Re: 251 mass shootings. That's fake news.

The Mother Jones database listed 5 mass shootings in 2019 prior to this weekend. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/

Homicides correlate to economic inequality, which is higher in the U.S. than in Europe. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/american-gun-violence_b_1710573

The best weapon against violence may be ... socialism. In the meantime, as long as inequality continues to worsen, expect more social unrest.

Posted by: Dan Lynch | Aug 4 2019 14:07 utc | 1

confirming CIA Torture report

Iran nabs another boat..

Posted by: snake | Aug 4 2019 14:17 utc | 2

reply to #1. No its not fake news. It all depends on ones definition of "mass shooting". There is no agreed upon definition. Definitions include 3 or more casualties in a a single incident, 4 or more, or 3 or 4 deaths in a single incident.

Posted by: ToivoS | Aug 4 2019 14:25 utc | 3

B how about:
U.S. blockages Venezuela with some old frigate.

I think that is pretty-much a declaration of war and an invitation to begin shooting. I imagine most coutries are trying to look past Trump and his henchmen but how long can they hold thier breath.

The U.S. is headless.

Posted by: Jared | Aug 4 2019 14:26 utc | 4

So the FAA is now REALLY going to get seriuos about airline safety.

And Boing is shaking.

Bad FAA!

Now can I get my ticket to fly on MAX?

Oh wait... They havent anounced the name and model changes. Come fly the all new environmentally friendly 8000XRT!!!

Posted by: Jared | Aug 4 2019 14:41 utc | 5

More on "the end of the Japan-South Korea love story" series:

Mitsubishi, Hitachi punished for price fixing

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Sunday it has decided to slap a total of 9.2 billion won ($7.6 million) in fines on four Japanese auto parts suppliers for allegedly colluding to maintain or raise prices of alternators and ignition coils.

According to the corporate watchdog, the four auto parts firms ― Mitsubishi Electric, Hitachi Automotive Systems, Denso Corporation and Diamond Electric ― colluded to rig prices of alternators and ignition coils sold in Korea, between 2004 and 2014.

Why it took 15 years for the FTC to notice "price fixing" by Hitachi and Mitsubishi? Suddenly, those nice, honest, clean Japanese fabrics of technological excellence are dirty price fixers?

Funny how things change in such a short period of time...

Posted by: vk | Aug 4 2019 14:56 utc | 6

About those mass killings in the US

2 in the last 24 hours, one in El Paso, Texas and another in Dayton, Ohio

But they are not domestic terrorism fueled by the world wide Terrorist-In-Chief are they ?

As sick as this may sound, I like the smell of failing empire in the morning.....how much further is the fall?

Thanks for all the reporting b.

@ Joost from other thread asking about therapies to help them sleep and such. Please contact me through my web site and/or go to http://www.lettinggobreath.com/neuromodulation for some information about new "mental health" healing therapies

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 4 2019 14:57 utc | 7

@1 Dan Lynch

Homicides correlate to economic inequality, which is higher in the U.S. than in Europe. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/american-gun-violence_b_1710573

The best weapon against violence may be ... socialism. In the meantime, as long as inequality continues to worsen, expect more social unrest.

Hysterical - so the reason guns kill so many more people in the US than elsewhere is... the gini-coefficient.
Nothing to do with the runaway Black Slaves, Buffalo and Native Indians which required an amendment to the constitution so that they could be hunted down and slaughtered.

Posted by: Michael Droy | Aug 4 2019 14:57 utc | 8

It's the 215th day of the year. There have been 251 mass shootings in the United States this year. Just imagine what the media would write had those happened in Russia.

Posted by: Seamus Padraig | Aug 4 2019 15:10 utc | 9

The supremo question is: Will the US give up its hegemonic status, at present compromised and teetering, see, Russia - China alliance, Al Q set backs, debacles. Ex. Venezuela a damp squib sortie, etc.

Will the US hold back, refrain from, devastation -> use of nukes? My guess is No. Do or die.

Around 1950 the US had about 50% of world GDP, via the exceptional circumstances of post-WW-2 arrangements, USA oil discoveries, expansion, etc. Today, with a larger population, the USA only ‘grabs’ about 20 - 25% of world GDP. Less and less each month…GDP is a dodgy and dumb measure for sure, it only gives some vague ‘indications’.

As no ‘downsizing’ can ever be contemplated, new forms of ‘war’ will see the day.

The use of ‘nukes’ by the US will be dressed up in speech about ‘tempered, targeted, needed’ etc. attacks.

Posted by: Noirette | Aug 4 2019 15:15 utc | 10

Hope is the last thing to give up on...go Assange....

https://www.courthousenews.com/dnc-loses-racketeering-suit-over-2016-election-hack/

Posted by: notlurking | Aug 4 2019 15:49 utc | 11

The mass shooter of people in El Paso, Tx tried to EXONERATE Trump in his manifesto by pretending he had been planning his attack before Trump. Sure, but when he heard the Commander-in-Chief calling the Latino migration an invasion, using the same terminology he ended up using in his manifesto, he probably took that as a tacit, urgent order eliciting some twisted form of patriotic action, to defend America.

Is Trump issuing sublimal commands and eliciting urgent vigilante action when he says other countries are sending rapists, murderers, drug dealers and declares the U.S. is being invaded and infested? It's not subliminal. It's like he's saying: we can no longer contain this invasion, it's an existential threat, all hands on deck.

Of course the shooter tried to exonerate the comnander-in-chief. He wants to ensure Trump stays in power and the mission accomplished.

So on the one hand you have a very susceptible 21-year old, and on the other you have a conniving, experienced man in the seat of power spewing inflammatory rhetoric that gins up racist passions. Who's really the more dangerous one? Who's weaponizing existential fear? Is it the one who has power to influence millions and power to mobilize thousands in an instant or one young kid hanging on for someone powerful to validate his own thinking and pent-up resentment?

Posted by: Circe | Aug 4 2019 15:55 utc | 12

Oh, and one more thing, the kid was 17 when Trump took power. So is that kid actually saying he had these ideas BEFORE Trump when he was 16, 15,or 14? Maybe, but someone elevated them and breathed life into them.

Posted by: Circe | Aug 4 2019 16:06 utc | 13

@Jared #5

Are these planes environmentally friendly because they kill most air travellers, thus reducing demand?

Posted by: Tsar Nicholas | Aug 4 2019 16:07 utc | 14

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-03/irans-fm-zarif-was-secretly-invited-rand-paul-meet-trump-oval-office

If this is true, gives even more credence to the rumors of Trump wanting to get rid of Bolton and his posse. Inviting Zaria to Oval Office is a slap in his ugly face and totally contrary to what he is trying to achieve.

Zaria rejected it because of no permission from Tehran and also that it would have been just a photo-op. But it would have been sweet just to see the look on Boltons face as fumes rising from underneath his ‘stache.

Posted by: Uncle Jon | Aug 4 2019 16:22 utc | 15

Below is a link to the latest spinning of the Skripal plate

US announces new sanctions against Russia over Skripal affair: State dept

The take away quote
"
Washington said Saturday it will oppose “the extension of any loan or financial or technical assistance to Russia” by international financial institutions and put limits on US banks from purchasing Russian sovereign debt, US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

The US will also limit the export of goods and technology to Russia that could be used in the country’s chemical and biological arms programs, Ortagus said.
"

This will simply speed up the development/implementation of alternative global finance tools and hasten their adoption by a growing list of countries.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 4 2019 16:25 utc | 16

Noirette

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone on a comment board predicted the US bombing of Iran, WWIII, nuclear annihilation, etc.

This tendency should become (and maybe has for all I know) the focus for a sociological study in late stage decadence of the western empire. I hesitate to indict so many commenters as nihilists, but only because my schtick has matured from prior times...maybe this is the same as scaring ourselves at horror movies when we were kids, a sort of second childhood developing in old age.

Especially as the overhelming majority of commenters seemingly live uber-comfortable (relatively speaking) lives of retirement leisure (thanks to decadent social democrat state policies about which there are seldom any comments) which allows ample time, personal security and lack of material need to spend goofing around on the internet to our heart's content. And, please, before anyone comes in to tell me how rough THEY have/had it in life....ok fine. I'll cue the sad violins in my head everytime you post from now on.

Often, I wonder why the supposed malcontents of the Western World who spend so much time blogging in fury are never to be found commenting from the front lines of anything, anywhere?

