“250 million battle with Covid in China”
Battle! Super cope.
Never mind millions’ freezing in US.
And millions in Europe with energy bills.
Merry Xmas bar flies.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Dec 24 2022 13:29 utc | 1
Yep, one’s man loss is another man’s gain…
Merry Xmas to all of you, from France

Posted by: xiao pignouf | Dec 24 2022 14:11 utc | 3

One more thing, during a major storm my house can loses power for 1-3 days due to downed power lines, I still have power and I am warm and toasty, no need for the generator, the wood stove or even a blanket, I’lll just turn up the furnace and enjoy all my heating oil. Perhaps in solidarity with the freezing British, Germans, French and Kyiv regime peoples I’ll drink some Russia iced vodka, it might be the last bottle the Canadian regime will ever let me buy while in Canada

Posted by: Kadath | Dec 24 2022 14:21 utc | 5

Update on the Syrian situation from Steven Sahiounie at Strategic Culture.
It’s not just the Europeans who lack heating oil, thanks again to Uncle Sam and his gang of thugs.

About 12 million Syrians are facing a deadly winter without heating fuel, gasoline for transportation, and dark houses each evening.
Damascus is now bitterly cold and is soon to be blanketed with snow. About 12 million Syrians are facing a deadly winter without heating fuel, gasoline for transportation, and dark houses each evening without electricity. Aleppo, Homs, and Hama are also extremely cold all winter.
…
Sanctions against Syria were imposed by the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, the Arab League, as well as other countries beginning in 2011. The sanctions were aimed at overthrowing the Syrian government, by depriving it of its resources. U.S.-sponsored ‘regime change’ has failed but the sanctions were never lifted.
For 12 years the U.S. and EU have been imposing economic sanctions on Syria which have deprived the Syrians of their dignity and human rights.
New UN report asks for lifting sanctions on Syria
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights, Alena Douhan, urged sanctions to be lifted against Syria, warning that they were adding to the suffering of the Syrian people since 2011.
“I am struck by the pervasiveness of the human rights and humanitarian impact of the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria and the total economic and financial isolation of a country whose people are struggling to rebuild a life with dignity, following the decade-long war,” Douhan said.
After a 12-day visit to Syria, Douhan said the majority of Syria’s population was currently living below the poverty line, with shortages of food, water, electricity, shelter, cooking and heating fuel, transportation, and healthcare. She spoke of the continuing exodus of educated and skilled Syrians in response to the economic hardship of living at home.
Douhan reported that the majority of infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, and the sanctions imposed on oil, gas, electricity, trade, construction, and engineering have diminished the national income, which has prevented economic recovery and reconstruction.
The sanctions prevent payments from being received from banks, and deliveries from foreign manufacturers. Serious shortages in medicine and medical equipment have plagued hospitals and clinics. The lack of a water treatment system in Aleppo caused a severe Cholera outbreak in late summer, and the system cannot be bought, installed, or maintained under the current U.S. sanctions against Syria.

The Europeans being frozen out after doing the same to Syrians almost looks like poetic justice, but for that one would have to assume that European politicians were actually following the will of their constituents.

Posted by: farm ecologist | Dec 24 2022 14:40 utc | 7

The “Ukraine Open Thread 2022-232” had some discussion of the Korean War, and I commented that it was managed by the UN. Being that this “not Ukraine” thread seems the place to elaborate, here’s an excerpt from With No Apologies by Barry Goldwater.

MacArthur died in 1964. A year earlier I went to see him at his suite in the Waldorf Towers.
…
MacArthur expressed admiration for the Japanese military commanders, but he said Japanese intelligence had never penetrated American strategy in the South Pacific. It was different in Korea.
MacArthur said, “The North Koreans and the Chinese seemed to know every move we were going to make. At first this puzzled me. Then I realized all battle plans were known to the United Nations. The Russians reported them to the Chinese field commanders. General Lin Piao stated publicly that he did not move his troops into Korea until he had been assured that Washington would ‘restrain General MacArthur from taking adequate retaliatory measures against my lines of supply and communication.'”
I told MacArthur that Truman’s act relieving him of command in Korea was one of the things which had heightened my interest in politics. He said he harbored no resentment against Truman, explaining that the President really had no other choice.
“I didn’t agree with the politicians who were running that war. I wouldn’t fight a stalemate, nor did I want to command a losing cause. When we were forbidden to go beyond the Yalu to wipe out the bases of the Red Chinese, I knew somebody had decided against winning. Hell, we couldn’t even bomb the bridges over the river. When I complained about that, they said I could bomb the south half of the bridges. I knew it was time for me to get out, and I did.”

