When The Blob speaks, it always reverses the meaning. So death and destruction becomes peace, censorship becomes freedom of speech, and authoritarianism becomes democracy. Likewise, peaceful protest against mass murder becomes terrorism. Orwell made this clear many decades ago.
John, have you ever seen John Kirby, the NSA spokesperson, speak to the press? His words are the perfect example of what you mention. He can deflect any question, never answers anything directly and does it all earnestly and with such facial animation that I have to wonder if he really believes the blather he is issuing that comes so effortlessly. He is retired admiral and is undoubtedly a member of the deep state.
Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if AI and deepfake technologies are being used to generate these guys in real time (watch Blinken or Sullivan the next time they are on). They seem like emotionless bots. But then again, that is probably what we should expect from sociopaths and psychopaths; no emotions, just pure evil.
Anyone doubting there is a deep state can not be paying any attention after this latest set of votes.
I also think it demonstrates the futility of looking for immediate third-party point solutions. The amount of money, corruption, intimidation, and likely blackmail will turn any elected official, no matter the label or sincerity of the individual, into a tool of said deep state.
Electing a Ralph Nader, Jill Stein, RFK, or whoever, will not bring about change when the institutions are totally corrupted. This will have to be a bottom-up, long-term change - if there is enough time left before they kill us all.
Yes, I think so. There is no "savior" coming--no "Come to Jesus" moment that's going to change and reform a highly corrupted system quickly and painlessly.
Trump 295 Electoral College votes. Biden, 232. Tossup, 11.
But remember in Murica it's not who has the most votes but WHO'S in control of counting the votes!
That's how the US ended up with Genocide Joe Biden in 2020.
But with The Democrats more interested in Ukraine flags and funding foreign wars, added to the border situation, Biden is surely going to lose this one. America last.
That will give the left something else to hate Trump for.
But here's the ACTUAL 2024 POTUS election vote tally ~ just came in:
Trump: 113-million
Biden: 1,678-billion.
Third Parties: 0.0002-million. Fuhgeddaboudit
We're convinced the election was fair and transparent and look forward to the 4th term of Obama.
Heh. That assumes, of course, that there will, in fact, BE an election in November.
What would it take to cancel ~ or "postpone" ~ it?
Another 9/11? Another Pandemic, but one that kills young and healthy people like the last one killed old and sick people? Another "Too Big To Let Fail" 2008-esque financial “¢risi$”?
When those who benefitted most from the first renditions of those events determine that they have even more to gain ~ economically, politically, and, particularly, mass psychologically ~ from a second go around, Who and/or What is going to stop them?
TomR you make good points. But I would say something is happening that offers hope - it is that one of, if not THE most powerful lobby, that of Israel, is being shaken to the core right now. All of the billionaire American Zionists are coming out of their bubbles of wealth to make outrageous statements about the protests going on that at last the public is seeing who these normally hidden big donors are and what zealots they are. Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL calling for the national guard to throw protesters off the Columbia U. campus while at the same time labeling them all terrorist.
In general we are seeing just what side prominent Americans are on. It is notable that Norman Finkelstein, a truth-teller of long standing who never loses a debate because he sticks to the facts and has an encyclopedic knowledge of Israel/Palestine has yet to be invited by any of the MSM outlets, including Fox News to go on the air.
A fresh wind of truth is blowing prompted by the blatant support of the Gaza slaughter from Biden along with the fawning kid-glove treatment of Netanyahu.
I like to mention to people that Togo, an African country, has the same population as Israel. Who of us can say one word about Togo other than it is a poor country? Does it receive any US foreign aid (Israel is #1 by far)? What would the US say if Togo started killing people by the tens of thousands?
Again, yet, and still... : Permit me to recommend a very good way to start that "long-term change" : On Election Day, Vote "None Of These Candidates."
If a Critical Mass of conscious, concerned, and committed Americans did that; and then made damn sure that the politicians and their owners, operators, commanders, and controllers got that message and understood it... .
If That happened, that would be a very good way to begin that long-term change: starting with by starting to get rid of The Bottom of the whole System.
When spending $95 Billion MORE to support a ZioGENOCIDE, incite China and send tens of thousands of Ukranians to their deaths in a losing war is called “A Good Day for World Peace!” in the NYT, we have surpassed the “1984” DOUBLESPEAK that Orwell predicted!
Global military spending hit a record high of $2.4 trillion in 2023 after increasing by 6.8% from the previous year, a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The Ukraine-Russia war, tensions in the Middle East and other trends contributed to the jump according to the report.
All that money to KILL and DESTROY instead of investing in improving the Lives of Billions of People in this mostly poor World. There's no money for the poor. Only for those who study the problem!
The boondoggle F-35 which has cost the US Taxpayer $2.0-trillion in the 20-years since its inception has ONLY been used in ONE theater. By ethno-supremacist Israel to drop bombs on hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza ~ which has no Air Force and no Air defense. Shooting fish in a barrel.
Superseding the boondoggle F-22, which has also never seen action against an enemy adversary.
And already the US Air Force is working on "Fat Amys" replacement. The next all conquering boondoggle.
And don't get me started on the WW2 anachronism $13-billion nuclear aircraft carriers who sailed halfway around the world to the latest "war"; and when they arrived, found that there was nothing they were suited to do that would have any effect in the game! Useless against $150,000 drones ~ the preferred weapons of today's wars. And realizing they were sitting ducks for Iran's hypersonic missiles. And the US Navy wants to build two more! Oh dear!
'Naomi Klein: Zionism is a false idol that betrayed every Jewish value'
I’ve been thinking about Moses, and his rage when he came down from the mount to find the Israelites worshipping a golden calf.
The ecofeminist in me was always uneasy about this story: what kind of God is jealous of animals? What kind of God wants to hoard all the sacredness of the Earth for himself?