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 4 2019 16:32 utc | 17

Below is a link to the latest spinning of the Skripal plate. by psychohistorian @16 <= but what about the link

Turns out it was Britain that was the foreign country interfering in American affairs

Posted by: snake | Aug 4 2019 16:39 utc | 18

to Jared # 4 Unfortunately Jared I don't think most countries will be turning their heads. There is a big powwow of the "Lima Group" which includes Chile Colombia Argentina Ecuador and Brazil. coming up this Tuesday. This group is committed to "regime change" in Venezuela. Altho Guido has fallen flat on his smarmy little embezzling face, the Lima Group has their eye on - the benjaminos and continue to refer to the Gusano as the "interim president."

Lots of resources - read loot - in Venezuela. The current govs of the LG are all right wingers, some with prior experience in "privatization." Especially Pinera and Bolsonaro, who can't seem to get enough of Pense. Go figure. Anyway, I don't think the Lima Group will necessarily send in the warhorses, but there is sure to be lots of soto voce manipulation. An interesting question is "how much direct funding is Guido getting from the billionaires in the Lima Group?"

cheers

Posted by: Miss Lacy | Aug 4 2019 16:39 utc | 19

to jared # 5 Boing. hahahahahahaa

Posted by: Miss Lacy | Aug 4 2019 16:41 utc | 20

Good news about Asma! "The pearl of the middle east" as Arte (the French/German State sponsored TV channel) rightly called here.. Of course before the NATO mentored Jihadists revolution. ;)

to the 251 mass shootings: I think in this statistic all shootings are included, most are gang related. And everyone should know, those suscepts dont care about gun control, the make a profit from gun control.

Posted by: DontBelieveEitherPr. | Aug 4 2019 16:59 utc | 21

@ snake who provided a link to the UK/Russiagate in response to my comment about the latest US response to the Skripal story.

I have read that they are interrelated but your link does not speak to that so I am wondering what your point is/was?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 4 2019 17:00 utc | 22

Off Topic as such.

A very recent, 04/07/2019, R.T. headline reads:

China is now officially open for foreign oil, gas exploration.

B.P. and Shell and presumably others are interested.

There are many forms of madness, is this one of them?

Posted by: Beibdnn. | Aug 4 2019 17:01 utc | 23

something hasn't happened yet, therefore it will never happen

Posted by: paul | Aug 4 2019 17:10 utc | 24

excellent point. We should trust the same government that lies to us about war, lies to us about surveillance, lies us into prison, lies about the economy, etc., etc;, to decide who gets guns who does not

Posted by: paul | Aug 4 2019 17:12 utc | 25

@Dan Lynch
The Mother Jones database listed 5 mass shootings in 2019 prior to this weekend. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/

Mother Jones only counts very specific incidents and exclude most of the daily ones. Form their explanation:

Our research focused on indiscriminate rampages in public places resulting in four or more victims killed by the attacker. We exclude shootings stemming from more conventionally motivated crimes such as armed robbery or gang violence. Other news outlets and researchers have since published larger tallies that include a wide range of gun crimes in which four or more people have been either wounded or killed.

Homicides correlate to economic inequality

Correlation is not causation. Its the free availability of guns and racism that kills so many in the U.S.

Posted by: b | Aug 4 2019 17:12 utc | 26

donkeytale @ 17

Often, I wonder why the supposed malcontents of the Western World who spend so much time blogging in fury are never to be found commenting from the front lines of anything, anywhere?

I have found the best bloggers do not live in the West. If they did they would be imprisoned or eliminated in some other form or fashion. The cult of National Security trolls is mostly a US invention. They live comfortably in the US. Not sure about how Europe works.

I count two World Wars fought with terrible ferocity and where nuclear weapons were not available. As soon as they became available they were used. It is not a stretch of the imagination to presume that if World War 2 ended with the use of nuclear weapons then if and when World War 3 happens they will be used in some form as well. The latest jets can launch nuclear weapons from their platform as they have been perfected for tactical use.

Now let me turn on my air conditioner, it is 77*F and very uncomfortable in here as I manage my investment portfolio. How I love those dividends. Expecting the climate to change, fall is on the horizon.

Posted by: dltravers | Aug 4 2019 17:16 utc | 27

Pepe Escobar's latest, "Attack on Iran would be an attack on Russia: Moscow is proposing a diametrically opposed vision to Western sanctions, threats and economic war, one that is drawing it ever closer to Tehran."

I linked to and provided an excerpt from Russia's Collective Security proposal Pepe highlights earlier in the week. He also observes the SCO and ASEAN moving together in the Security Realm in an effort to keep the Outlaw US Empire's Death Squads out of their nations. Russia's proposal elicited no reply aside from the institution of more sanctions under pretexts that hold no water, which is to say the Neocons are incapable of reply. IMO, the ball is clearly I Russia's court and they along with Iran and China enjoy the initiative.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 4 2019 17:26 utc | 28

b - thanks for all your hard work and insights...

@26 b quote - "Correlation is not causation. Its the free availability of guns and racism that kills so many in the U.S." from my pov trump is also stimulating the racism card - add that to the mix here as well... building walls is all about racism against mexicans and appealing to americans lowest... i have to say trump and his 24/7 media exposure is also an important contributing factor at this point..

Posted by: james | Aug 4 2019 17:42 utc | 29

B,

Any updates on the criminal investigations into Boing's decision to forego redundancy in design and hide the self-crashing feature?

Posted by: Jared | Aug 4 2019 17:50 utc | 30

@ Michael Droy

If you have the time and inclination to elaborate on your last paragraph, please do.

Posted by: oglalla | Aug 4 2019 17:52 utc | 31

re. Venezuela

It occurs to me that a semi-autonomous drone sub/bomb could shift the interest in blockage.

Might be purchase from 3rd party and delivered to site on demand. Its only business.

Well lets hope it does come to that.

Posted by: Jared | Aug 4 2019 17:55 utc | 32

A quotation> “Fascism in the postwar inevitably will push steadily for Anglo-Saxon imperialism and eventually for war with Russia. Already American fascists are talking and writing about this conflict and using it as an excuse for their internal hatreds and intolerances toward certain races, creeds and classes.”

That was said in 1944, true then, true now...and as we see, true in Texas.

See: The British Roots Of The Deep State: How The Round Table Infiltrated America @ OrientalReview . org

Posted by: Walter | Aug 4 2019 17:57 utc | 33

b#26
"Correlation is not causation. Its the free availability of guns and racism that kills so many in the U.S."

YES to the first part.
QUESTION the second part, though that seems to be common to what most people believe (or, at least, publicly express).
Isn't it possible that more is going on than what is readily apparent / reported?

Posted by: Evelyn | Aug 4 2019 18:46 utc | 34

Re. correlation availabilty of guns and mass homicides -

Just a shot in dark, but makes me wonder if mass killings also correlate to predominance of Methodist church (or even possum population.

Posted by: Jared | Aug 4 2019 19:36 utc | 35

@ b who wrote
"
Its the free availability of guns and racism that kills so many in the U.S.
"
The US has a president who shows the white power sign at rallies and is pictured walking around with a baseball bat trying to look like a movie Mafia don......but don't ever blame him, its always his acolytes that force him into such...right?

When are those that continue to think Trump is not is the center and actively engaged in all the perfidy including his own going to wake up. The blood from the shooting in El Paso is on Trumps's hands and those that still think he is some innocent lamb in all this. Trump is inciting the expression of racism in America. The poor 21 year-old kid probably has delusions that Trump will pardon him for his killings or he would have offed himself like most of the others before him.

Yes, Hillary is a "We came, we saw, he died" war criminal but as I have commented all along we have gone from the frying pan into the fire with the (s)election of Trump. Hillary would have not been able to blow up the world any more than Trump can without the blessing from the elite we don't know of but have brought society to this moment. Trump, the TV bully and fake Mafia don was (s)elected because the other plan by the elites was not working to confront the progress of China/Russia/et al and insure ongoing global private finance.

Racism is fostered by the elite that own global private finance to keep folks from seeing the true criminals behind the curtain. I didn't vote for Trump or Hillary but believe Trump is bringing the word closer to the inflection point we need to get past to survive or put the Cosmos out of its misery as a failed species.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 4 2019 19:58 utc | 36

Federico Pieraccini's provides a useful review of the global Big Picture where he implies in conclusion that Washington, London, Tel Aviv and Riyadh are understood to be the unhealthy part of the globe by the vast majority of nations, which is the context of how we should view Russia's Persian Gulf Collective Security proposal and the SCO & ASEAN's increasingly collaborative security efforts reported by Escobar as linked above.

Trump continues his tree sitting on the thin unstable branches he forced himself to occupy. One wonders what he'll do next to force himself even higher. Given NordStreaam 2's almost finished completion, I'd expect a last-ditch sanctioning of EU nations if they use the product it conveys.

Meanwhile, TurkStream is on schedule to begin shipping gas in the last Q of 2019, the exact time not yet announced. Both strings, one for Turkey another for Southeast Europe, will have a "throughput capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters each."

