So Bernie won New Hampshire, but the only health care he promises is for the country that is causing all the health problems in the world. To have Bernie as President means the wars, coups, sanctions, assassinations and torture continue. Nothing to get excited about.

Posted by: Sharon M | Feb 12 2020 14:30 utc | 3

In response to librul, why do you think Trump wishes to stop the War Machine? He is increasing the size of the MIC and following Netanyahu’s orders in the Mideast. A recipe for more war.

Posted by: Cartero | Feb 12 2020 14:36 utc | 5

@ 1 James McChumiskey
QANON exists for people like you who would watch everything Trump has done– bombings, coups, assassinations, etc.– and still are confused.

Posted by: SharonM | Feb 12 2020 14:42 utc | 7

I think Q is a sop for Trumpers who are desperate to believe.

Posted by: paul | Feb 12 2020 14:50 utc | 9

QAnon=hope porn for Trump supporters. There’s a video from a little over a year ago by a couple of guys who make some good points about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e_e5WI_mjg
Regardless of what one might think of the presenters, they have done their homework.

Posted by: m | Feb 12 2020 15:04 utc | 11

I come from the U.S.? Is that what you mean? Everything I’ve written here is pretty well known. People in other countries actually are cheering for Bernie Sanders, but he doesn’t give a shit about y’all, just americans. He’ll continue the empire’s wars, no doubt.
And Qanon is ridiculous. It’s for Trump’s faith-based fans. Faith, afterall, is just the cessation of critical thought;)
Posted by: Sharon M | Feb 12 2020 15:03 utc | 10
Why should Bernie in a US election give a shit about us non US citizens?
Concerning Qanon, Bannon, David Horwitz and arbitarily his FrontPage et al, I seriously wish you the best.

Posted by: Vig | Feb 12 2020 15:18 utc | 13

@12 Robert Snefjella
lol ‘waking up’, ‘rabbit hole’, ‘brainwashed’–I bet you say ‘problem-reaction-solution’, and ‘left/right is a false dichotomy’, correct? 😀 You were created in the Alex Jones/David Icke laboratory. Trump was right about his fans still loving him even if he killed someone on the street in broad daylight.

Posted by: SharonM | Feb 12 2020 15:24 utc | 15

@3 Sharon M.
So what’s the byline?
You know there’s gonna be one. Bernie was projected to win New Hampshire… BUT!!
He performed worse than expected? He only scraped by? Remarkable catch up by DNC’inc cookie cutter X?
Projection grows for Plastic Puppet?
Unexpected gains for team wall street?

Posted by: S.O. | Feb 12 2020 15:34 utc | 17

What do I know, but I think everyone should read this article when assessing Trump’s actions in Syraq:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/israel-lobby-helped-stolen-oil-iraq-syria/263327/

Posted by: Florin | Feb 12 2020 15:41 utc | 19

@17 S.O.
We know that the progressives will keep their base interested by throwing up over and over again about how TV and newspapers are sooo mean to Bernie. Of course it is sick irony that the perpetrators of every crime conceivable may get less expensive healthcare, so that the perpetrators can, you know, continue to not give a shit about anyone else in the world for longer.

Posted by: Sharon M | Feb 12 2020 15:57 utc | 21

Great news!! A cure for the Coronavirus has been found!!
India’s Leaders Claim Drinking Cow Urine Will Cure Covid-19
Actually, the cure can also be found by eating cow dung, as well as drinking cow piss!!
May eventually come to be known as the “(drink piss and) eat shit and die” cure . . . .

Posted by: Perimetr | Feb 12 2020 16:08 utc | 23

Does anyone have any thoughts ideas on the QANON phenomenon

Newly senile baby boomers and ideological conservatives psy-oping themselves. One of the myriad of mental gymnastics routines used by the conservative crowd to justify the continuation of the Obama presidency under Trump, which itself continued the Bush presidency, which continued the Clinton presidency… and on and on. A replacement for scientific social analysis by the equivalent of numerology and astrology, for people who don’t know what science is and are probably distrustful of it to begin with. A good example: a friend of mine’s dad is really hardcore into it. He’s also a chiropractor. Not a coincidence. There’s a certain type of cognitive style that will latch onto this kind of absurd shit and it’s the duty of the scientifically minded to inoculate people against it.

