The Weekly Watch
Random Thoughts and Observations
We spent last week as agritourists at Will Harris' White Oak Pastures in the small town of Bluffton, GA. I'll write an essay about the visit next month, but since I featured our local farm, Windy Hill, last week, we'll give farming a break and briefly look at at the current state of geopolitics below the fold.
As with most sources, I didn't agree with everything stated, however I thought this conversation about historical parallels with today's conditions was excellent.
(65 min) Predicting Geopolitics w/ Professor Jiang. I found the similarities of Greece/Athens decline very similar to the current fall of the US empire.
Secretary of War™ Pete Hegseth said during a speech on Friday that the US is at “a 1939 moment” of “mounting urgency” in which “enemies gather, threats grow,” adding, “We are not building for peacetime. We are pivoting the Pentagon and our industrial base to a wartime footing.”
Everything’s getting darker and creepier in the shadow of the empire.
There continues to be multiple conflicts around the globe, and sadly the US is promoting most of them. The Venezuela confrontation seems the most extreme and absurd to me. Rumor (the WSJ) has it Maduro offered Trump US access to their oil reserves if he calls off his dogs. No such luck, Rubio et.al. insist on regime change. The US will NOT allow a socialist country to function. No, sanctions, tariffs, and suppression are required. I think TPTB fear socialist citizens will fare better than those in a capitalism.
The United States Continues Its Attempt to Overthrow Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution
With rapid military escalation and a redeployed ‘War on Drugs’ narrative, the Trump administration appears to be laying the groundwork for an attack on the Venezuelan people.
Vijay Prashad lays out the background and suggest possible scenarios for the conflict.
Jeffrey Sachs: Venezuela Regime Change - Oil & Gangster Politics
(37 min) Prof. Jeffrey Sachs discusses the destructive consequences of the West's long history of regime change politics. Prof. Jeffrey Sachs has advised governments around the world and is a world-renowned economics professor, a bestselling author, an innovative educator, and a global leader in sustainable development.
Another interview from Glenn
Max Blumenthal: Venezuela Invasion - A Predictable Disaster
(32 min) Max Blumenthal discusses why the invasion of Venezuela will predictably result in catastrophe. Blumenthal is the editor-in-chief of The Grayzone, Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including best-selling Republican Gomorrah, Goliath, The Fifty One Day War, and The Management of Savagery. He has produced print articles for an array of publications, many video reports, and several documentaries, including Killing Gaza.
The Duran weighed in this week too.
Pull back or trickery? US Venezuela military operation doubts (30 min)
and
Venezuela gunboat diplomacy and regime change (30 min)
INTERVIEW: Now is the time of monsters
Diego Ruzzarian and George Galloway.
(14 min) Trump has to invent targets to justify economic aggression, says Diego Ruzzarin. The message is you either break with China or we will make your life impossible.
Here's a list of all the boat strikes the US has illegally committed.
US Again Flies Heavy Bombers Near Venezuela’s Coast
The flight marked the fourth time since October 15 that the US has sent bombers into the Caribbean
The Senate on Thursday rejected a resolution to stop President Trump from launching an attack on Venezuela without authorization from Congress. The resolution, led by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Adam Schiff (D-CA), failed to pass the chamber by a vote of 49-51, with just two Republicans, Paul and Lisa Murkowski (AK), supporting the bill.
So the bottom line is the US has a naval fleet cruising off Venezuela's coast with a possible (disastrous) attack in the offing. This is beyond foolish, and hopefully might just be an expensive distraction to keep people from looking at our other misadventures.
Western Asia
The Gaza and West Bank Genocide continues under the cover of a supposed ceasefire.
Amb. Chas Freeman: Development in the LEVANT, and the WOLFOWITZ Doctrine (48 min)
! Max Blumenthal ! : Netanyahu Defends Prison Rape.
(42 min) Max has much insight into the Israeli psyche.
Israel is trying to divide Gaza in half along the ‘Yellow Line.’ What is it, and is it here to stay?
The “Yellow Line” splitting Gaza in two is meant to be temporary according to Trump’s “peace” plan. However, the fact that those terms were intentionally left vague suggests that the partition of Gaza was the real goal all along.
Today, there are essentially two Gazas. One is ruled by Hamas as the de facto governing body in the Strip, and makes up about 47% of the territory. The remaining 53% is under the total military control of the Israeli army.
