Israel To Launch Major Escalation?

April 9, 2024

At Naked Capitalism Yves Smith links (thank you) to yesterday's Moon of Alabama piece:

Two Israeli Actions Misfired, Pushed Netanyahoo Into Retreat

She comments:

IMHO, this is a premature call. Israel so far has made only small-beer placating moves. Per above, it is doubling down on attacking Rafah, something the Biden Administration has noisily opposed.

Well, may be.

Yves also says this:

Someone with very strong diplomatic contacts described a specific, major escalation that Israel is primed to make. Would make the Iran embassy strike look like peanuts in terms of ripple effects. Am hoping to get a post from him. It would be hard to think the region does not wind up in a major conflagration if he is correct.

Ominous.

A direct attack on Iran?

Or what else might that major escalation be?

Posted by b on April 9, 2024 at 14:28 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Right, so we have mentioned nearly ALL of Netanyahu’s neighbours as possible targets of a false flag or an attack. Except Egypt. At the start Nutty had a plan; make all the Gazans flee into Egypt via Rafah. Since he has only one or two brain cells that work, he is not clever enough to think of a second plan.
If the Egyptians don’t want to let the GAZANS IN – HE MUST ATTACK the border and force the Philadelphia corridor to open. (The tents are for use in the Sinai, as per the original plan. This will be passed off as an “Humanitarian” gesture to the survivors if there are any)
Meanwhile back at the “ranch”, Al Aqsa mosque will be taken over and the three red heifers burnt alive. Forcing every Muslim state into very hostile attitudes with accompanying threats of a major ME war.
Call in the US cavalry for an (anticipated) last minute protection (racket).
(The Americans, having lived through the moment the sun went out will be delighted to find themselves fighting in the desert without shades.)
****
Israel has nukes. The present treatment of Mordechai is just more proof. The question is how many and where they are. In the 6 German supplied submarines? Fixed under preprepared F35’s? Placed in the Embassies of capital cities of countries it doesn’t like? (The latter was possibly done in London as radioactivity was detected there in the late 60’s. A Policewoman was shot (or otherwise injured) when she made too many enquiries. I was a student in London at the time.)
****
I should point out that some fools in the US think they could get away with using nukes without an armageddon.
****
The symbolism of Three red Heifers, the Bull (sculpture) on Wall Street, and BAAL, (The religion) might mean something.

Posted by: Stonebird | Apr 9 2024 19:34 utc | 101

Posted by: Patroklos | Apr 9 2024 19:31 utc | 98
################
The issue with getting rid of Bibi is that the next guy could be worse. More aggressive, less cunning, with more childhood trauma.
That’s a roll of the dice. Bibi is a lousy human, but he is well-known and can be expected to operate psychopathically within certain parameters.
A new guy? Until he shows people who he is under pressure (people can be hyper-competent when things are cool and lose their minds when the heat is on), that exercise of discovery might prove to be fatal for Israel AND America.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 9 2024 19:37 utc | 102

> Call in the US cavalry for an (anticipated) last minute protection (racket).
> Posted by: Stonebird | Apr 9 2024 19:34 utc | 100
what would be there in it for Bibi personally?
what about a yet crazier twist?
1. Isreal demolished Al Aqsa
2. Muslims go amok
3. Israel declares Holocaust 2.0 and demands evacuation
4. USA and Europe move most of Israeli into Ukraine, which is still under Ze-regime’s control. Denpropetrovsk and Odessa were cities with QUITE a Jewish presence. All the infamous pogroms 150 years ago happenned exactly in what is now called Ukraine.
5. Bibi is now a shepherd-like figure and ex-Israeli are too busy settling in a destroyed remote place to pursue rather mundane bribe charges.

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 19:47 utc | 103

Gotta pick up on MFB @ 12. A threat to the Champions league stadiums. *This* time the Daily Mail actually says that (I’m not extrapolating from a Canadian wildlife story.)
So — “The Al Azaim Foundation, a media channel responsible for spreading messages from the ISIS-K branch of the terror group shared a post threatening an attack on all four stadiums hosting this week’s quarter-finals.
This includes the Emirates Stadium in London, which will host Arsenal v Bayern Munich, and the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid – where Manchester City will take on Real Madrid. Both matches are being played tonight.”
From — “ ‘I thought about it for a second, then said f*** it, I’m coming to London to drink beer!’: Defiant football fans flock to Champions League clashes involving Man City and Arsenal despite ISIS threats: Police say they have a ‘plan in place’ “
Further — from a couple of just random any old Swedish fans (I’m sure). “Henrik and Oystein have travelled from Sweden for the highly anticipated game and were not deterred from the Brussels terror attack in October that saw one football fan killed by a lone Islamist terrorist.
Oystein said: ‘After the terrorist attack where the man killed while the Swedish national team played against Belgium you do think what is going to happen to be. But then I thought f*** it, I’m going to London to drink beer and watch the football.”

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 9 2024 19:47 utc | 104

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 19:28 utc | 96
> …getting Congress to 100% authorize declaration of war.
> Posted by: scorpion | Apr 9 2024 19:23 utc | 94
On which nation exactly? USA would just blow few random places in Syria or Iraq and claim revenge done.

Good question! (I’ve lost track of all these groups.)
However it works to justify going after Iran.

Posted by: scorpion | Apr 9 2024 20:05 utc | 105

“This is of course assuming Yves is not engaging in exaggerated speculation. My impression of recent history is that it’s all very much in line with the last 500 years.
That said, it is interesting to watch how the US deals with Bibi. Usually the US has ‘its man’ at the helm. Saddam was its man in Iraq until he got uppity and thought he was in charge of Iraq, and that Iraq should be governed for the Iraqi people. Israel is obviously a special case, but the State Dept do have contingency plans for dealing with leaders who go off-script. Yves may be right, and Bibi might be insane and cunning in equal measure, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Bibi were to have an accident at some point. Stalin was reputed to have said: “There is a man. He is a problem. No man—no problem.””
Posted by: Patroklos | Apr 9 2024 19:31 utc | 98
Excellent secular exegesis

Posted by: canuck | Apr 9 2024 20:09 utc | 106

“Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will meet several of his European Union counterparts over the next week to try to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state” … “he expects Madrid to extend recognition to the Palestinians by July”
reuters

Posted by: Passerby | Apr 9 2024 20:10 utc | 107

> However it works to justify going after Iran.
> Posted by: scorpion | Apr 9 2024 20:05 utc | 104
yeah, “justify”. Meaning USA do want to start it and just need a lipstick for their pig. Well, if they did then American ISIS-Khorasan would already fabricate all the pretexts Congress could need. But they do not.
Meaning USA do not want it now. But then, Israel providing mere lipsticks would change little. Sure, USA would need to make some “we stronk, we smash” show to let the rage out, but that would be it.

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 20:13 utc | 108

Alastair Crooke’s commentary yesterday is one of the most generally enlightening, shedding light on the method behind the madness, the consistent purpose behind the incessant atrocities: To change international standards, to rewrite the rules of warfare. The following quote from Trita Parsi is close to the core of Crooke’s compelling argument:

An important aspect of Israel’s conduct – and Biden’s acquiescence to it – is that Israel is engaged in a deliberate and systematic effort to destroy existing laws and norms around warfare.
Even during wartime, embassies are off-limits [yet] Israel just bombed an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus.
Bombing hospitals is a war crime, [yet] Israel has bombed EVERY hospital in Gaza. It has even assassinated doctors and patients inside hospitals.
The ICJ obligated Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel actively prevents aid from coming in.
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Israel has deliberately created a famine in Gaza.
Indiscriminate bombings are illegal under international humanitarian law. Biden himself admits that Israel is bombing Gaza indiscriminately.

https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/04/08/brutal-chaotic-war-norms-conventions-and-laws-of-conduct-are-being-erased/

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 9 2024 20:16 utc | 109

Here’s something, posted recently: “Canadian embassy in Syria damaged in Israeli strike on Iranian embassy next door” from the strike on April 1
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-embassy-damascus-damaged-1.7168176
“Global Affairs has declined to answer questions about whether the Israeli government warned Canada in advance of the strike on the Iranian Embassy annex. … GAC didn’t say whether Israel checked with Canada to ensure that no Canadian personnel were on site when the airstrike hit.” (There weren’t. Or…?)
I wonder about this one, on the topic of Iran: “Martha Stewart, 82, reveals her beloved 15-year-old Persian cat Empress Tang has died – as she shares a touching tribute to the ‘awesome’ feline: ‘I loved her so much!’”
Excerpt
“The business mogul’s Instagram post got more than 18,260 likes and was flooded with comments of condolence.
One person wrote: ‘So sorry for your loss. She was so friendly and sweet when we visited.’
A second person commented: ‘So sorry Martha. Losing a pet friend is so difficult.’”
Jane Hartley again? Some Epstein type situation? Ivanka again? Or an Iranian informant?

