Jan 142024
 


Pablo Picasso Blue nude 1902

 

Year of the Dragon: Silk Roads, BRICS Roads, Sino-Roads (Pepe Escobar)
Troubling Questions in Strange Case of Pentagon Chief Missing in Action (SCF)
The Evidence of Genocide Is Chilling, Overwhelming and Incontrovertible (SP)
The Case for Genocide (Chris Hedges)
Israel Dismisses Genocidal Intent as ‘Random Assertions’ (Lauria)
How Israeli Forces Trapped And Killed Ravers At The Nova Festival (Cradle)
Europe’s Big Powers Back Out Of US-Led Bombing Campaign Of Yemen (Cradle)
CIA Providing Intel On Hamas Leaders To Israel – NYT (RT)
Musk Reacts To Death Of Gonzalo Lira (RT)
Friendly Fire (Vivek Ramaswamy)
Judge Berates Lawyers for ‘Inadvertently’ Disclosing Epstein Victim Names |(Sp.)
FBI Stonewalls Over Seth Rich Laptop Production (ZH)
Voter Fraud Convictions Challenge Narrative of Secure Elections (ET)

 

 

 

 

Habba

 

 

O’Leary

 

 

Dream Team

 

 

More Fani
https://twitter.com/i/status/1746199122409885717

 

 

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3 world wars

 

 

 

 

“..It remains an inextinguishable source of debate to what extent this fabulous economic Great Leap Forward under Deng generated calamitous social consequences..”

Year of the Dragon: Silk Roads, BRICS Roads, Sino-Roads (Pepe Escobar)

On the Russian front, the inimitable Sergey Karaganov has laid down the law: “We should not deny our European roots; we should treat them with care. After all, Europe has given us a lot. But Russia must move forward. And forward does not mean to the West, but to the East and the South. That is where the future of humanity lies.” And that leads us to the Dragon – in the Year of the Dragon.

There were a whopping 3.68 billion Chinese trips by rail in 2023 – an all-time record. China is fast on the way to become an AI global leader by 2030. Tech giant Baidu, for instance, recently released Ernie Bot to rival ChatGPT. AI in China is expanding fast on healthcare, education, and entertainment. Efficiency is the key. Chinese scientists have developed the ACCEL chip – capable of performing 4.6 quadrillion operations per second, in comparison to NVIDIA’s A100, which delivers 0.312 quadrillion operations per second of deep learning performance. China graduates no less than one million more STEM students than the U.S., year after year. This goes way beyond AI. Asian nations always reach the top 20% in science and mathematics competitions.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) may be lousy on geopolitics. But at least they did a public service showing nations that lead the planet in 44 critical technology sectors. China is number one, leading on 37 sectors. The U.S. leads on 7. Everyone else leads zero sectors. These include Defense, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, advanced materials, key quantum technology and of course AI. How did China get here? It’s quite enlightening today to revisit a 1996 tome by Maurice Mesner: The Deng Xiaoping Era: An Inquiry into the Fate of Chinese Socialism, 1978-1994. First of all, one needs to know what happened under Mao: “From 1952 to the mid-1970s, net agricultural output in China increased at an average per annum rate of 2.5 percent, whereas the figure for the most intensive period of Japan’s industrialization (from 1868 to 1912) was 1.7 percent.”

Across the industrial sphere, all indicators went up: steel production; coal; cement; timber; electric power; crude oil; chemical fertilizers. “By the mid-1970s, China was also producing substantial numbers of jet airplanes, heavy tractors, railway locomotives, and modern oceangoing vessels. The People’s Republic also became a significant nuclear power, complete with intercontinental ballistic missiles. Its first successful atomic bomb test was held in 1964, the first hydrogen bomb was produced in 1967, and a satellite was launched into orbit in 1970.” Blame it on Mao: he transformed China “from one of the world’s most backward agrarian countries into the sixth-largest industrial power by the mid-1970s.” On most key social and demographic indicators, China compared favorably not only with India and Pakistan in South Asia but also with “’middle-income’ countries whose per capita GNP was five times that of China.”

All these breakthroughs laid down the path for Deng: “The higher yields obtained on individual family farms during the early Deng era would not have been possible had it not been for the vast irrigation and flood-control projects – dams, irrigation works, and river dikes – constructed by collectivized peasants in the 1950s and 1960s.” Of course there were distortions – as the Deng drive produced a de facto capitalist economy presided by a bureaucratic bourgeoisie: “As has been true of the histories of all capitalist economies, the power of the state was very much involved in establishing China’s labor market. Indeed, in China a highly repressive state apparatus played a particularly direct and coercive role in the commodification of labor, a process that has proceeded with a rapidity and on a scale that is historically unprecedented.” It remains an inextinguishable source of debate to what extent this fabulous economic Great Leap Forward under Deng generated calamitous social consequences.

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“..It is not clear if he was always conscious during this period or under sedation..”

Troubling Questions in Strange Case of Pentagon Chief Missing in Action (SCF)

It seems utterly bizarre that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin – the second-highest ranking civilian military commander in the United States – was absent from duty for several weeks without President Joe Biden or Congress knowing about it. A charitable view would be to call the scandal a “comedy of errors”. More appropriately, however, are urgent concerns about the implications for global peace and security. The U.S. resembles a juggernaut out of control careening along a precipice. This inexplicable prolonged gap in U.S. military command and control at the apex of the Pentagon goes from bizarre to deeply worrying considering the rapidly deteriorating security conditions in the Middle East. And especially because the deterioration is largely caused by the United States and its accomplices in their blatant contempt for international law.

This week, the United States and its British ally carried out over 100 cruise missile strikes against Yemen, purportedly in retaliation for Yemen’s blocking of commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Yemenis claim that their actions to interdict shipping are legally entitled by their support for Palestinians suffering 90 days of genocidal aggression from Israel backed by the U.S. Indeed, the Middle East powder-keg situation is set for an escalation towards an all-out region-wide war given the weeks of tensions caused by the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza by Israel. American bases in Iraq and Syria have come under fire in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli assassinations of senior Palestinian and other Arab militant leaders. There is growing fear that the violence will spiral into an open armed confrontation between the United States and Iran.

Given this ferment of conflict, it seems incredible that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was effectively missing in action for several weeks without his nominal superior, Joe Biden, knowing of his whereabouts. Biden’s other title is Commander-in-Chief. In the supposed civilian command structure of the United States military, Austin is second to Biden. Among their supposed responsibilities is the command of U.S. nuclear forces. Austin underwent surgery on December 22 for prostate cancer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. A subsequent urinary tract infection then caused Austin to be hospitalized again on January 1 for several more days. It is not clear if he was always conscious during this period or under sedation.

It then transpired in recent days that during those weeks of absence, the Biden White House did not know about Austin’s surgery or subsequent hospitalization. Even Austin’s designated Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, also did not know the exact reason for her boss’s absence. Enquiries have now been launched by the Armed Services Committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are even bipartisan calls for Austin’s resignation due to accusations of gross dereliction of duty to adequately inform the White House and Congress about his leave of absence.

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“The Hague won’t stop us – Netanyahu..”

The Evidence of Genocide Is Chilling, Overwhelming and Incontrovertible (SP)

Notable quotes from Jan. 11 ICJ hearing

From South African attorney Tembeka Ngcukaitobi:

“There is an extraordinary feature in this case: that Israel’s political leaders, military commanders, and persons holding official positions have systematically and in explicit terms declared their genocidal intent… And these statements are then repeated by soldiers on the ground in Gaza as they engage in the destruction of Palestinians and the physical infrastructure of Gaza.” “What state would admit to a genocidal intent? Yet the distinctive feature of this case has not been the silence as such but the reiteration and repetition of genocidal speech throughout every sphere of state in Israel.” “We remind the court of the identity and authority of the genocidal inciters: the prime minister, the president the minister of defense, the minister of national security, the minister of energy and infrastructure, members of the Knesset, senior army officials, and foot soldiers… The evidence of genocidal intent is not only chilling, it is also overwhelming and incontrovertible.”

From South African attorney Adila Hassim:

“Israel has subjected Gaza to what has been described as one of the heaviest conventional bombing campaigns in the history of modern warfare. Palestinians in Gaza are being killed by Israeli weaponry and bombs from air, land and sea. They are also at immediate risk of death by starvation, dehydration and disease as a result of the ongoing siege by Israel, the destruction of Palestinian towns, the insufficient aid being allowed through to the Palestinian population, and the impossibility of distributing this limited aid while bombs fall. This conduct renders essentials to life unobtainable.“

“…the level of Israel’s killing is so extensive that nowhere is safe in Gaza. … Palestinians in Gaza are subjected to relentless bombing wherever they go. They are killed in their homes, in places where they seek shelter, in hospitals, in schools, in mosques, in churches, and as they try to find food and water for their families. They have been killed if they failed to evacuate. In the places to which they have fled, and even while they attempted to flee along, Israeli declared safe routes.” “Israel has killed an unparalleled and unprecedented number of civilians with the full knowledge of how many civilian lives each bomb will take.“

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“Thousands more Palestinian civilians, including children, have been arrested, blindfolded, numbered, beaten, forced to strip to their underwear, loaded onto trucks and transported to unknown locations…”

The Case for Genocide (Chris Hedges)

The exhaustive 84-page brief submitted by South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) charging Israel with genocide is hard to refute. Israel’s campaign of indiscriminate killing, wholesale destruction of infrastructure, including housing, hospitals and water treatment plants, along with its use of starvation as a weapon, accompanied by genocidal rhetoric from its political and military leaders who speak of destroying Gaza and ethnically cleansing the 2.3 million Palestinians, makes a strong case against Israel for genocide. Israel’s smearing of South Africa as “the legal arm” of Hamas exemplifies the bankruptcy of its defense, a smear replicated by those who claim that demonstrations held to call for a ceasefire and protect Palestinian human rights are “anti-Semitic.” Israel, its genocide live streamed to the world, has no substantial counter argument.

