Tucker Carlson: "Nikki Haley frankly underperformed last night, they told her she was surging in Iowa. She was not surging. Nobody really likes her." pic.twitter.com/JGijNGpdT5

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 16, 2024

Watters

Biden calls Trump extreme, but Biden backs CRT and sex changes for kids in grade school, he broke the bank, the border, and women’s sports. He's the definition of extreme. pic.twitter.com/m2SvhWyi5z

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) January 17, 2024

ICJ

BREAKING: ICJ world court will find Israel guilty. This is the indictment. pic.twitter.com/lMCGTzbvAv

— Make Peace Now; alternative news (@AlternatNews) January 17, 2024

How crazy is that? “I’m hearing from virtually every country: They want the United States..”

• World Wants More US Intervention – Blinken (RT)

Geopolitical turmoil and conflict around the globe have made the world’s nations hungrier than ever for diplomatic intervention from Washington to help deal with their crises, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed. “There’s a greater premium than there’s ever been on our engagement, on our leadership, in partnership with others,” Blinken told an audience on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He added that Washington needs to “reimagine” its geopolitical partnerships to resolve global challenges, such as the Israel-Hamas war. The top US diplomat made his comments as Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip triggers escalating tensions in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine conflict nears its 24th month. He claimed that many governments see Washington as key to finding solutions.

“I’m hearing from virtually every country: They want the United States,” Blinken said. “They want us present, they want us at the table, they want us leading.” When Washington fails to tackle a major issue, he added, it is either handled by another nation – probably to the detriment of US interests – or no one else takes the lead. When other nations see the domestic investments that US President Joe Biden is making, such as funding of major infrastructure projects and “climate technology,” they realize that “we’re actually serious about ourselves, despite some of the dysfunction that may be seen on the front pages,” Blinken said. Biden also has pressed for re-engagement with US allies and the building of new coalitions to address specific challenges, he added.

“On some of the really big issues of the day – whether it’s how to deal with China, how to deal with Russia – we have more convergence than we’ve had at any time in recent memory between us, key partners throughout Europe, throughout Asia, and even in other parts of the world, about how to manage these problems,” the secretary said. The Israel-Hamas war has reportedly left more than 24,000 people dead in the Palestinian enclave. The conflict began on October 7, when Hamas militants killed more than 1,100 people – mostly civilians – in southern Israeli villages and took hundreds of hostages back to Gaza. Asked about the disparity in casualties, Blinken denied that the US places a higher value on Jewish lives than Palestinian lives. “What we’re seeing every single day in Gaza is gut-wrenching,” the diplomat said. “And the suffering we’re seeing among innocent men, women and children breaks my heart.”

He claimed that US engagement in the crisis had helped to minimize civilian casualties and get more humanitarian aid into the enclave. Blinken said he sees no near-term prospects for a negotiated settlement to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. He argued that peace talks can only go forward when Russian leaders are willing to negotiate “in good faith,” respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Russian officials have accused Western leaders of derailing a potential peace deal in April 2022 and prolonging the conflict by providing massive military aid to Kiev. Moscow also has claimed that US insistence on a negotiated settlement being based on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s demands, which it calls detached from reality, leaves no chance for a ceasefire in 2024.

Macgregor
https://twitter.com/i/status/1747606360458412185

“Foreign policy in the Middle East will become hostage to American domestic politics, which is very dangerous..”

• World on ‘Escalation Spiral’ Towards War (Sp.)

The likelihood of global military confrontation is increasing according to analyst Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center. Sayigh made the assessment during an interview with Chinese media that touched on Israel, the crisis in the Red Sea, and the United States’ so-called “pivot to Asia” policy. Commenting on tensions between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East, Sayigh offered sobering insight on the potential for events to escalate beyond world leaders’ control. “I think the risk of a wider war is obviously increasing,” said Sayigh. “However, at the same time, I think that the key parties will not go beyond a certain point into direct confrontation. At the same time, they have already started what we call an escalation spiral.”

“The US is in a very risky situation, and it increasingly looks as though it is entering the war on the side of Israel as well,” the analyst noted. “[Biden] has already, in a way, signaled military deterrence that encouraged Iran to use military deterrence. Biden, in a way, started this escalation spiral from the beginning with his immediate deployment of military assets to the Mediterranean.” Sayigh employed the metaphor of World War I to explain how events could lead towards war even without world leaders consciously seeking to initiate conflict. World War I was famously set into motion by the murder of Austro-Hungarian heir apparent Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But Sayigh argued the key factor in the war’s outbreak was not the killing itself, but rather the greater zeitgeist of global tension created by previous events.

“By 1914, the world was ready for war,” said the historian. “Global tensions had reached a point where it was the assassination that was the trigger, but it might have been something else. It could have been sinking a boat at sea. It could have been anything.” Part of what makes the current moment so perilous are the set of incentives created by domestic politics, Sayigh argued. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces corruption charges, as well as an Israeli public likely to hold the longtime leader accountable for Hamas’ October 7 attack. Netanyahu has an interest in the continuation of military conflict to prevent either of those things threatening his political career. But domestic politics also alters the calculations of US President Joe Biden, the analyst argued. Previously Biden showed signs of returning to former President Barack Obama’s policy of detente with Iran, resisting many neoconservatives’ call for war on the Middle Eastern country. Now, domestic support for Israel makes it harder for Biden to pursue reconciliation with the country’s fierce enemy.

“It [the Biden administration] no longer calculates foreign policy purely on the basis of strategic and global stability, as it was previously doing by improving relations with Iran or at least defusing tensions with Iran,” Sayigh explained. “That was when it was thinking globally. However, now the administration has to consider domestic politics, and the calculation there is different.” “Foreign policy in the Middle East will become hostage to American domestic politics, which is very dangerous,” he warned.

“..it is a process made of deconstruction and chaos, of divide and control, an illusion of democracy so they can ultimately control absolutely everything..”

• BRICS and Global South Challenge ‘Globalist Elites’ With Multipolar World (Sp.)

BRICS and the Global South are offering “a new world order” to the “Western-centric”, Angelo Giuliano, a Hong Kong-based political and financial analyst, told Sputnik. The vision is “strong opposition” to that of the Western-dominated World Economic Forum, suggested the analyst.”The rest of the world, BRICS and the Global South… is opposing the values of a Western-centric world controlled by the very few, the old powerful families and the likes of Blackjacks and other banksters,” Giuliano noted. “What the rest of the world is offering is an option of a multipolar world where differences of cultures and values are respected, an idea of coexistence, of live and let live, respect of sovereignty. Seeking mutual prosperity, mutual respect and maybe also putting the human being at the center of the preoccupation. A world of purpose as opposed to a world of profit,” he stated.

The West, however, takes its directions from multinational corporations, underscored the pundit. “Globalist elites are the real ones in charge in the West. The same globalist elites select Western leaders and give the directions that they want the world to take, it is a process made of deconstruction and chaos, of divide and control, an illusion of democracy so they can ultimately control absolutely everything, for a central digital currency, to ownership, privacy and ultimately to people’s minds,” said the Hong Kong-based political analyst. Earlier, speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan offered up the Biden administration’s vision for the era ahead.

“Major powers are vastly more interdependent than at any time during the Cold War. But we’re also in stiff competition about the type of world we want to build,” Sullivan said in his remarks. “We are moving into a new era, the post-Cold War era has come to a close. We are at the start of something new, we have the capacity to shape what that looks like, and at the heart of it will be many of the core principles, core institutions of the existing order, adapted for the challenges we face today,” he added later, talking with Børge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum and former minister of foreign affairs of Norway.

“.. fresh blood, money, and weapons are being pumped into the ISIS organization’s arteries again..”

• Reviving ISIS: A US weapon Against The Resistance Axis (Cradle)

According to intelligence reports reviewed by The Cradle, at its height, ISIS consisted of more than 35,000 fighters in Iraq – 25,000 of these were killed, while more than 10,000 simply “disappeared.” As an officer of one Iraqi intelligence agency recounts to The Cradle: “Hundreds of ISIS fighters fled to Turkey and Syria at the end of 2017. After the appointment of Abdullah Qardash as the leader of ISIS in 2019, following the death of Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the new Caliph began to restructure the organization, and ordered his followers to return to Iraq. The organization exploited the long border with Syria, the security disturbances, and the diversity of forces on both sides of the border to infiltrate the Iraqi territory again.” Imprisoned ISIS officials admit that infiltrating that border is not an easy task, because of the strict control imposed by the Iraqi Border Guards and the use of modern technologies, such as thermal cameras.

It therefore became necessary for the terror group to identify intermediaries capable of breaking through or bypassing these fortifications to transport its fighters across borders. An Iraqi security source, insisting on anonymity, tells The Cradle that the US plays a vital role in enabling these border violations: “[There are] several incidents that confirm the American assistance in securing the crossing route for ISIS members – mainly, by shelling Iraqi units on the border, especially the Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs), to create gaps that allow ISIS fighters to cross the border.”

[..] In a speech on 5 January, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah warned that the US was supporting an ISIS revival in the region. The Cradle obtained security information monitoring the new activity of extremists in Lebanon, communications between these elements and their counterparts in Iraq and Syria, and suspicious money transfer activities among them. Lebanese Army Intelligence also recently arrested a group of Lebanese and Syrians who were preparing to carry out security operations. Importantly, this surge in terror activities comes at a time when the Lebanese resistance is engaged in a security and military battle with Israel, which may expand at any moment into open war. It is also notable that renewed ISIS activity is concentrated in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran; that is, in the countries that support the Palestinian resistance politically, militarily, and logistically.