Posted by: David Levin | Dec 24 2022 15:04 utc | 9

What bothers me in all of the discussions is that humanity has not been allowed to develop a plan that would force the rulers who control the nation states to stand down from using humans as the cannon fodder that advance the cause of profit.
If the dollar is overthrown it will just be replaced by another hegemon and things will be conducted in a different language and supported by a different culture but no real progress will have been made.
The Ruled humans need to eliminate <-secrets between the ruled and the rulers; humans need a universal language that is understood by all; humans need a universal culture that integrates the multi cultured crucibles (each nation in the nation state system is crucible) that have for so long kept those of us in one crucible hating those who of us that are trapped in other crucibles. Destroying the power to conduct affairs of state in secret, is a major element in evolving our global population into a well function highly productive society. Another is a universal education system. Secretly conducted, separation of humanity (division, if you will) has for too long provided the multinational global corporations the leverage they need to keep the wars, regime changes, assassinations, sanctions, and the like going. Chaos this leverage creates allows the multinationals to pillage whatever place or thing that has an exploitable economic value. Multinational profit come from the nation states the multinational non human entities control; these profits are profiled by sanctions, interference in the regions and nations of others, regime changes, assassinations and invasions, control over propaganda and media and use of force. When will the world be organized to benefit the masses?

Posted by: snake | Dec 24 2022 16:47 utc | 11

The weather “bomb” here in Iowa USA was unusual in two ways.
Despite the air flows mixing there was relatively little snow, only a few inches. Usually we get 5-8 inches in such storms. And the strong cold northwest winds were relentless for two 1/2 days with no let up at 35 mph and 50 mph gusts which is abnormally high.
The wind chill temps were – 40 F (also is -40 C).
With little snow cover the plants and wildlife are greatly stressed.
Today it is a balmy 0 F (-17), wind chill -27F (-33 C). Flowers are blooming in the south-facing bay window of this old house, a sort of battleship, but the running water stopped yesterday morning. I packed snow around the well housing to insulate in the am. It is running again as normal this morning.
Although an experienced camper, life without running water can be rough, especially for families with children. How many in the world suffer that regularly? and all those clapping penguins in Congress can do is start and fuel wars and peddle propaganda.
https://rumble.com/v22148w-who-misses-some-points.html

Posted by: suzan | Dec 24 2022 17:03 utc | 13

@ David Levin | Dec 24 2022 17:05 utc | 14
i don’t know much about the korean war, but it seems to me that it was the beginning of a lot of experiments on the part of the usa with biological, and chemical warfare… i believe the experiments are ongoing.. perhaps this is part of the logic for wars.. some complete loons want to find a way to be the dominant ones and will stop at nothing to find a way to achieve this..
the concept of one world gov’t is interesting.. the closest we’ve gotten is the un and look how many would like to tear that down…i don’t know the answer, but war is not the answer.. money is not the answer either..

Posted by: james | Dec 24 2022 17:11 utc | 15

@ snake | Dec 24 2022 16:47 utc | 11
The problem with your comment is an assumption that having “rulers” and “ruled” is okay, if we could just re-orient the rulers.
The common claim is that we have democracies, i.e. governance by the citizens, which of course doesn’t exist anywhere.
The basic fly in this ointment for the US is when the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 in Citizens United v. FEC that corporations have First Amendment political rights to buy ads in all American elections, which greatly strengthened the ability of corporations to get their way, strengthening rulers in getting re-elected and rewarding the corporations for their support.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 24 2022 17:29 utc | 17

Power outage map of the US
https://poweroutage.us/
I tried posting this a few times on the Ukraine thread as this discussion did come up. I will post this here stripping out the Ukraine topic…
JKF was clearly pulling out of ‘Nam. Glorious history hung the war around his neck but the main reason he was killed is that he was pulling out completely…
“On October 5, 1963, at a meeting at 9:30 AM, Kennedy made the formal decision to implement the withdrawal plan. Again, we have the tape. On October 11, the White House issued National Security Action Memorandum 263, which speaks of ‘the implementation of plans to withdraw’ troops from Vietnam.
https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/government-integrity/jfk-ordered-full-withdrawal-vietnam-solid-evidence/
The policy was reversed the Monday after his assassination.
https://assassinationofjfk.net/was-jfks-vietnam-withdrawal-policy-changed/
This is detailed in the documents NSAM 263, NSAM 273, and NSAM 288.
NSAM 263
A program be established to train Vietnamese so that essential functions now performed by U.S. military personnel can be carried out by Vietnamese by the end of 1965. It should be possible to withdraw the bulk of U.S. personnel by that time.
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v04/d167
NSAM 273
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v04/d331
NSAM 288
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v01/d87
His speech on US involvement in Southeast Asia given when he was in Congress is stunningly accurate. I suggest the interested look it up.
Anyone who stands against the MIC then and now are targets. Physical deat, political death, or media murder. Whatever works for them

Posted by: circumspect | Dec 24 2022 18:03 utc | 19

david levin/12 22 24 @ 9. thank you for that quote! what i found most interesting is the revelation of the UN & russia’s alleged communications to china. it possibly explains empire’s efforts to remove russia from the security council. russia’s involvement in korea was troubled…stalin had played mao into going in, mao had wanted to concentrate on tibet for obvious reasons: location location, resources, & i’m forgetting the number of headwaters originating bt @ least 3 or more. it had been agreed russia would lead & mao’s forces would follow. stalin didn’t arrive, mao had to go forth alone. i suppose russia supplied equipment, advice & from what you’ve revealed timely intel. mao’s son as you know was killed in korea. i’ve surmised korea may’ve been the beginning of china’s detachment from russia. just as iran had some reservations with russia. i expect patrushev began the long road to reclaim trust between the partners. when i read speculations on the latest ravings made by linsey graham, recall the death of solemani & marvel @ the restraint iran has shown. all in good time. that strength resonates throughout the axis of resistance. i have no doubts empire has tried & will continue to try to take out putin—believing that would solve all resistance to regime change. i shouldn’t be surprised to learn that was the reason putin didn’t travel to the G20, & that he visits only friendly nations. i’m curious about medvedev’s visit to xi. yes, putin was busy, his schedule is always booked bt medvedev’s trip was to deliver that which couldn’t be recorded on phone/email (& i’m sure both chinese & russian lines are safe & clear) bt only in person.

