The fact many Americans find leading Republican Presidential primary candidate Donald Trump and his ilk so interesting even attractive is profoundly disturbing for another more basic reason.
What Mr. Trump is proposing, deporting 11 million and reducing those of a specific faith to the status of fourth class inhabitants - was popular thinking in Western society coming out of the effects of a previous economic collapse due to sheer greed during the early 1930s.
Normally, the antiquated but historically-effective bigots rhetoric-of-opportunity spewed by Trump and running mate, Senadate Cruz - would be easily spotted and quickly discounted within an educated country.
Reinforcing Professor Cole’s opening statement is Dallas, Texas Mayor Rawlings who does not fear Syrian refugees fleeing wars in the Middle East.
“I am more fearful of large gatherings of white men that come into schools, theaters and shoot people up, but we don’t isolate young white men on this issue,” Rawlings told MSNBC on Saturday.
Malinformed, poorly educated, over-zealous and randomly angry white individuals with lots of guns and ammo will be a continuing problem in our once great country for generations to come.
A truly accurate way to think of the TransCanada/KXL Pipeline is PURE POISON on every level. It is clearly “All risk and no reward.” A good but long overdue decision has been made.
Unfortunately, much of the pipeline is already in place. Land has been seized and public access has been stopped. Off-duty local law enforcement is under contract.
The decision to delay this noble outcome demonstrates the tedious process a leader must traverse when a perceived negative impact to the fossil-fuel crime wave is involved. And the delay will definitely impact the eventual outcome.
The shell game to fraudulently obscure the actual end-product from this pipeline and the unacceptable risks involved in transport must have been run at the highest levels of leadership?
Otherwise, this decision could have been easily reached years ago.
At this point and the lack of security prior to the flight, anyone could have placed a bomb aboard. UK passengers using that airport claim 20 quid is all it takes.
To your point - revenge is a strong motivation and best served cold? And a "blame" not covered.
• According to numerous tourists reports in foreign press, security is lax and easy to compromise at Sharm el-Sheikh International. The Egyptian airport of Kogalymavia/Metrojet Flight KGL 9268/7K9268 origin.
• Blame revenge - Could this tragedy be reprisal for Malaysia Airlines flight mh317 which was shot down over the Russian/Ukrainian border on July 17th by a Russian-made air defense system? All 298 mh317 passengers and crew died raining down from 33,000 feet onto the Ukrainian countryside, many maimed by shrapnel.
• The chartered Russian Airbus broke up over the north Sinai, raining Russian and Ukrainian passengers and crew from 30,000 feet.
In any event, ISIL will gladly take responsibility, no matter who did it.
OK folks - here’s the deal. The U.S. gives certain countries “foreign aid” and they spend some of the money on high-value U.S. military products. A form of multinational money laundry, some countries receiving “bribe to not war” foreign aid are in on the deal.
This all very shrewd and clever BUT OBVIOUS. Cunning1970s foreign policies established by clever states-craft has proven highly profitable for all directly involved. As a result, these “foreign policies” have become “chiseled into stone” over time. It’s the old bribe with a kick-back deal which is standard practice for criminals and politicos, worldwide.
Bribery is money down a rat-hole at best, merely empowering those who could not attain funding through ethical means. But this bribe is tens of BILLIONS of U.S. taxpayer dollars, year-after-year for decades. Perhaps the biggest of them all?
Who in Congress (which controls ALL budgets and spending) has the courage to question these egregious and unnecessary legacy expenditures?
The biographical excerpts regarding Cheney and Rumsfeld are CYA for the Shrub. The attempts to shift blame for his son being slow and weak-of-will, unable to contain the “Iron-ass” Dick Cheney and the “arrogant” Donald Rumsfeld are signs of aging.
The simple fact is President George W. Bush was a COMPLETE FAILURE as our President. It is not that he is an evil man, it is that he was far too incompetent, unqualified to be our President. It will take generations to undo the tragedy, mayhem and destruction from the arrogance and stupidity visited upon our world by this Bush and his 1950s mindset chickenhawks. No amount of family CYA hind-writing can shade that fact. It’s history.
The real question should be - DO WE WANT THIS TO HAPPEN , AGAIN?
When basic common sense becomes an “aggressive plan” or “taking a strong stand” then members of Congress have become far too comfortable with fossil-fuel being in-charge.
The only reason the fossil fuel industry has gained so much power is from observation made with the onset of mechanized warfare and reinforced by the WWII Allied victory. Controlling fuels and lubricant supplies assures domination and a sense of security.
Seventy years have come and gone. Wars fought like a game of chess are passé. Wars are now fought like the game of Go. 1950s warfare-state strategies are no longer relevant, much the same as the hold on our country by the fossil-fuel enterprises have become.
Senator Sanders brings back to life the simple American concept that a BALANCE must be struck between the expectations of established enterprise and those of the actual needs of common people who need to breathe and have a suitable place to abide and raise their offspring.
Corporate-controlled media continues the unrelenting attack on the American psyche with their constant barrages of malinformation, lies and spin.
The previous Bush maladministrations used their media co-conspirators very effectively.
TWO BUSH - THREE WARS, all completely unnecessary, could not have been attained without the corporate-controlled media LIE FACTORIES.
There is nothing noble in the intent of any of the Bush Wars and the horrific aftermaths. All of the death, destruction and destabilization of entire regions was done at the behest of “others.”
These “others” are not U.S. citizens, they hold their territories like savages whose behavior we overlook because there are tenuous multi-national interests involved.
Now media is ramping-up for yet another war at the behest of the same “others.”
Will our country fall for yet another line of total bu!!$#!† via corporate-controlled media? Who will be the next Ahmad Chalabi?
78-year-old Texas landowner Eleanor Fairchild was arrested on October 4, 2012 for criminal trespassing and other criminal charges for standing in front of TransCanada pipeline construction equipment on her own farm near Winnsboro, Texas. Fairchild owned and paid taxes on her land since 1983. She had flatly refused to sign any agreements with TransCanada. Her land was seized, nevertheless.
The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) does not consider what will be transported through the TransCanada/KXL Pipeline to be a petroleum product since tar-sands bitumen and the solvents used for transport does not contain enough crude oil to qualify. The TRC also strictly prohibits public access to all pipelines in Texas making the TransCanada claims and eminent domain land seizures in Texas like that of Eleanor Fairchild invalid.
Consider TransCanada shareholders are 47% institutional, eminent domain laws used against land owners may not stand in many cases and the fact the bulk of the bitumen-dilute end-product from the KXL Pipeline is NOT OIL but will become “petcoke” - has become more widely known. It probably is a good time for TransCanada to pull away for more reasons than a Presidential veto?
Petcoke is one of the dirtiest and cheapest sources of fuel on the planet. Banned from use as fuel within the U.S. it is solely for export as a fuel. Petcoke is the residue from refining processes and is considered “industrial waste.” More than 65% of post-refinery tar-sands bitumen dilute can be classified as industrial waste. Tax laws and Congressional-mandated government incentives favor those who export/dispose of industrial waste. In addition, the solvents used to dilute the heated bitumen (so it can move through the pipeline) can be reclaimed and sold to companies that mix fracking fluids.
A leading processor and exporter of U.S. petcoke is Oxbow Carbon LLC, founder and CEO is William (Bill) Koch.
An accurate way to think of the TransCanada/KXL Pipeline is PURE POISON on every level.
Taking advantage with malice of forethought at a time of great national sorrow, those we trusted most LIED TO OUR NATION perpetrating the attacks on and subsequent occupation of Iraq. The complicity of corporate-controlled media malinformation and our highest ranking officials claims based on fabrications of factoids set the entire tragedy into action,
There is absolutely no way to “apologize” for malinformation-induced murder, widespread destruction and depreciation of the way of life in Iraq which continues today. The citizens of the United States allowed this to happen and we are not going to fix it.
Rather than apologize, what we as U.S. citizens can do is try to make damn certain THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN, AGAIN.
Which is the best that can be done at the present time in our once great country.
After 25 years of man-made global climate collapse “debate” it is obvious that perpetuating the pointless “debate” is the name-of-the-game.
Lately, corporate-controlled media has softened “denier” a bit. Morphed, as if by magic, into “skeptic” to prolong the fossil fuel/MIC stranglehold on our country through more endless time-wasting “debate.” Someone must have pointed out that more debate mileage is available from a new “skeptic” model than the old “denier” model.
Greed, power and information control is driving this flagrant attack on our entire planet. Yet, there is no consequence to those who openly facilitate the attack.
Do we actually need a law to ban “Planet Earth Killing?”
The chartered Russian Airbus A321 midair disintegration over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula due to “External influence” can mean two potential scenarios:
1 - An object impacting the airframe from outside of the aircraft. (e.g., mh317 shoot-down over the Ukraine on July 17.)
2 - “External influence” can also mean an explosive device placed on-board the chartered aircraft and is the much more likely scenario if “External Influence” is the actual cause.
Satellite data reveals a “heat flash” concurrent with the demise of the Airbus. Lending credence to a bomb as the ““External Influence.”
In any event, it appears ISIL will gladly accept responsibility, no matter who did it.
Professional climate-collapse denier Congressperson Lamar Smith (R-TX) truly represented his constituency in 1986 when first elected to Congress.
In 2015 the majority of this constituency in Texas has moved forward. Unfortunately, Lamar Smith has not and now only serves the interests of a tiny handful of contributors and supporters.
Donald Trump is using valid criticism of the evil, moronic Bush/Cheney maladministration, not to put the perpetrators on the docket where they belong, but to amplify his role as boisterous media distraction.
Criticism of George W. Bush while campaigning against his lesser brother serves four distinct purposes, none of which are in any way noble or constructive.
• It allows a Bush to defend his indefensible brother.
• The vacillating statements against Bush actually generates nativist sympathy for the tainted Bush dynasty.
• The resulting media-borne brouhaha distracts from the absolute worst array of Republican Presidential candidates in U.S. history.
• Mr. Trump is further empowered to extol more ridicules campaign claims to prolong his role as a walking American vuvuzela.
Mark - to quote “Even Assad’s allies – including Russia and Iran – have felt that the Assad dictatorship must go as it is the root of nation’s problems.”
Russia and Iran will support the current al Assad regime militarily as long as Russian and Iranian “interests” operate in and through Syria, status quo.
The fact Russia is now interested in entering Afghanistan - either, as they recently have in Syria and/or as a supplier of military products for the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Security Forces is the result of the EU-US economic sanctions. And the rise of very energetic “False Caliphate” movements bordering Russian influences in South Asia and connecting to the Middle East.
Since WWII, the “Allies” from the West including ex-Soviet Union Russia have exploited these regions for their fossil fuel wealth with the help of assorted friendly indigenous patrons. There are numerous “interests” not of these regions well-established for decades which are exploiting this wealth.
With the rise of previously underdeveloped global powers such as China, India and Southeast Asia our world is changing and quickly. These changes have not gone unnoticed by the more youthful and better educated peoples of the regions who are primarily of the Islamic persuasion(s).
Those old “interests” are now accurately seen as invaders and puppet masters. The various indigenous people of these regions want control and ownership what they consider to be rightfully theirs.’ Especially since arrogant, moronic and ill-advised leaderships during the late 20th Century and the dawn of the 21st Century openly attacked, decimated, occupied and brought utter chaos to all of these regions. The residue of which we are forced to contend with over a decade later.
Russia is in a very tough situation but their options are clear -
• Cease their expansion into the Ukraine and other former Soviet Union areas to ease the EU-US economic sanctions.
• Further expand belligerent actions in the Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan risking the increased ire of indigenous actions and other reprisals.
• Attempt to work with regional peoples through meaningful diplomacy and by developing new mutually beneficial economic relationships.
• Go “Bush/Cheney” on the entire region risking “unintended consequence.”
• Or the very best option - Enthusiastically encourage and assist our world to GET OFF FOSSIL FUELS like it was a fascist invasion (which in a sense it actually is).
