I really wish NATO would get involved in Ukraine as soon as possible so they can stop all the smug commentary around "The Russian Way of War" and get smacked in the gob like the AFU is.

Can't we stage a protest or something?

Posted by: Arch Bungle | May 5 2024 12:40 utc | 1

On Georgia 3 recommendations which I forgot (albeit not necessarily by barfly "material"):

"Unrest in Georgia over the “Foreign Influence Transparency Law”: “Whichever Way We Go Is a Step Back”
By Almut Rochowanski and Sopiko Japaridze

May 2nd 2024
https://lefteast.org/unrest-georgia-foreign-influence-transparency-law/

"Foreign agent law fundamentals, part I: we need to be honest with ourselves
Thoughts on recent events in Georgia"
by Almut Rochowanski

March 17 2023
https://discomfortzone.substack.com/p/foreign-agent-law-fundamentals-part

"Some thoughts about Foreign Influence Law in Georgia and EU
Reactionary Dual Power in Georgia"
by Sopo Japaridze

April 18th 2024
https://discomfortzone.substack.com/cp/143837943

Posted by: AG | May 5 2024 12:44 utc | 2

lol good to see the synchronicity has returned with b, as soon as I post my comment the new thread drops. A partial repeat. I don’t think b has mentioned it yet.

Xi in Europe.

I expect the original European imperial powers to be told directly to their faces and hence their media and so the whole populations of Europe the direct message that their any remaining unaddressed imperial injustices are to be immediately dealt with - a deadline of less than 6 months.

That issue has been signalled by the Chinese FM - the illegality of the existence of the Apartheid Entity and its impossibility as a continuing colony under the fake claim of religion.

With Putins probable final term and Xi’s presence, it is the moment! The once in a hundred years , the Old Empire must Yield or Die - no more joking about with the ever more limbless black Knight.

In effect it is the Declaration of War against the hegemons and its unipolar Rules based order that has been brewing us deluded first worlders to the boil since the beginning i of the century - inaugurated by the natzios OFFENSIVE attack on Serbia 25 years ago.

Time has arrived for that karma to be collected.
Xi is here personally to show the world the multipolar is ready.
Are WE ready?

Time is up for our fascist collective waste.
I do hope that in the first hour of war the first targets will the ones who always hide far from the fronts - stealing more wealth from all sides, watching millions minced so they can stay forever the Few in Control of humanity.

The incineration of them and their chattels and dynasties is the primary requirement of the end of the Old for the new to flourish.

Posted by: DunGroanin | May 5 2024 12:57 utc | 3

Nice assortment of links, thank you.

Posted by: Babel-17 | May 5 2024 13:07 utc | 4

So begins (in the US) eight days of Holocaust Remembrance.

There are clearly those that have learned from the Holocaust and pour into the streets to protest the
ongoing Genocide.

There are others that have learned a different lesson and have learned how to turn their back on Genocide.
These can be heard identifying themselves by using The Slur of "antisemitism" to try and intimidate and silence
those that have actually learned the right and decent lesson of the Holocaust.

So begins (in the US) eight days of Holocaust Remembrance.
They are going to really turn up the heat for the next several days and will use every angle of The Slur
to support Genocide.

Posted by: librul | May 5 2024 13:19 utc | 5

The Axis of Evil US/UK/Nato preparing to invade Yemen.

"Senior military officials in Sana’a have informed MintPress News of ongoing military preparations by the US, UK, and Saudi-led Coalition over the past two weeks. According to these sources, there are plans to initiate a significant aerial assault on the Yemeni mainland, focusing particularly on coastal regions in the west, as well as areas in the south near the Saudi border. This assault is expected to be accompanied by ground offensives carried out by factions aligned with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain."

https://www.mintpressnews.com/exclusive-yemen-braces-for-impending-massive-us-led-air-and-ground-campaign/287342/

Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 5 2024 13:24 utc | 6

All the comments about how Russia isn’t taking ground from the Doomer / concern troll brigade were always a demand that Russia fight the way the U.S. wants and has designed its military to fight. Will they exhibit any level of understanding now that RUSI has spoken on the matter?

In WWI the Brusilov offensive probably showed the way to launch an offensive in an attritional war. It wasn’t followed up so we don’t have the full historical analogy, but Shoigu has now publicly stated that Russia is performing a 21st century Brusilov offensive. What’s perhaps most interesting is that while Russia is learning and adapting the US seems unwilling to do either, which means Kiev’s ability to do either is also limited.

To the argument that there are many more Ukrainian men that can be sent to death, RUSI and Simplicius make a strong point that highly complex gear and the coordination of maneuver warfare become significantly more difficult as the training of the force is lowered. So yes there are more men, but there aren’t more effective men to join the fight.

Lastly the mathematics of attrition are simple but deceptive. For a long time it looks like nothing’s happening and then the imbalance becomes dramatic. Where this conflict is on those curves is impossible to tell from our information but probabilities suggest that the divergence is imminent.

Posted by: Lex | May 5 2024 13:27 utc | 7

..What’s perhaps most interesting is that while Russia is learning and adapting the US seems unwilling to do either, which means Kiev’s ability to do either is also limited..."
Lex | May 5 2024 13:27 utc | 7

You are right.
It is a combination of Imperialist hubris ('we won the Cold War!' 'we can do anything!') and the Capitalist vested interests of corporations and associated political and military factions making money out of producing obsolete and obsolescent materiel, training in tactics that no longer work and marketing phoney political narratives.

Jefferson might have been wrong about the frequency but he was right about the necessity for more regular revolutions- the tree of liberty is crying out for the blood of the sprawling oligarchy which infests the United States.

Posted by: bevin | May 5 2024 13:49 utc | 8

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VzqC_TM37NE

................

50 minutes with Chas Freeman, old diplomatic hand. Sane.

Posted by: Scorpion | May 5 2024 13:51 utc | 9

As to https://news.antiwar.com/2024/05/03/us-covert-missile-launcher-could-lead-to-xis-ouster-nyt/
It is embarrassing how the NYT drivel peddles the kind of shitty US missiles Russians are shooting down in droves over Donbass and Crimea, fantasizing they could thwart a Chinese reunification by force of Taiwan - not that the "libertarian" author on Antiwar parroting the crap uncritically were any better.

The wunderwaffles would go up in flames and dust ahead of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, while the Chinese produce more missiles in a week than the US in a year.

Will the yanks ever grow up?

Posted by: aquadraht | May 5 2024 13:54 utc | 10

"In WWI the Brusilov offensive probably showed the way to launch an offensive in an attritional war. "

Posted by: Lex | May 5 2024 13:27 utc | 7

Actually, the successful Brusilov offensive, masterminded by Alexy Brusilov (1) worked, ironically, because the Russian army was very low on artillery shells.

In the widespread 'brain dead' WW1 tactics the idea was that before you sent your infantry to battle your enemy you had to engage in weeks of 'softening up' the enemy with artillery barrages at a weak point in the enemy's defense.

Of course this tactic revealed to the enemy where the opposing army was going to attack so they promptly reinforced the area being bombed which negated the success of the future attack.

Brusilov , because of his lack of artillery, only had a day or two of artillery barrages then attacked promptly across the line surprising the Germans as they believed it had a week or two or more to reinforce the lines.(2)

Hence, the Brusilov success had more to do with serendipity then it did with any new 'tactics'.

1.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aleksey-Alekseyevich-Brusilov

2.https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/brusilovs-wwi-breakthrough-on-the-eastern-front/

Posted by: canuck | May 5 2024 14:03 utc | 11

Regarding preparations for a likely attack on Yemen, I'm surprised to hear that Saudi Arabia is involved. I thought they had decided to normalize relations with Yemen, after the failed US backed military intervention there over 7 or 8 years.

Posted by: bolangi | May 5 2024 14:08 utc | 12

Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 5 2024 13:24 utc | 6

Interesting that the Mint Press piece has no mention of Iran having a say in matters.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 5 2024 14:23 utc | 13

Pepe Escobar and Sy Hersh both published bizarre, apparently single-source stories about Israel's response to Iran's fusillade of drones and missiles. Iran immediately damped down a flurry of exaggerated reports from somewhere -- essentially dismissing the very occurrence of any significant counterattack -- with nothing further to say. Israel never officially comments on the assaults they perpetrate. Escobar's position, in response to queries, is that he's said all he has to say about it.

