Welcome to Winter

The days will begin to grow longer, and the news will keep churning. This week we had a Russian General assassinated, a marathon press conference by Putin, Biden and company trying to spread chaos by firing missiles into Russia, Ukraine losing badly on the battlefield, the continued dissolution of Syria, and the on going genocide in Gaza and the west bank. A US government shutdown was avoided with an emergency stop gap funding bill, but Germany's government has fallen and new election slated. Canada may be next. Macron's government in France managed to survive and a new centrist PM was installed. All these stories and more below the fold.

Black Flags Over Damascus

This moment reminds me of the US celebrating bin Laden and al Queda for ridding Afghanistan of the USSR. Later he declared war on the US. I suspect HTS and al Golani will play out in a similar manner. No matter, the nation state of Syria is no more. Of course it was a post world war (1946) creation itself, although Damascus is quite old. Many scholars believe that, among the ancient cities of the world, Damascus is perhaps the oldest continuously inhabited. Over the centuries, Damascus has been conqueror and conquered, wealthy and destitute, and capital of empire and small states. Sadly it's pluralistic culture is likely to be dissolved. (excellent article)

Bully, Bribe, Bomb

Today's title is courtesy of Chas Freeman's description of US diplomacy and foreign policy. I think the big news this week is the sneak attack in Syria, but there are many pieces being moved around the global chessboard. There was the episode in S. Korea when the president attempted martial law...and was foiled. There was a vote of no confidence in the Macron government in France. There was Hunter's broad sweeping pardon by Biden. Tucker went to Moscow this week and interviewed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia continues to advance in Ukraine, and the genocide in Gaza grows with food and aid blocked. The INTEL Roundtable w/ Johnson & McGovern : Weekly Wrap touches on many of these stories and has a good rant by Larry.

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Game Changer

Many changes are afoot, but the title primarily refers to Russia's new hypersonic missile, Oreshnik or hazelnut. Many analysts suggest it is as significant a development as the atomic bombs of the 1940's. Will the incoming Trump administration be a game changer? Judging from the bulk of his nominees, I don't think so, but I'm willing to wait and see. Will BRICS+ change the world and financial order? They've certainly begun the process. All these changes and more below the fold...

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Controlling Farms, Food, Health, and War

The globalists seem to try experiments in various countries to expand their control. In the Netherlands they were shutting down and taking farms, but that didn't play well with the public. Now in the UK they have a new strategy to slap farms with a high inheritance tax forcing families to sell their farms to corporations like Blackrock. We'll see how that plays out this year. To my mind COVID was used as a global control experiment. Tobacco corporations became big food and used their understanding of addiction to make foods which were not only addictive but unhealthy. RFK says there's nothing more profitable than a child with a chronic disease. And the big news of the week was the escalation of NATOstan's war with Russia. Will the pentagon manage to halter the Biden regime and prevent WWIII? All that and more below the fold.

Lessons Learned?

Trump seems to have selected Trump loyalists for his cabinet. Many are Israel first people. There's plenty of China and Iran war mongers in the group as well. No doubt we'll have to wait and see, first if they make it through the senate after McConnell installed Thune as a poison pill, and secondly if they live up to their claims of challenging the system. Did Trump learn from his first term of disastrous appointments?

Hope, Despair, Ambivalence?

Thankfully the election is over with results so overwhelming that no one seems to be challenging the outcome. That was my hope. Prior to the election there were all kinds of predictions of violence, riots, and protests which fortunately didn't come to fruition. So now we wait to see how the administration evolves. Many are hopeful. Some are in despair. Others are simply ambivalent. Is it possible for the nation to heal the divide? Vivek thinks we can? (1.2 min)

The Tit for Tat Trap

The Israel/Iran war seems to operate in a tit for tat status. Israel blows up Iran's Damascus embassy, Iran floods Israel with old drones and missiles (probably to map their defenses). Israel murders the primary Hamas negotiator in Tehran the day Iran inaugurated its new president, Iran targets and hits Israeli military facilities. In response Israel mounts an aerial attack on Iran's air defense system. So now we're waiting for the response. Is there no way out of this tit for tat trap?

Regenerate!

Regenerative agriculture is a common topic in this column, but I've been thinking this week that it might refer to other things which are being regenerated. For example, perhaps the BRICS+ summit this week in Kazan is regenerating the world order and economy? Is there even a chance we could regenerate the nature of the US and use the Constitution as our guide? Maybe we should go even farther and totally re-invent the US...perhaps involving more direct democracy. A republic like ours is easily corrupted/purchased as we can clearly see. We certainly need to regenerate our health system, in part through regenerative agriculture providing nutrient rich foods. So let's dive in and regenerate some of our assumptions.

War IS the US Business Model

War with Russia in the Ukraine Proxy war, a likely War in SW Asia with Iran, War with China over Taiwan, War on US citizens using a variety of techniques, an economic War on the EU, countless coups and conflicts in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, Sanction wars with any country which refuses to submit to US dictats ...here a war, there a war, everywhere a war,war. I heard Lockhead-Martin stock is up 58% this year alone. This country has come a long way down the road from the initial goal of being an agricultural and trading nation. We morphed into authoritarian warmongering bullies somewhere along the way.