The time is right for this last option as the “renewable energy light” has come on, worldwide and for obvious reasons.
Mr. Putin and Russia has the real opportunity to become truly modern, forward acting in leadership and potentially help save our world from unimaginable future suffering.
An opportunity which is being denied the U.S. by irresponsible greed, deadly sloth, pig-ignorance and antique mid-20th Century strategies and controls.
Yasser Tabbaa - One of the benefits of this forum is the illuminating comments such as the one made by you regarding the potential future of Syria and Iraq.
Any hostile non-indigenous influence either invader/occupier or supporter/provider is seen simply as an INVADER, locally. Invaders are NEVER embraced without counter activity.
The invader influences and attempts at control of any region will always be compromised by local counter activity. In some instances counter activity is very effective and in other situations less. But any counter activity will diminish all attempts to control.
Gaining accurate information by non-indigenous invading forces is a difficult problem no matter the given situation. Even if those attempting to gather information are “boots-on-the-ground” in nature. Toss in religious differences (even intra-faith differences) and information gathering problems are greatly magnified.
1,500 analysts is the “100 monkeys typing on typewriters” theorem in action. Upon occasion a few of them might get it right.
In the mean time, 1,500 analysts and their staff are drawing their salaries.
Should “Daesh and other armed groups” gain control of or damage Russian and Iranian assets in and through Syria, the effects would be very serious, indeed. The assets are pipeline systems and port/terminal facilities under al-Assad control and is the point of the comment.
The TAPI pipeline system which transverses south-central Afghanistan is under construction and is more defend-able provided the Taliban can be kept to the north where their strength lies. The actual purpose for continued U.S. involvement.
The EU-US economic sanctions placed on Russia and Iran in 2014 are having an effect. Syria is vital to the economic well-being of both countries. Protecting the long-standing relationship with the al-Assad regime is paramount in importance to both countries as oil and gas are NOT included in the sanctions.
The importance of fossil-fuel pipelines which is completely omitted from US news and public education study is ALWAYS the stimulus for these conflicts and military actions.
And as a side-note, the reason the U.S. will keep a military presence in Afghanistan through 2016 or at least until the TAPI Pipeline is completed and secure.
Small business capitalism and CONTROL capitalism have nothing in common.
Mixing the metaphors is pettyfoggery at best. But not unexpected from Candidate Clinton who knows how things actually function in the upside-down 21st Century where low consumer prices are a bad thing for example.
Apparently, Senator Sanders thinks that voting utilizing RIGGED VOTING APPLIANCE SYSTEMS actually means something? So 20th Century and out of step with reality.
If Senator Sanders was a BILLIONAIRE he would “get it” and march in step.
Rabbit - to quote “I think Trump will probably be our next president. I read a lot of comments on the web and people don’t trust or like Hillary.”
Donald Trump has to gain the Republican nomination, first. He is merely a bellicose media distraction to divert attention away from the worst array of GOP Presidential candidates in our history and nothing more.
Most hardworking voters don’t have the time to waste making comments “on the web.” So, what you read is absolutely NOT representative of anything.
Don’t be a victim of peer group pressure or workplace bullying. Do some actual research on all of the candidates? The information is out there but it is difficult time-consuming work to compile and understand.
Differentiating between fact and opinion is a task in itself.
At this particular interval in the U.S. Presidential campaign it matters NOT what any Democratic or Republican candidate may proclaim or espouse with regards to foreign policy.
Due to the destabilization of South Asia and the Middle East by the earlier asinine TWO BUSH - THREE WARS Doctrine and recent justifiable EU-US economic sanctions imposed on Russia and Iran - EVERYTHING IS CHANGING.
Hopefully, our best strategists within NATO and the U.S. are coming to grips with the unpredictable Mr. Putin and what Russia will do in the future?
Will Mr. Putin be forced from power or at least diminished in authority by saner minds in Russia or will there be a return to a “Cold War” regressing our world back to the 1950s?
Although this is a valid concern, it is doubtful Russia will ramp up tensions any further. Since the ball is definitely in their court at this present time, diplomacy could break out at any moment. Signs of this eventuality are already being seen.
Bob - If the proclamation read - “In American politics, we await the officeholderS or candidateS willing to state the obvious and confront its implications.” - then it would be valid. The trilogy that constitutes our current government is entirely unable to accomplish this without reform of our democratic process.
• Campaign reform - get unlimited and secret money out of campaigning.
• Sources of information which is not controlled against democracy.
• Gerrymandering must go!
• Votes counting systems which are uniform in operation and NOT RIGGED!
• Universal voting rights re-instated.
• A continuous improvement process which ENCOURAGES voting.
Nate - With all due respect “hostile to Iran, friendly to Saudi Arabia and the Likud Party in Israel, trigger-happy about invading foreign countries” is wise and quite sane if Mrs. Clinton expects to win. Taking these positions gains her campaign money and a percentage of disenchanted Republican votes.
Quite shrewd, actually. All she needs to close the deal is a strong Hispanic for her VP candidate?
The difference between her and her GOP counterparts is she is NOT insane. She is very wise and experienced. More so than any of her competition in either party.
These decade-old Bush/Cheney maladministration wars and interventions now serve only one purpose, none of which is what corporate-controlled media extols to our citizens. Under the guise of training, “propping-up” and initially equipping “friendly factions” within these countries, the Pentagon and the CIA have reduced themselves to tactics more or less the equivalent to tactics found in the streets of our poorest and least educated inter-cities in the U.S.
When the U.S. intervenes militarily in the Bush/Cheney Wars devastated regions with training, the methods of warfare and weapons, a potential long-term customer for the MIC is being established. The equivalent of the “Here, try this” method to sell narcotics to desperate individuals. Except these potential customers are often desperate rebel factions or emerging governments in countries which prior U.S. action destroyed or destabilized to start with. The product being offered is far more destructive and death-dealing than narcotics.
For the United States to regain any credibility in this world, this odious policy must change.
The MIC even siphons U.S. tax dollars to directly pay for the initial follow-on sales of MIC products and services in these regions under the guise of “foreign aid.” Taxes which the MIC is cleverly exempted from paying in the first place.
All of this is NOTHING NEW. Greatly amplified and promoted during and after the Nixon Insanity, this befouled method of foreign influence has grown into the largest foreign policy malignancy found on our planet. And has been massively accelerated during the TWO BUSH - THREE WARS! period in our once great history.
The momentum from this heinous policy has been dumped-over-the-wall to our current administration who with tremendous opposition from a lunatic Congress has attempted to make some progress to reduce these dissembling and now-proven ineffective practices.
The words “insane” and “lunatic” are apt in this context because those behind this are not insane in a ineffective way. KNOWING MADMEN and their defective minions have taken over our once great country. And working behind the scenes are actively reducing our United States and anywhere their influence prevails into confusion, chaos and eventually, the attendant by-product of h8 against our country.
Unless this MADNESS is stopped and NOW, the universal suffering will be unimaginable. The direct result of too few people (outside the span of control of good citizens) with far too much influence over something as powerful and DANGEROUS as the United States of America.
Here is yet another very disturbing artifact regarding global climate collapse being currently observed in the north central Pacific Ocean. It has a catchy name to further assist “skeptics,” the latest media meme for deniers, to better understand the very real eventuality which unlimited destruction of jungles and forests, burning and decomposing garbage, war-induced oil well infernos, using coal and petcoke as fuel and refining fossil-fuel to power large engines has caused. It is called “The Blob.”
The unstated U.S. policy established by the CIA and the Pentagon at the behest of factions within multinational fossil-fuel enterprises is for the overthrow of the brutal al-Assad regime. The destruction of the accurately named “False-Caliphate” is a truly noble cause but to some extent a side-issue.
Russia supports the al-Assad regime, unconditionally, due to prior business arrangements involving the Russian Tartous naval facility lease, the terminal(s) near Banais and the fact Syria is a loyal customer for Russian military products. Mr. Putin knows he can work with the al-Assad regime but cannot be certain with the assorted rebel factions.
One of the primary reasons Russian air power has been priority targeting non-“False Caliphate” rebel factions is because much of those forces are not Syrian who originate from within former Soviet republics. So, Mr. Putin may have some influences to maintain current business dealings should they prevail?
The entire region has become a convoluted vicious dog fight - though one thing is for certain, every dog in it has fossil fuel on it’s paws.
The Tea Party, now known as the Freedom Caucus, has been pre-empted by the very powers that they should oppose. It’s a great concept but guns and bigotry (the new Jim Crow as super390 points out) have attracted the attention.
The problem here in Texas is that “No Child Left Behind” has finally left most folks in Texas well behind, the good folks they may be but it’s like herding cats here to get anything useful accomplished.
Leaving a few lots vacant in a development forestalls solar for residential power, indefinitely. Insane is correct if one considers unbridled greed and complete control insanity?
Texas has become the prototype for the oligarchy enshrouding our country for the next few decades. What is happening here will spread to every corner of the U.S. and perhaps much further? Lineages such as Bush, Koch, Wilks and Hunt among others have already bought out what little government that remains. They flat out OWN Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and much of New Mexico. A Hunt is ready to acquire all of the wind farm transmission lines and when the purchase of ONCOR is complete much of the power in the entire region will fall to the control of one single family who got their start in oil, ironically. Wilks got Abbott and Cruz elected and leveraged Austin to ban counties from banning fracking. A Bush heads the Railroad Commission who controls all of the fossil fuel dealings in Texas including the pipelines to and from. Most of the oil and gas drilling is done directly on top of the largest aquifers in the U.S. and is controlled by the Koch’s and a Bush.
Other Bush enterprises include school textbooks used nationally, electronic information aggregators and toll road development to the extent some bear their name.
It is true that emerging technologies and renewables - solar, wind and aquifer water sources is the future. Peak oil has come and gone. Aquifer water pressure is being used to pump out what gas remains. And is the source of the miles down earthquake storms in Oklahoma and north Texas of late.
The real issue is who will be insane and also control the future. Knowing madmen are indeed taking over.
Although this is great news, the Austin area is an exception in Texas. There is stiff opposition to residential solar panels in the most populated areas of Texas and outright bans by many counties in Texas.
Here is a good example. HOAs (home owner associations) banning solar until a development is built-out by Texas state law.
These bans forestall homeowners from installing solar power for years, even decades.
Electrical power providers can attach large fees and draconian administrative processes to solar powered homes.
Counties with nuclear power plants, coal-fired power plants or heavy fracking activity ban solar power, altogether.
Solar farms must remain well-lit and patrolled at night to prevent vandalism and theft. Light pollution and attendant noise generates strong local opposition.
“The Iraqi government in Baghdad, threatened by Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) and frustrated by the Obama administration’s foot-dragging in taking it on, seems increasingly tempted by a Russia alliance.”
If the next U.S. President is a Republican, the Iraqi government can rest assured more of our loyal and trusting troops and TRILLION$ more of U.S. liability will be wasted on another needless MIC stratagem.
Here is why unnecessary and inflammatory rhetoric by extremist unqualified GOP candidates who WILL NEVER GET THE NOMINATION is so dangerous.
Those poorly educated and weak-of-mind h8ful citizens who can’t wait to flaunt their firearms for any lame reason pose a genuine threat to everyone. A “Global Rally” social media cue such as this could lead to a completely needless threat to anyone near a Mosque especially where law enforcement is sympathetic to such actions.
An incident escalating from such an “armed rally” is a recipe for disaster. Especially when a few desperate right-wing Presidential candidate @$$#@†$ fan the flames of STUPIDITY and media amplifies it.
Mr. Putin knows for certain the Assad regime will perpetuate Russian “interests” in and through Syria and allow the sole Russian naval facility (leased from Syria at Tartous) on the Mediterranean Sea.
Any other emerging faction encroaching on the Assad regime is uncertain for Russia at best.
Banais is the Golden Goose of Syria and the secret word.