And so this abortive EMP assault, of which no scrap of a hint of any actual evidence can be found, continues to just hang out there. Nobody but nobody wants to talk about it.

I don't put any stock in the story itself at this point. We see how it simply blows away; almost certainly it was nothing but vapor all along. My comment about it goes in the open thread, because I think this incident is a teachable moment regarding journalistic standards. The stratum to which discussion has sunk, on this issue, is epistemically pathetic. Pepe's defenders, and Pepe himself, try to distract us into entertaining what plausibly could have happened, rather than dealing in factual information anymore. That way lies trutheristic madcap hijinks, not reporting.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 5 2024 14:26 utc | 14

Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 5 2024 13:24 utc | 6

Interesting that the Mint Press piece has no mention of Iran having a say in matters.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | May 5 2024 14:23 utc | 13

Yep, lots of crazy talk these days. A sign the wheels are coming off the bandwagon, various bandwagons, as I interpret it. I read half a dozen out there analyses and arguments this morning, and I don't mean here. Magical weapons, magical plans, trying to keep the old narratives alive, trying to hang on. I think we will see who is crazy and who is not real soon now. Could be me too, we will see. As Psychohistorian says, the shit-show (such a fine term for it, thanks Obama) continues until it doesn't. I keep thinking back to the Vietnam period, it feels like that.

Posted by: Bemildred | May 5 2024 14:43 utc | 15

Regarding preparations for a likely attack on Yemen, I'm surprised to hear that Saudi Arabia is involved. I thought they had decided to normalize relations with Yemen, after the failed US backed military intervention there over 7 or 8 years.

Posted by: bolangi | May 5 2024 14:08 utc | 12

Yes, that's another one. The very idea that USA/West today could put together a credible land assault on Yemen seems unrealistic to me, but what do I know, right?

Posted by: Bemildred | May 5 2024 14:47 utc | 16

I'm just glad you're good, B. Low ops are fine, even if you just do a weekly retrospective and open threads it's also fine, 'long as we have you. Things that this site has been covering and keeping an eye on for a decade or more are now coming to a head and it's good to see the chronicle completing itself like that.

It all now really feels like the West is like a crazy school football quarterback who feels invincible, got high on drugs and decided to win a staring contest with a train, and is right now in the physical process of finding out some things are just not happening no matter how hard you think otherwise.

Posted by: Red Outsider | May 5 2024 14:49 utc | 17

[email protected] dead body, no crime..... everything is speculation, conjecture and hearsay...lots to read in to, or ignore.....chest bumping aside, visions of Pepe and Seymore high fivin'.....out on the plains, when the locals see smoke, it means fire, how big a fire.....open to speculation and conjecture.....unless one is, hmm....there.

Cheers M

....if one were dealing with rational actors, dealing with, as Andrei would say 'the math', the math doesn't favor the Genocidal fucks currently torturing Palestinians like barn animals, they are in a corner, they are not rational, they are eschatological madmen with a mandate from God, hmm "their G_d".....they are quite capable of nuclear madness, or in this case, the reported weapon was of EMP design, not nuclear, shit I don't know nor care if there is a difference. They are fucking insane, look at Gaza, more evidence required? But they wouldn't attack Iran? With 'the bomb'? See: insane above.

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | May 5 2024 15:27 utc | 18

Flipped on it's head, a test run, nothing to see here, big joke, mojo propaganda, egg on the face ROTFLMAO.....and should it happen, well the big question "would they do that".......would you let them babysit your grandkids????

So to blow any suggestion of such off with the wind leaves the doors and windows open for a nasty little suprise ......but, but, but they'd never do that, to Iran...ROTFLMAO

Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | May 5 2024 15:36 utc | 19

thanks b... take it easy!! your ongoing work is really appreciated..

@ Lex | May 5 2024 13:27 utc | 7

thanks lex.. i will have to read the 'must read' b mentions on this topic.

@ bemildred.... i share your view - much crazy talk and hard to know what is going on in it all..

Posted by: james | May 5 2024 15:41 utc | 20

Is there any chance that the Egyptian military will launch an incursion in to Gaza if the IDF moves to destroy Rafah?

Posted by: lemonjuice | May 5 2024 16:07 utc | 21

Is there any chance that the Egyptian military will launch an incursion in to Gaza if the IDF moves to destroy Rafah?

Posted by: lemonjuice | May 5 2024 16:07 utc | 21

Paveway IV introduced the idea here a few days ago, I don't find the idea implausible at all, I have been wondering what Egypt would do if the Izzies actually began to push 2+ millions into Sinai since Oct. 7th, they are not in a position to deal with that well at all; and I thought they might well take on the IDF over it. Israel is not at all set up to deal with a real war of attrition, and as we have seen their army sucks, is poorly or not at all disciplined, and misorganized to boot.

Posted by: Bemildred | May 5 2024 16:23 utc | 22

I was sceptical about this because of the background of the author
France Sends Troops to Ukraine

Has he really gone off the reservation?
The Borg Has Lost Stephen Bryen
At least as far as Ukraine is concerned.

Posted by: Awe | May 5 2024 16:26 utc | 23

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2024/05/03/houthi-causing-headaches-for-the-white-house/

"Maupin calls al-Houthi’s embrace of the slogan “curse the Jews” as unfortunate and emblematic of an illiberal and bigoted strainamong the Houthis—which should not be idealized by Western leftists or anti-war activists."

Easy fix. "Curse the Zionists" serves just as well and with more precision.

Not a bad article. I'm glad to see old Caleb working again. I enjoyed his work on RT America in the period immediately preceding WW3.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 5 2024 16:26 utc | 24

@ Awe | May 5 2024 16:26 utc | 23

this quote ( down below ) from marc chapmans article from may 2023 which you've linked to on the bottom, now explains why stephen banned me from commenting on his substack page... he found it offensive to the point of banning me, when i referred to what the israelis were doing in gaza as genocide.. i wonder if he has changed his mind on this?

"Bryen’s wife, Shoshana. Mrs. Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and former Executive Director and Senior Director for Security Policy at JINSA."

Posted by: james | May 5 2024 16:33 utc | 25

@Aleph_Null | May 5 2024 14:26 utc | 14

And so this abortive EMP assault, of which no scrap of a hint of any actual evidence can be found, continues to just hang out there. Nobody but nobody wants to talk about it.

I don't put any stock in the story itself at this point.

We must always require verifiable evidence in cases like this. But like in the scientific method, you often do not start with the evidence. Instead, based on available information you formulate a hypothesis. I would say the information we have indicates it is quite possible something serious really happened, but perhaps the details of the story have been distorted to protect the source and/or give the leak plausible deniability.

Posted by: Norwegian | May 5 2024 16:43 utc | 26

@james | May 5 2024 16:33 utc | 25
My guess - and that's all it is - is that he sees Ukraine as a drain on resources that he would rather be used elsewhere.
Stephen Bryen on Wikispooks

Posted by: Awe | May 5 2024 16:49 utc | 27

@Aleph_Null | May 5 2024 14:26 utc | 14 // Norwegian | May 5 2024 16:43 utc | 26

here is a quote from a poster at moa from a few weeks ago that i happen to share..
""Let's deal with the "Pepe nuke" thing once and for all. Someone wanna send a clear message ; we know your capabilities and your plans , we have something to counter it in an humiliating manner if you dare.

Nothing happened yet , message send , message received , end of the story... for now."
personally, i think that's it.. mission accomplished..

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

regarding the article b refers to as a must read - The Attritional Art of War: Lessons from the Russian War on Ukraine - i finished reading it... i have a question about it that someone might like to comment on it..

from the article : "The enemy’s industrial sector is degraded to the point where it is unable to replace battlefield losses. In the case of fighting against a coalition of countries, their industrial resources must also be exhausted or at least accounted for."

i don't think we are their yet.. and it seems the west keeps upping the ante by sending longer range weapons... does anyone else see it differentlY? thanks..

