain. Another motive is even uglier, at least in my opinion. This might be done purely for profit.
Imagine a sleazy and very greedy medical practice. Selected (trusting/naive) patients would be told of an "issue" with an internal organ which needed more tests. Many, many tests, and expensive ones, too. The original images would be enough to justify all this to Medicare or the insurance company. After the patient had been wrung dry, both emotionally and in terms of his bank account, the sleazy practice could announce that 1) it was all thankfully a false alarm or 2) its surgical/drug interventions had saved the day and the patient was now in full remission, and probably cured.
I've actually heard of two cases where something like this happened which involved technicians at the faraway test center examining tissue samples taken by a skin biopsy. "Something just doesn't look right" - a vague but scary reason to make more tests. After much more such "testing" one patient was declared to be OK. In the second the suspicious family nixed the game at the outset, and the patient lived many more years with no more such indications.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 10 2019 17:32 utc | 10
The issue of Basel III influencing the price of gold has been floating around here and other sites - I first saw in on The Saker. I have scanned some of the BIS docs online and found no references to gold. Google did turn up this: https://www.cumber.com/capital-standards-and-gold/
Am I missing something or is this meme BS?
Posted by: Citizen621 | Apr 10 2019 17:33 utc | 11
@5 ralphieboy.. i think they figured it was instigated based on the dems-cia-fbi.. i think they want to go after that..
@7 noirette.. great ideas... it will never happen.. first collapse.. then after that maybe..
Posted by: james | Apr 10 2019 17:47 utc | 12
I've had nothing for some time, b - and I'm sorry, but both the initial episode of the Chinese melodrama and the series at the Saker Grieved is enthusiastic about have left me a bit wordless also. It must be the wind, which here is raging and bringing dust aplenty. (I do tell myself that each day there are more alternative energy solutions coming online - peace, Mother Nature, peace!)
Here's a whimsical bit of that nothing in a comment over at nakedcapitalism.org on the ongoing Brexit tango (or should I say tangle?)
Jim A.
April 10, 2019 at 8:20 am
So when negotiations began two years ago, May initially thought that the leverage that she would have in negotiations was that the UK was such an important trading partner that the EU27 would cut a deal on terms advantageous to the UK. But now her only leverage is the threat of STAYING in the EU. The UK has gone from “They want us so bad they’ll agree to anything,” to “They hate us so much they’ll agree to something.”
Yes.
And I have a bit to add concerning Lenten trials:
Some build bricks upon stones.
Others set pillars on the bare ground.
And there are those who go a short distance,
and having got their muscles and joints warm,
go faster.
Whoever can understand, let him understand
this allegorical word.
[St.John of the Ladder]
Posted by: juliania | Apr 10 2019 17:48 utc | 13
I think that b is that 'short distance, muscle warming' chap. Many thanks,b, for all you do.
Posted by: juliania | Apr 10 2019 17:51 utc | 14
Here you go B.
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201904101073997340-taliban-shoots-down-us-bomber-report/
Posted by: Taffyboy | Apr 10 2019 17:56 utc | 15
After Decades Refusing Egypt the F-15, U.S. Demands Cairo Terminate Plans to Aquire Russia’s Su-35
More "wagging the dog" by a certain little pissant nation.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 10 2019 18:06 utc | 16
@ Taffyboy #15
I can't imagine why a B-52 would have landed in Afghanistan unless it was on fire or otherwise about to crash. Mechanics would have had to be flown in, and fuel costs in Afghanistan must be five or ten times the cost at any other base.
So for now I'll call this a very low probability event.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 10 2019 18:11 utc | 17
In regard to modern kinetic warfare, and the way things are shaping up:
I've often mentioned to friends during discussions about geopolitics that things aren't what they used to be. The days of the errant superpower just marching in and taking what they want are fast departing. During the 90's there was a game of catch-up between the USA and an array of other "second tier" nations and many "shit-holes" as well. The claims of being vastly superior have been exposed and posturing and profiteering. Since the American war in Viet-Nam there has been a slow bu steady creep toward becoming an occupation force, unable to do even that effectively. Countermeasures to USAn weapons systems and tactics have risen to the occasion and now function as a deterrent, effectively blocking large scale actions.
Many of my colleagues were raised on "the myth" so I point out the them the limited use of a carrier group, the application of slow moving drones, and the results of using these and other methods against near peer adversaries. The looks of doubt and astonishment alone are worth it. Sometimes I mention the philosophy of use in the USA weapons procurement realm and how it differs from Russia, occasionally adding a bit about robustness of hardware and cost-benefits. Shock and awe I tell'ya!
Sometimes I spell it out: " Look pal, the American MIC is designed to drain the tax coffers and make revolving door cronies filthy stinkin rich! Heck they could even make decent stuff in the 70's now and again and trounce all over an opponent reduced to WW1 technology. But those days are long gone. It take a lot to take and hold someone else's territory while you rotate soldiers in and out, bleeding from a thousand cuts. Fast forward to the 21st century, and you caint even get close to a near peer
opponent who has a modern defensive missile system...."
You get the picture, billion dollar boondoggles, $600 wrenches and 21 trillion up in smoke. Heck, nobody even gets sent to the gulag! As much as an egalitarian peace would be nice I am not so naive as to think its right around the corner. Sure keep reading Bucky Fuller, but take a few pages from the resistance handbook as well. Therefore things will likely get worse before they get better, and as such it might be nice to watch a brahmos punch a smoking hole in a lumbering carrier.....
