Krystal Ball exposes the lame logic of Yasha Levine and Jimmy Dore wades in for 20 minutes. Together they expose the lame brains who have no respect for the power in the hands of the left let alone awareness of the continuous mendacious attacks to dis-empower the left. And in his finale Jimmy really puts it to the squad as their hour of truth approaches.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 30 2020 23:14 utc | 104

@pokums | Dec 30 2020 19:39 utc | 86
RE: “Again, no mention or any speculation in the local Tennessean article you linked, or in any of the msm articles that I’ve seen, as to what type of bomb…”
I totally agree. One would think Warner, at the very least would have been put on some sort of *possible terrorist/dual use bomb-building ingredients purchase* watch list after the August 2019 girlfriend’s complaint call to police, and the somewhat tame (no search of the RV/property at the time, where GF claimed bombs were being made) follow-up (compared to your average PD’s response a report of someone allegedly growing marijuana on their property, made by a next-door neighbor) investigations by Nashville PD, TBI, and FBI.
And any ordinary metropolitan arson forensic team investigation of the explosion site of would have certainly by now been able to determine and openly report the source, type and quantity of explosive used, but for some reason, a crazy cone of silence has descended over the forsenic results in this case.
And then there the cloud of confusing and frankly non-sensical MSM chaff being thrown about as to purported motive(s) of the alleged bomber.
He hated At&T because At&T bought Bell South, whose 5G microwave exposure at father’s (1980’s-1990’s) Bell South job (Dad died at age 78, either in 2007 or 2011, according to shifting anonymously sourced media rumors) Warner believed caused father’s Alzheimer’s disease.
Many problems with that story; among them:
– the fact that father would have retired from work some 13 years prior (in the mid-late 1990’s) to his death from AD, when there was *no* 5G and much less cell microwave in use in general, and
– Alleged bomber is ALSO an alleged Techie IT computer/alarm system installer [not to mention bomb-building renaissance-man] who would be knowledgeable and trained enough to know better about microwaves.
– No plausible explanations are put forward *how* the alleged bomber (or the dead father who had retired in the 1990’s) even *knew* where the key fiber-optic backbones and communication trunk-lines were located, so he could know where to allegedly park his RV-suicide bomb, and take out/disrupt internet based services in 4-5 States across the Midwest and Southeast US, along with his mortal husk.
Com Data/cloud service infrastructure centers are generally hardened, high security facilities built to Homeland Security standards to withstand power outages, EF 5 tornadoes, earthquakes and intentional attacks/sabotage. But our mockingbird media is not asking the right questions,
and instead MSM is trying to feed us this totally wacked Lee RV Oswald story about the suicidal 5G-fearing computer/IT techie-bombmaking wizard hikikimori [with a girlfriend and daughter-aged heir?] loner who lived with his parents for years, but then had been sued recently by his estranged mother over a real estate inheritance issue (?),
And finally, by sheer chance so we are to believe, takes out AT&T secure com/data services in 5 States, while he’s committing suicide blowing himself up in a camper van parked on a city street direcly adjacent to a hadened top secret infrastructure backbone, early on Christmas morning, with a bomb no one knows how was made, nor has identified its composition.
Sure. Nothing unusual here at all.

Posted by: gm | Dec 30 2020 23:20 utc | 106

Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% effective” vaccines—let’s be cautious and first see the full data (Peter Doshi from The BMJ Opinion, comment and opinion from The BMJ’s international community of readers, authors, and editors)
“In the United States, all eyes are on Pfizer and Moderna. The topline efficacy results from their experimental covid-19 vaccine trials are astounding at first glance. Pfizer says it recorded 170 covid-19 cases (in 44,000 volunteers), with a remarkable split: 162 in the placebo group versus 8 in the vaccine group. Meanwhile Moderna says 95 of 30,000 volunteers in its ongoing trial got covid-19: 90 on placebo versus 5 receiving the vaccine, leading both companies to claim around 95% efficacy.
“Let’s put this in perspective.
“First, a relative risk reduction is being reported, not absolute risk reduction, which appears to be less than 1%.
“Second, these results refer to the trials’ primary endpoint of covid-19 of essentially any severity, and importantly not the vaccine’s ability to save lives, nor the ability to prevent infection, nor the efficacy in important subgroups (e.g. frail elderly). Those still remain unknown.
“Third, these results reflect a time point relatively soon after vaccination, and we know nothing about vaccine performance at 3, 6, or 12 months, so cannot compare these efficacy numbers against other vaccines like influenza vaccines (which are judged over a season).
“Fourth, children, adolescents, and immunocompromised individuals were largely excluded from the trials, so we still lack any data on these important populations.”

Posted by: ADKC | Dec 30 2020 23:26 utc | 108

@97 “The only person guaranteed to blow jacks brains out was sitting in front seat of that car.”
An interesting theory that I don’t really believe in. However, a version of the Zapruder film showing just that, the driver firing the fatal shot or shots, has been mentioned at least two times. Once by Cheri Seymour, author of the highly recommended book “The Last Circle” on the PROMIS affair (p. 179), and by Sam Israel. In both cases, the source of the movie was Robert Booth Nichols.
We may conclude that a version of the Zapruder film showing the driver shooting at Kennedy exists or existed. The fascinating Robert Booth Nichols has meanwhile died under suspicious circumstances in Switzerland, if I remember correctly.

