Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
June 16, 2024

Some Links And An Open Thread 2024-146

From a recent email exchange with an MD:

Me: "How long will it take for me to get back into the saddle?"
MD: "Recovery time is often calculated as one month per decade of life."
Me: "Sigh!"

A few days ago a MoA reader I had not known of contacted me and offered to help. He is living in the same city as I do. I had thought that I would be able to do small stuff, like shopping, as soon as I was back home. Wrong - I didn't even make it half way :-(.

So yesterday Nico came by and did some grocery shopping for me.  My fridge now filled! Great! Thanks!

---

The issue below deserves a serious write up. Alas, I am currently not up to it. It was an incredibly irresponsible campaign and some people likely died over it.

Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic - Reuters
The U.S. military launched a clandestine program amid the COVID crisis to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation – payback for Beijing’s efforts to blame Washington for the pandemic. One target: the Filipino public. Health experts say the gambit was indefensible and put innocent lives at risk.

First thought: This wasn't a war. So why the f*** was the Pentagon at all involved in any such stuff?

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus.

The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation.

Reuters identified at least 300 accounts on X, formerly Twitter, that matched descriptions shared by former U.S. military officials familiar with the Philippines operation. Almost all were created in the summer of 2020 and centered on the slogan #Chinaangvirus – Tagalog for China is the virus.

Note that the Chinese vaccine in question was not a 'dubious' mRNA vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna but a classic one consisting of attenuated viruses. Such a vaccine was/is very unlikely to cause harm. To claim otherwise will in the end have left vulnerable people without the protection a vaccine could have given them.

How much the anti-vax movement in the 'west' was a reaction to the anti-Chinese Pentagon manipulations in the Philippines and elsewhere? Such campaigns always 'leak' and have echoes.

Consider this the next time you read about defect or otherwise 'bad' Chinese products:

[T]he Pentagon’s clandestine propaganda efforts are set to continue. In an unclassified strategy document last year, top Pentagon generals wrote that the U.S. military could undermine adversaries such as China and Russia using “disinformation spread across social media, false narratives disguised as news, and similar subversive activities [to] weaken societal trust by undermining the foundations of government.”

And in February, the contractor that worked on the anti-vax campaign – General Dynamics IT – won a $493 million contract. Its mission: to continue providing clandestine influence services for the military.

Then Special Operations Command Pacific General Jonathan Braga was at the head of the campaign. Braga is currently the commanding general of United States Army Special Operations Command.

---

Sinovac hits back over reported US campaign to discredit China’s Covid-19 vaccine - SCMP
Chinese pharmaceutical company says Pentagon’s social media attack targeting its coronavirus jabs could lead to ‘enormous disaster’

---

The above nonsense fitted into this larger strategy:

Xi Jinping claimed US wants China to attack Taiwan - (archived) FT
Chinese president told European Commission president that Washington was trying to goad Beijing into war

Xi issued the warning in a meeting with von der Leyen in April 2023 that was described to the Financial Times by several people. He said the US was trying to trick China into invading Taiwan, but that he would not take the bait. Another person said he had issued similar warnings to his officials.
---

Some of these issues were new to even me:

What Western mainstream media won’t tell us about China - MR Online

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Sleepwalking Toward War - Foreign Affairs
Will America and China Heed the Warnings of Twentieth-Century Catastrophe?

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This week's Economist has a positive view on China ?!?

How worrying is the rapid rise of Chinese science? - Economist
If America wants to maintain its lead, it should focus less on keeping China down

America’s assassination attempt on Huawei is backfiring - Economist

---

Wars are expensive:

Ukraine’s weapons bill soars as black marketeers cash in (archived) - The Times
The cost of some weapons has risen fivefold since Russia started the war — and in some ways Zelensky’s allies are to blame


bigger

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The Russian Defense Ministry currently lists in average some 2,000 Ukrainian casualties per day. That number is four to five times higher than was usual a year ago. Does Zelenski really believe he can sustain a war with such losses?

Ukraine-Russia Peace Is as Elusive as Ever. But in 2022 They Were Talking. - New York Times

Mr. Zelensky has pledged to keep fighting, describing his peace plan as one in which Russia withdraws from all of Ukraine’s territory, pays reparations and is punished for war crimes.

“If we don’t make progress this year, then we will try again next year,” Mr. Zelensky privately told a European counterpart recently, according to a European diplomat who was present. “And if we don’t make progress next year, we will try again the following year, and the one after that.”

---

At the long end of a finally failed U.S. color revolution:

Georgia’s protesters vow to stay on streets until government falls - VOA

Collapsing Empire: Georgia and Russia Restore Diplomacy - Kit Klarenberg

Use as open thread ...

Posted by b on June 16, 2024 at 9:46 UTC | Permalink

Comments
next page »

It's good to have you back on track, b.

As for the Reuters story... "what else is news?"

By now everyone should know that the US governments always lie, cheat, kill.

Unfortunately there's always a lot of people ready to swallow their lies.

Let's keep confidence that one day Peace will happen.

Posted by: Vasco Valente | Jun 16 2024 10:24 utc | 1

First up. Thank you to anyone able to help b.
And thanks to b for keeping this blog going despite his personal health challenge.
This wasn't a war. So why the f*** was the Pentagon at all involved in any such stuff?
Oh but dear b.
It was (is) a war…. DARPA has been involved in the dark side of biological warfare since forever.
?you know about the pentagon paying for Russian blood and tissue material?
? You know about Crimea-Congo virus?
? you know about the biolabs in Ukraine (and Georgia) along the Russian border.
? you know about Lyme disease?
? you know about Morgellons?
? All the weird experimentation that has leaked from labs for decades?
Some of us crazy “anti vax” loonies just knew about gain of function before it was reported in the msm.
Whatever convid19 is, and whatever the “vax” is, it isn’t what we were or are being told.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 16 2024 10:27 utc | 2

Take it easy B .... relax.

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | Jun 16 2024 10:28 utc | 3

Mr. "bombshell"-b is back
:))

Posted by: AG | Jun 16 2024 10:43 utc | 4

Read Klarenberg's article then compared it with the Wiki version https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Georgian_War which reminded me why I keep away from contemporary articles and stick to 1916-1917 on the Western Front. ;O)

Posted by: Squeeth | Jun 16 2024 10:56 utc | 5

Hello B
What kind of surgery did you have , was it a cardiac surgery bypass graft ( CABG ) or abdominal surgery of Aorto-femoral bypass graft ?
Recovery all depend on the patient prior clinical conditions , you have yourself to know , when you can get up and go to the store , no body else can tell you .
So good luck to you and fast recovery
I am MD with an experience of 50 years of medicine , surgery and an interventional Radiology .

Posted by: Bobby | Jun 16 2024 11:13 utc | 6

b and Lex@13. Well stated.

Good Covid data is hard to find.

The virus should have been handled by medical types like Lex

Instead public health got taken over by security types which wasn’t a good idea even if it was an escaped/released pathogen.

Posted by: financial matters | Jan 11 2022 16:57 utc | 62

Posted by: financial matters | Jun 16 2024 11:17 utc | 7

MD: "Recovery time is often calculated as one month per decade of life."
Antiquated thinking. If you are otherwise in good health the effects of anesthesia and healing should be done by two months. According to that you are just 20 years plus in age! Enjoy.

Posted by: sal | Jun 16 2024 11:18 utc | 8

Speaking of Xinjiang...

I fell for Cynthia McKinney back in the early 00s when she tore Rumsfeld and Dyncorp new one, and voted for her for president in 2008 as an arrivederci to the US electoral quagmire. She always stood alone and tall as the true spirit of the left in those undeserving halls.

Anyhoo, after being ostracized from congress and deplatformed in general, she moved on to better things, leaving for Bangladesh to teach political science at North South University in Dhaka.

From a recent field trip...

This is what I found in Xinjiang, China!

Posted by: john | Jun 16 2024 11:19 utc | 9

Glad to see you “walking small” again. You’ll grow with recovery. Rest and patience are keys to healing.

Posted by: Phlogiston_Warrior | Jun 16 2024 11:20 utc | 10

I think we're only just now beginning to see the true extent of penetration of key global institutions by western actors - particularly the CIA, MI6 MOSSAD and the kiev secret services.

Its truly extensive!

Posted by: HERMIUS | Jun 16 2024 11:31 utc | 11

I was triple vaccinated with Sinopharm in China. No side effects, and I don’t know anyone who did have.
Eventually I caught a mild infection — in the Philippines! - in mid 2022. I assume it was Covid because when it was finally let to rip in December, everyone in Shenzhen got it except me.

“What Western mainstream media won’t tell us about China”.
This looks to be a transcript from the YouTube video series “Jerry’s take on China”. Jerry lives in Zhongshan and puts one or two up a week, worth following if that’s your line of interest. Here’s the latest.

Discussing Li Qiang’s visit to Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEuoraUVHJ8

Posted by: Walt | Jun 16 2024 11:42 utc | 12

As General Smedley Butler informed us almost 100 years ago, a major purpose of the US military is to support and protect US business interests throughout the world, by any means necessary. United Fruit company was a classic example (now Chiquita banana). The US is like an organized crime ring masquerading as a democratic country.

Posted by: John R Moffett | Jun 16 2024 11:49 utc | 13

The Pentagon was involved because COVID was a joint US-China project wherein Fauci and his co-conspirator Peter Daszak skirted US regulations on gain of function research and outsourced the work to the Wuhan lab which appears to have received extensive US and other Western funding.

Then, once the lab was up and running and the Chinese had learned enough to go it alone, the Chinese military moved in and excluded the rest.

After the leak, the blame game was on - and they all played a role, the US, French, British, Canadians in particular.

