@ Posted by: denk | Nov 1 2022 4:28 utc | 208
Very interesting indeed.
JEJU- the massacre of tens of thousands of unarmed civilians by General Douglas MacArthur’s Korean army of occupation in 1948. The thousands of outraged peon farmers seeing their wives and children die in front of them. In self-defense. Picked-up assorted farming tools yelling the usual Korean four-letter words “Yankee go Home. The Japanese troops were better than you clowns”. Were directly executed by US troops equipped with 30/50 cal machine guns. Not a very pretty sight. Dead bodies of males, women, children, and dead bodies of babies. Lay strewn everywhere. Were then bulldozed like trash into a number of unmarked graves. One of the USSA’s worst post-WW2 war crimes was committed in 1948! The first official day of the Korean War began.
The evil Yankees fired the opening round thus! The Yankees then committed numerous additional war crimes all along the Korean peninsula. Throughout the war. Often with massed artillery barrages fired on thousands of innocent refugee columns left behind. In the fastest USSA Army retreats since 1812 in the book. Troops were often seen dumping weapons on the ground. Take photos and say “Oh look, communist soldiers!” Pick them up and move to the next innocent victim!
Ryuku. At the end of the war lacking adequate interpreters. The scamming evil Yankee pirates created a fake nondemocracy puppet to run Okinawa. The Japanese USSA soldiers fought for 22 months in Italy! Then promptly threw an entire lot of fake government officials under the bus in 1971. When Japan took over. Tokyo treated the USSA-installed fake democratic puppet government/bureaucrats like yesterday’s trash.
The clue-free will be far too lazy to check out your references. Such is life. 🙂

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Nov 2 2022 13:25 utc | 3

“..Their aim is to shift economic planning out of the hands of elected governments to Wall Street and other financial centers under U.S. control. U.S. diplomats use the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to demand privatization of the world’s infrastructure and dependency on U.S. technology, oil and food exports…”
This is the aim of neo-liberalism, “Thatcherism”, which has pervaded the EU/EEC since the 80s.
Thanks, b. One ‘must read’ deserves another. Here is an article, by Alberto Toscano, on the intimate relationship (constantly being denied) between neo-liberalism and fascism.
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-nightwatchmans-bludgeon
Neo-liberalism is another name for the so-called ‘libertarian” anti-socialism so often encountered here.
It is a small world in the realm of socio-economic theories- in capitalist society, you are either, as Hudson points out, for socialism. Or for Barbarism. The United States is for Barbarism.

Posted by: bevin | Nov 2 2022 14:09 utc | 5

@ Posted by: Down South | Nov 2 2022 14:11 utc | 6
It would be interesting if more people got comfortable hosting their own applications, but the same reason b here doesn’t do that applies to so many others: it takes a lot of time to administer a server that receives potentially hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of hits a day. And unless we all host our own bare metal servers, there’s still a corporation skimming off the top somewhere (be it Amazon or your ISP).

Posted by: fnord | Nov 2 2022 14:39 utc | 7

From: Tom Pfotzer
Re: Leadership and Fear
Lately we’ve discussed the fact that Russia and China are leading the way to escape the clutches of the West’s neoliberalism. We cheer for them. Why?
Because here in the West we’ve got it much worse.
While Russia and China are fighting neoliberalism, our leaders are embracing and supporting it. Our leaders are driving the neoliberal steam-roller, and we’re under the wheels!
So we little people pine for a new Moses to lead us out of slavery. We hope for a leader that will be and do what we’re unwilling or unable to be and do ourselves.
Last thread, SeanAU and I got into it re: this magic Moses leader. SeanAU asserted that we needed a Moses, and it was all useless until one showed up. Then he went on to say that he certainly didn’t want to be that Moses, as that would subject him and his family to repression.
So, there you have it: we’re paralyzed. Moses won’t come because he’ll get squashed, and we can’t move till he shows up.
Does that seem like some seriously self-defeating BS to you? Sure does to me.
The Moses plan has several big flaws:
a. Single point of failure. Shoot Moses, and the sheep roll over. Easy-peasy.
b. No one person, no matter how smart or powerful, and can compensate for many billions of people doing dumb stuff
In contrast, my definition of leader is “someone that figures out what needs to be done, and does it”.
What are the benefits to this new and very much improved definition of “leader”?:
a. No single point of failure. A billion ants, all self-directed, which one do you squash? Can’t squash them all, there’s too many.
b. Self-directed. No command structure, no communications lines, no supply lines…all the tried-and-true mechanisms to defeat them are obsolete
What’s the problem, then? How come we’re not all doing our own leadership thing?
Because:
a. We haven’t yet clearly defined the problem we’re trying to solve. That’s why we come to MoA (among others)
b. We don’t really believe in ourselves yet. We’ve internalized the fear, isolation, division and passivity we’ve been served this past several decades
Let’s talk fear.
We have a bit of a contradiction afoot here at MoA. On the one hand, many of us believe we’re being spied upon, and that any small effort to stand up for ourselves will be answered with a swift and accurate thunder-bolt to smite us down.
Others say “the Blob doesn’t care one whit about us. The Blob owns the military, the security state, the press, Congress, the money-printers…in short, everything that counts. Why in the world would they care about a few picnic-ants?”
Well, which is it? Are you an irrelevant picnic-ant, or are you a budding Ghandi whose bud must be nipped?

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Nov 2 2022 14:58 utc | 9

Below is a quote from the Michael Hudson piece that b linked to in comment #1

Their aim is to shift economic planning out of the hands of elected governments to Wall Street and other financial centers under U.S. control. U.S. diplomats use the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to demand privatization of the world’s infrastructure and dependency on U.S. technology, oil and food exports.