Posted by: Cherrycoke | Dec 30 2020 23:40 utc | 110

So what to believe ? In Russia proper, the event has not really made a splash. Sure it’s been talked about, but more as a funny or interesting item in the “weird news” category than some sort of regime-toppling event, as some hilarious reddit threads would like to believe. Maybe that’s the Kremlin’s calculus, not wanting to give them any extra publicity rather than take the time to debunk it thoroughly ? Or is Kudryatsev the real deal, and has the FSB really sunk so low ?
Posted by: Micron | Dec 29 2020 19:54 utc | 3
Russian-Language videos that I have seen on YouTube pointed two things:
1. In Russia, people working in secret project DO NOT COMMUNICATE WITH ANYONE without permission of the immediate superior. Putin or Almighty himself could call, and the person would not answer anything without clearing it with his boss first.
2. The call (and the theory behind the call) purported that Kudryavtsev was in a team that tailed Navalny. One could expect some familiarity with Navalny, including the voice. There are many recordings of Navalny, including YouTube. In the video, Navalny used his voice without any alterations.
3. A method of poisoning that requires considerable time to work is a very strange way to kill someone, hard to see how it could work. And it did not work, at least twice!
Here is an elegant method of finishing a person: open the window in his hotel room and toss him out. For full reliability, have someone check on him and deliver an extra knock. Voila: an obvious case of suicide!
“On 11 November 2019, Le Mesurier was found dead in the street at 4:30 in the morning (1:30 GMT) in the Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Paşa neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, Istanbul, as a result of what appeared to have been a fall from his balcony.[39][40][41] Le Mesurier was found with fractures to his head and legs.[42] Le Mesurier’s wife said they had only gone to bed a short while earlier at 4 a.m., taking sleeping tablets.[8] Later The Times reported that the Turkish police were treating the death as suicide, based on information from Le Mesurier’s wife and his recent medical history, and that no forensic, autopsy or CCTV evidence indicated otherwise.[43][44][45][46]”
Tips for people contemplating suicide: take sleeping pills first.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 30 2020 23:50 utc | 112

@115 The more common references would be to the CIA’s manual on assassinations and to Frank Olson (see Hank Albarelli’s “A Terrible Mistake”).
As for LeMesurier, Kit Klarenberg has detailed the links of his wife to InCoStrat. A tangled web.

Posted by: Cherrycoke | Dec 31 2020 0:04 utc | 114

Good Grief!
Feds probing whether Nashville bomber believed in lizard people conspiracy
In the immortal words of C.J. HOPKINS:

You will do what you are told. You will not ask questions. You will believe whatever they tell you to believe. You will believe it, not because it makes any sense, but simply because you have been ordered to believe it. They aren’t trying to trick or deceive anybody. They know their lies don’t make any sense. And they know that you know they don’t make any sense. They want you to know it. That is the point. They want you to know they are lying to you, manipulating you, openly mocking you, and that they can say and do anything they want to you, and you will go along with it, no matter how insane.

Posted by: gm | Dec 31 2020 0:45 utc | 116

As I recall his head went back and to the left, his lady couldn’t get away from his corpse fast enough. Don’t think he would have made any difference in the long run, same as any other Prez. Fall guy.

Posted by: Lee RV Oswald | Dec 31 2020 0:48 utc | 118

@111 An interesting article about tankers, US sanctions and Venezuelan oil. It can probably be summed up in one sentence….
“Determining who’s behind a tanker can be difficult.”
https://www.cp24.com/world/uae-companies-help-venezuela-evade-sanctions-on-sale-of-crude-oil-1.5247046

Posted by: dh | Dec 31 2020 0:49 utc | 120

One day after JFK’s assassination, deputy constable Seymour Weitzman filed an affidavit that stated “We were in the Northwest corner of the sixth floor when Deputy Boone and myself spotted the rifle about the same time. This rifle was a 7.65 Mauser bolt action equipped with a 4/18 scope, a thick leather brownish black sling on it.”
Deputy Dallas Sheriff Roger Craig stated: “Deputy Constable Seymour Weitzman had joined us. Weitzman was a gun buff, he had a sporting goods at one time, and he was very good with weapons. He said it looked like a Mauser, and he walked over to Fritz. Captain Fritz was holding the rifle up in the air and I was standing next to Weitzman, who was standing next to Fritz, and we weren’t any more than six to eight inches from the rifle and stamped right on the barrel of the rifle was ‘7.65 Mauser.’ That’s when Weitzman said “It is a Mauser” and pointed to the ‘7.65 Mauser’ stamp on the barrel.”
FWIW, I was watching US network news (CBS I think) and I recall a policeman, when asked by a reporter how he knew the rifle was a Mauser and he replied that it had ‘Mauser’ stamped on it.
Seymour gave testimony before the Warren Commission to the effect that the rifle looked like a Mauser “at a glance” and agreed that he had made an honest mistake.
Et voila, the 7.65 Mauser thus became a 6.5 Manlicher-Carcano.

Posted by: spudski | Dec 31 2020 1:43 utc | 122

@ Stonebird103
I am yet to meet a farmer in Australia or New Zealand who isn’t looking for cheap labour. NZ and Australia both import Pacific Islanders and are now desperate for workers. Fruit crops are rotting for lack of labour. There is no cheap labour in NZ, the government helps the unemployed and homeless far more than Australia.
I am aware of a former USA citizen paying US$10,000 to renounce US citizenship. No more IRS. EU citizens over a certain age have great difficulty emigrating to both countries. However if you are a famous Hollywood actor…. that’s different.
Yes Australia has a few US bases. NZ has a couple too.

Posted by: Paul | Dec 31 2020 3:10 utc | 124

bemildered @ 80 try the direct link.. or just go to the website indicated and try it works still from me from here.
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/12/30/the-iccs-indefensible-decision-on-alleged-uk-war-crimes-in-iraq/
and here is a new one https://www.rt.com/usa/511174-iraq-blackwater-pardon-un/
Trump pardons ..
no evidence covid-19 vaccine prevents viral transmission. 
https://theduran.com/covid-19-vaccine-flops-in-europe-investment-watch/

Posted by: snake | Dec 31 2020 3:20 utc | 126

Refuting the official conclusions regarding the JFK assassination has been a successful project of actual “citizen journalists”. The document releases mandated by Congress in the wake of Oliver Stone’s “JFK” film have provided a rare comprehensive factual record of that brief administration, allowing researchers to develop detailed trails to the assassination plot.
Here is a new work which summarizes some of what researchers have discovered over the last quarter century:
https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Tipping_Point.html

Posted by: jayc | Dec 31 2020 3:34 utc | 128

Cherrycoke #116
More from Kit Klarenberg here:-

A recent article by journalist Kit Klarenberg revealed the role that Le Mesurier’s widow, Emma Winberg, played in the PR support for Syrian armed groups. Winberg was co-founder of Incostrat, a FCO-outreach agency funded by the Conflict Stability and Security Fund that also finances Mayday Rescue and the White Helmets. The BBC, curiously, made no mention of Winberg’s involvement in what is effectively a clandestine black-op run by the British government in an effort to destabilise Syria and to effect “regime change.”

and Emma Winberg (Mesurier’s wife)here.

