NATO: Finally Crossing the Rubicon?
zelensky and stoltenberg
First: ‘NATO’s Road To Perdition With Ukraine’, editorial staff, strategic-culture.org, Feb. 12, 2021 (CC w/ attrib.)
“The US-led NATO military alliance is moving ever closer to accepting Ukraine as a new member. This is an incredibly incendiary step towards war that could escalate into a nuclear conflagration.
Despite repeated and long-standing warnings by Russia, the US-led NATO military alliance has indicated it is moving ever closer to accepting Ukraine as a new member. This is an incredibly incendiary step towards war that could escalate into a nuclear conflagration. And, risibly, this reckless initiative is being driven by an alliance which proclaims to be about upholding peace and security.
This week NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg hosted Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shymhal at the organization’s headquarters in Brussels. At a joint press conference, both men were upbeat about Ukraine joining NATO. Stoltenberg admitted that the former Soviet Republic has been eyed for membership of the alliance since 2008, a timescale which puts more recent conflict over the past nearly seven years in perspective. He also confirmed that NATO forces have been building up their presence in the Black Sea in coordination with Ukrainian counterparts. In recent weeks, three US warships have been training with Ukrainian naval vessels in order to counter what Stoltenberg says is “Russian aggression”.
Officially, Ukraine is designated as an “Enhanced Opportunities Partner” by NATO. Which makes one wonder, ironically, what kind of “opportunities” are being contemplated?
For all intents and purposes, Ukraine is already virtually a member of NATO. It has participated in overseas joint military operations and, as noted, it receives military aid, training and logistical support.
But if Ukraine were to be formally admitted to the NATO alliance then that opens up a legalized and inevitable path to war. Under the organization’s rules, any individual member nation is entitled to invoke a general defense clause which obliges other NATO members to support militarily. Since the governing authorities in Kiev continually claim that Russia is an aggressor – a view shared by NATO – then the potential for a generalized war with Russia is a wide open danger if Ukraine were to officially join the alliance.
Undoubtedly, NATO leaders are aware of this potential catastrophe and are also well aware of Russia’s deep concerns. That would explain their cautious delay in admitting Ukraine to the alliance. Germany and France in particular are understood to be against adding the country to NATO’s membership out of fear that it would provoke Russia.
It is interesting to speculate why Stoltenberg – a former Norwegian premier and nominal civilian head of NATO – this week appeared to give new impetus to Ukraine’s ambitions. Could it be related to the change of administration in the United States? Senior members of the Biden administration have publicly stated during Senate hearings a willingness to increase military support for the Kiev government in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine. American and European envoys at the UN Security Council this week reiterated strident accusations against Russia claiming that Moscow was responsible for prolonging the conflict in Ukraine. Russia’s envoy Vassily Nebenzia countered that it was the Kiev regime and its Western allies who have not implemented the previously agreed Minsk peace accord signed in 2015.
But surely even the most diehard NATO jingoists must realize that admitting Ukraine to the ranks would be a dangerous bridge too far. The same too for Georgia, another former Soviet Republic, which is also in the queue for joining the military alliance. Both countries are already in political conflict with Russia because of NATO expansionism, not as they or NATO would have it, because of “Russian aggression”. NATO pushed Georgia into a brief war with Russia in 2008 over the disputed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Then in 2014, a NATO-backed coup d’état in Kiev against an elected president led to the ongoing low-intensity war in Eastern Ukraine. That coup also led to Crimea voting in a referendum to secede and join the Russian Federation which the West continually refers to disparagingly as “annexation”.
Professional, well-paid shills like Jens Stoltenberg like to spin the deluded yarn that NATO expansion is a “success” for democracy and the rule of law. Since the end of the Cold War in 1991 following the demise of the Soviet Union, NATO did not pack up and dissolve. In the ensuing 30 years it has doubled its membership from 16 to the present 30 constituent nations. This was in spite of earlier vows by American leaders that they would not permit NATO enlargement beyond the old frontiers of the Cold War and Warsaw Pact. The most recent additions include Montenegro and North Macedonia. Bosnia and Herzegovina are being considered under Membership Action Plans, and Ukraine and Georgia presumably after that.
