My how quickly things change. And there’s still the JCPOA to settle. Trump’s withdrawal will be seen as a huge strategic blunder. Not only is the U.S. agreement incapable, it doesn’t even honor agreements once things have been dragged out and scrutinized, put on paper and signed off on. Things are moving much faster than even I imagined.

Oh and just one last comment - I cannot begin to express my appreciation to the Olympic Committee for the absolutely beautiful job they did interpreting and performing Imagine during Opening Ceremonies. I felt in my heart John worked magic with this song and I was overjoyed at the fact that, in the end, John won. They silenced him. But the cat was already out of the bag. Too late. John smiles. May we all find the peace that John imagined.

Posted by: thecelticwithinme | Feb 5 2022 17:00 utc | 1

FYI
John Lennon's Imagine... is not a song about world peace.
Its a song about socialism... about the communist manifesto. Its just covered in roses and pretty words.. think about it.
The song describes the idea of a classless economy but does not allow private property or other forms of ownership, or religion.
Pretty timely and appropriate by the Chinese (opposed to capitalism) if you ask me!

Posted by: F.Bomb | Feb 5 2022 17:25 utc | 2

Posted by: F.Bomb | Feb 5 2022 17:25 utc | 2

I guess he was trying to imagine an alternative to the constant warmongering of capitalist states over resources that they wanted on someone else's land. The biggest warmongers in the past 70 years: USA USA!!!
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/america-has-started-81-of-the-wars-since-wwii/

"Ever since Kennedy’s brains were blown out on November 22, 1963 by the CIA, which he had vowed to shatter into a thousand pieces and scatter to the winds, a Deep State has ruled the land of the free. It thrives on conflict and war and military spending and infinite spying and control. America has started 81% of the wars since WWII. None so blind as those who refuse to see:
Earth: 248 armed conflicts after WW2; US started 201 (81%), killing 30 million so far. Arrests are when now?"

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 5 2022 17:36 utc | 3

Posted by: F.Bomb | Feb 5 2022 17:25 utc | 2
In case you want a list:
https://californiaman.substack.com/p/list-of-us-wars-and-interventions

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 5 2022 17:41 utc | 4

Just thought if anyone wants a good account of US wars and interventions, not just lists, William Blum's Killing Hope is one of the better accounts.

Blum died in 2018, but his site is still up and some of the chapters are available through links:
https://williamblum.org/books/killing-hope/

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 5 2022 18:03 utc | 5

The civilization war we are in is about the paradigm of patriarchy, private property, ongoing accumulation thereof through inheritance, and control of the tools of finance/money.

China has sovereign ownership and management of finance and the West has private ownership of BIS, SWIFT, US Fed, City of London Corp., etc.

That is the reality humanity is faced with. Not BS about socialism, communism, fascism, monotheism, marxism, or any other obfuscatory THEORIES about our social interactions.

The paradigm the West is living has evolved since the Sumerian period and as I and others who have read The Dawn of Everything have reported from that book, humanity did not always live in such a form of social organization. Thankfully, China, who has had forms of social organization longer than the West, is challenging the current Western paradigm.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 5 2022 18:03 utc | 6

Robert Whiting series on Asiatimes.com continuing; parts 4 and 5 out.

From part 4:

What neither the Soviets nor anybody else knew at the time was that the Americans had also installed ballistic missiles of their own, similar to the ones the Russians had delivered to Cuba, on Okinawa, just south of Kyushu. There were eight missiles in all, brought in six months earlier and hidden in underground missile sites.

So the US didn't just put nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy, they were also in Japan.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 5 2022 18:46 utc | 7

Port problem didn't pop up overnight

We Were Warned About The Ports - Prospect.org

THE FMC SET OUT NEARLY ALL of the issues that would be blamed on COVID a half-decade later, which were evident another ten years before that: things like chassis availability, terminal operations, truck turn time, and gate hours. These factors “must be addressed in the near term to ensure an efficient and reliable international ocean transportation system and the relevant supply chain,” said FMC chairman Mario Cordero at the time (he now runs the Port of Long Beach). The report’s subheader exclaimed: “Congestion is a serious challenge to America’s continuing economic growth and competitive position in the world economy.”

Availability of chassis, the semitrailers that containers get attached to after coming off ships, was seen as a particular cause of congestion. The shortage was being exacerbated by the growth of ever-larger ships, and the outstanding monopolistic reach of the shipping companies. Chassis usage was being built into the freight rate negotiated between the ocean carrier and its customer as a bundled service. “The practice of shipping lines owning the chassis is unique to the U.S. In most other countries, the motor carrier provides the chassis with which to move the container,” the report noted. This created exceptional issues of unaligned priorities in clearing out shipments, and deferred maintenance of aging, decrepit equipment in dire need of repair.

