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April 17, 2019
Open Thread 2019-22
Comments
Reposting from other thread:
In other news, remember the leaked US/Israel proposal/directive to Lebanon that a staged civil war against Hezbollah would be really useful to all three countries? South Front reports that 14.5 million dollars of military equipment/aid has just arrived in Lebanon!
https://southfront.org/u-s-supplies-14-million-worth-of-military-equipment-to-lebanese-army-photos/
Posted by: WJ | Apr 17 2019 17:12 utc | 1
Tyler Durden reports “World Trade Suffers Biggest Collapse Since Financial Crisis,” with the first graph showing a downturn almost in freefall the slope’s so steep. Since the dollar is still used in @60-80% of global trade exchanges, Trump’s Trade War is having a suicidal affect on the dollar recycling required to prop up the dollar. In contrast, Russia continues to report increasing trade turnover with its partners, meaning it’s being strengthened by Trump’s Trade War. Congress and Deep State had cut off the usual avenues for POTUS conduct of foreign policy, but were unable to stop Trump’s Trade War and further executive-based illegal unilateral sanctions that are also harming Outlaw US Empire-based corporations. The bottomline result is a rapid and massive rise in debt that feeds the Money Power. The domestic affects of Trump’s actions are only now beginning to be seen, and they aren’t positive.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 17:40 utc | 2
I was wondering if Trump could be convinced to sign the legislation ending exports of weapon and military services to the invaders of Yemen. Getting pictures of dead children, starved children, sick children, wounded children is not a problem. But what about ducks? Google search gives hits like that
Trump Ducks Blame For Deadly Yemen Raid – NBC News
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us…/trump-ducks-blame-deadly-yemen-raid-n72713…
Feb 28, 2017 – President Donald Tru
Bahrain ducks congressional scrutiny over Yemen war – Al-Monitor
https://www.al-monitor.com/…/yemen-war-saudi-arabia-rand-paul-bahrain-arms-sale….
Nov 15, 2018 – Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had hoped to send a message to the Saudi
coalition in Yemen by holding an arms sale to Bahrain hostage
Ducks Lining Up: Saudi, Israeli, US Moves On Iran, Lebanon
RonPaulLibertyReport Streamed live on Nov 7, 2017 (Lords of Google: how so you search “Yemen ducks”?)
… a dead seal was found in Yemen… actually, Navy SEAL member .. [same search]
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 17 2019 18:07 utc | 3
@piotr – missing headline is ‘trump blames russia for dead ducks’, (thanks haspals propaganda pics)..
Posted by: james | Apr 17 2019 18:14 utc | 4
Undaunted, Kit Klarenberg provides further Skripal update in an extensively detailed article that moves him to conclude:
“The official narrative of the Salisbury incident is ever-fluctuating. Seemingly each and every article, news segment, official statement or documentary about any element of the case contains new information, requiring the established account to be at least partially rewritten and/or contradicting established elements of the story….
“If nothing else, that Haynes was willing to transmit an apparently obvious fiction speaks volumes about the willingness of mainstream journalists to parrot each and every fresh claim in the Skripal case, even if it wildly conflicts with what they themselves have written previously.”
Klarenberg’s tweet response to Haynes is devastating:
“Difficult to verify your version of events given it involves nameless officials. Knowing you’re often used by security services to peddle propaganda seemed a reasonable assumption they’d urged you to backtrack your earlier advocacy as story detonates official #Skripal narrative.”
It seems highly reasonable to conclude the NY Times item has blown away any remaining truthfulness to the Skripal Saga and the entire Saga–like Russiagate–can be concluded to be a very serious hoax, and that there’s no reason whatsoever to trust anything said by UK’s Tory government.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 18:19 utc | 5
@ WJ #1
From your link:
The U.S. Embassy in the Lebanese capital of Beirut announced on April 16 that Washington had delivered $14,3 million worth of military equipment to the Lebanese military as a part an ongoing military aid program.
They’re putting out the story about sending “stuff” to Lebanon, so when future cargo airplanes land the natural assumption will be it’s more of the same old cast-off material we typically dump on third-rank ‘allies’. Not necessarily. Future crates could contain state-of-the-art supplies like was sent to ISIS in Syria. Since there are an awful lot of unemployed ISIS fighters these days, a big fork-lift might also unload crates of safely packed ISIS men to carry into the warehouse out of sight.
It begins to look like Trump wants to make as his ‘legacy’ the tale he gave the apartheid Jewish state everything they wanted, and more. Here is another story I saw today:
Targeting Hizbullah
Pompeo’s latest buffoonery lead Colonel Lang and myself to wonder if the US and Israel are planning to take out the Hizbullah missile threat. That Hizhullah threat remains a knife in the heart of Israel’s myth of invulnerability.
This is a win/win for Trump. He gets Zionist money, applause from the likes of Shiff and Pelosi, and he imagines it’ll all look great in tomorrow’s history books. MIGA – “Make Israel Great Again”, and right alongside his MAGA crap.
Hezbollah’s existence really crimps the style of the pissant state, and the organization must be defanged before Iran can be taken down. Regarding Iran, here is an old piece from 2015.
Plan “T” for Iran
I took the liberty of changing the title because altering a few words and dates is all it takes to modernize the piece.
Destroying Hezbollah opens the way for the Zionists to start Land Grab War 4 steal the water they want from the southern parts of Syria and Lebanon. Smashing Iran makes them a regional power with nobody to contest that status. It doesn’t take much insight to see what they’ll next if Iran is smashed by Trump.
Some nutters have suggested giving Holy Israel B-52s. I can’t imagine why they’d want those antiques if Trump would instead give them B-2s. Remember, those will soon be taken out of the US inventory and replaced by the marvelous B-21s.
I’ve suggested Trump has “elevated” Pompeo and Bolton and Pence because he was forced to do so. It’s even scarier if the old (soon-to-be-73) fart has drunk the kool-aid and wants to be a prime mover in the End Times. From all I’ve read of late the man is gullible enough to buy into such a scheme.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 17 2019 18:30 utc | 6
If you can handle it, Partisangirl thread about what Zionists did to the Tamimi family. I should note this is but one of many thousands of similar outrages to occur during Zionistan’s genocidal rampage.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 18:38 utc | 7
Next month’s EUP elections are prompting some interesting coalitions. Trade Unions Against EU’s election slogan is at this link.
Galloway’s promoting Farage’s group in EUP elections and explains why in a very lively thread. George:
“Given the nature of Labour’s Euro-fanatic candidates list and the crucial juncture we have reached in the fight for the full implementation of the #Brexit referendum result and for one-time only I will be supporting @Nigel_Farage in next months elections.”
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 19:02 utc | 8
Okay, I can get behind this, Show Racism the Red Card Day is this Friday. Note the first thread comment’s made by a racist.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 19:11 utc | 9
China is interfering with the American 2020 elections already [sarcasm]:
China bank rally spills over to US markets
In other news, Japan continues to deteriorate:
Japan logged first trade deficit in three years in fiscal 2018
Zachary Smith @6:
It begins to look like Trump wants to make as his ‘legacy’ the tale he gave the apartheid Jewish state everything they wanted, and more.
Perhaps armchair analysts at MoA will now look at the Trump’s decision to ‘pull out’ of Syria with a more skeptical eye.
I noted that Trump’s surprise announcement – as well as the resignation of Mattis to underscore it – could have been a strategy manufacture US public consent for increasing US troop presence in Syria and/or bombing Syria.
If the Israeli’s had succeeded in tricking Syria to shoot down a commercial airline – just as they had with a Russian military plane weeks before – then Trump would’ve immediately reversed his much-ballyhooed ‘pull out’ in light of what would be called yet another(!) human rights transgression from the “Assad Regime”.
In short, the ‘pull-out’ and air attack appear likely to have been a set-up to anyone that is cynical enough to be skeptical of US-Israeli intentions.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 17 2019 19:25 utc | 12
From Judicial Watch
Cover-Up Smoking Guns on Clinton Emails
COVER-UP! Smoking Gun Documents on #ClintonEmailScandal
Posted by: TJ | Apr 17 2019 19:29 utc | 13
Oh dear oh dear..