But that does not mean the judges on the court will rule in South Africa’s favor. The pressure the U.S. will bring – Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called the South African charges “meritless” – on the judges, drawn from the member states of the U.N., will be intense. A ruling of genocide is a stain that Israel – which weaponizes the Holocaust to justify its brutalization of the Palestinians – would find hard to remove. It would undercut Israel’s insistence that Jews are eternal victims. It would shatter the justification for Israel’s indiscriminate killing of unarmed Palestinians and construction of the world’s largest open air prison in Gaza, along with the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It would sweep away the immunity to criticism enjoyed by the Israel lobby and its Zionist supporters in the U.S., who have successfully equated criticisms of the “Jewish State” and support for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism.

Over 23,700 Palestinians, including over 10,000 children, have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, when Hamas and other resistance fighters breached the security barriers around Gaza. Some 1,200 people were killed – there is strong evidence that some of the victims were killed by Israeli tank crews and helicopter pilots that intentionally targeted the some 200 hostages along with their captors. Thousands more Palestinians are missing, presumed buried under the rubble. Israeli attacks have left over 60,000 Palestinians wounded and maimed, the majority of them women and children. Thousands more Palestinian civilians, including children, have been arrested, blindfolded, numbered, beaten, forced to strip to their underwear, loaded onto trucks and transported to unknown locations.

A ruling by the court could be years away. But South Africa is asking for provisional measures that would demand Israel cease its military assault – in essence a permanent ceasefire. This decision could come within two or three weeks. It is a decision that is not based on the final ruling by the court, but on the merits of the case brought by South Africa. The court would not, by demanding Israel end its hostilities in Gaza, define the Israeli campaign in Gaza as genocide. It would confirm that there is the possibility of genocide, what the South African lawyers call acts that are “genocidal in character.”

The case will not be determined by the documentation of specific crimes, even those defined as war crimes. It will be determined by genocidal intent – the intent to eradicate in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group – as defined in the Genocide Convention. These acts collectively include the targeting of refugee camps and other densely packed civilian areas with 2,000-pound bombs, the blocking of humanitarian aid, the destruction of the health care system and its effects on children and pregnant women – the U.N. estimates there are around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, and that more than 160 babies are delivered every day – as well as repeated genocidal statements by leading Israeli politicians and generals.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu equated Gaza with Amalek, a nation hostile to the Israelites in the Bible, and cited the Biblical injunction to kill every Amalek man, woman, child or animal. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called Palestinians “human animals.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated, as the South African lawyers told the court, that everybody in Gaza is responsible for what happened on Oct. 7 because they voted for Hamas, although half the population in Gaza are children who are too young to vote. But even if the entire population of Gaza did vote for Hamas this does not make them a legitimate military target. They are still, under the rules of war, civilians, and entitled to protection. They are also entitled under international law to resist their occupation via armed struggle.

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‘We will eliminate everything. We will reach all places. Eliminate everything there, reach all places without any restraints.’

Israel Dismisses Genocidal Intent as ‘Random Assertions’ (Lauria)

In its defense against allegations by South Africa that it is committing genocide in Gaza, a British barrister arguing at the World Court on Friday for Israel downplayed numerous statements by senior Israeli officials of genocidal intent against Palestinians as mere “random assertions” that prove nothing. Instead, the barrister turned the tables, accusing South Africa itself of complicity in genocide. Kings Counselor Malcolm Shaw, for Israel, told the Court on the second day of a two-day hearing: “As far as acts are concerned in this case, there is little beyond random assertions to demonstrate that Israel has or has had the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part the Palestinian people as such.”

Without proving intent, Shaw argued, a genocide case is impossible. “It is like Hamlet without the prince, a car without an engine,” he said. As Shaw himself pointed out, lawyers for South Africa on Thursday thus “placed considerable emphasis upon intent.” They laid out in great detail the “genocidal rhetoric” of Israeli officials and how it has influenced Israeli soldiers and airmen attacking Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice referred to an Old Testament genocide implying the same was needed for Gaza, argued attorney Tembeka Ngcukaitobi. “The genocidal invocation to Amalek was anything but idle,” Ngcukaitobi said. He then showed a video of Israeli soldiers singing in celebration of a victory in Gaza, in which they mention Amalek.

On Oct. 9, Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, Ngcukaitobi, went on:] “gave a situation update to the Army where he said that as Israel was imposing a complete siege on Gaza, there would be ‘no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel,’ everything would be closed because Israel is fighting human animals. Speaking to troops on the Gaza border, he instructed them that he has released all the restraints and that Gaza won’t return to what it was before. ‘We will eliminate everything. We will reach all places. Eliminate everything there, reach all places without any restraints.’ Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said that Israel must find ways for Gazans that are more painful than death. It is no answer to say that neither are in command of the army. They are ministers in the Israeli government. They vote in the Knesset and are in a position to shape state policy. The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest levels of state. …

Senior political and military officials encouraged without censure, the 95 year old Israeli army reservist Ezra Yachin, a veteran of the Deir Yassin massacre against the Palestinians in 1948, to speak to the soldiers ahead of the ground invasion in Gaza. In his talk, he echoed the same sentiment while being driven around in an official Israeli army vehicle dressed in Israeli army fatigue. ‘I quote the triumphant and finish them off and don’t leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them. Erase them, their families, mothers and children. These animals can no longer live. If you have an Arab neighbor, don’t wait. Go to his home and shoot him. We want to invade. Not like before. We want to enter and destroy what’s in front of us and destroy houses.’”

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Hannibal.

How Israeli Forces Trapped And Killed Ravers At The Nova Festival (Cradle)

Israeli forces had not only the fire power, but also an official order to kill Israelis at Nova. A major reason Hamas launched the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was to take Israeli captives that could be exchanged for the thousands of Palestinians held captive in Israeli prisons. But Israeli forces were determined to prevent Hamas from taking captives back to Gaza, even if this meant killing the captured civilians. An investigation of Israel’s long-controversial Hannibal Directive concludes that “from the point of view of the army, a dead soldier is better than a captive soldier who himself suffers and forces the state to release thousands of captives in order to obtain his release.” But, on 7 October, according to a Yedioth Ahronoth investigation, the Hannibal Directive – which has previously only applied to army captives – was issued against Israeli civilians as well. The Hebrew-language daily writes that “at noon on October 7, the IDF [Israeli army] ordered all of its combat units in practice to use the ‘Hannibal Procedure’ although without clearly mentioning this explicitly by name.”

The order was to stop “at all costs any attempt by Hamas terrorists to return to Gaza, that is, despite the fear that some of them have abductees,” the investigation concludes. In the days and weeks after the incident, Israeli authorities made a great show of distributing images of vehicles destroyed at the festival site, fully implying that the cars – and the dead victims inside – had been burned to a crisp by Palestinian fighters. The Yediot report completely upends that claim: “In the week after the attack, soldiers of elite units checked about 70 vehicles that were left in the area between the settlements and the Gaza Strip. These are vehicles that did not reach Gaza, because on the way they were shot by a combat helicopter, an anti-tank missile or a tank, and at least in some cases everyone in the vehicle was killed,” including Israeli captives.

Nof Erez, the Israeli Air Force colonel noted above, similarly concluded, in regard to Israel’s indiscriminate use of helicopter firepower that day, that “The Hannibal directive was probably deployed because once you detect a hostage situation, this is Hannibal.” An apparent instance of this at the Nova festival was inadvertently documented by the BBC, which reported that video footage showed a woman who was taken hostage, but who: “Suddenly reappears two minutes later. She jumps and waves her arms in the air. She must think help is at hand – by this time, the Israeli Defence Forces had began their efforts to repel the incursion. But seconds later she slumps to the floor as bullets bounce around her. We don’t know if she survived.”

The rationale for the Hannibal Directive was further explained by Brigadier General Barak Hiram, who ordered a tank to open fire on a home to resolve a hostage situation in Kibbutz Be’eri, “even at the cost of civilian casualties.” The strike killed 12 Israelis, including 12-year-old Liel Hetzroni, and dozens of Hamas fighters. “I am very afraid that if we return to Sorana [Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv] and try to hold all kinds of negotiations [to free hostages], we may fall into a trap that will tie our hands and not allow us to do what is required, which is to go in, manipulate, and kill them [Hamas]…”

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“.. a European Union operation in the Red Sea, which is expected to be announced in the coming days..”

Europe’s Big Powers Back Out Of US-Led Bombing Campaign Of Yemen (Cradle)

Europe is divided over the US-UK bombing of Yemen, one of the world’s poorest countries, as Italy, Spain, and France have refused to take part in the operation. Washington and London carried out late-night strikes on Yemen Thursday evening, which targeted several areas of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The US and UK are seeking to target Yemen’s Ansarallah-led forces for their efforts to target Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s brutal bombing campaign in Gaza, which many view as genocide. The US-UK strikes were supported by Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea, and Bahrain, who all signed a joint statement backing the bombing. However, Europe’s major powers, France, Italy, and Spain, refused to take part in the strikes and declined to sign the statement in support of them.

The Italian government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said it was not asked to participate in the US-UK attacks on Yemen. It stated further that even if a request had been made, it could not have participated without a debate and vote in parliament to authorize military action. The Italian deputy prime minister said Italy could not have participated at such short notice “because the constitution does not allow us to commit acts of war without a debate in parliament.” However, a government source told Reuters that Rome had been asked to participate but refused because it preferred a “calming policy.” The French government, led by Emmanuel Macron, also ruled out joint action with the US and UK, unlike in Libya in 2011 and against ISIS in Syria in 2015. French Rear Admiral Emmanuel Slaars said on Thursday that although the French Navy is active in protecting French ships in the Red Sea, Paris’s current mandate did not include striking Ansarallah directly.

The Telegraph reported that an anonymous French official said Paris feared that by joining the US-led assault on Yemen’s Ansarallah-led forces, it would lose any leverage it had in mediating between Hezbollah and Israel. France says it is focusing its diplomatic efforts on avoiding an escalation in Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been fighting Israel on the border since 7 October, also in support of Gaza. In Spain, Minister of Defense Margarita Robles reiterated Friday that Spain will not participate in any military operation against Yemen. She said this included a rejection of participating in a European Union operation in the Red Sea, which is expected to be announced in the coming days. “Spain is a country firmly committed to peace in the world, precisely for that reason we have 17 missions and more than 3,000 people in many places,” Robles acknowledged. “From the beginning we have said that in the Red Sea we understand that Spain is not going to participate at this time.”

