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February 12, 2024
“You Didn’t Even Post. So What Did You Do Today?”

I have had no idea what serious issue to post about today.

But this:

When I say that running MoA is a full time job it raises doubts and I may even get laughed at. But it is. Even when I don't post.

I have to read, every day, a large number of pieces and/or watch videos to collect new ideas. It takes time to process those into conscious contexts and then those into blog posts.

Today, like every day, I have of course skimmed over of the usual mainstream stuff, NYT and WaPo nonsense, but found little in it to take note of.

I then skimmed through the comments at this blog and cleared up the spam list.

Then I walked through what my various news feeds provide. It is often quite a lot.

Here is what I consumed (read or watched) today and found worthy enough to copy URL, headline and some excerpts.

Middle East:

Ukraine-Russia:

China:

Other stuff:

That is all I did for the day. It feels like a lot. And that was without writing a real piece for the blog.

Oh, not to forget – I also bought food and prepared a meal for myself.

Later today I will read the Strana.news summary of the day (usually out at 18:00 UTC). At 20:30 UTC I will listen to Dima's Military Summary (well, at least to the first 10 minutes of it).

Then it will finally be the end of my day.

So what did you do today?

Posted by b on February 12, 2024 at 17:46 UTC | Permalink
Comments

“China will not fall into ‘trap’ of war in Taiwan Strait: former envoy Cui Tiankai – SCMP”
It’s pretty obvious that the leaders in Beijing need only wait for US leaders to get distracted. They have short attention spans, and many other places where they can make trouble. US politicians of either party are not the smartest people in the USA.

Posted by: lester | Feb 12 2024 22:33 utc | 101

https://t.me/myLordBebo/22595
I saw this and thought . Is this parody or it was a real event. Ukraine should lose just for this. One video.

Posted by: Hankster | Feb 12 2024 22:35 utc | 102

Dear Sir,
We know you work hard. Your research and analysis are invaluable to someone like me who has neither the energy nor the know how to do it. I spend barely an hour a day reading blogs and websites to stay a little informed. Without you and other dedicated investigators I’d be unable to understand what’s happening around us.
Thank you for your noble efforts.

Posted by: Dennis | Feb 12 2024 22:35 utc | 103

Progress is not brought by busy people getting up early in the morning but by lazy people finding better ways to do things.
alek_a | Feb 12 2024 22:23 utc | 97
Rarely. That type of progress is characterized by short cuts and cheap rubbish/poor quality work.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Feb 12 2024 22:37 utc | 104

@ 104
Von Moltke would disagree… 😁

Posted by: Adriatic Hillbilly | Feb 12 2024 22:52 utc | 105

Herzlich….
*****
Der reissende Strom wird gewalttätig genannt
Aber das Flussbett, das ihn einengt
Nennt keiner gewalttätig.
Der Sturm, der die Birken biegt
Gilt für gewalttätig.
Aber wie ist es mit dem Sturm
Der die Rücken der Strassenarbeiter biegt?
Bertolt Brecht, Buch der Wendungen
***
Thank you for being the laborious worker who so often is the only hope of resisting the violence of ideological shores, opportunism and resistance.
We would so often like to sweep everything away, and yet ….
What have we done today ? Read and post at MoA
Thanks Bernhard.

Posted by: La Bastille | Feb 12 2024 22:52 utc | 106

The (Israel/Gaza) Crisis at the NYT:
https://scheerpost.com/2024/02/12/patrick-lawrence-the-crisis-at-the-new-york-times/
All of us know how shameful the coverage and overall “official” response has been to the genocide in Gaza. This article sums some of it up well.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 12 2024 23:00 utc | 107

On his blindness. Jon Milton
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg’d with me useless, though my soul more bent..
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 12 2024 23:07 utc | 108

Posted by: Hankster | Feb 12 2024 22:35 utc | 102
I don’t have Telegram. What is in the video?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 12 2024 23:09 utc | 109

Hey b…. bleiben Sie total entspannt!! Kein Mensch erwartet jeden Tag eine Nachricht vo Ihnen! Kein Stress!! Viele Grüße aus Old Germany

Posted by: airomax | Feb 12 2024 23:26 utc | 110

With Reference to the F35 jet and supply issues facing Israel, BAE Systems (UK) have made arrangements to supply Israel with whatever parts and technical support they need, apparently (according to unnamed sources) going so far as, quote; “putting the Lancashire plant at their disposal”.
Posted by: F35 Update | Feb 12 2024 19:02 utc | 35
Someone should raise the Caution Red Flag. BAE may be found complicity to the continuing of the Israeli Genocide exercise in Gaza and likely that Memo from Foreign Office remains unread.
The Netherlands Court of Appeal has blocked exports of F-35 parts to Israel citing risk of human rights violations. per RT.

The Appeals Court in The Hague ruled on Monday that the Netherlands must stop sending Israel spare parts for its F-35 fighter jets, saying that there is a risk that the US-made aircraft are being used for “serious violations of international humanitarian law” against Palestinians.
Responding to a lawsuit launched by several human rights groups in December, a lower court ruled that the sale of fighter-jet parts was a political decision. The appeals court disagreed.
The Netherlands “must prohibit the export of military goods if there is a clear risk of serious violations of the humanitarian law of war,” the judges said on Monday.
The Dutch government might be allowed to export F-35 parts to Israel in the future, but only on condition that they are not used in operations in Gaza, according to Presiding Judge Bas Boele.
“We hope this ruling will strengthen international law in other countries so that the citizens of Gaza are also protected by international law,” said Michiel Servaes, director of Oxfam Novib, one of the groups involved in the litigation.

The Dutch government must comply with the court order within seven days. Its request to suspend the order pending appeal to the Supreme Court has been rejected. [.] [emphasis added]

BDS as per b should be accelerated.

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 12 2024 23:29 utc | 111

b. thanks for the Strana link.
I did read a very slightly objective article there, otherwise well written:
https://strana.news/news/456302-vojna-vukraine-ivsektore-haza-chto-budet-dalshe.html
The one has to understand the authors perspective, too.
I think it is originally written in Russian. Translation is ok. No hidden thoughts.

Posted by: whirlX | Feb 12 2024 23:33 utc | 112

by todd | Feb 12 2024 18:24 utc | 18
Is it that bad?

Posted by: whirlX | Feb 12 2024 23:36 utc | 113

The US Zionist project is Nihilist, but not intentionly or maliciously so. They seem to be stuck on the idea that the faults that humanity has inserted into the scriptures are binding.
No . God simply cancels the deviated version and issues a new Life manual.
Last week I discovered that my gas supply is in a plastic pipe, which won’t conduct electrical faults in my ageing electrical supply to my off grid battery inverter project.
Those ancestors of ours did so love inserting Feudal tyranny into our collective subconscious. Just as those electrical engineers loved putting our gas , electric and water into conductive metals for mechanical.protection.
The younger generations must think their elders are completely insane, which unfortunately poor dears , they really are.

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 12 2024 23:37 utc | 114

Bernard: Thank you for all your work. For me it is my go-to site for Ukraine information. I don’t have the time to scan the various news sources, so MOA is extremely valuable for me. Thank so much.

