The Evening Blues - 12-10-24
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features blues and jazz banjo player Ikey Robinson. Enjoy!
"Banjo" Ikey Robinson and His Bull Fiddle Band - Rock Me Mama
It’s pretty wild how the west went directly from “We need to occupy Afghanistan for two decades to prevent it from being taken over by the Taliban” to “Yay! Syria’s been taken over by al-Qaeda!”
-- Caitlin Johnstone
News and Opinion
Luigi Mangione—the 26-year-old man arrested in Pennsylvania Monday on gun charges and suspected of last week's assassination of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson—was carrying a manifesto condemning insurance industry greed, police said after his apprehension.
Mangione, a Maryland native who according to his social media profiles has a master's degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, was apprehended after being recognized in a McDonald's in Altoona, The New York Times reported. He has been charged with weapons, forgery, and other crimes and is scheduled to appear before a judge in western Pennsylvania.
New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione was in possession of a 9mm handgun—possibly a ghost gun made with numerous parts or a 3D printer—the type used to kill Thompson, as well as a silencer and what he described as an anti-corporate manifesto.
"It does seem he has some ill will toward corporate America," Kenny said.
A police official who said they saw the manifesto told CNN that Mangione admitted to killing Thompson in the hand-written document, writing that he acted alone and was "self-funded."
"I do apologize for any strife or trauma," the document stated, "but it had to be done. These parasites had it coming."
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch claimed that Mangione was also carrying a fake New Jersey ID matching the one the suspecter killer used to check into a New York City hostel 10 days before Thompson was gunned down in broad daylight in Manhattan with a silencer-equipped gun firing 9mm bullets.
Three bullet casings were inscribed with the words "deny," "defend," and "depose"—a phrase commonly used by critics to describe insurance industry tactics to avoid paying patient claims. UnitedHealth, the nation's biggest private insurer, is notorious for denying more claims than any other insurance company.
Mangione's social media posts run the gamut from praising the opinions of right-wing figures like Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson to leaving positive reviews on Goodreads for books including Dr. Seuss' cautionary environmental tale The Lorax and the manifesto of Theodore Kaczynski—better known as the Unabomber.
"He had the balls to recognize that peaceful protest has gotten us absolutely nowhere and at the end of the day, he's probably right," Mangione controversially opined of Kaczynski, whom he called "an extreme political revolutionary."
"When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive," he asserted.
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : The Geopolitics Of Syria’s Civil War
Israel, US and Turkey launch strikes in Syria to protect interests
Bombing raids have hit sites across Syria as regional actors in the Middle East scrambled to defend their interests in the country after the sudden fall of its president, Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Moscow. ... Israel, Turkey and the US carried out military action and Assad’s former backers in Russia and Iran also engaged in efforts to shape a future Syria.
With events moving at an often dizzying pace, the rebels who toppled Assad announced on Telegram that they were issuing a general amnesty for regime military conscripts, as former Syrian prime minister Mohammed al-Jalali told al-Arabiya television he had agreed to hand over power to the rebel “salvation government”.
The US has struck targets associated with Islamic State (IS) in central Syria, while Turkey has attacked US-backed Kurdish forces. A deal for the Kurdish forces to withdraw from the northern city of Manbij was reportedly struck on Monday after an advance by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. ...
Israel also confirmed that it had sent forces into the buffer zone beyond the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and into former Syrian military positions on Mount Hermon in what it described as a “temporary measure”. It said it would continue with airstrikes on former regime sites associated with missiles and chemical weapons, and with airstrikes reported on Monday evening at an air defence installation near the port of Latakia.
With sharply competing agendas, Turkey and Israel have already laid out what they say are their red lines regarding Syria, with Turkey saying it would not accept the Kurdish PKK or Islamic State benefiting from the new situation, even as it promised to help Syrian migrants in Turkey, which hosts 3 million refugees, to return. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, however insisted that Turkey has no interest in expanding its reach into Syria, despite its backing of the Syrian rebels.