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“..government had possessed the details of the group’s plans to strike Israel, code-named Jericho Wall, for over a year without sharing the information widely within Israel or with the US.”

CIA Providing Intel On Hamas Leaders To Israel – NYT (RT)

The CIA is helping Israel gather intelligence on top Hamas officials, for targeting purposes, unnamed US officials have told the New York Times. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan ordered the creation of a task force focused on Hamas in the days following the militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel, the sources claimed. The unit is focused exclusively on high-level officials. The CIA also raised its priority level for Hamas from level four to two, officials said, freeing up additional funding for the collection of intelligence. However, with Gaza’s borders even more tightly locked down than they were before the war and communications networks being deliberately disrupted by Israel, the Times acknowledged that “it will take time to develop new [human] sources.” Washington had previously relied on West Jerusalem for information about Hamas but was alarmed to learn that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had possessed the details of the group’s plans to strike Israel, code-named Jericho Wall, for over a year without sharing the information widely within Israel or with the US.

The US reportedly hopes that focusing on high-level Palestinian militants will reverse some of the negative fallout from West Jerusalem’s devastation of Gaza’s civilian population and infrastructure. Officials told the Times they were concerned that Israel’s focus on low-level Hamas operatives was “misguided,” explaining these could be easily replaced. Additionally, they said, the attendant risk to the civilian population was excessive and could even galvanize non-combatants to join the militant resistance. The head of US Central Command, General Michael Erik Kurilla, and several other high-level military officials have traveled to Israel on more than one occasion to urge them to focus on Hamas leaders instead of mid- or low-level fighters, according to the report. Israel claimed at the end of 2023 that it had killed about a third of the 20,000 to 25,000 Hamas fighters believed to reside in Gaza.

Killing or capturing the central Hamas figures believed to be responsible for the October 7 raid that killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped another 240 back to Gaza would be a major public relations victory for the beleaguered Netanyahu government. US officials believe at least one of them – the group’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar – is holed up in a tunnel system deep under the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The other, military commander Mohammed Deif, has avoided capture by Israel’s security services for decades. Israel has killed upwards of 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7 and seriously injured tens of thousands more, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. The resulting international outcry recently culminated in charges of genocide filed against Israel by South Africa in the International Court of Justice.

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“The Biden administration could have gotten Gonzalo Lira back with a phone call but didn’t lift a finger. Therefore, the Ukrainian government knew it could act with impunity,” Sacks wrote..”

Musk Reacts To Death Of Gonzalo Lira (RT)

Elon Musk has condemned a lack of action on the part of US officials in the case of an American journalist, Gonzalo Lira, who had been jailed by Kiev and who ultimately died in Ukrainian custody. Authorities there allegedly ignored Lira’s serious health problems for a long time, while he remained behind bars on accusations of justifying Moscow’s military operation against Kiev. Lira moved to Ukraine and married a local woman in 2010. When long-simmering tensions between Moscow and Kiev turned to military engagement in February 2022, the journalist started actively covering the fighting on social media. He also blamed the development on Kiev and its Western backers, asserting that Ukraine had no chance of winning against Russia.

Lira, who was 55 when he died, had also been criticizing efforts by Western media to portray Ukraine as a “democracy,” pointing to rampant corruption and publishing a list of Zelensky’s opponents who, he claimed, had been “disappeared” by various authorities. The US State Department confirmed Lira’s death to Russia’s TASS news agency on Friday. He had been in pre-trial detention in Ukraine’s city of Kharkov since May 2023. News website The Grayzone has reported that, since last October, he had severe health problems from pneumonia and a collapsed lung. The Ukrainian authorities only acknowledged the issue on December 22, according to Lira’s own note, cited by the news outlet.

“This is super messed up!” Musk wrote on X (formerly, Twitter) on Saturday, commenting on another post by an entrepreneur and investor, David Sacks, who also slammed US President Joe Biden’s inaction in Lira’s case. “The Biden administration could have gotten Gonzalo Lira back with a phone call but didn’t lift a finger. Therefore, the Ukrainian government knew it could act with impunity,” Sacks wrote. He also described Lira’s case as evidence that Ukraine is controlled by a “thuggish and unmoored regime.” Last month Musk questioned the US approach to Kiev, wondering how it was possible that “an American citizen is in prison in Ukraine after we sent over a $100 billion” to support Kiev amid its conflict with Russia.

He also said that it was a “serious problem” if a person in Ukraine got jailed for “simply criticizing” President Vladimir Zelensky. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO then called on the Ukrainian president to clarify the situation. On Saturday, the issue was also addressed by Donald Trump Jr, son of former US President Donald Trump. He decried Lira’s death as a “murder” and questioned the US policy of sending aid to a country where American citizens are killed. Kiev has insisted that it has rightfully targeted Lira over his activities, with the Security Service of Ukraine repeatedly stating the journalist has been accused of “producing and distributing materials justifying the armed aggression,” as well as disseminating “fakes” about the country’s armed forces.

Lira Nuland

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X thread. The comments show that not everyone’s a fan..

Friendly Fire (Vivek Ramaswamy)

Yes, I saw President Trump’s Truth Social post. It’s an unfortunate move by his campaign advisors, I don’t think friendly fire is helpful. Donald Trump was the greatest President of the 21st century, and I’m not going to criticize him in response to this late attack. I’ve met tens of thousands of Iowans across 390+ events here, and they are deeply worried – and so am I – that this “system” won’t allow Donald J. Trump anywhere near the White House again. It seems they will stop at *nothing* to keep him away from power. I’m worried for Trump. I’m worried for our country. I’ve stood up against the persecutions against Trump, and I’ve defended him at every step.

Vivek Obama
https://twitter.com/i/status/1746343408208109985

I showed up at the Miami courthouse in solidarity following his first federal indictment. I filed a FOIA demand to the Biden DOJ. I submitted an amicus brief this week with the U.S. Supreme Court calling on them to overturn Colorado’s ruling. I pledged to remove myself from Maine’s & Colorado’s primary ballots if they remove Trump, calling on DeSantis and Haley to do the same. But we have to open our eyes. Last time it was a man-made pandemic & Big Tech election interference. Now, the same billionaires funding the lawsuits against Trump are the ones trying to prop up Nikki Haley. The same MSM blasting Trump is lavishing praise on Nikki.

They want to narrow this to a two-horse race between Trump & Haley, eliminate Trump (one way or other), & trot their puppet into the White House. We can’t fall for that trap. 1 year from now, we won’t look back and say we were shocked that it happened. We’ll kick ourselves for not stopping it. Our movement must live on. America-First didn’t start in 2016. It started in 1776. We owe it to our Founding Fathers to do the right thing for our country. I want to save Trump & to save this country. Let’s do it together. You won’t hear any friendly fire from me.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1746319944772432378

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Honest mistakes?

Judge Berates Lawyers for ‘Inadvertently’ Disclosing Epstein Victim Names |(Sp.)

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York earlier unsealed scores of documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein, identifying multiple individuals, some of whom include prominent politicians and notable public figures. Lawyers failed to properly redact some of the files tied to the Jeffrey Epstein case, harming the late convicted pedophile’s victims, District Judge Loretta Preska has admitted. According to the judge, the lawyers’ failure to remove classified information resulted in the disclosure of photos, phone numbers, and email addresses of people tied to the case, including Epstein’s victims, referred to as ‘Jane Does.’ “Counsel is thus reminded of the human cost of inadvertently disclosing the names and identifying information of Does, who should have remained under seal,” Preska pointed out.

The victims and others “have reported fearing for their safety and the safety of loved ones,” the judge said, adding that their reputations and personal relationships have been affected. In early January, Preska ordered the release of nearly 200 names tied to the Epstein case, although two people requested their identification remain sealed for the time being, due to the possibility of physical harm. The names include accusers and witnesses in the case. The filings include excerpts of depositions with former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and Virgina Giuffre, who previously accused Maxwell of facilitating her sexual abuse after being introduced to Epstein.

Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison on a variety of charges, including sex trafficking for her involvement with Epstein’s criminal doing. Epstein faced 45 years in prison before he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019. It happened more than a decade after his first conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender. In the latter case, he was accused of running a “vast network” of underage girls for sex. He had pleaded not guilty. His death sparked controversies and wild conspiracy theories that alleged he was silenced in order to protect his more powerful associates.

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They want 66 more years.

FBI Stonewalls Over Seth Rich Laptop Production (ZH)

The FBI has asked a federal court for a second delay after being ordered to produce information from Seth Rich’s computer to a Texas resident, Brian Huddleston who has sued the bureau. Huddleston says that the court should force the agency to produce the information before the 2024 presidential election, as it may show that Rich, not Russians, was Wikileaks’ source of leaked emails which were damaging to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US election. On Thursday, the FBI asked Obama-appointed US District Judge Amos Mazzant to reconsider their request not to produce the documents, and should be withheld under exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The filing was a response to Mazzant’s Nov. 2023 order to hand over images of Mr. Rich’s personal computer, as well as an index of his work computer.

It gets better; the FBI initially claimed that they didn’t have said records – only to later admit to being in possession of Rich’s personal and work computers, along with other items. As if it wasn’t suspicious enough that the FBI is stonewalling on information related to a ‘mugging gone wrong.’ According to Ty Clevenger, Huddleston’s attorney, the judge should deny the FBI’s latest bid for a production delay. “A presidential election is fast approaching, and voters have the right to know (1) whether the FBI knowingly framed one of the frontrunners, i.e., former President Trump; and (2) whether the FBI is still trying to cover up its partisan political activities,” he wrote.

“It is bad enough that FBI personnel took opposition research from the Hillary Clinton campaign and used it to open a bad-faith investigation of Mr. Trump, thereby sabotaging him for more than two years,” Clevenger added. “It would be considerably worse and considerably more scandalous, however, if FBI personnel knew all along that Seth Rich—not Russian hackers—was responsible for leaking DNC emails to Wikileaks.” Many believe that Rich was indeed the source of the leaked DNC emails provided to WikiLeaks – a rumor which was fueled by the odd circumstances surrounding his death, the sudden retirement of D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier five weeks after the murder, and an email John Podesta sent to Hillary’s inner circle about ‘making an example’ of a suspected leaker, written more than a year before Rich’s death.