On 4 January, ISIS officially claimed responsibility for two bombings in the Iranian city of Kerman that targeted memorial processions on the anniversary of the assassination of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani by US forces. The dual explosions killed around 90 people and injured dozens, in an unprecedented attack targeting the biggest US-Israeli adversary in West Asia – just one day after Tel Aviv killed top Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut. Before that, on 5 October 2023, ISIS drone-attacked an officers graduation ceremony at the Military College in the Syrian city of Homs, killing about 100 people. These attacks, and others in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Africa, indicate that fresh blood, money, and weapons are being pumped into the ISIS organization’s arteries again.

“Ukraine is literally being stripped of any chance to get out of the conflict through negotiations.”

Sunak gives Zelensky a few billion, on the condition that he’ll never talk peace. US and UK want the war to continue. Germany and France follow their lead.

These are also the countries, not coincidentally, that will not criticize Israel.

In the UK, Germany and France, also not coincidentally, governments are about to be voted out. (US?!)

• UK Working To Prevent Peace – Zakharova (RT)

A security agreement signed last week is further proof that London is maintaining a firm grip on the Kiev government and is working to prevent any prospect of peace, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.On Friday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) military assistance package for Ukraine – Britain’s largest to date. The two sides also signed a ten-year security guarantee, with the UK pledging “swift and sustained” aid for Ukraine in the event of a Russian attack in future. Kiev also promised to come to Britain’s defense in the event of Russian “aggression” against the country. Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Zakharova suggested that the deal was an indication that “Ukraine is literally being stripped of any chance to get out of the conflict through negotiations.”

As a result, Kiev is being turned into “a bargaining chip in the reckless ventures of the Anglo-Saxons,” she added, claiming that the UK wants to keep the country in conflict with Russia. She also ridiculed Ukraine’s commitment to defend the UK. “No sane person would believe that. The regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky is crying in every corner that, if not one more dollar … is transferred to it, Ukraine will cease to exist. And under these conditions, Ukraine undertakes to help Britain in the event of a military threat to the kingdom.” Russia has never closed the door on peace negotiations with Kiev despite Zelensky barring talks with the current leadership in Moscow in the autumn of 2022. This was made law after four former Ukrainian regions overwhelmingly voted to become part of Russia.

Meanwhile, both Russian and Ukrainian officials have confirmed that Moscow and Kiev were close to settling the conflict in the spring of 2022, but the process was derailed by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who convinced Ukraine to keep fighting. One of Russia’s key demands was that Ukraine stay neutral and refrain from joining military alliances. Last week – months after the first reports of his role in the talks emerged – Johnson dismissed the allegations that he had sabotaged a peace deal as “total nonsense and Russian propaganda.” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Kiev could have ended the conflict if it had ignored Johnson. Now, “Ukrainian statehood could be dealt an irreparable and very serious blow… if things carry on this way,” he warned, noting that Russian troops had regained the initiative on the battlefield after Kiev’s failed counteroffensive.

“Wars happen when the government tells you who your enemy is. Revolution happens when you work it out for yourself.”

• Britons Mock Warmongering Lecture by UK Defense Secretary (Sp.)

The United Kingdom’s Defense Secretary Grant Shapps warned of potential war with Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea within the next five years in a widely mocked speech in London this week. Shapps delivered the address to promote greater investment in military spending in the UK and its European allies. “The era of the peace dividend is over,” said Shapps in remarks he also shared on his profile on the X social media platform. The so-called “peace dividend” was a proposed reinvestment of government finances toward domestic concerns after the end of the Cold War. The comment may leave many Britons wondering when exactly they enjoyed a peace dividend, as the British government has imposed a policy of economic austerity for a number of years.

The UK was also perhaps the US’ strongest ally in the so-called “War on Terror,” which led to the deaths of more than 4.5 million people across the Middle East according to some estimates. The comments come as European media is reporting on supposed “leaked documents” that allege Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to launch an attack on Germany and other NATO members in the near future. The claims were dismissed as “fake news” by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Britons greeted Shapps’ remarks with ridicule, with multiple posts by the defense minister being “ratioed” on the X platform, meaning they received more comments than likes as users piled on to jeer the jingoistic speech.

“Obviously, the best way to deter enemies and lead allies is by pouring billions of pounds into the military industrial complex,” responded one user sarcastically. “You do know we were involved in bloody and unsuccessful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?” added another. “Can you explain how British soldiers killed in Helmand or in Basra were at all beneficiaries of this so-called era of the peace dividend?” “The people need to prepare for a new era of conflict with you bastards,” wrote user John Wight, expressing widespread antipathy towards governing elites in the West. “Wars happen when the government tells you who your enemy is. Revolution happens when you work it out for yourself.”

“According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, France has provided Kiev with €500 million ($540 million) in military aid – less than Slovakia has..”

• West Cannot Let Russia Win – Macron (RT)

French president Emmanuel Macron has announced new deliveries of long-range missiles and bombs to Kiev, while insisting the West “cannot let Russia win” the conflict with Ukraine. He added that he will visit the country next month. Speaking at a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday, the French leader reiterated that his country will continue to assist Ukraine. Amid criticism that France has not been doing enough to help Kiev, Macron said Paris would send 40 SCALP air-launched cruise missiles, which have a range of more than 250km, as well as “hundreds of bombs.” Local media, citing French officials, reported that the president was referring to munitions equipped with the AASM, or HAMMER module, which transforms ordinary bombs into precision-guided weapons with a range of up to 70km. Russia has repeatedly accused Kiev of using Western-supplied long-range weapons to target civilian infrastructure.

Macron added that he would visit Ukraine in February to finalize a bilateral security agreement with Kiev, similar to the one the country recently signed with the UK. The ten-year deal between the two, which was announced last week, guarantees Britain’s “swift and sustained security assistance” to Ukraine in the event of a future Russian attack, while outlining numerous other support measures. Some of France’s NATO allies, notably Poland, have criticized it for not pulling its weight in assisting Ukraine despite being one of Europe’s most powerful economies. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, France has provided Kiev with €500 million ($540 million) in military aid – less than Slovakia has. However, lawmakers in Paris have insisted that the true scale of the assistance was actually larger, blaming flawed methodology.

Ukraine has been asking for more Western aid since the start of the conflict in February 2022, recently expressing concerns about gridlock in the US Congress over approval for additional funding. On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba called on the West to do more in this regard, vowing that Ukrainians “would fight with shovels” once they run out of weapons. France first provided Ukraine with 50 SCALP missiles last year, following the lead of the UK, which sent similar weapons – Storm Shadows. Russia has since accused Kiev of using Western-supplied long-range missiles to target residential areas, causing numerous civilian casualties.

Zel

Zelensky demands EU troops for Ukraine.

“How many men and women are you willing to send to protect another country?”

Europeans are you ready to fight and die to protect Zelensky and globalists billions? pic.twitter.com/WVJFsHa87O

— Dagny Taggart (@DagnyTaggart963) January 17, 2024

Well, we’ve seen the farmers protest exactly this.

• Germany To Double Defense Aid For Ukraine This Year (RT)

Germany will shell out more than €7 billion ($7.6 billion) on military aid for Ukraine this year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said. Late last year, Bild reported that Berlin was going to double its initial figure of €4 billion, with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius understood to have demanded a bigger contribution. Speaking at a joint press conference with Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden in Berlin last Monday, the German chancellor mentioned the €7 billion contribution for Kiev in 2024. He also called on the country’s “allies in the European Union to strengthen their efforts,” lamenting that some member states had been tight-fisted in their backing of Ukraine. In a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, Scholz said “Germany will support Ukraine with more than €7 billion worth of military goods in 2024,” as quoted by the chancellery.

Back in November, Bild, citing unnamed sources in the defense ministry, claimed that Germany’s original budget for 2024 had provided €4 billion in defense aid for Ukraine. According to the article, most of that sum covered projects that had already been agreed, with little resources left for any further commitments. Pistorius took issue with this, and insisted that the figure be doubled to €8 billion, the media outlet reported at the time. Berlin provided Kiev with nearly $23 billion in aid between February 2022 and November 2023, according to the Kiel Institute for World Economy (IfW), making Germany the second-largest contributor after the US. Washington confirmed last week that its assistance had “ground to a halt” due to weeks of political bickering between Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

Late last year, the Biden administration asked representatives to give the green light to more than $60 billion worth of weapons and military equipment for Kiev. However, the GOP has been blocking the package, demanding that President Biden and the Democrats first agree to their plan to tighten security at the border with Mexico. Since Kiev’s summer counteroffensive fizzled out with no major gains and heavy losses, top Ukrainian officials have increasingly been pressuring their Western backers for yet more weaponry. Russia has consistently criticized Western arms shipments to Ukraine, arguing that these prolong the bloodshed unnecessarily without changing the outcome of the conflict.

“We will put you in this situation that you will not be able to easily get out of the conflict because we have another fish to fry on the horizon..”

• How US Coerces France & Germany to Fund Zelensky’s Failing Conflict (Sp.)

France and Germany announced recently they’d commit to continued support for Ukraine in 2024. As US aid has ground to a halt amidst political infighting, Washington has increasingly leaned on European powers to help make up the difference. But after the failure of Kiev’s 2023 counteroffensive, the writing is on the wall regarding the country’s slim chance of success in European capitals as well, with some savvy leaders riding to power on promises to end weapons shipments. How then is the United States managing to keep some of Western Europe’s largest economies on board for the effort? Sputnik spoke with two international affairs experts for insight. “Germany is a very interesting country,” said London-based analyst Adriel Kasonta. “Americans have a huge influence in Germany after the Second World War. And when the Americans set up their bases in Germany and decided to somehow, in one way or another, occupy Germany to stay there in order to make sure that Germany will not emerge as a superpower on the continent, they exercised a very huge influence over this country.”