NATO’s relentless expansion towards Russia’s borders, including the stationing of missile systems, in conjunction with baseless provocative, rhetoric accusing Moscow of aggression are patently posing an existential threat to Russian security. Yet NATO apologists talk blithely and in Orwellian fashion about promoting security, defense and rule of law.
Lest we forget, Russia came close to annihilation – within living memory – from military aggression by Nazi Germany and its eastern European satellites when up to 27 million Soviet people were killed in the Second World War (1939-45).
NATO’s own purported rules forbid the organization from admitting countries which are involved in border disputes or internal conflicts. That clearly should forbid Ukraine and Georgia. Yet the US-led NATO is turning a blind eye to its own rules, distorting its interventions in these countries as actions of defense against “Russian aggression”.
It would be ludicrous if it were not so gravely serious. NATO “justifies” the expansion to Ukraine and Georgia “because” Russia has forces in the Black Sea and the Barents Sea. Those regions are integral to Russia’s sovereign territory. This is while the United States from a distance of over 6,000 kilometers away stations B-1 strategic bombers for the first time in the Barents and sends increasing numbers of warships to the Black Sea in violation of maritime treaties. What next? Russia is accused of occupying Moscow?
The precedents and historical pattern show that the American imperial catspaw known officially as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is incapable of intelligent reasoning and dialogue. It is a machine geared for confrontation. Russia may therefore have to consider using another form of language in conveying its wholly legitimate security concerns.
For the present trajectory is a road to perdition.”
And who has Biden tapped for his No. 2 at the Dept of State? Cookie-gurl Victoria Nuland!
Do you think Zelensky is controlling his neo-nazis any better than Yats had?
NATO’s Warmongering Newsroom and Home Page
NATO – Russia-Settiing the Record Straight: Alaming Agitprop Alert Ahead
a fun way to spend 49 seconds…
“Since Russia began its aggressive actions against Ukraine, Russian officials have accused NATO of a series of threats and hostile actions. This webpage sets out the facts.” (Note: each Myth includes from two to five paragraphs of “Facts”.
Top Five Russian Myths Debunked
Myth 1: NATO says Russia violated the INF Treaty to justify new deployments
Myth 2: NATO exercises threaten Russia’s security
Myth 3: NATO Allies spend too much on defence
Myth 4: NATO troops are dangerous
Myth 5: NATO Allies are paranoid about Russia
NATO member countries
NATO Partners or ‘Partnerships for Peace’. [Colombia, South America, may be the most Machiavellian designation]
NATO relations with Ukraine [read:epic codswallop]
Next up: ‘Biden’s Post-Trump NATO Reset Points to Failing U.S. Global Power in Multipolar World’, Feb. 19, 2021, editorial staff, strategic-culture.org (a few excerpts):
“The more the US pushes NATO as its vehicle, the more it is apparent that the battery of American power is running flat.” […]
“Under a new man in the White House – an old-time establishment operative – there is seemingly a more consensual approach with allies. Nevertheless, underlying the liberal lexicon there is the same old mantra of hostility towards Russia and China.
Lloyd Austin, the Pentagon chief, told European allies this week that there would have to be “more burden sharing” in order to confront the “threats” allegedly posed by Russia and China. Biden continued the same theme of confronting Russia and China during his G7 and Munich conferences over the weekend.
American hegemonic ambitions required to satisfy its corporate capitalism are dependent on a zero-sum geopolitics. The globe must divided into spheres of influence as in the earlier Cold War decades. There must be antagonism to thwart genuine cooperation which is anathema to American capitalism. Indeed, it can be said that the Cold War never actually ended when the Soviet Union dissolved more three decades ago. America’s imperialist ideology continued under new guises of “fighting terrorism”, “democracy promotion and nation building”, or more recently “great power competition” with Russia and China.