My problem is with the statement saying the aim is to shift economic planning when it was shifted at least 50+ years ago. I know because I participated in elected government planning back then and saw it get shut down.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 2 2022 15:03 utc | 11

In response to
”
Well, which is it? Are you an irrelevant picnic-ant, or are you a budding Ghandi whose bud must be nipped?
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Nov 2 2022 15:00 utc | 11
”
I’m all of the above and more.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 2 2022 15:11 utc | 13

b – thanks for the link to michael hudsons article… i read it.. i think it is quite good.. however i think there is a typo near the beginning of this article –
“In practice, U.S. rhetoric means promoting its own economic growth and living standards, keeping finance and banking as public utilities.” i believe he means keeping finance and banking as private utilities, as opposed to public utilities… if i knew how to contact michael hudson directly, i would ask him this…
@ michael hudson – if you are reading here – see notes above..

Posted by: james | Nov 2 2022 15:37 utc | 15

I must congratulate b for posting Michael Hudson’s latest before I even knew it was available–Bravo!! Now to read it. I see Typepad’s problems remain….

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 2 2022 15:39 utc | 17

and if it wasn’t already clear…………..
the posting feature is still screwed.. post once and even when it doesn’t show for a few minutes – assume it will show… that was my approach…

Posted by: james | Nov 2 2022 15:45 utc | 19

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Nov 2 2022 14:58 utc | 9
The huge Hydra that is Government can easily be both, one arm smites you down, the others don’t even notice.

Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Nov 2 2022 15:52 utc | 21

@ suzan | Nov 2 2022 15:48 utc | 21
thanks suzan.. it still seems messed up to me.. cheers..

Posted by: james | Nov 2 2022 16:03 utc | 23

“…there are statisticians and then there are statisticians. Hard to know who to believe these days.”
suzan @24
Disraeli got it right: “There are liars, damned liars. And statisticians.” ‘Hard to believe” is putting it very mildly

Posted by: bevin | Nov 2 2022 16:10 utc | 25

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 2 2022 15:03 utc | 12
Agreed. If Michael Hudson believes elected politicians run the show he’s very naive and still has much to learn about how the world works. Just goes to show you can be well published and still haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.
In fairness, most economists haven’t a clue what they’re talking about. The blind leading the blind.

Posted by: Jax | Nov 2 2022 16:20 utc | 27

Back at the end of Aug, Eurasia Group analyst Mujtaba Rahman tweeted about Scholz’s speech in Prague. A lengthy thread summarizing the speech, he wrote:
“Scholz also promised to support Ukr as long as needed – also militarily. He said the ‘centre of Europe is moving to the East’. Despite critical references to Pol & Hu, his speech can be seen as a signal that Ger wants to reach out to Central & Eastern Europe more than in past”
Suggesting Scholz is on a mission to sabotage Eastern relations seems like hysterical hyperventilating over the exact opposite phenomenon taking place.
And on that – now that Russia, Australia, China and Canada have all had bumper grain harvests, I’m wondering at what point we can stop hearing that the war in Ukraine is causing global starvation?

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Nov 2 2022 16:21 utc | 29

@23 SwissArmyMan:
You said that the Blob can both not care about you and yet still smite you down.
Explain how so many posters, such as myself, Michael Hudson, b, Naked Capitalism operations staff, Karlof1, and so many others post with their real name or link to their own blog, and say stuff that is contra to the Blob’s storyline.
And do it for years.
And live to tell about it.
I’m calling BS on the whole “we’re spied upon and about to be squashed” story line.
I think it’s just fear-mongering by those that wish us to remain silent, divided and preyed upon, and also by some of ourselves, who wish to have yet another good reason to do nothing about these monstrous problems we’re facing.
‘cuz after all, if I stood up for myself, I’d get squashed. So no further action required. I can still run my yap*, but no action is justified.
===
* and if you think posting anonymously or behind a nom de plume confers any secrecy… it doesn’t, unless you’re really, really good at cybersecurity. They know who you are if they want to know who you are.
They don’t care who you are, and they don’t care what you say. They have bigger fish to fry than worry about picnic ants.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Nov 2 2022 16:30 utc | 31

I will say that the intensity of talk around Germany perhaps suggests that we ought to reflect on the true nature of the relationship between 1) the US and Germany, and 2) the Hegemony (h/t the Saker) and Germany.
Because I think it’s important – update on the speculatively most recent episode of “why don’t we just take it by force” by the Hegemony towards Canada’s East Coast. HMCS Kingston and Summerside rolled into Halifax Harbour late yesterday afternoon. Twitter account RCN_MARLANT showed a brief video of their arrival. I note that – to me – naval officer man at the podium looked like he hadn’t slept in 24 hours with his bloodshot eyes and greyish complexion. And the other naval officer man coming off the ship had that pinkish flushed lack of sleep look I thought, all of which I provide to echo the recent comments of Putin that it’s is “not a joke”.