As we've seen, the desire to control energy sources has driven much conflict and underlies Geopolitics to a large degree. The big problem already existing is the Saudis and the animosity they have for Iran and Qatar. For those two heavily NatGas endowed nations, the most logical destination for their product is Africa via pipeline across Saudi, under Red Sea and emerging in Eritrea and/or Egypt. Such a project won't be undertaken until there's a drastic change in Saudi attitude/leadership. And since Iran and Qatar face the same distribution challenges for their product, I expect to see more joint efforts by them now that Qatar's leadership has come to its senses.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 4 2019 20:18 utc | 37

Wow, donkeytale @17

Such snootiness! It's almost as if the West has never bombed Iraq or ever dropped a nuclear bomb or ever planed to annihilate 20 Russian cities with weapons of mass destruction? I would have thought this tendency of commentators (and b. which you don't mention) might be due to a concern about the general trend of western policy and the positioning of western forces, the racial stereotyping directed towards Russians, Chinese and Iranians.

Posted by: ADKC | Aug 4 2019 20:21 utc | 38

Jared #35 - THAT was helpful!

You'll like these:

Training Exercises Dovetail with Mass Shootings. What are the Odds?

The Las Vegas Mass Shooting – More to the Story Than We’ve Been Told

CIA, mind control & mass shootings - Is there a correlation?

Posted by: Evelyn | Aug 4 2019 20:24 utc | 39

@1 Dan Lynch

In the meantime, as long as inequality continues to worsen, expect more social unrest.

While I agree that economic inequality is worsening, I don't believe it was the motive for most of the mass shootings and definitely not the El Paso shooting. The shooter was from an affluent neighborhood. If you go to his street on Google maps you'll see he lived in a home worth about $700,000.

This is about three issues colliding: an inability to address alienation and mental illness in a compassionate and effective way beyond calling someone crazy and throwing pills at them, rising addiction to...guns, and the demograhic/social conflict and insecurity mass migration produces further stoked by racists.

Mass migration is caused by three avoidable factors neglected and/or created by our dear corrupt leaders: poverty, violence (via weapons and war) and climate change.

Political corruption via corporate, weapons industry and foreign lobby influence causes our leaders to generate more poverty, more violence and to neglect climate change.

Add to this toxic mix, the dumb mass's out-of-control MATERIALISM in a vacum of non-existant spirituality.

The world is doomed.

Posted by: Circe | Aug 4 2019 20:39 utc | 40

psychohistorian @36--

I don't think you can exonerate H Clinton of not being racist that easily--she teamed with Obama to overthrown the Honduran government and further reinforce the other fascist Central American governments which have the result of upholding the Whites in power there while forcing the mestizos to migrate. Then there're the record number of deportations Clinton, then Kerry and Obama instrumented. As for domestic policy, Obama arguably was as White as Trump. Did you catch the shooter's surname; he's from immigrant stock himself and clearly is of such limited intelligence that he probably has no clue as to why the town's name is El Paso or what it means in English; and many similar idiots dwell in Texas and elsewhere.

Did Trump help this deluded kid make his decision? I skimmed his alleged Manifesto, and IMO a case could be made for Trump abetting, but the same could be said for Reagan, the KKK, numerous Neonazi outfits, and so forth. However, the usual place for such hatred to arise is from the shooter's family, after all you "must be carefully taught how to hate and fear." Education too is at fault for not teaching at kindergarten and in every year thereafter that there's only one race--The Human Race--that humans are similar to flowers: they come in many different shapes and colors, but they are all still flowers. (That may seem a very non-controversial fact, but in too many places it is. The Old Testament--written by a Southwest Asian ethnic group, declares god made man in his image; yet almost all Christian and Jewish imagery depict man, his female slaves and their offspring as non-swarthy White-Europeans.) Of course, the Current Oligarchy benefits greatly from the continuation of racism and ethnic conflict as it prevents wider solidarity between the citizenry--a goal the Clintons, Obamas, and their kin in both parties would agree to perpetuate.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 4 2019 21:10 utc | 41

Excellent article, of which especially the last few paragraphs about the NYT editorial staff are highly relevant and revealing: US federal court exposes Democratic Party conspiracy against Assange and WikiLeaks.

Posted by: bjd | Aug 4 2019 21:13 utc | 42

Posted by: b | Aug 4 2019 17:12 utc | 26

Its the free availability of guns and racism that kills so many in the U.S.

And mental health disorders.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 4 2019 21:20 utc | 43

And we now have another mass shooting at Dayton, Ohio. Ten are dead including the shooter. It was clearly premeditated, but too soon to tell if connected to El Paso in some manner. El Paso shooting's being treated as a case of domestic terrorism.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 4 2019 21:24 utc | 44

Proven Propagandist Bellingcat joins D-Party talking-point hit parade attacking Gabbard for being "Assad Apologist." Interesting how she's getting the similar sort of negative publicity Trump got quite a lot of at the outset of his campaign, which only serves to increase her national exposure. Her retorts are forceful and having success; and as Trump proved, smear campaigns no longer are assured of success. Clearly, the Current Oligarchy and their D-Party allies are convinced that the massive propaganda smearing of Assad was successful; but, was it really?

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 4 2019 21:36 utc | 45

There's a rumor the El Paso shooter published a manifesto online where he states he was a Christchurch shooter copycat.

That would make him a "white supremacist". White supremacists have a theory where human race is divided among different races which permanently fight for the supremacy of the race. This dispute occurs on two fronts: extermination of the other race (territorial expansion) and higher reproduction rate (supplantation).

According to the Christchurch shooter, the most immediate enemy of the white race was the "muslim race" (i.e. Arabs). If the manifesto is legit, then we have that, according to the El Paso shooter, the most immediate enemy of the white are the Latinos (or, as he calls in his alleged manifesto, "Mexicans"). The underlying theory, however, is the same.

All of this piles up to the already existing mountain of evidence that proves the old Cold War theory of Totalitarianism -- whose greates exponent was philosopher Hannah Arendt -- is wrong: nazifascism (far-right) is a form of liberalism, not a sister ideology of communism. They arise either when a previously relatively prosperous capitalist society (liberal society) is facing inexorable socioeconomic decline or a communist revolution (or both). A nazifascist/far-righter is a liberal in a mental breakdown.

Trump has a problem in his hands: he clearly supports those white supremacists. However, he wants those white supremacists to redirect their rage towards China (the "yellow race"), not the Arabs or the Latinos.

But not only the white supremacists don't see modern China as its main enemy, they also see it as an ideal country whose model should be copied by their respective nations (in this case, Australia and USA). Apparently, they see modern China (erroneously) as a closed and homogenous (mainly Han) society. Trump made a pathetic attempt to destroy this narrative by trying to publicly blame America's opioid crisis (which preys upon mainly young white males) on China's fentanyl exports. That's unlikely to work, since modern white supremacists seem to prefer a more libertarian approach to the problem they perceive to be the most urgent.

The USA has always had hate waves against mass immigration. Mass immigration are very traumatic events in region, kingdom, empire or nation's history. However, this is the first time there is a well-established and consensual political theory against it in the country. If those far-righters organize, the USA will have a problem in its hands a generation or so from now.

Posted by: vk | Aug 4 2019 22:05 utc | 46

In regards to the recent mass shootings. Studies have shown this has been trending upwards for a few decades now in American society while intentional homicides have been trending downward. Even as access to guns have been getting more restrictive over the years, at least more so than it was in the past. Ironically "gun control" laws were first enacted to keep people of color from arming themselves even as police(the state) killing citizens has been the norm(for people of color) for over 100 years.

Racism is a major factor in the majority of these killings , at least the officer involved ones, but not all, Columbine, Parkland, Vegas, and Pulse are some examples.
Indiscriminate mass killings point to something more of a mental disease. Is it the SSRI's?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/07/25/antidepressants-linked-murders-murderous-thoughts/

I know here in the belly of the beast the average citizen is awashed with prescription drugs, in particular antidepressants. From the morning newscast and the evening newscast advertisements for these drugs and others is nonstop.

And for some nagging reason I can't put my finger on, is the government egging these events to happen other than the obvious bloviator in chief? Is it the vast history of the US government running mind control experiments on its own population ?

Posted by: O | Aug 4 2019 22:13 utc | 47

Wow!! Honesty in reporting!! I must applaud Caitlin Johnstone's boldfaced honesty in her "Propagandists Freak Out Over Gabbard’s Destruction of Harris: Establishment narrative managers distracted attention from a notable antiwar contender, seizing instead the chance to marshal an old smear against her, writes Caitlin Johnstone."