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 9 2024 20:22 utc | 110

Posted by: Passerby | Apr 9 2024 20:10 utc | 106
“Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will meet several of his European Union counterparts over the next week to try to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state” … “he expects Madrid to extend recognition to the Palestinians by July”
Here is what Lavrov said in his Izvestia interview at the end of March (quoted from karlofi):
The Americans want to cheat here as well. We know that they are now seriously discussing the option of submitting a resolution to the Security Council and the UN General Assembly on the admission of Palestine as a full member of the organisation. Now they (Palestine, JB) are observers there.
That is, they want to formally proclaim the creation of a Palestinian state, but not change anything on the ground. These “tricks” are known to us, nothing can be ruled out. I hope that the main stakeholders, primarily the Arab countries and other countries of the Global South, understand the cunning of such forms.

Posted by: JB | Apr 9 2024 20:23 utc | 111

Perhaps the next move by the Netanyahu regime — while emptying areas of Gaza of Israeli troops so Palestinians can be pushed there, and then intensively bombed with no risk of hitting regime forces — will be to thoroughly crank up the Armageddonists in the USA as a distraction from such further massacres.
Which is where the red cows come in…..
After that, see to the mosque….

Posted by: Cynic | Apr 9 2024 20:25 utc | 112

Israel, notably Netanyhu, is the master of escalating conflicts in a way that the other side is blamed by at least a large part of the world.
7. Oktober us just the latest example. Netanyhu’s masterpiece. Decades of conflict, hundreds of Palestinians murdered in the West Bank in 2024 alone, scores more died in Gaza due to inhumane living conditions when forced by Israel. The two-State solution dead and buried, just like any other perspective for the Palestinians.
Who, as an occupied people, have every right to defend themselves against the illegal occupation, but almost any means.
Yet somehow, Israel managed to convince the world that the conflict started on October 7, when, out of the blue sky, completely unprovoked, Israel was attacked.they even managed to convince the world that there was no neutral instance to investigate or report what happened, that Israel alone was the only legitimate judge, jury abd executioner. As they were, incidentally, when Israel investigated its own crime – killing hostages, killing aus workers.
As for Iran, Israel has already started preparing the ground by stating that any unprovoked attack by Iran against Israel or it’s Ally’s would be answered by Israeli sttiks against nuclear installations in Iran. Conveniently, Biden has already shipped the required planes, rockets, and bunker busting granades.
And when the middle east is burning, Israel will be the victim who, for no reason at all, was attacked by evil terrorists and fies nothing but execute it’s right to self defense.

Posted by: Marvin | Apr 9 2024 20:29 utc | 113

Trying to think of practical measures. It has bee suggested here and other places over and over that Iran could or should start bombing Israeli embassies. Thereby committing same offence as Israel. Ummm. The obvious military target is airports. Military and civilian, anything in Israel. Blow up as many planes on ground as possible. Planes in air get to try to find friendly place to land. Israel uses American hardware, runways must be perfect and maintenance must be perfect. All completely vulnerable.
So Israel keeps nukes inside a mountain? Fine. There is an entrance and exit and ventilation. All conventionally vulnerable.
Is this hard to figure out? Allegedly Iran has massive numbers of missiles and so does Hezbollah.
Without the air power Israel has nothing.

Posted by: oldhippie | Apr 9 2024 20:30 utc | 114

Exile @ 92
Yes. And given that the Israelis are crazy as bedbugs what are the chances they have had nukes for generations and have exercised restraint thus far?
Which is a good argument, I think, except that it applies in spades to any military with nukes.

Posted by: oldhippie | Apr 9 2024 20:36 utc | 115

IMO the next usage of nuclear weapons will be semi covert. Israel’s development of nuclear weapons with its early focus on “A” bombs may have yielded designs that lend themselves to extreme low yield semi covert usage. Christopher Busby believes low residue nuclear fission weapons have already been used in Lebanon and Gaza. Israel can not prevail against its enemies with conventional forces yet they continue to escalate. The logical conclusion is they intend to use their nuclear arsenal to prevail. If the weapon does not have the characteristics of a two stage thermonuclear device is it really a “nuclear weapon? If it’s not admitted and conventional indicators such as specific beta and gamma radiation are not present is it a nuclear weapon? Any assertions of nuclear weapon usage will be called “conspiracy theory”. Somthing new will have occurred with unexplained physical phenomena everyone will know the threat clearly delivered and a actualized but with plausible deniability. Ultra low yield nuclear weapons not emitting specific indicators of two stage thermonuclear weapons would provide a “gateway” to using the power that these weapons have both actual and as a threat while keeping what actually occurred in a cloud of conflicting “facts”.

Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 20:36 utc | 116

Posted by: Patroklos | Apr 9 2024 19:12 utc | 90
Starting to think some of the regulars have drinking issues or we’ve got more name thieves than some of us initially thought.
All of us need an education? WTF are you talking about where I’ve ever interacted with you purporting to educate you, “mate”?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 20:37 utc | 117

JB | Apr 9 2024 20:23 utc | 110
With Palestine recognized as a state – a UN recognized Palestinian government, the likes of Russia and China can enter into relations with that state accordingly.
US no doubt will be pushing for a puppet government to be recognized.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 9 2024 20:37 utc | 118

Canadians ought to monitor Yves Engler’s website.
He is often wrong- about Russia and Ukraine for example- but on the matter of Zionism and Canada’s disgraceful record of slavish support for Israel’s fascists, he is rock solid.
Here he is today on the incident in which the Foreign Affairs minister-an ultra zionist- cried foul when a constituent tried to ask her to stop enabling the murder of Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The Canadian media which has swallowed the grossest cruelties towards the people of Gaza-as it does those of the West Bank too- was outraged by the threat a Mintreal man and his young son talking peace represented. You can’t make this suff up because nobody would believe it if you tried.
“..Ten days ago, a man biking with his two kids saw Melanie Joly on Laurier Avenue in Montreal and asked the foreign minister to “lift the cap on the number of Palestinian refugees”. In response, Joly hit his phone and grabbed his jacket. Antoine (sole identification of the man) then told the minister to calm down and after she mentions the children with him says he’s trying to instill “good values” in them by opposing Israel’s killing. After the minister says she’s trying to have a relaxing walk Antoine says she doesn’t have that right while enabling a genocide in Gaza. Antoine then says it’s his job to harass her for promoting genocide.
“Two weeks before the incident Joly made what she called a “solidarity” trip to a state the International Court of Justice found to plausibly committing genocide. In response to its mass killings in Gaza, Joly’s Global Affairs sped up the approval of weapons permits to Israel, okaying $28.5 million in arms in the two months after its onslaught on Gaza began.
“A slew of commentators condemned Antoine, not Joly who may have assaulted him. They seem to believe Canada’s foreign minister can enable mass slaughter and not expect to be challenged about it. A number of the commentators demanded greater police protection for the minister even though an RCMP agent was with Joly. Radio Canada’s flagship weekly program Tout Le Monde en Parle (everyone is talking about it) played the video and had the minister on to discuss how difficult it’s been for her during the past six months….”
How difficult its been for Melanie during the past six months!!
https://yvesengler.com/2024/04/09/media-slams-man-who-dares-challenge-cabinet-minister/