But there is a less literal way of understanding this story. It is about false idols. About the human tendency to worship the profane and shiny, to look to the small and material rather than the large and transcendent.
What I want to say to you tonight at this revolutionary and historic Seder in the Streets is that too many of our people are worshipping a false idol once again. They are enraptured by it. Drunk on it. Profaned by it.
That false idol is called Zionism.
Zionism is a false idol that has taken the idea of the promised land and turned it into a deed of sale for a militaristic ethnostate
It is a false idol that takes our most profound biblical stories of justice and emancipation from slavery – the story of Passover itself – and turns them into brutalist weapons of colonial land theft, roadmaps for ethnic cleansing and genocide.
It is a false idol that has taken the transcendent idea of the promised land – a metaphor for human liberation that has traveled across multiple faiths to every corner of this globe – and dared to turn it into a deed of sale for a militaristic ethnostate.
Political Zionism’s version of liberation is itself profane. From the start, it required the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and ancestral lands in the Nakba...........................................
With its confusing style, many contradictions and obscure and extravagant imagery, one can read literally anything into scripture that one desires.
Naomi chooses a less literal way of understanding worshipping a golden calf. And interpret it to be about worshipping a false idol. She goes even further saying that the specific false idol is Zionism. I don't know how she makes that deductive leap! Others obviously interpret it literally. Many ancient folk worshipped animals. Some still do. Cows!
Just another allegory or metaphor to sew confusion in the reader's mind. The Bible is full of them.
Revelation is the guiltiest. The way it is to be properly interpreted has been unresolved for centuries. Some see Revelation as just history, while other interpretations proffer that it is only referring to the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. Futurist's interpretations believe that Revelation describes future events. The end times. Most modern theologians think that Revelation does not actually refer to any specific person or events at all. But is meant to be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning ~ typically a moral one of man's ongoing struggle with good and evil.
It's always hard for me not to just smile hearing the hundredth different interpretation of Bible passages and the absolute certainty to say that everyone else got it wrong. And these are the people that consider themselves humble! Oh dear!
A few minutes Googling various Christian sites Ray:
Interpretation #1. Christians don’t have to worry about their future:
Don't worry about making provisions for the future. A person who follows and believes in Jesus will have everything they need through miracles! Or God will use somebody else to take care of your needs. Oh dear!
*
Interpretation #2. All Christians face evil every day:
Each day has its own evil. The evil may come from the devil or be used by God to test you. Everyone faces temptations, including lusting over lose women or making another bet at the Casino. By handling the ‘evil of the day’, as instructed by "God", one keeps kept faith in God and follows His commandments. Really?
*
Interpretation #3 Preplanners don’t put faith in God:
Planning ahead for home, career, or even relationships means that one doesn’t believe in God’s promises. God shall supply all your needs. You are to live a life of humility without worrying about your provisions. Planning or worrying about food, home, and shelter shows a lack of faith. Oh dear!
*
Interpretation #4 Christians must avoid anxiety:
Avoid feeling anxious or worrying. Don't struggle with mental health issues or addictions. Take ‘one day at a time’ and God will resolve the issue of the day if you pray to Him. God takes care of the birds and creatures, and he is also takes care of folks who pray and seek Him. Have faith, and do not be anxious about things. You gotta believe man!
Phew! Do any of those interpretations sound like good advice to a derelict, lazy, homeless junkie with no ambition, Ray? LOL
Dennis, you are right about the bible and interpretation, that's a virtue for those who make a profession of interpreting it...with sermons from pulpits every week.
Apologists in a nutshell: "God is incomprehensible, now listen very carefully while I tell you all about him."
If what God does is above us, then why do we have believers speaking FOR God or explaining God?
I find it funny Clif, both peculiar and humorous, that folks think Jesus has the power to heal but never once question why he made the little girl blind in the first place.. It's like a combination of Stockholm Syndrome and Dunning Krueger rolled into one.
Hi Cliff, I really hope you're correct. I also note that some Holocaust survivors in NYC are standing with the student protesting against genocide. They speak truth that people like Greenblatt cannot counter.
The problem, as always, is getting the reporting out to the majority of citizens, most of whom I think are fair minded. One thing I observe is that different networks cover different stories and ignore others. The only way to find out what's going on is to listen or read international reporting and the alternative media. Unfortunately. many, many people are overwhelmed by the daily struggles of their lives to do so.
And I continue to wish both the ADL and AIPAC had to register as foreign agents.
Tom, you realize that Pro-Israel Groups are offering to pay students to infiltrate these protests and shit stir. Pretending to be who they are not.
Example: The Shirion Collective. @ShirionOrg. See at 20:53 on Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate's Crayzone YouTube®Video discussing the Columbia University protests, the pro-Israel backlash against the growing protest movement, and the apparent efforts to sabotage the demonstrations from within.
Dennis, yup - saw Max talking about it. They will do whatever it takes to "protect" Israel, including sacrificing America and the rights of all its citizens.
"Arbeit macht frei" (work is freedom) was the Nazi slogan. "War is peace" is the Biden slogan. I hear The Biden administration was trying to decide on whether to use a picture of an A-bomb explosion or an H-bomb explosion for their new peace patches. I hear they're going to combine them into one super explosion. "Big war is big peace".
TRUMP SAYS PRO-PALESTINE CAMPUS PROTESTS ARE WORSE THAN DEADLY CHARLOTTESVILLE WHITE SUPREMACIST RALLY by Ben Samuels and Judy Maltz / Haaretz 25 Apr 24
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said the deadly 2017 white supremacist Charlottesville rally was "peanuts" compared to the current pro-Palestinian protests occurring on college campuses across the U.S.
"Crooked Joe Biden would say, constantly, that he ran because of Charlottesville. Well, if that's the case, he's done a really terrible job because Charlottesville is like a 'peanut' compared to the riots and anti-Israel protests that are happening all over our Country, RIGHT NOW," he posted on Truth Social.