I stopped reading after this passage and had to come her and post a comment about the most honest description of CNN I've ever read:

"CNN is a virulent establishment propaganda firm with an extensive history of promoting lies and brazen psyops in facilitation of U.S. imperialism, so it would make sense that they would try to avoid a subject which would inevitably lead to unauthorized truth-telling on the matter."

Johnstone then recites the smearing attacks alluded to @46 but also tells us why:

"Gabbard just publicly eviscerated a charming, ambitious and completely amoral centrist who would excel at putting a friendly humanitarian face on future wars if elected, and that’s why the narrative managers are flipping out so hard right now."

Harris and Michelle Obama I see as one and the same--both equally putrid. I know I dropped by unequivocal support for Gabbard, but that doesn't mean I'm 100% against her and her efforts. I wholeheartedly support Caitlin's conclusion:

"The shrill, hysterical pushback that Gabbard received last night was very encouraging, because it means she’s forcing them to fight back. In a media environment where the war propaganda machine normally coasts along almost entirely unhindered in mainstream attention, the fact that someone has positioned themselves to move the needle like this says good things for our future. If our society is to have any chance of ever throwing off the omnicidal, ecocidal power establishment which keeps us in a state of endless war and soul-crushing oppression, the first step is punching a hole in the narrative matrix which keeps us hypnotized into believing that this is all normal and acceptable.

"Whoever controls the narrative controls the world. Whoever disrupts that narrative control is doing the real work."

Gabbard must poll 2% or more in at least 4 different polls between 6/28 & 8/28 to qualify for the 3rd debate; she's received enough donations to qualify. She needs to be on the podium!

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 4 2019 22:17 utc | 48

Those videos are clearly of Assad destroying the last hospital in Idlib!

Jocularity aside, that's a lot of dead CIA mercenaries.

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 4 2019 22:27 utc | 49

What do you think about the new ecocapitalist war of the rich and famous against the working class, so as to imposse on us a new astronomic tax, headed by Greta Thunberg, who, according to what I have read is an autist girl, whose parents works in the show business, who stopped eating and talking because her parents were eating meat and traveled by air...( to me that the depression, really common in autist children, was becuase the parents stayed too few at home...)

Well, meet the dirty climate summit of celebrities in Sicily. Bradley Cooper, Prince William, Katy Perry and Leonardo DiCaprio arrive in 114 planes at the exclusive Google camp to address the future of the planet...

https://twitter.com/elperiodico/status/1157432046412804096

Meanwhile, Greta Thunberg, the ecologist girl of the curve, will travel to the NY climate summit in a race sailboat propiety of the Monegasque Royal family, under petronage of Monaco Yatch Club, BMW and a Swiss bank!....Attacked in Twitter for her lack of consistency, she has answered that the sponsors will not be visible in the sailboat....

https://twitter.com/Valeurs/status/1156217818695835648

https://twitter.com/DsantirsoR/status/1157953776512315392

https://www.rt.com/news/465501-greta-thunberg-hates-you/

https://www.rt.com/news/465238-greta-thunberg-macron-photo/

To go piss and take no drop, isn´t it...This privileged people just have had news about that something is going to happen, and thus, they want us dirty ( notice that Greta never appears with her hair clean... to time that she will call out on us for washing ourselves...), enslavized during great part of the year to make ends meet, in the darkness and incommunicado when we arrive at home, and always inside the village....To this add that you will be taxed with most of what you earn being kept with the minimum to survive so as to go to work the next day herded in public transport, or by bicycle, or on foot, plus "herd raping" and "mass shooting" as the new sports in fashion for the new fascists, so as to keep dissenters and women who like to go out cute scared to the bones, and finally you will be living like in the Middle Ages...dud....

If the worst they prepare would be at the level of geopolitics...

Btw, that while you read this, another girl has jumped to stardom in the "peaceful demonstrations" protests in Moscow...

https://twitter.com/JordanPageMusic/status/1157756363226808320

( Now, everybody who does not want to be labeled a fascist for supporting regime change policy of the US everywhere calls himself a "libertarian"....)

Here the protesters charging against police, like in Hong Kong...

https://twitter.com/RusMission_EU/status/1157738899218808832

Btw, attention to the supposed general strike of Monday, there have been already one police station set on fire yesterday night and another one is being sieged by the "peaceful demonstrators"....

There is live footage in Ruptly where people arrives with cardboard boxes and start distributing helmets and gas masks... Attention in this video, at the end, how the two midaged operatives with big backpacks remain vigilant and in visual contact with each other, to finally get close...

https://twitter.com/descifraguerra/status/1157612026786697216

Of course, as Pat Lang and his troupe try to convince us, all this is absolutely genuine, has nothing to do with each other, and, mainly, China and Russia and totalitarian states...

The US regime assaults other countries or imposse illegal sanctions on the others it can not assault, has weapons of mass destruction, kills its own people from diseases or lack of treatment, there are millions of poor people, people die in shootings every week, there is widespread racism ... what are you waiting international community to intervene?

Posted by: Sasha | Aug 4 2019 22:43 utc | 50

Evelyn @ 34, O @ 48:

My suspicion is that some of these supposed "loner" white supremacist individuals have had some contact with security forces in the past either as or through informants. I would not be surprised if many (if not most) such individuals ended up converted to extreme forms of fascism by joining online groups and networks infiltrated by government law and order / security organisations (you can guess which ones in your own countries) looking for gullible informants and patsies.

Before the 1992 Ruby Ridge siege and shoot-out in Idaho that resulted in the deaths of his wife and son, the survivalist Randy Weaver had resisted being drawn into white supremacist groups such as the Aryan Nations (though he personally knew some people in those groups) on the suspicion that he was being set up by law enforcement agencies. (An informant for one such agency met Weaver at an Aryan Nations meeting in 1986.)

WSWS.org has published articles in the past on the close association between far-right extremists and sections of the military and security forces in Germany (like this one, and this one also).

I would not be surprised if some of the mass shootings (and other supposed terrorist incidents blamed on radicalised Muslim individuals) that have occurred in the US and elsewhere eventually turn out to have the fingerprints of agencies that claim to be protecting the public.

Posted by: Jen | Aug 4 2019 22:47 utc | 51

And this latest news just in from Chicago: At least three people were killed and 40 were wounded in weekend shootings across Chicago. This weekend total includes four shootings on August 2, 12 shootings on August 3 and five shootings on August 4. This has been happening EVERY weekend since the end of May with nary a sound from U.S. MSM. Hmmmm.

Posted by: thecelticwithinme | Aug 4 2019 22:49 utc | 52

Jen #52 -- "I would not be surprised if some of the mass shootings (and other supposed terrorist incidents blamed on radicalised Muslim individuals) that have occurred in the US and elsewhere eventually turn out to have the fingerprints of agencies that claim to be protecting the public."

Almost certainly. Thanks, Jen.

Posted by: Evelyn | Aug 4 2019 22:53 utc | 53

Posted by: O | Aug 4 2019 22:13 utc | 48

USians are completely stressed out.

Rodriguez forgot to drop the children off at their daycare on Friday morning. He informed authorities that he did not realize that the twins Luna and Phoenix were still in the back seat when he parked at the Bronx hospital where he's a social worker, court papers reveal.

Eight hours later, the twins registered an internal temperature of 108 degrees when the coroners examined their bodies in their car seats. At the scene, Rodriguez informed cops, "I assumed I dropped them off at daycare before I went to work," according to the criminal complaint against him.

"I blanked out!" he cried. "My babies are dead! I killed my babies!"

At his arraignment on Saturday, July 27 night before Bronx Criminal Court Justice Patsy Goldborne, he was still sobbing. A disabled Irag war veteran, he was wearing the same turquoise blue polo shirt he'd worn on Friday when he went to work on Friday as he cared for homeless and ailing vets at his job at a VA hospital in Kingsbridge; apparently unaware of the fact that the back seat of his Honda Accord in the parking lot was becoming a death trap for his own children.

Never mind having no paid vacation time and no paid maternity leave, no health insurance cover if unemployed and stuff like that.
In this country - Germany - which is about average in Europe with work regulations - you are legally entitled to a minimum of four weeks paid holiday per year and 14 to 18 weeks paid leave for having a child plus 14 months subsidized by the state which they can share with their partners to look after the child plus there are subsidies for part time work.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 4 2019 22:55 utc | 54

Re: the mass shootings - We're a militarized and regimented society at this point. The NRA and its supporters have effectively prevented any analysis or examination of the American love of ever more powerful, easily concealed and manufacturable (as in the case of a 3-D printed gun, where one would still need to procure a barrel) military style/grade weapons. This is all enabled by Hollywood which only relatively recently was demonstrated to be nearly totally corrupted/co-opted by the Pentagon. The military has virtual veto power over too many films and television programs, video games, and even sporting events are used to project military principles. But it's forbidden for reporters - even the "embedded" lackeys - to publish any news or photographs that depict the violent results of our needless wars on the human body, especially American "troops"....

