The Weekly Watch
Team Blue and Team Red Are Both Owned By the Epstein Class
I was entertained by all the blue Tsunami excitement this week. What do you think is the outcome of the election? Do you think the Epstein files will finally be released? I don't. Many analysts are suggesting less emphasis on the Iran war and more money and weapons provided to Ukraine to fight the Russians. After all it was the Dems who engineered the Ukraine grift and profited handsomely, whereas the Iran catastrophe has profited the Trumps, Kushners, and Whitcoffs. I find it difficult to believe either war will be ended. As Larry Wilkerson said the other week, the MIC lobby is every bit as powerful as AIPAC. I will admit to voting straight Dem here in Alabama, and being Alabama, none I could vote for were elected. The state will still have two Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling led to a special legislative session and an exceedingly rare special primary election.
Let's look at some news from the week below the fold...
There are many takes on the election...you know what opinions are like -everybody's got one. Select from these four somewhat different points of view.
Jimmy Dore EXPOSES the Democrats' Biggest Problem: More Wars, Same Agenda?
(24 min) When Democrats take power of Congress, will they go full on pervert, Covid, vaccines, censorship this time or are they a changed man?
Jimmy Dore was a democrat but one of the more outspoken critics of the democrats in the last 10 years because they've been so phsycotic and crazy and it's a uniparty.
Ralph Nader reminds us Obama had a larger mandate and let us down, but he suggests strategies to hold them accountable.
(53 min) I listen to the first 15 minutes and caught the gist of his approach.
He asks, "Will the Democrats Betray Us Again?"
The first comment under the interview:
Ralph Nader is 92 years old. Unbelievable! The guy hasn't lost a step. He is a living encyclopedia of our government.
Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Something BIG Is Coming" After Election Shock!
(28 min) MTG compares 2024 to the recent election.
And the last election opinion comes from Jeff Sachs.
Permanent War Machine Meets New World Order
(37 min) His recent article:
Democrats, Please Take Note: Peace Is Good Politics
00:00 Why voters reject wars but wars continue
03:01 Eisenhower’s warning and the military-industrial complex
05:24 The political cost of the Iran war
07:20 Can Democrats become the party of peace?
10:40 New lawmakers and an opening for anti-war politics
13:07 Overreach, living costs, and U.S. support for Israel
16:27 Sachs’s proposed diplomatic basis for ending the Ukraine war
18:35 Diesen’s question: can U.S. foreign policy break its pattern?
21:36 From the Cold War to the post-1991 drive for hegemony
24:21 How successive administrations sustained intervention
26:48 Why wars end, and why China changes the equation
30:37 CIA autonomy and the limits of oversight
33:01 Reasons for cautious optimism about a policy shift
35:26 Sachs’s call to press politicians for diplomacy
37:00 Diesen’s closing reminder about where power resides
The US Election...final thoughts
Robert Barnes called the US election almost to a tee.
(30 min) Robert Barnes : Who is Pointing Fingers at Whom in the White House?
Larry explains that this election isn't so unique.
(11 min) Larry Johnson calls the midterm election fallout a “political castration” of Donald Trump. In this Counter Currents monologue, the former CIA analyst examines the president’s shrinking room for maneuver and the prospect of a bruising fight with Congress over the remainder of his term.
How could that struggle affect Washington’s dealings with Russia and its support for Ukraine? Johnson also examines the risk of further escalation against Iran, asking whether Trump’s domestic setback will restrain his foreign policy or push him towards more unilateral action abroad.
The Israeli election from last Sunday isn't yet settled. Alastair explains the likely outcome...
Alastair Crooke: US-Israel Divide Deepens After Midterm Defeat
(52 min)
00:00 How election results alter Trump and Netanyahu’s leverage
04:07 Netanyahu’s coalition crisis and the incentives for war
09:07 Iran’s nuclear status and Israeli military pushback
11:55 Vance’s proposed reset: Iran, costs, and Ukraine
14:51 The CIA’s independent campaign against Russia
23:06 Israel’s divided institutions and October 7 scrutiny
28:56 What a new Israeli government might change
33:01 Why another Iran war remains possible
38:11 MAGA’s antiwar turn and the paleoconservative case
41:57 European austerity, Ukraine funding, and political legitimacy
Alastair's articles
Time is closing in for a Netanyahu-Trump last roll of the dice
So why might Trump and Netanyahu do something so dysfunctional? One reason is the nature of tragedy; that in the ancient Greek definition, tragedy is something that happens because it has to happen; because of the nature of the participants; because the actors involved make it happen. They have no choice, but to make it happen, because that is their nature.