Troves of emails were published by Wikileaks giving insight into the corrupt inner machination of the Democratic National Committee. While Rich was never officially revealed as the source of the leaked emails, it has been heavily suggested. Julian Assange was one key figure who made that suggestion when he highlighted Rich’s murder during a 2016 interview in which he was asked about the risks that come with operating WikiLeaks. Megavideo founder and entrepeneur Kim Dotcom said in May of 2017 that he worked with Rich to connect him with Assange. At one point, Assange heavily implied Rich was his source for the DNC emails. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks offered a $130,000 reward for information leading to the murderer of Rich.

Read more …

In the most secure elections in US history, a man who didn’t campaign got the most votes in US history..

Voter Fraud Convictions Challenge Narrative of Secure Elections (ET)

Superior Court Judge William Clark nullified the results of a Democrat mayoral primary in November 2023 and ordered a new election. The ruling was based on hours of video evidence showing hundreds of illegally harvested absentee ballots being stuffed into drop boxes in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “The videos are shocking to the court and should be shocking to all the parties,” Judge Clark wrote in his ruling. A California judge overturned the result in a 2021 Compton City Council run-off race that was initially decided by one vote. The judge tossed four fraudulent ballots cast by people not legally registered in the jurisdiction. Five people pleaded either guilty or no contest to conspiring to commit election fraud. After discovering that 66 of the 84 absentee ballots cast in a 2021 Democrat primary for alderman in Aberdeen, Mississippi, were invalid and shouldn’t have been counted, a judge ordered a new runoff election.

Police arrested a notary for notarizing ballots without watching voters sign them or checking their identification. The court also found evidence of intimidation at the polls involving candidate Nicholas Holliday, Mayor Maurice Howard, and Henry Randal, the town’s police chief. The above examples of election fraud have occurred since the contentious 2020 presidential election that President Donald Trump alleged was marred with fraud. Democrats, meanwhile, have cast the former president’s assertions about the 2020 election as the “big lie” and generally contend that election fraud is extremely rare and inconsequential. In a June 2023 Congressional hearing, Rep. Joe Morelli (D-N.Y.) called Republican members’ attitudes about widespread voter fraud “cynical” and the series of election integrity hearings they were conducting in the House “tedious” and “redundant. Mr. Morelli said Republicans are fixated on an “unproven lack of integrity” that they claim exists.

However, an ongoing study by the Heritage Foundation details widespread instances of election fraud across the United States and shows that the illicit activity has resulted in election results being overturned in at least a dozen races. In a number of cases, the abuse of the system is well-calculated and organized, but in most instances violations appear to have been committed by individuals acting independently. Case studies show that some perpetrators exploit the aged, mentally infirm, and homeless in order to garner a few more votes for their preferred candidate. Heritage’s findings were bolstered by a Rasmussen Reports and Heartland Institute poll of 1,085 likely voters published in December 2023.

The poll found that 21 percent of those who voted by absentee or mail-in ballot in 2020 admitted to filling out a ballot “in part or in full” for someone else, which is illegal. Of the 30 percent who said they voted by mail or absentee ballot in 2020, 19 percent said a friend or family member filled out their ballot, in part or in full, on their behalf. One-fifth said they signed a ballot or ballot envelope “on behalf of a friend or family member, with or without their permission,” the poll results state. Seventeen percent of those who voted by mail in 2020 said they cast a ballot in a state where they’re no longer a permanent resident, which is illegal. Among the 1,085 voters questioned, 8 percent said that a friend, family member, political party, or organization offered “to pay or reward them for voting in the 2020 election,” according to the poll.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Czech cartoon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1746056087722496445

 

 

Tasmanian tiger

 

 

Loved

 

 

 

 

Trust jump

 

 


Tobias Messerli, Utzingen, Switzerland.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Home Forums Debt Rattle January 14 2024

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 48 total)
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  • #150357

    Pablo Picasso Blue nude 1902   • Year of the Dragon: Silk Roads, BRICS Roads, Sino-Roads (Pepe Escobar) • Troubling Questions in Strange Case of
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle January 14 2024]

    #150358
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Shameless self promotion but Substack is new to publish on for me. If anyone wants to read rather than listen to my rap track Mock the Set Up.
    Anyways… feels weird posting this here but whatever.

    https://open.substack.com/pub/thumbnailgreen/p/coming-soon?r=nv8me&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

    #150359
    Dimitri
    Participant

    So I’m just wondering: how did Lira’s genius idea to broadcast his intentions to flee Ukraine help his plans?

    #150360
    oxymoron
    Participant

    Vivek. BUSTED.

    Wow
    RFK Jr – Zionist warmonger
    Vivek – Banker’s Bitch.

    Not a lot of good options. I feel a revolution brewing.

    #150361
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    When a pack of rabid dogs roams through neighborhoods; you kill them without a moments hesitation…
    You either get it or you don’t…
    Israel is out of control…………….

    #150362
    Dr. D
    Participant

    I actually read the headline as “Lloyd Austin’s Remains have been hospitalized. Hiding His Condition.”

    “Austin’s deputy (Kathleen Hicks) covered his duties in his absence BUT did not know (for two whole days) why her boss was off duty.”

    Repeat that: Hicks was covering for him so it’s good. Hicks: “I had no idea I was covering for him.” That’s not “good”. That’s AWOL, he abandoned his post and not passively, but actively. Sure he might not have know he was going ICU, but he DID know he was going OR and anesthesia. He was “Off” that day. Okay, fine. Then like the Drive-Thru clerk at Taco Bell, he gave his shift to someone. Or he’s fired like any Taco Bell waiter, right?

    “It seems utterly bizarre that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was absent from duty for several weeks without President Joe Biden or Congress knowing about it.”

    Doesn’t seem very likely, does it? Or if it is, clearly you’re not doing anything and are not necessary and you’re fired. And BIDEN says we’re at war. Blinken and others say there’s a world war happening in the Middle East. We also have wars – they are telling us – in Africa, Taiwan, etc. And Austin is like “It seems quiet: this is fine.”

    “This week, the United States and its British ally carried out over 100 cruise missile strikes against Yemen,”

    And Lloyd Austin had no idea. Maybe he knew and liked it, or maybe had no idea. Maybe he would have opposed it.

    “”It Just Sort Of Appeared” – Fauci Comes Clean Over ‘Science-less’ Six-Foot-Distancing Rule

    People did this, but no SPECIFIC person did this. Collectivism. There are no such thing as individual actions or choices. When you are an alien insect hive mind this makes sense to you. Also why you can’t break the hypnosis. “WE” all decided, “WE” all KNOW. (How do you know?) Does not compute. It would require an individual thinking to run that software. When the question is put to them it causes nothing and it just a frustration and annoyance. Am I getting close?

    No, legally, a bunch of legal individuals can discern the time and place where this first appeared OFFICIALLY, in print as an action, and not just talk in a break room that has no legal force and as lose discussion we all can and should do.

    “FBI Stonewalls over Seth Rich Laptop Production

    Timing. We have Biden, the war, the economy, the hyperinflation, Israel, and the exposure of London all lined up for a specific day. Along with Assange. But we have to keep it warm in the news after the 199 years we’ve all known about it.

    “Democrats Bring Bill to Prohibit Armed Citizen Militias

    Translation: this is “Anyone with a gun” who “Talks to anyone else.” Newsflash, the LEGALITY of guns in 2A is specifically to aid the LEGALITY of Militias. We wouldn’t have made a law to insure illegal groups got them, that would make no sense. ““A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State...” Sounds like they are a necessary social good.

    Wide National cold. It’s Global Warming! We need Global Communism Now! Cold = Warm and Weather = Give me Power. …To psychopaths. You can hear this kind of ranting in psych wards worldwide. “I have a pen in my pocket too, that means I’m the Doctor!” No sir, you came in with no pajama bottoms and one shoe. You are not the Doctor. “The Existence of weather means I’m the King!!!” No, sir, you are not the king, that’s not what cold weather means.

    Lira: I find this disturbing. What was it about Lira that made the aggregate not organize and pressure for him they way they did for Assange? They like him less? He was a little more a pain in the -ss? Does that justify our failure and to assist his murder? I can feel that in myself too, but I tried to bring it up a regular number of times to keep him in the eye. The disturbing part is, he was very much less in trouble and wildly easier to force them to release. But the Internet aggregate didn’t. That is: all us.

    Dmitri: what was your plan? What was he supposed to do? It’s nice to say so from your couch, or like us, claim he must be protected from somewhere for some reason which is why he could posting like this, but …apparently not? We were all wrong, do we pay reparations to give his life back? We’re risking nothing but being critics and cranks. Do we set up a “Failure Fund: We Sucked” to support his kids?

    “the assault on our freedoms has created a “dream team” of courageous rebels willing to speak out”

    Yes, and I mean this is necessary and good, but can we arrest somebody already, Chris Farley? If WE are the country, then WE need to be trained for this and re-mediated up to speed to behaving like tireless citizens again. Yes. But the arrests still need to occur.

    Well, Wisconsin just “decided.” They said, hey, “we have budgets, U-W. Pick one: pay raises for yourself, or DEI.” Guess which one they picked and in their hearts truly believe in? Like all PMCs, they picked ME. That EXTRA mocho soy latte and not Black People so they claim. Which of course is good for everyone and saves Wisconsin from becoming a brainless anti-meritocracy like the other states. It was put in with organization and effort, so like the arrests, it needs to be step by step undone with organization and intent.

    Fanni: yes, what premise does a State case have with White House lawyers? It would be prosecuted by the State, under State laws and jurisdictions. What would the Federal Attorneys (we are presuming the best motives here) have to offer and add? That makes no sense on its face, but you would have to have some baseline to comprehend it. Literally the American public has no idea there are levels of jurisdiction, distinct State and Federal courts, or even how many states we have. It’s a wash of “Some guy over there” is a “Judge” and has the power to hassle me. I don’t really know who he is or how nor will I find out although if he were a bear over there hassling me, you can bet I would. This is a bit hazy, but you can understand news stories and some of the amazing things they get away with through this lens.

