The Mafia Model

Sanctions, tariffs, threats, bribes, coups, and out right war are US strategies used to make other nations comply with our demands. Like a mafia protection racket we offered the GCC countries protection, but failed to deliver. In the late 40's and 50's the newly formed CIA was mentored by the mafia, and maintains relations even today. Trump's mentor Roy Cohn was allegedly a member of the mafia. Perhaps the most ironic mafia link was with J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover was photographed in compromised positions while dressed in drag and was threatened with the release of them if he went after the mob. He denied the mafia's existence. What do you think, is the US a nation modeled on the mafia?

The Corruption of the FBI | Robert Barnes

(14 min) Entire speech here.
It makes you wonder, who are the criminals?

The thing I find most criminal about the US is all its illegal first strike wars. I thought perhaps this weekend the US and Israel might strike Iran. So far so good, but you can tell it is in the offing...perhaps after the midterms.

The Pentagon is up to its own mischief.
Pentagon Installs New Economic Spying And Sabotage Units
Economic espionage is a new priority at the Defense Department. But the Pentagon doesn’t have a great track record with human spying.
The Pentagon is looking to build a more robust deep-cover spying program to conduct economic warfare against China and other U.S. competitors, according to half a dozen people familiar with the initiative....
Why the Pentagon needs to plant moles in foreign companies for economic spying when its immediate task is to fight wars against declared enemies is not clear. One should not be misled by the ‘China’ direction. The U.S. is well versed in spying on its allies.
The Pentagon plans seem to be inconsistent with current law. The CIA, which unlike the Pentagon is regularly involved in clandestine spying, is, for good reasons, pissed about the initiative.
The Pentagon has spent months quietly building an elite new tech agency to help covertly disrupt and sabotage foreign technology programs considered threats to American military superiority.
...Both of the new initiatives, the clandestine economic warfare agents and the ‘technical support’ sabotage unit, are likely to end up in scandals.

How The Deep State Turns Popular Podcast Hosts Into Assets (13 min)
Jimmy examines how intelligence agencies and powerful institutions could recruit social media influencers, podcasters, and media personalities to shape public opinion and suppress certain viewpoints. Using a hypothetical scenario, Chase Hughes explains how psychological techniques such as appealing to patriotism, offering financial incentives, and threatening exposure of compromising personal information could pressure someone into cooperating. The conversation raises broader questions about surveillance, psychological manipulation, media independence, and how audiences can distinguish authentic commentary from potential propaganda.

From Alex Christoforou's walk and talk yesterday:

Are nations or countries really the players, or are the transnational corporations controlled by a global cabal of oligarchs the primary pieces on the chess board? Looking at the EU nations, they have been marginalized by the appointed bureaucracy that runs the EU...Ursala, Kallas, and so on. The people are protesting this arrangement...
France and the Hollowing Out of Europe

(45 min) France is in flames and Macron has left the country, but in this episode we argue this is not just a French crisis, it is a European one rooted in a Brussels center that now controls borders, migration, the euro, foreign policy and Project Ukraine. From Orban and Georgescu to Meloni, Le Pen, Merz and the AfD, we explain why national governments can no longer answer to their own voters, and why Macron may already have his eyes on the European Central Bank as Lagarde moves on. Will the EU outlive the very nations it was built on?
00:00:00 France protests spread across Europe
00:01:00 Why France is the flash point again
00:02:16 Migration, economics and fear of conflict
00:03:53 Weak governments under a Brussels center
00:07:14 France under pressure from EU policy
00:09:38 There is no France without sovereignty
00:10:26 Orban, Georgescu and the price of dissent
00:11:43 Meloni falls in line, Le Pen softens
00:14:28 The EU will destroy member states first
00:17:27 Five years of meetings about Ukraine money
00:19:34 Macron's speech and his exit to the Middle East
00:22:47 Macron's next move: the European Central Bank?
00:26:00 Project Ukraine as the test of loyalty
00:29:08 Burning of the town hall and cultural violence
00:32:32 Europe's future: tourism and the military
00:34:12 Germany's AfD split, east versus west
00:38:04 Britain, Brexit and the London establishment
00:41:14 What is the EU? Treaties and Aztec gods
00:44:16 Mercouris on the France he loves

Alastair Crooke agrees that the oligarchs are above governments.

(30 min) What the US Will Do When It Fails

And my other favorite diplomat, Chas Freeman

(52 min) European Leaders Are Sabotaging Peace Yet Again
00:00 Introduction to Diplomatic Failures
01:12 Oslo Peace Proposal: Analyzing Its Shortcomings
03:52 Understanding Russian Security Concerns
06:31 Contrasting Proposals: Sachs vs. Whitkoff
09:59 The Role of Domestic Politics in Diplomacy
12:45 The Complexity of European Security Architecture
15:56 The Future of Ukraine: A Landlocked Nation?
18:41 Public Opinion vs. Elite Narratives
21:35 The Politicization of Diplomacy
24:34 Trump's New Diplomatic Approach
25:02 The Complexity of Yalta and Current Diplomacy
26:29 The Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine
29:56 Elections and Accountability in Israel and the US
31:25 The State of Warfare and Diplomacy
33:37 Challenges in Peace Processes and Regional Alliances
39:24 Emerging Strategic Alliances in the Middle East
44:01 Populism and Political Tensions in Europe
48:19 The Future of Ukraine and European Stability

Chas mentions Jeff Sachs Ukraine peace plan. Here's Jeff explaining it to the Judge.
You can read the plan and justification here, or a cliff note version here.

Ukraine – CIA More Aggressive – Starlink And Refinery Strikes – Higher Casualties On Ukr’s Side

More from Alex walk and talk yesterday:

Leaving Europe and looking toward the explosive Middle East (Western Asia), it is pins and needles awaiting the next round of strikes.

