Open (Not Ukraine) Thread 2023-99
News & views (not related to the war in Ukraine) ...
Posted by b on April 26, 2023 at 14:38 UTC | Permalink
next page »MoA: "Biden Prepares To Give Up On Ukraine".
Hopefully Russia will liberate Odessa before NATO surrender on Kiev, either by force or through negotiation. Russia can't afford let NATO-backed neonazis have access to the strategic Black Sea, lest there will be more trouble later on. It would be better for Russia and the rest of the world.
Posted by: maskazer | Apr 26 2023 15:13 utc | 2
"For the preservation of peace, freedom and prosperity, one thing is needed: liberation of Europe from the USA, Werner Rügemer writes."
The German philosopher examines the case against Angela Merkel
"....From 2011 until the end of her chancellorship in 2021, Lars-Hendrik Röller was Merkel’s top economic and financial adviser. She brought the son of the former Dresdner Bank chief into the chancellor’s office as head of the economics and finance department.
"Under Schröder and his program to “unbundle Deutschland AG,” U.S. private equity investors had become active in Germany starting around 2000, buying up the best, unlisted German mid-sized companies. Siemens Nixdorf, Demag (industrial cranes) and Grohe (bathroom fixtures) were among the better known. In rows, the “locusts” also bought hundreds of thousands of public apartments, at knockdown prices.
"The “locusts” had come under Schröder, then under Merkel and Röller came the premier league of U.S. investors. BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street & Co. became the leading shareholder groups in the DAX and MDAX companies, including, for example, in the largest “German” armaments group, Rheinmetall. And BlackRock & Co are now also the leading shareholders in the largest “German” housing corporations: Vonovia, Deutsche Wohnen, LEG, etc., driving up rents and utility costs. Too much welfare state is a European disease, Brzezinski had already proclaimed.
"The high profits of the most important companies in Germany, even in times of crisis, as during the Corona pandemic, have since flowed abroad, especially to the USA. With the end of Merkel’s chancellorship, her advisor Röller also left the chancellery — he moved where? To BlackRock, of course. And BlackRock-Röller also advises CDU politician Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission president.
"Federal President Steinmeier praised the award of the Cross of Merit: Merkel had made “female power” a matter of course.
"But what has Merkel as a powerful woman achieved with her “female power”? She has made the majority of women in Germany poorer. She has exacerbated the labor injustice legalized by the four Hartz laws. She has made Schröder’s “largest low-wage sector in Europe” even larger in Germany...."
https://strategic-culture.org/news/2023/04/25/how-german-chancellor-angela-merkel-subjected-germany-to-us/
Posted by: bevin | Apr 26 2023 15:22 utc | 3
I'm wondering how long it will take for a Republican government in the US to ban the book 1984. I read that book in 9th grade English class. Loved it at the time. But here's a partial list of its sins:
- Mentions sex, fornication, numerous times, without opposing either. Republicans do not believe children (which they will soon define as anyone under the age of 25) should know about sex, except that it should only be done for the purpose of procreation.
- Derides conservative family values. One of the protagonists is a member of a group called the "Junior Anti-Sex League." This clearly satirizes the values of the Christian right, who would earnestly start such a group.
- Encourages critical thinking and disobedience towards authority. Conservatives have long pushed to stop children from learning how to think critically. The Texas GOP has included bans on teaching critical thinking skills in school in its platform for more than a decade, and this book clearly intends to impart a critical attitude to social authority on the part of the reader. Children who read this book might start to demand a rational justification for the authoritarian actions of their parents, clergy, and state which constrain their individuality.
- Orwell was himself a socialist, Trotskyite, and self-identified democratic socialist. Is this the type of person who conservatives think your kids should be reading? Probably not.
Conservatives have a strong case, according to their own criteria at least, to ban Orwell's 1984, which (for conservatives) is clearly not appropriate for the youth insofar as it exposes children to sex and sexual thoughts, and insofar as it encourages children to question authority and practice critical thinking. I'm sure my fellow bar flies can think of other ways Orwell's book or life story conflict with conservative family values, and thus how it would fall under the bans against lasciviscious and dangerous books that conservative governments are instituting. FTR, the number of books banned by US governments (including school boards) by year has increased by almost a factor of 10, from an average of 300 annual library removals to over 2,000 this year. Conservatives, who once pretended that they cared about the first amendment in schools and universities, are now leading the charge against freedom of speech and free expression, all in the name of imposing their "moral values" on the rest of us sinners.
Posted by: fnord | Apr 26 2023 15:26 utc | 4
Just saw a video clip about US-designated President for Venezuela Joan Guaido, arriving at a US airport. Like a fugitive he walked alone, nobody there to welcome him on US soil.
Posted by: maskazer | Apr 26 2023 16:10 utc | 5
I've completed the process of reading, translating and posting Lavrov's post-UNSC Meeting Presser transcript, which can be read here or in Russian here. Russia's MFA does have an English version, but it's not complete yet. I made some general remarks and a specific response to the citation I posted last night from Sputnik since it didn't quite get it correct. Lavrov's discussion about the current state of dedollarization was informative and from my POV promising. The presser was about an hour long, and it took me about that amount of time to digest the transcript. There were a few revelations for me, and many for those at the presser.
Yes, "President Guaido" is now a lonely figure. He could perhaps seek asylum in Canada, as officials connected to the Deputy PM were instrumental in concocting the lawfare argument articulated by the Lima Group which elevated Guaido in the first place, claiming the election of a Constituent Assembly "de-legitimized" the sitting government.
Also today, lawfare attempts to cancel a performance by Roger Waters in Frankfurt were nulled by an administrative court.
Posted by: jayc | Apr 26 2023 16:22 utc | 7
@fnord
The progressive Alinsky tactic of accusing others what you are doing has worn thin from overuse.
Posted by: Fred777 | Apr 26 2023 16:26 utc | 8
@ Posted by: Fred777 | Apr 26 2023 16:26 utc | 8
I'm not a "progressive" or a follower of Saul Alinsky. The ideology I am most sympathetic to is anarchist-communism, but I have no formal organizational political commitments at the moment.
Now, what is this about "accusing others of what you are doing"? Is this something I'm being accused of? Because it is precisely the conservatives who are guilty of that. They are the ones who hued and cried about censorship on college campuses through the Trump administration, only to use what power they have to ban the mere acknowledgement of homosexuality in schools, to enforce a pseudo-christian pseudo-moral behavioral regime onto students and adults, and to issue bans on books in schools which offend them and their patriarchal, racist, so-called "values". Nothing that liberal college administrators or HR boffins did in the Trump era compares to what the conservatives are doing to college campuses, from plainly ideological appointments to college boards, to the ban on the instruction of certain subjects relevant to American history, to the outright democidal approach of the state to sexual and racial minorities. The situation for free expression and free speech is infinitely worse in the closed societies of the conservative south, and where the GOP has gotten control of state power, it has wielded it against its ideological opponents, to the glee of the petit-bourgeois conservative rank-and-file.
You want to know who the real acolytes of Alinsky are? It's the people who complain about him the most and who turned him into a reviled figure. Conservatives read "Rules for Radicals" on Glenn Beck's and Andrew Breitbart's advice and have followed the instructions to a T. You should read the book yourself and see just how successful conservative organizers have been in replicating Alinsky's tactics and strategies for conservative causes.