The communications firm in question was Innovative Communications and Strategy (Incostrat), cofounded by Winberg in November 2014 with military intelligence veteran Paul Tilley, former director of Strategic Communications for the UK Ministry of Defence in the Middle East and North Africa. Like Le Mesurier, he attended Sandhurst Royal Military Academy.
Media references to Incostrat are sparse, although in December 2016 Rania Khalek revealed the company had approached a Middle East journalist and offered them US$17,000 per month to produce pro-opposition propaganda.
Private correspondence between the reporter and Incostrat indicates the company positioned itself as one of “three partners” of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) “working on media surrounding the Syrian conflict.”
Incostrat’s work was funded by the FCO’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). In February 2017, a parliamentary report stated CSSF had “substantial allocations” in Syria, amounting to £60 million.

I wonder if the other of the ‘three partners’ was Integrity Initiative or Institute for Statecraft?

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 31 2020 4:18 utc | 130

Frankly, I would say we need a lock down on the production weapons of war rather than a virus. The war virus kills far more people than any corona virus ever will. Alas, the war virus is a major source of profit and power for our corporate oligarchs, so do not expect any anti-arms race agitation in the near future

Posted by: Bluedotterel | Dec 31 2020 6:14 utc | 132

An important article from Craig Murray’s blog on the ICC. It would be nice if b could follow this up.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/12/the-international-criminal-court-now-simply-indefensible/
“Support for the rule of international law, and for the institutions which uphold it, is one of the principles of this blog. I have therefore always been extremely keen to defend and support the International Criminal Court, despite widespread criticism that it is simply a tool for use against leaders in the developing world and other opponents of the neo-con world order. I maintained that the standard of justice and investigation in the cases it did consider was generally good, and the need was to widen its ambit.
Unfortunately, the decision of the ICC to close down its investigation into War Crimes committed by the British in Iraq is the last straw for me in continuing to harbour any hope that the ICC will ever be anything more than an instrument of victors’ justice. I have read the entire 184 page report which closes down the investigation, and it is truly shocking. It is shocking in the outlining of British war crimes, but what really shocked me is the truly appalling picture that clearly emerges of the attitudes of the International Criminal Court.”

Posted by: Bluedotterel | Dec 31 2020 6:29 utc | 134

@uncle tungsten | Dec 30 2020 21:16 utc | 98

Thank you, my hazy recall is that Zapruder got the developed film back from Kodak, notified authorities (and media??) after seeing it. Then the authorities took/purchased (?) all the stock and sent it to the cleaners before public release.

According to Robert Morningstar, the Zapruder film was first shown to the public in 1968, so they had 5 years to fix it. And they did.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 31 2020 7:32 utc | 136

I dunno how many have heard about the latest Frances McDormand flick “Nomadland” which at least considers the fate of older amerikan workers in a society that A) considers humans 60+ mostly slow and unproductive and B) preaches that any human who hasn’t succeeded in stashing sufficient cash away to keep them fed, housed and clothed by the time that particular human hits 60+ to be a 100% author of their own misfortune.
The community I live in takes the polar opposite approach, in Aotearoa every citizen cops $424 per week regardless of their personal circumstance (such as employment status, assets) from the day the person turns 65 (N.B. there are some extras on top for those with no other income esp accommodation support). I’m not going to try and justify that largesse which happened more than 40 years ago when a right wing pol foolishly judged that such a huge giveaway would sink the carefully constructed superannuation scheme designed by real lefties to make sure old age & poverty were impossible. But everyone grabbed the scheme and now no politician of any stripe is prepared to enrage the biggest cohort of voters (older citizens) by tampering with this plan.
But that is not the case in amerika where one of the biggest causes of a moribund & stagnant labour market is a reality where many citizens cannot afford to retire now or any at time in the future. That really slows down vacancy turnover and contributes to both youth unemployment and slows career advancement for younger & middle-aged workers.
I find Nomadland’s conclusions to be somewhat faulty as the need for older workers to adopt a nomadic lifestyle just to keep the wolf from the door is no solution.
After M4A, amerika must create some form of universal superannuation.
But of course Hollywood movies are mostly made by neolibs who still lap up tosh about balanced books plus “income support = charity & charity is evil”.
Rather than a more humane, “if someone has worked & paid tax for 45 years they have earned the right not to have to sweat money issues in their declining years”.
But the movie does touch on issues strenuously avoided by corporate media, so for that reason I have made it available for download here Sappy Yew Pear.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Dec 31 2020 8:28 utc | 138

https://alachuachronicle.com/university-of-florida-researchers-find-no-asymptomatic-spread/
and done in B format U. of Florida asymptomatic s d/n spread flu
This nearly hidden Alachua County(Where UF resides) Chronical article together with several other “local-place sourced” articles suggest parsing local news stories for facts, may be a way to filter, lies from content, MSM uses for its public narrative news.

Posted by: snake | Dec 31 2020 11:31 utc | 140

What I am to make of this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR5vLQ1hz0o
Who is doing the press conference? Is this relevant?
It’s Joe and Hunter Biden and Ukraine.

Posted by: namulith | Dec 31 2020 11:40 utc | 142

Posted by: namulith | Dec 31 2020 11:40 utc | 143

What I am to make of this? Who is doing the press conference? Is this relevant?
It’s Joe and Hunter Biden and Ukraine.