Posted by: james | May 5 2024 16:51 utc | 28

@ Awe | May 5 2024 16:49 utc | 27

thanks... that is a fair appraisal.. i will look at your link.. cheers..

Posted by: james | May 5 2024 16:51 utc | 29

@james | May 5 2024 16:51 utc | 28

"Someone wanna send a clear message ; we know your capabilities and your plans , we have something to counter it in an humiliating manner if you dare."

I had this idea in mind too, a clear possibility.

Posted by: Norwegian | May 5 2024 17:06 utc | 30

The foreign affairs article about it's "twilight" struggle actually shows a tiny movement towards sanity. At least they have accepted this hard fact of life: "The war in Ukraine has made Moscow and Beijing more united than at any time since the days of Stalin and Mao."

I stopped reading this imperialist rag when at the outset of the SMO as it seemed to have been taken over by a delusional collection of previously unknown Ukronazis.

But it seems force not only conquers, it convinces, as a wise old guy once noted. It appears some empire managers are finally starting to accept that Russia is in fact a world power that won't easily be defeated.

Now, they'll just have to accept that the blood soaked Imperialism they have dedicated their lives to is in it's death throes and is historically doomed, despite all their efforts. Then maybe blow their brains out.

But that may take a few more years of losing to Russia/China to sink in...

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 5 2024 18:07 utc | 31

It is only NATO and its proxy force Ukraine which get attrited while the Russian military gains in quality and quantity.

Simplicius is repeating that interpretation, crediting himself for having thought about it long ago.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | May 5 2024 18:10 utc | 32

i don't think we are their yet.. and it seems the west keeps upping the ante by sending longer range weapons... does anyone else see it differentlY? thanks..
Posted by: james | May 5 2024 16:51 utc | 28
--------------------------------------------------
https://bigserge.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile

That well studied tanker brought up not too long ago his math in the NATO shortfall in producing the number of firing tubes and the number of shells. Well worth finding it.

It will take years for the West to catch up. Going to war time production is a different issue and likely a hard sell, maybe not to the UK. Their leadership is a little funny in the head, as Peter Sellers (US President Merkin Muffley) put it in 'Dr. Strangelove.'

Posted by: Acco Hengst | May 5 2024 18:16 utc | 33

Funny enough, the Houthis are originally from a region near Saada that had an important jewish population... and there were still a few a decade ago, not sure about now.
That means that some Houthis are probably of Jewish origins, just like some Iranians are.
Talk about stuborn people.

Posted by: Minaa | May 5 2024 18:26 utc | 34

@ Acco Hengst | May 5 2024 18:16 utc | 33

i share your view the west is way behind, but they still have resources that have yet to be used... that's all i am suggesting.. therefore according to the article - it is still not the time for russia to go on the offensive, if i read that correctly.. thanks for the article.. will look at it..

Posted by: james | May 5 2024 18:33 utc | 35

Regarding China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ... on another thread, in a discussion about Pepe Escobar, @ Framarz | May 5 2024 17:24 utc said:

His [Pepe Escobar's] fairy tales have been so perfect that the regular news consumer track off completely and don't recognize the real outcome of this project [China's BRI], mainly aimed toward Chinese hegemony on markets and corridors along the routes + the Imperialist practice of *Export of Capital* to extract profit surplus from "Colonies".

====

Here are my current perspectives about BRI, and its effects on the non-China countries that are participating:

a. For China, BRI's core purpose is to open markets to source raw materials for export to China, and also to open markets for the export of China's production. I agree with Framarz's main assertion.

b. The difference between BRI and the West's approach to the same problem (obtain resources, extract wealth) is the proportion of extracted wealth that remains in the BRI-participating country. BRI _appears_ to offer the participant more than what the West's offerings do.

c. The West's offerings also come with military bases and political interference - in some cases, a lot of political interference. In contrast, the Chinese just want to make money, to trade. They think trade is easier to do than military and political interference.

Lest I paint China with too rosy a color, I'll tell you what my observations were when, a few years back, I read the contract between China and a BRI partner, and I think it was for the construction of port facilities. Here are two of the key clauses of that contract:

a. all revenues from the port are sent to a 3rd party agent (e.g. put in escrow). Mortgage payments to the Chinese bank that financed construction of the port are paid from escrow _before_ any monies are sent to the host country's treasury

b. China bank retains title to the port facility until it's paid for

The Chinese aren't fools. They understand the concepts of political instability, of graft and greed and all the other machinations of politics, particularly in countries that don't have strong judicial systems and property rights protections.

So the Chinese are trying to manage their risk, but they certainly are taking some risk. The port facility assets can be ruined, the instability can cause revenue reductions (ships don't dare dock at the port) and so forth. So the Chinese write these contracts, the Chinese banks have loss allowances, and they just plow ahead and try to make things work. Some, maybe a lot of that bank risk is covered by the Chinese national government.

Apparently the Chinese' BRI approach works well enough that many countries want to be part of it, even after the bad press stories I've read over the years about BRI. I keep seeing new projects pop up in the BRI pipeline, and they are some really nice projects that are going to benefit a lot of people.

China needs materials and customers. The BRI partners need the same thing, and BRI is one way to get it done, and the BRI way _appears_ to be attracting more business than the West's methods.

I ask anyone with insight and interest into the ways and means of BRI to comment.

What is your experience, what stories are you hearing from relatives, friends, associates that have contact with BRI projects? It'd be great to get some first-hand info about what BRI really means to the partners.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | May 5 2024 19:10 utc | 36

Posted by: Minaa | May 5 2024 18:26 utc | 34

Funny enough, the Houthis are originally from a region near Saada that had an important jewish population.
Talk about stuborn people.

I read in a Jewish history book (Shlomo Sands?) that the word in the old Bible texts for 'Pharoah' is, curiously, Yemeni; the author speculated that they may well be the original Jewish tribe. Makes sense. They managed trade through the Red Sea into Egypt, then shunted it overland to be loaded onto Venetian galleys and from thence into Europe, also overland into Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Western Iraq. My working hypothesis about the Jews is that they are essentially a tribe that grew up around trade as civilizations emerged about five thousand years ago which is why their populations extend along trade routes, specializing in the handling of inter-jurisdictional financial contracts and shipping logistics. So ab initio they have been a modern, cosmopolitan, multi-jurisdictional, transactional-materialist tribe. I suspect that even now much ongoing involves positioning themselves as essential middle-men between the West and the Rest, profiting both ways. It's what they do; it's what they have always done.

The discord they are sowing now might be a typical Mafia security racket: either let us in on the action or we'll turn the region into an unending nightmare. If so, looks like this negotiation is a long way from being concluded.

Ironic: the progenitor Yeminis today are blocking trade through the Red Sea to their latter day half-breed descendants occupying Palestine.

Posted by: scorpion | May 5 2024 19:31 utc | 37

@ Tom Pfotzer | May 5 2024 19:10 utc | 36 with the difference between China approach to international trade versus the West....thanks

Let me add that it is my understand that with most countries China is helping those countries develop the base processing of resources in-country and then selling the results to countries to add additional value.

The Western attitude was to rip off base resources and make population dependent on import of foreign agriculture and international finance.....One of the prime movers of BRICS+ is the creation of a non-jackboot, totally sovereign system of international finance.......I wait with baited breath....grin

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 5 2024 19:37 utc | 38

A great feast b, thank you. Make sure you don't push it too hard.

Posted by: Patroklos | May 5 2024 19:48 utc | 39

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | May 5 2024 19:10 utc | 36
a. For China, BRI's core purpose is to open markets to source raw materials for export to China, and also to open markets for the export of China's production. I agree with Framarz's main assertion.

b. The difference between BRI and the West's approach to the same problem (obtain resources, extract wealth) is the proportion of extracted wealth that remains in the BRI-participating country. BRI _appears_ to offer the participant more than what the West's offerings do.

This argument clarifies your standpoint on the issue.
There is a good Imperialism and then there is a bad Imperialism. I disagree.

The West's offerings also come with military bases and political interference - in some cases, a lot of political interference. In contrast, the Chinese just want to make money, to trade. They think trade is easier to do than military and political interference.

