Given the issues in the South China Sea, where does Vietnam stand in this zone?
The US has been shifting manufacturing to Vietnam from China and both have territorial claims over the South China Sea.
Given the Us doctrine of ‘let’s you and him fight’ will South East Asia and Vietnam become the new Ukraine?
Former Australian diplomat John Lander, with extensive experience with China believes Australia is being set up to fight for US interests in the region.
Given the farce with the nuclear submarine deal and Australia’s bellicose attitude, is this a future flash point.

Posted by: Johnycomelately | Feb 15 2023 20:57 utc | 103

watcher @ 97
No, Ohio is not part of developed world. Deplorables live there. The elite very seriously do wish death on the deplorables. Not maybe, not in fantasies, not in daydreams. Deplorables are worse than Russians.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 15 2023 21:01 utc | 105

Paul Massaro twote a picture of him wearing a banderovite patch. Had anyone archived the tweet ?

Posted by: Lavenda | Feb 15 2023 21:06 utc | 107

Perimetr | Feb 15 2023 16:56 utc | 19
“…The problem is the unwillingness of the Kremlin to use sufficient force to bring the conflict to a quick Russians victory before the West adds provocation upon proocation and widens the war into a general war between the West and Russia. It is the inability after one year of the Kremlin to act decisively that is turning the conflict into a world war…”.
My bold. See the fallacy?
Posted by: OttoE | Feb 15 2023 20:55 utc | 78

Posted by: OttoE | Feb 15 2023 21:09 utc | 109

NATO is a big, sclerotic animal.
For those who ever been on a real hunt, you know that a lucky shot through the heart is a once in the lifetime shot. The rest involves bleeding, with the slow going to sleep, and a sharp end of the benevolent hunter.
This method of hunting is used across all the life reign.
This is what Russia is using against Ukraine and the NATO backers.

Posted by: Poison Frogs | Feb 15 2023 21:15 utc | 111

@ Richard Steven Hack | Feb 15 2023 18:20 utc | 50 quotes
“Hersh was reporting on the fact that the US authorized and carried out a military operation against assets owned by Germany and Russia. Period. End of story.” and –
“Cut the bullshit and get back to the main task of exposing the actions of the corrupt “leaders” of the West.”
—————–
thanks richard…. i agree with you in the first instance…. but regarding your second quote, here is what i see… the mainstream media or corporate media have taken on a life of their own and are giving the politicians a free ride, so long as the politicians stay in line.. the media has become a huge force in itself in all of this… people not only hate politicians, they now hate journalists for rubber stamping much of the same bullshit.. i am no good at articulating all this, but again i draw yours and others attention to the video of emmanuel todd in the last approx 15 minutes of the video… here is a link to about the area for you to listen from… consider this and then put it in context of those alternative media personalities in what they are fighting for and challenging here… cheers
‘
last 15 minutes – ‘because everything is based on a myth’ – emmanuel todd video/A>

Posted by: james | Feb 15 2023 21:19 utc | 113

link didn’t work out properly.. cue video to 1:27:57 for the relevant conversation on this..
https://youtu.be/oAUD1gxEWxE?t=5278

Posted by: james | Feb 15 2023 21:22 utc | 115

Buffalo_Ken | Feb 15 2023 17:49 utc | 41
“…the early bird gets the worm…”. That’s not RF’s motto. They act after “the second mouse eats the cheese”.

Posted by: OttoE | Feb 15 2023 21:25 utc | 117

Watcher @105 – I think you plan of action made total sense.

Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 15 2023 21:31 utc | 119

So who is telling the truth, you or Hersh?
Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 15 2023 21:09 utc | 109

Hersh has admitted that, in the past, he has included lies and misdirection in his articles to prevent authorities from using the information to identify his confidential sources.
Assuming we discount the liar’s paradox in this one instance, who among us can tell with certainty what is true and what is false in his recent article.
Logically, it would seem the reference to the President’s Intelligence Committee is false, because the members are so easily identified.
As for Norway’s potential involvement, it is also unlikely for reasons articulated before. But perhaps Hersh’s source believes it to be true, or someone who fed the info to Hersh’s source did so for a reason.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Feb 15 2023 21:35 utc | 121

Kakistocracy: a government run by the worst, least qualified and most unscrupulous citizens. As if an explanatory term were needed considering its repeated appearances in ‘History.’
On the other hand ‘Bidenoscopy’ exclusively exposes a pipe bomber disguised as an American president.