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Nov 2 2022 16:45 utc | 33

bevin @25–
Hudson nails that Era’s history and uses it as an excellent analogy for the Outlaw US Empire. As I wrote about several months ago, the Popes were responsible for initiating the Age of Plunder by legitimizing that behavior as a Christian Duty legally through three Papal Bulls. psychohistorian’s continual harsh criticism of the Vatican is quite correct given its history and ongoing behavior which isn’t Christian at all. This following passage is worth citing here:

The second radical feature of the Papal Dictates was their exclusion of all ideology and policy that diverged from papal authority. Clause 2 stated that only the Pope could be called “Universal.” Any disagreement was, by definition, heretical. Clause 17 stated that no chapter or book could be considered canonical without papal authority.
A similar demand as is being made by today’s U.S.-sponsored ideology of financialized and privatized “free markets,” meaning deregulation of government power to shape economies in interests other than those of U.S.-centered financial and corporate elites.
The demand for universality in today’s New Cold War is cloaked in the language of “democracy.” But the definition of democracy in today’s New Cold War is simply “pro-U.S.,” and specifically neoliberal privatization as the U.S.-sponsored new economic religion. This ethic is deemed to be “science,” as in the quasi-Nobel Memorial Prize in the Economic Sciences. That is the modern euphemism for neoliberal Chicago-School junk economics, IMF austerity programs and tax favoritism for the wealthy.
The Papal Dictates spelt out a strategy for locking in unipolar control over secular realms. They asserted papal precedence over worldly kings, above all over Germany’s Holy Roman Emperors. Clause 26 gave popes authority to excommunicate whomever was “not at peace with the Roman Church.” That principle implied the concluding Clause 27, enabling the pope to “absolve subjects from their fealty to wicked men.” This encouraged the medieval version of “color revolutions” to bring about regime change.

A toast ought to be made to Hudson for making this historic parallel which is likely a product of the research he did for his upcoming book, thus his tight grasp on the primary sources. His essay is the sort of lecture students ought to receive tying “ancient” history to current conditions/events that makes the study of history important and relevant. So again, another toast to Hudson the teacher!

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 2 2022 16:48 utc | 35

They don’t care who you are, and they don’t care what you say. They have bigger fish to fry than worry about picnic ants.
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Nov 2 2022 16:30 utc
The Trudeau Cabal certainly came after many “ants” who contributed miniscule sums to the Trucker Convoy. Froze the bank account of a single mother struggling to feed/house/clothe her children.
They certainly are MOSTLY going after the bigger fish right now, but will deliberately destroy any naive innocent who serves to “scare the rest”. But the NSA isn’t logging every email, tweet, Facebook post and phone text/call for giggles. They are just working their way down the “first they came for” list.

Posted by: Old canadian | Nov 2 2022 16:58 utc | 37

Posted by: sippy the shot glass | Nov 2 2022 16:46 utc | 35
Ah, the keyboard warrior chimes in again. Why do you feel so threatened by new comers I wonder? Is it because you don’t like differences of opinion or because others make you look dumb?
Just yesterday you tried to argue that the global economy doesn’t even exist. LMAO.
With that level of insight and wisdom, perhaps it’s best you stick to your colouring in books and crayons from now on.

Posted by: Jax | Nov 2 2022 17:05 utc | 39

Thanks b, for giving us an anchor link to Michael Hudson’s latest essay! I will answer some queries, including bevin @ 25 concerning his medieval analogy. As far as the Eastern Church is concerned, what he writes is basically correct:

“…Medieval Europe’s analogue to America’s New Cold War against China and Russia was the Great Schism in 1054. Demanding unipolar control over Christendom, Leo IX excommunicated the Orthodox Church centered in Constantinople and the entire Christian population that belonged to it. A single bishopric, Rome, cut itself off from the entire Christian world of the time, including the ancient Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Jerusalem….[my bolds]

Orthodox Christianity had two objections to the primacy of Rome. One was theological,in that the Roman church had inserted an extra phrase into the Nicene Creed when it came to the description of the Holy Trinity. But the main one was the question of the power of a bishop – previously the bishop of Rome was held to be “first among equals” as are bishops themselves in the Orthodox hierarchy, not specifically more powerful than the least of the flock (in fact if children are given that lower status it goes against what Christ himself taught. Babies come forward for Communion participation during the Orthodox liturgical celebrations.) And it can be said that Orthodox churches are multipolar in their very nature, many different traditions growing from local orientation but single in the basic form of their Christianity.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 2 2022 17:25 utc | 41

Lavrov in English on the world situation:

Dear colleagues and friends,
I am pleased to welcome you to this World Thematic Conference, which is dedicated to promoting business relations with our compatriots living abroad through constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The representative composition of today’s meeting testifies to the relevance of the proposed topic under current conditions.
It is also symbolic that our meeting is taking place on the eve of National Unity Day. This nationwide holiday marks, among other things, the unbreakable bond that unites the people of Russian culture and their spiritual and moral values, irrespective of the state in which they reside.
Dear friends,
We meet against a backdrop of unprecedented exacerbation of the geopolitical situation. It is no secret that after the launch of Russia’s special military operation, unfriendly countries have unleashed a full-fledged hybrid war against us. Its goal is to defeat us “on the battlefield”, undermine the Russian economy, undermine domestic political stability, and push Russia from its position as one of the world’s leading powers.
I have noted on numerous occasions at various venues that the events in Ukraine are not just another regional conflict but part of an unfolding struggle for a future world order. We are witnessing unending efforts by the United States and the US-led Western minority to hamper the objective process of establishing a multipolar world order; they are doing this, in particular, by promoting the rules-based order concept. Today, Western leaders openly admit this when they discuss their own exceptionalism and superiority over other civilisations.
They do not shy away from using all means at their disposal to achieve this goal. They have renounced all conventions, are violating the “sacred” principles of fair competition (which they themselves had proclaimed), the inviolability of private property and the presumption of innocence, freedom of speech and the rule of law.
The most important aspect of the rules-based order is that it isn’t an order and it isn’t a set of rules, and only those things that meet the narrow and selfish interests of Washington and its satellites are right and good. No matter how hard our opponents try to prove the opposite, they openly disregard the primacy of the UN Charter. Their blatantly destructive actions speak louder than any words.

