Hat tip to Ellen North for leading me to some of the best news I've seen in a long time: Ellen's comment links.

Few things have given me much hope about our nation's future and the course of world events lately. Yet two events, one allegedly occurring Feb. 2 and the other slowly evolving are producing that hoped-for result.

The first event is the pending release of FISA-related fraud perpetrated by the corrupt Obama regime. This has excited acrimonious debate in Congress, namely "the memo" (TM). This four page documented, crafted by House select intelligence committee was approved for general release, i.e., public after heated debate in the intelligence committee (IC). The votes concerning revelation of their 4 page summary culled by Republican IC staff was approved for public dissemination by committee staff along strict party lines. Two notable exceptions: Rep. Turner may have been asleep during the hearing as he did not vote on any motion; congressperson Jackie Speier voted present on two motions, thus splitting from the otherwise solid Democratic Party opposition to the motion.

For those interested, here is the transcript of the January 29 committee meeting. I can well imaging Mad Adam Schiff's eyes bulging out of his head during the heated meeting.

Schiff is an evil proselytizer of the famous but vacuous RUSSIA-RUSSIA-RUSSIA fairytale. It is thus no wonder that he led the Democratic charge to prevent, or, alternatively delay, or, alternatively commingle the Republican report with the Demonratic fantasy. He and his cronies lost the IC vote and Der Trumpf has given the go ahead for full (hopefully) unredacted release. This memo allegedly names names, amongst which I am sure will be Comey, Rosenstein, Strzok, probably Page, Ohr, Steele, Obama, Lynch and lots of the recently disbanded "seventh floor gang".

The net result will be massive deflation of Democratic reputations, sadly including Bernie Sanders who has been complicit in spreading this fiction. Shame on you, Bernie.

Prognostication: the enfeebled Dem party will lose yet more adherents and funding. This in turn will lead to losses in mid-term election, most likely replaced by Repugnants but perhaps Greens, Socialists and Less corrupted newcomers. The campaign against Tulsi Gabbard, to name one, will fail miserably. Zephyr Teachout might actually win should she run again. Perhaps Tim Canova too. At any rate, the Dems have so debilitated themselves that they are in process of Whiggification.

Failing U.S. Empire

Despite trillions spent on aggressive, illegal, immoral wars to further the psychopathic desires of Neoconservatives and one-percenters, American power has failed miserably.

After raping Iraq, US forces are floundering in the "Graveyard of Empires" (Afghanistan) in our longest undeclared war. Similarly, after combined NATO destruction of Libya, which is now a failed state, useless to our war mongers anymore, our forces have faltered badly in Syria despite bogus sarin provocations, largely due to a popularly supported Assad and Putin's airforce.

So much of our treasure spent on useless, cruel wars when instead this money should have been used for the betterment of lives everywhere. The preservation of human life has never been high on the Globalist agenda.

One of the most tangible consequences of the decline of US military power can be observed in the Syrian conflict. Over the past few weeks, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies have completed the historic and strategic liberation of Deir ez-Zor, a city besieged for more than five years by Islamists belonging to Al Qaeda and Daesh. The focus has now shifted to the oilfields south of the liberated city, with a frantic rush by both the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the SAA to free territories still held by Daesh. The final goal is to claim Syria's resources and strengthen a weak US position (the US is not even part of the Astana peace talks) in future negotiations concerning the country's future. To understand how much the US dream of partitioning Syria is failing, one only need note repeated US failures as seen in the liberation of Aleppo and then Deir Ez-Zor, and now the crossing of the Euphrates river. In spite of American intimidation, threats, and sometimes even direct aggression, the Syrian army continued to work against Daesh in the province of Deir Ez-Zor, advancing on oil rich sites. Thanks to the protection given by the Russian Federation Air Force during the conflict, Damascus has obtained a protective umbrella necessary to withstand attempts by the US of balkanize the country...

An example of what can happen if Washington decides to go against a former friend can be seen with the Gulf Crisis involving Qatar. Since the beginning of the aggression against Syria, the small emirate has been at the center of plots and schemes aimed at arming and financing jihadists in the Middle East and Syria. Five years later, after billions of dollars spent and nothing to hold onto in Syria, the Gulf Cooperation Council, as expected, has plunged into a fratricidal struggle between Qatar and other countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Egypt. The latter accuse Doha of funding terrorism, an undeniable truth. But they omit to acknowledge their own ties to the jihadists (Egypt in this framework is excluded, fighting continually with terrorists inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood in the Sinai), showing a hypocrisy that only the mainstream media can rival....