The bottom line is that NATO is more important than ever for enabling Washington’s global power ambitions given the demise of American capitalism and the rise of China and Eurasia. NATO provides a crucial political cover for what would otherwise be seen as naked American imperialism.”
Good to speak with President @ashrafghani of #Afghanistan. #NATO remains committed to our mission & supporting the Afghan security forces in their fight against terrorism. All sides must engage in re-energising the peace process to find a lasting solution.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) February 19, 2021
Who else can guard the opium poppy fields?
@USNATO Feb 18 @NATO
Defense Ministers are discussing the Alliance's operations, including
@ResoluteSupport Mission in #Afghanistan & @IraqNato Mission in #Iraq. These missions play an important role in the global fight against terrorism & Allies are committed to their success. #DefMin
(cross-posted from Café Babylon)
Comments
America is back!
The most important reason for NatSecCom's campaign against Donald Trump was his attitude regarding NATO. We have a new president now and his administration is moving quickly.
Biden to Munich Security Conference: ‘America Is Back’
Biden says U.S. commitment to NATO is 'unshakeable'
SecDef Austin Tells NATO There Will Be No ‘Hasty’ Withdrawal From Afghanistan
NATO Increasing Troops in Iraq From 500 to 4,000
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
lol; and hadn't the
dupoly's 'support NATO act' won massive support? and as it turned out, DT really hadn't thunk the dues to the org were shared equally, or something like that?
what an Amerikan House of Cards. thanks, Azazello.
Same as the old, old President
...this is really going to benefit the American people.
great graphic; my stars!
and climate czar-WEF-Great-Reset john kerry was in munich, too, i'd seen on NATO's twitter account. fact check: 'really, kerry's college GPA wasn't that much lower than Dubya's!
Make Amerika Great Again = Build Back Better.
Extremely dangerous
President Putin always has to answer the questions from Russians as to why they shouldn't have to worry about NATO on their border? He confidently assures them that he has the situation under control and that Russia is well defended. And it's true that in any war in the "near-far" that Russia would clobber NATO. Russia has a large army that is well equipped with modern arms and is very mobile. They could put far more resources rapidly into any situation than the US could.
The real challenge to President Putin comes from right wing hawks within Russia. If a case could be made that he was not adequately defending Russia, and think about the historic perspective of this, then he would be replaced rapidly. What would that mean? Reabsorption of all of Ukraine and Georgia. Support of the 30% Russian speaking people of the Baltic countries. Completing the unification of Belorussia and perhaps other ex USSR states. Is this what the West wants? Up to this point the West has been very aggressive and Russia has been extremely moderate in her reaction. NATO article five will prove to be useless as no nation will stand up for the Baltic states if it means annihilation. Perhaps we need one example to put that to bed. Historically this could be a monstrous turning point for the West vs. Eurasia. And we are stuck with a mentally incompetent CIC, and a defense department run by the worst Neocon hawks. I can't imagine a more dangerous situation. Vladimir Putin has just told the EU to get lost if they intend to put more sanctions on Russia. He's about to send the same message to NATO. Will they listen?
Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.
Yeah
Poland recently (last month or two) completed a war game exercise against "an eastern enemy". It included all foreign forces currently in Poland, some equipment not even yet in Poland but planned to be delivered, as well as ubiquitous NATO air and sea support.
They were expecting the Polish armed forces to last 22 days against Russ . . . I mean "an eastern enemy". Instead, Polish armed forces were completely neutralized in 5 days.
The cause wasn't only the disparity in forces. Reasons also included the expertise of those forces and the lack of understanding of communications and orders from Polish leaders, bickering within the command structure, and just lack of knowledge of how to control an army in warfare.
Poland Loses in Mock War Exercise with an Eastern Enemy
I'm hoping the Polish government and NATO get woken up by this.