It appears the UK may be denying there were any poor ducks involved…
https://twitter.com/haynesdeborah/status/1118409471754153984
Posted by: S.O. | Apr 17 2019 19:34 utc | 14
AOC invokes the Class Card, something many here thought she’d never do:
“Our country has a ‘justice’ system that criminalizes poverty + disproportionately targets race, yet routinely pardons large-scale crimes of wealth and privilege.
“Moments like these tell us it’s less a justice system, and more a class enforcement system.” [My Emphasis]
Look for her and allies to resurrect FDR’s mantra from 1944 as they work to enact Medicare For All and Green New Deal: “individual freedom cannot exist without economic security.” Indeed, there’re numerous slogans from the FDR era that ought to be employed as many still aren’t fulfilled.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 19:38 utc | 15
S.O. @14–
That’s the Haynes being debunked in the twitter exchange I posted above your comment. Ducks were involved in the initial tale/yarn/fabrication, but they weren’t dead.
Tweet reply by b about Zionistan escalating situation now that elections are over:
“That feeling [invasion of Lebanon by Zionistan] isn’t unreasonable. All parties in Lebanon rejected U.S. demand to go against Hizbullah. Trump may now well give green light to Netanyahoo and support an Israeli invasion. High possbility of extension into Syria and beyond.”
I don’t think Nutty is that nutty.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 19:51 utc | 17
Jackrabbit @12,
But isn’t it *also* your view that Trump was the hidden instrument of the Deep State’s plan to implement the Kissinger proposal of MAGA so as to ready the nation for its future existential confrontation with the Asian powers (China/Russia)?
How does Trump’s willingness to use the US military to pursue Israel’s foreign policy not contradict the theoretical aims of Kissinger’s and the Deep State’s strategy?
To me, it would seem that Trump’s MAGA platform was politically useful rhetoric which he was never going to deliver on, and his foreign policy has from day one been an arm of the Israeli state.
Forgive me if I misunderstand your position.
Posted by: WJ | Apr 17 2019 19:59 utc | 18
@17 Cont’d–
Didn’t see this until after posting 17. Saudi & UAE send aid to Iran:
“SaudiArabia and #UAE jointly send a shipment of 95 tons of humanitarian assistance (food supplies and tents) to flood-hit regions of #Iran. An Emirati Red Crescent delegation to visit Iran soon.”
“Wow. That is unusual: Saudi Arabia and the Emirates in Iran even if under humanitarian cover.”
I recall the overture made by Khamenei during the Khashoggi Saga and think it did some good as it now appears King Salman reigns over MbS and the message was sent to the King. If that’s the case, then Kushner’s “deal” is already dead.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 20:01 utc | 19
@1 WJ
@6 Zachary Smith
Remember Julian Assange’s The World Tomorrow: Hassan Nasrallah (E1)
Posted by: TJ | Apr 17 2019 20:04 utc | 20
Not only are they invisible…
Prior to crash in Pacific Ocean, five F-35A jets made 7 emergency landings due to glitch from 2017 to 2019.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/japan-s-f-35a-planes-made-7-emergency-landings-report/1454891
From Anadolu Agency (Turkey)
Posted by: farm ecologist | Apr 17 2019 20:13 utc | 21
Hehe, yet more Trumpshet for Trump whitewashers here to clean up.
The 1996 Helms-Burton Act gave Americans the right to sue companies profiting from properties confiscated by Cuba.
But every US president since Bill Clinton has suspended the key clause because of fears of alienating allies and complicating relations with Cuba.
Trump lets americans sue cuban companies
AHH-HARRRHARR!
The REAL Donald craps yet again; get busy you die-hard Trumpers!
Posted by: Circe | Apr 17 2019 20:13 utc | 22
Ramin Mazaheri has published the 4th part of his 8-part series on China’s Cultural Revolution on the same day that b calls an Open Thread. Coincidence? Yes, and handy for me to post a link while the copy is still warm.
How the Little Red Book created a cult ‘of socialism’ and not ‘of Mao’ (4/8)
As with all things China, Mao and his Red Book have been widely misunderstood and mis-characterized in the west. Mazaheri explains how the book itself is best regarded as akin to the journalism of the day – i.e. not a treatise for the ages but an instruction manual for the present effort, which was the Cultural Revolution (CR).
The purpose of the CR was to empower the villagers against the party cadres, and to turn the post-revolution stratifications upside-down before they could destroy the revolution. And to enact the second pillar of the socialist system, which was to follow the redistribution of resources with the creation of a true socialist democracy.
The reason barely literate peasants were studying Mao’s book and remembering entire passages by heart is that wielding these sentences and paragraphs gave them power against the immediate authority – which they had never had before, and which was the deliberate intent of the CR.
Mazaheri quotes Professor Han, whose work he draws his series from, and follows with his own observation, in this excerpt:
“Scholarly critics of the Cultural Revolution dismiss the study of Mao’s works as blind submission to Mao’s words as the final authority. That is very true. It is true that few people in China ever, particularly during the Cultural Revolution, subjected Mao’s work to any theoretical scrutiny, which is sad indeed. However, critics sometimes forget the social context of Chinese society in the mid-1960s, and the most urgent needs of ordinary people at that time. For the illiterate and powerless villagers, it was not the business of the day to subject Mao’s works to theoretical scrutiny, but to use Mao’s words as a weapon to empower themselves against official abuses and to overcome their traditional submissive culture.”
Again, Mao’s Little Red Book is a superb piece of urgently-needed journalism which created a code of conduct that people from the disempowered classes could immediately use as a democratic weapon.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 17 2019 20:17 utc | 23
There are stories emerging about a massacre committed by Government mercenaries in La Saline, Haiti (around 80 killings but possibly much more). The massacre occurred in November 2018.
What happened was that as UN forces were removed (because of the “deteriorating security situation”), they were replaced with US mercenaries. (This seems a coordinated, pre-planned act and indicates UN complicity with US interests).
The presence of these mercenaries, driving around like an occupation force, continues to the present date.
MoA readers may recall that, in March 2019, a number of armed US mercenaries (former seals) were arrested in Haiti and allowed to leave Haiti – the story about their presence (a half-baked scheme to move $80 million dollars for the President) was likely misleading (telling a partial truth, or giving a bit of dirt, to give the impression of authenticity).
The Government is corrupt, US backed, and came to power via a US rigged election.
The protests are in part about the funding that Venezuela provided (via subsidised oil) – $2 billion petrocaribe dollars – this funding was stolen rather that used for social programs.
Real News Network:
Special Report: Massacres in Haiti – Pacifica’s Margaret Prescod (1/2)
Special Report: Haitian Resistance is Rising; US Complicity in Atrocities (Pt 2/2)
The hypocrisy of the the US invented Venezuela crisis, while the US itself is obviously largely behind what is going on in Haiti, is staggering.
Posted by: ADKC | Apr 17 2019 20:21 utc | 24
Relative to my @2, Prof Richard Wolff linked to this AXIOS Newsletter via tweet with points 1,3 and 5 buttressing my point about the US Dollar and its economic health due to Trump’s Trade War. Prof Wolff’s thoughts he tweeted:
“Trump/GOP’s desperate pandering to political base incurs big long-term costs. Trade wars, tariffs, etc. accelerate post-08 decline of USD as world currency. Its share of global reserves has fallen in 9 of last 11 quarters. US capitalism self-destructs.”
I always thought genuine conservatives were against incurring “big long-term costs.”
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 20:23 utc | 25
WJ
Good question!
In his seminal WSJ Op-Ed, Kissinger says that the US “must be prepared to answer a number of questions for itself: What do we seek to prevent, no matter how it happens, and if necessary alone? What do we seek to achieve, even if not supported by any multilateral effort? What do we seek to achieve, or prevent, only if supported by an alliance? What should we not engage in, even if urged on my a multilateral group or an alliance? …
It appears that ensuring the viability, security, and loyalty of Israel is a top objective.