Posted by: emersonreturn | Dec 24 2022 18:11 utc | 21

Merry Christmas everybody!

Posted by: Mary | Dec 24 2022 18:40 utc | 23

@8 Eighthman
And so begins the NeoCon climb-down, now that the looting is pretty well complete.
Take a look at the “about” page of “The National Interest”. Founder: Irving Kristol, dubbed the “godfather of neoconservatism”.
We need to keep the stinking albatross of the NeoCons’ theft, murder, pillaging and nation-destroying wrapped securely around their collective necks. We just gave those grifters another $45 bill. Gonna be a long time before I forget about this multi-decade, world-wide shake-down. A very long time.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Dec 24 2022 19:19 utc | 25

Merry Christmas eve b and all the barflies. Hope everyone is healthy happy and warm this holiday season. sending my love.

Posted by: annie | Dec 24 2022 19:44 utc | 27

James @ 20:
I checked that website you linked to and noted the time (6:53am on 25 December 2022). All provinces that ad suffered power cuts by that time, as indicated by the numbers affected in each province, were in eastern Canada. How is it then that the Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) and eastern British Columbia appear unaffected? Wouldn’t the weather conditions have been more severe in the provinces far from the oceans? Or is it likely that the real problem is that eastern Canada was unprepared for the weather conditions because (a) they are not common or (b) the infrastructures there have deteriorated for lack of funding and proper maintenance?
BTW it is Christmas Day here in Sydney. Merry Christmas to all MoA barflies and lurkers! Wishing you all a happy and safe time for the rest of 2022.

Posted by: Jen | Dec 24 2022 20:13 utc | 29

@David Levin, #9:

MacArthur said, “The North Koreans and the Chinese seemed to know every move we were going to make. At first this puzzled me. Then I realized all battle plans were known to the United Nations…..

LOL!!! So, Ole MacArthur could have turned Red Chinese into smithereens if not for the Truman/UN shenanigans. Yup. the Ole Hero remains a Hero. It’s only someone else strapping his hands that caused him to eat crow in 1950’s. If MacArthur said so, it must be so.
The guy wasn’t even man enough to admit his own shortcomings!!!! So typically Western.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 24 2022 20:30 utc | 31

@ circumspect | Dec 24 2022 18:03 utc | 19
Thank you. Intriguing.

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 24 2022 21:10 utc | 33

pretzelattack @ 34
It is not what I believe it is what is. The NASM’s are national policy directives well talked out from the president on down in JFK days. Not some much talked out now just implemented. Clearly they are recorded instruments in the archives.
Sure, one guy stood up to standard US policies and caught a bullet in the head. It was an example to the rest of them. The other stuff you sight is just smoke. Look at the evidence of what happened in 1963
I suggest you look up John Judge and look at some of his research.
I suggest you read this…
https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/united-states-senate-indochina-19540406

Posted by: circumspect | Dec 24 2022 21:55 utc | 35

Lots of ongoing gab about reindustrialization of the Outlaw US Empire but little to go with it, just jabber. “Made in America: The Past, Present, and Future of the Steel Industry” is a nice short essay that unfortunately doesn’t tell the entire story of why steel production within the Outlaw US Empire went from global tops to just supply 6% at the end of the 1900s. Some will recall Billy Joel’s tune Allentown, which was produced during the years of rapid deindustrialization from 1978-1990. But the real reason why major US Steel corporations chose not to modernize was the changing outlook of those who provided the capital for such remodeling as the major banks were captured by neoliberalism and its disdain for long-term investing in industrial works and for all attempts to lower the Empire’s overhead costs of production that was pricing its labor out of global markets. Do recall that the executives of US Steel were part of the cabal that approved the killing of JFK because of his policies toward both labor and industry. As the essay notes, just over 80,000 workers are employed making steel today. And essentially everything employed by the military contains steel. The corollary is: If you want a big powerful military, you must have a big powerful industrial plant to arm it. And Neoliberal policy since the mid 1970s has been the opposite–just in time bullets and guns for the just in time soldiers having no time to learn how to employ them properly.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 24 2022 22:21 utc | 37

Interesting times.
It would appear the latest massive cold storm front through the USSA. Has caused a major headache for the evil groundwater USSA-polluting Gas Fracking industries. Causing major supply interruption issues to the general consumers.
Further south in Texas, the clued-up local natives with cash. Have made future provisions for the failure of local gas and electric supply failures. During this cold weather extreme snap. Along with the slow recovery of downed power lines. Due to outdoor worker crew being short on manpower. Gas frackers are unable to supply the volumes of gas required to operate the gas turbine generating plants.
Ever mindful of the inherent unreliability of the local gas & electric utilities’ for-profit first customer-is-always-last attitude. Plus the incompetence of the local GOP state government to enforce their own state regulations. Or one of all talk and near zero action. Due to excessive corporate businesses bribing the local legislators to turn a blind eye. In short, have completely cleaned all suppliers of off-grid backup generators and other emergency supplies.
Truth is stranger than fiction.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Dec 24 2022 22:55 utc | 39