    Who is the CDC, a corporation-funded advisory body? “That some guy over there” who can “Hassle me.” Does he have any legal AUTHORITY to hassle you? A: Whut? Yeah, man: sic one government on the other government. If the City cops are hassling you, sic the State Cops on them. If the EPA is hassling you, sic the Code Cops on them. If the Prosecutor is hassling you, hassle them back with filings.

    They live in a simple world where there are only “people in my face” and “People I ignore.” If they get in your face, they simply assume the authority exists therefore. So all of “Them” are the same. They’re not. They never are.

    Quaid, Grid Down: He says Obama wanted to harden the grid slightly as a start. So let’s give him due credit for that. He did it via executive order, so it can’t persist, it didn’t get done, etc. But due credit.

    Three World Wars” again, this doesn’t have to be “Real” in the real-real sense. We only need to know that it EXISTS this long. It doesn’t have to be written by Italian Communist to a Confederate General and Mason. Once IT EXISTS, we can point to it as a potential Plan, the way a bank robber might see a movie on bank robberies with airplane escapes and goes: “That’s a great idea.” Now it MIGHT also be literally true. But that’s not the necessary part. Like the book about the Titanic sinking 10 years before exists, and the Premise of Die Hard to steal the gold and diamonds from the vault before blowing the building EXISTS before 2001. …And someone read it and said “I can use that.”

    “3.68 billion Chinese trips by rail in 2023”

    And Amtrak had 3,680 successful trips by rail. All the rest were unsuccessful.

    ““The Hague won’t stop us – Netanyahu..”

    Yup, we have rulings all the time…and no one follows them. Then we do NOT have rulings…and everybody DOES follow them. Like calling the police on mask-avoiders. And what law is this? What’s the prosecution and punishment? We make it up! Oh so you CAN arrest and make up anything if you want to. Okay, so why not on Illegal child-traffickers and Mayor Barry?

    So they are wonderfully wasting time and effort here, for a possible but unlikely ruling, that then no humans anywhere will enforce. Boy: great use of time. You wonder why we produce all this stuff and everyone’s poor: we just lose 90% in sheer waste like this.

    “Italy, Spain, and France have refused” Together. Versus “Washington and London carried out late-night strikes” Together. Anglos are merged. Europe is merged. “We have always created war with Eurasia” Okay, so the Anglos are “Merged” what are New Zealand and Ohio getting out of it? Oh, so it’s LONDON is DIRECTING the whole crew, and Ohio doesn’t get any benefit or say.

    “• CIA Providing Intel On Hamas Leaders To Israel – NYT (RT)

    Meaning the Anglos and Israel are merged. (this does not preclude Isr. merging with Europe) What does “Merged” mean? Is Home Depot “Merged” with Sainsbury’s? Is the PTA of Charleston “Merged” with Bristol? How about the governments? Is “Parliament” merged with “Congress”? No. But the CIA and MI6 are. THEY can be said to be such co-equals aligned as they can be said to be “merged”. Or the equal infiltration into…say, Iran’s secret service or someone unexpected. Maybe Mexico, where they protect the Cartels in defiance of the government. WE are not “merged”: THEY are. We are fighting the merger. One-world.

    “I’ve stood up against the persecutions against Trump, and I’ve defended him at every step.”

    This is what people wanted and expected from Desantis, but DeSantis has “Merged” with them and Hillary and Nuland.

    We always said the Derp State are morons: they should run a guy who looks like Trump and says all the right things. I guess we found out what would happen. …Or more probably happens NOW, now that we’ve all seen it for years.

    Can’t say they’re “Supportive” of Ramaswamy, but they give him air. That’s PRECISELY what happened with Ron Paul, etc, what they removed from him, so they know exactly to do this already. Now Luongo doesn’t say this specifically, but he calls BlackRock as the EU-Davos crew. They are essentially Anti-America. He is WEF “Young Leader”. And Tom points out or tracks that the EU/London are presenting 100% Indians right now. For whatever reason, probably India is a big place, the nationality is neutral, unlike Russian or Israeli, and London is completely merged there as a recruiting grounds for the WEF and globalists. I don’t think it’s more than that, we got a statistical bulge right now as all the Brits are partisan, they all have pro-British baggage, so when you air-drop in an Indian as PM, it’s clean of these complications. And with Haley, (Indian) Kamala (Indian), Google (Indian), Ramaswamy (Indian).

    But that’s not my thing. If they want to shatter the Overton window and THEY can make him say these things, fine: I’ll laugh and let them. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think Ramaswamy is a puppet, or is so weak or young they, these others, are dead-certain he can be brought to heel as a puppet on command. Certainly Bernie was in 30 seconds and he should know better.

    “• Judge Berates Lawyers for ‘Inadvertently’ Disclosing Epstein Victim Names |(Sp.)

    The judge was so mad that then he did nothing and there were no consequences. Hey, if you add risk or cause actual harm, is that a suing/criminal case? Asking a lawyer about a lawyer, for another lawyer. Nobody knewd nothin’.

    “only to later admit to being in possession of Rich’s personal and work computers, along with other items. As if it wasn’t suspicious enough that the FBI is stonewalling on information related to a ‘mugging gone wrong.’

    Why is the FBI in a local city mugging? Again, above, it’s not “All them over theres” they have specific jurisdictions and duties. They have no idea if they own it or not? Okay, you’re all fired for breach of FOIA, and/or criminal charges for obstruction. They have it and were told to produce, but then they told the judge, “Nah, I don’t feel like it.”

    Tasmanian Tiger: now there’s something they probably could clone and exist, because there’s still appropriate habitat for them. Wouldn’t that have solved the rabbit problem?

    #150363
    Dimitri
    Participant

    “Dmitri: what was your plan? What was he supposed to do? It’s nice to say so from your couch, or like us, claim he must be protected from somewhere for some reason which is why he could posting like this, but …apparently not? We were all wrong, do we pay reparations to give his life back? We’re risking nothing but being critics and cranks. Do we set up a “Failure Fund: We Sucked” to support his kids?”

    In hindsight would he have a better chance to flee Ukraine if he tried that after his first arrest without the accompanying fanfare?

    I know I’m talking from my couch but aren’t we all? I know I’m just a crank but I thought then and I think now that broadcasting his intentions was not in his best interest.

    Sometimes you just have to go under the radar and flee. Maybe he would be arrested. But maybe not. We will never know.

    #150365
    zerosum
    Participant

    WHY
    Motivators, (a subject worthy of attention.)

    Control, Sex, Liberty, Freedom, allegiances, circle of life, Kindness, Lying, murder, corruption, basic survival, denial, selfishness, impunity, leadership, Peace, War.
    ————-
    Read TAE…Read more …
    WHY …. Personal satisfaction

    ———–

    #150366
    tboc
    Participant

    Good Day V. Arnold, i hope the day has found you well.

    #150367
    Noirette
    Participant

    To add to zerosum who linked to Pascal L. blog, Neutrality Studies, prev. thread,

    Debt Rattle January 13 2024

    who wrote: Pascal Lottaz (the host of “Neutrality Studies”) explains why he thinks the strikes on Yemen is the 1st stage of the coming war against Iran. LLoyd Austin is in hospital and the neocons are seeing their chance of escalating the war(s) in the Middle East.

    Alexander Mercouris sees an “inevitable escalation” pointing to a US attack on Iran, in the same vein.

    The Duran, see after 1.11, http://tinyurl.com/3y82nv6h

    Pascal L., another vid:

    ICJ-Case is HOPELESS for Israel. But Technicalities Might Save It After All.

    http://tinyurl.com/3n6t96nr .. is well worth a watch.

    The question has always been, will the US relinquish, maybe in part only, its hegemony, assumed, global dominating superpower status, in some reasonable, “downplaying”, negotiating, way, or will it just blast on and use nukes destroying much of the world, once it is forced to admit its own vision of itself no longer holds?

    #150368
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #150369
    Oroboros
    Participant

    STATS on the “Big Three”

    ShitFacedbook slowly suffocating in it’s own irrelevance

    Instagramps slowly succumbing to dementia with it’s micro contracting attention span.

    .

    #150370
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #150371
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Putin organizing farmer protests in Germany

    #150372
    Dora
    Participant

    The Vivek-Obama twitter is funny. Reprising Obama didn’t work for Pete Buttigieg and I doubt it will work for Vivek. Thinking about Vivek as the new Pete Buttigieg is lol.

    #150373
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Survival tips for the Year of the Dragon

    Duh’merica© is gonna need all the help it can get……

    .

    The Empire of Lies has a huge population of “crayon munchers”

    Never go hungry

    .

    #150374
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Epstein Pedo Paradise

    All the ‘Players’ in one spot, should nuked it

    #150375
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Meanwhile, back in Ukronaziland, the corpse that won’t quit…….

    The TOS-1 system is ‘soul snatching” Ukronazi trenches as Russian spotters watch in awe

    Amazingly accurate strikes right down a hedge row on the steppes where the Wehrmacht Uber-soldiers perished 80 years ago, in another 4th turning.

    #150376
    Oroboros
    Participant

    It’s really just Uni-party morons as far as the eye can see but still, not complete total brain dead quite yet….

    Americans Identifying As Democrats Hits Record Low.

    (however the same number of Duh’mericans identify as Rethugligans!)

    .

    Gallup 2023 average: Do you consider yourself a Republican or a Democrat? (with Indie leaners)

    Republican: 45%
    Democrat: 43%

    Best numbers for GOP since 1991

    Without leaners:

    43% identified as independents, tying 2014 record

    27% identify as Democrats (record low)

    .

    #150377
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    Dimitri, are you a member of the ‘Commentariat’?

    During his Federal Lockup in Loretto PA a few miles from me, John Kirakou CIA didn’t die as G.Lira died at the Ukraine Federal Lockup under the authority of Volod Zelensky, CIA Bill Burns, Kathleen Hicks Deputy of Lloyd Austin and the direct encouragement of Scott Ritter.

    Scott Ritter didn’t die under almost simultaneous circumstances at SCI Somerset Pa (a few miles from me also) as John Kirakou didn’t die at Loretto a few dozen miles from Ritter in Somerset.