The Ground on which Europe Stands is Shaking
European Commission proposing 81% increase in annual contributions to EU budget by member states for next year ...
Configuring the European-wide hostility towards Russia has been the long standing project for Europe since at least the 1990s. The US security cadre long embraced the eastward expansion of Europe as a key post-war objective — firstly to combat communism in post-war Europe; and secondly, the expansion of NATO and then the EU served to lock EU states into a US-led security architecture. This structural engineering caused the EU’s foreign and security structures to become dysfunctional,...
Israel’s president taps opposition candidate Eisenkot to form a government, in setback for Netanyahu
...putting together the parliamentary majority needed remains fraught and any possible coalition would require candidates to make tough compromises that could outrage their own voters.
Chas Freeman
(48 min) Netanyahu's Era Ends - USAF airstrike on Iran
Col. Larry Wilkerson
(62 min) U.S.-Israel Alliance Faces Its Biggest Crisis in Decades
Max Blumenthal
(30 min) Can Trump Salvage His Presidency?
Post election fall out...
Trump’s Promotion of Stephen Miller Saves Hegseth’s Ass
The wannabe Nazi Stephen Miller, Wiles’ deputy, is getting her job as chief of staff:
More than any other top adviser, Mr. Miller encouraged an aggressive flexing of executive power when Mr. Trump returned to office.
Mr. Miller has been the driver of the president’s most muscular actions, including the use of increasingly hostile tactics to capture immigrants across the country and the bombing of small boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean that he and Mr. Trump declared constituted a foreign invasion.
…
In a social media post, Mr. Miller praised Mr. Trump as “the most transformative political leader” in U.S. history, saying that he had “single-handedly saved America from those who would destroy it.”
“The mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our president and defend this magnificent Republic,” he added.
Here we go from the frying pan into the fire.
In other important news this week, Iran visits Russia. Pepe explains the outcome...
Putin’s Jet, Iran’s Leader on Line Strike Warnings & Trump’s Blame List
(31 min) Putin sent his own jet for Iran’s security chief, sat him across from his military-intelligence chief for three hours and twenty-five minutes — and Iran’s Leader dialed in on an encrypted line, according to a member of the Iranian delegation. Pepe Escobar names the two nights to watch for a strike and the three men he says Trump would blame; host Zulfiqar Ali brings Pakistan’s message to the White House.
— 02:57 Putin sent the jet: the protocol nobody reported.
— 05:27 The phone: who was on the line, according to our source.
— 11:56 The two dates analysts are watching — and why one is a moonless night.
— 20:27 If the strike fails, who takes the fall — Escobar’s blame list.
— 25:11 Munir to Trump: don’t do it — per our host’s sources.
What you’ll learn: who sat at the Kremlin table on 5 November and who listened in · what Moscow and Tehran discussed on gas, rail and defence · how Escobar reads the meeting’s message to Washington · what China wants from the war · why Shenzhen, 18–19 November, may be the last off-ramp.
Many analysts speculate an attack on Iran will happen tomorrow in the new moon darkness. I hope the election sobered Trump up enough to avoid another attack which will trigger wide spread destruction and economic fall out.
Trump Says He May Have To ‘Destroy the Rest of the Country’ of Iran in Latest Threat
Sources told Reuters that Trump is still planning to bomb Iran...
“He is planning to bomb Iran. Don’t listen to what he’s saying. He held off because of the midterms. We asked him to hold off until the midterms,” one of the sources said.
In the meantime, Iran continues to strike tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming on Thursday that three more “intruding vessels” have “exploded” in the waterway. The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations said at least five ships have been struck since Sunday, but it recently said it was difficult to ascertain the true number of attacks because many ships refused to report them.
Will He? Or Will He Not?
… bomb Iran.