Posted by: bevin | Apr 9 2024 20:52 utc | 119

Illan Pape: “This is the beginning of the end of the zionist project” and “Expect more violence before this project ends”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-YLROxeHA0
(length: 2 minutes 30 seconds)

Posted by: WMG | Apr 9 2024 20:55 utc | 120

Shame about that because it’s an otherwise interesting perspective.
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 9 2024 18:54 utc | 83
He does have the ability to weave nicely woven tall tails. I read him for a short time years ago but didn’t take long to realize he lives in a fantasy land.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 9 2024 20:55 utc | 121

> Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 20:36 utc | 115
> designs that lend themselves to extreme low yield semi covert usage
well, isn’t it making it useless? the power of A-bombs is to scare your opponent with the expected fallout.
if you make a bomb without fallout – it is a bomb that makes no sense.
it becomes, in practice, the same as chemical MOAB or FOAB, just a big bang.
which nukes actually were during WW2, it was only after their real use over Japan that the fallout become famous – and feared – feature. Before it was merely an interesting abstract problem of “not enough bang” for a handful of physisicts to banter about when they need to relax
> low residue nuclear fission weapons have already been used in Lebanon and Gaza
…aaaand it changed the tides how exactly, if no one even knew them being nukes?
> Israel can not prevail against its enemies with conventional forces…
…so they put all their bets on a bomb atomic in the name only and carefully designed to be inditinguishable from any conventional bomb. Sopunds like a plan.

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 20:57 utc | 122

Theoretically enhanced radiation weapons could be designed that do not kill but destroy reproductive capabilities of those exposed. Almost no blast. Really the possibilities of what can be designed with new fission reactions using components that are not conventionally associated with nuclear weapons are unknown. The media focus always directed upon large yeild two stage thermonuclear devices demonstrated in the past.

Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 20:58 utc | 123

I’ve seen multiple folks mention alleged use of tactical nuclear devices by KSA against Yemen. I’m assuming this goes back 9 years to a couple of videos posted to YouTube (now removed but you can find them at odysee). If that’s the basis of the belief, it’s incorrect. Those were strikes on ammo depots and the ‘mushroom cloud’ came after secondary or tertiary explosions. Further, there was no EMP that would have disabled or damaged many of the digital cameras used to record the videos, let alone any measured radiation.
That’s all based on conversations I’m pretty sure we had back then at MoA and I thought it had been put to bed. But is there newer information that proves or tells a more compelling story about KSA using tactical nukes on Ansar Allah?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 21:07 utc | 124

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 20:57 utc | 121
I agree. There’s no point in taking such a risk as using a tactical nuke without several other strategic considerations and intents. None of which are practical or economically feasible compared to the tactically equivalent alternatives.
Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 20:58 utc | 122
Well, any mention of any historical use of tactical nukes or whatever goes back to KSA and Yemen. Now you’re talking about a different type of device for which I also cannot think of any practical or strategic advantage given other alternatives. If the Zionists are using neutron bombs or some kind of dirty radiation bombs designed to sterilize Gazans or cause them to have babies with birth defects in the future, where is the evidence?
And since Israel is simply killing all the women, children, babies and young many anyway, what significant difference would it make to use ionizing nuclear radiation, especially the “fallout” (sorry, pun intended) when and if this information became known to the RotW?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 21:13 utc | 125

> enhanced radiation weapons could be designed that do not kill but destroy reproductive capabilities
good old “cobalt bomb” concept
except this can not be “uncertainty weapon”, and hence definitely could not be “used in Lebanon”.
the point of such designs it to minimize share of energy going into “the bang” and doing so to maximize share of energy going into contamination, “ionizing radiation” to speak technobabble.
which, by definition, makes it perfectly detectable as A-bomb. It leaves not just “a fallout” but “THE FALLOUT”, it is the purpose of such a bomb to produce maximum radioactive contamination.
you just cannot both eat a cake and have it. Either you minimize the specifically atomic features – and end with “just a blast” that scares nobody, or you maximize those atomic features reducing the blast – but make you weapons usage perfectly detectable.
> with new fission reactions
components and reactions do not matter.
what matters is effectes they produce.
Conventional:
…blast wave (air and earth shocks)
…heat wave (IR light wave)
…flash (visible light wave)
Atomic:
…x (Roentgen) rays – destroying solid state electronics, one of the reasons USSR prefered vacuum tubes even then mass-producing transistors too. See neutron bomb concept
…alpha rays, instant
…beta rays, instant
…gamma rays, instant
…alpha rays, delayed – produced by the outer warhead layers which were not irradiated enough to start fissioning before were blown away by the explosion
…beta rays, delayed
…gamma rays, delayed
Frankly, no one cares much which components produced those effects, those are effects themselves that matter.

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 21:15 utc | 126

Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 20:58 utc | 122
To be clear, I did see that you said “theoretical” but I’m also trying to cover a few earlier posts from you and others.
I can’t think of any reason, good or otherwise, that Israel would use tactical nukes while they’re getting all the bunker busters, MOABs and whatever else they want from the USA and its NATO and Aussie allies. And if the goal is sterilization, then there’s DU, tainting the water and soil with heavy metals and other nasty chemicals, or just plain genocide.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 21:16 utc | 127

> dirty radiation bombs designed to sterilize Gazans or cause them to have babies with birth defects in the future
> Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 21:13 utc | 124
…especially since the alleged plan is to put Jewish settlers in those lands wiped clean from inhabiting semites
so, allegedly Netanyahoo would made those lands toxic for decades to come and then channel Jews there so Jewish settlers would “have babies with birth defects”.
Wow, i love the idea, FOR EVULS!!!

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 21:22 utc | 128

Starting to think some of the regulars have drinking issues or we’ve got more name thieves than some of us initially thought…
@ Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 20:37 utc | 116
Whatever. The other day, regarding a Michael Brenner essay about nihilism, I almost posted something about Bazarov, the bad-luck nihilist of Fathers and Sons by Turgenev. Saved by the bell, the maildrop distracted me. Thank goodness. God forbid I should ever say anything culturally edifying. (Besides, I haven’t a clue how to transcribe Fathers and Sons in Cyrillic!)

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 9 2024 21:26 utc | 129

It must be too quiet today, so everybody is hyperventilating about nuclear weapons.
The Biden administration has had its fill of Netanyahu’s blackmail by lies about Hamas attacks on Oct 7. The Hannibal murders and pre-knowledge are now common knowledge, as is the blocking of aid and bombing g of hospitals The US has retreated to the safety shelter of UN resolutions.
Why can’t we just have a few days patience and see how Israel responds to being abandoned? Is it the trigger culture of Americans that makes them fantasise about disastrous , nuclear escalations.
Sorry guys, international Law is something and the Terminator isn’t something. So why create FEAR unnecessarily, which is exactly the oxygen which Israel is now being denied by its US former ‘ friend ‘, by pointing out International Law?
Are you all mad? Just watch Terminator if you need chems.
It has retreated from its support of Israel back to

Posted by: Giyane | Apr 9 2024 21:28 utc | 130

Eid Mubarak!

Posted by: Giyane | Apr 9 2024 21:30 utc | 131

Aleph_Null 128
Отцы и дѣти
Wiki

Posted by: Giyane | Apr 9 2024 21:34 utc | 132

I’ll use the discussion around Israel’s possible possession of nuclear weapons as my justification for posting the following news:
Professor Peter Higgs, the Nobel Prize winning scientist behind the concept of the subatomic particle the Higgs boson, died yesterday at the age of 94.
Professor Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle – the so-called Higgs boson – in 1964. The particle’s existence would not be confirmed for almost half a century, with experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern finally confirming his theory in 2012.