And all that is taken in by the world as they watch the Outlaw US Empire’s vassals threatening other nations to join or be given the Russian treatment, Serbia being the current target while Europeans continue to revolt despite their efforts being censored.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 2 2022 17:30 utc | 43

Well, which is it? Are you an irrelevant picnic-ant, or are you a budding Ghandi whose bud must be nipped?
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Nov 2 2022 15:00 utc | 11
Sorry, you and Sean don’t get to define my choices – and I have no interest in trying do define choices for others. I simply make my own and if they seem attractive to others they’re welcome to join me. Herding cats does not appeal to me unless the cats are in trouble and respond well to accepting help (cats can be smarter about such things than humans are).
We’ve had plenty of Moses-style leaders over the past three decades – arguably more than we’ve deserved. Ross Perot offered us a credible change from the status quo, Ralph Nader helped the Greens become visible but their party was incapable of capitalizing on that, Howard Dean made a serious run against the Democratic establishment back in 2003, but they and the media establishment took care of that (my own first real encounter with the powers against change), and in all those cases most of the sheep failed to break out of their accustomed enclosures and grab the opportunity offered.
In 2008 Obama offered the sheep an attractive fake Moses which discouraged any real one for the next 8 years but did open a political vacuum in 2016 which both Bernie and Trump were able to take advantage of. Bernie was sufficiently experienced that he did not take on the Democratic establishment head-on but instead offered the sheep a legitimate choice which they preferred to the status quo, until that establishment flexed its identity-voting muscles in the midst of the primaries and made Hillary appear more ‘electable’ (great move, guys, but you may well have preferred the outcome to making Bernie the nominee). That November Trump had a clear run for those who really didn’t like the state of the country, made the best of it, but had nowhere nearly Bernie’s political acumen to hold onto the result.
What we’re left with today is a population which with very good reason distrusts most national establishments but remains seriously (and very much intentionally) divided largely along its accustomed political lines. Both Bernie and Trump MIGHT have sufficient core support left to mount a Moses-style campaign, especially if only one of them managed to, but expecting a new Moses to emerge in the next couple of years may be unrealistic as may expecting a non-political revolution to occur, so hoping for external events that could make the home situation more fluid may be our best shot.
Oh, yeah: what’s been my own way of attacking the problem? Trying since 2002 to weaken the Democratic establishment as much as possible because I view it as the most effective and implacable obstacle to progressive change. Unpleasant as it may be, I don’t hesitate to use the Republican party against it in this endeavor. Needless to say, I haven’t gotten much of a following for this approach: it’s far too large a step for sheep to take.

Posted by: StirThePot | Nov 2 2022 17:45 utc | 45

Maria Zakharova’s weekly briefing provides lots of useful information as usual, particularly the long passage regarding atomic power, which could be an article on its own. The transcript’s still being compiled as I type and for now only wish to share her descriptive about Ukraine:
“The current Kiev regime uses unacceptable fascist methods of warfare, uses terrorist techniques, and is increasingly like extremist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. However, this is not surprising, since at the origins of the creation of these groups were the same inspirers, instructors from Anglo-Saxon communities.”
I’d really like to see Russia’s Foreign Ministry produce a paper examining the history of modern terrorism that IMO began with Enclosure, which was a direct attack on common people by Western monarchies.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 2 2022 18:00 utc | 47

Thank you, karlof1 @ | Nov 2 2022 17:30 utc | 45 for Lavrov’s speech on what I take to have been the medieval “All Hallows E’en” or Halloween in the west. His description of the eve is comfortingly all-inclusive:
“…It is also symbolic that our meeting is taking place on the eve of National Unity Day. This nationwide holiday marks, among other things, the unbreakable bond that unites the people of Russian culture and their spiritual and moral values, irrespective of the state in which they reside…”
I love it. And as well, I love the clarity of the following summation:

“… the events in Ukraine are not just another regional conflict but part of an unfolding struggle for a future world order…”

Keeping on keeping on.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 2 2022 18:03 utc | 49

Posted by: OttoE | Nov 2 2022 17:13 utc | 41
…Scholz…or else Germany will impose sanctions on China…
Be patient… Germany need China more than USA… after he meet Xi Jinping it’s only a few days…

Posted by: JC | Nov 2 2022 18:17 utc | 51

Re: Scholz, Germany, and China
This is the telelogical end of neoliberal capitalism.
Non-producing nation uses producing nation, thereby exporting manufacturing sector replacing with white-collar technocratic paradigm.
Producing nation reaches a level of affluency whereby it seeks to reinterpret or rearrange definition of relationship with exploitative non-producing nation.
Non-producing nation issues ultimatum to producing nation in effort to salvage technocratic paradigm at-home.
Producing nation does not see value in continuing one-sided detrimental arrangement with non-producing nation.
Technocratic paradigm in first nation collapses.
…
Globalized decoupling is in the works currently and it was always “baked into the cake.”
The sooner you globalized leftists, with your cursory understanding of eastern spirituality, realize this, the sooner we in the west can galvanize in a patriotic movement to oust the technocratic parasite.
I find it funny that in one breath they seem to acknowledge the globalized economy while in the second speak of an emerging, multi-polar world order.
Do you not realize that the term multi-polar denotes going away from a unified, globalized economy?
“Multi-polar” is the antithesis to what we have all been suffering under. It denotes a return to boundary-drawing, whether cultural, nationalist, or religious, where globalism sought eradication of these.
Please take a moment to consider this and the implications within your own thinking.
The sooner we have little to nothing to do with China the better.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Nov 2 2022 19:21 utc | 53

Does Canada, like Russia and other northern countries, need conscription? Not “the draft”, and definitely not while Ukraine is an active combat zone but for longer term defence of this territory, land and coastline?
Easy for me to say since it can’t possibly apply to me personally, although I was part of a First Nations militia when I was younger (the First Nations / reservations still exist because they are defended).