So hence the psyop by the Pentagon. Don't be the one caught red handed.

Posted by: Facekicked | Jun 16 2024 12:02 utc | 14

In regard to the Corona Virus affair .... Termed "Covid-19"
I am 86 and have had it 3 times and I'm not vaccinated because I spent a lot of time investigating it in January to March 28th, 2020 and from that investigation of 2+months of around 12 to 15 hours per day I finally worked out what was going on ... Please note I am not an Anti-Vaxer and would have in an instant the Vaccine I said in June 2020 is the one which I believed would be safe... The miRNA Vaccines from what I investigated were dangerous!
That safe Vaccine was based on Peptides and the first one was developed by a Research Institute in Siberia and came on line late in 2020. The Vaccine is EpiVacCorona Vaccine. As I live in Australia I am denied that Vaccine by the Australian Government ... because I live in Australia?
As a result of all those hours and resolving what the Virus does and how people die I refused Vaccinations and treat myself with what I can say is 100% success and as soon as I realise I have the virus I begin medicating myself with several Vitamins and in proportions which those close to me believed was idiotic. ... However on each occasion I overcame the virus in no more than 2 days (With no after effects from the Medications which are not toxic in any case? Although some people can have upset stomachs)
I have been writing about the Corona Virus since March 2020 and explaining in detail my findings and research if you could call it that because all my sources come from Research Institutes such as the reputable NIH AND PUBMED.
I am happy to send you b. my detailed finding so if you on reading them think they are worth considering you can tell whomever you want.

William Kierath


Posted by: William Edward Kiera | Jun 16 2024 12:27 utc | 15

i guess that by now many people have realized that they were cheated (and worse).
if indeed it was a nefarious chinese virus and if indeed the dangerous ruskies had a weaponized vaccin, why dont they use it since two years of permanent bullying and attacks?
one would have a very short memory not to connect the dots.

good to see you back! gute besserung!

Posted by: Minaa | Jun 16 2024 12:32 utc | 16

Here’s hoping for your complete recovery b. I’m reminded of the old Who lyric “sickness will surely take the mind where minds can’t usually go, come on the amazing journey and learn all there is to know!” Paraphrased I’m sure from am weak memory.

Haven’t read here in awhile but was pulled back in when I learned of your unfortunate illness and felt, while not a warm embrace of the MoA commentary zeitgeist, I do admit it retains a certain importance based on the portrayal of an evolving, some might say debased, political worldview, which nonetheless deserves to be read and understood as expressed by your features and below the line.

I have not donated more than once since being banned but promise to make a small one next time you run a campaign to help in your recuperation.

Posted by: Elatyeknod | Jun 16 2024 12:39 utc | 17

'Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic - Reuters'

This reminds me of the plot to kill Bin Laden. The CIA ran a sham hepatitis vaccination program in Pakistan to collect DNA from the neighborhood where he was hiding. Because of this program, dozens of medical aid workers around the world were killed. The CIA and Pentagon simply don't care how many people die because of their schemes.

Posted by: Mike R | Jun 16 2024 12:42 utc | 18

Life is circles.

From earliest childhood, we prayed.
Then I thought I grew up and knew better.

years
time
children
loss
growth

Now, I pray.
In my prayers I remember you, b, and commend you to the infinite care of the spirits of the universe.

Posted by: ChasMark | Jun 16 2024 12:48 utc | 19

While the military wars rage, the financial war is now in full swing.

Many of you have been reading about de-dollarization, and the various attempts and motivations for new trading tools to facilitate trade among the various countries' currencies. Right now most international trade is priced in dollars, which means the buyer has to obtain dollars in order to make the purchase, and that often means the sale is settled at a U.S.-controlled bank ... and that inserts the U.S. between the buyer and seller.

That's a real problem for many other countries, because the U.S. exerts political influence via its position in the middle of trade transactions. The U.S. "weaponizes" finance. Avoiding the U.S.' involvement in these trade transactions is complex. It's a tough problem, and there's a lot of inertia that gets in the way of change.

There are a number of new, rapidly developing tools and organizations to do this job, and there are many - even more important! - new players with major resources and even bigger motivations that have committed themselves to make non-dollar-denominated trade easy, reliable and fast. And soon.

Russia and China are leading, BRICs is likely to be the first major beneficiary of the new trading tools, and now Saudi Arabia has weighed in: SA has let the "price all oil sales in dollars" deal with the U.S. lapse.

This has now been reported in the U.S. press , with all the appropriate consternation re: impacts.

M.K Bhadrakumar (IndiaPunchline.com) has a new article out that covers the waterfront - the technologies, the big players, the Saudis, and the impact on the U.S. of de-dollarization. If you're new to the subject, this is a decent place to start.

As many critics have pointed out, everyone knows _why_ other countries are motivated to de-dollarize. The question is "what's the alternative?".

Well, that's the big question, isn't it?

Alternatives get built when the motivation, resources, and capability thresholds are met. They've been met.

If the Saudis actually do start pricing in currencies other than dollars (remember, letting the deal lapse, and actually pricing their oil in different currencies are two separate events), and if China and Russia really do build the multi-currency trading system for BRICS, that'll do the job. This will be the year the "exorbitant privilege" of the U.S. comes to an end.

And that will be a major, major change in the U.S.' situation.

For further reading, search "mBridge" and "BRICs". That'll provide much food for thought.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Jun 16 2024 13:20 utc | 20

Any vaccine can cause injury for a broad set of reasons. It comes down to an honest assessment of risks and what the benefit is gained. For covid… well, yeah.

I guess B doesn’t Know Covid policy was run by the NSC not CDC or NIH. And classified.

Posted by: Nils | Jun 16 2024 13:23 utc | 21

"'Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic - Reuters'

This reminds me of the plot to kill Bin Laden. The CIA ran a sham hepatitis vaccination program in Pakistan to collect DNA from the neighborhood where he was hiding. Because of this program, dozens of medical aid workers around the world were killed. The CIA and Pentagon simply don't care how many people die because of their schemes."

Posted by: Mike R | Jun 16 2024 12:42 utc | 17

You drank too greedily from the US guv Koolaid.

Bin Laden died years earlier from kidney disease in Saudi Arabia.

Posted by: canuck | Jun 16 2024 13:28 utc | 22

Covid alert. And don't expect any links or detailed explanations for what you'll be seeing. I warned you.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 16 2024 13:28 utc | 23

I have to just say how great it is to know that B's still with us. I can see that it is going to be a very long, hot summer, especially for folks in the U.S. Maybe even for everyone.

Scary as it sounds, the great Blinking One is now running the show - he has been groomed all these years for this very purpose.

RF knows what it will take to overcome the collective waste, I meant, west. At this point, I believe they are simply reluctant to go that far, because once they do they know there will be no turning back, for anyone.

But fear not. In another 100,000 or 200,000 years, mabe some slimy thing will lift it's head up from beneath the sand and realize there is light up here, and maybe things aren't so bad after all.

All I know for certain is, that the affect of our actions are only temporary. Nothing is permanent.

Posted by: thecelticwithinme | Jun 16 2024 13:30 utc | 24

I disagree when you say “it was not a war.” COVID has been a war from day 1, just not the kind of war you are used to, and makes the Ukrainian thing seem inconsequential when you realize the true scope. DARPA helped make Covid, which is a lab created bio weapon that started development on US soil (NC Chapel Hill). DARPA also helped create the mRNA vaccines which contain the same bio weapon (they make the human body produce the bio weapon spike protein with no off switch). Sinovac didn’t do this and therefore was not part of the plan which is why it had to be attacked.

Posted by: Moonraker | Jun 16 2024 13:32 utc | 25

Any impressions of EU elections? Patrick Lawrence sez:

The outstanding question in the European capitals now is whether the profound animosity evident in last week’s election results will carry over to national polls due in political seasons to come. Figures such as Emmanuel Macron think that in legislative contests that will have actual consequences, unhappy voters will pull back from the brink: The E.U. vote as an acting out, let’s call this reasoning. I am not sure the French president is right about this. The conditions that produced last week’s E.U.–wide results are clearly leading to a substantial migration away from the “center” liberal authoritarians speak of as some kind of sacred space.

https://scheerpost.com/2024/06/16/patrick-lawrence-europes-elections-as-a-mirror/

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jun 16 2024 14:04 utc | 26

Bin Laden died years earlier from kidney disease in Saudi Arabia.

@Posted by: canuck | Jun 16 2024 13:28 utc | 21

The fakery of 'killing Bin Laden' was an act like the
murder of Lee Harvey Oswald - trial by death. That is, no
trial, and thus, real trial-worthy evidence would became redundant.
It was a key chapter in the telling of September 11th.

After the Navy Seal raid at Abbottabad, Pakistan:
The body of so-called "Bin Laden" was immediately thrown overboard mafia-style to the bottom of the ocean.
Before we got to even see it.
Photos taken by the Navy Seals of the body were ordered destroyed or turned over to the CIA, out of reach of FOIA requests.
The helmet cameras worn by the Navy Seals were at first heralded! "Hurrah !!", everyone said. But then we were told, "they never existed".
The witnesses, the Seals, were ordered silent forever. No witnesses. Forever.
The DNA was handled by the CIA itself.

At the same time the CIA is claiming, "We got Bin Laden", they are eliminating all evidence.

Who trusts the CIA?

The public didn't notice the lack of evidence? - No! The destruction of evidence - No!, again.
They had their eyes fixed on celebration -- dancing like clownish fools in the streets -- and a media blitz.

The evidence said cover up. The evidence said something else was actually taking place.

It was a year and a half before the book "No Easy Day" was published by one of the Seals.