Posted by: Elmagnostic | Feb 15 2023 21:43 utc | 123

Sanders embrace of Russiagate and support of the US policy in Ukraine was disillusioning, on top of his meek acceptance of the cheating by the DNC during the primary season.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Feb 15 2023 16:21 utc | 10
Sanders was not my candidate of choice, I have Gabbard t-shirt and sweat shirt. But in my opinion, if POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY was guiding DNC, Hillary would be discouraged from running in 2016, and Biden in 2020. Both with personal baggage, and tepid program, while Sanders had appeal in what I call “hunter demographic”, blue collar workers in towns large and small. Sanders, representing a rural state, did not run on gun control, but stressed the single payer, Obama care being exceedingly complex and doing little to reduce increases in healthcare costs and other “pocket book issues”, and was an outsider. Reducing free trade and restoring jobs in USA was a great issue, while “Socialism” was loosing its value as a scary label.
But “Socialism” was scary for the big-pocket Democratic donors who preferred risking electoral failure to a program with wider appeal. After all, their priority is to get what they want whichever party wins. Sanders, for all his faults, did not depend on big donors, but, I guess, he had a thing for party solidarity, and in 2020, he was a tired old man.
About dependence on big or small donors. Because I contributed in my naive years to some Democratic campaigns, I am in their data bases and thus pestered for donations. It used to be that from time to time the pitch was that because of a donor, for limited time the donations will be matched. Since 2016, DNC pitch changed to “the donations will be matched 4-1”, in other words, they were needed to show the number of donors, not the money that were assured ANYWAY.
About preferring electoral failure, I recall an editorial about Starmer purging Corbyn and Corbynites. The female author explicitly praised Starmer for doing a good thing even if it was obvious (to her) that it will cost Labour a bunch of votes and decrease chances to win the next elections unless Tories fail more spectacularly than usual. These “moderates” in Bill Clinton/Tony Blair style are surprisingly fanatical. No principles, but vehemently so.
BTW, before Corbyn was subjected to “anti-Semitism” issue, his chief heresies were scepticism about the monarchy and, hear this!! opposition to Trident, the remaining symbol of Britannia ruling the waves. Plus he rode a CHEAP bicycle and his socks sucked. Then some genius figured out that “anti-Semitism” is a better issue to weaponize (I would not guess, but I am not an evil genius.)

Posted by: Berman Piotr | Feb 15 2023 21:47 utc | 125

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 15 2023 21:54 utc | 125
I’ve posted a comment there already – it is a placeholder.

Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 15 2023 22:00 utc | 127

@Buffalo_Ken | Feb 15 2023 20:42 utc | 96
Thank-you. Understanding your background is very helpful. Respect.
The underlying problem is capitalism, with proximal symptoms being ever reducing availability of track, generally failing, worn out bogeys, a lax regulatory system controlled by the predatory companies involved, a loss of middle management and experienced crew (they cost too much), all in the name of making more money for the banksters and fuck everyone else, exacerbated by a system which knows all the above, but does not mandate avoiding occupied spaces, limits on bulk, limits on speeds of hazmat trains, and an end to level crossings and other such hazards.

Posted by: Hermit | Feb 15 2023 22:04 utc | 129

Posted by: Hermit | Feb 15 2023 22:04 utc | 128
Yep…and I know I need to read #10 closely so thankyou.
Ken

Posted by: Buffalo_Ken | Feb 15 2023 22:07 utc | 131

It seems alien UFOs have invaded Poland. The little green aliens from Mars are taking a look at Nato air defense on the important eastern flank, which seems to be non existent. Perhaps they will then send their large invasion fleet. (search Twitter for “poland ufo”)
Nah.. just screwing. Just on cue for Biden’s speech, perhaps he tells that we are all in this together to fend off the alien attack.

Posted by: unimperator | Feb 15 2023 22:29 utc | 133

@Blissex | Feb 15 2023 19:54 utc | 72
Indeed. Although I suggest that all of these numbers (for the US) are phonier than Biden’s inappropriate rictus which he uses instead of a smile. And the whole charade is going to implode the second that banksters are unable to cover the interest on their loans based on their thoroughly gamed ownership of everything worth stealing based on 5he public’s funds. Which will, I think, be sooner rather than later.

Posted by: Hermit | Feb 15 2023 22:54 utc | 135

On UVB-76 “Zhuzhalka” Russian military radio station has been recorded unusual “Pink Noise”.
Occasionally scrambled radio messages can be heard on the air.
Theories about its function vary from military radio messages to that of belonging to the “Perimeter” (Dead Hand) system.
https://twitter.com/Trollstoy88/status/1625972151080689665

Posted by: unimperator | Feb 15 2023 22:58 utc | 137

@unimperator | Feb 15 2023 23:01 utc | 137
There was a lot of chatter about the US moving some zones to Defcon 2 or 1 as well as ordering all citizens to leave Russia “immediately” yesterday.
Russia’s Perimetr is always in standby unless triggered by a nuclear.weapon detonating or biological attack being detected within the CIS defensive zone, or manually activated, in which case it will activate one or more of a number of predetermined timed responses unless countermanded. It’s primary purpose is to prevent a capitation strike by opponents attempting to neutralize Russia’s MAD capability (which is the USA’s stated intention).