But more importantly, these mass shootings take place in a society where even local police are militarized both in form and function. They've had military grade weaponry and vehicles and surveillance tactics for a while now, but have almost completely transformed the rule of law into whatever arbitrary "order" a police officer gives a citizen. Try walking away from a cop - especially if you're black. You are NOT required to provide identification to an officer unless you are driving and pulled over for a stated reason or unless the officer tells you that you are a suspect in a crime - at which point you simply have to provide your name and address of residence. Good luck asserting these rights however. The cop is the drill sergeant and you are his direct report; period. Disobedience constitutes an immediate and ever more nebulous "crime" for which you can be shot on sight, even if you're unarmed and for which there is NO real accountability for the officer(s) besides temporary paid leave in 99% of cases.

Every time there is one of these shootings I try to get as many people to read the following pieces including links by John Whitehead and Steve Martinot. This is all related, people - the United States has succumbed to a worship of violence and submitted to authoritarianism and with each new generation the gun violence will only get worse. We are at a point where the government authorities will gladly lock down a city and impose martial law to find a single suspected terrorist but do nothing (and in the case of El Paso not a single police bullet was fired - can't sell loosie cigarettes on the corner though, that's a serious offense) to prevent the or adequately deal with the continuing carnage.

gun-culture-and-the-american-nightmare-of-violence

Boston Marathon bombing and US gun laws

Mass Shootings, Culture of Violence and the Military Entertainment Complex

Pentagon Influence on Hollywood, etc.

Posted by: KC | Aug 4 2019 23:03 utc | 55

Trump Overruled All Advisors Except Navarro "In Heated Exchange" Before Launching New China Tariffs

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-04/trump-overruled-all-advisors-except-navarro-launching-new-china-tariffs

So much for Trump being a "moderate" and "not a hawk".

In my assessment Trump is very aggressive President foreign policy wise. Way more aggressive than Obama.

Posted by: Passer by | Aug 4 2019 23:56 utc | 56

"My suspicion is that some of these supposed "loner" white supremacist individuals have had some contact with security forces in the past either as or through informants."
Posted by: Jen | Aug 4 2019 22:47 utc | 52

Yes this is one of my suspicions as well in particular when some of these shooters had documented contact with the FBI or law enforcement prior to committing the acts of violence. Or when the FBI foils some 'terrorist plot' all the while they were the one providing the means for the terrorist plot to happen in the first place.

Posted by: O | Aug 5 2019 0:02 utc | 57

@ karlof1 | Aug 4 2019 21:36 utc | 46

Yep, that is something. This guy and his ilk still being widely accepted as a source of information - shudder. Though, and I truly hate to say this, Postol screwed up big time, imo totally unnecessary at that, in his debate with Higgins when he felt the need to delve into chemistry, which isn't his field of expertise. This Lofer/Kofer? lady, former chemist at Los Alamos I believe, is certainly correct in her criticism of Postol's statements on chemical issues during that debate. That is why people better refrain from discussing scientific/technological issues in depth outside their field of expertise. This incident undermined Postol's credibility with more than only a few observers, unfortunately.

Posted by: Hmpf | Aug 5 2019 0:03 utc | 58

Below are two links from Xinhuanet that MoA barflies may find informative

Erdogan says Turkey to launch offensive in northern Syria

The take away quote
"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that his country will carry out a military operation in northern Syria against Kurdish militia that it views as a "grave security threat."

The operation will be carried out east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria, an area controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the Turkish leader said in the northwestern city of Bursa during a motorway opening ceremony.

Turkey has been very frustrated with the United States, which made an agreement with Ankara to implement a safe zone in northern Syria.
"

Iraqi, Egyptian, Jordanian FMs meet in Baghdad to boost ties, ease regional tension

The take away quote
"
The meeting discussed "the tension between neighboring Iran and the United States, and Iraq's position toward this crisis is clear as it is based on calm and reduce the escalation by adopting efforts to resolve this crisis by peaceful means," Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim told a joint press conference with his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts.
"

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 5 2019 1:56 utc | 59

@49 karlof1.. thanks for your update on tulsi.. i like the lady and like what she is doing too.. i hope she continues to get a chance to address what she is... i continue to get the caitlin johnstone articles as i subscribed to them..

@51 sasha... pat lang is a bit of an idiot - a pompous one at that!

@52 jen - last sentence - yeah, that is another concern here too..

@53 thecelticwithinme.. i wonder how much international coverage this is being given? doesn't look like any..

@60 psychohistorian.. about turkey doing that - i am curious how usa responds...

Posted by: james | Aug 5 2019 2:17 utc | 60

latest from caitlin johnstone that goes right into @52 jens last comment...

Americans Should Be Very Skeptical Of Calls For New “Terrorism” Laws

they'll get rammed thru in the police state, no matter...

Posted by: james | Aug 5 2019 2:21 utc | 61

criag murrays latest which is also quite good...

In the World of Truth and Fact, Russiagate is Dead. In the World of the Political Establishment, it is Still the New 4

Posted by: james | Aug 5 2019 2:31 utc | 62

Maximus at #41 posted a link that would be easy to miss.

It's an article at Unz by Godfree Roberts giving one of the best breakdowns of the democratic process by which China tests and surveys and performs trials of potential legislation and policies before choosindg the best performing concepts and rewarding those who initiated them:

Hong Kong, Trial Spot

Within this context, Roberts claims, Hong Kong too is a long-term trial, and if it should end up with the best results as a city, China would emulate its example. Sadly, and as we have discussed, Hong Kong is failing to match the successes of the rest of China. Hong Kong under its old colonial system, has 23% child poverty, while the mainland has 2%.

Roberts's footnotes are interesting in this regard. The US has 21% child poverty and 62% home ownership, compared with China's 2% child poverty and 78% home ownership - speaking of examples to emulate.

Posted by: Grieved | Aug 5 2019 2:59 utc | 63

I read this posting at ZH and think MoA barflies need to see this data

Currency War Begins: Chinese Yuan Crashes Past 7 To New Record Low As Global Markets Tumble

It is too early to tell how this will escalate but we are in WWIII folks and this is one of the "fronts" of the war

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 5 2019 3:44 utc | 64

What if sanctions were really about walling off the US from the rest of the world so that as they deteriorate and kill each other, the rest of us can ease through the transition?

Posted by: Jezabeel | Aug 5 2019 3:45 utc | 65

Jimmy Dore - Tulsi Destroys Kamala & Kamala Blames Russia!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4212v5duBIM

Posted by: Stever | Aug 5 2019 3:50 utc | 66

Posted by: Passer by | Aug 4 2019 23:56 utc | 57

"In my assessment Trump is very aggressive President foreign policy wise. Way more aggressive than Obama."

--A significant difference is that of body count, and clearly Obama wins that grotesque "competition" with flying colors.

dollars v lives...

Posted by: Anacharsis | Aug 5 2019 4:39 utc | 67

thecelticwithinme @ 53:

U.S. is inoculated to black-on-black in Chicago after decades of s.o.s. What do people expect?

Posted by: Anacharsis | Aug 5 2019 5:12 utc | 68

@26 and @29 -

Oops. Your reasoning about "guns and racism" as the cause appears to be dead wrong with the Dayton shooter. He was a lefty who appeared to be a supporter of Pocahontas. The AP reports that one of the 9 dead is the shooter's sister. Whoa! Something else was the motivation for the Dayton shooter, and "racism" isn't likely part of it.

How many of the shooters over that past two decades were on anti-depressants? Yes, it's a theory. The tendencies toward suicide are clearly marked as a warning on SSRI anti-depressants, and many of the mass shooters of recent years were on anti-depressants. And yes, Alex Jones has brought that possibility up numerous times. Therefore it must be false. Not. Think for yourself folks - be skeptical of anything you read or hear - regardless of the source, including here at MOA.

Posted by: Don Wills | Aug 5 2019 5:20 utc | 69

Posted by: Circe | Aug 4 2019 20:39 utc | 40

"The world is doomed."

Again I quote "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads:

"Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was..."

Posted by: Anacharsis | Aug 5 2019 5:21 utc | 70

The HK situation is more interesting, i.e. worse, than it first appears. I am not sanguine that the Colour Revolution here will be suppressed by local authorities. It is clear that the police are loath to use anything approaching adequate force on rioters, as they will face an unsupportive and indeed overzealous magistracy, one prepared to jail police readily, but which will release rioters on derisory bail amounts.