Make the following of it:
– One or other faction of the American Empire did not take Trump’s defeat well and decided to pay their Ukrainian vassals to make some noise about Biden in particular
– Since Ukraine is now an American vassal state, and every Ukrainian official’s price a matter of simple negotiation it was easy to arrange this kind of dog and pony show
No, it’s not relevant. I can’t remember the last time it mattered how corrupt the American emperor of the time was or how much proof there was of it.
Remember: It’s not how vile the current ruler of the Empire is but how well he serves the Skull and Bonesmen …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 31 2020 12:34 utc | 144

Posted by: Circe | Dec 31 2020 12:35 utc | 146

So I’m going to expose the sickening, biased and blatant hypocrisy and deception around here.

We here, down in the global south, really couldn’t care less about what goes on in your Imperial sausage factory.
We’re all just hoping that whatever it is that happens in your “Congress” (appropriately, another word for “coitus”) leads further to your Imperial death star sinking as fast and safely as possible before it can take all of mankind along with it.
Happy New Year.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 31 2020 12:50 utc | 146

@ Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 31 2020 6:26 utc | 134
Those kind of asylums were probably part of a deal. It was already decided from the very beginning.
It’s the same case with that teenager who decapitated a schoolteacher in France a while ago, while miraculously not being “in the radar” of the French Intelligence: they were all assets gone wrong.
The same process happens in the USA (Florida), which is now home to hundreds of thousands of Latin American wanted criminals, dictators, fallen generals, former planters and former oligarchs. That mass turned Florida from a purple to a red state permanently, in a remarkable short time frame, as the doors were opened to other Latin American countries not named Cuba (“wet feet, dry feet” doctrine).
As with the USA, Western Europe (specially France and Germany, but not only) is beginning to feel the symptoms of decades of these kind of “profane” deals, i.e. deals with extremist terrorist groups in exchange of some cash and, most importantly, citizenry for them (if they manage to return alive) and their families; plus the recruitment of young male teenagers (whose advantage is being more easily manipulable and being childless). Those guys are not dying in the ME in such great numbers as the Europeans thought they would be, and are returning to their new homes. Another problem is that a lot of these teenager recruits are backfiring, as they’re doing the jihad at home instead of going to the ME.
With time, these terrorist recruits are becoming essentially foederati at the heart of the European civilization (Paris, Marseilles, Berlin, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rotterdam). Expect more decapitations, truck/car ramming and outright shootings in Western Europe in the future.

Posted by: vk | Dec 31 2020 13:35 utc | 148

Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 31 2020 13:36 utc | 150
Spicy stuff! I’ve broken out the popcorn, looks like it’s going to be a blockbuster year ahead.
I’m sure accidents happen but in the last decade of watching the Houthi fight I have never seen them behave carelessly with regard to civilian life. This particular strike had the hallmarks of people who have no consideration for human life whatsoever, many who fit that bill.
Al Masdar News also reports a statement by Ansar Allah: https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/houthi-forces-issue-first-statement-after-devastating-explosions-at-aden-airport/

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 31 2020 14:02 utc | 150

@suzan | Dec 31 2020 5:08 utc | 133
RE: “I’m wondering if you’ve heard more about exactly what communication services and otherwise were affected?”
No. Seems to be another cone of silence so far there too, just like on the unanswered bomb composition/size forensics questions.
I’ve not yet come across additional or more specific details than was talked about in the David Zhang YT I linked to @gm | Dec 29 2020 2:55 utc | 139 (OT 2020-102).
The only other bits of related info were several rather vague or cryptic Twitter comments from Lin Wood and Patrick Byrne from a couple days back, which I’m not sure I can still find/refer to right now.

Posted by: gm | Dec 31 2020 14:36 utc | 152

Happy Neonazi New Year, Ukrainians:
Ukraine to raise gas tariff by 20% this New Year
–//–
America is Back, baby!
Not.
Europe hurried to sign China pact to preempt Biden: US president-elect’s proposed united front of the West against China fails to reflect trade realities
India also seems to be caught with its pants down:
‘Rather Surprising’: New EU-China Investment Deal Causes Unease in India
The EU’s conditions, by the way, are a complete farce: albeit there is, prima facie, classic social-democratic working class rights on the EU’s constitution (48 hours work weeks max, rights of unionization, etc. etc.) which they want China to adopt in exchange for the free trade deal, those are riddled with loopholes and exemptions. Don’t be fooled: the EU is a full-fledged neoliberal paradise, and the only thing they want to is to open a flank for the restoration of capitalism in China.
–//–
Western logistics seems to be jumping from one blunder to blunder:
Wisconsin Hospital Employee Fired After Intentionally Spoiling 500 Doses of Moderna’s Covid Vaccine
Accusations fly as hundreds of Covid jabs ‘spoil’ amid Israel’s ambitious mass inoculation drive
14 Million Doses Shipped, 2.6 Million Injected: The Lag in U.S. Vaccines
Covid vaccine: UK doctors criticise rescheduling of second doses
In warfare, we call this “low morale” (of your soldiers).
–//–
American propaganda doesn’t seem to be working:
Russia is our most important ally, say over 50% of Chinese people, as leaders Xi & Putin discuss closer ties between countries

There was a sharp reduction in the number of people saying that ties with the US had the biggest impact on China, dropping to only 47.5 percent, compared to 82.1 percent when the question was asked last year.

–//–
WaPo Editorial Board: Why increasing the stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 is a bad idea
Yep, you heard it from your master Jeff Bezos, Americans: no free lunch for you this New Year. Don’t be a bunch of welfare queens!
–//–
To finish today’s clipping on a positive tone:
Xinhua Commentary: With Xiaokang victory in sight, China saddles up for socialist modernization

Posted by: vk | Dec 31 2020 15:05 utc | 154

Posted by: vk | Dec 31 2020 15:05 utc | 156

WaPo Editorial Board: Why increasing the stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 is a bad idea
Yep, you heard it from your master Jeff Bezos, Americans: no free lunch for you this New Year. Don’t be a bunch of welfare queens!