The Fall of Assad & What it Means for The Mid East (w/ Alastair Crooke) | The Chris Hedges Report
Benjamin Netanyahu says Syrian Golan Heights will remain part of Israel ‘for eternity’
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, will remain part of Israel “for eternity”, amid growing criticism of an Israeli takeover of a previously demilitarised buffer zone in Syrian-controlled territory. Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, the Israeli prime minister said Israeli control of the high ground “ensures our security and sovereignty” adding “the Golan will be part of the State of Israel for eternity”.
Over the weekend, Netanyahu ordered troops to move into a UN-patrolled buffer zone and attacked what it said were regime weapons depots with airstrikes, as the shock victory of Syrian rebels over Bashar al-Assad reshapes the region’s frontlines.
The UN said on Monday that the move constituted a violation of a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria. “There should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation. And Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement, and preserve stability in the Golan,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary general, António Guterres.
Most of the Golan Heights plateau has been occupied by Israel since 1967. It was fully annexed in 1981, a move not recognised by most of the international community.
We remain committed to bringing leading AQS figures in HTS to justice. #Syria pic.twitter.com/R8evqffWum
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) May 15, 2017
Syria Falls to Rebranded Al-Qaeda Leader. What’s Next For Region & Resistance? w/ Elijah Magnier
US Bombs Over 75 Targets in Syria After Assad Falls
U.S. military forces launched dozens of airstrikes on more than 75 Islamic State targets in Syria on Sunday after the fall of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid ongoing Israeli and Turkish attacks on the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.
According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), warplanes including B-52 bombers, F-15 fighters, and A-10 ground attack aircraft "conducted dozens of precision airstrikes targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in central Syria."
CENTCOM called the strikes "part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria."
The U.S., "together with allies and partners in the region, will continue to carry out operations to degrade ISIS operational capabilities even during this dynamic period in Syria," CENTCOM added.
Responding Monday to the latest attacks on Syria by U.S. forces, Danaka Katovich, national co-director of the peace group CodePink, told Common Dreams: "We condemn the U.S. airstrikes in Syria. The U.S. has sowed chaos in Syria and the entire region for years and the Biden administration ordering ongoing airstrikes is a disappointing sign that they have no intent on reversing their deadly policy of interventionism."
U.S. and coalition forces have killed and maimed at least tens of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis during the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations as part of the anti-ISIS campaign and wider so-called War on Terror.
Commenting on the dearth of coverage of the strikes by the corporate media, prominent Greek leftist Yanis Varoufakis said on social media that "the Western press are waxing lyrical about the new Syria being born—but not a word on the U.S. and Israeli bombs falling from the sky."
"Is there no bottom to the moral void of the Western press?" he added.
Sunday's U.S. strikes came as al-Assad and relatives fled to Russia—where they have been granted asylum—amid the fall of the capital, Damascus, to rebel forces.
Also on Sunday, Israeli forces seized more territory in Syria's Golan Heights and ordered residents of five villages to "stay home and not go out until further notice" if they want to remain safe. Israel conquered the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights in 1967 and has unlawfully occupied it ever since. In 1981, Israel illegally annexed the occupied lands.
"We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border," right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza—said in a video posted on social media.
Numerous Israelis celebrated the seizure on social media, while others cautioned against boasting about what is almost certainly an illegal conquest.
Meanwhile in northern Syria, Turkish airstrikes in support of Syrian National Army rebels—who are battling U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in and around the Kurdish-controlled city of Manbij—reportedly killed numerous civilians along with dozens of militants.
In what it called a "horrific massacre," the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that 11 civilians from the same family, including women and six children, were killed in a Turkish drone strike on the SDF-controlled village of Al-Mustariha in northern Raqqa Governate.
Aaron Maté : Who Won In Syria?
"They've replaced the "brutal dictator" with an extremist headchopper. Quick, deport all the Syrians!"
UK and other European states suspend Syrians’ asylum applications
The UK and other European countries have said they will suspend the processing of asylum applications from Syrians after the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus, with Austria already preparing a “repatriation and deportation” programme to the country. In London, a Home Office spokesperson said it had “temporarily paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims whilst we assess the current situation”.
“We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review so we can respond to emerging issues,” the spokesperson added. The moves come despite a lack of clarity over what lies ahead for Syria, one day after rebel forces seized the capital and the president fled to Russia.