This part is a Fairy Tale. Taking market shares under conditions of monopoly-capitalist competition is not possible without political influence (interference) in the subject society. China just use other means available to them. When I read that China is building their own aircraft-carriers like Shandong, Liaoning or Fujian (all none-defensive units) then I assume that the means will change in the near future.

a. all revenues from the port are sent to a 3rd party agent (e.g. put in escrow). Mortgage payments to the Chinese bank that financed construction of the port are paid from escrow _before_ any monies are sent to the host country's treasury
b. China bank retains title to the port facility until it's paid for

I think you simplify the issue by touching the surface. However here we need to go deep under. Your (a.) and (b.) are not what it is all about.
The port was public property, it was then privatized, a global shipping conglomerate (Cosco) owns majority shares now, this is what you should focus on.

Posted by: Framarz | May 5 2024 20:30 utc | 40

Albert Einstein Letter to The New York Times. December 4, 1948

Excellent historical document here, although it takes a little work to connect the dots from Begin to genocidal Ben.

I noticed former Marxist Sydney Hook signed the letter too. Before he "pragmatically" retired to Stanford for a comfortable and lucrative position as imperialist intellectual, he wrote well on Marxism. Good for beginners. Totally worth the effort.

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/atc/2200.html

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 5 2024 20:48 utc | 41

A great feast b, thank you. Make sure you don't push it too hard.

Posted by: Patroklos | May 5 2024 19:48 utc | 39

Excellent selection today. Get a lot of sleep and don't forget to walk as much as you can, B. Just laying around post op is terrible for you.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 5 2024 20:50 utc | 42

Scorpion
Why do you want them to be "a tribe" ? Tribes that do not mix disappear from genetic diseases.
Yemen was speaking various languages but mainly Sabaeic, which is a Semitic language just like Hebrew and Aramaic. The Koran has vocabulary from all three, plus Ethiopic languages too.
Religions, just like languages, are a mix of whatever was available.

Posted by: Minaa | May 5 2024 21:04 utc | 43

At the end of the last OT, poster denk gave a quote by Bertram Russell that is so shocking I will repeat it here:

In 1951 [B. Russell] warned about the kinds of dangers he saw in the near future — apparently the renowned Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were not having the kind of result he was hoping for. In The Impact of Science on Society, he wrote: “At present the population of the world is increasing at about 58,000 per diem. War, so far, has had no great effect on this increase, which continued throughout each of the world wars…. War has hitherto been disappointing in this respect…but perhaps a bacteriological war may prove more effective. If a Black Death could be spread throughout the world once in every generation, survivors would be free to Procreate freely without making the world too full.” Russell went on, “this state of affairs may be somewhat unpleasant, but what of it? Really high minded people are indifferent to happiness, especially other people’s.”'

Thanks, denk.

Posted by: persiflo | May 5 2024 21:23 utc | 44

After Carrthage was destroyed by Rome, I suspect a lot of the Punic/Phoenician diaspora converted to Judaism and that that accounts for the large numbers of people in the Jewish diaspora all across the Mediterranean in Roman times. The Phoenician and Hebrew languages are basically just dialects of the same original language, Canaanite. Phoenicians and Carthaginians were very much involved in trade. Look at how much Phoenician traders figure in the Odyssey.

Posted by: Lysias | May 5 2024 21:27 utc | 45

Saw an interesting Tweet last night about the US and Russian joint presence at the base in Africa. Apparently one of the Russian females and American males hit it off. They were having a big dance party. That's good news, IMHO. Gives me some faith in the actual people in the US military. No fuckin' way they are interested in a real war against Russia. Russian girl was quite attractive, too.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 5 2024 21:30 utc | 46

Interview between Mitt Romney and Blinken last night at the McCain Institute.

https://twitter.com/wideofthepost/status/1787104142982283587?s=46

Blinken speaks from the Israeli perspective. Laments: "Overwhelming support for us to potentially shut down TikTok or other entities of that nature..."

"1984" is here.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 5 2024 21:34 utc | 47

Saw an interesting Tweet last night about the US and Russian joint presence at the base in Africa. Apparently one of the Russian females and American males hit it off. They were having a big dance party. That's good news, IMHO. Gives me some faith in the actual people in the US military. No fuckin' way they are interested in a real war against Russia. Russian girl was quite attractive, too.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 5 2024 21:30 utc | 46

Make love not war!

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 5 2024 21:47 utc | 48

They are fucking insane, look at Gaza, more evidence required? But they wouldn't attack Iran? With 'the bomb'? See: insane above.

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | May 5 2024 15:27 utc | 18

Second that. The Zionazis, like their stepdad Hitler, are capable of anything. There will be no peace until that state is neutralized.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 5 2024 21:57 utc | 49

@ Framarz | May 5 2024 20:30 utc, who said:

The port was public property, it was then privatized, a global shipping conglomerate (Cosco) owns majority shares now, this is what you should focus on.

Framarz: Let's focus. Can you provide some links that we can read up on to support your statement, above?

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | May 5 2024 22:14 utc | 50

@Tom Pfotzer | May 5 2024 19:10 utc | 36

a. For China, BRI's core purpose is to open markets to source raw materials for export to China, and also to open markets for the export of China's production. I agree with Framarz's main assertion.

There is a big difference in HOW to open the markets. The west colonizing and imperial countries use forces (military before and financial now) to open it so they could grab the resources and dump the products. AFAIK, China does not use the west ways(TM) at all to open markets.

Posted by: LuRenJia | May 5 2024 22:33 utc | 51

Tom Pfotzer, you've been bodysnatched by a troll over on the Palestine thread at entry | May 5 2024 21:48 utc | 58 IDF is kicking Palestainian azz…heheheh

This is juvenile vandalism, and it hits Tom as he did some good commentary there above. I take the occassion to drop a hint at all barflies that this kind of offense must be expected across the board, so please everyone have their salt dispensers armed and ready.

Posted by: persiflo | May 5 2024 22:48 utc | 52

AFAIK, China does not use the west ways(TM) at all to open markets.

Posted by: LuRenJia | May 5 2024 22:33 utc | 51

I love China and I just hope that they don’t join the West in its latest methods of opening markets: the privatization of nature/climate (CO2 pricing), global health (mandatory vaccinations), short range mobility (15min cities), etc. by using totalitarian methods.

Posted by: Multipolar Panda | May 5 2024 22:49 utc | 53

Framarz: Let's focus. Can you provide some links that we can read up on to support your statement, above?
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | May 5 2024 22:14 utc | 50

Of course I can.
I peaked this one for you. If not satisfactory, tell me and I forward you another.

"Piraeus versus COSCO: A Conversation with Anthi Giannoulou and Anastasia Frantzeskaki"

https://thepeoplesmap.net/globalchinapulse/piraeus-versus-cosco-a-conversation-with-anthi-giannoulou-and-anastasia-frantzeskaki/

Posted by: Framarz | May 5 2024 23:05 utc | 54

lol ... peacked?!!! ... ok, my bed time now ... catch you later, mate!

Posted by: Framarz | May 5 2024 23:08 utc | 55

West in its latest methods of opening markets:
Posted by: Multipolar Panda | May 5 2024 22:49 utc | 53

Gunboat diplomacy - a never ending story for this so called west. Until now.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 5 2024 23:28 utc | 56

Minaa | May 5 2024 18:26 utc | 34

Houthi as in the clan? or Houthi as in the movement Ansarallah?

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 5 2024 23:34 utc | 57

@ Framarz | May 5 2024 23:05 utc | 54

actually it is more "Piraeus versus neoliberalism'.. below is a quote from the article you've shared..

"In many ways, the attempt to expand the PPA cruise terminal—a project with considerable repercussions for the environment, public health, and quality of life in Piraeus—has little to do with the Chinese origin and state ownership of COSCO and more with the many regulatory violations, gaps, blind-spots, and contradictions resulting from the neoliberal developmental paradigm that is prevalent in many European industries."

so is china now the new scapegoat for the results of neoliberal ideology? i'm curious..

Posted by: james | May 5 2024 23:58 utc | 58

Apparently one of the Russian females and American males hit it off. They were having a big dance party.
@ Tom_Q_Collins | May 5 2024 21:30 utc | 46

No freaking way! Now USA will need to extend their military presence in order to finish our classic sitcom for 21st century: African MASH (also known as fufu).