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 9 2024 21:36 utc | 133

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 9 2024 21:26 utc | 128
Not following. How’s that relevant to the exchange I just had with Patrokolos (assuming it was really him)? Do note, that as of then I had never had a negative interaction with that commentator, who is in Australia. Then note the time stamp on his last comment would put it at about 3:45AM Australia time.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 21:40 utc | 134

Tom @ 84
Thanks, Tom, for connecting the song to Camus’s novel. We were taught that L’Etranger should be taken to mean “foreigner,” not stranger, but it was translated as The Stranger in the USA.
Never heard of The Cure, but in this video the guy who wrote the song seems to be, politically, incredibly naive. As were we when we read this in my high school French class. Didn’t have a clue what it was about, or the context.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZGSPyY6R8

Posted by: Jane | Apr 9 2024 21:44 utc | 135

Giyane 131, you have given the spelling of Fathers and Sons in the prerevolutionary Cyrillic alphabet. Turgenev
would have used that spelling when Fathers and Sons first appeared. But one of those letters was changed after the Revolution.

Posted by: Lysias | Apr 9 2024 21:46 utc | 136

La valise ou le cercueil, Zionazis!

Posted by: Lysias | Apr 9 2024 21:51 utc | 137

One might say the whole point of a enhanced radiation weapon is that long term fallout is minimized the radiation itself does the work.
We know that Israeli nuclear program had a strong focus on enhanced radiation weapons. This makes sense as they can be used danger close to friendly military. This along with Israel’s only having access to enriched uranium for a long time points to their focus being single stage enhanced radiation weapons. While Israel may not have had versatile low yield weapons as a goal in the beginning the capabilities of the technology- how it might be used could have effected their actions. I think it’s quite clear that pivitol technologies once implemented sometimes effect human culture.
If you believe Chris Busbys work there is Uranium isotopes present in both Lebanon and Gaza not found in nature that could only come from a fission reactor. By his account verified by no less than three laboratories. These isotopes could be explained by depleted uranium projectiles and bomb casings. From another perspective anywhere depleted uranium munitions are used has plausible deniability in regard to new technology enhanced radiation weapons if they do indeed exist.

Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 21:55 utc | 138

> Posted by: Giyane | Apr 9 2024 21:34 utc | 131
you just saved my by a bell, thanks 🙂

Posted by: Arioch | Apr 9 2024 21:56 utc | 139

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 9 2024 21:26 utc | 128
P.S. I was genuinely curious in my question. Further background/context is probably helpful. In fact, Patrokolos is one of the frequent commentators who is accused of acting like a highbrow (by others, not myself), so when it was he that took it as an insult when I pointed out that The Cure’s song was loosely based on a Camus novel and then made a rude reply to the effect that my comment was an insult to his intelligence/worldliness, it made me think either he’s pissed (i.e., drunk, see: timestamps) or someone had co-opted his handle (see: frequent name thefts around here).
But yeah, whatever. Not important.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 21:59 utc | 140

Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 21:55 utc | 137
If the IOF is using any kind of dirty radiation bombs, even ones with “minimized long term fallout”, there would be special handling procedures and the radiation would still be very much present while IOF troops were in the area as well as able to travel through the air to Israel.
There are so many other less dangerous, more economically viable options and with greater plausible deniability than using nuclear radiation to sterilize Palestinians.
All of that said, I guess we are talking about the Zionists, so probably not possible for most of us to temporarily climb into the minds of socio/psychopaths, but nah. I seriously doubt it.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 22:04 utc | 141

Posted by: Jane | Apr 9 2024 21:44 utc | 134
L’Étranger means literally ‘The Foreigner’.
The first English translation, by British author Stuart Gilbert, used the title ‘The Stranger’ but was changed by the publisher Hamish Hamilton to ‘The Outsider’.
In the United States, the publisher Knopf had already typeset the manuscript using Gilbert’s original title of ‘The Stranger’ and hence, when informed of the name change, disregarded it.
Several scholars have noted inaccuracies in the Stuart Gilbert translation and its resulting distortions of the tone of Camus’ original French text in his English translation.

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 9 2024 22:06 utc | 142

I vote for a nuke in the Kavir desert in Iran to make it clear Israel has the goods and that this isn’t going to be a French Algeria II: Netanyahu will and will not be De Gaulle: he will not end the Gaza war to save the ‘Republic,’ because the Republic is itself Algeria, there is no non-colonial metropole to fall back to. French Algeria (which also had nukes) is Israel and vice versa. A retreat from Gaza is a South African retreat from Angola, i.e. the slow or quick beginning of the end of the apartheid state. Thus Israel will signal, both like and unlike France, that ethno-colonialism is integral to its state, just as Algeria was said to be integral and indivisible from the French state. However the French state, including Algeria, was ostensibly universalist and secular, while Israel is the diametric opposite, ostensibly as a matter of survival, which is why it must excise the populations of Gaza and the West Bank from its midst, but cannot, not even the US and Britain will allow it. By using a demonstrative nuke in the Kavir desert it will signal to its Anglo-American partners that it deems the peril to be truly existential: either they accede to the expulsion of the population of Gaza (and eventually the West Bank) or who knows what it’ll do.

Posted by: Ludo | Apr 9 2024 22:13 utc | 143

When Israel destroyed a pharmacy
When Israel destroyed a pharmacy
Qasem Waleed El-Farra The Electronic Intifada 7 April 2024
Massive destruction in al-Zaytoun, a neighborhood of Gaza City. Khaled Daoud APA images
The Tutah family had spent a fortune on setting up a pharmacy in Gaza City.
It had been in business little more than two years when Israel launched the current genocidal war.
When Israel ordered a mass evacuation from the northern part of Gaza on 13 October, the family had no option than to leave. Al-Zaytoun – the neighborhood in which the pharmacy was located – had been subjected to extreme Israeli violence during previous attacks on Gaza.
They went to stay with a relative in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Back in their pharmacy, they left medical supplies estimated at $90,000.
From those stocks, they just took some blood pressure medication for Fatima, the mother of the family.
They stayed with their relatives for more than 50 days. Then they were uprooted again, this time taking shelter at the European Gaza Hospital, near Khan Younis.
They were still at the hospital in late February, when they heard of a major Israeli offensive against al-Zaytoun.
It took a number of days before they learned the terrible news about what happened to the pharmacy.
After repeated attempts, Momen Tutah – one of several pharmacists in the family – was able to contact his friend Azzam.
Azzam went to check on the pharmacy and informed Momen that it was completely destroyed.
:
https://electronicintifada.net/content/when-israel-destroyed-pharmacy/45636

Posted by: Menz | Apr 9 2024 22:17 utc | 144

Goalposts and Gunfire: Israel’s Deliberate Attacks on Palestinian Football and Its Players
Palestine started with one simple goal in the Asian Cup: to put a smile on people’s faces back home, giving them hope by representing them on an international stage. In that, they succeeded, becoming the toast of the tournament, playing attractive, positive football, including a 3-0 win over Hong Kong, China. Yet they did so despite generations of players shot, killed or permanently disabled by Israeli warplanes and snipers.
For example, in January 2014, cousins Jawhar Nasser Jawhar, 19, and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya, 17 – young stars about to be called to the national team – were traveling home from a training session near Ramallah. They were ambushed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), who shot al-Raouf in the legs. Jawhar rushed to his aid, only to be peppered with bullets himself, including seven in his left foot, three in his right, and one in the hand. An attack dog was unleashed on them, and soldiers subsequently broke al-Raouf’s leg for good measure, suggesting they knew who the pair were. Their careers were over in a flash, and their destiny was stripped away. Now 29 and 27, respectively, Jawhar and al-Raouf would have been in their prime for the 2024 tournament.
While the pair survived partly thanks to medical treatment in Jordan, many of their peers were less fortunate. Tarek al-Quto, a promising midfielder, was killed by the IDF in 2004. Five years later, during Operation Cast Lead, Israel killed three more top players: Ayman Alkurd, Shadi Sbakhe and Wajeh Moshtaha. Also in 2009, 18-year-old phenomenon Saji Darwish was struck down by an Israeli sniper near Ramallah.
Read More:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/impact-israel-attacks-palestinian-football-players/286956/

Posted by: Menz | Apr 9 2024 22:20 utc | 145

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 9 2024 22:06 utc | 141
L’Étranger means literally ‘The Foreigner’.
While “literally” may refer to the common French colloquial meaning, try plugging it into any online translation program including Rosetta Stone. All of them provide “the stranger” as a result. Since I’m not a French speaker, I can’t be any more helpful than that, but in fact that is how it seems to be auto-translated every single time.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 22:22 utc | 146

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 9 2024 22:06 utc | 141
I also forgot to add that it works the same in the reverse, every single time. I’ve tried RS, Yandex, and Google.
Put in “the stranger” in English (or Russian) and translate to French, and it gives you l’étranger.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 22:24 utc | 147

“L’étranger,” like many words in many languages can mean many things almost simultaneously, in this case first of all “foreigner” and then “stranger,” in the sense of someone from somewhere else (as opposed to someone I don’t know or am not familiar with).