"It's Crooked's fault because he sends the wrong message every single time. The fact is that Crooked Joe Biden HATES Israel and Hates the Jewish people," Trump continued, adding "the problem is that he HATES the Palestinians even more, and he just doesn't know what to do!?!?"
Trump earned some of his harshest criticism of his presidency for noting there were "very fine people on both sides" of the Charlottesville rally, a white nationalist march in opposition to a plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a Charlottesville park. The rally was rife with explicitly antisemitic rhetoric and imagery, and culminated with a self-professed neo-Nazi driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters and killing a woman.
Throughout the last week, hundreds of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University, in defiance of orders from the administration, have been camping out on one of the main campus lawns. Last Thursday, over 100 students were taken into custody by New York police for defying orders to dismantle an unauthorized encampment on campus that was set up to pressure the administration to divest from Israel.
Inspired by the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" at Columbia, students across the country have followed suit, holding sit-ins and pitching tents at prime locations on their respective campuses, demanding that their universities divest from Israel.
On Wednesday, police and state troopers clashed violently with protesters at the University of Southern California and the University of Texas in Austin, among other schools, with arrests reported. At New York University, the administration set up a plywood wall to block a main campus plaza, after several protesters were arrested there on Monday.
This is not, however, the first controversial comment Trump has made concerning Jewish people, Biden and the war in Gaza. Earlier in April, Trump said that "Any Jewish person that votes for Biden does not love Israel and, frankly, should be spoken to."
"Jewish people, by habit, they vote for the Democrat, and Black people by habit vote for the Democrats," he added.
During an interview with "Real America's Voice" Trump falsely claimed that Democrats are hesitant to discuss the October 7 attack because Biden "is no fan of Israel."
Incredible, but coming from Trump, maybe not. He loves to sort people into groups to denounce. But Biden - remember his remark to blacks that if they don't vote Democratic they aren't black? That may not be the exact words but close.
"There is a reason that most countries polled in December 2013 by Gallup called the United States the greatest threat to peace in the world, and why Pew found that viewpoint increased in 2017.
But it is a reason that eludes that strain of U.S. academia that first defines war as something that nations and groups other than the United States do, and then concludes that war has nearly vanished from the earth.
Since World War II, during a supposed golden age of peace, the United States military has killed or helped kill some 20 million people, overthrown at least 36 governments, interfered in at least 86 foreign elections, attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders, and dropped bombs on people in over 30 countries.
The U.S. government provides weapons, military training, and/or military funding to almost every dictatorship and oppressive government on earth.
The United States has “special forces” operating in two-thirds of the world’s countries and non-special forces in three-quarters of them.
Since 2001, the United States has been systematically destroying a region of the globe, bombing Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria" - David Swanson. Let's try Democracy.
And if the US Military is too busy bringing democracy to a country ~ it subcontracts the job out. And provides all the weapons. As in Yemen, Ukraine and Gaza.
Oh, it doesn't elude U.S. academia at all--U.S. academia is part of the MICIMATT, making scads of money from war and weapons spending as well as global imperial dominance.
Those inspiring young students protesting against genocide in Gaza have just begun to learn the face of American empire and its police state ...
Lt. Col., Bill do you foresee a future where Naval surface vessels, and conventional aircraft, even the all singing and dancing US B-2 "bomber", will be redundant in warfare.
In the age of the latest missiles and drones, the only use for the Navy will be the Trident submarines ~ and there we are talking about missiles and MAD again. Surface vessels surely have gone the way of the bow and arrow.
Air dog fights ~ gone with Vietnam eh?
Even troop carriers and supply vessels, whether it be by sea or air, are sitting ducks with hypersonic missiles.
Air power ~ has airpower ever been decisive in winning a war? And with satellites, AI and modern air defense systems what role will the F-35 and B-1 have in future engagements?
Of course, this being way outside my area, but I wonder even if marines, foot soldier armies and tank warfare is long for this world? All susceptible to cheap, but deadly, drones and tactical missiles on the battlefield......And I'm reading about the Israeli's using AI in foot soldier combat.
Example: Israel supposedly used $2.0-billion to defend itself from a few Iranian high-tech but cheap drones and old-school cheap missiles. If Iran had used their "good" stuff, the Israeli Iron dome would have been overwhelmed, even before it bankrupted them. And Israel would a smoking ruin. Like Gaza is!
Artillery?
There has probably been books written on this eh!
And of course this begs the question: whose Air Force, or Navy, or Army is going to be stupid enough to attack the US mainland? Surely MAD. Mutually assured destruction. The Yanks just need to all go home and spend 100% on their defenses for a fifth of what they are spending now.
Yep. Thats for sure. Those Mutiple warhead missile armed submarines are doomsday machines eh!
And of course, the Nuclear Triad three-pronged force structure of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and strategic bombers with nuclear bombs and missiles ~ does not make sense anymore.
Despite this, four countries are known to have a nuclear triad: the United States, Russia, India, and China.
Israel is suspected of having one as well.......oh boy!
BTW, I observed, from a distance LOL, those MERV missiles being loaded onto Trident subs on construction projects I worked on at Naval Submarine Bases in Banger WA, and Ford Island HI. With the guards and their machine guns and dogs on the dock. Pretty forbidding!
I was also involved with installing eight huge anchors for a "Star Wars" Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX-1) floating Radar installation in the Gulf of Alaska. In Adak's Kuluk Bay. Purported to be able to detect incoming Russian ICBM's, and then we would shoot them down! Ronald Reagans dream! The anchor system was designed by Boeing! Oh dear! The chain was so heavy we had to hydraulic jack it down to the seabed. Very time consuming.
