Regime Change: Turkey and Israel Invasions of Syria and Rojava

The past couple of days the propaganda campaign against Syria and Kurdish Syrians has been on overdrive. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Atlantic Council have all issued reports accusing both Syria and Rojava (Northern Syria) of war crimes. Trump is now becoming the biggest cheerleader for regime change and extended perpetual war. And, it appears that once again the USA and NATO will throw the Kurds under the bus after they have been fighting and dying in removing ISIS from most areas north of the Euphrates. Turkey will carve off some territory for itself and their head chopping allies. Israel will strengthen and annex their rip-off of Golan and its oil reserves.

The invading Turks promise to march on Raqqa, Teli Abyad, Manbij, and further to the west, Efrin. from the Turkish border. This, after the SDF has already fought their way to within two or three miles of Raqqa's center and run Daesh out of the latter cities. The secular SDF has been the most effective force at fighting Daesh while keeping civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction to a minimum. The invading Turks, on the other hand, are neither effective against ISIS and fight their battles like barbarians. They consider Kurds and other ethnicities to be subhuman and have murdered tens of thousands of Kurds both in their own nation-state and in Syria and Iraq. Syrians, Kurds, Christians and other ethnicities do not want Turkey planting their flag in their country.

The Turks and their Al Qaedah allies are presently invading Syria from the north and have been attacking northern Syrians for years. They now threaten invade territories the SDF Multi-ethnic Syrian Democratic Force have liberated from ISIS over the past two years. The SDF controlled areas are already safe zones, as are the SAA (Syrian Army) controlled cities.

Image: Present battle map in north-central Syria. According to a recent speech by Erdogan Turkey (Dark Green)plans on setting up a so-called "safe zone" by attacking Northern Syria (Yellow) at Teli Abyad, Manbij, and further to the west, Efrin.
Map 2017-02-14_113051.jpg
Image: After Turkish invasion of Jarablus, Syria, Erdogan's poster and both Turkish and jihadist flag decorate walls.
Jarabulus.jpg

Reading through the footnotes and sources in these human rights abuse reports we can see they are based on testimonies by Al Qaedah propaganda operatives, of which the so-called White Helmets are one. That the USA and big NGO's accept this Al Qaedah propaganda as truth is, to say the least, highly disturbing.

For a brief overview of the "White Helmets", quoted in all reports, see this trailer (embedded):

What is little known and reported by the Times of Israel is that Israel trained "2000 white helmets" and supplied, over a three year period, "everything they needed".

To quote, "After 3.5 years of cover story, aid group comes out as Israeli Gal Lusky, CEO and founder of Israel Flying Aid, told The Times of Israel in a recent phone interview that her organization has been operating under the radar in Syria since 2011, due to a dual risk: the risk of death from Syrian militants, but also the risk of being prosecuted by the Israeli authorities for visiting an enemy country.

Lusky said IFA has trained almost 2,000 of the famous “white helmets,” volunteer search and rescue workers in Syria since 2012, and supplied them with “everything they needed.” http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-never-again-imperative-why-and-how-isra...

In addition, Turkey and its al-Qaedah allies have been supplying money, training and arms to Al-Qaedah and ISIS for years.

The Turks (and NATO) are great friends with the White Helmet gang of terrorists. To quote from the Guardian,

"UK’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had a series of discussions with Turkish President Recep Erdogan, underlining an apparently strong relationship between the UK and Turkey. In Istanbul, Johnson met the Syrian opposition and members of the Syria Civil Defence, known as the “White Helmets”, an organization working in the opposition-controlled areas of Syria."
http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/world/6745-johnson-meets-erdogan-white...
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sojourns's picture

This is a great distraction for Israel so that they may further illegally occupy and pave over the Palestinians. I'd love to see some kind of U.N. ruling that kicked Israel out of the West Bank and give the housing over to the Palestinians.

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

CB's picture

@sojourns
Saudi Arabia to a 3-year term on its Human Rights Council.