Russia and the Syrian Army have positioned the bulk of their military assets to defend Banais from everyone. It is between Latakia and Tartous (Tartus) on the Mediterranean coast.
Why? To find out who has a “dog in this fight” see this map.
Government spying on EVERYONE notwithstanding. The private sector is MUCH WORSE.
Once the previous maladministration ABOLISHED PRIVACY in these United States in 2004, the hounds of uncontrolled eavesdropping were unleashed. The precedence was established.
The private sector who provides the government with their listening tools decided to embark of this endeavor themselves. Data aggregators have become very big and highly profitable businesses.
Everything anyone does including little children via an electronic transmission is recorded, collected, aggregated and disseminated without restriction or PERMISSION.
Since the RIGHT TO PRIVACY is downplayed in importance in 2015, how will collected and aggregated information be used in 2020? Or 2035?
Worried about government spying? There is much more to fear from those who document virtually every daily event in life and SELL that information on an open market.
And the enforcement of “iron law” would fall to what authority?
Looking through the piece by Professor Cole, Donald Trump and his lack of historical relevance is the topic.
A helpful tip - Displaying ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) is easier if a keyboard macro with our President’s last name is programmed. Using this method, only one key is necessary. Assign it to F1. Saves time and wear-and-tear on the keyboard.
The news black-out in corporate-controlled media regarding Israeli actions against the Palestinians is DEAFENING!
• Look at the New York Times? It’s Syria 24/7. Two irrelevant articles, not comprehensive or definitive.
• Los Angeles Times, nada, zip.
• Washington Post, zzzzzz.
• Reuters, crickets.
• BBC, a well-written pro-Israeli snob job.
• UK Guardian, more crickets.
• API has a few articles of interest but subdued and after SYRIA!! OMG!
• CSM World, one item about Israel blocking Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City.
• AL JAZEERA, two interesting pieces.
• Jerusalem Post is surprisingly limited and muted.
• XINHUA has some comprehensive coverage.
• And Informed Comment. Not to pander but coverage here is broader than most.
Of course, coverage will ebb and flow but info played to the U.S. is scant EXCEPT in the foreign press.
Adopt the use of a RSS “newsreader” like Vienna, Thunderbird, Reeder or Newsflow and start there. Lots of RSS aggregators out there. Many browsers have limited but useful capabilities They take some effort to set-up but if really concerned, they are a very good place to start and compare.
Qatar, Iran and Russia all have a common cause in Syria. Over 90% of Professor Cole’s “Phony Caliphate” is composed of non-Syrian fighters led by those who want control of the same “common cause” in Syria and Iraq.
The very complex relationships and motivation can be found here in excruciating detail:
Russia has the on-tap fire power to perhaps determine who eventually gains control. President Obama predicts another quagmire situation for Russia. Hopefully, the next U.S.President will not draw our country into this quagmire, as well? A Republican President will with certainty.
Sure is funny how religion falls by the wayside except for motivational purposes of the less-educated devout when the actual “common cause” becomes obvious?
Senator Bernie Sanders speaks-truth-to-power without the inflated ego and pandering to special interests exhibited by other Presidential candidates.
If there is some chance a balance between the interests of the majority of U.S. citizens and those of commerce and industry can be struck, a President Bernie Sanders is the very best choice we have at this time.
The all-out war against a woman’s RIGHT to have control over her own body has reached the state of INSANITY by vocal and sometimes violent factions in our once great country. These extremist factions are attempting to retrogress woman’s equality compared to those of men back to the 1930s.
FACT - The reproductive rights of women were firmly established during the previous century.
INSANITY? You betcha -
• Using the irrational flailing of small passionate and dogmatic extremist groups to provide content FILLER and DIVERSION by corporate-controlled media is imbalanced, counter-productive and SUSPECT.
• Political candidates who support and promote the war on a woman’s rights to gain votes PROVES they are unfit to lead.
• The sociopathic greed in corporate-owned medicine to eradicate any form of health care which is affordable and out of their control plays a major role in this twisted hoopla.
• The subconscious desire to mandate the long-arm-of-the-law to enter every woman and girl in our country by proxy is sick beyond definition.
• The overt fixation by the reactionary extremist factions of the far-right on the female genitals and her reproductive process is just plain creepy.
If a person begins at the instant of conception, as extremists contend, the male sperm and female egg are joined to form that “person.” Until that event, that sperm and that egg are still irrevocably indispensable for life to exist.
A woman’s right to control her reproductive process is under attack only because she is solely, and by happenstance, the only source of an egg and the only attendant incubation chamber for humans to exist. Why then are males not under attack for their cruel and unjust treatment of their sperm?
Billions upon billions of sperm die slow, twitching deaths in tissues, socks and where disposal is convenient every single day. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE??? 94% of men masturbate and the other 6% are liars.
An argument no less INSANE than the current attack on women seen in our country, today.
A U.S. AC-130 gunship fired on the hospital for approx. 30 minutes. There had to be an American “tactical air controller” working with Afghan forces on the ground directing the gunship.
This would be a very opportune time to completely withdraw from Afghanistan. Besides, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline, discussed for more than 20 years, is finally under construction, the Pentagon Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) works are complete and the last CIA opium crop is in.
Read your missive but there is a somewhat different take regarding the SCOTUS and the overt racism of the extremist Justices. So, bear with this?
The nibbling at the ankles by extremists of long-standing law and the PERSONAL opinions blurted by a few Justices nominated by a moron court-installed President changes nothing. Some of whom have gone so far as to call our President, a gentleman of color, a liar to his face while sitting as audience in Congress. These racist ticks embedded in positions of power, trust and authority BRING DISGRACE to each and every one of us and our once great country as they suck equality and decency from our laws.
Voting rights for citizens are still universal. Law forbidding hate crimes still exist and housing cannot be denied on the basis of color. The fact some of these laws have recently been weakened is another clear indication that overt racism is still very much part of the American condition.
No matter what corporate-controlled media would have us think.
Once currently-under-indictment Texas Attorney General Paxton blows the whistle on former Governor Perry and current Governor Abbott over the long-time mishandling of the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) everything will change.
But but but the Republican National Committee claims RACISM IS OVER in America. Ask GOP Presidential candidate Bobby Jindal or FAUXNews serial liar, Bill O’Reilly to name but a few who have made this claim?
Donald Trump is a corporate-controlled media diversion. Nothing more.
This is the weakest GOP field of Presidential candidates in history. A fact which requires obscuring.
The media-induced Trump nonsense will continue until yet another half-wit Bush will rise to the top of this fossil-fuel filled caldron of toady incompetence.
Listening to this megalomaniac babble about subjects which he claims he is qualified to determine because he “understands the business deal” is like having bees in your head.
It’s not so much the circular logic and lack of relevance (aka total b^¡¡$h!†) in Donald Trump’s attempts to avoid a few softball questions - but the self-assured bully persona and faux-testosterone he exudes to assert his nonsense to the female reporter which is disturbing to hear.
This is a disturbed and perhaps over-medicated individual.
In any event, it is reassuring to know that Donald Trump will NEVER be our President.
The U.S. must now re-establish “nation-building” here within the United States.
• Highways and roadways are in serious need of repairs and upgrades.
• Bridges and overpasses are in terrible shape and only receive repair when in a stage of imminent collapse.
• Our existing rail system is straight out of the 1950s. Horrific failures are now commonplace.
• Safe and efficient high-speed rail is in a state of perpetual planning.
• The power distribution systems are inefficient and fail with pathetic regularity.
• Major seawall and coastal improvements are badly needed due to the acceleration of manmade climate destruction.
• There are hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions?) of fossil-fuel industry oversights spewing poisons into the atmosphere and the waters, continuously.
• Precious waters are disappearing to pump more poison from deep within the planet crust or to cool inefficient mid-20th Century heat sources. Safe tap water is in serious jeopardy.
The private sector alone DID NOT make our country great. The combination of government planning and action, regulation and enforcement in a balance of power and authority with the private sector made our country what it used to be. That balance is GONE!
Restoring a proven balance is essential. The current imbalance, having been propagandized into existence by a corporate-controlled media and a slow-motion takeover of our government by elements from within the MIC, has pushed our once great country into a sorry state of disrepair. A state so bad it has to be continuously clouded by distraction and unnecessary divisiveness.
Our Congress has been invaded by toadies, idiots and those of malevolent intent. Bear in mind Congress controls all budgets and spending by law. The MIC (and related) by far receives the vast majority of funding and has for the past half century. We have funded a ridiculous string of useless, pointless, resource gobbling failed wars under the guise of protecting U.S. interests in far-flung places. These STUPID wars have killed and displaced many, many millions of innocent people and FOR WHAT?!
Time to re-invest in our country. The MIC/fossil fuel industry, Big Pharma and corporate medicine have looted all of US for long enough.
We need to focus our attention and resources on We The People and not Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Israel or some other place which must learn to manage their own affairs without U.S. support, interference or intervention.
Or WE are completely f^çk&d in more ways than one.
• Unemployed from the private sector since H-P fired her in 2005
• 30,000 lay-offs while she was CEO
• H-P stock lost over 50% of value during her tenure while Dell fell only 3% during the same period
• H-P stock jumped 7% the day she was fired
• Her leadership style at H-P was disruptive, divisive and aloof
Mrs. Fiorina is merely another legend-in-her-own-mind salesperson and nothing more. Apparently, she will say anything to get the nomination. She is certainly NOT Presidential material.
Mr. Engelhardt raises an important question and one worth pondering - why the “national insecurity?”
First - Americans were not always this way. But our overall situation as a nation has changed drastically since we were “comfortable with ourselves” after WWII. A number of dramatic events has set attitudes in motion which now shape how we feel about ourselves. Here are but a few -
• The constant semi-conscious gnawing fear that at any second we could all be blown away in a thermonuclear war. A fear which did not cease with the end of the so-called “Cold War.”
• The public assassination(s) by firearms of a President, his brother and an iconic civil-rights leader.
• The onset of a series of pointless and continuous wars which we lost (and are currently losing).
• The resignation in disgrace of a somewhat deranged U.S. President.
• The epidemic of pharmaceutical chemical dependency.
• The orchestrated attacks on New York City, the Pentagon and the downing of Flight 93.
• The subsequent establishing of the “National Police State.”
• The resultant abolition of privacy for every citizen and the onset of the current “Surveillance Society.”
• The decline of quality public education in lieu of “The Test.”
• The rise of corporate-controlled media.
Depending on age and overall awareness, ALL of the above-cited factors contribute to our current state of “National Insecurity.”
Perhaps more heed should be given to a warning issued by the last true Republican President and actual winning General Dwight Eisenhower made in his farewell speech on January 17, 1961?
Candidates who prey on ignorance and spout xenophobic rhetoric expose their malevolent purpose and lack of fitness to lead.
A great example of this kind of rhetoric on educationally diminished regions such as Texas can be found by using a search engine of your choice and entering > Farmersville, Texas and the word “Muslim” on the same line. A major ruckus has erupted over a proposed graveyard which could include deceased Muslims.
Both Trump and Carson would today carry this region easily with their sad unAmerican h8 rhetoric.
We are, in fact, a nation of immigrants - something which escapes those historically impaired like Trump and Carson. Trump is of Germanic descent (paternal grandparents were German immigrants) and Carson of African Markua descent (who are now primarily Muslims!).
Just west of Farmersville on US 380 is Princeton, Texas where a historic WWII internment camp for captured Nazi military is located. Traveling further west on US 380 and north a ways on US 77 is Gainesville, Texas. The mass lynching of 200 suspected Unionist sympathizers occurred there in one weekend, known as the The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas 1862. Slavery continued in North Texas until the mid-1870s, finally emancipated by the occupation of Union troops. “Strange fruit” was also common in the region well into the mid-20th Century. A black man was dragged to death with a pick-up truck by two white men in Paris, also north Texas in 2008.
Here is a suggestion for both Trump and Carson: stay out of North Texas. Once folks figure out their respective heritages and facts be known, potential votes could vanish?