Posted by: JP Straley | Feb 12 2024 23:47 utc | 115

I appreciate b and the bar. I think I found this place shortly after Russia flew their gear into Syria. I didn’t post at the time, but I read lots of well-informed comments, found out things I didn’t know, and ejoyed the feeling that there were still some rational human beings in the world.
I was blogging myself at the time, and I know how much work it is. I didn’t have much of an audience, so it was pretty demotivating to do that much work and reach only a tiny handful of people. I admire b’s persistence in maintaining and growing this blog. I found the online world so toxic at the time that I just got out entirely, and it took me years to come back and poke around.
I hope you can keep on keeping on, b. We need you.
Now…
@canuck: I don’t know what your system was for making that list, but the Who? Really? But, okay. Thanks.

Posted by: Honzo | Feb 12 2024 23:49 utc | 116

Posted by: librul | Feb 12 2024 22:25 utc | 98
Panem et circenses.
The cattle always falls for it. Like this thinking is not necessary.
https://hyperallergic.com/313435/an-illustrated-guide-to-guy-debords-the-society-of-the-spectacle/

Posted by: Naive | Feb 12 2024 23:58 utc | 117

Less is more. See.
Posted by: Occasional poster | Feb 12 2024 20:13 utc | 53
And more is less.
Look after yourself Bernhard.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Feb 13 2024 0:00 utc | 118

Good piece up (actually two) at the American Conservative:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/putin-supporter-covers-a-multitude-of-thought-crimes/
Excerpt:

Such a tactic has been commonplace in the Blob’s rhetorical toolbox for years. Those on the right skeptical of American military adventurism have long been maligned as “isolationists,” clearly to evoke pre-WWII fascistic connotations. Such language is alive and well, even in describing those opposed to fanatical neocon calls for bombing Iran.
One must ask if this speaks to electoral machinations, both as a cudgel to enforce Democratic conformity around Biden’s policymaking and as a means of scaring Democratic voters ahead of the primaries and general election. Such an approach was clearly employed by Biden in the lead-up to the 2022 midterms, in which he linked Republican ideology to “semi-fascism’’ and MAGA with authoritarian movements in Europe and Putin.
Yet with Biden’s approval rating at the lowest point of his presidency and the majority of Democratic voters having supported a ceasefire for months, such an approach now seems questionable. Pelosi’s accusations have been met with considerable criticism from progressive and anti-war organizations, highlighting the deep intra-left tensions surrounding the war in Gaza. It is clear to many that Democratic leadership is seeking to gatekeep and enforce conformity to silence dissenters among their progressive ranks by any means possible.

(many links embedded in original)
And the Rethug plot to bring down The Donald.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-congress-is-pursuing-endless-war-in-ukraine-and-trying-to-stop-a-trump-election/
Somewhat counterintuitive excerpt:

To be clear, this doesn’t assume malice. The Republican establishment of Washington is so obsessively committed to Ukraine that they will use every tool at their disposal to apply pressure to other Republicans to write that big Ukraine check. The problem is that every time they apply pressure, they create an opening for Democrats and the media to tank our nominee.
For months, I have been confident that Donald Trump would be reelected as president. But this is how you snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Republican establishment is going to war for more Ukraine money. They don’t care if a second Trump term is collateral damage.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 13 2024 0:00 utc | 119

As Plato presciently proclaimed: Kings (aristocracy)-timocracy-oligarchy-democracy-tyranny
We are now entering the Tyranny (Fascism) part.
A strong Leader- King will emerge along eventually displace Fascism….
Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 21:59 utc | 94

What are you @canuck? A 12 year old?
“Tyrant” back in Ancient Greece was synonymous with “King”—the only difference between the terms as currently defined being that tyranny wasn’t necessarily inherited. That is the true difference between “tyrant” and “king”: kingdoms are (almost: the Khans are an exception, as are elected Turkic leaders) always inherited along family lines, sometimes patrilineal, sometimes consanguinally.
Some here like to laugh about my insistence that the Normans were the fundament by which “English” imperialist ideology was established, but yeah: the Habsburgs, Tsars, Franks/Capetians, and Normans were all birds-of-a-feather: absolute rulers who, if not Totalitarian nor Fascist, did certainly enslave their general population and subject (!) them to onerous taxes.
I recently watched a BBC doco about the Norman conquest of England. In something like 30 years, the Normans shifted possession of “England” from 100% Anglo/Saxon/Welsh/Scot/Dane to 95% Norman, with all those stolen lands protected by strong towers and bastions, many of which survive to this day.
The legacy of that conquest is even attested in our everyday language: beef/cow, mutton/sheep, poultry/chicken-goose-duck, pork/swine-pig.
Oddly, Lavrov’s Dog, canuck, and Jonathan W(retched) want to pretend as if the Medeival era of enserfment (i.e.: enslavement) never actually happened, despite the ample historic record that yes, actual wars against such oppression were fought over several hundred years, culminating in a revolutionary era that transformed the entire governance of every last and smallest locale of the planet.
Now, let’s return to canuck’s idiocy:
Fascism didn’t exist in Plato’s era. “Aristocracy”, back in Plato’s era, meant only “families that materially contribute to the improvement of the general quality of life”, which was often reduced, rhetorically, to “families that provide the best, most advanced weapons, and help build public ally shared buildings like temples, and government gathering spaces”. Sometimes the Aristocracy became the kakistocracy by creating an Oligarchy.
“Timocracy”, however, was only ever a transitional rhetoric adopted during Tyranny: “Timocracy” was only ever the mechanism by which Oligarchy was created. It was never a state of government in itself.
And no: no scholar of any value equates Platonic or Aristotelian “Tyranny” with “Fascism”. Perhaps Mussolini and Hitler did, but nobody who can read Classical Greek ever has

Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Feb 13 2024 0:08 utc | 120

I’m astonished that any one would diss you b. You’ve doing great work for many many years. At least since 2014 that I know of. Of course it’s a full time job. Please don’t let the midgets trip you up or get you down.

Posted by: Formerly Miss Lacy | Feb 13 2024 0:10 utc | 121

Monday 12 February 2024
followup to mine @ 111
Is this the real Borrell?
Borrell: Cut Off Arms to Israel
February 12, 2024
This is a huuuuge crack in the wall.. America is being isolated. What to do AIPAC?

!!!
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that the international community should rethink providing arms to Israel, in a joint press briefing with the United Nations’ agency UNRWA.

LINK
The European Union’s top foreign policy official said Monday that the Biden administration and other governments professing concern about the grisly death toll in the Gaza Strip should stop supplying so much weaponry to the Israeli military as it carries out one of the most devastating bombing campaigns in modern history.
Pointing to U.S. President Joe Biden’s statement late last week that Israel’s war on Gaza has been “over the top,” E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said during a press conference in Brussels, “Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed.”
Borrell then extended that suggestion to the rest of the international community, saying if governments believe that “this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe they have to think about the provision of arms.”
“Everybody goes to Tel Aviv, begging, ‘Please don’t do that, protect civilians, don’t kill so many.’ How many is too many?” Borrell asked. “It is a little bit contradictory to continue saying that there are ‘too many people being killed, too many people being killed, please take care of people, please don’t kill so many.’ Stop saying please and [do] something.”[.]