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Nov 2 2022 20:52 utc | 55

Something I picked up from brasilwire.com… complaints from Argentina about British military flights refueling in Brazil. With the change in administration in Brazil (which has always supported Argentina’s claims to the Malvinas/Falklands) I would not be surprised if one of the last “lifelines” propping up British occupation were to be cut off.
Between that, and Colombia and Venezuela restoring good relations, and… Colombia likely to end it’s “cooporation” with NATO there are signs that my part of the world is going to be moving much further away from the “west” in favor of multipolarism, or perhaps non-polarism.

Posted by: Alta4710 | Nov 2 2022 22:08 utc | 57

Here goes…. Imma gonna post….. 🤪 3-2-1———
Another chess piece is moving….. the Great Game board is busy…
Bloomberg, AP, CNN and Wall Street Journal is all reporting on a possible imminent Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia
AP report:
https://apnews.com/article/iran-europe-middle-east-saudi-arabia-government-and-politics-cff3d00953fb83b3aa7aa4e974b2b96c
Officials: Saudis tell US that Iran may attack the kingdom
Pic: Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Nov. 1,
WASHINGTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia has shared intelligence with American officials that suggests Iran could be preparing for an imminent attack on the kingdom, three U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The heightened concerns about a potential attack on Saudi Arabia come as the Biden administration is criticizing Tehran for its crackdown on widespread protests and condemning it for sending hundreds of drones — as well as technical support — to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.
“We are concerned about the threat picture, and we remain in constant contact through military and intelligence channels with the Saudis,” the National Security Council said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to act in the defense of our interests and partners in the region.”
Bloomberg report:
(Same exact AP verbiage)(Same Pentagon pic)
CNN report:
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/01/politics/us-saudi-arabia-iran-energy-infrastructure-middle-east/index.html
Pic: Ned Price
>>US and Saudi Arabia concerned that Iran may be planning attack on energy infrastructure in Middle East.
CNN  — 
United States and Saudi Arabia have shared intelligence with each other that indicates that Iran may be planning an imminent attack on energy infrastructure in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia, a US official tells CNN.
A Saudi official told CNN that that Saudi Arabia shared intelligence of a possible attack with the US, but the source did not give any specifics.
A second US official said US F-22 fighter jets already in Saudi Arabia are available to counter any threats.
The first official said there has been no increase in US military protection levels in the region, as the US military is not believed to be a target. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday that the US is “concerned about the threat picture” and “in constant contact through military, diplomatic, intelligence channels with the Saudis.”
WSJ report:
WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE [[lol. “Exclusive”]]. [[repeats exactly what’s on twitter]]
https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-u-s-on-high-alert-after-warning-of-imminent-iranian-attack-11667319274
Saudi Arabia, U.S. on High Alert After Warning of Imminent Iranian Attack
Saudis said Tehran wants to distract from local protests, and the National Security Council said the U.S. is prepared to respond
Updated Nov. 1, 2022
Despite crackdowns and internet shutdowns, demonstrations against the Iranian government have grown into one of the biggest challenges to its leadership in four decades. WSJ maps out how protests have bubbled up across Iranian society. Photo composite: Adam Adada
It seems to me, imho, the US is stirring shit …shitstirring as there’s not much in the OSINT flightrader tracking to show too much untoward is happening…
Some stuff, but not a lot:
———-
From OSINT sites ….there was an uptick in Saudi and Iranian aircraft in their regions yesterday… an Iranian government plane seemed headed for Damascus but seemed to return mid flight…. unconfirmed and uncertain….
And Turkey and Italy had military aircraft over Syria…… and the US military was buzzing around…. But the US has military aircraft in the air globally 24/7…so they may or may not have been doing something “interesting”….
Today the Rivet Joint drone that buzzes Crimea (everyday for YEARS is keeping its distance over Romania… and now has fighter jet escorts….
Yesterday, the pilot of the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker amused himself and juvenile minded observers by drawing a dick-and-balls flight path in the East Med alongside Lebanon….
Today, the Rivet Joint is shy and restrained over the “safe” skies of Romania….

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 2 2022 22:36 utc | 59

Posted by: OttoE | Nov 2 2022 22:21 utc | 61
—
Pathetic. So the oligarchs aligned with woke politics because …?
Aye carumba, what a world, were even people with above average intelligence consistently fail to see the big picture.
Instead, we have this constant drum beat of criticism regarding real world competition cloaked in terms like neo-liberal to establish a fantasy basis for a desired utopia.
I’m going to try once more: population overshoot, resource depletion, environmental degradation. Malthus wasn’t wrong, rather has was entirely correct.
You can disagree all you want, but the WEF and other organizations are moving forward with their stated objectives of breaking the current mold to recast society under a new techo feudal order.
One facet of advancing that agenda is the destruction of family, the debasement of ethics and morals, and the intentional attempt to undermine and weaken rational resistance.
Woke is simply the term for this broad social warfare aimed at destroying cultural foundations that represent the biggest obstacles to complete dominance.
Seriously you guys need to go back and (re) read Putins speech; he hit on every major aspect of the Satanic cabal.
But does a new global order represent days of milk and honey? Lulz – again, the naivete.
This is just the latest iteration of the great game of global control. You know, to the victors go the spoils and all that.
If any are suggesting a promise of a potential new, fairer and more equitable order, it’s simply sales talk to gain allies and support. From the look of things here, it appears to have been swallowed hook, like and sinker.
Me? I don’t care who prevails, I’m simply interested in picking the winning horse.