“In order to meet their commitments towards the western hegemon, the United States, Germany [has] to do or show an extra effort in whatever European countries are doing,” explained the former chairman of the International Affairs Committee at the Bow Group think tank. “So if, for instance, the United States is objecting [to] the charges against Israel brought by South Africa, Germany has to be the first country to object after the United States.”“If the United States is saying that Russia is an enemy, then Germany has to be the first country in Europe to beat the same drum and beat the drum of war and to sustain the supply,” he said. Kasonta also claimed Germany benefits from the influx of Ukrainian migrants caused by the conflict, calling the country “the migrant economy.” Cheap labor from throughout the continent is crucial to Germany’s economic strength, especially as Western sanctions on Russia backfire by driving up energy costs. However, the policy does not come without consequences in the form of rising domestic opposition from the German public.

Russian affairs analyst Gilbert Doctorow also points out that the loss of Russian gas has had a “very damaging impact on the [competitiveness] of German industry and on investment in new production.”The international relations expert noted that France has a different relationship with the United States than Germany but nevertheless has its own reasons for continued support for Ukraine’s military effort.“Both are heavily invested in the Ukraine cause and in ensuring there is no Russian victory, which would be a major disaster for NATO and for the entire existing concept of European security that these countries share,” he explained. “Their control of their own domestic politics will be greatly compromised if they turn their back on the Ukraine propaganda narrative they have been promoting for the past two years,” Doctorow added. “With Europe wide parliamentary elections coming in June, they could be heavily punished at the ballot box.”

Along with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron has so thoroughly committed himself to the narrative of the conflict in the Donbass as an existential battle for Europe that he would have difficulty in suddenly backing away from his country’s support. Kasonta claimed that the emergence of hostilities with Ukraine has been bad for the continent as a whole because it prevents Russia from uniting with the rest of the continent and forming a truly counter-hegemonic force.“We will use you by putting you in trouble with your closest neighbor, which is Russia,” he said, summarizing the thinking of US policymakers. “We will put you in this situation that you will not be able to easily get out of the conflict because we have another fish to fry on the horizon. And this fish to fry on the horizon is the conflict with China.”

[..] “The international community and especially people in Western Europe formed their own opinion about what is happening,” he added. “They formed the opinion about their own governments. They felt betrayed by their governments for a long time before the conflict in Ukraine started. But I think that the conflict in Ukraine is the final nail in the coffin of the current neoliberal establishment in the West.” “As I’ve said, either way, the governments in the West have failed.”

Putin
https://twitter.com/i/status/1747423612309553489

How much longer does Duda have?

• Poland’s Decision To Host German Troops Will Not Go Unanswered – Moscow (RT)

Warsaw’s announcement that it is prepared to invite German military units, in addition to already existing NATO forces in the country, demonstrates the West’s anti-russian agenda and desire to increase tensions in Europe and will not go unanswered, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Her comments come after Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejn stated on Monday that Warsaw was willing to host German troops on its territory for the first time since World War II in order to further strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. It’s unclear if Germany has any actual plans for such deployments. During a press briefing on Wednesday, Zakharova recalled that there are currently about 10,000 US troops already stationed in Poland, as well as a multinational NATO combat tactical group which includes military personnel from the US, the UK, Romania and Croatia.

The spokeswoman pointed out that calls to deploy even more foreign forces to Poland were “not necessary if these countries are peace-oriented,” and can only be interpreted as a desire to further escalate tensions in Europe and prolong the collapse of pan-European security, which she said has been completely undermined by NATO. Zakharova also recalled that late last year, Germany had signed an agreement with Lithuania to increase the size of the Bundeswehr contingent in the Baltic republic to a brigade, and suggested that Polish leaders were trying not to “lag behind their neighbors in demonstrating loyalty to their older brothers from Berlin and Washington.”

“The increased activity and the strengthening of NATO’s military capabilities near the borders of Russia and the Union State of Russia and Belarus is provocative and is leading to the complete degradation of the European security architecture,” Zakharova said, stressing that “such steps will, of course, not be left without an appropriate response from the Russian side.” The spokeswoman also pondered how Poland intended to finance the potential deployment of German troops on its territory and whether it would seek compensation from Berlin, given the fact that Warsaw is already demanding $1.3 trillion in WW2 reparations from Germany. The reparations demands were put forward under the former PiS government which was ousted from power last month. Poland’s new government, led by former European Council President Donald Tusk, has stated that it will continue to seek these compensations from Berlin, but would work with Germany to find “a favorable and fair solution.”

US coerces EU towards provoking Russia.

• Brussels Starts ‘Screening’ Ukrainian Laws (RT)

Brussels has announced launching a “screening process and putting together the negotiating framework” as part of negotiations with Ukraine on its ambition to join the EU. Some member states previously said Kiev was years away from achieving its goal. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned the new phase during a Wednesday speech before the European Parliament. Von der Leyen mentioned the new phase during a speech before MEPs. She mused that when the formal accession process was launched last year, “hearts of millions of Ukrainians were filled with hope and joy” and claimed that Ukrainian lawmakers had made strides in adopting required reforms.

Earlier this week, von der Leyen met Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. His office said the screening of national legislation was discussed there and will move Ukraine towards full membership. The EU leadership resorted to unusual political maneuvering when it pushed the start of accession talks through the Council of Europe in December. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a vocal critic of Brussels’ approach to Kiev, left the meeting when the vote was cast. This allowed the EU requirement for unanimous approval to be technically met without him explicitly supporting the decision. Both Kiev and von der Leyen urged member states to ensure continued funding of the Ukrainian government with European taxpayers’ money. During the same session of the Council, Orban vetoed a Commission proposal to allocate €50 billion ($54 billion) over four years to support Kiev. Budapest wants any funding to be done on an annual basis pending review and be done outside of the joint EU budget.

EU leaders will discuss both issues during an extraordinary summit on February 1. Longterm “stable and substantial financing to Ukraine” is needed to “support the daily functioning of the state, to stabilize the economy, and to bring it closer to our Union,” the Commission head said in her address. Hungary is not alone in its skepticism about Ukraine’s candidacy. French President Emmanuel Macron, for instance, told domestic media that the EU was “very far” from accepting it as a new member, commenting on the outcome of the December summit. Meanwhile, the new government in Slovakia has sided with Hungary in its attitude towards Ukraine. Prime Minister Robert Fico called Budapest’s conditions for funding Kiev “rational and sensible” during a visit to Hungary on Tuesday.

There seems to be a rat in here somewhere.

• Judges Smack Down Jack Smith for Violating Trump’s Executive Privilege (PB)

Special Counsel Jack Smith has been excoriated by a panel of four appellate court judges for his unprecedented search of a former president’s private communications. The judges condemned Smith’s violation of executive privilege by searching former President Donald Trump’s Twitter files. “Holy sh*t: 4 judges on DC appellate court just delivered a scorching smack down of Special Counsel Jack Smith, Judge Beryl Howell, and Judge Florence Pan for search of Trump’s Twitter file,” reported Julie Kelly. “The Special Counsel’s approach obscured and bypassed any assertion of executive privilege and dodged the careful balance Congress struck in the Presidential Records Act,” she added while citing a user named @FamilyManAndrew.

The court document states: “This case turned on the First Amendment rights of a social media company, but looming in the background are consequential and novel questions about executive privilege and the balance of power between the President, Congress, and the courts.” “Seeking access to former President Donald Trump’s Twitter/X account, Special Counsel Jack Smith directed a search warrant at Twitter and obtained a nondisclosure order that prevented Twitter from informing President Trump about the search,” the judges added. “The Special Counsel’s approach obscured and dodged the careful balance Congress struck in the Presidential Records Act. The district court and this court permitted the arrangement without any consideration of the consequential executive privilege issues raised by this unprecedented search.”

“We should not have endorsed this gambit,” the judges added. “‘Any court completely in the dark as to what Presidential files contain is duty bound to respect the singularly unique role under Art. II of a President’s communications and activities’ by affording such communications a presumptive privilege,” the judges added, citing the legal precedent in United States v. Haldeman. Julie Kelly provided additional commentary on the case. “This by Judge Naomi Rao is a withering condemnation of Judge Howell (district court) and Judge Pan (*this court*) about their decisions to brazenly circumvent normal exec privilege litigation process to give Jack Smith what he demanded,” Kelly reported. “Rao continues her thrashing of former chief judge Howell—even noting Howell’s snarky comment to Twitter’s lawyer during sealed hearing as to why Twitter fought nondisclosure order,” she added. “Keep in mind, Howell and Smith also suggested Trump was a “flight risk” as reason to keep search warrant concealed from Trump.”

“And Florence Pan, who upheld Howell’s order, is the idiot who brought up ‘Seal Team Six’ hypothetical last week in appellate hearing on presidential immunity,” Kelly remarked. The Daily Mail, however, reported that the court nonetheless rejected Twitter’s appeal to have the case reheard, but the case is now free to move to the Supreme Court. “A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Special Counsel Jack Smith can have access to former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, as he investigates the former president for 2020 election interference,” the report noted. “The full U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., rejected a petition from Twitter to rehear the case after a three-judge panel ruled against the social media company in July,” it continued. The Daily Mail noted more gripes from the appellate court.