Posted by: fnord | Feb 12 2020 16:28 utc | 25

Free Julian Assange. Is this a subtle hint from Bojo? We stand watch.
Jeremy Corbyn Asks the Prime Minister If He Agrees Julian Assange’s Extradition Must Be Opposed

Leader of the UK opposition Jeremy Corbyn challenged Boris Johnson as to whether he agrees with a resolution by the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US.
“This deep disparity with the US is about to be laid bare when the courts decide whether the WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange will be extradited to the US on charges of espionage for exposing of war crimes, the murder of civilians and large scale corruption”. Corbyn said.
Corbyn went on to ask Johnson about whether he agreed with a report from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe which stated “that the extradition should be opposed and the rights of journalists and whistleblowers upheld for the good of all of us”.
Johnson refused to comment on Assange’s case, but noted that it is “obvious” that the rights of journalists and whistleblowers should be upheld, adding that the government “will continue to do that”.
[my emphasis]

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 12 2020 16:37 utc | 27

@Posted by: Cartero | Feb 12 2020 14:36 utc | 5
We may never know what Trump’s first term would have looked like had he not been under attack. Trump advisors have been smeared, indicted, forced to recuse themselves…He was constantly attacked and pressured by the intelligence services, the MSM and Democrats. The level of McCarthyism has exploded to hysterical levels. Dangling in the wind Trump found support where he could and that was an opening to the most unsavory of forces. Feeding of the War Machine is a *consequence* of the psy-op.
My expectations for his second term are probably close to yours, I am not optimistic either. But the circumstances under which Trump operates could change as I related @2 and that is why I raised the question.

Posted by: librul | Feb 12 2020 17:09 utc | 29

@ james 29
UK will ignore the Council of Europe,,there is that special vassal relationship to be maintained at all costs and Bojo needs a trade deal.
As for Trump, he is hog tied. During the 2016 campaign he praised Wikileaks. Wiki contributed to his 2016 win and he is in for another 4 years.
Those hoping for Sanders will be disappointed. There are head winds in his path to the nomination. The real winner of the NH primary was Amy Klobucher.

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 12 2020 17:35 utc | 31

Brexit. 5 yrs to Irish Unification I thought…, then mmmh to self don’t say that… better, under 15 years? .. Looks like it may be sooner than expected.
Imho that Sinn Fein would do super well (link) in the elections was a given, but Rep. of Ire. politics have been so cludgy, stuck in a conventional morass (corruption also) for so many decades the centrists parties did not expect change (or pretended to be surprised.)
Some MSM ed-op commentary attributed the Sinn Fein ‘rise /win’ to difficulties with housing etc. for young ppl (equating with Corbyn) for sure this played a role. Some tried to spin the populism has hit Ireland Yikes meme. The media ptb seem not to grasp that times are changing, despite the obvious v. serious upheaval of Brexit.
Varadkar previous on the Unification question, his attitude imho was ‘meh’, let’s not say anything definitive and be cautious etc. The centrist power ‘core’ was fine with the stasis up in NI.
Brexit showed that GB ignored NI, knew little about it, and cared less ( > they won’t mind giving it up and may even be relieved. Ask Bojo.) The very appellation Brexit was telling, NI is not included.
At present NI gets fiscal transfers from the UK. E.g. link. (Just an ex, didn’t read.) The rough nitty-gritty, over last 20 years, is transfer of around 5K pounds, maybe more, not less, p person p annum to NI citzs. Sum is distributed for a large part via Gvmt. jobs.
The EU supports NI with devp. funds etc. as an underprivileged region (link). The sums, impact, overall, idk.
When Ireland unifies it will have to take on the financial burden, and the integration. — > Which Sinn Fein is willing to fight for, do? Big qu.
https://www.thejournal.ie/sinn-fein-most-popular-party-age-groups-4998864-Feb2020/
https://www.assemblyresearchmatters.org/2016/08/08/fiscal-transfer/
https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/articles/european-structural-and-investment-fund-programmes-northern-ireland
10 poorest regions in EU according to one report. (Due to inequality.)
http://inequalitybriefing.org/graphics/briefing_43_UK_regions_poorest_North_Europe.pdf