Posted by: Joshua m Sepe | Apr 10 2019 18:38 utc | 18
Citizen621 @11--
I visited BSI's website too looking for similar material. The translated article at The Saker provided little direction and it seemed hard to make their conclusions based on the one link provided. However, Sputnik has published two items of interest on that topic one about Italy's gold, to which I commented that the topic needed further, deeper investigation by Sputnik and the news service didn't disappoint as it later published "Will Gold Standard Make a Comeback Soon as Nations Losing Trust in Fiat Money?" wherein the interviewee said:
"... if one looks at the BIS documents, one would see that a rule will be introduced on 1 January 2022 allowing central banks to hold up to 20 per cent of their deposits in gold, silver, and even platinum in order to stabilise their balance sheets."
So, it's not the immediate revolution that's implied in the article at The Saker, but one that's in the pipeline. Of course, the outcome of the EU-China Summit was unknown until today, to which I've already commented and is revolutionary in and of itself. What caught my eye from the last linked article confirmed what I suspected--fiat currencies have lost massive value since their introduction: US Dollar 80% since 1971 and Euro 33% since its introduction in 1999--while debt has vastly increased. It seems both China and Russia seek to stabilize the situation and will push for a gold-backed currency for the new EAEU/BRI entity that's busily being built.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 18:55 utc | 19
Noirette recommends that we "Nationalize the banks and all financial services from fancy hedge funds to scuzzy pay-day loaners."
In Hudson's long interview with Siman he says, "...only a public bank can write down the debts — like student debts today — without hurting an independent oligarchic financial class."
I have not come to the part regarding how to cut the oligarchs loose.
To student debts and pay-day loan victims, one can add debts owed by small farmers and those underwater mortgage holders who were abandoned by Obama.
Posted by: Bart Hansen | Apr 10 2019 19:37 utc | 20
I see MoA folk beginning to dig into Michael Hudson's 4-part interview with John Siman of Naked Capitalism, which is excellent. But, please ensure you're beginning with the first and going in order. IMO, going to Hudson's website is the best way to accomplish that. This is the main page. Part 1: "The Delphic Oracle as their Davos." Part 2: "Mixed economies and monopoly." Part 3: "The DNA of Western civilization is financially unstable." Part 4: "Up in Arms." Part 4 is at page top.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 20:03 utc | 21
The absurdity of two official mainstream conspiracy theories.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yuC_4mGTs98
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=alt5kD7ei1I
Nice satire: https://consentfactory.org/2019/04/02/a-russiagate-requiem/
Posted by: PJB | Apr 10 2019 20:04 utc | 22
US is losing the battle for world public opinion to China
Posted by: vk | Apr 10 2019 20:05 utc | 23
vk @23
Easy to see why. Every day the US either sanctions a country, tariiffs a country, tear up an agreement or threatens a country. Yesterday they tariffed the EU, today they block Cuban Baseball players'
On the side they do droning and provoking almost every day.
Posted by: arby | Apr 10 2019 20:16 utc | 24
My favorite Hudson cite so far is from Part 2:
"Today’s neoliberal wasteland is basically a reaction against the 19thcentury reformers, against the logic of classical British political economy. The hatred of Marx is ultimately the hatred of Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill, because neoliberals realize that Smith and Mill and Ricardo were all leading to Marx. He was the culmination of their free market views — a market free from rentiers and monopolists.
"That was the immediate aim of socialism in the late 19thcentury. The logic of classical political economy was leading to a socialist mixed economy. In order to fight Marxism, you have to fight classical economics and erase memory of how civilization has dealt with (or failed to deal with) the debt and rent-extracting problems through the ages. The history of economic thought and the original free-market economics has to be suppressed. Today’s choice is therefore between socialism or barbarism, as Rosa Luxemburg said."
What Hudson's providing is a political-economic template for a Beyond Sanders presidential candidate. Sanders, ICYMI, introduced the Senate's version of Medicare For All which is a fundamental component of the type of mixed economy Hudson's advocating.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 20:31 utc | 25
Sorry to clog your fine site B. This is how idiots behave, and I am not sure why we abandoned dueling to satisfy behavior that is insulting! This goof needs a life lesson badly.
Posted by: Taffyboy | Apr 10 2019 20:32 utc | 26
21 - And if readers want a much shorter exposition than the Siman interview, see "The Land Belongs to God" on Hudson's web site. Toward the end he talks about the benefit of public banking.
Posted by: Bart Hansen | Apr 10 2019 20:33 utc | 27
Karlof1 @21: I felt naked capitalism had better links between/among parts -- and more comments, too.
Posted by: John Anthony La Pietra | Apr 10 2019 20:48 utc | 28
JALP @28--
Yeah, I admit my bias for Hudson's site.
Bart Hansen @27--
Glad to see I'm not the only MoA barfly that's investigated Hudson's website and read his excellent essays. IMO, there's far more to be learned from the interview than from that short essay. But at first, that essay was all we had to use; and as such, it's certainly better than nothing!