Posted by: fnord | Apr 26 2023 16:34 utc | 9
@bevin #3
Very useful link and an interesting German philosopher ... be neat to see him up with Habermas and Streeck
The Fed prints and prints and then Blackrock/Private Equity buys up buys up ...
... whatever about industry - the move into plebian real estate has been disastrous
Germany in a sorry state ...
Posted by: Don Firineach | Apr 26 2023 17:06 utc | 10
where did all the pat lang fanboys go?
is that the same fred from pat langs site?
Posted by: james | Apr 26 2023 17:11 utc | 11
"Tucker Carlson Could No Longer Be Tolerated by Corrupt US Media, Political Elite" isn't the judgment of Sputnik but from the man it interviewed, Scott Bennett, a former US Army psychological warfare officer. What he has to say needs to be consumed by readers within the Outlaw US Empire, the emphasis is original:
Tucker Carlson posed a "threat" to those powers and institutions in the US that didn't want Americans to be transformed into "researchers and thinkers" by his broadcasts, according to US counter-terror expert Scott Bennett.Tucker Carlson's ouster spells "the death of American media," Scott Bennett, a former US Army psychological warfare officer told Sputnik.
With his raw honesty, Carlson has been a leading conservative voice for Americans, bringing to cable news an “intellectualism, truthfulness, and an analytical depth that no other news personality has ever done in the history of the United States as far back as I can remember,” Bennett stated.
As such, the seasoned journalist had become a tremendous threat to the “powers and principalities, institutions and agendas that seek an unenlightened uninformed semi lobotomized quasi retarded population that do not question, do not research, do not analyze but simply digest and follow instructions,” and, accordingly, needed to be "silenced."
And there's more at the link.
jayc@7
God forbid- he'd fit right into the political scene in Ottawa. He'd probably join the NDP.
He ought to show the courage of his convictions and join the fight against decency and tolerance on its current battleground in ukraine. He might take Ms Freedland with him, I believe that se already owns property in kiev.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 26 2023 17:54 utc | 13
since RFKj has already made clear he plans to continue WW3 ("maintain territorial integrity of the Ukraine;" "UN peacekeepers in the East;" etc.) and like Trump, Bojo, etc., he just lies his ass off about covid and himself does the exact opposite of what he prescribes for others,
since neither of these things matter for those still holding out for a hero, a hero from the ruling class no less,
what's RFKj's position on Israel?
oh why bother asking.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 26 2023 17:54 utc | 14
RIP Tucker. you always were and always will be safe hands for the ruling class.
....and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news; and we’ll talk with them too,
Who loses and who wins; who’s in, who’s out;
And take upon’s the mystery of things,
As if we were God’s spies. -Lear
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 26 2023 18:00 utc | 15
It is immediately clear that RFK Jr. is fatally flawed in a number of ways. The mere fact he is trying to run as a democrat should immediately be a big red flag to anyone with eyes to see. For all his many good traits and while not an outright fraud like Bernie Sanders or AOC, he is a lame horse....
Posted by: JustAMaverick | Apr 26 2023 18:03 utc | 16
UK's broken-down £3bn warship HMS Prince of Wales stripped for parts
It was launched 6ys ago. Not 40ys ago, not 30ys ago, not 25ys ago... Why the Brits aren't rioting in the streets over this alone says a lot about the effectiveness of centuries of class war brainwashing, guess they're too busy with the new King's coronation. Charles III is also the Prince of Wales, just pointing out that little congruence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqOMR7877Xo
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Apr 26 2023 18:22 utc | 17
I see we already have people misrepresenting RFKjr's positions. Here's RFKjr's position as stated at his campaign website:
"In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014. We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Robert F. Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia's borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukranian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries."
Now, how hard was it for me to copy/paste what is his actual position as opposed to formulating something that misrepresents it?! Is his proposal perfect or in line with what Russia stated in December 2021? No on both counts. Is it better than anything team Biden has said? Yes. There more paragraphs follow the one cited above. Here's the fourth:
"America was once an inspiration to the world, a beacon of freedom and democracy. Our priority will be nothing less than to restore our moral leadership. We will lead by example. When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation." [My Emphasis]
For decades, myself and millions-billions of others have asked for the rollback and end of the Outlaw US Empire so peace can prevail on our planet. And look at what's bolded above: A POTUS candidate who implies that's precisely what's needed to be done. Yes, his Ukraine proposal's imperfect; but RFKjr will negotiate, and IMO the Russians will deem him credible. That's a sea change in attitude since 1989.
rjb1.5: did RFK Jr. really say “the Ukraine”? Maybe that’s a signal, a wink, a message in a bottle as it were, and there’s hope yet for him.
Fortunately I don’t believe in hope, and, unlike JustAMaverick, I’m not so sure he isn’t a fraud.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 26 2023 18:28 utc | 19
Posted by: bevin | Apr 26 2023 15:22 utc | 3
And who has become chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) after Mutti? BlackRock Germany's Friedrich Merz.
Posted by: v | Apr 26 2023 18:31 utc | 20
karlof1: That’s standard campaign wishy-washy, and to the extent that it corresponds to what the candidate himself would say, it’s standard speech out of both sides of the mouth. Or, as I put it a few days ago, there are two RFK Jrs, and one of them is lying.
I suspect the one telling the truth is the proud daddy of a Ukronazi fighter.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 26 2023 18:33 utc | 21
malenkov @21--
So, you're going to treat every politician's utterance as a lie until proven otherwise?! You judge RFKjr to have zero credibility then?
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-economy-unemployment-jobs-putin-shortage-1796602
Russia's future will be dark. Sad how Vladimir Putin saved the country from the nineties' hell... Only to fall into Washington's trap, destroying his country.
Western elites-officials wanted to genocide Russians and they seem to succeed.
Posted by: Dany | Apr 26 2023 18:51 utc | 23
karlof1:
To your first question: Well, duh!
To your second: Credibility should never be imputed on the basis of faith.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 26 2023 18:59 utc | 24
—and building on the previous: wrt rjb1.5’s question about RFK Jr’s position on Israel, well, it would be remarkable if he weren’t the only currently active Dim Party politician, including Omar and Tlaib, whose position isn’t—channeling Stokely Carmichael!—prone.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 26 2023 19:04 utc | 25
Goshdarn it, too many negatives and not enough text editor:
*if he were the only Dim Party politician
(and yes, our brave Muslim congresscritters have learned how to pay Israel the deference it demands)
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 26 2023 19:10 utc | 26
Sinophobic propaganda is growing in Russian media.
https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1650802095727992838
Posted by: Rita | Apr 26 2023 19:11 utc | 27
The Wall Street Journal, owned by Rupert Murdoch, who owns FOX News, had a lackey of Murdoch's there post an obvious hit piece of Carlson, and they're so eager to have it read that I didn't find it to be behind a paywall.
Offered up for for your disdain, and edification of the lengths the establishment will go to in order to smear a truth teller, this link:
The comments I saw at the link are generally supportive of Carlson, and tear into the WSJ, though I browsed them by sorting for "Best".
Posted by: Babel-17 | Apr 26 2023 20:13 utc | 31
#15
shakespeare, the imagery
the allegorical thought
nice bit to read.
Posted by: Dingo | Apr 26 2023 20:32 utc | 32
@ 22 karlof1
karl, i have a lot of respect for both you and grieved..and i am grateful for all you both share.. kennedy jr has some real strengths, but i still see him as a very flawed candidate..i understand how folks wish to be positive, but nice speeches and talk isn’t going to be enough.. i this regard i am more in line with malenkovs viewpoint… sorry…. that is a popular canuck term, lol..