Posted by: Noirette | Feb 12 2020 17:42 utc | 33

“The civilians are suffering because of provocations in Idlib de-escalation zone by the terrorist groups that use ‘live shield’ against the Syrian government forces. The situation is exacerbated by the arrival of weapons and ammunition in the de-escalation zone via the Syrian-Turkish border, as well as the arrival of Turkish armoured vehicles and troops in the province of Idlib,” the Russian ministry said in a press release.
“The real reason of the crisis in Idlib de-escalation zone is, unfortunately, the failure of our Turkish colleagues to adhere to their commitments on separating moderate opposition fighters from terrorists of Jabhat Nusra (banned in Russia) and Hurras ad-Din (linked to Al Qaeda, which is banned in Russia),” the press release read.
https://sputniknews.com/world/202002121078294391-kremlin-refutes-claims-that-syrian-army-attacked-civilians-in-idlib/

Posted by: Virgile | Feb 12 2020 17:51 utc | 35

QANON is a fraud. See Sessions, now Barr, Bolton, McCain. Frauds. So Q was needed right from thr beginning to divert people fom seing the Trump family business as usless.
The Trump WONT go after the greatest breaches of USA national security – Hillary and the unsecured email at her home cupboard or the Awan family spy/blackmail racket in the Dem congress members. QANON is cover for Trump family inaction.
QANON is useless for most but is a reference for those bloggers and YouTube commentators to fool people into thinkingthey are ‘in the know’, have deep information when all they have is tripe and hot air. So QANON is useful to fool fools, dupe dopes, and elevate the liar in chief.
How can it be that after three years as president Trump had Vinman and Ciaramela STILL on the NSC staff advising the White House? Then Bolton appointed was extreme blunder and then he betrayed Trump. QANON blows smoke over Trump family lightweights while they pick pocket the audience.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 12 2020 18:01 utc | 37

Important Economic News
The Scale of the Fed’s “repo” Market Manipulation is Truly Breathtaking and Threatens to Destabilize Global Economy
Mike Whitney 1/30/20
https://www.sott.net/article/428635-The-scale-of-the-Feds-repo-market-manipulation-is-truly-breathtaking-and-threatens-to-destabilize-global-economy
//
Mexico Is Showing the World How to Defeat Neoliberalism
by Ellen Brown | February 9, 2020
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/mexico-is-showing-the-world-how-to-defeat-neoliberalism/
Thousands of public banks are beginning to open all over Mexico.

Posted by: AntiSpin | Feb 12 2020 18:23 utc | 39

m | Feb 12 2020 15:04 utc | 11
Insightful. I watched it.
Uhm.. What’s that in the presentation screen?
Is it some mockery of some type of cryptic military insignia?
Are there green trolls anywhere in US mil badges, or even British?
See? Everyone can be a Qannon.
For some reason it reminds me of LockheeD Martin projects. Way over budget and some guy in Iraq knocking some hammer on an iron cast pipe could make it fail its operations.
Similar stuff with the qannon operation. Likely like the M.I 5 wwii war effort, trying to feed code in the Touring machine, to crack Nazi Enigma. A human chain of data feeders working along side another chain of content producers on the social media, working for Trumps deep state and operated by the Mossad. I believe it’s partly developed by British in it’s early stages. It has the familiar smell of a rat…
Robert Snefjella | Feb 12 2020 15:13 utc | 12
I believe it is an extortion among other things. They are not really targeting other agencies possibly but key active / retired individuals inside them that hold the keys to the kingdom and they won’t hand it over to the Mossed, British or the Saudis to launch the Yinon project dissing the US. Then you have fools like Putin that were propelled internationaly exactly with similar sensationalist campaigns, believing he will get a piece of the pie after US gets sidelined. Can he see the writing on the wall? He will be in a war with Turkey and after that invaded by NATO.