Posted by: Ludo | Apr 9 2024 22:35 utc | 148

Iran’s top diplomat due in US as lawmakers push to block officials from UN
Iran’s top diplomat is set to travel to the US to participate in a UN Security Council session on Palestine next week, a trip that is likely to highlight the simmering tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will attend the UN Security Council meeting on Palestine scheduled for 18 April.
His trip comes with tensions at a boilerplate, following a strike on 1 April on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, which Tehran said Israel conducted with US weapons and approval.
On Tuesday, Amir-Abdollahian repeated the accusation that the US approved the deadly strike that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, including two generals.
“America is responsible for this incident and must be held accountable,” Abdollahian told reporters in Damascus.
“The fact that the US and two European countries opposed a (UN Security Council) resolution condemning the attack on the Iranian embassy is a sign that the US gave the green light to the Zionist regime (Israel)” to carry out the attack, he claimed.
Asked about Abdollahian’s remarks, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh denied Washington was connected to the attack.
“I can very forcefully push back on that and say… the US military had no involvement in that strike that took place in Damascus,” she told journalists.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/irans-top-diplomat-due-us-amid-congressional-push-block-officials-un

Posted by: Menz | Apr 9 2024 22:39 utc | 149

I would think a dirty bomb or two smuggled into Tel Aviv and other places and blown up would wound the state of Israel very severely.

Posted by: Bill R | Apr 9 2024 22:43 utc | 150

But but … Britain’s Conservative government tell us that Israel is such a nice democracy and part of the western family of nations. Members of the rules based international order.
So it’s nonsense to think such a civilised and law abiding nation as Israel should be planning a reckless and dangerous murderous act aimed at escalating war between third parties other than themselves?
Israel is Cordyceps the parasitic fungus that has infected Britain and the west and is driving the west zombie-like to self destruction to Israel’s benefit. At least that’s their plan. But even with the mushrooms of Zion protruding from ears and nostrils, the west might yet still wake up in time.

Posted by: Andrew Sarchus | Apr 9 2024 22:52 utc | 151

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 22:24 utc | 146
Camus was a Frenchman who, quite naturally, wrote in French, hence the title of his book is ‘The Foreigner’.
The title has been translated into English as ‘The Stranger’ and ‘The Outsider’.
I don’t understand what you mean by ‘While “literally” may refer to the common French colloquial meaning…’ .

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 9 2024 22:54 utc | 152

“Dirty radiation bomb” This how we are taught to think about nuclear weapons. Fallout- residue emitting- harmful radiation is a completely different thing than the radiation produced from the fission or fusion reaction itself.
A enhanced radiation weapon or neutron bomb is a different animal than two stage thermonuclear weapon. A two stage thermonuclear weapon uses the massive neutron emission from the fission. Explosion to create fusion detonation in the Plutonium shell. A enhanced radiation weapon uses the neutrons themselves as the killing mechanism not to initiate thermonuclear detonation.
What was and is the primary military advantage of this was you have relatively small and controlled kill zone. Short range delivery systems can be used
Two stage thermonuclear weapons have a massive blast radius. Very hard to use in any sort of proximity to friendly troops or noncombatants.
This why when the whistleblower dropped the entire Dimona reactor operations it was not surprising that he whistle blew that the vast majority of Israel’s nuclear arsenal were in fact enhanced radiation weapons not thermonuclear. Israel lives danger close to their enemies so of course enhanced radiation weapons were a logical focus. It was reported that the vvast majority were 155 shells. The whistleblower was kidnapped out of the UK by Mossad and spent 20 years in prison.
Israel did not have Plutonium for a thermonuclear two stage weapon for a long time. I think it’s quite probable because of these things that Israeli enhaenhanced radiation weapon research is the most advanced in the world. We have no idea where their research into low yield enhanced radiation uranium fission weapons led them. As we see from those touting fission as a energy source there are possibilities for many fission reactions using a variety of materials. None of which establishes the existance of new technology enhanced radiatio ultra low yield single stage fission weapons in Israel’s hands. Conventional “neutron bomb” single stage fission. Weapons using 40 year old technology we know they have large quantity of those
Personally I dont think Israel just sat on their hands for 40 years. If nothing else the sirens song how far can we take this is always present.
The statement that enhanced radiation weapons can not be used without contaminating friendly troops or lands withs “dirty radiation” is incorrect confusing fallout with radiation. The fact is we have no idea what sort of radiation and fallout or lack there of would result from modern enhanced radiation weapons. Busby had a few ideas about what the precursors of the uranium isotopes found in Lebanon and Gaza might be but was quite clear it was speculative as is this post also.

Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 22:54 utc | 153

🙂 I shall complement james with I Ching:
Conflict, heaven and abyss, a place where nothing can dwell, utter tension.
changing line 1, will escalate into confrontation if one allows their pride to rule. ignore the insult, let it stand proof of the enemy’s true nature. defeat the enemy before you even start the war.
Transforms into —
Worrying the Tiger, a real risk, you must walk upon the tiger’s tail and hope he doesn’t notice.
🙁 Well that was not fun and whimsical.
🙂 Oh well, back to fun and games if we’re all gonna suffer soon! Remember, momma says we have Happy Meals at home! (a.k.a. keep boycotting McD!)

Posted by: titmouse | Apr 9 2024 22:58 utc | 154

No Israel’s planned escalating atrocity is far worse than any here imagine. Worse than wars all round and even nukes.
We can reveal that the hideous plan focuses on the Eurovision Song Contest. David Mercer, Israel’s official jowl flapper to the U.K., will partner with Tom Jones in a rendition of “Sex Bomb” and this will be the U.K. and Israel’s joint entry to the contest.
No easy way to say it ; the horror, the horror

Posted by: Andrew Sarchus | Apr 9 2024 23:11 utc | 155

If nukes are used, chemical and biological weapons are fair game. Attacks on nuclear capabilities is also fair game.
Most likely there will be no escalation. Tel Aviv only wants to scare Iran off not to retaliate its war crimes in embassy bombing.

Posted by: Jason | Apr 9 2024 23:11 utc | 156

It must be too quiet today, so everybody is hyperventilating about nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Giyane | Apr 9 2024 21:28 utc | 129
For sure.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 9 2024 23:11 utc | 157

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 9 2024 22:54 utc | 151
I’m fully aware of who Camus was and his nationality.
Is the title of the book, in French, “L’Étranger”?
Yes, it is.
The direct English translation of that is “The Stranger” – see my follow-up posts to that effect.
Further: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9tranger
In the direct English translation, “stranger” and “foreigner” are synonyms and “the stranger” and “l’étranger” are almost even French-English cognates: stranger – étranger.
So when I said ‘While “literally” may refer to the common French colloquial meaning…’ was quoting your use of the word “literally” and pointing out that from a purely linguistic translative angle, “The Stranger” is just as accurate a translation as “The Foreigner” – but for those who speak and think in French, it’s probably more obvious that “The Foreigner” is a more apt translation.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 23:14 utc | 158

For more on the whole Camus ‘lost in translation’ discussion:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/14/camus-letranger-stranger-than-fiction-alice-kaplan
I s’pose that Grauniad can be trusted on most literary matters. Point to be made (by me): When translating works (esp. fiction) to new languages, the translator often chooses words that 1) align with their personal and cultural interpretations and 2) they think will convey a meaning more intelligible by readers in that language (and likely sell more books).
Interestingly, I wasn’t previously aware that it sells under the title “The Outsider” in Britain. The article provides a snippet from an Algerian critic’s take on the title “The Outsider”:

An Algerian critic argued recently, in a review of Sandra Smith’s 2013 translation of L’Étranger, that the title The Outsider is politically scandalous, for it effaces the ambiguity in the French word “étranger” and substitutes a more banal idea of someone being “excluded”. He thought Smith’s 2013 title was new – not realising that the British have used it since 1946.