Posted by: james | Apr 26 2023 20:35 utc | 33
On Words and Deeds: Biden and the DNC/D-party have a long record of deeds that are Anti-Human and totalitarian. Here's a link to the incomplete list of RFKjr's deeds, About RFKjr. From that narrative, one ought to conclude the RFKjr is Pro-Human and a small d democrat whose record shows he's unafraid to take on centers of power, which would be anti-totalitarian.
One interesting fact I discovered when I visited the Federal Election Commission's website is that 804 people have filed as candidates for the 2024 POTUS election, which includes the not yet listed RFKjr since he hasn't yet had to provide any reports to the FEC, which will change with the coming of May. I also noted when visiting the D-Party website that it has zero info on any other D-party members who have filed to challenge Biden., which is in line with what we all know as DNC bias. Admittedly, it's impossible to have free and fair elections when the party election committees have zero credibility in allowing such proceedings to occur as we learned from the outcome of the class action lawsuit lodged against the DNC. Thus, the Jan 6 protesters where correct in the rationale for their protest--the election was a fraud because the candidates weren't freely chosen. The issue of fair elections isn't what I aimed at discussing as that's another deeply conflicted discussion.
Poor hapless China just didnt know what was going on under its nose. So innocent and naive they are.
- Judicial Watch: Records Show Funding for EcoHealth/Wuhan Institute Research to Create Coronavirus Mutants -
"Judicial Watch announced today it received 552 pages of records from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which include the initial grant application and annual reports to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from EcoHealth Alliance, describing the aim of its work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China to create mutant viruses “to better predict the capacity of our CoVs [coronaviruses] to infect people.”
Eco Health planned to sequence the spike protein from coronaviruses obtained from bats for the purpose of “creating mutants to identify how significantly each would need to evolve to use ACE2,” which is explained as “the receptor to gain entry to human cells.”
Judicial Watch obtained the records through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request it filed in December 2021 for:
All reports submitted by EcoHealth Alliance to NIH or its sub-agencies related to NIH Grant No. 1R01A|110964 titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” during the term of the grant. "
Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Apr 26 2023 22:08 utc | 35
An interesting new bit up at Covert Action Magazine today. Compares the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Millhouse Nixon to Russia/Ukrainegate as they pertain to Trump.
IMO Kuzmarov soft pedals Trump's giveaways to the FIRE sector (or "high finance"), but gets most of the rest of it right.
Also:
More recently, Trump offered a stinging rebuke to the Biden administration’s foreign policy, stating in a February 28th speech that “for decades, we’ve had the very same people, such as Victoria Nuland and many others just like her, obsessed with pushing Ukraine towards NATO, not to mention the State Department support for uprisings in Ukraine. These people have been seeking confrontation for a long time, much like in the case in Iraq and other parts of the world and now we’re teetering on the brink of World War III.”
Which, to me doesn't necessarily signal Trump's true philosophy on foreign policy as much as it signals his ability to "read the room" (aka a "Duh!" statement at this point), but it's still saying the right thing.
The article provides a pretty comprehensive rundown of what's been done to Trump by the people in the overlapping portions of the Venn diagram containing the "ruling class" and Democrats and offers the following (also kind of "Duh!" advice):
What Should Progressives Do? While we do not know for sure that Bragg’s prosecution is over-zealous as he could be withholding some smoking gun, it appears to be a continuation of the illegal six-year campaign—orchestrated covertly by the intelligence community and reinforced overtly by newspapers, TV stations, cable networks and the social media giants they long ago infiltrated and now control—to undermine Trump, whose main effect so far has been largely to bolster Trump’s popularity since he can present himself as a victim.The question for progressives is whether to support such a campaign when we know Trump to be a dangerous and loathsome figure who aspires to be an American Mussolini.
Good people may have different answers to this question, and if Trump truly is a fascist, one can justify an attitude of anything goes.
However, by aligning with the dominant faction of the ruling class that is against Trump, one is aligning with the forces that have tried to exploit liberal anger about Trump’s election to drum up Russophobia and trigger a war in Ukraine with Russia that could easily escalate into a nuclear war.
History shows furthermore that by removing one cancer (Dick Nixon), the ruling elite can produce an even worse malignancy (Ronald Reagan) and empower dark forces that have taken us to the horrible point that we’re at today—and are not the ones capable of taking us out of it.
The latter can best be done through the traditional formula of grassroots organizing and movement building in regions of the country where Trump draws his political support.
I don't think the (actual) American left is strong and united enough to mobilize sufficiently, but perhaps it's time to become incrementalists? Meanwhile the Democrats and the Lepht will continue to pander to identity politics and use the levers of government to suppress any real competition or countervailing narratives while they drive us to the next Reagan and possibly WWIII.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 26 2023 22:11 utc | 36
james@33
I have to agree. And like you I have considerable respect for both Karl and Grieved.
This is what I wrote to post yesterday. It was prompted by his heartfelt plea for RFKjr.
I understand your view. And I'm not sure that you are wrong either. Something similar was true of Sanders' ersatz revival of New Deal politics.
My problem is that sooner or later people have to wake up to the cold material realities of our predicament.
And the coldest of those realities is that none of us can continue to attribute God like qualities to other individuals (or parties, Churches or institutions) nor can we expect others to solve our problems, take our decisions, do our thinking. Nobody can drop out of the collective brain-it doesn't work properly when it has to leap large gaps where apathetic or humiliated people have shut their mouths, emptied their heads and left it up to others.
It’s not the want of an RFKjr platform that I lament- there is much to be said for a candidate simply standing up and asking the people to come up with a platform to run on- but the sketchy outlines of a platform that we already see. '
Very familiar outlines of which the "My son fought on the side of the fascists" put me in mind of his Uncle Joe Jr who was so deeply impressed by the Franco supporters in Spain that he urged US support for them. He felt that German antipathy towards Jews was "well founded".
Of course that was a long time ago but the tradition continued- full support for the Catholic Bishops in Ireland, notorious for bigotry and political reaction ( I've met mild socialist candidates demounced from the pulpit as agents of the Devil.)
cue Christy Moore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQbXO828Vio
RFK Sr worked for McCarthy. His vendetta against Hoffa was a crusade against the Teamsters Union. His attempts to have Catro assassinated are notorious. Six months before his assassination the CIA killed Che Guevara. Kennedy shared the guilt for that. Similarly three weeks preceding JJFk's killing Ngo Dihn Diem was assassinated in Saigon on US orders.
The problem with RFK Jr and the tradition that he embraces is that the Kennedys have always "Gone with the Flow"- anti-Union, check; anti-communist, check; pro-Barbarossa, check. Britain ought to make peace with Hitler, check.
I'm old enough to have written an obituary article for a newspaper when John Kennedy died. I remember the reaction of my Greek friends, at University, to the death of RFK too. I was shocked by their callousness but then just a year earlier the US had installed a fascist junta in Greece which had massacred workers, trade unionists and communists. And they were sure that RFK shared in the blame.
Nothing would be better for RFK jr than for him to be aware that the electorate aren't bobbysoxers, giddy and credulous but sensible grown-ups who like the State of Missouri insist on being shown that he is different, independent, worth sacrificing for, worth campaigning for.
If he thinks that he's got the honest people sewn up he will concentrate all his efforts on compromising with the thieves and sadists.
