[John Day]

Two things:
3 thumbs up on the DNC rant Dr D (I’m also Dr D) It is pretty serious that Seth Rich may well have been murdered for leaking to Wikileaks. that really looks like the case to me. The Clinton syndicate has not been hesitant to murder, ever. That still cannot be said openly. With Brazile coming out openly in a (limited) attack, some other power has her back. I wonder about Mueller, too. He is deeply compromised in the Uranium One corruption shenanigans. His FBI prevented a whistle-blower from talking to the press, and hushed it all up for Secretary of state Clinton, while Bill got half a million to talk to some guys, and the Clinton Foundation got over $10 million (as i read). I think the Deep State control of this country is being contested right now, actively.
Secondly:
Irony alert: The Lebanese PM (with a Saudi passport) resigns on order of Saudi Arabia, in Saudi Arabia, on Saudi Arabian TV. In his Saudi written resignation statement (excerpts) he accuses Iran of foreign meddling in Lebanese politics. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/11/lebanon-hariris-resignation-the-opening-shot-of-the-saudi-war-on-hizbullah.html#more

[John Day]

The EU has been a growth based Ponzi scheme, worth holding together as long as overall economic growth let the cans be kicked down the road by promising better days ahead.
That’s ending. It has ended, and the concept is slowly catching up.
Division into small enough entities to be coherent will be hard, and our owners will want to rule by controlling border flows and turning the smaller entities against each other, It’s always worked before…

[John Day]

The main point of this article is that little bit near the end. The rest is a plea for the reader to consider it, a broad plea. We, here know Obama as a skillfully-lying puppet. Kiwis probably still like his style.
Yes, we are manipulated by a power that distorts the “reality” we see, to lead us astray, like a manipulated GPS navigator telling the driver to turn left, turn right and go straight.
“Eco-Thrifty”: We can all move safely in this direction. It’s a process, not a purchase.
“Tipping points”: I think we all get that. Change in the dominant paradigm comes quickly (finally), then the degraded paradigm fails to work at all, then…
Artificial suppression of any form of “volatility”, as we now see with financial “markets”, is a late play in the life of a financial system. How might a financial system safely allow more volatility, when the market has been lulled into perfect complacency by the elimination of all volatility, by massive VIX suppression?
Yeah, panic > crash > reset, etc. I think our shadowy rulers/owners have long been preparing for that, but are becoming aware of other preparations, which threaten their prior preparations in this global conflict.

“Sharing is at the heart of the permaculture ethics, where it is joined by caring for the environment and caring for people. Although we practice permaculture on our farm and in our community, we’re not dogmatic about it. What drives the eco-thrifty bus is resilience accompanied by regeneration.

Resilience, in this context, is the ability to withstand a pulse. It does not happen by accident. It can be designed, built and managed. Resilience only matters 0.0001% of the time, but when it matters it really matters. Resilient homes stand up to earthquakes and hurricanes. Resilient farms stand up to major rain events and extended droughts. Resilient communities withstand economic downturns and ‘natural disasters’.

Regeneration, in this context, is about getting better, stronger, more resilient over time. Regenerative farms grow food while building soil fertility, reducing erosion, storing carbon, managing storm water, and increasing biological diversity. Regenerative communities reduce crime, domestic violence, drug abuse, and suicide rates while keeping wealth and resources circulating locally. They improve quality of life while shrinking energy use, pollution and wealth inequality.”

[John Day]

Much appreciated, Ilargi, and “you can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself”.I was born the year The Ugly American was published, and have lived and traveled abroad for several years on-aggregate. Yeah, Trump is an American, recognizable as such at any airport in the world. Why quibble unless you think you are to subtle to be tarred with the same brush. I have always been recognized as an American, when traveling. No big deal. Easy.
What seems really important to me is not just that our owners/rulers don’t have a coherent narrative, by which to lead us to the branding chute and the slaughterhouse, but that they seem to be shooting it out at the OK corall, while the herd is wandering in every direction, with a huge thunderstorm darkening the sky, with lightning visible in the black clouds, a cold wind swirling in, and the first little drops falling.
What happens next, hasn’t happened yet. I think it’s up in the air, and Trump being the disruptor of this huge criminal empire of chaos is probably the most that history can ask of the man. I sure can’t ask more…
As an aside, I have less negative judgement against Richard Nixon than is routinely expected of me, less and less, the more I learn. He generally did what he could with a really bad hand, though he should have ended the Vietnam war sooner. I’m not sure he was allowed to. We assume he could have, perhaps wrongly…

[John Day]

Let’s move the imperial culture-war from Syria to the Chinese border. Burma will do nicely!
Thierry Meyssan has the story of what is going on in Burma, why the Buddhists are killing (armed and unarmed) Muslims, and why right-thinking Muslim governments like Saudi Arabia must send armed forces to restore peace, PRONTO. (Oh, it’s to block Chinese access to some seaports, as their big investments in rail, pipelines, roads and ports are about to start paying off.) Thanks Eleni.
https://www.voltairenet.org/article198141.html

[John Day]

Last 3 days of blog stories and comments are excellent ll around.
Bicycle-helmets off to all participants.
Gotta’ go dig up sweet potatoes and pull weeds.