These idiots in NATO are playing with fire. Let's hope we don't all get burned.
i hadn't known this:
and assuming that it's so, i can see why you extrapolate further from that belief of theirs.
but at the recent Davos virtual WEF, both Xi and Putin went to great lengths to explain that the western Imperium ceding to a multipolar world would be a win/win for the whole planet. cooperation, not competition.
i agree that russia has increased her (superior, less expensive) weapons of war as a defense against ever-encroaching, ever-enlarging NATO and the US empire, but Putin and lavrov are far more patient, as is Xi, unless they are attacked, even in some false flag as has happened only too often.
as far as i understand it, Russia is still committed to no nuclear first strike, whereas the US has backed away from that, especially in terms of Iran, which nation they still ignorantly swear is seeking a Nuke that's against their religious law. as a side note, the second strategic-culture op-ed brought that in, but were a mite ignorant of how bombastic biden's team is actually making rejoining the JCPOA,.
but if it came to war, my belief is that Russia's allies would join the fray as well, hence the title of this diary.
the purpose of all this US/nato fear mongering? (and actually africom, to boot) is hegemonic domination. the old Q again: 'who will stop it?' A: 'those who can...and must.'
and meanwhile the western defense industries grow wealthier each day. #GriftingForWar.
thanks Wiz; plenty to mull over.
Seems a no brainer that when Biden sends our boats
to play in Russia and China’s bathtubs then there is a big chance that they will be sunk by Russia’s boats or just get hit by a missle.
(Yup Apple is making autocorrect more dumb. It doesn’t know what a missle is and lots of other words.)
Kinda wonder what Biden and Putin said to one another during their chat? I doubt Biden told him to knock it off playing with our elections like he said he did. I can imagine how it would have went if he had. How many times has China’s boats chased ours out of their waters instead of what they legally could have done?
Great comment!
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
another Q:
how many times has the US navy boarded iranian oil tankers, towed them to port...and sold the oil, and kept the change, so to speak?
The Russians
have played "bump & grind with our much larger destroyers in the Black Sea also.
Fearless they are, Russian sailers.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Oh yeah I now remember that kerfufle over there
Was it the Black Sea or another one close by? Hell I don’t know our water ports think I know others? But yeah they went to ram one of ours and they skeddadled quite quickly away, but it should never have come to that.
And guess what? Remember the shit Trump got when he pulled out of the Iran deal? Sure you do. But guess who is reneging on the deal with the taliban? Joe Biden. This will show China, Russia, Iran, N. Korea and Syria that no matter what we say we will do is never to be trusted. Again the world is reminded of what our word means. Add in the promise that NATO wouldn’t move an inch towards Russia and here we on the eve of admitting Ukraine into it. Putin remembers that broken. Millions of people across the globe wants the Afghanistan war to end. Remember that damning report on Afghanistan and how every president has lied to us about how it’s going! Yeah looks like the media has forgotten about it too. Might be a good time to bring it up to Biden.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Thanks Wendy, a new form of terrorism,
terrifying one's own population by engaging in brinksmanship with Russia. Getting to the point that I'm not sure I give a shit any more.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
exactly this!!!
add evil china, evil iran, evil, corrupt VZ and other pink tide nations still almost standing in 'our backyard'...yes, life-killing sanctions are supposed to be: oft Power, or War by Other Means.
brilliant song by randy neuman; thanks. but it's true that global polls have demonstrated that the world sees that the Democracy™ the US exports is Terrorism.
his tune made me think of this art by anthony freda: if it formats too large, i'll get a calculator later and make it smaller:
Great cartoon, sadly too, too true.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
2 true:
yes indeed 2 that; sigh.
If Russia doesn't have imperial designs on Ukraine
Why do they care who they align with? Russian hysteria over NATO is proof that Imperial Russia still lives.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
i assume, then,
that you believe in Russian Revanchism. or Soviet Union Revanchism? each one of us has a right to our various beliefs.
Only one of you is threatening the well-being
...of the American people. And trying to roil you.
This is trollish bullshit. Knock it off Voice. Get some help.
thank you;
i'd been told recently that i was considered "too prickly' here, so i ws trying to be...less so.
Hey Pluto, your last line of text is pushing the envelop, ok.