Posted by: bevin | Apr 26 2023 22:38 utc | 37
This business of RFK Jr.
John Kennedy was actually before my time a little - I was alive but not significantly conscious, certainly not of politics. It was some years before his death sank in on me.
I'm glad that I was never an adult while he was in office, to where I might have argued with his politics, might even have not liked him, who can say? Same with Bobby too.
So it was only ever the myth, after the two killings, and the others, of King and Hampton, and Kent State and all the rest. It was only ever about the void left, and the way the void was created, blowing a man's face off in front of his wife and the world. The ultimate disrespect.
I don't look for Robert Kennedy to make it even past the primaries, let alone to the presidency. But as I've said, I don't think that matters much.
What the USA has for a polity now is a wasteland. The nation has been stripped of its last spoon, melted for scrap, and the moral compass is as bereft as its economy.
Into this comes Kennedy. There is the shadow of a myth that trails him, just over his shoulder. This is the faintest reminder, to a country almost completely lost, that there still endures the notion of goodness, and a policy of correctness.
It's a meta message, I guess I should have made plain, not even a message, and more to do with the lineage of messengers. As if a torch is being passed - and my only hope is that it is passed, and is caught by the younger generations. Kennedy is the only wisp of decency in this entire political landscape leading up to the '24 election.
I happen to have admired and approved of Kennedy for some years prior to this time, and I have no reason to change that view. It's based not on faith but on his record, as I have experienced it, and as I have benefited from its results.
I feel like, when I speak of Kennedy the man, I know of whom I speak. But let that pass, because I'm not trying to persuade anyone of anything, merely bearing witness to the record. I'm not really even speaking to any of the valued commenters here. Simply that one must speak one's truth, even if no one hears the tree fall.
There will be plenty of bad things said about Robert Kennedy during the months to come. Underneath it all, will be the man who knew it would be this way, and came on anyway.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 26 2023 23:45 utc | 38
@ karlof1 | Apr 26 2023 18:24 utc | 18
Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Robert F. Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. . . .Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence.
So RFK is siding with brave Ukrainians and expects Russia to pull out of Ukraine and guarantee its right house NATO military forces. . . .Unacceptable.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 26 2023 23:55 utc | 39
Looks like Russia is moving to 'get its money back'.
My reading of the english-language text 'suggests' to me that the provisions to seize Russia-based assets of unfriendly could be construed to include any asset of a country involved in endangering a Russian entity that is acting in the realm of security. i.e. the west providing weapons to be used against the Russian army.
Maybe I'm over-reading it, maybe not. Time will tell.
Posted by: powerandpeople | Apr 27 2023 0:08 utc | 40
@ Grieved | Apr 26 2023 23:45 utc | 38 with more good words about RFK Jr
Thanks for that.
The proper context for me to share with others is that if RFK Jr is available to vote for as the lesser of the cast of evils provided in the next US president (s)election, I will vote for him without a question.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 27 2023 0:17 utc | 41
Don Bacon-
RFK appears to either be a fool insofar as geopolitical realities are concerned, or perhaps could be playing a deeper game. Whatever the case may be, the guy clearly will not be allowed anywhere near fair exposure to the public, and I expect the psychopath mk ultra females will be unleashed, screaming rape, soon enough as well.
Kennedy is great on vaccines and pharma in general
100% will not become POTUS.
Posted by: Robert Hope | Apr 27 2023 0:19 utc | 42
So RFK is siding with brave Ukrainians and expects Russia to pull out of Ukraine and guarantee its right house NATO military forces. . . .Unacceptable.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 26 2023 23:55 utc | 39
RFK is trying to come up with a solution that will please everyone. He will be sent to the woodshed.
Posted by: dh | Apr 27 2023 0:28 utc | 43
bevin @37 & Grieved @38--
Beginning with Sanders POTUS run in 2016, the key was altering the narrative to get We the People to clear the sand and sleep from our hypnotized eyes; and we shouldn't forget Trump either. To get what they wanted, the DNC's donors had to finally undermine the idea that the USA conducts free and fair elections, for as the court ruled the DNC can nominate whoever it wants as it has no duty to follow any votes from anyone; and the same would be true for the RNC. Unfortunately, this MASSIVE FACT isn't very well known at all for the usual reasons. Same can be said of the content of RFKjr's books and his many other deeds. The problem I have is with people who are so cynical that they trash any attempt to change the status quo--they're eeyores. As I've pointed out, the campaign narrative at RFKjr's site was written by a staffer as is very clear from the prose. But people don't read critically, and thus they miss things.
Given 2016 and 2020, the DNC will place Biden and Harris on the D-Party ballot regardless what voters vote; the only exception would be if Biden's health radically worsens, which is what I'm hoping for, although his replacement will be just as bad. What I hope Trump and RFKjr can do is to further energize the public's ire to the point where a Critical Mass can be obtained, hopefully prior to the DNC & RNC Conventions, that forces the donors to capitulate and allow others onto the ballot. An even better case would be for the Critical Mass to completely take over the parties and oust the committees. I don't see any one politico as being a savior at this moment in time as the Establishment has too much power. But IMO, a match was lit in 2016, and it remains lit, and there's a huge mass of explosives (the public) to which a fuse is attached. I'm certain we'll discuss this further. We all share the same goal--liberation--just not from life yet.
Don Bacon | Apr 26 2023 23:55 utc | 39--
As I've had to explain to too many, RFKjr didn't write that bunch of hoohaw--a staffer did as the prose makes clear.
Again, here's the controversial paragraph. I've bolded the evidence that RFKjr didn't write it:
"In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014. We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Robert F. Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia's borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukranian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries."
And there are other markers. Understand how such websites are put together and read critically.
karlof1 @ 0:31 utc:
That is no doubt true—politicians so rarely write their own stuff—but to the degree that it’s at all meaningful, it’s hardly exculpatory. Especially if it’s—as you say—hoohaw.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 27 2023 0:46 utc | 47
@PeterAu…a follow on from a comment of yours a thread or two (or three) back…
Australia has released all-cause mortality data for 2022 and the results are the worst since WWII with 13% excess mortality.
Australia vaccinated their entire vulnerable population in 2021 and boosted them all in 2022.
At best, Australia is proof of vaccine failure.
PLC @Humble_Analysis
https://twitter.com/Humble_Analysis/status/1641631007664402433
>>…”While there were 10K covid deaths recorded in Australia in 2022, 3K of those covid deaths merely displaced other expected respiratory disease deaths.
In other words, 67% of excess deaths in Australia can not be blamed on covid.
So, why are so many Australians dying?””
(Mind you, I don’t know anyone who’s died of covid, or the vex, so….. )
(Plenty have “ailments”, but are these related, old age, or “poor lifestyle choices” )?
Posted by: Melaleuca | Apr 27 2023 0:46 utc | 48
As I've had to explain to too many, RFKjr didn't write that bunch of hoohaw--a staffer did as the prose makes clear.
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 27 2023 0:31 utc | 45
Pretty muddled message already then and he's barely started. Maybe get a new staffer.
Posted by: dh | Apr 27 2023 0:51 utc | 49
Underneath it all, will be the man who knew it would be this way, and came on anyway.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 26 2023 23:45 utc | 38
I, too, anticipate the full force of The Borge to descend on RKennedyJr.
Already for me, this is a man of superhuman courage.
The very embodiment of courage.