However, more ‘stimulus’ for welfare queen Israel is just awesome:

A $38 billion military aid package for Israel is moving to the Senate after being approved in the chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.
The bill (S.B. 3176) provides Israel, which currently receives more American aid than any other nation, an additional $3.8 billion a year over the next decade. It includes financing to upgrade most of Israel’s fighter aircraft, improve its ground forces’ mobility and strengthen its missile defense systems.
The measure also expands a stockpile of weapons that the United States keeps in Israel, which Israeli forces may access in wartime.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 31 2020 15:21 utc | 156

librul@157 erects an elaborate theory involving the dubious propositions that “evidence” would automatically enable anyone to put Johnson in jail or Robert F. Kennedy etc. Mere evidence does not suffice to blackmail a Johnson or a Kennedy. librul also assumes that the “Joint Chiefs of Staff” wanted to invade Cuba. Given that they were planning on fighting Communism in Vietnam, this actually requires evidence. librul is not reasoning, but indulging in free association fiction writing. If librul were engaged in actual reasoning, librul would also test these fictions against alternative explanations, such as Oswald actually being a Cuban agent. (The hypothesis that Oswald was a CIA plant may have arguments for it, but they aren’t given. Plus, many of these arguments so far as I know are in truth arguments that the Soviets regarded Oswald as a plant.) No, librul is aping reason, not reasoning.
The moral of the fable being told by librul is something about a Noble (aka upper-class) Hero fighting the nefarious conspiracy that perverted an otherwise healthy moral Republic. The notion that Kennedy had any good motives by any standards other than imperialist ruler standards is in my judgment as preposterous as it is reactionary. US imperialism is not a regretful stain imposed by a handful who can be excised. Only reconstruction of the country can do that.

Posted by: steven t johnson | Dec 31 2020 15:47 utc | 158

Alleged American leftist, Jimmy Dore’s BFF, freaks out over the EU-China deal:
Fervent shill for US hegemony Matt Stoller shits in their pants when future US hegemony no longer assured
So, here’s the situation of the American Left: the alleged Marxist, “down on Earth”, pro-AOC/The Squad, et al faction (centered on the troupe from The Majority Report, TYT etc. etc.) accuses the YOLO faction (centered on Jimmy Dore et al) of being essentially a pro-Assad infiltrated organization, while the YOLO faction accuses the aforementioned faction of being essentially capitalist double agents.
But, at the end of the day, both are pro-Empire. When the cookie crumbles, the first faction supported the destruction of Libya and the invasion of Syria (because it was Obama’s wars, and wars by Obama are cool), while the second faction essentially supports Trump’s quest for the destruction and annihilation of China.
Here’s my advice for both of them: why don’t you get honest with the American people and admit you’re just a bunch of closeted social-fascists?

Posted by: vk | Dec 31 2020 16:27 utc | 160

What we are witnessing is a reverse bank bailout.
Rather than directly bailing out the banks as we did in 2007-2011.
The banks brilliantly thought out a reverse bailout. After selling unbelievable amounts of debt to consumers over the past decades via auto, mortgage, car, student loan. They have us right where they want us.
When you shake the economy and and shut it down you cast the bottom 30% into destitution, While all the mortgage/auto debt carrier middle/upper middle class begin to quickly and ruthless begin to pay down debt because they are scared and realized they are way over leveraged. Then you loot the treasury again, and again, and again via bailout 1,2,3,4,5,6…etc. And send checks directly to the bottom 80%(sub 100k. A handful will throw it into stocks/bitcoin/gold but the majority will send it straight to their highest interest baring debts. This shut downs and repeated bailout could last years. Wiemar Germany did a similar thing.
Inflation doesn’t hurt the top 1%. Their FAANGS stocks out pace it, as does their real estate. Infact they love inflation, the banks love it,and so the insiders are fine. What happens is the faith in the currency will begin to degrade and lose more and more value. What will happens at the end of this all will be somthing similar to a banana republic(already one) around 2024 their will be a tiny .05%-.01% oligarchy and a mass mass peasantry. Ie the middle/upper middle class will have their head stomped in. Mabey a top 2-5% in the professional class will survive/live well. But everyone else is getting cast into serfdom from currency debasement, automation, robotics, AI…etc.
What to do? Well understand the inflation won’t hit right now. People are debt strapped so any inflation will go into the market as those who have money will just throw it in their but 2022-2023 we will see inflation coming hard and fast.
How to protect yourself? I am currently sitting in JPM and Berkshire B. FB and Googl are also good. JPM has super high insider ownership by jamie and his james crown prince board memeber(1.2billion) the big banks always win, and buffet can outpace inflation, and Bill gates trusts him with about 40% of his portfolio.
Very, Very dark times.

Posted by: ltc | Dec 31 2020 18:35 utc | 162

Global Times comments on completion of China-EU Investment Treaty, which must still be ratified by the EU Parliament:
“We must move forward. But China and the EU cannot go too far by relying merely on trade alone, not to mention that there are still many ideological and other factors that will create turbulence. With a stable investment treaty, the two sides will open new rooms for cooperation and upgrade the driving force of their cooperation. An investment treaty has been the only way to deepen China-EU cooperation. The negotiations have ended at the end of 2020, which is a portrayal of the two sides’ common strategic courage.
“International relations in 2020 are generally tense, and there have been disputes between China and the EU. The result of the negotiations at the end of the year has made people think: What is the essence of China-EU relations? There is too much chatter about geopolitics and values, but what the public cares about the most is peaceful development. Obviously, what promotes peaceful development is cooperation, not confrontation.”
I’m somewhat surprised that the end of negotiations is seen as a done deal when it still needs to clear a substantial hurdle, although it would be folly for ratification to fail. We shall soon see if Europe’s Neoliberals are willing to end Zero-sum and adopt Win-Win thus spurning the desires of the Outlaw US Empire.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 31 2020 19:25 utc | 164

