The Weekly Watch
Suppressing Competent Leaders
In the west, empty headed puppets are preferred as the leadership class. They're so much easier to control and manipulate. Any thinking candidates who will try to serve the people will be maligned, derided, and ignored. What brings this to mind is both Tulsi's resignation from the democratic party, and a clip below of Jeremy Corbyn. Both of whom if given a chance would be competent leaders, IMO. As a result they've both been smeared and sidelined. I find Putin and Xi competent leaders working for the good of their own people rather than corporate profit. Contrast them with the likes of Joementia, Liz Truss, Scholz, or Macron the banker.
Chris Hedges: The Puppets and the Puppet Masters
This is the speech given by Chris Hedges outside the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. on Saturday October 8 at a rally that called on the U.S. to revoke its extradition request for Julian Assange.
I heard a couple of clips recently from Jeremy Corbyn. No wonder TPTB won't allow him to become PM smearing him as anti-semite because he is pro-Palestinian.
More interviews from Jeremy here
We've had some conversation about Tulsi this week.
https://caucus99percent.com/content/more-tulsi-ditching-democrats-0
Tulsi has started a new podcast and she resigns from the Democratic party in her first episode.
I believe in a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not. Instead, it stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite. If you can no longer stomach the direction that so-called woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country, I invite you to join me.
At least she has the courage to level legitimate criticisms at the democrats, laying out the rationale for her resignation. I agreed with much of what she said. Is she perfect? No. Are you?
She had an interesting interview with Joe Rogan this week. Here's a few clips.
Joe Rogan & Tulsi Gabbard:
THE WORLD MUST Negotiate a PEACEFUL END To The Ukraine War! (4 min)
The SECRET To Nancy Pelosi's STOCK TRADES!! $$ Profit FIRST Pelosi (6 min)
Ron DeSantis For President?! & How Do We ESCAPE The " 2 Party System" !? (6 min)
The Creation Of WOKE CULTURE In Universities Over The Past Decade! (5 min)
My point of Tulsi's inclusion today is to emphasize that anyone who challenges the system is marginalized, canceled, and disappeared.
I wonder what TPTB have planned for Clare Daly. (26 min)
She is one of the few in the EU trying to stand up for peace, and gave a great speech in the EU parliament.
Would that the US had such a voice in the halls of power.
No, the western puppets seemingly become more incompetent by the day...
All it takes is 2 minutes to make my point-
I feel sorry for Joementia, but sadly he is the front puppet for the US, so by extension I feel sorry for this country.
Russell gives a plug to Trump for his call for peace in an entertaining 12 min rant. I was cooking yesterday listening to iEarlGrey, and at the end of the clip it went to a Trump rally in Arizona. It seemed to me most of his speech (at least the few minutes I listened) was devoted to name calling of democrats and bragging of his successes. I wasn't impressed, but his huge crowd was.
European leaders are not really any better. Can you believe their silence after the US blew up their primary gas supply? Not a word. And now Sweden says what they found is so secret they are not revealing the findings of their investigation.
New Zealand's Ardan promotes media control. '...digital enslavement is coming...' (19 min)
Neil Oliver asks ‘…how did we get from ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ in 1939 to a perpetual state of pant wetting anxiety in 2022?’
The Duran had several pieces this week about European leadership.
Protests and strikes, French anger towards Macron grows (16 min)
Regime change plot in UK. Dark times ahead (22 min)
Kwarteng gone. Elensky curse coming for Truss. Sunak next in line (18 min)
Cancelling Germany's AfD Party (16 min)
The collective west is becoming as corrupt as Ukraine canceling political parties, media outlets, and people that don't walk the line.
This piece makes my point of the US becoming Ukraine.
‘Now, All of You Are Azov’: ‘openly neo-Nazi’ Ukrainian delegation meets Congress, tours US
Meanwhile in the Netherlands they've begun seizing farms under a blanket of media silence.
The Dutch farmers are losing their battle against the globalist WEF and these draconian environmental policies. Over 17,000 farmers in the Netherlands are being effected. The story doesn't end there because it's crushing farmers from Germany to New Zealand. Academic Researcher Ralph Schoellhammer dissects the latest developments.