@ Bad Deal Motors On | Dec 24 2022 22:55 utc | 39
with the latest example of the parasite consuming itself….thanks
One problem is that the leaders of the parasite don’t live in Texas and don’t care about others discomfort.
We live in a tightly planned economy run by the God of Mammon financial parasite that prioritizes profit ahead of humans and has corrupted all the governments in the West to do their bidding.
China lives in a tightly planned economy run by the government leadership that prioritizes people as the beneficiaries of the economy and they are trying to spread that example elsewhere

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 25 2022 0:01 utc | 41

@ Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 24 2022 21:30 utc | 34
Interesting.
The so-called medium-range liquid-fueled (kero+LOX) unprotected from the elements Jupiter missiles, bY 1963 were completely obsolete. A victim of the turn-a-key and launch solid fuel silo land-based/submarine missiles.
The medium-range missile had a fifteen-minute cutting corners refueling time to launch. Not what one could call a turn-a-key and push-a-button for an instant fire-and-forget type missile.
Picture of Jupiter missile in situ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGM-19_Jupiter#/media/File:Jupiter_emplacement.jpg
History tells us four land-based Jupiter missiles nearly detonated by a hand of god lightning strike. In Italy at the 36th Strategic Air Interdiction Brigade base facilities.
As for the treaty with the Soviets. One could say all obsolete Jupiter missiles deployed throughout Europa. Were basically disposable playing cards!

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Dec 25 2022 0:31 utc | 43

@circumspect | Dec 24 2022 18:03 utc | 19
Thanks for that on JFK.
There is also his anti-war American University speech, titled “A Strategy of Peace”, was a commencement address delivered by United States President John F. Kennedy at the American University in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 10, 1963. The speech was unusual in its peaceful outreach to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War,

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 25 2022 0:36 utc | 45

suzan@13….if you are on a well and the water is free, you can leave an inside tap on slightly, flowing water tends not to freeze. Not a perfect solution but it does work….as long as one has power for the well pump that is.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Dec 25 2022 0:42 utc | 47

here is a power outage map for canada..
https://poweroutage.com/ca
Posted by: james | Dec 24 2022 18:09 utc | 20
Terrifying! Outages, mostly in Quebec, but what is truly alarming that the entire province of Saskatchewan simple vanished! Just black empty space.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 25 2022 0:54 utc | 49

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 25 2022 0:36 utc | 44
Obama made many pretty speeches. Clinton made pretty speeches. many would tell you Zelensky makes pretty speeches. I prefer to judge people by their actions, and up the end Kennedy was still trying to get the CIA to murder Castro, after the Bay of Pigs invasion failed. he took the world to the brink of nuclear war to protect the US role as the hyperpower, exactly the kind of strategy Biden or his handlers is pursuing in Ukraine. Kennedy had missiles in Turkey, did not withdraw them, and then negotiated with Kruschev, who seems to have been a precursor to Gorbachev, to hide the US role in provoking the entire crisis. he was a neocon on foreign policy, and a neoliberal on economics, and the people who extolled him who worked in his administration are exactly the same kind of people who infest the Biden administration, academics from the Ivy League, the kind of people who brought down Trump, and presided over a war that killed even more people than Iraq. the best and the brightest of Vietnam infamy were Kennedy guys. 60 years laters, we are still following the same policies, and they still don’t work.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 25 2022 1:25 utc | 51

Kennedy’s speeches were epic pieces of theater, daring and bold. sound familiar? like Obama, like Clinton, like Biden and Reagan and all the others that have presided over the decline of the United State, he favored the rich over everybody else, started and exacerbated wars, presided over coups, and made the world a bloodier place. i don’t get the hero worship, but then i dont get it when applied to Obama or Zelensky.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 25 2022 1:31 utc | 53

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/57403.htm
Much money to be made backing Ukraine..

Posted by: vetinLA | Dec 25 2022 2:09 utc | 55

Devil’s Dictionary:
Freezing, tricky adverb.
example: stealing Russia’s liquid assets (money)is unfreezing and prying it away and running down the street cackling like a like a common thief.
For ‘thief’ see the noun ‘thief.’