The most effective method to bring down a form of government and an entire country is from the inside.
Typically, those most effective at downfall use the intentions of good people as tools to gain the necessary influences to achieve their goals.
A populace who lacks basic knowledge and access to accurate information are the easiest to manipulate using stirred emotions, entrenched beliefs and peer-group pressures.
There has been a malignancy growing in our country and those of malevalent intent are patiently feeding this disease.
Good people are being misguided by their passion and faith over various hot-button issues such as “abortion,” misinterpreted, unproveable religious beliefs and the age-old favorite of those who wish to weaken - xenophobia.
There is nothing new in any of the symptoms of this malady which has now infected our nation. If history was still taught in schools, the overt tendencies of those who wish to bring about unnecessary and dangerous change would be spotted and intercepted rapidly. Not so in the 2015 United States of America.
The reduction of education to teaching “The Test,” the abolition of PRIVACY, the continuos blast of media-issued malinformation/distraction and the re-emergence of blind, ignorant h8 are components of a generation-long process to sicken our once great nation. That odious process is now taking its toll.
Ironically, those who are actively driving this dangerous process will most likely be the very first to suffer from their misguided efforts. And the repugnant result could stand for a while - UNTIL the rest of the civilized world runs out of patience with what was once our United States.
Since history no longer exists in the minds of our citizens, the United States will not see the greater consequences of their naive induced stupidity coming.
When those footing the bill for Russia to become involved in this conflict run out of funds to support, Russia will withdraw. The U.S. which funds wars on the backs of TAXPAYERS will step in and we will have yet another interminable Middle East military involvement which benefits the MIC and furthers the oligarchy which has become our country.
PTSD went largely undiagnosed until the mid-1970s.
Returning Vietnam War vets were criminalized, fired from new jobs often en mass and left to fend for themselves many ending up in prisons or mental institutions throughout our country.
Big Pharma seized on this golden opportunity with an avalanche of powerful and expensive new psychoactive drugs to suppress the manic behavior exhibited by many of those suffering from PTSD.
An Observation - From Vietnam onward to the present ALL of these mind-crushing wars have been completely unnecessary, ramped-up largely by leadership which never spent one day under the gun of an “enemy.”
The Suggestion - Bring back The Draft with NO EXEMPTIONS! And to establish the “patriotic example” offspring of the wealthy elite and our national elected officials be first into battle.
Of course, in the upside-down United States of the 21st Century such a suggestion is impossible because only the underclass and loyal citizens need apply.
The extreme right-wing in the U.S. has lurched so far to the reactionary right even Pope Francis appears liberal to their counter-productive EXTREMISM.
When the very Conservative Speaker of the House of Representative resigns due to these disruptive extremists infesting our Congress, all good citizens of any stripe should take notice and reconsider voting for or re-electing such anti-American candidates.
Hopefully, this period of media-borne mass insanity in our country will soon subside. If not, even those who have willfully pushed our country into this politically extreme untenable situation will lose what they hoped to achieve.
Limbaugh/FAUXNews devotees should be careful what they wish for.
A reminder excerpt from the “Merry Minuet” performed by the Kingston Trio circa 1960 -
♬ But we can be tranquil and thankful
And proud for man's been endowed
With a mushroom shaped cloud
And we know for certain that
Some lovely day someone will set the spark off
And we will all be blown away ♬
55 years have passed and the world is even more dangerous.
However, since October 7, 1963 when that promiscuous upstart Catholic Socialist President John Kennedy signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the then Soviet Union and the UK, the background radiation levels in the atmosphere are still slightly elevated but vastly improved.
With regards to nuclear weapons proliferation NO progress has been made. Currently, little tiny countries with only eight million people have hundreds of nukes and totally b@†$#!† countries like North Korea claim to have some, too.
ToJ - The influences cited are worrisome but pale in comparison to the gas&oil profits-hiding evangelical LLC “churches” festering in our country.
But you are correct, these donors do expect ROI for their massive “dark money” contributions in the form of climate collapse doubting, enforcement(s) diminishing and outright subsidization.
Here you go - Democratic Party Primary Election debates (subject to change and/or TBD)
• October 13, 2015 – Las Vegas, Nevada via CNN
• November 14, 2015 – Des Moines, Iowa via CBS News
• December 19, 2015 – Manchester, New Hampshire via ABC news
• January 17, 2016 – Charleston, South Carolina via NBC News
• February/March 2016 – Miami, Florida via Univision and Washington Post
• February/March 2016 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin on PBS
Candidates participating require ≥1% in three national polls.
So far - Chafee, Clinton, O’Malley, Sanders and Webb are invited.
With elections almost a year away, most of the corporate-controlled media Republican Summer Distractions will be long forgotten by then. Trump and Carson and the other primary candidates will be gone but Jeb Bush will remain to oppose either Mrs. Clinton, the Vice President or the somewhat unlikely Senadate Sanders.
There is an interesting money battle emerging in the current GOP between big money NEOCONS versus the evangelical extreme right.
If current funding trends continue as they undoubtedly will, the NEOCON candidate, Jeb Bush will far and away have the most ridiculously large war chest to work with. As of mid-September 2015, Bush leads all primary GOP candidates by a very wide and record amount of $114.5 MILLION. Trump boasts his fictional “$100 million” and Senadate Cruz has pandered to the evangelicals for a paltry total, so far, of $46 million.
There is a reasonably factual “hit-piece” in the leading NEOCON media butt-trumpet which cites by example who is giving Cruz his campaign money. The article is both interesting and a bit scary, illuminating evangelical “Texas Crazy” Jesus and gas&oil land-grabbing nouveau riche in well-researched detail. It is worth the read, nevertheless.
The Republicans have not given up. However, they cannot win even by outspending the Democratic ticket. How the odious powers behind Jeb Bush will attempt to win is disturbing conjecture at this point but locally-controlled voting appliances may be involved? Events originating from outside our borders may be brought into action?
Please remember, TWO BUSH - THREE WARS! Another war is needed to bring down our country, once and forever.
Will Russia be establishing dominion in Syria? Russia and the U.S. both made that dumb mistake in Afghanistan and we saw how that turned out. The Bush/Cheney administration reaffirmed such asininity by doubling-down in Iraq.
Syria would make a useful “wedge state” for Russia and Iran much the same as Saudi Arabia and Israel are “wedge state(s)” for the global fossil fuel interests of the West.
Informally propping up a more-or-less legitimate local power to manage a region without overt 19th and early 20th Century-style involvement is a far better method of control than invasion and occupation.
The question will be - Is Mr. Putin a modern 21st Century leader or simply another backwards Bush/Cheney-style wanna-be neoliberal?
Nate - Israel and Egypt are by far the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid.
Israel has a population of around 8 million people. As a comparison, Los Angeles County has a million or two more inhabitants than Israel.
If every person in L.A. County received the foreign aid ceded continuously to Israel or Egypt equally divided, there would be far less poverty which is rife there now.
Senator Sanders is correct. Bribing any two countries to prevent their historical conflicts is no longer sustainable, as is, carrying on our back those many special interests based in the multi-national corporate spider web of greed and diversion aka “foreign aid.”
The concepts espoused by Senator Sanders jump squarely into the face of an oligarchy which is in the process of morphing our once great country into a personal possession for a handful of knowing madmen and their henchpersons.
Unless these voting appliances are fixed, voter suppression is suppressed and actual facts are made available THIS YEAR, the U.S. democracy which became a great country and could be, again, will vanish into obscured history. Merely another point of history omitted from “the test” which is being substituted for an actual education in our country.
The corporate-controlled media dog whistle term, “Socialist,” is being attached to anyone not entirely sold-out to current far right-wing control and influences being constantly stuffed down our throats here in the U.S.
Senadate Bernie Sanders is the closest semblance to an Eisenhower Republican seen in many years in the U.S. political arena.
Striking a balance between the interests of our average hard working citizens, their families and the interests’ of industry and commerce made our country great.
The current IMBALANCE on behalf of a greedy bunch of oligarchs is now having an opposite and dangerous effect to everyone in our country.
Professor Cole - Perhaps the first three points should have been the final three. Nevertheless, these points are important in the current scheme of things with regards to the Syria/Russia relationship. This is both a business deal and a Russian move to expand power in this region. You are correct about the order of intention in the bigger picture.
There are a number of reasons Russia must support the Assad regime.
• The Assad Regime is a constant and lucrative paying customer for expensive Russian air defense systems, military aircraft, weapons/ammunition, communications/surveillance systems and related technical support.
• The small, leased from Syria, port facility at Tartous (Tartus) is the sole Russian naval facility intended for repair/refurbishment for their boats on the Mediterranean Sea.
• An important Syrian/Russian-manned listening post (Center C) on the peak of Tel Al-Hara Mountain near the Golan Heights was taken by the Free Syrian Army earlier this year.
• Renewed Russian interest in the Mediterranean, all but abandoned in the 1970s, may be a response to current U.S. military operations in Lask, Poland.
• Russia can ill-afford to lose Assad’s Syria for strategic geographic reasons. Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are within driving distance of Syria.
• Mr. Putin is under pressure within Russia to demonstrate stronger leadership given the circumstances of the potential erosion of the Russian Federation on a number of fronts and there is the on-going Ukraine/Crimea situation.
The advent of Donald Trump merely crystallizes American “conservative thinking” into an easy to understand package.
BIGOTRY
The real threat to peace will be a Bush/Rubio Republican victory.
TWO BUSH - THREE WARS!
The fact many Americans find leading Republican Presidential primary candidate Donald Trump and his ilk so interesting even attractive is profoundly disturbing for another more basic reason.
What Mr. Trump is proposing, deporting 11 million and reducing those of a specific faith to the status of fourth class inhabitants - was popular thinking in Western society coming out of the effects of a previous economic collapse due to sheer greed during the early 1930s.
Normally, the antiquated but historically-effective bigots rhetoric-of-opportunity spewed by Trump and running mate, Senadate Cruz - would be easily spotted and quickly discounted within an educated country.
Unbridled money and external influences directing our Congressional politics is harming National Security.
The NRA is merely one of the “external influences.”
It worked out so well the first time.
Most likely both Russia and Turkey are involved in crude oil smuggling.
Reinforcing Professor Cole’s opening statement is Dallas, Texas Mayor Rawlings who does not fear Syrian refugees fleeing wars in the Middle East.
“I am more fearful of large gatherings of white men that come into schools, theaters and shoot people up, but we don’t isolate young white men on this issue,” Rawlings told MSNBC on Saturday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mike-rawlings-terrorism_565385cee4b0258edb32a21f
Malinformed, poorly educated, over-zealous and randomly angry white individuals with lots of guns and ammo will be a continuing problem in our once great country for generations to come.
Congress controls all budgets and spending.
http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/capital21c/en/pdf/F0.I.1.pdf
You have ODS, get help.
cheers
The noisy Republican clown car candidates are distraction for the lesser of two brothers.
During the first brother’s maladministration, more wealth was accumulated by fewer people then at any other time in U.S. history.
A truly accurate way to think of the TransCanada/KXL Pipeline is PURE POISON on every level. It is clearly “All risk and no reward.” A good but long overdue decision has been made.
Unfortunately, much of the pipeline is already in place. Land has been seized and public access has been stopped. Off-duty local law enforcement is under contract.
The decision to delay this noble outcome demonstrates the tedious process a leader must traverse when a perceived negative impact to the fossil-fuel crime wave is involved. And the delay will definitely impact the eventual outcome.
The shell game to fraudulently obscure the actual end-product from this pipeline and the unacceptable risks involved in transport must have been run at the highest levels of leadership?
Otherwise, this decision could have been easily reached years ago.
At this point and the lack of security prior to the flight, anyone could have placed a bomb aboard. UK passengers using that airport claim 20 quid is all it takes.
To your point - revenge is a strong motivation and best served cold? And a "blame" not covered.
Nope.
But the similarity is striking?
And it wouldn't be the Malaysians.