He knows first hand he can be killed
He knows first hand the lies and character assassinations awaiting.
And yet, here he stands. Speaking truth as he believes it.
Maybe he can be educated on Ukraine.
Especially if he can be shown the irrefutable evidence of Ukraine- Biden-biolabs-c19 research….
I have a fondness for metaphor. And it is ironic to me that a man attempting to speak truth so loudly in the U$ and across the world, is afflicted with a voice handicap….
Posted by: Melaleuca | Apr 27 2023 0:58 utc | 50
Melaleuca | Apr 27 2023 0:58 utc | 50
He certainly has courage. I would like to see him succeed. I wonder how much the Kennedy name weighs on him.
Posted by: dh | Apr 27 2023 1:10 utc | 51
More metaphor! What a treat today is!
- UK's broken-down £3bn warship *HMS Prince of Wales stripped for parts
§_ UK’s broken down £monarch(y) stripped apart…
LightYearsFromHome | Apr 26 2023 18:22 utc | 17
“… Charles III is also the Prince of Wales, just pointing out that little congruence.”
Err. No. Charlie WAS the Prince of Wales. He’s now King. His son, William is now Prince of Wales…
Posted by: Melaleuca | Apr 27 2023 1:12 utc | 52
Landmark agreement with S.Korea re. nuclear weapons. A little ambiguous but I'm sure China will get the message.
"US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol have secured a landmark deal which includes plans to periodically deploy US nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea.
Washington has also agreed to involve Seoul in its planning for the use of nuclear weapons against North Korea.
In return, South Korea has agreed to not develop its own nuclear weapons."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65404805
Posted by: dh | Apr 27 2023 1:17 utc | 53
dh | Apr 27 2023 1:10 utc | 49 & 51--
He wrote a book about that aspect of himself. What he needs to do is edit what's drafted, then approve the final draft for publication. He's a writer, so he ought to know that. I really don't like listening to speeches as I'd rather read their texts, but it looks like I'll need to listen to the several he's given to get policy specifics. Again, it's clear he didn't write this but few are saying anything about it and focusing on Ukraine:
"As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country."
Sure, he could be writing in the third person, but why? As POTUS I'll... is what most expect to read.
malenkov | Apr 27 2023 0:46 utc | 47--
Thanks for your reply. IMO, we want the same outcome, but we know how hard it will be to attain it. Many root for Russia and China because they so badly want to see the Outlaw US Empire defeated and driven back to its shores. I understand that desire as I want it too.
Melaleuca | Apr 27 2023 0:58 utc | 50 - "And it is ironic to me that a man attempting to speak truth so loudly in the U$ and across the world, is afflicted with a voice handicap…."
I always assumed that's why he's still alive. They killed off the others, even the young one who could have been a contender. I assumed also that's why he never went into politics, because of his tortured larynx.
He reminds me of the I, Claudius story. As I understand it, only from the TV play decades ago, Claudius had a bad limp and a stammer. This made him distasteful to his family but also safe from assassination, since they never thought he could be a challenger for Caesar. Then, in that twist where the Praetorian Guard put him into power, he acted somewhat intelligently as a ruler.
I'm not sure how true to the fact Graves's story and the TV adaptation are, but that's the story as it came to me, and it was the classical "dark horse makes good".
Anyway, my point was that I always assumed that Robert Kennedy was left alive because he was perceived as not a threat in the big stakes. How true my story is to the fact is also unknown ;)
Just a little aside.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 27 2023 1:40 utc | 55
karlof1 | Apr 27 2023 1:30 utc | 54
I have no idea how that message will resonate with the American people. For sure it won't be well received by the MIC.
Posted by: dh | Apr 27 2023 1:44 utc | 56
guild of actuarians called for an investigation . they had 17% but this article says 15% (1-2% is normal yearly number) your data is 13%. so i guess its take the number you like the most.
Posted by: hankster | Apr 27 2023 1:57 utc | 57
Tucker Carlson has broken his silence, "Carlson in First Post-Fox Commentary Claims Those in Power 'Resort to Force' to Kill Debate", with the lead paragraph saying:
"Tucker Carlson in his first extensive public comments after leaving Fox News said the people in charge are resorting to 'force' to stifle conversations in the media that do not benefit the interests of both political parties."
Do read the entire piece. Him and Hudson are on the same page regarding Donor Control.
UK's broken-down £3bn warship HMS Prince of Wales stripped for parts
It was launched 6ys ago. Not 40ys ago, not 30ys ago, not 25ys ago... Why the Brits aren't rioting in the streets over this alone says a lot about the effectiveness of centuries of class war brainwashing, guess they're too busy with the new King's coronation. Charles III is also the Prince of Wales, just pointing out that little congruence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqOMR7877Xo
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Apr 26 2023 18:22 utc | 17
I used to have a neighbour about 15 years ago and he was very senior in the Navy.
He’s said we’d just bout 2-3 new warships, (I can’t remember but it was more than one) and none of them had an engine.
Apparently at the time no one thought they were going to need one.
Posted by: PalmaSailor | Apr 27 2023 2:21 utc | 59
Re. Tucker C
Lots of schadenfreude and name-calling over this, but in spite of some questionable and sometimes loathsome opinions, he did the public a great service with his honest criticisms of US foreign policy.
Worthwhile takes on his contributions can be found at The American Conservative here: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-courage-of-tucker-carlson/
and by Gonzalo Lira here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rdFcslfT30
and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Admbn2ciKDk
Posted by: farm ecologist | Apr 27 2023 2:43 utc | 60
RFKjr will be better understood when he is able to communicate (without weasel words) on these immediate issues:
- The role and perimeters of NATO in light of Putin's request of December 2021,
- The role of USA and its activities in bio-labs throughout the world,
- The future of corporate funding of Congress and Senate members.
These will make it clear as to whether he is absolutely sincere or just another wannabe. Right now he is clearly intending to be endorsed by a party that is one of the enemies of the people. While his words might be alluring, they will need to be precise.
Time will tell.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 27 2023 3:09 utc | 61
Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Apr 26 2023 22:08 utc | 35
--------------
Misdirection agent alert !
The perps had already claimed credit and
ran a victory lap so to speak !
Posted by: denk | Apr 27 2023 3:10 utc | 62
Thanks for the Lavrov translation karlof1, much appreciated.
Posted by: annie | Apr 27 2023 3:18 utc | 63
RFK JR just totally seriously pissed off his base with his most recent tweet wherein he said: We need to avoid the toxic guagmire of retribution and blame for the covid lock downs and mandates and focus on cleaning up the regulatory agencies.
The replies to this tweet are 95% vehemently in disagreement with him.
Also, on the Megan Kelly show, he said that Putin is a thug, a gangster, homicidal, one of the worst human beings on the planet.
Posted by: Anton Gorbatow | Apr 27 2023 3:45 utc | 64
RFK on Ukraine
ROBERT KENNEDY JR.:. . . As I said today, I think where, you know, people the most respected diplomatic gurus like Henry Kissinger and Jack Matlock, and Larry Wilkinson have all said that the Ukraine war is a huge problem for our country, because it, from a geopolitical standpoint, it's driving the Russians closer to the Chinese, which is the worst thing for us.