[John Day]

First, about Spain/Catalonia: It has been clear for a month, and I have been saying (elsewhere) that the declarations and actions of the Spanish government were of a sort to increase divisiveness, the exact opposite of their stated intention of creating unity. This is now extremely evident, as people who went to the poll to vote “stay” got treated to badly that they voted “go”. The Spanish police and the Catalan police and firefighters contested some polling places, and Catalan police are being charged with dereliction of duty. When the enforcers change sides, the revolution has gone live, and this action forces the uniformed enforcers to change sides.
Whose interests are served by this antithetical behavior? I can’t answer. What is the utility of another Spanish Civil War? To whom? I can’t see the grand sinister plan yet. It just looks stupid. I doubt it really is.
Puerto Rico is still broken. My friend, Manuel is a doctor in the only hospital in the smallish town of Yauco, southwest part of the island. He has been getting one gallon of water per day to drink, and gets 2 minutes on the phone with his wife in Austin from the military, a couple of times per week. His hospital very nearly closed. The relief is just not getting to the rest of the island. People who can get fuel are driving to San Juan for water and food, which is dangerous at night with damaged roads. My main hope is that this will use enough US military resources to delay what looks like a planned invasion of Venezuela, to bestow democracy upon their oil reserves.
Have a nice day…

[John Day]

There must be a financial reset, since all the debt is owned by a small percentage at the top, who are not allocating resources for economic health, but for personal protection when the rest of us sink.
The young employables (not all employed) are less capable than in prior eras, less experienced and less adaptable. The ageing boomers will need a whole lot of care, or some hemlock, or some “balanced strategy” of the two.
All of this is in a trend of plummeting free-energy from fossil fuels, and awareness of the ecological doom which looms from all the greenhouse gasses which are in the atmosphere and have decades to play their roles, even if production stopped suddenly.
I don’t see a large plan. Command economy is what tends to happen in dire emergencies. Growing vegetables and building a core network of other humans you can trust and work with (hard to find), and shrinking your distances to those you can bike and walk, is critical for surviving short-term and long term in situations like Puerto Rico is having.
The sun is still shining somewhat. Fix the roof!

[John Day]

Am I the only one who recognizes this as the “incompetence defense”?
Of course they see what is going on, and see what they “must” do, and that the two cannot be linked rationally with the theories they have been using.
What “must” be done, will be done, theory or no.
I don’t know what is up with Fischer. He could come back after the crash, untainted, and so on.

[John Day]

@V.Arnold
I perceive the average TAE participant to be a baby boomer, as I am. Considering one’s own passage out of life, in a sustained Limits To Growth economic decline, is an important part of planning.
“Last bullet”, or “hemlock” could both be shorthand for that. We don’t contribute actual production in our last 15 years of life. The retired elderly are a group that gets culled early, and with a lot of mechanisms which are less visible, like just turning off the AC in summer for a couple of weeks.
My comment was made to readers who appear caught in the doldrums of abstract consideration of whether a tsunami 15 feet high will be in the spot where we stand, in a few minutes.

[John Day]

Thanks for the Bitcoin insights, Dr Diablo. I am much like Simple Simon, “penniless”, myself. No virtual dog in this fight…

[John Day]

“These charts didn’t warn me.” There, I said it. Now what?
Again, it’s not time for markets. It’s time to support sustained basic human existence in partnership with mom-nature. I’m still “long” subsistence farming. I’ve started digging beds at the vegetable garden of this place, which has tiny houses and RVs for homeless people. It’s something… https://mlf.org/community-first/
Here is the vegetable garden I’m growing for the people at work, my gift. https://www.statesman.com/lifestyles/doctor-leads-example-with-garden-people-community-clinic/5Sq9dsCdVEoxomdfXG7OVM/
Here is the how-to-do-it succession rotation gardening protocol for central Texas, that I worked out at home. https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html
Getting to work takes years, not seconds.