Kissinger also said that progress toward US goals “… will need to sustained through a series of intermediary stages.” What is characterized as Trump’s foolish and naive foreign policy outlook may just be cover for actions taken in an “intermediary stage”. A serious establishment President that comes after Trump will then declare that, while regrettable, what’s done is done and we need to move on from there.
MAGA rhetoric has its place too. It justifies increased military spending and promotes a patriotism that will be useful when/if there is a conflict.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 17 2019 20:24 utc | 26
Forgot to add that bully, spoiled shetdisturber baby Trump with his vindictive reinstatement of Helms Burton will also hurt Canadian and Spanish companies doing business in Cuba which are now also exposed to multi-million dollar lawsuits.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 17 2019 20:31 utc | 27
The murder of Jo Cox
(Jo Cox was a UK MP who was murdered on 16th June 2016 just before the Brexit Referendum on 23rd June 2016.)
Richard Hall has put together an impressive set of videos of the Jo Cox murder and makes a persuasive case that “the official version of events is wholly untrue”.
The first video (of 4) is here.
Posted by: ADKC | Apr 17 2019 20:38 utc | 28
“The 1996 Helms-Burton Act gave Americans the right to sue companies profiting from properties confiscated by Cuba.”
John Bolton was a member of Jesse Helms’staff, I believe, He may well have been responsible for the drafting of the notorious Act.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 17 2019 21:15 utc | 29
Who are these idiots,
…””Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Banco Central de Venezuela, or the Central Bank of Venezuela, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850, as amended by E.O. 13857, for operating in the financial sector of the Venezuelan economy,” the Treasury said. “Additionally, OFAC designated Iliana Josefa Ruzza Terán, pursuant to E.O. 13692, as amended, who is determined to be a current or former official of the Government of Venezuela.”…
https://sputniknews.com/world/201904171074231626-venezuela-sanctions-warning/
Well blow me away. This is so tiresome, no? Four syllable expletives will not do, what can you say.
But this commentary might help!
http://thesaker.is/the-saker-interviews-dmitry-orlov/
Thank you B.
Have a pleasant evening, sir.
Posted by: Taffyboy | Apr 17 2019 21:21 utc | 30
JoeG @30–
Must be tough when none of your Champion’s campaign promises other than those for the Money Power have been accomplished–thwarted by his own ineptitude, his supposed allies in the R Party, and by the opposition. He’s so inept as the Apprentice he most certainly is proving himself to be that he can’t even manage his own staff; instead, he allows them to manage him! Some POTUS Trump’s proven to be. By the rules of his own show he ought to fire himself! Oh, and by the way JoeG, what I just wrote is what constitutes an argument, which is something you seem incapable of mounting in defense of your hapless Champion. Care to try again?
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 21:56 utc | 31
Trump is losing all his marbles! He rushed to send his NK envoy to Russia because there are rumours Putin will hold a summit with Kim and maybe try to steal Trump’s thunder.
Ohhhhahhhaaahhhaaa! Putin and Kim are messing with Trump’s head! Oh gawd I hope it’s true!
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/04/17/asia/north-korea-putin-kim-intl/index.html
Posted by: Circe | Apr 17 2019 22:19 utc | 32
Karlof1 @ 66 (previous thread)
I just remembered now, David Cameron was a member of the dining-club set known as The Bullingdon Club at Oxford University while he was an undergraduate student there. Boris Johnson (former Foreign Secretary) and George Osborne (former Chancellor of the Exchequer) were also members of this club at about the same time.
Group photographs of the Bullingdon Club in its various incarnations have been doing the rounds of the Internet. This one is of Cameron, Johnson and various others taken in the 1980s, well after the peak of the New Romantic pop-music trend when fluffy hairstyles were fashionable. Cameron and Johnson are numbered 2 and 8 respectively. Some of the others pictured worked in investment banks after leaving university.
The Bullingdon Club continues to thrive and stay close to the British Conservatives and the upper class political establishment despite being banned at Oxford University and to spread its tentacles beyond Britain.
Posted by: Jen | Apr 17 2019 22:32 utc | 33
Thank you karlof1 #8, George Galloway has played an interesting hand here and yet I gather it is a very strategic move to block the Blairite Labor gang from the EU parliament and enable the Brexit Party to shatter the Tories. At least that seems to be the strategy. Plus it creates an entire pseudo referendum on Brexit (unless some left group is drawn together to split that single focus which I doubt. The twitter feed you linked was good solid debate accompanied by the occasional rabid dribblings. George said loud and clear last week that he had now decided not to run so that clears him to continue broadcasting. I am looking forward to the next TalkRadio sessions by George Galloway.
Makes for an exciting month ahead. Just the anticipation of the UK sending a dozen more Farrage irritants into the EU neo.con.liberal stable is mouthwaterng. Avenge the rape of Greece!
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 17 2019 22:32 utc | 34
@ karlof1 #2
There has been much talk about China’s slow down in growth. By which I guess people mean the drop in growth in 2018 over 2017 from 6.8% to 6.6%.
Truth is that this is code for “They aren’t buying our products anymore”. With Apple being a big loser in this.
Well of course not, part of becoming the No 1 Economy means having the best products in some sectors yourself.
Posted by: Michael Droy | Apr 17 2019 23:12 utc | 35
Upper middle class feeling the pinch too. The economy is headed for the dumps
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-13/america-s-upper-middle-class-feeling-the-pinch-too
Posted by: Mboy | Apr 17 2019 23:18 utc | 36
OT: Buying Gold
I’d like to buy a small amount of gold, in the $2,000 – $5,000 range, something cool for my kids to find in the sock drawer when I kick the bucket. The guy at Fidelity nearly had a heart attack, as if I wanted to buy crystal meth from Hezbollah in Venezuela.
Any suggestions, Canadian coins on Ebay, Amazon, West Point, Pawn Shop, other idea?
Thanks in advance.
Posted by: Christian J Chuba | Apr 17 2019 23:22 utc | 37
@ christian – find a place like this in some city close by to where you live – it will be easier in person and avoid shipping and insurance costs..
https://www.jandm.com/systemhome.htm
Posted by: james | Apr 17 2019 23:30 utc | 38
Open Thread
The Problem with Apology
Two Saturdays ago, I was relaxing in my pajamas while my child watched cartoons and my wife tapped at her laptop when our calm morning was interrupted by a loud, menacing knock. I opened the door to a smiling man holding a thick manila envelope in both hands.
“Are you Steven Salaita?” he asked.
“I am.”
“I have some paperwork for you,” he announced, handing me the envelope. Before spinning around, he bid me a nice day. I was taken aback by his lack of passive aggression.
I knew what was in the package: the hard copy of a legal complaint. I had again been named as a defendant in a frivolous lawsuit—part of a Zionist harassment tactic that’s come to be known as “lawfare”—stemming from the 2013 American Studies Association [ASA] resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions. A group of scholars who opposed the resolution, and were trounced in a painstakingly democratic process, filed suit against the ASA and a handful of its members (all women and/or people of color), with the backing (and likely encouragement) of Kenneth Marcus’s Brandeis Center. After a lot of haggling and headache, a judge threw out the suit. Now it’s being filed in a different court. The mopey dunderheads want to give their doomed proposition another go.
Lawfare. Those “mopey dunderheads” have unlimited money, and both the US political parties seem determined to give them everything they want to continue their “lawfare”. A great many states (including Indiana) already make it illegal to participate in BDS. The US congress really, really wants to bankrupt US citizens before sending them to prison for many years. All for the “crime” of protesting against the thefts and murders by God’s Favorite People.
As Salaita says in his article, there is no point in groveling to the zionist bastards, for whatever you do isn’t enough.
I found this to be a long and quite interesting read.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 17 2019 23:32 utc | 39
Posted by: snake | Apr 17 2019 23:36 utc | 40
Chinahand on Outlaw US Empire meddling in upcoming Taiwan election:
“There is a major effort underway by the old gang in USA (media, IC, Pentagon) to clone the Russiagate electoral threat narrative to China & Taiwan’s 2020 elex is ground zero. Team China Hawk does not want to lose this one since it guts the anti-PRC Resistance narrative.”
