Sunday, September 30, 2018
bill bonner has a curious way of expressing himself which i find interesting and pointed, so in this article you may be educated and entertained all at the same time;
Guest Post by Bill Bonner
GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – We arrive at the end of the week.
Yesterday morning, the yard crew were putting up a stake on the Capitol lawn and laying around it a supply of tinder.
It was to be a small fire… hot and slow.
Brett Kavanaugh was duly tied to the post with his eyes wide open… neither offering an apology nor appealing to God for redemption.
Ms. Ford played along, citing the “civic duty” that required her to tell what happened to her in a suburban bedroom 36 years ago.
Ms. Ford says Mr. Kavanaugh tried to ravish her. Mr. Kavanaugh denies it. Obviously, one of them is bearing false witness.
And the august committee, along with the entire nation, was invited to spend another 100 million hours of its most precious and most irreplaceable resource – time – guessing which.
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/09/29/the-public-burning-of-brett-kavanaugh/
Guest Post by Bill Bonner
GUALFIN, ARGENTINA – We arrive at the end of the week.
Yesterday morning, the yard crew were putting up a stake on the Capitol lawn and laying around it a supply of tinder.
It was to be a small fire… hot and slow.
Brett Kavanaugh was duly tied to the post with his eyes wide open… neither offering an apology nor appealing to God for redemption.
Strike the Match
The first match was struck when Christine Blasey Ford took the oath and began her “high-stakes testimony” to a panel of grave-looking senators, each pretending that the fate of the nation hung in the balance.Ms. Ford played along, citing the “civic duty” that required her to tell what happened to her in a suburban bedroom 36 years ago.
Ms. Ford says Mr. Kavanaugh tried to ravish her. Mr. Kavanaugh denies it. Obviously, one of them is bearing false witness.
And the august committee, along with the entire nation, was invited to spend another 100 million hours of its most precious and most irreplaceable resource – time – guessing which.
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/09/29/the-public-burning-of-brett-kavanaugh/
Saturday, September 29, 2018
this article describes reality clearly from where i stand. your experience may vary in which case you can show my why its not as stated by the writer;
The 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York this week was a head-spinning spectacle of American bullying and arrogance – to the point where delegates couldn’t contain their laughter at one stage over Trump’s ridiculously self-righteous speech.
In his address to the assembly, Trump repeated the hackneyed accusations against Iran as being “the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.” Nothing new in that, but what this US president is doing is putting Iran on notice that it either capitulates or faces violent aggression.
Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton, in a separate speech in New York, warned Iran “there would be hell to pay” over Washington’s baseless accusations.
Washington reinforced its threats to impose a total embargo on Iran’s vital oil trade and cut Tehran off from the US-dominated international banking system. One could consider this to be an act of economic warfare pushing Iran towards further confrontation.
What’s more, when Trump chaired the Security Council meeting he provocatively warned other nations they face “severe consequences” if they continue to trade with Iran in defiance of US sanctions.
The day before, all the other signatories to the international nuclear accord with Iran held a meeting to reiterate their support for the 2015 agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The European Union, in conjunction with Russia and China, is trying to set up a new payment mechanism which would circumvent US sanctions and banking restrictions.
Yet, here was Trump telling them, “Don’t even try it!” The president is saying that it’s the US way, or no way.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/439660-trump-diktat-iran-unsc/
Donald Trump chaired the UN Security Council this week to
deliver a thuggish ultimatum to the world to obey American orders on
Iran or face retribution for not kowtowing to Washington’s diktat.
The world’s highest forum
for maintaining global security and peace was thus turned into a
platform for brazen, criminal American rhetoric.The 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York this week was a head-spinning spectacle of American bullying and arrogance – to the point where delegates couldn’t contain their laughter at one stage over Trump’s ridiculously self-righteous speech.
In his address to the assembly, Trump repeated the hackneyed accusations against Iran as being “the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.” Nothing new in that, but what this US president is doing is putting Iran on notice that it either capitulates or faces violent aggression.
Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton, in a separate speech in New York, warned Iran “there would be hell to pay” over Washington’s baseless accusations.
Washington reinforced its threats to impose a total embargo on Iran’s vital oil trade and cut Tehran off from the US-dominated international banking system. One could consider this to be an act of economic warfare pushing Iran towards further confrontation.
What’s more, when Trump chaired the Security Council meeting he provocatively warned other nations they face “severe consequences” if they continue to trade with Iran in defiance of US sanctions.
The day before, all the other signatories to the international nuclear accord with Iran held a meeting to reiterate their support for the 2015 agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The European Union, in conjunction with Russia and China, is trying to set up a new payment mechanism which would circumvent US sanctions and banking restrictions.
Yet, here was Trump telling them, “Don’t even try it!” The president is saying that it’s the US way, or no way.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/439660-trump-diktat-iran-unsc/
i was introduced to this writer by a friend who told me i was sure to like her presentations. that friend was correct and so far i haven't found anything by caitlin i haven't fully enjoyed and agreed with. now agreement doesn't make it correct necessarily but here you can read about hitler and fascism and 'our' government so afterwards if you disagree please let me know;
There will never, ever be another Adolf Hitler.
History doesn’t repeat itself. Human behavior patterns repeat themselves, because humans are deeply conditioned animals, but history doesn’t repeat itself. Anyone who says it does is confused about how time works.
Consumers of mainstream culture have been trained to watch out for the next Hitler the way evangelical Christians are trained to watch for the second coming of Jesus. References to Hitler are ubiquitous in movies, television, literature, and of course in political discourse, and understandably so; he is the clearest, purest example of evil in living memory. A genocidal dictator leading humanity into world war with the explicit agenda of totalitarian global domination is indeed as stark an example of an evil human being as you could possibly imagine, and serves as a philosophically unassailable “NOT THIS WAY” sign for our species. The saturation of our culture with that sign is why Godwin’s law (“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches 1”) is a thing; any time you want to tell a stranger that their ideas could lead in an undesirable direction, it becomes increasingly tempting to throw up the “NOT THIS WAY” symbol that Adolf Hitler has come to represent.
