Oct 122023
 
 October 12, 2023  Posted by at 8:25 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,


Pablo Picasso Self portrait with palette 1906

 

Israeli Assault on Gaza is Doomed to Fail (Scott Ritter)
Western Virtue Signaling Goes Hypersonic Over Israel (Marsden)
The Silence Of The Bears – Russia Is Reorienting Towards The Arabs (Helmer)
Russia Always Supported Establishment Of Palestinian State – Putin (TASS)
How A US ‘Peace Plan’ Brought War To Israel’s Doorstep (Fomenko)
Source of Dubious ‘Beheaded Babies’ Claim Is Israeli Settler Leader (GZ)
Extensive Gas Reserves Off The Gaza Coastline (Monotti)
Scott Ritter: Untracked US Arms to Client Regimes Land in Terrorist Hands (Sp.)
Western Political System Doesn’t Bring Smartest People To The Top – Putin (RT)
Zelensky ‘Starting To Annoy’ Everyone In US, Europe – Peskov (TASS)
Elon Musk Predicts ‘Civil War’ In Europe (RT)
Biden Classified Doc Scandal Deepens (ZH)
VP Biden Emailed About Son’s Business 29,000+ Times (Fed.)
The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) May Undermine Fundamental Rights (BR)

 

 

 

 

Nap/Ritter

 

 

Assad

 

 

 

 

Rand Paul
https://twitter.com/i/status/1712108710909091959

 

 

RFK

 

 

 

 

“The Israeli military today is more comfortable making TikTok videos and posting Instagram photographs..”

Israeli Assault on Gaza is Doomed to Fail (Scott Ritter)

Israel has amassed some 300,000 troops, armed with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and artillery, and supported by helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Their mission is to secure the perimeter around Gaza to make sure that Hamas fighters are not able to sortie forth and commit atrocities against the citizens of Israel like those that occurred on October 7 and 8. At some point it is estimated that these troops will be ordered into Gaza for the purpose of destroying Hamas as an organization. But the sad fact is that the Israeli Army today is not up to such a mission. It lacks the training and fortitude for a task like that, regardless of outcome, and will cost Israel thousands of lives if seen to fruition. Any Israeli assault on Gaza is doomed to fail before it even begins.

A short look back at the preparedness and training of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) helps underscore the reasoning behind such a bleak assessment. Earlier this year, over the course of two weeks, stretching from late May through early June, the IDF carried out a massive exercise, code named “Firm Hand,” which tested the Israeli capability to wage war on multiple fronts. Like a similar exercise held the year before, code named “Chariots of Fire,” the “Firm Hand” event focused on a major air campaign being waged against Iran, and a major ground war being waged against Hezbollah, in northern Israel/southern Lebanon. Both exercises envisioned that there would be outbreaks of localized violence in the West Bank and along the Gaza Strip that would need to be contained by forces allocated to the Central and Southern military commands, respectively.

The focus of effort for both exercises was the Northern Command, and more specifically, the border with Lebanon. There, beyond the border, were located the forces of Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party which maintained a militia larger, better trained, and better equipped than most armies. Israel fought a 34-day war with Hezbollah in August 2006, pitting a force that had grown to over 30,000 troops, backed by tanks, artillery, helicopters, and fixed wing aircraft, against a lightly armed unit of around 3,000 fighters. The war was an unmitigated disaster for the IDF. Hezbollah commanders found that Israeli troops were by and large poorly organized and disciplined, with very little training that was relevant to the rigors of modern war. Israeli tank operators were unfamiliar with tactics relevant to the terrain they were operating in, leaving themselves open to Hezbollah attacks that ended up destroying 20 of Israel’s vaunted Merkava tanks.

Israel has been struggling to overcome the stain of its 2006 defeat at the hands of Hezbollah. In 2016, the IDF embarked on Project Gideon, a five-year plan designed to reconfigure and retrain the Israeli Army so that it would not repeat the mistakes of 2006. When Project Gideon was completed, Israel then embarked on what it called the “Tnufa” (“Momentum”) plan, intended to build on the changes effected under Project Gideon. Part of the Tnufa plan is something called Ground Horizon, a series of technical innovations designed to make Israeli ground forces more effective. The IDF forces participating in both the Chariots of Fire and Firm Hand exercises had been at the receiving end of the Project Gideon/Tnufa/Ground Horizon changes. Two of the IDF’s premier units, the 91st “Galilee” Division, responsible for defending against Hezbollah from Lebanon, and the 36th Ga’ash (“Golan”) Armored Division, which is responsible for the Syrian border, took the lead in the exercises.

They carried out a multidivisional exercise where they conducted combined arms training against a Hezbollah-like foe. The Central Command and Southern Command practiced several counterterrorism exercises which emphasized the security of residents in Judea and Samaria. When the Firm Hand exercise was completed, the IDF high command declared it a success. They had not exercised against an event like the Hamas attacks of October 7-8 of this year. Urban combat is extraordinarily difficult. It is made even more so when a defender can settle in amongst the rubble of a destroyed city. Ask the Germans at Stalingrad. Ask the French, British, Indians, and Poles who fought at Monte Casino. Ask either the Ukrainians or Russians about Mariupol and Artemovsk (Bakhmut).

The Israeli military today is more comfortable making TikTok videos and posting Instagram photographs than they are in perfecting the skillsets needed to close with and destroy your enemy through firepower and maneuver. This is a military that, with a few exceptions found in the elite reconnaissance units of the IDF, has grown accustomed to a peacetime ritual more akin to the life of a corrections officer than soldier. The IDF has become experts at arresting children, beating up women, and murdering unarmed men. Digging a competent enemy out of the rubble of a destroyed city, especially when they have prepared and organized for such a battle, is deadly work. The Israeli troops who have been assembled outside of Gaza are not ready for this fight. They are not trained or equipped for this fight. They are not psychologically prepared for this fight.

Read more …

“..some egghead in Brussels is watching coverage of all the gas guzzling pickup trucks used by Hamas to raid villages and kidnap people and asking, “What’s the carbon footprint on those?”

Western Virtue Signaling Goes Hypersonic Over Israel (Marsden)

“Israel has the right to defend itself – today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel,” tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, effectively blessing a carte blanche response by the notoriously measured and restrained Israeli leadership in response to the Hamas attacks. “Who do you think you are? You’re unelected, and have no authority to determine EU foreign policy, which is set by @EUCouncil,” replied Irish MEP Clare Daly. “Europe does NOT ‘stand with Israel’. We stand for peace. You do not speak for us. If you’ve nothing constructive to say, and you clearly don’t, shut up.” In a single tweet, von der Leyen managed to position all of Europe as more militant than even the editorial staff of one of Israel’s main national newspapers, Haaretz, which placed blame for the attacks squarely on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of “annexation and dispossession” which “openly ignored the existence and rights of Palestinians.”

The implication is that no action occurs in a vacuum absent the risk of sparking a reaction. The danger of Europe’s unelected Queen Ursula unilaterally launching hypersonic virtue signaling missiles in a knee-jerk emotional response is that it can’t possibly substitute for foreign policy decided in more sobering moments. Yet these days, more often than not, it’s the only kind of foreign policy we get, on everything from Israel to Ukraine. In yet another example of symbolism getting ahead of policy pragmatism, the EU announced withdrawal of its support for Palestine … before walking back the move just hours later. On Monday, Israel’s defense minister announced that the IDF was going to blockade Gaza even more than usual by preventing any entry of water, food, fuel, and electricity.

And just a couple hours later, EU Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said the bloc was joining the cause – by withholding its humanitarian funding for the Palestinian people. Germany and Austria were the first to get the ball rolling on funding withdrawal. However, a few hours later, the EU aid freeze was reversed by the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, after an apparent epiphany that it would only end up “punishing all the Palestinian people” and would have “only further emboldened terrorists.” There’s no way Brussels may have been inadvertently funding those terrorists in the first place, is there? [..] Or maybe, given all the climate-conscious verbiage attached to the aid, the EU just got angry that Hamas’ hang gliders were motorized. You just know that some egghead in Brussels is watching coverage of all the gas guzzling pickup trucks used by Hamas to raid villages and kidnap people and asking, “What’s the carbon footprint on those?”

All the virtue signaling in the world can’t now compensate for a lack of due diligence that the schizophrenic withdrawal and subsequent reinstatement of Palestinian funding suggests. It wouldn’t be the first time that innocent people suffered because of Brussels’ incompetence. Just ask the people of the entire European bloc currently facing seemingly endless economic hardship so their leaders can keep patting themselves on the back for supporting Ukraine. And just like in Ukraine, Brussels doesn’t seem too interested in availing itself of an opportunity to play any kind of a mitigating or thoughtful role amid this conflict, but is rather taking its usual seat in riding shotgun to the US neocons on whatever the current thing happens to be.

While even Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that there’s no “smoking gun” tying Iran to the latest Hamas attacks, that hasn’t stopped the usual neocon warmongers on the American side of the Transatlantic alliance from substituting sloganeering for actual policy, either – in favor of Iranian regime change, of course. “This is one of history’s best cases for regime change,” said former US National Security Advisor John Bolton. Because, when it comes to drumming up Iranian regime change, neocons are suddenly willing to take Hamas’ word to the bank as their trustworthy source for Iran’s involvement. “The Biden Administration should get a spine and pin the blame on Tehran where it belongs,” Bolton later added. It “belongs,” facts and policy be damned, because it fits the radical neocon narrative, even if it ends up being to the detriment of American lives and interests.

Read more …

“..Erdogan and Putin are contemplating a Turkish ship convoy of aid to Gaza, protected from Israeli attack by the Russian Navy from its Tartous base on the Syrian coast, and by the Russian Air Force from Hmeimim..”

The Silence Of The Bears – Russia Is Reorienting Towards The Arabs (Helmer)

From a policy of equivalence and equivocation between Israel and the Arabs, Russia has reached the policy of engagement on the Arab side. The driver has been the US war to defeat and destroy Russia through the Ukraine. The longer the new Palestinian war lasts, the more clearly Russian military and political strategy in the Middle East will pursue a new anti-American line. The consequences are as great as the defeat of the US and NATO which Russia is now inflicting in Europe, and of the western sanctions war in the global commodity markets and the trading lanes at sea. “We are witnessing a sharp deterioration of the situation in the Middle East,” Putin said in his public welcome for Iraq’s prime minister, Muhammed Shia al-Sudani, at the Kremlin on Tuesday morning.