Trump is a lame duck. He has yet to figure out how he wants to end his presidency. I tend to believe that he will prefer to be remembered for a big bang.
Attacking Iran again would provide one.
Live from the country of Georgia...
CIA & Neocons Set For More War After Trump Defeat | Larry C. Johnson
(46 min) The blue wave means nothing good for US foreign policy. It creates a window of opportunity for several actors to pore even more money and resources into their preferred theaters of war. The CIA will use its shadow powers to double down on Russia, the Netanyahu-Trump team will use the last months of the old Congress to double down on Iran, and the potential power play between the Vance and the Neocon faction in team Trump will increase the chances of them creating crises abroad to distract from what's really going on. On top of that we now have an irreversible energy crisis that will lead into a global economic crisis. Brave new world, here we come.
00:00 In person in Tbilisi: neutrality for Georgia
01:52 US midterms and the political cost of war
06:13 Could an anti-war third party emerge?
09:34 Vance, Trump and congressional constraints
19:15 Who controls US intelligence policy?
25:08 Iran, escalation and military risks
31:34 Ukraine, sanctions and Russian energy
35:42 Fuel shortages and the global economic outlook
What about Ukraine you may ask...
Zelensky Refuses Compromise, Democrat Win Means More Money
(26 min) Zelensky is celebrating the US midterm results, betting that a Democrat controlled Congress will open the floodgates to new Ukraine funding. In this episode we explain why this makes the Abu Dhabi peace talks almost certain to fail, why Putin's outreach to Trump through Witkoff, Kushner and Dmitriev may have been wasted, and how Russia's intensifying strikes on Ukraine's energy grid and the NABU versus SBU power struggle in Kiev are reshaping the conflict. With the money about to flow again, who really controls Ukraine?
00:00:00 Zelensky celebrates midterm results
00:01:56 Democrats set to ramp up Ukraine funding
00:03:29 Anchorage summit and Donbass refusal
00:04:38 Abu Dhabi talks heading nowhere
00:06:41 Did Putin waste his effort on Trump?
00:11:24 Putin overestimated US rationality
00:13:47 Ukraine drone strikes are performative
00:16:37 Russia dismantles Ukraine energy grid
00:18:45 Orikhiv, Lyman and the winter offensive
00:21:56 NABU vs SBU and the Kiev power struggle
No Electricity But Lots Of Scandals – Ukraine Is Coming Apart
There seems to be little notice in the media that Ukraine is on the verge of a catastrophe. Its electricity network is on the border of systemic failure. The moral standing of its government within the Ukrainian population is breaking down.
...Meanwhile the public and media are kept busy with several scandals.
Each Ukrainian military unit has a “pit” in which it illegally imprisons, tortures (and sometimes kills) renitent soldiers. Two days ago a protest against one these secret prisons near Kiev led to a scandal. While some prisoners were sent to a hospital the protesters were arrested and will likely themselves end up in jail.
I want to wrap today's column with the second part of the interview with Frank Giustra discussing the nature human development and personal growth.
Frank Giustra Breaks Silence: The Clinton Controversy and His Real Life Story to Success
(66 min)
“We could be walking into World War III accidentally here.” Frank Giustra warns that U.S. politics has become a “viper’s nest,” and says miscalculations could push the world toward war.
00:00 Frank Giustra’s story and The Money Dilemma
08:06 Happiness and money
12:23 Frank’s reflections on family
19:18 The difficult years in London
22:16 The early struggles at Lionsgate
24:50 Patience in business and life
27:10 The story behind The Matrix deal
31:13 The Clinton years and the scrutiny
41:12 New world order
44:03 Lessons Frank wants to teach
47:17 Frank’s relationship advice
50:40 Lifelong friends and character
54:49 Frank Giustra on Bitcoin hype
58:08 Why wealth and possessions aren’t everything
So the election is over. I don't think they've called the Mississippi nor Alaska senate races but the Dems are leading in both. I don't expect any real change, but we'll see. The Iran war hangs in limbo. Another round of strikes will be stupid and destructive, but we'll just have to wait and see. There's a window of opportunity for a few weeks until the new congress is seated. I fully expect an uptick in the Ukraine grift with the new congress, but here again we'll have to wait and see.