[John Day]

So what is the next game? Or, what are the next competing games? That’s a game, isn’t it?
History gets very real periodically. Not a game. Live or die together. There’s no making-the-jump-to-lightspeed. You snap to awareness in a snail body, with the beak of a raven about to snap you up.
Get ready. Plant your fall garden. https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html
Save the last bullet, too…

[John Day]

@Rapier,
Ilargi often used to refer to “the Tyler Durdens”.
Nobody really knows who Tyler Durden is. It’s cool, not embarrassing…

[John Day]

Grow your own vegetables and cut out the financiers… Be an Agrarian-Freeman.
https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html

[John Day]

After the Great Reset:
1) Bitcoin as global reserve currency. Bye-bye Triffin’s Paradox. It is right sized for massive transfers, not cigarette purchases. The complexity-cost only makes sense at the highest level.
2) Transaction tax everywhere. “Tobin Tax”, “Robin Hood Tax”, “Stamp Tax”, but make it something that is everywhere the same to thwart global capital exploiting local markets of all kinds.
3) Elimination of debt-based currency. Debt is the money of slaves. Let’s move up the scale to barter-based currencies, silver and gold based currencies, oil based currencies, whatever works out in real terms.
Charles Hugh Smith’s essay today points out that there is only one empire, the global financial empire. To be the global hegemon, you have to borrow the most from the banks, The era of exponential growth is over. Debt based money can only work in the epoch of exponential growth. https://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly17/one-empire7-17.html

[John Day]

I was famous yesterday, for doing what I always do, bike commute and grow vegetables. This story is about the vegetable garden I put in at the clinic where I work, in the break patio area.
https://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/AustinAmericanStatesman/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=AAS/2017/07/17&entity=Ar04301&sk=8B81855C
Do what you can do… daily.

[John Day]

Subsistence farming is ok. Better than not subsisting, as Zerosum observes.
Here is a story about the vegetable garden I put in, and which I tend, at the clinic where I work, in Austin, Texas, https://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/AustinAmericanStatesman/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=AAS/2017/07/17&entity=Ar04301&sk=8B81855C

[John Day]

Download that sense of responsibility, fellas… It is what it is, and we have to do what we can do and be seen doing it, and explain it to people in a positive way. I’ve started a 9 bed vegetable garden at my work, in the employee break patio area, and it is generating interest. After a little over a year, it is doing quite well, getting big and shaggy. I keep giving it haircuts. It’s the clinic’s garden, but I tend it. It has been a lot of work and expense, and there will be the fall makeover, and digging up all those sweet potatoes again, but maybe I’ll get some help this time, or not… Here’s the link to the home garden, and succession-rotation program I worked out, posted last July. https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html

[John Day]

We are engaged here in the discourse of the rich. We are fortunate already.
We have the luxury of education and of insight. Who is better positioned than we are to personally experiment with energy-economizing.
Those of us who are older can just rely upon memory for half of it.
There are energy waste-sinks all around us. I used to have a back yard, but it is now a vegetable garden This is steps from my kitchen, and I sit facing it as I type. It is therapeutic. I ride a bike to work. My perception of life process is in transformation. It seems to take awhile.
https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html

[John Day]

Senators Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul voted against the Russian sanctions, the only two.
Rand Paul is younger, and comes from good stock.
I’d vote for Rand Paul & Tulsi Gabbard, together or separately, after the “Great Disruptor” performs his magic upon the stage of history. (Yes, Karl Rove, I’m thinking of you…)

[John Day]

Its clear that the upshot of this testimony is Loretta Lunch obstructing justice, and Comey doing contortions to accommodate it. Trump-the-boor is basically vindicated. We still see no Russian interference with the election, either.
Reality Winner got misused all around, and was light-and-flaky to begin with.

[John Day]

So central banks will soon own everything, and the king of central banks, the Fed, is owned by private banks. This is an accelerated approach to “one world government, controlled by central bankers”, isn’t it?

[John Day]

3 US aircraft carrier task forces will be arrayed around North Korea. Aircraft carriers are sitting ducks for massed launches of those new hypersonic missiles, I hear. Is this a hubris? Imagine the loss of face if North Korea hits an American aircraft carrier. What humiliation! Certainly North Korea doesn’t have any of those good Chinese or Russian missiles, though…
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-17/us-deploys-two-more-aircraft-carriers-toward-korean-peninsula-yonhap

[John Day]

More Bombs Gone Bad.

The US led forces have now bombed their own rebel chemical weapons depot and accidentally killed hundreds of civilians, even a dozen moderate-rebels.
It’s not like what Syria did though; not the same at all.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-13/syria-claims-us-led-coalition-strike-isis-chemical-weapons-depot-has-killed-hundreds

That lying Ophthalmologist! 😮
Speaking with the BBC earlier this morning, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the U.S. account of the recent chemical weapons ‘attack’ in Syria was a “100% fabrication” which can only lead him to the conclusion that the West must be working “hand and glove with the terrorists.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-13/assad-chemical-attack-100-fabrication

How come chemical weapons attacks happen a month or two after John McCains secret visits to moderate terrorists in Syria? (Yeah, it’s only twice; prob’ly nothing to it. Thanks anyway, Eleni.)