“I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the United States’ failed policy in the Middle East, which tried to monopolise the settlement process, but, unfortunately, was not concerned with finding compromises acceptable to both sides, but, on the contrary, put forward its own ideas about how this should be done and put pressure on both sides, truly both — first on one, then on the other. But each time without considering the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people, bearing in mind, first of all, the need to implement the decision of the UN Security Council on the creation of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state.” The Foreign Ministry followed Putin later in the afternoon, when the regular weekly briefing by Maria Zakharova was advanced several days early in order to report there have been direct negotiations with the leaders of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the Arab League, Iran, and Turkey – not with Israel.”*

“The US bet on the ‘freezing’ of the status quo and the promotion of ‘economic peace’, as well as the use of collective formats tailored for crisis response, has not justified itself,” Zakharova said. “Everyone sees the result…The statements of American politicians and public figures calling for ethnic cleansing in the region look monstrous. They openly call for one group of people [to be] near-doomed to complete destruction. Once again, aggression, violation of the rule of law, and the caveman’s hatred have emerged on the surface of the American declarations of good looks and human rights dogmas.” In the first direct Russian warning to the US Navy force in the Eastern Mediterranean, Zakharova added: “So far we see that the situation is developing along the path of escalation. There is a great risk of involving third forces in this conflict. And this is fraught with long-term consequences for the region and for the world.”

Putin followed in the evening on the telephone with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The need for an immediate ceasefire by both sides and the resumption of the negotiation process was emphasised,” according to the Kremlin’s communiqué. “Mutual readiness to actively contribute to this was expressed…Separate issues of Russian-Turkish cooperation in various fields were also touched upon.” Erdogan’s press release was more revealing. He and Putin had “touched upon what initiatives can be taken to meet humanitarian needs in the region, as the Turkish president told Putin that targeting civilian settlements is worrying and Türkiye does not welcome such move.” Erdogan’s twitter announcement adds: “President Erdogan and President Putin of Russia also exchanged views on potential initiatives to meet humanitarian needs in the region.”

This is a hint that Erdogan and Putin are contemplating a Turkish ship convoy of aid to Gaza, protected from Israeli attack by the Russian Navy from its Tartous base on the Syrian coast, and by the Russian Air Force from Hmeimim. This humanitarian operation by sea would aim at breaking the blockade of the coast by the Israelis, and running the gauntlet of the USS Gerald Ford and its squadron further offshore. If this operation, a reminder of the Gaza Flotilla of 2010, is in planning now – the open signals are warning Washington and the US Navy to expect it – then the confrontation, and the risk to the US and Israel of strategic defeat at sea, are unprecedented.

Read more …

“..those who have been trying for decades to solve this problem by force have the upper hand. Unfortunately, this leads to such tragic events as we are witnessing now..”

Russia Always Supported Establishment Of Palestinian State – Putin (TASS)

Russia has always advocated the implementation of the UN Security Council’s decision on the creation of an independent Palestinian state, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week. “We have always supported the implementation of the decisions of the UN Security Council, I mean, first of all, the creation of an independent Palestinian state. This is the root of all problems,” Putin pointed out. He also said that Russia’s position on the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict did not emerge as a result of the recent tragic events, but was formed over the past decades. “And this position is well known both to the Israeli side and to our friends in Palestine,” the Russian president added.

He noted that the Palestinian-Israeli issue has been accompanied and aggravated by “mediation activities” of a number of countries in recent years. According to the Russian president, there are still political figures and experts in these countries today who believe that it is necessary to follow the path of creating an independent state. “And there are such people in Israel. But those who have been trying for decades to solve this problem by force have the upper hand. Unfortunately, this leads to such tragic events as we are witnessing now,” Putin said.

Read more …

Abraham Accords. Trump, Kushner, Pompeo.

How A US ‘Peace Plan’ Brought War To Israel’s Doorstep (Fomenko)

Conflict between Israel and Palestine is about as common as the sun rising in the East, but this time it is different, not only because of the frightening number of victims on both sides over just a few days, but because such conflicts have not constituted a formal war since 1973, and the legally recognized territory of Israel has not been invaded by an enemy since 1948. The stakes are huge, but one might question, how exactly did it come to this? Why is this happening now? And how does it relate to the broader context of not only the Middle East, but the world? Two words: Abraham Accords. The United States’ push to create a one-sided, unbalanced and effective appeasement of Israel’s actions, coupled with an attempt to use such to isolate Iran, has led to the calculation by Hamas that the only way to salvage its cause is to unleash a full-scale armed struggle.

In doing so, the militants’ goal is not to destroy Israel head on, because we must acknowledge that such an outcome is not possible. Rather, it is to turn the diplomatic and political tide in the region against Israel and the US in the name of a new Jihad. The Abraham Accords are a peace initiative started in 2020 by the Trump administration that seeks to get Arab countries to unilaterally recognize the State of Israel, without West Jerusalem itself making any concessions regarding the issue of Palestinian statehood. Through the accords, driven by the pro-Israel fanaticism of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the US was successful in getting the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco, and Bahrain to open up diplomatic relations with Israel. The US typically incentivized this by making unilateral concessions to these countries as part of a deal, such as removing Sudan from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list or recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

The Abraham Accords were not a serious peace initiative because all they did was bribe countries to effectively side with Israel and abandon Palestine, instead of seeking peace in one of the most prominent simmering conflicts in the region. Moreover, the accords’ true geopolitical intention was to facilitate the diplomatic isolation of Iran by weakening and splitting the anti-Zionist cause. The grander strategy, by extension, was to facilitate American hegemony over the Middle East, given Israel’s very close relations with the US. Opposition to the US in the region has always gone hand-in-hand with opposition to Israel, be it through Arab nationalism (Syria, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and, historically, Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt) or Islamic fundamentalism (Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas).

In line with this, the US hoped that, by diplomatically isolating Iran, imposing tough sanctions on it and attempting to force it to capitulate on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Washington could sustain its order over the Middle East and maintain its favourable security relationships in the region. The Abraham Accords, to this end, encouraged appeasement of Israel, rather than making a mutually acceptable compromise which sought to move towards a two-state solution. In promoting this, the US was happy to allow Israel under Netanyahu to continually move the goalposts towards a “one-state solution” and to effectively ignore Palestinian resistance, which it now describes as “unprovoked.”

Read more …

”..who incited riots to ‘wipe out’ Palestinian village..”

Source of Dubious ‘Beheaded Babies’ Claim Is Israeli Settler Leader (GZ)

After an Israeli reserve soldier named David Ben Zion told a reporter Palestinian militants “cut [off] heads of babies,” Biden, Netanyahu, and the international media amplified the dubious claim. The Grayzone has identified Ben Zion as a fanatical settler leader who incited riots by demanding a Palestinian town be “wiped out.” An international outcry erupted when Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced that Palestinian militants from the besieged Gaza Strip had killed 40 “babies,” and beheaded several of them during an incursion into Kfar Aza, a kibbutz on the Gaza border. President Joseph Biden repeated the inflammatory claim during an October 10 White House Rose Garden address, while networks across the West carried the story without a shred of critical scrutiny.

According to CNN correspondent Nic Robertson, apparently citing Israeli military sources, Palestinian militants carried out, “ISIS-style executions,” in which they were “cutting the heads off of people,” including babies and pets. The Grayzone has now identified a key source of the claim that Palestinian militants beheaded Israeli babies. He is David Ben Zion, a Deputy Commander of Unit 71 of the Israeli army who also happens to be an extremist settler leader who incited violent riots against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank earlier this year. In an October 10 interview with reporter Nicole Zedek of the Israeli state-sponsored i24 network, Ben Zion stated, “We walked door to door, we killed a lot of terrorists. They are very bad. They cut heads of children, they cut heads of women. But we are stronger than them.” He added, “We know that they are animals,” referring to Palestinians, “but we found that they don’t have any heart.”

Hours after his interview with i24, still in the village of Kfar Aza, a uniformed Ben Zion could be seen repeatedly grinning ear-to-ear in a video posted to his Facebook – an odd disposition for a supposed witness to the methodical butchering of babies. Earlier that day, i24’s Zedek declared during a live report from Kfar Aza, “About 40 babies were taken out on gurneys… Cribs overturned, strollers left behind, doors left wide open.’” Zedek’s report has been viewed tens of millions of times on Twitter and promoted by Israel’s Foreign Ministry – which underwrites her network. Hours later, she qualified her statement, stating, “Soldiers told me they believe 40 babies/children were killed. The exact death toll is still unknown as the military continues to go house to house and find more Israeli casualties.” Yet the unverified tale quickly made its way to the highest levels of leadership, as if by design.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman stated unequivocally that babies and toddlers were found with their “heads decapitated,” while President Joe Biden himself vaguely gestured towards “stomach-churning reports of babies being killed.” Likewise, cable news has flown into a frenzy, breathlessly reporting the story despite the IDF walking back its initial confirmation. Meanwhile, some reporters who initially carried the official Israeli allegations about beheaded babies began issuing qualifications of their own. Oren Ziv, an Israeli reporter who joined the military’s official tour of Kfar Aza, commented on Twitter, “I’m getting a lot of question about the reports of ‘Hamas beheaded babies’ that were published after the media tour in the village. During the tour we didn’t see any evidence of this, and the army spokesperson or commanders also didn’t mention any such incidents.”

Read more …

X thread.

Extensive Gas Reserves Off The Gaza Coastline (Monotti)

Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline: “It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine. The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine’s gas reserves could be much larger.

Who Owns the Gas Fields?
The issue of sovereignty over Gaza’s gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine. The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza’s offshore gas reserves. British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields.

In 2006, British Gas “was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt.” (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to shunting the agreement with Egypt.

Gaza and Energy Geopolitics. The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international law.”

Read more …

“We do that everywhere we go. We just give the weapons away and we walk away…

Scott Ritter: Untracked US Arms to Client Regimes Land in Terrorist Hands (Sp.)