Posted by: Hermit | Feb 15 2023 23:25 utc | 139

Posted by: Hermit | Feb 15 2023 22:04 utc | 128
Good points, I have somewhat different view on them.
Number one, getting rid of capitalism is not easy nor necessarily beneficial, so one may be interested in the point of view of Aristotle that political systems have good and degenerate variants. Proper regulations and active state role are beneficial both for capitalists and the public. But on the level of an industry or even a single company, regulatory capture gives immediate profit, so there is a strong tendency to evolve in this direction.
Ideally, political process should reconcile greed of an industry and owners with interests of the public at large and other industries. For example, it seems that while railroads were pioneered by robber barons — with significant aid from the state — there was a period when regulations were sensible. There is a good YouTube video (I forgot to take the notes) with the main topic “how passengers trains were killed in USA”, but with a wide exposition how railroad industry degenerated in a very profitable way.
In terms of energy consumption and the needed amount of labor, railroads are many times more economical than trucking, but they lack flexibility. So railroads gave up the parts of transportation market that needs at least a bit of flexibility, and focus exclusively on the remainder, reducing the needs for investments and maximizing the scope for squeezing costs. And that is quite different from the public interest.
My favorite example of the divergence of cost cutting from public interest are the cases of garment factories burned to the ground together with workers. Allowing for that to happened led to several important savings, e.g. locking doors that could be used to escape allowed to reduce the unauthorized breaks of the workers, thus cutting labor costs by several percent, perhaps buildings themselves were cheaper etc. Risking one factory being burned down together with the workers was worth it when it was, say, one factory per 10,000 (a ball park figure for Bangladesh and Pakistan where it was happening. It seems that the economic calculus was disturbed by the fact that garments are predominantly marketed by brands, brands need to have image, and roasted workers may be more detrimental to the bottom line than pennies gained per piece. What I want to say is that the last pennies squeezed from the costs are often squeezed quite cruelly. Perhaps the example with wider visibility is the transfer of ideas from sardine packing industry to passenger airlines.
I was thinking if such logic could be extended to sea food industry, where slave labor was (and is, probably) used to catch “junk fish” fed to shrimp in shrimp farms. One could see proud labels “slave free shrimp” in addition to “dolphin free tuna”, but that somehow did not happen.
Back to railroads. In bulk transportation, customers are not impressionable brand followers but companies, so rare accidents do not easily hurt the profit. Demolishing a little town once in few years is easily worth 0.1% of annual profits of the industry.
So what it would take to prevent East Palestine catastrophe?
Perhaps increasing the time to inspect an axle from the current few seconds, and assuring that whatever gizmos are used in the process, they work properly.
Axle bearing defect can easily evade inspection, so the trains should have procedure to recover from a failure. The train that crashed in East Palestine was videoed with one car in flames 20 miles west from the crash, and since those superlong trains proceed quite leisurely, it means that the crew have 30 minutes to do something about it if it was alerted and had proper means. Perhaps the car seeming in flames on the video was merely red hot, the bottom line was that it gave quite ample time to do something, perhaps very gradually stopping the train and separating the red-hot or flaming section. Just stopping the train “delicately” should take no more than 3 minutes, separating the hot cars from the rest is a different story, a larger crew could perhaps do it manually… early detection would allow to stop the train before the axle and whole undercarriage is hot enough to seem flaming in the dark and before it is actually in flames… more and better sensors … inspecting sensors …
According to some twits on Twitter, there are 4.5 derailments on an average American day, so a billion dollars spent on improvements could be partially recouped, with remaining costs passed to customers.
My last thought prompted by the video on degenerating American railroads and reading articles on the logistic nightmares of Pacific Coast ports. Apparently, on the Pacific Coast, containers are picked from the ships by trucks, and when there are disturbances in the smooth operations, truckers wait ungodly amount of time to do so, reducing their income, thus reducing the number of truckers who agree to do it, and the system chokes. I have only visual familiarity with Port of Newark (next to IKEA where I shopped few times etc.), and that port has quite ample number of train tracks, so containers can be moved to trains and then put on trucks elsewhere. If those trains make several stops, and are able to add stops, then loading to trucks does not have to be congested, containers can be brought closer to customers etc. Unloading a ship can require few thousands trucks or one-two dozen trains. However, perhaps this business is not simple enough for bulk-oriented railroad companies?
Apart from this conjecture, the dichotomy of bulk railroads, inflexible and with cost 10-100 times lower than trucking, and trucking is socially inefficient. Services that would increase the railroad share of total cargo traffic would require investments, more workers, more track maintenance, but over all, they would save fuel, labor, highway congestion etc. and in the long term, profits of the railroads. Regulations pushing in this direction could benefit everybody, with possible exception of truck companies.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 15 2023 23:30 utc | 141

Thank you, b, for a midweek open-not-ukraine- thread! “God is in his heaven, and all is right with the world!”
I say the above even after snow has fallen here on a bitterly cold wind day, the roof leaked, and I had to with apologies give back several food items to the helpful cashier at Albertson’s – she sees this more often these days.
I came on here after wandering around the internet in NZ, picking up fragments about the cyclone in the north where most of my family live. So far most of them seem badly frightened but okay – the extreme has happened to many trying to live too close to the ocean. I did that once – the lure is there. The sea calls to all New Zealanders; it is so beautiful.
But now I am here, and I have a good report. In my clicking about I came upon this link:
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2302/S00009/
the-us-governments-attempt-to-control-russia-and-china-replace-un.htm
Scoop is an older news site I had given up on a while back, and I believe this is the first truth-telling article I have come across there – half truths yes, but to a kiwiborn USAian, I find it simply beautiful. So, I came here to post it. And found, first up:
Posted by: mtw | Feb 15 2023 15:29 utc | 1
May you be blessed also, mtw. I dedicate Mr. Zeusse’s lucid article to you! And I hope that all New Zealand internet travellers will read it and understand it.