And in Davos, Switzerland one Hotel has rolled up the welcome mat. “No ski equipment rental for Jews they are found to be unruly.”

Posted by: Likklemore | Feb 13 2024 0:35 utc | 122

gab founder bans israeli IP’s from site
https://t.me/beboandfriends/179851?single

Posted by: Hankster | Feb 13 2024 0:44 utc | 123

Please donate to help embarrass the losers and free Julian Assange by clicking the yellow button here: https://www.assangecountdowntofreedom.com/billboard

If the U.S. court finds Assange guilty (Is water wet?) he will be sentenced to permanent lockdown in a U.S. maximum security prison for the rest of his life. So his February 20 High Court appeal is crucial. How good are his chances?
That may depend on how much outrage and public pressure can be brought to bear on the British and American governments, since everyone knows that this is not really a legal case, to be scrupulously decided by solemn High Court judges meticulously parsing the law. It is a totally political case, which the High Court judges will decide (as British judges in this case have been deciding for the past 4 years) according to the wishes of powerful forces inside the CIA and M16.
That’s why Randy Credico is letting loose his mobile billboard truck(s) during the entire week leading up to February 20. He intends to generate huge waves of provocative public noise about Julian’s hearing, as he did last year in Washington DC, when he deployed a fleet of mobile billboard trucks to traverse the nation’s capital, day after day, circling the British Embassy, the Department of Justice and the White House, alerting the city’s 700,000 residents and 22 million tourists to Julian’s years of illegal persecution and imprisonment initiated by Donald Trump and continued by Joe Biden.
The DC billboard trucks and their message generated instant publicity and sympathy for Juian all over the world, and became a source of extreme embarrassment to U.S. and British leaders. So now Randy is doing it again, this time in New York, the global center of media, communication, and financial power.
These billboard trucks will be even bigger and harder to ignore than the Washington DC trucks — the better to increase public awareness and intensify the political pressure.
Printing the 450 square foot billboards and leasing the special 3 sided billboard truck to display them will cost $8,0000 for the nine days from February 12 to 20. You can help Randy make this a reality by donating whatever you can towards that amount at AssangeCountdownToFreedom.(link above)

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 13 2024 0:46 utc | 124

“They don’t appreciate you until you’re gone b.”
I had a guy working for me way in Northern Ontario. We were staking doing exploration work, his name was Kenny, he had been referred to me as a guy who has a bad history yet is a good worker.
The ‘bad history’ was that he was getting out of jail for assault for the third time. I found out later that he was a legendary fighter in Kirkland Ontario which is a very tough town-Hell’s Angels (they control much illicit trade in little towns in Northern Ontario.) didn’t even bother to try to muscle in the locals they were so crazy.
Anyways, Kenny could fix anything-I mean any motor, chainsaw, snowmobile, trailer, anything. He could paint, weld, a good carpenter, a mean electrician and a good guy in the bush. For a 7 hour days work (staking, chainsawing lines, prospecting)in the bush in the summer I would take 3 or 4 litres of water in my back pack , Kenny took a small bottle. He said,” the more you drink the more your body wants” (I started to listen and gradually I reduced my water intake). Kenny was was a superb hunter (he killed grouse with a pellet gun for fucks ske at 20-25 25 yards), always got more catch than we needed to eat when he went out fishing.
Kenny was about 5 ‘ 9″ wiry with bad teeth yet a good head of hair; my age 61 now. He was 1/4 Ojibwa Indian. He left school when he was 13 cause he was bored and lived in the bush alone for two years. No job, he made his own hut, he fished , he hunted; lived on a stream.
One day when the snow was too bad we were stuck in our camp for the day. I said Kenny, “Do you want to play chess” he said sure haven’t “played for years” I play fairly regularly and I’m not bad.
Well you can guess what happened , Kenny wiped the floor with me a checkmate in less than 15 moves.
The only thing Kenny couldn’t do was cook. And the problem was he ‘thought he could” which makes sense as he could do everything else well. When we were out in the bush one of us, usually me, would go back to the camp a bit early to get the fire going and start prepping for the meal (5 or so guys) and cook. Kenny would volunteer (all the other guys could cook) and everyone would veto him cooking-we were a democracy when it came to cooking, what food, and who would cook it(I tried to run ‘dry camps’, I was unsuccessful many times) (1)
Anyways, I’m burying the lead. Kenny was an alcoholic and after a couple of years he started drinking beers, and it was moderate. But he was ratcheting up. He went to Kirkland to hang out at a bar and he was smoking (2 packs/d I bought them for him every day) outside the bar and a local cop hassled him -the gossip was that the young cop knew of Kenny’s reputation and he wanted to show that he was ‘the champ’ but he brought a buddy with him, in case. So there was a fight-the cop and his buddy ended up broken and Kenny fled from Dodge.
That was 3 years ago Kenny has been gone.
And I know that Kenny was the best guy I ever worked with and I’ll never have the privilege with someone better.
That’s how we will all feel when b retires from his Muse, MOA.
1. One time I was driving on highway 101 to the middle of nowhere with 4 guys in my pickup truck to do 5 days of work in the bush. I was 20 miles out of Timmins and the last store for 100 miles and sells booze we are driving past that store. Because I had all the food and equipment, tents but no booze . That’s what a dry camp is. Anyways, One guy, Bob yells “Stop”. I explain to him that its a dry camp and on the way back I will buy them all the booze they need.
Didn’t work they all hopped out to hitchhike back to town. I guess you could call it a ‘mutiny’. So I relented and after much negotiation -they wanted 3 40’s of rye whiskey and 4 cases of Budweiser- I bought 5 cases of Budweiser Light.

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 0:52 utc | 125

apparently some on MoA are about 12 years old and have no clue what it means to analyze the media.
I have been going through 20-50 sources for 2 years now spending several hours every single day and I have not even caught up to the basic level of most subjects discussed by “b” here. Who has been studying these matters waaaaaay longer.
The archive e.g. is one of the most valuable such online source by any comparison.
I just hope it can be saved for a coming generation.

Posted by: AG | Feb 13 2024 1:10 utc | 126

I know what you mean, and frankly, I too am overwhelmed by the emotional demands placed on my by people like Caitlyn and others. Many are willing to pick up arms for Palestine while I languish from my comfort that someone will respond; and I will continue to watch in contempt of the Genocide. It is funny all the people getting on political boards for spiritual reasons, like Caitlyn. We all do what we can, but a billion for the Putin interview says, hey, could real Democracy win over our overlords? Perhaps that is what they are afraid of.

Posted by: JimG | Feb 13 2024 1:13 utc | 127

You need to give ME a break sometimes b, reading MOA is a full time job.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 13 2024 1:17 utc | 128

Very grateful to this blog, which I support and read every morning. Your intelligent analysis is often echoed by other contributors in this space, and it is through the work of people like you, scouring the information space, that the real picture can be discerned

Posted by: Paul L | Feb 13 2024 1:35 utc | 129

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 13 2024 0:46 utc | 124
Done! Thanks for posting where to donate for Julian Assange, Tom. Now saving up more pennies for another round for Palestinian Red Crescent and then b again.