Separating these two zones is an invisible border that’s being called “the Yellow Line,” splitting Gaza roughly in half down the middle. Even though Israel has been placing yellow cement blocks all across Gaza to demarcate the line, it’s supposed to be temporary. But what makes it very real is the number of people who are being killed near it.
Israel Is Still Starving Gaza
Israel is still blocking humanitarian groups from delivering the aid necessary to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
...
They’re using bureaucratic red tape and arbitrary restrictions to put as much inertia on the effort to rush aid into Gaza as possible. As Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah put it, Israel has “successfully rebranded its genocide as a ‘ceasefire.’”
Things are not better in the West Bank...
Israeli West Bank raids leave Palestinian boy and grandmother dead
Seventy-eight-year-old Haniyeh Hanoun suffers fatal shock during Israeli storming of her family home.
According to witnesses, the soldiers’ beatings were particularly targeted at Hanoun’s head and chest.
“For about an hour, the soldiers remained in the house with my mother unconscious, refusing to allow her to be taken to hospital despite our pleas,” Nasr said.
He added that once the soldiers withdrew, he rushed to take her to hospital, but Israeli military vehicles blocked his way for about 40 minutes - even though the hospital is only a five-minute drive from their home.
The Zionist powers are losing their grip over the public and are desperate to regain the narrative.
YouTube deletes hundreds of videos documenting Israeli war crimes
YouTube, owned by Google LLC, has deleted more than 700 videos documenting Israeli human rights violations, citing compliance with US sanctions imposed on Palestinian human rights groups cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to an investigation by The Intercept published on 5 November.
The investigation revealed that the videos were removed after US President Donald Trump's administration sanctioned three Palestinian organizations over their work with the ICC on war crimes cases against Israeli leaders. The organizations sanctioned are Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.
The Collapse in Ukraine
Final push to the Dniepr river w/ Stanislav Krapivnik
(45 min)
Larry Johnson : Can NATO Take on Russia ?
Ray McGovern : How the Russians View Ukraine.
Douglas Macgregor: Ukraine’s Twilight - the Endgame No One Admits
(44 min) Colonel Douglas Macgregor joins Larry Johnson to expose the real lessons of the Ukraine War 2025 — from Russia’s evolving strategy to NATO’s critical failures in modern warfare.
00:00 Defining Maneuver Warfare
05:23 Russian Commanders and Attitudes toward War
07:44 Underestimating the Enemy – Historical Parallels
12:32 Early Observations of the Ukraine War
21:48 Adaptation and Learning in Russian Forces
24:25 NATO and Organizational Weakness
28:48 Russian General Staff and Leadership Selection
32:28 Cultural and Tactical Blindness in Western Training
38:14 Current U.S. Deployments and Logistical Limits
40:05 Drones and the Changing Face of Warfare
42:02 Ukrainian Collapse and End of the War
How Russia Outguns Ukraine: The Real Russian Battlefield Dominance (6 min)
Join Larry Johnson on Counter Currents as he breaks down Russia’s decisive military advantages over Ukraine and NATO, including hypersonic missiles, artillery, and drones.
The hope of BRICS
Pepe Escobar Travels Silk Road with Carl Zha
(66 min) Carl Zha has an incredible conversation with legendary journalist Pepe Escobar, fresh off the road from a groundbreaking trip across China's Xinjiang region. We traveled the modern Silk Road, from the high-tech capital of Urumqi to the ancient oasis of Kashgar, and what we witnessed completely shatters the Western media narrative.
In this episode, Pepe contrasts his travels in Xinjiang from 25 years ago with the reality on the ground today. We discuss the mind-boggling modernization, the seamless integration of ethnic groups, the truth behind the "redevelopment" of Kashgar's old city, and the shocking scale of the Belt and Road Initiative's infrastructure. This is a firsthand, on-the-ground account you won't get anywhere else.