Posted by: juliania | Feb 15 2023 23:37 utc | 143

I am on my way to a much needed massage but this talk of capitalism like it exists is exasperating to read at MoA when I have worked so hard to educate folk to the public/private finance view of our forms of social organization and the civilization war we are in…..sigh
Talk about the mixed economy pieces and which should be public and which private
Please and thank you

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 15 2023 23:45 utc | 145

Sorry the link ids to Indian Punchline
https://www.indianpunchline.com/doval-creates-synergy-in-india-russia-ties/

Posted by: bevin | Feb 15 2023 23:46 utc | 147

oldhippie | Feb 15 2023 19:42 utc | 67
All well and good, but is there a relevant Simpsons episode?

Posted by: auximenes | Feb 15 2023 23:54 utc | 149

juliania | Feb 15 2023 23:37 utc | 142
Thank you for the dedication! I enjoyed the article and am glad to see that there are still those (and Eric Zuesse is definitely one of the number) who still see things clearly and share their insights with those who are still open to hear truth.
The darkness will not triumph forever. I believe light will return one day. I have not given up hope. And I thank you all for sharing it.

Posted by: mtw | Feb 16 2023 0:03 utc | 151

Cut the bullshit and get back to the main task of exposing the actions of the corrupt “leaders” of the West.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 15 2023 18:20 utc | 50
The problem is not the leaders of government, but the absolute independence of the corporations from the political system. The leadership of the corporations is transparent to the East West binary.
The NHO (non human organizations NHOs have control of the world), and the politicians operate the governments, but the NGOs and private corporations run the governments.
It is useless to worry about the politicians because the politicians are popular actors whose job it is to pacify the those who are the governed. The only vote the governed have applies only to those who will in a political office next term. Politicians are middle people, they promise to cure the whims of those who vote for them, but the Politicians answer only to the corporations and the NGOs. The politicians are fully protected, from the governed masses, by the msm narrative teams.
Humanity can get along with humanity world wide. The source of the conflict in this world is the NHOs (the corporations proxy for the Oligarchs whose name rarely appear on the website). No one can defeat the corporations, they own all of the governments, all the resources and all the oil and gas all of the wealth and all of the technology. No one is allowed to know what they are up to. The governed cannot vote to change corporate officers or directors, nor because corporate officers and NGO leadership is not subject to a vote by those who are the governed.
When government fines the corporations for wrong doing, the governed are never made the beneficiaries to the fines. The global threat is from the leadership of corporations and the NGOs not from the political leaders of the nations. No nuclear weapon will be unleashed, no war will be started, no sanction will be imposed without corporate approval.
It matters not who is in charge of the nation, what matters is who those in charge must cater to in order to keep their jobs.

Posted by: snake | Feb 16 2023 0:11 utc | 153

I mentioned Lavrov addressed the Duma today and took questions. Here’s one about Multipolarity with Lavrov’s answer as usual being long and detailed. And yes, it’s merely one of about 15. Clearly, Lavrov doesn’t do soundbites:

Question: You have provided a clear, tough picture of what is happening, the lawlessness and degradation of international relations due to our Western partners. In general terms, you have outlined the image of the future. We see the degradation of international judicial bodies, there are practically no arbitrators who can be guided by the law, everything comes down to the method of force. In this regard, what, in your opinion, is the prospect of creating a new architecture to replace the outdated one?
Dependence on allies can also be dangerous. Now many say that they chose the wrong allies, they believed the wrong ones. Someone believes that it is necessary to turn to the East. What are your thoughts on this?
Sergey Lavrov: Today we have repeatedly talked about the configuration of the world – first of all, multipolarity. We are frightened that if multipolarity suddenly becomes a reality, it will be chaos, while with the Americans at the head of the order will be restored by them.
US President Barack Obama said that America is an “exceptional” nation. It must play a major role and address all issues. President Donald Trump and George W. Bush before that repeated the same thing. Current President Joe Biden has repeatedly stated that Americans are an exceptional people, and they have special rights. His national security adviser J. Sullivan, even before taking this position, wrote a large program article in 2019, where he said that in order to assert one’s exceptionalism, it is necessary to suppress any manifestations of ethnic and historical identity in the world.
This is the “end of history” and they are exceptional, so everyone should build themselves under the banner of liberal democracy and live as they tell you. That philosophy. We do not need such a world order. Now the Americans are beginning to play the games of returning to a bipolar world, but with China. They say that they want to compete with China, but not to oppose each other, without military escalations.
We have planned a series of high-level contacts with the People’s Republic of China in the very near future. We will continue to discuss these topics, taking into account the documents that have been signed in recent years, including the documents on new relations in the new era, signed a year ago, when President of Russia Vladimir Putin visited Beijing for talks with Xi Jinping.
I’m not one to be afraid of multipolarity because there will be a lot of players. Of course, when you are the only one in charge of everything, you “woke up”, decided what to do, ordered, and everyone was built. Yes, the more agreeable, the more difficult it is to agree. Just like when seeking consensus in any organization. You can vote, two more people and go ahead. But what is achieved by consensus is much more sustainable and long-term than imposed decisions that leave someone dissatisfied.
Currently, in a multipolar system, objective leaders in each region are determined. These are China, India, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina – several large countries in each region. It seems to me that such a system will be sustainable. These countries are already beginning to work within brics, the SCO, and other associations, strictly respecting the principle of consensus and not imposing anything.
As for friends and allies. We have never had allies in the West. Although we were ready for this when the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact disappeared. We proposed to unite without dividing lines and make the OSCE a truly collective Euro-Atlantic security structure. It didn’t work. At that time, as President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly reminded, we proposed using NATO with our equal participation on the same principles. First, US President Bill Clinton nodded his head, and then his aides said that there was no need and they did not need it. The subtext was as follows. They will be NATO against Russia. Since the Soviet Union disappeared, why not Russia?
The day before yesterday, at the Hudson Institute, with the participation of American experts and some professor from Ukraine, the topic of preparing the West for action after the “disintegration” of Russia was seriously discussed. Like, Russia will do it itself. And they should be ready to pick up whatever is left. The argument was given that the collapse of the USSR was a surprise and the West did not have time to do everything, but that it had time, then they began to “postpone”.
They are not friends or allies at all. Let me stress once again that all the gloss, friendliness and trust in the conversations that Western diplomats showed to all of us immediately after the disappearance of the Soviet Union and by inertia persisted even after the Munich conference in 2007, when they still had hopes that we would play by their “rules”, instantly flew away after the start of a special military operation. . The Western elite has laid bare its essence, which has long been hidden under these guises. This is not a return to Soviet terminology. This is a conviction confirmed by many facts. Again, they want to gather everyone to wage war against Russia. Already assembled.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that they began to prepare for war since 2014. He admitted that it was they who brought Russophobes, neo-Nazis to power, trained and now support them in the war against Russia.
I have repeatedly said that the formation of a multipolar world is a long process. It’s not just that there will be an election in the U.S. and they will admit that they were wrong and agree to a multipolar world. No. Every time we need to prove that we can do without them (not what we prefer, but we can) if they do not “want” to be with us. China is imposing sanctions on chips/semiconductors, wanting to prevent it from getting ahead. They are trying to “raise” Taiwan (two or three producers) in order to “belittle” China in this economic competition. This process is a historical epoch. Not to “shut down” in one day what is happening between China and the United States, China and the EU. That’s a trillion-dollar investment. To cut them off overnight is to create huge hardships for the people. The West is going for it. They don’t give a damn.
When German Foreign Minister A. Berbok was reproached for refusing Russian energy, she said that yes, her voters would suffer, but they should help Ukraine. This is a nationally oriented policy. Or rather, imperialistically oriented – to suppress and contain the Russian Federation. This is not an “eyesore”, but an alternative to Western civilization, which has a sad colonial history.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that everyone has become convinced that westerners want to continue to live by colonial methods in order to ensure their interests at the expense of everyone else. It’s going to be long, hard. I do not exclude that it is no longer during the lifetime of our generation. But, in a good way, the process “went.”

In his speech and several times in his answers, Lavrov referred to Russia’s new foreign policy concept that deals with the current and likely future realities, yet it’s clear that concept will build upon not completely replace the current concept that was made policy in 2016 and is linked to several times in the transcript. Yes, some of the Q&A focuses on domestic Russian issues that flow into the international arena, but if you’re going to understand Russia then you must know about those issues too.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 16 2023 0:16 utc | 155

@snake | Feb 16 2023 0:11 utc | 152
the politicians are popular actors whose job it is to pacify the those who are the governed.
Let’s give the politicians (and the MSM) more credit when they get citizens to vote against their own best interest according to What’s the Matter with Kansas? . . .How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

Hailed as “dazzlingly insightful and wonderfully sardonic” (Chicago Tribune), “very funny and very painful” (San Francisco Chronicle), and “in a different league from most political books” (The New York Observer), What’s the Matter with Kansas? unravels the great political mystery of our day: Why do so many Americans vote against their economic and social interests? With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank answers the riddle by examining his home state, Kansas-a place once famous for its radicalism that now ranks among the nation’s most eager participants in the culture wars. Charting what he calls the “thirty-year backlash”-the popular revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment-Frank reveals how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans.
A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What’s the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 16 2023 0:33 utc | 157

Israel losing its grip as ‘observer’ at African Union meetings.

The issue of Israel losing its position as an observer member of the African Union will be discussed during the regular African summit, which will take place on 18 February at the organization’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, according to Algerian media sources.
“The Zionist entity is putting pressure on the countries of the [African] continent to accept it as an observer member of the African Union, during the upcoming session,” the sources added.
According to the Al-Shorouk newspaper, Ramtane Lamamra, the Algerian foreign minister, is in South Africa as part of preparations for the summit, which will be preceded by a meeting of the African Union’s Executive Council in the next two days.
On July 2021, the chairman of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, accepted Israel’s accreditation as an observer to the bloc, triggering an unusual dispute within the continental body.
Israel received official recognition as an observer country in the African Union in July 2021 and the Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia, Alele Admassu, presented his credentials as an “observer to the African Union” to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, at the Organization’s headquarters in Addis Ababa.

More at The Cradle

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 16 2023 0:39 utc | 159

Posted by: snake | Feb 16 2023 0:11 utc | 152
“The problem is not the leaders of government, but the absolute independence of the corporations from the political system.”
When I say “corrupt leaders of the West”, I mean to include those behind the scenes such as corporations, banks, the ultra-rich, the monarchies, the priesthoods (never forget them), etc.
The rest of what you said I agree with. The solution (if there is one, which is problematic) is as I’ve said before here is a bullet in the head for all those people. As I’ve mentioned before, perhaps 2-4,000 corporate board members control 80% of the world’s wealth. Maybe 10,000 people total control everything else. So it’s a finite number of people who got’s to go. Unfortunately it’s likely that another crop will take over a minute later because this is what humans do.
So my focus is on surviving what is – and when I get the opportunity, take out one or more of these idiots, either physically or via hacking, as a hobby.
It’s like the approach of the Japanese ninja clans back in feudal Japan, as represented in the nine Japanese “Shinobi No Mono” movies back in the ’60s which I recently watched. See here: Shinobi no Mono. Basically the concept is: the clans work for themselves, hiring themselves out to politicians or merchants who want other politicians or merchants dead, which in the end benefits the lower classes.
Historically, this didn’t work out for the clans who ended up being mostly wiped out by emperor Oda Nobunaga who in 1581 invaded Iga and Koga provinces and annihilated the ninja clans. But the concept is sound. The devil details are in the implementation.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 1:09 utc | 161

Richard Steven Hack, in regard to leg cramps, one thing that helps me is magnesium citrate. I take a couple capsules if I am starting to get a charlie horse, and it has always helped. Also take as hot a bath as you can stand, that helps with relaxing muscles and also helps me get to sleep.

Posted by: Perimetr | Feb 16 2023 1:17 utc | 163

@ Richard Steven Hack | Feb 15 2023 23:58 utc | 149
thanks richard…i agree with all you say… have a look at that video – last 15 minutes if you feel like it…you probably know it already, but maybe it is something slightly different or from a different angle which might explain some of this dynamic in the alt media.. emmanuel todd makes the comment that any of these euro leaders could stop the war right now if they said no to this war… and yet, they haven’t…. scholz, macron and etc… any of them saying no to it – that would be the death knell to this war.. none of them have the strength of character to do it…in fact they are all followers of this continued madness…

Posted by: james | Feb 16 2023 2:00 utc | 165

Gilbert Doctorow considers human interactions across our planetary societies:
Beyond the garden of europe…

The coming age of a multi-polar world will vindicate the variety of structures of human society in which people find happiness. It would be better all around if Europe learned some humility sooner rather than later.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 16 2023 2:26 utc | 167

@Piotr Berman | Feb 15 2023 23:30 utc | 140
I agree that rail should be wonderful and definitely should be safe. China has addressed all the above and built high speed rail everywhere. Fatal rail accidents 8n China are so vanishingly rare that they get national attention when they occur.
Rail is electric in most of the world, and there it comes second only to ships and airships. In the US freight trains are almost all diesel and can be a lot worse than trucks. Here is some data in CO2 (in grams) or equivalent emitted per metric ton of freight per km (Source: https://www.fluglaerm.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20190830_BVF-Position-Klimaschutz-und-Flugverkehr.pdf and https://www.railfreight.com/policy/2020/01/08/rail-freight-produces-6-times-less-co2-than-truck. I use a mix of sources for electric equivalent and estimate the electric ship with kite generator and gas turbine, airship with solar and mixed fuel (diesel-hydrogen) turbine and Tesla Semi with mixed source electric typical in the Midwest for electric trucks)
Air plane (air cargo), average Cargo B747
500 g
Modern lorry or truck (diesel) 60 to 150 g (electric) 12g
Modern train (diesel) 30 to 100 g (electric) 18g
Modern ship (sea freight) bunker 10 to 40 g wind (1g)
Airship (large say 200m x 1200m) diesel 55 g solar (1g)
In 2000 China and the US both had 0 high speed rail. By 2022 China had 42,000 km HSR designed for 350 kmh and the US had 0 with fast trains in the US still being 120kmh. By 2035 China expects to have 70,000 km HSR and be running trains at up to 650kmh on sustainable energy. The US will still have 0 HSR and will be paying through the neck to run trains 9n diesel. There is a wonderful video about this at https://youtu.be/belm4kDAHgM.
In most of the world, the rail networks are government owned and managed, treated as the valuable national enabling asset that they are. In the US, we sponsor roads, but not rail, and vested interests and their political puppets fight, tooth and nail, against improving things. So, what I think we should do is nationalize the existing network and operators, and start a new development process attempting to frag the US into the present. In parallel we should be building PANAMAX scale salt water canals – as envisaged by the founders and permitted by the constitution without change or argument, condemning land as needed, and combine them with high speed rail and new villages transforming society for the jobless future we will experience within a decade – in the unlikely event that we don’t make ourselves extinct first.
You might take a peek at my article at The Six Great Thefts of Capitalism at The Grenville Post as a basis for a separate discussion on that issue.