And the Grauniad’s critic:

In the end, I prefer The Stranger to The Outsider. Yet Meursault, the narrator of the novel, is not a foreigner; he is a Frenchman in colonial Algiers, a “petit colon”, and his strangeness is more like the strangeness of an outsider than the strangeness of an alien. So I question my own preference. I wonder if I like The Stranger simply because it’s the title I’m used to. How many readers flinched when Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past became, in a new Viking translation, In Search of Lost Time, even though this is a more direct translation? Then there’s Dostoevsky – The Possessed, The Devils, The Demons – what difference does it make?
Whether the titles of translated works sound familiar or foreign, whether they are literal renderings or poetic departures, their fate is unpredictable. L’Étranger has sold millions of copies in Britain and the US.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 23:26 utc | 159

https://www.rt.com/news/595670-israel-iran-nuclear-sites/
This is the plan. Hit Iranian nuclear sites in case any retaliations. They must have lost their minds and totally off the leash.
This would be WW3. I just dont understand what is China and Russia waiting for. They would be involved whether they like it or not in case of such attack.
This is out of hand folks.

Posted by: Alpi | Apr 9 2024 23:27 utc | 160

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 23:14 utc | 157
Once again, the literal translation of the French phrase ‘L’Étranger’ is ‘The Foreigner’, not ‘The Stranger’.
‘The Stranger’ is an English language translation/interpretation of the meaning of ‘L’Étranger’.

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 9 2024 23:44 utc | 161

Re Low yield enhanced radiation weapons being of no greater potential than conventional. So having the capability of the enemy drop dead in a square kilometer area from neutron radiation while your own troops are unaffected and no fallout is created would have been of no use In Bakmud? The other thing is if genocide is the order of business spot applications of radiation with ultra low fallout could be used with great effect. Deploying enhanced radiation weapons with long term health effects but not immediate ones would be useful to keep usage semi covert. Once again. Enhanced radiation weapons subject those exposed to them to a short burst of radiation. .There is no fallout or long term radiation either exposure or environment radiation could be designed for various purposes. That short burst can create long term effects. You dont have to have long term exposure for long term effects. Ask the guys who went in the “elephant foot” room in Chernobyl. They had a couple months no more
Obviously if everyone gets sick a dies it’s not going to be covert. But if they get sick and die a year later or 5 years later then who knows. Bed bugs got them
Ironically it was the lack of long fallout and contamination of the environment that led to the moratorium of US “neutron bomb” enhanced radiation weapon research. People found
D the idea of killing humans without the consequences of fallout and large blast radius despicable. only nuclear weapons that contaminate the environment for centuries are OK as that acts as a deterrent. Luckily we know we would never encourage or finance the proliferation of forbidden weapon technology by exporting it outside the USA. If you look at enhanced radiation weapons they are ideally suited for covert use. A short intense burst of radiation that leaves no evidence or damage to environment only damage to the organic organisms exposed. Damn bad bugs. Ideal for usage in the final frontier.

Posted by: misnomer | Apr 9 2024 23:48 utc | 162

Yet another form of escalation …. no less impactful than the genocidal armed violence – cuts to the civilizational core …
What do Texan red heifers have to do with Al-Aqsa and a Jewish temple?
Temple Movement’s plan to sacrifice the cattle seen as a step towards its goal of building the Third Temple over Al-Aqsa Mosque.
[…] Defending Al-Aqsa is an important mission for Palestinian Muslims, worshippers and armed fighters alike.
In a speech marking 100 days of Israel’s war on Gaza which started after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack by Palestinian armed fighters from Gaza, Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida said the red heifers are a concern, and the potential sacrifice is a “detestable religious myth designed for aggression against the feelings of an entire nation”.
Tatarsky sees that the real “danger”, of the Temple Movement is that it has “worked against Muslim freedom of worship” and has consistently been “trying to create some kind of Jewish control” over Al-Aqsa, backed by the Israeli government.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/9/what-do-texan-red-heifers-have-to-do-with-al-aqsa-and-a-jewish-temple

Posted by: Don Firineach | Apr 9 2024 23:55 utc | 163

No, it will take a Pearl Harbor event. Iran must be provoked into major aggression Lots of ways to make it happen. But Israel must be attacked as a result. Notice how everyone expects them to settle all family business right now? But why did they not go ahead and finish Gaza, then offer “humanitarian” support to all the “refugees”?

Posted by: James A. Given | Apr 10 2024 0:00 utc | 164

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 23:26 utc | 158
‘And the Grauniad’s critic:
In the end, I prefer The Stranger to The Outsider. Yet Meursault, the narrator of the novel, is not a foreigner; he is a Frenchman in colonial Algiers, a “petit colon”, and his strangeness is more like the strangeness of an outsider than the strangeness of an alien.’
So, by the Guardian critic’s reasoning, a Frenchman in colonial Algiers is not a foreigner.

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 10 2024 0:05 utc | 165

But yeah, whatever. Not important.
@ Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 9 2024 21:59 utc | 139
It not important, but if you’re genuinely curious what goes through my circuitous mind, I was also puzzled by someone sounding gratuitously snippy about a literary reference, so it reminded me of the reference I wisely withheld.
Anyhow, I think Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons” (Отцы и дѣти) said most of what needs to be said about modernism and nihilism. It’s one of the half-dozen best novels I’ve ever read, and my walls are literally covered.
Modern folks tend to be proud of not believing in anything, of having no principles. There’s no floor limiting how far we fall, at this point, pulverizing all concern for humanity, not to mention future generations.
Why so much talk of nukes in here? I think Yves Smith started it, predicting an attack dwarfing the embassy bombing. I’ve said my butt is sore from perpetual perching on the edge of my seat, after months of escalating crises. Sometimes, I sense enthusiasm for just getting it over with, already.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 10 2024 0:08 utc | 166

Posted by: Giyane | Apr 9 2024 21:30 utc | 130
####
Eid Mubarak Akhi.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 10 2024 0:08 utc | 167

Posted by: Bill R | Apr 9 2024 22:43 utc | 149
#################
To what end? How does that move improve anything for anyone?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 10 2024 0:10 utc | 168

Modern folks tend to be proud of not believing in anything, of having no principles. There’s no floor limiting how far we fall, at this point, pulverizing all concern for humanity, not to mention future generations.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 10 2024 0:08 utc | 165
##########
Nihilism is de rigueur and ubiquitous these days.
I question how a civilization that has embraced nothingness as a belief and system of morality becomes something else.
Is it like how I see democratic politics, true reform only comes after collapse?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 10 2024 0:14 utc | 169

Posted by: Lysias | Apr 10 2024 0:14 utc | 170

A very original take on the Situation in Palestine:

[Conclusion:]
The immediate impact of Israel’s intransigency on Israeli society is a shocking defeat. The terror inculcated by the death of their sons and husbands on a level of World War I, relative to their size, is having a sobering effect. The world’s reaction to their atrocities now makes them think about what they are doing to their own future, when even the subservient Germany dares to question their agenda. The settlers are getting their pound of flesh through the pagan demand for the sacrifice of Palestinian lives, and their rabid hatred and blood thirst are being slaked, but at the same time their indictment in the court of world justice is now moving from verbal curses to the actual Nuremberg trial stage.
That’s the story of the Gaza war in a nutshell. Israel will have to face the same fate as the rest of the world. Submit to the almighty; disarm; remove its nuclear weapons stocks; and allow the world to create a Palestinian State. Or, it will face an even greater threat as a unified state in which the Palestinians outnumber the Israeli Jews, in which case the situation in Israel will be even more destabilized. The majority of the Israelis, which rallied around the manifest destiny of Greater Israel, are now faced with a mighty barrage by the military siege mounted from all sides, economic impoverishment, even a de facto embargo, etc. They are slowly coming to their senses. The war against the Palestinian people turns into a civil war within Israel proper. Israel follows the same path to self-destruction that color revolutions have caused in country after country, as we’ve witnessed since the 1980s.

https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2024/04/09/gaza-war-a-setup-the-end-of-israel-as-we-know-it
He argues that Israel is being brought into line and that the 2030 agenda is a serious business. Of course BRICS+ is all on board with it, so this view challenges the current binary USWest vs TheRest narrative.
Whole article, medium-length, well worth reading.