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 6 2024 0:22 utc | 59

Apparently one of the Russian females and American males hit it off. They were having a big dance party.
@ Tom_Q_Collins | May 5 2024 21:30 utc | 46
No freaking way! Now USA will need to extend their military presence in order to finish our classic sitcom for 21st century: African MASH (also known as fufu).
Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 6 2024 0:22 utc | 59

Hopefully, the Russian checked under the hood first and knew what he was dancing with. That dancing with Biden diversity does have the possibility of being a surprise package.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 6 2024 0:39 utc | 60

@ persiflo | May 5 2024 21:23 utc | 44

Oh my goodness. Apparently you've been snookered, my friend. The weird Bertrand Russel quote(s) you cite are cut and pasted (with identical elipses, etc.) from here:

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=2952

I found this crapola via entering "58,000 per diem" in my search engine. Did Bertrand Russel ever say any such a thing, and if those words are actually his, would restoring the elisions shed any light? We got into a chat about hermeneutics a thread back, wherein I enumerated some rules of thumb regarding how to read. There's also the question of what to read. Rule zero: strap on your galoshes before wading through steaming manure.

You're willing to carelessly smear a man like Bertrand Russel? It sure looks sloppy to me.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 6 2024 0:48 utc | 61

Posted by: Peter AU1 | May 6 2024 0:39 utc | 60

It was an American male and Russian woman.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2024 0:54 utc | 62

@ Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2024 0:54 utc | 62

It's an okay joke, anyhow, it being open mik night. "Check under the hood." Good rule of thumb for all of us. I check out all I can.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 6 2024 1:07 utc | 63

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 6 2024 1:07 utc | 63

Interestingly the Tweet has been taken down. I wonder why. Can't find the video anymore. Too hurtful to the Russophobia narrative probably.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | May 6 2024 1:14 utc | 64

Bertrand Russell was either ahead of his time, or courageously retro in rejecting fashionable dogmatism of his day, especially the universal urge toward world war. A serious pacifist, Russell walked the walk, convicted in 1916 of violating the Defence of the Realm Act.

As the great thinker was stupidly slandered above, allow me to allow himself to answer, with the preface's concluding paragraph (no elisions), from Why I am not a Christian:

We are sometimes told that only fanaticism can make a social group effective. I think this is totally contrary to the lessons of history. But, in any case, only those who slavishly worship success can think that effectiveness is admirable without regard to what is effected. For my part, I think it better to do a little good than to do much harm. The world that I should wish to see would be one freed from the virulence of group hostilities and capable of realizing that happiness for all is to be derived rather from co-operation than from strife. I should wish to see a world in which education aimed at mental freedom rather than at imprisoning the minds of the young in a rigid armor of dogma calculated to protect them through life against the shafts of impartial evidence. The world needs open hearts and open minds, and it is not through rigid systems, whether old or new, that these can be derived.

Bertrand Russel, 1957

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 6 2024 3:19 utc | 65

I keep trying to speculate how much money is being used to manipulate the global price of gold down as has been seen in the past couple of weeks.

In the past I have read news saying gold had just take a $10 billion dollar hit or such and am wondering what the numbers are to manipulate the almost $100/oz fluctuation seen in the past two weeks.....I commented before about naked shorts probably being used because of the sheer volume of ounces traded each day (27 mill oz at CME, 20 mill oz at LME and I couldn't find averages for the Shanghai exchange but the day totals that I saw reported added to less than a couple of million oz BUT they list a 27 million oz long position [betting price will increase])

Fun and games in the real world.

I see gold as one of the potential canary in the coal mine signals that things are headed south and it is up over 120% still YTD which says pressure is there to go higher.....Hmmmmm, wonder why that is?...grin

The death of fiat money can't come soon enough and the usurious debt associated with it.

Posted by: psychohistorian | May 6 2024 4:33 utc | 66

here is a 2 for 1.... covers ukraine and israel.. john helmer from today..

ISRAEL’S NOT SO LITTLE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA

Posted by: james | May 6 2024 5:12 utc | 67

so is china now the new scapegoat for the results of neoliberal ideology? i'm curious..
Posted by: james | May 5 2024 23:58 utc | 58

I hope you have read the referenced interview in my comment, to the end by now.
I hope you have noticed the quality of arguments there. It's not the kind of cheap China-bashing you are confronted with by reading Western MSM.

When China choose to be number 1 in a global capitalist system, of course they get dirty hands. How do you think they got so many billionaires among Fortune 500? China is a imperialist power, no matter how you turn it.

Posted by: Framarz | May 6 2024 6:26 utc | 68

BREAKING NEWS: The Psychopaths Always Win!

Sorry. The very very rare exceptions prove this Rule. Act accordingly.

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | May 6 2024 6:54 utc | 69

This assault is expected to be accompanied by ground offensives carried out by factions aligned with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain."
https://www.mintpressnews.com/exclusive-yemen-braces-for-impending-massive-us-led-air-and-ground-campaign/287342/
Posted by: Republicofscotland | May 5 2024 13:24 utc | 6

Jeez, why am I not surprised. Disappointed, due to BRICS n Iran improved optics, but not surprised.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. The more things change the more they stay exactly the same.

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | May 6 2024 7:00 utc | 70

Posted by: Aleph_Null | May 6 2024 0:48 utc | 61

You're willing to carelessly smear a man like Bertrand Russel? It sure looks sloppy to me.

**************

Sloppy is not the right word! This is malicious, scandalous, totally dishonest misrepresentation.

Russell was addressing a major problem in a very honest, humane, and thoughtful manner. For his work to be taken out of context, and deliberately edited to misrepresent his thesis is one of the worst actions in scholarly endeavor. It should not come as any surprise that a Catholic mouthpiece, such as catholicculture.org (a most rancid "culture") would seek to misrepresent Russell's work and malign an eminent scholar when he is proposing education and birth control as the only practical and humane solution to the growing over-population problem. The full quote, produced below, exposes the malign intent of the individual(s) who misrepresented Russell's work. Take particular note of those sections of Russell's statements that have been shamelessly replaced by ellipses. Shame, and a pox on them!

"But bad times, you may say, are exceptional, and can be dealt with by exceptional methods. This has been more or less true during the honeymoon period of industrialism, but it will not remain true unless the increase of population can be enormously diminished. At present the population of the world is increasing at about 58,000 per diem. War, so far has had no very great effect on this increase, which continued throughout each of the world wars. Until the last quarter of the nineteenth century this increase was more rapid in advanced countries than in backward ones, but now it is almost wholly confined to very poor countries. Of these, China and India are numerically the most important, while Russia is the most important in world politics. But I want, for the present, to confine myself, so far as I can, to biologic considerations, leaving world politics on one side.

What is the inevitable result if the increase of population is not checked? There must be a very general lowering of the standard of life in what are now prosperous countries. With that lowering there must go a great diminution in the demand for industrial products. Detroit will have to give up making private cars, and confine itself to lorries. Such things as books, pianos, watches will become the rare luxuries of a few exceptionally powerful men—notably those who control the army and the police. In the end there will be a uniformity of misery, and the Malthusian law will reign unchecked. The world having been technically unified, population will increase when world harvests are good, and diminish by starvation whenever they are bad. Most of the present urban and industrial centres will have become derelict, and their inhabitants, if still alive, will have reverted to the present hardships of their medieval ancestors. The world will have achieved a new stability, but at the cost of everything that gives value to human life.

Are mere numbers so important that, for their sake, we should patiently permit such a state of affairs to come about? Surely not. What, then, can we do? Apart from certain deep-seated prejudices, the answer would be obvious. The nations __ which at present increase rapidly should be encouraged to adopt the methods by which, in the West, the increase of population has been checked. Educational propaganda, with government help, could achieve this result in a generation. There are, however, two powerful forces opposed to such a policy: one is religion, the other is nationalism. I think it is the duty of all who are capable of facing facts to realize, and to proclaim, that opposition to the spread of birth control, if successful, must inflict upon mankind the most appalling depth of misery and degradation, and that within another fifty years or so.