Posted by: Elmagnostic | Dec 25 2022 2:20 utc | 57

I am not sure we need a government to do more than to carry out the laws, the masses agree to..[governments should never make laws]. IOWs is it necessary to allow the government any authority to make any decisions at all or to allow government to act without authority explicit permission-ed by majority rule ?
Posted by: snake | Dec 25 2022 0:38 utc | 45

The Haudenosaunee (Iriquois) Confederacy comes to mind as a functional government that had legislative and judicial branches but no executive branch. And a given “state” (tribe) within the Confederacy could act only if the people were unanimous in support of that action. (Perhaps this applied to the Confederacy as a whole, but it’s too long ago since I read about this subject.)
But it’s long seemed to me that this was feasible largely because the Haudenosaunee had long had a culture where everyone works in concert for the community’s survival. In contrast, the communities to which most of us are accustomed involve money and dependence on other communities or even other countries for our needs.
So then, how does a group of people achieve the situation you raised? I read that some counties are discussing secession from their states (California being one, I think). But to make it work, the county would need to resist efforts by the state or country to coerce it back to the fold, whether by withholding funds or goods or by the use of force.
I’d like to think it can be done, but I’m not that confident.
Now, if aspects of the system (such as financial, communication, or distribution) were to cease operating, then pockets of autonomy might well form out of necessity.
In any case, thank you for raising an interesting question.

Posted by: David Levin | Dec 25 2022 2:29 utc | 59

merry christmas to all the folks at moa!
@ Jen | Dec 24 2022 20:13 utc | 29
good question… there is some power outage in b.c., but much more in ontario and quebec… i am not exactly sure why.. more people live in those 2 provinces, and maybe they were less prepared for this?? maybe someone from ont. or quebec will chime in… i was out all day doing a christmas eve gig playing a jazzy christmas thing.. it was fun.. had to travel to courtenay – comox, up island.. all the best to you!

Posted by: james | Dec 25 2022 3:39 utc | 61

@pretzelattack | Dec 25 2022 1:25 utc | 50
No other president ever spoke like this. . .from JFK’s speech June 10, 1963
“We have also been talking in Geneva about our first-step measures of arms control designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and reduce the risks of accidental war. Our primary long range interest in Geneva, however, is general and complete disarmament, designed to take place by stages, permitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms. The pursuit of disarmament has been an effort of this Government since the 1920’s. It has been urgently sought by the past three administrations. And however dim the prospects are today, we intend to continue this effort, to continue it in order that all countries, including our own, can better grasp what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are.”
In short, both the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its allies, have a mutually deep interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the arms race. Agreements to this end are in the interests of the Soviet Union as well as ours, and even the most hostile nations can be relied upon to accept and keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty obligations, which are in their own interest.
nor acted like this. . ..
“First: Chairman Khrushchev, Prime Minister Macmillan, and I have agreed that high-level discussions will shortly begin in Moscow looking toward early agreement on a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history but with our hopes go the hopes of all mankind.
Second: To make clear our good faith and solemn convictions on this matter, I now declare that the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so. We will not be the first to resume. Such a declaration is no substitute for a formal binding treaty, but I hope it will help us achieve one. Nor would such a treaty be a substitute for disarmament, but I hope it will help us achieve it.” . .here
Which explains why, along with Viet Nam, JFK was offed by an intelligence agency that year. Obama (you mention) in his behavior understood Dealey Plaza.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 25 2022 4:20 utc | 63

Posted by: circumspect | Dec 24 2022 18:03 utc | 19
Thank you for this post, and for the further posts on President Kennedy, especially his American University speech. A year before it, I worked briefly at that university at their telephone switchboard as a ‘Kelly Girl’ during the summer. An inexperienced college student, I yet knew that President Kennedy was a man of peace. He had his flaws, we all do, but he motivated my generation much as President Putin now motivates the young people of his country. We haven’t had such a positive motivator for young people here since the Dallas tragedy took it away.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate at this time, and peace to all! The twelve days of Christmas come close to Russian Christmas, with the Epiphany occuring thereafter. And the sun is coming back at last. It’s been plenty dark, in more ways than one. The first Christmas had its dark side too, but in icons the ox and ass are smiling.
Feliz Navidad!

Posted by: juliania | Dec 25 2022 6:36 utc | 65

@ Bad Deal Motors On | Dec 25 2022 8:20 utc | 66
with the Texas power supply update…thanks
Reads like a bunch of bailing wire and duct tape to me….hope it holds for folks through this winter

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 25 2022 12:49 utc | 67

Upsetter @18
I tip my hat to you sir, I’m near Tweed, which is much further south than North bay, to put that in perspective for Ontarians, it’s -7 in Toronto, -10 in Tweed & -12 in North Bay right now

Posted by: Kadath | Dec 25 2022 14:12 utc | 69

Garden war on China.
updated to 12/2022
————————-
1959
CIA to Tibetans
You wanna kill some Chinese ?
———————————-
anglophone led white assault on Hans since the days of ENA continues unabated…
—————————————–
Faq
[work in progess]
FUKUS covert/overt wars on China since 1949 with bio war fares highlighted.
[Skipping the Opium wars and ENA]
10 years civil war,
8 years fighting jp invaders.
1950
Korean war forced on a China ravaged by 10 years of civil/defensive war, bioweapons used on NK., Chinese civilians
1955,
CIA/TW attempt at Zhou Enlai’s life airliner with 200+ people onboard plunged into the sea bed of SCS.
1959
CIA/RAW Tibet riot,
CIA recruiter to Tibetans

You wanna kill some Chinese ?