The Seal that got the best look at the body, took pictures of the body, collected bodily fluid samples and compared the body
to pictures he had brought on the raid, said in his book that he had refused to identify the body as Bin Laden.
That Seal said on 60 Minutes that when he got back to base one CIA agent --! one !-- came in and told him and General McRaven,
"you got him, it was Bin Laden".
The CIA - one agent, one. The CIA told the Seals and General McRaven it was bin Laden.

And that one agent was the pebble that began an avalanche of media blitz.

Three years after the book release another Seal broke ranks and came out into the lime light.
His version and the first Seal's version do not match up. But the second Seal explained it away as, "fog of war".
The second Seal, who credited himself with shooting "Bin Laden", said he did seven things in less than one second.
That is the total time he had to look at "bin Laden".
Less than one second and doing multiple things. And while wearing night vision goggles.
For this he set in motion another wave of media blitz.

He said, while wearing night vision goggles, that he:
1) jumped into the doorway.
2) id'ed the figure as bin Laden
3) made sure he wasn't going to shoot any women or children
4) raised his weapon because the figure was taller than he expected
5) noticed a weapon on a nearby shelf
6) saw that the figure appeared to be reaching for the weapon
7) put several shots into the skull of the figure
He said that all took place in less than one second and then he continued into the room and the next in his sweep.
Never stopped to look at "the mess" (his words) he had made.

There is no evidence, but there are two witnesses. One which refused to id the body as bin Laden
and the other that had less than a second to make his id while wearing night vision goggles
and dealing with the fog of war.

Witnesses ordered to be silent forever. Pictures destroyed. Helmet cameras "never existed".
Body immediately thrown overboard to the bottom of the ocean mafia-style. The CIA handled the DNA.

The CIA told us all what to believe, as they were destroying all evidence.
Their claim was then echoed and multiplied a million times in the news media.

----
post script
----
The Israeli invasion of Lebanon (2006) was a rough carbon-copy
of September 11th. A faked security lapse that soon permitted an invasion.
Fortunately for all sides that invasion of Lebanon failed.
It proved the delusion of military superiority.
Fortunate, as the plan was to then use the pretext of UN resolution 1680 (c/o John Bolton)
passed just weeks before the 'security lapse' and
immediately pivot from Lebanon to attack Syria and Iran (with US and British
assistance of course).

[The above post script was composed more than a year ago.
Does it remind you of another recent "security lapse"?]

Posted by: librul | Jun 16 2024 14:05 utc | 27

I would think most people here know exactly what this feels like because you've seen it first hand.

Sleepwalking into totalitarianism – Part 2
How and why we are destroying our democracies in the name of saving them.

The invention of disinformation and of hate speech
The way in which this 'fight for democracy' is operationalised is through the fight against what has come to be called 'hate speech', and through the push to eliminate 'disinformation'. In practice, the two concepts, while sounding like separate problems, are used interchangeably. In reality, they both mean that the ideas and words that the ruling establishment doesn't like should be eliminated from public discourse, which mostly, though not exclusively, means from digital platforms.

The EU itself had already taken a big step towards enforcing its vision of policing speech on major digital platforms, when the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force in August 2023. Using vague and highly bureaucratic language, the DSA pushes platform companies to remove or reduce the impact of what the EU considers 'harmful information' or disinformation. In order to do this, platform companies must work with 'vetted researchers' who have been pre-approved by the EU.

The term 'vetted researchers' refers to what are more commonly known as fact-checking organisations, which have become very influential in recent years. While some people may still believe that fact-checking organisations play a useful role in improving our public discourse and reducing lies and fake news, the reality is that most of these organisations actually make things worse due to their own often very biassed perspectives. Behind the veneer of neutral journalism, these organisations behave more like activists who see fact-checking as a way to fight a political enemy. Moreover, the idea that we can easily separate lies from facts is an illusion, especially given the fact that our public discourse is often about highly contentious issues that are far from settled. The fact that a majority holds a view does not mean that it is true.
https://michanarberhaus.substack.com/p/sleepwalking-into-totalitarianism-910

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | Jun 16 2024 14:15 utc | 28

Hats off to Nico, what a great gesture!

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 16 2024 14:24 utc | 29

Sleepwalking into totalitarianism – Part 2
How and why we are destroying our democracies in the name of saving them.

The invention of disinformation and of hate speech

@Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | Jun 16 2024 14:15 utc | 27

Good timing, Caitlin Johnstone has published about a related subject this morning.

https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/weve-seen-this-antisemitism-crisis

Posted by: librul | Jun 16 2024 14:24 utc | 30

Hats off to Nico, what a great gesture!

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 16 2024 14:24 utc | 28

Posted by: librul | Jun 16 2024 14:26 utc | 31

The Chinese response to COVID suggests they sure thought they were under attack from a bio-weapon

Posted by: Exile | Jun 16 2024 14:28 utc | 32

The Russian Defense Ministry currently lists in average some 2,000 Ukrainian casualties per day. That number is four to five times higher than was usual a year ago. Does Zelenski really believe he can sustain a war with such losses?
Zelensky's only option is to keep the war going. He can't negotiate for two reasons

1. He created a law forbidding negotiations with Russia.
2. He is an illegitimate usurper now, Russia will have nothing to do with him.

So he keeps going with thousands of casualties per day until the whole thing falls apart or he runs away to the US. I guess this has to happen sometime soon.

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 16 2024 14:33 utc | 33

If anyone still think there was anything!! positive regarding the Covid 19 shots.
Then they either:
1. were themself conned into participating in the circus
2. don't get much of what is really going around

Posted by: g wiltek | Jun 16 2024 14:39 utc | 34

Posted by: Exile | Jun 16 2024 14:28 utc | 31

Very good observation.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 16 2024 14:46 utc | 35

Great information on Sinovac. Wish were available in the West.
Excess deaths higher in countries with higher uptake of mRNA vaccines. Eastern Europe lower excess deaths due to sigificantly lower percentage of population vaccinated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naopp_KF678
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xBiyidQ9g
Insurance companies on excess deaths
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uOxhYyfYw4
Johnson & Johnson vaccine was stopped due to 6 adverse reactions occurring in 6.8M doses. 6 women developed blood clot in brain. mRNA vaccine companies use leverage to get J&J pulled? J&J used similiar methodology as Sinovac.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIfzd_lJDhU
Meanwhile mRNA vaccines have had millions of reported adverse reactions in the US VAERS system. Only fraction of adverse reaction are reported using VAERS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRyaJr85qL8
New vaccines being developed using mRNA technology including common cold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq2qwql8xBs

Posted by: Thurl | Jun 16 2024 14:48 utc | 36

Any fans of Biber? No, not Justin Bieber but the tough little mofo from Wagner and Artemovsk, an update:

The older PMC soldier with the call sign Biber, who was left to “defend” Bakhmut by Prigozhyn, is alive and is still in the SMO zone. Earlier he was proclaimed dead, but turns out it was wrong.

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/97778


Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 16 2024 14:51 utc | 37

Hope you feel better b. Good to see you back. Thanks for enlightening me on the propaganda of the Pentagon as it worked to undermine China's efforts to protect its population from Covid19. Truly disgusting.

Posted by: Áobh Ó'Sheachnasaigh | Jun 16 2024 15:07 utc | 38

Exile @ 31

The Chinese response to COVID suggests they sure thought they were under attack from a bio-weapon

Ab-so-fucking-lutely. It's a mystery to me how this isn't obvious. The main reason I fell for the lockdown scam and vaxxes is because of the Chinese reaction. I didn't put my trust in western gov, or health admins, or media, but just figured that whatever the Chinese are doing I ought to do the same. I know, "if the Chinese were walking around with their underwear on their heads, would you do it to?"

The letter from the USA bat coronavirus researches to the Obama admin that led to the six month moratorium on that work in the USA and the then transfer to the affiliated Wuhan lab could have been a way to set up the Chinese for the USA's eventual release there. If so it may not have been so much to wipe them out but to trip up and slow down their economy for a few years to buy the USA time for war. Considering all the counterproductive self defeating sanctions, especially the chip sanctions, from exactly the same time period I wouldn't disregard this possibility in the least.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 16 2024 15:07 utc | 39

From one of the comments on the latest Doc John Campbell YouTube, the doctor quoted can be referenced on wikipedia:

“The vaccine was not brought in for COVID. COVID was brought in for the vaccine. Once you realize that, everything else makes sense.” ~ Dr. Reiner Fuellmich

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 16 2024 15:13 utc | 40

China isn't going to invade Taiwan because they realize that time is on their side. Just wait 5 years till USA is weak enough to not be able to resist. Russia didn't have that option with Ukraine armed by Western powers and talking nukes. But notice Russia is not looking to pull USA into this fight. They keep not responding to outrageous provocations. Because time is also on their side.

The dollar collapse is the lunch pin to the whole shebang! When enough people leave the dollar, all those dollars in foreign hands will come home to roost. And WHO to blame? The whole world (at least half,) who have left? The arming of America's enemies will drive us to war everywhere when we can't afford the ones we have already.

But the big mistake was slipping in the draft before the election. That won't be popular with the young freaky folks.

Posted by: Trumpeter | Jun 16 2024 15:26 utc | 41

Great post! Glad you´re back, but please take it easy and don´t try to post every day. I thought I had been keeping up with things, but your post today covered things that were important, and new to me.

Posted by: c | Jun 16 2024 15:26 utc | 42

Unz has a recent article about using AI to 'narrow-zoom' into particular authors, summarizing their work and simu-interfacing with them. Interesting. Here follows the PCR excerpt, which is the shortest. I think this is a promising use of AI. Basically, the input is curated, in this case limiting to one particular author, rather than giving it almost limitless source material to start with.


https://www.unz.com/announcement/questioning-our-writers-whether-living-or-dead/
Paul Craig Roberts Chatbot
Chatbot Link

What was Putin’s biggest mistake?
Paul Craig Roberts identifies several key mistakes made by Vladimir Putin in his handling of international relations and the Ukraine conflict. One of the major errors was Putin’s belief in diplomacy and international law over a more assertive military strategy. Roberts argues that Putin, influenced by a 1950s American liberal mindset, overestimated the effectiveness of diplomacy with the West and failed to anticipate the aggressive and deceptive tactics used against Russia. This led to a series of miscalculations:

Overreliance on Diplomacy: Putin believed in resolving conflicts through diplomacy and mutual respect, a stance that Roberts suggests was outdated and ill-suited to the modern geopolitical climate where power and dominance are more influential​​.

Delayed Military Response: The slow and restrained nature of the Russian intervention in Ukraine allowed Western nations to rally support for Ukraine, send military aid, and impose sanctions on Russia. This approach undermined Russia’s position and emboldened its adversaries​​.

Misinterpretation of Western Intentions: Putin’s misjudgment of Western intentions, particularly in believing that the West would respect agreements like the Minsk Protocol, left Russia vulnerable. The West used these agreements to buy time and arm Ukraine while preparing for a confrontation​​.

Lack of Immediate and Decisive Action: Roberts asserts that Putin’s failure to take swift and decisive military action, such as a blitzkrieg to quickly neutralize Ukraine, resulted in a prolonged conflict. This allowed the West to increase its involvement and escalated the war, ultimately threatening to bring NATO and US troops directly into the conflict​​.

Forbearance Seen as Weakness: Putin’s restraint and reluctance to escalate the conflict were interpreted as indecision and weakness by the West, leading to increased provocations and a disregard for Russia’s red lines​​.

In summary, Roberts criticizes Putin for his outdated belief in diplomatic solutions, his slow and limited military response, and his failure to anticipate and counter the aggressive strategies of the West. This combination of missteps, according to Roberts, has not only prolonged the conflict but also increased the risk of a wider war, potentially involving nuclear weapons​​.

PCR, a Putin supporter, has been highly critical since the beginning of the SMO. Other Unz-hosted authors have a very different take, so this is just one example of the Chatbot approach, which Unz now has at the bottom of many of his authors' articles. Cool.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 16 2024 15:33 utc | 43

b, not my business but:

with recovery you might want to consider a simple guideline regarding computer use, something like: for every hour on the computer at least one hour outside in fresh air, sunshine etc. Indoors, favour books over computer or TV screens.

Maybe Niko can drive you to the nearby ocean or, since you are German, take you into the wald / woods where the ancestral German spirit dwells - you are forest people. Maybe find clean, quiet places out doors where you can lounge in a deck chair for hours at a time. Thermal waters excellent. The more time outside in nature away from cyberspace, the quicker your recovery will go. And if there is a Nordic barfly with a 13+ meter cruising sailboat, some time on the water with sea and sky could work wonders. The more time around fresh air, sunshine, wind, trees etc. the better.

All best.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 16 2024 15:38 utc | 44

"gain of function"
Whatever convid19 is, and whatever the “vax” is, it isn’t what we were or are being told.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jun 16 2024 10:27 utc | 2

Always the word memes. Global Warming morphed into Climate Change. Weaponization of viruses and bacteria, now rebirthed as the benign "gain of function"
Loss of function would be more descriptive.

To Bin Laden. I always found it preposterous that a U.S. Navy Seal was paraded, unmasked, around U.S. TV networks, publicly, face unmasked, as the guy who shot Bin Laden. But 9/11 did achieve it's primary goal- the totalitarian (un)Patriot Act and expansion of U.S. military belligerence. "You'll be chasing what we did yesterday, when we are on to another nefarious, dirty deed, today". Paraphrased.

Posted by: kupkee | Jun 16 2024 15:40 utc | 45

Three cheees for Nico!
Health and friendship are what matter in life, and it sounds like you have found a good one.

Posted by: Alex Cox | Jun 16 2024 15:40 utc | 46

I'm happy to see you back, b! I hope your recovery is quick and pain-free.

Posted by: upsetter | Jun 16 2024 15:45 utc | 47

Danke sehr, Unser Freund. Please do not overdo your energies just to keep us barflies engaged.

If there is even any remote possibility that you can find and trust an understudy who could help take care of the site during the time of your recovery; such a situation would possibly enable site continuance without severely stressing yourself. Just a thought.

In essence, you are irreplaceable as a provider of this medium of genuine exchange of ideas, frustrations and hopes. Stay strong and may many blessings be upon you for the services you have rendered.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jun 16 2024 15:48 utc | 48

Those following closely were aware of the gain of function sequencing of the virus well before lockdowns and mandates.

That was washed over and the narrative has been controlled ever since, with only a few public dissenters being able to hold ground. These dissenters are most highly qualified and informed people, and I will not link them because others should start at the bottom of the pile and use their own discretion.

The rest is surreal, a mixture of social control, corruption of nation principles, profit and much else besides.

It is hardly relevant if the virus purposefully released or by error, because there is no way to ensure veracity of any story. Even if a nation eventually admits to an error it is equally a covering of purposeful release.

Reminder that these people do not think like other people. There is no moral code, the end justifies the means, the public are imbecilic. Any use of any story for whatever own ends will be used, whether to mislead or gain advantage.

Empire vs socialism, capitalism vs communism, east vs west, nation vs nation, left vs right has to be put aside here. It does not work like that at this level.

As Lavrov linked, the only front which is obvious and from which the public is able to act if it wakes from its own illusions, fears or slumber, is the legal erosion of what were once taken if not as rights, then as unquestioned traditional and natural status quo of societies in the west.


It is not about reconquering, renewing or progessing, it is about preserving and defending the most vital and normal of values in any society.

If what planners had in mind was so good, they would present it openly for debate and not sneak through endless destructive interventionist legislation to reinforce their own vision and authority.

Without knowing it they have already lost, that they overlay new perception while erasing existing structure is improvisation at its worse, because it will lead to a circumstance of no way forward and no way back, the resulting imbalance only serving a very few, and possibly not even.


With all the existing organisation and technical ability mankind has fallen into a well known trap.
At times some here have written about economic cycles as if the idea was new, but in fact the idea has existed at least since the 14th century. I choose a random link:

https://qcurtius.com/2015/05/08/the-rise-and-fall-of-empires-ibn-khalduns-theory-of-social-development/


Apart from description of evolutionary theory, Ibn Khaldun also noted social/economic cycles.

At present our western societies are the mentioned weak and spoilt, being asymetrically conquered by the modern day version of nomadic forces. Nomadic does not recognise national borders, call that deep state or elite or whatever you choose.

Vladimir Putin's recent speach was an exercise in moderation, but he must know those he confronts are absolutely ruthless and driven, that they will shoot first, that they expect others to also. It is a dangerous time.


Bevin, the hatred towards Russia is more complex than 1918. Previously the empires/monarchies were often competitive, and the peoples wary of foreign influence or powers. The USA was (and remains) the nomadic counter-monarchy of the day, initially with French help, and unsurprisingly the French then had that visited on themselves. There are so many overlapping currents that we would not know where to start, even if main European distancing occured after the revolution and cemented after the second world war. As shadowbanned once explained, some of this is ancient.

Framaz, you noted the historical complicity between China and USA. I have had similar discussions with people who should know this well, but the moment you point out obvious ties they just completely blank. They refuse or are unable to consider what is being said. That is how strong propaganda is. That said, and the deception of any own population being obvious enough, it still does not answer exactly the nature of the ties. They could be limited opportunistic mutually beneficial to an elite, could be conspiratorial, could involve temporary undefined agreement between state and commerce and so on.

Sorry not conversing, too much.


b :-)

Posted by: Ornot | Jun 16 2024 15:56 utc | 49

Maybe all those tales of the US military releasing some sort of pathogen in China really do have traction.

Posted by: MoT | Jun 16 2024 15:56 utc | 50

Echoing other posters who appreciate Nico's efforts on behalf of Bernhard:

Well done, Nico. Thanks!

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Jun 16 2024 16:03 utc | 51

Posted by: MoT | Jun 16 2024 15:56 utc | 49

Maybe all those tales of the US military releasing some sort of pathogen in China really do have traction.

What is more likely, IMO, is that there are various networks that operate inter or trans nationally, i.e. not tied to one particular nation or bloc. In the biolab world it seems there was cooperation between labs in North Carolina, Ontaria, Ukraine and China. Quite possibly some of this was known by various nation state Defence agencies but some of it wasn't. There is probably no way of knowing. Quite possibly an American-made, Canadian-enhanced virus made its way into Wuhan where it was further modified and either released or escaped, by accident or design, and/or a virus similar to one known to be in development in Wuhan with US funding was released by US military in November 2019. The American military personnel turned into such vectors may or may not have been knowingly infected by the USG. The possibilities are endless.

The point is that nation states per se may no longer be in charge of what their military industrial complexes are up to. Indeed, changing political systems to reflect this new reality may be what 'the Reset' is really all about - time for a top-down technocracy.

Wheels within wheels.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 16 2024 16:08 utc | 52

All these "technological information advances", such as social media, AI and Chatboxes are just the wizzbang of delivery of dis-information. Say no to AI; this will become the extreme excuse for the authority BORG to declare that they are not responsible, nor accountable for their creations.

It is a noticeable bad habit of the authority BORG to paint their pigs in such a way to deceive others to their intentions.
Two examples, the sneaky acceptance of organ donations with the dark underbelly of Organ harvesting, or the acceptence of all things sexy and genderous, while epidemic human and sex trafficking occurs unabated.

Actually three: the tyrannical attempt to remove human and body sovereignty for the claim by authority that they have absolute authority over an individual's natural immunity, or herd immunity for that matter.

Posted by: Mann Friedmann | Jun 16 2024 16:13 utc | 53

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjgFyvxv1QA

A powerful speech from Chris Hedges. The soul grows weary.

Posted by: KMRIA | Jun 16 2024 16:25 utc | 54

Moonraker@1332

Biological warfare has a long history. The most nefarious iteration occurred during the Korean War when both the Nks and the Chinese accused the U.$. airfarce of spreading Bubonic Plague and other nasty vectors throughout most of the northern Korean Peninsula.

Fast forward for 20 odd years into the development at the U.$. Army base in Maryland which had become the blower center for the U$$A. There, at Fort Detrick, the AIDS phenomenon was created in their labs, with funding from Congress.

Around 200 Gay men in Manhattan were given free hepatitis injections. The jab included the Fort Detrick addendum. Within a matter of months, New York Gays were coming down with the then "mystery" symptoms. From there, the victimization was spread into Gay ghettos in major urban centers, even jumping the border into Montreal and Toronto.

Next on the nefarious agenda emanated from the "Dangerous Animals Testing Lab" at Plum Island in Long Island Sound where ticks were weaponized in their Frankenstinian labs. First outbreak was just a few miles ashore on the mainland at Old Lyme, Connecticut...Thus, the introduction of Lymes Disease.

We must bear in mind that concurrent with the Wuhan lab, there were numerous biolabs of that sort established in amenable nations, most significantly in Ukraine.

Do bear in mind, that when Russia made its initial incursion into the Maidan Coup regime's state; Russian special forces made rapid forays to capture a significant proportion of those labs, from whence the Covid MRNA "application" were employed and ultimately deployed on targets such as Iran and Italy...ab initio.

This ruptured republic in which I reside, has long fallen into the scheming assaults of highest finance upon the entirety of humanity on behalf of the ruling elite and their various minions, stooges and enforcers...those selected individuals have most probably received countervails for the bioweaponry.

The Bill Gates, the Rottenfeller Crime Clans and other proponents of "eugenic" warfare are tickled with delight at the prospects for international mega-death.

My condolences to those who have taken the jabs and to their survivors. Bird-Flu may be the next vector of attack.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jun 16 2024 16:26 utc | 55

I read a while back (time slips away) a post - probably by a barfly - that there are several hundred (300+?) bio labs in many countries around the world. They are said to be run by the CIA and goings on are secret from the hosting country - like an Embassy.

My immediate thought was that they are culling local DNA and the 'studies' are targeted. I got the impression that Russia's first move with the SMO was to invade the Uke biolabs, seize info and free the slav prisoners.

Dunno if any of it is true, but seems plausible to me.

Posted by: ms_idaho | Jun 16 2024 16:31 utc | 56

As a longtime anti-vaxxer (and even worse virus denier) I say anyone who discourages people from taking vaccines is doing God's work!

Posted by: TheNorthernChef | Jun 16 2024 16:34 utc | 57

It's not only a problem with vaccines ya know? We (my MD hubby and I) encourage everyone to research drug side effects and decide if the 'cure' might be worse than the dis-ease - especially if it is likely that a health problem might be solved by lifestyle changes and medical alternatives.

That's not to say medical interventions (recover quickly b) aren't important - but that it may not be in your best interest to take the first cure proposed. b did lots of research ....

And I am sure many of us can attest to the fact that recovery from surgery is not the most fun part of life.

Posted by: ms_idaho | Jun 16 2024 16:42 utc | 58

Scorpion@1533

Paul Craig Roberts, was once upon a time a somewhat informative and very occasionally legitimate analyst. Alas, for PCR, the unreconstructed Reaganite; has devolved far past his "best by" date. He is NOT a genuine supporter of Putin and the R.U., though occasionally implies that status. As an economist (of sorts) his knowledge and insights into geopolitical reality is of a typically American low level of comprehension of the larger picture.

Roberts, similar to many of the fortunately late Ayn Rand's little "objectivists", was and remains a fan of capitalism and appears to not be conscious of the fact that capitalism is the pure opposite of genuine free-enterprise, to say nothing of various cooperative ventures...or even state-imposed socialism which did appear to have some relevance in now destroyed Yugoslavia. Rule from the top-down, as exemplified by the hovering Eye of Horus on the ass-end of the $1 Fed-note is simply fine and dandy with that troglodytical micro-analyst.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jun 16 2024 16:46 utc | 59

From a couple of days ago, Alistair Crooke at Strategic Culture Foundation: https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/06/14/european-mutiny-at-the-illiberal-order/

I have been writing for some time that Europe (and the U.S.) are in a period of alternate revolution and civil war. History warns us that such conflicts tend to be extended, with peak episodes which are revolutionary (as the prevailing paradigm first cracks); yet which, in reality, are but alternate modes of the same – a ‘toggling’ between revolutionary peaks and the slow ‘slog’ of intense cultural war.

We are, I believe, in such an era.

I also have suggested that a nascent counter-revolution was slowly gathering – one defiantly unwilling to recant traditionalist moral values, nor prepared to submit to an oppressive illiberal international order posing as liberal.

What I had not expected was that the ‘first shoe to drop’ would occur in Europe – that it would be France that would be the first to break the illiberal mould. (I had thought that it would break first in the U.S.)

The European MEP election outcome may come to be viewed as the ‘first swallow’ signalling a substantive change in the weather. There are to be snap elections in Britain and France, and Germany (and well as much of Europe) is in a state of political disarray.

Have no illusions though! The cold reality is that western ‘Power Structures’ own the wealth, the key institutions in society and the levers of enforcement. To be plain: they hold the ‘commanding heights’. How will they manage a West edging towards moral, political and possibly financial collapse? Most likely by doubling-down, with no compromise.

And that predictable ‘doubling down’ will not necessarily be confined to fights within the ‘Colosseum’ arena. It will certainly impinge into high-risk geo-politics.

Undoubtedly, U.S. ‘structures’ will have been deeply disconcerted by the European election portent. What does the European anti-Establishment mutiny imply for those Ruling Structures in Washington, especially at a time when all the world sees Joe Biden visibly wobbling?

How will they distract ‘us’ from this first crack to their international Structural Edifice?

Already, there is U.S.-led military escalation – ostensibly connected to Ukraine – but whose objective clearly is to provoke Russia into retaliation. By incrementally escalating NATO violations of Russia’s strategic ‘red lines’, it seems that the U.S. hawks seek to gain the escalatory advantage over Moscow, leaving to Moscow the dilemma of how far to retaliate. The western élites do not fully believe the warnings from Moscow.

This provocation ploy might conceivably offer either a crafted image of the U.S. ‘winning’ (‘staring down Putin’), or alternatively, come to provide a pretext to postpone U.S. Presidential elections (as global tensions spike) – thereby giving the permanent state time to get its ‘ducks in lined up’ to manage an early Biden succession.

This calculus however, is contingent on how soon Ukraine implodes either militarily, or politically.

An earlier than expected Ukraine implosion might become the staging for a U.S. pivot to the Taiwan ‘front’ – a contingency that already is being prepared.

Why is Europe in mutiny?

The mutiny has arisen because many in the West now see only too clearly that the western ruling structure is no liberal project per se, but rather is an avowedly illiberal mechanical ‘control system’ (managerial technocracy) – that fraudulently poses as liberalism.

Clearly many in Europe are alienated from the Establishment. The causes may be multiple – Ukraine, immigration or falling living standards – yet all Europeans are versed in the narrative that history has bent to the long arc of liberalism (in the post-Cold War period).

Yet that has proved illusory. The reality has been control, surveillance, censorship, technocracy, lockdowns and climate emergency. Illiberalism, even quasi totalitarianism, in short. (von der Leyen took things further recently, arguing that “If you think of information manipulation as a virus, instead of treating an infection once it has taken hold … it is much better to vaccinate so that the body is inoculated”).

When then, did traditional liberalism (in the loosest definition) turn illiberal?

The ‘about-face’ came in the 1970s.

In 1970, Zbig Brzezinski (who was to become National Security Adviser to President Carter) published a book entitled: Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technetronic Era. In it, Brzezinski argued:

“The technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society…dominated by an élite, unrestrained by traditional values…[and practicing] continuous surveillance over every citizen … [together with] manipulation of the behaviour and intellectual functioning of all people … [would become the new norm].”

Elsewhere he argued that “the nation-state as a fundamental unit of man’s organised life has ceased to be the principal creative force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation-state”. (i.e. Business cosmopolitanism as the future.)

David Rockefeller and the power brokers around him – together with his Bilderberg grouping – seized on Brzezinski’s insight to represent the third leg to ensuring that the 21st century would indeed be the ‘American Century’. The other two legs were control of oil resources and dollar hegemony.

Then followed a key report, Limits to Growth, (1971, Club of Rome (again a Rockefeller creation), which provided the deeply flawed ‘scientific’ underpinning to Brzezinski: It predicted an end to civilization, owing to population growth, combined with depleting resources (including, and especially, depleting energy resources).

This dire prediction was imputed to say that only economic experts, tech experts, leaders of multinational corporations and banks had the foresight and technological understanding to manage society – subject to the complexity of Limits to Growth.

Limits to Growth was a mistake. It was flawed, yet that did not matter: President Clinton’s adviser to the UN Rio Conference, Tim Wirth, admitted the error, yet cheerfully added: “We have got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory is wrong, we will be doing the ‘right thing’ in terms of economic policy”.

The proposition was wrong – but the policy was right! Economic policy was upended, based on faulty analysis.

