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April 20, 2019
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-23

Note: Your host is traveling and visiting family. Posting throughout Easter will be light.

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

The piece and issue was picked up by several other blogs and outlets:

No children or ducks harmed by novichok, say health officials – Guardian

Wiltshire council clarification follows claims Donald Trump was shown images to contrary

New York Times Accidentally Unravels UK Government's Official Skripal Narrative – Sputnik
The Official Skripal Story is a Dead Duck – Craig Murray
Trump in Dumps as Spook Picks Sick Kids’n’Dead Duck Trick Pics – The Blogmire
Wie Großbritannien und CIA Donald Trump gegen Russland manipulierten – RT Deutsch
Hospitalized children & dead ducks? The ‘official’ Skripal narrative goes completely quackers – RT English

  • April 18 – First Thoughts On The Mueller Report Release

    • Still reading it. Mueller left out many important issues. The genesis of Russiagate is missing from the report as is any word on the falsehoods in the Steele dossier. The DNC "hack" is taken as fact even though the allegation of Russian involvement is solely based on the word of Crowdstrike, a company with well known anti-Russian bias hired by the DNC.

See also: Ten post-Mueller questions that could turn the tables on Russia collusion investigators – The Hill
and Interview with George Papadopoulos (audio) – Michael Tracey

—
A handy reference to counter the dozens of smears against Julian Assange:

Debunking All The Assange Smears – Caitlin Johnstone

Syria:

The war isn't over. Over the last days Syrian troops were attacked by ISIS remnants in desert and by Al-Qaeda fighters around Idleb. Dozens of soldiers died. There is also a fuel scarcety as U.S. sanctions interrupted oil and fuel supplies from Iran.

Two pieces on how the U.S. and its allies nurtured al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria:

A Brief History of the Destruction of Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp in Syria – William Van Wagenen
EXCLUSIVE: How CIA & allies helped jihadists in Syria – Interview with Maxime Chaix (Recommended)

Maxime Chaix, an expert on clandestine operations, intelligence and US foreign policy, is a journalist and regular contributor to GlobalGeoNews.com. He has written La guerre de l’ombre en Syrie (The Shadow War in Syria, published in French by Éditions Erick Bonnier), a shocker of a book in which he reveals insightful information on the support which several Western intelligence services provided to jihadist militias in Syria, starting with the CIA. His investigation reveals a multi-faceted state scandal and points out the murky game played by the Western powers and their Middle Eastern allies in the Levant.

Use as open thread …

Posted by b on April 20, 2019 at 18:30 UTC | Permalink
Comments

@ Zachary Smith # 170
Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil
The sensational book by Gerard Menuhin, son of the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
Gerard Menuhim writes:
“I suppose it began with a sense, nothing more. Not even a vague sentiment, let alone the certitude that what the average child is taught about major historical events is a pack of lies. It was just a lurking mental itch. My father never spoke of the war, any more than he spoke of anything negative or disagreeable or, indeed, about the past at all, if he could help it.
I never gave the subject much thought, occupied as I was with my daily drudgery, until the Nineties, when, while I was ordering the contents of my deceased grandparents’ house, I chanced on a copy of the National Zeitung, the patriotic German newspaper to which my grandfather had contributed a column for several years during the Sixties.
Due to the exceptional nature of the twelve years of National Socialism, a large and growing body of lurid fiction and alleged fact has materialized, based on its dramatic superficialities rather than on any study or comprehension of its socialist policies, and inspired by a particular agenda.
Sobriety rejects sensationalism. A perusal of reputable historical sources, some of them quite hard to find, helped me to form my own opinion. The most powerful persuasion, however, did not come from the rather dry accounts in my reading, but from the perfectly straightforward deduction that a people with the traditions and culture of the Germans did not almost overnight become barbarians and commit mass murder.”
http://tapnewswire.com/2015/12/tell-the-truth-and-shame-the-devil/

Posted by: Bjarte | Apr 23 2019 22:34 utc | 201

b4real @200–
Well, while I admire Caitlin for her abilities she doesn’t qualify as my “greatest girl”; that appellation belongs to my mutual partner in life and love, Teresa.
Yes, the DNC is tyrannical, despicable and certainly undemocratic. In Greek lore, the word Tyrant was used to smear those who tried to liberate the people from Oligarchy. Given its behavior since 1992, it’s best to frame what’s called the DNC as the OPC–Oligarchy Protection Committee–as it’s primary mission in its own words is to protect its constituency from modern Tyrants like Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, Imran Khan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and any other person pledged to rid the nation of its Oligarchy. Of course, most of us barflies knew that already, but it will be news to millions of self-proclaimed D Party members. Hopefully, such an admission will act as a gunshot to the head of the organization resulting in its death.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s PM Khan and Iranian President Rouhani issued a joint statement covering numerous items of mutual interest after the former finished his two-day visit to Iran. Note what is becoming a standard inclusion within such statements by multipolar favoring nations:
“The parties reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations Charter and international law, in particular the principles of equality of sovereignty, political independence, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. The two sides reiterated the need for all countries to adhere to the rule of law, including in international affairs. In this regard, the two sides expressed their grave concern about unilateral adoption of acts contrary to international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
The situation of Palestinians was specifically mentioned:
“The Iranian President and the Pakistani Prime Minister noted that the right of the people of Palestine to stand up for their rights, in particular the formation of an independent state and sovereignty of Palestine, was the main demand of Muslim countries. The two countries also agreed to help Palestinians in establishing an independent state through regional and international arrangements.”
Nor were the peoples of Kashmir and Afghanistan omitted.
Since New Year’s, much coalescing has occurred between the once disparate nations of Southwest Asia, mostly as a result of Blowback against Trump’s regime. Such solidarity is anathema to the Outlaw US Empire’s designs. It remains to be seen if this is a temporary awakening or a development leading to more permanency. The many announced activities will provide us with evidence to make a clearer judgment.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 23 2019 22:51 utc | 202