US military aid to its client regimes goes unaccounted for — and often finds its way to terrorist groups, says a former UN weapons inspector. Video emerged this week of a Hamas guerrilla thanking the US for the rifle he carried in the groups incursion into Israel, saying it came from a shipment of weapons to Ukraine that had found its way onto the black market. Scott Ritter told Sputnik that Washington is lackadaisical when it comes to keeping track of arms it gifts to its foreign proxies. “We’ve seen the weapons some of the Hamas assault squads are making use of American-made M4 rifles,” Ritter noted. “So it’s not a question of whether or not they have them. We know they have them. The question is, where did they get them from?” “Historically we tend to flood a client state with weapons as part of our security agreement,” Ritter said.

“The American calculation is never about the quality of the assistance being provided, but the quantity, because the quantification is linked to a dollar figure that the US Congress has established.” “That dollar figure needs to be translated into a deliverable that could be reported back to Congress, saying that we have provided this much money for this and that. And so weapons is the easiest thing we will send in,” he added. He recalled how during the Western occupation of Iraq, advisers to the new police force asked for rifles and handguns from the US — which corrupt officers then sold on the black market. The firearms ultimately ended up in the hands of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)* militants in neighboring Turkiye, where they were captured by police and traced back to the US.

“We do that everywhere we go. We just give the weapons away and we walk away,” Ritter said. Washington’s failure to keep track of its arms handouts to the Kiev regime is also being felt acutely in West Africa.”We see the same thing in Africa, where weaponry that we provided to Ukraine, in particular handheld anti-tank missiles, are showing up in the Lake Chad region in the hands of Boko Haram, the Islamist terrorist group that’s using them against Niger forces, the forces from Chad, forces from Nigeria, forces from Cameroon, many of these forces whom we train,” Ritter said. “Our weapons that we send to Ukraine get in the hands of the people that are fighting the forces that are ostensibly friendly to us. So this is a big problem.”

The former US Marine said government officials seemed unconcerned where the billions of dollars’ worth of military aid ends up. “There’s literally no accounting for these weapons,” Ritter warned. “There’s no quality control in terms of being able to tell Congress or tell anybody, American policymakers, what the status of these weapons is.”

Read more …

“Europe could have just said: ‘Open this route now. We need it to support our economy. But no..”

Western Political System Doesn’t Bring Smartest People To The Top – Putin (RT)

Russia sees absolutely no sense in the EU’s current policy of forgoing Russian energy supplies, particularly gas, President Vladimir Putin told the Russian Energy Week forum on Wednesday. He added that “the modern political system in [the West] obviously sometimes brings not the smartest people to the top.” Speaking about the issue of Russian gas exports to Europe, he pointed to what he called a lack of common sense in some European capitals. “There is no sensible explanation to why some European economies, including Germany’s, should behave like this,” the president said, referring to the situation in the European energy market. He called it “surprising” that European nations did not demand that Kiev reopen one of the Russian gas pipelines going through Ukraine after it was shut down.

Ukraine halted Russian gas transit along one of the routes running through its territory back in May, arguing that it had lost control over one of the gas compressor stations. The station in question is located in the Lugansk People’s Republic, which voted to join Russia last year. The Ukrainian pipeline operator claimed that Russian forces controlling the compressor station were somehow “interfering” with its technical processes and shut down its part of the line. Moscow denied the allegations and warned that Russian gas exports could not be effectively re-routed to other pipelines to compensate for the shutdown. In July, Kiev said that it might cut Russian gas supplies to Europe altogether as it does not intend to renew the transit deal with Moscow. “I believe, by the winter of 2024, Europe will not need Russian gas at all,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko told Politico.

The 2019 transit agreement allows Russia to export some 40 billion cubic meters of gas per year via Ukraine until the end of 2024. A third of this volume should have reached Europe via a pipeline that Kiev has already cut off. “Europe could have just said: ‘Open this route now. We need it to support our economy. But no,” Putin said, commenting on Kiev’s actions. A similar approach could have been used when Poland terminated a supply contract with Russia ahead of its end-2022 expiry date. Warsaw rejected Moscow’s demand for ruble payments in May 2022 and started using its leg of the Yamal-Europe Pipeline to pump stored gas from Germany. The Yamal-Europe Pipeline, which links European customers to the natural gas fields in Russia’s north, used to carry nearly half of Gazprom’s westbound gas deliveries.

Moscow repeatedly stated that it was ready to restart supplies of natural gas to the EU via this route, adding that the shipments had been halted in the first place for political reasons. Germany might have pointed to the fact that it was the biggest donor to the EU common budget while Poland was the largest recipient of EU funds, Putin said, adding that Berlin might have told Warsaw “not to bite the hand that feeds you.” The German government could have also approved the use of the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Russian leader stated. One of the two pipeline strings remained operable after a series of underwater explosions that destroyed the other three strings of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2. “Nord Stream 2 is a direct [route] to Germany,” Putin said, adding that it could have “delivered 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.” Instead, Germany “opts to buy [gas] with a 30% premium and not use our energy resource. That’s their choice,” the president added.

Read more …

“People are starting to wonder: What is this man spending our money on if Ukraine is a country most famous for, you know, being such an oasis of corruption on Earth?”

Zelensky ‘Starting To Annoy’ Everyone In US, Europe – Peskov (TASS)

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has found himself in a rather challenging situation, as he is getting on the nerves of everyone in the United States and Europe, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Moscow. The Kremlin. Putin TV program, an excerpt of which was posted on anchor Pavel Zarubin’s Telegram channel. “Zelensky is in a rather tricky position. First of all, he is starting to touch a nerve. He is starting to annoy everyone both in America and Europe,” Peskov said. “People are starting to wonder: What is this man spending our money on if Ukraine is a country most famous for, you know, being such an oasis of corruption on Earth?” the Kremlin spokesman said.

“Certainly, nobody likes it, and this dissatisfaction with Zelensky will grow,” Peskov concluded, pointing out that the Ukrainian president feels this and “is beginning to crack.” Moreover, the Kremlin spokesman continued, “he [Zelensky] still has that professional greed: How could the weapons promised to me be given to Israel?” “That is why things are not so easy for him. Things are not so easy. Traditionally, they are already spoiled and are used to this sort of mentorship. We will wait and see how [the situation] unfolds from here,” the Russian presidential spokesman added.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1712198515244630379

Read more …

Immigration.

Elon Musk Predicts ‘Civil War’ In Europe (RT)

US entrepreneur Elon Musk has suggested that European Union may face the prospect of civil war due to its immigrant-welcoming policies. Two weeks ago, he visited the US southern border, wading into the bitter debate over immigration in his home country. “If current trends continue, civil war in Europe is inevitable,” he claimed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. Musk was responding to a thread by Moscow-born British satirist and political commentator Konstantin Kisin. He denounced what he called “people celebrating rape and murder by a proscribed terrorist organisation as the police stand and watch in major European cities.” Kisin was referring to pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the wake of the deadly incursion by Hamas into southern Israel last week.

Some residents of European nations focused on condemning Israel for mistreatment of people in the West Bank and Gaza rather than condemning the killings and kidnappings of Israelis by the Palestinian militant movement. “We import more people who think this way every day,” Kisin noted, decrying the lack of “a sensible immigration policy” screening for people with “cultural values that match our own.” He was presumably referring to the EU rather than the UK, where Conservative governments have ramped up immigration controls since Brexit. Kisin concluded that British author Douglas Murray was correct when he argued that European civilization was committing suicide in his 2017 book ‘The Strange Death of Europe’. Immigration is a hot-button issue in the US as well, as critics of the administration of President Joe Biden accuse him of turning a blind eye to illegal border crossings for the sake of ideological and political goals.

Musk weighed in on the debate in late September, when he visited the border city of Eagle Pass in Texas. The US should “smooth out legal immigration and stop a flow of people that is of such magnitude that we’re leading to a collapse of social services,” Musk urged at the time. He declared himself “extremely pro-immigrant,” citing his own status as a naturalized citizen. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York attacked her colleague, Tony Gonzales of Texas, who gave Musk a tour of the border area. She said the Republican “decided to skip town to joyride with a billionaire” instead of staying in Washington DC and working on ways to avoid a government shutdown. Congress has since passed a compromise stopgap spending bill, prolonging the fight over budgetary priorities. Musk has previously branded Ocasio-Cortez “not very smart” on immigration issues.

Read more …

“There is no reasonable explanation as to why this many White House employees and lawyers were so concerned with retrieving boxes they believed only contained personal documents and materials..”

1/ He was not allowed at any time to have any of the -highly classified- docs. Period.
2/ He now says (paraphrased) that he didn’t know they were there.
3/ That only makes it worse.

Biden Classified Doc Scandal Deepens (ZH)

More than a year before White House lawyers claim to have ‘discovered’ classified documents at the Penn Biden Center in November of 2022, evidence has emerged that White House employees ‘inspected’ or ‘took inventory’ of them, while another official removed “a few” boxes containing Biden materials that October, according to the House Oversight Committee. According to a letter to White House counsel Edward Siskel from Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), the official timeline of events provided by the Biden team “omitted months of communications, planning, and coordinating.” Comer says that a Penn Biden Center employee told the committee that on March 18, 2021, senior White House aide Annie Tomasini “[took] inventory of President Biden’s documents and materials” stored at the center, where he established a private office after his vice presidency.

The same witness also said that on Oct. 13, 2022, Oval Office deputy director of operations, Ashley Williams, removed “a few” of Biden’s boxes. The White House has previously claimed that all relevant documents were either moved to the National Archives or the DOJ, while Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, said that the documents were discovered on November 2, 2022 – a total lie. The committee, which has conducted three witness interviews, says on five occasions, White House employees, including former White House Counsel Dana Remus, and the president’s former assistant Kathy Chung, a current Department of Defense employee, went to the Penn Biden Center to take inventory, pack up or remove materials. These visits occurred between March 2021 and mid-October 2022. -CBS News

“There is no reasonable explanation as to why this many White House employees and lawyers were so concerned with retrieving boxes they believed only contained personal documents and materials,” said Comer in his letter. The letter requests transcribed interviews with Remus, Williams, Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, a top adviser to the first lady, and Katie Reilly, a West Wing aide, according to CBS News. It is also asking for documentation and communication related to the documents. The committee has already interviewed Chung, who was then-Vice President Biden’s assistant. Democrats, of course, have resorted to whataboutism…

“Former President Trump’s willful retention of hundreds of highly classified documents, his defiance of court-ordered subpoenas, his reported disclosure of our country’s most sensitive national security information, and false statements to law enforcement should worry the Chair of a congressional committee with jurisdiction over government records,” said a spokesman for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. “Instead Chairman Comer is using the Committee to focus on President Biden whose complete cooperation with the Special Counsel’s investigation stands in stark contrast, including voluntarily participating in a two-day interview with the Special Counsel, and opening the doors to his Penn Biden Center office and private residence to investigators.”