Posted by: Hermit | Feb 16 2023 2:51 utc | 169

[Doctorov cite] It would be better all around if Europe learned some humility sooner rather than later.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 16 2023 2:26 utc | 164
Germany is “plenty humble” now, but this is not the type of humility I like.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 16 2023 2:57 utc | 171

@ Richard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 1:41 utc | 162
My wife gets leg cramps, and then says she has to drink more water.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 16 2023 3:03 utc | 173

Uighur ‘victims of Han oppression’…
Pre NED

To be honest, it wasn’t that bad. We had our phones. We had meals in the canteens. Other than being forced to stay there, everything was fine.”
“I wasn’t beaten or abused. The hardest part was mental.”

[1]
Post NED coaching…

I was removed from the cells ‘every night’ and raped by masked Chinese men, tortured, gang-raped and had my genitals electrocuted”.
My cell mates “disappeared”.

This has already been debunked multiple times, but whenever I read such nonsense it makes my blood boil.
sob who concocted these lies most foul should be thrown into a pool of croc and I’d relish doing it.
Courtesy NURY VITTACHI
[1]
tELL that to those terrorists ‘suspects’ summarily executed by drone jockeys in Langley

Posted by: denk | Feb 16 2023 3:12 utc | 175

The problem is the rigged system to preserve the oligarchy, not the parties that serve them. — Hermit
The rigged system preserving the oligarchy includes the two political parties, which are owned by the oligarchs.

Posted by: Spanky | Feb 16 2023 3:32 utc | 177

rt article has a priceless file picture of Ned Price (I am sleezeball,and clearly lying in here), you must look at it https://www.rt.com/news/571554-us-partners-nord-stream/

Posted by: Calgary Guy | Feb 16 2023 4:05 utc | 179

@vRichard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 3:49 utc | 174
So, three liters of water per day, no caffeine, no alcohol. Doctor’s orders.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 16 2023 4:16 utc | 181

Interesting times
Dependent on the relative source of information sold on the net of lies. We have become hardened into a polarized view of the world. Quite literally. Be the very rare fact based information. Former east and west government declassified cold war 1.0 war archives. Exposing old war times lies and disinformation. Along with military lies and propaganda that creates epic heroic myths from miniscule micro sized molehills.
We have become hardened too a polarized mindset as we sift through the 2% of the facts buried under the huge 98% pile of war lies. To hide the inconvenient truth.
Did just one short on endurance Mach 0.92 limited USSA cloner jet based on stolen German WW2 designs. Shoot down with six solid shot HMG’s. A minimum of ten Soviet MIG-15’s for the price of one? In the period 1950 to 1953.
If this was such a case? Why was the dreaded Soviet Jet vrs all comers in the so-called MIG Alley. Instead, would have been called by the entire Western Media. Under the catchy title the “F-86 Killing Fields” instead. There in lies the true answer! As to which jet was the most feared over the Korean day skies.
The propellor jockeys had engine power set to two poer settings. On take off set throttle to full combat power. If bounced dump everyting on any nearby structure. Move throttle to full emergency redline power. Do not climb above 100 feet. Run the canyon all the way home. Unless you had a permanent death wish!
A smaller real mini war over Quemoy Island in 1961. Ultimately exposed the real truth. Yet here in the west we just went back to sleep. Believing the USAF does not tell really big lies(much)./s
Even to this day in both the open and dark web is full of 98% shameless deceitful lies to fool annd fleece all gullible fools. Balloons in the 21st century are the new UFO’s. The Early 1960s up to 1991. Was the era of the SR71A ufos streaking at Mach 2.8 across the USA. Literally leaving a mile long tail of ass fire vissible for all to see behind them. In the dark USSA moonless cloud free night skies. Outbound to Europa and inbound at missions end. Upon landing the hepless pilot stuck on the plane awaiting the cool down delay time. Air friction heating at Mach 2.8 is not a joke.
What a tangled web we weave. When falling for the deceit and lies of the modern internet. Moving at near light speed around the world. Faster than just one orbit of the old leaky ISS. Operating long past it’s best use by date. Yet often misidentified as just another UFO.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Feb 16 2023 4:26 utc | 183

@ james | Feb 16 2023 4:20 utc | 178
. so, i suspect they just don’t have it in them to lead or break with the groove they are in, even if it meant stopping this war… they are cowards essentially
Same thing goes for generals, in spades.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 16 2023 4:29 utc | 185

Hermit and Buffalo Ken @ 91 and 96 re hydrogen fluoride. I ran into HF twice doing safety inspections in N. California in the early 90’s. One location was a Pepsi bottling plant. HF was fed automatically from a 55 gallon plastic drum to the can wash line. Cutting oils were used in the can making process and the concentrated HF was highly diluted and sprayed inside a part of the can forming machinery. No real potential occupational exposures to the concentrated HF. In contrast at a nearby tanker truck washing company, large amounts of concentrated HF were used to wash tanker trucks, leaving them very shiny. A worker doing the spraying got some on his hands, leading to severe burns, decalcification of his bones and several weeks hospitalization while the worker’s survival was in doubt. Tanker truck cleaning with HF was very common then, with the acid flushed via drains directly to the SF Bay. Only when the environmental folks finally acted did the crazy practice of using this dangerous acid to make tanker’s shiny cease. HF on the skin does not immediately cause pain. By the time one feels the burn, the acid is already attacking calcium in the skin and bones. A gel ointment, calcium glutamate, should be liberally applied even for a single drop of HF on the skin. In the 90’s the FDA had not approved this ointment for OTC sale in the US despite its long use elsewhere in the world, so it was hard to find, Today the ointment is widely available in the US, and it should be in every first aid kit where HF is used.