Our rule is civility, remember. That means one presumes good faith. The US has spent well over a half of a century and huge sums of money pushing an assortment of anti-Russia narratives as well as anti-commie and anti-socialist ones, supported and backed by tons or private organizations. You've got to expect that a prety good chunk of the populace has bought it to varying degrees, especially when you consider that our educational system gives astoundingly short shrift to Russian History.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thanks for the heads-up, el.
But let's not give anyone the impression that having an anti-Russia view is a problem here.
There is certainly no problem on my part. People develop their views from information about Russia that circulates in the US — and a lot of it is scary. The urge to provoke and harm Russia is not unnatural or illogical. It's mainstream.
(I definitely don't want to silence anyone who wants to throw a punch at Russias.)
I object to the trolling of the essay. Whole different level.
I should have said, instead: "Whatsa meta you?!"
Trolling?
My post was to the heart of the essay.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
i dunno;
maybe Pluto's seen you announce over and over: 'i hate putin', sometimes with the addition of 'but i'd like to be able to get a Sputnink5 jab'.
Putin != Russia
And Biden != USA
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
The US is a known aggressor nation and one that loves to
initiate and even entirely wage war via proxy nations. Long ago we swore that we would not put offensive weaponry into an unofficial demilitarized zone around Russia, but have broken it many times since. They have to care if they don't want to be attacked. Same as why nobody in their right mind would sign on to nuclear non-proliferation. The US, quite exceptionally, hasn't attacked N. Korea, nor will we; funny that.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
thank you. and re: iran and the jcpoa
biden caveats having to be 'approved' by israel, saudi arabia, and i;ve forgotten the third (UAE?), from iranian FM javad zarif:
USA in Afghaniston followed Russia in Afghaniston
I fail to see the difference.
Russia has ALWAYS been an imperial power.
One good thing about the post-Soviet constitution was the presidential term limit.
Putin had that taken out so he could become leader for life.
Putin is Trump, except competent.
I'm here to make America better, not to praise Russia.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Putin was elected by an overwhelming majority
of 76% of the Russian people.
In case you didn't know, US presidents could also serve indefinitely - originally there were no term limits. Franklin D. Roosevelt served for four terms. It was only after he died in office that the Twenty-Second Amendment was enacted to limit a President to 2 four year terms (ratified on February 27, 1951).
So don't tell us that 'democracy' also requires term limits.
Another factoid - Russian citizens get to vote for their president by direct ballot unlike in the US. One could argue that Russia has a superior form of democracy because the fucked-up Electoral College elects the American president, NOT the people.
(As an aside, President Xi could be turfed out every 5 years if he doesn't perform. I could argue that the Chinese citizens have more control over their government than American citizens have over theirs. Well over 90% of the Chinese think VERY highly of their government's performance.)
Here's a good article at The Saker:
I could be wrong
Russia did not invade Afghanistan. The USSR did and IIRC, that helped bring it down. I admire Putin for staying calm all these years that we have been stirring up the brown stuff in Syria mostly. And I am not seeing him having hegemonic goals that the US has been going after for too long. And anyone who tries to help the vulnerable is ok which Putin has been doing. Our presidents have been doing nothing as more people here are pushed into poverty.
No he did not do that. He put it up for a vote and let the people decide if they wanted him to stay in power a little longer. Hopefully there isn't someone more to the right of him that wants to take more direct action at us. Just imagine if they had been in place when we overthrew Ukraine's president and then went on to do all that we have there. We would not have tolerated that in Mexico.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
What Russian 'hysteria'?
Vladimir Putin, Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Shoygu are three of the most based, level-headed statesmen in the world. If you want to see 'hysteria' just look at the recent comments in the media by Biden and Stoltenberg.
Have you ever considered that Russia has no use for the basket case called Ukraine other than supporting the historical Russian populace in the Donbas so they become a thorn in the side of that cesspit of a country to bleed the US?
Crimea was a different matter which has already been efficiently and quickly solved. Crimea has been part of Russia since the time of Catherine the Great 250 years ago. If you know your history, you should thank her and Russia for greatly assisting the US in gaining its independence from Great Britain starting in 1763.