As Jonathan Turley noted earlier, the ‘ultimate punchline’ here could be that Special Counsel Robert Hur may be in a sticky situation if he actually finds evidence of a crime. On its face, the President claims that he had no knowledge of these documents appears dubious at best. Some classified material reportedly goes back to Biden’s time as a senator — material that he would have had to remove from a sensitive compartmented information facility or secure room on Capitol Hill. More importantly, the documents from the Obama Administration were removed when Biden left as vice president. They were then divided and repeatedly moved to different locations. That suggests not just knowledge but a purpose. Why were they divided and some documents were found in his garage and possibly his library?

If Hur found fingerprints that contradict Biden’s statements, he could face not just some of the same charges brought against Trump but also possible false statement or obstruction charges. Notably, Biden used counsel to conduct searches and (as in the Trump case) additional classified materials were found after the Biden team said that they had finished their searches. There are serious questions over whether, in allowing uncleared counsel to search through these documents, evidence may have been lost in how they were stored or appeared in locations like the garage. Hur can bring charges against third parties, who would not be barred from indictment under the DOJ policy. But what does Hur then do if he has evidence against the President himself?

Read more …

4 years as VP is some 1450 days. That’s 20 mails per day, every single day. That’s a lot. Doesn’t mention the pseudonym accounts.

VP Biden Emailed About Son’s Business 29,000+ Times (Fed.)

President Joe Biden denied long before he was inaugurated that he ever discussed business with his son. A new FOIA obtained by America First Legal via lawsuit, however, revealed that Joe emailed his son Hunter Biden, his brother James “Jim” Biden, and their respective firms tens of thousands of times over the course of his vice presidency. In a joint status report published by the Washington D.C. District Court on Friday, the National Archives and Records Administration reluctantly admitted that it knew of 4,243 emails between then-Vice President Joe and Hunter Biden, another 1,751 emails between Joe and Jim, 19,335 emails between Joe and Hunter’s private equity firm Rosemont Seneca, and 3,738 emails between Joe and Jim’s Chinese-communist party connected consulting firm Lion Hall Group.

Joe, Hunter, Jim, and the firms listed in the court documents are at the center of the GOP investigation into the Biden family influence-peddling operation. “These damning numbers further confirm that there was never a wall separating the Office of the Vice President and Hunter Biden’s business endeavors. In fact, there was extensive commingling between them,” AFL wrote in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. It’s unclear what exactly the emails said since NARA claimed it would take more than 15 months to sort through the data requested by AFL. The existence of the emails, however, is proof alone that Biden has lied about his involvement in his family’s scheme to sell political favors to foreign oligarchs.

Biden insisted in 2019 that “there will be an absolute wall between personal and private [business interests] and the government.” “I have never discussed, with my son or my brother or with anyone else, anything having to do with their businesses. Period,” Biden said. From the October 2020 debate stage, the then-presidential candidate specifically denied that Hunter “made money” on China. At the time, the New York Post had already reported on emails from Hunter’s abandoned laptop detailing how the younger Biden pursued business deals with one of China’s largest energy companies with hopes of cashing in “for me and my family.” Since then, receipts, White House visitor logs, testimonies from Biden business partners, text messages, and documents eviscerating Joe’s lies have surfaced.

Hunter’s text messages, obtained by the House Ways and Means Committee, indicate the Bidens saw Joe as the one and “only asset” of the Biden family “brand” that they sold to foreign businessmen in exchange for cash. This pay-to-play racket, receipts suggest, enriched members of the Biden family, including Hunter and Jim, by at least $20 million. Despite corporate media trying to cover for his flip-flop by claiming that his relationship with Hunter’s business partners has “long been known,” Joe’s involvement as the “big guy,” who would receive a cut from a deal with Chinese energy company CEFC and other foreign players, was apparent from the start.

Read more …

“Trusted Flaggers..”

The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) May Undermine Fundamental Rights (BR)

The Digital Services Act (DSA) aims to provide a European solution to an important societal challenge: illegal content and misinformation online. These are real and significant problems, for which new legislation was needed indeed. The DSA was developed and approved during the pandemic. It is a lengthy and complex text, and I believe it has received insufficient political and public scrutiny. The DSA does contain highly valuable provisions, e.g. providing mechanisms for fighting child abuse and for enforcing transparency requirements in online advertising and recommendation systems. However, there are also concerning parts, which may undermine fundamental rights, especially freedom of expression and information, a cornerstone of European democracies and enshrined as Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Hereunder, I summarize my understanding of some key points in the DSA, omitting technical details and nuances, and emphasizing those potential risks.

• The DSA requires that online platforms make it easy for anyone to report allegedly illegal content. Online platforms (and providers of so-called ‘hosting services’ more generally), such as social media platforms, must provide user-friendly mechanisms that allow anyone to ‘notify’ (i.e. flag or report) content on the platform (e.g., a message on X) that they believe to be illegal (Art 16).

• Online platforms become liable for reported content. Once notified, platforms (e.g., X) become liable for the notified content, if it is indeed illegal (Art 6, and Art 16 paragraph 3). They then must quickly take appropriate action against it (suppression, removal of the content, suspension or blocking of the author…) (Art 16).

• Notices submitted by so-called Trusted Flaggers must be handled with priority. Trusted Flaggers are organizations that will be certified as such by the so-called national Digital Service Coordinators (DSCs) (see below and Art 49-51). Platforms must handle notices submitted by Trusted Flaggers as a matter of priority (Art 22). Trusted Flaggers that notify content too often inaccurately can lose their privileged status, but they risk nothing more than that (Art 22, par 6-7).

• Complaint and redress procedures must be established, but they will take time. Complaint and redress procedures must be established and clearly communicated (see e.g. Art 16 par 5, and Art 17 par 3(f)). Such procedures must include an internal complaint-handling system (Art 20), out-of-court dispute settlement bodies (Art 21), and judicial redress. However, these procedures can drag on for months, during which time the measure (suppression, removal, etc.) remains in force.

• Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) are used as a means against undesirable (but not illegal) content. Notifications can compel a platform to take measures for two possible reasons (e.g., Art 17 par 1):
1/ because the platform also deems the content to be illegal (or, perhaps more often, because it does not have the time or resources to investigate, and thus prefers to err on the side of caution), or
2/ because the content violates the platform’s T&Cs (but is not necessarily illegal).

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Vampire squid

 

 

Cuttlefish

 

 

Dogs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1712336414795334018

 

 

Turtle
https://twitter.com/i/status/1712120874944598105

 

 

 

 

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

 

 

 

 

 

Home Forums Debt Rattle October 12 2023

Viewing 39 posts - 1 through 39 (of 39 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #144622

    Pablo Picasso Self portrait with palette 1906   • Israeli Assault on Gaza is Doomed to Fail (Scott Ritter) • Western Virtue Signaling Goes Hypers
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle October 12 2023]

    #144623
    aspnaz
    Participant

    The Abraham Accords are a peace initiative started in 2020 by the Trump administration that seeks to get Arab countries to unilaterally recognize the State of Israel, without West Jerusalem itself making any concessions regarding the issue of Palestinian statehood.

    Trump is an ego who is good at real estate. How can the USA ever save itself if it has politicians answering to Jews? Trump is a rich anglo saxon who answers to Jews. Where are the ballsy anglo saxons, the people who fought for US independence?

    #144624
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Pablo Picasso Self portrait with palette 1906

    I often wonder just how much of our daily reality is actually considered?

    #144625
    Red
    Participant

    “If current trends continue, civil war in Europe is inevitable,” So Europe is a country? If so, than it is already at civil war, and has been since ’14,Ukraine?

    Aspnaz: “Where are the ballsy anglo saxons, the people who fought for US independence?”

    Long ago buried.

    #144626
    Red
    Participant

    ‘If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever,’ said O’Brien, the grand inquisitor of the totalitarian regime in Orwell’s futuristic novel 1984.

    Alternatively, you could imagine a sandal.

    CBDCs: Ultimate Tool of Oppression

    #144627
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Sen. @RandPaul says new bombshell revelation will eventually bring down Anthony Fauci. And says that 8 different agencies tried to cover up”

    Promises promises. We already know. And nothing has happened. Since we already know, what new thing do you think you can add? That he tortures puppies? We know.

    The only thing that will help is ACTION. Action, like ARRESTING him and holding him without bail for trial. Lacking that STFU, you’re part of the problem.

    RFK, that’s fine. It’s a good intro ad. He has a good team.

    People keep bringing up his platform. Yes, there’s a lot of problems there. You don’t get everything you want. So what were you expecting? Where would you go instead? I’m not saying that question is nothing or that I will vote for him. I’m just asking since you have to do something, what is that something you plan to do?

    10 to 1 against, Hezballah wiped the floor with them. “The war was an unmitigated disaster for the IDF. Hezbollah commanders found that Israeli troops were by and large poorly organized and disciplined, with very little training that was relevant”

    Okay, fine. Important to know. THEN ISRAEL DID THE SAME BUT HARDER. So there are even fewer old soldiers around, and even more political tranny generals. If that were a few years, fine, but we’re talking almost 20 years of the same direction. That. Is not. Good.

    Can we see more? Well, apparently not only did they “Not see” Hamas’ planning – despite having been told directly – Hamas and ordinary jimbo kids just walked into empty Army stations, undefended. That’s an ASTONISHING absence of discipline that is so deep it goes to the Cabinet – for years – and can instantly topple the country. It’s like a Bible story, “Mene mene tekel”, Haman’s noose or something. The tree is rotten enough, you walk right in; anything can knock it over.