But we're there for the right reasons because we have tremendous compassion for the Ukrainian people and the illegal invasion, the brutality, and also their valor and their courage. My own son was serving over there. He joined a special forces unit as a machine gunner. He fought in the Kharkiv offensive. . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 27 2023 4:08 utc | 65
karlof1@28....'brutal invasion by Russia', that's f'n disingenuous on his part. Whats his position on the 14k+ Ukrainians killed by.......hmmm, thought so. The guys a dick playing to the crowd, wait, that seems to be a faux politician thing these days, anyway, even Trump is still calling it like it is....a fuck up of ginormous proportions.
Cheers M
Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 27 2023 4:14 utc | 66
Don Bacon #65
Well he didn't last very long at all.
Maybe he is a Trump plant in the democrazy machine, just there to add despair to the choice between a gerry and a Russia hater. What's the bet he thinks Russia hacked Hillary.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 27 2023 4:39 utc | 67
@uncle tungsten | Apr 27 2023 4:39 utc | 67
I just looked at Daily Kos the mighty Dem website and Junior wasn't even mentioned.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 27 2023 4:44 utc | 68
In the face of a charismatic politician backed by a myth surrender all your powers of critical thinking. Jump up and down like a fanboy. Who needs a track record of decades of clear thinking when we have a Leader to follow?
Did some troll appropriate the karlof moniker? There has been a lot of that here lately. Although sadly this looks more like a simple act of self betrayal.
Posted by: oldhippie | Apr 27 2023 5:10 utc | 69
#66
politician’s one of the top
parasitical professions
since time immemorial.
they have a long legacy
to uphold.
Posted by: Dingo | Apr 27 2023 5:31 utc | 70
China explores peace in Novorossiya
From anti-spiegel.ru
https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2023/was-der-chinesische-und-der-ukrainische-praesident-am-telefon-besprochen-haben/
TASS has compiled the most important information about the talks that took place.Explanations of the pages
China has no intention of "silently watching from the outside" what is happening in Ukraine, but will also "not add fuel to the fire," Chinese state television quotes Xi Jinping as saying.The Chinese president stressed that "China will resolutely advance the negotiation process and a ceasefire as soon as possible," because "dialogue and negotiations are the only possible way out."
The Chinese leader also called on all parties to the conflict to exercise restraint. "There are no winners in a nuclear war," he reminded Zelensky.
Xi Jinping also announced the dispatch of a "Special Representative of the Chinese Government for Eurasian Affairs to Ukraine and other countries" to deal intensively with the situation.
For his part, Zelensky called the conversation "substantial" and expressed confidence that the conversation would "give a strong impetus" to the development of bilateral relations. He later stated that peace in Ukraine could not be achieved "through territorial compromises" and spoke in favor of a return to the 1991 borders.
I bet Zelensky did not intend that to mean NATO borders.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 27 2023 5:36 utc | 71
John Helmer is sowing the seed of hope.
The war and US war sanctions have reversed the destruction of the Russian farm economy forced during the 1990s by the US “reformers” in the Yeltsin administration led by the recently exiled Anatoly Chubais.Now, however, under government orders for self-sufficiency in food production, protection from US biochemical warfare against the Russian food chain, and revival of Soviet seed breeding centres, the American, German, French and Dutch agro-industry exporters which have profited in Russia for thirty years are being locked out.
Not only in Russia and in the Ukraine – the Axis faces long-term competition in Europe, Asia and Africa in the future.
“We are defeating the Americans and Germans on the battlefield,” observes a veteran farm industry source in Moscow. “We are going to do the same on the farm field. Do you remember what Nikita Sergeyevich [Khrushchev] said a long time ago – ‘we will bury you’. And you have been saying that’s what you are going to do to us.”
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 27 2023 5:39 utc | 72
With the recent talk between Xi and Z, the only party not willing to come to the negotiation table is empire.
Does this mean we are done with proxy shit? Will the optics of our civilization war clear?
I think we are getting close to the rubber meeting the road.....but until then the shit show will continue.....look, market futures are all up......
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 27 2023 5:42 utc | 73
Gosh humans born after 1965 could be forgiven for imagining that between 1961 and late 1963 amerika had put the kybosh on imperialism. That no one in Latin America, Asia, the ME or Africa was slaughtered to favour the interests of amerika, but sadly that is simply not correct.
JFK continued shit stirring in the name of the amerikan empire by cranking up West Germans' hatred of their friends & family in East Germany with facile lies about East Germany's socialism, really kicking off the cold war.
Kennedy's drama queen hysteria over Cuba's invitation to allow the USSR to do as amerika had done by planting nuclear missiles in Turkey raised so-called cold war temperatures to boiling point. It would have been so much easier if less likely to cause the dehumanising hatred of the USSR, if a Kennedy led amerika had ignored the USSR's move to equalise the nuclear balance publically, then organised negotiators to sit down with soviet negotiators on the QT who would have reached the same agreement which Kennedy's hysterics impelled; that is the Soviet Union withdrew missiles from Cuba & amerika pulled its missiles outta Turkey.
That would have been the same result with much less fear driven hysteria and paranoia - Hmm that wouldn't have suited those amerikan war-mongers who unthinking people are currently blaming for Kennedy's death - despite evidence such as this to the contrary.
IMO the lowest act of imperialism by the Kennedy administration (judging by numbers of innocents killed and/or had their lives destroyed) was the Kennedy administration's follow up to the amerikan slaughter of Patrice Lumumba - this was that administrations unfortunately successful work to destroy the "Simba Rebellion" whilst it is correct that the slaughter of Lumumba's supporters reached its peak in 1964 after Kennedy's death the preparation planning & arming which included Cuban pilot graduates of the Bay of Pigs actually began a coupla years before when Kennedy was prez.
In fact while y'all sledging Johnson over Vietnam yer forgetting that it was your 'hero' john f kennedy who appointed Robert McNamara ( the bomb by the numbers man at the heart of Heller's 'Catch 22' as Secretary of defense, Dean Rusk (he who was a former president of the Rockefeller Foundation & insisted on escalation in Vietnam), McGeorge Bundy a forceful advocate of expanding the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War plus of course fascist rethug warmonger Henry Cabot Lodge as amerikan ambassador to Vietnam.
All the big time advocates of war in Vietnam were the carefully chosen picks of john f kennedy, yet we are asked to believe that this mob of 'jfk' selected warmongers had 'gone of reservation' just because a politician made a couple of distracting speeches? If Kennedy didn't want war in Vietnam wahy was it he appointed so many who did to the positions most capable of ensuring that war?
Johnson a domestic policy man through and through trusted those arseholes to mind the foreign affairs store. That is why he was so mad at them all when he resigned.
If you wish to believe in fairy stories do so, but don't be acting all surprised if rfk jnr wins election then behaves exactly as his uncle did, a somewhat photogenic, entitled member of the elite who on occasion pretends to take notice of the 'little people'.
THe slaughter of Dr King Fred Hampton & Malcolm X were blatant lynching by the Federal government, completed unconnected to the 'chickens come home to roost' deaths of kennedy's, it belittles King, Hampton's & X's murders when they are tossed into the same basket.
ps why is it that so much of the whine underneath rfk's croak reminds me of the vocal intonations of a methadone addict?
Posted by: Debsisdead | Apr 27 2023 9:08 utc | 74
james | Apr 26 2023 20:35 utc | 33
bevin | Apr 26 2023 22:38 utc | 37
I can share your scepticism about what RFKjun would actually stand for if elected, based on analyzing what JFK and RFK senior stood for. You mentioned Greece, I'll add West Papua, where JFK put pressure on its colonial power, the Netherlands, to let Indonesia have it - in an effort to win Indonesia's Sukarno for the US side of the cold war. Eventually this policy resulted, after a manipulated "vote" of some 1000 tribal chiefs, in Jakarta controlling the western part of the island, an area larger than Germany, and the Indonesian army ruling there as a terror regime of its own right.