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sojourns's picture

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

@CB @CB named herein:

http://sept11terrorlitigation.com/pdf/Cantor_Fitzgerald_Complaint.pdf

… 41. The charity and relief defendants named herein were not independent of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Rather, they were funded, authorized, supervised, directed, and/or controlled by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Sultan, Prince Naif, Prince Salman, and the Saudi High Commission for Relief. Each charity and relief organization defendant: (A) raised funds only with the permission of the Kingdom; (B) was funded by the Kingdom directly and through donations made by Prince Sultan, Prince Salman, and other members of the royal family; (C) operated under the auspices of the Supreme Council, the Ministry of Interior, and the Saudi High Commission for Relief; and (D) otherwise functioned as a sponsor of Al Qaeda openly, with full knowledge, endorsement, and/or approval of the Foreign Governmental Defendants named herein…

… Prince Salman associated himself with Al Qaeda by: (1) authorizing, ratifying, supervising, controlling, overseeing and/or directing the Saudi High Commission for Relief and by personally funding it with the knowledge that it was the official Saudi governmental organization charged with collecting and dispersing humanitarian aid and that such financial and material support was being diverted to Al Qaeda; (2) publicly supporting and authorizing state-sponsorship of IIRO and Al-Haramain; and (3) personally funding IIRO and Al-Haramain with the knowledge that such financial and material support was being diverted to Al Qaeda.

… 194. Prince Sultan's, Prince Naif's, and Prince Salman's conduct or participation, directly or indirectly, in the affairs of the Al Qaeda Defendants' enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity renders them jointly and severally responsible for the damage caused to Plaintiffs' property and business. The uninterrupted flow of financial and material support and substantial assistance enabled the Al Qaeda Defendants to plan, orchestrate and carry out the September 11 attacks. Therefore, the conduct of Prince Sultan, Prince Naif, and Prince Salman proximately resulted in the September 11 attacks...

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Alex Ocana's picture

@CB @CB Some agencies of the UN appear to be doing useful neutral humanitarian aid. At least their funding is world wide, including donations from my own country, Bolivia.

But the surreal and apparently nefarious nature of appointing the Saudis, known to be main sponsors (with Turkey) of Al Qaedah and Daesh (ISIS) as head of UNHRC is breathtaking. Perhaps that was to put them in a position where they are forced to be in the limelight and clean up their act. I don't know.

There are way too many USA proxies in the UN. Like the over 100 countries with USA Special Forces/Bases plopped down in their midst.

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From the Light House.

and the Atlantic Council are all part of a concerted media blitz to undermine the Trump administration's foreign policy. These are coincident with the coerced resignation of NSA Michael Flynn, and the anti-Russian subtext underlying it.

The transcripts of the conversations don’t show Mr. Flynn made any sort of promise to lift the sanctions once Mr. Trump took office, the officials said. Rather, they show Mr.Flynn making more general comments about relations between the two countries improving under Mr. Trump, people familiar with them said

.http://www.moonofalabama.org/
In response, Trump tweets a non sequitur: "The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc? "http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-14/trump-responds-flynn-resignatio...
Hillary, McCain, and the neocons are all publicly gloating. Score one for the MIC.

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native

Pluto's Republic's picture

@native

they have been disgusting to behold.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
CB's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Hillary Clinton aide at the helm of Amnesty International USA
Suzanne Nossel, former assistant to Richard Holbrooke in his capacity as UN Ambassador and currently Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Assistant for International Organization Affairs, has been selected as the new Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. In the discharge of her duties at the State Department, she diligently exploited human rights to benefit imperial ambitions.

Ms. Nossel had previously worked for Human Rights Watch, as well as for Bertelsmann Media Worldwide and the Wall Street Journal as Vice President of Strategy and Operations.

The AI-USA Board of Directors deemed that Suzanne Nossel’s commitment to the Clinton and Obama administrations was sufficient proof of her competence and decided not to hold a grudge against her for the crimes committed in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, etc.

Ms. Nossel has launched several campaigns against Iran, Libya and Syria. In recent months she made a name for herself by misinforming the Human Rights Council in Geneva with a view to getting the resolution authorizing the war on Libya adopted by the Security Council. Ms. Nossel’s allegations have since been debunked.

So, who funds Amnesty International?

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/FIN40/012/2010/en/2067a089-cb5a-...

The Directors are pleased to acknowledge the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Oak Foundation, Open Society Georgia Foundation, the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Programme, Mauro Tunes and American Jewish World Service. The UK Department for International Development (Governance and Transparency Fund) continued to fund a four year human rights education project in Africa. The European Commission (EuropeAid) generously awarded a multi-year grant towards Amnesty International’s human rights education work in Europe.

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@CB

they've got set up, isn't it?