Posted by: DuchessAndBob | Feb 13 2024 1:38 utc | 130

@72 – Echo Chamber: Yes, indeed, I did pick up on your metaphor, first go, believe it or not.
===
Patroklos: saw your post a while back re: name change & cranky respondents. Keep posting; you’re good. Some people are highly worthwhile to piss off, right?
===
— And to all the rest of the bar – keep it going. This is a cool place to hang out.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Feb 13 2024 2:02 utc | 131

/cheep
We wuv U, b! Take it easy, this is a journey, not a sprint or even a marathon. 🙂
😉 Try art therapy if you need a pick me up. I recommend Play-doh as it is squeezable, releasing tension. And they come in so many colors!
/cheep cheep

Posted by: titmouse | Feb 13 2024 2:59 utc | 132

The result of your work, b, is the most important and valuable site on the entire internet, in my opinion. Add my thanks to all of the others here.
Since you asked: what I did today was pick up my cane, make it to my kitchen to prepare a meal for myself, eat it standing up leaning on the counter because I long ago gave up on trying to carry stuff to a table, then I went back to bed and read the internet, starting with the most important and valuable site (yes, this one) and following links from there. I played a few games that require deep thinking not quick reflexes, then went back to reading. When I’m gone no one will notice (let alone care) until the police kick the door down and call the coroner.
Canuck, can I be Don McLean? No one cared what he thought, either.

Posted by: Dalit | Feb 13 2024 3:05 utc | 133

No worries – following you for years and amazed by your output and incisive analyses. Mach weiter so, egal wann und wieoft!

Posted by: Eisen | Feb 13 2024 3:09 utc | 134

by: Likklemore | Feb 13 2024 0:35 utc | 122
And in Davos, Switzerland one Hotel has rolled up the welcome mat. “No ski equipment rental for Jews they are found to be unruly.”
Interesting, if it is so publicly advertised.
I heard recently from the neighbor, a receptionist in a hotel, that Israelis are famous stealing batteries from the remotes, towels as a normal thing to do, soaps and everything else removable, light bulbs and so on. For them it is normal, he claimed, as they paid for it, it all belongs to them. Trying to avoid such reservations as much, as possible.
A year ago he wouldn’t dare to comment it as it could ruin a reputation of a hotel, he added. Apparently, by breaking his discretion, he doesn’t care anymore.
But sure, the Swiss know how to be brutal in a polite way.

Posted by: whirlX | Feb 13 2024 3:13 utc | 135

Hi B , you are a conscientious person who sacrifices his time to try to make the world a better more peaceful place for humanity. By going against the overwhelmingly strong current of insanity that is the corporate , military industrial complex , mainstream media news conglomerate -WAR FOR PROFIT ,you do make a difference.
Wish I had as much to offer the world.
Bartholomew Cubbins

Posted by: Bartholomew Cubbins | Feb 13 2024 3:27 utc | 136

Thanks, ‘b’ for your daily labor. Even on Rosenmontag!
I for my part. was musing about the “what if” – what if Poland would have acceded to Hitler’s demand to get access on land to the East Prussia? would this prevent the Ribbentrop/Molotov pact? Would the WW2 be delayed, and if so, for how long?
This musing was brought about by the interview Putin gave Tucker Carlson; Putin mentioned the issue of the “corridor” and how Poland actions might have contributed to the outbreak of WW2, (at least this could be so construed from Putin’s remarks, it seems to me – and formally he might be correct, for what it is worth; he also mentioned Poland’s shameful participation with Nazi Germany in attack on Czechoslovakia).
So, that musing took me about half an hour – and studying MoA is a half day job – as Arch said above.

Posted by: fanto | Feb 13 2024 3:31 utc | 137

Congrats for your work, b. It has been a staple of my info diet for many years and it is quality sites such as this that explain the totalitarian drive of the fascistic powers that be to impose intense censorship and mass surveilance of the citizenry.

Posted by: Constantine | Feb 13 2024 4:36 utc | 138

Hey b!
Guess how surprised I’m not that you feel the time you invested in preparing MoA Week In Review – OT 2024-044 was mostly wasted?
As for the prep and maintenance of MoA being the work of one person, I’ve always thought you must be circa 5x better organised than I.
If one factor makes MoA a standout source for reliable analysis it’s the time you ‘waste’ on fact-checking before publishing; and your fearless retraction of an incorrect conclusion on the few occasions (in the last 10+ years) when emerging facts have contradicted it.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 13 2024 4:41 utc | 139

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Feb 12 2024 21:46 utc | 90
Thanks for the tip dude! I’ll source it now.
Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 22:25 utc | 99
canuck……Taylor Swift
But then who made you gatekeeper of the cool kids?

Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 13 2024 5:20 utc | 140

Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Feb 13 2024 0:08 utc | 120
I’m not even saying a word…

Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 13 2024 5:21 utc | 141

Posted by: DuchessAndBob | Feb 13 2024 1:38 utc | 130
Thanks! I donated $50 today and I did $50 to the Palestinian relief efforts in December. I am also planning to do a $100+ donation to b and MoA as soon as we know our tax situation here in the states.
Everybody else, please find a reputable way to donate to Julian Assange’s defense or the public embarrassment of the USUK scumbag elites that hold him in prison for political trumped up bullshit!

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 13 2024 5:24 utc | 142

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Feb 13 2024 2:02 utc | 131
Thanks Tom, back at you. Were you lucky enough though to be bestowed a musical comparison by canuck? If not, you’re not a REAL barfly…

Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 13 2024 5:24 utc | 143

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/02/12/opinion/opinion-contributor/ukraine-generals-war-attrition/
The obese Canadian propagandist Gwynne Dyer, which has in the past, among other things,
1. Spent over 20 years repeatedly  forecasting the “inevitable and imminent collapse” of China
2. Said that billionaires were the “best rulers for poor countries  because they are already rich and so will not steal”
3. Forecast the victory of the 2020 Belarus colour revolution attempt
4. Claimed ISIS would capture not just Syria but Lebanon as well
5. Claimed Putin murders all his opponents
6. Said Navalny was not a racist and that his comments about “killing Caucasians with shoes” was not racist
7. Predicted the TPLF was inevitably going to capture Addis Ababa and overthrow the Ethiopian government
8. Claimed in August last year that the Ukranazi “counteroffensive” had broken through the Russian defences and would soon starve Russia out of Crimea
now wants Ukranazistan to continue fighting for years or possibly decades longer, without mentioning a word about how hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians dragged off the streets are being ground into the ground and mixed into the mud by the Russian  meat grinder.
I suggest Gwynne Dyer be conscripted and sent off to the front along with Jihadi Julian Röpcke, Lindsey Graham, and every NAFO keyboard warrior. It would serve them all right.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Feb 13 2024 5:29 utc | 144

The first News item on Radio 4 at 21.00 yesterday, while the Zits were zapping Rafah was about a Labour Party 2024 Election candidate in Labour stronghold/ Jewish stronghold Manchester , Mr Ali , who questioned the Zionist narrative of October 7.
I haven’t listened to the Bbc since the start of the SMO , but apparently in Manchester anti-zionism can still be expressed publicly and possibly win you a majority in a Jewish Muslim constituency. Red lines have been drawn in the sand between the posh Southerners of the BBC Manchester HQ and the locals.
The AI salivating is likely to short circuit the electronic circuitry.