About JFK and RFK senior one has to add that they were quickly learning on-the-job and adjusting direction for the better, until JFK famously stated he was going to tear the CIA to a thousand peaces. Compare this to the learning speed of today's administration which is close to zero. So I'm looking forward to a ticket involving any of RFKjun, Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson or Tulsi Gabbard, hoping to see them put an end to Washington's new wars.
Posted by: grunzt | Apr 27 2023 10:13 utc | 75
So, are we going to have another election between the the love child of Foghorn Leghorn and Yosemite Sam, and the love child of Elmer Fudd and Mr Magoo? Look, squirrel! At this point, does it matter who steers the ship onto the rocks?
Posted by: Immaculate deception | Apr 27 2023 10:23 utc | 76
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Apr 26 2023 18:22 utc | 17
UK's broken-down £3bn warship HMS Prince of Wales stripped for partsIt was launched 6ys ago. ....
While on the other side of the world, Japans nominal GDP per capita is now far behind Singapore and HK, and a hairs breadth ahead of S Korea and Taiwan
In PPP terms, it is far behind all the other 4.
Things are changing fast.
Posted by: littlereddot | Apr 27 2023 12:02 utc | 77
Stupid, stupid woman:
"EU’s ‘Israeli independence’ message rebuked in Palestine"
Palestinian leaders and social media users alike criticise the European Commission president for comments saying Israel makes ‘the desert bloom’ when marking its 75th ‘independence’ day.
Aljazeera today.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Apr 27 2023 12:56 utc | 78
@ 37 bevin,
thanks.. you’ve stimulated the conversation further.. it might sound trite to say it, but i don’t go in for royalty or the usa’s version of it either.. he may very well be a good man, however flawed like all the rest of us, but as karlof1 righlty points out, the system, and in particular the dnc are spectacularly flawed at this point…. short of mass rioting, i see no quick solutionto the continued unravelling of the usa..
Posted by: james | Apr 27 2023 13:26 utc | 79
matt taibbi has a good article up from the past couple of days on the cic - censorship intelligence complex, under racket news…. others might wish to follow it and seek it out..
Posted by: james | Apr 27 2023 13:29 utc | 80
Andrew Korybko pens an insightful article at The Automatic Earth on Unipolar Liberal-Globalism vs. Multipolar Conservative-Sovereigntism. He deftly deconstructs the Orwellian redefinitions of "left" and "right" by neoliberalcons, which has caused such widespread befuddlement.
The US’ Weaponization Of Anti-Russian Fake News Against Germany
...
Unipolar Liberal-Globalism vs. Multipolar Conservative-Sovereigntism...the global systemic transition has shattered the previous polarization between the left and right by giving birth to two different diametrically opposed concepts: unipolar liberal-globalism (ULG) and multipolar conservative-sovereigntism (MCS). This ... explains the differences between them ... debunking the conspiracy theories pushed by Reuters and WaPo.
ULG believe in the “hegemonic stability theory” (unipolarity), are against any restrictions on socio-cultural issues like the aggressive imposition of LGBT+ propaganda onto children (liberalism), and want to force everyone to follow their models (globalism). By contrast, MCS believe in decentralizing International Relations (multipolarity), restricting some socio-cultural issues like the aforesaid example (conservatism), and respect every society’s right to choose their own models (sovereigntism).
The Real Reason For Growing Left-Right Cooperation In Germany
The genuine left and right, and not those ULG gatekeepers who masquerade as either (but mostly as leftists), generally embrace MCS. Even if they differ on economic and socio-cultural issues, they’re united in opposing unipolarity and globalism since those two concepts represent an existential threat to their respective ideological interests. Accordingly, they’re increasingly cooperating on shared MCS interests such as bringing an end to NATO’s proxy war on Russia through Ukraine as soon as possible.
...
...The only people who push those conspiracy theories are ULG gatekeepers in the media and among the left.Exposing The “Compatible Left”
Regarding the latter, the reader should be informed of the CIA’s decades-long attempt to manufacture a so-called “compatible left”, which is envisaged as doing the US’ bidding in a “plausibly deniable” way by serving as a “controlled opposition”. This mission has made enormous progress over the years and especially since 2016 after Trump’s election. “Sleeper cells” within the left awoke at that time and began actively allying their movements with the US Democrats, who are the standard-bearers of ULG.
This explains why the three interconnected conspiracy theories regarding “horseshoes”, the “red-brown alliance”, and “Duginism” all emerged from superficially leftist figures who are really bonafide ULG in disguise ... faux leftist gatekeepers ... manipulating the dogma of their movements’ members.
Debunking The “Compatible Left’s” McCarthyist Witch Hunt Narratives
...
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2023/04/no-conspiracy-left-right-working-together/
Posted by: Doug Hillman | Apr 27 2023 14:06 utc | 81
These will make it clear as to whether he is absolutely sincere or just another wannabe. Right now he is clearly intending to be endorsed by a party that is one of the enemies of the people. While his words might be alluring, they will need to be precise.
Time will tell.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 27 2023 3:09 utc | 61
RE RFK Jr.: I share your skepticism about him. He might be a useful anti-permanent-bureaucracy tool, but we can do a lot better.
Posted by: Bemildred | Apr 27 2023 14:51 utc | 82
That’s standard campaign wishy-washy, and to the extent that it corresponds to what the candidate himself would say, it’s standard speech out of both sides of the mouth. [RFK on Ukraine]
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 26 2023 18:33 utc | 21
It is surely "wishy-washy", but in the same time, NOT STANDARD AT ALL. It gives room for the most rational solution, "demilitarization" of conflicts, what Russia requested before the war, and USA-led NATO proudly rejected. Some sentences point in the same direction.
Indeed, it is a bit like Trump when he promised to replace Obamacare with "something marvelous". Rest assured, in due time RFK will be accused of being Russian asset. It is not easy to have a realistic political campaign in USA that is not de-facto pro-business and pro-empire. It is a weird time in US politics, never before a major political party was so united while having so decrepit leadership.
An anecdote about Russian assets. In 1580s Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had to resolve the issue of royal succession three time because there was no obvious one, and at one of those occasions, Lithuanian gentry (king was elected in one-sabre-one-vote system, Lithuania = today Lithuania+Belarus) opted to have Ivan IV-th (the Terrible) as Grand Duke, and it took effort to convince them otherwise. The tag of "Russian asset" is not always toxic.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 27 2023 14:52 utc | 83
European Commission president for comments saying Israel makes ‘the desert bloom’ when marking its 75th ‘independence’ day.
Aljazeera today.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Apr 27 2023 12:56 utc | 78
Worth no notice that the irrigation mania of Israel (a) takes water away from Palestinians, brutally enforced (b) risks turning Dead Sea into an empty salt desert, the process in ongoing.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 27 2023 15:03 utc | 84
German president Steinmeier in Canada’s NWT … a nice change (in my completely unbiased opinion) from state receptions, business luncheons, university q&a’s.
The question comes to mind: is this a Germany-Denmark-Greenland thing?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/german-president-nwt-visit
https://youtu.be/YIrribS2l3w — 2 min CBC News report
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 27 2023 15:15 utc | 85
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 27 2023 1:40 utc | 55
"I, Claudius" is a great piece of work on every level. As a lifelong stutterer
I will testify that it carries the ring of truth. Stutterers are chronically underestimated as depicted in Claudius. Your post got me to search for RFK Jr speaking on the the internet, not all that easy to find. I am listening to him now and my view is this man is a largely recovered stutterer. I would bet money he is left handed as 3/4 of all stutterers are left handed males. Spasmodic dysphonia seems to be new woke words for stuttering (a known bad rap). Anyway his fans can take heart that stutterers tend to be smarter than average and have massive tells when they are lying!
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Apr 27 2023 15:16 utc | 86
@85
Sorry, I screwed up the link … pictures worth 1,000 words in here, I think
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/german-president-nwt-visit-1.6743427
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 27 2023 15:18 utc | 87
@Bruised Northerner | Apr 27 2023 15:15 utc | 85
a nice change (in my completely unbiased opinion) from state receptions . .
At the opposite end of the spectrum, "White House Releases State Dinner Guest List " . . .here . .warning: This requires a lot of downward scrolling.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 27 2023 15:58 utc | 88
Bemildred | Apr 27 2023 14:51 utc | 82--
RE RFK Jr.: I share your skepticism about him. He might be a useful anti-permanent-bureaucracy tool, but we can do a lot better.
Okay, who do you suggest? Perhaps one of the other 804 people who filed with the FEC to run for POTUS in 2024?
The problem exists with the DNC and RNC and their ability to place whoever they choose onto the ballot for voters to select--the primaries and conventions have zero to do with that as they are nothing but theatre: It's exactly as George Carlin stated 50 years ago. Given that evidence, there's no way RFKjr will be placed on the ballot by the DNC. His value will be as a shit disturber. Indeed, perhaps the most value he could bring to the American people is to campaign on that one issue of DNC/RNC corruption by waving the court decision and speaking about it at his rallies as with that he can tie-in almost every other form of corruption in government. "This is why we have a Donor Oligarchy in America" he could say with absolute correctness, and what could be said to refute him? IMO, if we're going to rollback the Empire, making the public aware of reality must be step #1.
Okay, who do you suggest?
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 27 2023 16:16 utc | 89
A good point, to which I have no answer. Good people don't stay in politics here.
I would prefer someone not a scion of wealth, it is very limiting to grow up that way.
In real life, with the right partner, I might vote for him, we'll have to see. Got to be pragmatic.
Thank you for your comment.
Posted by: Bemildred | Apr 27 2023 16:26 utc | 90
@karlof1: and I do agree with Grieved & others that he shows real courage here. And he has rare assets politically. Credit where it is due.
So I suppose I'll butt out of this argument, although I remain a skeptic.
Regards.
Posted by: Bemildred | Apr 27 2023 16:34 utc | 91
Bemildred | Apr 27 2023 16:26 utc | 90--
Thanks for your reply. As I point out, the issue isn't with who we might pick as a candidate but the stranglehold the Duopoly has on the POTUS election machinery. Ralph Nader was an excellent choice for a candidate, but he was effectively locked-out of having an equal opportunity to win. I've voted Third Party since 1992 because they offered better choices. Perhaps the complete ruination of the nation will be required to rebuild it anew, although that will create strife for our progeny.
Posted by: Karl Sanchez | Apr 27 2023 16:38 utc | 92
Hmm... 92 is mine.
"De-dollarization inevitable as dollar steps down from altar": Key excerpt:
"In March, the US Fed said it had joined with other countries' central banks in a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity through the standing US dollar swap line arrangements, Reuters reported. Releasing more liquidity may help mitigate the issue of US dollar shortage. The move, to some extent, reflects the anxieties of US political and economic elites to the current trend of de-dollarization. However, it should be pointed out that releasing liquidity won't solve the fundamental problem and will have a limited impact on slowing down the de-dollarization pace, as long as the US continues to weaponize US dollar hegemony and adheres to its irresponsible monetary policy." [My Emphasis]
The dollars share of use in international transactions slides lower daily, while the Fed continues its misguided policy of raising rates. This seems to clearly be a case of sawing off the limb you're sitting on--a self-induced crisis that was built-in with the Bretton Woods edict.
Thanks for your reply. As I point out, the issue isn't with who we might pick as a candidate but the stranglehold the Duopoly has on the POTUS election machinery. Ralph Nader was an excellent choice for a candidate, but he was effectively locked-out of having an equal opportunity to win. I've voted Third Party since 1992 because they offered better choices. Perhaps the complete ruination of the nation will be required to rebuild it anew, although that will create strife for our progeny.
Posted by: Karl Sanchez | Apr 27 2023 16:38 utc | 92
Yes. Sound thinking. I voted for 1st Obama, hoping a veto-proof majority might work this time, not since.
Trump was tempting as a wrecking ball, such a walking talking airhead.
At this point I think the only way out is through. I can think of lots of reforms, but first the oligarchs and all their works must be defenestrated. As long as the big old piles of money exist, they will try to interfere in our politics to preserve themselves.
Posted by: Bemildred | Apr 27 2023 16:53 utc | 94
I am confused. Two titles in YouTube
1:07:55
The U.S. Dollar Will Remain The King (Here’s Why) | Brent Johnson
Blockworks Macro
86K views 5 days ago
1:55:03
Now playing
ECONOMIC CRISIS: Ray Dalio's Warning For The Banking Collapse, US Dollar & Upcoming Recession
Tom Bilyeu
1.4M views 12 days ago
Videos are terribly long, more people watch about collapse, so watch about USD remaining "the king". Without watching, the joint picture is a gradual decline, erosion rather than an avalanche. Like Appalachians that at some time in the past were as mighty as Himalaya today.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 27 2023 17:07 utc | 95
Type: "soME watch about USD remaining "the king".
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 27 2023 17:08 utc | 96
"This is why we have a Donor Oligarchy in America" ...
Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 27 2023 16:16 utc | 89
Probably the reasons are multiple, it is an ecosystem, not a tree. Nevertheless, to recover from this condition, alternative memes have to circulate as widely as possible, presidential elections can provide better exposure than thoughtful blogs, and collecting enough money from "thin wallets" has proven to be possible, etc. I much prefer a new person, provided that his message is not like "Oppose imperialism and follow my diet+exercise plan" (they are worthy YouTube channels like that, eccentric combinations add value too).
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 27 2023 17:20 utc | 97
Piotr Berman no. 84
Water is already being pumped into the dead sea.
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Apr 27 2023 17:29 utc | 98
For a little entertainment, you can watch the South Korean president sing "American Pie".
Posted by: Immaculate deception | Apr 27 2023 17:35 utc | 99
Hello Deb
Jfk emboldened Nehru's challenge on China in 1962.
When things turned sour for the jawans, Kennedy dispatched the carrier Enterprise to back up India, except PLA had already wrapped up the battle and withdrew., mission accomplished.
Kennedy even contemplated nuking China for India. !!!
PS
Perhaps one day the JUDIcial Watch might wanna FOIA the skinny on JFK execution. !
;-)
Posted by: denk | Apr 27 2023 17:36 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
That didnt last long.
- South Africa remains ICC participant – presidency -
https://www.rt.com/africa/575346-south-africa-remains-icc-participant/
Posted by: Deplorable Commissar | Apr 26 2023 14:39 utc | 1