The platform was never installed, and last I knew it was still moored in Honolulu at Ford Island. The anchors and chains now sitting on the seafloor in 1,200-feet of water.
In Navy public speak.....the Missile Defense Agency requested only $9.7 million per year for Fiscal Years 2013 through 2017, down from $176.8 million in fiscal 2012. This reduced amount to be used to maintain SBX in a "limited test support" role, "while also retaining the ability to recall it to an active, operational status if and when it is needed".
In other words ~ it flopped and we pissed away millions, if not billions!
Don't tell Jeff I told you this, but our CEO used to say.. "It's a huge boondoggle. But it's our boondoggle!" The anchor chain was made in China! The only worldwide supplier of chain that size! The anchors were made in Norway. Oil field stuff.
EDIT: It now turns out that a substantial amount of stuff required to build US weapons is not made in the US anymore. Or is too expensive to make in the US. It is literally imported from our enemies. Like that anchor chain. Another story you may know about Bill.
I had a Friend who was an Engineer that Trained the Nuclear Submarine Crews, and Test them in their proficiency. Impressive machines. One of my fave. Doomsday movies is "On the Beach" w/ Gregory Peck & Ava Gardner. On the Beach being required reading when in School. I used to do Nuke Weapons Escorts when in the USAF. We were armed to the teeth during Transport. A Terrorist organization getting hold of `a MIRV. was our worst case scenario.SAC was my Major Command when in. "To Err was Human, To Forgive was not SAC Policy!!!" Met & knew many Permanent Majors & Captains, Warrant Officers too. A no longer relevant Grade discontinued I believe since I was in. They were mostly Helicopter Pilots when I was in SAC.
I believe Israel will use any weapons system if it feels threatened, or attacked because of their will to survive, and because of the past as a Soverign Nation since 1948 in the messed up Middle East. They are making an example out of the Palestinians and Gaza! For October 7th. obviously...!
Even with ballistic missiles there is the problem of decoys. Once objects are free of gravity and the resistance of air, a hollow sphere and a heavy warhead will travel right along side each other, impossible for any defense system to accurately distinguish phonies from the real thing as both travel along at 17,000 mph. That was a big reason the ABM idea wasn't plausible. But as you mention, now there are no-cost drones and armed drones that can fly together, overwhelming any number of Iron Dome defense missiles. There is no such thing as an iron dome of protection but it is a clever name, I'll admit.
"Project leader Colonel S. and his team in the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (Maf'at) needed an appropriate name for the system.
According to Colonel S.,The first name I thought of was 'Anti-Qassam', but when the project started to move forward I realized it was problematic... I sat down with my wife, and together we thought of suitable names. She suggested the name 'Tamir' (Hebrew acronym for טיל מיירט, Til Meyaret, 'interceptor missile') for the missile, and for the system itself we thought of 'Golden Dome'. The following Sunday, 'Tamir' was immediately approved, but there was a problem with 'Golden Dome'—it could be perceived as ostentatious. So it was changed to 'Iron Dome'.[16][17]
The Star Trek episode, 'A TASTE OF ARMAGEDDON' was shown in February 1967. Obviously that Show was ahead of the Times after reading this Today.
'Gaza: AI changing speed, scale and harm of modern war'
Israel relying on AI-enabled decision-making systems to identify and hit targets in Gaza despite a reported 10% inaccuracy rate.
As Israel’s air campaign in Gaza enters its sixth month after Hamas’s terrorist attacks on October 7, it has been described by experts as one of the most relentless and deadliest campaigns in recent history. It is also one of the first being coordinated, in part, by algorithms.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to assist with everything from identifying and prioritizing targets to assigning the weapons to be used against those targets.
WOW! 67 years ago and 3 Generations later, it's actually happening with Computer generated guided WAR.
Clip from that 67 year 'A Taste of Armageddon' a prescient portrayal of this Generation's WAR by Computers devoid of any Humanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8-I9nRAnDk
When The Blob speaks, it always reverses the meaning. So death and destruction becomes peace, censorship becomes freedom of speech, and authoritarianism becomes democracy. Likewise, peaceful protest against mass murder becomes terrorism. Orwell made this clear many decades ago.
John, have you ever seen John Kirby, the NSA spokesperson, speak to the press? His words are the perfect example of what you mention. He can deflect any question, never answers anything directly and does it all earnestly and with such facial animation that I have to wonder if he really believes the blather he is issuing that comes so effortlessly. He is retired admiral and is undoubtedly a member of the deep state.
Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if AI and deepfake technologies are being used to generate these guys in real time (watch Blinken or Sullivan the next time they are on). They seem like emotionless bots. But then again, that is probably what we should expect from sociopaths and psychopaths; no emotions, just pure evil.
Anyone doubting there is a deep state can not be paying any attention after this latest set of votes.
I also think it demonstrates the futility of looking for immediate third-party point solutions. The amount of money, corruption, intimidation, and likely blackmail will turn any elected official, no matter the label or sincerity of the individual, into a tool of said deep state.
Electing a Ralph Nader, Jill Stein, RFK, or whoever, will not bring about change when the institutions are totally corrupted. This will have to be a bottom-up, long-term change - if there is enough time left before they kill us all.
Yes, I think so. There is no "savior" coming--no "Come to Jesus" moment that's going to change and reform a highly corrupted system quickly and painlessly.
TomR, I posted this in the last comment thread....
The 2024 Election Map Based on the Latest Polls!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5XM8X5Ulq4
Trump 295 Electoral College votes. Biden, 232. Tossup, 11.
But remember in Murica it's not who has the most votes but WHO'S in control of counting the votes!
That's how the US ended up with Genocide Joe Biden in 2020.
But with The Democrats more interested in Ukraine flags and funding foreign wars, added to the border situation, Biden is surely going to lose this one. America last.
That will give the left something else to hate Trump for.