Every time John McCain makes secret trips to Syria, chemical weapon attacks follow

Oh, yeah… McCain points out that Russia and Syria did it again, same as last time.
https://www.blacklistednews.com/McCain%3A_Russia_cooperated_with_Syria_in_chemical_attack/57854/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Uh, oh… An MIT professor analyzes the White House proof of Syrian chemical weapon attack from the air, finds the same crater, already on Google Earth, and points out from the White House photos that a 122 mm artillery rocket of stuff had to be put on the bottom of that old crater, with explosive on top of it, to create what is shown in the pictures. Oh, my,… have we made some kind of mistake?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Vs2rjE9TdwR2F3NFFVWDExMnc/view

You may recall this from a couple of days ago:
“We’re not going into Syria,” Trump said. “Our policy is the same — it hasn’t changed. We’re not going into Syria.” “We’re not exactly on the same wavelength with Russia, to put it mildly” — again called the nuclear deal with Iran “the single worst deal ever,” and said of the worsening nuclear situation with North Korea: “I knew I was left a mess, but it’s worse than I thought.” Trump also damns Steve Bannon with very faint praise. (Neocons/Neoliberals appear to hold most face-cards again.)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-declines-to-endorse-bannon-says-us-not-going-into-syria-2017-04-11

Now there’s this:
It appears that Mike Cernovich, who earlier this week wrote that Trump’s national security advisor, Gen. H.R.McMaster, was planning on sending as many as 150,000 troops to Syria, may have been right again. According to Bloomberg commentator Eli Lake, who has now made a habit of confirming Cernovich “conspiracy theories” (he did so previously with the Susan Rice scoop), Trump may be on the verge of escalating the proxy war in Syria by sending anywhere between 10,000 and 50,000 troops on the ground, and – if Cernovich is indeed correct – as much as three times more.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-13/trump-may-send-50000-troops-syria

North Korea opens a new street in Pyongyang, the “Big Event” journalists were told to prepare for, and forbidden to bring cellphones to. Kim Jong Un appeared outside and in public (An open target! That’s why journalists were forbidden to carry position-sending cellphones. I suspect he will not be an open target Saturday when they underground test that nuke.)
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-13/north-koreas-big-and-important-event-street-opening

Nuke ready to detonate on Granddad’s 105th birthday. Happy Birthday Kim il Sung!
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-12/north-korea-said-have-placed-nuclear-device-tunnel-could-be-detonated-satuday-mornin

Trying to get ahead of the news-cycle again, the US might resume massive bombing of North Koreans after a 63 year pause, to prevent an underground nuclear test, which could kill hundreds of millions of Americans or something.
The U.S. Navy has positioned two destroyers capable of shooting Tomahawk cruise missiles in the region, one just 300 miles from the North Korean nuclear test site. Additionally, American heavy bombers are also positioned in Guam to attack North Korea should it be necessary, and earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group was being diverted to the area.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-13/us-may-launch-preemptive-strike-north-korea-ahead-nuclear-test

BOOM!
One day after the Trump administration demonstratively used the GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast bomb (MOAB, also known as Mother Of All Bombs) the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal in Afghanistan, in a clear show of force meant to send a signal to North Korea, it released a video of the explosion.
(It’s been sitting there for so long, and we couldn’t just let it get past it’s shelf life, so we had to use it, and it helps legitimize our new president.)
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-14/us-releases-video-mother-all-bombs-explosion-which-killed-36-isis-fighters

There is a bipartisan move in Congress to resist presidential commitment of American troops to help slaughter starving peasants in Yemen, to benefit our good friends, the royal house of Saud.
https://theantimedia.org/lawmakers-trump-military-yemen/

German Finance Minister and deep-state Sith-Lord, “Wolfie” Schaeuble goes all Trumpish on Islamic wetbacks!
“Such migrants who do not accept Europe’s way of living should be told “you have made the wrong decision”, Schaeuble said during a round table discussion in Berlin. “There are better places in the world to live under Islamic law than Europe,” he added.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-12/wolfgang-schaeuble-if-muslim-migrants-dont-europe-go-elsewhere

CIA Director Pompeo declares Wikileaks to be “a hostile intelligence service”, which should justify anything, anything at all… [Forget the nice things we said last year before we joined the Borg!]
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/14/cia-director-brands-wikileaks-a-hostile-intelligence-service

[John Day]