    I can get guns, that’s easy. How do you re-write losers and pantywaists into SERIOUS people? That takes years, and hardship. Essentially, the only way to fix it is to LOSE and then catch Hamas on the reformation. Now Israel is astonishingly more large and powerful than especially Hamas, but this is an insoluble problem. Wheel of Samsara, Cycles of Time stuff. I don’t know what to tell them since my country is the same. However, we have hardened, battered fellows here in 90% of the counties, and are only run by the 12 blessed blue cities, who are our Hamas gendarmes. This is in contrast to what you see on TV and social media; although they are not organized or motivated, they certainly know how to take punishment.

    “Urban combat is extraordinarily difficult. …amongst the rubble”

    I had not fully realized this. Since they had unlimited time and Israel provided constant motivation, the whole place is nothing but secret tunnels even to Egypt. So bombing it actually HELPS Hamas, since they’re “safe” underground, while you now have confusion above and have hardened the tunnels by adding a mountain of concrete overtop of them. “We have an aircraft carrier offshore.” To do WHAT? To hit a camel in the butt? You have no targets. And this isn’t a secret, the U.S. and Israel are the only ones who don’t realize it.

    And again, thinking of them merely as prisoners in a mass concentration camp really clarifies what’s going on here. WE are supporting an Auschwitz that puts Auschwitz to shame. Hitler could only DREAM of a concentration camp of millions and millions, all in the open, approved by everyone. Would have done a happy-dance on the beach in bikini for it. So if you want to know what they will – and thanks to them, MUST do – think of it as a giant jailbreak. Of violent, pissed off felons.

    Oh well, too late now; it’s going where it’s going. Nobody listens to my opinion.

    “EU announced withdrawal of its support for Palestine … before walking back the move just hours later.”

    So they’re supporting both sides again. It is truly amazing the level Europe has gotten to. They’re beginning to make the Americans look like geniuses. Like Blinken does not want war? Openly and immediately?

    And in the sidebar of “24”, “Europe made a ‘grave mistake’ on immigration – Kissinger

    Kissinger is a core monster who will get these guys and their demented plan to the finish line. All they have to do is whatever he says. Nope. And thank God, by the way. Can’t listen to Harry, he’s far too soft for them and doesn’t reach far enough.

    “…Erdogan and Putin are contemplating a Turkish ship convoy of aid to Gaza, protected from Israeli attack by the Russian Navy”

    …Aaaaaand we’re in WWIII, kicks off for real. I guess we’ll see, but everybody seems well on board. Some event or another should miscalculate.

    “Abraham Accords. Trump, Kushner, Pompeo.”

    I actually did not follow this or its details. I suspect in hindsight the lack of reporting means what I said yesterday: it’s therefore a scam, a sham, and a lie. Nazi-Hitler Trump, with his Jewish family, who was elected by Jewish billionaires, and supported Israel at every turn in quid pro quo. Yup! That’s what “Hitler” means now. Nazis always support Jews and Israel. …Just like yesterday, Tweets that “only White Supremacists/KKK wave Israeli flags at their rallies.” Yes, that was actually said by the Left. With not a trace of contradiction. Ilan Omar took the other tack, which was to fly both a Gay rainbow flag AND a Palestinian Muslim fundamentalist flag. “It’s one big tent” as they say. People who are gay, and people who shoot gays on sight are really the same. She did NOT have an American Flag. That is a bridge too far.

    So not picking on that side, but I mean the rabid death cult of the RINOs is on display and is being well-covered. My point is more “This is the level of (non)thinking going on in America right now” as demonstrated by the TIPPY TOP: that is, Congressmen, Aides, Reporters, think tanks…

    Pure. Genius.

    She really needs to set up a CHAZ in greater Minneapolis run by Hamas and see what her gay friends think of it. …I guarantee they will prefer Trump, who is openly pro gay marriage. Trump or Death. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unkWbEmtYXs&pp=ygUNY2FrZSBvciBkZWF0aA%3D%3D

    I’m probably wrong. They’d probably still vote for death. Easy pick though. Do I want legally pro gay marriage or do I want me and everyone I know to die by supporting Islamic fundamentalists? Enough fun with that, it speaks for itself. This is the level of thinking going on here, every day, every where.

    Like, “We have a business, can’t get anything done, no one will show up and work.” Have you tried raising wages? “No actually, we fired all the workers, doubled the number of managers have have 20 more hours of safety training each week.” (See “Slack”) It didn’t work, but our minds are so addled, we also didn’t notice and applauded, gave ourselves bonuses, and a big pizza party. Level of thinking. Bottom to the top.

    So, being productive, if you’re NOT bat s—t crazy, demented, violent, harmful, lazy sot, what are you supposed to do here? If you work they’ll fire you. If you don’t work, you won’t get paid. And it’s really, really hard to pretend to be insane amongst complete blathering lunatics so they don’t catch on, ask-me-how-I-know.

    “Source of Dubious ‘Beheaded Babies’ Claim Is Israeli Settler Leader (GZ)

    Golly, the Incubator Babies story is false? If only we had some kind of warning, some kind of previous example to learn from.
    Attila
    https://www.greanvillepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/german_bayoneting_children_-_life_-_july_25_1915-740×580.png
    100 years ago. Every year, every time, 100 times in a row.

    Nope! Not this time! This time my government and those yellow journalist billionaires are telling me the truth!

    “we didn’t see any evidence of this, and the army spokesperson or commanders also didn’t mention any”

    But using the classic regurgitating “Centipede” line like Yahoo and RussiaGate, they (Biden) “report there were reports”. False reports, mind you, but I’m reporting there was false reporting. (and forgetting to tell you it was all false.) Okay, fine. Villains do this. But THE PEOPLE just keep eating it. It never ends. As far as I can tell there is no limit point to where they stop believing their abusers.

    “Extensive Gas Reserves Off The Gaza Coastline (Monotti) :

    Let’s see, Gaza gasfields, Syrian pipeline. Huh, somehow two wars happened to pop up right after! Just like Armenia. “there is no limit point to where they stop believing their abusers.” And you wonder why they think we’re vermin and their world is run by contempt.

    “Zelensky ‘Starting To Annoy’ Everyone In US, Europe – Peskov (TASS)

    Why now? A: Only because he’s losing. That’s the only care. Lost a million men, his entire nation? What? Were you saying something? I was busy thinking about my yacht and Epstein Island. That’s where their minds, their logic is. It only follows emotion, it follows the money. A turkey turns into a tree when my feelz say it does. This is what people like me can’t predict or understand. To me, he’s the same man to whom actual events happened. If anything I’m more sympathetic, even as my sense of principles and justice determines and cannot change.

    “White House spokesperson John Kirby announces that the U.S. is “coming to the end of the rope” with regard to Ukraine funding.”

    We see that in the media first. They get the first Memo to pre-plan and pre-position. I follow that as my weathervane of what’s happening and it remains faultless. But that means “The Media”, all of them, are nothing, zero, a mouthpiece of CIA and Corporate State without single exception, otherwise that wouldn’t be possible. So when you think “media” think “#AntiMedia”. That is the people who will NOT report the news, ever, even once, even on accident. Sad affairs.

    “flow of people that is of such magnitude that we’re leading to a collapse of social services,”

    Cloward-Pivon. As written and discussed openly for decades. But just because they said it, write it, publish it, sign their names to it, then do it, doesn’t mean it’s real, silly-billy. The other problem is none of the immigrants are Hispanic anymore. They’re all fighting-age Central Asians, Chinese, lots of types. I’m sure they brought that gun and enough fentanyl to level el Paso because they’re just looking for work, right? No reporting on this change, as above. #AntiMedia.

    material that he would have had to remove from a sensitive compartmented information facility or secure room on Capitol Hill.”

    Nobody cares. Nothing will happen. Everybody knows. They all support it. AntiMedia? The whole U.S. is #AntiLaw. FROM the People THEY are antiLaw. As we saw starting as far back as trailer trash Hillary and Bill, straight off Jerry Springer, and you can look up the allegations against them at that time, in the media, including CBS, NBC, the core dinosaurs. First thing ever said was Bill can’t be President because of his well-known history, the very thought was a non-starter. So when the People didn’t mind, well, a new door opened. That’s not to say previous criminals weren’t bad. We know JFK and Poppa Bush. But Bush was a SMART, Cagey, secret villain, and JFK was his private life. When these are openly advertised to the American People and they say “We don’t mind, we’re that corrupt and antiMarriage, antiRules, AntiLaw too” well, there you are. Democracy at work. You get the country YOU deserve, that reflect YOUR values.

    So here we are with the logical extension of that, and obviously no one cares because the People also become equally more corrupt that whole time too.

    “4 years as VP is some 1450 days. That’s 20 mails per day, every single day. That’s a lot. Doesn’t mention the pseudonym accounts. • VP Biden Emailed About Son’s Business 29,000+ Times (Fed.)

    20 a day is one an hour or three an hour for workdays. That’s amazing. I have new respect for him as a worker. I had no idea he was that industrious. Tireless, in fact, in pursuit of corruption. If only I could hire an employee who would keep that up.

    “Once notified, platforms (e.g., X) become liable for the notified content, if it is indeed illegal … They then must quickly take appropriate action”

    What do they mean by this and who decides? This is the standard armchair “Somebody (else) oughta do something” argument. Okay, it’s been flagged. IS it illegal? Says who? Like home prices this may seem obvious on the outside but isn’t. DA and Police, etc have endless arguments about it all career long, look at “Law and Order” a show that is basically nothing BUT this. Not only is it POSSIBLY illegal, but is it ACTUALLY illegal? And How fast do we need to act on it? Who decides? Or else what? Now if we report it to the police the same problems exist but we have a 1,000 history of what is appropriate in that legal space.

    What will actually happen? Companies don’t – in fact, CAN’T – care. They will remove everything reported by anyone, for any reason. That’s it. 100% censorship, every day, a boot stomping on your ears, forever. And probably also not refer it to the police as that’s too much work and I’m not a policeman. Result? Again, Elon Musk is God. He decides all, for everyone. Is that the world you want to live in? Hey, can we go back to Sec230 and actually pretend that’s the law it is again?

    “Trusted Flaggers that notify content too often inaccurately can lose their privileged status,”

    We already know “Trusted Flaggers” report universally true material all day. We also know there is an endless revolving door of NGOs set up, even if you knock out a thousand of them. You’ll never get to having “Trusted” anything. Worse, you could have 99 actual honest ones and the 1 dishonest one could still cause enough damage that you might as well have 99 bad ones and 1 honest. See?