"He’s a great humanitarian, he’s a great philanthropist
He knows just where to touch you, honey, and how you like to be kissed
He’ll put both his arms around you
You can feel the tender touch of the beast
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace"
-Dylan, 'Man of Peace"

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native

Roy Blakeley's picture

@CB I believe that for many years they were independent and more or less fair. However, I have become suspicious of them (and Human Rights Watch for that matter) in recent months. Is this a conscious effort on the part of neolibs to take over these organizations for their own purposes. It certainly appears to be the case. It would be a terrible shame if this is true because the world needs rigorous, brave, objective human rights organizations.

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Alex Ocana's picture

@Roy Blakeley They have become the shock troops and prime propagandists for USA/NATO "humanitarian" interventions.

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From the Light House.

CB's picture

@Roy Blakeley
papers about the babies being thrown out of incubators in the run-up to the Gulf War. Bush referenced this AI report about a dozen times in public speeches before it was pulled a month later by AI. By then the damage was done.

AI was also responsible for dissemination of false reports during the ramp up for military force against Libya.

It is obvious that its close connections with the war mongers within the USG makes it an extremely dubious and unreliable source for honest information at these critical junctures.

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Roy Blakeley's picture

@CB to an organization that has been bad for a long time. No more.

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CB's picture

@Roy Blakeley
Unfortunately, that last 10% can be a real killer and undo much of their good work.
Here's a report by an AIUSA board member who has been in the higher levels for 16 years. In it he discusses the Kuwaiti Dead Babies Report as well as other failures of AI in Palestine, South Africa, Ireland, Puerto Rico. You may find it an informative read.

Amnesty International: Imperialist Tool
...Amnesty International published the Dead Babies Report anyway despite my vigorous objections, and launched their Disinformation Campaign against Iraq. From this episode I could only conclude that AI/London deliberately intended the Dead-Babies Report and Campaign to be used in order to tip the balance in favor of war against Iraq.

This is exactly what happened. In January of 1991 the United States Senate voted in favor of war against Iraq by only five or six votes. Several Senators publicly stated that the AI/AIUSA Dead Babies Report and Campaign had influenced their votes in favor of war against Iraq. That genocidal war waged by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, inter alia, during the months of January and February 1991, killed at a minimum 200,000 Iraqis, half of whom were civilians. Amnesty International shall always have the blood of the Iraqi People on its hands!
...
There are many people of good will and good faith working at the grassroots level of Amnesty International and AIUSA who genuinely believe that they are doing meaningful and effective work to protect human rights around the world. But at the top of these two organizations you will find a self-perpetuating clique of co-opted Elites who deliberately shape and direct the work of AI and AIUSA so as to either affirmatively support, or else not seriously undercut, the imperial, colonial, and genocidal policies of the United States, Britain, and Israel. The Leadership Elites of AI/London and AIUSA have always considered themselves to be the so-called “loyal opposition” to the imperial, colonial, and genocidal policies of the United States, Britain and Israel. I would ask the people at the grassroots of AI and AIUSA whether you want to continue being part of the “loyal opposition” to imperialism, colonialism and genocide perpetrated by the United States, Britain and Israel? It is not for me to tell those people of good faith and good will currently working with AI/London and AIUSA what to do. But I have found other organizations to work with and support.

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CB's picture

@Roy Blakeley
Unfortunately, that last 10% can be a real killer and undo much of their good work.
Here's a report by an AIUSA board member who has been in the higher levels for 16 years.
In it he discusses the Kuwaiti Dead Babies Report as well as other failures of AI in Palestine, South Africa, Ireland, Puerto Rico. You may find it an informative read.

Amnesty International: Imperialist Tool
...Amnesty International published the Dead Babies Report anyway despite my vigorous objections, and launched their Disinformation Campaign against Iraq. From this episode I could only conclude that AI/London deliberately intended the Dead-Babies Report and Campaign to be used in order to tip the balance in favor of war against Iraq.

This is exactly what happened. In January of 1991 the United States Senate voted in favor of war against Iraq by only five or six votes. Several Senators publicly stated that the AI/AIUSA Dead Babies Report and Campaign had influenced their votes in favor of war against Iraq. That genocidal war waged by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, inter alia, during the months of January and February 1991, killed at a minimum 200,000 Iraqis, half of whom were civilians. Amnesty International shall always have the blood of the Iraqi People on its hands!
...
There are many people of good will and good faith working at the grassroots level of Amnesty International and AIUSA who genuinely believe that they are doing meaningful and effective work to protect human rights around the world. But at the top of these two organizations you will find a self-perpetuating clique of co-opted Elites who deliberately shape and direct the work of AI and AIUSA so as to either affirmatively support, or else not seriously undercut, the imperial, colonial, and genocidal policies of the United States, Britain, and Israel. The Leadership Elites of AI/London and AIUSA have always considered themselves to be the so-called “loyal opposition” to the imperial, colonial, and genocidal policies of the United States, Britain and Israel. I would ask the people at the grassroots of AI and AIUSA whether you want to continue being part of the “loyal opposition” to imperialism, colonialism and genocide perpetrated by the United States, Britain and Israel? It is not for me to tell those people of good faith and good will currently working with AI/London and AIUSA what to do. But I have found other organizations to work with and support.