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 13 2024 5:33 utc | 145

Long (15 or 16 posts) from a Jewish man:
Ben Goren
@BanGaoRen
🧵 Just got off the phone to a relative in Israel. An update on the situation from their perspective. First off the bat, despite the Govt and it’s client media’s onslaught of propaganda the most success Israel has with the hasbara is largely abroad amongst media and politicians.
3:59 AM · Feb 12, 2024
·
282.6K
Views
https://twitter.com/BanGaoRen/status/1756724597855297559

Posted by: Menz | Feb 13 2024 5:40 utc | 146

asad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليل
@asadabukhalil
·
1h
A “mission” that slaughtered 67 innocent Palestinians is romanticized in the Genocide Times. The slaughter of darker-skin natives is always romantic in the Western racist imagination.
https://twitter.com/asadabukhalil/status/1757255766489301149

Posted by: Menz | Feb 13 2024 5:45 utc | 147

Arya – آریا 🇮🇷 reposted
Arya – آریا 🇮🇷
@AryJeay
🛑| The US Navy’s 5th Fleet was HACKED by Bahraini hackers “Al-Toufan”.
The hackers gained access to confidential documents that contains detailed maps & pictures of the US military base in Bahrain. They released a small part of it and said what they have is greater and it will be given to those who support the Resistance Nexus.
https://twitter.com/AryJeay/status/1757012809601179813

Posted by: Menz | Feb 13 2024 5:51 utc | 148

@Posted by: Menz | Feb 13 2024 5:45 utc | 147
1000 to 1 Hollywood is going to make a movie about this made up story.
A made up story about a made up story.
Also, Reuters said 167 and not 67 Palestinians dead. They should coordinate their lies.

Posted by: librul | Feb 13 2024 5:52 utc | 149

What is to become of all the Holocaust memorials
now that there is so much support for Genocide
amongst the visitors to these memorials?
They are everywhere:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Holocaust_memorials_and_museums_in_the_United_States
They are now
Monuments to Hypocrisy.

Posted by: librul | Feb 13 2024 5:56 utc | 150

How many kids have been murdered by the Israelis that may have grown up to be another Isaac Newton or discovered a cure for cancer?
Square profile picture
AJ+
@ajplus
·
21h
With some fan blades, switches, wiring, bulbs and materials from the scrap yard, 15-year-old Hussam al-Attar was able to rig electricity for his family’s tent in Gaza.
He’s since been coined “Palestinian Newton” by his community.
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1756959324075942293

Posted by: Menz | Feb 13 2024 5:57 utc | 151

Just start a Patreon and make this into a full time job…

Posted by: Dodrey Dougherton | Feb 13 2024 6:03 utc | 152

Mullah Krekar , who is an Iraqi Kurdish Islamist I have met personally has written a small homily on the crisis in Gaza.
In a small village in a Muslim country someone decides to call the Adhan publicly. The village leader is told about this and his main concern is whether it will affect the sheep, having the call to prayer out loud. No, Uncle teacher darling agha khan, it won’t affect the sheep.
The meaning I take from the homily is that so long as politics doesn’t make waves, it will be allowed.
But the statement : I bear witness that none is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhamnad saw is His true Messenger. Does make waves and even the sheep will feel the blessing if these beautiful words.
In fact these beautiful words are like nuclear bombs exploding over the zionists heads, informing them of their punishment in Hell in the Hereafter.

Posted by: Giyane | Feb 13 2024 6:08 utc | 153

Caught and released a few black crappie, some bluegill, and a largemouth bass in a local canal. Fishing with permission in an urban canal on Six Nations territory.

Posted by: Brautigan | Feb 13 2024 6:12 utc | 154

AJ+
@ajplus
·
Feb 10
“I have been handcuffed for 45 days … I was blindfolded for 45 days. My legs were tied for 45 days.”
Israeli forces tortured this Palestinian doctor for over seven weeks after taking him captive during their assault on al-Ahli Hospital in occupied Gaza in December.
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1756272800648790077

Posted by: Menz | Feb 13 2024 6:32 utc | 155

Hi B.
For sure it’s a full-time job. People that don’t figure out that have certainly never published something really relevant.
Don’t forget that after having been nourished of all these reads and watches, you also must take time to analyze and then write the paper.
A double full-time job for sure.
Take heart B !

Posted by: Luc Laforets | Feb 13 2024 7:08 utc | 156

As Plato presciently proclaimed: Kings (aristocracy)-timocracy-oligarchy-democracy-tyranny
We are now entering the Tyranny (Fascism) part.
A strong Leader- King will emerge along eventually displace Fascism and the cycle will return.
You can deny, reject it, cry about it but it is an inevitable cycle that will never end while humans form communities.
Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 21:59 utc | 94
It was Aristotle not Plato, on his work Politics IIRC . Plato was a fan of a proto communist society. Aristotle was a fan of personal liberties.
His full diagram from the best polity (according to him) to worst is
– Monarchy (he makes an argument about enlightened monarchy)
– Aristocracy (rule of the few but of the Άριστοι-“the best” some kind of meritocracy)
– Democracy
– Demagogee (democracy but derailed by demagogues)
– Oligarchy (rule of the few but no selection process)
– Tyranny (an incompetent king)
His point is mostly correct and he arrived there by observation of the current polities in ancient Greece and the Orient. Having someone with absolute power to rule is the swingiest of the goverment types which offers the less stability because the gap between a competent king and one who rules for his sole benefit is the widest. Democracy has the least perturbations.

Posted by: Modern Stoic | Feb 13 2024 7:09 utc | 157

> I have had no idea what serious issue to post about today.
—
The proposed spending bill for Ukraine and Israel making its way through congress isn’t enough to cover the shortfall in the coming Commercial Real Estate writedown.

The portion of the $4.7 trillion in US commercial real estate debt that will come due this year – and in theory must be paid off through a sale, refinanced, or extended to avoid default – has ballooned from $659 billion to $929 billion, the Mortgage Bankers Association said today.
The reason the loan maturities ballooned in 2024 from the initial figure of $659 billion to $929 billion today is that many loans that matured in 2023 and were supposed to be paid off in 2023, were in fact not paid off.
Instead, the loans have been modified and extended into 2024 and others were extended further into the future, the MBA said in its report today. The dollar amounts reflect the unpaid principal balance as of December 31, 2023.
continues

https://wolfstreet.com/2024/02/12/cre-loans-maturing-in-2024-balloon-by-41-to-929-billion-after-loans-that-matured-in-2023-werent-paid-off-but-extended/

The shrieking about interest rates will be deafening as these loans come due.

Posted by: too scents | Feb 13 2024 7:18 utc | 158

Giyane @ 45
The UK labour MP on the news yesterday….
Standing for a bi election radio 4 bbc 9am.
Rotherum i think. Name, Alli.
By 12 mid day was toast. They kicked him out for telling the truth.
Will the last soul leaving the israelie jewish run Labour party of UK please close the door.
—————–
Rolling stones mmmm not a bad try.
But i’m more—– Hugh Mundell stop em Jah roots canoa (spelt correctly)
All his music.
Respect.