Here in the US we arrest farmers for not following the USDA rules. Do you remember the case of Amish farmer Amos Moses (4 min)? Well there is some good news on that front. (6 min)
Joel and Sina provide an update in this ongoing legal battle between organic farmers and the USDA
We are living in an interesting time. There's a major global shift away from the west and toward a BRICS+ future. The power of the dollar is beginning to fail as countries use their own currencies rather than the USD.
De-dollarization Explodes Globally! 40 Countries Refuse to Use the Dollar! (10 min)
U.S dollar is pegged to oil to become the world's only currency with devaluation risk hedging function, but if all the countries in the Middle East are no longer using the dollar for oil settlement, the dollar's dominance will suffer an unprecedented impact, and may even end the era of dollar hegemony.
Third, many countries to step up the transport back to gold.
The Bretton Woods system made the U.S. dollar the only currency pegged to gold, and the U.S. became the world's economic hegemon, depositing all the world's gold in its own banks. But as the system collapsed, more and more countries wanted to ship back the gold for their own security. But the United States will not easily agree, for them, a large number of lost gold, also will affect the economic development of their own country.
Fourth, the construction of a new international settlement system.
At present, the BRICS countries, led by China and Russia, have already started to intend to establish an international settlement system centered on other currencies, and other countries have also started to make preparations for this.
Take the BRICS countries as an example, both China and Russia are among the five permanent members of the United Nations, with relatively high international status and strong economic and military power. Therefore, if the BRICS countries led by China and Russia take the lead in establishing a new international settlement system, it will definitely have a great impact on the dominance of the U.S. dollar and even affect the world economic market. All these show the determination of the world countries to try to get rid of the influence of the dollar, and perhaps in the near future, the status of the dollar will no longer exist.
Ironically we have done this to ourselves by sanctioning anyone we want, stealing nations US funds and assets, and waging wars all around the world.
I found this conversation interesting with Joe addressing the economic impacts and Scott looking at global fuel trades. (35 min)
Scott Ritter and Joe Lombaardo talk about the effects of US Sanctions in Europe
It feels like the US has become a rudderless ship adrift in a sea of misery. TPTB cannot accept the inevitable evolution of a new multipolar world... and is having a temper tantrum, sacrificing our own people, allies, and our resources. I'll close out with a short comment by Caity...
We’re being driven toward nuclear war on the completely fictional claim that Putin is a Hitler-like megalomaniac who’s just invading countries completely unprovoked, solely because he is evil and hates freedom, and won’t stop invading and conquering until he’s stopped by force.
The news media aren’t telling people about the western aggressions which led to this war. They’re not telling people the US is keeping this war going with the stated goal of weakening Russia and is rejecting peace talks and refusing to push for peace. All people are being told is that Putin is another Hitler who won’t listen to reason and only understands violence. The world’s two nuclear superpowers are being pushed closer and closer to direct military confrontation based on a complete fiction which omits mountains of facts.
To participate in this madness is indefensible. It is indefensibly immoral to foist a fictional version of events upon a trusting populace in order to manufacture consent for more and more aggressive acts of brinkmanship with a nuclear superpower. These people are depraved.
Competent Leaders Need Not Apply.
Have a good Sunday, and I look forward to your thoughts, comments, and insights below.
Comments
Good Morning--
Things are heating up significantly today.
https://twitter.com/Russ_Warrior/status/1581611377520582659
Closing Embassies in Kiev by Russia aligned countries. hmmm
Next, WashPo weighs in:
The Washington Post reports on the state of the Ukrainian army:
"The Ukrainian military has been at the front for eight months now without rotation and rest, the shelling of Russian artillery and the news of new mobilization reserves of Russia are causing a drop in discipline among the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the backdrop of a lack of people and resources.
The article says that many units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were overwhelmed by a wave of demoralization, as there were "too many losses."
Ukrainian soldiers believe that over time the situation at the front will only worsen, because soon the new Russian military reserves will receive the necessary combat experience, and winter cold will begin in Ukraine itself. Also, many are demoralized by the destruction of a thermal power plant in western Ukraine."