@Karlof1
Absolutely not meaning to imply anything other than your latest, greatest author, who happens to be a girl, (of sorts.) Tell Theresa I know a guy who doesn’t have no Theresa, so if Karlof1 ever stops playing nice….
I was just poking at you, always appreciate your comments and links and you do promote new authors, even though sometimes they don’t live up to expectations. Truly appreciate you being consistent and staying focused on what is important to you, which is (via happenstance) also important to the world.
b4real

Posted by: b4real | Apr 23 2019 23:23 utc | 203

@ Bjarte #201
Thanks for the tip. I’d heard of the violist, but never knew he had a weirdo kid. I suppose this is a great example of how genetics is a crap shot. Every now and then some undistinguished peasants produce a true genius in some field. The flip side of this is that the reverse can happen as well. Gerard Menuhin’s ancestors weren’t peasants, and his education opportunities appear to have been remarkable. First Eton College, then Stanford University. But his Wiki is a brief one, centering on the fact the man decided a lousy celebrity was better than remaining an undistinguished nobody. As you probably know, Amazon doesn’t currently have the book for sale, but it’s available many places online for free download. Not that I’d advise anyone to bother – the thing is the most God-awful kludge I’ve seen for quite a while. Badly pieced together short quotes from anywhere and everywhere – Mr. Menuhin’s loser streak continues past his Seventieth birthday.
Nevertheless, I thought it prudent to save a copy of his incoherent mess, for it’ll likely be useful in the future as a reference.

Posted by: Zachary Smith | Apr 23 2019 23:44 utc | 204

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Governing Ukraine is no laughing matter) Posted on April 23, 2019

Posted by: james | Apr 24 2019 0:37 utc | 205

b4real @203–
Thanks for your reply! Yes, I read your remark correctly! Yes, I’ll admit some disappointment with Adam Garrie at Eurasia Future; but overall, my list of people to read keeps growing and I’d like to have more hours in the day–30 would be about right. Perhaps the planet’s rotation could be slowed down and orbital speed decreased. Two journalists to surface (for me) during Russiagate that have a promising future are Ben Norton and Aaron Mate. Here is a very good example of Aaron’s observational power and curiosity:
“If you compare Obama’s near-silence about Russiagate in 2016 & since to the rest of his party, it’s quite the contrast. Also remarkable that the same Dems/pundits who hyperventilate about Trump leaving us defenseless from ‘the Russian attack’ are near-silent about Obama.”
Which followed upon this excellent observation:
“I’ve love to know why, post-election, when Kerry proposed ‘a bipartisan commission to investigate Russian interference,’ modeled on the 9/11 inquiry, Obama ultimately opposed it, ‘effectively killing any chance that a Russia commission would be formed.'”
Which in turn was in answer to this Michael Tracey observation:
“Democrats won’t want to hear this but I see no reason why Barack Obama shouldn’t be called to testify about his knowledge of the Russia investigation origins, especially as it relates to his CIA Director ‘pushing’ the now-debunked and discredited Steele Dossier.”
Clearly one of the reasons why Pelosi and other key Neoliberal Democrats oppose impeaching Trump is the precedent it would set as Obama was the much greater criminal during his tenure than Trump’s been to-date. But you’ll never see that type of discussion in “mainstream” media.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 24 2019 1:11 utc | 206

This is consistent with my theory of how the 2016 Presidential election was rigged:
Hillary puts brakes on impeachment push:

Just hours after Nancy Pelosi attempted to mend the gaping division between the realists and the extremists in her party, failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton decided to pile into the impeachment debate with her own take on the Mueller Report.

“You don’t put impeachment on the table as the only item on the table and say you’re going to get there no matter what, which is what happened in ’99. Instead, you say we are going to proceed with the seriousness that this demands.”
…
“I’m really of the mind that the Mueller report is part of the beginning… because there’s still so much more that we should know and that we should act upon… And we’re a long way from knowing because we need to get the full report — the unredacted version.”
…
“I think there is enough there that any other person who had engaged in those acts would certainly have been indicted.”

<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
Hillary & Company, who is said to have arranged for the Steele Report and Russiagate because the prospect of a Trump Presidency was so terrible, both personally and the establishment is now helping to brake the impeachment train.
“Trust us”, we’ll get him when the time is right. LOL.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 24 2019 1:50 utc | 207

Sunny Runny Burger @ 183: Thanks for the chin-up – much appreciated! I just stopped banging my head against a brick wall. 🙂

Posted by: Jen | Apr 24 2019 2:05 utc | 208

In that last part:

… any other person … would certainly have been indicted.

Hillary doesn’t mean any other President, she means any ORDINARY PERSON.
I can’t emphasize enough what a strange position “go slow” is for Hillary & Company to take.

> When Assange was arrested the establishment smugly cried: “nobody’s above the law!”;
> Jussie Smollet’s nonprosecution drew outrage accross the country with claims of a two-tiered justice system;
> Chelsea Manning has been jailed (AGAIN) for much less than what has been alleged against Trump.