(00:00) - Introduction to Pepe Escobar, the "OG" Foreign Correspondent
(01:45) - Pepe's Career: From Asia Times to Being Smeared as a "CCP Agent"
(06:50) - The Mission: Documenting the New Silk Road in Xinjiang
(08:45) - First Impressions: The "Enormous Shock" of Modern Xinjiang
(11:30) - The Karakoram Highway & China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
(13:45) - Crossing the Taklamakan Desert: A Modern Engineering Marvel
(16:10) - The Reality of Kashgar: From Segregated City to Integrated Hub
(19:30) - An Emotional Moment: Showing Locals Footage of Their City from 1998
(22:45) - People-to-People Exchange: Han Chinese, Uyghurs, and Others Living & Working Together
(25:15) - The Tourism Boom: Driven Domestically, Missing Westerners Due to "Demonization"
(29:00) - On the Ground Security: Facial Recognition, Polite Police, and the Real Story
(33:45) - The Upcoming Documentary: A "Multipolar" BRICS Production
(37:20) - Plans for Part 2: Focusing on Northern Xinjiang and Central Asian Borders
(41:50) - Xinjiang as a High-Tech & Green Energy Hub
(47:10) - The Power of Long-Term Planning: 5-Year Plans vs. Western Short-Termism
(52:30) - The "Asian Century" is Already Here: The Vibe of Development vs. Western Decline
(58:00) - China's Offer to the Global South vs. The Washington Consensus
(01:01:30) - How to Follow Pepe Escobar's Work
Alastair Crooke: Western Politics Broken - China & Russia Triumph (62 min)
Alastair Crooke is a former British diplomat and the Founder of "Conflicts Forum" based in Beirut. He was formerly an advisor on Middle East issues to Javier Solana, the EU Foreign Policy Chief. Crooke argues that Western politics are broken and there are no indications that the underlying issues are being addressed. Meanwhile, China and Russia are now bowing to the West's coercion as China is winning the economic war and Russia is defeating NATO in Ukraine.
RACE for rare earths. War on BRICS
(27 min)
There's plenty of news on the domestic front I didn't get to cover today. Perhaps you might add those stories you found important in the comments below. I hope you have a good Sunday, and next week unfolds well for us all.
The Thread is open!
Comments
Good morning
.
Unfortunately, we are stuck in another
major slow down on this site. Oh well.
Have no power over inner tubes regulatory
'power'. Such as what it is. A lot I would like to
comment upon but. Do not have all day to play.
Thanks for the watch nevertheless.
Zionism is a social disease
The site was running great earlier....
...but now is crawling. Another attack perhaps?
Well, thanks for persisting and commenting!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Seems to be up and runnig again
as of this post 1:50 pm
No matters. Sliced-up a pear
having with cottage cheese
lots of salt and pepper for lunch.
Hope things are good down your way.
Zionism is a social disease
All is well...
Colors are at about peak, and the forests are lovely. Are y'all getting color too?
I hope everyone is having a nice fall.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Oh yeah
the colors are good now
oranges, golds, yellows and reds
just about any combination in-between.
Would say we are peaking before all the
maple leaves fall down. First freeze mañana!
Bit late, but we are in no hurry.
Zionism is a social disease
our first freeze is tomorrow also
Got all the outdoor plumbing tended to...so don't expect problems. Just the discomfort of the cold. But you know, I think it is good for us to be both cold and hot...at least that is our nature.
Take care my friend and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Idiots ruled by mafias
So, for starters, here are Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate:
Some readers may stop here, asking "what does this so-called war within the Right have to do with me?" The particulars, though, are enticing. The issue at hand in Blumenthal's details, as with the rest of American politics, is one of whether or not we are to be idiots ruled by mafias. Charlie Kirk's experience offers an interesting test case. Having gotten himself chest-deep into mafia politics, he all of a sudden discovers that he couldn't do this any more, that he didn't like being bullied by people who did, and who do, targeted killings for lunch. The rest is a history the mass public has yet to discover.
One of the most amusing things about American culture is that it repeatedly glamorizes that which is a complete and total waste of time. I feel fortunate to be able to say that at some point in my early life I was able to wake up to the fact that I was being scammed.
The Democrats, meanwhile, have been hiding mafia rule of idiots forever and a day. Aren't you still wondering what happened in that little talk when Barack Obama pulled Bernie Sanders aside just before Sanders withdrew his bid for the 2020 Presidential nomination? The Dems have long since stopped allowing their voters to think they have a choice, and are running on a platform of "we're more discreet than the other mafia." And here's where the idiots come in: they actually thought that voting for the discreet mafia would make the whole matter go away. Ordinary people, you see, are not supposed to understand that the "acceptable" political forces in their country are all insane.
The problem becomes easier to see when we look at what these people stand for.
Ukraine Solidarity Network: Complete List of Endorsements
Take a look at this list. These people are not idiots -- indeed, great pains have been taken to show that "the cause" is an intelligent one. These are people who, in a just America, would know better.