A few “Blame” points not covered -
• According to numerous tourists reports in foreign press, security is lax and easy to compromise at Sharm el-Sheikh International. The Egyptian airport of Kogalymavia/Metrojet Flight KGL 9268/7K9268 origin.
• Blame revenge - Could this tragedy be reprisal for Malaysia Airlines flight mh317 which was shot down over the Russian/Ukrainian border on July 17th by a Russian-made air defense system? All 298 mh317 passengers and crew died raining down from 33,000 feet onto the Ukrainian countryside, many maimed by shrapnel.
• The chartered Russian Airbus broke up over the north Sinai, raining Russian and Ukrainian passengers and crew from 30,000 feet.
In any event, ISIL will gladly take responsibility, no matter who did it.
OK folks - here’s the deal. The U.S. gives certain countries “foreign aid” and they spend some of the money on high-value U.S. military products. A form of multinational money laundry, some countries receiving “bribe to not war” foreign aid are in on the deal.
This all very shrewd and clever BUT OBVIOUS. Cunning1970s foreign policies established by clever states-craft has proven highly profitable for all directly involved. As a result, these “foreign policies” have become “chiseled into stone” over time. It’s the old bribe with a kick-back deal which is standard practice for criminals and politicos, worldwide.
Bribery is money down a rat-hole at best, merely empowering those who could not attain funding through ethical means. But this bribe is tens of BILLIONS of U.S. taxpayer dollars, year-after-year for decades. Perhaps the biggest of them all?
Who in Congress (which controls ALL budgets and spending) has the courage to question these egregious and unnecessary legacy expenditures?
Egypt and Israel have received the most by far.
The biographical excerpts regarding Cheney and Rumsfeld are CYA for the Shrub. The attempts to shift blame for his son being slow and weak-of-will, unable to contain the “Iron-ass” Dick Cheney and the “arrogant” Donald Rumsfeld are signs of aging.
The simple fact is President George W. Bush was a COMPLETE FAILURE as our President. It is not that he is an evil man, it is that he was far too incompetent, unqualified to be our President. It will take generations to undo the tragedy, mayhem and destruction from the arrogance and stupidity visited upon our world by this Bush and his 1950s mindset chickenhawks. No amount of family CYA hind-writing can shade that fact. It’s history.
The real question should be - DO WE WANT THIS TO HAPPEN , AGAIN?
We now have that chance.
When basic common sense becomes an “aggressive plan” or “taking a strong stand” then members of Congress have become far too comfortable with fossil-fuel being in-charge.
The only reason the fossil fuel industry has gained so much power is from observation made with the onset of mechanized warfare and reinforced by the WWII Allied victory. Controlling fuels and lubricant supplies assures domination and a sense of security.
Seventy years have come and gone. Wars fought like a game of chess are passé. Wars are now fought like the game of Go. 1950s warfare-state strategies are no longer relevant, much the same as the hold on our country by the fossil-fuel enterprises have become.
Senator Sanders brings back to life the simple American concept that a BALANCE must be struck between the expectations of established enterprise and those of the actual needs of common people who need to breathe and have a suitable place to abide and raise their offspring.
“to fulfill the PNAC’s plan for full spectrum dominance in the M.E.”
OK! That way we can pretend there is no power residing on the Saudi Peninsula who are not personal friends of the Bush family.
Corporate-controlled media continues the unrelenting attack on the American psyche with their constant barrages of malinformation, lies and spin.
The previous Bush maladministrations used their media co-conspirators very effectively.
TWO BUSH - THREE WARS, all completely unnecessary, could not have been attained without the corporate-controlled media LIE FACTORIES.
There is nothing noble in the intent of any of the Bush Wars and the horrific aftermaths. All of the death, destruction and destabilization of entire regions was done at the behest of “others.”
These “others” are not U.S. citizens, they hold their territories like savages whose behavior we overlook because there are tenuous multi-national interests involved.
Now media is ramping-up for yet another war at the behest of the same “others.”
Will our country fall for yet another line of total bu!!$#!† via corporate-controlled media? Who will be the next Ahmad Chalabi?
78-year-old Texas landowner Eleanor Fairchild was arrested on October 4, 2012 for criminal trespassing and other criminal charges for standing in front of TransCanada pipeline construction equipment on her own farm near Winnsboro, Texas. Fairchild owned and paid taxes on her land since 1983. She had flatly refused to sign any agreements with TransCanada. Her land was seized, nevertheless.
The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) does not consider what will be transported through the TransCanada/KXL Pipeline to be a petroleum product since tar-sands bitumen and the solvents used for transport does not contain enough crude oil to qualify. The TRC also strictly prohibits public access to all pipelines in Texas making the TransCanada claims and eminent domain land seizures in Texas like that of Eleanor Fairchild invalid.
Consider TransCanada shareholders are 47% institutional, eminent domain laws used against land owners may not stand in many cases and the fact the bulk of the bitumen-dilute end-product from the KXL Pipeline is NOT OIL but will become “petcoke” - has become more widely known. It probably is a good time for TransCanada to pull away for more reasons than a Presidential veto?
Petcoke is one of the dirtiest and cheapest sources of fuel on the planet. Banned from use as fuel within the U.S. it is solely for export as a fuel. Petcoke is the residue from refining processes and is considered “industrial waste.” More than 65% of post-refinery tar-sands bitumen dilute can be classified as industrial waste. Tax laws and Congressional-mandated government incentives favor those who export/dispose of industrial waste. In addition, the solvents used to dilute the heated bitumen (so it can move through the pipeline) can be reclaimed and sold to companies that mix fracking fluids.
A leading processor and exporter of U.S. petcoke is Oxbow Carbon LLC, founder and CEO is William (Bill) Koch.
An accurate way to think of the TransCanada/KXL Pipeline is PURE POISON on every level.
Taking advantage with malice of forethought at a time of great national sorrow, those we trusted most LIED TO OUR NATION perpetrating the attacks on and subsequent occupation of Iraq. The complicity of corporate-controlled media malinformation and our highest ranking officials claims based on fabrications of factoids set the entire tragedy into action,
There is absolutely no way to “apologize” for malinformation-induced murder, widespread destruction and depreciation of the way of life in Iraq which continues today. The citizens of the United States allowed this to happen and we are not going to fix it.
Rather than apologize, what we as U.S. citizens can do is try to make damn certain THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN, AGAIN.
Which is the best that can be done at the present time in our once great country.
Right-wing extremists embedded like ticks within the Republican Party get a free ride from h8 and ignorance.
In a nation of IMMIGRANTS finding some group to h8 is easy since there is such a wide selection from which to choose.
After 25 years of man-made global climate collapse “debate” it is obvious that perpetuating the pointless “debate” is the name-of-the-game.
Lately, corporate-controlled media has softened “denier” a bit. Morphed, as if by magic, into “skeptic” to prolong the fossil fuel/MIC stranglehold on our country through more endless time-wasting “debate.” Someone must have pointed out that more debate mileage is available from a new “skeptic” model than the old “denier” model.
Greed, power and information control is driving this flagrant attack on our entire planet. Yet, there is no consequence to those who openly facilitate the attack.
Do we actually need a law to ban “Planet Earth Killing?”
The chartered Russian Airbus A321 midair disintegration over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula due to “External influence” can mean two potential scenarios:
1 - An object impacting the airframe from outside of the aircraft. (e.g., mh317 shoot-down over the Ukraine on July 17.)
2 - “External influence” can also mean an explosive device placed on-board the chartered aircraft and is the much more likely scenario if “External Influence” is the actual cause.
Satellite data reveals a “heat flash” concurrent with the demise of the Airbus. Lending credence to a bomb as the ““External Influence.”
In any event, it appears ISIL will gladly accept responsibility, no matter who did it.
One word comes to mind -
B@†$#¡†
Professional climate-collapse denier Congressperson Lamar Smith (R-TX) truly represented his constituency in 1986 when first elected to Congress.
In 2015 the majority of this constituency in Texas has moved forward. Unfortunately, Lamar Smith has not and now only serves the interests of a tiny handful of contributors and supporters.
Donald Trump is using valid criticism of the evil, moronic Bush/Cheney maladministration, not to put the perpetrators on the docket where they belong, but to amplify his role as boisterous media distraction.
Criticism of George W. Bush while campaigning against his lesser brother serves four distinct purposes, none of which are in any way noble or constructive.
• It allows a Bush to defend his indefensible brother.
• The vacillating statements against Bush actually generates nativist sympathy for the tainted Bush dynasty.
• The resulting media-borne brouhaha distracts from the absolute worst array of Republican Presidential candidates in U.S. history.
• Mr. Trump is further empowered to extol more ridicules campaign claims to prolong his role as a walking American vuvuzela.
Diplomacy could break out at any moment.
As long as Israel agrees it is the proper time.
Mark - to quote “Even Assad’s allies – including Russia and Iran – have felt that the Assad dictatorship must go as it is the root of nation’s problems.”
Russia and Iran will support the current al Assad regime militarily as long as Russian and Iranian “interests” operate in and through Syria, status quo.
Too bad there is only ONE Google Books Project?
The fact Russia is now interested in entering Afghanistan - either, as they recently have in Syria and/or as a supplier of military products for the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Security Forces is the result of the EU-US economic sanctions. And the rise of very energetic “False Caliphate” movements bordering Russian influences in South Asia and connecting to the Middle East.
Since WWII, the “Allies” from the West including ex-Soviet Union Russia have exploited these regions for their fossil fuel wealth with the help of assorted friendly indigenous patrons. There are numerous “interests” not of these regions well-established for decades which are exploiting this wealth.
With the rise of previously underdeveloped global powers such as China, India and Southeast Asia our world is changing and quickly. These changes have not gone unnoticed by the more youthful and better educated peoples of the regions who are primarily of the Islamic persuasion(s).
Those old “interests” are now accurately seen as invaders and puppet masters. The various indigenous people of these regions want control and ownership what they consider to be rightfully theirs.’ Especially since arrogant, moronic and ill-advised leaderships during the late 20th Century and the dawn of the 21st Century openly attacked, decimated, occupied and brought utter chaos to all of these regions. The residue of which we are forced to contend with over a decade later.
Russia is in a very tough situation but their options are clear -
• Cease their expansion into the Ukraine and other former Soviet Union areas to ease the EU-US economic sanctions.
• Further expand belligerent actions in the Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan risking the increased ire of indigenous actions and other reprisals.
• Attempt to work with regional peoples through meaningful diplomacy and by developing new mutually beneficial economic relationships.
• Go “Bush/Cheney” on the entire region risking “unintended consequence.”
• Or the very best option - Enthusiastically encourage and assist our world to GET OFF FOSSIL FUELS like it was a fascist invasion (which in a sense it actually is).
The time is right for this last option as the “renewable energy light” has come on, worldwide and for obvious reasons.
Mr. Putin and Russia has the real opportunity to become truly modern, forward acting in leadership and potentially help save our world from unimaginable future suffering.
An opportunity which is being denied the U.S. by irresponsible greed, deadly sloth, pig-ignorance and antique mid-20th Century strategies and controls.
Yasser Tabbaa - One of the benefits of this forum is the illuminating comments such as the one made by you regarding the potential future of Syria and Iraq.
Any hostile non-indigenous influence either invader/occupier or supporter/provider is seen simply as an INVADER, locally. Invaders are NEVER embraced without counter activity.
The invader influences and attempts at control of any region will always be compromised by local counter activity. In some instances counter activity is very effective and in other situations less. But any counter activity will diminish all attempts to control.
Gaining accurate information by non-indigenous invading forces is a difficult problem no matter the given situation. Even if those attempting to gather information are “boots-on-the-ground” in nature. Toss in religious differences (even intra-faith differences) and information gathering problems are greatly magnified.
1,500 analysts is the “100 monkeys typing on typewriters” theorem in action. Upon occasion a few of them might get it right.
In the mean time, 1,500 analysts and their staff are drawing their salaries.