Impeachment is primarily a political act, and most “rank and file” Democrats believe that impeachment could improve their chances to win the Presidency and other offices in 2020. And they’re right! They don’t need to actually REMOVE Trump from office to benefit politically.
Hillary’s “go slow” statement bolsters Pelosi’s “non-starter” position.
So why are establishment Democrats (led by people like Pelosi, Hillary, and Schumer) supporting Trump? Could it be that they don’t hate him like they claimed to? Recall that the Republican establishment – which hated Hillary with a passion for years – strangely supported Trump over Hillary in 2016.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 24 2019 2:20 utc | 209

One of the sites that I frequent is called Reading The Pictures and below is a link to a piece they have up about the Barr version of the Mueller report
The Barr Code: Why the Mueller Redactions Went Viral
But then again, all of this is distraction for the masses, because like others are pointing out, Obama seems to be getting a pass in the report as well as others….back in the Watergate days, as I recall, they called this a modified limited hangout but today its normal wag the dog propaganda.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 24 2019 5:01 utc | 210

Rana Harbi:
Abdullah Alzaher (Shia Muslim) was only 15 y/o when he was arrested for participating in a peaceful protest against the Saudi oppressive regime. He spent 7 years on death row and today he was beheaded alongside 36 other Saudi citizens.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D43cqieX4AA9dtN.jpg

Posted by: John Doe | Apr 24 2019 5:04 utc | 211

Posted by: dh | Apr 23, 2019 2:20:34 PM | 191
(working ON Zelenskiy?)
Ironically, despite RT’s dismissal of the notion of parallels between Trump and Zelenski, it’s beginning to look as though one of the first people to work ON Zelenski will be President Trump.
In his Victory prattle (he promised not to bore The People to death with “speeches”) Zelenski was careful to smear Putin and undertake to ‘save’ Ukraine from Vlad – and end the war with Russia.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 24 2019 5:14 utc | 212

I was musing about Zelenski, and had an interesting flow of thoughts – pure speculation.
He was running a TV show for the oligarch Kolomoyski for a number of years, about an ordinary man suddenly being president. Conveniently, he is also very young. In stature, standing next to Porochenko he is very diminutive – actually tiny.
Consider a few allegations about Kolomoyski (I was going to say facts, but objectively it is not so clear to what extent they are mere assertions and to what extent they may be established facts):
1) As Ukrainian oligarchs go, he is the extreme of all extremes; there are credible claims that he ordered and arranged the shooting down of MH17, believing it to be Putin’s presidential aircraft. He had his own private army, which he allegedly used as a mafia mob to threaten and intimidate. His corruption is said to be unmatched.
2) Without question an extremely ambitious man.
3) He has a huge conflict with Porochenko – both men are an existential threat to the other.
4) Surely he would like to be president, but equally surely he is probably widely detested, so how could he get significant numbers of votes without total prior control of the elctoral process?
Ah, I’ve got it, brilliant idea – why not run a fictional TV show – better still, a comedy – where a popular common man accidentally becomes president. Make that personality very appealing to ordinary people, very popular, very funny, full of sympathy for the problems that ordinary people have – all the qualities that Kolomoyski himself most emphatically lacks – and instill in this fictional character popular policies that induce audiences to think “that is the sort of president we need to have” – especially in those policy areas that are the complete opposite of Kolomoyski himself and therefore most difficult to deceive the electorate on.
Kolomoyski then builds a strong personal relationship with his actor playing the fictional president, building a strong dependency and trust. This is where Zelenski’s youth and diminutive stature plays a significant role – I know very little about Zelenski’s background so that’s all I have to go on!
This in the context of a complete vacuum of acceptable political candidates at the start of the election period – all the “leading” candidates except Zelenski were said to be strongly detested by most Ukrainians, according to the popular narrative (but, what about the non-“leading” candidates?? maybe they were just unknown and had insufficient funds to make themselves sufficiently known).
Kolomoyski then carefully places his puppet Zelenski as a virtual president. Virtual in two senses: (1) virtual in the sense that he is a puppet, completely controlled by the puppet master; and (2) virtual in the sense that everything the public knows and believes about their “president” is totally constructed and fabricated and manipulated – a total virtual reality.
Drawing on Trump as a model, Zelenski becomes a perfect example of ambiguity and unpredictability. According to this model, we can expect him – time after time – to appear to be doing one thing, while actually doing the opposite. Appear to want one thing, while striving for the opposite. Again like Trump, they create situations where there always seem to be plausible reasons for the difference between what he says and what he does. The only example I can cite so far is how Zelenski goes overboard with his apparent hatred of Russia, while saying he wants peace with Russia (because he knows that is what most Ukrainians want). That in itself is ambiguous on multiple levels, because there are so many different ways it could be interpreted.
Again as I said above, this is pure speculation on my part. We shall see how things will turn out. It would certainly be a mistake to have high hopes for Zelensky though.