Terminal operations had become a similarly elevated concern. Vessels are supposed to arrive on precise schedules, spaced out enough to give time for longshoremen to unload and move cargo to the container yard. But ships had been “slow steaming” across the ocean to conserve fuel, falling behind schedule and leading to significant bunching at marine terminals, the report explained, a habit they’d picked up as a cost-cutting measure in the wake of the Great Recession. “Bunching can put enormous pressures on the terminal because resources available to work the vessels are finite … overcrowded container stacks lead to shuffling containers multiple times to get to the required container and this slows the process, delays and congestion build, and in-terminal dwell-time lengthens.”

That’s become the norm in today’s ports, a process which Mercogliano described to me as “a big game of Tetris in the terminal,” where empty containers piled high have to be moved around ceaselessly to facilitate unloading. The report, too, raised concern about the impact of a new ocean carrier consolidation that was just emerging at publication date, resulting in three major shipping alliances running the vast majority of operations. The alliances were already “a factor contributing to port congestion,” with “the potential to cause severe dislocation of chassis,” which are not shared across alliances.

A third area of concern came from slow “turn times,” or the time a truck spends at the marine terminal. While trucking deregulation and the conversion to an independent-contractor model made interventions difficult, the report keyed on low-cost suggestions that could be implemented without high price tags: setting up appointment systems through communication between truckers and marine terminal operators, for example, or “free-flow” strategies that stack containers from one cargo owner for quick loading to chassis.

Still, because deregulation brought a broader dealignment of priorities—a number of independent corporations merely looking out for themselves, rather than the holistic operation of the port—even those suggestions were impossible to implement. In one instance, the FMC referenced another report that found “queuing constitutes a significant portion of the 25 percent of truck visits that take two hours or more, but it is not being addressed because the marine terminals … do not consider the long lines outside the gates as their problem.”

Finally, the report looked at expanded gate hours as a possible solution to congestion, a tool with a track record. Ten years prior to the 2015 publication, the Ports of L.A. and Long Beach had pioneered an extended-hours approach, with mixed results. The costs of running an extended operation were substantial, with wages one-third to one-half higher during night and weekend shifts, the authors noted. Meanwhile, for those shifts to be functional required warehouses, manufacturers, and steamship lines, as well as their various help desks and support services, to also be operational, an expensive staffing requirement beyond just longshoremen and truckers. While the aim was to continue truck movement through terminals on nights and weekends, the report relayed, “anecdotal reports indicate this aim has not been achieved.”

So in other words, people could see this coming but nothing was done.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 5 2022 19:20 utc | 8

From Australia's ABC News: COVID case numbers are likely a lot higher than reported. So how do you know if you've had it?

You've got a slight scratch in your throat. Is it COVID-19, or is it just hayfever? You go looking for a rapid antigen test (RAT) but find chemist shelves empty. The grocery store is also out of stock. What do you do?

[...]

But now as the dust settles on the latest outbreak, many have been left wondering: did I actually have COVID and if so, is there any way to know for sure?

[...]

Just this week Queensland Health released the results of a random COVID testing survey, conducted on the Gold Coast, which found up to 90 per cent of people who returned a positive PCR didn't know they had the virus.

"A ballpark figure, probably after this wave, about half of us will have been infected," Professor Blakely says.

If 90 per cent of people who've been infected didn't even notice, then the reaction to the Omicron variant seems wildly disproportionate. It's like the system is stuck on automatic with an almost Pavlovian response to the word "Covid".

Posted by: Kukulkan | Feb 6 2022 4:22 utc | 9

I would have loved to have seen the Ned Price piece my roommate posted here about 2 minutes ago.

Posted by: Rockets Redglare | Feb 6 2022 5:37 utc | 10

Kinzhal hypersonic missiles transferred to Kaliningrad?

F-15E fighter tried to intercept Russian MiG-31K fighters with Kinzhal missiles

"The reasons for the transfer of Russian hypersonic missile systems "Dagger" to the Kaliningrad region are not announced."

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 6 2022 8:01 utc | 11

On "reasons for transfer" in Norwegian's link and quote.

I'm sure I'm missing plenty but I'm throwing this out there for people to comment on.

I'm guessing the reason is that Russia knows the US is aiming to launch a scenario where Nazi Ukraine attacks at least DPR and LPR.