Vastly inflated cost of pharmaceuticals EQUALS RANSOM!
Should “Daesh and other armed groups” gain control of or damage Russian and Iranian assets in and through Syria, the effects would be very serious, indeed. The assets are pipeline systems and port/terminal facilities under al-Assad control and is the point of the comment.
The TAPI pipeline system which transverses south-central Afghanistan is under construction and is more defend-able provided the Taliban can be kept to the north where their strength lies. The actual purpose for continued U.S. involvement.
The EU-US economic sanctions placed on Russia and Iran in 2014 are having an effect. Syria is vital to the economic well-being of both countries. Protecting the long-standing relationship with the al-Assad regime is paramount in importance to both countries as oil and gas are NOT included in the sanctions.
The importance of fossil-fuel pipelines which is completely omitted from US news and public education study is ALWAYS the stimulus for these conflicts and military actions.
And as a side-note, the reason the U.S. will keep a military presence in Afghanistan through 2016 or at least until the TAPI Pipeline is completed and secure.
It is vitally important for the U.S. public to try to understand the problems in Israel/Palestine through some sense of balance in reporting.
Corporate-Controlled Media does NOT provide balance in reporting at all. Omission and spin is the content at best.
Thank you Professor Cole for attempting to provide that essential balance with your blog.
Small business capitalism and CONTROL capitalism have nothing in common.
Mixing the metaphors is pettyfoggery at best. But not unexpected from Candidate Clinton who knows how things actually function in the upside-down 21st Century where low consumer prices are a bad thing for example.
Apparently, Senator Sanders thinks that voting utilizing RIGGED VOTING APPLIANCE SYSTEMS actually means something? So 20th Century and out of step with reality.
If Senator Sanders was a BILLIONAIRE he would “get it” and march in step.
zzzzzzzz zzz
Rabbit - to quote “I think Trump will probably be our next president. I read a lot of comments on the web and people don’t trust or like Hillary.”
Donald Trump has to gain the Republican nomination, first. He is merely a bellicose media distraction to divert attention away from the worst array of GOP Presidential candidates in our history and nothing more.
Most hardworking voters don’t have the time to waste making comments “on the web.” So, what you read is absolutely NOT representative of anything.
Don’t be a victim of peer group pressure or workplace bullying. Do some actual research on all of the candidates? The information is out there but it is difficult time-consuming work to compile and understand.
Differentiating between fact and opinion is a task in itself.
Good luck.
1 - The comment to which you overreacted was not directed at you in any way.
2 - Endeavor to not be so sensitive?
3 - cheers
At this particular interval in the U.S. Presidential campaign it matters NOT what any Democratic or Republican candidate may proclaim or espouse with regards to foreign policy.
Due to the destabilization of South Asia and the Middle East by the earlier asinine TWO BUSH - THREE WARS Doctrine and recent justifiable EU-US economic sanctions imposed on Russia and Iran - EVERYTHING IS CHANGING.
Hopefully, our best strategists within NATO and the U.S. are coming to grips with the unpredictable Mr. Putin and what Russia will do in the future?
Will Mr. Putin be forced from power or at least diminished in authority by saner minds in Russia or will there be a return to a “Cold War” regressing our world back to the 1950s?
Although this is a valid concern, it is doubtful Russia will ramp up tensions any further. Since the ball is definitely in their court at this present time, diplomacy could break out at any moment. Signs of this eventuality are already being seen.
Bob - If the proclamation read - “In American politics, we await the officeholderS or candidateS willing to state the obvious and confront its implications.” - then it would be valid. The trilogy that constitutes our current government is entirely unable to accomplish this without reform of our democratic process.
• Campaign reform - get unlimited and secret money out of campaigning.
• Sources of information which is not controlled against democracy.
• Gerrymandering must go!
• Votes counting systems which are uniform in operation and NOT RIGGED!
• Universal voting rights re-instated.
• A continuous improvement process which ENCOURAGES voting.
This would be a start.
Nate - With all due respect “hostile to Iran, friendly to Saudi Arabia and the Likud Party in Israel, trigger-happy about invading foreign countries” is wise and quite sane if Mrs. Clinton expects to win. Taking these positions gains her campaign money and a percentage of disenchanted Republican votes.
Quite shrewd, actually. All she needs to close the deal is a strong Hispanic for her VP candidate?
RB - you are absolutely correct.
The difference between her and her GOP counterparts is she is NOT insane. She is very wise and experienced. More so than any of her competition in either party.
These decade-old Bush/Cheney maladministration wars and interventions now serve only one purpose, none of which is what corporate-controlled media extols to our citizens. Under the guise of training, “propping-up” and initially equipping “friendly factions” within these countries, the Pentagon and the CIA have reduced themselves to tactics more or less the equivalent to tactics found in the streets of our poorest and least educated inter-cities in the U.S.
When the U.S. intervenes militarily in the Bush/Cheney Wars devastated regions with training, the methods of warfare and weapons, a potential long-term customer for the MIC is being established. The equivalent of the “Here, try this” method to sell narcotics to desperate individuals. Except these potential customers are often desperate rebel factions or emerging governments in countries which prior U.S. action destroyed or destabilized to start with. The product being offered is far more destructive and death-dealing than narcotics.
For the United States to regain any credibility in this world, this odious policy must change.
The MIC even siphons U.S. tax dollars to directly pay for the initial follow-on sales of MIC products and services in these regions under the guise of “foreign aid.” Taxes which the MIC is cleverly exempted from paying in the first place.
All of this is NOTHING NEW. Greatly amplified and promoted during and after the Nixon Insanity, this befouled method of foreign influence has grown into the largest foreign policy malignancy found on our planet. And has been massively accelerated during the TWO BUSH - THREE WARS! period in our once great history.
The momentum from this heinous policy has been dumped-over-the-wall to our current administration who with tremendous opposition from a lunatic Congress has attempted to make some progress to reduce these dissembling and now-proven ineffective practices.
The words “insane” and “lunatic” are apt in this context because those behind this are not insane in a ineffective way. KNOWING MADMEN and their defective minions have taken over our once great country. And working behind the scenes are actively reducing our United States and anywhere their influence prevails into confusion, chaos and eventually, the attendant by-product of h8 against our country.
Unless this MADNESS is stopped and NOW, the universal suffering will be unimaginable. The direct result of too few people (outside the span of control of good citizens) with far too much influence over something as powerful and DANGEROUS as the United States of America.
Here is yet another very disturbing artifact regarding global climate collapse being currently observed in the north central Pacific Ocean. It has a catchy name to further assist “skeptics,” the latest media meme for deniers, to better understand the very real eventuality which unlimited destruction of jungles and forests, burning and decomposing garbage, war-induced oil well infernos, using coal and petcoke as fuel and refining fossil-fuel to power large engines has caused. It is called “The Blob.”
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3154
enjoy
The unstated U.S. policy established by the CIA and the Pentagon at the behest of factions within multinational fossil-fuel enterprises is for the overthrow of the brutal al-Assad regime. The destruction of the accurately named “False-Caliphate” is a truly noble cause but to some extent a side-issue.
Russia supports the al-Assad regime, unconditionally, due to prior business arrangements involving the Russian Tartous naval facility lease, the terminal(s) near Banais and the fact Syria is a loyal customer for Russian military products. Mr. Putin knows he can work with the al-Assad regime but cannot be certain with the assorted rebel factions.
One of the primary reasons Russian air power has been priority targeting non-“False Caliphate” rebel factions is because much of those forces are not Syrian who originate from within former Soviet republics. So, Mr. Putin may have some influences to maintain current business dealings should they prevail?
The entire region has become a convoluted vicious dog fight - though one thing is for certain, every dog in it has fossil fuel on it’s paws.
Right now the big dog is Russian.
The Tea Party, now known as the Freedom Caucus, has been pre-empted by the very powers that they should oppose. It’s a great concept but guns and bigotry (the new Jim Crow as super390 points out) have attracted the attention.
The problem here in Texas is that “No Child Left Behind” has finally left most folks in Texas well behind, the good folks they may be but it’s like herding cats here to get anything useful accomplished.
Leaving a few lots vacant in a development forestalls solar for residential power, indefinitely. Insane is correct if one considers unbridled greed and complete control insanity?
Texas has become the prototype for the oligarchy enshrouding our country for the next few decades. What is happening here will spread to every corner of the U.S. and perhaps much further? Lineages such as Bush, Koch, Wilks and Hunt among others have already bought out what little government that remains. They flat out OWN Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and much of New Mexico. A Hunt is ready to acquire all of the wind farm transmission lines and when the purchase of ONCOR is complete much of the power in the entire region will fall to the control of one single family who got their start in oil, ironically. Wilks got Abbott and Cruz elected and leveraged Austin to ban counties from banning fracking. A Bush heads the Railroad Commission who controls all of the fossil fuel dealings in Texas including the pipelines to and from. Most of the oil and gas drilling is done directly on top of the largest aquifers in the U.S. and is controlled by the Koch’s and a Bush.
Other Bush enterprises include school textbooks used nationally, electronic information aggregators and toll road development to the extent some bear their name.
It is true that emerging technologies and renewables - solar, wind and aquifer water sources is the future. Peak oil has come and gone. Aquifer water pressure is being used to pump out what gas remains. And is the source of the miles down earthquake storms in Oklahoma and north Texas of late.
The real issue is who will be insane and also control the future. Knowing madmen are indeed taking over.
Good point.
Although this is great news, the Austin area is an exception in Texas. There is stiff opposition to residential solar panels in the most populated areas of Texas and outright bans by many counties in Texas.
Here is a good example. HOAs (home owner associations) banning solar until a development is built-out by Texas state law.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20140816-texas-law-lets-developers-ban-solar-panels-while-subdivisions-are-growing.ece
These bans forestall homeowners from installing solar power for years, even decades.
Electrical power providers can attach large fees and draconian administrative processes to solar powered homes.
Counties with nuclear power plants, coal-fired power plants or heavy fracking activity ban solar power, altogether.
Solar farms must remain well-lit and patrolled at night to prevent vandalism and theft. Light pollution and attendant noise generates strong local opposition.
http://www.texastribune.org/2010/09/08/in-marfa-artists-cheer-stall-in-solar-project/
Texas has a very long way to go.
“Benghazi” and “email” are media dog whistles relating to Candidate Clinton. And much ado about NOTHING.
Just like “Muslim” is the dog whistle for our President and “Socialist” is the equivalent for Senator Sanders.
Why is it right-wing candidates don’t receive their own media dog whistles?
“The Iraqi government in Baghdad, threatened by Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) and frustrated by the Obama administration’s foot-dragging in taking it on, seems increasingly tempted by a Russia alliance.”
If the next U.S. President is a Republican, the Iraqi government can rest assured more of our loyal and trusting troops and TRILLION$ more of U.S. liability will be wasted on another needless MIC stratagem.
Here is why unnecessary and inflammatory rhetoric by extremist unqualified GOP candidates who WILL NEVER GET THE NOMINATION is so dangerous.
Those poorly educated and weak-of-mind h8ful citizens who can’t wait to flaunt their firearms for any lame reason pose a genuine threat to everyone. A “Global Rally” social media cue such as this could lead to a completely needless threat to anyone near a Mosque especially where law enforcement is sympathetic to such actions.
An incident escalating from such an “armed rally” is a recipe for disaster. Especially when a few desperate right-wing Presidential candidate @$$#@†$ fan the flames of STUPIDITY and media amplifies it.
Good question.
Here is the current DoD statement on Syria.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2015/10/mil-151009-dod01.htm
enjoy
Mr. Putin knows for certain the Assad regime will perpetuate Russian “interests” in and through Syria and allow the sole Russian naval facility (leased from Syria at Tartous) on the Mediterranean Sea.
Any other emerging faction encroaching on the Assad regime is uncertain for Russia at best.
This is a business deal and nothing more.
Banais is the Golden Goose of Syria and the secret word.