In that connection, think of Andy Chan, allegedly arrested in a building full of explosives and offensive weapons, who was promptly bailed for a mere HKD1,000 without any restriction on leaving Hong Kong.

Effectively, the administration in HK is failing to exercise the first prerogative of a state, that being the monopoly on the use of force. Large parts of the legislature and the judiciary will not support the police, so they do not do their jobs beyond a highly ineffective minimum.

In such conditions the HK government cannot survive. I think it is much more likely now that there will be armed intervention from China. There must be. HK authorities are split and can no longer use force as appropriate and required.

Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Aug 5 2019 5:37 utc | 71

Stever @ 68; Thanks for the link.

Posted by: ben | Aug 5 2019 5:39 utc | 72

@karlo1 46
Loved Bellingcat's tweet:

I just wrote 4000 words on @TulsiGabbard's "Reports on Chemical Attacks in Syria". Dear Reader, it's really bad.https://t.co/gWl5xNHXdd
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) August 4, 2019

and the comment by Drazil Tembero in the above RT posting

I will not announce a report with the number of words that I have written.
I will not announce a report with the number of words that I have written.
I will not announce a report with the number of words that I have written.

As a former translator I understand the value of being payed by the word!

A bit like the Muller report, I guess

Posted by: el sid | Aug 5 2019 8:19 utc | 73

As one can read today, the Dayton shooter was a Warren/Sanders supporter.
Right.
The noose tightens. The US is inching towards another civil war. Maybe that is also the reason for the Fascist Bureau of Instigation to declare anybody that has issues with how their regime handles its affairs as a domestic terrorist. That's a large number of terrorists, like a few hundred millions?

Before I leave, I would like to ask Bernhard to delete comments and to block the IPs of the commenters that distribute their hateful homophobia on this board. Religious freaks that are already promoting violence against minorities should not be given the space to do so. They can go to RT for that. The homophobia-central, as is clearly visible in their comment section.

The award on the top left should be enough reason to block these stooges. Otherwise they achieve their goal of giving the visitor the wrong impression about what kind of comments are tolerated. Hate speech against minorities is not covered under 'free speech'.

Thank You very much.

Posted by: nottheonly1 | Aug 5 2019 12:13 utc | 74

@75 -

Your post is very confusing. Do the first two sentences imply you do not believe various reports concerning the Dayton shooter's Twitter account posts?

You ask b to block commenters who post "hateful homophobia". Homophobia is hatred for homosexuals. I cannot recall any posts here that expressed anything related to homophobia. Maybe I missed the posts - please correct me if I'm wrong.

You state that "religious freaks that are already promoting violence against minorities" should not be allowed to post here. I cannot recall any posts that expressed such ideas. Examples please.

Then you state that "Hate speech against minorities is not covered under 'free speech'". Wrong. A) Your comment implies that hate speech against white folks is OK, and B) yes, hate speech IS COVERED by the First Amendment which is where the liberty called free speech is specifically enumerated - although b is of course free to block any posts he wants to for any reason whatsoever because this is thankfully not a government run or controlled space.

Posted by: Don Wills | Aug 5 2019 13:39 utc | 75

@ Posted by: Don Wills | Aug 5 2019 5:20 utc | 69

It's not that simple.

According to the Dayton Daily News, the shooter:

[...]was once kicked out of Bellbrook High School for making a list of girls he wanted to kill, the Dayton Daily News learned in interviews with former classmates and school administrators.

According to sources interviewed by this organization, the shooter was suspended in high school for causing a lockdown by writing a hit list on a bathroom wall.

[...]

Investigators said it is too early to speculate on a motive.

The only documented evidence we have that he was a leftist (supporter of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) comes from some tweets retrieved from his deleted account. But there's no manifesto, and he showed signs of psychopathy since High School (before any American outside Vermont and Massachusetts knew Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren existed).

So, available evidence suggests the Dayton gunman was indeed a mental health problem. He was a killer that, by chance, was also a leftist.

The El Paso's gunman is a completely different case. There's evidence he planned the whole thing months in advance, he drove for 9 hours to the city (he was not from El Paso) in order to kill a specific kind of people. Most importantly, he very likely left a written manifesto online (on the website 8chan).

It's hard to trace a pattern between all the mass shooters in America. They are rarely captured alive (either because they are gunned down by the cops or because they commit suicide) and, when they are, prosecutors quickly put them to death. They are almost never put at the hands of a team of psychiatrists.

The problem with your (or rather Alex Jones') antidepressant theory is that there's simply no evidence that even suggest such a correlation. All the developed (and much of the developing) world take a lot of antidepressants. There's also no evidence antidepressants cause psychosis -- on the contrary, the goal of an antidepressant is to put the brain to a "neutral state".

Posted by: vk | Aug 5 2019 14:01 utc | 76

Latest!!
Trump's schizophrenia is progressing well!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49240310
Trump: US must condemn white supremacy

Soon he will say that the Christian Zionists are the enemies of Israel.

Posted by: Mina | Aug 5 2019 14:31 utc | 77

@ Posted by: Mina | Aug 5 2019 14:31 utc | 78

My opinion about Trump is that he's not a white supremacist, but he thought he could use the nationalist aspect of white supremacism in order to unite the country in his fight against China (if we're to take Pepe Escobar's reports as genuine, Steve Bannon exerted a great influence over Trump's worldview during the campaign and after the took office).

He may be losing his faith on white supremacism's potential as a national binder. The fact is modern nazifascism was born in a communist-free world, so it has another agenda (at least in the short term). Trump already is an 80-year old man who may not be reelected in 2020, so he doesn't have the time to wait for this new far-right to evolve into an effective anti-communist doctrine.

Posted by: vk | Aug 5 2019 14:38 utc | 78

vk - I commend you for your comment. However, you need to look into the anecdotal evidence linking SSRI withdrawal to suicide and, more importantly, linking SSRI use to a mental deficiency in the impulse control area of the brain. In simple terms, some people (unknown percent) who take SSRI anti-depressants cease to have the self control with respect to violence that undrugged people have. This aspect of SSRI usage is a documented side effect.

I do not know the percentage of shooters who were taking or had been taking anti-depressants compared with the percentage of the US populace that use SSRIs, therefore I can't make any claims. I only suggest a theory that SHOULD BE TESTED BUT WON'T BE because of the huge profits for big pharma generated by SSRI sales.

FWIW, anyone who cares should look into the claims made in a World Net Daily article dated Feb 15, 2018 about this very topic.

If there is a correlation (a theory), then yes correlation is not causation, so no conclusions should be made. It may be that mentally fragile folks take SSRIs and the SSRIs don't do anything to make them more prone to mass killings. I don't know. But to summarily dismiss this possibility falls into the trap that big pharma thrives off of.

Posted by: Don Wills | Aug 5 2019 14:42 utc | 79

VK

Agreed. This is a typical Fox News meme and an actual example of what jackrabbit frequently (and often erroneously) terms "false equivalence" in his comments.

Trump's racism against Latino immigrants plays a yuge role in goading sick people into these heinous acts and this is well documented with the EL Paso killer. This doesn't mean every Trump supporter is a co-conspirator in every racist massacre but it points out the disturbing group psychology of sick individuals connecting with the normalisation of racist ideas by Trump and taking them to this tragic conclusion. With the easily obtainable automatic weaponry which is also a feature of GOP politics.

The concentration camps administered by the Trump's SS (Border Patrol and ICE) on the southern border which literally dehumanise immigrants seeking to escape from the climate induced degradation of the tropical zone are a perfect example of validating this racist idea promoted by Trump and supported by his party.

Not really different either from the climate-induced immigration from the south into Europe which gives rise to that Trumpist variant known as "Brexit."

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 14:46 utc | 80

.. this is the same as scaring ourselves at horror movies when we were kids .. donkey tale @ 17

Maybe :)

However, I am also the person who has consistently said that the US will not attack Iran, post Trump election, and that no invasion etc. of Venezuela would take place, Random Guy-do was a lame plot that would collapse or even backfire badly (though I see there is now talk of a blockade?) and that moves / bombing in Syria would be minor or symbolic, which is exactly what Trump did (more or less..), so I am not your snowflake Oh My God War will Kill Us Me person.

I do think that MAD balance is being steadily and consistently eroded. The ‘old’ Cold War was based on some rationality (on the surface, whom exactly it served is another matter) with its various treaties, which were entered into in good faith (say) and respected - on the whole.

Those days (e.g. Reagan-Gorby ..) have gone by, and the New Cold War is far more dangerous, as it entails the fracturing of the ‘old’ standard, with many jagged inconsidered moves, extraordinary exagerations and ‘sense-leaving’ (media, other, hysteria, e.g. NATO, hyping, lies, bluff..), competition between individual actors, etc. The tearing up of past treaties, agreements, and ‘ways of acting’ in diplomacy. With the added complication, today, of a China arisen.