Xi Jinping’s 2021 New Year address is filled with adoration and exhortation at the accomplishments of China’s people, which is very fitting. Onward into 2021 where a very important milestone will occur:
“2021 will see the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China. Its 100-year journey surges forward with great momentum. Its original aspiration remains even firmer one hundred years later.
“From Shikumen in Shanghai to the South Lake in Jiaxing City, the small red boat (where the first CPC congress concluded) bore the great trust of the people and the hope of the nation. The boat has sailed through turbulent rivers and treacherous shoals, and has voyaged across violent tidal waves, becoming a great ship that navigates China’s stable and long-term development.
“The CPC bears its eternal great cause in mind, and the centenary only ushers in the prime of life. We adhere to putting people at the center, stay true to our original aspiration, keep our mission well in mind, break the waves and sail out for our journey ahead, and we will certainly realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
“At the historic crossroad of the ‘Two Centenary Goals,’ the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country is about to start. The road ahead is long; striving is the only way forward. We have strived, broken through brambles and thorns, and crossed ten thousand rivers and thousands of mountains.” [My Emphasis]
I’m certain a great many lies about China will again be published by the West’s BigLie Media. So learning the reality of the “small red boat’s” travels becomes ever more important so those lies can be dispelled so the world community that Xi, Putin and others promote can become reality over the protestations and impediments placed by the Outlaw US Empire and its few remaining vassals.
On this New Year’s Eve, we should ask ourselves why Global Comradery is a goal that’s continually thwarted by those thinking themselves being the Global Boss–why do they fear the solidarity of humanity, and have for the past 540 years? Yes, the question might be considered rhetorical, but I would insist it not be thought of as such. For IMO, the only path to genuine freedom is through obtaining the Global Comradery of Humanity such that nobody is captured within Machiavellian games and The Prince finally gets laid to rest.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 31 2020 19:55 utc | 166

Interesting comment in Putin’s Year end messages:
“While tensions with Turkey have at times seemed fraught, given ongoing conflicts in both Syria and the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh, Putin’s message to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was positively glowing. He “noted with satisfaction the progressive development of Russian-Turkish relations in all key areas.”
Who is on Putin’s ‘naughty or nice’ list? Kremlin congratulates world leaders at New Year… but not everyone makes the cut

Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 31 2020 20:20 utc | 168

A significant proportion of American healthcare workers seems to be doubting the mRNA vaccines:
Some healthcare workers refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine, even with priority access
The article begins trying to ridicule the healthcare workers who are refusing to take the Moderna/Pfizer vaccines by outright quoting a worker who states she doesn’t want to take it because she’s six months pregnant. It then mentions that:

The scientific evidence is clear regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccines after trials involving tens of thousands of participants, including elderly people and those with chronic health conditions. The shots are recommended for everyone except those who have had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients.

The part “scientific evidence is clear” is linked to a ridiculous Q&A made by the newspaper itself – not to a peer-reviewed scientific paper. In the part of this other article regarding the safety of the mRNA vaccines, it links to the FDA, other ridiculous articles by the LA Times itself (including one on the “vaccines cause autism” hoax that has nothing to do with the issue of the original article) and one article of the NY Times. It does not present any “scientific evidence” at all – let alone “clear” ones. It finishes with a ridiculous statement by FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn, who, asked about the fact that it is the first time the institution approves mRNA vaccines, answers that “We feel very comfortable with the platform. [mRNA]”.
The final part of the article produces a fake news. The FDA approved the mRNA vaccines on an emergency not mentioning the allergies part at all. It was only after a series of British healthcare workers had strong allergic reactions that the British equivalent of the FDA or CDC issued an emergency counter-indication for people with a history of allergies to food. The British source is not mentioned. In the context of the article, it is heavily implied that the FDA is the best thing in the Universe, that it is 100% reliable and that it authorized the use of the mRNA vaccines with the full instructions of use from the very beginning.
When you delve down into the enormous article, you can clearly see that the reasons the healthcare workers are not accepting those mRNA vaccines are much more nuanced, and include not only distrust on the USG, but also worries about long-term side effects of the vaccines. The hospitals investigated by the LA Times’ reporter reveal a rate that hovers between 10%-50% of their workers refusing to take the vaccine.
Healthcare workers know the corruption of the system better than anyone. If they are skeptical about the mRNA vaccines, so should you.

Posted by: vk | Dec 31 2020 20:48 utc | 170

The Union is strong and united across our magnificent planet. This is a review of industrial action and strikes and protests across the world in 2020. A good quick take on events past. Some of it surprising.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 31 2020 21:02 utc | 172

China New Year address from Xi Jinping to coincide with the west calendar here with english subtitles – a ten minute video.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 31 2020 22:05 utc | 174

Re: “What I am to make of this…It’s Joe and Hunter Biden ”
-namulith | Dec 31 2020 11:40 utc | 144
Here is an article from ZH yesterday explaining it:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ukraine-press-conference-explicitly-ties-hunter-joe-biden-corruption

Posted by: gm | Dec 31 2020 22:30 utc | 176

gm #178
One of Tyler Durdens more noteworthy quotes leapt off the page:

Indeed, I would argue that Biden is one of the most corrupt politicians ever in America. In the past, corrupt politicians have confined themselves to playing dirty in their own back yard, making money from deals with fellow Americans.

Apparently Durden has not heard of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. That evil family of grifters shook down anyone and everyone across the planet. They even stole from Haiti – low lifes they were and likely unmatched in terms of earning capacity and callous disregard for humanity.
I see Xerxes Biden as being set to be pulled down early in his reign. Perhaps he will get a year to trouser a few millions and kill plenty of innocents and then – illness – then Karma Harris and the bait and switch stage will be completed. Then there will be the aftermath.
Time will tell but meanwhile I have to ask why the USAi labor unions are invisible on the #force the vote campaign as that would be a workers benefit worth seriously fighting for. I would like to see a general strike in support of #force the vote. That would be another helpful trigger to effect the change needed within the Democrats. I would like to see that and I guess most Americans would too. Can anyone inform on that issue?