Posted by: B9k9 | Nov 2 2022 23:44 utc | 61

David Levin | Nov 2 2022 23:35 utc | 63
No doubt my detractors will acclaim it my most notable, profound contribution!
Melaleuca | Nov 2 2022 23:51 utc | 65
Melaleuca | Nov 2 2022 22:36 utc | 62
Ok. So it’s double (post) …. Or nothing. ….
Was attempting an OSINT drop re the flightrader trackers with action… none really notable… re Saudi v Iran.
The U$ is shitstirring again. Let’s hope the Saudis and Iranians can see the “Let’s you and him fight” game being setup…
With typepad experiencing vertigo… I’ll try without links…
Bloomberg, AP, CNN and Wall Street Journal is all reporting on a possible imminent Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia…. All have the same two sources..
.. Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder
.. State Department spokesperson Ned Price
So totally concocted ….

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 3 2022 0:05 utc | 63

@ 62
Good read indeed!
Idunno, all this talk about a “dirty bomb” sounds like deflection from DU projectiles.

Posted by: Forest | Nov 3 2022 0:26 utc | 65

Thanks to whoever posted the Michael Parenti video link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQfibsxYg8E
This is the best explanation i’ve ever heard to explain why Neoliberals and their wars aren’t stupid or misguided. They are simply following correct policy for capitalists who never claimed to care about human values unless they can be accommodated in the profit motive.
He says Marxism is 90% analysis of capitalism and less about a socialist utopia.
When i read posters here repeating that neocons are morons I can’t agree based on how successful they are by their own standards, no matter the effect on the human race.
Therefore it makes sense that they can’t be argued or educated out of their rationalism they must be humanised and if that’s not possible they must be confined like other dangerous criminals.
Maybe there will be Chinese re-education camps for Neo Liberals after the axis of the world shifts East. 🙂

Posted by: K | Nov 3 2022 1:13 utc | 67

@ B9k9 | Nov 2 2022 23:44 utc | 64
The Catholic Church’s fundamental strategy is maximum reproduction, regardless of costs.
Note how often our “Green” Pope mentions overpopulation in his ecological homilies.

Posted by: John Kennard | Nov 3 2022 1:33 utc | 69

The clue-free will be far too lazy to check out your references. Such is life. 🙂
Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Nov 2 2022 13:25 utc | 3
————————
China builds, USAss destroys.
Exhibit A
NAVAL BASE TEARS APART KOREAN VILLAGE

Christine Ahn , Anti war activist

The row over the naval base has cleaved the community of Gangjeong haenyo who have worked together for over 40 years into two opposing groups. The 65-year-old haenyo from Gangjeong says that a few haenyo in opposition to the base refuse to enter the water with base supporters. “Now there is no conversation between the two groups,”

—————-
Christine Ahn

earlier this spring, when I and several other Americans called the Korean Embassy in Washington to register our concerns, we all received similar versions of the same prepared response, “Don’t call us; call the U.S. State or Defense Departments; they are the ones who are pressuring us to build this base.

Jeju is just the tip of an iceberg.
—————
The clue-free will be far too lazy to check out your references. Such is life.
—————
I said earlier on…
There will be no rev in USAss cuz.
For every Christine Ahn, there are 10,000 gringo like scorpion and c1ue.
There’s no excuse, they have been informed.
https://fpif.org/naval_base_tears_apart_korean_village/

Posted by: denk | Nov 3 2022 2:50 utc | 71

@56-58 DG | Nov 2 2022 21:18 utc – 21:22 utc (that’s not snarc, I’m just not sure which of the duplicates, if any, that b will delete)
I hope you’re right about that rage. Certainly the Pandora’s Box continues to open. So many people have died lately – some whom one knows, and others one hears about. Never a reason why. The carnage seems to continue (just as the theory of the jab damage predicts, but I had so hoped it would be exaggerated).
And of course the public persuasion campaign continues – it has no choice now but to continue on its course, even as it struggles to find ways to gaslight and walk back its earlier stories – just like that hapless Atlantic piece you describe.
The monolithic media is to my mind the greatest actor in this whole exercise. None of it could have been leveraged this way without a universally complicit mainstream propaganda arm. Coupled with the almost complete capture of scientific journals, universities and labs – and we figured government already of course – it has made a fearsome hurdle to get past.
But we live in an age when independent journalism, forums and platforms allow for far more distribution of the truth than I think we are aware of. With the right eye, one can almost see tipping points in various domains.
~~
Here are a few links that may be useful to some to catch up with the state of play.
** All-cause mortality of course is the important metric, and insurance actuaries, who nail down demographics to the penny, are badly caught by the surge in life-insurance claims. It’s a little old news by now, but still relevant. This is a good source:
Life Insurance Companies Across the Board See Staggering Increase in Death Benefit Payouts
** Larry Johnson, whom we often cite as valuable on war and spook matters, also had a recent letter with a useful recap and sourcing of the situation. I’m being a little coy with some of these headlines.
** The best I’ve seen lately is a masterful essay articulating the situation and providing some very high-level sources for background:
A Universe of Questions In a Time of Universal Deceit
** And Bret Weinstein has been interviewing dissenters in the military who have challenged and are challenging certain recent mandates on soldiers:
Support and Defend: Military Whistleblowers Confront a Rogue Chain of Command
There’s a Part II to that one also. It’s all a good meditation on Nuremberg, and oath-keeping. I found it quite inspiring.
So there are a few dips into independent journalism. Hope they make it through. It may be a day before I know 😉