Posted by: BM | Apr 24 2019 7:14 utc | 213

@204 Zachary Smith
There’s a saying I keep referring to every now and then when people express outrage against the crimes of others to avoid the truth about themselves.
All great truths begin as blasphemies.
Some people shock and sensationalize just to draw attention to themselves, but every now and then, someone utters an outrage against something generally viewed as sacred for another purpose. What if what was once hallowed and sacred has been turned into a sacred cow? A golden calf? Don’t expect Moses to come down with God’s law transcribed on tablets to set the record straight or make everyone righteous again. It is our responsibility to smash sacred cows and golden calves and myths of entitlement and exclusivity and so on sometimes with the most vile utterances imaginable. It’s kind of what Jesus did when he went into the temple and started smashing everything. Did he do it to draw attention to himself or to the fact that the temple had been turned into a den of iniquity? Then once the temple was cleansed, he proceeded to take care of the sick.
Why do you therefore attack the messenger smashing what you view as sacred that is being used for evil purposes i.e. CONTROL, that stands in the way of truth, and is holding back compassionate humanity? Why are you protecting the sacred cow?
This is a case of blasphemy cleansing away a past that has become a source of evil in the present. A human being with a need to control created Frankenstein. He was once human but now he is the monster he created. Am I referring to a German, a Jew or both?
Is Gilad Atzmon a blasphemer? Is Gerard Menuhin who dares go further a blasphemer or worse as you described? Are they unnecessarily, undeservedly needy for attention? The way I see it is like this: their blasphemy is like the truth of children who witnessed Jesus on a tear inside the temple and then taking care of the sick after he CLEANSED, and daring to utter in the presence of the Rabbis: Praise God, for the son of David! They are messengers.
And I’m not a religious person! Proof is, I’m way too profane and flawed for my own good, but the allegory was just too vividly appropriate for me to dismiss.
I noticed you’re a passionate anti-Zionist, and like myself, you’re a blasphemer of Zionism, but unlike me, are you really on a mission to save Zionists from themselves? If so, then why do you condemn the few Jews who really risk their reputation trying to save Jews from themselves with the worst kind of blasphemy? Isn’t this a case where the means justifies the end? Or maybe, like me you could care less for those who create the monster with their need to control. I have no pity that the suffering they inflict will lead to their own destruction. They are not exclusive; the laws of the universe will catch up with them too. I care only about the rest of us suffering their deviant creation. Call me selfish, I don’t care.
A prophet is a blasphemous rebel without honor among his own. Given the seriousness of what Atzmon and others are really railing against, the inhumanity of their own tribe, I cannot but excuse their blasphemy as a means to slay the monstrous creation. Millions of humans throughout history have been the victims of savage inhumanity. It does not give their descendants an exclusive right to turn their tragedy into a sacred cow that shields evil. Even if one is forced to erase history, blaspheme it, or God forbid merely point out that great tragedy is not exclusive to one tribe in the history of mankind, to put an end to evil against others in the present THEN SO BE IT. I cannot judge these purgers of history as you did. It is much worse to try to use something sacred to commit evil, than to erase history! The descendants of the victims defiled and erased that history from the moment they used it as cover for with their wicked and gross injustice inflicted on others.

Posted by: Circe | Apr 24 2019 7:21 utc | 214

Saudi Arabia: 37 put to death in shocking execution spree
The execution of 37 people convicted on “terrorism” charges marks an alarming escalation in Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty, said Amnesty International today. Among those put to death was a young man who was convicted of a crime that took place while he was under the age of 18.
——————–
Where is the outrage of the Western media? One can only guess how much squeal it would be, make a similar Russia or China.

Posted by: John Smith | Apr 24 2019 7:44 utc | 215

Headline from DW: Europe needs to fortify bridges and roads leading towards Russia for Tanks.
Answer from Russian: Thank you for caring, but it’s not necessary. Our Tanks operate even where there are no roads or bridges.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D41MQUWWwAEx4np.jpg

Posted by: John Smith | Apr 24 2019 7:47 utc | 216

US, Afghan forces kill more civilians than militants do – UN report
During the first three months of 2019, international and pro-government forces were responsible for the deaths of 305 civilians, whereas militant groups killed 227 people, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a quarterly report.

Posted by: John Smith | Apr 24 2019 7:57 utc | 217

Japan passes a law to compensate victims of forced sterilisations
They were sterilised as part of a Eugenics Protection Law that was in effect from 1948 to 1996. Some of the victims were physically or cognitively disabled, according to the board that approved their sterilisation. Others had behavioural issues.

Posted by: John Smith | Apr 24 2019 8:07 utc | 218

Washington goes to War: Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism throughout the World
This extraordinary event that took place on April 11, 2019, went virtually unreported in the US media
US Department of State Press Briefing – April 11, 2019
MR PALLADINO: Earlier today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had the honor of swearing in the new United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan S. Carr. As special envoy, he will advise the Secretary of State and lead United States policies and projects aimed at countering anti-Semitism throughout the world.
Mr. Carr has also played a central role in opposing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement on college campuses across the world. It’s my pleasure to introduce you today to Special Envoy Elan Carr who has a few words to say at the top and then he’d be happy to take some questions. Please.
MR CARR: Thank you, Robert. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It was a great honor to be sworn in this morning by the Secretary and an even greater honor to work on this issue as part of an administration committed in unprecedented fashion to the fight against anti-Semitism, to the protection of the Jewish people throughout the world, and to the support for the Jewish state.
we are going to focus relentlessly on ERADICATING this FALSE DISTINCTION between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism….The Secretary could not have been clearer. He stood before 18,000 activists at the AIPAC Policy Conference just two weeks ago and he declared, I quote:
“Let me go on [the] record: ANTI-ZIONISM is ANTI-SEMITISM!”
That will be our rallying cry as we go forward to fight this ancient scourge that sadly is on the rise today and must be combated, and we’re very proud that this department and this administration is focused in unprecedented fashion on doing that.
(to view full US Dept of State Press Briefing, copy the bottom line and paste it to the link above, to avoid breaking up the page
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2019/04/291070.htm
#SPECIALENVOYTOMONITORANDCOMBATANTISEMITISM

Posted by: Bjarte | Apr 24 2019 10:54 utc | 219

John Smith @ 217:
“…Though the most notorious eugenics laws were imposed by Nazi Germany, Japan is not the only nation with similar programmes in peacetime. But overseas laws were mainly revoked in the 1970s.”
Norway and Sweden used to have eugenics programmes via sterilisation as well. As far as I know from past reading, the Swedish program lasted about 40 years from the mid-1930s to 1975 and the majority of victims were female. The most common grounds for sterilising people were mental defectiveness or mental illness, physical disability or some perceived medical / hereditary weakness. Losing one’s virginity at a young age, having a child outside marriage, running around with the local neighbourhood motorcycle gang or general teenage rebelliousness could put a youngster at risk of sterilisation. In some cases, snitching by parents, other relatives or the local pastor was enough recommendation for sterilisation.
In Norway, children born of WWII liaisons between German soldiers and Norwegian women were sometimes at risk of sterilisation, after being taken away from their mothers and dumped into institutions where they were vulnerable to abuse.
Denmark and Finland also ran eugenics programs that included sterilisation during the same period that Norway and Sweden did. The enthusiasm for eugenics programs and sterilisation of people considered mentally, physically or racially defective wasn’t limited to northern Europe; various US states and western Canada (Alberta, British Columbia) were gung-ho about using sterilisation to winnow their populations of undesirable people. Indeed in this respect the US was the role model for Nazi Germany.

Posted by: Jen | Apr 24 2019 11:12 utc | 220

BM @212
I call it the faux populist leadership model.
The candidate pretends to positions that a large section of ordinary people favor while actually serving the establishment or a powerful group within the establishment.
The faux populist psyop is supported by apologists that excuse the leader/hero’s betrayals and is dogged by a lunatic opposition that makes crazy accusations so that those sypathetic to the faux populist will rally around him, and the apologists can dismiss any dissent as originating from the lunatic opposition.
To pull this off requires that you control mainstream media. And keeping people poor, and poorly educated, is a feature, not a bug.
In sum, this model allows the establishment to do what they please, while keeping the people believing that their democracy is working.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 24 2019 12:45 utc | 221

Posted by: Jen | Apr 24, 2019 7:12:40 AM | 219
Weren’t Sweden and Norway both close collaborators with Nazi Germany during WW2? Not being old enough to speak from direct experience of WW2 I’m a bit hazy about the matter. There were certainly top level Swedes working very closely with Adolf Hitler – or were those Vichy-type relationships? There were also certainly some top level German nazis who escaped Berlin as the Russians were closing in by secretly flying to Sweden. Interesting that Norway then sterilyses progeny of German-Norwegian liasons. The nazi inclination was always strong in the scandinavian countries, it seems.
On a not unrelated theme, I have a friend who was born in Berlin in 1942. Her great grandmother was Chinese, and when she was born her eyes looked ever so slightly oriental. Concerned about possible risks from nazi prejudice, the chief doctor in the hospital quietly recommended (and carried out) surgery shortly after birth to conceal the effect. At that time it was an open question how the war might have turned out, and if the Germans had won the war she might have had problems later in life. (Although, it might have been a transient feature which might have disappeared after infancy; nowadays looking at her it is very hard to imagine she could have oriental ancestors).
On Canada, of course there was the concerted policy of genocide against native (aboriginal) Canadians, huge numbers of whom were sterilised during childhood (not to mention kept in institutional homes where they were institutionally sexually abused and also used as guinea pigs for US Nazi Party (CIA branch) biological warfare(*) and mind control experiments, and probably much else besides.
(* I think that is what it was, but could be mis-remembering)

Posted by: BM | Apr 24 2019 12:56 utc | 222

” Is Gerard Menuhin who dares go further a blasphemer or worse as you described?”
He is mistaken if he believes that the Nazi government pursued socialist policies. One clue that it didn’t is that it was allied not only to Germany’s Big Business interests but to German Nationalist politicians which gave it support throughout its long existence during which it consistently pursued anti working class policies.
It imprisoned, tortured and killed thousands of socialists from MPs to local party voters. It smashed the Trade Unions and replaced them with an organisation designed to put workers under constant control and surveillance.
There were some members of the NSDAP who sympathised with racist socialist aims, and they were massacred in 1934, on the orders of the military high command and the Ruhr industrialists with whom Hitler had allied himself.
Sometimes blasphemy is idiocy.

Posted by: bevin | Apr 24 2019 12:59 utc | 223

“During the first three months of 2019, international and pro-government forces were responsible for the deaths of 305 civilians, whereas militant groups killed 227 people, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a quarterly report.”
And that is not including the killings of “militants” who are themselves civilians defending their homeland from foreign invaders. With very few exceptions everyone the US/NATO forces kill is a civilian.

Posted by: bevin | Apr 24 2019 13:03 utc | 224

Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 24, 2019 1:01:45 AM | 211
(The Barr Code: Why the Mueller Redactions Went Viral)
Thanks bigly for the link.
The first half, outlining the logic of the “picture worth a thousand words” concept is excellent.
The second half, flogging premature Dem Party conclusions, not so much.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 24 2019 13:09 utc | 225

…
With very few exceptions everyone the US/NATO forces kill is a civilian.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 24, 2019 9:03:49 AM | 225
Clearly NATO’s ‘formidable’ desk-jockey heroes are incapable of distinguishing self-worship from self-deception. NATO has never attacked an entity with equivalent fire-power to its own chocolate soldiers and suddenly, for no apparent reason, they’re ready to show Putin who’s Boss?
Does anyone, anywhere, believe wussy NATO’s pathetic drivel?