So Russia makes at least some moves to improve their stance militarily.

The US might think that if Russia acts to defend DPR and LPR they can cry "Russian invasion" …and then the US ramps things up further, and if Russia doesn't then the Russian public becomes so disgusted a color revolution in Russia is deemed possible …and then the US ramps things up further.

If DPR and LPR is not enough or doesn't work then Crimea? Or maybe they go for Crimea right away or simultaneously if they think they have some decisive surprise in hand.

The Russians seem to answer with 1. declaring they do not want war, 2. demanding that their security should be respected, and 3. taking at least some measures in case of war against the US and maybe NATO, some more visible than others.

I'm also guessing the US is basing their plans on whatever they think was learnt from Georgia and Azerbaijan (against Armenia), maybe Syria too. However all of those are (or could be) in comparison relatively small and contained conflicts.

I could be completely wrong.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 6 2022 10:11 utc | 12

Kukulkan #9

It was always the case that 90 % would have it and be entirely unaffected. We just have to hope that Omicron does not set us up for a later severe variant. It is a mighty unusual virus in many ways.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 6 2022 10:20 utc | 13

Norwegian #11

I anticipate many more such incidents over the coming months. The Russians are assembling their kit. In Syria they just flew one of their awacs over the Golan border to accompany Syrian fighter planes. Messaging the apartheid state.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 6 2022 10:32 utc | 14

Kinzhals and things.

Norwegian | Feb 6 2022 8:01 utc | 11
The movement of the Kinzhals was probably to BE seen. It also puts them "in between" the new UK forces being placed in Estonia and the UK itself. ie a different defensive system will be necessary for the UK. Gotland is not far away either as the key to the Baltic.
I liked the bit about the Su-35S fighters "not being seen" by the F-15E. Fascinating stuff for future reference.

**
Donbas and Ukies.

There is a saying that Putin is playing 3 or 4D chess etc. I think this may be wrong - as he is more likely playing Poker.

He has said there will NOT be any provocation by Russia during the Olympics. So there won't be. He keeps his word. This doesn't stop him from preparing. All very visibly - for those that have eyes to see, ....and satellites.
As well as the massive build up along about 800 kms of Ukraines frontier, the Donbas has also quietly been up armed and refueled/reapprovisioned. It is unlikely that they could withstand a Uke attack with their 123'000 mercs/Azov/etc. as Supplied by US, Canada and the UK. (Donbas statement)
*

So what's the game? (What follows after the Olympics is just my speculation)

The Donbas reclaims protection from Ukies, as the Minsk deal cannot be implemented (Even if Zele decided to carry out his part of the deal - would the inhabitants of the Donbas now want to "join" a entity that has shelled them for eight years?). Putin declares the Donbas as a Protectorate, with commercial ties and defense "help" (convoys of goods but not an "invasion"). All the while having his really capable invasion force within a few tens of kilometres of the border, and with a full naval deployment. (To speak nothing of the air force. The latter is to create an No-fly over Donbas.

What would the US do? Or Ukraine for that matter? The Zio-nitwits either have to raise the stakes or fold. The rest of the "participants" "EU and Turkey" (et al) are unlikely to do anything on their own, particularly if the puppet manipulators are blindly fiddling about behind the curtains without a plan. Do not forget that Russia is prepared for full scale hostilities across many sectors, where the US still would have months of (real) preparation in front of them.

Basically, Putin wants the "Put up or shut up" situation, to OBLIGE
USUKNATO and others to backtrack.

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 6 2022 12:06 utc | 15

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 6 2022 12:06 utc | 15

I don't think they would recognize it as a protectorate, but an independent state, if thought necessary. They might still assist them with weapons and maybe, alla Syria, with advisors if requested by the Donbass government.

All the same though, I do not really see them recognizing them as an independent state, either. If there is a Ukie attack, Russia will likely use its EW capabilities to muck it up and further provide the advantage to the Donbass in any counter attack.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 6 2022 12:30 utc | 16

Posted by: Rockets Redglare | Feb 6 2022 5:37 utc | 10
If it was the Dore piece, you can find it on his Rumble page.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 6 2022 12:34 utc | 17

I've had the first reactions:

So I say to William and to Harry: do you understand now why they HAD TO murder your mum?

Reply ↓
fonso
February 6, 2022 at 10:20
Do you not understand that “William and Harry” and Co view you as less than a cockroach?