Posted by: scorpion | Apr 10 2024 0:30 utc | 171

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 10 2024 0:08 utc | 165
The Russian pantheon of literary authors is probaby the best: Turgenev, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, Tolstoy etc.

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 10 2024 0:42 utc | 172

With Palestine recognized as a state – a UN recognized Palestinian government, the likes of Russia and China can enter into relations with that state accordingly.
US no doubt will be pushing for a puppet government to be recognized.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 9 2024 20:37 utc | 117
_______
That ship sailed long ago. The Palestinian Authority *is* the puppet government.

Posted by: malenkov | Apr 10 2024 0:48 utc | 173

The people speaks and do nothing. Shut up if you don’t have something real to say.
At least, Buddha was silence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxc-qR7sxoU

Posted by: cra | Apr 10 2024 0:49 utc | 174

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 9 2024 20:16 utc | 108
Alastair Crooke’s commentary yesterday is one of the most generally enlightening, shedding light on the method behind the madness, the consistent purpose behind the incessant atrocities: To change international standards, to rewrite the rules of warfare. The following quote from Trita Parsi is close to the core of Crooke’s compelling argument:
An important aspect of Israel’s conduct – and Biden’s acquiescence to it – is that Israel is engaged in a deliberate and systematic effort to destroy existing laws and norms around warfare.
Even during wartime, embassies are off-limits [yet] Israel just bombed an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus.
Bombing hospitals is a war crime, [yet] Israel has bombed EVERY hospital in Gaza. It has even assassinated doctors and patients inside hospitals.
The ICJ obligated Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel actively prevents aid from coming in.
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Israel has deliberately created a famine in Gaza.
Indiscriminate bombings are illegal under international humanitarian law. Biden himself admits that Israel is bombing Gaza indiscriminately.
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/04/08/brutal-chaotic-war-norms-conventions-and-laws-of-conduct-are-being-erased/
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 9 2024 20:16 utc | 108
Sorry to repost this in its entirety, but I kind of have to: What part of that list of war crimes has the US not engaged in?
Bombing embassies? Check- Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia. Indiscriminate bombing? Ever since the invention of the airplane. Bombing hospitals? Well, the US boasts of having destroyed every building in North Korea during that conflict. Were none of those buildings hospitals? Refusing to allow humanitarian aid? US killed half a million Iraqi children that way, minimum. Starvation of citizens? Why do you think US/ROK wargame are held every year at planting and/or harvest time? Now that Kim has nukes, more farmers can tend to their crops and food insecurity is falling.
Indiscriminate bombings? Setting aside WWII as ‘old news’ we still have Korea, Vietname, Yugoslavia and Libya, an if the bombing of Iraq and Syria were ‘discriminate’ bombings, the discrimination was made in the direction of destroying civilian infrastructure.
Alistaire Crooke is an establishment thug, his positions are limited hangouts to gloss over the past crimes in which he participated.
The media, both MSM and Alt/Social, are rife with revisionist narratives from the very people who undertook the crimes they reveal a tiny fraction of, and who set the stage for the crimes now being committed by their replacements of whom they are so critical. Crooke, Larry Johnson, MacGregor- all ‘ex’ functionaries of Imperialism, spinning narratives with a light dusting of substance to gull the ignorant into supporting the New Narrative- dictated to them by the same people who dictated the Old Narrative.

Posted by: Honzo | Apr 10 2024 0:53 utc | 175

Peter AU1 | Apr 9 2024 20:37 utc | 117–
A thought: Recall what Russia did once it recognized the two Donbass Republics as independent states. Russia answered their plea for help and the SMO ensued. Such a scenario is entirely possible with Palestine. Recall, all West Bank “settlements” are illegal; Palestine could call for help in evicting them. Same with making Gaza whole. IMO, the Global Majority would back such actions as the Zionists and their few allies have no standing. Then of course, there’s the ICJ and Zionist non-compliance.
Just what did Lavrov, Wang Yi and Xo Jinping discuss on that issue? It was barely mentioned at the Presser or in the general remarks aside from Big Picture implications.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2024 0:55 utc | 176

@Scorpion
Yeah, I wrote something similar in various iterations even on here as well as on Twitter, e.g. “Correct. NATO/US having become quite tired over a span of decades of the ceaseless mendacity of Netany laid a trap for him: They said ‘set a trap for Hamas which will justify Gaza delenda est, we’ll cover for u.’ He fell for it & then the WCK false flag happened & now its kaput.”

Posted by: Ludo | Apr 10 2024 0:58 utc | 177

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 10 2024 0:14 utc | 168
Modern folks tend to be proud of not believing in anything, of having no principles. There’s no floor limiting how far we fall, at this point, pulverizing all concern for humanity, not to mention future generations.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 10 2024 0:08 utc | 165
##########
Nihilism is de rigueur and ubiquitous these days.
I question how a civilization that has embraced nothingness as a belief and system of morality becomes something else.

I think most would object to your accusation that they have embraced ‘nothingness’. I believe they would say that they believe in facts, in reality, in what is materially true and can be quantified, be measured, that they believe in ‘The Science’.
The problem is that, when investigated carefully, it can be seen that this belief in ‘objective reality’ or ‘the material world’ is no more than an artifice, a super-imposed layer of conceptual abstraction from which comes the modernist age’s tendency to fall for for concept-laden constructs like propaganda and various ostensibly materialist ideologies – capitalism, communism, wokeism etc.
The irony of course is that abstractions are indeed ‘nothinginess’. But those so mistaken fervently think they believe in fact-based ‘somethingnesses’.

Posted by: scorpion | Apr 10 2024 0:59 utc | 178

@165 aleph
Great comments, thx.
Yes, our death-drive is reaching an incredible level.
I remember a decade or so ago seeing a picture of Putin surrounded by government officials and their families presumably. It was a candid moment. What I detected on their face was worry and fear. (Russia had just intervened in Syria and cockblocked the empire) I think the fear on their faces was grounded in something that the west can no longer experience. We are so drugged out on fake, that unreality pervades everything in our life: our economy, our government, our media.
The U.S. is not a country. European states under the E.U. are not countries either.
What do you get when everyone is pretending that the place they are living in right now is an actual country when it is not? You get madness. Madness that doesn’t even know its way back. That can not drop the charade because our routine of going to work in a fake country is all we can remember anymore.
Russia is afraid, yes. Because they are not dealing with rational people who inhabit a country of origin. We are now something else, entirely. And my bones hurt from this infernal machine.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 10 2024 1:00 utc | 179

Simplicius’s next but last posting (the one about Edward Lutwack) suggests that nukes can be neutralized and that Russia at least possesses the means to do so. Let us hope that he is right about that.
Posted by: Lysias | Apr 10 2024 0:14 utc | 169
I think Dr Strangelove demonstrates that nukes cannot be neutralized. If the US were to set off its nuclear arsenal entirely within the continental US, it would end world civilization and possibly the human species. It seems absurd to even mention it, but the fact is that the Zionists, both Christian and Jewish, as well as many other Christian sects, are just fine with killing everyone and letting God sort it out. They salivate at the thought of immanentizing the eschaton.