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 24 2019 13:37 utc | 226

New Golan Settlement to Be Named After Trump!
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will name a settlement in the Golan Heights after Donald Trump, in a show of gratitude for the US president’s decision to recognize the region as Israeli territory.
“In honor of President Trump, who recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, [Israel] will soon call for a settlement in the Golan Heights in his name. Happy holiday!” a message posted from Netanyahu’s Twitter account said on Tuesday.
https://www.rt.com/news/457336-netanyahu-golan-settlement-named-trump/

Posted by: Bjarte | Apr 24 2019 13:39 utc | 227

@224 bevin
First of all, I’m not condoning what they did at all. However, I’d like to ask Menuhin whether he’s referring to Bernie’s socialism or the type associated with Communism, and I suspect it was the latter because apparently there was great mistrust of Communism inn Germany at that time, and in fact there was purging of Communism.
Regardless, of Menuhin’s interpretation of the politics at the time, you really fail to get my point anyway, intentionally or otherwise. So I’ll spell it out for you again. I wrote (and now corrected a slight editing failure at the same time☺!):

It is much worse to try to use something sacred to commit evil, than to erase history! The descendants (Zionists) of the victims defiled and erased that history from the moment they used it as cover for their wicked and gross injustice inflicted on others.

I just want to add something here: Liberal Zionists and I’ll go as far as including recovering Zionists who refuse to admit how Jewish historical reference erases the victims of Zionism do more harm than good to the latter. I used to wonder why Atzmon attacked beyond Zionism. I get it now. This attachment to historical references and using them to erase the rights of the victims of Zionism and the rights of those who rightly condemn it is, yes, psychopathic. Let’s call it what it is, shall we?
Now that the descendants of historical tragedy are getting all their way and muzzling the truth, (in that I include criticism condemnation and the machinations of fake present-day victimhood.) there is a need for righteous indignation against the excuses used to prolong the suffering of others, piss on the truth, rob the victims blind and legitimize the denial of their rights!
Now that’s a load of shame to carry! Yet here you are quibbling about whether Menuhin got his facts straight on the politics of the time.
The only thing it proves if he didn’t is that Jews weren’t the exclusive victims, a fact that has been permanently misplaced when they now hug the sacred cow they created. Therefore, not only is the sacred cow used to perpetually erase the victims of Zionism, but permanently erase the OTHER victims of the past tragedy. Now you may wonder how I dare to equate that tragedy with a sacred cow? I only describe what I see it has been turned into. So I repeat, Menuhin’s sin in attempting to smash that sacred cow with fact or fiction is more noble than protecting what is being used for evil purposes.
Now you tried to use the discrepancy in Menuhin’s historical recollection to slam his blasphemy as idiocy, and that makes me suspect YOU, not him of being the idiot. Whether the messenger is imperfect in his interpretation of historical fact doesn’t erase that the message is perfect and needs to be delivered as blasphemous as it sounds to smash what is denying the truth, justice and the erasing of the present victims, i.e. to smash EVIL. THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS AND I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHETHER HIT LER WAS A SOCIALIST OR NOT OR HE WAS A SOCIALIST WHO HATED COMMUNISTS! Don’t try to fudge the truth with irrelevant fact proving you are part of the problem!

Posted by: Circe | Apr 24 2019 17:49 utc | 228

I’ve been slammed many times for bringing the subject of Zionism up, but truth be told, sometimes I’m dragged into it because my silence would be complicit if I failed to bring it up when I clearly see its illicit reach. This is no time to facilitate the concealment of its influence. The sand has run out and we are upon the 11th hour. Trump represents a culmination of Zionist aspirations, a culmination of corrupt power and evil.
Everyone telling me to shut up, because I could make things worse for freedom of expression, is tacitly participating in the muzzling operation while time to fight back runs out. The Muzzle is now being enforced by Trump with his anti-Zionism czar and legislation is rearing itself everywhere to shut down dissent and resistance.
Every way to achieve justice in this situation has been tried and is denied with cunning deception and subversion. BDS is being outlawed although lawsuits are pending and will eventually head to the Supreme Court, and we all know how that front for injustice is rigged. There remains therefore only one way to fight this: SMASH THEIR SACRED COW PREVENTING JUSTICE, ERASING THE TRUTH AND THE VICTIMS TODAY — SMASH IT WITH BLASPHEMY.
The teet of historical victimhood is dry; so it’s time Zionists stop milking that sacred cow to advance evil.
Anyone got a better idea before it’s too late???

Posted by: Circe | Apr 24 2019 18:17 utc | 229

To further the speculations raised @207, we now have the initial discovery results from one of Judicial Watch’s many FOIA suits:
“Judicial Watch announced today that a senior FBI official admitted, in writing and under oath, that the agency found Clinton email records in the Obama White House, specifically, the Executive Office of the President. The FBI also admitted nearly 49,000 Clinton server emails were reviewed as result of a search warrant for her material on the laptop of Anthony Weiner….
“‘This astonishing confirmation, made under oath by the FBI, shows that the Obama FBI had to go to President Obama’s White House office to find emails that Hillary Clinton tried to destroy or hide from the American people.’ said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. ‘No wonder Hillary Clinton has thus far skated – Barack Obama is implicated in her email scheme.'”
As I’ve long presumed, Russiagate was designed as a cover-up “insurance policy” to keep Clinton, Obama and others’s crimes from being investigated. Judicial Watch is no Trump lover. I expect to hear more as the discovery process moves along.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 24 2019 20:32 utc | 230

BM @ 223:
Sweden was officially neutral during WWII but collaborated with Nazi Germany. Norway was occupied by the Nazis who ruled through a Vichy-type government headed by Vidkun Quisling. During the period of Nazi occupation the Norwegian royal family went into exile in London.
Denmark was also occupied by the Nazis and Finland was a Nazi ally, more to preserve its survival as a nation from Soviet occupation than any commonality with Nazi Germany.
The Scandinavian nations and Finland began their eugenics policies some time in the mid-1930s, possibly even during the 1920s. All Western nations then were obsessed with notions of racial purity and racial hygiene, and made policy on the basis of people’s physical appearance and supposed racial type with the aim of keeping white people “pure” and keeping coloured people a subdued minority. Even German-Norwegian children born during the 1940s were treated by Norwegian society after the war as if they were subhuman and many of them were institutionalised.