Reply ↓
John Cleary
February 6, 2022 at 11:14
“I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

Read more: https://www.startuppacks.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt-quotes/#ixzz7K6yulxPf

Reply ↓
Vivian O'Blivion
February 6, 2022 at 10:57
There have been a couple of interesting articles in the current and last editions of Lobster that sure look like the dear old Queen mum (gawd bless her heart) was up to her neck in the whole Rudolph Hess plot to stage a coup against Churchill’s unity government and put a Nazi sympathising puppet in No.10.

Reply ↓
John Cleary
February 6, 2022 at 11:55
Yes Vivian.

And that ties back to the enormous service Savile performed at the end of the war.

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2022/02/how-the-establishment-functions/comment-page-3/#comment-1008465

Posted by: John Cleary | Feb 6 2022 12:36 utc | 18

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 6 2022 10:11 utc | 12

I do not think there is any comparison with the Armenian/Srian conflicts. They were/are quite different.

If Ukraine attacks Crimea, it won't be just Ukraine that suffers, but all the NATO countries aiding the Ukie military. Remember, the US, UK, Canada and Turkey are in Ukraine provoking civil war by arming and "training" the Ukie military. There may be others.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 6 2022 12:40 utc | 19

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 6 2022 10:32 utc | 14

My own feeling is that one of the first significant military technical demonstrations by the Russians will be in Syria.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Feb 6 2022 12:42 utc | 20

@Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 6 2022 10:11 utc | 12

I'm guessing the reason is that Russia knows the US is aiming to launch a scenario where Nazi Ukraine attacks at least DPR and LPR.

Alternatively, this might just be part of the promised 'military-technical' response, it complicates the overall "theater" for the UK/US crazies.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 6 2022 12:45 utc | 21

The people in the western world are rising against the covid tyranny as it becomes clear that the pandemic charade was just an excuse for the demolition of democracy.

Yet governments like in Austria and Greece are going ahead with mandatory vaccinations which are against every notion of personal freedoms and rights.

Now there is an unprecedented campaign to vaccinate children. Why? Because once it’s on the childhood schedule, they are no longer liable for injury. The Vaccine Injury Act (1986) insulates the pharmaceutical industry from all liability once added to the childhood vaccination schedule”.

This is a crime against children and whoever accepts this is complicit in this crime.

Posted by: DG | Feb 6 2022 13:02 utc | 22

@DG | Feb 6 2022 13:02 utc | 22

The people in the western world are rising against the covid tyranny as it becomes clear that the pandemic charade was just an excuse for the demolition of democracy.

There is a big demonstration in Rotterdam, The Netherlands also now. It is live on YouTube.

I agree with what you say about tyranny and crime. In my opinion, this is WWII scale crimes.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 6 2022 13:24 utc | 23

I saw the following news report while thinking about replying; I agree with the various comments/possibilities and certainly about it being a different situation (but does the US and NATO understand this? They don't seem to).

Anyway here: "Lukashenko: Belarus and Russia to Respond Together if Ukraine Starts War Against Donbass" via Sputniknews.

"MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Sunday that his country would coordinate a joint response with Russia if Ukraine started a war against Donbass."

and

"We will cut off all fuel and lubricant supplies to Ukraine...as well as electricity. We will not supply it if they start a war against us or Russia", he explained.

and

"Answering a question from the host he confirmed it includes possible rocket strikes against Ukraine."

More in article although this is most of it.

I read it as a guarantee. A Russian and Belarusian missile(/artillery) response (both anti-artillery and against all other military targets) quashes any US/NATO/Nazi hopes of a successful attack.

Maybe this madness can still be avoided and stopped.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Feb 6 2022 14:12 utc | 24

I was tempted to post this in the new thread but decided to bury it here so that things don’t get too repetitive. The next big thing will be the JCPOA. The U.S. is losing badly for the whole world to see. Even it’s “greatest partner ever” does not stand beside the U.S. in its quest to maintain the upper hand. This is exactly why the JCPOA means so much right now. The Germany +3 side will be coming back to “the table” and suddenly, just like that, the view from their position things look very different. Two countries at the table have just announced a huge change of gears and swing in a totally new direction. Those that wish to participate in this new way of doing things, of getting things done, are free to do so. Iran, sitting at the same table has already been pre-approved.

So where exactly does that leave the U.S.and it’s allies? Because of the relationship the U.S. has with its “greatest partner ever” it cannot cave-in (i.e. agree) to any kind of concession for a peaceful Iranian nuclear program. It will be politically impossible. So what other choice for the U.S.will there be? There is only one thing for the U.S. to do at that point in time - and it is fast approaching - play the hand with the cards they have. The other side has just kind of reshuffled the deck and you were left out of the new deal. Will the U.S. be stupid enough to bow down before the one it serves and do the unthinkable? Of course it will. With complete bipartisan unity, it will all go down.