I do not pretend that birth control is the only way in which population can be kept from increasing. There are others, which, one must suppose, opponents of birth control would prefer. War, as I remarked a moment ago, has hitherto been disappointing in this respect, but perhaps bacteriological war may prove more effective. If a Black Death could be spread throughout the world once in every generation survivors could procreate freely without making the world too full. There would be nothing in this to offend the consciences of the devout or to restrain the ambitions of nationalists. The state of affairs might be somewhat unpleasant, but what of that? Really high-minded people are indifferent to happiness, especially other people’s. However, I am answering from the question of stability, to which I must return."

“The Impact of Science on Society”, Bertrand Russell, pp 103-4, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1953.

Posted by: General Factotum | May 6 2024 8:12 utc | 71

Gentlemen, the Russell quote was posted first by denk at the tail end of the last OT, and I gave it here because I found it shocking. In my dictionary, that means gross, as well as unheard of. MoA has an amazing ability to discover the traces of slandering in many subjects; in this case I shall defer part of the scandal to denk. I'm probably not going to reply to him ever again after that, my second time burning my hands touching his.

I admit that I am looking out for problems with the man Bertrand Russell, as I reserve my psychological instinct on him.

Posted by: persiflo | May 6 2024 10:43 utc | 72

Tom_Q_Collins @62: "It was an American male and Russian woman."

Tragically, I cannot at all imagine the pairing going the other way. Those looking at the imperial center from the outside and still enamored with The American Delusion might imagine a nation of Baywatch babes; however, the truth is anything but that. The "woke" mania has western women reaching for power equity by trying (and comically failing) to adopt the tropes of masculinity. They attempt to defeat "The Patriarchy" by subverting "The Male Gaze"; making themselves as unappealing as possible in order to scar the minds of any who should accidentally glance their way.

What would such a contemporary American woman have to offer a Russian man? The appeal of a Russian woman, on the other hand, is obvious: "Look! It's an unashamedly feminine human female! Not a snarling purple-haired wildebeest trying to pretend it has balls!"

Posted by: William Gruff | May 6 2024 11:25 utc | 73

Someone on telegram (rezident or legitimity) writes that Yellen is asking the G7 countries to contribute an additional 90 Billions to Ukraine.

o Yellen surely forgets to consider that those countries can't print money at the same rate as the US does. I wonder how the G7 will survive that stress if they can't comply to that request from Washington.

o The US treasury can't find enough money to sustain the string of conflicts it currently starts as Washington tries to bring down and swallow Asia. Next one is Democracy in Myanmar movie. Georgia is currently feeling the heat again. Armenia is on the radar. What do they smoke at he Stste Department?

Posted by: Richard L | May 6 2024 12:15 utc | 74

https://truthout.org/articles/regional-response-to-gaza-genocide-threatens-israeli-plan-for-economic-dominance/

Israel’s aspirations to become the region’s transportation hub have taken a hit. The maritime and land blockade against Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza is working, as one of Israel’s main plans for a prospective “land bridge” connecting the Gulf countries with Israel and Europe has suffered an irrevocable setback.

The Israel-centered India Middle East Europe Economic Corridors project (IMEC), which was first proposed by U.S. President Biden in September of last year during the G20 meetings, is facing an existential threat. The IMEC aims to connect Asia and Europe via a system of railways and ports that pass through India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Greece.

The most recent blow to the IMEC project came last week when the UAE signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Turkey, Iraq, and Qatar to fund the IMEC’s rival, the Development Road Project, which offers alternative railway and highway routes for shipping between Asia and Europe through Iraq to boost local, regional, and international trade. This development signals waning international confidence in Israel’s ability to secure IMEC’s future, especially in light of the genocide in Gaza.

Moreover, the maritime blockades in the Red and Mediterranean Seas, along with the land blockade in Jordan, have raised doubts about the viability of Israel as an efficient and reliable transportation hub. The cost of the genocide in Palestine on Israel is now having strategic ramifications that undermine Israel’s future economic prospects.

Interesting. This is the first I've read of such longer term aspirations viz Israel seeing itself as a future 'bridge' between East and West, which I believe has been their tribe's core gestalt since their beginnings, possibly in Yemen at the mouth of the Red Sea - quite possibly they started off as pirates!

Am also finding left-leaning sites provide (seemingly) better coverage of Jewish-related issues these days, especially within the US. The right-leaning sites are Zionist-enthralled. That said, many of the leftish groups supporting pro-Palestinian protests etc are also Jewish run (like Soros et alia) so the picture is confusing to say the least. Perhaps this muddled aspect is accurate in that the realities both on the ground and at the strategic levels are conflicted, confused. The extreme measures taken in Gaza are provoking extreme reactions on both sides.

In any case, the article linked above is reporting about how the campaign in Gaza is damaging long-term Jewish prospects in the region and the world.

Posted by: scorpion | May 6 2024 12:30 utc | 75

Posted by: General Factotum | May 6 2024 8:12 utc | 71
------------------

gardenists getting nightmare about being overwhelmed by jungle men has been a recurring theme since time immemorial.
Russell is just the tip of an iceberg.

As Russell lamented..

The White population of the world will soon cease to increase. The Asiatic races will be longer, and the Negroes still longer, before their birth rate falls sufficiently to make their numbers stable without the help of war and pestilence…. Until that happens…the less prolific races will have to defend themselves against the more prolific

…

How'd the garden defend themselves against an encroaching jungle ?

Churchill was brutal but in an rather oblique way...

I believe in the ultimate partition of China—I mean ultimate.

Russell , like London . ,, was more forthright..

Wars dont seem to cut it.
Germ warfare might just do the trick, such as the black death.

Elementary Watson !
Whats there to argue about ?

I was rather surprised at scorpion's best buddy ,persiflo's compliment, turns up he's setting up for an attack !
Trolls here seem bent on defending the indefensible.
How pathetic !

Posted by: denk | May 6 2024 12:45 utc | 76

Betrand Russell whilst being a ‘saint’, a ‘philosopher’ and a theoretical mathematician with a very large brain indeed - later leading the Nuclear Disarmament parade when the West realise that the Bomb works both ways - it kills you if you use it! Doh!! Get Bertrand on the case.

He was of course a definition of the Establishment -if ever an English Aristocrat definition as an ancient group of self selects who determine Culture and Thought for their imperial hegemony, propagandist - he was it!

I may be doing the egg head some disservice- but really he had no idea of the practicality of populations let alone the human population. He was raised in such rarified ways, moulded from childhood, guaranteed the cushy life and high office as whatever he desired.

Whilst it may be true that a bit of early industrialisation led to some bigger families - these machines required Labour ! Especially child Labour when it came to mining and cotton mills, even canal boats needed toerag’s for getting the boats through tunnels ..
Some control over natural disease, provision of sewerage and fresh water did most for reducing infant mortality.

But as the ‘Collective West’ First Worlders advanced, its populations have taken a suicidal dive; as the socioeconomics combined with that reduced infant mortality takes over the dynamics.
Simplistically putting it - the better off and more financially dominated a population is the lower the number of children they have!
It is double edged of course - some can’t afford to have children because they are made debt slaves and it would require more income! Some for other such reasons choose therefore not to have kids - Japan is clearly well down that road now.

As is most of Europe - where nuclear families, geographic mobility, and other moral forces have led to smaller or no families. It is rare now in many cities and even the country towns to find stable families with 3 children or more - the replacement rate being above 2!

This is the main reason why Europe is having to have mass immigration, often by disease outing countries from where we want to import such peoples!
America is in fact resorting to now flying them in by plane loads instead of discouraging them through a long land trail from South America - which doesn’t have enough populations itself. So the large numbers of Africans and Indians being encouraged.

So Russell if he had actually used his ‘vast brain’ to analysis the practical problem of population instead of the theoretical, usual Malthusian, western civilisational supremacist one - would have realised that making people better off , giving more leisure, security for their old age - is the real driver for reduced family sizes. After all no women wants to spend their life being a brood mare! And no father having to work endlessly to feed, house and educate them!

Meanwhile encouraging families and children through Government assistance - sufficient maternity and paternity leave and pay, a guaranteed child allowance and nursery/schooling places etc would give a stable replenishing of populations.