1962
FUKUS instigated Indo./sino war,
1963
CIA funded anti Chinese riots in BaNdung, iNDON.
1965
[CIA/MI6] orchestrated INdon genocide on ethnic Chinese.
1989
CIA/MI6 TAM, destabilisation/demonisation.
1993,
Chinese freighter Yinhe hijacked by USN, pirates at hight sea.
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/06/world/no-chemical-arms-aboard-china-ship.html
1998
CIA/MI6 orchestrated Indon pogrom , mass rapes on ethnic Chinese.
1999
BOmbing of Chinese embassy in ex Yugo,
2001
Hainan USAss spy plane provocation, Chinese pilot killed.
2001
Pro China Nepalese king Birendra entire family wiped out in CIA/RAW engineered palace putsch, right after his return from Beijing
2003
SARS1,
ethnic bioweapon targeting Chinese
2003
Iraq invasion,
Chinese embassy sacked by ‘rioters’
for FOUR days, right under the nose of
gringo occupiers .
oil contracts with Saddam nullified.
2004
Mystery shrouds murdering of 11 Chinese workers in Afghanistan, conveniently blamed on ‘Taliban terrorists’.
2006
regime change in Kenya
Chinese investments derailed
2007
Four Chinese killed in Kazakhstan
2008
Tibet riots, [CIA/MI6./RAW]
sobs declared ‘tibet genocide’
2009
Xinjiang bloodbath, [CIA./MI6]
sobs screamed uighurs genocide.
2011
21 Killed Before Chinese Bus Burnt Down in Kyrgyzstan
2011
Markets Closed After Chinese Traders Killed In Bishkek kyrg
2011
Kyrgyzstan Chinese-Uigurs Suspected of Consul Killing –
2011
Chinese murdered in angola
2011
Chinese sailors slain in ‘gruesome’ Mekong River murders
9 Thai soldiers charged with killing Chinese sailors subsequently exonerated.
2011
Libya REGIme change,
Tens of thousands Chinese workers forced to evacuate, economic loss hundreds of billions.
2012
Gunmen shot dead 2 Chinese workers in northeast Nigeria, region under assault by radical sect – The Washington Post
2013
Mali terrorism
Russian/Chinese rail executives slaughtered by AQ affiliated terrorists, who left a bunch of juicy gringo unmolested.
2013
TTP aka CIA IN Pak hunted down a group of tourists and executed the Chinese among them, get this….to avenge their bro death at the hand of great satan drone wars !
2013
Bird flu H7N9 hit China, Asia pivot
2014
Sudan balkanised
Chinese operated oil fields jeopardised.
2014
Ebola as pretext to ratchet up militarisation of Aftrica, target China.
2014
Another terrorists attack killed dozens of Hans in Xinjiang, HK riots, Mh370 mass murder, bubonic plague, Ebola, Dengue,
2014
BUbonic plague hit Chinese border town Yumen, barely one year after FUS Bubonic Lab opened in Kazakhstan across the border.
2015
China Demands Answers After 8 Hong Kong Tourists slained in Philippine Bus Hijacking
2015
FUKUS orchested Congo riots against Chinese .
2015
Sri lanka regime change by FUKUSIndia
Chinese investments torpedoed.
2018
Washington, with the backing of New Delhi, sponsored the ousting of pro-Chinese President Abdulla Yameen
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/31/pomp-o31.html
2018
bird flu, H7N9 hit china
2019
CIA ISIS mercs slaughtered 4 Chinese marine engineers in Sri Lanka
2019
HK riots , Xinjiang demonisation, swine flu, army worms, attack on Chinese food chain.
2020
SARS2,[c19] H5N1, locusts, hit China,.
2020
Chinese ambassador to Israel bumped off..
right after Pompass visit to torpedo Chinese investments in Israel
2021
Full spectrum smear campaign over Xinjiang , HK, covid, yellow peril.
FUKUS prepping for
Four fronts attacks at Lakdah, TW Straits, SCS, ECS !
2021
sleepy wily joe turned EU against China, arm twisted LIthuan to switch camp.
SK, Israel forced to join in the UIghur inquisition.
2021
coup in African GUinea,
Chinese investments on infrastructure and minerals in peril.
2021
FUKUSA AKA AUKUS orchestrated another pogrom in Solomon;s China town.
2022
FUKUSA engineered pandemic, lockdown,
fuel and food crisis claimed first sovereign victim in Sri Lanka
anglophone blames it on ‘China debt trap’, WARsj crows ‘our buddy India’s chance to displace China’
2022
FUKUSA AKA AUKUS
TTP and Baloch mercs massacred dozens of Chinese in Pakistan.
2022
Full spectrum provocation in TW straits,
sobs wanna force a Ukraine on the Chinese.
2022
color rev in Mongol, right after the PM visit to Beijing.
2022
Terrorists attack on Chinese in Afghan,
IS [aka CIA] CLAimed credits.
12/2022
2 Chinese workers dead, 5 seriously injured in Jakarta/Banduny railway mishap
foul play cannot be dismissed.
Gwadar port fire: Pakistani oil reserves allegedly blown up by Baloch rebels;
work in progress
—————————————
Tip of an iceberg

Hardly exhaustive.