I look forward to your thoughts and stories in the comments below. The Thread is Open!
Comments
Hey, good morning
.
Already watched some of your vids earlier in the week,
but there are a couple others that look intriguing. Insofar
as what to expect changes after the midterms, lame duck
Donnie will still grift (no change) and the new dem majorities
will accomplish very little of any worth to the people. Lots of
threats of impeachment and investigations into corruption to
tie-up the courts and feed the media scandalous headlines.
Bonnie Raitt turns 77 today. This is her collaboration on John Prine's original.
Thanks for the Watch!
Zionism is a social disease
Bonnie made John's song her own...
The story behind the song is the name came from a Montgomery ward store John drove passed, not the Alabama capitol. I like playing and singing it.
I like Karen Pell's song too...Montgomery Blues
It is about the Alabama Capitol.
Thanks for dropping John and Bonnie into the mix and coming by today!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Morning LO!
Thanks for the news and video commentary.
I should be getting ready to go out, but I saw this video by Ted Postol last night, and watched it this am. I feel that it's an important discussion that needs to take place, even as he admits he didn't have enough time to address much of what needs to be said.
Postol makes his argument here with the high end strategic weapon yield, 475 kt, when it's much more likely that a B61-12 or other smaller yield weapon would be used, the yield of which is only a fraction or even a tiny fraction of the W-88. Why start at the top end of the escalation ladder as they say? It leaves no where to go....but the end of the world. I understand he didn't have much time to put this together. The US potentially more likely would go with the low end yield below 5 kt, maybe even less than 1 kt weapon yield.
Going with Postol's depiction of the "ignorant" generals and geopolitical strategic advisors in the back of the room when the president gets the wrong advice, who don't correct it; they are not as ignorant as Postal assumes. This is why the escalate to deescalate crowd like Colby and his ilk start with the B-61-12 or W 76-2 with much lower yields in an attempt to obviate Postol's arguments such as this one. The discussion of the W88 size warheads should only be the intro to the argument he makes. He needs to dismiss the so called "tactical nuclear" rebuttal of Elbridge crowd at the pentagon, think tanks and media propaganda machines. Otherwise they'll dismiss the 475 kiloton weapon argument he makes with the .5 kiloton "rebuttal." Perhaps Postol has already rebutted this counter-argument and I'm just not aware of it. I do follow his youtube video presentations and some of his articles when they appear online. Did I miss something? My memory is not that trustworthy. I hope he addresses the Elbridge Colby crowd, escalate to deescalate argument. I consider the argument fallacious. But I'd rather hear an expert like Postol take it on.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Thanks fo the video/interview!
Whatever bomb they use will bring disaster in my opinion. I also wonder what sort of air defense Russia has helped Iran put together. I hope Trump will back down, but as we know that isn't his normal approach. Double down on dumb Donald is likely to screw up again. Time will tell.
I appreciate the video and the visit. I saw in one of your comments y'all have relocated to the panhandle. I hope Isaias didn't cause you problems! We have friends in Milton who lost a roof on their out building.
All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks LO
I'm further south, in the Tampa Bay region. Things have been relatively quiet in this area in 2026. I was looking at some videos of flooding last night reported earlier last week in the Palm Bay, Miami Dade region related to King tides and unprecedented levels of rain up to 22 inches in 24 hrs. People down there are having a hard time. As far as I know, no deaths or injuries reported so far. Not even a named storm, weather system just stalled over the area.
I agree with your perspective, any use of nuclear weapons is insane.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
No storms...
Sounds like a much needed season!
Take care.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Had a buddy
who was an F-16 driver in Germany, and the mission he trained for was to toss a B-61 with the dial-a-yield set for 75kt into the Fulda Gap, to stop the Russian armor in its advance.
Landing afterwards was’t really discussed. As he pointed out, any airfields he could reach would cease to exist before he got there, assuming that he survived the toss. He figured that he might as well just follow the weapon in to watch the show, rather than bother with completing the toss maneuver after release.
Any use of nuclear weapons is, and always will be, utter madness.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Good morning, Lo!
I imagined I kept up with the news this week, but looking through your WW suggests otherwise.