“Without a presumption for executive privilege, new questions will invariably arise, particularly because nothing in the panel’s opinion is limited to a former President,” the judges said. “What if, in the course of a criminal investigation, a special counsel sought a warrant for the incumbent President’s communications from a private email or phone provider? Under this court’s decision, executive privilege isn’t even on the table, so long as the special counsel makes a showing that a warrant and nondisclosure order are necessary to the prosecution,” they continued. “And following the Special Counsel’s roadmap, what would prevent a state prosecutor from using a search warrant and nondisclosure order to obtain presidential communications from a third-party messaging application?” the judges went on. “And how might Congress benefit from this precedent when it seeks to subpoena presidential materials from third parties in an investigation or impeachment inquiry?” Rao and the other judges asked.

“..It’s not the government portraying Hunter as Tony Montana from “Scarface,” it’s Hunter himself. He’ll have a tough time changing that story now..”

• A Gun Pouch Covered In Cocaine Shows Hunter’s Defense Is Ridiculous (Turley)

Hunter Biden’s counsel Abbe Lowell has faced a series of legal blows in his defense of Hunter Biden, but not quite as literal or lethal as what came this week in his client’s gun prosecution. After Lowell sought to dismiss the federal indictment as a trumped-up political prosecution, the Justice Department lowered the boom and revealed that Hunter’s gun was found in a pouch covered in cocaine. The disclosure is devastating for a defense that Lowell just rolled out late last year. In October, Lowell argued that Hunter had not lied on ATF Form 4473 that he was not an unlawful user of, or addicted to, narcotics. “At the time that he purchased this gun, I don’t think there’s evidence that that’s when he was suffering,” he said. It was a curious shift, since Hunter, the President, and the media have repeatedly used his addiction to forgive everything from corruption to influence peddling.

Hunter released a book that had laid the foundation of that defense and “Beautiful Things” was heralded by many in the press. Reviews gushed about “an astonishingly candid and brave book about loss, human frailty, wayward souls, and hard-fought redemption.” The image of a clear, redemptive soul is strikingly out of sync with a gun pouch that the officers who found it said was covered in coke. In the Special Counsel’s filing, the court was informed that “an FBI chemist subsequently analyzed the residue and determined that it was cocaine. To be clear, “investigators literally found drugs on the pouch where the defendant had kept his gun.” Hunter bought and possessed the Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver for 11 days between Oct. 12 and Oct. 23, 2018. That possession ended when his sister-in-law Hallie Biden was tossed into a dumpster in Wilmington, Delaware.

Hallie, the widow of Hunter’s deceased brother, had begun a sexual relationship with him and she apparently became concerned about what he might do with the gun. According to Hunter’s own memoir, that would make the window of sobriety a mere blink in time for a defense. The defense will likely challenge the admissibility of police testing due to the gun being tossed into the dumpster. Of course, Lowell can now argue that Wilmington dumpsters are so saturated with cocaine that any item would come out covered in coke. It is more likely that they will cite the break in the chain of custody as making the test unreliable and prejudicial.

What is clear is that the sobriety defense seems not so much risky as implausible. The government could argue that it should be able to use the testing as circumstantial evidence to rebut the claim or even impeach Hunter if he takes the stand (which seems unlikely). Hunter wrote about being a crack addict and alcoholic throughout this period, writing in his book that at some points he was “drinking a quart of vodka a day by yourself in a room is absolutely, completely debilitating” as was “smoking crack around the clock.” It’s not the government portraying Hunter as Tony Montana from “Scarface,” it’s Hunter himself. He’ll have a tough time changing that story now.

Chevron Case: The 1984 Supreme Court ruled “that judges should defer to the reasonable interpretation of agencies in administering ambiguous federal laws.”

Dereliction of duty by 1984 SCOTUS. The results were easy to see comimg.

• Supreme Court to Hear Potentially Historic Chevron Case (Turley)

Today, the Supreme Court will hear two of the most important cases of the term. At issue is the continued meaning (or even viability) of the Chevron doctrine, the 40-year-old doctrine granting deference to federal agencies in regulations carrying out federal laws. This massive doctrine, blamed for the dominance of the administrative state, could be brought down by the diminutive herring. The cases are Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce. In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled in Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council that judges should defer to the reasonable interpretation of agencies in administering ambiguous federal laws. That deference continued to grow in later years to the point that some of us have warned of the emergence of a type of fourth branch of government.

The court went even further in Arlington v. FCC in giving deference to agencies even in defining their own jurisdiction. In dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts warned: “It would be a bit much to describe the result as ‘the very definition of tyranny,’ but the danger posed by the growing power of the administrative state cannot be dismissed.” When I testified at the confirmation hearing of Neil Gorsuch, I noted that Chervon would likely be part of his legacy given his opposition to its use. Justice Gorsuch wrote in a 2022 dissent from denial of certiorari in Buffington v. McDonough that what he called “the aggressive reading of Chevron has more or less fallen into desuetude.” He added:

“At this late hour, the whole project deserves a tombstone no one can miss. We should acknowledge forthrightly that Chevron did not undo, and could not have undone, the judicial duty to provide an independent judgment of the law’s meaning in the cases that come before the Nation’s courts.” The cases today concern federal requirements that commercial fishermen pay for at-sea monitors. Herring fishermen in New Jersey and Rhode Island are challenging the law in a case with a long list of amicus filings on both sides from groups, politicians, and businesses. The fishermen say that the monitors could put them out of business, costing up to 20 percent of their annual revenues in a business that is already marginal for profits. They argue that the government wants monitors (which they do not necessarily oppose) but lacked the funds.

The decision was made to shift the costs to the fishermen and then citing Chevron to curtail judicial review. One of the lead counsel is my friend and former colleague Columbia professor Philip Hamburger, a brilliant academic who believes that the doctrine has fundamentally distorted our tripartite constitutional system. In both lower court cases, Chevron carried the day for the agency. In addition to the New Jersey case, the court added the second, nearly identical one from Rhode Island to its calendar — presumably because Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was recused in the New Jersey matter after serving on the appeals court panel that initially reviewed it before her elevation to the Supreme Court.

Chevron
https://twitter.com/i/status/1747645275605172307

A big task: “130 countries – representing over 98% of global gross domestic product – are exploring or developing CBDCs..”

• Trump Vows To “Never Allow” A Central Bank Digital Currency (ZH)

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday vowed to never allow the use of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), as it would “give the government absolute control over your money.” “This would be a dangerous threat to freedom – and I will stop it from coming to America. We are also going to put in place strong protections to stop banks and regulators from trying to de-bank you for your political beliefs. That will never happen while I am your president,” Trump told a crowd in Portsmouth, New Hampshire – as first reported by The National Pulse. Trump’s comments come hours after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) revealed that federal agencies have been flagging financial transactions using politically sensitive words such as “MAGA” and “Trump” in yet another egregious example of the establishment targeting political rivals.

As we’ve reported for years, CBDCs – touted by globalists such as French Central Bank deputy governor Denis Beau as “the catalyst for improving cross-border payments by enabling the build-up of a new international monetary system” – are in fact the ultimate tools of oppression. Even Fed Governors know ‘this way lies danger’: “In thinking about the implications of CBDC and privacy, we must also consider the central role that money plays in our daily lives, and the risk that a CBDC would provide not only a window into, but potentially an impediment to, the freedom Americans enjoy in choosing how money and resources are used and invested,” Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman told a Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems last year.

Central bank digital currencies are part of a broader “war on cash.” A cashless society is sold on the promise of providing a safe, convenient, and more secure alternative to physical cash. We’re also told it will help stop dangerous criminals who like the intractability of cash. But there is a darker side – the promise of control.The elimination of cash creates the potential for the government to track and control consumer spending. Digital economies would also make it even easier for central banks to engage in manipulative monetary policies such as negative interest rates. But they seem to be an inevitability, as according to data from the Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker, 130 countries – representing over 98% of global gross domestic product – are exploring or developing CBDCs, marking an outsized increase from just a few years ago.

GVB Vaccines will be banned from medicine
https://twitter.com/i/status/1747421038860808465

Milei
https://twitter.com/i/status/1747635083521998960

Balloon

Good morning! pic.twitter.com/DUYAoI0FCF

— Russian Market (@runews) January 17, 2024

Best friends
https://twitter.com/i/status/1747733727076347993

Bald eagle
https://twitter.com/i/status/1747562077831512236

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This topic has 48 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 9 months, 3 weeks ago by phoenixvoice.

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January 18, 2024 at 9:56 am #150648

Raúl Ilargi Meijer
Keymaster

Jean-Léon Gérôme Slave market 1866 • World Wants More US Intervention – Blinken (RT) • World on ‘Escalation Spiral’ Towards War (Sp.) • BRICS a
[See the full post at: Debt Rattle January 18 2024]

January 18, 2024 at 12:15 pm #150649

Dr. D
Participant

“Watch: Globalist WEF Speak Complains ‘X’ Is “Toxic, Scary”, Musk’s Policies Are “Problematic”

It’s not scary, you’re a p—y. As Kunstler said! “Are they making up the new Virus ‘X’ just to f with Elon?” Yes!!! They are just that dumb, ““I have given up on X. What a scary name that even is…” — WEF Globalists. Who are you talking to??? Other WEF will eat your lunch and throw you in a locker, and the general public will laugh at you and think you’re so lightweight and not worth being afraid of. Either way: never stop talking. Tell us all your amazing master plans and how a million Iraqi and Gazan kids were “Worth it”.