Among the first in Europe to react was Germany, home to Europe’s largest Syrian diaspora after taking in nearly a million Syrians fleeing the country’s devastating war. Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said on Monday in a statement that the end of Assad’s “brutal tyranny” had come as a great relief to many. “Many refugees who have found protection in Germany now finally have hope of returning to their Syrian homeland and rebuilding their country.”
She said, however, that the “the situation in Syria is currently very unclear”, citing the “volatile situation” as to why the country’s federal office for migration and refugees had imposed a freeze on decisions for asylum procedures. More than 47,000 asylum applications from Syrians are pending. Countries across Europe swiftly followed suit, even as questions continued to swirl over what comes next for Syria.
Qatar to decide on restarting Gaza ceasefire talks
Qatar expects to decide in the next few days whether to ask senior US, Israeli and Egyptian intelligence figures to travel to Doha to negotiate the final stages of a Gaza ceasefire deal.
The Gulf state was asked by Donald Trump’s transition team to re-engage with the mediation after discussions with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyau, led to a belief that a deal that had been stalled for months was within reach.
Separately Egypt has held talks with Hamas leaders and discussed an exchange of Palestinian political prisoners and Israeli hostages, including some US-Israeli dual citizens.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, said it would make a decision on inviting senior negotiators to Doha this week after assessing whether “we have something robust”.
Qatar pulled back from the mediation process last month saying it felt the talks were not being conducted in good faith.
"Unleashed": Report Details How Israeli Soldiers Brutalize West Bank Palestinians in Hebron
Gaza Ministry Says 50 Killed in a Day as Israel Bombs Flour Line, Hospital, and Refugee Camps
The death toll from Israel's 14-month assault on the Gaza Strip hit at least 44,758 on Monday, with 50 people killed in the past 24 hours alone, as Israeli forces bombed refugee camps, a flour distribution line, and a hospital, according to reporters and officials in the Palestinian enclave.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said a bombing at the Indonesian Hospital north of Gaza City wounded six patients—who are now among more than 106,000 Palestinians injured since Israel began its retaliation for last year's Hamas-led attack.
"We demand international protection for hospitals, patients, and medical staff," the ministry said in a statement reported by The Associated Press—which noted that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed Sunday evening it was unaware of any attack on the hospital "in the last three to four hours."
A nurse shared footage from the hospital with Drop Site News, which circulated the material on social media:
BREAKING: Israeli forces bombed the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, wounding six patients, including one critically.
The attack reportedly involved artillery shells, striking inside the hospital.
Dr. Marwan Al Sultan, Director of Indonesian Hospital calls for… pic.twitter.com/mAtw2jvwRH— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) December 8, 2024
According to Al Jazeera, "Overnight, an Israeli attack in the southern city of Rafah also killed 10 people while they had lined up to buy flour."
Israel, which faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, has been accused of starving Gaza's 2.3 million residents by refusing to allow enough humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
Reporting from central Deir al-Balah, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud said that at least three people were killed in a Monday morning attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in the north that Israeli bombing and the ongoing blockade have "turned into a graveyard."
The victims "were trying to leave their home in search of food in the vicinity of their neighborhood when they were targeted by a drone," the journalist said. "They were killed right away. Their bodies are still in the street and nobody has the ability to get to the bombed site and remove the bodies from the street."
The IDF announced that three soldiers were killed and 12 others were wounded Monday in fighting in Jabalia.
Mahmoud, the journalist, also said Monday that bodies were piling up outside al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after an Israeli bombing at the Bureij refugee camp.
"The agony keeps on unfolding here at al-Aqsa Hospital, where survivors and relatives showed up early this morning to collect the bodies from the morgue of the hospital," he said. "At some point, the morgue of the hospital was packed with the bodies and there was not enough room for more bodies."
Citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Middle East Eye reported that "two children lost their lives, and others were injured on Monday, during Israeli shelling of al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip."
The updates followed a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya leaving Cairo Sunday evening after meeting with Egypt's general intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Hassan Rashad, to discuss a potential cease-fire in Gaza.
Israeli media reported Sunday that unnamed political sources claimed Hamas and Israel are close to reaching a "small" deal that would involve a two-month cease-fire; the release of prisoners who are elderly, women, wounded, and sick; and the IDF's withdrawal from parts of Gaza.