One more excerpt: Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy:
"The Chinese Foreign Ministry urges its citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately."
There is a lot behind this dry phrase. The colossal regroupings and concentration of new forces, coupled with the new military satellite launched by the Russian Federation, speak of one thing.
In the next two weeks, there will be what would later be called in the history books "a turning point in the 2022 war."
"This is how I see it."
Now, from me, That's how I see it, too
NYCVG
Ukraine has lost this war...
...and it looks like they have set themselves up to lose more including Odessa. I'm not sure when it winds down. Probably about the time we start some shit in Taiwan.
We are Addicted to War.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_E0Ji8tkvw]
Hope all is well with you and yours. Thanks for the Ukraine update.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Military Interests
Senators and Congresscritters follow the state interests. That's what they are paid to do.
10,000 peace marches and demonstrations will not make any difference.
France and Germany and the Netherlands are objecting to the storm that is engulfing them.Remember the Gilet Jaunes? Hate to be so cynical but I will be thrilled if this time is different.
NYCVG
I don't see protests helping
Sadly. That's why I continue to circle back to "hiding in the holler"...not terribly different from the elite "buckling in under the bunker". The system is broken and replacing one puppet with another isn't going to change anything. We need a new system.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I found a new author I like
He’s talking about the upcoming war with China.
Link
After 9/11 tyranny did come to America in the way of the patriot act and the further assaults on our rights.
Remember that Biden has switched from foreign terrorism to domestic terrorism and is hiring 87,000 IRS agents and I’m sure they aren’t going after the 724 American billionaires, but we the people. He includes this quote from James Madison:
Biden also recently attacked Trump supporters and listed them all as bad people. He has another essay on the war with China and other good stuff. Not deep, but he makes his point.
He also said that our military gurus know damn well that we can’t win a war against China and you can see that by the way we just spent 20 years fighting in Afghanistan and left with our tails between our legs. I added the end. But then we have to remember that winning the war might not have been our goal and it was just money laundering as Assange has said.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Thanks for the recommendation...
I'll check out his article. I'm listening to Pepe this AM as I cook and clean...got company coming for a couple of days.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnNqrBUrVWo]
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I really enjoyed this one
Too many twists and turns to excerpt it but I highly recommend reading it.
https://strategic-culture.org/news/2022/10/14/dead-hand-vs-dead-brain/
He’s talking about macron saying that NATO and its leaders are brain dead and especially Joe Biden who is no way in charge of anything and then talks about Russia and the war.
I will include this
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
War is our only
I appreciated the discussion about China as our next opponent.
Are the warmongers totally insane?
China. Russia. Iran. India. Turkey. South Africa. Saudi Arabia. and all the other Global South countries are and will continue to unite against us.
NYCVG
It appears that they are insane
It’s what the first part of the strategic article is about. Rotten, brain dead old men who are facing their mortality. But then he switches to more serious stuff and I think it’s people like him who should be running our foreign policy and not Blinken and other Israel firsters and neocon retreads that have given us nothing but war for decades.
I keep seeing people saying that Russia needs to take the gloves off. They should hope that they don’t because things will get very dangerous if they do!
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
With leaders like this the results might be inevitable.
Great cartoons, Thanks.
Better to laugh than cry. Thanks again.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Love the toons
NYCVG
Interesting view from Odessa
by American ex-pat on u-tube. I can’t imagine this flurry of short clips ‘from Michael and Olga, living in Odessa during conflict in Ukraine’, will be up for very long.
Part of the human story of living in a war zone.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
Thanks for the clips...
I wasn't familiar with them. I liked the Ukrainian folk music in the clip I watched.
Attacking Russia directly today.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/10/16/Russia-s-Belgorod-re...
Beautiful weather here, although it is still dry. Hope all is well in your corner.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Mind Blowing
https://twitter.com/GeromanAT/status/1581608491932082177
NYCVG
Yes, General Winter...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
So, should somebody produce a recording
of "Living on Tulsi Time"?
Asking for a friend
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 --
Sounds like a good idea...
better record it fast before her 5 minutes are up.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
and not the last five minutes before midnight.
Otherwise armageddon is near, as we all knoe by now.
i wished sometimes I would know how to link and post to some German stuff. Saw a great film a DOGS and was thinking about Snopp
Close to midnight, so treasure your days....
https://news.yahoo.com/doomsday-clock-nuclear-threats-north-korea-russia...
Hope you're doing well in these crazy times.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
what's a hundred seconds among friends?
doomsday is the new fear factor being used against us to keep us down.
It's not a
question of TG not being perfect, but of her bizarre political 180 swing from Bernie progressive just 2 yrs ago to a right/far-right culture warrior who seems to prioritize those RW-driven culture war side shows over all else and appears to be ready to endorse Ron DeSantis for president.
Marginalized or cancelled? Only in the establishment center-left media outlets. Otherwise she enjoys a big public platform w her many Fox appearances and with several 2-hr softball interviews with Joe Rogan, the most popular podcaster in the country with an estimated 11m viewers/listeners. That in addition to her new podcast. Her voice is hardly being stifled, though for sure at Msnbc and CNN, two lightly-viewed cable outposts with an elderly and dwindling viewership.
Sorry, no sympathy from me.
I don't see a swing in her politics...
The swing I see isn't with Tulsi but the dim party's pro-war, pro-corporation, pro-identity politics. It didn't happen over night. It's been a long time in the making, really accelerating with Clinton's NAFTA, telecommunications bill, crime bill, repeal of glass-stegall and continued under Obummer's bank bailout rather than home owners, drone wars, elimination of habeas corpus, no public option, coups and wars.
I'm of the opinion politics are a waste of time - the system is broken. What Tulsi did is call out the broken nature of the dim wits, and that's why she made the column.
Obviously YMMV.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
So in response
To note also is the fact that all the specific issues you mention were policies in place before or during the period when Tulsi was a Dem in power and in an official leadership position and, except for her later objections to some regime change wars, she didn't have much to say about those issues. What caused the change in viewpoint, esp wrt the overemphasis on culture war issues associated with GOP concerns? Or is her current culture warrior stance from the right a little less sincerely held than advertised and is it driven more by a desire to curry favor with the GOP for personal political reasons. Like being a VP on a future GOP presidential ticket, or cabinet position in a GOP presidency?
Her description of the Dem party
I conclude there is no difference in the parties.
I am of the 99%, politicians do the bidding of the 1%. Makes no difference who is in office.
I do hate to see the 99% divide and squabble about party politics. The focus should be toward the top of the heap.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
On UKR and
On most domestic issues, it's a matter of Ds being feckless and weak and tardy in passing needed legislation but overall they stand for the right things, while the other party opposes, says No to everything but tax hikes for the rich and budget increases for the Pentagon. Depends of course on how much one values "the right things" -- protecting SS, Medicare and health care reform generally, a woman's right to choose, minimum wage hikes, protecting the environment, voting rights, civil rights, church-state separation, etc.
I highly value these things so despite the DP's many major faults, I still keep one foot in that camp, but completely understand those who prefer no allegiance with either major party.
Obama proffered to
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I’m with you on this POV
There is nothing but wishful thinking behind the notion that one of our two parties can save us from the other one. Money owns them both. Both parties serve money’s interests over the interests of those casting votes. Always.
Perhaps in local elections, where little special interest money is funneled to candidates, a functional representative democratic process may still be possible.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
At county, even district level, we are one party. There are
Voting for the lesser of two evils is not my thing now.
At the national level, both parties are controlled by NGOs. It is a farce.
I do vote for D candidates for State Supreme Court. That is the one wing of government that can actually help.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Yes, as I noted
That's how I view it, obviously a minority position here, and so be it.
chatting with a fellow at a gathering the other night
I had mentioned I wrote for a political blog. He asked the name -- caucus 99% -
and he rightly surmised it was left wing. He stated he was left of the left wing.
So I told him of my grandmother's story of an out-of-towner asking directions to the
nearest bus stop. "Well if you go the corner and take a left, you will be right.
But if you go right, you will be left (behind)."
Didn't want to get into the whole labels issue, so let it glide.
Ahem…
Democrats pretend that they stand for the right things when in reality they never seem to get them passed because there is always a rotating villain to block what they say they are trying to pass. Nelson during Clinton’s tenure, Lieberman during Obama’s tenure and now Manchin during Biden’s.
As for republicans cutting taxes that’s true, but when democrats are in a position to roll them back they make them permanent. Obama did Bush’s tax cuts and Biden has the Trump ones. It’s sad that people can’t see how both parties serve the same donors and just pretend to oppose each other.
It’s just theater like the Washington generals and Harlem globetrotters with the people being the refs who can’t see the fouls. Democrat voters are just as blind as republican voters when their party is in power. Pelosi pretended that she was against Trump when in reality she gave him everything he asked for. But her tearing up his speech was a nice touch…blehh!
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Great take down of Truss...
from someone in her own party.
Peter Oborne Absolutely DEMOLISHES Liz Truss (9 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPqDp90f6-Y]
This makes the same point as today's column.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
A different, very lively
and not always pleasant chat between Gonzalo Lira, Michael Tracey and his other guest. Lira and Tracey get into it on several occasions. MT accuses GL of putting words in his mouth, and GL says he's merely drawing logical inferences from MT's comments. I thought Gonzalo a few times brought out the worst in MT as Tracey seemed heck bent on insisting on the rightness of a very narrow point whereas GL went for the larger picture. And a few times MT brought out the overzealous conspiracist in GL.
Gonzalo did not seem happy when Tracey reminded him that he MT was the journalist on the ground covering events and so was better positioned to know the events in question. MT eventually excuses himself from the conversation, having enough of GL imputing positions to MT that he says he doesn't hold.
This was a cringe worthy ‘discussion’ at a few points
but the other two guests, Brian and Ian, were ready for some detente and happy to land on some basic points of agreement. The vibe between Gonzalo and Michael sounded too much like a poorly matched bickering couple. In that regard nothing was accomplished other than an affirmation of pervasive animus and contempt between the two.
Gonzalo is an acquired taste to begin with, but this was a rank wedge of Brie in an otherwise palatable group of Round Table talks.
“What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.”
-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
The round table with Mark Slebota and Yves Smith this week...
was much better. The last 10 minutes talking about Putin also adds to this essay.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4EmAcszyHM&t=60s]
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It was only a matter of time
Substack payment center is going after some writers who they think are spreading misinformation and causing conflicts in the comments. I find that totally bunk because I rarely miss reading comments from every writer I follow. Sage is a required taste and a little out there., but here’s another person who is being targeted.
Or maybe it’s just one service and there’s no there there, but I have a bad feeling about this. 2 writers?
There have been times when substack has been slow to load or has been down and maybe they were glitches, but remember a few months back lots of corporate media writers wanted Greenwald censored so maybe shit has hit the fan. Substack said that they would not censor. I guess it’ll depend on how much pressure they get from the PTB.
Side note is that Musk said he’d no longer provide free satellite stuff to Ukraine. Then I saw a headline saying that the fed was going to investigate his Twitter buy. Today he’s back to providing satellite service to Ukraine.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
I hate to see that...
Using our ISP's and digital devices they can control all our media access....and I'm afraid it is going to get worse.
The thought police have arrived. As Neil said in the clip above, they are using 1984 as a playbook not a warning.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Lookout provided many videos to check out but what the heck
Here is one more.
the Moats is fun...
I caught a bit of it. Got company now, so off to bed.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Horrifying if true
omicron gain of function research
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Insanity reigns supreme...
It is the world we inhabit.
Thanks for the sad news.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
You did it again, LO!
Another grand slam of info, all in one essay. Thanks so much, friend.
I am going to have some cool weather this week. That means cool to people used to some cold weather. For me, having experienced a sweltering September, it means I will have to wear layers of clothing!
I did feel very heartened about the Amish farmer and his wife getting representation from some very high profile defense attorneys. I am now hopeful for them.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thanks...
Our company just left after a great music gathering and feed at the camphouse. The campfire was welcomed as night fell. It was 35F this AM and colder tomorrow. That means bringing in houseplants and digging sweet potatoes today. So it'll be a busy one here in the holler.
Enjoy your cooler weather.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”