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 21:17 utc | 31
This is the first real picture of a black hole
https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/10/first-image-of-black-hole/
Posted by: John Smith | Apr 10 2019 21:29 utc | 32
Neoliberalism promised freedom – instead it delivers stifling control
Creeping privatisation is rolling back the state to create a new, absolutist bureaucracy that destroys efficiency
Posted by: John Smith | Apr 10 2019 21:54 utc | 33
John Smith @33--
What's happened to The Guardian? It also published this unbiased item about Ecuadorian spying on Assange while inside Embassy. Did the owner have a Scrooge-like epiphany?! The item you linked could have come directly from Hudson's interview.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 22:28 utc | 34
https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-22-trillion-debt-us-military-spending-spree/5673944
“While the national debt of the United States was recorded at 22.03 trillion as of April 2019, Washington’s going ahead with its hawkish policies worldwide with recent NATO summit pushing for further unity against China, Russia and Iran. NATO’s annual overall military budget was US$ 957 billion in 2017 where the US’s share was US$ 686 billion, accounting for 72 percent of the total. This number is pressed by the US to rise in the years to come.“
Posted by: Ninel | Apr 10 2019 22:39 utc | 36
Noirette @ 7:
"... Dismantle Big Agri in favor of smaller, more ‘lucrative’ for their owners / managers, farms. So, all present subisdies (sic) to farms are cut, abolished, and — ppl have to pay more for their food! (then what.. etc.) ..."
Good opportunity for people to grow their own food either privately on their own plots (no more mowing the lawn!) or on balconies in their apartments; or communally on nature strips, community land set aside for the purpose or in communal greenhouses. Prisons would also grow their own food and teach prisoners how to grow it or care for animals like poultry, pigs, fish or even insects (if these are eaten in their local areas).
All schools would teach children and young people how to grow food, how to prepare it or how to transport it to cafes and restaurants. Young people would learn about the life cycles of plants, how to identify them, and how and why certain plants grow in certain climatic and other physical conditions. By growing food for themselves, their communities or local enterprises that specialise in food retail, they learn some basic economic concepts such as the role that money or any other exchange medium plays in bringing buyers and sellers together, how prices are set, and what restrictions limit price negotiations between buyers and sellers.
People would learn how to eat more wisely than they do now and take better care of their own health. Healthcare that emphasises learning how to look after your own body, eating a wide range of nutritious foods and growing nutritious food (and trusting that others do the same) can be inserted into educational programs. This would be part of your Tier 1 in your 2-tiered healthcare system that you suggest.
Posted by: Jen | Apr 10 2019 22:40 utc | 37
"IDF's chief rabbi-to-be permits raping women in wartime."
Just how does that differ from Daesh's behavior? Or was it the IDF that told Deash such behavior was okay? I'm pretty certain that rabbi is afoul of fundamental Mosaic Law and thus shouldn't be a rabbi.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 22:42 utc | 38
Along with 65K others just received an email from Tulsi that she has passed the threshold for being in the debates!
Posted by: Bart Hansen | Apr 10 2019 22:44 utc | 39
@39 Bart Hansen | Apr 10, 2019 6:44:12 PM | 39
I like Tulsi also, but this guy has a point that should be considered.
b4real
Posted by: b4real | Apr 10 2019 22:58 utc | 40
Visual evidence IRGC an integral part of Iranian government.
I earlier linked to Magnier's tweeted statement that the IRGC is "separate" from Iranian government and said that wasn't correct. The linked picture speaks volumes.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 22:58 utc | 41
@karlof1 @25:
may i offer this socialist candidate who's seeking the nomination for the Green Party? this isn't my home site, but where i cross-post give the far larger commentariat (if sometimes rather grumpy):
howie hawkins, and although the diary is pretty much copy/past from brice dixon at BAR, i did offer some of howie's policy pages and policy tweets in the comments.
https://caucus99percent.com/content/epic-barriers-third-party-candidates
Posted by: wendy davis | Apr 10 2019 23:02 utc | 42
"When the Mueller report is released, it would be wonderful if he explained why neither he, the senate, nor any one of the federal law or intelligence agencies who have all given opinions on the matter, has ever taken the simple first step of examining the DNC servers.
He won't."
Nor will there be any answer to the unasked questions that after Murray's open statement about he knowing the leaker and the revelation of the metadata why none of the people involved were questioned.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2019 23:25 utc | 44
@ b4real #40
I went to the Black Agenda link and saw nothing more than "sheepdog" being used as an insult and as a reason not to consider that candidate. Do you have any specifics for Gabbard not being sincere in wanting to stop endless wars?
I'm aware the woman is totally in bed with the apartheid Jewish State, but then, who isn't? IMO there is going to be a hidden fight in the Democratic primaries, and that's for the VP position. Still an opinion, but whoever becomes VP, unless they turn out to be of the quality of Quayle, Biden, Cheney, or Pence - more likely than not they'll become the Democratic candidate in 2024.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 10 2019 23:43 utc | 45
Karlof1 @ 38:
Years ago I read a book (by a Canadian Jewish journalist who emigrated to Israel) which among other things stated that many born-again, Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish people interpret Torah (aka the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible) and Mosaic Law as referring to relations between Jewish people only, and not between all people, Gentile as well as Jewish, generally.
The reprehensible views that the IDF Chief Rabbi, Eyal Karim (yes he got the job in the end), expressed regarding the treatment of Gentile women by IDF soldiers would not, in the view of such believers, transgress Mosaic Law as they interpret and understand it.
From a Haaretz.com article dated July 2016, at the time Karim was considered for the appointment:
"... Karim has implied that it is permissible to rape gentile women during wartime, that women should not fill combat roles, and that women cannot testify in court because their “sentimental” nature does not allow it. He has also said that it is permitted to kill wounded suicide bombers and that gay people should be treated as people “sick or disabled.”..."