I’ll always take on any fuckwits who insist that there are too many humans and we can’t possibly have any more - and they know best because some lardyda aristo so-called scientist and his celebrity mates say so! That is just arguing for Shwebs Golden Billion, a Garden, the happy few - FASCISTS - who choose themselves to decide for the whole of Humanity, Life on Earth - who should live and who should not!

I put that modern saint - TV personality and aristo connected goon - David Attenborough in the same basketball as such Malthusian shitheads - no doubt he’d be happy to be considered as a peer with his fellow aristocrat luminary.

Posted by: DunGroanin | May 6 2024 12:56 utc | 77

Thank you, james | May 6 2024 5:12 utc | 67 for the link to the Helmer article. He calls this a war, and I would say it is an economic one for the most part- as psychohistorian would say: follow the money.

The name 'piranha' reminds me of the not so long ago 'cerberus'; at least they choose names which totally represent their root proclivities. Here is the US connection mentioned in Helmer's piece:

"...The milblogger does not mention Intelligence Online and cites no other sources for his report. Tracking on the internet of the Israeli drone warfare companies, such as Kavit Electronics and Airfence Solutions, which lists a Palo Alto, California, address here, is limited by their secrecy..."

I take note of it because another resident of Palo Alto is Stanford University. It makes me wonder if Bohemian Grove north of San Francisco is as it used to be. When I was a teen, California was lovely.

There are good psychos, and then there are the other kind.

Posted by: juliania | May 6 2024 12:58 utc | 78

https://www.globalresearch.ca/antisemitism-law-critics-israeli-genocide/5856331

A Thursday May 2nd Truthout article states:

House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve legislation directing the U.S. Department of Education to consider a dubious definition of antisemitism, despite warnings from Jewish-led groups that the measure speciously conflates legitimate criticism of the Israeli government with bigotry against Jewish people.

Uniparty Republicans and Democrats passing this new antisemitism bill destroying US Constitution’s First Amendment that guarantees our citizens’ free speech rights, confirms that US Congress panders and grovels in submission to their master Zionist Jewish State and its bloodline master founding owner, the Rothschild banking cartel. America’s uniparty is owned and operated by foreign agent AIPAC Israel.

Again, look at what inexhaustible lengths our Congress goes to, to protect the rights, security and safety of Jews, while Palestinian Arabs are brutally massacred daily and American citizens’ disappearing constitutional rights, our safety and national security are blatantly trampled upon.

Only the apparent “chosen ones” receive preferential legal protection under bipartisan US law, while all the rest of us members of the human race, to Israel and US Congress, are all Palestinians in the genocidal crosshairs of our common Zionist Darkside enemy.

My article on Global Research last week is titled “In Defense of Genocide and War on ‘Antisemitism’, There Go Our Constitutional Liberties.” I cite the increasing number anti-hate speech laws grossly conflating criticism of Israeli genocide with antisemitism conveniently misused to falsely justify criminalizing and silencing our fundamental First Amendment rights of free speech, including the right to assemble for peaceful protest.

On Saturday April 27th, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) called out his colleagues over this very same issue:

Some of my colleagues are introducing legislation to create federally sanctioned ‘antisemitism monitors’ at colleges. I’ll vote No. Policing speech, religion, and assembly is not the role of the federal government. In fact, it’s expressly prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

In a related news story illustrating how the will of Zionist Israel controlling America through AIPAC bribery and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as Israel’s thuggish enforcer, the bought and sold US Congress completely abandoned the will of the American people demanding that the recently passed FISA law be stopped or amended. The ADL/Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations actively lobbied Congress emphasizing the FISA renewal was necessary to keep Israel, Jews in the US and all Americans safe from terrorism.

The need for spying without warrant on anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters was used to sell the FISA law’s passage as the biggest domestic surveillance legislation since the subversive Patriot Act. The alleged “rise of antisemitism” events in America hyped artificially by the mainstream media also helped pass the law during the current wave of college campus pro-Palestine protests.

Globalresearch is generally non-partisan but it is, broadly speaking, left leaning. I believe the piece linked above does a decent job of alerting its readership on the thrust and implication of the recent legislation regarding speech involving antisemitism plus concern about that dubious issue's role in renewing draconian FISA practices.

My first instinct with the protests was to wonder what benefit they might offer to the forces generally leading us towards a Russian Revolution 2.0 period, which am generally watching out for. Of course it won’t be a repeat, but it might well rhyme in various ways, one of which will surely be draconian speech control. As already evidenced by some of the military vets and grandparents reportedly languishing in DC jail for three years and counting for non-violent protest, thus ‘wrong-think’, such treatment clearly meant to suppress protest generally, as were also the recent harsh crack-downs by riot police on college campuses.

I suspect this is all in preparation for much wilder days ahead leading into the election and beyond with much more draconian crack-downs becoming increasingly 'the new normal'.

Posted by: scorpion | May 6 2024 13:03 utc | 79

Read a weird book decades ago about thirteen Illuminati bloodlines. I didn't end up buying into its view, but for what it's worth the Russells were one of the thirteen.

https://archive.org/details/bloodlines-of-the-illuminati-volume-1

Bloodlines Of The Illuminati by Fritz Springmeier.

Bloodlines of the Illuminati was written by Fritz Springmeier. He wrote and self-published it as a public domain .pdf in 1995. This seminal book has been republished as a three-volume set by the iLLamanati. Volume 1 has the first eight of the 13 Top Illuminati bloodlines: Astor, Bundy, Collins, DuPont, Freeman, Kennedy, Li, and Onassis. Volume 2 has the remaining five of the 13 Top Illuminati bloodlines: Rockefeller, Rothschild, Russell, Van Duyn, and Merovingian. Volume 3 has four other prominent Illuminati bloodlines: Disney, Reynolds, McDonald, and Krupps.

I regard this sort of thing as limited hangout blend of fact mixed in with fictional chuff, making it virtually impossible for a reader to distinguish between the two.

Posted by: scorpion | May 6 2024 13:20 utc | 80

BREAKING NEWS: The Psychopaths Always Win!

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | May 6 2024 6:54 utc | 69

Mental disorders may be difficult to even detect. People suffering from mental disorders may be quite good at hiding their condition. Even psychiatrists will be fooled initially. I won't go into the details of the cases I ended up being forced to confront.

\The main point to consider while identifyng a pathological condition is to recognize that as human beings we tend to hear what we want to hear. To really catch the message, one has to clean up his own mind and stick to the bare facts, as in meditation. Then, with a clear mind, one can go beyond the words and start to identify the sickness if there is any.

Some believe that Churchill suffered from the bipolar disorder and from an addiction to alcohol.

People suffering from mental illness and who are treated function normally, but those who self-medicate with drugs or hide behind something can become a source of problems for themselves and for others.

That's a thorny issue that requires much work and dedication to confront as any serious illness does.

Posted by: Richard L | May 6 2024 13:31 utc | 81

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUGK0cyEYaY

Judge Nap gives a lecture with Q&A on free speech in the US.

[paraphrase:]

Q: 'is thought crime coming next?'
A: 'FBI Director Chris Wray revealed recently in Congress that one third of their agents work on 'predicting crimes', i.e. monitoring peoples' published thoughts on social media.'

Posted by: scorpion | May 6 2024 13:43 utc | 82

Posted by: DunGroanin | May 6 2024 12:56 utc | 77
------------------

the garden seem to be a hotbed for Eugenicists and depopulation gurus.
They all believe that jungle men need to be culled, most effectively by germ warfare !

No wonder the west are spending trillions on race specific virus research !

Exhibit A

Eric Pianka
'To save the planet, 90% of world population need to be culled.
[in the jungle of course !]
Ebola seem to be the most effective weapon !'

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/609358

Posted by: denk | May 6 2024 13:47 utc | 83

Posted by: scorpion | May 6 2024 13:43 utc | 82

Hey there, and, as the saying goes, Saw This and Thought of You:

https://t.me/s/playcivilization

In Russian but auto-translate is tolerable, almost a stream of mini essays on the conflict and related cultural factors. I confess finding it interesting but somewhat outside of my ability to process, hopefully you will find it more digestible.