Russian leaders are now at the point of telling the EU and US to go pound sand. They are prepared to turn to the East (as is over 2/3rd's of the world's nations). Russia and China together are an invincible combination if push comes to shove. Historically, both of these countries have survived wars that would have permanently broken America's back.
The US is now circling the drain at an ever increasing rate and someone like the senile Biden with his neocon/neoliberal backward thinking advisers doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of stopping it. By the end of
Biden'sKamala's term the majority of Americans will finally come to this realization. Just think of it - Kamala Harris as Commander In Chief in a conflict with Russia and China.It's not as if America wasn't forewarned: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defence than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
what an illuminating
and educational comment; thank you. i'll bring a few related excerpts on biden's virtual speech at the Munich conference from wsws at the bottom. europe isn't as eager to follow the Hegemonster as once was true. waking up to realities, perhaps?
sometimes...bidness is bidness, and takes precedence over ideology.
on edit: oh, and i'd add iranian FM javad zarif as a brilliant diplomat.
re: the breakaway self-declared
republics Donestk and Luhansk, i got to re-imaging this horrific, evil, tragedy, which i remember watching in real time wherever the hell i was writing at the time:
May 2, 2020 6 years ago there was a tragedy that shocked everyone – Ukrainian nationalists burned 50 anti-Maidan activists alive. The Hero City did not confront the killers – was it conquered?', stalkerzone.org (two excerpts):
which inevitably led me to remember eva bartletts's epic reporting from both ukraine and the donbass:
'eva bartlett commits journalism in the donbass, ukraine’, nov.16, 2019, c99%
i did see you'd been reading and commenting, but in case anyone else missed it, and wants to see it, keep it and read it later. she filmed many interviews as well, so it's quite a tome. but holy hell, skimming thru it i found this video from RT.com on the odessa murders that came with a very warning.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0mgpwW6_Y&feature=emb_logo]
a side note,
i reckon, but there were discussion about matt taibbi here yesterday, and i'd mentioned that levine and ames were on twitter. anyhoo, i'd looked up a few exposés they'd done on "pierre" omidyar at pando and nsfwcorp.com, but it seemed silly to add them to the General Gray. (Pierre Omidyar co-funded Ukraine revolution groups with US government, documents show', 2/28/2014
and this one was actually paul car, which i'd forgotten: ‘Revealed: Visitor logs show full extent of Pierre and Pamela Omidyar's cozy White House ties, march 23 2014, pando.com
the art, of course, is what stuck in my noodle:
Seems obvious
Russia cares who Ukraine partners with because we want them to partner with us and that means NATO is in Ukraine which will probably be Russia’s red line. But guess what? NATO is going to do just that anyway knowing damn well that Russia won’t tolerate it.
Why should we care if Russia partners with Mexico and Canada? Sad situation.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
An interesting read.
‘On a Hair Trigger’: Soviets Armed 108 Jets for Nuclear War During 1983 NATO Drills, Docs Show
A few excerpts:
https://sputniknews.com/military/202102191082132128-on-a-hair-trigger-so...
definitely of interest, even
to my worn-out eyes and brain. thanks; i'll read it again tomorrow.
jezum crow;
it's srsly worth reading the whole terrifying thing, and again: i'll read more closely as i have time.
thank you, humphrey.
i'm done/frazzled stupid for tonight, and
the closing song just has to be sam bradley's cover of dylan's song.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaMz8pgua_0]
'it didn't have to be this way...
except WE were this way'
~ AIM leader, santee sioux john trduell; may he Rest in Power
I'm not
Neither are you, I'm pretty sure; we should say "we" less. It's not true, therefore not fair, therefore, ultimately, it doesn't help.