    Does anyone know if G.Lira was Catholic? Catholics often (like back here in western Pennsylvania) were/are welcome to worship in Orthodox churches which presents a more likely angle for Zelensky’s manifest disdain and direct responsibility for G.Lira’s demise?

    Collectivism as deflection appears to be the bastard stepsibling of collective punishment.

    Lira’s father fought for his son

    #150378
    Noirette
    Participant

    Remembering… Namibia condemns Germany for defending Israel in ICJ genocide case.

    The Namibia presidency slams Germany for failing to draw lessons from its own genocide against Namibian people in the early 20th century.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/namibia-condemns-germany-for-defending-israel-in-icj-genocide-case

    Wikpediai:

    “The Herero and Namaqua genocide (or the Herero and Nama genocide) was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment which was waged against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia) by the German Empire. It was the first genocide to begin in the 20th century,[5][6][7] occurring between 1904 and 1908.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Namaqua_genocide

    #150379
    tboc
    Participant

    MAYBE ya’ll will forgive me for THIS one

    #150380
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Lloyd ‘Affirmtive DEI” Austin never controlled anything, much less the DOD.

    He’s a place holder, a Big Black Buttplug for the NeoConJob Cabal.

    .

    As a lampshade finial his ‘job’ is to be the face of Diversity.

    .

    That’s it.

    And he finally failed at even that pitiful little low IQ task.

    They can’t let him off the Hook until they can get Claudine Gay to “fill his shoes”, (yewww! with what?)

    She needs a new DEI showcase for her abundant ‘talents’. Lying is always in high demand in DC.

    Or maybe a “Woman Becomes First Openly Gay General” to fill the shoes?

    .

    The ‘gay’ thing is yesterdays fish.

    Maybe a black transsexual vegan will cut the mustard.

    The DoD is a DoDo

    .

    Fly Away DoDo, Fly Away

    #150381
    Oroboros
    Participant

    “Man up” his been replaced in Duh’merica with “Meme up”

    .

    #150382

    Just for the fun of it- a “to tell the truth” gameshow episode (74- 1914). from may of 1974.
    It’s about investing, and it felt like backward déjà vu.
    (19.30 minutes, with skippable inserts.)

    #150383
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Duran, which is now the three Alexanders? Or there are days there are?

    This is rough because like all theirs it goes on, yet about every 15 minutes there’s some big thing that’s really important to know, no one’s mentioned before or only in history class. Fit it in at the gym.

    Armstrong says ” Britain Ready to Send Troops to Die for Ukraine ”

    Britain Ready to Send Troops to Die for Ukraine

    Did I miss this, or is it still only implied? He’s saying there were further, direct agreements just now. (and that they had their Indian water boy do it.) If so, that’s not surprising but not good, and Armstrong is not a Joker. Like me, he says they need the war as their plans are: 40 year hard currency > Swap to total fiat (summer war) ; 40 year Fiat currency, fails > Total winter war. They do this to HIDE what and why, not that they especially care which side wins. If Hitler won, they’d be thrilled since that would have unified Europe under the same EU Reich they have now.

    Look at it from their timescale, Hitler would have been more extreme: THEN, but got watered down. The EU started watered down, but is now more extreme than Hitler, NOW. No? They displaced several million people, erased 20 borders, and started a world war with Russia. What part of “Not extreme” would that be? How is that different from Feurer’s Progressive, caring, motherhood, New Age party and their Progressive New Age flag symbol (complete with New Age channelers and occult) We see thing through the lens of our time, as the Duran Guest does. He’s like “The CIA was IN Chechnya, and called it the “Long, soft underbelly” and said they wanted to chop up Russia, and started a war, but it’s not like, you know, the were there, REALLY.”

    Tell me: what does it feel like to be so naive after all these years? And the Russians to came — say to London — just haaappened to be Chechnyan, and haaaappened to be in the mob, and so haaaaappened to not get busted, and then haaaaappened to ship all their mob money and arms back to Chechnya. Movies of the 90s and 2000s comment on how all the mob in London is all Chechnyan. But it’s all organic resistance, cause we set up all those MI6/CIA stations there, but nobody knew what we were doing!

    What they were DOING, was DIRECTING the Chechnyan Mob to be the CIA resistance to crush Russia. THat’s why nobody Haaaaappened to arrest them, but only during that specific window. Just because it’s not on the payroll doesn’t mean it’s not a CIA Op. My. God. Read a Clancy book or something. I mean, it’s in the f’ing “Godfather,” although that was the origianl Beta case where it was the original Italian Mafia, and the bankers were Vatican, not London.

    Yup: All those Chechnian mobsters moved their money via adidas gear and gold chains. Never used no London banks, HSBC. THey left it for HSBC to buy jumbo jets for Mexican Drug cartels, but not no Russkies!

    Anyway, after these long years, and for really, really slow people like me, we can now see the program (and he also mentions this without insight) : We didn’t LET Saudi Arabia fund and spread violent, Wahaabism, what we would later know as Islamic Terrorism(TM). Saudi Arabia didn’t haaaaaappen to let it. The CIA Derp State was planning and setting the ground for their next world war, and who (which moron patsies) would fight it. …Like without it going immediately nuclear, like when Essex invades Grozny with heavy arms in the Third Crimean War. No no no: besides, then Brits would die, it’s bad for optics, and there aren’t enough of them.

    So therefore, the merged CIA/MI6 State directs their Merged Saudi State, to SPEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON RELIGION and extremism, and we’ll help. Not only not STOP you, actively do everything except pay for it. And so, as we see in their Fascist State Coming Out Party Quinceañera at 911 — with fireworks! They ALREADY KNEW what it all was, ALREADY KNEW where they were headed, and everyone commented at the time with General Wesley (?) saying “These are the five nations in order” on YouTube.

    You see how that was headed, where it’s headed now, and how both Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS are now WELL KNOWN, WORLDWIDE, as being exclusive CIA/MI6 Ops. but we didn’t know that at the time. Look at all the locations they were activated, and the goals and outcomes of each, from Africa to F-Stan to Chechnya, and now they are all dead — so sad!!! — as they “Activated” each and all of them in one last gasp in Syria, and bought them all expensive plane tickets, millions in shipping fees for billions in arms, and not a penny went through any London banks! It’s a miracle! They put it in coffee cans and moved it on donkeys with Juan Valdez!

    So thanks to them, Russia is STRONGER, as everyone has been identified, exported, and killed. Thanks Nuland, Kagan (I think).

    And so now we’re in THIS war, but you see, THIS war is NOT a made-up pre-planned put on, no: that was all the OTHER wars until now. “This time it’s different”. This is the real, genuine, “Civilizational” war of Good vs Evil.

    Anyway, again, the level of naive of this “Expert” is truly breathtaking, but he reminded me of all these pieces since 912, first suspected, then confirmed, then enlarged to 100 countries. But one of the problem I realize is, I was very young, and nobody told me the truth since I was 5. So that’s a lot of remedial classes to catch up on. And so everybody else, I’m sure, try to be generous to them. No doubt there’s some new “We invented out of our head and paid for” “Islamic Trrists!” “Goldberg!” “Global Warming!” “Supremacy!!!” and this week “10 Foot Aliens!! They’re in MIAMI!!!”

    Uh huh. Sure they are. Show me one. And show me the head of the DoD while you’re at it.

    #150384
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Duran

    Russian Economy Expands, Industrial Surge

    Putin announces Russia is turning away from being an energy giant to an Industrial giant.

    With TWELVE TIME ZONES of resources AND all the energy those new industrial factories could ever wish for.

    And Pepe commented that the Chinese city on the Russian east border, Manzhouli, will officially be one of the Top 10 cities in China by design of the Chinese central government.

    Russian industry is going great guns.

    Eurotardistan, without the cheap Master Resource of fossil fuel, will become a quaint Theme Park celebrating the has-been days of the West.

    No energy resources, no natural resources.

    Not even something vaguely useful, not even a gas station masquerading as a country!

    Hahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahaaha!

    Don’t cry for me Deutschland!

    And the Slam Dunk for Russia is coming up when the Empire of Lies illegally seizes $300 billion in Russian assets and Russia goes to the rest of the countries in the world and says ‘your assets are next’ for the Empire of Lies Gangster Nation to steal.

    NYT Headline:

    Hundreds of Planes Are Stranded in Russia. They May Never Be Recovered.

    Western airline companies that own the planes face little prospect of getting them back, meaning billions of dollars in losses.

    That just one Collective West asset Russia can seize to even up the score!

    #150385
    Figmund Sreud
    Participant

    ICJ-Case is HOPELESS for Israel. But Technicalities Might Save It After All.
    ________________

    That, currently, is a secondary issue, … or none issue in fact!

    For as long as Russia continues to tolerate ( … read: support Israel covertly!), Israel is safe doing what it is doing: … exterminating Palestinians, regardless of court’s ruling! Qualifier, though: … as long as Iran is not overtly attacked by Israel or the U.S. and/or “coalition of the willing”.

    But, if Iran is attacked, directly, the situation will change immediately and drastically. Conflict will expand rapidly and gravely, …

    … fwiw,

    F.S.

    #150386
    John Day
    Participant

    @Oxymoron: Not afraid to activate “Comments” are you?

    The Rapper 🙂

    #150387
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    .