Posted by: Jen | Apr 24 2019 21:51 utc | 231

Gerard Menuhin discusses Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s banned book, “200 Years Together” (among other topics) and Solzhenitsyn’s estimate that 60 million Russian Christians (his word) were murdered by Bolsheviks, making it the worst mass murder of the 20th century
(Note: the following video is not available in most European countries, unless you use a VPN to connect to a country outside of Europe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isi-n5rq03k
Quotes from Gerard Menuhin: Revisionist Jew, Son of the Famous Violinist
https://forum.codoh.com/viewtopic.php?t=10013

Posted by: Bjarte | Apr 24 2019 23:17 utc | 232

Below is a link about the current situation about US Social Security. I pretty much only go to this site to catch what Dale Coberly has to say about Social Security
US annual Social Security report out
Social Security Insurance is one of the astounding successes of the concept of socialism that the private money folks want to kill and have been trying to for 80 years.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 25 2019 2:35 utc | 233

@ 233
The Menuhin video above is still available in Spain
This ruling from the Spanish High Court explains why:
“The BRD (Federal Republic of Germany) pressed Spain for ten years not to be weak and to hold to the Federal Republic of Germany model Holocaust persecution laws. However what is sought in the BRD with a magnifying glass and is scarcely found is still found in Spain.
Judges who serve Justice with honor and dignity.
“According to the highest Spanish judge Germany’s …[…]… law is not compatible with the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution.
“…The judges argued that (the use of) freedom of expression can offend any person or any group, that is precisely characteristic of freedom of expression.
The fundamental human right to freedom of expression cannot be made dependent on the sensitivities of an individual or of select groups , according to the judge.”
Full article
http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/07/11/Spanish_law.html

Posted by: Bjarte | Apr 25 2019 7:51 utc | 234

Mediastan: A Wikileaks Road Movie | Full Documentary (vid)

Mediastan: A Wikileaks Road Movie: Due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the arrests of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, Sixteen Films and Journeyman Pictures are providing a time-limited free access to the Wikileaks road movie Mediastan. Mediastan is a documentary film directed by Johannes Wahlström and co-produced by Julian Assange, detailing the publication of the very documents for which both Assange and Manning have been incarcerated.

An amazing 2013 documentary that follows the principle of “show, don’t tell”. Not that it will teach the MoA commentariat anything new about the world, but it has a certain unspoken powerful inspirational message. It contains such an overdose of cynical, blunt truth-telling straight from the “journalists” mouths, that there comes a point when one experiences a zen-like insight: this is how it all works as a system — “democracy”, “press freedom”, “public outreach”, etc. — it all becomes so clear, demystified, mundane.

Posted by: S | Apr 26 2019 6:02 utc | 235

The only people in the U.S. who physically protest the Empire’s crimes abroad: USA: DC activists continue to hold Venezuela Embassy to halt takeover.

Posted by: S | Apr 26 2019 12:39 utc | 236

Disturbing to see Craig Murray back away from his support for Assange:

For once, I agree with the Blairites that should a warrant arrive from Sweden that Swedish request should be prioritised for extradition over the US request, not least because rape is much the more serious crime. As the only reason Julian Assange ever claimed asylum was that he saw the Swedish allegations as a ruse to get him into custody for extradition to the US, I would also say that should a warrant from Sweden arrive he should now voluntarily go without further legal resistance, the US extradition point being overtaken.

Although Murray acknowledges that the rape charges were likely to be just a ruse to get Assange to Sweden so that he could be extradited to USA, he thinks Assange just accept that ruse in 2019 despite having fought tooth and nail to resist the ruse in 2010.
PS Why would he EVER agree with the Blairites?

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 27 2019 12:10 utc | 237

Ukraine Tapped By Obama Admin To Hurt Trump, Help Clinton And Protect Bidens
Once again, we see evidence that is best explained by Deep State’s goals to 1) elect a MAGA nationalist to counter the challenge from Russia & China; 2) initiate a new McCarthyism; 3) smear Wikileaks as an agent of Russia; and (bonus) settle scores with Micheal Flynn.
We hear all the time that Hillary wanted Trump to be her opponent because he would be easy to beat. Yet evidence shows that Hillary and Obama took extraordinary measures to set-up Trump, investigate him, and tie him to Russia. Why was that deemed necessary if Trump was so easy to beat and Hillary was the front-runner throughout the race?
And if Trump absolutely HAD TO BE BEATEN then why would Hillary act in ways that alienated key voter segments? She snubbed progressives; she took the black vote for granted; and she called white voters “deplorables”. Then, as the race drew to a close, she chose not to campaign in 3 crucial states that would determine the election!
Is it really believable that Trump emerges unscathed despite the scorn of the entire establishment and the full-weight of the US intelligence community being brought to bear against him? Despite Trump’s rumored connections to organized crime and his numerous failed business enterprises that snookered clients and customers only pornstar Stormy Daniels has managed to damage Trump in any meaningful way? LOL. Sure.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 27 2019 15:00 utc | 238

@Jackrabbit #238: I agree with you that Murray’s argument makes no sense. If Assange is extradited to Sweden and acquitted there, then what’s to stop the U.S. from sending an extradition request to Sweden? Or, worse yet, what’s to stop the U.S. from applying enough pressure on Sweden so it finds Assange guilty of rape? That would be a much better outcome for the Empire, as instead of punishing a publisher, they would have merely punished a “rapist”.