In another online article I saw (I lost the link), Karim also said that at celebration ceremonies, male singers should be preferred over female singers.
Posted by: Jen | Apr 11 2019 0:02 utc | 46
karlof1 @19.
Interesting you detected Basel III as something to investigate. I suspect your outright intelligence peaked your curiosity. You are on to something. Khaldey should not be ignored. This is happening now. Here is some more at:
https://goldswitzerland.com/only-gold-stands-against-the-final-catastrophe/
Goldbug for sure but Swiss based common sense.
Desperate debt laden governments will take desperate decisions.
Posted by: Job | Apr 11 2019 0:05 utc | 47
Now that Nutty yahoo has won the election Trump can release his "deal of the century" peace plan. They annexed the Golan with US support now some suggest the deal will allow them to annex the West Bank. Some suggest that the Palestinians, the same people Trump forgot to negotiate with, will be given a state in Gaza. They will be much easier to exterminate that way.
Trump should leave a few crumbs on the table for the Zionists to pick up or they may well kick him over the side if they feel they are done with him. Nicky Haley would make a more subservient NEOCON than Trump without the bullshit MAGA stuff. No more talk of pulling out of Syria, the war machine will be unleashed going full tilt boogie.
Posted by: dltravers | Apr 11 2019 0:06 utc | 48
Excellent thread by Aaron Mate! "With Trump, Barr now on offense..."
"Dems face an awkward choice: continue to defend those who gave them a discredited (& self-defeating) conspiracy theory, or acknowledge that those people, including intel officials, acted improperly."
I'm sure we'll be discussing what Ray McGovern has dubbed Deep State Gate now that Russiagate's ended. I linked to Ray's essay earlier, which focused on BigLie media's roll.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 11 2019 0:13 utc | 49
Jen @46--
Thanks for your reply! I recall reading that when first published. I won't allow my contempt to write what it wants at the moment other than to note such views make all Jews contemptible which isn't good for Jews.
Job @47--
Thanks for your reply and link! IMO, it's not that fiat money is wrong; rather, it's been used very improperly as its introduction coincided with Neoliberalism's rise. Question begged: Was Nixon a closet Neoliberal as Neoliberalism's rise was hung on the D Party's Carter and McNamara.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 11 2019 0:32 utc | 50
I think nakedcapitalism is down. Can somebody confirm? Thx
Posted by: WJ | Apr 11 2019 0:32 utc | 51
Karlof1 @50--
wouldn't know about Nixon but the reset upon us is on.
Posted by: Job | Apr 11 2019 0:50 utc | 52
Whoever the progressive front runners become doesn't matter, the MS corporate media will not give them enough coverage to get their platforms heard.
The party of $ will again capture the nation in 2020, and their party transcends, and is made up of, both D and R politicians.
The much bally-hued demise of the evil empire, for me, can't come soon enough..
Posted by: ben | Apr 11 2019 0:53 utc | 53
40/45
I agree with Zachary that "sheepdog" is insulting. You are not going to find a perfect candidate who will be approved by the MSM. You saw what Kasie "Angry Bird" Hunt did to Tulsi on Mourning Joe.
Being against Endless War is enough for me. So much evil derives from our foreign policy. Also, she may not want AIPAC money but she needs lots of votes.
Posted by: Bart Hansen | Apr 11 2019 0:58 utc | 54
With regards to the Barr offensive, and the "spying" allegations, I don't suppose this statement would engender a investigation had a Dem. candidate made it.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282
Posted by: ben | Apr 11 2019 1:02 utc | 55
An article in Foreign Policy Magazine reveals what Netanyahu's re-election means for the Palestinians. What Netanyahu will do is dictate "terms to the Palestinians that will leave them with no state or, at best, a rump state that is little more than a squalid penal colony."
The article also reveals that Netanyahu never had, in all his 5 terms as Prime Minster of Israel, any intention of implementing the Oslo Accords or allowing a Palestinian state.
Whilst the above may not be surprising to many MoA readers the fact that is stated so baldly, in what is regarded as house magazine of the US foreign policy establishment, is of significance.
What the article doesn't do is draw the obvious conclusion that what this will mean is that Israel will take steps that amount to a genocide of the Palestinian people. Psychologically the Israeli population have already been prepared for this (and the acceptance of the West's population has been conditioned).
I would expect Palestinian resistance to increase, the Israeli response to become more extreme and for the West not to care.
Posted by: ADKC | Apr 11 2019 1:31 utc | 56
karlof1 | Apr 10, 2019 6:42:57 PM | 38
"IDF's chief rabbi-to-be permits raping women in wartime."
So does Islam. When reading the Koran, watch out for the words “that which your right hand possesses.” That means slaves, or captives, who are subject to all sorts of mistreatment by Muslims, including rape, as that is the wish of Allah.
The Torah also permits it. Muhammed copied much of his Islamic ideology from the Torah, so . . .
Posted by: AntiSpin | Apr 11 2019 1:50 utc | 57
Since this is a whisky bar - I have always wanted to know what others around here are drinking to take the edge off the stress of this crazy world.
Me - I just ordered a glass of Glenmorangie 10-year old (the original) - neat.