    We know Octopus are aliens, (they have no DNA relatives) but are Cuttlefish?

    I wonder what the original crashed Octopus Lord space ship looked like and what they think of it.

    #144628
    zerosum
    Participant

    My way or the highway.
    Nothing new. To solve this problem by force have the upper hand.
    ———–
    Prpaganda

    The West carried the story without a shred of critical scrutiny.
    ” had killed 40 “babies,” and beheaded several of them”
    ———–
    Journalists are complicite in the lies.

    #144629
    Figmund Sreud
    Participant

    In a nutshell: … lack of natural intelligence in artificial intelligence! And much more, …
    … more from Crooke:

    F.S.

    #144630
    Figmund Sreud
    Participant

    … er, a Digital Token platform just launched?

    F.S.

    #144631
    jb-hb
    Participant

    from yesterday

    Felony Assaults Against Women in New York Up 41% Over the Last Four Years

    One of several simultaneous collapses that are happening

    I came across an article that a woman was attacked on the subway and was outraged that 2 middle aged white men walked out of the subway car. THAT’S who she was outraged at. So taking stock:

    1. Angry at two white male innocent bystanders
    2. Rather than angry at her attacker
    3. The bystanders have a sex and race, but the attacker does not
    4. Not angry at anyone else in the train car
    5. Doesn’t seem to have any contextual understanding of men intervening to protect women in the past and having their lives ruined. Voting record likely always pro policies responsible for this.

    Aside from all the other possible observations, a woman who, faced with the physical fact of being attacked, comes to this conclusion, has a bedrock-level, unshakeable religious view of reality. She sees the world through a fundamentally religious lens such that ANY event, any physical data has the same answer. Can’t understand that the CONCLUSION she is coming to is the very reason for non-intervention.

    A person who believes this way hasn’t just given up the social contract, hasn’t merely become a contemptuous non cooperative competitor. They are an outright enemy. Their decisions and actions at their job, their voting record, the statements they make socially, everything was in enmity towards the very demographic who left the train car. If you piled up everything she has said and done over decades in one place, how big would the pile be? Those guys sized things up exactly right. In days gone by, they would have helped anyway.

    Came across a comedy routine about “men have stopped helping women.” Female comedian talks about trying to wrestle her carryon into an overhead compartment and a large strong man watching her rather than helping. “oh so now you think YOU being lazy is feminism – you go girl, you got this”

    Who packed your bag, ma’am? Did a MAN pack it? Men pack their carryon luggage in such a way that they do not require charity from strangers just to get through their day.

    Imagine the same man, the same stranger, coming across you while you were packing that bag and volunteering advice. Oh dear god I can imagine the reaction. Would a man have mansplained that you need to pack more or need to pack less?

    Do you have no object permanence perception, no understanding that physical things are real and remain real after you put them in your suitcase and close it? You don’t have any idea of your own strength? Couldn’t perceive its weight when you carried it towards your door to leave? Need someone to mansplain it to you? Are women The New Special Needs? (Like the football kicker we celebrated that did the worst kick in the world and instantly fled the field like a coward instead of going forward with the rest of the team like every kicker ever?)

    Men are stronger? Who packs more luggage, men or women? So the man is stronger AND packs less??? Huh. And if you were in the audience watching a male comedian do a routine about how women pack too much luggage, your reaction would be…?

    And you’re just unware of the past couple decades happening, all the various reasons for that man staying put and not helping you? The main reason being your underlying religious beliefs allowing you to even formulate your comedy routine?

    Whether it is something mundane as a suitcase or serious as a violent assault. 2 societal breakdowns.

    (And understand, I am coming from a place of being a left leaning liberal atheist libertine who believed in total equality between the sexes.)

    The first collapse is an amazingly serious one – the social contract is dead. Men are not helping women. If they do, women are all for punishing them for it. See their continual voting record, policy choices, etc.

    The second collapse is inside normie womens’ heads. I am very VERY sorry to say it, but they love the new religion more than ANYTHING else – the one they proclaim with the WE BELIVE rainbow signs with black background on their lawns. The super hateful ones. They will work shit jobs til they die, be horribly alone, be unprotected, have their society become crappy, incompetent, and unsafe, ANYTHING but give that up. They’re #%#ing GONE, man.

    There is a significant male population segment that is aware of and working the problem. Just for example, the neo-stoic movement. They’re well aware that any institution, hobby, group, club, subculture they form gets attacked. So they’re down to individual self-improvement, which they have earnestly adopted. Gaining skills, getting their finances in order, eating healthy, reading philosophy, and going to the gym are part of that…

    …but the gym got filled with weirdo women wearing ridiculous outfits, constantly filming themselves and the people around them, who try to construe absolutely ANYTHING as sexual harassment, posting the video with their commentary to thousands, millions, or getting them kicked out of their gym. There was a BLIND MAN who one of these women complained about “creepy stares” who lost his gym membership. He EXPLAINED “I am blind, I cannot see ANYTHING” … “Yeah bro but, uh, you still can’t be staring creepily at women like that here.” So gyms are collapsing now as a result. Make Them Welcome Nowhere, right?

    Stages of collapse:
    1. financial
    2. commercial
    3. political
    4. social
    5. cultural

    Men not helping women is cultural collapse, surely. Men guessing that a woman in need is most likely their active, vociferous, implacable enemy and being right is too. Both awful.

    Most awful is that communication appears to be impossible on a cultural level. I saw an interview of an author who wrote a book on the male suicide epidemic. He was being interviewed by 3 women. He got about 2.5 sentences out, the last one was going to be “…and it seems like whenever this issue comes up, it seems like the problem is denied, it’s denied that it is a male issue, or the subject gets changed to womens’ issues”

    Keeping in mind, this is an interview about a book on the male suicide epidemic. They jumped in – as if knowing what to stop him from saying, shouted him down, said it isn’t an issue, it isn’t a male issue, and proceeded to fill up the remaining time with things men should stop doing, need to do better, or need to start doing.

    There is a cultural breakdown here where certain basic things – such as a suicide epidemic – do not compute. The idea that the suicide epidemic is BECAUSE of “does not compute” also does not compute. What’s compassion? And of course everyone is losing out now. Except the elites who were weirdo freaks living in their enclaves and on their yachts with no healthy psyches or culture to begin with. At least we had each other up until now.

    #144632
    Red
    Participant
    #144633
    Red
    Participant

    The idea of declaring an emergency was first proposed to Club of Rome by British consultant and psychotherapist David Wasdell in 2005.

    Wasdell, with training from Tavistock Institute, had written a paper called Global Warning that was circulated during the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005, with the mission of getting the climate issue higher up on the political agenda.

    We have a narrow remaining window to engage global strategic planning and mobilisation, followed by a maximum of fifty years to achieve the transition, to scale down resource usage, to terminate inequitable capital accumulation, and to stabilise and begin the long term reduction of global population.

    Wasdell was then invited by the Club of Rome president Prince El Hassan bin Talal to make a speech at their annual conference in Norfolk, Virginia.

    In order to achieve the desired impact, Wasdell advised them to:

    Recognise that there now exist a state of global emergency
    Declare excess CO2 to be an eco-toxin [!] with potentially catastrophic impact on the global biosphere
    Develop and operationalize an emergency strategy to move our global society towards a zero or negative carbon economy within the shortest possible timescale
    Develop and operationalize the most effective institutional instruments to manage the transition.
    Wasdell, who became an adviser to Al Gore, was also working closely with the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research (PIK) and its director and Club of Rome-member Hans Joachim Schellnhuber to develop the concept of Tipping Points in the climate system.[1]

    This concept was incorporated into the Planetary Boundaries framework, which was developed under the leadership of Johan Rockström at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and introduced in the article “A safe operating space for humanity” in 2009. This was done in cooperation with Schellnhuber and PIK.[2]

    Planetary Boundaries is a framework to “describe limits to the impacts of human activities on the Earth system”. If left unchecked, it is said to trigger cascading tipping points leading to “large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes”. To prevent this potential scenario, a top-down population control is considered necessary.

    More:

    Declaration of a Planetary Emergency to Begin “the Long Term Reduction of Global Population”

    #144634
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The thing with bad people is that they think that the way to have the freedom to do whatever they want requires taking that freedom away from others. This is because the thing that they want is something that harms others (like stealing their stuff, or hurting and enslaving them) so if others had the freedom to stop that from happening then they would, indeed, stop it.

    So, from the bad guy’s point of view, it sure IS necessary to take away other people’s freedom, in order to have it for themselves, because if they didn’t then they would not be allowed to do whatever they want.

    The problem is that it is not possible to have freedom for self at same time as denying it to others. Can’t be done. It’s a logical absurdity.

    The slave master is enslaved.

    There is only one thing that a slave master is allowed to do, and he MUST do that one thing steadily and at all times. He must take away the freedom of others to do what they need and want to do, because if he allows those slaves to have the freedom to do what they need and want to do, for even an instant, then those slave will use that freedom to put an end to the slavery (and usually to the slave master along with it.)

    There is freedom for all, or for none. It’s as intractably simple as that.

    #144635
    jb-hb
    Participant

    It is time China started taking Europe more seriously, says EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell

    “My first objective is to reaffirm to my Chinese interlocutors that Europe takes China seriously and has no hidden agenda aiming at derailing its rise.
    “At the same time, we expect from China to take us more seriously and stop looking at us through the lens of its relations with others. Our assessment and conduct is driven by our own interests,” Borrell said.

    Surely this will give China pause. (Hm. Take them more seriously???) …to take a breath and say

    “And what will you do about it? Stamp your foot? Hold your breath?”

    “But you ARE a US puppet.”

    #144636
    Just Some Randomer
    Participant

    @jb-hb Borrell is a pompous buffoon. His little tantrum reminds of this Southpark episode

    ‘Respect My Authoritaaa’.

    Lol

    #144637
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @JustSomeRandomer

    That South Park cartoon clip just nails it.

    #144638
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    Those Israeli’s are really tough guys when they’re up against unarmed civilians, especially women, children, and non-belligerent air travelers at civilian airports in foreign countries.

    Notice how they avoided bombing the Russian military air base, even though Iran can use that one just as easily as they used to be able to use the civilian airport in Damascus that Israel just bombed without provocation or warning.