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Alex Ocana's picture

Americanized mass media version of Rojava Revolution.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/american-anarchists-ypg-ku...

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From the Light House.

Alex Ocana's picture

turks lose ground.jpg

PRO-TURKISH MILITANTS AND TURKISH ARMY LOSING GROUND IN AL-BAB (MAP UPDATE)
Pro-Turkish militant groups and the Turkish Army are losing ground under the pressure from ISIS terrorists in the Syrian city of al-Bab.

According to available data, Turkish forces have been pushed to retreat from the al-Bab roundabout between al-Bab and Tadef, and now are clashing with ISIS east of the Youth Housing and the Al-Bab silos.

https://southfront.org/pro-turkish-militants-and-turkish-army-losing-gro...

I think the following comments are accurate:

John Whitehot • 6 hours ago
every time Turkey is involved, there is an awful number of back and forth movements of the "frontline". The feeling is that Turkey actually does not fight ISIS and viceversa, and it keeps boots on the ground just in anti-kurdish function. Also, it's very likely that they are there with the objective of keeping the shitty "FSA" alive, so to exploit any possible political change that could help them in removing Assad. Turkey has been one of the biggest supporter of terrorism in Syria since the start, it spent billions in arming and financing jihadists and I doubt that they are going to settle for an end situation where Assad is still in power.

dutchnational • 5 hours ago
It is a telling sign that Turkey is unable to take this small city. Seeing this, it is just a joke to propose this Army, even reinforced, marching on for a hundred miles to take on Raqqah.

First they will not make it to Raqqah, battling either IS or SDF or both, depending on the route taken. As it is known Turkey has logistical problems getting supplies to its forces near Al Bab, how will they supply a much larger force over much longer distances in a hostile environment?

Trump will be wise to keep his distance from these fools and clowns.

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From the Light House.

@Alex Ocana @Alex Ocana

Hope Turkey gets cooked. Sorry for the people dragged into this, though... this is so sickening...

Edit: hope this isn't going to turn into a major missile/air assault on Syrians thing. Wondering if this will be used as excuse; please tell me I'm paranoid!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Alex Ocana's picture

@Ellen North This is the NGO playbook used in the invasions of Afganistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. To learn more about it just listen to the speeches and campaign rhetoric from Hillary Clinton and her neocon predecessors and backtrack about where this garbage comes from. We all (should) know about "Incubator Babies" and "Qaddafi Killing Tens of Thousands of Civilians" lies came from.

Although I read a book on the background, I am not up to date on Yemen, and why Yemen is blocked and why the blockade of Yemen is "permitted" while millions are starving, or even who is doing it (I think its the Saudis and USA, but not clear to me), or what their lame excuse is. Maybe someone can help out on Yemen.

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From the Light House.

Alex Ocana's picture

A poor English translation from Kurdish of the response to the smear attack against the YPG in Rojava published in the Nation. If not cleaned up officially by tomorrow I will do so.

From Rêdûr Xelîl
@RedurXelil
The Official Spokesman of People's Protection Units (YPG)
https://twitter.com/RedurXelil/status/831612248191823876

response to nation.jpg
response to nation 2.jpg
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From the Light House.

Alex Ocana's picture

May Comments:If you want to see what a real humanitarian aid report looks like instead of the absolute garbage being pedaled by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, the Atlantic Council and The Nation Magazine and other MSM outlets, read this report. Here are some important quotes.

One of the most interesting things I learned from this report is that Turkey and their head-chopping Al Qaedah gangs (FSA) of fanatics as well as ISIS have systematically blocked UN humanitarian aid from crossing into Rojava, wherein aid must be flown in from Damascus (Syrian Government). The Turks have systematically destroyed the bridges which connect Turkey to Syria and closed border roads in areas where they control them. The only exceptions are two bridges from which the Turkish government plans to invade Northern Syria (directly north of Raqqa).