Posted by: Activist Potato | Apr 11 2019 1:50 utc | 58
Antispin @57
It is regarded that the following verse from the Quran prohibits slavery:
"3:79 It is not for a human that God would give him the book, the authority, and the prophethood, then he would say to the people: "Be servants to me rather than to God!", rather: "Be devotees to what you have been taught of the book, and to what you studied."
Remember that the Quran was written at a time when slavery was common; so, in addition to the prohibition, there is an acceptance that slavery exists. However, the Quran does not approve of slavery and frequently advocates freeing of slaves as compensation for transgressions (e.g from 4:25 God "will hold you for what oaths you have made binding with consideration. Its cancellation shall be the feeding of ten poor people from the average of what you feed your family, or that you clothe them, or that you free a slave;.....").
Posted by: ADKC | Apr 11 2019 2:25 utc | 59
RT, video:
'You shouldn't be here' - Mike Pence to Venezuela representative during
UN Security Council
****
Dan Cohen:
Immediately after this arrogant declaration, Pence stood up and walked out of the U.N., proving the point Venezuelan ambassador @SMoncada_VEN would then make
****
Dan Cohen, video:
Venezuelan ambassador to the U.N. @SMoncada_VEN: The U.S. seeks “to subordinate the United Nations to their interests, to the Monroe Doctrine – a racist policy that was set up 200 years ago by a slaving state.”
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 11 2019 2:30 utc | 60
Bloomberg: Russia Celebrates Sanctions Anniversary with Record Ruble-Bond Sale
Russia notched up its latest debt-sale record, seizing on appetite from yield-hungry investors in a placement that underscored how sanctions concerns are ebbing a year after U.S. penalties hobbled local markets.
“The domestic and international environment has turned benign,” said Richard Segal, a senior emerging-markets analyst at Manulife Asset Management in London. “The European and U.S. monetary policy outlook has changed abruptly and the U.S. Congress has ‘sanctions fatigue.’"
< ... >
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 11 2019 2:35 utc | 61
Bruce Dixon has described what a 'sheepdog' is in clear terms and why Sanders and Tulsi qualify.
The term is descriptive, not pejorative.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 3:04 utc | 62
Chris Van Hollen, video:
After asking multiple times, @SecPompeo refused to tell me if the United States would oppose @Netanyahu’s plan to unilaterally annex all or large parts of the West Bank even though it would clearly sabotage any prospect for a two-state solution.
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 11 2019 3:16 utc | 63
There’s Something Rotten in Virginia: Israel Is a Malignant Force in Local Politics
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 11 2019 3:26 utc | 64
Bernie may be a "sheepdog", but he's taking a message to Fox "news" viewers on the 15th. Could be an interesting town hall.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/bernie-sanders-has-a-simple-message-for-fox-news-viewers/
IF, he gets a fair hearing.
Posted by: ben | Apr 11 2019 3:28 utc | 66
karlof1 @49
IMO the notion that a few senior Intelligence officials (mostly FBI) tried to overthrow Trump is silly to the point of being laughable. But that is the fall-back position that is being ... ur, Trumped up. The fact is, Trump has done everything that the Deep State and establishment could have wanted: expanded the military budget, cut taxes, reduced regulations, etc.
While some will complain loudly (for now), the whole affair will slowly fade away because, as I've previously noted, the best explanation for Russiagate is that the Deep State selected Trump and ran an anti-Russia psyop to spur neo-McCarthyism. As part of that effort, it seems highly likely that they attempted to settle scores with Wikileaks/Assange and Michael Flynn.
FBI failures - to follow investigative procedures; to include important information to the FISA court, etc. - are best explained as part of the bi-partisan Deep State consensus to pursue an anti-Russia agenda.
Anyone that thinks that senior people would participate in such activities without the cover of higher-ups is smoking something. Brennan, Mueller, Hillary, McCain, and Kissinger have the collective power to form and initiate a strategy to meet the challenge from Russia and China.
It all goes back to the 2014 surprise realization that Russia had grown a backbone and that the Russia-China Alliance was a serious threat to AZ Empire's NWO. That point of view was described by Kissinger in August 2014, in which Kissinger ALSO called for MAGA.
Trump entered the race for President 10 months later as the only MAGA candidate.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 3:30 utc | 67
@ ben #66
The people who own Fox are in it for the money. They're also humans who are going to have to live in the world the ignoramus Trump is shaping. If I were making a prediction, I'd say Sanders will be allowed to get his message across in the face of some half-hearted jeering.
I'll admit I could be wrong about that.
:)
Some of the Trumpies are never going to change their ways. I strongly suspect there is another group who voted for Trump because 1) he wasn't Hillary and 2) he made some darn good-sounding promises. That second group is up for grabs - assuming the Corporate Democrats don't force one of their candidates Big Corporations want on the ballot. Which is, of course, most of them. From what little I know, Sanders and Warren are the best of a bad lot. I know NOTHING about whatever domestic policies Gabbard might favor, or I might have include her with the other two I favor.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 11 2019 3:42 utc | 68
@67
Friends and associates of all of these 'ringleaders' (in single-quotes because my suppositions are based on indirect evidence) have gotten key positions in the Trump Administration.
Trump himself is close to the Clintons.
VP Pence was close to McCain.
Gina Haspel is Brennan's gal at CIA.
AG Wm Barr is close to Robert Mueller.
Neocon Bolton - close to Kissinger or Kissinger acolytes.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 3:46 utc | 69
When did Reuters ever call the Trump/Russia Collusion nonsense a "conspiracy theory" as they should have?