Neither Hamas nor mediators Egypt and Qatar have commented on the reporting—which came over a week into an Israeli cease-fire with the Lebanese group Hezbollah that Israel has repeatedly violated since it took effect late last month.
Free speech crises loom with crackdown on Israel criticism
As one administration exits and another takes form, a harsh reality is becoming clear for critics of maintaining U.S. support for the Israeli government: in government bureaucracies and university campuses alike, crackdowns and pressure on free expression and assembly will continue in force.
Precisely how the incoming Trump administration will handle such criticism remains to be seen — but views expressed by his congressional allies and recent cabinet picks suggest a further diversion from upholding freedoms of speech and assembly in the name of maintaining support for Israel's war on Gaza and beyond.
Most recently, Trump selected Pam Bondi as his new nominee for attorney general. Last year, Bondi told Newsmax that students demonstrating in support of Hamas should be deported, whether they are here on student visas or as American citizens. “Frankly, they need to be taken out of our country,” Bondi said. "Or, the FBI needs to be interviewing them right away.”
Trump himself echoed similar sentiments on the campaign trail, telling a group of donors in May that he would “throw out” any student that protests for Palestine and calling on the Biden administration to revoke the visas of foreign nationals who “support Hamas.”
Trump’s congressional allies have echoed the same sentiments in recent weeks. In October, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) met with members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during which he threatened to revoke accreditation to universities that allow purported pro-Hamas or anti-Israel sentiment. Scalise discussed the various “levers” and “tools” by which the government can crack down on universities, even threatening their existence altogether.
Russian advance in Ukraine accelerates. US demands full mobilization
United Healthcare CEO Killer Had DEBILITATING Back Pain, Raged at Health Insurance ABUSING Americans
Ro Khanna: Brian Thompson killing was ‘horrific’ but people ‘aren’t getting care they need’
Progressive congressperson Ro Khanna has sympathy for the murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson – yet at the same time is not surprised that the killing reignited a national dialogue about inequities in the US healthcare system, he said in an interview on Sunday.
“It was horrific,” the California Democrat said on ABC This Week with respect to the slaying of Thompson, whose survivors include his widow and two sons ages 16 and 19. “I mean, this is a father we’re talking about – of two children, and … there is no justification for violence.
“But the outpouring afterwards has not surprised me.”
Khanna told the show’s host, Martha Raddatz, that he agreed with fellow liberal and US senator Bernie Sanders when he wrote recently on social media: “We waste hundreds of billions a year on health care administrative expenses that make insurance CEOs and wealthy stockholders incredibly rich while 85 million Americans go uninsured or underinsured. Health care is a human right. We need Medicare for all.”
“After years, Sanders is winning this debate,” Khanna said, referring to the Vermont senator’s support for a single-payer national health insurance system seen in other wealthy democracies. ...
Many greeted news of Thompson’s death not with sympathy but with mockery. A widely shared example of the sentiment was a social media post from Columbia School of Social Work’s Anthony Zenkus, which read: “Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down…. wait, I’m sorry – today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who die needlessly each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.”
Deny, Defend, Depose: UnitedHealthcare CEO Killing Highlights Widespread Rage at Healthcare Industry
Clusters of unidentified drones spotted in New York and New Jersey
A spate of mysterious drone sightings have been reported in New York and Philadelphia as the FBI continues investigating similar sightings across New Jersey over the past month. Since mid-November, local residents in several counties in New Jersey have reported seeing clusters of drones – and in recent days, additional drone sightings have been reported in parts of Pennsylvania and New York’s Staten Island.
Local residents in the regions have been capturing and sharing footage online that appears to show drones in the sky. Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Newark office announced it was actively investigating these sightings and was seeking information from the public.
“Witnesses have spotted the cluster of what look to be drones and a possible fixed wing aircraft,” the FBI said. “We have reports from the public and law enforcement dating back several weeks.” While authorities investigate the reports, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has implemented temporary flight restrictions in the areas over Picatinny Arsenal military base and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
The origin of the drones remains unknown. However, state leaders and elected officials have said that they are monitoring the sightings and have assured residents that the drones do not pose any immediate threat to the public.