Posted by: S | Apr 27 2019 16:11 utc | 239

@238 jr and @240 s… after reading the article, i get a different take on it then you 2.. murray is highlighting the falsehood with the swedish charges.. maybe if you read the last line again, it will help give my perspective on his post today..
“I ask again. Where is the warrant from Sweden? Are there still people who cannot see the Swedish allegations for the CIA ruse that they always were?”
even better read the bolded part of his post – here
“What is the point of demanding Assange be extradited to Sweden when there is no extradition request from Sweden? What is the point in demanding he face justice in Sweden when there are no charges? Where are the charges from Sweden?
The answer to that is silence.”
this is from the telegraph april 13th link inside that bolded part… “More than 70 MPs and Peers have urged the Government to ensure Julian Assange is extradited to Sweden to face an investigation into sex assault charges against him.
The Parliamentarians have written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid asking him to make sure the Wikileaks founder faces justice in Sweden, before he is extradited to the United States to face conspiracy charges for the leak of government secrets.”
context is everything..

Posted by: james | Apr 27 2019 18:20 utc | 240

james: context is everything..
We all know about the falsehood of the Swedish charges. Craig’s site is not MSM. He’s talking to a small audience and generally a more knowledgeable audience.
The Swedish charges were not dropped, because there were no charges. There was just an investigation. And that investigation can be restarted because the statute of limitations for rape in Sweden is 10 years (Note: that means Sweden has until sometime in summer 2020 to charge Assange).
If it were ANYONE ELSE, the case would be over. Just as, if it were ANYONE ELSE, the UK’s arrest warrant for skipping bail would be rescinded. Assange is not just anyone.
The MP’s vote was shameless political interference and craven CYA deserving only rebuke. There’s no reason whatsoever to concede any point to the Blairite asshats.
What Murray has done is essentially support Assange’s extradition to USA if Sweden starts their investigation again. A possibility that he flippantly jokes about, but is all too real because USA/CIA will do all it can to make an example of Assange.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 28 2019 0:52 utc | 241

Adam Schiff joins Pelosi and Hillary’s unwillingness to impeach Trump

Schiff then seemed to back away from his constant tirade of ‘impeach the mother-fucker’-esque comments …

See my comments @207 and @209 for a sense for how strange and unusual it is for the Democratic leadership to back down from impeachment and why they may be doing so (hint: they are complicit in his election and the new McCarthyism).

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Apr 28 2019 1:01 utc | 242

@241 jr… i get what you are saying.. craig murray is drawing attention to how full of shite these folks are, but your point is it might bite him in a different way.. frankly i can’t see sweden doing anything at this point, but i could be wrong in which case you would be bang on in your concern here.. meanwhile these uk political freaks just keep on getting weirder and crazier… they all deserve brexit and everything that goes with it.. they are a bunch of vacuous flakes serving special interests, as opposed to the people.. and – assange is definitely a person of the people, which makes it disgusting how they all are out to get him.. i hold little to no regard for britian specifically, in relation to the uk and all of it’s bullshite..

Posted by: james | Apr 28 2019 5:21 utc | 243

Harvard Law School
Barack Obama, an alumni of Harvard Law School, was the United States President who ordered the destruction of Africa’s richest, most literate and developed country, Libya, and reduced that country to rubble and a state of lawlessness. Thousands died.
The sovereign wealth fund of the oil rich country has disappeared without trace. Libya’s premier medical facilities that were the envy of it’s continent and it’s neighbours in the Middle East have been destroyed, precisely at the time that it’s citizens required them. Many of the doctors, nurses and ancillary staff, as highly trained as their counterparts in Europe, have also disappeared without trace, many presumed drowned in the waters of the Mediterranean trying to flee to save their lives. Libya is now the poorest state in Africa. The leader who had united it and raised the infrastructural standards to be on a par with the first world, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, never had his day in a court of any description, he was beaten, tortured and sodomised with a knife, before being murdered on the blood soaked streets by a mob.
We have to wonder what it is that they are teaching at the Harvard Law School? In the 1980’s the tiny countries of Central America, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua suffered from their own brutal civil wars. Extreme, right wing governments and militias were either trying to hold onto power or to seize it for themselves from the impoverished indigenous citizenries who sought democracy and guarantees of their fundamental civil and human rights. The United States sent in Elliot Abrams to support the fascistic regimes in the brutal battle against their own civilians. Mr Abrams was another product of the esteemed Harvard Law School. By the end of his time there, hundreds of thousands of some of the world’s poorest people and been murdered, their bodies tossed into mass graves if they were lucky. There was no rule of law, in spite of the fact that there were constitutions and courts, judges and the concept of jurisprudence.
The current Secretary of State of the United States, Mr Mike Pompeo, recently addressed an audience of American students and told them that his former department, the Central Intelligence Agency, of which he was the Director from 2017 until 2018, routinely “lied, cheated and stole” as and when it suited or the occasion demanded. Mike Pompeo is another American official who studied at and graduated from the Harvard Law School.
This Massachusetts institution has had scores of it’s students graduate and pass through, onwards and upwards into positions of authority in the halls of power. It is difficult to see what ethical foundations were laid down in those formative years of studying the law in the seminars of that Cambridge campus. Three alumni of Harvard Law School who have recently served and continue to serve in some of the highest offices of the United States, have done irreparable damage to a number of countries and have done so by breaking every international law that existed to protect them. They did this unapologetically, in order, as Secretary of State Pompeo admitted in a rare moment of candour, to “cheat and steal” from defenceless nation states and their helpless populations.
Perhaps Harvard Law School is not the best place to send one’s kids to learn about ethics, democracy and the rule of law.

Posted by: Steve Keith | Apr 28 2019 7:24 utc | 244

@Steve Keith: Great post, Steve.

Posted by: S | Apr 28 2019 12:29 utc | 245

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