    #150388
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Not the same women as Pablo Picasso’s Blue nude

    #150389
    Oroboros
    Participant

    No. 6 is the Crayon Muncher BLUE

    #150390
    userzeroid
    Participant

    #150391
    John Day
    Participant

    Killing Gonzalo Lira’s Voice https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/killing-gonzalo-liras-voice

    For the past few years Gonzalo Lira was podcasting from Ukraine about COVID bioweapons, US government policy under Trump, and Biden, Victoria Nuland, build up to the Ukraine war, then life in Kharkiv (Kharkov), Ukraine. He was jailed and released, then jailed much longer, beaten, tortured, and released for a month before trial. He was tracked and watched, as the Ukrainian SBU wanted to see who their “Russian spy” contacted, then he was picked up trying to cross into Hungary last summer, imprisoned, and finally died of longstanding, untreated pneumonia in prison a few days ago. The US government was “aware”, and never took any action to benefit Lira, presumably because he was like Julian Assange to them, but snarkier. We start with an overview of his journalism, offensive to the Ukraine and US governments.
    RIP Gonzalo Lira
    They Kill Journalists, Don’t They? Ukraine does not only kill the Russians as the “best investment” for the Cabal; it also removes unpleasant witnesses for us.
    https://trygvewighdal.substack.com/p/rip-gonzalo-lira

    Gonzalo did podcasts sometimes with Dima at Military Summary Channel, and contacted Dima last July,]seeking a way out of Ukraine. Dima spends the first 12 minutes telling the story. New Details About The Death Of Gonzalo | Missile Strike. Military Summary And Analysis For 2024.1.13

    Aleks at Black Mountain Analysis lays out the context:
    The bottom line here is, and this has to be clear to all of us: If a nation is in an existential war, there will certainly be no hostile-minded journalism, blogging, etc., within this nation. I mean in no nation of the world. Not in the USA, not in Europe, not in Asia, nowhere. Don’t get me wrong; this is not my opinion or what I wish. Certainly not, as I blog as well! This is how processes are designed to not let any factor undermine the military efforts.
    If you go back to WW2 and research how Western countries dealt with enemy citizens and journalists during the war, this is exactly how it would be nowadays as well. If you ask today’s authorities whether it would be this way, they would immediately deny it.
    https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/gonzalo-lira

    #150392
    John Day
    Participant

    Simplicius, US Launches Strikes on Yemen, and Other Updates
    Well, the big news is now that Biden has for the first time publicly signaled his support for finally using those mythical seized Russian funds:
    These are the $300B foreign exchange reserves that Russia had sitting in European banks. But experts have warned such an illegal seizure would open up the pandora’s box that would be the final undoing of the dollar. These are sovereign wealth funds. That means they are the money of the Russian central bank. And as we all know, no matter what happens between the ‘mice and men’ of governments and their peons, central banks exist on a higher plane of order. They are a class unto themselves, to an extent. And when ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry’, the schemes of central bankers can never deviate. For a central bank to seize the sovereign wealth fund of another major central bank is akin to two of the largest crime families in a major Godfather film declaring war on each other…
    ..Will they actually do it? I still contend not. I believe it is the same desperate blather and they will remain too fearful to pull the trigger, using it merely as another measure to pump wind in Ukraine’s sails and offer hollow and ephemeral ‘hope’. But this is one of the last resorts currently being discussed.
    Ultimately remember that Russia has the same amount of assets it can seize from the West, so the ‘exchange’, were it to happen, would be nothing more than the West illegally robbing its own people of $300B which they could not legally convince their populace to give them for Ukraine…
    ..In the last report we learned about Russia adapting RBK-500 cluster munitions, now we have full confirmation they are also using 1500kg Fabs as well as even ODAB-1500 thermobarics. Today Shoigu visited the UMPK assembly line, giving us a rare firsthand look at some of the innovations being done in real time: [embedded video] …
    ..Unfortunately, despite these advances, Russian troops are not in too much better a position. Ukraine’s own drone mastery is soaring to new heights and Russian vehicles are being overwhelmed by them on almost every front when going on assault…
    ..US apparently took losses and is now trying to cover them up after Ansar Allah forces claimed to have downed a US plane as well as hit a ship [2 US sailors are missing.] The “plane” was at least in part corroborated, though it appeared to be a heavy-class drone…
    ..Both Tesla and Volvo announced a total cessation of production due to supply disruption problems..
    https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/us-launches-strikes-on-yemen-and

    Complex Systems Won’t Survive the Competence Crisis
    The core issue is that changing political mores have established the systematic promotion of the unqualified and sidelining of the competent.
    Elon Musk recently shared this Palladium Magazine article on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. This article by Harold Robertson was originally published at Palladium Magazine on June 1, 2023.
    ..Whereas publicly-traded corporations nearly uniformly push diversity, privately-held businesses vary tremendously based on the views of their owners. Partnerships such as the Big Four accounting firms and top-tier management consultancies are high-status. High-status firms must regularly proclaim extensive support for diversity. While the firms tend to be highly selective, partnerships whose leadership is overwhelmingly white and male have generally capitulated to the zeitgeist and are cutting standards to hit targets. Firms often manage around this by hiring for diversity and then putting diversity hires into roles where they are the least likely to damage the firm or the brand. Somewhat counterintuitively, firms with diverse founders are often highly meritocratic, as the structure harnesses the founder’s desire to make money and shields them from criticism on diversity issues.
    The most notable example of a diverse meritocracy is Vista Equity Partners, the large private equity firm founded by Robert F. Smith, America’s wealthiest black man. Robert F. Smith is one of the most vocal advocates for and philanthropists to historically black U.S. colleges and universities. It would be reasonable to expect Vista to prioritize diversity over competency in its portfolio companies. However, Vista has instead been profiled for giving all portfolio company management teams the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test and ruthlessly culling low-performers. Given the amount of value to be created by promoting the best people into leadership roles of their portfolio companies, one might imagine this to be low-hanging fruit for the rest of private equity, yet Vista is an outlier. Why Vista can apply the CCAT without a public outcry is obvious.
    https://letter.palladiummag.com/p/complex-systems-wont-survive-the

    World Economic Forum declares “Disinformation” to be World’s Greatest Threat.
    ​ “1,490 experts across academia, business, government, the international community and civil society” looked at all of the world’s military, economic, and environmental threats and concluded that the greatest threat to humanity is too much free speech.

    World Economic Forum Declares “Disinformation” to be the World’s Greatest Threat

    Timofey Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club , Here’s why the signs of a new world order are becoming increasingly obvious
    The majority of the world is no longer willing to accept Western diktat. That heralds a revolution.
    ​ Never before has the injustice shown to the interests of the majority of the world’s countries been so effectively offset by the benefits that have accrued to virtually everyone from globalization. One might even say that the state of affairs known to us as the liberal world order was, in its nature and content, a transitional phase between the absolute tyranny of the European empires of the 19th century and the new international order that is only now emerging. And it is coming to pass precisely as a response to the inevitable process of the emergence of a multitude of sovereign states.​..
    ..BRICS was undoubtedly the main phenomenon in international politics in 2023. The decision to expand in August 2023 makes it a community of large and medium-sized states in 2024. What is important is how BRICS, with its new membership and evolving partnerships with other powers, will move towards its main objective in the global economy – to provide a safety net to keep globalization afloat at a time when its former leaders in the West can no longer fully perform these functions. Creating alternative financial mechanisms and limiting the monopoly position of the US dollar are no longer seen as ways to destroy the old world order, but as necessary tools to prevent the global economy from falling into chaos.
    https://swentr.site/news/590471-signs-of-new-world-order/

    #150393
    John Day
    Participant

    Millions of Yemenis take part in mass rallies to condemn US-UK aggression
    https://en.ypagency.net/316030

    Kremlin: US and British strikes on Yemen are illegitimate
    The Kremlin on Friday condemned the United States and the United Kingdom for military strikes against Yemen.
    “From the point of view of international law, they are illegitimate,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the strikes on Friday.
    “We condemn them,” he told reporters, when asked to comment on the strikes. “They are illegitimate under international law. This is our position,” Peskov added.
    He pointed out that the UN Security Council had earlier passed a US-drafted resolution condemning attacks in the Red Sea by the Yemeni Armed forces and demanding an immediate end to them. Eleven UN Security Council members voted for the document, while four countries, including Russia, abstained.
    “We abstained. The countries that carried out the attack sought to justify their actions as lawful. However, they failed because the resolution adopted does not grant anyone the right to carry out strikes,” the Kremlin spokesman stressed.
    https://en.ypagency.net/316046

    Erdogan slams US, British strikes on Yemen [Notably bland protest, though.]
    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday slammed the US and British strikes on Yemen.
    The US and UK have used disproportionate force in Yemen, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
    Speaking to reporters after performing Friday prayers in Istanbul, Erdogan criticized the attacks on Yemen by the US and UK.
    “All of these actions involve the use of disproportionate force. Israel is also using disproportionate force in Palestine,” he said.
    “We receive information from various sources that the Houthis have made a very successful defense, provided a successful response, against both the US and the UK,” he said.
    https://en.ypagency.net/316043

    All UK, US interests in region are legitimate targets: Yemeni Council
    UK and US presence in the Red Sea violates International Law, and the Republic of Yemen is responsible for dealing with it appropriately.
    https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/all-uk–us-interests-in-region-are-legitimate-targets–yemen

    #150394
    John Day
    Participant

    War on Gaza: Israel blames Hamas for 23,000 Palestinian deaths at ICJ
    Israel’s legal representatives argue that there is ‘no genocide’ taking place in Gaza and deny Israel bombed hospitals
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-war-israel-second-day-south-africa-genocide-case-icj-hearing

    Genocide Experts Discount Israeli Legal Arguments
    Faced with a detailed documentation of statements made by top-level Israeli officials about their intent to “destroy” Gaza residents and “flatten” the enclave, legal experts observed that attorneys representing Israel on Friday at the International Court of Justice appeared to simply ignore the mounting evidence that the government is committing a genocide.
    Thomas MacManus, a state crime lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said the ICJ, which has held two hearings this week regarding South Africa’s complaint accusing Israel of genocidal violence and intent in Gaza since it began its bombardment in October, likely noticed a “massive disconnect” between Israel’s claim that it is trying to protect civilian lives with the reality on the ground.