'Justice' is a word for something that I think is ill-served by tinkering or definition (don't even get me started on adjectives), but if I had to give it the best definition I could, it would be 'credit where credit is due'. The evil that has come from collective credit can hardly be overstated: If I am a Jew, that does not mean I killed Jesus; if I am a North Carolingian, that does not mean I invented the airplane. Et cetera, et cetera.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
i'm trying to puzzle my
way thru this:
it may be that you mean: not masters of war, or pinging those who speak of 'our military' or 'our nation'; i rarely claim them and mine. but the quote i gave was from john trudell's 'rich man's war', iirc.
in a sense, he'd spent his life trying to stop them, and just after he'd burned an amerikan flag on the steps of the j edgar hoover building, his house with his wife, children, and mother-in-law burned to the ground. they all perished. he became the talking poet that he was until the day he died.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y88AaSnJwqA]
I was referring to the quote
'it didn't have to be this way...
except WE were this way'
Not paying taxes is a crime when you're not ungodly-rich, so short of the most extreme, puritanical, petty, and willfully punitive rationales for saying otherwise (and remember what Nietzsche said about those with a powerful urge to punish), you and I are not to blame for Morgoth's atrocities, and we shouldn't make false confessions.
Maybe I was mistaken about what that meant?
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
he'd quite obviously
been meaning 'We collectively', and i agree wholeheartedly. it's okay that you don't, but it would take far too long to explain my position.
"Rule of law"
They've obviously totally redefined that the same way Bush redefined "freedom" (sincere thanks to George Lakoff); assuming their new definition is consistent, it *might* be helpful to decipher it.
I wonder: Did WWII cryptographers have to deal with ideological/values-based language barriers?
Lakoff's work is scary, honestly: At first it brings the relief and hope that always comes with improved understanding, but beyond that, it seems to imply that there ARE insurmountable limits to understanding and barriers to consensus, and we CAN'T all co-exist, and from there it's a fairly straight highway to Eugenics Wars (just along different axes than the customary granfalloons)....
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
from wsws.org
‘While Biden proclaims “America is back,” imperialist conflicts dominate Munich conference’, bill van auken, feb. 21, 2021
"Mac'n'Merk"
Power-couple Tabloids Take Heed: You heard it HERE first!
Say what you will about either of them, thank heavens they're finding a spine!
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
let's say:
a bit of spine, at any rate. you might want to read the rest of their comments, esp. macron's. ; )
I think I saw what you wanted me to see...
...yuck.
Well, we already knew he's mostly a jerk; hopefully, the famous French popular backbone proves stronger even than his.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
lol;
remember when he was Trump's poodle, too? funny cartoon, eh wot?
i was just looking at NATO's
twitter account again...'stay in iraq to fight ter'ists' and so on, never mind that the iragi govt. had told foreign troops to get out.
but here we go again, same messages, different months:
oooof: epic air power threats!
Stephen Cohen said war flashpoints in either Ukraine or Syria
For general news about Russia, I follow RT punit Byran MacDonald at https://twitter.com/27khv. He is from Ireland and has for a number of years lived in Russia. He likes to expose how many Western commentators on Russia can't even get basic facts right.
But he has stated that if Ukraine joins NATO Putin may take actual military action. Not sure what it will be, but as you state, Ukraine joining NATO is crossing a red line.
Also, the great Russian scholar said the two flash points that could start a war between the West and Russia and that was Syria and Ukraine. And from what I can tell, the Biden administration is looking at getting aggressive toward the Russians in both locations with the backing of NATO.
I have been predicting that if Biden was elected, he would be more likely to start a war with Russia. The pandemic will continue to ravage America leading to a near permanent state of a medical and economic dystopia. The same is happening in Europe with serious riots over the lockdown. It will be easy to aggressively attack Russia to divert from domestic problems. Vicious and I would say racist anti-Russian has seeped in the body politic to lend support for a war against Russia. Let's remember that when Bush invaded Iraq something like 72% of the American public approved.