Posted by: Qparticle | Feb 12 2020 18:42 utc | 41

@ 31 likklemore.. i don’t really understand the uk position.. i think you are right about the disappointment / saunders.. 4 more years of trump is looking likely..
@ 33 noirette.. that is poorest and richest in northern europe – not all of europe.. thanks for your comments in northern ireland..seems like the brits have worked hard to fuck it up for ireland for a very long time.. hopefully some of this changes..

Posted by: james | Feb 12 2020 18:45 utc | 43

gottlieb | Feb 12 2020 16:36 utc | 26
I just imagined him sitting all alone in his ship shouting in to some cortana terminal “Beam me up Scotty”!

Posted by: Qparticle | Feb 12 2020 18:53 utc | 45

@ david g… it’s all the funding from the uk-usa.. it makes all the difference in hollyworld…

Posted by: james | Feb 12 2020 19:04 utc | 47

@ J Swift | Feb 12 2020 18:05 utc | 38
Thanks much for this link —
https://theduran.com/getting-out/
A very hard-hitting exposé of the US combination of criminality and blundering in Afghanistan, and what seems to be a comprehensive and completely rational plan for getting out of that country under the best possible terms for the people of that country, and for the people of the US.
Not so good for the US military and civilian satraps who are tearing things up, and raking it in.
Tough.

Posted by: AntiSpin | Feb 12 2020 19:21 utc | 49

“Bernie is not there to be president. his “community” job is to dog herd the progressive crowds to vote, as a lesser evil, for the Judeo-Zionist corporate candidate, the donors’ choice, as he did servilely in 2016…” nietzsche1510@40
The problem with this argument is that it lacks any grounding in reason and political logic. As 2016 figures showed and as current polling of Bernie supporters indicates far from herding together voters who would not have voted Democrat without his guidance (which is what a sheepdog candidate would do) he is actually working very hard to alienate voters who, in the past, have always ended up supporting the Democrats’ (corporate shill of) choice, from their automatic, ‘lesser evil’ resignation to the Clinton, Kerry, Gore or Obama on offer.
What is quite obvious is that Sanders is breaking up the corporate vice on the traditional Democratic vote and urging voters to choose options in line with their actual social and economic interests. And it is working.
It is all very well for nietszche1510 to assert that Sanders is working hand in glove with the corporate democrats but all the evidence is that the DNC spends its energies not assisting its ‘sheepdog’ but attempting to cripple him before he is even started on his work.
Now for your information a real sheepdog candidate-and we have seen plenty of them- after making lots of noise about radical policies and enthusing lots of dumb and naive people goes into a Convention, armed with hundreds of delegates and buys himself his reward. Knowing that he is coming the corporate leadership is ready to make a show of reconciliation, says that it has taken the views and aspirations of his supporters into account, puts a couple of token, watered down compromises into the platform and finds him and his friends prestigious but empty jobs.
That is what those who called Bernie a ‘sheepdog’ in 2016 were expecting would happen. But it didn’t-Sanders kept his promise to ask his supporters to support the Convention choice but then, essentially, he disappeared from the election. As to his supporters, most went home angry at Hillary, many refused to vote for her in November (it shows on the election numbers) and quite a few supported Trump as the lesser evil.
As to Foreign Policy matters- US foreign policy is hardwired into the current system of government. This has been the case since 1948, at latest. The only way that Foreign Policy can be changed is by people consciously disassociating themselves from the scam that the US is constantly in danger of invasion-that unless trillions of dollars are poured into arms production, proxy armies around the globe and the prostitution of both media and the academy- people will lose their jobs, the standard of living will fall and the USA will be invaded by envious, rapacious outsiders.
What Sanders is doing is outlining to the electorate what they could get if they directed their taxes and their incomes towards obtaining it. This includes such simple and easy to understand reforms as free tuition, a moratorium of student debt and medicare for all. If the voters signify that they support such policies then the question of how to divide up the national ‘cake’will, logically, arise. And some will argue that assisting Israel’s massacres of Palestinians is a higher priority than lowering the infant mortality rate to slightly better than Third World standards. Others will beg to differ.
Some will argue-as Bernie’s Primary opponents are doing- that having wasted trillions in Afghanistan over 20 years the US should go for the record and try for a new 30 year War or maybe even a 100 years, as did the English in France. Others will think that ending the war and diverting the resources there wasted into almost any other uses would be preferable.
All Bernie says is the people must take the decisions and that they should do so in the light of the reality that the only threat to the American people comes from the billionaires who feed off them like vampire bats.
And he has been saying these things since about 1960. That may not earn anyone’s respect but it ought to make those who consider him corrupt to ask themselves why he has waited so long to sell out. And what he has ever got for doing so. Had he really been corrupt in the traditional American politician’s manner he would be a lot richer. And he would be a lot less feared by the people who are all our enemies-the billionaires and their agents working every day to cheat him and defeat him.