But here's the ACTUAL 2024 POTUS election vote tally ~ just came in:
Trump: 113-million
Biden: 1,678-billion.
Third Parties: 0.0002-million. Fuhgeddaboudit
We're convinced the election was fair and transparent and look forward to the 4th term of Obama.
You wrote:
"[I]n Murica it's not who has the most votes but WHO'S in control of counting the votes!
"That's how the US ended up with Genocide Joe Biden in 2020."
That's also how the US ended up with Corporal Bonespurs in 2016, remember? How much bitching and complaining did You do about that then?
But i guess the Electoral College system worked GREAT back then, eh? Guess the right people were doing the counting back then, eh?
Heh. GMAFB.
Heh. That assumes, of course, that there will, in fact, BE an election in November.
What would it take to cancel ~ or "postpone" ~ it?
Another 9/11? Another Pandemic, but one that kills young and healthy people like the last one killed old and sick people? Another "Too Big To Let Fail" 2008-esque financial “¢risi$”?
When those who benefitted most from the first renditions of those events determine that they have even more to gain ~ economically, politically, and, particularly, mass psychologically ~ from a second go around, Who and/or What is going to stop them?
TomR you make good points. But I would say something is happening that offers hope - it is that one of, if not THE most powerful lobby, that of Israel, is being shaken to the core right now. All of the billionaire American Zionists are coming out of their bubbles of wealth to make outrageous statements about the protests going on that at last the public is seeing who these normally hidden big donors are and what zealots they are. Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL calling for the national guard to throw protesters off the Columbia U. campus while at the same time labeling them all terrorist.
In general we are seeing just what side prominent Americans are on. It is notable that Norman Finkelstein, a truth-teller of long standing who never loses a debate because he sticks to the facts and has an encyclopedic knowledge of Israel/Palestine has yet to be invited by any of the MSM outlets, including Fox News to go on the air.
A fresh wind of truth is blowing prompted by the blatant support of the Gaza slaughter from Biden along with the fawning kid-glove treatment of Netanyahu.
I like to mention to people that Togo, an African country, has the same population as Israel. Who of us can say one word about Togo other than it is a poor country? Does it receive any US foreign aid (Israel is #1 by far)? What would the US say if Togo started killing people by the tens of thousands?
They'd say, "How can make bucks out of this?"
Again, yet, and still... : Permit me to recommend a very good way to start that "long-term change" : On Election Day, Vote "None Of These Candidates."
If a Critical Mass of conscious, concerned, and committed Americans did that; and then made damn sure that the politicians and their owners, operators, commanders, and controllers got that message and understood it... .
If That happened, that would be a very good way to begin that long-term change: starting with by starting to get rid of The Bottom of the whole System.
Rather than "None Of These Candidates" you might want to change it to "None Of These Criminals". Same abbreviation but more truthful.
ALL the other Candidates from 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc Parties are not criminals. Thus "Candidate" is a better fit and term than "Criminals."
When spending $95 Billion MORE to support a ZioGENOCIDE, incite China and send tens of thousands of Ukranians to their deaths in a losing war is called “A Good Day for World Peace!” in the NYT, we have surpassed the “1984” DOUBLESPEAK that Orwell predicted!
Global military spending hit a record high of $2.4 trillion in 2023 after increasing by 6.8% from the previous year, a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The Ukraine-Russia war, tensions in the Middle East and other trends contributed to the jump according to the report.
All that money to KILL and DESTROY instead of investing in improving the Lives of Billions of People in this mostly poor World. There's no money for the poor. Only for those who study the problem!
https://ray032.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/war-and-after-war.gif
If I didn't miscount decimals -
$100 billion divided by 500 thousand homeless people = $200,000 each.
This doesn't include the amount of money used in police "sweeps".
Can't our rulers at least find a cheaper way of killing people? Is that too much to ask?
When it comes to helping people any amount is too much. When it comes to killing money is no object.
The boondoggle F-35 which has cost the US Taxpayer $2.0-trillion in the 20-years since its inception has ONLY been used in ONE theater. By ethno-supremacist Israel to drop bombs on hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza ~ which has no Air Force and no Air defense. Shooting fish in a barrel.
Superseding the boondoggle F-22, which has also never seen action against an enemy adversary.
And already the US Air Force is working on "Fat Amys" replacement. The next all conquering boondoggle.
And don't get me started on the WW2 anachronism $13-billion nuclear aircraft carriers who sailed halfway around the world to the latest "war"; and when they arrived, found that there was nothing they were suited to do that would have any effect in the game! Useless against $150,000 drones ~ the preferred weapons of today's wars. And realizing they were sitting ducks for Iran's hypersonic missiles. And the US Navy wants to build two more! Oh dear!
'Naomi Klein: Zionism is a false idol that betrayed every Jewish value'
I’ve been thinking about Moses, and his rage when he came down from the mount to find the Israelites worshipping a golden calf.
The ecofeminist in me was always uneasy about this story: what kind of God is jealous of animals? What kind of God wants to hoard all the sacredness of the Earth for himself?
But there is a less literal way of understanding this story. It is about false idols. About the human tendency to worship the profane and shiny, to look to the small and material rather than the large and transcendent.
What I want to say to you tonight at this revolutionary and historic Seder in the Streets is that too many of our people are worshipping a false idol once again. They are enraptured by it. Drunk on it. Profaned by it.
That false idol is called Zionism.
Zionism is a false idol that has taken the idea of the promised land and turned it into a deed of sale for a militaristic ethnostate
It is a false idol that takes our most profound biblical stories of justice and emancipation from slavery – the story of Passover itself – and turns them into brutalist weapons of colonial land theft, roadmaps for ethnic cleansing and genocide.
It is a false idol that has taken the transcendent idea of the promised land – a metaphor for human liberation that has traveled across multiple faiths to every corner of this globe – and dared to turn it into a deed of sale for a militaristic ethnostate.