Russia and the Syrian Army have positioned the bulk of their military assets to defend Banais from everyone. It is between Latakia and Tartous (Tartus) on the Mediterranean coast.
Why? To find out who has a “dog in this fight” see this map.
http://www.theodora.com/pipelines/middle_east_pipelines_map.jpg
Zoom in a bit on Syria in the pipelines map (cited above) and compare to Professor Cole’s timely map of attacks by Russia and areas of control.
Woof!
Government spying on EVERYONE notwithstanding. The private sector is MUCH WORSE.
Once the previous maladministration ABOLISHED PRIVACY in these United States in 2004, the hounds of uncontrolled eavesdropping were unleashed. The precedence was established.
The private sector who provides the government with their listening tools decided to embark of this endeavor themselves. Data aggregators have become very big and highly profitable businesses.
Everything anyone does including little children via an electronic transmission is recorded, collected, aggregated and disseminated without restriction or PERMISSION.
Since the RIGHT TO PRIVACY is downplayed in importance in 2015, how will collected and aggregated information be used in 2020? Or 2035?
Worried about government spying? There is much more to fear from those who document virtually every daily event in life and SELL that information on an open market.
And the enforcement of “iron law” would fall to what authority?
Looking through the piece by Professor Cole, Donald Trump and his lack of historical relevance is the topic.
A helpful tip - Displaying ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) is easier if a keyboard macro with our President’s last name is programmed. Using this method, only one key is necessary. Assign it to F1. Saves time and wear-and-tear on the keyboard.
Trump will be out of the Republican primary race before the New Year ball drops.
The corporate-controlled media will have to find another diversion.
The news black-out in corporate-controlled media regarding Israeli actions against the Palestinians is DEAFENING!
• Look at the New York Times? It’s Syria 24/7. Two irrelevant articles, not comprehensive or definitive.
• Los Angeles Times, nada, zip.
• Washington Post, zzzzzz.
• Reuters, crickets.
• BBC, a well-written pro-Israeli snob job.
• UK Guardian, more crickets.
• API has a few articles of interest but subdued and after SYRIA!! OMG!
• CSM World, one item about Israel blocking Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City.
• AL JAZEERA, two interesting pieces.
• Jerusalem Post is surprisingly limited and muted.
• XINHUA has some comprehensive coverage.
• And Informed Comment. Not to pander but coverage here is broader than most.
Of course, coverage will ebb and flow but info played to the U.S. is scant EXCEPT in the foreign press.
Adopt the use of a RSS “newsreader” like Vienna, Thunderbird, Reeder or Newsflow and start there. Lots of RSS aggregators out there. Many browsers have limited but useful capabilities They take some effort to set-up but if really concerned, they are a very good place to start and compare.
Enjoy.
Qatar, Iran and Russia all have a common cause in Syria. Over 90% of Professor Cole’s “Phony Caliphate” is composed of non-Syrian fighters led by those who want control of the same “common cause” in Syria and Iraq.
The very complex relationships and motivation can be found here in excruciating detail:
http://www.theodora.com/pipelines/middle_east_oil_gas_products_pipelines_map.html
Russia has the on-tap fire power to perhaps determine who eventually gains control. President Obama predicts another quagmire situation for Russia. Hopefully, the next U.S.President will not draw our country into this quagmire, as well? A Republican President will with certainty.
Sure is funny how religion falls by the wayside except for motivational purposes of the less-educated devout when the actual “common cause” becomes obvious?
Greed trumps any God every time.
Senator Bernie Sanders speaks-truth-to-power without the inflated ego and pandering to special interests exhibited by other Presidential candidates.
If there is some chance a balance between the interests of the majority of U.S. citizens and those of commerce and industry can be struck, a President Bernie Sanders is the very best choice we have at this time.
spyguy - Nice work.
Clearly stated.
Give Dr a tissue.
The all-out war against a woman’s RIGHT to have control over her own body has reached the state of INSANITY by vocal and sometimes violent factions in our once great country. These extremist factions are attempting to retrogress woman’s equality compared to those of men back to the 1930s.
FACT - The reproductive rights of women were firmly established during the previous century.
INSANITY? You betcha -
• Using the irrational flailing of small passionate and dogmatic extremist groups to provide content FILLER and DIVERSION by corporate-controlled media is imbalanced, counter-productive and SUSPECT.
• Political candidates who support and promote the war on a woman’s rights to gain votes PROVES they are unfit to lead.
• The sociopathic greed in corporate-owned medicine to eradicate any form of health care which is affordable and out of their control plays a major role in this twisted hoopla.
• The subconscious desire to mandate the long-arm-of-the-law to enter every woman and girl in our country by proxy is sick beyond definition.
• The overt fixation by the reactionary extremist factions of the far-right on the female genitals and her reproductive process is just plain creepy.
If a person begins at the instant of conception, as extremists contend, the male sperm and female egg are joined to form that “person.” Until that event, that sperm and that egg are still irrevocably indispensable for life to exist.
A woman’s right to control her reproductive process is under attack only because she is solely, and by happenstance, the only source of an egg and the only attendant incubation chamber for humans to exist. Why then are males not under attack for their cruel and unjust treatment of their sperm?
Billions upon billions of sperm die slow, twitching deaths in tissues, socks and where disposal is convenient every single day. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE??? 94% of men masturbate and the other 6% are liars.
An argument no less INSANE than the current attack on women seen in our country, today.
As a holiday gift to our country, Trump will go the way of Perry and Walker before New Years.
A U.S. AC-130 gunship fired on the hospital for approx. 30 minutes. There had to be an American “tactical air controller” working with Afghan forces on the ground directing the gunship.
This would be a very opportune time to completely withdraw from Afghanistan. Besides, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline, discussed for more than 20 years, is finally under construction, the Pentagon Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) works are complete and the last CIA opium crop is in.
Time to go.
Read your missive but there is a somewhat different take regarding the SCOTUS and the overt racism of the extremist Justices. So, bear with this?
The nibbling at the ankles by extremists of long-standing law and the PERSONAL opinions blurted by a few Justices nominated by a moron court-installed President changes nothing. Some of whom have gone so far as to call our President, a gentleman of color, a liar to his face while sitting as audience in Congress. These racist ticks embedded in positions of power, trust and authority BRING DISGRACE to each and every one of us and our once great country as they suck equality and decency from our laws.
Voting rights for citizens are still universal. Law forbidding hate crimes still exist and housing cannot be denied on the basis of color. The fact some of these laws have recently been weakened is another clear indication that overt racism is still very much part of the American condition.
No matter what corporate-controlled media would have us think.
Only in the interpretation espoused in corporate-controlled media.
The status of overt racism is still intact in our country. It happens every single day and in fact is INCREASING in frequency here in the real world.
Better do a tad more research?
Once currently-under-indictment Texas Attorney General Paxton blows the whistle on former Governor Perry and current Governor Abbott over the long-time mishandling of the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) everything will change.
Make some popcorn, this will be fun to watch.
But but but the Republican National Committee claims RACISM IS OVER in America. Ask GOP Presidential candidate Bobby Jindal or FAUXNews serial liar, Bill O’Reilly to name but a few who have made this claim?
Donald Trump is a corporate-controlled media diversion. Nothing more.
This is the weakest GOP field of Presidential candidates in history. A fact which requires obscuring.
The media-induced Trump nonsense will continue until yet another half-wit Bush will rise to the top of this fossil-fuel filled caldron of toady incompetence.
Count on it.
Trump endorses Russia who is primarily bombing factions other than ISIS within Syria.
Therefore, Donald Trump inadvertently supports ISIS.
He is simply a media-borne “bad clown” GOP Presidential candidate, completely unqualified to lead.
Listening to this megalomaniac babble about subjects which he claims he is qualified to determine because he “understands the business deal” is like having bees in your head.
It’s not so much the circular logic and lack of relevance (aka total b^¡¡$h!†) in Donald Trump’s attempts to avoid a few softball questions - but the self-assured bully persona and faux-testosterone he exudes to assert his nonsense to the female reporter which is disturbing to hear.
This is a disturbed and perhaps over-medicated individual.
In any event, it is reassuring to know that Donald Trump will NEVER be our President.
The U.S. must now re-establish “nation-building” here within the United States.
• Highways and roadways are in serious need of repairs and upgrades.
• Bridges and overpasses are in terrible shape and only receive repair when in a stage of imminent collapse.
• Our existing rail system is straight out of the 1950s. Horrific failures are now commonplace.
• Safe and efficient high-speed rail is in a state of perpetual planning.
• The power distribution systems are inefficient and fail with pathetic regularity.
• Major seawall and coastal improvements are badly needed due to the acceleration of manmade climate destruction.
• There are hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions?) of fossil-fuel industry oversights spewing poisons into the atmosphere and the waters, continuously.
• Precious waters are disappearing to pump more poison from deep within the planet crust or to cool inefficient mid-20th Century heat sources. Safe tap water is in serious jeopardy.
The private sector alone DID NOT make our country great. The combination of government planning and action, regulation and enforcement in a balance of power and authority with the private sector made our country what it used to be. That balance is GONE!
Restoring a proven balance is essential. The current imbalance, having been propagandized into existence by a corporate-controlled media and a slow-motion takeover of our government by elements from within the MIC, has pushed our once great country into a sorry state of disrepair. A state so bad it has to be continuously clouded by distraction and unnecessary divisiveness.
Our Congress has been invaded by toadies, idiots and those of malevolent intent. Bear in mind Congress controls all budgets and spending by law. The MIC (and related) by far receives the vast majority of funding and has for the past half century. We have funded a ridiculous string of useless, pointless, resource gobbling failed wars under the guise of protecting U.S. interests in far-flung places. These STUPID wars have killed and displaced many, many millions of innocent people and FOR WHAT?!
Time to re-invest in our country. The MIC/fossil fuel industry, Big Pharma and corporate medicine have looted all of US for long enough.
We need to focus our attention and resources on We The People and not Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Israel or some other place which must learn to manage their own affairs without U.S. support, interference or intervention.
Or WE are completely f^çk&d in more ways than one.
Prez Carly? - A few fun facts
• Unemployed from the private sector since H-P fired her in 2005
• 30,000 lay-offs while she was CEO
• H-P stock lost over 50% of value during her tenure while Dell fell only 3% during the same period
• H-P stock jumped 7% the day she was fired
• Her leadership style at H-P was disruptive, divisive and aloof
Mrs. Fiorina is merely another legend-in-her-own-mind salesperson and nothing more. Apparently, she will say anything to get the nomination. She is certainly NOT Presidential material.
Mr. Engelhardt raises an important question and one worth pondering - why the “national insecurity?”
First - Americans were not always this way. But our overall situation as a nation has changed drastically since we were “comfortable with ourselves” after WWII. A number of dramatic events has set attitudes in motion which now shape how we feel about ourselves. Here are but a few -
• The constant semi-conscious gnawing fear that at any second we could all be blown away in a thermonuclear war. A fear which did not cease with the end of the so-called “Cold War.”
• The public assassination(s) by firearms of a President, his brother and an iconic civil-rights leader.
• The onset of a series of pointless and continuous wars which we lost (and are currently losing).
• The resignation in disgrace of a somewhat deranged U.S. President.
• The epidemic of pharmaceutical chemical dependency.
• The orchestrated attacks on New York City, the Pentagon and the downing of Flight 93.
• The subsequent establishing of the “National Police State.”
• The resultant abolition of privacy for every citizen and the onset of the current “Surveillance Society.”
• The decline of quality public education in lieu of “The Test.”
• The rise of corporate-controlled media.
Depending on age and overall awareness, ALL of the above-cited factors contribute to our current state of “National Insecurity.”
Perhaps more heed should be given to a warning issued by the last true Republican President and actual winning General Dwight Eisenhower made in his farewell speech on January 17, 1961?
A speech which is NOT on “The Test.”
Apparently, Donald Trump is worried about his bull$#!† “$100 million” self-commitment being sufficient to get the Republican nomination for President.