Posted by: bevin | Feb 12 2020 19:48 utc | 51

@b
“Meanwhile, Turkish suppliers complained about difficulties sending tomatoes to Russia, said Ahmet Hamdi Gyrdogan, head of the Union of East Black Sea Exporters.
This is notable, since one of the sanctions Russia imposed on Turkey over the downing of the Russian Su-24 back in 2015, was related to tomatoes and they’re a big part of Ankara-Moscow agricultural trade.
“We are ready to supply our products to Russia instead of the Chinese, which it has now abandoned because of the coronavirus. However, unfortunately, our historical friendship with Russia due to events in Syria, and especially in Idlib, is under great pressure, relations are deteriorating. Now we can’t send tomatoes to Russia: they say that the quota has ended. <…> I hope that the leadership of Russia and Turkey will be able to act on the basis of common sense,” a source of RIA said.
According to him, exporters requested an additional quota from the Russian side, but so far no answer has been received, and the delivered goods are being returned back.”
https://southfront.org/u-s-nato-rush-to-add-fuel-to-fire-of-idlib-conflict/
Precisely as you predicted. Better tomatoes than bodies. My hat is off to you and to VVP.

Posted by: Bruce | Feb 12 2020 19:56 utc | 53

@1
Article about QAnon in Harper’s Magazine. Takeaway seemed to be Qanon was conspiracy author building readership base for profit.
https://harpers.org/archive/2018/06/the-wizard-of-q/

Posted by: Joe | Feb 12 2020 20:05 utc | 55

Bernie is the best hope to end Endless Wars if he can bring about national healthcare, similar to other nations. Such nations can barely afford wars – as with Canada and the EU. Britain may end up with an army smaller than the NYC Police force.
While this sounds indirect, it may be the only way to stop crazy warmongering by the US. Anyone who openly opposes such insanity ends up condemned by the mainstream media ( like Tulsi). On this issue, Buttigieg is breathtakingly dishonest. If you like war, vote for the Deep State candidate.

Posted by: CHRIS ZELL | Feb 12 2020 20:19 utc | 57

World stock markets hit a new record

World stock markets hit a new record, as the coronavirus panic subsides, with the latest figures showing a slowdown and China’s chief medical adviser saying the outbreak could be over by mid-April.
In the meantime, Eurozone industrial production suffered a sharp decline in December.
The fantasy world continues.