Posted by: denk | Dec 25 2022 14:49 utc | 71

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11572881/CIA-spate-explosions-Russia-veteran-claims-CIA-NATO-ally-sabotage.html

The CIA is combining with the spy service of a NATO ally in Europe to conduct covert sabotage operations inside Russia, according to new claims.
The clandestine campaign is behind many unexplained explosions and fires that have hit strategic or prominent facilities in recent months, says US expert Jack Murphy, an eight-year Army Special Operations veteran.
Separately other European intelligence services have allegedly been ‘running operatives into Russia to create chaos without CIA help’, as has Ukraine.
His claims follow as a new fire struck a shopping mall in Krasnodar region, in southern Russia, the latest in dozens of such incidents. It comes as Putin issued another chilling warning to the West on Christmas day.
….
In Ukraine today, air raid sirens have been going off around the country as some decide to move their Christmas day to avoid celebrating on the same day as Russia.
Oil and gas facilities, railways, fuel depots, power plants and shopping malls have been hit across Russia by mysterious explosions, with rumours of sabotage.
‘The campaign involves long standing sleeper cells that the allied spy service has activated to hinder Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine by waging a secret war behind Russian lines,’ said Murphy in a post.
‘The campaign is responsible for many of the unexplained explosions and other mishaps that have befallen the Russian military industrial complex since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.’
He cited anonymous US sources including three former intelligence and two military officials, and a sixth source ‘who has been briefed on the campaign’.
The CIA has denied the allegations.

Yes, the Daily Mail is questionable but they still actually have reporters gathering news. This article intimates that there have been many sabotage attacks within Russia of late. Of course could all be disinformation…
My impression of what’s going down is that the only way the conflict in Ukraine can end is with a complete change of leadership in the West which would be a huge tectonic sea-change. This is not going to happen from kinetics on the ground in Ukraine. The entire country could surrender to Russia but the neocons running Western military and foreign policy will simply up the ante with more sabotage within Ukraine and Russia, plus drag neighbouring countries like Poland and the Baltics into the mess. This will put further stress on the world economy but especially Europe where most likely sabotage will proliferate as well (similar to the hundreds of food processing facilities already burned down in the US the past 18 months).
And so it goes…

Posted by: Scorpion | Dec 25 2022 15:03 utc | 73

If by “change of leadership” you mean elected government it must be clear by now that makes no difference. Try purging the real leadership in MI5-6 or the CIA-NSA-DHS-FBI. These people run laps around elected officials all day and their operations are so decentralized that even if you took out HQ or a few at the top, they would regenerate in less than a month.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 25 2022 17:19 utc | 74
Yes, ‘complete’ change, as you describe, which would involve refashioning our entire polity from top to bottom. There has been no intelligent public discourse about this and of course no political parties touch such issues, indeed they all assiduously strive to ensure they are never raised.
The so-called Reset will probably be an ideology-fueled top-down totalitarian techno-fascist disaster, a great leap backwards for humanity touted as the next best thing; but the irony is that a Great Reset is indeed called for, just not one run by technocrats.
That said, in the West we have spent the past few centuries getting rid of monarchies, aristocracy and the Churches and so are left with almost nothing to bequeath to our descendants except the cult of modernization so well described in Xi’s recent paper mapping out the future. However, such a simplistic materialist goal is not enough to hold a civilization together.
I guess first we have to let our old civilization shuffle off its mortal coil which, again, is probably the only thing which will end this sorry business in Ukraine – albeit ideally without nuclear armeggeddon. The slow nature of the SMO is bleeding the West white, as no doubt intended, but is also risking escalation especially as the West becomes less and less able to persuade its citizens that the current leadership class is acting in their best interests. Enemies will be required to ensure the public does not start to ask too many questions….

Posted by: Scorpion | Dec 25 2022 17:47 utc | 75

@denk, #71:
Thanks :-). A list of events to commemorate anti-China subversions at the hands of CIA/MI6.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 25 2022 18:48 utc | 77

US steps up military action against “ISIS” in Syria, where Uncle Scam is an uninvited, loathed “guest” busy stealing oil during a time of freezing cold for most Syrians.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-steps-up-raids-against-islamic-state-militants-in-syria-11671977685
Truly shameful as well is the fawning presstitute corporate media’s response and active role in the coverup.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Dec 25 2022 19:55 utc | 79

https://rg.ru/2022/12/25/nashi-liudi-nasha-zemlia-nasha-pravda.html
Medvedev: illusions are exhausted. Between us and West there are more of things separating than of things connecting.

Posted by: Arioch | Dec 25 2022 20:12 utc | 81

farm ecologist | Dec 24 2022 14:40 utc | 7
Scotch Bingeington | Dec 25 2022 18:34 utc | 76
Scotch Bingeington – you beat me to praising farm ecologist – both of you bring a very important issue, and the hypocrisy of the western media,( better word for hypocrisy is in German “Verlogenheit”) regarding how Syria is maltreated by the sooo good, soo friendly, sooo benevolent Western societies.
And Merry Christmas to all barflies, of any religious persuasion.