Political Zionism’s version of liberation is itself profane. From the start, it required the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and ancestral lands in the Nakba...........................................
https://informationclearinghouse.blog/2024/04/25/naomi-klein-zionism-is-a-false-idol-that-betrayed-every-jewish-value/10/
Thats one of the Bibles biggest flaws eh Ray?
With its confusing style, many contradictions and obscure and extravagant imagery, one can read literally anything into scripture that one desires.
Naomi chooses a less literal way of understanding worshipping a golden calf. And interpret it to be about worshipping a false idol. She goes even further saying that the specific false idol is Zionism. I don't know how she makes that deductive leap! Others obviously interpret it literally. Many ancient folk worshipped animals. Some still do. Cows!
Just another allegory or metaphor to sew confusion in the reader's mind. The Bible is full of them.
Revelation is the guiltiest. The way it is to be properly interpreted has been unresolved for centuries. Some see Revelation as just history, while other interpretations proffer that it is only referring to the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. Futurist's interpretations believe that Revelation describes future events. The end times. Most modern theologians think that Revelation does not actually refer to any specific person or events at all. But is meant to be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning ~ typically a moral one of man's ongoing struggle with good and evil.
It's always hard for me not to just smile hearing the hundredth different interpretation of Bible passages and the absolute certainty to say that everyone else got it wrong. And these are the people that consider themselves humble! Oh dear!
The problem of religious texts is interpreting fantasy into daily living. Just don't do it. Find religion in helping people you can see.
I love my 2 cats but I don't worship them!
Naomi is Jewish. Jews are divided as are Christians, Muslims and Atheist unbelievers!
There is only 1 Day that exists with God. It's not Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Yesterday or Tomorrow.
It's always TODAY, the Eternal Day of Rest aka the Eternal Sabbath.
How can atheist's be divided Ray?
All atheism is: proffering there is insufficient evidence to prove there is a "God".
Nothing more. Nothing less. Period. End of story. What's to be divided about that!
BTW, how do you know "there is only 1 Day that exists with God"?
You know the mind of your "God" eh?
And what's the point of your "God" and his always TODAY? I don't get it???? It does not make sense. Nor pass the laugh test!
Praise Absurdism :)
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Matthew 6:34
A few minutes Googling various Christian sites Ray:
Interpretation #1. Christians don’t have to worry about their future:
Don't worry about making provisions for the future. A person who follows and believes in Jesus will have everything they need through miracles! Or God will use somebody else to take care of your needs. Oh dear!
*
Interpretation #2. All Christians face evil every day:
Each day has its own evil. The evil may come from the devil or be used by God to test you. Everyone faces temptations, including lusting over lose women or making another bet at the Casino. By handling the ‘evil of the day’, as instructed by "God", one keeps kept faith in God and follows His commandments. Really?
*
Interpretation #3 Preplanners don’t put faith in God:
Planning ahead for home, career, or even relationships means that one doesn’t believe in God’s promises. God shall supply all your needs. You are to live a life of humility without worrying about your provisions. Planning or worrying about food, home, and shelter shows a lack of faith. Oh dear!
*
Interpretation #4 Christians must avoid anxiety:
Avoid feeling anxious or worrying. Don't struggle with mental health issues or addictions. Take ‘one day at a time’ and God will resolve the issue of the day if you pray to Him. God takes care of the birds and creatures, and he is also takes care of folks who pray and seek Him. Have faith, and do not be anxious about things. You gotta believe man!
Phew! Do any of those interpretations sound like good advice to a derelict, lazy, homeless junkie with no ambition, Ray? LOL
Dennis, don't forget Trump is selling Bibles and that he's said it's the most important book to his life.
Do you agree with Trump's tactic of selling Bibles and touting their critical importance to his followers?
Can You cite where You got each of those interpretations from? i'd like to see what else they say. Thank You.
Dennis, you are right about the bible and interpretation, that's a virtue for those who make a profession of interpreting it...with sermons from pulpits every week.
Apologists in a nutshell: "God is incomprehensible, now listen very carefully while I tell you all about him."
If what God does is above us, then why do we have believers speaking FOR God or explaining God?
I find it funny Clif, both peculiar and humorous, that folks think Jesus has the power to heal but never once question why he made the little girl blind in the first place.. It's like a combination of Stockholm Syndrome and Dunning Krueger rolled into one.
Thankee for sharing that, Ray.
Hi Cliff, I really hope you're correct. I also note that some Holocaust survivors in NYC are standing with the student protesting against genocide. They speak truth that people like Greenblatt cannot counter.
The problem, as always, is getting the reporting out to the majority of citizens, most of whom I think are fair minded. One thing I observe is that different networks cover different stories and ignore others. The only way to find out what's going on is to listen or read international reporting and the alternative media. Unfortunately. many, many people are overwhelmed by the daily struggles of their lives to do so.
And I continue to wish both the ADL and AIPAC had to register as foreign agents.
Tom, you realize that Pro-Israel Groups are offering to pay students to infiltrate these protests and shit stir. Pretending to be who they are not.
Example: The Shirion Collective. @ShirionOrg. See at 20:53 on Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate's Crayzone YouTube®Video discussing the Columbia University protests, the pro-Israel backlash against the growing protest movement, and the apparent efforts to sabotage the demonstrations from within.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9QbINUwGy4&t=4722s
Dennis, yup - saw Max talking about it. They will do whatever it takes to "protect" Israel, including sacrificing America and the rights of all its citizens.
"Arbeit macht frei" (work is freedom) was the Nazi slogan. "War is peace" is the Biden slogan. I hear The Biden administration was trying to decide on whether to use a picture of an A-bomb explosion or an H-bomb explosion for their new peace patches. I hear they're going to combine them into one super explosion. "Big war is big peace".