Posted by: vk | Feb 12 2020 20:29 utc | 59

HarryOrd | Feb 12 2020 20:38 utc | 60
I hear you… For me ‘Health Wellness’ is important and really its a research and link-age project would take many hours to post here. Suffice to say… when ‘Single Payer Healthcare’ came into the lexicon (a few election cycles ago) it needed to be examined as to how a real transition would happen. Obviously the US and Canada have very different models and historic structural differences… When the Bern (Burn) doesn’t touch on this… that’s an obviously flag.

Posted by: Jayne | Feb 12 2020 20:49 utc | 61

QAnon is nonsense.
I looked into several of the more detailed predictions and comments – they were uniformly wrong, albeit loosely based on 1st level internet search results.
Fiction, not fact.
Psyops? Anything is possible, but I personally don’t see it. Trump does just fine handling Twitter himself.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 12 2020 21:04 utc | 63

fnord:
Excellent point. Add to this Political fanboyism(“Bernie’s trying! Don’t rock the boat!”) And nothing would get done. Bernie would also restore a veneer of respectability to the U.S empire, so it almost baffles me why the democrats fight him so hard(None so blind as those who do not see, as the Moody Blues would say.)

Posted by: HarryOrd | Feb 12 2020 21:15 utc | 65

Jayne @61,
The US is the only advanced country that does not have single payer health care. I can’t believe that it is too baffling a hurdle to figure how to do it.

Posted by: arby | Feb 12 2020 21:22 utc | 67

Leashing Trump. Senate and the House attempting to recover what they gave away with the AUMF – the War Powers Act
Unexpected the GOP support:
U.S. Senate advances resolution limiting Trump’s ability to wage war

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate advanced legislation on Wednesday intended to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war against Iran, paving the way for a final vote as eight Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the war powers resolution.[.]

Should Trump veto, there is the other bill on the funding issue. Congress’ power of the purse… refusing to fund deployment.

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 12 2020 21:30 utc | 69

https://assange-helfen.de
Please sign the petition!

Posted by: Dutch | Feb 12 2020 21:39 utc | 71

Buttigieg stepped into a doggie pile and is getting rightfully deserved flak for deceptive comments he made meant to diss and undermine Bernie’s medicare-for-all.

Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson criticized former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg Wednesday for a tweet defending private health insurance, that appeared to characterize the employer-provided health benefits as gains won by union workers.
Buttigieg defended his proposed “Medicare for All Who Want It” plan, saying 14 million union members have “fought hard for strong employer-provided health benefits” in a tweet Wednesday morning.
Nelson, who played a key role in ending the federal government shutdown last year, called the invocation of labor rights “offensive and dangerous.”
“Stop perpetuating this gross myth. Not every union member has union healthcare plans that protect them,” Nelson tweeted. “Those that do have it, have to fight like hell to keep it. If you believe in Labor then you’d understand an injury to one is an injury to all.”

flight-attendants-union-head-blasts-buttigieg
MORE AND MORE I SUSPECT BUTTIGIEG OF BEING THE CULPRIT WHO GOT UNION LEADERS IN NEVADA TO CIRCULATE FEAR-MONGERING PROPAGANDA ON BERNIE SANDERS ALLEGING THE GROSS LIE THAT MEMBERS WILL LOSE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE IF BERNIE BECOMES PRESIDENT.

Posted by: Circe | Feb 12 2020 21:59 utc | 73

Circe. More like paper bags with $ got Union Leaders to do the deed. You realize it speaks really loudly as to the intelligence of union members in Nevada, that they would believe that a so called socialist would do this. Mind you I guess if the info comes from a ‘Trusted’ source might do the trick.
I hope im wrong but Bern is the perfect fall guy for a crashed economy

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Feb 12 2020 22:20 utc | 75

Now here is a good piece on Trump gangsterism by Gordon Duff.
I guess some is Duffy but most entirely believable.
Q wont reprint this.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 12 2020 22:34 utc | 77

… you will note, on the spot, where he stands: he approved, as a Senator, the last 3 out of 4 major wars of the US empire. …
Posted by: nietzsche1510 | Feb 12 2020 18:23 utc | 40
you could actually have checked it. Why didn’t you?
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/legislative-landmarks
This was indeed very, very curious to watch:
https://jonathanturley.org/2020/01/15/cnn-under-fire-for-overtly-hostile-treatment-of-sanders-in-iowa-debate/