““I’m hearing from virtually every country: They want the United States,” Blinken said. “They want us present, they want us at the table, they want us leading.”

I’m sure that’s quite true: they get in with our position and help, and would be kicked out without it. That’s Empire. So when things are rocky at home, they need and want more foreign aid, more guns, more training in the School of the Americas. But Mr. Blinken never occurs to him is that what the PEOPLE want? People of the world? Of these nations, who like us would vote them all out if they could? No, because when you’re the “Garden People” and Practically Perfect in Every Way, when you are the GOOD guys, well-meaning, well, all your murders become the GOOD murders.

It’s an outlook thing. They’re above root concepts. For most nations, doesn’t matter a bit who’s on top, which empty suit sits in the chair, everything will roll on institutional, cultural memory of “This is how it is done.” The U.S. Derp State, which is the world NeoLiberals, have the money and violence to bend national expression into something warped and alien to the People, and do.

What I’m saying is: so dump all the leaders that want and need U.S. help and intervention. It’s a mark of their utter failure and subservience, and proves the fact of a warped national destiny and expression. When it stops, no one will be worse off and most especially we who are paying for it.

Blinken translation: Yeah, Rich people like free candy. They take it from the poor. “If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can count on the support of Paul.”

““Foreign policy in the Middle East will become hostage to American domestic politics, which is very dangerous..”

Just what I said: why? If we didn’t exist, they’d be fine and work it out for themselves. So wtf does our domestic policy have to do with anything unless we’re being evil to begin with? Putting our nose where it doesn’t belong?

“All the “fairy tales” that Russia intends to seize Europe and unleash a third world war are just a figment of Washington’s fantasies”

That WAS true. But if they keep it up long enough Russia will be so powerful and Europe so sapped that they will MAKE it true. This is pretty common in psychology and the world. Don’t know why. It’s “The Secret.”

“• BRICS and Global South Challenge ‘Globalist Elites’ With Multipolar World (Sp.)

Or you could say they’re ignoring a bunch of stupid ideas and just dropping to very simple and direct self-interest. They’re not “Opposing” anyone. “Opposing” predicates that “You matter.” You don’t. Europe is hollow, pointless has beens, with London especially, and the U.S. isn’t nothing, but simply has to focus domestically for 10-20 years. All these things, all the stories, battles, reports, approaches, strategies, outrages, all act like Europe isn’t some nowhere like Gabon and Angola. As central to the world as Kyrgyzstan and New Guinea. Get with the program. Nobody cares what you say or what your problems are. You have no army, no power, you’re the pimple on the end of the nose of Europe as they used to say of Ireland. Gabon is going to build Wakanda cities while yours collapse and you can’t get petrol for a Taxi across Paris. Fix that and you’ll be relevant again, it’ll be lifetimes.

Oppose who? You have to matter and capture my attention for me to notice I need to oppose you. If it wasn’t obvious enough Russia just held a mega-party coming out about this AGAIN this week and was ignored AGAIN by Europe. Worse, Russia has given up and just assumes Europe will never listen and are correct. For them it’s like us spending all our time and attention worrying that Cuba will attack us. Why? It wouldn’t matter if they did and we have actual real things to do.

“at its height, ISIS consisted of more than 35,000 fighters in Iraq”

Experts say a lot of these were “Russian” rebels such as the other half of the Chechnian civil war. …And they’re all dead, solving two problems. No problem in Russia, no problem in Syria no more. Seems like there’s only one problem: the United States. Or rather, the anti-American parasite as these are all CIA/Global Ops in coordination of anyone BUT the United States, where 99% of the United States would and do oppose them.

“US was supporting an ISIS revival in the region.”

Great! As we say with Ukraine: “With what men?” “With what guns?” Amazing it takes to this level, but if it takes what it takes. Every Saudi-Bush created jihadist is dead, and every 777 shell is fired. Oh well. I guess you can fight with sticks and stones then, but at that point the people have the upper hand.

“Sunak gives Zelensky a few billion, on the condition that he’ll never talk peace. US and UK want the war to continue. Germany and France follow their lead.”

Translation: even after two years, they can’t come up with another “Plan”. If this stops, it’ll collapse. It will collapse ON THEM, with no reason, no cover, just mismangement and lies, theft, and accounting fraud to the people. They’ll all be hung and dragged around the city, so of course it continues. That’s what “Criminal” means. Criminals gonna criminal. So why do you OBEY? Make me.

“The Plan” is only two things, as they say of the Fed: “Print money and hand it to my friends” and “Bullshit.” That’s it. That’s the master plan you guys can’t seem to defeat. Really??? That does NOT reflect well upon us. If we can’t beat that I guess we deserve to lose.

“West Cannot Let Russia Win – Macron (RT)

…As long as anyone but France pays for it.

“Germany will shell out more than €7 billion ($7.6 billion) on military aid for Ukraine this year, “

Hmmm. How much is that per farmer? €2.500?

“• How US Coerces France & Germany to Fund Zelensky’s Failing Conflict (Sp.)

Do we? Or are we trying to get them to pay for any of it? They think cost should be €0.00, and the U.S. pays 100% Aaaaand what do we get out of it? From their speeches they all really, really want this done. …By somebody else. Both the cost, the men, and the blame and scorn. And we would do this why?

Again, if 99% of American people don’t support this then is “America” doing it? No, a parasite minority is doing it against our express wishes. And so why are THEY doing it, as we’ll eventually drag them from their mansions into the streets? A very different worldview reporters should get their head around. If the German people likewise don’t support it, is it 1% of German, Polish, British leaders? So we have a war of the 1%. That’s not necessarily ON somebody, it’s the same as Kings and Queens where George is fighting his cousins in Germany and Russia: IT’S ONLY THEM. No matter who wins, the same family owns the same countries. So wtf should I care? If we “Win” if anything and I survive, I’ll own LESS of it while they’ll own the same. Screw that. Make Me.

Same thing here: So the 1% globalist billionaire class are arguing about WHICH idiot son-billionaire with a dick rocket owns it. And? This is relevant to me how? You’re not RELEVANT. You have no power and don’t exist. I deal with people and things that MATTER. You’re all a joke.

“Warsaw was willing to host German troops on its territory for the first time since World War II”

And London says they’re expanding the war by getting Poland attacked – a thing they already tried 2-3 times.

Okay, you short-bus drooleratis: SUPPOSE YOU DID. Then what? YOU HAVE NO ARMY, you feckless crayon-munchers. IT’S NOT 1979 for the love of God and Mary. If you got in a war of all NATO with Russia, Russia would win handily and without much problem.

So…again, you’re going to fabricate that Poland was attacked — good – that then NATO must be involved – good – so that you can give the entire continent to Putin on a platter. …What part of “Step 3: Profit” is going through your fevered toddler brains? I guess at least then it’ll be “Somebody Else’s Fault.”

“• Brussels Starts ‘Screening’ Ukrainian Laws (RT)

No, this means they think Ukraine is going to imminently collapse, the government will cease, and they are de facto absorbing administration Ukraine to the EU officially. I mean, more than they already did, obviously since 2014 Ukr has not been a sovereign state with elections but a puppet proxy. This is just official. Aaaaand again, since the U.S. Paid $6B and “F the EU”, how did we BUY this whole nation the size of France and hand it to Europe? Because ‘Merica?

“Supreme Court to Hear Potentially Historic Chevron Case (Turley)

Unfortunately although everything said about Chevon is true, it is going to be hazy and impossible to define. It’s simply not POSSIBLE for Congress to write laws that are detailed enough for every case. Therefore any regulation HAS TO make stuff up on the ground, in detail, or in wide policy. That goes to “How much” and the “Spirit of the law” which are undefinable. Maybe three or more parts here? 1) Congress should make fewer laws that are even possible to be defined and executed. (Viz Tao te Ching) 2) Enforcers need to adhere to the minimum possible authority unless clearly defined. 3) There’s no money for any of these things, and all regulation is used BY THE CORPORATIONS to get advantage, make money, and run other corporations out of business, eclipsing all public benefit which in any case can be brought as a civil suit. All three of these are redline maximum abuse right now, but that doesn’t make the answer easy: the answer lies in us. We have to have the intent, the morality and self-control or no law will help.

Personally, I’d erase it, but that’s going to trade one problem for another. Congress has been writing “Hey go do some things” and then the regulators favor friends and punish enemies which flip-flop every election. Not a single company is punished, for anything, ever, as Wall Street in ‘08, and in fact are given the world’s largest bonuses up to that time. The more laws you break, the more bailouts you get, and the higher bonuses instead of jail time. “Show me the incentives and I’ll show you the results”.

“• Trump Vows To “Never Allow” A Central Bank Digital Currency (ZH)

Sure! We’ll use a PRIVATE CBDC run by Facebook as a merger with government and can pay your taxes in them. Ask Blinken and his daddy.

So, isn’t the very definition of Blinken’s father, “Fascist”? And whaddya know, they’re all Ukrainian! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_M._Blinken Along with Kagan, Nuland, Freeland, and the rest!

Nope, no conflict of interest here! K-Pop Mafia.

January 18, 2024 at 12:16 pm #150650

Dr. D
Participant

For windmills, yes I have a nostalgia for the water windmills I’m sure we all do, but it’s not the windmill that’s the issue: I’m sure they’re perfect for their purpose, ran for years, then years without maintenance. Torque = power, it can be converted, and people have used spocket chains to prove it and speed up to generator speeds. The problem is elsewhere and demonstrates the sharp cut of Mr. Tesla vs all previous history, and why we don’t use compressed air, water, etc which is suggested all the time.

Suppose the two windmills were equal, electric and water, and you were choosing. It’s actually not sensible to pump water when the trough is full, it’s become a waste. Also you’re stuck with the trough at the windmill tower. And the windmill and trough now have to be at the point of wind, not were the water trough is convenient, like the barn. Tesla’s AC, — and indeed compared to Edison’s DC – solves everything. By jacking the “power” up to “high” voltage, it can be cheaply, easily, safely transmitted all over the farm…or county. Tiny, cheap motors turn on all over the farm with a switch, cheaply, easily, safely, with no freezing, no maintenance, basically immortal as the original motors from 1930 are still fresh as new. When you don’t need them, they are merely shut off and wait with no warming up, no waste and zero wear.

Which leads to the batteries, which water is corrosive, erosive, freezes, leaks, etc, and that’s with the too-high loss of pumping. A battery is very poor but still is far higher than any water moving unless it’s free. A hydraulic ram is one of these, and can often get away with it via regulation, but tends to be low-flow, using water hammer to Pop a few milliliters of water at a time, if at 24h a day for “no cost.” (ton of piping and corrosion if not maintenance).

We all know, known for 100 years that batteries are the thing, but if it were easy, we would have done it. It’s number of things: why not use ultra-capacitors? Well batteries are stored energy. If not made well it will release all that energy in an instant, meaning IT’S A BOMB. Air tanks are like this, but capacitors are too. Tesla lithium batteries are, but there’s usually a speed at which it’s released. Not only does petrol STORE more energy per inch – it’s not wasting space with a battery matrix – but it has a nice middle ground of being not-that-explosive. It is, of course, but to a level that is cheap and practical to contain. One reason why diesel is superior, being higher energy and lower explosion, although obviously flammable on ships, won’t explode if spilled across roadways.

So, how do you store energy without building a bomb? And get the energy out?

There are better batteries, obvious new lithiums are nice but very expensive and high-tech. More destructive than previous, better for a power/weight ratio than just use. Look into nickel-iron “Edison” batteries which are better, more tolerant, and last decades longer. That goes to the next problem: suppose you had to build a pond berm, a creek, a sluice, a pipe, a turbine, then a turbine house, a canvas shaft, all to get 2hp. Infrastructure can never be paid back for years, it’s capital investment on an industrial scale. Same with efficient steam engines, Sterling engines, etc: size and cost is so high, you need 2x machine to do the work of 1x machine. …Which is exactly why we chose the inventions we did. They might only beat a Sterling by a small slice (true) but if they keep beating by 17% for 100 years, you’re just never going to sell and mainstream one.

This is the Edison batteries: yes, they’re tolerant of everything and eternal, but 2x the cost? Probably you’d get your money back on them, but suppose your golf cart conventionals last 12 years. Then you won’t payback for 25 years? What if something happens? You make an extra-colossal screw up and damage them, your house burns down? That’s why they’ve been used in industrial applications, where the cost isn’t relevant and the lack of maintenance saves.

See how we’re at this intersection of all sorts of things? Costs, practicals, lifespans, familiarity, safety, all?

No, if you had to choose – and you may not want to – you just could NOT get the mechanical windmill, you’d have to get an AC one and get power all over the property for free.

Early guys did know the lift issue, there are certain sail configurations that cause it, although of course they called it something different. Using a wing has different issues, which is why we generally don’t use a fixed wing on sailboats although we’ve tried it and can. More issues of “Yeah, what about storms?” What about driving this thing into the keel and it’s size and pivot bearings? I don’t want to be on a boat where you’re Gale III and I can’t drop the sails while the thing takes on 900lbs of ice spray.

Water turbines probably had more to do with metallurgy and cost. Sure copper blades might be better even on an overshot, but not at the cost of plating a simple pulp mill with solid gold leaf. Costs have to come down, strengths go up, better forming is invented, so it’s no surprise you don’t see it until after cheap iron then steel. Roman aqueducts had amazing and nation-busting expensive projects. Obviously high-pressure, with pipes and mills. But they were different tech.

January 18, 2024 at 1:23 pm #150651

zerosum
Participant

Lying or detached from reality
Work around

US designates Yemen’s Houthis as ‘global terrorists’ thereby avoiding the legality of having declared war on a country, Yemen, without the approval of the house and senate.
Biden ‘playing with fire’ by re-designating Yemen’s Houthis as ‘terrorists’
————
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/18/us-launches-new-strikes-on-houthi-targets-in-yemen
Preemptive Attack

US launches new strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

On fourth day of strikes, the US military says it targeted 14 Houthi missiles that were ‘loaded to be fired’ from Yemen.
The US on Wednesday redesignated the Yemeni group as a “terrorist” organisation in response to its continuing attacks and threats to shipping and imposed sanctions on it.
The designation does not go into effect for 30 days.

The Houthis said the designation will not affect its operations to prevent Israeli ships or vessels heading to Israel from crossing the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
18 Jan 2024
———–

————
We are at the start of something new
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240117/brics-and-global-south-challenge-globalist-elites-with-multipolar-world—analyst-1116227253.html
BRICS and Global South Challenge ‘Globalist Elites’ With Multipolar World – Analyst
———-
“Wars happen when the government tells you who your enemy is.
Revolution happens when you work it out for yourself.” – John Wight
———–

We know, we cannot control complexities.
Nobody cares if TAE reached “The Wisdom of Crowd”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds
The Wisdom of Crowds
The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, published in 2004, is a book written by James Surowiecki about the aggregation of information in groups, resulting in decisions that, he argues, are often better than could have been made by any single member of the group. The book presents numerous case studies and anecdotes to illustrate its argument, and touches on several fields, primarily economics and psychology.
——————-

https://fastercapital.com/content/Wisdom-of-the-crowd–Unveiling-the-Wisdom-of-Crowds–Collective-Brilliance.html

Table of Content
1. Introduction to the Wisdom of Crowds

2. The Power of Collective Intelligence

3. How Crowdsourcing Works?

4. The Benefits of Crowdsourcing

5. Real-Life Examples of Crowdsourcing

6. The Potential Risks of Crowdsourcing

7. How to Maximize the Wisdom of Crowds?

8. The Future of Crowdsourcing

9. The Collective Brilliance of the Crowd
————-

January 18, 2024 at 1:27 pm #150652

Red
Participant

jb-hp ” I’m curious what would you do if your batteries wore out and no new ones were available?”

Alright I’ll play, If the batteries are worn out, i.e. won’t hold charge, they will still function as your conversion point for the incoming power. Regardless of the generation method. The inverter running your system requires a certain voltage input between steady points. Dead batteries will provide this even when enough energy is flowing in. So you become children of the sun or of high wind/water which ever is your source. As for freezing food we also can, dry, salt and smoke food for storage. The frozen veg/meat/fish tends to be of better nutritional value than the other methods. Our freezer stands empty and unplugged during early summer, the one as part of the fridge is plenty, until the harvest starts coming in. During the summer months and early fall there is more than plenty of sunlight getting through to run the freezer even if it was left running empty.
It follows as well that if batteries aren’t available I’m thinking that a lot of other things won’t be readily available either. Things like copper and lead for the simple lead acid type as for the more advanced ones such as ni-cad or lithium well I think you get my drift. We then become truly children of the sun. As far as energy loss at conversion from vdc to vac it is approx 15%. I used 20% when calculating my needs. I always go high on this as to help cover any mistakes I may have made along the way.

My totals for yesterday:
12 panel array 60 amp hrs, 3.04 kws, max voltage 114 vdc
9 panel array 47 amp hrs, 2,43 kws, max volage 115 vdc

Enough to go without any generator help. Todays forecast is for sun all day so the laundry will get caught up and the dishwasher will also run. I might even spend a little time in the workshop running some pine boards through the table saw. You have to make hay while the sun shines!

January 18, 2024 at 1:28 pm #150653

zerosum
Participant

The concern for BC is second/another ‘snow day’

January 18, 2024 at 1:32 pm #150654

Oroboros
Participant

Vivek Ramaswamy
@VivekGRamaswamy

I’m a “survivor”

Hahahaha!

Matt Walsh
@MattWalshBlog
Check the comments to see “conservatives”[rinos] actually offended by this joke. Absolutely pathetic.

I guarantee @VivekGRamaswamy is not in the slightest bit offended.

You guys really don’t need to be his white knight to protect him from Babylon Bee headlines. He’ll be okay. I promise

1:07 AM · Jan 17, 2024

January 18, 2024 at 1:43 pm #150655

Oroboros
Participant

The Uni=Party wants to resurrect the concept of “The White Man’s Burden” to “protect” poor Vivek from hateful unwoke humor.

So who’s the real ‘racist’?

He’s got a great sense of humor, he called Nikki Haley “Dick Cheney in 3 inch heels”

Hahahaha

Stop you’re killin me!

January 18, 2024 at 1:47 pm #150656

Oroboros
Participant

Meanwhile Pedo Pervert Jo-Joe tries to clean up his act

January 18, 2024 at 1:53 pm #150657

Oroboros
Participant

Vivek has catchy tag lines I must admit:

January 18, 2024 at 2:23 pm #150658

Oroboros
Participant

As per the windmill-turbine-gasbag postulations

January 18, 2024 at 2:27 pm #150659

Oroboros
Participant

Canazida, Oh Canazida!

Rebel News
@RebelNewsOnline

“The Ontario Court of Appeals has ruled against former psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, who must now undergo remedial social media training to maintain his clinical practice.”