Posted by: mjh | Feb 16 2023 4:38 utc | 187

Posted by: Don Bacon | Feb 16 2023 4:16 utc | 177
Never did caffeine or alcohol or weed. And despite what some may think, nothing hallucinatory, either. 🙂 As someone said in a Bruce Sterling novel: “I don’t need drugs. I have my power fantasies.”
3 liters is only 101 ounces. If the docs are correct that it should be one ounce instead of half an ounce, I’d need 175 ounces. 🙂 If it’s half an ounce, it would be 87.5 ounces which I already exceed, some days anyway.
So your advice is as bad and irrelevant as most doctors. 🙂
Posted by: Kyle Koffler | Feb 16 2023 4:15 utc | 176
Agree completely. As Martuanov would say, it’s butt-hurt that they were scooped by someone with real inside connections.
Posted by: suzan | Feb 16 2023 4:29 utc | 180
Unfortunately it’s not really possible to eliminate the ideologies without spawning even worse ideologies. What is needed is to eliminate the individuals executing those ideologies.
And I ignore John Campbell who has zero standing. As for “all being dead in the end”, as a radical Transhumanist that is an unacceptable condition for me.
Posted by: juliania | Feb 16 2023 4:48 utc | 184
Disagree completely. Fear of death is what makes cowards of almost everyone. And that’s why these people can rule over us.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 5:33 utc | 189

Disagree completely. Fear of death is what makes cowards of almost everyone. And that’s why these people can rule over us.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 5:33 utc | 185
i gotta say it’s a major factor in my decisions, not saying it would preclude a course of action but it would sure make me consider the risks carefully. not being a religious person is another factor.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Feb 16 2023 6:05 utc | 191

Latest Brian Berletic…
West’s Ability to Arm Ukraine Continues to Wane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35SBfb9LoEo
From the description:

56,334 views Feb 15, 2023
Update for Russian military operations in Ukraine for February 15, 2023:
– Ukrainian forces continue to lose ground along the line of contact;
– Bakhmut faces encirclement by Russian forces which Ukraine admits is using heavy artillery shelling, not “human waves” to destroy Ukrainian positions;
– NATO begins to admit to limits of what it can send Ukraine in terms of weapons and ammunition;
– Efforts by Western nations to increase production will still fall far short even after several years of expanding production lines;
– US announces plan to train Ukrainian forces to fight on less ammunition, using maneuver warfare instead;
-This requires long periods of complex training to be effective and is impractical for Ukrainian forces;
– The US is signaling that it is simply attempting to draw out the conflict for as long as possible;

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 6:14 utc | 193

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 6:14 utc | 188
“- US announces plan to train Ukrainian forces to fight on less ammunition, using maneuver warfare instead;”
The whole tone of Nato is that somehow all of Ukraine’s woes are its own fault. No they aren’t. It is all the US’ fault due to its poor planning ,poor training , incompetent intelligence gathering and the vacuous stupidity of its leaders. Yet, of course Nato will never admit that ; as no useless emperor wants to admit he is without clothes. Look at Scholz, Bareback ,von der lyin, Michel, The Catalan Gardener, Sleepy Joe,, Pasty Sullivan and Ugly Witch Nudleman. Have you ever seen jackasses worse than them?
Yet, the Average Joe walks around in the West , going on with life as if nothing is happening. Until we in the West start bleeding ourselves, nothing will change. We truly deserve any nuclear extinction we ever get…

Posted by: Brother Ma | Feb 16 2023 7:09 utc | 195

@Likklemore | Feb 15 2023 23:52 utc | 147

Show the link the Norwegian government denied the Hersh story

Now you are asking for hard evidence, good. By implication that means you are doubting the truthfulness of the Hersh claim, you can’t have it both ways.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/33555
In addition, Hersh called “a stupid lie” the Norwegian government’s claims of noninvolvement in the operation, which was carried out under the watchful eye of American intelligence agencies.

I am off to a meeting at work that will last all day. You may want to look for the evidence you require as such will provide a better fundation for opinions than mere accusations.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 16 2023 7:19 utc | 197

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Feb 16 2023 1:41 utc | 162
Restless legs syndrome? Less than four hours sleep? Have you been investigated for sleep apnoea. My relative was shocked to find out he had restless legs syndrome and severe sleep apnoea . The former is well known to be also associated with the latter. He snored and felt tired , but thought nothing much of it.

Posted by: Brother Ma | Feb 16 2023 7:24 utc | 199