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 31 2020 23:17 utc | 178

My New Year gift. Ted Cruze doing dirty deals cheap and getting destroyed. One can only hope this low life manipulator is done for.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 31 2020 23:35 utc | 180

Happy NY
Stonedbird and UncleT. 177 , 179
Don’t underestimate the difficulty of PNG. I know many Aussies who have worked there. Including the older generation of doctors who did their best there.
The best story came from an unassuming chap at my local rifle range. He also happens to be the world champion in his chosen discipline of rifle shooting. He did 13 years as a mine manager in PNG. Most do a year and leave. His mine was overrun 4 times by illegal miners who the government tolerate for their support. He and the westerners would stay in the panic room listening to them trash the offices and rape the women. After a couple of days the army would turn up and the mine would reopen. He left because he fired a lazy employee who was the son of the local warlord. He was told not to but he did. The son then declared in the market of the local village that he was going to put the upstart Aussies head on a stick there. My friend was smuggled to the airport but a spy reported his flight to the warlord. As his flight taxied on the runway the converted Toyota’s of the baddies were seen driving into the airfield. The pilot announced a delay until he was shown the cars and promptly got out of there.
Sovereign risk is alive and well in these climes
https://m.timesofindia.com/world/pakistan/is-china-slowly-turning-its-back-on-bri-projects-in-pakistan/articleshow/79954755.cms

Posted by: BD6 | Jan 1 2021 0:09 utc | 182

Putin’s New Year Address was somewhat short but long on solidarity. The common theme for Xi and Putin was the unity of their polities while across the ocean the Outlaw US Empire is divided more than ever.
I hope all barflies get a good start to 2021.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 1 2021 0:32 utc | 184

QANON gets a mention in the analysis of the Tennessee gas canister attack.
An introduction to wet your whistle:-

Such bombings and threats of bombings encompass the “accelerationist” doctrine of far-right Trump supporters who believe such attacks will hasten a civil war in the United States and the overthrow of the government. The same belief system prompted a conspiracy by a pro-Trump group of armed terrorists to kidnap Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, seize control of the Michigan state legislature in Lansing, and execute legislators and state police officers, in addition to Whitmer. Similar plots were uncovered by right-wing groups targeting the Democratic governors of Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Nevada, Maine, New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Carolina and the Republican governor of Ohio.
Law enforcement investigators believe that Warren was part of a clandestine far-right group that has been targeting 5G infrastructure targets across Tennessee and the nation. These have included several cell towers that were damaged by arson in Memphis, Tennessee in December 2019. The anti-5G activists have found a ready-made audience with other right-wing groups across the United States, including racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists (REMVEs), anti-government militias, and “sovereign citizen” lone wolves.

The 5G fear and loathing would be funny if it were not for these nutters. Go down empire and stay down.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 1 2021 1:01 utc | 186

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 1 2021 1:01 utc | 188
Tennessee gas cannister attack: this really takes me back to the 60s & 70s. strange groups of nuts going around blowing things up, petroleum wars, US military degraded and disfunctional, politics a snake pit, media full of babble and lies, riots, it’s all there now, the only thing missing is some political assassinations (I’m not counting Pompeo’s foreign policy efforts). There is always a certain amount of nuttery here, but Trump really fed it and fed on it. And his enemies jumped right in too. It’s hard for me to imagine us getting our shit together any time soon, but you never know, sometimes the right people step up. Realistically restoration of our past puissance is a long term project. Too many accrued skills have been lost or degraded. Sad.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 1 2021 1:27 utc | 188

On the the ever-mutating Nashville Lee RV Oswald Christmas bomber narrative:
Remember a couple days back when the narrative was Warner was a weird hikikomori loner who stayed shut in his parents’ house and never married or had any children? That is sToo-ohh Yesterday..
Now he’s Nashville bomber was a ‘cop-hating hippie with a Magnum PI mustache who loved weed’ when he was younger, says ex colleague – who claims he was ‘popular with the ladies too.
And Michelle Swing is not a *close* relative has any relationship to/knowledge about Warner? Looks like that’s wrong too:
Michelle Swing’s Signature Found on Documents Tied to the Nashville Bomber .
Finally from he *Cone of Silence* department: It has now been SEVEN days since the explosion, and there are still NO Nashville Christmas bomb residue forensic analysis results yet!!?
[I guess FBI wants to do a thorough job scrubbing *all* the evidence that contradicts their desired narrative, before letting the lab guys to swab for residue, and geting rid of it all is HARD WORK (maybe FBI they are waiting for a good rainstorm to do the cleaning for them? Hey plausible deniability ROCKS)]

Posted by: gm | Jan 1 2021 2:17 utc | 190

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 1 2021 2:00 utc | 191
I’m trying to imagine it. We’ve never had our real popular revolution here, the duopoly that grew up after the Civil War was very good at manipulation of elections, and they’ve never been very civilized here. So I don’t think this gets better until we get some real political reform, and I don’t think that happens without the overturn of things as they are. That can be done the easy way or the hard way. Depends on the elites here really, not out of the question yet, perhaps.
Empires of whatever stripe tend to hollow out the “homeland” to better exploit the free lunch in the “territories”. Our military is still very fond of its “lilypads”. But what killed the USSR was that the Russian people got sick of paying for it, lost faith in it. And I expect much the same dynamic here. It is already happening. Seems very unpredictable. I’ve taken it for granted for a long time that some of what keeps us propped up is nobody with the ability wants us to really collapse, so maybe. And our geographical advantages certainly help. Nobody with any sense is going to invade. And the people as a whole are remarkably more sensible than their government, despite how they are presented in the media.
Being a pessimist is logical, but giving up doesn’t get you much, does it?