-----------------------------------------

Syria Crisis: Ar-Raqqa
Situation Update No. 1 (as of 31 January 2017) OCHA

Displacement trends

"Displacement is mostly temporary. Communities living in the northern and western countryside of Ar-Raqqa have been regularly displaced behind conflict lines as the SDF advanced through ISIL-held areas. Once the SDF regained control over areas, displaced families were mostly permitted to return to their areas of origin. . ."

"In response to SDF advancement, however, ISIL is severely restricting the movement of people wanting to flee to SDF-controlled areas. As the SDF advances, people are often left up to their own devices and are able to leave under volatile circumstances."

Vital infrastructure

"As ISIL have retreated from towns and villages in territories newly seized by the SDF, an increase in deliberate destruction of vital infrastructure by the group has been reported. For example, in the first three weeks of January, three water stations and five water towers have been destroyed amid ISIL withdrawals. There are also reports of significant destruction of homes, especially in the villages around Ain Issa.

ISIL has reportedly mined water pumping stations on the Euphrates River which hinders the pumping of water and residents are resorting to untreated water from the Euphrates River."

"Unexploded ordinance (UXO) and booby-traps

The contamination levels of unexploded ordinance (UXO) and booby-traps in newly-seized areas is reportedly very high, particularly in the area south of Ain Issa town and around Ar-Raqqa city. No clear records are available on the number of causalities but humanitarian actors indicate an estimate of 40 persons killed by mines while fleeing the area."

Tabqa Dam

"Since 24 January, water levels of the Euphrates River have increased by an estimated 10 meters, partly due to heavy rainfall and snow and partly due to ISIL opening three turbines of the Tabqa Dam, flooding riverside areas downstream. The water has since flooded agricultural lands and also limit the mobility of residents and their vehicles in rural Deir-ez-Zor on both sides of the river banks in some thirteen ISILcontrolled towns."

Access

"Since the closure of the Nyuseybin crossing by Turkey in December 2015, supplies received via Qamishli have to be airlifted from Damascus. Less costly alternatives need to be identified."

"The most convenient border crossing points to the SDF areas (i.e. Kobane, Ain Al Arab/Mursitpinar, Tal Abiad/Akcakale are closed and as they are not included in the UN Security Council resolution they cannot be used by the UN)."

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/raqqa_update_de...

[Image: Internal Server Error. The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@caucus99percent.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error]. 10:15 AM EST. Not the first time.

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From the Light House.

Alex Ocana's picture

Daily Sabah - Next stop: Raqqa and Manbij

"Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a press conference in Istanbul before leaving on a three-country tour of the Gulf. In response to a question about the objectives and limits of Turkey's Syria policy, he stated that al-Bab was about to fall and announced that the Free Syrian Army (FSA), backed by the Turkish military, would march against Raqqa and Manbij next.

After all, Operation Euphrates Shield's stated goal has been to remove terrorist groups, not just Daesh, from northern Syria. Moving forward, Turkey will seek to set up a 5,000-square-kilometer safe zone in the area and enforce a no-fly zone. In addition to training a national military force in northern Syria, Turkey want to shelter civilians from violence."

Translated into real news this means that Turkey plans to invade almost all of northern Syria and install Al-Qaedah extremists operatives as the military force in Rojava. Its essentially calling for genocide against Kurds, Yezidis, and other ethnicities in the region, not to mention Shias and non-jihadist (pro-government)Sunnis.

Turkey already has a record of mass murder of Kurds in Turkey. They already teach in schools, in the areas they invaded in northern Syria near Al Bab, that Kurds are sub-human and terrorists.

In addition, Erdogan is and reportedly Trump, are planning the continued genocide in Yemen.

Having identified the fight against Daesh and the containment of Iran as its regional priorities, the Trump White House has not been able to formulate a coherent position until now. Judging by media reports about Trump's phone calls with Gulf nations, it would appear that the mission to contain Tehran will kick off from Yemen – where the U.S. wants to write a success story and show the Gulf that it means business.

https://www.dailysabah.com/columns/duran-burhanettin/2017/02/15/next-sto...

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From the Light House.

@Alex Ocana

Non-fictional Devil's Business As Usual. Can the mighty military machine and terrorists of the PTB can successfully destroy a vulnerable people and win corporate media kudos yet again?

When do people finally decide that enough is enough and fight for life?

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

We need to fight them with our wallets. Stop the absurd and frivolous and distracting boycotting of Ivanka fashions. Stop shopping at Walmart, at the fast food chains. Stop banking at the national banks. Start a garden. Get to know your neighbors.

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