Posted by: Grieved | Nov 3 2022 3:16 utc | 73

@OttoE | Nov 2 2022 22:21 utc | 61
I have already said what I think about this article, but am still curious if you or anyone else could summarize in say 1-3 short succinct sentences what it is you ‘ believe’ Cooke is trying to say? No need to do that, but would you be able to if you wanted to?
Because frankly I have no idea what he is saying or who he is speaking about, what the problem is he’s trying to address, or when, where, or what or how to fix it. And I seriously doubt anyone else does either. In that I suspect people would overlay their own ideas/opinions onto this verbose convoluted word tapestry.
for example these ‘keyword phrases’ are littered like confetti through his prose – This is far worse than double-think, double-speak. Gobbledygook doesn’t do it justice as a description.
Who Am I?
‘permanent state’
managerial technocrats
‘creative class’
intermediary position
intermediary class
progressive values
professional technocrats
congregated into cliques
dominate left-wing parties (not the Dems who are not left-wing, so what parties?)
new ‘aristocracy’
political conscience
their Zeitgeist reflected
one segment of liberal society
(- the article spins off into 2008 and the oligarchs)
burgeoning Metro-Élite agenda
utopian ideals
abstract, millenarian ideology (wtf?) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/millenarian
revolutionary cultural activism
the technocrats
EU leadership class (?)
zealots for the Green Agenda
and lastly a
‘permanent state’ staffed by sociopath Cold Warriors and technocrats selected for compliance
Who Am I?

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 3 2022 6:28 utc | 75

Grieved | Nov 3 2022 3:16 utc | 73
Thanks for the Larry Johnson “recap” link.
Some interesting comments in his thread.
Old Microbiologist is / was posting…

Posted by: Melaleuca | Nov 3 2022 9:54 utc | 77

@ Grieved | Nov 3 2022 3:16 utc | 73
I’m afraid it wasn’t only the mainstream media that were pushing the atrocious covid propaganda.
In any case I think something is changing for the better. I hope at least.
Btw the double posting was a technical issue, not my intention

Posted by: DG | Nov 3 2022 11:54 utc | 79

The kick off for the World Cup in the demented hellish hot sand dunes of the sheiks is now less than two weeks away – before even the turkey eating brain damaged thanks givers feasting Thursday ( a dumber ‘holiday’ I don’t think has ever been invented ).
If there is going to be anything that would ignite the whole world it will be the mass immolation of these impossible city states that consume the most energy in their daily attempt at having a liveable environment- not for its indentured slaves but the moneybags of the Collective Waste.
The Collective Waste will be asked to believe more than two impossible things daily before their bread and circuses. They will gobble it up. Like the ill fated turkeys.
Btw there appears to be Bird Flu in the U.K. and that means our Xmas turkeys are being culled. Not that anyone would be able to afford to cook them let alone heat their homes or afford the stuffing that is now accelerating up our fundaments.
Interest rates up again. If you not in cash yet. Do not wait for a Xmas rally.
Our brainwashed public who live for the quadrennial football fix as much as yanks do for their sugared orgies can’t see beyond the possibility that if Iran gets banned too , lthe plucky Englanders could get a ‘bye’ game. 😂
Time to consider a move to the tropics for my final decades.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 3 2022 14:22 utc | 81

@70 SeanAU:
Wow. Well, whatever it was I did to piss you off, Sean, I apologize. I will indeed “leave you out of it”.
That was quite the outburst. I’m not sure what provoked that. I re-read my characterization of your remarks, which were:
“Last thread, SeanAU and I got into it re: this magic Moses leader. SeanAU asserted that we needed a Moses, and it was all useless until one showed up. Then he went on to say that he certainly didn’t want to be that Moses, as that would subject him and his family to repression. ”
Here’s the link to your post that I referred to. I think my summary is pretty fair.
So, you’re free to disagree with what I say, or ignore it, of course. You’re not free to assert that I misrepresented your post, because I didn’t. Cite the specific misrepresentation, please.
My assessment is that one of your cherished views (a sacred cow) of leadership got dispatched. People get cranky when that happens, and I think that explains a good bit of the emotional excess of your response.
For the rest of the bar:
I’m not imposing my views on anyone. I’m expressing my views, and of course you’re free to agree or disagree as you see fit. That’s what a discussion is.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Nov 3 2022 16:06 utc | 83

Below is a posting title at Reuters followed by a take away quote
Chrysler-parent urges 276,000 U.S. owners to stop driving after air bag deaths

The “Do Not Drive” warning is for owners of previously recalled 2005-2010 Dodge Magnum station wagons, Dodge Challenger coupes, and Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans who have not yet addressed Takata driver-side air-bag recalls.
Most of the deaths reported have been in Honda Motor (7267.T) vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it had confirmed two people died in separate crashes involving 2010 Dodge Chargers where the Takata driver’s side air bags exploded. Stellantis said a Takata air bag was suspected in a third death.

But, but, but what about profit? Covid is just one example of the financialization of the West and the above is another

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 3 2022 18:14 utc | 85

@denk #71
Yep, and we vote too.
Red Tide incoming Beeyatch!
As for Christine Ahn – yes, the Peace Prize is awarded to worthy peoples like Barack “Drone” Obama, Henry Kissinger and Menachem Begin.
Doh…

Posted by: c1ue | Nov 3 2022 21:44 utc | 87

Another fairly good review of the current situation in Iran and quick study of the history leading up to it, from a pro-Iranian pov on the Saker site.
They will never understand the Islamic Republic
November 03, 2022 No Comments
By Aram Mirzaei

extract
The westerners didn’t understand why Iranians were angry at them in 1979 and why they overthrew a “modern king” in favour of a “backward Islamic theocracy”. Many westerners still cannot understand how the Islamic Republic can be so popular among the Iranian people, and often just refuse to believe it. Why would they understand? They don’t know how 200 years of humiliation and subservience to others feel. They don´t know how it feels to have elected a prime minister, only to see him overthrown by foreigners who returned an unpopular dictator to the throne. They don´t know how it feels to have their country´s natural resources plundered by foreigners for decades.
43 years since the embassy takeover on November 4 1979, they still do not understand that the Islamic Republic is a result of their own cruelty and injustice against Iran, and it has come back to haunt them. If they haven´t understood by now why the Islamic Republic continues to grow stronger, despite all their attempts to destroy the country from both the outside and inside, then they will never understand.

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 3 2022 22:29 utc | 89

@OttoE | Nov 3 2022 12:39 utc | 80
Thanks for the commentary explaining your pov and what you see of value. I agree with your points about stigletz v klien, and the common joe pov v big picture. There is no single big picture it’s a tapestry where individuals get to see their own way of seeing things …. yet sure there is also a major part where factual reality must come into it, irrespective of perspectives and cognitive biases we all have.
Anyway while feel that I understand what you’re saying here, I still don’t get that from Crooke’s commentary, but I’ll continue to consider what you’ve shared. thx

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 3 2022 22:50 utc | 91

More interesting, IMO, than the silly Atlantic article asking us to forgive ourselves* is this recent revelation, or rather, string of revelations put into a nice comprehensive timeline.
TL/DR: Even Fauci and the inner circle that was convened in the beginning of the pandemic had suspicions that COVID-19 (or SARS CoV2) originated in a laboratory setting. They used terms like 50/50 or 70%-30% (in favor(!) of the lab leak hypothesis that they were publicly pooh-poohing and calling anyone who suggested it a “conspiracy theorist.”
https://reason.com/video/2022/11/03/the-lab-leak-deception/
https://usrtk.org/covid-19-origins/timeline-the-proximal-origin-of-sars-cov-2/ (this is VERY interesting and long)
*I haven’t read it, so if any of the parties in the comment I’m about to make were mentioned, then screw The Atlantic. IOW if the author is saying we should forgive Fauci et. al. then it’s a coverup.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 3 2022 23:11 utc | 93

Typically a good analogy will be expressed in terms of an idea the reader already knows deeply. Few readers of Hudson would know jack shit about Papal and Monarchist machinations over finances and lending practices of the 11th century, let alone slow boiling geopolitical events of the age. Good analogies (like metaphor) are instead simple and quick without a thought required to see the connections. They work instinctively with well known ideas, concepts and accepted practices of the everyday. In this case Hudson’s article here reminds me of elitist academics living in ivory towers who could come down to earth for a walk among the hoi polloi peasants more often to smell the daisies; instead of being more interested in themselves and what they’ve been up to than their readers needs for clarity and timeliness. If authors wish to remain relevant, popular and understandable to the average Joe in this fast paced world of info overload and manipulations, they’d be wise to avoid unnecessary complexity and time wasting self-indulgences. Whilst the essence of the article is clearly worthy and on point, I see it gets unnecessarily lost in obscure historical details that must sidetrack the typical readers attention away from the key points, those really critical ideas being made about the present and near future. I feel that Hudson could easily have shaved at least 20% off the length of it had he applied a better suited analogy not requiring a documentary style rendering of the distant unknown past. But that’s just me hoping for the best only to be disappointed (oh, woe is me.) Others may find such embellishments titillating, informative or even self-enhancing and prefer this approach. Which is perfectly fine too. Because – each to their own – may personal preferences prevail.
Some of the reasons that Propaganda works so exceptionally well because it heeds the notions of simplicity at all times, using fast acting analogies and stylish metaphors in the everyday language of the people. It’s efficient, it works, it’s easily repeatable and it’s shared. Be it right or wrong, true or false is besides the point, what it is is easily and quickly understood.
[ Here is useful backgrounder doco for those who have not seen it or unaware of the default psychology at play. https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-century-of-the-self/ Cheers ]

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 4 2022 0:05 utc | 95

SeanAU | Nov 4 2022 0:05 utc | 96
“I don’t want the truth, I want something I can tell Parliament!” Minister Jim Hacker

Posted by: John Kennard | Nov 4 2022 1:09 utc | 97

@ james | Nov 3 2022 17:53 utc | 84
FWIW what’s up at his site now is not what I read there early this morning.
I should have read you more carefully. I assumed, without really looking (contact lenses without reading glasses because on my way out the door), you were puzzling over the same awkward sentence that I had to re-read several hours earlier in order to make sense of Hudson’s meaning. Seems like there was an edit of that awkward sentence, replaced by what you quoted ( and I didn’t really see) which is still there and does not convey correct meaning as you say. Anyway, thanks to Dr. Hudson. As always, he enlightens.

Posted by: suzan | Nov 4 2022 1:28 utc | 99