If Tel Aviv’s goal was to expand the illegal border in the Golan Heights and proceed with regime change, the situation has ended up totally different six years later. Iran has expanded its influence in Syria thanks to aid provided to Damascus in combating terrorism. Hezbollah has increased its battle experience and arsenal, as well as expanded its network of contacts and sympathizers throughout the Middle East. Hezbollah and Iran are seen as Middle Eastern peacemakers, playing positive roles in fighting the plague of jihadist terrorism as well as against Israel and Saudi Arabia, states that have tried in every way to assist terrorist organizations with weapons and money. Washington, Riyadh and Tel Aviv six years later find themselves in a totally different environment, with hostile neighbours, less collaborative friends, and in general, a Middle East increasingly orbiting around the Iranian and Russian spheres of influence.

Thus on the ground and in the air, the U.S. has been successfully neutered in the near east. Israel is being constrained, as noted above. Saudi is imploding, re recent internal purge and a changing geopolitics (mentioned in the next citation).

And here is the decisive sign of empire failure: widespread abandonment of the the petrodollar.

Dollar-Petrodollar-Gold

The largest geo-economic change in the last fifty years was arguably implemented in 1973 with the agreement between OPEC, Saudi Arabia and the United States to sell oil exclusively in dollars.

Specifically, Nixon arranged with Saudi King Faisal for Saudis to only accept dollars as a payment for oil and related investments, recycling billions of excess dollars into US treasury bills and other dollar-based financial resources. In exchange, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries came under American military protection. It reminds one of a mafia-style arrangement: the Saudis are obliged to conduct business in US dollars according to terms and conditions set by the US with little argument, and in exchange they receive generous protection.

The second factor, perhaps even more consequential for the global economy, is the dollar becoming the world reserve currency and maintaining a predominant role in the basket of international foreign-exchange reserves of the IMF ever since 1981. The role of the dollar, linked obviously to the petrodollar trade, has almost always maintained a share of more than 40% of the Special Drawing Right (SDR) basket, while the euro has maintained a stable share of 29-37% since 2001. In order to understand the economic change in progress, it is sufficient to observe that the yuan is now finally included in the SDR, with an initial 10% share that is immediately higher than the yen (8.3%) and sterling (8.09%) but significantly less than the dollar (41%) and euro (31%). Slowly but significantly Yuan currency is becoming more and more used in global trade...

Color revolutions, hybrid warfare, economic terrorism, and proxy attempts to destabilize these countries have had devastating effects on Washington's military credibility and effectiveness. The United States finds itself being considered by many countries to be a massive war apparatus that struggles to get what it wants, struggles to achieve coherent common goals, and even lacks the capability to control countries like Iraq and Afghanistan in spite of its overwhelming military superiority...

For China, Iran and Russia, as well as other countries, de-dollarization has become a pressing issue. The number of countries that are beginning to see the benefits of a decentralized system, as opposed to the US dollar system, is increasing. Iran and India, but also Iran and Russia, have often traded hydrocarbons in exchange for primary goods, thereby bypassing American sanctions. Likewise, China's economic power has allowed it to open a 10-billion-euro line of credit to Iran to circumvent recent sanctions. Even the DPRK seems to use cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to buy oil from China and bypass US sanctions. Venezuela (with the largest oil reserves in the world) has just started a historic move to completely renounce selling oil in dollars, and has announced that it will start receiving money in a basket of currencies without US dollars. (This is not to mention the biggest change to have occurred in the last 40 years). Beijing will buy gas and oil from Russia by paying in yuan, with Moscow being able to convert yuan into gold immediately thanks to the Shanghai International Energy Exchange. This gas-yuan-gold mechanism signals a revolutionary economic change through the progressive abandonment of the dollar in trade.

Hopefully the decline of the petrodollar will occur gradually enough to permit re-orientation of foreign and domestic policy to the new realities of global life. Around the world, populations are escaping globalist-neoliberal programs, still early phases, in favor of more left wing or right wing governments.

The decline of the petrodollar as world reserve currency will considerably weaken globalists and home-grown neoconservative militarists.

Prognostication: with the decline of the wind in the sails of American "exceptionalism" the toleration and ability for wars of economic adventure will come to a halt--unless the psychopathic deep staters pull the trigger first.

Synthesis: toppling of the duopoly/power elite is being accomplished from within (Democratic Party collapse) and without (petrodollar reserve currency collapse). These factors of course will occur asymmetrically, each one, domestic or international, introducing considerable instability globally.

IF, and this is a big IF, the course of US judicial corruption can be reversed (via TM, etc.) we may well see drastic, beneficial change.

Let's Roll With The Changes!

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEidbkibsiE]