caitlin writes about 'conspiracy theories' and from where they might originate as well as why but if you read all of this post i believe your perceptions will be sharpened, as things ain't always what they seem, or what we're told;

The US State Department has issued a statement accusing the Syrian government of having carried out a false flag chemical weapons attack in northwestern Aleppo with the intent to blame it on the jihadist factions in the region, citing “credible info” that the public has not been permitted to see. Never mind the known fact that there are actual, literal Al Qaeda affiliates who have admitted to using chemical weapons in Aleppo, and who are known to have used chemical weapons throughout Syria even by the State Department’s own admission: the Official Narrative is that only the Syrian government uses chemical weapons, so the chemical weapons usage must necessarily be a false flag staged by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Except they didn’t use the words “false flag”. Despite the accusation being the exact definition of the thing that a false flag attack is, you won’t see the US government using that term, nor will you ever see it used in this instance by any of the authorized mainstream narrative-framing institutions like CNN or Fox News. This is because the term “false flag” is reserved solely for mention when referring to crazy, kooky Kremlin propaganda, as in the insane, unhinged, tinfoil hat belief that terrorists in Syria might possibly have some kind of motive to stage a false flag chemical attack in order to get the US, UK and France to act as their air force in a retaliatory strike against the Syrian government. That kind of false flag would be completely inconceivable to any right-minded empire loyalist, and is forbidden to even think about.........https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/12/09/the-largest-conspiracy-theory-peddlers-are-msm-and-the-us-state-department/

'our' empire will end as all others have and it may be soon, but you can read about it in this post and make your own conclusions, but i think this writer was concise and clear in his reasoning;


“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
Bill Shakespeare had a talent for phrasing basic truths well, and this quote is no exception. (Even if you lie to others, don’t lie to yourself, or you’re in real trouble.)
Much has been said about the American self-image, going back to its inception as an upstart nation that imagined it could succeed as a republic, as Athens had failed to do.
And, indeed, the US encountered the same basic problem as Athens: having once created a republic – a nation in which the rights of the individual are foremost. Maintaining that condition is not only a constant battle, but extremely unlikely over time.

As a form of governance, a republic serves its people well; however, since it doesn’t provide its leaders with much in the way of aggrandizement or profit, its leaders are likely to do all they can to degrade the republic into a democracy. Once having accomplished that, they’re likely to do all they can to degrade it to tyranny........https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/12/09/national-self-perception/

fred has a way with words, and sees things many of us do but can't quite sum up easily or clearly, and here you can read and judge for yourselves as he speaks about modern feminism;

In my capacity of shade-tree anthropologist at large, I am trying to make sense of the far Left. It is tough sledding. Most of it makes as much sense as lug nuts on a birthday cake. Help me. I am really confused.
I can’t see that the Left actually is Left, I mean. The Left in its more practical embodiments used to be the champion of the working man. It fought for unions, good pay, benefits and job security. Conditions were horrible in America’s mines and factories. Things were ugly, and Leftists often got hurt or, occasionally, killed trying to remedy them.
Today’s “Left” is the party of Bill and Hill, of George Soros and the half-educated narcissists of Hollywood rolling in dough, of excessively comfortable academics and the media, all of whom use ethnic minorities as voting fodder but want nothing to do with them. When do you think was the last time Hillary or Megyn Kelly was in a truck stop or Legion hall, or had dinner in a restaurant where most of the diners were black?
The Left is now hostile to working men, called “deplorables” in an unwise moment of honesty by Hillary. Can you imagine Saul Alinsky or Leon Trotsky worrying about transgender bathrooms or cultural appropriation? And it is a weirdly teenage Left in which most seem ten or fifteen years younger than their chronologic age. Oh good.
But now, feminists. They sound as crazy as Aunt Prudence, who thought she was a geranium, and we used to keep in the attic..............https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/12/fred-reed/fred-dworkin-vs-the-sisterhood-defending-women-against-bat-brained-viragos/

pcr makes a point about russia and the empire and its all pasted here;

Trump Has Been Broken by the Military/Security Complex
Paul Craig Roberts
In order to protect himself from the military/security complex, President Trump has abandoned his intention of normalizing relations with Russia. Just as the neoconservative ideology needs US hegemony, the military/security complex needs an enemy to justify the $1,000 billion annual budget. The Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama regimes have crafted Russia into that enemy. Trump intended to change that, but he has been prevented.
Russiagate is the orchestration used to force President Trump into submission.
As Stephen Cohen, a few others and I have emphasized, the risk of nuclear war from the orchestrated confrontation with Russia is the highest ever with the situation today being more dangerous than during the Cold War. During the Cold War, both Washington and Moscow worked to reduce tensions and to build trust, but in the 21st century Washington has destroyed trust.
The Russians have been very patient and have avoided belligerence in response to Washington’s insults and provocations, but now they announce “Russian patience is at an end.”
Andrey Kortunov blames Trump, but the problem is the neoconservatives, the military/security complex, and presstitute media, a combination that has proved itself to be too powerful of a combination for a mere president. The Democratic Party and the liberal/progressive/left are complicit in the tragedy. They have permitted their hate to subvert judgment with the consequence that nuclear war again threatens life on earth.
One Snub Too Many: Kremlin Ready to Turn Against Trump as Patience Coming to an End
https://russia-insider.com/en/one-snub-too-many-kremlin-ready-turn-against-trump-patience-coming-end/ri25615 