Reminds me of the old SAC (strategic air command) motto: "Peace is our profession."
And the snarky rejoinder: "War is our hobby."
Or the marine sniper slogan (supposedly) - "Don't run - you'll only die tired". Such bravado.
Out of the mouths of Idiots... :
TRUMP SAYS PRO-PALESTINE CAMPUS PROTESTS ARE WORSE THAN DEADLY CHARLOTTESVILLE WHITE SUPREMACIST RALLY by Ben Samuels and Judy Maltz / Haaretz 25 Apr 24
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said the deadly 2017 white supremacist Charlottesville rally was "peanuts" compared to the current pro-Palestinian protests occurring on college campuses across the U.S.
"Crooked Joe Biden would say, constantly, that he ran because of Charlottesville. Well, if that's the case, he's done a really terrible job because Charlottesville is like a 'peanut' compared to the riots and anti-Israel protests that are happening all over our Country, RIGHT NOW," he posted on Truth Social.
"It's Crooked's fault because he sends the wrong message every single time. The fact is that Crooked Joe Biden HATES Israel and Hates the Jewish people," Trump continued, adding "the problem is that he HATES the Palestinians even more, and he just doesn't know what to do!?!?"
Trump earned some of his harshest criticism of his presidency for noting there were "very fine people on both sides" of the Charlottesville rally, a white nationalist march in opposition to a plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a Charlottesville park. The rally was rife with explicitly antisemitic rhetoric and imagery, and culminated with a self-professed neo-Nazi driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters and killing a woman.
Throughout the last week, hundreds of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University, in defiance of orders from the administration, have been camping out on one of the main campus lawns. Last Thursday, over 100 students were taken into custody by New York police for defying orders to dismantle an unauthorized encampment on campus that was set up to pressure the administration to divest from Israel.
Inspired by the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" at Columbia, students across the country have followed suit, holding sit-ins and pitching tents at prime locations on their respective campuses, demanding that their universities divest from Israel.
On Wednesday, police and state troopers clashed violently with protesters at the University of Southern California and the University of Texas in Austin, among other schools, with arrests reported. At New York University, the administration set up a plywood wall to block a main campus plaza, after several protesters were arrested there on Monday.
This is not, however, the first controversial comment Trump has made concerning Jewish people, Biden and the war in Gaza. Earlier in April, Trump said that "Any Jewish person that votes for Biden does not love Israel and, frankly, should be spoken to."
"Jewish people, by habit, they vote for the Democrat, and Black people by habit vote for the Democrats," he added.
During an interview with "Real America's Voice" Trump falsely claimed that Democrats are hesitant to discuss the October 7 attack because Biden "is no fan of Israel."
Source: https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-04-25/ty-article/.premium/trump-says-pro-palestinian-campus-protests-are-worse-than-deadly-white-supremacist-rally/0000018f-1575-d2e1-a7df-15f71de10000 .
Incredible, but coming from Trump, maybe not. He loves to sort people into groups to denounce. But Biden - remember his remark to blacks that if they don't vote Democratic they aren't black? That may not be the exact words but close.
But the U.S. doesn't spend more money than anyone on war, Bill. It's for peace ☮️
Just ask Joe or the NY Slime.
Linking once again at https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
Bill, I'm stealing that latest Gaza graphic.
"There is a reason that most countries polled in December 2013 by Gallup called the United States the greatest threat to peace in the world, and why Pew found that viewpoint increased in 2017.
But it is a reason that eludes that strain of U.S. academia that first defines war as something that nations and groups other than the United States do, and then concludes that war has nearly vanished from the earth.
Since World War II, during a supposed golden age of peace, the United States military has killed or helped kill some 20 million people, overthrown at least 36 governments, interfered in at least 86 foreign elections, attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders, and dropped bombs on people in over 30 countries.
The U.S. government provides weapons, military training, and/or military funding to almost every dictatorship and oppressive government on earth.
The United States has “special forces” operating in two-thirds of the world’s countries and non-special forces in three-quarters of them.
Since 2001, the United States has been systematically destroying a region of the globe, bombing Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria" - David Swanson. Let's try Democracy.
And if the US Military is too busy bringing democracy to a country ~ it subcontracts the job out. And provides all the weapons. As in Yemen, Ukraine and Gaza.
Oh, it doesn't elude U.S. academia at all--U.S. academia is part of the MICIMATT, making scads of money from war and weapons spending as well as global imperial dominance.
Those inspiring young students protesting against genocide in Gaza have just begun to learn the face of American empire and its police state ...
Lt. Col., Bill do you foresee a future where Naval surface vessels, and conventional aircraft, even the all singing and dancing US B-2 "bomber", will be redundant in warfare.
In the age of the latest missiles and drones, the only use for the Navy will be the Trident submarines ~ and there we are talking about missiles and MAD again. Surface vessels surely have gone the way of the bow and arrow.
Air dog fights ~ gone with Vietnam eh?
Even troop carriers and supply vessels, whether it be by sea or air, are sitting ducks with hypersonic missiles.
Air power ~ has airpower ever been decisive in winning a war? And with satellites, AI and modern air defense systems what role will the F-35 and B-1 have in future engagements?
Of course, this being way outside my area, but I wonder even if marines, foot soldier armies and tank warfare is long for this world? All susceptible to cheap, but deadly, drones and tactical missiles on the battlefield......And I'm reading about the Israeli's using AI in foot soldier combat.
Example: Israel supposedly used $2.0-billion to defend itself from a few Iranian high-tech but cheap drones and old-school cheap missiles. If Iran had used their "good" stuff, the Israeli Iron dome would have been overwhelmed, even before it bankrupted them. And Israel would a smoking ruin. Like Gaza is!
Artillery?
There has probably been books written on this eh!