But history doesn’t repeat itself. No one will ever show up acting like the thing we’ve all been taught all our lives to never, ever act like and saying the things we’ve all been taught to never, ever say and be elevated by the masses the way Hitler was. It will not happen. The next enemy of humanity would have the good sense to present as completely different from the way Adolf Hitler presented in order to seize power, and, since we’ve all been trained to bristle at anything resembling him, would actually do well to present as his diametric opposite.
If you are watching out for the next powerful enemy of humanity who presents the way Adolf Hitler presented, you will be waiting the rest of your life. And you will have missed the fact that we already let the next enemy of humanity in through the front door.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/09/29/the-enemy-of-humanity-will-never-ever-look-like-this-again/
There will never, ever be another Adolf Hitler.
History doesn’t repeat itself. Human behavior patterns repeat themselves, because humans are deeply conditioned animals, but history doesn’t repeat itself. Anyone who says it does is confused about how time works.
Consumers of mainstream culture have been trained to watch out for the next Hitler the way evangelical Christians are trained to watch for the second coming of Jesus. References to Hitler are ubiquitous in movies, television, literature, and of course in political discourse, and understandably so; he is the clearest, purest example of evil in living memory. A genocidal dictator leading humanity into world war with the explicit agenda of totalitarian global domination is indeed as stark an example of an evil human being as you could possibly imagine, and serves as a philosophically unassailable “NOT THIS WAY” sign for our species. The saturation of our culture with that sign is why Godwin’s law (“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches 1”) is a thing; any time you want to tell a stranger that their ideas could lead in an undesirable direction, it becomes increasingly tempting to throw up the “NOT THIS WAY” symbol that Adolf Hitler has come to represent.
But history doesn’t repeat itself. No one will ever show up acting like the thing we’ve all been taught all our lives to never, ever act like and saying the things we’ve all been taught to never, ever say and be elevated by the masses the way Hitler was. It will not happen. The next enemy of humanity would have the good sense to present as completely different from the way Adolf Hitler presented in order to seize power, and, since we’ve all been trained to bristle at anything resembling him, would actually do well to present as his diametric opposite.
If you are watching out for the next powerful enemy of humanity who presents the way Adolf Hitler presented, you will be waiting the rest of your life. And you will have missed the fact that we already let the next enemy of humanity in through the front door.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/09/29/the-enemy-of-humanity-will-never-ever-look-like-this-again/
while watching what bits and pieces of this charade over the recent past i came to a similar conclusion as to what the author of this article has, and i post it here for your consideration;
Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
In 279 BC, the vast army of King Pyrrhus of Epirus was met by Roman forces at the Battle of Asculum in southern Italy, in what would be one of the costliest military engagements of ancient history.
Pyrrhus fancied himself the second coming of Alexander the Great and believed that he was a descendant of Achilles.
Many of his peers and contemporaries believed Pyrrhus to be the greatest military commander of all time.
His exploits were legendary. And when he set sail for Italy in 280 BC, the Romans did not underestimate him.
The Battle of Asculum was decisive. Pyrrhus actually won the battle; but in defeating the Romans, he lost so many of his men that his army was practically broken.
Pyrrhus purportedly said of his victory, “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined. . .”
This gave rise to the term “Pyrrhic victory,” which refers to a win that’s incredibly costly.
Pyrrhus also tried his hand at diplomacy with Rome, sending one of his ablest statesmen to the capital to negotiate peace with the Roman Senate.
The emissary was not successful. But he reported back to Pyrrhus that Rome’s Senate was incredibly impressive– “an assembly of kings” comprised of its noblest citizens.
And he was right. In the early days when Rome was still a republic, its Senate was a highly revered institution that stood for wisdom, dignity, and virtue.
They were far from perfect. But the men who served in the Senate during the early republic were heavily responsible for building the most advanced civilization the world had ever seen up to that point.
Needless to say, times changed. Within a few hundred years, the Senate had become a corrupt joke, filled with venal criminals, weak sycophants, and mediocre minds.
I couldn’t help but think of this analogy yesterday watching the Inquisition of Brett Kavanaugh.
If you’re living under a rock (or reading this letter many years from now), Brett Kavanaugh has been nominated to serve as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. This requires that he be confirmed by the Senate.
Recently a woman emerged who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were all teenagers, several decades ago.
This is tantamount to accusing the man of a crime.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-28/return-inquisition-do-you-confess
The Return Of The Inquisition: Do You Confess?
In 279 BC, the vast army of King Pyrrhus of Epirus was met by Roman forces at the Battle of Asculum in southern Italy, in what would be one of the costliest military engagements of ancient history.
Pyrrhus fancied himself the second coming of Alexander the Great and believed that he was a descendant of Achilles.
Many of his peers and contemporaries believed Pyrrhus to be the greatest military commander of all time.
His exploits were legendary. And when he set sail for Italy in 280 BC, the Romans did not underestimate him.
The Battle of Asculum was decisive. Pyrrhus actually won the battle; but in defeating the Romans, he lost so many of his men that his army was practically broken.
Pyrrhus purportedly said of his victory, “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined. . .”
This gave rise to the term “Pyrrhic victory,” which refers to a win that’s incredibly costly.
Pyrrhus also tried his hand at diplomacy with Rome, sending one of his ablest statesmen to the capital to negotiate peace with the Roman Senate.
The emissary was not successful. But he reported back to Pyrrhus that Rome’s Senate was incredibly impressive– “an assembly of kings” comprised of its noblest citizens.