(59 min) Iran's Next Strike May Not Explode. It Could Shut You Down /Col Doug Macgregor

US, Israel Plan Major Assault On Iran ‘Post-Midterms’
The US and Israel have drafted plans for an assault on Iran’s nuclear, energy, and defense infrastructure post-midterm elections in a new bid to force Tehran to negotiate on less favorable terms, the New York Times (NYT) reported on 21 October.
Some US planners contend that a concentrated and intense three-day bombardment would be sufficient to force Tehran into yielding at the negotiating table.
Washington continues to brandish the threat of renewed war as a bargaining chip, seeking to extract concessions on Tehran’s nuclear program and its grip on Hormuz.
Tehran has refused to make any nuclear concessions thus far, insisting the issue be deferred to a later stage of negotiations.
Iranian officials called US hopes of a quick campaign a ‘fantasy.’ ....
US officials doubt the bomb can reach far enough underground to hit Iran’s buried nuclear sites, let alone force Tehran’s surrender.
Instead, they value it for the mass destruction, civilian deaths, and lasting trauma it would inflict on Iranians, a symbolic act of terror that would let Trump withdraw from a failed war while claiming victory.

Yemen is the amazing story in the region.

(11.5 min) "WE LOST”: Lowkey DROPS BOMBSHELL on Trump, Israel & UK’s FAILED War in Yemen
0:00 The Ultimate Underdog Story
1:05 Why the Global Elite are Terrified of Yemen
3:08 The Secret History of British & US Subjugation
6:48 The BAE Systems £15 Billion Blood Scandal
8:08 How Yemen Broke the Red Sea Fleet
10:28 Solidarity with Gaza & The Defeat of the Empire

Larry Johnson & Col. Lawrence Wilkerson

(56 min) Trump GREENLIGHTS Israeli Strike on Iran, War IMMINENT
Fmr CIA analyst Larry Johnson and Col. Lawrence Wilkerson discuss the massive build up to all-out war by the US & Israel, and why Iran's mosaic defense doctrine carries many surprises that will not only wreak devastation on the aggressors but also change the world order forever.

INTEL Roundtable

(31 min) Larry Johnson & John Kiriakou - Weekly Wrap 23-OCT
Larry's articles this week:
Trump’s Iranian Body Count Grows on Its Own While He Ignores What Israel Has Done in Gaza
Record Oil, Empty Tanks: The UAE’s Miracle Recovery
Relax, It’s Only an Exxon Valdez on Steroids

Higher Oil Prices Are Likely To Stay
There will be no relief in any of these markets until the conflict in the Middle East is resolved

Source Says - Iran Approved Dimona Strike If Israel Goes Nuclear

(35 min) A source inside the room. A reported contingency targeting Dimona if Israel launches a nuclear attack. And two further revelations: Escobar’s sources describe 14 Russian cargo flights following Lavrov’s departure from Tehran, while Gulf discussions with Iran reportedly involve money changing hands. The aircraft’s alleged missile cargo remains unverified; “protection money” is Escobar’s speculation. What do these accounts reveal about Tehran’s preparations—and its neighbours’ calculations?
Pepe Escobar, from Bangkok after midnight, brings the meeting, the Dimona option, the flights and the Gulf talks. Host Zulfiqar Ali brings his Rawalpindi sources on Pakistan’s border with Iran — and a long-term Iran–Japan understanding. Escobar stresses that the Dimona contingency “does not mean that Iran has already a nuclear weapon.”
— 11:38 Israel goes nuclear? Iran’s Dimona option, per Escobar’s source — and why it is not a bomb.
— 14:33 14 Russian planes: what Escobar’s sources say flew in after Lavrov left Tehran.
— 17:45 Gulf protection money? Three calls from Abu Dhabi, and money on the table.

Articles:
Resistance in the Global South: Pepe Escobar Connects Yemen’s Bravery to Brazil’s Democratic Crossroads
Exclusive: What’s Really Happening at the Iran-Pakistan Border

How U.S. Media Helped Sell Israel’s Genocide in Gaza Adam Johnson
It rests on a hierarchy of human worth: Israeli deaths demand outrage, while Palestinian deaths are explained away as the unfortunate consequences of military necessity. The language of news coverage, he argues, teaches audiences whose lives to mourn—and whose destruction to accept.

Israel’s General Election: Fascist 1 vs Fascist 2
Israel’s general election on Tuesday is a contest between two fascists whose only disagreement is how to more efficiently commit genocide and ethnically cleanse the Palestinians. If Netanyahu loses to his opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, don’t be fooled by the liberal political and media establishment when they try to sell it as a turning of the page. And they will.

It should say Langley or DC not NY, but free clip art ain't perfect.

What do you think, is the US a mobster nation? When we threaten to bomb countries into submission, I think there's little doubt. With the CIA as the mob king pin, I don't see how the situation can be corrected. After all they are largely self funded through their drug trade, human trade, gun trade and other illicit activities. They sit above the law, government, and answer to no one. The deep state serves its own interest not those of the country...especially the people of the country. Anyone see an escape hatch from the control of the deep state thugs, who I think act on behalf of the Epstein/bankster class?

Well, I still have sweet potatoes to dig next week. Then it's time to get a load of horse manure for the garden, There will probably be enough to include a bit in next weeks column, too. It's so dry no mowing is needed. We're beginning to get a little color. So I hope you are having a nice autumn, and although we are aware of the monster the country has become, we can still enjoy the beauty of the natural world and a fellow friends.

I look forward to your insights, thoughts and stories! The thread is open...