Chinahand links to current polling on the pertinent political questions regarding PRC-Taiwan relations, it’s in Chinese but machine translation does a decent job making it understandable. And you can see why the Empire would be concerned.
Also on his twitter is this thread about security camera ratio per citizen where he catches the NY Times trying to pass off another BigLie. As he notes at thread’s current end, “and since most of the cams come from china, they’re winning too! win-win!” Amazing!
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 17 2019 23:51 utc | 41
@28 Bevin
So what’s your point? You’re not even sure that dope authored it, but it’s a fact Trump reinstated it! So??? I’m waiting…
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18 2019 0:03 utc | 42
Jen @33, Uncle Tungsten @34 and Michael Droy @35–
Thanks for your replies! It seems ever clearer that fundamental pocket book issues and unfair levels of wealth distribution will finally begin taking a political toll on those unwilling to address them. That’s Trump’s biggest weakness as his policies are ruining his non-Wall St base, and the same is true for UK. Jen, I have an acronym for such groups–GOBS: Good Ole Boys.
Christian J Chuba @37–
I suggest going to a pawn shop or coin dealer, and keeping abreast of prices by using Coinflation.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 18 2019 0:03 utc | 43
@ snake #40
The headline of your linked story is deceptive – below that is the much more accurate statement “A Belgian government minister has announced that Brussels is halting its 5G plans due to health effects.
A lot of people who go to that “collective Evolution” site are going to exit immediately. Look at some of the “topics” there:
Wikileaks Document Exposes a “Secret US Base on the Moon”
One Of The World’s Most Eminent Climate Scientists Changes Stance On Global Warming
Fluoride mineralizes our “third eye” (the pineal gland), the window to our soul
New Study Links Vaccine Induced Overload To Autism
Free Energy (something for nothing)
The Rational Wiki site says this about CE: “Collective-Evolution is a woo-mongering clickbait website.” I happen to agree that 5g is shaping up as a giant health and environmental problem, but with friends like this, who needs enemies? And yes, I had to click on “woo” to find what the hades they were talking about.
Woo, also called woo-woo, is a term for pseudoscientific explanations that share certain common characteristics, often being too good to be true (aside from being unscientific). The term is common among skeptical writers. Woo is understood specifically as dressing itself in the trappings of science (but not the substance) while involving unscientific concepts, such as anecdotal evidence and sciencey-sounding words.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 18 2019 0:30 utc | 44
Zachary Smith | Apr 17, 2019 7:32:48 PM | 39
Oh Zachary, you read Steve Salaita! Good on ya!
Posted by: Desolation Row | Apr 18 2019 0:35 utc | 45
@ Christian J Chuba #37
My advice is to drop the idea of acquiring gold. There are just too many issues for the small buyer to safely overcome.
1) If gold prices ever shoot through the roof (as the seller sites keep hinting at) I’d expect the US government to politely invite you to sell them your stocks. This happened in the Thirties, and can certainly happen again. It is probably impossible to accumulate anything more than a few pieces of jewelry without being put on somebody’s list. The Feds closely monitor virtually every financial transaction made in this country.
2) How will you know you’re getting pure 24k gold vs 23 or 18k stuff? Worse than that, the Chinese have become VERY good at gilding Tungsten bars or disks. Even central Banks have been taken in by this scam, and what do you suppose your chances are? The 19.25 gm/cubic cm. density of Tungsten is very, very close to the 19.3 density of Gold. I’d imagine with a bit of powder metallurgy work involving a speck of 22.5 Osmium, the numbers could be exactly matched. There are a few other tests, but nobody outside of the huge dealers or central banks can afford to do them.
3) come the financial disaster, how will you “spend” your gold? Even if you’re certain you have the genuine product, how will you convince me? Or anybody else, for that matter. It’ll come down to what the guy at the pawn shop will give you for it, and that’ll probably be on the order of 1/3 the value. (there is always the Official Government purchasers, and at their price and their penalties for holding out)
I’d suggest you buy US “junk silver” in small cash deals – the old silver coins minted up to 1964. The odds are much higher somebody will understand these have a superior value, and they’re in sizes suitable for small purchases. Even so, would you reasonably expect anybody to accept a couple Ben Franklin half dollars in exchange for a sack of food – especially if there is a severe food shortage going on? If your kids know about this acquisition, you’d better prepare for the burglars – they talk about everything to everybody. Come to think of it, I know of an adult who lost tens of thousands worth of silver because he was motor mouth about it. Total loss. BTW, telling your insurance guy is the same as putting it on a billboard – this information gets shared!
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 18 2019 1:11 utc | 46
Sourpuss Trump was royally pissed at Fox News for hosting Bernie in a town hall that was a ratings smash, and get this–Trump welcomes running against (the Demfoil) Pete Buttigeek! Well of course he wants it to be the political neophyte gay guy that’s in it to cakewalk Trump back to the White House!
Bernie’s town hall on Fox was such a smash hit that the other candidates want to copycat. Too bad for them they’re not Bernie! 😉
Bernie fox ratings smash
Trump lases out at fox for bernie town hall
Trump says hed like to run against buttigieg
Meanwhile, Trump is in meltdown mode cause tomorrow he gets his ass publicly whooped all day.
But I’m just giddy over the rumours there’s a Putin-Kim summit in the works cause I just knows that one’s gonna really mess with Trump’s head. If it happens, I hope Pooty goes all out and rolls out the RUBY RED carpet and all the military trappings! I’ll buy tickets and pop the champagne and popcorn for that one!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Zachary, I’m sure you must be aware that people and entities are suing states that adopt anti-BDS legislation. A lawsuit in Arizona was already upheld by the Court and there are other cases pending in federal court.
first amendment challenges to state ant-bds laws
Jackrabbit may be interested to know that. BERNIE SANDERS AND RAND PAUL strongly opposed the Combatting BDS Act 2019 in Congress. 😜
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18 2019 1:45 utc | 47
@29 Taffyboy, txs for the Orlov interview link. A great read from a great mind..
Posted by: Lozoon | Apr 18 2019 1:59 utc | 48
@ Circe #47
Trump has what he considers his Ace-In-The-Hole with the Supreme Court. And he has been busy packing other Federal Courts with full Dem support, so a case might well be lost even before reaching the Supremes.
I’m getting worried about Buttigieg. The man is reaping tons of grand publicity all over the place, and that’s surely not an accident. Have you heard Mayor Pete has been endorsed by a former president of AIPAC? He’s about the best best bet for the apartheid Jewish state. He wins/Trump wins = Holy Israel wins. Since the man is basically a moderate Republican, Big Everything probably likes him too. Now the game seems to be to pack the field so as to maximize the chances of a brokered convention. Despite my view of Biden having no chance at all in the long term, in the short run he’ll be a big dividing factor, and will likly pick up enough delegates he can later throw to The Mayor or maybe one of the neocon women. Add to all that the Superdelegates, and we’re looking at the Reincarnation of a Hillary/Obama Candidate. Beto is probably no longer a factor.
Not Safe For Work or Young Kids!
He was beaten by Ted Cruz. He is a son-in-law of a billionaire. He’s a Republican in all but name. And he’s got a genuine cornflake past.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 18 2019 2:12 utc | 49
@ Christian J Chuba | Apr 17, 2019 7:22:58 PM | 37
Do as Karlof1 suggested – find a reputable coin dealer in your vicinity. Don’t buy at Amazon, Ebay et al..
Also, if manageable buy 1 ounce coins only as this will save you surcharge that always comes with the smaller ones. Stick with well known brands – Canadian Maple Leaf, Austrian Philharmonics, Australian Kangaroo, Britannia, American Eagle – and stay away from collector items.
Notional value of the coins:
Britannia 100 GBP, Philharmonics 100 Euro, Maple Leaf 50 CAD, American Eagle 50 US, Kangaroo 50 AUS.