Posted by: Mark2 | Feb 13 2024 8:01 utc | 159

b is Blood, Sweat and Tears, A David Clayton Thomas with a powerful interpretation
of political events combined with a stunning cast of musicians.
The rest of us are just cover artists.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Feb 13 2024 8:14 utc | 160

Or —Hugh Mundell cant pop no style

Posted by: Mark2 | Feb 13 2024 8:14 utc | 161

Borrell is probably thinking about returning to Spanish politics, so he plays whatever will get him more votes. The Catholics, with the stains of the Crusades, the Inquisition and colonization have reflected more than the Protestants on religious violence.
Is it too difficult for German journalists to ask their politicians how it is that they and the UK and US ones stand apart in their full support of Likud against all the international humanitarian and judicial bodies and actors?

Posted by: Minaa | Feb 13 2024 8:40 utc | 162

Naive #117
make you wonder how the self proclaimed holders of judeo christian values manage to get around the commandment forbidding all representation!

Posted by: Minaa | Feb 13 2024 8:47 utc | 163

<3

Posted by: Giovanni | Feb 13 2024 8:53 utc | 164

Thank you very much for your work b.

Posted by: Axl | Feb 13 2024 9:24 utc | 165

It looks like a good day’s work B.
Answering your question, I did a good day’s work as well, in the morning one thing, in the afternoon another thing.
Thanks for all your posts and links. I barely have time to read your blog and others but I keep coming back to check.

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Feb 13 2024 9:48 utc | 166

words are truth for some they resonate truth does not hide in the shadows skulk like chabad in the dark drains of new york.
the truth will out many the most sometimes fail to see it here it digest it eyes wide shut.
the world is a demon run stage enforced by the biggest crime syndicate blackmail ring the world has ever seen
today on the radio after the 2nd round of theme from schindlers list on the news east india rothschild company man david cammeron real name levitts said bb must think again and think some more before going into rafa think again think some more.
a roths shill telling a roths shill media what bb a roths shill agent should do.
everything is lockstep what we have here is bad performance art vent stalling.
the slaughter must go on the devil rides out the owl must be fed a rich babylonian talmud harvest

Posted by: todd | Feb 13 2024 10:33 utc | 167

You have left us with enough reading material for a few days…much appreciated for the work you do…

Posted by: notlurking | Feb 13 2024 11:02 utc | 168

I am curious, b, if you have any takes on developments in Armenia. i.e. Do they seem as serious as Naked Capital ism is claiming in their piece: https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/02/troubling-trends-in-armenia-mirror-pre-war-ukraine.html?
It is interesting who’s reporting on this, sure: https://www.rferl.org/a/nagorno-karabakh-pashinian-armenia-azerbaijan-humanitarian-aid/32604471.html
But I am somewhat skeptical if the effort is as serious as the Maidan was…

Posted by: Halcibo | Feb 13 2024 11:10 utc | 169

Todd @ 167
As you say.
Camerons plausable deniabilty lined up when the Genicide Trial starts.
Just like Blare with his Iraq murder of half a million children.

Posted by: Mark2 | Feb 13 2024 11:26 utc | 170

The entitlement exhibited by people who comment as if b owes them something make me laugh. This is free info/entertainment. Take it or leave.

Posted by: ABOBA | Feb 13 2024 11:41 utc | 171

Enjoy: https://vk.com/video-221265170_456346499

Posted by: Apollyon | Feb 13 2024 12:10 utc | 172

@ Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Feb 13 2024 0:08 utc | 120
I’m not even saying a word…
Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 13 2024 5:21 utc | 141
For Patroklos (he with the great moniker):
A rookie assumed he had license
For loquacity not worth a two-pence.
But who do I hear
Coming through loud and clear?
Patroklos! Speaking in silence.
And thanks for your post Pacifica Advocate.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Feb 13 2024 12:20 utc | 173

@ (…at least to the first 10 minutes of it)
Me too. I like the descriptions of events but can do without the speculation; it’s the same with Weeb.

Posted by: Squeeth | Feb 13 2024 12:27 utc | 174

“@canuck: I don’t know what your system was for making that list, but the Who? Really? But, okay. Thanks.”
Posted by: Honzo | Feb 12 2024 23:49 utc | 116
My ‘system’ is not a proper measuring tool; just a subjective, spastic stab at analogy while I was enjoying some strong THC. Essentially, it was a lark.
You should be proud of your analogy with, “The Who”-a seminal rock and roll band whom-excuse the pun- at least in the 60’s, was anti Establishment with such lyrics as: “Won’t get Fooled Again”-
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…” (1)
1. In 1982 I was in my first year of school in the University of Toronto and The Who were performing at Exhibition Stadium in their ‘Farewell Tour”-which was bullshit but that’s another story . I didn’t have much cash but asking around I managed to get a bargain ticket for $20-cheap at the time. I congratulated myself for being so resourceful.
On the afternoon of the concert I went early by myself to the stadium but my ticket was a forgery – I was fucked. I wandered up the street feeling very depressed. If I was a female I would have had a good cry. Then I heard someone yelling,”Canuk, Canuk [not his real name, editor] and I looked over and 6 or 7 of my high school buddies (from a rural high school 100 miles away) all crammed into a shitty, brown Chevy Van. I went over and they had one ticket left as one guy couldn’t make it. They were going to scalp it but they offered it to me. I told them I had absolutely no cash, nada. “Fuck the cash, canuk, get in here and let’s start the pre-drinking”.
So we did.
Unfortunately, The Who almost didn’t play. Jackson Browne opened for them and it was a bad mix for The Who crowd. Drunken idiots starting throwing beer bottles and paraphernalia at the man yet Jackson never missed a beat dancing around the thrown objects. Pete Townsend, really pissed off, came out on stage tok Jackson’s microphone and yelled, “If one more thing is thrown at Jackson, we won’t play”. The throwing immediately ceased.
It was wonderful concert.