Posted by: Honzo | Apr 10 2024 1:00 utc | 180

Sounds like Israel is leaking threats against Iran to keep Iran from striking Israel back.

Posted by: Alaric | Apr 10 2024 1:01 utc | 181

I think b is going to win the Friendly Rivary Cup from Yves.
Penny Wong, Oz’s FM, has just announced that Jewrael should patch things up with Palestine as a first step towards formalising the 2-State Solution.
Laugh that one off, Bibi!

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 10 2024 1:02 utc | 182

Temple Movement’s plan to sacrifice the cattle seen as a step towards its goal of building the Third Temple over Al-Aqsa Mosque.
[…] Defending Al-Aqsa is an important mission for Palestinian Muslims, worshippers and armed fighters alike.
Posted by: Don Firineach | Apr 9 2024 23:55 utc | 162
I propose that the most holy site of every major religion be made into a nuclear waste storage facility, and that anyone who wishes to worship there be allowed to.

Posted by: Honzo | Apr 10 2024 1:05 utc | 183

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 10 2024 0:05 utc | 164
Technically I was incorrect. That isn’t The Grauniad’s critic, it was a guest author who is supposed to be an expert on Camus.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo19772870.html
Just figured I’d close that loop, since I’ve already talked about Camus in a meta-serious manner more today that previously in all of my life. 🙂

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Apr 10 2024 1:05 utc | 184

Posted by: Honzo | Apr 10 2024 0:53 utc | 174
‘Alistaire Crooke is an establishment thug, his positions are limited hangouts to gloss over the past crimes in which he participated.’
I haven’t made my mind up about about Crooke. I’m wary of him.

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 10 2024 1:08 utc | 185

scorpion | Apr 10 2024 0:59 utc | 177 “I think most would object to your accusation that they have embraced ‘nothingness’.”
All those about me have. Their acceptance of the gender agenda, the gene editing so called vax, they accept what the government tells them about the big bad world.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 10 2024 1:08 utc | 186

Addendum
Wrt mental anguish and suicide (Camus comes to mind again: “The only real philosophical problem today is the question of suicide”), I want to sincerely recommend this short piece of writing from Walker Percy, “The difference between a non-suicide and an ex-suicide.”
It has kept the candle burning for me on many a long night.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 10 2024 1:10 utc | 187

There’s a possibility that Israel might have (with the assistance of the US govt or of Silicon Valley) an updated version of the Stuxnet virus that could shut down Iran’s nuclear industry or other major security or defence infrastructure networks Iran relies on.
At the same time that Iran is crippled, then Israel may resort to attacking southern Lebanon or Syria near the Golan Heights, in the belief (that the Shi’ite Arabs take orders from Tehran) that because Iran’s cyber defences are crippled, Hezbollah’s ability to defend southern Lebanon will also be impaired.

Posted by: Refinnejenna | Apr 10 2024 1:13 utc | 188

MbS meeting with Biden was in a provincial setting, informal and with a fist bump.
Xi arrived in RSA with all the prom and ceremony of an Emperor.
I think Iran has played the cards dealt very well.
The Zionist entity is unable to start the Rafar operation with the threat from Iran hanging over them.
Iran has put AD units on full alert, could just be a bluff to keep the occupiers guessing.
Meanwhile, Hamas, Ansar Allah and Hezbollah are playing the “death by a thousand cuts” game.
The real kicker is the US will not respond when Iran finally pulls the trigger.
Anyone who thinks Hezbollah’s missiles are not a deterrent hasn’t been paying attention to how Hamas last confrontation so depleted the Iron Dome systems that the Zionists sued for a cease fire.
If the Zionists move on Al Aqsa, Rafah or fail to agree to a cease fire, it’s curtains. Checkmate.
There will be no nukes. Dimona is too vulnerable.

Posted by: Suresh | Apr 10 2024 1:13 utc | 189

karlof1 | Apr 10 2024 0:55 utc | 175
That has been my thought for some time. The west though is going to try to use it to neutralize Hamas and no doubt declare the Abbas government as the government of Palestine. Our lesbian foreign minister said something to that effect.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 10 2024 1:15 utc | 190

We’re all on tenterhooks b.
Please let us know ASAP when you have further news from your contact’s contact.

Posted by: PJB | Apr 10 2024 1:16 utc | 191

Peter AU1 | Apr 10 2024 1:15 utc | 189–
Thanks for your reply. Recall Crooke telling the Judge that Gaza is all Hamas and has cred whereas the PA doesn’t. As usual, we are relegated to watching and doing our best to read between the lines and ferret out the hidden dealings.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 10 2024 1:26 utc | 192

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 10 2024 1:15 utc | 189
Why did you find it appropriate to identify your foreign minister as a lesbian?

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 10 2024 1:28 utc | 193

How difficult its been for Melanie during the past six months!!
https://yvesengler.com/2024/04/09/media-slams-man-who-dares-challenge-cabinet-minister/
Posted by: bevin | Apr 9 2024 20:52 utc | 118
===========
Just more “Shoot and cry.”

Posted by: Jane | Apr 10 2024 1:30 utc | 194

Sidd 141
“Posted by: Jane | Apr 9 2024 21:44 utc | 134
L’Étranger means literally ‘The Foreigner’.”
==========
Yep, what I said.

Posted by: Jane | Apr 10 2024 1:31 utc | 195

Posted by: Honzo | Apr 10 2024 0:53 utc | 174
‘Alistaire Crooke is an establishment thug, his positions are limited hangouts to gloss over the past crimes in which he participated.’
==============
Can you be specific about Crooke’s crimes that make him a thug?

Posted by: Jane | Apr 10 2024 1:33 utc | 196

Siddhartha | Apr 10 2024 1:28 utc | 192 “Why did you find it appropriate to identify your foreign minister as a lesbian?”
Because she is a lesbian.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 10 2024 1:42 utc | 197

Posted by: Jane | Apr 10 2024 1:33 utc | 195
He was a ranking figure in the British intelligence service (MI6). Need you know more?

Posted by: Siddhartha | Apr 10 2024 1:44 utc | 198

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Apr 10 2024 1:10 utc | 186
======================================
Interesting piece about suicide. Obviously a delicate topic!
Whilst reading it occurred to me that the author is missing a crucial dimension (IMO), namely that anyone seriously contemplating suicide (who does not have a terrible illness or wound etc.) has no true/good connection with others (and have lost their sense of humour). Because when you do have such a connection (and humour) you cannot seriously contemplate such a thing.
We are social animals but some of us go astray, doubtless because our societies have gone astray and we end up somehow divorced from our own human nature. Suicide is perhaps a natural expression of such alienation, which is indeed profoundly depressing.
Rather than the ultimate disconnection of suicide, seems to me that one simply needs to connect. Of course, some people feel trapped in an isolation zone they cannot possibly get out of. Truly sad. But maybe if they could only visit the nearest Comedy Club wearing a sign saying ‘I desperately need to get laid NOW!’ ….

Posted by: scorpion | Apr 10 2024 1:45 utc | 199

In French “L’Étranger” , unless you knew exactly that a person was being talked of, would first mean “Abroad”.
“Abroad” by itself is not an exact translation, meaning similar to “at distance” from the familiar.
“L’Étranger” on the other hand insinuates similar to “it where things are strange” or possibly “that which makes one/things strange”.
“Foreign” implies beyond (for example beyond the familiar, literally the door) , “strange” (extraneus) from outside of.
Therefore though “abroad” and “foreign”, hence “foreigner”, are interchangeable in certain ways with “L’Étranger”, they do not quite carry the same meaning or sense.
When “L’Étranger” is carried over to a person, it also brings with it the same meanings along the lines of the above … “L’Étranger” similar to “HE where things are strange” or possibly “HE which makes one/things strange”.
Camus would have known the play on meanings I expect. To look at a book with title “L’Étranger” first brings to mind that it will explain something about abroad.
I suppose anyone gets to choose the definition they prefer though 🙂 .

Posted by: Ornot | Apr 10 2024 1:51 utc | 200

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