Posted by: fanto | Dec 26 2022 2:20 utc | 83

anti-China subversions at the hands of CIA/MI6.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 25 2022 18:48 utc | 77
—————-
Dont forget ASIO, Aussie intel, up to its eyeballs in FUKUSA, aka AUKUS skullduggeries.
In South Asia, they team up with RAW , which has its paw in practically every
country in the region.
IN ME, they rely on MOSSAD.
————–
BTW
when talking about the garden’s war on Chinese, How could I miss out on the 18C Chinese Exclusion Act, which is ratchet up to 21C’s GLOBAL CEA…
USAss diktat to the world
Do not have anything to do with the chicom , or else….
—————-
From 18C CEA to 21C GCEA….
https://mronline.org/2022/12/14/the-united-states-and-white-supremacy-at-war-with-china/

Posted by: denk | Dec 26 2022 2:38 utc | 85

On January 3, 2022 the following announcement was released from the US White House
Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races

The People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America consider the avoidance of war between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as our foremost responsibilities.
We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. As nuclear use would have far-reaching consequences, we also affirm that nuclear weapons—for as long as they continue to exist—should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression, and prevent war. We believe strongly that the further spread of such weapons must be prevented.
We reaffirm the importance of addressing nuclear threats and emphasize the importance of preserving and complying with our bilateral and multilateral non-proliferation, disarmament, and arms control agreements and commitments. We remain committed to our Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations, including our Article VI obligation “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”
We each intend to maintain and further strengthen our national measures to prevent unauthorized or unintended use of nuclear weapons. We reiterate the validity of our previous statements on de-targeting, reaffirming that none of our nuclear weapons are targeted at each other or at any other State.
We underline our desire to work with all states to create a security environment more conducive to progress on disarmament with the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all. We intend to continue seeking bilateral and multilateral diplomatic approaches to avoid military confrontations, strengthen stability and predictability, increase mutual understanding and confidence, and prevent an arms race that would benefit none and endanger all. We are resolved to pursue constructive dialogue with mutual respect and acknowledgment of each other’s security interests and concerns.

Will we get another announcement like this in early 2023?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 26 2022 4:54 utc | 87

@ denk | Dec 26 2022 5:18 utc | 88 with the report of my country being the only country voting against the biological weapons verification process…..
What bothers me is that it doesn’t fit my (the US is just chief bully of the Western nations) meme. So then I have to ask, why wasn’t there a block of nations voting against the process to make it at least look like maybe there is some supportable issue(s)? Not even Occupied Palestine joined the US…..
The world is coming apart in different ways depending of the view but people do know right from wrong and moral/humanistic sides are being developed, extended and more clearly taken.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 26 2022 5:55 utc | 89

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 26 2022 6:15 utc | 90
I’m sure there was an incident in the past few months where a direct question was put to a Ukrainian representative on the matter of biolabs and the reply was pure evasion rounded off with “we’re not on trial”. Googling now just turns up a lot of fact checkers and US-UA boosters trying to rubbish Russian claims.
Ukraine’s representatives are hardly even pretending to speak on behalf of a real country anymore. There is surely going to come a point where RF has to decide if it is prepared to leave *any* biological or nuclear facilities under Ukrainian authority.
Putin publicly said at the outset that he didn’t expect to be able to make a deal with the political leadership and hoped the UA military would step and take over.
It’s been obvious in these threads from very early on that Ukraine is a CIA / NSA surveillance panopticon where anyone who steps outside of US parameters is excluded or eliminated. The UA military figures that have been mentioned as possible leaders are duds, both as people and as prisoners of circumstance. No one should pretend otherwise.
I guess RF is going through the motions in trying to resolve its complaint through the relevant international forums but the US is going to block every attempt, either using its own veto or by whipping up whatever support the situation requires.

Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 26 2022 9:03 utc | 91

Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 26 2022 9:03 utc | 91
Oops, O/T.

Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 26 2022 9:23 utc | 93

Further details on DPRK drone incursion & Sth Korean response, from Reuters:

South Korea has scrambled fighter jets & attack helicopters, & fired shots, after North Korean drones violated its airspace on Monday.
At least one drone reached the capital & flew over Seoul, News1 agency reported, citing an unnamed military official.
The military said it tried to shoot down the drones, but it was not clear if it was successful, & whether any of the drones were armed.

Comment: ~$6Billion+ on at least three Patriot batteries defending Seoul … jet fighters, attack helos, & other warplanes scrambled & engaged … Capital city Seoul compromised … results in loss of a ROKAF light attack fighter (worth ~$13M USD) & zero interceptions ? Did the Patriot batteries fire any missiles at ~$3.5M each ?
Unimpressive. DPRK certainly obtained an excellent ROI with just a few drones.

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 26 2022 9:48 utc | 95

What does (did?) the EU have here that the USA doesn’t (didn’t)?
Posted by: joey_n | Dec 26 2022 9:25 utc | 94
—
Food culture. It wasn’t the era of Julia Child that decent food was re-introduced to the USA.

Posted by: too scents | Dec 26 2022 11:26 utc | 97

joey_n | Dec 26 2022 9:25 utc | 94
“Anyone got a good explanation? What does (did?) the EU have here that the USA doesn’t (didn’t)?”
Not sure, maybe this is a case of History vs. Philosophy. You know, what Thatcher said. Our infatuation with protected origins – for wine, cheese, sausages etc., may play into that. Though on the other hand, the concept of “purity” (of foodstuff) would be related to philosophy rather than to history, wouldn’t it? Interesting question!

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Dec 26 2022 14:31 utc | 99