One problem of course is that the U.S. is even more uncertain now. Pushing too far. I give the U.S. and it’s allies four weeks to get its act together. If they remain agreement incapable things may not go well. I do not see how the Germany +3 side can overcome the unity of what they see sitting across from them.

Posted by: thecelticwithinme | Feb 6 2022 14:59 utc | 25

Blue Dotterel | Feb 6 2022 12:30 utc | 16

To a certain extent that is why I used the term "Protectorate", to be protected (as you say with all the means necessary except direct force - at first).

The idea being to dare the Ukies or NATOstan to make a move, which would be fatal for them, OR, shut up.

Remember that the US objective was to make Russia make the move. By declaring a de facto no-fly no-go area, whatever the name, with a visible rapid reaction force in place, the Russians will have turned the tables. The UKie/US would then have to make an open move to start a major war. Would they if they are likely to lose it?

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 6 2022 15:56 utc | 26

@thecelticwithinme #25
I posted on the most recent Open Thread that the US has undone the Trump sanctions on nuclear power plant work - but that Iran is saying "That's nice but show me the guarantees".
So yes, the same US State department strategy - offer something tangential to the core issues and attempt to get agreement - is at play, and with the same amount of success.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 6 2022 20:26 utc | 27

The US response to the Winter Olympics in Beijing has been a spotlight on the level of delusional denial of reality Americans are experiencing, stoked by their petty media outlets. Nothing but non-stop articles complaining about the most benign things that boil down to these journalists being shocked that they need to heed the public safety requirements of a foreign government. Did they think they're above the laws of the land simply for being Americans?

It doesn't help that the same country claiming to be concerned about the rise of anti-Asian violence has spent an inordinate amount of time attacking teenage athletes for daring to compete on Team China despite growing up in the US, being painted as "traitors" or ignorant kids who'll understand their mistake soon. Hard to see how they'll see their action of surrendering their US citizenship a mistake when Americans are foaming at the mouth in anger against them.

Even funnier is Peng Shuai showing up. The entire shtick was that she was disappeared, leading to "Where is Peng Shuai?". Well, the answer is, and has been, in Beijing. Of course the explanation now is that she's forced to say things, the government/party is keeping her under control, and we should "read between the lines" where the truth is curiously what Americans believe it to be and anything contrary is just a lie or cover-up. Unsurprisingly, the IOC is part of this global Chinese conspiracy (as usual, America, the country that practically established most of these international institutions is also the source of most conspiracies about these organizations being anti-US simply for saying anything that refutes the "facts of reality" adopted by the US).

Looking at how the US is behaving globally, with Russia over Ukraine, with China over literally existing, and with it's own people, it's hard to see how the US isn't on an aggressive decline that it's attempting to mitigate by inventing new realities to explain why they're starting to see more and more things from the bottom looking up.

Here's to hoping that the world will eventually find itself freed from the sick and perverted grasp of the US.

Posted by: brainiac3397 | Feb 7 2022 14:39 utc | 28

Let's GO Brandon, Build Trump's wall

Not sure how much publicity it's gotten outside Arizona, but Brandon is renewing construction of Trump's wall. It has two parts to it: closing the gaps (construction teams were paid by the number of sections they put up, so they slapped them up as fast as possible pre-Biden inauguration, and left holes); and "remediating" environmental problems.

The gaps affect people and wildlife. US immigration policy is "prevention through deterrence", which has resulted in 3600 sets of human remains being found in Arizona, and many more dead. These deaths happened BEFORE the new 30 foot wall was built. Closing the gaps will kill more people: already stressed people will be forced to travel further to cross.

Closing the gaps will also devastate wildlife migration, including jaguars and Mexican wolves. Isolating species in smaller areas leads to extinctions.

"Remediation": the wall is exempt from any and all regulation so roads have been blasted through mountains and wilderness areas. The wall itself is a disaster: I am in a humanitarian aid group that frequently travels along the wall, and what was pristine land has been subjected to the equivalent of mountain top removal.

Anyway, much like our "deporter in chief" (Obama), Biden is carrying on his predecessor's policies and even exceeding them (like Obama, he has deported more people per year than his predecessor).

Posted by: Sin Fronteras | Feb 7 2022 20:26 utc | 29