Korean War 2.0

China Threatens to Bomb North Korean Nuclear Facilities if North Korea “Crosses Chinese Bottom-Line”, and moves troops to North Korean border.
Chinese diplomacy does Judo with American demands, tells North Korea, “We are not acquiescing to an American attack. This is our business and the PLA will attack if you cause problems.”
China clearly defines sphere of influence, while calling for denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-11/china-threatens-bomb-north-koreas-nuclear-facilities-if-it-crosses-beijings-bottom-l

As tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program mount, the United States Air Force has deployed a WC-135 (a.k.a. the “Nuclear Sniffer”), an aircraft that specializes in detecting radioactive debris after the detonation of a nuclear device, to Okinawa, Japan to assist with monitoring for potential nuclear tests in the region.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-12/us-deploys-nuclear-sniffer-plane-japan-monitor-north-korea-nuke-tests

Donald Trump called President Xi on the phone to discuss trade and the developing North Korean situation. According to China’s state television, Xi stuck with his objective of “denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, and called for a peaceful resolution of rising tension… “We hope that the relevant parties do not adopt irresponsible actions. Under the current circumstances, this is very dangerous,” Lu told reporters at a regular press briefing… Translation: Trump is strongly urged not to launch a unilateral strike on North Korea as he did on Syria without express Chinese prior approval.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-12/trump-unexpectedly-calls-chinas-president-discuss-north-korea

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blasted the Trump administration’s “ambiguous and contradictory” foreign policy at the start of talks with Tillerson in Moscow Wednesday calling the demand for the Kremlin to abandon Assad “absurd.” Furthermore, he warned Tillerson that Russia “believes it’s fundamentally important not to let these actions happen again.” The Moscow meeting will “further clarify areas of sharp difference so that we can better understand why these differences exist and what prospects for narrowing those differences may be,” Tillerson told Lavrov.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-12/russia-slams-absurb-trump-demands-warns-tillerson-dont-strike-syria-again

“Idlib was a false-flag attack, and we have learned that more are coming.” Vladimir Putin
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-11/putin-russia-has-learned-more-false-flag-strikes-are-being-prepared-damascus-region

Americans kill Syrian moms and kids on ferry boats, who knows how many?
It’s OK, because it’s just regular bombs and drownings, and we don’t have to look.
https://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960120000565

Trump clarifies everything:
“We’re not going into Syria,” Trump said. “Our policy is the same — it hasn’t changed. We’re not going into Syria.” “We’re not exactly on the same wavelength with Russia, to put it mildly” — again called the nuclear deal with Iran “the single worst deal ever,” and said of the worsening nuclear situation with North Korea: “I knew I was left a mess, but it’s worse than I thought.” Trump also damns Steve Bannon with very faint praise. (Neocons/Neoliberals appear to hold most face-cards again.)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-declines-to-endorse-bannon-says-us-not-going-into-syria-2017-04-11

“Who is playing the long game (in geopolitics) and what’s their game plan?” Charles Hugh Smith is not ready to cede (pyrrhic) victory to neocons just yet.
https://www.oftwominds.com/blogapr17/long-game4-17.html

[John Day]

Thanks V. Arnold
I wish it were not going this way…
John

[John Day]

Prelude to WW-3 stories for today:

Speaking at a behind closed doors forum for the highest echelons of government and staff in his home city of St. Petersburg, Putin responded to questions about the metro blast by pointing out who is responsible for the vast majority of world terror attacks: the U.S. deep state, and the radical Islamic groups they sponsor to destabilize key regions in the world… The Russian president said that “95% of the world’s terrorist attacks are orchestrated by the CIA,” and the St. Petersburg metro bombing must be investigated “with this in mind.“
Putin claims that the CIA is a rogue element of the deep state, and “an expression of the will of world oligarchy and their vision for a New World Order.“ “The CIA does not work on behalf of the American people or act in their interests.”
https://www.unz.com/forum/putin-95-of-world-terrorist-attacks-are-orchestrated-by-the-cia/

Moon of Alabama says Syrian gas deaths and reprisal attack were “Trump’s theater”, a made-for-TV movie. (A movie like this would take a long time to stage/produce. The script/casting would have already been in place when Trump entered office, right?).
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/04/trumps-khan-sheikoun-production.html#more

Thierry Meyssan also figures it’s Trump’s show.
https://www.voltairenet.org/article195904.html