    They’re not making many friends, but they sure are influencing people.

    #144639
    anticlimactic
    Participant

    From the way Netanyahu is talking he wants to change Gaza from a concentration camp to an extermination camp. I am sure that by now more Palestinian civilians have died than Israelis were killed by Hamas. The question is how many Palestinian deaths will assuage this bloodlust – ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A million? All of them?

    While Western MSM has largely ignored the bombing of Palestinians in the past now it is actively cheering the Israelis on! The question is whether the Israeli retribution becomes excessive.

    Already condemnation of Hamas is not universal, even in the West. If Israel goes too far it could cause problems for them. Hezbollah may feel the need to become fully involved. They have thousands of battle hardened troops, and thousands of missiles and at least some are fitted with accurate guidance systems.

    Also there are now significant numbers of muslims in most Western countries. This issue could prompt them into terrorist campaigns. International relations with Israel could become strained. If Iran becomes involved, through choice or action by others, then potential fallout could be drastic.

    Israel’s attitude to the Palestinians makes me think of the Klu Klux Klan’s attitude to African Americans.

    #144640
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    The Great Western Empire’s situation (with Israel right in there with ’em) reminds me of that old “boiling frog” allegory, but with one major difference. Israel and the others KNOW that they’re being slow-boiled. That’s why they’re stirring up all these fights, and why no one is taking them up on the offer to turn up the heat too fast. Basically the reason they don’t just jump out of the pot right now is that they’re scared shitless to go up against anybody capable of shooting back on the large scale, and nukes are of no use when there’s no centralized target to aim them at. What are they going to do, nuke radical Islamists, MAGA Trumpers and everybody else who hates the Cabal, while their own central hubs of power like DC, London and Tel Aviv are sitting ducks?

    Their fear is well founded.

    And their opponents’ understanding of the dynamics of the situation is crystal clear. They will not give the West any excuse ….. or target…… for playing the nuclear “Ace In The Hole” card that the Cabal thought would hold everyone at bay forever.

    Slow boil does the trick, until the “West” (and we all know who they are) are a small, terrified nuke-less chitlin’ of a former frog at the bottom of the pot.

    #144641
    John Day
    Participant

    Assuming Positions https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/assuming-positions

    Where to begin today? I will keep snippets and my comments brief, because there are so many links, several taking 20 minutes to read.

    US Sending Two Carrier Strike Groups To Mideast Region, Taps Qatar To Assist Hostage Mediation With Hamas
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-now-actively-fighting-secondary-front-northern-border-hezbollah-idf

    Hamas: For every no-warning strike on Palestinians, 1 Israeli executed​ ,
    Al-Qassam Brigades military spokesperson says this decision comes as the Israeli entity continues its massacres in Gaza against the children, women, and elderly.
    https://sputnikglobe.com/20231010/health-ministry-in-gaza-strip-calls-for-opening-of-corridor-for-urgent-medicine-supplies-1114056475.html

    U.S. SPECIAL FORCES HAVE LANDED IN ISRAEL TO HELP FREE HOSTAGES

    U.S. Special Forces Have Landed in Israel to Help Free Hostages

    ​The US is sending 2 amphibious assault ships with 3000 USMC to the eastern mediterranean.
    https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog/oi-ipa-kinitopoioun-kai-tin-26i-ekstrateftiki-monada-pezonafton-me-tria-ploia-amfivion-epicheiriseon-israilinos-ypostratigos-pros-netaniachou-tha-pesoume-se-iraniki-pagida-sti-gaza/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    #144642
    John Day
    Participant

    US sends 101st Airborne Division to Jordan.
    https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog/rosia-fygete-oloi-apo-to-israil-analytes-vlepoun-genikefsi-tou-polemou-me-maches-5-metopa-oi-ipa-stelnoun-tin-101i-aerometaferomeni-merarchia-stin-iordania/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    Biden Says He’s Seen “Confirmed Pictures” Of Hamas Beheading Children, WH Issues Immediate Clarification
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-says-hes-seen-confirmed-pictures-hamas-beheading-children-wh-issues-immediate

    Source of dubious ‘beheaded babies’ claim is Israeli settler leader who incited riots to ‘wipe out’ Palestinian village​ , Max Blumenthal
    After an Israeli reserve soldier named David Ben Zion told a reporter Palestinian militants “cut [off] heads of babies,” Biden, Netanyahu, and the international media amplified the dubious claim.
    The Grayzone has identified Ben Zion as a fanatical settler leader who incited riots by demanding a Palestinian town be “wiped out.”

    Source of dubious ‘beheaded babies’ claim is Israeli settler leader who incited riots to ‘wipe out’ Palestinian village

    ​ A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said that there was no reliable information about the brutal killings of 200 people and the beheadings of infants in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza.
    https://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/157906-kfar_aza_massacre/

    Trump Suggests Biden Is Given Cocaine To “Liven Up”​ , “They say, ‘get him off the stage, that shit’s wearing off, man! Get him off’”

    Video: Trump Suggests Biden Is Given Cocaine To ‘Liven Up’

    #144643
    John Day
    Participant

    High level acceptance of partial blame may be a signal of creeping rationality in the power structure.
    ​ Israel’s Defense Chief Admits Failure To Protect Citizens After Security “Collapsed Like Dominoes”
    ​ As heavy Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues for a sixth day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said they are degrading Hamas’ ability to rule, with spokesman Daniel Hagari stating, “In certain areas, the organization can no longer rule and we will continue until this is the case throughout.”
    ​ Hagari has also said that “Israel is targeting those who filmed and broadcast Hamas’s murderous invasion of southern Israel on Saturday morning. Overnight, the military killed Mustafa Shahin, a Hamas operative the IDF identified from footage online.”
    ​ However, one wonders: if Israel’s military and intelligence is this efficient at positively identifying Hamas operatives and their residences or hideouts in the middle of a war unfolding, how was Saturday’s large-scale incursion – in which jihadists even took over IDF outposts – able to happen? How was it not foreseen (and with the widely reported Egyptian advanced warning to boot)?
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israels-defense-chief-admits-failure-protect-citizens-after-security-collapsed

    ​Compared to this position 3 days ago: Israel Calls Palestinians “Human Animals” – Cuts Fuel, Electric FOOD and WATER to Gaza
    Israeli Defense Minister orders siege on Gaza: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. We are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly.”
    https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/israel-calls-palestinians-human-animals-cuts-fuel-electric-food-and-water-to-gaza

    ​Yesterday: Israeli Defense Minister: “We have abolished all the rules of war. Our soldiers will not be held responsible for anything. There will be no military courts”
    https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/israeli-defense-minister-we-have-abolished-all-the-rules-of-war-our-soldiers-will-not-be-held-responsible-for-anything-there-will-be-no-military-courts

    ​ Mike McCaul is the wealthiest Congressman. He was not when he was first elected. McCaul is an insider. This is some kind of signal.
    Israel knew of Hamas attack in advance – US lawmaker​ , Representative Michael McCaul backed up earlier claims that Egypt tipped officials off to an impending assault
    https://www.rt.com/news/584687-israel-knew-attack-egypt/

    ​ Simplicius points out that Israeli ground forces being called up are not trained or motivated to be storm-troopers in the ruins of Gaza, laced with fortified underground tunnels. They do not currently even have enough food or uniforms.
    This is a long and detailed article, but I want to point out that he points out the foreshadowing of “terror attacks in major cities around the world” to be carried out tomorrow, Friday the 13th of October, by “Hamas” and “Iranian infiltrators” and “Islamic terrorists”.
    It is clear that there is a big and global effort to get people pumped into tribal-killing-rage. Don’t fall for it, please.
    Israeli Ground Forces Get Cold Feet? + Ukraine War Updates
    https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/israeli-ground-forces-get-cold-feet

    #144644
    John Day
    Participant

    ​(Serbian) Aleks at Black Mountain Analysis also has a longish and detailed analysis of the manipulation of peoples through tribalism and warfare. He closes with this:
    ​ I want to warn you all. There have been camps until now. Ukraine supporters against Russia supporters for example. These camps are consistent with many other topics. Essentially, it is the anti-imperialists/sovereigntists against the empire supporters (most of them don’t even know that they support an empire).
    ​ With this new war, new dividing lines occur between all of us. Especially in the West. Even the both aforementioned camps are now further divided in Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestina supporters. And with the brutal, graphic and disgusting pictures that are arriving from the civilian areas, it polarizes all of us even more. This is intentional. Don’t fall for this trap. It is “divide and conquer”. Don’t let hate and emotions control you. Keep a cool head and evaluate all events rationally.
    ​ I stand my ground. BMA will stay neutral in this conflict. We are pro-Israel and pro-Palestina. Pro- civilians of both sides. These people are being played against each other for the benefit of others. We pray for a quick end and peace.
    https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/israel-44b

    ​I just watched the first 15 minutes of this with Alastair Crooke, which is an excellent, balanced and contextual analysis of why the crisis happened last Saturday. Thanks F.S.
    Extremist Politics in Israel and Ukraine – Alastair Crooke, Alexander Mercouris and Glenn Diesen

    ​Brian Berletic, an excellent mideast military analyst for decades, brings the Israeli military position into context, which begins at about 15:50. Thanks Eleni.
    Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Erupts Amid US Proxy War in Ukraine

    Mohammed Deif is the military commander of the Hamas forces. He has long been known as “the visitor”, since he never stays in one place. He has taken serious injuries in 5 Israeli airstrike attempts upon his life, including in 2014 when his wife and 2 children were killed. He has one eye, one good arm and a bad spine. He obtained a university science degree before joining Hamas in 1990. (Thanks to Eleni for some of this historical context.)
    Hamas was originated through the Muslim Brotherhood, long a cat’s-paw of British and US intelligence covert operations. The Mossad needed a divisive counterweight to the PLO. Hamas served that function. Hamas helped the Syrian rebels against the Assad government at one point, as did the Morsi government (M. Brotherhood) in Egypt.
    Hamas is touted as “an Iranian-controlled terrorist organization”, but it has a history of being (somewhat) “controlled-opposition”.
    The question in my mind, which is not readily answered, is whether Mohammed Deif, seemingly a “live player” in history, has redirected the military arm of the controlled-opposition onto a rationalist patriotic trajectory. I do not have an answer, but Deif is clearly intelligent, diligent, and has every reason to believe that he will die fighting for his cause.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Deif