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 1 2021 2:41 utc | 192

Below is a short quote from the beginning of a Reuters posting
”
(Reuters) – President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, earned at least $7 million from speaking engagements over the past two years, according to disclosures posted on Thursday.
Yellen, the former Federal Reserve chair, disclosed the more than 50 speaking gigs, including to government-regulated Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Barclays Plc and hedge fund Citadel LLC, as part of a set of documents that move her candidacy closer to consideration by the U.S. Senate.
”
How much will Yellen make as Treasury Secretary? Above board, I mean.
The shit show that is current America does not even hide the fact of its puppets being bought, hook, line and sinker.
At least Americans are waking up to the thought they might have a problem they cannot blame on others…..not that any good is going to come from it but that leap of non-faith to logic and reason has to start somewhere.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 1 2021 2:56 utc | 194

Serena Shim award winner Dan Cohen thoroughly trashes the Democrat’s shill Nomiki Konst and others. The shill team has been doing pretzel bends to smear leaders calling for the #force the vote strategy by the squad. Some quotable quotes from the Mint Press News story.

Beyond her part in bringing slavery back to the African continent, Nomiki Konst was trained as a “millennial thought leader” by the Truman National Security Project, a Democratic party-aligned, pro-war think tank that helped groom noted revolutionary leaders like Pete Buttigieg and Michele Flournoy.
The Truman National Security Project was formed to create a “new generation of hawkish Democrats rethinking security questions in a post-9/11 world.” Nomiki seems to fit perfectly with the brand.
Here’s millennial thought leader Nomiki Konst discussing her time in Libya in a 2013 interview, “When it comes to NATO, all I witnessed was Libyans being incredibly grateful to NATO because it was so targeted. You’d go by these buildings where NATO struck the buildings and they just imploded, it was amazing.”
Even in 2015, long after the liberal hawks who pushed Obama to strike Libya had been wholly discredited and the country was in perpetual chaos, Konst stood by her support for the attack, tweeting that the neocon senator Marco Rubio was right about Libya.
“Rubio does have a very good point about Libya. He’s 100% correct. #gopdebate
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) December 16, 2015”
At the same time, she was regularly appearing on Fox News to shill for Obama’s wars in Syria and Iraq.
Like Nomiki Konst, Young Turks personality Ana Kasparian took it upon herself to defend AOC against the powerful Beltway lobby of pothead comedian Jimmy Dore and his supporters.
She accused him of never acting in good faith and tweeted that his call to pressure Pelosi is more a branding exercise than anything else, even while admitting that Jimmy’s proposal is the right thing to do.
“It’s one thing to debate the strategies lawmakers like @AOC should take. My issue with Dore is that I don’t believe he says anything in good faith. It’s incredible to witness his rage-filled demands of some lawmakers while he refused to hold Tulsi accountable for a damn thing.
— Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) December 13, 2020
With the that said, pressuring politicians to actually represent us is the right thing to do. I just question his intentions, and for good reason. Even a broken clock…etc etc…
— Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) December 13, 2020”
For Kasparian, personal beef with Jimmy Dore outweighs the public’s dire need for healthcare.

This is the calibre of the fake left as they sell Obummers war abroad and penury at home for the establishment and its Democrat fixers. Its a good read and perhaps indicates the desperation that must be driving the Democrats right now.
I have parked a shovel at the back step to go start digging Pelosi’s token grave.
I see the lowest slimer of all Mitch McConnell has told the congress to shove their $2000 parsimony check. The revolution continues regardless of the D shills antics and the R refuseniks.
Maybe I’ll make that two token graves.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 1 2021 3:16 utc | 196

Things have escalated in the employee who wasted 500 vaccines imbroglio:
A pharmacist is arrested after he allegedly allowed more than 500 vaccine doses to spoil
USA, not being able to properly pay their workers anymore, is degenerating to negative incentive to keep their “soldiers'” morale. This is USSR-level shit.
–//–
@ Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 1 2021 3:16 utc | 198
Good link.
I think this phenomenon of the rise of the “new left” centered around Bernie Sanders, AOC et al is a complex one. On one side, I really think they had an organic origin, i.e. they really were a symptom of the times (a post-2008 USA). On the other side, it is undeniable that the USA is the land of AstroTurf par excellence, so it is not surprising at all that the powerful American capitalist class has successfully and easily coopted the whole thing (and after that, given birth to its own creatures, like Nomiki Konst).
One thing is certain for me: most of these new leftists in the USA are really sincere in their beliefs. They’re not socialists, but social-democrats, and social-democrats don’t give a damn about the costs incurred on the Third World if that means the installation of a welfare state in the USA. Bernie Sanders never hid that: democratic socialism is the official name of the Gaitskellites, a faction within the post-war Labour Party that was the first one to publicly give up socialism and promote capitalism as the “blank”, “eternal” format over which socialism was to be merely a moral guide. Only people who don’t know what the term “democratic socialism” really means are surprised by Bernie Sanders’ and his followers’ actions and beliefs.

Posted by: vk | Jan 1 2021 4:00 utc | 198

So get this: your mangod Trump, whose loss many of you are so bitter about, wants to mess things up royally for Biden before being dragged from the Oval, still clinging to false hope while he’s kicked out the door.
Aside from threatening every second day to strike Iran before leaving, now he’s planning to put Cuba on the list of states sponsoring terrorism, becozzzz Cuba supports the Maduro government in Venezuela.
This on top of reversing previous Cuba policy relaxed under Obama by tightening restrictions and imposing sanctions while Cuba is suffering economically from the Covid hit on its tourism industry and having to find alternatives to subsidized oil from Venezuela since Trump imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil trade.
This is all in an effort to undo Obama-era detente with Cuba right before Biden takes Office.
January 20th 2021 can’t come soon enough!
Happy New Year.
🙄

Posted by: Circe | Jan 1 2021 4:33 utc | 200