Starting out as a parody of our electoral system, Trump has fallen victim to his megalomania and is actually taking himself seriously.
His “tax plan” is merely a greedy scam pandering to other wealthy elite for more funding and nothing more. It won’t work.
The Trump circus sideshow act is over and a serious blow to stand-up comedians, everywhere.
Candidates who prey on ignorance and spout xenophobic rhetoric expose their malevolent purpose and lack of fitness to lead.
A great example of this kind of rhetoric on educationally diminished regions such as Texas can be found by using a search engine of your choice and entering > Farmersville, Texas and the word “Muslim” on the same line. A major ruckus has erupted over a proposed graveyard which could include deceased Muslims.
Both Trump and Carson would today carry this region easily with their sad unAmerican h8 rhetoric.
We are, in fact, a nation of immigrants - something which escapes those historically impaired like Trump and Carson. Trump is of Germanic descent (paternal grandparents were German immigrants) and Carson of African Markua descent (who are now primarily Muslims!).
Just west of Farmersville on US 380 is Princeton, Texas where a historic WWII internment camp for captured Nazi military is located. Traveling further west on US 380 and north a ways on US 77 is Gainesville, Texas. The mass lynching of 200 suspected Unionist sympathizers occurred there in one weekend, known as the The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas 1862. Slavery continued in North Texas until the mid-1870s, finally emancipated by the occupation of Union troops. “Strange fruit” was also common in the region well into the mid-20th Century. A black man was dragged to death with a pick-up truck by two white men in Paris, also north Texas in 2008.
Here is a suggestion for both Trump and Carson: stay out of North Texas. Once folks figure out their respective heritages and facts be known, potential votes could vanish?
Henry Kissinger will go down in history as the best sales rep the MIC has ever had.
Mark - “America’s primary strategy” should be to stay away from this conflict and any further involvement in this region.
David - The Arctic convoys of World War II played a much larger role than the Persian Gulf supply routes.
However, Iran did play a useful role in helping Russia against Nazi Germany.
Mark - Ted Cruz worships Ted Cruz.
Ted Cruz never held an elected position until the voting appliances of Texas voted him into the U.S. Senate.
The most effective method to bring down a form of government and an entire country is from the inside.
Typically, those most effective at downfall use the intentions of good people as tools to gain the necessary influences to achieve their goals.
A populace who lacks basic knowledge and access to accurate information are the easiest to manipulate using stirred emotions, entrenched beliefs and peer-group pressures.
There has been a malignancy growing in our country and those of malevalent intent are patiently feeding this disease.
Good people are being misguided by their passion and faith over various hot-button issues such as “abortion,” misinterpreted, unproveable religious beliefs and the age-old favorite of those who wish to weaken - xenophobia.
There is nothing new in any of the symptoms of this malady which has now infected our nation. If history was still taught in schools, the overt tendencies of those who wish to bring about unnecessary and dangerous change would be spotted and intercepted rapidly. Not so in the 2015 United States of America.
The reduction of education to teaching “The Test,” the abolition of PRIVACY, the continuos blast of media-issued malinformation/distraction and the re-emergence of blind, ignorant h8 are components of a generation-long process to sicken our once great nation. That odious process is now taking its toll.
Ironically, those who are actively driving this dangerous process will most likely be the very first to suffer from their misguided efforts. And the repugnant result could stand for a while - UNTIL the rest of the civilized world runs out of patience with what was once our United States.
Since history no longer exists in the minds of our citizens, the United States will not see the greater consequences of their naive induced stupidity coming.
When those footing the bill for Russia to become involved in this conflict run out of funds to support, Russia will withdraw. The U.S. which funds wars on the backs of TAXPAYERS will step in and we will have yet another interminable Middle East military involvement which benefits the MIC and furthers the oligarchy which has become our country.
Remember - TWO BUSH - THREE WARS!
135 nations have become likely customers for U.S. MIC products and services.
This is nothing new.
PTSD went largely undiagnosed until the mid-1970s.
Returning Vietnam War vets were criminalized, fired from new jobs often en mass and left to fend for themselves many ending up in prisons or mental institutions throughout our country.
Big Pharma seized on this golden opportunity with an avalanche of powerful and expensive new psychoactive drugs to suppress the manic behavior exhibited by many of those suffering from PTSD.
An Observation - From Vietnam onward to the present ALL of these mind-crushing wars have been completely unnecessary, ramped-up largely by leadership which never spent one day under the gun of an “enemy.”
The Suggestion - Bring back The Draft with NO EXEMPTIONS! And to establish the “patriotic example” offspring of the wealthy elite and our national elected officials be first into battle.
Of course, in the upside-down United States of the 21st Century such a suggestion is impossible because only the underclass and loyal citizens need apply.
The extreme right-wing in the U.S. has lurched so far to the reactionary right even Pope Francis appears liberal to their counter-productive EXTREMISM.
When the very Conservative Speaker of the House of Representative resigns due to these disruptive extremists infesting our Congress, all good citizens of any stripe should take notice and reconsider voting for or re-electing such anti-American candidates.
Hopefully, this period of media-borne mass insanity in our country will soon subside. If not, even those who have willfully pushed our country into this politically extreme untenable situation will lose what they hoped to achieve.
Limbaugh/FAUXNews devotees should be careful what they wish for.
Ray - your “high-functioning sociopaths” will through their blunder and insanity muddle onto a partial solution. And it won’t be pretty.
However, if organized religions ceased their unnecessary breeding contests, that would be a very good start?
A reminder excerpt from the “Merry Minuet” performed by the Kingston Trio circa 1960 -
♬ But we can be tranquil and thankful
And proud for man's been endowed
With a mushroom shaped cloud
And we know for certain that
Some lovely day someone will set the spark off
And we will all be blown away ♬
55 years have passed and the world is even more dangerous.
However, since October 7, 1963 when that promiscuous upstart Catholic Socialist President John Kennedy signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the then Soviet Union and the UK, the background radiation levels in the atmosphere are still slightly elevated but vastly improved.
With regards to nuclear weapons proliferation NO progress has been made. Currently, little tiny countries with only eight million people have hundreds of nukes and totally b@†$#!† countries like North Korea claim to have some, too.
Enjoy. ♬
ToJ - The influences cited are worrisome but pale in comparison to the gas&oil profits-hiding evangelical LLC “churches” festering in our country.
But you are correct, these donors do expect ROI for their massive “dark money” contributions in the form of climate collapse doubting, enforcement(s) diminishing and outright subsidization.
Here you go - Democratic Party Primary Election debates (subject to change and/or TBD)
• October 13, 2015 – Las Vegas, Nevada via CNN
• November 14, 2015 – Des Moines, Iowa via CBS News
• December 19, 2015 – Manchester, New Hampshire via ABC news
• January 17, 2016 – Charleston, South Carolina via NBC News
• February/March 2016 – Miami, Florida via Univision and Washington Post
• February/March 2016 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin on PBS
Candidates participating require ≥1% in three national polls.
So far - Chafee, Clinton, O’Malley, Sanders and Webb are invited.
With elections almost a year away, most of the corporate-controlled media Republican Summer Distractions will be long forgotten by then. Trump and Carson and the other primary candidates will be gone but Jeb Bush will remain to oppose either Mrs. Clinton, the Vice President or the somewhat unlikely Senadate Sanders.
There is an interesting money battle emerging in the current GOP between big money NEOCONS versus the evangelical extreme right.
If current funding trends continue as they undoubtedly will, the NEOCON candidate, Jeb Bush will far and away have the most ridiculously large war chest to work with. As of mid-September 2015, Bush leads all primary GOP candidates by a very wide and record amount of $114.5 MILLION. Trump boasts his fictional “$100 million” and Senadate Cruz has pandered to the evangelicals for a paltry total, so far, of $46 million.
There is a reasonably factual “hit-piece” in the leading NEOCON media butt-trumpet which cites by example who is giving Cruz his campaign money. The article is both interesting and a bit scary, illuminating evangelical “Texas Crazy” Jesus and gas&oil land-grabbing nouveau riche in well-researched detail. It is worth the read, nevertheless.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/11/us-usa-election-wilks-specialreport-idUSKCN0RB0ZF20150911
The Republicans have not given up. However, they cannot win even by outspending the Democratic ticket. How the odious powers behind Jeb Bush will attempt to win is disturbing conjecture at this point but locally-controlled voting appliances may be involved? Events originating from outside our borders may be brought into action?
Please remember, TWO BUSH - THREE WARS! Another war is needed to bring down our country, once and forever.
This is far from over.
Will Russia be establishing dominion in Syria? Russia and the U.S. both made that dumb mistake in Afghanistan and we saw how that turned out. The Bush/Cheney administration reaffirmed such asininity by doubling-down in Iraq.
Syria would make a useful “wedge state” for Russia and Iran much the same as Saudi Arabia and Israel are “wedge state(s)” for the global fossil fuel interests of the West.
Informally propping up a more-or-less legitimate local power to manage a region without overt 19th and early 20th Century-style involvement is a far better method of control than invasion and occupation.
The question will be - Is Mr. Putin a modern 21st Century leader or simply another backwards Bush/Cheney-style wanna-be neoliberal?
Nate - Israel and Egypt are by far the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid.
Israel has a population of around 8 million people. As a comparison, Los Angeles County has a million or two more inhabitants than Israel.
If every person in L.A. County received the foreign aid ceded continuously to Israel or Egypt equally divided, there would be far less poverty which is rife there now.
Senator Sanders is correct. Bribing any two countries to prevent their historical conflicts is no longer sustainable, as is, carrying on our back those many special interests based in the multi-national corporate spider web of greed and diversion aka “foreign aid.”
The concepts espoused by Senator Sanders jump squarely into the face of an oligarchy which is in the process of morphing our once great country into a personal possession for a handful of knowing madmen and their henchpersons.
Unless these voting appliances are fixed, voter suppression is suppressed and actual facts are made available THIS YEAR, the U.S. democracy which became a great country and could be, again, will vanish into obscured history. Merely another point of history omitted from “the test” which is being substituted for an actual education in our country.
JC - PROVE that ANY politician is not “evil” to one extent or the other (goes for advisors, too) and that politician will get my vote.
Good luck.
The corporate-controlled media dog whistle term, “Socialist,” is being attached to anyone not entirely sold-out to current far right-wing control and influences being constantly stuffed down our throats here in the U.S.
Senadate Bernie Sanders is the closest semblance to an Eisenhower Republican seen in many years in the U.S. political arena.
Striking a balance between the interests of our average hard working citizens, their families and the interests’ of industry and commerce made our country great.
The current IMBALANCE on behalf of a greedy bunch of oligarchs is now having an opposite and dangerous effect to everyone in our country.
For example - Does anyone remember PRIVACY?!
Professor Cole - Perhaps the first three points should have been the final three. Nevertheless, these points are important in the current scheme of things with regards to the Syria/Russia relationship. This is both a business deal and a Russian move to expand power in this region. You are correct about the order of intention in the bigger picture.
There are a number of reasons Russia must support the Assad regime.
• The Assad Regime is a constant and lucrative paying customer for expensive Russian air defense systems, military aircraft, weapons/ammunition, communications/surveillance systems and related technical support.
• The small, leased from Syria, port facility at Tartous (Tartus) is the sole Russian naval facility intended for repair/refurbishment for their boats on the Mediterranean Sea.
• An important Syrian/Russian-manned listening post (Center C) on the peak of Tel Al-Hara Mountain near the Golan Heights was taken by the Free Syrian Army earlier this year.
• Renewed Russian interest in the Mediterranean, all but abandoned in the 1970s, may be a response to current U.S. military operations in Lask, Poland.
• Russia can ill-afford to lose Assad’s Syria for strategic geographic reasons. Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are within driving distance of Syria.
• Mr. Putin is under pressure within Russia to demonstrate stronger leadership given the circumstances of the potential erosion of the Russian Federation on a number of fronts and there is the on-going Ukraine/Crimea situation.