Watch Gold spot price prior to any purchase at barchart.com (ticker ^XAUUSD – ^XAUCAD), stockcharts.com (ticker $Gold), investing.com etc (ticker XAU/CAD – XAU/US).
Posted by: Hmpf | Apr 18 2019 2:29 utc | 50
All the dirt on the ground is mostly due to those who, because of political correctness, are called “Zionists.”
Sex offender rabbi admits sex with trafficked girl
Posted by: truth seeker | Apr 18 2019 2:48 utc | 51
Jen @33 was that the ‘Piggygate’ club? I’ve no doubt BoJo would go whole hog!
Posted by: Roy G | Apr 18 2019 2:55 utc | 52
@39
Thanks for linking to this excellent piece. Wish I could go back in time a couple of years and give it to Corbyn to read…
Posted by: farm ecologist | Apr 18 2019 3:16 utc | 53
Posted by: Jen | Apr 17, 2019 6:32:06 PM | 33
Group photographs of the Bullingdon Club in its various incarnations have been doing the rounds of the Internet. This one is of Cameron, Johnson and various others taken in the 1980s, well after the peak of the New Romantic pop-music trend when fluffy hairstyles were fashionable. Cameron and Johnson are numbered 2 and 8 respectively. Some of the others pictured worked in investment banks after leaving university.
———————–
Did they all like David Cameron also f*ck a dead pig’s head?
Posted by: John Smith | Apr 18 2019 3:21 utc | 54
@8 karlof1
Thanks for the Galloway link. Adam Garrie, who as you know is collegial with Galloway as well as being a very sharp analyst, has a good backgrounder and summation of Farage and his new Brexit party. He places Farage in the very center of UK politics, and likely to sweep the vote next month on May 23:
Nigel Farage Has Recaptured The Centre Ground of UK Politics
I suppose for as much as we hear of the UK Establishment’s fear of Corbyn and genuine socialism, Farage on a one-plank platform for Brexit would be a welcome disruptor. That said, I don’t know enough to have anything against Farage, and to see the UK pursue its political will would be energizing. A lot of things could come out of that win.
I suspect a lot of people who have predicted Brexit as an economic disaster will be shown to be wrong – I suppose it depends how much reactionary sabotage occurs after the exit. If she leaves the EU, the game would then be England’s, to win or lose.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 18 2019 3:53 utc | 55
@49 Zachary Smith
I agree with what you wrote. I was wondering how the DNC would try to get Buttigieg or one of the women in the nomination, and it makes sense that if Biden loses to Sanders he just might throw his delegates behind Buttigieg. However, I wrote on an earlier thread, that I really think Biden wants the Presidency but the Party and the gatekeeper media don’t want him as the Nominee. Another fact that proves he really wants it is that he’s been toying with the idea of picking a running mate early.
Biden and Sanders are the only ones who stand a chance of beating Trump. What if Biden does backroom deals to get delegates from other candidates? It could happen, but if Buttigieg ends up with the nomination then we’ll know it was rigged and Trump will get a second term, and yes, one of the women probably Harris, will also give Trump the Presidency. I think Klobuchar was supposed to be the foil but she’s not moving up, so maybe Harris will end up the unwitting foil among the women.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18 2019 4:18 utc | 56
To aspnaz in an old thread:
There are exceptions but you are not wrong however most of the comments come directly or indirectly from manipulative actors and represent what they believe works or what their numbers show have greater statistical viability than their alternatives. From this perspective the comments have some value despite (or maybe because of) being mostly crap based on tribal affiliations and ideology: isn’t it interesting to see that (whether it actually works or not) the powers that be still believe (or hope) this works?
Copy-paste comments (including the “fill in the form” kind) are dead wood for the pyre 🙂
Those who feel unfairly accused should look at themselves and what they post rather than respond.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Apr 18 2019 4:23 utc | 57
REALITY CHECK
!!!! 18 months before the US Presidential election in November 2020 !!!!
So why do some think it’s soooo necessary to be fully engaged in every twist and turn?
Aren’t there political website devoted to that kind of thing that are better venues for such discussions?
Beware those who seek to set the terms of the debate and get you hooked on the duopoly’s candidate soap opera.
Keep an open mind! Consider supporting a third-party! Green / Pirate Party / Libertarian
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 18 2019 4:38 utc | 58
@ Jackrabbit #58
Given the current political arrangements in the US, voting “third party” is to throw your vote away. I’ve done it a few times myself, but was never under any illusion the person I chose had any chance of winning.
I think it’s in the interests of the 24-hour “news” shows to hype the 2020 election, but it’s mine to try to ensure I don’t get a choice as in 2016 – horribly awful and worse.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 18 2019 4:58 utc | 59
@58, 59
Re. 3rd party voting.
Perhaps one needs to take the long view. A large enough percentage of voters not voting for the main parties would set an encouraging example for others, and the effect could gradually snowball. That admittedly would be a very slow process, but my guess is it would be faster than either the dems or repubs undergoing any kind of fundamental change from the status quo (much as I would like to think that Tulsi has a chance at being nominated).
Certainly, voting for a 3rd party would be more productive than abstaining “in protest”.
Posted by: farm ecologist | Apr 18 2019 5:21 utc | 60
Grieved @55–
Escaping the EU’s economic straightjacket via Brexit will be excellent for the UK’s public as long as they also elect Corbyn to rebuild their socioeconomy, which is heading for the rocks under the Tory helm. Hopefully, Brexit will then be emulated by other EU nations such that the EU is eventually forced to morph into a new organism through symbiotic merger with EAEU/BRI that no longer sees the rationale for NATO. The Euro could be renamed the Eurasian, although IMO a return to national currencies is best.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 18 2019 5:26 utc | 61
@61 karlof1
Yes, I agree completely that Corbyn is exactly what the post-Brexit Britain/England will require.
One simple illustration: an article today at Strategic Culture (from TruePublica no less) essentially bewails the fallout from Brexit but does supply a fact that I will take to be true, namely that the City of London has already moved 1 Trillion Pounds of financial instruments out of London and into European holdings in anticipation of Brexit.
Recall that recently I cited an article on the Yellow Vests by Michèle Brand that made the crucial point that to restore egalitarianism to a society would traditionally be done through taxation – but in today’s globalized world you can’t tax wealth because it simply flees to a different location. Recall also in the John Bellamy Foster article you linked on the failure of capitalism, how it was shown that the neoliberal effort has striven for a hundred years to achieve precisely this mobility of capital, unrestrained by regulation or oversight – and which it has now achieved.
And so, the grand conclusion is that the important means of production, in order to be of service to the nation, MUST be nationalized, if only to keep them in the country, and prevent them from offshoring their production or fleeing the taxing jurisdiction.
This is a long-winded way of agreeing that for a nation such as Britain or England may become, struggling to reassert its sovereignty (leaving aside for the moment the parasitism of the City of London, and the monarchical ties to the old dominions, and such) – the only economic system that offers any strength is a socialist one.
The danger of Farage is that he may quickly become subverted, and that in any case his credentials for rebuilding a country are not obvious. If he can manage to yield the ground to Corbyn soon after the Brexit win, this would be some kind of triumph for the country.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 18 2019 5:59 utc | 62
Grieved @62–
My friend, you most certainly have got it!–“And so, the grand conclusion is that the important means of production, in order to be of service to the nation, MUST be nationalized, if only to keep them in the country, and prevent them from offshoring their production or fleeing the taxing jurisdiction.”
That’s why China’s such a success and the West’s drowning.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 18 2019 6:10 utc | 63
Zachary Smith @59:
Given the current political arrangements in the US, voting “third party” is to throw your vote away.
LOL. I’d say just the opposite: Given that elections for the Imperial Presidency are rigged, you’re wasting your time and your vote if you follow the endless droning of MSM pundits and play the duopoly’s identity politics and “lesser evil” games.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 18 2019 6:18 utc | 64
@58 Jackrabbit
Yes indeed, BEWARE, Jackrabbit who doth protest too much about political discussion on the open thread and who gets frustrated because he can’t spin the fact that Sanders and Rand Paul fought together against Anti-BDS legislation. He just can’t spin that. Then he’s pushing 3rd parties that will get 1% of the vote combined or suggesting you don’t vote at all while people like Sanders and Gabbard are still running. Careful, Jackrabbit you’re looking like a closet Trumpet for Trump. Why are you so twisted into a pretzel over Sanders? It’s very suspect.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18 2019 6:25 utc | 65
@60 farm ecologist
Are you kidding me? Voting for a third party guarantees Trump victory! Trump is creating so many hot spots already. You want WWIII?
Jackrabbit,
Sanders is not the lesser evil. He’s a Jimmy Carter lite.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18 2019 6:36 utc | 66
My money is on Gabbard to win the Presidency. Probably standing as an independant The establishment democrats don’t like her. More and more of the population are realising the Democrat/Republican endless war party is not an option. The rebel, Trump, has turned out to be another sellout. Bernie Sanders, just another egotistical fake. What are you left with. Tulsi Gabbard.
Posted by: Ike | Apr 18 2019 6:37 utc | 67
Sanders is Jimmy Carter WITHOUT Brzezinski’s influence.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18 2019 6:39 utc | 68
Re: Christian J Chuba | Apr 17, 2019 7:22:58 PM | 37
You made me laugh with your comment that your agent acted like you wanted to buy crystal meth from Hezbollah in Venezuela, that’s hilarious!
Lots of advice being given here about buying coins. If you want gold, I would suggest buying older US gold coins, pre-1933, preferably 19th century, $5 and $10 Liberty Heads, common dates in good condition (BU=Brilliant Uncirculated, AU = Almost Uncirculated or EF=Extra Fine). These are less likely to get confiscated by the Feds if they decide to confiscate gold again, and they are less likely to be counterfeit, too. I like silver coins, too. I personally like the 1964 Kennedy half dollars, and as someone else suggested, the “junk” pre-1964 US silver. The banksters will continue to hold down the prices of precious metals, but I doubt they can make them go much lower than they are now, and unlike fiat paper legal tender, they have intrinsic value.
Posted by: Perimetr | Apr 18 2019 6:41 utc | 69
Caitlin Johnstone in fine form: “Debunking The ‘Assange Is A Russian Agent’ Smears.”
Her wit and passion seem intertwined! Too bad there’re so many topics for her to address.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 18 2019 6:46 utc | 70
Hi guys,
I really appreciate this site and its comment section.
I’m not much of a writer online, but I had some experiences the last years I wanted to share/get feedback on.
I’m from Germany and in the last 3 years I visited the Chaos Communication Congress by CCC in Hamburg/Leipzig. It’s a big event with over 5000 visitors and great atmosphere.
The work is done by volunteers the prices are reasonable and everybody is supernice to each other. There are lots of talks from IT to politics and everything is online on their website in English or with subs.
In 2015 there was a talk by Pedro Noel and Bethany Horne
Ecuador is fooling the world
They talked about how Correa became paranoid and crazy after a failed coup attempt and got more and more authoritarian, restricting pressfreedom. I had the impression, they were downplaying the imperial forces on the country and painting Correa in a bad light.
Since then I had a focus on the political agenda and was often disappointed by shallow or even misleading talks (especially the big ones/openers). Lots of identity politics and no analysis about systems, war and elites.
The congress is still a great meeting point for an alternative society, but with a narrow focus on technological improvement and I feel it is heavily propagandized like all of society.
Posted by: wisdombody | Apr 18 2019 7:09 utc | 71
…
I’ve suggested Trump has “elevated” Pompeo and Bolton and Pence because he was forced to do so. It’s even scarier if the old (soon-to-be-73) fart has drunk the kool-aid and wants to be a prime mover in the End Times. From all I’ve read of late the man is gullible enough to buy into such a scheme.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 17, 2019 2:30:23 PM | 6
Opinions vary. I beg to differ about Trump being gullible.
I neither knew nor cared who “Donald Trump” was until he became a candidate for POTUS, and I never watched The Apprentice for more than 3 seconds, and then only by accident.
But I liked his campaign antics right from the start. And I wasn’t alone. To me, he came across as the sharpest knife in the drawer, by a big margin. Putting himself forward as the Drain the Swamp candidate was worthy of close attention for two reasons:
1. It took balls to stick his neck out so defiantly.
2. Of far greater significance was the fact that here was an AmeriKKKan Presidential candidate claiming to have an MLK-ish dream and a PLAN to achieve it.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Team Trump not only had an intoxicating dream, but also a very logical and disciplined strategy to win the election. Trump kept up a cracking pace and worked tirelessly to the end of the campaign season. It’s no wonder that his supporters are reluctant to desert such an inspirational candidate.
Given that he entered the race with an undisclosed plan to win the election and won it, it’s quite likely that his undisclosed plan to Drain The Swamp has a good chance of being equally successful.
——-
Talking about undisclosed plans, Trump is the only person in the Known Universe with a Drain The Swamp plan so it’s only sensible to assume that he’s the best person to decide how to achieve it. 3D Chess sounds cute but reverse psychology sounds far more practical. It’s been apparent for some time that the individuals who pop their heads above the parapet to promote and justify the Swamp’s insanely counter-intuitive plans, have scornfully rejected the Human concepts of decency and morality. They also believe too much of their own bullshit.
Trump has already given them several opportunities to spout their drivel publicly and they’ve enthusiastically grabbed each one with indecent haste, despite the obvious idiocy and illegality.
John Bolton was interviewed on PBS Newshour on March 17. Look it up and watch it and ask yourself “Is this creature sane or rational?”
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 18 2019 8:05 utc | 72
@37 Christian Chuba and 69 Perimetr
I agree with the “junk” silver – probably the best street currency ever. I habitually always carry two half dollars because sometimes it’s nice just to jingle them in the palm while pacing or thinking. The noble metals ring like music, while the base metals don’t – and anyone can hear that purity of sound. Flip a thin gold coin one day and listen to it ring in the air like a fairy bell. Silver’s not to that degree but it has all the mark of nobility.
Within eyesight of my modest house in a small Texas town, on my block, are two vegetable gardens where front lawns used to be, and also chicken coops and fresh eggs. I’ve never asked my neighbors but I’m certain that any of them would trade food for silver if times got hard or even if they didn’t. The junk silver is stamped so you know its composition, with a serrated edge so it won’t wear down or mar easily, and small enough as not to be worth counterfeiting. After all, it was made to be used as currency, and it’s affordable enough you can buy a bunch of it and even give some away, or trade it. It’s roughly equivalent to having a wad of $20 bills.
And yes, the coin dealers in the yellow pages are where you visit. Stay away from collector coins, go with junk.
~~
That was finance, now comes poetry. As regards value. Silver is like the young sister of gold, which is the older brother. When brother is under attack and being beaten down, all silver can do is back away and hide in the shadow. But when brother is strong and in his pride of place, sister naturally comes to stand by his side, proudly and lovingly. So this is the ancient, stable ratio of value between gold and silver – independently of the fiat money valuations, they have always had a certain ratio of values between them. This ratio is badly skewed right now, and silver is much lower in relation than it ever has been in history. But if the day should ever come that gold is free to reach its true human value in the economy – and that day may never come again – then silver must rise, not only in accordance with the rise in gold, but much more in order to close the estrangement between the two. Nuff said?
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 18 2019 8:19 utc | 73
Correction. Editing error @ #72…
John Bolton was interviewed on PBS on April 17, not March 17.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 18 2019 8:41 utc | 74
@16
Half of England is owned by less than 1% of the population
An improvement over feudal times when the King owned everything (except Church lands) and it was held in fief by everyone below him…
Posted by: ralphieboy | Apr 18 2019 9:11 utc | 75
Christian J Chuba | Apr 17, 2019 7:22:58 PM | 37
IMHO, local coin dealers from trusted mints such as the Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint, and PAMP Suisse. You might also want to look into Silver bullion as well.
Posted by: Ian | Apr 18 2019 9:30 utc | 76
@ Circe
>> he can’t spin the fact that Sanders and Rand Paul fought together against Anti-BDS legislation. He just can’t spin that.