Never (big surprise)
But Reuters is quick to call the investigation into the FBI election manipulation a conspiracy theory.
U.S. attorney general's 'spying' remarks anger Democrats
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General William Barr said on Wednesday he would look into whether U.S. agencies illegally spied on President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, sparking criticism from Democrats who accused him of promoting a conspiracy theory.Barr, who was appointed by Trump, is already facing criticism by congressional Democrats for how he has handled the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, and his comments about surveillance brought more derision from Democratic senators.
His testimony echoed longstanding allegations by Trump and Republican allies that seeks to cast doubt on the early days of the federal investigation in an apparent attempt to discredit Mueller, law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Posted by: librul | Apr 11 2019 3:47 utc | 70
@ Jackrabbit #67
IMO the notion that a few senior Intelligence officials (mostly FBI) tried to overthrow Trump is silly to the point of being laughable.
Not to all of us, it isn't. The part I don't understand is the Why of their effort. Did they have some scheme to get rid of Pence too? Or was it all mindless blind hatred because he took down their Goddess Hillary?
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 11 2019 3:49 utc | 71
ZS @ 68 said in part;"assuming the Corporate Democrats don't force one of their candidates Big Corporations want on the ballot. Which is, of course, most of them."
I assume what you speculated on above, will happen.
Posted by: ben | Apr 11 2019 3:56 utc | 72
Zachary Smith @68: ... Corporate Democrats ... domestic policies ...
The democratic party is irredeemable as it operates as one arm of the duopoly. I don't see any meaningful distinction between "Corporate Democrats" and progressive Democrats except this: progressive Democrats give the Democratic Party cover to support the establishment.
IMO domestic policy can no longer be considered separately from Empire. "Progressive Democrats" are forced encouraged by their Party to support the military and ignore foreign policy.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <>
IMO the only grouping that is currently viable/strong alternative is the libertarians. If they could bring conservatives and (real) progressives together, then we could see a real challenge to the "radical center" (which actually rules as center-right).
But conservatives, (real) progressives, and libertarians are underfunded and constantly get played.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 4:02 utc | 73
@ Zachary Smith | Apr 10, 2019 11:49:22 PM | 71
RussiaGate: 'Why Did This Ever Start In The First Place?'
Posted by: librul | Apr 11 2019 4:06 utc | 74
Zachary Smith @71:
Not to all of us, it isn't. The part I don't understand is the Why of their effort.
Well of course the WHY baffles you, because the only WHY that makes sense is what I described and that will never be allowed to come out publicly because then people will see that their democracy is a sham.
The "managed democracy" that we have in USA subverts the will of the people to the Empire.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 4:08 utc | 75
"Germany still owes Israel $19 billion for the Holocaust. The new estimate was calculated by independent American economist Sidney Zabludoff, a former CIA, White House and U.S. Treasury official."
https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/East-Germanys-reparation-debt-must-be-demanded-584941
---------------
Chutzpah...
Posted by: John Smith | Apr 11 2019 4:13 utc | 76
@ 74: Why did Russiagate start in the first place? The short answer is IMO, diversion.
Another answer could be, that DJT stood on a stage, and asked another country to find his opponents e-mails.
Posted by: ben | Apr 11 2019 4:34 utc | 77
@ librul #74
Though I hadn't seen that before, the general theme is in agreement with what I believe is the truth. Even ignorant and thuggish goons like Trump can be victims of a crime, and I believe that's what happened here.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 11 2019 4:52 utc | 78
I find it piquant that the vice president of the US attacks a Venezuelan ambassador at the UN and then ramps up his aggression...by retreating.
Pence is so certain that the other guy doesn't belong, that he himself walks away. Every schoolyard would see this behavior for exactly what it is. Animals would understand it clearly also, in terms of pecking order.
How perfect this action is in matching precisely what we've been watching the US do in several military theaters for some time now. The louder and the ruder the bluster, the more certain we can be that it covers pure emptiness. And that the US is tangibly retreating under cover of the smoke.
The cowardice is becoming palpable.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 11 2019 4:53 utc | 79
ben
Well, why did "America First" Trump ask Russia to do that? (And later ask Wikileaks to release the DNC emails!)
And why did "America First" Trump hire Manafort who had extensive Russian contacts and pro-Russian activities that drew the ire of US officials?
These (and more) played into Russiagate hysteria that followed the election and were not in keeping with Trump's "America First" rhetoric.
Now, long after the election, we see additional strangeness like Roger Stone's claims of a contact at Wikileaks.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 5:01 utc | 80
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10, 2019 6:42:57 PM | 38
"IDF's chief rabbi-to-be permits raping women in wartime."
Just how does that differ from Daesh's behavior? Or was it the IDF that told Deash such behavior was okay? I'm pretty certain that rabbi is afoul of fundamental Mosaic Law and thus shouldn't be a rabbi.
----------------------
“The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition,” Ketubot 11b, vol. 7 (NY: Random House, 1991), p. 145:
“If a grown man has intercourse with a little girl less than three years old, all agree that it is not a significant sexual act…”
“Koren Talmud Bavli,” Sanhedrin 54b, vol. 30 (Jerusalem, 2017), p. 41:
“If a man engages in homosexual intercourse with a minor who is under the age of nine, whether actively or passively, he is exempt as with regard to ritual law...”
.
Posted by: John Smith | Apr 11 2019 5:02 utc | 81
@ Grieved with the UN/Pence story....here is China's take on the situation
"
UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday rejected U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's accusation against China over Venezuela.
"China categorically rejects the accusation," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on the situation in Venezuela.
"Earlier in his intervention, the U.S. representative leveled an unfounded accusation on China's position on Venezuela in the Security Council," he said, referring to Pence's remarks that Russia and China obstructed Council action on Venezuela with their veto power.
China has all along maintained friendly and cooperative relations with other countries around the world, including Venezuela, on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, he said.
"We support peoples of all countries in independently choosing their development paths that cater to their national conditions. We never interfere in other countries' internal affairs, nor do we impose anything on other countries," Ma added.
Members of the Security Council should faithfully abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the universally recognized norms of international relations, genuinely respect the choices of peoples of other countries, and do more positive and practical things for the people of Venezuela rather than the opposite, said the Chinese envoy.
"
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 11 2019 5:02 utc | 82
WJ @51 ... FWIW, as of this writing I'm having no trouble accessing the naked capitalism site.
Posted by: John Anthony La Pietra | Apr 11 2019 5:05 utc | 83
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Instagram March 10, 2019:
“Israel is not a state of all its citizens. According to the Nation-State Law that we passed, Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish People— and them alone.”
Posted by: John Smith | Apr 11 2019 5:07 utc | 84
@ Jackrabbit #75
I"m not sure we disagree very much, for I also believe our "democracy" is thoroughly managed, and "sham" is quite a good word for it. The part I don't understand is why you seem to object to pointing out efforts by the 'managers' to correct the error of a slam dunk election going bad. Hillary was supposed to be in the White House. More than one nation had been making advance payments to the Clinton Foundation to purchase her goodwill. She was the dream for Big Banking, the apartheid Jewish state, and probably a lot more folks. That didn't happen, and some people became unhinged.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 11 2019 5:08 utc | 85
Zionism & Wahhabism: Twin Cancers of the Middle East (And Their Veiled Origins)…
It is a fascinating, though rather grim, story, spanning the First World War, the creation of the states of Israel, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, and taking in Lawrence of Arabia, all the way to the fall of Gadaffi in Libya, the Syria Civil War and Rise of the so-called Islamic State, among other things. It’s a story of long-term manipulation, insidious indoctrination, and secret, almost ‘mythical’ works of literature.
These two ideologies – Wahhabism in Islam and Zionism which is linked primarily to the Jewish religion – may seem like unrelated entities on the surface of it…
Posted by: John Smith | Apr 11 2019 5:16 utc | 86
@ Zachary Smith who wrote about Clinton II
"
She was the dream for Big Banking, the apartheid Jewish state, and probably a lot more folks.
"
So that makes Trump a nightmare for Big Banking, the apartheid Jewish state, etc., right?
I encourage you to understand how much you are being played. If Big Banking has both of them, whom is being played?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 11 2019 5:17 utc | 87
Zachary Smith @78:
Though I hadn't seen that before, the general theme is in agreement with what I believe is the truth.
I think that you're not thinking this through.
You're question of WHY, is still unanswered.
> WHY did the hold back on Russian-influence allegations during the election?
Hillary was suppose to win, sure. But why not ENSURE that win?> WHY did they continue with Russiagate after the election?
They engaged in Treasonous behavior because Hillary was butthurt?
She supposedly got 3 million more votes than Trump; how badly could her ego be bruised?> WHY did the establishment hate Trump so much?
He's delivered all they could want and more.> Why did Russiagate force Trump to bend to Deep State wishes?
Ha! It didn't! Trump has always maintained that there was no Russia collusion. And now the Mueller Report confirms this. Trump's Cold War policy continues the Deep State's same policy - because Trump is part of the team.
This is not meant to be exhaustive. There are many other questions that you could ask because there's a lot that doesn't add up - unless Russiagate was a Deep State psyop with bi-partisan support (as I've described).
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 5:21 utc | 88
Zachary Smith @85: efforts by the 'managers' to correct the error
Because it makes no sense.
If they got their wish and "corrected" the error by overthrowing Trump, there would be a civil war. Which is counter-productive in the extreme.
But they don't need to take such drastic action 'cause Trump does that the Deep States wants anyway! So what are they trying to "correct"?!?
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 11 2019 5:29 utc | 89
Alleged ongoing Military Coup in Sudan today, another just happened in Algeria... Haftar making moves in Libya, could all just be a coincidence, then again, maybe not? Anyone got anything? Wondering what Mr B. thinks..
Posted by: EtTuBrute | Apr 11 2019 9:08 utc | 91
Assange has just been expelled from the embassy and arrested
Posted by: Kadath | Apr 11 2019 9:53 utc | 92
@ 92 * time for everyone to stand up for human rights promoter Assange?
The end of capitalism, in disguise. US pol structure does not allow for such, as the US (and other West, the US is just a stellar ex.) are ruled by rapacious coproratist (typo) oligarchs. Won’t happen.