Posted by: anon2020 | May 6 2024 13:54 utc | 84

What would such a contemporary American woman have to offer a Russian man? The appeal of a Russian woman, on the other hand, is obvious: "Look! It's an unashamedly feminine human female! Not a snarling purple-haired wildebeest trying to pretend it has balls!"

Posted by: William Gruff | May 6 2024 11:25 utc | 73

We are of one mind on the degradation of the American female. The whole population here gets psyoped into oblivion from cradle to grave, but it particularly sad to see the effects of it in recent years on the white American female.

From a very young age, the poor girls are taught to hate anything feminine about themselves and ape the worst traits of the worst men. It's so sad and the layers of programing seem so deep, but California is not the US and i imagine there are states where the programming is not so pervasive or at least is actively countered by the parents.

Why this psyop on the American female? To divide and conquer the working class. A kind and loving mother, a kind and loving wife, a kind and loving daughter..those are to be rationed on class lines now. The rest of us get the snarling purple hair desperately trying to possess a pair of nuts, she'll never have.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:06 utc | 85

PS: I don't give a rats ass about Betrand Russell.

There are a lot of smart people in history, but that fact doesn't make them historically significant in any way. Someone tell me why this dead intellectual remains relevant and worth discussing in the face of the world historic changes we are living through at the moment.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:11 utc | 86

[email protected]'s the reason they get away with it....just another conspiracy story....move along....yet the evidence is right under everyone's genealogical noses.

They say Bummer man is related to dead queen, the US Boches are related to the queen, and Diddler Bill, yup, they say he too is related to the queen, the dead one btw, not the one currently on the way out .....oh, and the above named are all inter related.....and it's all trackable trough family history, but that normal, like passing down crowns. It called Hereditary wealth, old money, controlled by a few "families" there's that hereditary thing again.

Cheers M

....and it is controlled through debutante marriage, inter breeding, example Kushner/Trump....look at the inbred intermarried relatives running the US foreign policy....who needs a better example.

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | May 6 2024 14:16 utc | 87

BREAKING NEWS: The Psychopaths Always Win!

Sorry. The very very rare exceptions prove this Rule. Act accordingly.

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | May 6 2024 6:54 utc | 69

All this dime store psychology is mental masturbation too. The key here is society, sociology, not what one or another individual is thinking. The term psychopath has no scientific meaning for most. It's an epithet you throw at the guy who beats you. It's Anthony fucking Perkins. It's an unreconstructed male. It's anyone you don't like aka subjective bullshit dressed up to look like objective science.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:17 utc | 88

"What would such a contemporary American woman have to offer a Russian man? The appeal of a Russian woman, on the other hand, is obvious: "Look! It's an unashamedly feminine human female! Not a snarling purple-haired wildebeest trying to pretend it has balls!""

Posted by: William Gruff | May 6 2024 11:25 utc | 73

Applying such simple stereotypes to whole populations is laughable, inaccurate and misogynistic in this case.

A feminine American girl (there are many of them, I have met them) probably would employ misandry on yourself after reading your primitive views.

Posted by: canuck | May 6 2024 14:18 utc | 89

"I regard this sort of thing as limited hangout blend of fact mixed in with fictional chuff, making it virtually impossible for a reader to distinguish between the two."

Posted by: scorpion | May 6 2024 13:20 utc | 80

I read the same book-it is a confused story-but there are truths in it.

Posted by: canuck | May 6 2024 14:20 utc | 90

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:11 utc | 86
-----------

moral of the story....
it has always been that way.,
Garden vs ROW , aka jungle.

PS
scorpion and gangs, stop blaming it all on 'Jew controlled USA', 'everybody fighting Israel's wars' and all that jazz !

Posted by: denk | May 6 2024 14:23 utc | 91

BREAKING NEWS: The Psychopaths Always Win!

"Sorry. The very very rare exceptions prove this Rule. Act accordingly."

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | May 6 2024 6:54 utc | 69

"All this dime store psychology is mental masturbation too. The key here is society, sociology, not what one or another individual is thinking. The term psychopath has no scientific meaning for most. It's an epithet you throw at the guy who beats you. It's Anthony fucking Perkins. It's an unreconstructed male. It's anyone you don't like aka subjective bullshit dressed up to look like objective science."

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:17 utc | 88

Ahenobarbus is 100% correct.

With all due respect, Lavrov , perhaps if you read more, posted less you might improve your 'rice like simple posts', with 'steak like' content?

Posted by: canuck | May 6 2024 14:27 utc | 92

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:11 utc | 86
-----------

moral of the story....
it has always been that way.,
Garden vs ROW , aka jungle.

PS
scorpion and gangs, stop blaming it all on 'Jew controlled USA', 'everybody fighting Israel's wars' and all that jazz !

Posted by: denk | May 6 2024 14:23 utc | 91

That's a misquote there, Denk. You made it look like I said something I did not. That's what imperial agents do on this site. Watching you. 👁️

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:31 utc | 93

@scorpion......I have a family member, used to work as Forensic Actuary for the wealthiest private bank in The City. His job was to check the books, look for the crooks. He spent most of his time in the Colonies, not a week or months, sometimes years, big books to cook I suppose. All expenses paid, private schooling for his kids....the whole shebang.

My Da was going home to bury Gramps, and at the reception he was seated with the Actuary....in the convo my Da says to him "my kid (me) says that all the money on he planet, all the wealth, it's all controlled by about three thousand people." Actuary says, "no, it's actually about five thousand, but your kid is right."

Make of that what you want.

Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | May 6 2024 14:31 utc | 94

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:31 utc | 93
----------------

I do you a favor, explain to you WTF is Russell doing in the current context.

Then to avoid misunderstanding
i specifically ask scorpion to spare us his joo nonsense ,
.

'empire agents' eh ?
barking up the wrong tree aint you ?

Posted by: denk | May 6 2024 14:42 utc | 95

re Ahenobarbus 85, above --

Yes, and one vector of the PsyOp is american pop music. I remember reading a clear-headed article on that when the avalanche of dehumanizing lyrics addressing girls kicked off a couple of years ago. Just listen with a keen ear, and you'll be shocked.

In Germany, an effective way to break generational transmittance of self-ideal was to rip apart families over the holocaust issue literally at the dinner table around 1968. The young ones threw accusations at their parents, why didn't you speak out?, etc. and the older ones had to stay silent in shame - because stating that they didn't know nothing would have sounded like a lie. When it is actually the truth: people in Germany didn't know about the gas chamber variety Endlösung. Thus note the records of Friedrich Kellner, who systematically archived what he could learn about warcrimes of the third Reich. No mention of Auschwitz in there.

Posted by: persiflo | May 6 2024 14:44 utc | 96

Ahenobarbus | May 6 2024 14:11 utc | 86

Say what you like about Bertrand Russell and most of it will be true. He was almost a parody of Victorian positivism.
On the other hand he was an important figure in the founding of the Committee of One Hundred, which was a most effective leader of the campaigns in Britain against Nuclear Weapons and the Vietnam War. He was also a key figure in the establishment of the War Crimes trial which convicted the US for its South East Asia policies.
He led a long life- much of what he taught was anachronistic liberal nonsense but in the realm of deeds he did a great deal that was positive.

Posted by: bevin | May 6 2024 14:50 utc | 97

OTOH
I should've made a separate post to the pop, there'd be no misunderstanding at all !

Posted by: denk | May 6 2024 15:02 utc | 98

@ Framarz | May 6 2024 6:26 utc | 68

i agree with your last paragraph either way.. cheers..

@ juliania | May 6 2024 12:58 utc | 78

i liked california in the 70's too.. i have no idea what it is like today, but i am sure it is much like everywhere else with a good dose of madness thrown in.. i thought the helmer article was very good..

Posted by: james | May 6 2024 15:04 utc | 99

I was rather surprised at scorpion's best buddy ,persiflo's compliment,
turns up he's setting up for an attack !

Posted by: denk | May 6 2024 12:45 utc | 76

Just a 'garden variety' 'philosopher' at work there.
Good you saw that.
I was surprised too but won't use the word 'shocking'. (heheheh)
A garden needs worms, I suppose.

Posted by: waynorinorway | May 6 2024 15:47 utc | 100