Former DIA Colonel says intel. analysts are freaked out over this sloppy lie and:
Former DIA Colonel: “US strikes on Syria based on a lie”
There are members of the U.S. military who were aware this strike would occur and it was recorded. There is a film record. At least the Defense Intelligence Agency knows that this was not a chemical weapon attack. In fact, Syrian military chemical weapons were destroyed with the help of Russia.
The Russians briefed the United States on the proposed target. This is a process that started more than two months ago. There is a dedicated phone line that is being used to coordinate and deconflict (i.e., prevent US and Russian air assets from shooting at each other) the upcoming operation.
The United States was fully briefed on the fact that there was a target in Idlib that the Russians believes was a weapons/explosives depot for Islamic rebels.
The Syrian Air Force hit the target with conventional weapons. All involved expected to see a massive secondary explosion. That did not happen. Instead, smoke, chemical smoke, began billowing from the site. It turns out that the Islamic rebels used that site to store chemicals, not sarin, that were deadly. The chemicals included organic phosphates and chlorine and they followed the wind and killed civilians.
There was a strong wind blowing that day and the cloud was driven to a nearby village and caused casualties.
We know it was not sarin. How? Very simple. The so-called “first responders” handled the victims without gloves. If this had been sarin they would have died. Sarin on the skin will kill you. How do I know? I went through “Live Agent” training at Fort McClellan in Alabama.
Veterans Today: President Trump is now threatening to take America into a war against Syria, Iran and even Russia, a war he says is justified by “evidence” he has received from the Syrian White Helmets, … a “Deep State” organization, a melding of CIA, al Qaeda and Britain’s intelligence services.
Swedish Doctors For Human Rights (swedhr.org) analysed videos, the rescue after an alleged attack by Syrian government forces. The doctors found that the videos were counterfeit, where even Arabic stage directions were overheard, and that the alleged “Rescue” in actuality is a murder. On first analysis, it looked as though the doctors working on the child assumed he was already dead.
The White Helmets, supposedly an independent NGO, receives up to $100m from the CIA and UK Foreign Office, “dark project” funding. Murdering children is their stock and trade…
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/04/06/swedish-medical-associations-says-white-helmets-murdered-kids-for-fake-gas-attack-videos/

Russia and Iran say the US “crossed a red line” in Syria, and that they will retaliate with military force if this is repeated. (Dangerous set-up!)
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-09/russia-iran-warn-trump-they-will-respond-force-if-syria-red-lines-crossed-again

Secretary of State Tillerson will not meet Russian President Putin on his upcoming trip to Moscow. He will have talks with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov (lots to discuss).
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-10/putin-will-not-meet-tillerson-russia-confusion-grows-over-us-policy-toward-syria

Following the Syrian attack on a weapons depot 4/4/17, which released toxic chemicals (Sarin too?), Russian President Putin called Israeli PM Netanyahu, castigated him for false-laying-of-blame. Putin also made a deal. Russia has always said East Jerusalem is the future capital of a Palestinian State. Now Russia still says that, but “within that context” West Jerusalem is recognized as the capital of Israel. That is a big present for Bibi. What does Bibi Netanyahu give as quid-pro-quo? Thanks Eleni.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/04/israel-just-received-a-huge-payment-from-russia-what-is-its-side-of-the-deal.html

Chinese paper (presumed government opinion) says that Trump’s attack on Syria is a threat to China that North Korea is headed for a bloody-decapitation.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/10/syria-strike-designed-to-intimidate-north-korea-chinese-state-newspaper-says

[John Day]

@ Dr Diablo
You’re just trying to cheer me up…

[John Day]