What’s that supposed to mean?
They’re politicians who belong to a political regime that wants to appeal to as many “voters” as possible in order to maintain the overall status quo. To do that, the regime must present voters with “choices”, candidates the voters like. But, those ”likeable” candidates work for the regime. It’s kayfabe.
The regime plays a shell game with its roster, policies, and the voters.
– When seats are up for re-election, the candidates adopt more likeable policies.
– When seats are not up for re-election, the politician adopts the oligarchs’ policies.
– Unfavorable policy proposals can be timed for vote near or away from elections.
– No matter which likeable candidate “wins” the top office, once in office the candidate betrays the base, either explicitly by adopting positions inconsistent with campaign rhetoric or by pretending to not possess the power inherent in the office. Regime loyalists who were selected and promoted because they played the game well all their lives are not going to suddenly change.
Voting at all is almost certainly a waste of time, even if you vote for so-called third party candidates. But, voting for a R or D is a waste of time and your vote. Better to vote “no confidence” by voting for a third party or not at all.
Posted by: oo goo gachoo | Apr 18 2019 10:36 utc | 77
Grieved says:
That was finance, now comes poetry
many years ago in Burma i saw gold pounded into gossamery leaves which the largely Buddhist populace would regularly apply to the ubiquitous statues of their deity…many of which have been rendered unrecognizable over time under the myriad layers of 22 karat.
thus the Burmese, believing in merit, renounce stockpiling savings in this life in preparation for the next one.
Posted by: john | Apr 18 2019 10:40 utc | 78
@44 by: Zachary Smith | Apr 17, 2019 8:30:36 PM | 44 you know Mr. Z. Smith, I am amazed how you point to sites that make no sense to denounce the accumulation of scientific evidence that points to 5G energy as a threaten to our entire civilization? in its present form.. <=it is said no one knows, therefore it is safe, but the evidence thus far sure does not bode well.
Because you denounce evidence challenging the safety of 5G energy, I know you much be well aware of Dr. Pall's recent testimony to the California Legislature in the USA that 5G energy is 75000X greater than the energy that operate the membrane gates that control the cell activities that keep the eyes, ears, nose, and heart running?
your challenge to snake@44, suggest you must have an advanced degree in molecular biology, and must fully understand calcium channel signalling and membrane gating biology. So my question is how do you account for the effects of 5g energies on Calcium Channel Signalling..? discounting link @40 and the prior posted links[ weeks back] showing how molecular biology of calcium signalling in eyes and nose works (academic paper supported by over 100 academic references and link to statements by Dr. Pall. I suggest in light of the current and available data about 5G energies, that you need to prove the null hypothesis to the following hypothesis.
” exposure to 5g energy has no ill health effect” <= you must prove the statement wrong.
"5g energies do not interfere with Calcium channel signaling in biological systems". <= you must prove the statement wrong. (sufficient to limit your study and data to answer these questions with experiments in sight(eyes), nose (smell), and hearing(sound) and heart (rhythm).
"5g energies will not cause dysfunction, disease, cancer in some humans" <=you must prove this statement wrong.
If you can prove these hypothesis wrong you will be in my mind the best scientist yet to tackle the problem, if not then (hypotheses as stated, stand)..
Circe @65 I think you hit @58"s Jackpot...dead on..both Sanders and Rand Paul fought together against Anti-BDS leglislation.. ..
also I remind that only members of the electoral college are eligible to vote for article II persons (el Presidente and compartriate), so citizen votes d/n count.
voting outside of the Dem::Rep swap box is a vote against the status quo. and that kind of vote is the only vote that counts, because US citizens can not vote for the POTUS or the assistant POTUS. the entire voting is a charade.
If you want to vote for a president of the USA on the basis of knowledge about the USA and experience with the corrupt nature of its operations, you could vote for the Australian, said by MSM<=to be a Russian, who upon arrival to Britain from his long visit in Ecuador, was admitted to a British Prison for a long needed rest..before his trial and extra-diction to either Sweden or the USA. My favorite candidate for President of the USA is Juilian Assange.. after all Assange knows as much about the USA, its operations, and the persons that operate it as anyone; so by virtue of experience and knowledge alone, I select Assange as the likely best man for the job.. but he is denied candidacy for lack of a corrupt mind and for possession of concern for humanity.
Posted by: snake | Apr 18 2019 10:47 utc | 79
Posted by: wisdombody | Apr 18, 2019 3:09:38 AM | 71
They are the hacker/security blackhat/whitehead scene.
Another example where the actions of the empire bite back.
To understand where they are coming from read Yasha Levine’s Surveillance Valley
US Tech Companies have an extremely nice “inclusive” “open” “transparent” company culture. People who don’t drink the kool aid can deal with it, people who are on the Asperger/Authism range can’t. And these are the people extremely gifted for tech.
Basically US military and secret services believed that Western “Freedom” (TM) was such a powerful advantage in global competition that open anonymous systems connecting dissidents would work to their advantage. They forgot that some people can’t do double think.
Wikileaks started as a Chinese dissident project which certainly had the support of the US military-intelligence complex. It quickly became something else, simply because the people working in the project believed the ideology behind it and could not see that what is right for a Chinese dissident against the Chinese state was not right for a US dissident against the US state.
With Julian Assange in Belmarsh prison, everything about “open society” “transparency” “free media” “supporting dissidents” is in dispute.
Posted by: somebody | Apr 18 2019 10:52 utc | 80
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Computer_Club#Chaos_Computer_Club_France
*Surely*, only the French version was a setup.
Posted by: oo goo gachoo | Apr 18 2019 11:05 utc | 81
This Could Be the First Slavery Reparations Policy in America
As Democratic presidential candidates tackle the fraught issue, undergraduates at Georgetown University have proposed a fund to benefit descendants of 272 slaves sold by the school nearly two centuries ago.
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 11:28 utc | 82
Noam Chomsky says “ultranationalist, reactionary” politicians are taking power around the world, all under the aegis of the United States. Watch our full hour with Chomsky:
https://www.democracynow.org/shows/2019/4/12
Part 1: Noam Chomsky: We Must Confront the “Ultranationalist, Reactionary” Movements Growing Across Globe
Part 2: Chomsky: Nuclear Weapons, Climate Change & the Undermining of Democracy Threaten Future of Planet
Part 3: Chomsky: Arrest of Assange Is “Scandalous” and Highlights Shocking Extraterritorial Reach of U.S.
Part 4: Chomsky: Trump Radically Interfered with Israel’s Election to Help Re-elect Netanyahu
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 11:46 utc | 83
@ Posted by: ralphieboy | Apr 18, 2019 5:11:45 AM | 75
That’s not how the feudalist system worked. The king was not necessarily the owner of all land; in fact, it was essential to the survival of the system that he wasn’t.
The only thing that made a king king in the feudal world was the fact that the other feudal lords of his “zone of influence” were vassals to him. In practice, that meant that, if the king went to war or was threatened by an invasion, all of the other feudal lords under his vassalage should wage it as if it was theirs. This “zone of influence” is what we usually call “kingdom” nowadays. In theory, the king could even have the smallest fief of his kingdom (albeit realpolitik usually take care to keep both factor directly proportional).
Seven sailors are kicked off ‘hunter killer’ nuclear submarine after testing positive for cocaine on duty in ‘major embarrassment for top brass’ and one of the worst scandals to hit Royal Navy
<...>
Seven sailors have been kicked off a Royal Navy ‘hunter killer’ nuclear submarine after being caught taking cocaine, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In one of the worst scandals to hit the Navy, the crew members from HMS Talent – which is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles – were ordered off the submarine after testing positive while on duty.
The sailors attended a drug-fuelled party after the 5,300-ton boat docked at Devonport Naval Base. They failed a compulsory drugs test when they returned to the sub the next day to prepare for a sensitive mission to track Russian submarine movements in the North Sea and the Arctic Circle.
When Royal Navy doctors confirmed the results last week, senior officers ordered that they be handed over to military police.