January 18, 2024 at 2:31 pm #150660

Dr D Rich
Participant

The Chevron case IS important.
If so, then why does the “brilliant Columbia Academic” emphasize the grave danger to “tripartite government” in lieu of Govt’s 40 year run of deference, 1984 to 2024 still equals 40 years I think, To Corporate Governance.

Corporate Governance appears to govern the Government, well, at least the few, strategically placed government officials paid handsomely to give Corporate Governors what they want.
How else does John “alcoholic seizures” Roberts become Chief Justice USSC other by way of his family’s controlled demolition of Bethlehem Steel?
How else does Nance Pelosi become a 100millionaire on a modest salary?

Who(m)ever is paying Brilliant Columbia Academic to run interference for the heart of the matter (corporate Governance run amok) 40 years after the fact knows exactly they’re paying for a diversion that is the logical fallacy of an appeal to authority.
Ah hell let’s just watch in awe

Not warriors not poets:
Sean Buck
Michelle Howard
Lisa Franchetti
Don Arthur
Dave Tam
Lloyd Austin
Mark Milley
Antony Blinken the Belligerent
Sunak the Height-Impaired
Macron
Trudeau
Biden
Trump
Vivek Ramaswamy a ?billionaire? Out of $$$?
Nimrata Haley
The Forgotten One, Dammit I forgot her name but not her White Forelock

January 18, 2024 at 2:33 pm #150661

Oroboros
Participant

The Indian “Johnny Bravo”

I like it, the Empire of Lies needs to go “Full Cartoon”

January 18, 2024 at 2:40 pm #150662

Oroboros
Participant

Jordan Peterson is the one Canazida thinks should be ethically reprogrammed

January 18, 2024 at 2:58 pm #150663

tboc
Participant

Please don’t forget Westinghouse.

Over the last twenty four years the most ignorant humans i have met all were in possesion of a masters degree in education. Within the next sub-unit were those with bachelor of arts in, you guessed it, education. Even made a short foray into the corporate world to appease a b.a. in education. You all know, only those of lesser intellect actually work as an artisan, can’t afford to damage the public image. Self-employed and choose the job, choose the day, choose the tools and choose independence, not a good look among the salaried ass kissers. Twenty years to reach the threshold between journeyman and master in multiple mediums – no value.

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” ~ James Madison

Central Banks:
“A private central bank issuing the public currency is a greater menace to the liberties of the people than a standing army. We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

Breaking News:
The image of all THEY can be viewed today. Go stand in front of a mirror.

The press, free, fair and balanced:
“You know well that government always kept a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, invented and put into the papers whatever might serve the [government] ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

Let Fani suck on THIS one:
“To consider judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“Disarm the people- that is the best and most effective way to enslave them.” ~ James Madison
Disarm yourself, seek the approbation of an imaginary majority and enslave yourself. Works every time!

“A Republic if you can keep it.” Franklin

A store of knowledge vs a store of electrons

January 18, 2024 at 3:05 pm #150664

Oroboros
Participant

An analogy, or maybe a metaphor

You decide

The current relationship of Russia to Eurotardistan

You can “Riddle Me This Batman” as to who’s who

A guy walks into a doctor’s office with a frog apparently stuck to his head.

After an awkward silence, the frog finally speaks up and says:

“Hey Doc, can you cut this thing off my ass”

January 18, 2024 at 3:13 pm #150665

Oroboros
Participant

And just one more Whiff of Defeat from Canazida:

Viva Frei
@thevivafrei

Do you know what it’s called when 96% of a population’s “growth@ is driven by immigration?

It’s called replacement.

You are being replaced, Canada.

Understand that.

January 18, 2024 at 3:18 pm #150666

phoenixvoice
Participant

Vivek on stage with Trump, polished, his white, bright teeth — he reminds me of Sesame Street’s Guy Smiley.

January 18, 2024 at 3:22 pm #150667

Oroboros
Participant

Johnny “Guy Smiley” Bravo

Trump and Vivek after a Vulcan Mind Meld

January 18, 2024 at 3:27 pm #150668

Oroboros
Participant

January 18, 2024 at 3:43 pm #150669

zerosum
Participant

The day Israel and Ukraine stops receiving an endless supply of arms and money is the start of peace/end of war.

January 18, 2024 at 3:48 pm #150670

jb-hb
Participant

Man, that pissed me off thinking how efficiency improvements just wind up raising your property taxes. Time to start up a bootleg outlaw solar system in the woods next to the distillery…

Anyway I’m 98% convinced my dumb water tank as capacitor/regulator not storage idea is no good at all. And I’ve learned a valuable lesson on why cities, towns, and villages formed around rivers and streams. Free hydro was already there.

I wonder. What if you had an enclosed windmill/tower system using and optimized for mercury instead of water? Nevermind.

I’ve been hearing from every angle – resource/peak oil, environmental – that things cannot go on this way, will not be the same in the future. I don’t get why no one crusades for making things that aren’t disposable. My Note 2 was a beast, always did what I wanted without flaws, used it for like 12 years until they deactivated the LTE network it used and then forced me to switch to a different device despite my willingness to drop back to 3G. So all the Note 2’s as well as all the CDMA LTE network gear ends up in a landfill, the ocean, whatever. And the kids get to mine more cobalt for my replacement phone, joy. (I bought a used replacement because cellphones are blood diamonds…)

Why the hell SHOULDN’T we be making the less efficient durable thing that lasts for decades? What if we lived in a world of those things? Of course we’d need people knowledgeable in stuff like engineering making that world. Rather than a call center worker’s imaginary ideas. I could take the related phone calls and try to support that world as best I could. Eddie Willers couldn’t fix the locomotive either.

January 18, 2024 at 4:14 pm #150671

Noirette
Participant

The conflicts in Ukr. and Isr. are similar.

The CIVIL WAR aspect: One party tries to kill off, displace, get rid of the ‘bad, scum’ inhabitants, the undesirables, within a territory that is defined ethnically (etc.) and/or has a history or a hope as a ‘country’ ..

Isr. has no settled official borders, Gaza is controlled by Isr., the W. Bank is a patch of ethnic / religious enclaves controlled by Isr.

> *Pals / Arabs are scum.* (making it short.)

The Donbass in Ukr. was prev. for a long time part of Russia (USSR) and its inhabitants have been under attack since 2014 at least (Maidan) by the ‘Center’ + ‘W’ of Ukr. (Crimea managed to split off w. Russian support.)

> *Donbass Russkies are scum.* (short.)

Both are ‘controlled’ conflicts, they are not Great Powers in all-out war, but ‘minor’ (of course no. of deaths, etc. is horrific..) and various factions have different interests.

The glaring difference:

The Ukr. conflict was planned and directed by the US (+ allies, weakly..) since the collapse of the USSR, to the failed first Color Revol. in Ukr. (2004) to the harder, murderous, Maidan ‘coup’ (2014), followed by support for the Banderistas, targetting of Donbass ppl, and the ‘selection’ of Poroshenko, next, Zelensky, a better controlled puppet.

To provoke Russia, the Bear, attack it not only by sanctions, but on the ground in the Donbass, provoking it into a military response, which worked.

In Isr. the Locals in power, Netanyahu and other in his cabinet etc. reacted to all this concentration of US attention on the Donbass by creating mayhem that made them out to be victims, aw usual.

> Hamas attack that they certainly knew about, or directly sponsored … to get the US re-involved in defending Israel, as the US is turning away from the minuscule territory oupost in the ME. Obama and Biden loathe(d) Netanyahu. Negotiations, accords, if they take place, will be with Arab States. (Oil etc.)

Juat one take, one aspect.

January 18, 2024 at 4:34 pm #150672

jb-hb
Participant

From my venue, I can’t tell who’s paying attention as conversation seems to fly past each other

I read and appreciate everything. I could kinda chime in on tales of fighting for competence and integrity in the medical, governmental, educational, or military sphere with “I can relate” but each of mine was a battle of mice. or gnats or something.

I’d be like the kid in Say Anything at the gas n sip that chimes in “Bitches, man.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxTHeNHEG7M

Thanks to people who had real stakes and put real things on the line.

January 18, 2024 at 4:38 pm #150673

Oroboros
Participant

@ jb-hb

Years ago in a flea market I picked up a beautiful ornate antique doorknob-lockset, probably 1890-1920 vintage.

The doorknob shaft was mounted in the lock set with ball bears.

It was pushing one hundred years old then and it was smooth as glass, no play, shimmy, no forward/backward motion in the shaft.

The lock sets now are pure crap, they barely go five years before tremendous play and shoddy rattling.

They made them 100 years ago, so why not now?

Because the Hardware Industrial Complex© is just another two-bit mafia racket run by third rate corporate thugs and hoodlums just like everything else in the Empire of Lies Gangster Nation.

If you tried to market an affordable ball bearing home owner lock set to push out the gobshite lock sets of the ‘major brands’ they’d torch your factory and toss you in the river with cinder blocks chain around your waist.

A criminal rentier cabal culture doesn’t tolerate ANY competition. Period

Make something that lasts and you’re a Dead Man Running for Your Life.

The list of everyday items you could make that would last a century is too long to compile.

When Your Lock Set Can’t Open

January 18, 2024 at 4:40 pm #150674

Oroboros
Participant

Correction:

not ball bears. (interesting concept)

Ball Bearings

January 18, 2024 at 4:44 pm #150675

jb-hb
Participant

Maybe Russia’s “plan” in Ukraine is so simple TPTB just cannot get it.

–Some regions of Ukraine refused to go along with a publicly admitted foreign coup
–The new coup government attacked their own people for years instead of any kind of negotiation or legal proceedings
–those regions broke away formally after this went on long enough
–Russia recognized these regions
–These regions voted to join Russia
–Russia moved in to defend these regions

Talking with anyone outside of NATO, Russia can say “What? We haven’t even completely managed to move our military into the territories that voted to join us. We’re just sitting here inside this territory defending the people the Ukraine govt attacked and formally discriminated against and they keep using military resources to attack the same civilian population – they keep diverting military resources to that end despite being in a losing war. IF the people in these territories were Ukrainians, why would they keep shelling them? Hands thrown up. WTF do you want from us?

January 18, 2024 at 4:45 pm #150676

Oroboros
Participant

January 18, 2024 at 6:25 pm #150677

Bishko
Participant

I just had a chilling thought.

Over the last few months I have been listening to Vivek speak good words.

He had convinced me that he was genuine and was eager to do the right things for our Country.

However, lately, some concerns about him have come up. A few niggling doubts that put a couple question marks next to his name.

If his is a shill of the power brokers, how would they have him act?

Exactly. Just the way you see him.

But how would he be useful in the upcoming election? He would steal votes from Trump. But they know that he could never steal enough votes from Trump to tip the election.

But what if that is not what they have in mind?

What if they get Vivek and Trump apparently trusting each other, and Vivek seems to be damaging his chances to be President, as appears to be the case. What if Vivek says that he is All In on Trump and that everyone should vote for Trump.

We go down the campaign trail a few months and Trump is obviously going to be President.

Then, one or two months before the election, Trump dies in a plane crash or some such. You know that they can bump him off at any time.

Who else would people vote for since they can’t vote for a dead man? Vivek, neatly installed.

You see my reasoning. I hate that I have these suspicions since he really speaks to what we are concerned about, but I can see that this is exactly the kind of thing that the power brokers will do to continue in power.

January 18, 2024 at 6:44 pm #150678

WES
Participant

Bishko:

Vivek is just trying to move into his next role of shiving up close to Trump, gain his trust, before they betray him, lust like Jeff Session did in 2016.

So, yeah, Vivek is a snake! Not to be trusted!

January 18, 2024 at 6:48 pm #150679

Dora
Participant

About Michael Moore’s tweeted clip:

I always wondered what the Dem/GOP party bigwigs would do for an encore after passing NAFTA and cutting union jobs, fully integrated union jobs. It looks like they decided on CRT, DEI, and cries of “Ra*sist” from above to sow divisions below. “Othering” my neighbor doesn’t create good jobs or offer more opportunity.

January 18, 2024 at 6:52 pm #150680

Dora
Participant

About Vivek. Great speech. I don’t trust him. It was funny to see him almost perfectly mimic Trump’s hand gestures after watching him in an earlier video perfectly mimic Obama. It was a good speech, though.

January 18, 2024 at 6:58 pm #150681
Dr D Rich
Participant
On “How The AntiChrist Works, Edition 666”, the webs give us Scott Gottlieb straight from Devil’s horse’s-ass…pretending to create some distance between him being the former commissioner FDA and an entity called the CDC Director.
Here we go!
January 18, 2024 at 7:07 pm #150682

Dr D Rich
Participant

Scott Gottlieb firmly meant “nobody knows” because in his tight circle everybody isn’t a nobody and the rest will never experience the glory of Scott.G-MDs handler bestow a brass ring on us, too.

***hat tip C.S. Lewis, right?

January 18, 2024 at 7:09 pm #150683

Dr D Rich
Participant

I assume The Fauci, ?Italian, is Catholic.
I sit or stand corrected if I’m incorrect.

January 18, 2024 at 7:41 pm #150684

Dora
Participant

The Due Dissidence guys on Jimmy Dore talking about DEI. On Rumble. Listen as a radio broadcast here, or search Rumble for title “United Airlines CEO Dragged For Pushing Diversity”. (no quote marks.) (I still don’t know how to format Rumble for TAE.)
O,r cut/paste this link into your browser, replacing the space after Rumble with a dot, “.” .

https://rumble com/v47q99c-united-airlines-ceo-dragged-for-pushing-diversity.html

January 18, 2024 at 9:13 pm #150685

John Day
Participant

No New Global Sheriff https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/no-new-global-sheriff

Douglas MacGregor: Iran launches MASSIVE military move to protect Houthis, regional war breaks out
[First 3:30 opens with MacGregor, who has some more to say for another 4 minutes shortly after that. Iran attacked only Israeli assets, no Americans. Netanyahu runs the show.]

Russian combat aircraft appeared on the Syrian-Israeli border
Combat aircraft of the Russian Armed Forces began patrolling the Syrian-Israeli border. In particular, Ka-52 Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopters are already on combat duty in the Golan Heights region.
Observation posts of the Russian army are being created in the Quneitra province in southern Syria. As noted by local media, there are already five such points. It is possible that more will appear.
The purpose of such observation posts is to prevent tension in the region. As a rule, military personnel who have the necessary training and experience in performing various tasks in Syria are sent there.
https://en.topcor.ru/43372-rossijskaja-boevaja-aviacija-pojavilas-na-sirijsko-izrailskoj-granice.html

Informed sources revealed to Al Mayadeen today that the Iranian Islamic Revolution’s Guard Corp was behind the targeting of the two Israeli ships in the Indian Ocean earlier this month on January 4th.
The sources emphasized that “the IRGC attack against two Israeli ships came as a retaliation to the assassination of the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri [in Beirut], and the Iranian commander in Syria, Brigadier General Razi Mousavi.”
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/exclusive–irgc-behind-attack-on-israeli-ships-in-indian-oce

Yemen is declared “not a country” by the US: US Re-Designates Houthis as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists’
The designation will hamper aid deliveries and could complicate a peace deal between the Saudis and Houthis

US Re-Designates Houthis as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists’

January 18, 2024 at 9:13 pm #150686

John Day
Participant

Any attack on Yemen is an attack on us: Iraqi Hezbollah to Ansar Allah
The chief of the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah sends a letter of solidarity to the Ansar Allah leader following the US decision to re-enlist the Yemeni movement as a “terrorist group”.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/any-attack-on-yemen-is-an-attack-on-us–iraqi-hezbollah-to-a

Hezbollah’s Burkan ravages Israeli site in the Lebanese Shebaa Farms
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon has announced several operations, on Wednesday, while Hamas’ military wing has also attacked Israeli sites from South Lebanon.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-s-burkan-ravages-israeli-site-in-the-lebanese-sheb

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced on Wednesday evening the implementation of a targeting operation against the American ship “Ginko Picardie” in the Gulf of Aden with a number of naval missiles.
The Armed Forces explained in a statement that the Naval Forces carried out the targeting operation against the American ship in the Gulf of Aden, and the hit was accurate and direct.
https://en.ypagency.net/316469

Pentagon acknowledges attempts to ‘deter’ Sanaa unsuccessful [Remember that Benjamin Netanyahu is commanding this American operation.]
Pentagon press secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder says the US would not be surprised if it saw retaliatory strikes from the Yemeni Armed Forces over the aggression on Yemen.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/pentagon-acknowledges-attempts-to–deter–sanaa-unsuccessful

Joint US-UK aggression on Yemen, fourth in less than a week (The navy needs to use up land-attack missiles, because it is running low on air-defense missiles.)
CBS cited a US official as saying that the United States has launched another round of strikes on targets in Yemen, which marks the fourth aggression launched by the United States against Yemen in less than a week.
CENTCOM confirms that its forces carried out strikes on 14 missiles that were loaded to be fired by the Yemeni forces.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/joint-us-uk-aggression-on-yemen–fourth-in-less-than-a-week

January 18, 2024 at 9:15 pm #150687

John Day
Participant

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 103: Israeli army attacks vicinity of southern Gaza hospital, kills 7 in West Bank drone strikes
As Israel attacked the vicinity of the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, causing panic among sheltering civilians, Israeli drone strikes killed 7 in the West Bank. Qatar brokers deal to allow medical aid to reach Israeli captives and Gaza hospital

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 103: Israeli army attacks vicinity of southern Gaza hospital, kills 7 in West Bank drone strikes

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 104: Israel’s unrelenting assault continues – ‘If we’re not killed by bombs, we die from the cold, starvation, or disease’

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 104: Israel’s unrelenting assault continues – ‘If we’re not killed by bombs, we die from the cold, starvation, or disease’

Patients in Gaza hospitals beg for food and water as they lie ‘waiting to die,’ WHO official says
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443641/middle-east

Technicality Could Sink Genocide Case v Israel , Joe Lauria
In order for a claim to reach the International Court of Justice, there must be an established dispute between two states. Israel’s argument is that such a dispute was never established and thus the ICJ lacks jurisdiction to hear South Africa’s claim...
..(Former UK Ambassador) Craig Murray added: “I am sure the judges want to get out of this and they may go for the procedural points. But there is a real problem with Israel’s ‘no dispute’ argument. If accepted, it would mean that a country committing genocide can simply not reply to a challenge, and then legal action will not be possible because no reply means ‘no dispute’. I hope that absurdity is obvious to the judges. But they may of course wish not to notice it…”

Technicality Could Sink Genocide Case v Israel

Israel targets places of worship in Lebanon
For the past 100 days, the Israel Defense Forces has hit forests, residential homes and roads in the border area, but on Wednesday an Israeli drone raided the National Evangelical Church in the center of the town of Alma Al-Shaab, causing major damage to the home of the church’s cleric, Pastor Rabie Talib.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443471/middle-east
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