Moon of Alabama has the story well encapsulated. Here are excerpts.
(I feel terrible about this neocon resurgence of power at all levels in my country. We are so easily mind-controlled.)
The U.S. airstrike delivers a message to al-Qaeda. Whenever under military pressure al-Qaeda can now stage or fake a “chemical attack” and the U.S. will act to destroy its enemy, the Syrian government. Acts as the one last night are then direct military support by the U.S. on al-Qaeda’s request… It severely damaged the main support base for Syria’s fight against the Islamic State in eastern Syria. The event will possibly lead to a much larger war… A similar scheme had earlier been established on the Golan heights. Al-Qaeda, fighting against Syrian government positions, would launch a mortar round that would land within Israeli controlled territory. Israel would then launch artillery strikes against Syrian government positions because “the Syrian government is responsible for what happens in the area”. Al-Qaeda then used the battle field advantage created by the Israeli strike…
[Regarding gas-attack 4/4/17] For a release incident of powerful chemical weapons the casualty numbers were low, lower than the casualty numbers of recent conventional U.S. air strikes in Syria and Iraq. Despite that fact a huge international media attack wave, seemingly prepared in advance, against the Syrian government was released…
U.S. president Trump “responded” to the incident by ordering the launch of 59 cruise missiles on the Syrian military airport Al Syairat (vid). The cruise missiles were launched from sea in a volley designed to overwhelm air defenses. According to the Syrian and Russian military only 23 cruise missiles reached the airport. The others were shut down or failed. According to the Syrian and Russian military only 23 cruise missiles reached the airport. The others were shut down or failed. Six Syrian soldiers were Killed, nine civilians in a nearby village were killed or wounded and nine Syrian jets were destroyed. The airport infrastructure was severely damaged.
The Syrian and Russian governments had been warned before the strikes hit and evacuated most men and critical equipment. (Was the warning part of a deal?) The air attack coincided with an Islamic State ground attack east of the airport.
The Trump presidency had been held hostage by unfounded allegation of “Russian interference” in the U.S. elections in support of the Trump candidacy. The air strikes on Syria might have been the ransom that was demanded for the release of the hostage. His opponents are now gushing about him…
Trump is the third U.S. president in a row who promised less belligerence during his campaign only to deliver more after the election.
Open U.S.-Russian cooperation in Syria will now cease.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/04/syria-us-creates-new-air-support-request-scheme-for-al-qaeda.html#more
On April 3rd, 2017, an anti-Assad journalist tweeted that the next day he would be launching a media campaign to cover airstrikes on the Hama countryside, including the use of chemical weapons. It is not clear how the reporter was able to know that chemical weapons would be used an entire day before the attacks occurred.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-06/evidence-calls-western-narrative-about-syrian-chemical-incident-question
Neocons are creating Trump-their-chump, by getting rid of all those who resist them in the halls of power.
It’s just a little delay. Donald can be Hillary.
“The two sides: The Bannonites believe the liberals staged a coup and will turn Trump into a conventional squish who betrays the very voters who brought him to power. The Jared wing thinks the Bannonites are clinically nuts.
Killing Bannon won’t be easy: His staunchest ally is one of Trump’s closest confidants — Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Kellyanne Conway will go to the mat for him, as will policy advisor Stephen Miller. He’s also built strong relationships with other cabinet secretaries including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. In the end, though, family matters most and all but dad are done with Bannon and his politics.”
https://www.axios.com/steve-bannon-to-associates-i-love-a-gunfight-2347592148.html
The Washington Establishment has reasserted control. First Flynn and now Bannon. All that are left in the Trump administration are the Zionists and the crazed generals who want war with Russia, China, Iran, Syria, and North Korea… The Syrian conflict is set to be reopened. That is the point of the chemical attack blamed by Washington on Syria despite the absence of any evidence. It is completely obvious that the chemical attack is a Washington orchestrated event… The removal of Assad allows Washington to impose another Washington puppet on Muslim peoples, to remove another Arab government with an independent policy from Washington, to remove another government that is opposed to Israel’s theft of Palestine, and for Exxon’s Tillerson and the neoconservative hegemonists to cut Russian natural gas off from Europe with a US controlled gas pipeline from Qatar to Europe via Syria.

Trump Has Surrendered. Will Putin Be The Next To Surrender?

Responding to Trump’s unexpected military attack on Syria in which 59 cruise missiles were launched (of which only 23 allegedly hit their target), Russian President Vladimir Putin “regards the strikes as aggression against a sovereign nation,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, noting that the president believes the strikes were carried out “in violation of international law, and also under an invented pretext.” The Kremlin spokesman insisted that “the Syrian army doesn’t have chemical weapons,” saying this had been “observed and confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a special UN unit.” “This step deals significant damage to US-Russian ties, which are already in a deplorable state,” Peskov said and added that the US has been ignoring the use of chemical weapons by terrorists and this is dramatically aggravating the situation, in Putin’s opinion… Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said the US missile attack on a Syrian airbase is an act of aggression under a far-fetched pretext and is reminiscent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq… “It is regrettable that all these causes do more harm to the already damaged relations between Russia and the United States. Hope remains that these provocations will not entail irreversible effects.” .. Moscow suspended its memorandum of understanding on flight safety in Syria with the US following the missile strike, calling the attack “a demonstration of force.” The Russian military has supported the Syrian government’s version of the events in Idlib, saying that Damascus attacked an arms depot where chemical weapons had been stockpiled by Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front militants…
“Without bothering to investigate anything, the US went forward with a demonstration of force, a military confrontation with a country that is fighting international terrorism,” the Foreign Ministry’s statement reads. “Obviously, the cruise missile attack was prepared beforehand. Any expert can tell that the decision to strike was made in Washington before the events in Idlib, which were used as a pretext for a demonstration.” https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-07/putin-responds-syria-strikes-cripple-us-russia-relations-deploys-cruise-missile-frig
Damage from US strike was less than “militarily efficient” for the very high expense of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Pictures and details, here:
“Russia says Syrian air defense systems will be bolstered after 6 jets and the radar system was destroyed in the airstrike. 4 Syrian military are reported dead and 2 missing after strike.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-07/first-images-aftermath-inefficient-us-missile-strikes-emerge
Last night the Russians canceled the memorandum of understanding they had with the U.S. which made them share information with us on flights and locations of their attacks on the CIA’s moderate terrorists. Today they are carpet bombing al Qaeda and the other “moderates” in Idlib… When they stopped sharing information with the U.S. they prevented the Pentagon from warning the terrorists about impending Russian airstrikes.
Russia is Currently Bombing the Shit Out of The CIA’s “moderate” al Qaeda Terrorists in Idlib

[John Day]

What will happen before the Turkish vote in April, and how will that influence the French vote in May?
Will Turkey invade Greece in April?
How big a nationalistic crisis will Erdogan need to win?

[John Day]

Yes, the Michael Hudson interview is very, very good. I’m sharing it around.
Thanks, Ilargi.

[John Day]

Turkish-Agent-Man, there are probably still more shoes to fall in explaining Michael Flynn’s resignation…
Meanwhile, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this Moon of Alabama update on the Byzantine intrigues in the Syrian war. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/03/syria-preparing-for-the-idlib-attack.html#more

[John Day]

This is all appreciated. There are many forms of slavery, and both the native American captive slaves and the European indentured servants had high death rates.
Most Europeans did not survive their terms of indenture. Sometimes, over half died on the boat over, just for starters.
I have seen the hypothesis supported that racism was a construct to enlist the class of former white slaves to control the class of hereditary black slaves. It makes sense…
Here is How Debt Conquered America, excellent historical perspective and analysis:

How Debt Conquered America

[John Day]

Thank You Dr Hall and everyone who has left comments on this and the previous essays in this series.
When I was in 10th grade in Yokohama, Japan, one of our teachers told us about a computer projection at MIT, presented in a book called “The Limits to Growth”. It seemed obviously true, but the consequences seemed a long way off. Now they seem imminent in Austin, Texas, and have been imposed upon humans in much of the world, already. I have been digging in the soil and becoming a gardener since the move to sustainable-paradise (rural Hawaii) broke-down in 2013, when the clinic I worked for there had hard times, and needed me to see half-again as many patients every day as before. I worked all the time, never had a garden, and returned to Austin humbled yet again.
We are where we are now. It’s no time to move. Here is the result of my serious vegetable gardening project in a “postage-stamp” back yard in central Texas. I get good vegetables, only what’s in season, and I spend more on this project than I save on groceries, a lot more. This is way more work than people conceptualize, but it’s a work-out, too. I’m actually becoming a moderately good gardener. I’ve put in a vegetable garden at work in the break area. Most people I work with live in apartments. The sugar snap peas are being discovered, though I really had to pick them and walk them around the clinic again and again, making people try them. I still haven’t figured out how I can get people a plot to garden… The garden and gardener are pictured last July 4.
https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html

[John Day]

I remember 1969 as better than 1970. That first moon landing was a real high point for all of us.
Everybody thought 1971 sucked.
Things were different after November 1963. LBJ was a “sonofabitch”, as he put it.
It’s hard to nail a year down, but after we lost our president, things were never the same.

[John Day]

What will the next Bretton Woods decide?
When?
Tennessee is pushing a convention of the States to put a balanced-budget amendment in the Constitution. Conventions of the States are a dangerous wild-card, but the time will probably soon call for that. This would essentially end the current mutated global financial arrangement. Will the States be convened when the crash happens?
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-22/how-tennessee-could-be-about-start-constitutional-crisis

[John Day]

“We should do our very best to train people for the jobs of the future,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at Davos.

That would be some subsistence farming close to your cooking area, and any other skill you can market a bit of in the collapsed “salvage-economy”.
https://www.johndayblog.com/2016/07/liberty-garden-central-texas-climate.html

[John Day]

German Gold Repatriation moved up to 2017.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bundesbank-gold-idUKKBN15O192
Less fear of Moscow than New York, London, Paris?

[John Day]

Scott Adams (Dilbert) has had good insights into the tactical Trump, but just his (impressive) tactical abilities. Trump isn’t in this alone, and there is obviously strategy involved, too. The rapid-fire attacks on the status-quo have been disorienting and disarming in the political landscape. There’s no time to fight back on one thing before it changes and there is a new threat.
This has looked military to me, a counteroffensive to the fourth-generation warfare we have been subject to since the 1980s, and which has become the state religion, the “Blue Church” as it is presented here. Jordan Greenhall is an impressively clear analyst of human society. This is war, war among the elites, and their constituencies, war on every level, including military. This is military war in American deep state politics, and NATO/Europe/Global, by extension.
https://medium.com/deep-code/situational-assessment-2017-trump-edition-d189d24fc046#.goksec60u

[Author]

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