And he was right. In the early days when Rome was still a republic, its Senate was a highly revered institution that stood for wisdom, dignity, and virtue.
They were far from perfect. But the men who served in the Senate during the early republic were heavily responsible for building the most advanced civilization the world had ever seen up to that point.
Needless to say, times changed. Within a few hundred years, the Senate had become a corrupt joke, filled with venal criminals, weak sycophants, and mediocre minds.
I couldn’t help but think of this analogy yesterday watching the Inquisition of Brett Kavanaugh.
If you’re living under a rock (or reading this letter many years from now), Brett Kavanaugh has been nominated to serve as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. This requires that he be confirmed by the Senate.
Recently a woman emerged who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were all teenagers, several decades ago.
This is tantamount to accusing the man of a crime.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-28/return-inquisition-do-you-confess
the water keeps getting warmer as the frogs look around bewildered by it all. its a gradual tightening of the 'controls' that we're seeing as we're constantly herded into smaller borders of what's 'free speech' and what's 'official truth'. you can read the following and get a greater idea of it all;
Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist
A highly popular subreddit devoted to posting information which proposed information outside the official narrative to 9/11 has been “Quarantined” by the Reddit Administrators. The community has effectively been cut off from the rest of the platform and anyone who wishes to view its contents are forced to go through a checkpoint while being redirected to a government website.
On Thursday, the subreddit r/911truth was placed under a Reddit Quarantine. The Reddit Administrators claimed that the subreddit posts misinformation and then directed people seeking information on 9/11 to the official government website.
http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/reddit-now-quarantining-users-who-question-9-11-direct-users-to-govt-site-instead/233970
Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist
A highly popular subreddit devoted to posting information which proposed information outside the official narrative to 9/11 has been “Quarantined” by the Reddit Administrators. The community has effectively been cut off from the rest of the platform and anyone who wishes to view its contents are forced to go through a checkpoint while being redirected to a government website.
On Thursday, the subreddit r/911truth was placed under a Reddit Quarantine. The Reddit Administrators claimed that the subreddit posts misinformation and then directed people seeking information on 9/11 to the official government website.
It may contain a high degree of misinformation. If you are seeking historic information about the September 11 attacks, please visit the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (https://www.9-11commission.gov/).According to Reddit, communities are placed under quarantine to prevent others from accidentally stumbling upon this information. Reddit, like most other social media platforms has begun to control the flow of information and crowning themselves the arbiters of truth.
The purpose of quarantining a community is to prevent its content from being accidentally viewed by those who do not knowingly wish to do so, or viewed without appropriate context. Quarantined subreddits and their subscribers are still fully obliged to abide by Reddit’s Content Policy and remain subject to enforcement measures.Quarantined communities will display a warning that requires users to explicitly opt-in to viewing the content. They generate no revenue, do not appear in non-subscription-based feeds (eg Popular), and are not included in search or recommendations. Reddit may also enforce a number of additional product restrictions that exist currently or as they may develop in the future (eg removing custom styling tools).
http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/reddit-now-quarantining-users-who-question-9-11-direct-users-to-govt-site-instead/233970
the writer herein, mr. unz has an extremely good web presence and in this article presents several of his recent articles which he describes as touching the third rail of american politics. i leave it for you to decide as you open his pages and read his articles including ones on jews, jfk and 911 among others;
http://www.unz.com/announcement/has-the-adl-gone-into-hiding/
I’ve
recently taken a bit of a break after three long months of writing in my
American Pravda series, during which I finally got around to publishing
many of the very surprising discoveries I had made over the last
fifteen-odd years. That total came to more than 90,000 words of text,
and required me to read or (mostly) reread some 40-50 books, so I was
quite exhausted by the end of the cycle.
However,
the results were quite encouraging, with my small series of articles
generating nearly half a million pageviews of readership over that short
period, while helping to drive our small webzine to record-setting
traffic. Even more remarkably, those articles provoked nearly 13,000
comments, totaling an astonishing 1.8 million words of text. Indeed,
the three most heavily-commented articles in our webzine’s history came
from that group, as did five of our seven most widely-read pieces from
the last six months.
Furthermore,
several of these articles appear to have very strong “legs” and are
still attracting enough readership to remain on the front page many
weeks after they were first released, suggesting that they may end up
accumulating remarkable aggregate traffic across the coming months and
years.
Although
all items in my American Pravda series have certainly been
controversial, many of this group were especially so, with numerous
observers noting that I had leaped four-square onto the deadliest “Third
Rail” of journalist topics and some of them predicting that I would
quickly be annihilated as a consequences of my foolhardy undertaking. I
think the following is a reasonable list of these especially “touchy”
pieces:
http://www.unz.com/announcement/has-the-adl-gone-into-hiding/
more good points on the kavanaugh mess this time by buchanan and we can only wonder where this will be going next;
Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court was approved on an 11-10 party-line vote Friday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yet his confirmation is not assured.
Sen. Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, has demanded and gotten as the price of his vote on the floor, a weeklong delay. And the GOP Senate has agreed to Democrat demands for a new FBI investigation of all credible charges of sexual abuse against the judge.
Astonishing. With a quarter century in public service, Kavanaugh has undergone six FBI field investigations. They turned up nothing like the charges of sexual misconduct leveled against him these last two weeks.
In his 30 hours of public testimony before the judiciary committee prior to Thursday, no senator had raised an issue of a sexual misconduct.
But if Brett Kavanaugh is elevated to the Supreme Court, it will be because, in his final appearance, he tore up the script assigned to him. He set aside his judicial demeanor to fight for his good name with the passion and righteous rage of the innocent and good man he believes himself to be.
He turned an inquisition into his character and conduct as a teenager into a blazing indictment of the Democratic minority for what they were doing to his reputation and his family.