The existential long-standing opposition is between Russia and the Anglos, see also, Walter 33.

The only ones who have used nukes are the USA - incl. depleted uranium weapons.

Posted by: Noirette | Aug 5 2019 15:14 utc | 81

@69 don wills... racism is what trump excels at... building a wall to keep mexicans out and this crazy murders 29 innocent latinos at a walmart... trump can try to dress it up anyway he wants - the guy is xenophobic and he is responsible for more of the corrosion taking place daily in the usa... this is why he came on the news today to say it is the internet and social media that is the problem... this fucking idiot for president - twitter dude - is a fucking idiot..

Posted by: james | Aug 5 2019 15:32 utc | 82

@ Posted by: Don Wills | Aug 5 2019 14:42 utc | 80

[...] you need to look into the anecdotal evidence linking SSRI withdrawal to suicide and, more importantly, linking SSRI use to a mental deficiency in the impulse control area of the brain. In simple terms, some people (unknown percent) who take SSRI anti-depressants cease to have the self control with respect to violence that undrugged people have. This aspect of SSRI usage is a documented side effect.

Even if your hypothesis turns out to be valid, that would also mean they would impair the individual's capacity to plan in the medium-long term. The El Paso gunman planned his attack with at least one month of antecedence. He took care to choose the place, the time, the date and also the fairly complicated logistics to execute the plan. He also allegedly published a manifesto which didn't seem to be written by someone with attention deficit (even mentioning the Christchurch massacre as his inspiration). Definitely not the modus operandi of a mad person with impulse control problems.

Yes, I reinforce my statement that Trump is not a white supremacist himself, but a person who has a pragmatic view of white supremacism: he sees it as an ideology with good potential, but still too green to be readily used for America's national interests. His only red line is the absolute subjugation of socialist China: if the white supremacists insist in not considering socialist China the main enemy, then he will not hesitate to throw it away like an used condom.

As an American capitalist with class consciousness, Donald Trump knows who America's real enemy is -- and it is socialism (which, in the 21st century, essentially survives through China).

Posted by: vk | Aug 5 2019 15:56 utc | 83

Another gem just came out at the NYT:

America Could Lose a Real War Against Russia -- With Putin and Trump having torn up a Cold War pact that lowered the risk of nuclear war, America should build more conventional missiles to catch up with Russia and China

Posted by: vk | Aug 5 2019 15:59 utc | 84

VK

if China exemplifies socialism of the 21st Century then socialism is non-existent in the 21st century. China is the most income and wealth unequal major economy and growing moreso by the year...much like the US whose macroeconomic policies it increasingly emulates.

Not to set psychohistorian off but JP Morgan just became the 1st western private bankster to acquire majority ownership interest in a Chinese private wealth fund.

You hope the communist party (which consists of many of the wealthiest Chinese "entrepreneurs" in a classic Orwellian paradox of fake leftism) someday reverts to socialism in the 21st Century but the evidence from the data prove conclusively China is a managed capitalist economy which in fact is trending less socialist by its own laws over time.

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 16:18 utc | 85

Linky thingie:

A 2% percent stake in the venture, China International Fund Management (CIFM), changed hands in an auction at the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange.

In a filing on Friday, the exchange did not identify the buyer, but two sources with knowledge of the deal, which still needs regulatory approval, told Reuters that JPMorgan Asset Management Co was the sole bidder. JPMorgan, which had held 49% of the venture, declined to comment.

Under rule changes announced by China in late 2017, foreign asset managers were authorized to own up to 51 percent of their Chinese mutual fund ventures.

But so far none had raised their stakes to absolute majorities.

Last month Beijing, embroiled in a bitter trade war with Washington that is weighing on its economy, said it would scrap financial sector ownership limits in 2020, one year earlier than scheduled. Also on Friday, Morgan Stanley became the latest of a handful of foreign firms to take a majority stake in a China-based brokerage venture, also buying a 2% stake.

Peter Alexander, Managing Director of Shanghai-based fund consultancy Z-Ben Advisors, said both transactions were likely to be the tip of an iceberg.

“China policy, irrespective of ongoing bilateral trade issues, is centered on the opening up of the local financial services industry to global participation,” Alexander said, referring to the escalating Sino-U.S. trade war."

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 16:31 utc | 86

Noirette - 82

You are correct. The US is the only nation to use nukes in anger although I'm not entirely sure about the use of depleted uranium weapons, either what that constitutes or if the US is the only one. Havent looked into it. Thanks. Now I will.

Today's nukes of course are much more devastating and their use leads to MAD which was not the case in Truman's day. I'm not backing Harr A's decision to melt two Japanese cities and their inhabitants in any way shape or form but I can comprehend the temptation presented by their use, diabolical though it can be rightly termed, of wanting to end the Japanese Empire in 1945 sooner rather than later.

Nothing goes on today in reality that can be construed on the same or even near a similar level of imperialism than wrought by Japan in the first half of the 20th Century....but of course this probably won't stop someone from arguing with me about it. :)

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 17:09 utc | 87

Zarif/Iran following Russian proposal:

"Reiterated that collapse of US credibility is evident in its failure to get even own clients to join its schemes.

"Regional nations will remain neighbors long after US is gone. Time for regional leaders to focus on regional solutions: dialog & non-aggression pact is a good start." [My Emphasis]

Zarif invokes the initial steps Russia proposed for a Persian Gulf Regional Collective Security Agreement at the annual Journalist Day press conference. In case you missed it, here's the full text of Russia's proposal. Here's the relevant part Zarif invokes:

"... commitment to the settlement of territorial and border disputes solely through negotiations or by other peaceful means, fulfillment in good faith of their international commitments."

UAE has already held a series of talks with Iran as has Qatar and Oman. The Saudis are likely conducting backchannel talks. Kuwait has already signaled its readiness for talks. The stage is thus set for something productive to occur that doesn't involve the Outlaw US Empire!

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 5 2019 17:29 utc | 88

VK, I also believe you are both wrong and right about Trump's racist attributes and strategies.

Trump is a white supremacist without doubt and his racism is directed entirely at the working class non-whites, such as working class blacks and poor latinos who make up the bulk of the immigrants massing under the threat of Trumpist persecution along the southern border.

OTOH, Trump is not overtly playing the race card in any way that I can comrephend with his trade war against China, although here you may be on more solid ground with your argument in certain ways. In general, East Asians in the US are viewed positively by the ruling elites and [generally] are not subjected to anywhere near the same level of racism as are blacks, latinos, arabic muslims, for instance.

East Asians with money buying homes in exclusive enclaves are never questioned, while wealthy blacks and latinos are often looked upon as criminals when mowing their own front lawns or walking the streets of exclusive neighborhoods where they happen to live. Indeed, arrests, violence and even murder of affluent blacks in their own wealthy neighborhoods are not all that uncommon in the US.

Similarly to East Asians, Indians are generally welcome with open arms in the upper class milieus, unless they happen to be Sikhs, whose attire is sometimes misconstrued as muslim and they too have been subjected to white supremacist-inspired mass murder (Oak Creek WI).

Further, Asian women are desired as sexual objects while Asian men are not seen as physically intimidating (unlike black and latino men) to insecure white morons such as Trump.

Remember the Chinese madam who supplied prostitutes to several Republican monied men/Trump supporters in the Palm Beach area awhile back? She was even an invited guest at Mar A Lago as I recall.

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 17:40 utc | 89

@ Don Wills | Aug 5 2019 13:39 utc | 76

No, it is not at all confusing to those who pay close attention to what is really happening in the United States as of today.

It is my firm belief that there are enough people who would kill anybody they deem to be a 'Socialist' already. Socialism has been declared the enemy of the United States. Countries that dare to run under the aegis of Socialism are bombed into smithereens and occupied infinitely.

There are enough commenters that do know about Socialism being the only way out of the endless misery and the endless wars in and of the US. There is no alternative to Socialism. Enough people though are brainwashed enough since McCarthy, that they will scream to be "rather dead than red' and those folks are now gaining momentum.

If you are naive enough, or paid to pretend to be so, that is another problem altogether. Fact is, that by having twitter - the president's preferred medium of 'communication' - declaring without proof that the shooter in Dayton was a Warren/Sanders supporter, will incite the exact violence that the owners want to unfold.

It could be said that the American population is the easiest to manipulate. A few words will suffice to get them killing each other. A famous robber baron once said that he can pay one half of the American population to kill the other half. He was not speaking of paying them individually. He meant that he can make the one half kill the other.