And of course this begs the question: whose Air Force, or Navy, or Army is going to be stupid enough to attack the US mainland? Surely MAD. Mutually assured destruction. The Yanks just need to all go home and spend 100% on their defenses for a fifth of what they are spending now.
Wadda yuh think?
If those Trident II D5 missiles are ever launched, Dennis, we'll all we redundant, as in dead.
Yep. Thats for sure. Those Mutiple warhead missile armed submarines are doomsday machines eh!
And of course, the Nuclear Triad three-pronged force structure of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and strategic bombers with nuclear bombs and missiles ~ does not make sense anymore.
Despite this, four countries are known to have a nuclear triad: the United States, Russia, India, and China.
Israel is suspected of having one as well.......oh boy!
BTW, I observed, from a distance LOL, those MERV missiles being loaded onto Trident subs on construction projects I worked on at Naval Submarine Bases in Banger WA, and Ford Island HI. With the guards and their machine guns and dogs on the dock. Pretty forbidding!
I was also involved with installing eight huge anchors for a "Star Wars" Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX-1) floating Radar installation in the Gulf of Alaska. In Adak's Kuluk Bay. Purported to be able to detect incoming Russian ICBM's, and then we would shoot them down! Ronald Reagans dream! The anchor system was designed by Boeing! Oh dear! The chain was so heavy we had to hydraulic jack it down to the seabed. Very time consuming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-based_X-band_Radar
The platform was never installed, and last I knew it was still moored in Honolulu at Ford Island. The anchors and chains now sitting on the seafloor in 1,200-feet of water.
In Navy public speak.....the Missile Defense Agency requested only $9.7 million per year for Fiscal Years 2013 through 2017, down from $176.8 million in fiscal 2012. This reduced amount to be used to maintain SBX in a "limited test support" role, "while also retaining the ability to recall it to an active, operational status if and when it is needed".
In other words ~ it flopped and we pissed away millions, if not billions!
Don't tell Jeff I told you this, but our CEO used to say.. "It's a huge boondoggle. But it's our boondoggle!" The anchor chain was made in China! The only worldwide supplier of chain that size! The anchors were made in Norway. Oil field stuff.
EDIT: It now turns out that a substantial amount of stuff required to build US weapons is not made in the US anymore. Or is too expensive to make in the US. It is literally imported from our enemies. Like that anchor chain. Another story you may know about Bill.
I had a Friend who was an Engineer that Trained the Nuclear Submarine Crews, and Test them in their proficiency. Impressive machines. One of my fave. Doomsday movies is "On the Beach" w/ Gregory Peck & Ava Gardner. On the Beach being required reading when in School. I used to do Nuke Weapons Escorts when in the USAF. We were armed to the teeth during Transport. A Terrorist organization getting hold of `a MIRV. was our worst case scenario.SAC was my Major Command when in. "To Err was Human, To Forgive was not SAC Policy!!!" Met & knew many Permanent Majors & Captains, Warrant Officers too. A no longer relevant Grade discontinued I believe since I was in. They were mostly Helicopter Pilots when I was in SAC.
I believe Israel will use any weapons system if it feels threatened, or attacked because of their will to survive, and because of the past as a Soverign Nation since 1948 in the messed up Middle East. They are making an example out of the Palestinians and Gaza! For October 7th. obviously...!
The 'Threads' movie chilled me the most.
i promise not to tell him... .
Even with ballistic missiles there is the problem of decoys. Once objects are free of gravity and the resistance of air, a hollow sphere and a heavy warhead will travel right along side each other, impossible for any defense system to accurately distinguish phonies from the real thing as both travel along at 17,000 mph. That was a big reason the ABM idea wasn't plausible. But as you mention, now there are no-cost drones and armed drones that can fly together, overwhelming any number of Iron Dome defense missiles. There is no such thing as an iron dome of protection but it is a clever name, I'll admit.
"Project leader Colonel S. and his team in the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (Maf'at) needed an appropriate name for the system.
According to Colonel S.,The first name I thought of was 'Anti-Qassam', but when the project started to move forward I realized it was problematic... I sat down with my wife, and together we thought of suitable names. She suggested the name 'Tamir' (Hebrew acronym for טיל מיירט, Til Meyaret, 'interceptor missile') for the missile, and for the system itself we thought of 'Golden Dome'. The following Sunday, 'Tamir' was immediately approved, but there was a problem with 'Golden Dome'—it could be perceived as ostentatious. So it was changed to 'Iron Dome'.[16][17]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome
How about those "Scuds" basically a flying Buick lol did they ever hit anything?, but the Ocean...
The first primitive adventure using technology in missiles Fireman.
You launched the "Scud" from the bed of your Toyota pickup, and watched TV to see where it landed! LOL
The Star Trek episode, 'A TASTE OF ARMAGEDDON' was shown in February 1967. Obviously that Show was ahead of the Times after reading this Today.
'Gaza: AI changing speed, scale and harm of modern war'
Israel relying on AI-enabled decision-making systems to identify and hit targets in Gaza despite a reported 10% inaccuracy rate.
As Israel’s air campaign in Gaza enters its sixth month after Hamas’s terrorist attacks on October 7, it has been described by experts as one of the most relentless and deadliest campaigns in recent history. It is also one of the first being coordinated, in part, by algorithms.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to assist with everything from identifying and prioritizing targets to assigning the weapons to be used against those targets.
https://asiatimes.com/2024/04/gaza-ai-changing-speed-scale-and-harm-of-modern-war
WOW! 67 years ago and 3 Generations later, it's actually happening with Computer generated guided WAR.
Clip from that 67 year 'A Taste of Armageddon' a prescient portrayal of this Generation's WAR by Computers devoid of any Humanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8-I9nRAnDk
A fine Star Trek episode, Ray. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for the graphics, Bill. I think it helps spread the word better than a narrative at times.