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 12:32 utc | 175

lol I completely missed that b had even posted a new article until just a few moments ago after having posted on the open thread! Only by refreshing the whole site did I notice a new post only to find the gem.
THANK YOU ALWAYS BERNHARD.
Well yesterday – I was extra busy doing my beyond the call best as a volunteer helping run our local club in an effort to keep our prices very cheap compared to the insane prices of local public houses which have caused a mass exodus of old local community from such places that were their daily home for decades.
They rely on the club as their social hub now, as poor pensioners, I have managed to keep prices to just about the same level as a dozen years ago! We keep the heating on so they don’t freeze in their homes during daytime as they avoid turning it on now the prices are high. Let them watch telly and sort the world out. A greater bunch of reactionary, dumbo idiots who only get their news from the BBC rolling bullshit , idiots, you will not dind anywhere else. But they are my, our idiots, mostly single and old now, abandoned by any children long ago moved away to the suburbs. Their sunset years. My task to their last of the summer wine flowing smoothly we lose one or two a year….
It is much like b’s lot running this bar, mostly un-appreciated and totally un-rewarded financially in any way – it takes up 30-40 hours every week. Then there are the meetings and having to work with other volunteers. Hell truly is having to work with people who have no common dog-fuck! 3 hourly once a month meetings! that fail to address all the issues and decisions which will fail and have to be reversed anyway. They’re magical thinking that a few hours and some decisions means somebody else just has to do the actual work! Because hey they done their bit by making a decision! Ho hum. I wouldn’t let them run a raffle.
Synchronicity with b, I alluded to how his method was the best, in one of my last posts on the other thread. I had seen something similar a few years ago here. It’s worth knowing how to cook folks. If you want to keep eating well.
I appreciate the work involved in ‘Information Retrieval’ and Media Monitoring at high speed , the abilities needed to scan, select and edit into an executive summary that is detailed yet not unreadable – it was one of my businesses! But having eschewed all msm now and only relying on independent bloggers and greats that do the hard slog to bring us out daily bread of news and counter narratives such as b, geroman, Craig Murray , and many other men and women around the inter web , allows me to go meandering with my thoughts.
I was not the best retriever, editor or summariser but I did end up employing the very best. They made a career out of what they went into as a temporary and unlikely success meme job.
But I met all the Big Customers and knew their needs and interests.
We were so good we would see and send what they had needed and withheld for personal eyes what they wouldn’t have wanted for their whole organisation to see – because that’s what professionalism , expertise and customer service is all about.
Made me rich enough to retire when most people were mid career.
All nearly spent now. And still not near pension age!
I hope some idiot will keep my cheap beer club going.
I hope b carries on forever.
I hope MoA and its barflies always have a home.
I really hope the trolls keep trying their narratives here – there’s nothing like catching the predators as they think they are catching you! It is one of the most informative parts of the site btl !😉

Posted by: DunGroanin | Feb 13 2024 12:41 utc | 176

“As Plato presciently proclaimed: Kings (aristocracy)-timocracy-oligarchy-democracy-tyranny
We are now entering the Tyranny (Fascism) part.
A strong Leader- King will emerge along eventually displace Fascism….”
Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 21:59 utc | 94
“What are you @canuck? A 12 year old?”……..
“And no: no scholar of any value equates Platonic or Aristotelian “Tyranny” with “Fascism”. Perhaps Mussolini and Hitler did, but nobody who can read Classical Greek ever has”
Posted by: Pacifica Advocado | Feb 13 2024 0:08 utc | 120
Thank you for the compliment on my youth…though I don’t have my 12 year old ‘boyish’ figure anymore I do appreciate the gesture.
Fascism is a Tyranny, it’s basic common sense. Yet you , obviously, are much smarter than Plato so instead of wasting your ‘genius time’ intellectually kicking around dullard idiots like myself write a book like “The Republic” and have people still referring to it 2,400 years from now.
I can hardly wait-will you sign an autographed copy for me?

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 12:48 utc | 177

b, Thanks for the specifics of the “ingredient list” of your readings, many of which are unfamiliar to me. I’ll take a look at them.
Your analyses always have their own slant—partly because you are German and can access more sources.
I’ll just echo: TFAYD–Thanks For All You Do–to provide excellent information plus maintain the site.
———————————-
I am just arriving at this thread, so apologies if the following is a repetition, but Diane Johnstone’s recent essay is IMO a must-read.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/02/11/diana-johnstone-genocide-meets-french-devotion-to-israel/
She includes (to me unknown) info on the actual relationship between Hamas and Israel. Now that Johnstone mentions it I recall the paraplegic Hamas leader.
Her account of the pendulum-like left-to-right action of Jew hate and Jew love in France is fascinating. It seems like the most recent swing of the pendulum might actually open up new space for anti-genocidaires on the left.
It is incredible to me that we seem now to have ended up thinking of political parties in terms of whether they are anti- vs. pro-genocide.

Posted by: Jane | Feb 13 2024 12:49 utc | 178

Seriously me and my boyfriend always wonder how the heck you manage to do so much work all by yourself, you are like a big news outlet. We are so grateful, thank you for your incredible hard work!

Posted by: R | Feb 13 2024 12:51 utc | 179

“Canuck, can I be Don McLean? No one cared what he thought, either.”
Posted by: Dalit | Feb 13 2024 3:05 utc | 133
Of course, Dalit.
Don Mclean……..Dalit
One of my favourite lyrics from “American Pie”:
“Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died”

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 12:53 utc | 180

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Feb 13 2024 2:02 utc | 131
Thanks Tom, back at you. Were you lucky enough though to be bestowed a musical comparison by canuck? If not, you’re not a REAL barfly…
Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 13 2024 5:24 utc | 143
Kindly please posters don’t think you have been snubbed because I didn’t place you in my musical analogy.
It was a lark by a stoned Canuk, not a popularity contest nor a ranking.

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 13:00 utc | 181

Thanks b.
Your efforts are much appreciated.
The Crooke article you linked was well worth reading.

Posted by: tawharanui | Feb 13 2024 13:07 utc | 182

Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 22:25 utc | 99
“canuck……Taylor Swift”
Posted by: Patroklos | Feb 13 2024 5:20 utc | 140
I do appreciate the nod, Patroklos, but as Taylor Swift is now the most popular entertainer in the world, that’s not me here as, I am not that popular on MOA.
So I will designate myself, with a much less popular artist yet a favourite of mine:
Lou Reed…………canuk

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 13:07 utc | 183

As Plato presciently proclaimed: Kings (aristocracy)-timocracy-oligarchy-democracy-tyranny
We are now entering the Tyranny (Fascism) part.
A strong Leader- King will emerge along eventually displace Fascism and the cycle will return.
You can deny, reject it, cry about it but it is an inevitable cycle that will never end while humans form communities.
Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 21:59 utc | 94
“It was Aristotle not Plato, on his work Politics IIRC . Plato was a fan of a proto communist society. Aristotle was a fan of personal liberties.”
Posted by: Modern Stoic | Feb 13 2024 7:09 utc | 157
You are incorrect.
Plato when writing may have put words in Socrates mouth or it is just Plato, I don’t know I wasn’t there–regardless Plato believed the following or he wouldn’t have written the tome:
“In book VIII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates begins to discuss with Glaucon the four stages of government. Socrates identifies four basic governments and speaks of them in order of what he observes to be common occurrence. He begins with Timocracy, a government driven by the brave warriors and war heros of the day. Timocracy closely resembles how a powerful army is governed. It runs like a well oiled machine by the most powerful men. The second, an oligarchy, men of power not of strength, but of goods and riches. These men lavish their wealth on their passions and care little for anything but that which they can buy with money. The third, democracy. Democracy is made up of many men desiring freedom. Those who would rather die than be chained to the rich. The fourth and final form of government Socrates discusses is tyranny. The tyrant is a government driven by one man, who with no concern for his people, rules most unlawfully. Socrates says that the tyrannical government is the most regrettable form of government, ruled by the worst kind of man. Socrates says these are the inevitable stages in which every government will downfall.” (1)
1.https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Four-Stages-Of-Government-In-Platos-4119F15762F02081

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 13:18 utc | 184

“It is incredible to me that we seem now to have ended up thinking of political parties in terms of whether they are anti- vs. pro-genocide.”
Posted by: Jane | Feb 13 2024 12:49 utc | 178
You hit the nail on the proverbial head-its is a tragedy Western civilization has reached this moral nadir.

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 13:33 utc | 185

I cannot believe that anyone should or can complain about b’s output. We have a lot to be thankful for, and no right to criticize his quantity of output.

Posted by: Kaiama | Feb 13 2024 13:56 utc | 186

Who did complain ?

Posted by: Mark2 | Feb 13 2024 14:03 utc | 187

I watched the whole video with Jacques Baud. Very high level of knowledge and thought. Thank you b!
A personal summary: Today the decision-makers in the west are mainly aware that the war is lost and were a mistake. They thought Russia would collapse with the sanctions or be afraid of collapsing.
The main-difficulty for them today, is to change tune and tell our populations that Russia is not absolute evil. That will take some time still, but the Ukraine war is only a detail compared to the struggle USA is going to have with China.

Posted by: Mio Nielsen | Feb 13 2024 14:04 utc | 188

You don’t owe us any explanation, b.
Anyone with half a brain can see the huge amount of work that goes into producing a blog like this.
And so far as I have ever known, you do it all by yourself.
Just amazing.

Posted by: expat | Feb 13 2024 14:04 utc | 189

@143 Patroklos:
Nah, I got no music persona. Busted out.
… and then @183 Canuck:
Canuck, I took no offense, and thanks for the consideration.
====
If I had to assign myself a musical avatar, it’d be Led Zeppelin, and the song would be “when the levee breaks”.
It’ll shake you to your bones. And it’s apropos for the times, no less.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Feb 13 2024 14:11 utc | 190

@canuck post 125
I am very long time patron at this bar…but I just sit in the corner and absorb. I enjoyed that post as I am a resident of Northern Ontario(I live in North Bay).

Posted by: upsetter | Feb 13 2024 14:17 utc | 191

Have gone and read comments and for a bit of feedback have this barflies.
@ Posted by: Echo Chamber | Feb 12 2024 20:45 utc | 69
Hah! Excellent advice. My mother always collects rain water for the tomatoes and veg in the greenhouse. The chlorinated water makes them taste funny. She should know has the taste and senses of one who never drank or smoked. It does mean there are hundred of used large plastic milk bottles everywhere!
Better a natural jungle than a monagricultured garden.
Have a good season.
@ Posted by: Johnny Dollar | Feb 12 2024 20:50 utc | 73
Was watching the real impact sportsmen over the weekend – you can see their faces contorting with blows and all – none of that nancyboy stormtrooper outfits hiding that most of the US players are afroamericans!
We sent over pretty faces still Reese-Zammet to collect a few earnings as the Welsh can’t afford to pay their warriors much.
He’ll amuse you.
@ Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 21:15 utc | 80
All right – you are off my naughty step for threatening behaviour.
for being stoned enough to swap the order of the list and for ignoring a poisonous stinger.
@ Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 13:07 utc | 183
And then again – perhaps you missed the air moving over your head? 😜
@ Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 12 2024 21:30 utc | 86
Heck Karl, take it easy fella, there are only so many days to enjoy and so many heartbeats before the pistons fail. I and many appreciate your bounty daily too.
Don’t forget VVP is in electioneering mode, he’ll only be accelerating and mostly for the Russian voters. So perhaps a bit of leniency upon yourself too bro.
@ Posted by: AG | Feb 13 2024 1:10 utc | 126
Totally agree it will be the go to historical record for future centuries unsullied by any ‘academic’ owned institutions and their lickspittle professors who will be spouting the nonsense that most supposed ‘historians’ now do about imperialism and even just the last hundred years!
@Posted by: Arch Bungle | Feb 13 2024 1:17 utc | 128
Bingo! You win the thread 😁
@ Posted by: Dalit | Feb 13 2024 3:05 utc | 133
Leave your mark here dear human! We are all in the same boat.
Is there a social club nearby you can shuffle to for a few hours to sit and read?

Posted by: DunGroanin | Feb 13 2024 14:54 utc | 192

‘I also bought food and prepared a meal for myself.’ – b
Let us hope that the formidable Mr b is able to retain his balance and perspective after consuming that long list of articles, much of it constituting Lügenpresse mind poison.
Sounds like b could use a waifu.

Posted by: Jim H | Feb 13 2024 14:56 utc | 193

wayne in norway @ 160
Wow. Had not seen that singer’s name in forever. I would say b is more like BS&T during Jaco’s tenure and on the one performance when DCT was sick and Bruce Springsteen covered.
No apologies for the current Springsteen. When he was young he had pipes and knew how to connect with an audience.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 13 2024 14:57 utc | 194

I was just wondering recently: “how can he do all that alone!?! there must be a team behind him!!”
It seems that you are actually alone to write and manage all that!! For many years…
Thank you and bravo Bernhard for this enormous amount of top articles!

Posted by: Comminges | Feb 13 2024 15:05 utc | 195

Please don’t ever doubt that your work isn’t appreciated. I’m the author of a non-fiction book and know firsthand how much time goes into research goes into making what you write as accurate and professional as possible.
Keep up the good work. Many many of us truly appreciate your site.

Posted by: Tony smyth | Feb 13 2024 15:05 utc | 196

@canuck post 125
“I am very long time patron at this bar…but I just sit in the corner and absorb. I enjoyed that post as I am a resident of Northern Ontario(I live in North Bay).”
Posted by: upsetter | Feb 13 2024 14:17 utc | 191
Yeah, you know what its like in Northern Ontario-unless you’ve been there it’s hard for people to connect.
I did 20 years working at a desk as a financial guy, now 20 years as a mineral prospector; I have 10 X the stories from prospecting than when I was sitting behind a desk.
However, I believe you are definitely in the ‘short line’-ie posters that enjoy my yarns.
Thanks for the feedback.

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 15:18 utc | 197

Es gibt Menschen, die kämpfen einen Tag, und sie sind gut.
Es gibt andere, die kämpfen ein Jahr und sind besser.
Es gibt Menschen, die kämpfen viele Jahre und sind sehr gut.
Aber es gibt Menschen, die kämpfen ihr Leben lang:
Das sind die Unersetzlichen.
Bertolt Brecht

Posted by: SlowDL | Feb 13 2024 15:31 utc | 198

“@ Posted by: canuck | Feb 12 2024 21:15 utc | 80
All right – you are off my naughty step for threatening behaviour.
for being stoned enough to swap the order of the list and for ignoring a poisonous stinger.”
Posted by: DunGroanin | Feb 13 2024 14:54 utc | 192
I try to be objective such that I believe the iconic “The Doors” was a suitable analogy for you even though we have indeed locked horns in the past {canuk is very, very touchy about his late mother, editor].
On the other hand Willian Gruff has been, metaphorically, been kicking me in the teeth since day one yet he got the coveted ‘Elvis’ analogy.
For that award , instead of abusing ‘yours truly’, he should be writing me a cheque!!

Posted by: canuck | Feb 13 2024 15:32 utc | 199

On waking every morning, I make a pot of tea (strong enough for a mouse to dance on, per my Irish great great grandmother) then check, in this order: NY Times (gotta know what the ruling class wants us to think … and their recipes are excellent,) Moon of Alabama, and Naked Capitalism.
Your posts have helped me make sense of the world and have allowed me to retain my sanity (although I would be the last to know if I lost it!) especially since the winter of 2022. Thank you.
Eclair

Posted by: Eclair | Feb 13 2024 15:36 utc | 200

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