    “Iron Dome” does not work well at baseline, and is readily overwhelmed by salvos of many smallish rockets.
    How Hamas Attack Revealed Iron Dome’s Inefficiency

    How Hamas Attack Revealed Iron Dome’s Inefficiency

    #144645
    John Day
    Participant

    Are they giving warnings before dropping bombs on high rise apartment buildings yet?
    WW3 | Israel Continues Air Bomb Strikes on Gaza. Military Summary And Analysis For 2023.10.11

    ​ Scott Ritter has a scathing and detailed assessment of the many capabilities and limitations of the Israeli Defense Forces, but here is his summary: Thanks Travis.
    ​ Israeli Assault on Gaza is Doomed to Fail
    ​ The Israeli military today is more comfortable making TikTok videos and posting Instagram photographs than they are in perfecting the skillsets needed to close with and destroy your enemy through firepower and maneuver. This is a military that, with a few exceptions found in the elite reconnaissance units of the IDF, has grown accustomed to a peacetime ritual more akin to the life of a corrections officer than soldier. The IDF has become experts at arresting children, beating up women, and murdering unarmed men.
    Digging a competent enemy out of the rubble of a destroyed city, especially when they have prepared and organized for such a battle, is deadly work. The Israeli troops who have been assembled outside of Gaza are not ready for this fight. They are not trained or equipped for this fight. They are not psychologically prepared for this fight.
    https://sputnikglobe.com/20231011/scott-ritter-israeli-assault-on-gaza-is-doomed-to-fail-1114109205.html

    Over 20,000 houses, 10 medical facilities destroyed by Israeli strikes on Gaza — ministry​ ​(2 days ago, now)
    According to the report, a total of 48 local schools have also been damaged
    https://tass.com/world/1688073

    ​ In a chilling video interview with Fox News, US Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has called on Americans to support Israel while telling the Israeli leader to ‘finish off’ Palestinians.
    ​ “This should be personal for every woman and man in America,” Haley said in the interview, which she posted on her social media channels.
    “Why?”, she added, “because when (Palestinians) did this, when they made this surprise attack, when they took these hostages, when they murdered these families, they were celebrating.”
    ​ “And what were they celebrating?” Haley asked, before answering herself, “They were saying ‘Death to Israel,’ ‘Death to America.’ This is not just an attack on Israel. This is an attack on America.”

    ‘Call for Genocide’: Nikki Haley Tells Netanyahu ‘Finish Them’

    Some Israeli actions ‘against international law’ – EU​ , Denying Gaza water, food and electricity is not appropriate, Josep Borrell has said
    https://www.rt.com/news/584594-borrell-eu-israel-law-gaza/

    #144646
    John Day
    Participant

    Israeli lawmaker calls for using ‘doomsday weapons’​, Gaza should be “flattened” with nuclear-capable missiles, a member of the Knesset from the ruling party has stated​ https://www.rt.com/news/584609-israe-gaza-jericho-missiles/

    Health Ministry in Gaza Strip Calls for Opening of Corridor for Urgent Medicine Supplies
    https://sputnikglobe.com/20231010/health-ministry-in-gaza-strip-calls-for-opening-of-corridor-for-urgent-medicine-supplies-1114056475.html

    ​ Phosphorus vapor enters the nose, mouth, eyes and lungs, reacting with moisture and burning these tissues out from the inside. This is technically a war crime.
    ​ The Israeli artillery has opened heavy fire on Lebanon, using phosphorus munitions, after militants attacked Israeli positions in the occupied district of Kfarchouba, Al Jadeed television reported.
    ​ The shelling caused the gardens of local residents and pine groves in the area to catch fire, the report said.
    Heavy smoke forced [surviving] people in Lebanese villages to leave their homes and descend into the valley.
    https://tass.com/world/1687955

    ​Russian forces are clearly on the offensive. Adviivka is perhaps the most heavily-fortified Ukrainian stronghold the Russians have yet approached, including Bakhmut.
    The Russians Burst Into Avdiivka – Fighting Is Going On Inside. Military Summary For 2023.10.12

    ​Post COVID-vaccine turbo-cancers break known medical patterns. Don’t look at the young faces. Thanks Red.
    Breast Cancer Stage 4: Very Young Age, Triple Negative, New Mothers: Features of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Turbo Cancer; 30 Cases
    Resistant to Chemo, Recurrent Tumors More Aggressive

    Breast Cancer Stage 4: Very Young Age, Triple Negative, New Mothers: Features of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Turbo Cancer; 30 Cases

    #144647
    Germ
    Participant

    @ Red – “What can I say”

    Simple, really …

    TVASSF

    #144648
    citizenx
    Participant

    The Empty pants, ‘sniffer in chief’ Joe Biden went off last night about watching babies heads being lopped off-

    Why, how, is this allowed ?
    Empty suit of a dementai laden criminal running the Country into the ground? Has all of America lost its mind?

    Ok this is epic-

    On Sky news ex Israeli PM Naftali Bennett was asked-

    “What about the babies in incubators in Gaza who’s life support has been turned off because the Israelis have cut off the power”

    His answer – Are you serious asking about Palestinian civilians? What’s wrong with you?

    …. Babies…incubators, sniffed, heads lopped off- America is officially insane. Dangerously insane.

    ….

    Pompeo-

    Another call to bomb Iran

    Mike Pompeo @mikepompeo

    At least 25 Americans were murdered by Iran’s proxies.

    This requires a response.

    Letting Iran get away with this will only invite more attacks.

    Ok Pompeo, you fat fucking retarded Goering wannabee- GO AHEAD !
    Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran-

    Pompeo- delusional pos who actually ‘believes’ in Americas military might- A nation who funds, and loses endless wars. Wants more. It’s like watching the film “Downfall’ with Adolf surrounded in the bunker, days away from blowing his brains out- still thinking he can control the world and win wars everywhere.

    It is increasing looking like someone, if not the citizens, needs to put an end to the insanity that the US Govt has become. Honestly, most of America seems to be sick with apathy- stuck in the political insanity of – deny, acuse, destroy loophole.

    These fuckers are going to kill us all, and much of the world if they are not stopped. How do Americans NOT see this? What will it take? Anyone have anything constructive to offer as how this madness is stopped by our own Govt? Anyone?

    The govy is too broken for any election to save the day, the citizenry are empty headed brainwashed addicts. Who will step in ?

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-bombs-damascus-aleppo-airports-minutes-irans-foreign-minister-due-arrive

    Seems the only way out will be a group of Nations aligning to stop this.

    #144649
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Indeed the USA has gone rogue and the people are doing nothing. Consider the Norway gas pipeline, which was bombed by the USA, my opinion as the USA are the only people to benefit and have a track record. So who wants allies who bomb their friends’ energy sources? Yes, the Germans are too weak to do anything, they still have half the US army sitting in their country, they still don’t control their own land. The docile German behaviour is what results in your country being run by outside forces. The whole of the EU is in this mental state, just waiting for instructions from their owners rather than leading their own people and putting their own countries first.

    #144650
    Celticbiker
    Participant

    ZOG, its real.

    #144651
    zerosum
    Participant

    Will Iran be attacked?
    Hummm
    All of those tanks around Gaza came out from protected storage.
    Hummm
    All of those USA ships are now within target range.
    Hummm
    Iran has many kinds of drone that could deliver explosives that could give a concussion.
    hummmm
    Will Iran share their drones?

    #144652
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    Where are the ballsy anglo saxons, the people who fought for US independence?

    Western Civilization RIP, we hardly knew thee.

    #144653
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

    The Coup De Grâce.

    Resultant?

    From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.

    #144654
    John Day
    Participant

    Someone Is Inscribing All Of WikiLeaks’ Infamous Afghan War Logs On Bitcoin
    https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/someone-inscribing-all-wikileaks-infamous-afghan-war-logs-bitcoin

    #144655
    WES
    Participant

    How do you stop the crazy people running things?
    You can’t.
    These crazy people will continue until they sow the seeds of their own destruction.
    All you can do is try to be aware of what these crazy people are doing and try to avoid being one of their victims.
    The covid vaccine is a recent example.
    This happened to Rome too.
    The aware Romans fled east to Constantinople.
    Rome is no more.
    The Empire of Lies is on the same path as Rome.
    It will just get there much quicker.
    Because it’s wealth is built on paper money. not real money.

    #144656
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    The Israelis treat the Palestinians the way the Germans treated the Jews in WWII; they have become the enemy they were fighting……karma’s a bitch…

    #144657
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Sources said Air Canada received complaints from passengers of Jewish faith, who indicated they would not feel comfortable boarding a jet with someone who may hold extreme and hateful views at the helm.

    Quoted from https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/warmington-air-canada-grounds-pilot-who-allegedly-wore-pro-palestinian-colours.

    The people of Jewish faith don’t mind Trudeau and his Nazis at the helm, but complain about this guy who is supporting the Palestinians in their fight for rights. The Nazis were anti Jewish and this guy is anti Jewish, but the Jews like the Nazis but not this guy. AirCanada has sided with the Jews against human rights, I wonder whether their passengers will even notice. Canada is in the toilet and disappearing quickly, it is becoming a caricature of a nation state.

    #144658
    aspnaz
    Participant

    British society has to suffer another crack down to appease the Jews …. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/10/uk-palestine-groups-to-defy-suella-bravermans-crackdown.html. If we got rid of the Jews from the UK, would we get our free speech back?

    #144659
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Voice_for_Peace

    JVP has come under criticism from other Jewish groups that have branded the movement not only as anti-Semitic but also traitorous.

    The Jewish Bulletin of Northern California wrote in 2003 that “the mainstream Jewish community” viewed “Jewish Voice for Peace as a group of radical Jews who air dirty laundry by criticizing Israel when the Jewish state is under attack. Some go as far as to label the members self-hating Jews.”

    Umm, American Jews who do not support Israel are traitors. I think that says it all. Looks like the vast majority of Jewish groups support Israel and the few far left groups are demonised for thinking otherwise.

    American Jews, as a community, support Israel.

    #144660
    Veracious Poet
    Participant

Viewing 39 posts - 1 through 39 (of 39 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.