The ‘godfather’ to the further pivot to totalitarianism (apart from David Rockefeller), was his protégé (and later, Klaus Schwab’s ‘indispensable adviser’), Maurice Strong. William Engdahl has written how “circles directly tied to David Rockefeller and Strong in the 1970s birthed a dazzling array of élite (private-invitation) organizations and think tanks”.

“These included the neo-Malthusian Club of Rome; the MIT-authored study: ‘Limits to Growth’, and the Trilateral Commission”.

The Trilateral Commission however, was the secretive heart to the matrix. “When Carter took office in January 1976, his Cabinet was drawn almost entirely from the ranks of Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission – to such an astonishing degree that some Washington insiders called it the ‘Rockefeller Presidency’”, Engdahl writes.

Craig Karpel, in 1977, also wrote:

“The presidency of the U.S. and the key cabinet departments of the federal government have been taken over by a private organization dedicated to the subordination of the domestic interests of the United States to the international interests of the multi-national banks and corporations. It would be unfair to say that the Trilateral Commission dominates the Carter Administration. The Trilateral Commission is the Carter Administration”.

“Every key U.S. Government foreign and economic policy post, since Carter, has been held by a Trilateral”, Engdahl writes. And so it continues – a matrix of overlapping membership that is little visible to the public, and which very loosely may be said to have constituted the ‘permanent state’.

Did it exist in Europe? Yes, branches across Europe.

Here lies the root to last weekend’s European ‘mutiny’: Many Europeans refuse the concept of a controlled universe. Many are defiantly unwilling to recant their traditional ways of life or their national allegiances.

The Rockefeller Faustian bargain of the 1970s had one narrow segment of the American ruling cadre seceding from the American nation to occupy a separate reality in which they disassembled an organic economy to the benefit of the oligarchy, with ‘compensation’ coming only from their embrace of identity politics and the ‘just’ rotation of some diversity into corporate executive suites.

Looked at in this way, the Rockefeller deal can be viewed as a parallel to the South African ‘arrangement’ that ended Apartheid: the Anglo-élites held onto economic resources and power, whilst the ANC, on the other side of the equation, got a Potemkin façade of their taking political power.

For Europeans, this Faustian ‘arrangement’ degrades Humans down to identity units occupying the spaces between markets, rather than markets being the ancillary to an organic human-centred economy, as Karl Polanyi wrote some 80 years ago in The Great Transformation.

He traced the turmoil of his era down to one cause: the belief that society can, and should, be organised through self-regulating markets. For him, this represented nothing less than an ontological break with much of human history. Prior to the 19th century, he insisted, the human economy had always been “embedded” in society: it was subordinated to local politics, customs, religion and social relations.

The converse (Rockefeller’s technocratic illiberal cum identity paradigm) leads only to the attenuation of social bonds; the atomisation of community; to the lack of metaphysical content and thus to an absence of existential purpose and meaning.

Illiberalism is unfulfilling. It says: You don’t count. You don’t belong. Many Europeans evidently now get it.

Which somehow takes us back to the question of how the western strata will react to the nascent mutiny against the International Order that has been accelerating across the globe – and which has now surfaced in Europe, albeit with diverse colorations and some ideological baggage.

It is not likely – for now – that the Ruling Strata will compromise. Those who dominate tend to fear existentially: Either they keep dominating, or they lose all. They see only a zero sum game. Each side’s status becomes frozen. People increasingly meet only as ‘adversaries’. Co-citizens become dangerous threats, who must be opposed.

So, consider the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Leaders in the U.S. ruling strata comprise many zealous supporters of a Zionist Israel. As the International Order starts to crack, this segment of structural power in the U.S. is likely to be uncompromising too, fearing a zero-sum outcome.

There is an Israeli narrative to the war and a ‘rest of world narrative’ – and they don’t really meet. How to arrange things? The transformative effect of seeing ‘others’ differently – Israelis and Palestinians – presently is not on the table.

That conflict has the potential to get much worse – and for longer.

Might the ‘Ruling Strata’ – desperate for a certain outcome – seek to fold (and try to conceal) the horrors of this west-Asian struggle within a wider geo-strategic war? One in which greater multitudes become displaced (thus dwarfing a regional horror)?

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jun 16 2024 16:48 utc | 60

The chatbot usage @Scorpion | Sun, 16 Jun 2024 15:33:00 GMT | 42 hints at, as advocated and implemented by Ron Unz, appears promising to me as well. Simply speaking, you direct a working AI LLM to pick up a specific body of text, and then generate answers from there.

The concept appears sound and seems to work well for the journalistic writers at the Unz journal. I believe it may be extremely helpful for research duties in the giant libraries that humanity built in many places.

However, do not forget that the statistical technique running in the background is much like a tombola of word scrips, coupled to a giant abacus that filters the returns until they become 'good enough'. This will enable sensible excerpts; it will, however, not be genuinely creative. It doesn't do ideas, everything under the hood is purely numerical.

Posted by: persiflo | Jun 16 2024 16:52 utc | 61

Light Years @ 39

Well yes. Mike Yeadon has been saying that since early 2020, from before the vax was even available. So say many others. Yeadon, if you don't know, was VP for Respiratory and Infectious at Pfizer for some years before launching his own startup. And is a vaccinologist.

Now in light of that everyone please re-evaluate the Chnese and Russian reactions. We are due for a changing of the guard, you are dreaming if you think the game is about to change.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jun 16 2024 16:53 utc | 62

Delightfully discovered this morning that I was far from being the first individual to test the waters, so to speak, to see if b. was back on line. Mirable Dictu. Revival of a posting-place encompassing a set of posters who are on average, far more deeply informed than on the U.R. platform.

Refreshing. Do take note that when the word gets around that MoA has returned to the discourse; that it will be a matter of slogging through the masses of repressed verbiage.

It still being planting-season out at the homestead for my energies; I'm thankful that this neighborhood was visited by rain overnight and into the earlier hours of the day...thus no requirement to get back to the physical labor reality with this day off.

Once again, thanks, due respects and kudos to b. for restoration of this platform of atypical barflies...an essentially unknown phenomenon here in the ruptured republic.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jun 16 2024 17:01 utc | 63

Scorpion @ 51

Remarkable. You have every detail cockeyed and still get the gist of the matter.

Remember that people are dumb. Military dumbest of all. Bureaucrats a close second. Lots of programs you would think were managed by Responsible Parties and Serious People are just handled by bureaucrats. Or passed to military because we don't know what to do and those guys in uniform at least follow orders. Examples of involved people here of indeterminate nationality and no loyalty to anyone - Peter Daszak, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jun 16 2024 17:04 utc | 64

Scorpion @ 42

I always forget to check Unz, interesting link I'm a bit behind on this AI unleashing upon mankind.

Once these individual chatbots have been created, they could even be set against each other. It would be interesting to see the results of ideological debates on economic matters between the chatbots representing advocates of socialism such as Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, and Michael Hudson against those on the free market side such as Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard...

"For my birthday, I got a dehumidifier and humidifier. I put them in the same room and let them fight it out" - Steven Wright

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 16 2024 17:26 utc | 65

Since this is an open thread I can ask my question of other barflies

Please ask ChatGPT to calculate the US dollar amount necessary to (naked short) force the price of gold down by $100, which happened the Friday before last....maybe even $10
My guess is in the billion/trillion range.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 16 2024 17:28 utc | 66

Jeremy Rhymings-Lang 59, thanks for the Crooke article. Overall it's fine, but I wonder about the riff on the Limits to Growth and its contribution to an ideology justifying the pursuit of neoliberal hegemony. What does it matter, really, in their perspective? LtG only gives their project a certain twist. It still boils down to the use of political mechanisms to secure control by capital. It's also worth noting that LtG arguments can get pretty tricky when they run up against the unlimited drive to accumulated capital.

Posted by: dadooronron | Jun 16 2024 17:35 utc | 67

For anyone thinking that anything will be any better under Trump here is an excellent piece by Joesph Jordan at Littoria on the subject. Some great quotes:

Those clinging to the memory of Trump’s 2016 underdog campaign will be disappointed to learn that the elite have taken full control of him: large donations now account for 68% of Trump’s campaign cash, sharply contrasting with the 14% Wall Street financiers and California tech moguls contributed to his first campaign.

Zionist money is driving this sudden surge in support for Trump. The organized Jewish community has started reducing its financial contributions to Joe Biden while generating a fortune for Trump following the Democratic president’s empty threat to reduce arm’s shipments to Israel. The 45th president, known for being highly transactional with his Jewish patrons, will be owing a lot of favors if he gets back into office this November.

And

The perception that many Trump supporters hold that he will end the war in Ukraine, which Trump deliberately plays to for populist points, is also baseless. In a speech in Japan earlier this year, Pompeo guaranteed that Trump would continue supporting the Ukraine war if elected. He has good reason to believe this. While Trump regularly attacks funding for NATO and the Ukrainian war effort at his campaign rallies, he secretly backed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s passage of the highly unpopular $95 billion dollar aid bill to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan last month.

And

Trump’s words are meaningless. All of the evidence we have about Trump’s cabinet-in-waiting suggests that his second administration would make Biden’s Zionist warmonger administration look reasonable by comparison. No matter who wins in 2024, America will be the loser.

There may be shrieks of angst from the true believers if Trump gets elected and fills his cabinet full of neocon and Zionist warmongers, but they should not be surprised. The choice is between a Zionist warmongering neoliberal ruling class tool (Biden) and a Zionist warmongering neoliberal junior member of the ruling class ruling class tool (Trump) and a Zionist somewhat less warmongering neoliberal more junior member of the ruling class ruling class tool (RFK Jr.). Welcome to democracy in America.

Posted by: Roger | Jun 16 2024 17:39 utc | 68

JR-L @1648

Many thanks for sharing Crooke's astute analysis of the underpinnings lying beneath the surface of geopolitical reality. It was indeed a tour de force.

One small nitpick: As a semantic warrior, a recovering journalist, an historian by background education and consistent delving; my perspective is not quite puerile or juvenile as some would insist. So here goes: Crooke often pinions America's leading Crime Clan...the Rottenfellers.

Okay, so denigrate this perspective as "non-professional". The name Rockefeller, long past the time when Ida Tarbell presented her diagnosis of John D. Rottenfeller, the original and primary Robber Baron; that surname has taken on a veneer of respectability and even a status of honor.

Do we, as cultural warriors, need to maintain bourgeois standards of presumed decency?

In 1931, a lead article in a New York daily, celebrated enthusiastically that J.D. was America's first billionaire...as he tossed dimes to Depression era children from his open luxury vehicle.

In ca 1920, the original Rottenfeller, the apotheosis of materialist values; donated mega-millions to Columbia University in order for that Manhattan Ivy institution to establish a template for other institutions of "higher" learning by establishing a college of education. Within a matter of just a few years, various private and public colleges and universities embraced the Columbia template and established their own "state normal schools" and similar institutions.

A veneer of philosophical and old Yankee ingenuity was created in the persons of John Dewey, an alleged "philosopher" and James Bryant Conant, of Puritan stock...to head up that new establishment.

In one of his more to the point statements, slightly paraphrasing here; Rottenfeller remarked: "We do not need these people (the underclasses) to learn Latin, Greek, serious history, geography, calculus and all of that. We merely need them to work in our factories, shops and offices as well as providing food".

Precisely, the preferable sobriquet for the Rottenfeller Crime Clan, now numbering over 200 direct descendants of the old bass-turd himself; is based upon the Real-Eye-Zation that J.D.'s scheme was the DELIBERATE DUMBING-DOWN of the American people.

Edumacasion, any more is focused upon fun n' games jocktivities, pep-rallies, study-halls along with "new" math, demolition of cursive writing and no longer even useful courses such as shop and home-ec courses. The administration of public schools is primarily in the hands of former jock-coaches, while the average teacher in all levels "sport" I.Q's which only rarely surpass the 110 level and frequently do not even achieve that status.

Why?

As in the old Russian proverb that the fish rots from the head down; the "educators" themselves have been intellectually degraded in those Rottenfeller created teachers colleges and more plangently, by the U.$. Department of Education at the "zugspitze"; the various state Depts. of ed and downwards to the consortiums of selected superintendents of fake educations.

Some years ago, I chanced upon a 1906 Kansas testing regimen for candidates to graduate from EIGHTH grade. So I "took" that test, likely emerging by the proverbial skin of my teeth. Needles to say, that 8th grade achievement test for a mostly rural, one-room schoolhouse student body...was almost two decades before Rottenfeller's scheme was fully developed.

So, even to Alistaire Crooke, a Brit, to judge by the given name; my suggestion is to begin employing the semantic weapon of "name calling" for the primary crime clan perps and their various minions, stooges and go-along to get-along types.

We The People need to take up those semantic cudgels against the enemies of humanity. Destroy their assumed dignity. Call a spade, a spade and "Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead".

Posted by: aristodemos | Jun 16 2024 17:46 utc | 69

"Speaking of Xinjiang...

I fell for Cynthia McKinney back in the early 00s when she tore Rumsfeld and Dyncorp new one, and voted for her for president in 2008 as an arrivederci to the US electoral quagmire. She always stood alone and tall as the true spirit of the left in those undeserving halls.

Anyhoo, after being ostracized from congress and deplatformed in general, she moved on to better things, leaving for Bangladesh to teach political science at North South University in Dhaka.

From a recent field trip...

This is what I found in Xinjiang, China!"


Posted by: john | Jun 16 2024 11:19 utc | 9

Thanks john! I strongly recommend your post in full. And thank you, b, for making this an open Sunday forum. My best advice healthwise is think positive, and be patient with yourself. Do what you like to do, starting small.

I've had ten years of amazingly good health now since a fall laid me low when I was in my '70's. I thought I would never walk again, and that crushed me because I love to walk. "Oh yes, you will!" they said, and they were right.

Posted by: juliania | Jun 16 2024 17:48 utc | 70

b. is BACK. Rejoice.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jun 16 2024 17:48 utc | 71

@Roger | Jun 16 2024 17:39 utc | 67

The choice is between a Zionist warmongering neoliberal ruling class tool (Biden) and a Zionist warmongering neoliberal junior member of the ruling class ruling class tool (Trump) and a Zionist somewhat less warmongering neoliberal more junior member of the ruling class ruling class tool (RFK Jr.).
Agreed, that pretty much sums things up.

This year will be filled with violence and disasters due to the US election which is not going to solve anything.

That being true, the "Biden" administration must go before it starts nuclear war.

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 16 2024 17:49 utc | 72

/cheep

A full refrigerator souns wonderful, b. Doubly so now that I got a nest of hungry chirpers of my own, eating me out of nest & branches. Ah, but I love the little squirts. Hence why I gotta catch food almost constantly. *sigh* The gluttomous lil' shits leave soon enough as it is. *sigh* I miss 'em already.

Anyway, good to have you back on the mend!

/cheep cheep

Posted by: titmouse | Jun 16 2024 17:49 utc | 73

Welcome back and wishes of a recovery!

New article from Aleks/BMA on the prospect of nuclear war. Might be interesting to some.

https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/nuclear-war-ahead-i

Posted by: unimperator | Jun 16 2024 17:50 utc | 74

“….. Military dumbest of all. Bureaucrats a close second. Lots of programs you would think were managed by Responsible Parties and Serious People are just handled by bureaucrats….”

Indeed; whenever anyone touts the brilliance of a gov’t agency; I simply remind them of the DMV

Posted by: Exile | Jun 16 2024 17:53 utc | 75

I repost this notification I made yesterday dealing with a very interesting and timely topic, "Marat Khairullen: The African Front".

Also, Pepe Escobar has a new article at The Cradle whose header photo includes all who were at the BRICS+ FM Conference which few publications provided, "The BRICS weigh in on Palestine".

I'm very pleased to hear b has found an aide that's also a barfly to help with his rehab. IMO, many more big leaks will occur over the coming months as the November election nears.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 16 2024 17:56 utc | 76

Posted by: Squeeth | Jun 16 2024 10:56 utc | 5

Up to 2015, the Wikipedia article on the 2008 war in South Ossetia was fairly decent. It was the initiation of the anti-Russian campaign due to the Maidan and subsequent events that led to a heavy editing of said article. If one can believe it, in its current form (which is anti-Russian propaganda more or less) it is slightly improved compared to the early edited version.

Posted by: Constantine | Jun 16 2024 17:59 utc | 77

Re: De-Dollarization

Barflies, watch the pace of de-dollarization. It’s the critical variable of peace-or-war. A useful proxy of de-dollarization is how much risk lenders perceive when buying U.S. Gov’t debt = interest rate premium.

Some rates from April:

10Y Bond Country
0.862% ... Japan
2.286% ...| China
2.432% ... Germany
2.952% ...| France
3.773% .../ Canada
3.847% ...| Italy
4.288% ... U.K.
4.631% ... U.S.A.

Shocking but true. If these spreads widen, then big money investors are signaling de-dollarization is real and happening.

Note - at current roll-over rates and interest rates 30-35% of Federal Income will be devoted to paying interest on debt in FY2025.

Posted by: Exile | Jun 16 2024 18:01 utc | 78

All the best to you b, don’t risk your health for this. Fresh air, recommended diet and exercise, keep active and interested but avoid stress at all costs.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 16 2024 18:06 utc | 79

Glad to see you back b.
And I greatly appreciate your news.....

Posted by: Jeff Harrison | Jun 16 2024 18:07 utc | 80

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 16 2024 17:56 utc | 75

Seconded on The African Front report, lots of moving parts.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 16 2024 18:09 utc | 81

Roger @ 67

For anyone thinking that anything will be any better under Trump...

Things will get worse just with a different spin.

It'll be interesting watching Trump twist himself into a pretzel over the genocide of the Palestinians, or maybe not, he's not smart but he's sharp, probably sharp enough to not even bother with rationalizations and spin, to not become the genocide tar baby.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jun 16 2024 18:12 utc | 82

Wishing you well and a speedy recovery. Before I go, the US has no friends but enemies.

Posted by: AI | Jun 16 2024 18:12 utc | 83

Thanks Nico

Posted by: jo6pac | Jun 16 2024 18:13 utc | 84

"First thought: This wasn't a war. So why the f*** was the Pentagon at all involved in any such stuff?"

Remember, US leaders have long thought "life is cheap in Asia!"

Posted by: lester | Jun 16 2024 18:14 utc | 85

https://t.me/Lunay14/17615

Forwarded from Roman Alekhine

Ukrainian gambit in black transplantology

Information has appeared that in Ukraine the security forces exposed a scheme for exporting organs abroad . They also write that the scheme, which included the Central Kiev Hospital, was supervised by the Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine.

I wrote about the fact that black transplantology is one of NATO’s income sources back on March 20, 2022 , when I already had the first information about their involvement in the disappearance of Donbass children. The post tells how NATO members got a taste of money from human organs and created an entire system for organ removal during military conflicts.

Then, here and there, information appeared about workshops for cutting up wounded but still alive Ukrainians, so Two Majors spoke at once about several locations of such workshops , where work was carried out on the fly.