I checked out this article on the effects of the blue wave election results, and it seems the more things change, the more they remain the same. AIPAC is happy.
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/60-percent-of-jewish-democrats-ignore-zio-p...
I decided to produce some documents for work, and it is a technical nightmare at every step.
Meanwhile, a coyote came to the pasture. A big one. Can't imagine what it might find to eat around here.
Thanks for all you do, my friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I left out several stories...
Poland is on edge with a 11/11 deadline to confrontation.
Paraguay's president resigned and is now arrested after a bank collapse.
and on and on...
It all happens too fast to keep up. One of the advantages of C99 is having several eyes on the news cycle.
Not too long ago I was out early mowing and saw a coyote trotting along with a rabbit in its mouth. However the biggest surprise to me was when I topped the ridge and saw a few coyotes attacking a skunk. They all ran off and the skunk survived the attack, but my thought was those must have been mighty hungry coyotes.
Good luck with your documents, and thanks for coming by!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hungry coyotes
or dumb ass coyotes?
I think 21 Paraguayan banks all shuttered at the same time. What are the odds? Will the people who lost all their money be offered crypto, such as CBDCs, which will be used under strict government control? As the globalists have planned?
A meme this week said that Germany was so worried about an imminent invasion of Poland by Russia that they invaded Poland.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Currently they have no access to their accounts...
...and may not ever regain their own money...and it's like 60+% of the Paraguay's population.
In Cyprus they ended up get a percentage of their money. As you know, it could happen here.
Hope everyone has something of value outside the system.
Your meme was great...
A meme this week said that Germany was so worried about an imminent invasion of Poland by Russia that they invaded Poland.
It's a beautiful day here, hope your weather is also pleasant.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I haven't turned on the A/C
in 6 days. Part of the days are sweatshirt temps, the other part is tee shirts.
I have done a bit of yard work, no really big projects, but haven't broken a sweat.
JtC and I went through quite an exploration of my legal software today, and we both learned a lot. The actual case set up and initial document prep was always done by a secretary, and my job was to find the correct document to assemble, then do final editing. I can't be lazy now, so climbed a steep learning curve.
I do have hard assets, but still have a savings account holding the proceeds from the sale of my office property.
Lots to consider. No easy solutions.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I agree, but
I quit message boards because I was already depressed enough about how corruption rules. I did not and still do not need a rack of "sources" to confirm it. I have no gripe about this board or this thread.
My three favorite movies all time are Casablanca, Apocalypse Now and Pulp Fiction – three stories about the longing for self-respect in a corrupt world. Someday soon we will all live through our own tests like what Rick, Kurtz and Jules endured.
The leftish half of the internet is clogged with civilized answers to the question of how to cope with Donald Trump as he and his funders dismantle our civilization and prepare to blow up the world.
The most realistic hope is for Father Time to solve our immediate Trump problem for us.
My fingers are crossed.
Hmmm.
Plan B is a general strike. Having led strikes in the ancient American labor movement, I feel qualified to offer a strategic plan. If we just shut down the business of civilization, we will have to hold everybody together for weeks or months as the Icestapo fights a kinetic war against us. Hard to hold fast like that. So we should ask everybody to take alternate days off work. Those with last names beginning with A through L would stay home on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the first week while M though Z take off Tuesday and Thursday. The following week, we switch.
It will take a lot of organizing to get to that kind of unity. If we can’t unify around some actual resistance beyond voting, we succumb to Fascism.
Of course this glib sketch of a national non-violent war of resistance is maybe one tenth of one percent of what it will take to derail the current idiotic regime of Trumpist fascism, but I know what will happen if we don't try. So do you.
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
Union port laborers
in multiple countries are on strike, refusing to load and unload war materiel to Israel.
It is a start.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Protests alone aren't doing much in France...
Perhaps a general strike would be more effective, but much more difficult to engineer.
The dockworkers are making a good start!
You can't let things beyond your change get to you. Some things are beyond our reach. I learned that the hard way in the classroom...do your best to reach every student, but some won't connect no matter what you do. Focusing on those who you can reach proves more effective at least in my experience.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Seeing is believing??? This is how AI can distort reality!