The website continues:
What is this supposed to mean? Ukraine is a grift, operated by a mafia. Solidarity's list will not fortify any resistance; instead it will reveal a complete detachment from reality while said resistance loses. Maybe 30% of the population has left the country, the leadership embezzles a portion of the money it gets, and the so-called resistance is pushed forward by the offspring of Nazi collaborators. And all of these in fact very intelligent people have signed on to an endorsement of this grift, for all the nothing said endorsement actually means.
The on-the-ground facts are that the Ukrainians are losing, because whereas the Russians have partially overcome their history of mafia rule, in the US the mafias are now completely open about their intentions to destroy America for the sake of whatever petty aims they have, and have been using "defense spending" as their grift for the past fifty years. I suppose that in 2023 they were able to pretend otherwise, and the fact that they haven't taken this website down shows how there is really nothing at stake here.
Here's a short summary. Teaching California's children that complaining about genocide amounts to "antisemitism" while Federal troops confront unarmed protesters in Portland oh-so-typifies the problem at hand. Yeah, the reason we oppose genocide is that we're next.
"It hasn't been okay to be smart in the United States for centuries" -- Frank Zappa
lots to unpack there...
Max and Aaron are spot on. The Heritage Foundation is a power most Americans don't know. Tucker is sticking out his neck. The whole Kirk and Epstein cover up should make everyone suspicious.
What am I saying? COVID should have made everyone suspicious.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Then this:
I do not know how to re-size this. Sorry!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Great clip...
Questioning...BAD!
I know how to start a YT clip somewhere midway by adding "&t=xmys" to the URL code. X minutes y seconds
But, I don't know how to clip the end. If anyone does, PLEASE let us know!
Thanks for the clip and the visit!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hey, LO!
It isn't gonna freeze tonight or Monday night, but it will get close to the mark. The only prep we made is to get ready for some chili con carne! Lol!
The beans will be done in about 5 minutes.
I do not know by what authority Trump is killing fishermen, and I don't know what's taking the ICC so long to issue an arrest warrant for war crimes.
I guess he is carrying on with Obama's tradition.
I thank you for the info regarding the SMO in Ukraine, Israel's genocide, and our Central/South America Monroe Doctrine antics.
Enjoy the fire, stay warm, my friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
We're headed to a freeze tonight and even lower tomorrow...
But hey we're to winter next month.
We're enjoying the color....walking and golf cart rides through the woods have been fun.
Hope y'all are having a nice fall too!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Y'alls so funny
.
sorta like
we can take all this sh*t seriously?
Don't think so. But then, if it is a tragic / comedy
may be worth a guttural chuckle
Zionism is a social disease
I never take the situation...
... too serious. I find it interesting the way in which we are manipulated. We, like cattle, are managed to meet TPTB needs. The media propaganda drives most people in the US to dance to their tune.
Feels good to think I can stand outside...but can I?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
But of course you can
.
We are all blessed with the ability to
stand outside of 'the law' if only
by the right of self determination
Zionism is a social disease
I like John's song...
John Prine - When I Get To Heaven (Lyric Video)
Lyrics:
When I get to heaven, I'm gonna shake God's hand
Thank him for more blessings than one man can stand
Then I'm gonna get a guitar and start a rock-n-roll band
Check into a swell hotel; ain't the afterlife grand?
And then I'm gonna get a cocktail: vodka and ginger ale
Yeah, I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
'Cause this old man is goin' to town
Then as God as my witness, I'm gettin' back into showbusiness
I'm gonna open up a nightclub called "The Tree of Forgiveness"
And forgive everybody ever done me any harm
Well, I might even invite a few choice critics, those syph'litic parasitics
Buy 'em a pint of [?] and smother 'em with my charm
'Cause then I'm gonna get a cocktail: vodka and ginger ale
Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Yeah when I get to heaven, I'm gonna take that wristwatch off my arm
What are you gonna do with time after you've bought the farm?
And them I'm gonna go find my mom and dad, and good old brother Doug
Well I bet him and cousin Jackie are still cuttin' up a rug
I wanna see all my mama's sisters, 'cause that's where all the love starts
I miss 'em all like crazy, bless their little hearts
And I always will remember these words my daddy said
He said, "Buddy, when you're dead, you're a dead pecker-head"
I hope to prove him wrong, that is, when I get to heaven
'Cause I'm gonna have a cocktail: vodka and ginger ale
Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Singer. Songwriter. Poet. Icon.
John Prine was an artist’s artist with a list of admirers and collaborators that cut across musical genres and generations - names like Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Brandi Carlile, George Strait, Kurt Vile, Miranda Lambert, The Everly Brothers, Emmylou Harris, among others.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I was going to post some stuff from Facebook --
-- very subversive -- but DuckDuckGo told me that Facebook would know if I actually posted. Oh, and ICE is monitoring Facebook.
"It hasn't been okay to be smart in the United States for centuries" -- Frank Zappa
I have told this story before
If one is using facebook effectively for a political purpose, perhaps such as an underfunded local election campaign, where one's playing card, is the raw popularity of their views, your account may be suspended without explanation, that is, a non-explanatory pro-forma false reason. This was true before the frozen water nonsense.
Similarly, discord, and other social media were always monitored by government(s). My suspicion is that discord, like other popular social media, was designed especially for this purpose.
I think it's pretty obvious that anything one types on the keyboard is monitored. How effective this is can be questioned. For example, if one pageviews in different languages to escape the parochial media, the algorithm's will, at least those of the commercial applications, often make assumptions about the user that are obviously wrong.
Everything I type is monitored. This isn't a delusional sense of self importance, it's just what these agencies do. They are indiscriminate in their collection processes. Maybe this is why they need huge data centers.
Actually, I feel sorry for someone for whom this is true. I hate using my phone. But there are a very few people on this earth, who need to be able to contact me, so I can provide whatever assistance or information they need when they need it. Or so they can check on me. I also may need to contact them for similar reasons, so I don't want them turning their phone off or put on silent mode. It may be just one or two. (I've fallen and I can't get up. Do I really want to call 119 and get a 10 thousand dollar bill?) If I am with them is the only time I can shut it off. Who else would they go to in a very real sense for help that is less than 119 in nature but still vital? I guess I'm "overestimating" my own importance to someone.
Is google+ still a thing? I know I am technically poorly informed. I may be assuming some things that aren't so. Is it possible to ring someone who's phone is in a faraday bag?
語必忠信 行必正直
I guess I'm a luddite...
I only have a landline. TPTB can (and do) collect all those calls as Bill Binny explained.
(100 min) "A Good American“ is a gripping docu-thriller about a groundbreaking surveillance program, the brilliant mastermind behind it and how a perfect alternative to mass surveillance was killed by NSA-management for money – three weeks prior to 9/11. Bill Binney was a brilliant cryptologist and long-time National Security Agency (NSA) analyst, since 1997 serving as Technical Director. Binney developed a sophisticated program named ThinThread for gathering data capable of providing clues, in real-time, of potential terrorist threats.Built-in safeguards would have prevented the massive surveillance methods later exposed by Edward Snowden. Why was this program killed off? And who was behind that? Friedrich Moser’s eye-opening and deeply disturbing documentary tells the complete story of Bill Binney and those, both inside the NSA and out, who backed ThinThread.
Better half has a flip phone so we can also be tracked when we travel. Hard to escape the surveillance state.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks Lookout
I wish I had stuck to the landline. I had to have a flip phone when I started driving OTR to stay in touch with family. Then it turned into one of the androids/samsung phones. I feel better when driving with communications. The same when family members are driving. Don't have Qualcomm anymore.
Thanks for the video about Bill Binney! I will watch it. I used to call in to Mike Feder's podcast to relieve boredom while on the road. I'd pull over somewhere to do it on break. I spoke with Binney once when he was a guest. We discussed constructive probable cause, when warrantless eavesdropping evidence is used in criminal investigations to avoid "fruit of the poisonous tree" dismissals of criminal charges.
語必忠信 行必正直
Finished watching A Good American
It was great. Thanks again LO! The story of thinthread fits into the larger pattern. Didn't know about the roles of the other players.
語必忠信 行必正直
I avoid farcebook...
But that's me. Everyone should use the platforms they want. Thanks for coming by!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Very good array of videos, Lookout.
...Thank you. The Video with Prof Jiang and The Duran made many things so very clear. I've watched a half dozen of his classes and lectures, since. So many things that I already knew. became even clearer. The US is a great tragedy. So many banal and mediocre people are in positions of power in the US. They are deeply rotten people. Americans will ride it all the way down to the bottom. I don't think most Americans will understand what is happening around them.
Trade with the US looks awfully stark, now. Rare Earths are off the table for good. No trade with Americans, now. As of this week. the US could be strategically finished. People aren't going to have jobs..
Things don't look good for the US, IMO
You nailed it...
I hope the cost we pay isn't too tragic.
Thanks for the clip and the visit!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”