Recently, comrades “Welders” published a post that guarded refrigerators that were involved in the scheme were spotted in the territories, confirming the information of the Two Majors.

And a recent video from Kirill Fedorov from Severodonetsk , which our sappers are carefully clearing of mines, already with documents confirms the presence of such operating rooms not far from the LBS.

But the most interesting information was from comrades from lpr 1 , who have a huge network of informants on the territory of Ukraine, and it was that the black NATO transplantologists went further : they demand that the commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine create small detachments for slaughter, driving them into the opornik and sending them with the shell in order to quickly disassemble them and hand them over to the customer in parts. This, of course, is more expensive, since orders from specific customers are ensured and fighters are selected in advance according to the required characteristics.

❤️As for the investigation, it appeared when Russian bloggers and media made a noise that reached not only Ukraine, but also Europe, where they began to ask questions. In order to get NATO out of harm's way with its business projects on trafficking in children, women and organs, an investigation was concocted. At the same time, it was not only supposed to become a lightning rod from the large NATO cutting conveyor, but also was designed to eliminate competitors who, on the sly, also decided to make money. And the money is not small.

There has already been information about prices for organs:

Heart - $200,000
Lungs - $50,000
Liver - $30,000
Kidneys - $15,000 - $25,000
Bone marrow - $20,000 Legs -
$10,000 Eyes - $6,000 Ears
-
$3,000
Hands - $2000
1 liter of blood – $150.

At the same time, sometimes it is possible to take all this from one person, that is, a person can cost about $350,000. It is difficult to calculate the number, because one thing is the 500,000 losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced by the Americans, and another thing is data on the missing, wounded and, like, deserters. And I think that not only the military were allowed into the police, but also civilians from settlements close to the LBS, as was the case even before the Northern Military District - the war is written off, especially in NATO they are sure of this.

This is the gambit NATO strategists decided to play. But we know how to read moves, just as we write them down all the time.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 16 2024 18:18 utc | 86

Blue Moon

Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart

Blue moon, you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for
And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will hold
I heard somebody whisper, "Please adore me"
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold
Blue moon
Now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will ever hold
I heard somebody whisper, "Please adore me"
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold
Blue moon
Now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue moon
Now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Posted by: alfeu* | Jun 16 2024 18:22 utc | 87

Serious comment and analysis.
Honestly!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/14/putin-nuclear-arsenal-is-crumbling-ukraine-can-attack/

Posted by: jpc | Jun 16 2024 18:24 utc | 88

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Jun 16 2024 13:20 utc | 19:

So glad b is back! Hope you recover faster than what the doc told you.

If the Saudis actually do start pricing in currencies other than dollars (remember, letting the deal lapse, and actually pricing their oil in different currencies are two separate events), and if China and Russia really do build the multi-currency trading system for BRICS, that'll do the job. This will be the year the "exorbitant privilege" of the U.S. comes to an end.

Yes siree!!! The years of "exorbitant privilege" is coming to an end! It will end slowly, gather momentum, then explode into an avalanche, as the way it should happen. Afterall $$$ has been etched deep into the psychic of people the world over for at since WWII. Going slow is prudent and smart. There really is no hurry, and slower it is, less agitation it would be for the hurt monster, and less likely of a nuke war.

No hurry in dislodging the evil hegemon is the reason why China has been patient and low key in facing the hegemon, actually since Deng Xiaoping took rein. Since the mid-70's the hegemon has gained awful lot of economic benefits from petrodollars, but instead of growing stronger and more dominant over the rest of the world, the opposite has actually happened--the hegemon has grown weaker and less powerful relative to the rest of the globe, especially relative to its perceived adversaries.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jun 16 2024 18:26 utc | 89

Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 16 2024 18:18 utc | 85

Oops, wrong thread.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jun 16 2024 18:35 utc | 90

Serious analysis from Hamish de Breton Gordon in The Telegraph? Just about wet my pants.

Posted by: Merkin Scot | Jun 16 2024 18:39 utc | 91

aristodemos | Jun 16 2024 16:26 utc | 54

All excellent points that 99.9% of people have no clue about, except that I think Bird Flu is a head-fake. I'm more in line with Geert Vanden Boche (substack), who thinks that the 'genie is out of the bottle' and the ever circulating and ever evolving variants of SARS-COV-2 bioweapon will get most of humanity in the end, particularly targeting those who took the injections. He made a bold prediction of it happening by the end of June, where I think he is wrong, but I believe his general premise is correct and eventually will come true. Whenever it starts happening they will blame it on "Bird Flu" or "Disease X" or just call it "Covid" again. But by any measure, western society is currently sick, diseased, and dying (and I mean physically, though it's also happening culturally, morally, etc).

Posted by: Moonraker | Jun 16 2024 18:47 utc | 92

I only have enough time in a day to read a MofA post and a page and a half of comments. I dont have time to go anywhere else. Not having b's daily posts has been a bit of a shock to the system - I have had to make my own entertainment instead. So firstly, thank you b for not succumbing to a CIA/Mossad medical assassination and still being with us. Also, thank you for having the appetite to cary on regardless.

Secondly,in my efforts to keep busy during b's hiatus I found an article at The Consciousness of Sheep about empire's method of destroying the opposition: St George the hero (that would be USUK and friends) need to slay the dragon (insert enemy du jour), but to drag the ever-willing populace with them, there must be a damsel in distress who needs rescuing (Ukraine currently, or Taiwan, but Poland and Belgium were also damsels in their day. It fits for just about every war ever fought by Britain, which may explain their patron Saint. Anyway, for those with more time than me, enjoy: https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2024/05/18/killing-st-george/

Posted by: Occasional poster | Jun 16 2024 18:58 utc | 93

b- I just wanted to say best wishes and I hope you recover fully and as fast as conditions allow.

Posted by: Arkady Bogdanov | Jun 16 2024 19:01 utc | 94

On the never-endging madness "Osprey":

"Military officials:​ 'Widowmaker' Osprey will fly with a faulty clutch
At a hearing Wednesday, lawmakers said one more fatality under these conditions and the program is 'done.'"

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/crashes-osprey-military/

"(...)
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) disagreed with the decision to continue to use the faulty clutch: “What do you think the consequences will be if we have another V-22 go down and we lose more brave Marines or Airmen between now and the time at which Mr. Kurtz indicates we would have this clutch situation figured out and deployed?” said Lynch.
“Your whole program’s done. It’s done. If another Osprey goes down, we’re done. This program’s done. So why don’t we ground this now?”


Several family members of Osprey crash victims were incensed to learn that the program will continue to use the aging clutch — rather than grounding the fleet until they can replace the faulty part. After the hearing, the family members of victims sitting in the front row spoke with the witnesses. “Why would you fly something that still has a risk?” asked Gwyneth Collart, the sister of Cpl. Spencer Collart — crew chief of the Osprey that crashed in Australia. Chebi, whose own son is flying in an Osprey, didn’t have an answer.

With every crash, military families hear a different excuse. Initially, the Pentagon blamed the pilots. After a crash in Norway in 2022 killed four Marines, the military said the aircrew had “deviated from the preplanned and authorized flight.” In response to a California Osprey crash in 2022 that killed five Marines, the military acknowledged the issue with the clutch and claimed it had instituted changes.

After a series of deadly crashes in Australia and Japan in 2023, the military said it would investigate the issue and downplayed any links between the accidents and a potential clutch malfunction.

After the crash in Japan, which left eight dead, Naval Air Systems Command grounded the entire fleet. However, the Osprey was up and running again by March. The Osprey has received “no equipment modifications before they return to the air.” Despite the uptick in crashes, Chebi admitted that they only recently began an Osprey program review.
(...)

Posted by: AG | Jun 16 2024 19:06 utc | 95

karlof1 | Jun 16 2024 17:56 utc | 75

Thanks for the African "Marat Khairullen" article ! New news showing there is an overall plan. Gives the basic reasons for the changes in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. I was particularly surprised to see that Surovkin is the... (or one of the... ) architects of this Sahel line. He is actually a genius in his own field and it was already unlikely that he was simply "sent" to Africa to be got rid of.

By the way, thanks for your diligence in supplying info on your substack during the previous "non-b" period. I lurked shamelessly.

Posted by: Stonebird | Jun 16 2024 19:07 utc | 96

Velkomin heim b. !

Dose Nico do international crocery shopping? I am out of ice…

Posted by: El.Lissitzky | Jun 16 2024 19:11 utc | 97

Cheers Nico, great to have you helping our barkeep out.

Anyone has a link to Medvedev's threats to make the West's nightmares
come true?

I saw the statement on Global South but not the original post.

Posted by: Suresh | Jun 16 2024 19:43 utc | 98

Re: Illegal Organ Harvesting

Israel seems to be very active
2018
https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/bioethics/article/download/5986/3635/12332
2009
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Aftonbladet_Israel_controversy
2009
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/21/israeli-pathologists-harvested-organs">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/21/israeli-pathologists-harvested-organs">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Aftonbladet_Israel_controversy
2009
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/21/israeli-pathologists-harvested-organs
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/21/israel.organs/index.html
2007 
Israeli doctor arrested for illegal organ transplants
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1867886/
2007 Israel sets out to outlaw organ trafficking (HA that's rich)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2099532/
1990's
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34503294

Posted by: Exile | Jun 16 2024 19:45 utc | 99

Could this be the return of Week-in-Review? Saints be praised.
Kudos to Nico for helping out with the groceries.
Power surging to b for reopening the bar: even reading Canuck is making me nostalgic.

Good to be home. As we say here in Oz (on a Monday in winter; reminder—North America is not the whole world)
Love yers all and I'll see ya round like a rissole.

Posted by: Patroklos | Jun 16 2024 19:57 utc | 100

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