That is exactly what is unfolding as we type. By declaring that -in other words - a Commie did the shooting in Dayton, a large number of brainwashed people will load their weapons to take things into their own hands.

In regards to the homophobia - that is proven to not only being directed at homosexual people, but against ALL people that do not fall under the category of a heterosexual relationship. And under no circumstances is hate speech that leads to the violent death of another human being covered under free speech. That is known as calling 'Fire!' in a movie theater with no fire going on. And spare me the excuse that a movie theater is a private place. It is not if its purpose serves the public.

Last but not least, YOU do the reading of the comments, YOU pay attention to the overt and covert hate speech that has infiltrated this board. Fellow commenters refer to these commenters as 'trolls' sometimes, but they are much worse than a troll paid to disrupt the civilized exchange of opinions on MoA.

'Religious freaks' is a term I use for people who hoist their fantasies about how the world came about onto others, Exactly the same way the Spaniards and Central Europeans did in South and North America. For religious freaks it's always "You are either with us, or against us". No middle ground. Indigenous people were clubbed to death, burned alive and murdered for having been 'savages'. That too, is covered under psychological projection.

IF you are living in the US - what I doubt - you will soon be surrounded by civil war 2.0. From Russiagate to the declaration of antifa being a terrorist organization and everybody that is dissenting the US regime is now labeled a 'domestic terrorist' by the FBI.

The correct term for that might be 'Implosion'. And yes, the 'Right under the first paragraph of my previous comment was sarcasm.

Posted by: nottheonly1 | Aug 5 2019 17:43 utc | 90

To take it a step further, Amerikkkan and western capitalists are very comfortable with China as a place to do business and expand their wealth.

The trade wars are an exclusive Trump fantasy come to life.

There is no way anyone else in either the GOP or Democrat Parties would ever start a trade war with China. The global elites supplying both parties financing make WAY too much money from investments in China.

The trade wars are aimed at the deplorables and the GOP is simply enthralled to Trump's racist electoral strategies and tax cuts to make anything but ineffective whimpers of protest against the Trade Wars.

While of course the deplorables gain nothing from any of Trump's policies. But they get to feel delusionally they are superiour to blacks and Mexicans so there is that...

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 17:50 utc | 91

@91 -

Your comment is filled with absolutist statements that are either partially or absolutely false. Here are my comments about just a few of your gems.

1. I'm an old US citizen - born in the USA more than 65 years ago - lived here my entire life.
2. I am NOT paid to pretend anything, or espouse any ideas.
3. My definition of homophobia corresponds with dictionary definitions. You are of course free to change the meaning of any word you like, just as Orwell wrote about.
4. No, it does not appear that the Dayton shooter was a Commie (your word), but that he was a Bernie/Warren supporter and socialist.

I actually enjoy reading vk's posts. Yes, he appears to hold views in opposition to many of my beliefs. That's OK. Civil discourse is the only way to avoid a cataclysm. Maybe you should try it.

Posted by: Don Wills | Aug 5 2019 18:02 utc | 92

@ Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 16:18 utc | 86

Well, in terms of abstract economic theory, we could have an endless debate about if China is socialist or not.

But, in terms of History, there's no concrete reason to consider China not socialist:

1) First of all, the official source, which formally defines China's system as "market socialism with Chinese characteristics". There's no reason to doubt that definition isn't sincere: since it was first created (Deng Xiaoping era), China had multiple windows to formally abandon socialism and openly declare being capitalist -- Mao's death (1976), opening up (1978), Tiananmen Square (1989), fall of the USSR (1991) and its accession to the WTO (2001). Why haven't the CCP seized any of those opportunities to do an honorable return to capitalism, like all the other ex-socialist states? If it indeed was a capitalist party running a capitalist government, then it would be better for it to do so in the open and without the attriction a socialist definition causes with the other capitalist powers.

2) Second, the Chinese people seems to consider itself socialist. They see socialism as the legitimate successor of confucionism. They absorbed their socialist identity into their cultural history.

3) There are many macroeconomic aspects that points to the direction China is a not-capitalist country in a socialist direction, such as an 100% public banking system, the impossibility to own land (every land you purchase is actually a 70-year lease, including the peasant land), the State ownership of the most strategic means of production (including the industrial-military complex) and the anti-cyclical nature of its economy (well-stablished rules of bourgeois economic theory doesn't seen to apply to China, such as certain businesses cycles, the "middle income trap" etc.).

4) Albeit the private sector has been contributing with more than 50% of the GDP for some years, it has been only done so because the CCP has explicitly allowed it to do so (in this sense, they learned from Soviet mistakes, read Gorbachev's Perestroika) and only in non-strategic sectors (mainly consumer goods).

5) Deng Xiaoping's "reform and opening up" doctrine has nothing to do with neoliberalism, but a lot in common with Lenin's NEP. The myth that Deng was a neoliberal comes from the optical illusion that it begun in 1978 -- only two years before Reagan and Thatcher.

Posted by: vk | Aug 5 2019 18:09 utc | 93

Nottheonlyone

I must concur with Don Will's comment at 92. Yours at 91 is a bit over the top. You been reading too much William Gruff for his fake take on Amerikkka is maybe what's behind these sentiments? lol

Or maybe reading too much into Trump who definitely wants to incite open hostilities among the racist white right to exploit political divisions for his own re-election.

My feeling is like Trump is overdoing it in all respects of "governing" and it is up to Amerikkkans to back a more sympathetic leftist candidate instead of Biden because the presidency is there for the taking, especially if the next recession hits before the election as it did in 2008.

Posted by: donkeytale | Aug 5 2019 18:16 utc | 94

donkeytale @88:

Nothing goes on today in reality that can be construed on the same or even near a similar level of imperialism than wrought by Japan in the first half of the 20th Century

You have a blindsport for victims like:
Palestinians. And, central and south Americans (from places like Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Chili). And, Afgahnis in their 17 year of war. And, Yemenis. And the 500,000 Iraqi children whose deaths Madeleine Albright said was "worth it". And Syrians that have been killed, maimed, and driven from their homes due to a Western-supported proxy army. Or even the Westerners that waste enormous sums on "defense" (protection racket and kickback scheme) that doesn't make them safer. Or, ... anyone that actually stands in the way of the soft tyranny (for now) of big brother - like jailed/beat up Yellow Vest protesters and Julian Assange.

Of course there is many more such victims but I won't belabor the point.

No one in USA/West wants to hear about the cruelty of Western imperialism anymore than they want to hear about the corruption of their political system. It creates an unpleasant feeling of cognitive dissonance in Kool-Aid drinkers.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 5 2019 18:18 utc | 95

China's Global Times on the reasons behind the El Paso shooting has it correct:

"Indeed, white nationalism has a long history in Western countries. However, recent years have seen more blame placed on immigrants, people of color and refugees for conundrums of modern life, including growing economic instability, rising inequality and industrial decay. This has added more hostility and intolerance to increasingly multicultural societies like the US.

"In the era of globalization, the international economic landscape has been profoundly changed with new emerging economies beginning to dominate the global economy. The living standards of low-class whites have been declining in recent years, which is the fault of improper domestic policies in dealing with new economic situations. However, some Westerners simply blame globalization and waves of immigrants. The fundamental reason for the resurgence in white nationalism is that they have failed to adapt to the changing global situation and face up to the domestic problems caused by those changes." [My Emphasis]

And Trump's policies and that of both parties Neoliberals are making things worse and are 100% responsible for "improper domestic policies in dealing with new economic situations." The only major politico who's proposed solutions for some of those problems is Sanders, although Gabbard knows where the monetary resources are to be found to enact the required changes.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 5 2019 18:26 utc | 96

donkey - sometimes i agree with you, but sometimes you do yourself no favours! i suppose everyone has to learn the hard way...

about socialism... i asked ben this the other day on a different thread, but don't believe i got an answer...

was the wall st bail out of 2008 a type of socialism?? that is how i see that.. if americans have a problem with socialism, they need to wake the fuck up and see how they already have it for the bankers - just not for themselves...

Posted by: james | Aug 5 2019 18:52 utc | 97

i see ttg at sst has an article on white supremacist terrorism here..

White Supremacist Terrorism… Say it! - TTG

Posted by: james | Aug 5 2019 18:55 utc | 98

james @97

You're referring to what's called "corporate welfare".

It's not socialism because it's not equal burden-sharing, it's actually pushing the burden of corruption (the banks knew their underwriting was flawed) and failed risk-taking on to ordinary people.

Better terms for this are oligarchy or tyranny.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 5 2019 19:23 utc | 99

Hudson's been very busy as August gets going with 4 new posts at his site. And yes, he opines on Trump's latest tariffs and China's move in return.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 5 2019 19:41 utc | 100