BTW just to note something I read from a Norwegian blogger. He stated that more male Norwegians joined the Nazi army than were killed trying to fend off the German invasion. I have always believed that the animus against the Russians was infused with a historical latent crypto-Nazism.
may stephen cohen
rest in power. flashpoints syria or ukraine. john pilger believes 'china'. but actually, t'was the editorial staff a strategic culture who'd called it: ‘NATO’s Road To Perdition With Ukraine’. for myself, the epic scramble to add so many other 'peace partnerships', under nato's umbrella, 'not quite members' (that used to be 'so corrupt no money for dues' like ukraine) added up to 'finally crossing the rubicon' as in: as failing empires are total loose cannons.
i like macdonald, too. biden is as bombastic on china as he is on russia, but your prediction seems sound. i just don't see putin biting on ukraine joining NATO, as its been 'under NATO's protection' for some time now. but the west has been arming ukraine plenty, now even with offensive weapons, as i recall.
what i do worry about is further false flags as with the Tweet above: 'it had to have been iran that bombed ___ fill in the blank again'.
MacDonald's most recent at RT: NATO orders warships into Black Sea as bloc’s chief calls for Ukraine to be allowed join & stop Russian ‘plan’ to dominate ex-USSR, 10 Feb, 2021
Soviet Revanchism again.
on edit: syria, yes. AFAIK, russia has been the sole nation invited to help 'assad who'd gassed his people' to aid the nation militarily. yet how many nations are illegally bombing syria? i'm pretty sure that pepe escobar called syria 'ground zero in the pipelinistan wars'.
russia has been trying to 'deconflict the air space' with israel, others (?), to no seeming avail. but false flags again are distinct possibilities, i think.
from macDonald's piece:
"Relations between Russia and the West are in choppy waters, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who says the Black Sea is the new battleground in the US-led bloc’s fight for influence and control in the region.
At a joint press conference with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denis Shmigal on Tuesday, Stoltenberg said that “we have seen a significant Russian buildup in the Black Sea, not least with the illegal annexation of Crimea, and also with more naval presence in the year.”
However, in the same breath, he pointed out that “NATO has increased its military presence in the Black Sea region, because we recognize the great strategic importance of this region for all NATO allies but also of course for our close partner, Ukraine.”
Shmyhal added that his country will “start building two naval bases, one in the Black Sea one, in the Azov Sea.” According to him, the endeavor is part of an international effort to step up the presence of Western-backed forces in the region “as part of our cooperation with Britain, [which is] also helping us financially so this program can be launched.”
In a move that will surely raise eyebrows in Moscow, Stoltenberg added that Kiev is “recognized as a candidate for NATO membership. NATO allies help and support Ukrainian efforts to join the Alliance.” Joining the US-led organization has long been an ambition for the country, but one that has been fiercely opposed by Russia over fears of more military exercises and warplanes dangerously close to its borders.
In November, NATO rocket launch tests in Romania saw missiles capable of hitting Crimea fired into the Black Sea. The deputy head of the peninsula’s public chamber, Alexander Formanchuk, said that “provocations against Crimea have become more frequent. Unfortunately, we are witnessing a further exacerbation of international relations and the international situation. And the topic of Crimea is a convenient reason for escalating such provocations.”
same shit, different day. gotta get back to my bread...
lol
Thread
Biden broke the deal Trump made with the Taliban. I’m sure that peace will break out any minute now that Biden’s staying put. Any minute....
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Nuther thread
I was watching this live and couldn’t believe what she was saying. She seemed to keep digging.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
ah, i just twigged as to
what miz williamson was on about. i'll add:
and from the phillip weiss link, although you'll have to click in for the hyperlink...
file under:
even a dim bulb lights now and again.
i'd tried to Unsubsrcibe to russell brand's meditations (not my cuppa), but got 'last chance' now and again. one said that 'marianne willaimons had joined the team', and while bingling i'd found these hits.
Caitlin
Thread
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
long day here, and it's time for me to shut down
almost in time to watch 'all creatures great and small' 2.0
closing song:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUqFP3kGMZg]
g' night; see you in the morning. sleep well if you're able to. dream well, and if not, at least instructively.
good morning! it's another beautiful day on
'the most beautiful world...in the world'!
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm9wrglpOnU]
RT.com's reporting that an asteroid the size of a baseball stadium is headed toward earth! Dayum, i hope it drops on our wee hogan! clap if you can help make it so!