    Genocide Experts Discount Israeli Legal Arguments

    South Africa: Israel failed to respond to our genocide evidence
    South Africa’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, who is leading the South African delegation to The Hague, said that Israel has failed to respond to the evidence presented against it for committing genocide in Gaza.
    Ronald Lamola emphasized his country’s commitment to legal facts and the evidence presented.
    He added that Tel Aviv seems unable to condemn the actions of its soldiers, stressing that the statements of its officials cannot be ignored.
    https://en.ypagency.net/316057

    Directly complicit in specific acts of genocidal targeting of Palestinian civilians?
    BIDEN ADMIN DEPLOYED AIR FORCE TEAM TO ISRAEL TO ASSIST WITH TARGETS, DOCUMENT SUGGESTS
    Guidance for officers deployed to Israel appears to show the U.S. military providing intelligence for airstrikes in Gaza.
    “I’ve directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise the Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts,” said President Joe Biden three days after the Hamas attack.
    But several weeks later, on November 21, the U.S. Air Force issued deployment guidelinesOpens in a new tab for officers, including intelligence engagement officers, headed to Israel. Experts say that a team of targeting officers like this would be used to provide satellite intelligence to the Israelis for the purpose of offensive targeting…
    ..Past presidents have issued several executive orders banning the U.S. government from carrying out or sponsoring assassinations abroad. This ban has been interpreted to include wartime targeting of civilians, according to a recent Foreign Affairs article by Brian Finucane, a former legal adviser for the State Department who now works for Crisis Group.
    And the so-called Leahy law, a set of budget amendments named for Sen. Patrick Leahy, requires the U.S. government to vet foreign military units for “gross violations of human rights” when providing training or aid to those units. Several progressive members of Congress have raised concerns that U.S. aid to Israel — both before and during the present war — violates that requirement.
    “For air advisory missions, which I imagine involve intelligence sharing and training, specific domestic legal restrictions such as the Leahy law and the assassination ban would likely come into play,” McBrien said. But the Leahy vetting process is “reversed” for Israel; rather than vetting Israeli military units beforehand, the U.S. State Department sends aid and then waits for reports of violations…

    Biden Admin Deployed Air Force Team to Israel to Assist With Targets, Document Suggests

    Israeli army ordered mass Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct: Media
    An investigation from Israel’s leading newspaper indicates Israel deliberately killed many of its own civilians and soldiers during Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to prevent them being taken captive back to Gaza
    The Hebrew edition of the paper (Yedioth Ahronoth) wrote on 11 January that “one of the revelations revealed in the investigation is that at noon on October 7, the IDF [Israeli army] ordered all of its combat units in practice to use the ‘Hannibal Procedure’ although without clearly mentioning this explicitly by name.”
    The order was to stop “at all costs any attempt by Hamas terrorists to return to Gaza, that is, despite the fear that some of them have abductees,” the paper wrote.
    The Times of Israel described how the Hannibal procedure, or directive, “allows soldiers to use potentially massive amounts of force to prevent a soldier from falling into the hands of the enemy. This includes the possibility of endangering the life of the soldier in question in order to prevent his capture.”…
    ..Hamas used the Toyota pick-up trucks and motorcycles with which they entered Israel, as well as cars stolen from the settlements, to take Israeli captives back to Gaza. Some were also taken to Gaza on foot and even in carts pulled by tractors by other Palestinians who crossed into Israel after the Hamas fighters breached the border fence.
    According to Yediot Ahronoth, about a thousand “terrorists and infiltrators” were killed in the area between the settlements and the Gaza Strip.
    But the paper added it is not clear at this time how many of the Israeli abductees were killed due to the activation of the Hannibal directive:
    “In the week after the attack, soldiers of elite units checked about 70 vehicles that were left in the area between the settlements and the Gaza Strip. These are vehicles that did not reach Gaza, because on the way they were shot by a combat helicopter, an anti-tank missile or a tank, and at least in some cases everyone in the vehicle was killed.”
    As journalist Dan Cohen reported, the Israeli military killed Efrat Katz, age 68, as she was being taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz to Gaza on a cart pulled by a tractor on 7 October. Her daughter, Doron Katz-Asher, and two granddaughters, Raz, age 2, and Aviv, age 4, were also in the cart. Doron Katz-Asher later told Israel’s Channel 12 that the Israeli army opened fire on the tractor, injuring her two daughters and killing her mother, Efrat…
    ..80-year-old Carmela Dan and her 12-year-old autistic granddaughter Noya both vanished on the morning of 7 October. The family assumed both were taken captive by Hamas. But two weeks later, Israeli authorities announced their bodies “were found near the border fence,” Foreign Policy reported.
    On 19 October, Carmela’s niece told NBC News, “There was an operation by the Israeli army some days ago at this point to retrieve bodies, and we believe that it took them time to run what we know to be three DNA tests and to identify that it was both of them.”
    In another widely reported case, an Israeli brigadier general, Barak Hiram, acknowledged to the New York Times that he gave an order on 7 October for a tank commander to open fire on a home in Kibbutz Be’eri to kill Hamas fighters, even though 14 Israeli captives were barricaded inside the home as well.
    https://new.thecradle.co/articles-id/18512

    #150395
    John Day
    Participant

    100 days of war in Gaza: Biden fails to achieve basic policy goals
    US efforts to cobble together a plan for post-war Gaza lay bare the contradictory goals the administration has failed to resolve
    The US’s top diplomat came to Israel this week carrying a message from Washington’s regional allies: Israel’s neighbours are prepared to invest in Gaza’s security and reconstruction.
    “But it is essential to them that there also be a clear pathway to the realisation of a Palestinian political state,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
    By holding out to Israel the carrot of regional buy-in for the post-war fate of Gaza, Blinken seemingly tried to leverage the US’s Arab partners and Turkey to sway Israel in a way that the Biden administration has been unable, or unwilling, to do alone…
    ..”Since 7 October, the US has prioritised above all else Israel’s right to defend itself,” said Brian Katulis, senior fellow and vice president of policy at the Washington-based Middle East Institute. “But most of its other goals are incomplete. “The administration’s weakest link remains reaching some sort of consensus on a Gaza endgame.” …
    ..Biden’s pledge to give Israel the military tools it needs to “finish the job” against Hamas is now followed by a campaign promise that he is “doing all that he can” so Israel can “significantly get out of Gaza”…
    ..US officials defended Biden’s embrace of Israel as a practical way to give the US more leverage to shape Israel’s military campaign and respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but little progress has been made on that front…
    ..”Secretary Blinken and President Biden had been right to insist on two things: a reduction in the unacceptable levels of civilian casualties, and much more cooperation when it comes to providing humanitarian assistance,” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said after a visit to Egypt’s Rafah crossing into Gaza. “We’ve not seen that,” he said…
    ..US efforts to produce a workable plan for post-war Gaza lay bare the competing and contradictory goals the administration has been unable to resolve at the 100-day mark of the war…
    ..”There is a fundamental difference with Israel over the role of the PA in Gaza. After 100 days, the US still hasn’t been able to square that difference,” David Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a previous assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs.
    Further muddying the waters, the PA’s ageing political leaders say they are open to a national unity government that includes some Hamas factions in Gaza…
    ..”There is a tremendous disconnect between the administration and what’s happening globally,” Freeman said. “I think the war has destroyed US credibility abroad. That has real-world consequences when you consider the war in Ukraine and competition with China. Other countries are going to sit these things out.”…
    ..A million Palestinians are crammed into the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where water-borne diseases are spreading and people have been forced to sleep, and defecate, on the street…
    ..Israel was blamed for the recent killing of the deputy political leader of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, in a Beirut suburb that is a Hezbollah stronghold. A few days later, Israel assassinated Wissam Tawil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.
    “The US is stuck in an escalation trap,” Freeman said. “Israel is openly courting an expansion of the war with these assassinations.”…
    ..”The administration is in a better place than they think they are,” James Jeffrey, a former senior US official now at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told MEE.
    Jeffrey said those who believe the US could dictate terms to Israel to end the fighting overestimate the US’s leverage with an ally that has fought three wars with its Arab neighbours and decades of lower-level conflicts with Palestinian fighters since its founding. “If we pull our support from Israel, let me tell you, they will keep fighting. And that’s not because of some plot by Bibi [Netanyahu] to stay in office, that’s because the Israeli public realises that 7 October presented the spectre of an existential crisis to Israel’s future,” he told MEE. [US withdrawal of “support” would be a dream scenario, but the Israeli lobby won’t allow it.]
    He says the US has achieved its goal of giving Israel the space to push its offensive against Hamas while staving off a widening war.
    “Biden is holding his nose against protests about civilian Palestinian casualties because he wants Hamas degraded,” Jeffrey said. “As do our Arab allies, although they can’t say it in public.”
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-100-days-gaza-war-biden-fails-achieve-basic-policy-goals

    They might need to “officially” get rid of him if he cannot be made “presentable”. Stories are dropping off; still no picture of the man in 2024.
    Lloyd Austin Remains Hospitalized – And Should Absolutely Be Fired For Hiding Condition
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/lloyd-austin-remains-hospitalized-and-should-absolutely-be-fired-hiding-condition

    ​ Pepe Escobar , Year of the Dragon: Silk Roads, BRICS Roads, Sino-Roads
    ​ Taiwan will remain the prime not-yet-engaged battlefield. Roughly, it’s fair to argue that the majority of the population of Taiwan does not want unification; at the same time, they don’t want an American-engineered war.
    ​ They want, essentially, the current status quo. China is not in a hurry: Deng’s master plan pointed to reunification sometime before 2049.
    The Hegemon, on the other hand, is in a tremendous hurry: it’s all about Divide and Rule, all over again, promoting chaos and destabilizing China’s inexorable rise.

    Year of the Dragon: Silk Roads, BRICS Roads, Sino-Roads

    ​ Meryl Nass MD, the “Soft Coup to Hard Tyranny” slide series from her lectures around the world.
    ​ You asked for higher quality versions of my slides and I have complied. Here is my talk today and a few of my remarks. *You need to go to the substack website to see almost all of it*
    I focused on new screenshots from the IHRs to make it easy for everyone to see exactly what is in them, and avoid being fooled by lies from WHO and government officials
    https://merylnass.substack.com/p/you-asked-for-higher-quality-versions

    ​Dr. Nass notes more WHO advice for suckers who will “never get an even break”. WHO advice: Keep boosting every 6-12 months
    https://merylnass.substack.com/p/who-advice-keep-boosting-every-6

    #150396
    John Day
    Participant

    @tboc: I thought Ray Stevens was dead, but I was wrong. I have his greatest hits album in the vinyl stack.
    I sure sang along with “The Streak” a lot of times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtzoUu7w-YM

    #150397
    aspnaz
    Participant

    Every living thing feels loved

    She has very good teeth. I wonder how she managed that in a communist tyranny? Maybe the Brits could learn something in their duh’mocracy.

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