Posted by: Noirette @ 7
I don't think the issue is to end capitalism, but economic Zionism (all known as capitalism changed into monopoism) is on its way out. Revolutionaries, all over the world, are in place to revert monopolism back to capitalism and democracy back to human rights.**
She [Hillary] was the dream for Big Banking, the apartheid Jewish state, and probably a lot more folks. That didn't happen, and some people became unhinged. by Zachary Smith @85 As things have turned out.. we might have all been better off with Hillary than Trump.. Next time around I am going to vote for the most obvious liar, and the candidate with the most stinking capaign promises. looking back over the elections since Abe Lincolm was assassinated by the city of London.. because Lincoln was moving to make USA its own bank and to issue its own currency.. **
At http://representativepress.org/IsraelViolatesResolution.html c/b found the pre conditions, all of which Israel agreed to,
for admission of Israel into the UN..
1. he status of jerusalem w/n/b altered
2. Palestinans w/b permitted to return
3. The partition agreement w/become the final borders.
Text of General Assembly Resolution 273 of May 11, 1949 admitting Israel into the UN, notes Israel agreed to comply with Resolution 194 : UNITED NATIONS General Assembly A/RES/273 (III) 11 May 1949
what is really interesting is to take a look at the low life supporting this UN action at the press, in the white house and at the MIC. Many supporters there played at hugmongous part in the rest of the rise of Economic Zionism which depends on leg breaker USA to get its way..
Posted by: snake | Apr 11 2019 10:18 utc | 93
Julian Assange has been arrested and dragged out of the embassy. he does not look well.
http://news.trust.org/item/20190411092809-cxs4c
Posted by: michaelj72 | Apr 11 2019 10:22 utc | 94
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 10, 2019 7:43:14 PM | 45
"I went to the Black Agenda link and saw nothing more than "sheepdog" being used as an insult and as a reason not to consider that candidate. Do you have any specifics for Gabbard not being sincere in wanting to stop endless wars?"
She's a Democrat, a leading cadre of an indelibly war-mongering political party (in addition to being the oldest, longest-running pro-capitalist party on Earth; by definition a socialist also could never be a Democrat).
Therefore by definition she has to be pro-war, just as anyone who's anti-war could never be a Democrat. (That's just one of many, many reasons I could never possibly even consider the Democrats; it's a non-starter.)
"Sheepdog" is not an insult. (Well, not just an insult.) It's a technical term for a pro-system politician who pretends to be "progressive", "socialist", "radical" etc. but is really no such thing where it comes to any real action. The purpose is to keep people from straying outside the fold of the Democrat Party (Sanders is the most notorious example, a con artist his entire career), or of electoralism as such (the "Green Party" version).
"I'm aware the woman is totally in bed with the apartheid Jewish State, but then, who isn't?"
And still you ask if it's possible even in principle for her to be anti-war?
On Assange -
So where are the NGO/MSM/liberals human rights supporters now defending Assange?! What a joke.
Extradition to the US is a no brainer, apparently Assange was right about residing in the embassy.
Is this a Trump or rather what I believe - a deep state/CIA/FBI operation? Trump have after all been quite positive on Assange as far as the clinton email leak.
Posted by: Zanon | Apr 11 2019 10:33 utc | 96
whatever happened to that old "insurance" file WikiLeaks put out way back in 2011 when this whole thing started which they threaten to release the encryption keys for if Assange was arrested/harmed. Did they already release the contents through WikiLeaks. I recall that one of Assange's old partners turned traitor after he was bribed by the US and stole thousands of documents and passwords in an effort to sabotage WikiLeaks. If Wikileaks does have anything they've been holding back, now is the time to release it. Wikileaks may have western legal tradition on it's side, but in the Outlaw empire the law means nothing, only force and bribery hold sway.
In a larger sense, while the US empire may have won this round, they may end up rueing this day, as I am certain there are dozens of closet Wikileaks supporters within the US/British governments who will be outraged by these actions and they will strike back in their own ways. At the very least I suspect that Moreno will suffer severe consequences from this action. We already know that some of his own diplomats leaked this expulsion in advance in hopes of sabotaging it and the former President Correa has just declared Moreno the 'Greatest traitor in Ecuadorian history', so I gleefully expect some daggers to find their way into his backside in the near future (most probably leaking documents to WikiLeaks showing Moreno's involvement in massive corruption - not that there's anything unique about corruption in South American governments)
Posted by: Kadath | Apr 11 2019 11:38 utc | 97
@45 Zachary Smith
I would like to see Tulsi (or any other anti-war candidate) take the mantle of the democratic party on an anti-war platform.
I posted the link to bring attention to the efforts being made (and coincidentally mentioned by wendy davis @42) of efforts to create a true anti-war 3d party. I think it would be easier at this point in time to create a new 3d party focused on reducing military spending than to urge the democrat or republican party to adopt a half hearted effort at limiting us military misadventures. Both parties are fragile and susceptible to splintering in the current environment and this does improve the chances for a viable 3d party to emerge.
I don't think the author was insulting to Gabbard. It read to me like he was explaining the role any anti-war candidate would play in a party controlled by the established democratic party. You can already see the obstacles being put in her way by the way she is being down-played in the press.
b4real
Posted by: b4real | Apr 11 2019 12:22 utc | 98
Is Russia a failed state -
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/424511-managing-russias-dissolution
Or is U.S. (actually the entire Globalist empire) maxing out it's credit card?
And speaking of failed states -
https://southfront.org/us-southcom-head-says-venezuela-military-intervention-might-be-necessary-by-end-of-2019/
Posted by: jared | Apr 11 2019 12:28 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
thoughts on how far this will go?
Those who started Russia probe were attempting a ‘coup’, AG must start investigation – Trump
Posted by: james | Apr 10 2019 16:14 utc | 1