Defence sources said HMS Talent had been due to sail from Devonport on Friday, but the 280ft-long boat was last night still at the Plymouth base.
The reason for the delay is unclear, but subs require a full complement of crew before going to sea.
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A Navy source said last night: ‘This is a major embarrassment for top brass. It takes years to train submariners to perform highly skilled and highly sensitive roles at sea and the Navy has just lost seven guys due to one night of stupidity.’
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HMS Talent hit the headlines four years ago when she required £500,000 of repairs after striking an iceberg while tracking Russian submarines.
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Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 11:57 utc | 85
Seven sailors are kicked off ‘hunter killer’ nuclear submarine after testing positive for cocaine on duty in ‘major embarrassment for top brass’ and one of the worst scandals to hit Royal Navy
<...>
Seven sailors have been kicked off a Royal Navy ‘hunter killer’ nuclear submarine after being caught taking cocaine, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In one of the worst scandals to hit the Navy, the crew members from HMS Talent – which is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles – were ordered off the submarine after testing positive while on duty.
The sailors attended a drug-fuelled party after the 5,300-ton boat docked at Devonport Naval Base. They failed a compulsory drugs test when they returned to the sub the next day to prepare for a sensitive mission to track Russian submarine movements in the North Sea and the Arctic Circle.
When Royal Navy doctors confirmed the results last week, senior officers ordered that they be handed over to military police.
Defence sources said HMS Talent had been due to sail from Devonport on Friday, but the 280ft-long boat was last night still at the Plymouth base.
The reason for the delay is unclear, but subs require a full complement of crew before going to sea.
<...>
A Navy source said last night: ‘This is a major embarrassment for top brass. It takes years to train submariners to perform highly skilled and highly sensitive roles at sea and the Navy has just lost seven guys due to one night of stupidity.’
<...>
HMS Talent hit the headlines four years ago when she required £500,000 of repairs after striking an iceberg while tracking Russian submarines.
<...>
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 11:57 utc | 86
Middle class struggles are now threatening the global economy
There’s a trend shaking the foundations of the world’s richest economies: middle class life is unfair, expensive and uncertain.
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 12:04 utc | 87
Bernie’s millionaire problem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee8GedvPmBU
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 12:08 utc | 88
Posted by: vk | Apr 18, 2019 7:50:09 AM | 84
Ralphieboy is correct. In the English feudalist system, the king held all the land, on lease or sublease for everybody else.
Land ownership does not matter much nowadays, except for rights of way and protection of the environment. I have found hiking in England quite difficult with all the private property and dogs in between.
Posted by: somebody | Apr 18 2019 12:11 utc | 89
@77 oo goo gachoo
So then you want Trump to win, because you can’t honestly compare Trump to Sanders! It’s just not intellectually honest!
Hoarsewhisperer @73
Pure Trumpjuice swilling rubbish, as usual. I guess you sleep all day and miss the news because after all the shet Trump has pulled, he couldn’t be better for maintaining the Swamp than he is. Reversse pyschology, my ass! You must think you have the power to make others see what even you don’t see. News flash, you sound more ridiculous every day. I ask myself why I bother to engage such nonsense. I think it’s because I know ONLY Zionists still support Trump the way you do and I just can’t let you push that kind of dishonest crap and let you dream you’re getting away with it. People whose perception I respect 100 times more than you are now knocking that Trump excuse bullset you’re peddling: like reverse psychology and dimensional chess. Honestly? You think anyone but the Zionist West Bank choir you’re preaching to buys that kind of dishonest garbage?
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/04/13/trump-supporters-are-hurting-assange-with-their-4-d-chess-talk/
Now quit with the Trump propaganda.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18 2019 12:27 utc | 90
circe 89
Why do you and your fellow TDS sufferers love Trump so much?
https://attempter.wordpress.com/2017/03/18/the-vote-was-unanimous-for-trump/
Lord Rothschild has urged the British public to steer clear of a Brexit vote and remain part of the European Union, in a threatening open letter for The Times.
https://newspunch.com/lord-rothschild-demands-britain-say-in-europe/
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 13:03 utc | 92
What if the Roman Empire never fell, it just went underground for a few centuries to rebuild? Obviously the heart of this empire would still reside in Rome, safely ensconced within Vatican City, which we all know is sovereign territory marked by an Egyptian obelisk:
Of course any empire worth its salt is going to need to collect tributes via taxation and this function is handled by the City of London, itself another sovereign piece of territory marked by an Egyptian obelisk (notice MI6) looming in the background):
And lastly, an empire can only rely on spiritual and financial slavery for so long, and when those two methods fail the next step is military. Enter Washington, D.C., another sovereign piece of territory which also happens to be marked with an obelisk:
What if everything else we bicker and fuss over is nothing but bread and circus designed to distract us away from this reality? What if power is really so pervasive, persistent, and arrogant as to hide in plain sight for half a millennium?
Posted by: SlapHappy | Apr 18 2019 13:04 utc | 93
James Corbett:
The former editor of Time / former Undersecretary of State for Public Policy thinks the US government propagandizing its own citizens is just fine and dandy. And where did he deliver these remarks? At the CFR, of course! Shocking, I know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5tF9Ia1ALE
Posted by: John Doe | Apr 18 2019 13:32 utc | 94
Correction: that isn’t MI6 behind the obelisk in City of London.
Posted by: SlapHappy | Apr 18 2019 13:35 utc | 95
…
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/04/13/trump-supporters-are-hurting-assange-with-their-4-d-chess-talk/
Now quit with the Trump propaganda.
Posted by: Circe | Apr 18, 2019 8:27:00 AM | 89
I read that Caitlin link when you posted it in a previous thread. I’ve a lot of respect for Caitlin’s fearlessness but I couldn’t help noticing that it was littered with many of the same emotive turns of phrase you resort to when over-stating a weak case.
What went right over my head about her rant was this…
How would/ could Trump pardoning Assange yesterday (which is effectively what she’s demanding) help to drain The Swamp?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 18 2019 13:54 utc | 97
@ Posted by: somebody | Apr 18, 2019 8:11:13 AM | 88
In pure juridical terms, he’s right.
But you have to have in mind that, in feudalism, money and commodification were not ubiquitous as it is in capitalism. Enforcement of money and “proprietary” power was still strongly connected with military power. That is so because, with the collapse of the Roman Empire, so fell the patron-client system: the nobles were not paid a “wage” by the king or received any subsidy to work the land; the only way the king had to assert his “rights” was through direct military threat and his sacred image. That’s one of the reasons feudal Europe was plagued by internal wars and disputes.
@49 So can we assume that Buttigieg is being promoted by people who want Trump to win?
I have to revise my opinion of Beto BTW…..what a terrible poet!
Posted by: dh | Apr 18 2019 14:05 utc | 99
In the What Can We Do? category on this open thread it has struck me that an example of ongoing success in the realm of exiting bankerdom is tiny Iceland, which seems to have disappeared from ongoing analysis vis-a-vis success/failure, probably due to the fact that it isn’t making ongoing dramatic news. This from wikipedia:
Iceland has a market economy with relatively low taxes, compared to other OECD countries.[11] It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens.[12] Iceland ranks high in economic, democratic, social stability, and equality, currently ranking first in the world by median wealth per adult. In 2018, it was ranked as the sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations’ Human Development Index, and it ranks first on the Global Peace Index.[7] Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy. Hit hard by the worldwide financial crisis, the nation’s entire banking system systemically failed in October 2008, leading to a severe depression, substantial political unrest, the Icesave dispute, and the institution of capital controls. Some bankers were jailed.[13] Since then, the economy has made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism.[14][15][16] A law that took effect in 2018 makes it illegal in Iceland for women to be paid less than men.[17]
And lest Circe chime in with a ‘so what?’ as she seems to be wired to do today, I’ll just say ‘so nothing especially, but perhaps just to say when it isn’t making news, it just might be a country to study for what it is doing and has been doing
right. In which I would point to
Posted by: juliania | Apr 18 2019 14:11 utc | 100