Climate crisis deepens with 2024 ‘certain’ to be hottest year on record
This year is now almost certain to be the hottest year on record, data shows. It will also be the first to have an average temperature of more than 1.5C above preindustrial levels, marking a further escalation of the climate crisis.
Data for November from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found the average global surface temperature for the month was 1.62C above the level before the mass burning of fossil fuels drove up global heating. With data for 11 months of 2024 now available, scientists said the average for the year is expected to be 1.60C, exceeding the record set in 2023 of 1.48C.
Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of C3S, said: “We can now confirm with virtual certainty that 2024 will be the warmest year on record and the first calendar year above 1.5C. This does not mean that the Paris agreement has been breached, but it does mean ambitious climate action is more urgent than ever.”
The Paris climate agreement commits the 196 signatories to keeping global heating to below 1.5C in order to limit the impact of climate disasters. But this is measured over a decade or two, not a single year.
Nonetheless, the likelihood of keeping below the 1.5C limit even over the longer term appears increasingly remote. The CO2 emissions heating the planet are expected to keep rising in 2024, despite a global pledge made in late 2023 to “transition away from fossil fuels”.
Drylands now make up 40% of land on Earth, excluding Antarctica, study says
An area of land nearly a third larger than India has turned from humid conditions to dryland – arid areas where agriculture is difficult – in the past three decades, research has found.
Drylands now make up 40% of all land on Earth, excluding Antarctica. Three-quarters of the world’s land suffered drier conditions in the past 30 years, which is likely to be permanent, according to the study by the UN Science Policy Interface, a body of scientists convened by the United Nations.
Africa lost about 12% of its GDP owing to the increasing aridity between 1990 and 2015, the report found. Even worse losses are forecast: Africa will lose about 16% of its GDP, and Asia close to 7%, in the next half decade. Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the UN convention to combat desertification (UNCCD), said: “Unlike droughts – temporary periods of low rainfall – aridity represents a permanent, unrelenting transformation.
“Droughts end. When an area’s climate becomes drier, however, the ability to return to previous conditions is lost. The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were, and this change is redefining life on Earth.”
Some crops will be particularly at risk: maize yields are projected to halve in Kenya by 2050, if current trends continue. Drylands are areas where 90% of the rainfall is lost to evaporation, leaving only 10% for vegetation. Two-thirds of land globally will store less water by mid-century, according to the report published on Monday.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Taliban In Afghanistan Bad, Al-Qaeda In Syria Good
Syria - Winners And Losers Or Both
The Generational Divide Inside Iran’s IRGC
Google unveils ‘mindboggling’ quantum computing chip
Aaron Maté: The U.S. Was Obsessed With Overthrowing Assad
Bashar Al-Assad's Fall Is ABSOLUTELY Due To US Sanctions, REGIME CHANGE Delusions: Michael Tracey
Elon Musk's DOGE VOWS To Cut $2 TRILLION; Social Security And Medicare On The CHOPPING BLOCK?
"PARASITES" Luigi's Manifesto Reveals Healthcare RAGE
AMB. Chas Freeman : US Funding Terrorists in Syria
Karen Kwiatkowski : More Government Lies
A Little Night Music
"Banjo" Ikey Robinson - My Four Reasons
The Pods of Pepper (Banjo Ikey Robinson) - You've Had Your Way
Jabbo Smith & His Rhythm Aces (w Alex Hill & Ikey Robinson) - Michigander Blues
Ikey Robinson & His Band - Got Butter On It
Ikey 'Banjo' Robinson - Get Off Stuff
Banjo Ikey Robinson - Pizen Tea Blues
The Rhythm Aces - Jazz Battle
Banjo Ikey Robinson - Rock Pile Blues
"Banjo" Ikey Robinson - A Minor Stomp
Alex Hill & His Orchestra (w/Ikey Robinson, banjo) - Toogaloo Blues
Comments
how to re-frame US bombing diplomacy?
apparently it is the only tool in their belt
peace with strength, spreading democracy,
or international security starts and ends with
bombs. War hawks are in charge.
question everything
evening qms...
when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
have a great evening!