Posted by: Vig | Feb 12 2020 22:39 utc | 79

Thanks for the link ut @ 77; An excerpt;
“Those who accept the policies of the Trump administration, cancellation of the JCPOA with Iran, seizing oil fields in Syria, endless sanctions on nation after nation, Europe blackmailed, endless threats emanating almost hourly from Trump’s iPhone as “national policy” or even criminally deranged is simply not paying attention.”
Excellent come back for the Qanon fantasy, which, IMO, ranks right up there with Ayn Rand’s fevered dreams…

Posted by: ben | Feb 12 2020 22:41 utc | 81

“Posted by: arby | Feb 12 2020 21:22 utc | 67 : The US is the only advanced country that does not have single payer health care. I can’t believe that it is too baffling a hurdle to figure how to do it.”
As a resident of Switzerland, I can tell you the Switzerland does NOT have single payer medical insurance coverage. It is provided by over fifty private companies, with no supervision. At the time the system went into effect in 1996, my premiums for the basic, compulsory coverage were 180 francs per month. For 2020, they are 540 francs per month. That involves a 300-franc deductible and a ten-percent co-pay on everything, but eye care is not included, nor is dental care — EXORBITANT: 500 to 700 francs (US$ 500 to US$ 700) to have a cavity filled, 6,000+ francs for bridge work…
The law requires that any increase in premiums must be submitted to the federal department of public health along with detailed accounting to explain the increase. There is NEVER any such accounting, only the submission of the increases, every year, with the subsequent rubber stamp form the federal government.
According to public welfare services, the exorbitant premiums and collateral expenses are the primary cause of poverty in Switzerland, which affects almost 1 million out of the just over 8 million people in the country.
Voilà!

Posted by: RJPJR | Feb 12 2020 23:19 utc | 83

Ran across this quote which is more true than not.
There is no America. Everything is just one vast corporation, an association of corporations. There’s no Britain. There’s no America. There’s no Holland. There’s no China. There’s no Russia. It’s one conglomerate of corporations. Money runs the thing.”
— Peter Finch as character Howard Beale, in the movie “Network
Its true when you consider the interlocking ownership of the elites in the major corporations and industries, which also capture governments political parties and regulatory agencies, and in China of course these local global elites make up parts of the party elite. While money is an important attribute of power, I think its a means and not an end to them. Their motivations is an ideology based on Platos Republic where they are pholisopher kings ruling the rest, and a religious idea that they, as elites may evolve to become like God and recover what was lost after the fall – as man was originally made in Gods image. Another name for it is Transhumanism which actually is idea that came from gnostic Judeo-Christian beliefs. Religion like Eugenics has not disappeared, both have just been renamed and repurposed. The Elites are Gods chosen people and the rest exist to serve.

Posted by: Pft | Feb 12 2020 23:28 utc | 85

The T.I.N.A worshipers that seems to believe the politicians can or will make a difference makes me want to cry, the cognitive dissonans must be a burden on their souls and in their lives.
There exists exactly 0,000% of honest career politicians in the west today, they are ALL vetted by the “hidden nameless ones” and will destroy the western civilisation.
T.I.N.A IS A LIE AND ONLY “USEFUL IDIOTS” BELIEVE IT OR BELIEVE THAT THE PHARISEEIC USURY SYSTEM CAN BE CHANGED FROM THE INSIDE.
PLEASE WAKE UP AND STOP SUPPORTING THE IMPERIAL WESTERN TERROR REGIMES AND GIVE THEM YOUR CONSENT BY VOTING!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Per/Norway | Feb 12 2020 23:45 utc | 87

AntiSpin @ 39. A couple of very good articles.
From the first:
“”The power of the Fed has become so acute that it has replaced the economy as a principle influence over the stock market to the point where there is only a 7% correlation between GDP and the S&P 500. Historically, in any given cycle that relationship was anywhere between 30% and 70%.”””
So eventually, there will be no goods for this money to buy. And other countries will also stop selling their goods to us.
“”So even though stocks continue to steadily climb higher, the rot at the foundation of the system is becoming more and more apparent.””
Financial assets need to mirror realty.

Posted by: financial matters | Feb 12 2020 23:56 utc | 89

@Parisian Guy #88
Could not disagree more.
Have you actually seen any of the Steve Bannon interviews? Like on Frontline?
He is totally open about what his agenda is.
QAnon is exactly like a gypsy fortuneteller, but for the conspiracy theorist conservatives.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 13 2020 0:24 utc | 91

Per/Norway #87

T.I.N.A IS A LIE AND ONLY “USEFUL IDIOTS” BELIEVE IT OR BELIEVE THAT THE PHARISEEIC USURY SYSTEM CAN BE CHANGED FROM THE INSIDE.
PLEASE WAKE UP AND STOP SUPPORTING THE IMPERIAL WESTERN TERROR REGIMES AND GIVE THEM YOUR CONSENT BY VOTING!!!!!!!!!

Ah yes the passionate plea for futility. There are alternatives Per/Norway and they repeatedly manifest and usually involve the slaughter of innocents and maybe a few guilty.
I am for the ballot box as a regular exercise of peaceful changemaing at the very first step of any revolutionary shift in political power. Sure, it is mighty frustrating, there are thousands directly employed to smash its effectiveness. But consider a revolutionary success that lacks a clear accountable leadership – that is just swapping one tyranny for another. Naysaying and debasing people seeking change and posing no alternative is being part of the problem The solution is what we seek.
Yes some form of anarcho-syndicalist community structure could work and indeed has worked for millenia in some societies. But first it has to be formulated and introduced by popular will and offer sufficient reward to maintain that will for generations growing up within it. Going in the reverse direction and disassembling a gangster hierarchy is likely a more complex task and would require multi-dimensional strategies.
Humans are clever at assembling multi-dimensional strategies, ballot boxes are just one of them. If you search for societies that have composed myth and purpose and lore that enabled their long term peaceful sustainability, take time to read Treading Lightly by Sveiby and Skuthorpe.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 13 2020 0:37 utc | 93

McCluskey @1:
Re: Q. The exact same rumor was circulating during the last presidential campaign– ie, a group of heroes around Trump were going to give us justice. I remember it got as far as Alex Jones’ show. Everything the same as now, except it wasn’t called “Q”.
I personally don’t think we should take seriously the Establishment vs Trump dramatics. I think all the investigations of Trump, etc, are merely to distract us from the actual happenings in international law and war. That is, I think the entire Trump campaign & presidency is just an intelligence op against the American people. You can see that he’s highly successful at polarizing left & right even further, and thus blinding people to the elites above pulling the strings.

Posted by: Penelope | Feb 13 2020 1:10 utc | 95

b. What is it about your site that you invite such mediocre comments? I have thought about this a great deal.

Posted by: Lochearn | Feb 13 2020 1:24 utc | 97

(I have not caught up with all the comments here yet but decided to post this because I’m taking to long and want to post it “today” rather than risk not posting it at all).
Robert Snefjella with plenty of kindness pointed out valid positive aspects to not only Qanon (although that was the topic) but the whole “redpilled” and “blackpilled” subcultures.
Maybe it is only a silver lining, maybe, but it also has the potential to be a very large silver lining as a source of personal experience for those it does or has appealed to.
To the extent that happens it is not too dissimilar on that point to what can happen to people reading this site.
Among other things Moon of Alabama debunks some US propaganda, points to others who debunk propaganda, and generally tries to be informative. In the case of MoA it is done without adding all that much “luggage” thus making it accessible for people who might never otherwise be in the same place, and this in itself is also something one can learn from.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 13 2020 1:45 utc | 99