.............https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/12/09/trump-has-been-broken-by-the-military-security-complex/

Feud erupts as Trump calls Rex Tillerson 'dumb as a rock' and 'lazy as hell' after fired secretary of state said president is 'undisciplined', read nothing and told him to break the law

in this article you will be offered the opportunity confront new thoughts about who is our current emperor, and how he acts with his 'employees' and the world, which then provides a chance to think about what that will lead to;

Feud erupts as Trump calls Rex Tillerson 'dumb as a rock' and 'lazy as hell' after fired secretary of state said president is 'undisciplined', read nothing and told him to break the law

President Donald Trump insulted his own former secretary of state Rex Tillerson as 'dumb' and 'lazy' hours after the former diplomat revealed he considered Trump an impulsive force with no conception of how he was constrained by law or treaty.

Trump weighed in hours after clips circulated of Tillerson sharing his apparent criticisms and reservations about the man he served for a year as secretary of state. Tillerson had called his former boss 'undisciplined' and said he didn't even like to read his briefing books before issuing pronouncements.

'Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him,' Trump countered on twitter, mentioning Tillerson's successor before tearing into the wealthy former oil CEO. 

'His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!' he concluded.   

Tillerson had described President Trump in an interview as someone almost entirely driven by impulse, who doesn't read, and who would ask him to break the law or breach treaties in his demands for immediate action. 

Tillerson, who was pushed out nearly 9 months ago, called Trump 'undisciplined' and said the two men don't share the same 'value system.'  

The former oil man got an engineering degree at the University of Texas at Austin, joining Exxon in 1975 and rising to run the company and bank millions upon his resignation to join the Trump White House...........http://www.spiritualvigor.com/2018/12/feud-erupts-as-trump-calls-rex.html

• 
  

The way it was: Rex Tillerson was sworn in on February 1, 2017, by Mike Pence, with Trump and the new secretary of state's wife Renda St. Clair watching happily

this ain't written by q though you will discover things you may not feel good about;


CNN reports that White House chief of staff John Kelly is expected to resign soon. There have been similar rumors before, but this time the news may actually be true. That is bad for Trump and U.S. policies. Kelly is one a the few counterweights to national security advisor John Bolton. His replacement will likely be whoever Bolton chooses. That will move contFrol over Trump policies further into the hands of the neo-conservatives.
It was Bolton who a week ago intentionally damaged U.S. relations with China.
The U.S. Justice Department arranged for Canada to arrest the chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, over alleged U.S. sanctions violations with regards to Iran. The case is not over the sanction Trump recently imposed, but over an alleged collision with the sanction regime before the nuclear deal with Iran. The details are still unknown.
Meng Wanzhou is a daughter of the founder and main owner of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, and was groomed to be his successor. The company is extremely well regarded in China. It is one of its jewel pieces and, with 170,000 employees and $100 billion in revenues, an important political actor.
The arrest on December 1 happened while president Trump was negotiating with president Xi of China about trade relations. Trump did not know about the upcoming arrest but Bolton was informed of it:

While the Justice Department did brief the White House about the impending arrest, Mr. Trump was not told about it. And the subject did not come up at the dinner with Mr. Xi. Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton, said on NPR that he knew about the arrest in advance, ..

Bolton surely should have informed Trump before his dinner with Xi, in which Bolton took part, but he didn't.........https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/69626/neocons-sabotage-trumps-trade-talks--huawei-cfo-taken-hostage-to-blackmail.html

you may believe america has a free press, but you'd be wrong and this will illustrate some of that from the edges, because if we do it with germans you might wonder what we do here;



As a former member of the major media prior to its concentration in few hands by the Clinton regime, I have reported on many occasions that the Western media is a Ministry of Propaganda for Washington. In the article below one of the propagandists confesses. PCR
Published on Russia Insider News (http://russia-insider.com)
“The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media.” — former CIA Director William Colby

Our Exclusive Interview with German Editor Turned CIA Whistleblower
Fascinating details emerge. Leading US-funded think-tanks and German secret service are accessories. Attempted suppression by legal threats. Blackout in German media.
Exclusively for RI, Dutch journalist Eric van de Beek interviews the senior German editor who is causing a sensation with his allegations that the CIA pays German media professionals to spin stories to follow US government goals.
We wrote about this two weeks ago, and the article shot up in views, becoming one of the most read articles on our site.........https://govtslaves.info/2018/12/08/the-cia-owns-everyone-of-any-significance-in-the-major-media/