Manifesto!
Here's the Klippenstein post.
I also thought these graphics, found on Klippenstein's X page, were worth reposting:
“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser
evening cass...
thanks for the link to klippenstein's post of the manifesto, i'm glad that it is finally out. i guess i can see why the msm is suppressing it. god help them if americans start thinking.
have a great evening!
One thing I’ve thought of since I saw Luigi's back X-ray
Back surgery rarely does anything to help the pain and most often it makes it worse. Much worse. Pain meds may or may not help and doctors will give the patient an SSRI. Most of the school or mass shooters have been on this type of drug…fill in the blanks. They absolutely screw up the brain. They make me suicidal…ick. Others become homicidal.
Lucky me. I was 2 weeks away from having the surgery he did in the same area, but my doctor canceled it because he was afraid of making me worse. Failed back syndrome. The test results didn’t add up to him. I eventually had a different type of surgery that helped and escaped from getting the domino effect. Fusing the spine leads to more of the spine deteriorating. I wish more people would stop trusting back doctors and really research what happens.
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
Good evening Joe, thanks for the EBs. It seems that the world
might be a little safer today. On Monday, the Navy announced the suspension of all V-22 Osprey flights.
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 --
evening el...
oh good, i won't have to cringe as much when i hear a helicopter overhead.
have a good one!
Legacy media will ignore Jihadist violence against innocents
From reports I have read, the jihadists are already committing extreme acts of violence against Syrian innocent civilians. So long as the downfall of Assad gives Israel an advantage, the reporting will be to white wash the religious fanatics.
Of course the American warmongers think this take over has hurt Putin/Russians so I expect Trump to get belligerent with them believing in his power as Ceasar.
evening mr w...
heh, remember libya? the american republic of al-qaeda media didn't seem to want to fully cover what happened after obama and hillary toppled the kaddafi regime. i suspect that we'll be lucky to see much of anything on msm about syria from here on out.
I keep watching the Syria stuff
because I want to know how it plays out in American politics. Can we say that, in the US, they think that replacing Bashar al-Assad's regime with a bunch of terrorists so that Biden can have a "w" is a "left-wing" thing?
“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser
Ian is right
.
And especially now that Syria has fallen. What part of Wesley Clark's statement doesn’t Iranian leadership understand? "We’re going to take down 7 countries and 6 have already been taken down." And Netanyahu has been saying for decades that he wants to take them out. Hezzbollah too didn’t do much with their attacks on Israel. Lots of them did just hit empty areas and now they have been made to stand down while Israel keeps attacking them and civilians even though there is a ceasefire in place.
Iran showed Israel that their air defense has big holes in it and yet it still hasn’t retaliated for the last attack against them. The president wants to cozy up with Trump which Netanyahu says means they are weak…"hit them now."
Russia is playing the same game. The ATACMS weren’t first used in Kursk, but in the attack on the Sebastopol beach that killed how many? Plus the Storm Shadow attacks on the Kerch bridge. And there were no consequences for ISIS for slaughtering people at the Crokus concert hall. Russia has lost around 75,000 troops because it never took out the bridges and train tracks that bring equipment and weapons to the front. Funny way to do a war.
Alistair opens with the Saudis telling us that they will take out Syria. They didn’t put their own troops on the line, but they paid us to put ours on it. John Kerry admitted that o congress.
"They paid us a lot of money." he said while he giggled about it.
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
evening snoopy...
yeah, it bewilders me what countries like iran and russia are waiting for. trump? pfffttt!!!
perhaps they simply don't want to pay the price of taking on the assorted neighborhood and global bullies that back them, but, sooner or later the u.s. will take reticence for weakness and make them pay that cost anyway.
Bewildered, befuddled leads to belligerence
Mind boggling is another word I’d use. Iran knows that it’s been on our hit list since 2001 or since 1979 when they kicked our lacky government out. They made a deal with the world on their nuclear program, but Netanyahu didn’t like it so Trump pulled out of it and Biden wasn’t interested in reinstating it…
Most of congress is telling Trump that now is the time to take them out and even he is warmongering against them, but they want to play nice with him? What part of bully don’t they understand? You can’t trust bullies. Period.