Rather than play the role of penitent, Kavanaugh did what Clarence Thomas did 30 years before. He attacked the character, conduct and motives of his Democratic accusers.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/patrick-j-buchanan/dress-rehearsal-for-impeachment/
Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court was approved on an 11-10 party-line vote Friday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yet his confirmation is not assured.
Sen. Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, has demanded and gotten as the price of his vote on the floor, a weeklong delay. And the GOP Senate has agreed to Democrat demands for a new FBI investigation of all credible charges of sexual abuse against the judge.
Astonishing. With a quarter century in public service, Kavanaugh has undergone six FBI field investigations. They turned up nothing like the charges of sexual misconduct leveled against him these last two weeks.
In his 30 hours of public testimony before the judiciary committee prior to Thursday, no senator had raised an issue of a sexual misconduct.
But if Brett Kavanaugh is elevated to the Supreme Court, it will be because, in his final appearance, he tore up the script assigned to him. He set aside his judicial demeanor to fight for his good name with the passion and righteous rage of the innocent and good man he believes himself to be.
He turned an inquisition into his character and conduct as a teenager into a blazing indictment of the Democratic minority for what they were doing to his reputation and his family.
Rather than play the role of penitent, Kavanaugh did what Clarence Thomas did 30 years before. He attacked the character, conduct and motives of his Democratic accusers.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/patrick-j-buchanan/dress-rehearsal-for-impeachment/
i usually access kunstler thru his web pages but today found him on rockwell. he makes some good points about the kavanaugh mess and i post it here so you can judge for yourself, the validity of his points;
There’s a lot to unpack in the national psychodrama that played out in the senate judiciary committee yesterday with Ford v. Kavanaugh. Dr. Ford laid out what The New York Times is calling the “appalling trauma” of her alleged treatment at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh 36 years ago. And Mr. Kavanaugh denied it in tears of rage.
Dr. Ford scored points for showing up and playing her assigned role. She didn’t add any validating evidence to her story, but she appeared sincere. Judge Kavanaugh seemed to express a weepy astonishment that the charge was ever laid on him, but unlike other questionably-charged men in the grim history of the #Metoo campaign he strayed from his assigned role of the groveling apologist offering his neck to the executioner, an unforgivable effrontery to his accusers.
The committee majority’s choice to sub out the questioning to “sex crime prosecutor” Rachel Mitchell was a pitiful bust, shining a dim forensic light on the matter where hot halogen fog lamps might have cut through the emotional murk. But in today’s social climate of sexual hysteria, the “old white men” on the dais dared not engage with the fragile-looking Dr. Ford, lest her head blow up in the witness chair and splatter them with the guilt-of-the-ages. But Ms. Mitchell hardly illuminated Dr. Ford’s disposition as a teenager — like, what seemed to be her 15-year-old’s rush into an adult world of drinking and consort with older boys — or some big holes in her coming-forward decades later.
For instance, a detail in the original tale, the “locked door.” It’s a big deal when the two boys shoved her into the upstairs room, but she escaped the room easily when, as alleged, Mark Judge jumped on the bed bumping Mr. Kavanaugh off of her. It certainly sounds melodramatic to say “they locked the door,” but it didn’t really mean anything in the event.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/james-howard-kunstler/the-fog-of-bad-faith/
There’s a lot to unpack in the national psychodrama that played out in the senate judiciary committee yesterday with Ford v. Kavanaugh. Dr. Ford laid out what The New York Times is calling the “appalling trauma” of her alleged treatment at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh 36 years ago. And Mr. Kavanaugh denied it in tears of rage.
Dr. Ford scored points for showing up and playing her assigned role. She didn’t add any validating evidence to her story, but she appeared sincere. Judge Kavanaugh seemed to express a weepy astonishment that the charge was ever laid on him, but unlike other questionably-charged men in the grim history of the #Metoo campaign he strayed from his assigned role of the groveling apologist offering his neck to the executioner, an unforgivable effrontery to his accusers.
The committee majority’s choice to sub out the questioning to “sex crime prosecutor” Rachel Mitchell was a pitiful bust, shining a dim forensic light on the matter where hot halogen fog lamps might have cut through the emotional murk. But in today’s social climate of sexual hysteria, the “old white men” on the dais dared not engage with the fragile-looking Dr. Ford, lest her head blow up in the witness chair and splatter them with the guilt-of-the-ages. But Ms. Mitchell hardly illuminated Dr. Ford’s disposition as a teenager — like, what seemed to be her 15-year-old’s rush into an adult world of drinking and consort with older boys — or some big holes in her coming-forward decades later.
For instance, a detail in the original tale, the “locked door.” It’s a big deal when the two boys shoved her into the upstairs room, but she escaped the room easily when, as alleged, Mark Judge jumped on the bed bumping Mr. Kavanaugh off of her. It certainly sounds melodramatic to say “they locked the door,” but it didn’t really mean anything in the event.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/james-howard-kunstler/the-fog-of-bad-faith/
at the rate hurricane trump is going i wouldn't be surprised if he puts sanctions on santa claus for not hiring americans to make his toys. this one is real curious, because now he's expecting china to do what he wants as well. most curious;
It has been barely two weeks since China joined Russia in the “Vostok” war games, the largest display of Eurasian military might since 1981 when the Soviet Union was still a global superpower, and already the US has found an opening to try and drive a wedge between China and Russia, or at least express its displeasure with their increasingly close relationship.
Amid a simmering trade dispute between the US and China, the US has imposed sanctions on a branch of the Chinese military in retaliation for China’s recent purchase of Russian combat aircraft and anti-air surface to air missiles.
The sanctions are more of a nuisance than anything else, blocking China’s Equipment Development Department from participating in the dollar-based financial system and from doing business with US businesses, while also blocking the agency and its head, Li Shangfu, from applying for US export licenses.
As Reuters adds, the US State Department said it would immediately impose sanctions on China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD), the military branch responsible for weapons and equipment, and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in “significant transactions” with Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms exporter.
The sanctions are related to China’s purchase of 10 SU-35 combat aircraft in 2017 and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018, the State Department said. They block the Chinese agency, and Li, from applying for export licenses and participating in the U.S. financial system.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/tyler-durden/the-us-will-bear-responsibility-china-furious-after-us-sanctions-beijing-for-buying-russian-weapons/
It has been barely two weeks since China joined Russia in the “Vostok” war games, the largest display of Eurasian military might since 1981 when the Soviet Union was still a global superpower, and already the US has found an opening to try and drive a wedge between China and Russia, or at least express its displeasure with their increasingly close relationship.
Amid a simmering trade dispute between the US and China, the US has imposed sanctions on a branch of the Chinese military in retaliation for China’s recent purchase of Russian combat aircraft and anti-air surface to air missiles.
The sanctions are more of a nuisance than anything else, blocking China’s Equipment Development Department from participating in the dollar-based financial system and from doing business with US businesses, while also blocking the agency and its head, Li Shangfu, from applying for US export licenses.
As Reuters adds, the US State Department said it would immediately impose sanctions on China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD), the military branch responsible for weapons and equipment, and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in “significant transactions” with Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms exporter.
The sanctions are related to China’s purchase of 10 SU-35 combat aircraft in 2017 and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018, the State Department said. They block the Chinese agency, and Li, from applying for export licenses and participating in the U.S. financial system.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/tyler-durden/the-us-will-bear-responsibility-china-furious-after-us-sanctions-beijing-for-buying-russian-weapons/
i frequently read this author and generally find him to be clear and well informed, and in this article he hits some good points;
This was hell week in New York City. Traffic was paralyzed from one end of the narrow island to the other as bigwigs and their entourages flocked to the city for the fall opening of the United Nations.
Making matters worse, President Donald Trump chose the occasion to lambaste nations he does not like in a crude display of boorishness not seen since Soviet boss Nikita Khrushchev banged his shoe on his desk at the General Assembly back in 1960.
Trump reserved special venom for his pet bêtes noirs, Iran and China. His jeremiad against Iran was reportedly written by senior aide Stephen Miller, a rabidly anti-Muslim extremist who speaks with the voice of Israel’s expansionist far right.
Trump reiterated his doctrine of American ultra-nationalism. Political and economic nationalism are his credo. The president claimed he had indeed made America great again, whatever that means.
The president’s speech was greeted by derisive laughter from the General Assembly, a first in UN history.
I was reminded of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s famous bon mot, ‘patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.’ Indeed it is.
And of the words of the late British professor, A.P. Thornton: ‘Patriotism is the first platform of fools.’
Patriotism is poison. Dictators, despots, lunatics – and too many democratic politicians – use it to enflame popular passions to enhance their power. There is nothing wrong with loving and respecting one’s homeland. Canadians offer a fine example of quiet national pride without obnoxious flag-waving and bullying.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/eric-margolis/the-first-platform-of-fools/
This was hell week in New York City. Traffic was paralyzed from one end of the narrow island to the other as bigwigs and their entourages flocked to the city for the fall opening of the United Nations.
Making matters worse, President Donald Trump chose the occasion to lambaste nations he does not like in a crude display of boorishness not seen since Soviet boss Nikita Khrushchev banged his shoe on his desk at the General Assembly back in 1960.
Trump reserved special venom for his pet bêtes noirs, Iran and China. His jeremiad against Iran was reportedly written by senior aide Stephen Miller, a rabidly anti-Muslim extremist who speaks with the voice of Israel’s expansionist far right.
Trump reiterated his doctrine of American ultra-nationalism. Political and economic nationalism are his credo. The president claimed he had indeed made America great again, whatever that means.
The president’s speech was greeted by derisive laughter from the General Assembly, a first in UN history.
I was reminded of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s famous bon mot, ‘patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.’ Indeed it is.
And of the words of the late British professor, A.P. Thornton: ‘Patriotism is the first platform of fools.’
Patriotism is poison. Dictators, despots, lunatics – and too many democratic politicians – use it to enflame popular passions to enhance their power. There is nothing wrong with loving and respecting one’s homeland. Canadians offer a fine example of quiet national pride without obnoxious flag-waving and bullying.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/eric-margolis/the-first-platform-of-fools/
Friday, September 28, 2018
as i was reading thru this my thoughts were moving towards: 'there's nothing new here', until i got to the end when it was made more clear. the author shows what we've been seeing is the 'new normal' and its not been obvious if you don't look harder, perhaps;
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kicked off yet another round of “Iran is totally gonna nuke us any second now you guys” ejaculations. This is of course another demand that we accept unsubstantiated claims from a proven liar about another longtime target for neoconservative regime change, and I’d like to tap out a few thoughts about war and how to oppose it as pertains to the latest trend in neocon Iran shenanigans.
I’ve been writing about rape a lot these last few days, partly due to where I’m at in my personal rabbit holing and probably also partly because of where the zeitgeist is at with the Kavanaugh and Cosby stuff in the news. So since we’re already on the subject I hope people don’t mind if I kick off this piece with another rape analogy.
Until relatively recently, most people had a wildly different understanding of what rape is than how it actually tends to show up in real life. Even today, saying the word “rapist” tends to conjure up a very unrealistic image for many people: a stranger in a ski mask grabbing a female jogger and dragging her off into the bushes and leaving her severely injured, or something similar. Because such an event is rare, there was a belief that rape itself was something rare; it didn’t say anything about the majority of rapes which don’t entail severe physical injury, or the rapes which are inflicted by acquaintances, friends, coworkers, partners, family members, prison mates, partners, exes and spouses. Rape is common, and, like murder, the perpetrator of a rape will most likely be someone the victim knows.
Just as our society is readjusting its understanding of what rape is and how it tends to happen, it is important for any antiwar movement to readjust its understanding of what war is and how it tends to happen.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/09/28/any-effective-anti-war-movement-must-readjust-its-understanding-of-what-war-is/
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kicked off yet another round of “Iran is totally gonna nuke us any second now you guys” ejaculations. This is of course another demand that we accept unsubstantiated claims from a proven liar about another longtime target for neoconservative regime change, and I’d like to tap out a few thoughts about war and how to oppose it as pertains to the latest trend in neocon Iran shenanigans.
I’ve been writing about rape a lot these last few days, partly due to where I’m at in my personal rabbit holing and probably also partly because of where the zeitgeist is at with the Kavanaugh and Cosby stuff in the news. So since we’re already on the subject I hope people don’t mind if I kick off this piece with another rape analogy.
Until relatively recently, most people had a wildly different understanding of what rape is than how it actually tends to show up in real life. Even today, saying the word “rapist” tends to conjure up a very unrealistic image for many people: a stranger in a ski mask grabbing a female jogger and dragging her off into the bushes and leaving her severely injured, or something similar. Because such an event is rare, there was a belief that rape itself was something rare; it didn’t say anything about the majority of rapes which don’t entail severe physical injury, or the rapes which are inflicted by acquaintances, friends, coworkers, partners, family members, prison mates, partners, exes and spouses. Rape is common, and, like murder, the perpetrator of a rape will most likely be someone the victim knows.
Just as our society is readjusting its understanding of what rape is and how it tends to happen, it is important for any antiwar movement to readjust its understanding of what war is and how it tends to happen.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/09/28/any-effective-anti-war-movement-must-readjust-its-understanding-of-what-war-is/
perhaps you are a facebook participant who thinks all is well therein. if so, this article will show you some aspects of that monster that you may well profit from knowing, or not;
Media giant Facebook recently announced (Reuters, 9/19/18) it would combat “fake news” by partnering with two propaganda organizations founded and funded by the US government: the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI). The social media platform was already working closely with the NATO-sponsored Atlantic Council think tank (FAIR.org, 5/21/18).
In a previous FAIR article (8/22/18), I noted that the “fake news” issue was being used as a pretext to attack the left and progressive news sites. Changes to Facebook’s algorithm have reduced traffic significantly for progressive outlets like Common Dreams (5/3/18), while the pages of Venezuelan government–backed TeleSur Englishand the independent Venezuelanalysis were shut down without warning, and only reinstated after a public outcry.
The Washington, DC–based NDI and IRI are staffed with senior Democratic and Republican politicians; the NDI is chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, while the late Sen. John McCain was the longtime IRI chair. Both groups were created in 1983 as arms of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a Cold War enterprise backed by then–CIA director William Casey (Jacobin, 3/7/18). That these two US government creations, along with a NATO offshoot like the Atlantic Council, are used by Facebook to distinguish real from fake news is effectively state censorship.
Facebook’s collaboration with the NED organizations is particularly troubling, as both have aggressively pursued regime change against leftist governments overseas. The NDI undermined the Sandinista government of Nicaragua in the 1980s, and continues to do so to this day, while the IRI claimed a key role in the 2002 coup against leftist President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, announcing that it had
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-27/meet-facebooks-new-propaganda-partners
Media giant Facebook recently announced (Reuters, 9/19/18) it would combat “fake news” by partnering with two propaganda organizations founded and funded by the US government: the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI). The social media platform was already working closely with the NATO-sponsored Atlantic Council think tank (FAIR.org, 5/21/18).
In a previous FAIR article (8/22/18), I noted that the “fake news” issue was being used as a pretext to attack the left and progressive news sites. Changes to Facebook’s algorithm have reduced traffic significantly for progressive outlets like Common Dreams (5/3/18), while the pages of Venezuelan government–backed TeleSur Englishand the independent Venezuelanalysis were shut down without warning, and only reinstated after a public outcry.
The Washington, DC–based NDI and IRI are staffed with senior Democratic and Republican politicians; the NDI is chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, while the late Sen. John McCain was the longtime IRI chair. Both groups were created in 1983 as arms of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a Cold War enterprise backed by then–CIA director William Casey (Jacobin, 3/7/18). That these two US government creations, along with a NATO offshoot like the Atlantic Council, are used by Facebook to distinguish real from fake news is effectively state censorship.
Facebook’s collaboration with the NED organizations is particularly troubling, as both have aggressively pursued regime change against leftist governments overseas. The NDI undermined the Sandinista government of Nicaragua in the 1980s, and continues to do so to this day, while the IRI claimed a key role in the 2002 coup against leftist President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, announcing that it had
served as a bridge between the nation’s political parties and all civil society groups to help Venezuelans forge a new democratic future…. We stand ready to continue our partnership with the courageous Venezuelan people.The Reuters report (9/19/18) mentioned that Facebook was anxious to better curate what Brazilians saw on their feeds in the run-up to their presidential elections, which pits far-right Jair Bolsonaro against leftist Fernando Haddad. The US government has a long history of undermining democracy in Brazil, fromsupporting a coup in 1964 against the progressive Goulart administration to continually spying on leftist President Dilma Rousseff (BBC, 7/4/15) in the run-up to the parliamentary coup against her in 2016 (CounterSpin, 6/2/17).
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-27/meet-facebooks-new-propaganda-partners
in this short piece you can discover the price of having only one place to buy your books. there are words for that and government agencies we're told operate to insure such things don't happen. you may even remember the words so associated but you can't buy books the federalies don't approve of from 'our' economic powerhouses;
If you are interested in reading the definitive book that demolishes the official lies about the attacks of September 11, 2001 – by David Ray Griffin and Elizabeth Woodworth – then Amazon has a great deal for you. While they conveniently do not offer new copies of this book that was published on September 11th, having reported it “out of print” and currently “out of stock,” after never having had it in stock, they allegedly offer 3 used paperback copies from other sellers for sale prices that are quite affordable: $917.04, $1060.20, and $1,500.
If that 4 or 20 cents would bring you over budget, I would be glad to provide either amount.
Don’t these sound like great deals for a book that proves that the justification for the “war on terror” and the slaughter of millions of people is one of the biggest propaganda operations in modern history? It’s always good to know you have a friend who can conveniently provide you with access to the truth at a fair price.
I must say, however, that Amazon offers a slightly better deal for another book they also never directly sold for some odd reason – Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys the News by Dr. Udo Ulfkotte – a book that exposes the CIA infiltration of the major media throughout the world. You can allegedly pick that one up through Amazon’s kind medium services for either $900 or $997.09, but that’s for a hardcover.
One person reports having seen a used copy of 9/11 Unmasked appear at amazon.co.uk one week after its official publication date of September 11 (an odd fact in itself), and when he ordered it, the book never arrived. When he contacted the seller, he received a message from Amazon saying that the order had been cancelled, but no reason was given. When the person tried to post a negative review of the seller, Amazon refused to publish it.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/edward-curtin/the-suppression-of-truth-in-the-land-of-lies-an-oxymoron/
If you are interested in reading the definitive book that demolishes the official lies about the attacks of September 11, 2001 – by David Ray Griffin and Elizabeth Woodworth – then Amazon has a great deal for you. While they conveniently do not offer new copies of this book that was published on September 11th, having reported it “out of print” and currently “out of stock,” after never having had it in stock, they allegedly offer 3 used paperback copies from other sellers for sale prices that are quite affordable: $917.04, $1060.20, and $1,500.
If that 4 or 20 cents would bring you over budget, I would be glad to provide either amount.
Don’t these sound like great deals for a book that proves that the justification for the “war on terror” and the slaughter of millions of people is one of the biggest propaganda operations in modern history? It’s always good to know you have a friend who can conveniently provide you with access to the truth at a fair price.
I must say, however, that Amazon offers a slightly better deal for another book they also never directly sold for some odd reason – Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys the News by Dr. Udo Ulfkotte – a book that exposes the CIA infiltration of the major media throughout the world. You can allegedly pick that one up through Amazon’s kind medium services for either $900 or $997.09, but that’s for a hardcover.
One person reports having seen a used copy of 9/11 Unmasked appear at amazon.co.uk one week after its official publication date of September 11 (an odd fact in itself), and when he ordered it, the book never arrived. When he contacted the seller, he received a message from Amazon saying that the order had been cancelled, but no reason was given. When the person tried to post a negative review of the seller, Amazon refused to publish it.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/09/edward-curtin/the-suppression-of-truth-in-the-land-of-lies-an-oxymoron/
pcr is writing here about hurricane trump's 'accomplishments' in a way nikki haley wouldn't necessarily approve of. my thinking is similar to what he writes herein, and perhaps even more so.
at any rate, trump isn't what he sold himself as and pcr makes that clear in this article;
Trump: An Assessment
Trump the Great?
Paul Craig Roberts
I supported Trump for president for three reasons:
Trump was the only candidate who recognized the need to normalize relations with Russia and bring a halt to the reckless orchestration of conflict with a major nuclear power.
Trump was the only candidate who recognized the need to restore high productivity, high value added jobs to the American workforce.
Trump was the only candidate who spoke to the American people instead of to the organized interest groups of the ruling elite.
My concern was that Trump did not know Washington and did not know who to appoint to help him achieve these goals.
Trump was unaware of the extent of the threat that his agenda posed to the military/security complex, US global corporations, and the ruling oligarchy. Normalizing relations with Russia would put in question the $1,000 billion annual budget, and the power that goes with it, of the military/security complex. Bringing home the offshored jobs would raise the labor cost of US global corporations and cut the “performance bonuses” of the executive class. Speaking directly to the American people raised the specter of a populist revolt against the ruling oligarchy. These are too many enemies for a president who did not know how to staff his administration, and Trump has paid the price.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/09/27/trump-an-assessment/
at any rate, trump isn't what he sold himself as and pcr makes that clear in this article;
Trump: An Assessment
Trump the Great?
Paul Craig Roberts
I supported Trump for president for three reasons:
Trump was the only candidate who recognized the need to normalize relations with Russia and bring a halt to the reckless orchestration of conflict with a major nuclear power.
Trump was the only candidate who recognized the need to restore high productivity, high value added jobs to the American workforce.
Trump was the only candidate who spoke to the American people instead of to the organized interest groups of the ruling elite.
My concern was that Trump did not know Washington and did not know who to appoint to help him achieve these goals.
Trump was unaware of the extent of the threat that his agenda posed to the military/security complex, US global corporations, and the ruling oligarchy. Normalizing relations with Russia would put in question the $1,000 billion annual budget, and the power that goes with it, of the military/security complex. Bringing home the offshored jobs would raise the labor cost of US global corporations and cut the “performance bonuses” of the executive class. Speaking directly to the American people raised the specter of a populist revolt against the ruling oligarchy. These are too many enemies for a president who did not know how to staff his administration, and Trump has paid the price.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/09/27/trump-an-assessment/
anyone who knows me is fully aware that i trust and respect no president since jfk. hurricane trump only increases that distrust and here is some evidence for those thoughts;
Last year I wrote that Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly was perhaps the worst speech ever delivered from that podium, certainly by a Western leader. This year he surpassed himself.
Why is there no rule to say that someone who openly
His
two favourite countries that he singled out as examples for other
countries to follow are Saudi Arabia and Israel (if you think I am
joking please listen to the speech again, see below), while he attacks
Germany, Sweden, China, Iran, Syria and many other countries.
People laughed at his initial remarks when he said that his administration had achieved more than perhaps any other US administration, but they should have left the hall when he started to attack the UN and its organisations in the way he did, and openly declared war against two sovereign states, Iran and Syria, and economic war against China, Russia and others.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-president-trumps-disturbing-speech-at-the-un-this-is-not-the-time-to-just-laugh/5655355
Last year I wrote that Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly was perhaps the worst speech ever delivered from that podium, certainly by a Western leader. This year he surpassed himself.
Why is there no rule to say that someone who openly
- violates the basic norms of the United Nations
- continuously threatens other countries in contravention of the UN Charter’s Article 2.4
- condemns internationalism and multilateralism
- advocates a narrow nationalism/patriotism (to make America great again)
- stops funding the UNESCO
- condemns the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threatens its officials
- withdraws from UNRWA
- withdraws from the Paris Climate Accord
- withdraws from the UN Human Rights Commission
- withdraws from the UN Security Council-based nuclear deal with Iran (JCPOA) etc.
People laughed at his initial remarks when he said that his administration had achieved more than perhaps any other US administration, but they should have left the hall when he started to attack the UN and its organisations in the way he did, and openly declared war against two sovereign states, Iran and Syria, and economic war against China, Russia and others.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-president-trumps-disturbing-speech-at-the-un-this-is-not-the-time-to-just-laugh/5655355
Thursday, September 27, 2018
been going thru my documents files and found this. don't remember how it came about or even if i'm the writer but i think the message is sufficiently solid to post here for your consideration;
America leads the world in the per-capita ratio and total number of incarcerated people in our gulag. The Empire is systematic in its use of violence against citizens. America’s tries to silence internal dissidents as we saw in the occupy Wall Street events. Dissent is equated with espionage and terrorism.
It appears everyone is being spied on by our Gestapo because of the paranoia about internal and external enemies.
A young generation which believes in nothing at all
An educational system in free-fall
A disgust with politics by the general public
A massive and prevailing amount corruption on all levels of power
For the Empire a neo-Nazi armed insurgency which seizes
power in contradiction with an agreement it had signed less than 24 hours
before is a "legitimate representative of the Ukrainian
people". The coup leaders are called democrats, while the people in
the eastern Ukraine
are either Jew-hating extremists or Russian agents. When the folks in the
western Ukraine
engage in a campaign of terror, murder and looting, that is an expression of
democracy, when the people in the east seize buildings its terrorism.
When Ukraine’s
government faced protesters the Empire demanded that they not use any force. When
the coup leader faces protesters, he’s said to be acting with restraint when he
sends in tanks, artillery and aircraft.
The referendum in Crimea is illegitimate because it was
allegedly conducted at the point of a gun, while the proposed upcoming
Presidential election will be legitimate even though they will be organized and
conducted by bone fide neo-Nazis even though two candidates were assaulted and
can’t campaign. I could continue to multiply the example here ad nauseam,
but you get the point: what the Empire is saying is that black is white, and
the earth is flat. They’re showing everyone that they believe in nothing
and stand for nothing except their own power.
American’s don’t need much convincing. The level of disgust of most American’s with the Federal government is immeasurable. Most people feel impotent and believe that there’s nothing they can do about it. When they vote for peace, they get more war. When they vote for fewer taxes, they get more. When they vote for more civil rights, they get less. There is an entire generation of Americans out there as disillusioned and as disgusted with their own rulers as the Soviets were with their rulers.
Interestingly, there is definitely a strong anti-regime movement of American patriots out there. These are folks who have the wisdom to differentiate between, on one hand, their country, their people, the ideals upon which the American society was originally built, and, on the other hand, regime in DC and the 1% of the population whose interests this regime works for. What the Empire is openly defending in the Ukraine is the opposite of what they say they stand for. Empires often crumble when their own people become disillusioned and disgusted with massive discrepancy between what the ruling elites say and what they do and as a result, it is not so much that the Empire is faced with formidable enemies as it is the fact that nobody is willing to stand up - never mind die to defend it.
American’s don’t need much convincing. The level of disgust of most American’s with the Federal government is immeasurable. Most people feel impotent and believe that there’s nothing they can do about it. When they vote for peace, they get more war. When they vote for fewer taxes, they get more. When they vote for more civil rights, they get less. There is an entire generation of Americans out there as disillusioned and as disgusted with their own rulers as the Soviets were with their rulers.
Interestingly, there is definitely a strong anti-regime movement of American patriots out there. These are folks who have the wisdom to differentiate between, on one hand, their country, their people, the ideals upon which the American society was originally built, and, on the other hand, regime in DC and the 1% of the population whose interests this regime works for. What the Empire is openly defending in the Ukraine is the opposite of what they say they stand for. Empires often crumble when their own people become disillusioned and disgusted with massive discrepancy between what the ruling elites say and what they do and as a result, it is not so much that the Empire is faced with formidable enemies as it is the fact that nobody is willing to stand up - never mind die to defend it.
America has a bloated military budget, a huge and
ineffective intelligence community, crumbling public infrastructure, our main
exports are weapons and energy. Nobody trusts the propaganda any more and few
watch the “news”. The subservient press-corps of prestitutes never dare to ask
the real questions.
America leads the world in the per-capita ratio and total number of incarcerated people in our gulag. The Empire is systematic in its use of violence against citizens. America’s tries to silence internal dissidents as we saw in the occupy Wall Street events. Dissent is equated with espionage and terrorism.
It appears everyone is being spied on by our Gestapo because of the paranoia about internal and external enemies.
A financially
catastrophic over-reach of the empire across the planet
A young generation which believes in nothing at all
An educational system in free-fall
A disgust with politics by the general public
A massive and prevailing amount corruption on all levels of power
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