I think Paul Craig Robert’s is rubbing off on me. He’s been critical of how Putin has been doing its SMO and he makes a lot of good points. Consortium news has an old article by Joe Lauria about how Putin wanted to team up with Obama in Syria and he was told to sit down.
Lavrov says that Russia isn’t at war with America and yet America has been trying for decades to get Putin out of power and make Russia one of its poodles and take its resources. America is giving Ukraine everything but the kitchen sink to kill Russians, but it’s not a war….?
And now America is going to go to war against Russia's partner Iran…but good golly Putin will still think that there’s a way to negotiate with them.
To say I’m befuddled and bewildered is an understatement.
Oh yeah and then there’s what Turkey just did.
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
It would be quite the accomplishment if the Houthis were able
to knock down one of these drones. (MQ-4C Triton)
How much does MQ-4C Triton cost per unit?
$618 million per unit
The Navy's MQ-4C unmanned aircraft program has experienced substantial increases in acquisition unit costs with the newest version of the aircraft estimated to cost $618 million per unit, according to the Government Accountability Office and a Navy spokesperson.Jul 9, 2024
Meanwhile they are settling for targets in th Red Sea and Israel.
evening humphrey...
you have to admire the persistence of the houthis.
Economic news to kick off what may become
.
.....a very hot topic space. I don't think there will be any big surprises for People-who-can-think. Certainly, Latin America's new alignment with the Global Majority, the BRICS, and (free) currency swaps rather than dollar trades — will become the new face of international trade in the Western Hemisphere. Meanwhile, the draconian sanctions and tariffs placed on imports from China — will be added to product price tags the moment they clear customs — doubling the usual price for American consumers. (US manufacturers of competing items, if any, will instantly jack up their prices to capture the sudden windfall profits.) This time around, the tariffs blowback from China could be a brisk wind of unavailable strategic products needed for key economic sectors such as defense. Cockamamie narratives explaining away spiking prices will be recited by tone-deaf politicians and the propaganda-media.
while the few make billions
the billions make few
guess we knew that
what price equality?
question everything
evening pluto...
yep, trump's tariff and sanctions plans have seemed like a big loser to me from the start. i just don't see how those policies create a vehicle for trump's goals. in fact quite the opposite.
thanks for the video!
Joe…
.
From last night:
I have been wondering about this too and I have been very critical of Putin for allowing it to happen. Maybe one reason.
It goes on with:
I’ve seen this floated in many stores, but why would Russia trust anyone in our government to keep their word after the many decades of betrayal?
This article is worth a read.
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/12/09/syria-year-2024-the-fall/
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
interesting...
lots to ponder there. the article doesn't well describe assad's motivations for abandoning his state (starting in 2018-2019ish) - it will be interesting to hear more on that front if it is eventually forthcoming.
i guess the next big thing is to figure out if the infighting of interested parties breaks out into actual warfare. it seems the pot of things to be stolen is yet pretty valuable.
A difference in US and Russian
use of military in foreign lands is that the US is willing and able to die on hills of little importance. Doesn't matter if it leads to a loss or 24 hour victory celebrations because there are more hills to fight on and rally the general public. Russia is mindful of being goaded into a war at great cost, with no public support, and of little to no geopolitical value. Been there, done that, and it factored hugely in the collapse of the USSR. Russia-Putin doesn't have the national wealth and global political capital to squander on battles with low odds for success. The US-WH idiot du jour do.
Russia-Putin isn't in a position to divert military resources and money from Ukraine to Syria. The forces aiming to unseat Assad have strengthened considerably in the past decade. Particularly the AQ shock troops that derive much of their funding from KSA, an important player that doesn't get much mention in the ME analyses.
I think you're exactly right.
Picking the necessary battles and conserving resources. Assad, himself, wasn't rebuilding Syria's ruined infrastructure, either. The family slowly flew their possessions and wealth over the years to an alternate home. This is not uncommon for leaders who can read the winds of change.
Reuters says it's China's fault.
LOL This story is duplicated in newspapers across the Western World tonight.
Reuters:
So dumb. Hahahaha.
It's already on China's Internet.
Given all of the reasons to be blue --
Here's some noise at you:
“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser