lewrockwell--2020-11-30--How the Iranian Nuclear Scientist Was Murdered

Remarkable detail of the plot to kill an Iranian nuclear scientist emerged on Saturday , a day after the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh reverberated around the world .
Sixty two people were involved in the scheme , according to Mohamad Ahwaze , an Iranian journalist who exposed the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic in his country .
Ahwaze said he had obtained leaked Iranian information .
Iranian officials have blamed Israel ’ s Mossad for the assassination .
One American official and two other intelligence officials also told the New York Times that Israel was behind the attack .
Ahwaze @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who he described as being highly trained and assisted by ‘ security and intelligence services abroad ’ , were deployed to the city of Absard , 50 miles east of Tehran .
The mountain retreat of 10,000 people is where many Tehranis have second homes , and Fakhrizadeh , 59 , had a villa there .
The Wreath Depot Easto ... Buy New $ 79.99 Another 50 people , Ahwaze said , helped with logistical support .
He did not specify whether they were in Iran , or abroad .
The team @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he was going to be driving from Tehran to Absard on Friday .
They planned the attack for a roundabout in Absard , at the foot of a tree-lined boulevard which enters the city .
A Hyundai Santa Fe with four passengers , four motorcyles and two snipers were waiting for him at the scene of the ambush , along with a booby-trapped Nissan pickup .
Half an hour before Fakhrizadeh ’ s convoy of three bulletproof cars arrived , the electricity was cut off to the area , Ahwaze reported .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ first car passed the roundabout .
As the third car passes , the Nissan explodes , damaging electricity poles and transmitters , according to a state TV report from the area on Friday night .
The force of the explosion from the bomb hurled debris at least 300 meters , according to state television .
The second car , containing Fakhrizadeh , was then shot at by the 12 assassins , including two snipers .
The gunmen with the hit squad opened fire on the cars , and an intense gunfight ensued , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media channel affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps .

Remarkable detail of the plot to kill an Iranian nuclear scientist emerged on Saturday, a day after the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh reverberated around the world.
Sixty two people were involved in the scheme, according to Mohamad Ahwaze, an Iranian journalist who exposed the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic in his country.
Ahwaze said he had obtained leaked Iranian information.
Iranian officials have blamed Israel’s Mossad for the assassination. One American official and two other intelligence officials also told the New York Times that Israel was behind the attack.
Ahwaze said that 12 members of the team, who he described as being highly trained and assisted by ‘security and intelligence services abroad’, were deployed to the city of Absard, 50 miles east of Tehran.
The mountain retreat of 10,000 people is where many Tehranis have second homes, and Fakhrizadeh, 59, had a villa there. The Wreath Depot Easto... Buy New $79.99 (as of 04:48 UTC - Details)
Another 50 people, Ahwaze said, helped with logistical support. He did not specify whether they were in Iran, or abroad.
The team had been watching Fakhrizadeh, and knew that he was going to be driving from Tehran to Absard on Friday.
They planned the attack for a roundabout in Absard, at the foot of a tree-lined boulevard which enters the city.
A Hyundai Santa Fe with four passengers, four motorcyles and two snipers were waiting for him at the scene of the ambush, along with a booby-trapped Nissan pickup.
Half an hour before Fakhrizadeh’s convoy of three bulletproof cars arrived, the electricity was cut off to the area, Ahwaze reported.
The team were in place when the first car passed the roundabout.
As the third car passes, the Nissan explodes, damaging electricity poles and transmitters, according to a state TV report from the area on Friday night.
The force of the explosion from the bomb hurled debris at least 300 meters, according to state television.
The second car, containing Fakhrizadeh, was then shot at by the 12 assassins, including two snipers.
The gunmen with the hit squad opened fire on the cars, and an intense gunfight ensued, according to Sepah Cybery, a social media channel affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
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lewrockwell--2020-11-30--Which To Celebrate, Pilgrims or Native Americans?

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrims in 1620 .
Plymouth was the first English settlement to establish itself successfully in the New World .
You might think that the four-century mark of that event would be cause for big commemorations .
Instead , there has been barely a peep .
Today , the trendy thing is to feel nothing but guilt and shame for the expansion of European civilization , particularly the English version , into North America .
After all , there were indigenous people here when the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ English or other European settlers have to occupy this territory ?
To demonstrate its politically-correct bona fides , Google affiliate YouTube ( among many others ) took the occasion of Thanksgiving Day to celebrate instead something they call “ Unthanksgiving , ” a day of “ Indigenous history , activism and resistance ” : Unthanksgiving is about acknowledging , educating , and honoring centuries of Indigenous resistance .
Coinciding with New England ’ s National Day of Mourning , .
.
.
Native Americans and Indigenous persons have shared their experiences , using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intercultural dialogue , The Wreath Depot Appal ... Buy New $ 79.99 Perhaps you may have the idea that prior to the Pilgrims North America was inhabited by Noble Savages living in peace and harmony with nature and each other .
Then the evil Europeans arrived to commit plunder and rape and genocide .
This is certainly the view pushed by much of trendy academia today , following the lead of America-hating Howard Zinn .
But if you want a more full picture of the reality of the Native Americans at the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of decent sources to look to .
Two that I can recommend are Charles Mann ’ s “ 1491 , ” and Francis Parkman ’ s “ France and England in North America.
” “ 1491 ” came out in 2005 , and definitely has a more native-admiring perspective than Parkman ’ s opus , which was published over many years in the late 19th century .
Nevertheless , an overriding issue permeates both books in their descriptions of native life pre- and shortly post-Columbus : the Indian tribes were engaged in constant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against each other .
Mann ’ s book has particularly harrowing accounts of the wars conducted by the Aztecs against their predecessors in the region that is today Mexico City .

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Plymouth Colony by the Pilgrims in 1620. Plymouth was the first English settlement to establish itself successfully in the New World. You might think that the four-century mark of that event would be cause for big commemorations. Instead, there has been barely a peep.
Today, the trendy thing is to feel nothing but guilt and shame for the expansion of European civilization, particularly the English version, into North America. After all, there were indigenous people here when the first settlers arrived. What right did the English or other European settlers have to occupy this territory? To demonstrate its politically-correct bona fides, Google affiliate YouTube (among many others) took the occasion of Thanksgiving Day to celebrate instead something they call “Unthanksgiving,” a day of “Indigenous history, activism and resistance”:
Unthanksgiving is about acknowledging, educating, and honoring centuries of Indigenous resistance. Coinciding with New England’s National Day of Mourning, . . . Native Americans and Indigenous persons have shared their experiences, using Unthanksgiving as an opportunity for intergenerational and intercultural dialogue, The Wreath Depot Appal... Buy New $79.99 (as of 04:49 UTC - Details)
Perhaps you may have the idea that prior to the Pilgrims North America was inhabited by Noble Savages living in peace and harmony with nature and each other. Then the evil Europeans arrived to commit plunder and rape and genocide. This is certainly the view pushed by much of trendy academia today, following the lead of America-hating Howard Zinn. But if you want a more full picture of the reality of the Native Americans at the time of early settlement, there are plenty of decent sources to look to. Two that I can recommend are Charles Mann’s “1491,” and Francis Parkman’s “France and England in North America.”
“1491” came out in 2005, and definitely has a more native-admiring perspective than Parkman’s opus, which was published over many years in the late 19th century. Nevertheless, an overriding issue permeates both books in their descriptions of native life pre- and shortly post-Columbus: the Indian tribes were engaged in constant, endless, brutal, murderous warfare against each other. Mann’s book has particularly harrowing accounts of the wars conducted by the Aztecs against their predecessors in the region that is today Mexico City.
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-11-30--‘Like Horse-Mounted Cavalry Against Tanks’

From Syria to Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh , this new method of military offense has been brutally effective .
We are witnessing a revolution in the history of warfare , one that is causing panic , particularly in Europe .
In an analysis written for the European Council on Foreign Relations , Gustav Gressel , a senior policy fellow , argues that the extensive ( and successful ) use of military drones by Azerbaijan in its recent conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh holds “ distinct lessons for how well Europe can defend itself.
” Gressel warns that Europe would be doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Nagorno-Karabakh fighting as “ a minor war between poor countries.
” In this , Gressel is correct – the military defeat inflicted on Armenia by Azerbaijan was not a fluke , but rather a manifestation of the perfection of the art of drone warfare by Baku ’ s major ally in the fighting , Turkey .
Gressel ’ s conclusion – that “ most of the [ European Union ’ s ] armies… would do as miserably as the Armenian Army ” when faced by such a threat – is spot on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New $ 19.99 What happened to the Armenian Army in its short but brutal 44-day war with Azerbaijan goes beyond simply losing a war .
It was more about the way Armenia lost and , more specifically , how it lost .
What happened over the skies of Nagorno-Karabakh – where Azerbaijan employed a host of Turkish- and Israeli-made drones not only to surveil and target Armenian positions , but shape and dominate the battlefield throughout – can be likened to a revolution in military affairs .
One akin to the arrival of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aircraft in the early 20th century , that eventually led to the demise of horse-mounted cavalry .
It ’ s not that the Armenian soldiers were not brave , or well-trained and equipped – they were .
It was that they were fighting a kind of war which had been overtaken by technology , where no matter how resolute and courageous they were in the face of the enemy , the outcome was preordained – their inevitable death , and the destruction of their equipment ; some 2,425 Armenian soldiers lost their lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tanks , 90 armored fighting vehicles , 182 artillery pieces , 73 multiple rocket launchers , and 26 surface-to-air missile systems were destroyed .
What happened to Armenia was not an isolated moment in military history , but rather the culmination of a new kind of warfare , centered on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs , or drones ) .
Azerbaijan ’ s major ally in the war against Armenia – Turkey – has been perfecting the art of drone warfare for years , with extensive experience in full-scale modern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( February-March 2020 ) and Libya ( May-June 2020 . )
Over the course of the past decade , Turkey has taken advantage of arms embargoes imposed by America and others which restricted Ankara ’ s access to the kind of front-line drones used by the US around the world , to instead build from scratch an indigenous drone-manufacturing base .
While Turkey has developed several drones in various configurations , two have stood out in particular – the Anka-S and Bayraktar .
Two 4 Foot Artificial ... Buy New $ 132.49 While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drone-centric combat carried out by Turkey is “ drone swarm , ” the reality is that modern drone warfare , when conducted on a large scale , is a deliberate , highly coordinated process which integrates electronic warfare , reconnaissance and surveillance , and weapons delivery .
Turkey ’ s drone war over Syria was managed from the Turkish Second Army Command Tactical Command Center , located some 400km away from the fighting in the city of Malatya in Turkey ’ s Hatay Province .
It was here that the Turkish drone operators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ operation of an integrated electromagnetic spectrum ( EMS ) warfare capability designed to jam Syrian and Russia air-defense radars and collect signals of military value ( such as cell phone conversations ) which were used to target specific locations .
For every $ 1 in losses suffered by Turkey , Syria lost approximately $ 5 The major systems used by Turkey in this role are the KORAL jamming system and a specially configured Anka-S drone operating as an airborne intelligence collection platform .
The Anka-S also operated as an airborne command and control @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bayraktar UAVs , which would then acquire the target visually before firing highly precise onboard air-to-surface rockets , destroying the target .
When conducted in isolation , an integrated drone strike such as those carried out by Turkey can be deadly effective ; when conducted simultaneously with four or more systems in action , each of which is capable of targeting multiple locations , the results are devastating and , from the perspective of those on the receiving end , might be likened to a deadly “ swarm.
” The fighting in Syria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – the disparity of costs between the drone and the military assets it can destroy .
Turkish Bayraktar and Anka-S UAV ’ s cost approximately $ 2.5 million each .
Over the course of fighting in Syria ’ s Idlib province , Turkey lost between six and eight UAVs , for a total replacement cost of around $ 20 million .
In the first night of fighting in Syria , Turkey claims ( and Russia does not dispute ) that it destroyed large numbers of heavy equipment belonging to the Syrian Army , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Overall , Turkish drones are credited with killing 34 Syrian tanks and 36 artillery systems , along with a significant amount of other combat equipment .
If one uses the average cost of a Russian-made tank at around $ 1.2 million , and an artillery system at around $ 500,000 , the total damage done by Turkey ’ s drones amounts to some $ 57.3 million ( and this number does not include the other considerable material losses suffered by the Syrian military , which in total could easily match or exceed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perspective alone , for every $ 1 in losses suffered by Turkey , the Syrians lost approximately $ 5 .
Yesier Artificial Chri ... Buy New $ 35.99 Turkey was able to take the lessons learned from the fighting in Idlib province and apply them to a different theater of war , in Libya , in May 2020 .
There , Turkey had sided with the beleaguered forces of the Government of National Accord ( GNA ) , which was mounting what amounted to a last stand around the Libyan capital of Tripoli @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the forces of the so-called Libyan National Army ( LNA ) , based out of Benghazi , which had launched a major offensive designed to capture the capital , eliminate the GNA , and take control of all of Libya .
The LNA was supported by the several foreign powers , including Egypt , the United Arab Emirates , and Russia ( via Wagner Group , a private military contractor . )
Turkey ’ s intervention placed a heavy emphasis on the integrated drone warfare it had perfected in Syria .
In Libya @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with the Turkish-backed GNA able to drive the LNA forces back , capturing nearly half of Libya in the process .
Both the LNA and Turkish-backed GNA made extensive use of combat drones , but only Turkey brought with it an integrated approach to drone warfare .
Observers have grown accustomed to the concept of individual US drones operating freely over places such as Iraq , Yemen , and Afghanistan , delivering precision strikes against terrorist targets .
However , as Iran demonstrated this past May , drones are vulnerable to modern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would not work over contested airspace .
Likewise , the LNA , which made extensive use of Chinese-made combat drones flown by UAE pilots , enjoyed great success until Turkey intervened .
Its electronic warfare and integrated air-defense capabilities then made LNA drone operations impossible to conduct , and the inability of the LNA to field an effective defense against the Turkish drone operations resulted in the tide of battle rapidly shifting on the ground .
If anything , the cost differential between the Turkish-backed GNA and the LNA was greater than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turkey in Syria .
The big players – the US , Russia & China – are playing catch-up Boxwood Wreath , Artifi ... Best Price : $ 13.92 Buy New $ 25.67 By the time Turkey began cooperating with Azerbaijan against Armenia in September 2020 , Turkish drone warfare had reached its zenith , and the outcome in Nagorno-Karabakh was all but assured .
One of the main lessons drawn from the Turkish drone experiences in Syria , Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh is that these conflicts were not fought against so-called “ poor countries.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ off against well-equipped and well-trained forces operating equipment which closely parallels that found in most small- and medium-sized European countries .
Indeed , in all three conflicts , Turkey was facing off against some of the best anti-aircraft missile defenses produced by Russia .
The reality is that most nations , if confronted by a Turkish “ drone swarm , ” would not fare well .
And the multiple deployment of drones is only going to expand .
The US Army is currently working on what it calls the “ Armed , Fully-Autonomous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When employed , AFADS will – autonomously , without human intervention – locate , identify , and attack targets using what is known as a “ Cluster Unmanned Airborne System Smart Munition , ” which will dispense a swarm of small drones that fan out over the battlefield to locate and destroy targets .
China has likewise tested a system that deploys up to 200 “ suicide drones ” designed to saturate a battlespace and destroy targets by flying into them .
And this past September , the Russian military integrated “ drone-swarm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a large-scale military exercise .
The face of modern warfare has been forever altered , and those nations that are not prepared or equipped to fight in a battlefield where drone technology is fully incorporated in every aspect of the fight can expect outcomes similar to that of Armenia : severe losses of men and equipment , defeat , humiliation and the likely loss of their territory .
This is the reality of modern warfare which , as Gustav Gressel notes , should make any nation not fully vested in drone technology “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT .

From Syria to Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh, this new method of military offense has been brutally effective. We are witnessing a revolution in the history of warfare, one that is causing panic, particularly in Europe.
In an analysis written for the European Council on Foreign Relations, Gustav Gressel, a senior policy fellow, argues that the extensive (and successful) use of military drones by Azerbaijan in its recent conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh holds “distinct lessons for how well Europe can defend itself.”
Gressel warns that Europe would be doing itself a disservice if it simply dismissed the Nagorno-Karabakh fighting as “a minor war between poor countries.” In this, Gressel is correct – the military defeat inflicted on Armenia by Azerbaijan was not a fluke, but rather a manifestation of the perfection of the art of drone warfare by Baku’s major ally in the fighting, Turkey. Gressel’s conclusion – that “most of the [European Union’s] armies… would do as miserably as the Armenian Army” when faced by such a threat – is spot on. Palmhill Door Wreath, ... Buy New $19.99 (as of 04:51 UTC - Details)
What happened to the Armenian Army in its short but brutal 44-day war with Azerbaijan goes beyond simply losing a war. It was more about the way Armenia lost and, more specifically, how it lost. What happened over the skies of Nagorno-Karabakh – where Azerbaijan employed a host of Turkish- and Israeli-made drones not only to surveil and target Armenian positions, but shape and dominate the battlefield throughout – can be likened to a revolution in military affairs. One akin to the arrival of tanks, mechanised armoured vehicles, and aircraft in the early 20th century, that eventually led to the demise of horse-mounted cavalry.
It’s not that the Armenian soldiers were not brave, or well-trained and equipped – they were. It was that they were fighting a kind of war which had been overtaken by technology, where no matter how resolute and courageous they were in the face of the enemy, the outcome was preordained – their inevitable death, and the destruction of their equipment; some 2,425 Armenian soldiers lost their lives in the fighting, and 185 T-72 tanks, 90 armored fighting vehicles, 182 artillery pieces, 73 multiple rocket launchers, and 26 surface-to-air missile systems were destroyed.
A new kind of warfare
What happened to Armenia was not an isolated moment in military history, but rather the culmination of a new kind of warfare, centered on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones). Azerbaijan’s major ally in the war against Armenia – Turkey – has been perfecting the art of drone warfare for years, with extensive experience in full-scale modern conflict gained in recent fighting in Syria (February-March 2020) and Libya (May-June 2020.)
Over the course of the past decade, Turkey has taken advantage of arms embargoes imposed by America and others which restricted Ankara’s access to the kind of front-line drones used by the US around the world, to instead build from scratch an indigenous drone-manufacturing base. While Turkey has developed several drones in various configurations, two have stood out in particular – the Anka-S and Bayraktar.
Two 4 Foot Artificial ... Buy New $132.49 (as of 04:51 UTC - Details) While the popular term for the kind of drone-centric combat carried out by Turkey is “drone swarm,” the reality is that modern drone warfare, when conducted on a large scale, is a deliberate, highly coordinated process which integrates electronic warfare, reconnaissance and surveillance, and weapons delivery. Turkey’s drone war over Syria was managed from the Turkish Second Army Command Tactical Command Center, located some 400km away from the fighting in the city of Malatya in Turkey’s Hatay Province.
It was here that the Turkish drone operators sat, and where they oversaw the operation of an integrated electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) warfare capability designed to jam Syrian and Russia air-defense radars and collect signals of military value (such as cell phone conversations) which were used to target specific locations.
For every $1 in losses suffered by Turkey, Syria lost approximately $5
The major systems used by Turkey in this role are the KORAL jamming system and a specially configured Anka-S drone operating as an airborne intelligence collection platform. The Anka-S also operated as an airborne command and control system, relaying targeting intelligence to orbiting Bayraktar UAVs, which would then acquire the target visually before firing highly precise onboard air-to-surface rockets, destroying the target. When conducted in isolation, an integrated drone strike such as those carried out by Turkey can be deadly effective; when conducted simultaneously with four or more systems in action, each of which is capable of targeting multiple locations, the results are devastating and, from the perspective of those on the receiving end, might be likened to a deadly “swarm.”
The fighting in Syria illustrated another important factor regarding drone warfare – the disparity of costs between the drone and the military assets it can destroy. Turkish Bayraktar and Anka-S UAV’s cost approximately $2.5 million each. Over the course of fighting in Syria’s Idlib province, Turkey lost between six and eight UAVs, for a total replacement cost of around $20 million.
In the first night of fighting in Syria, Turkey claims (and Russia does not dispute) that it destroyed large numbers of heavy equipment belonging to the Syrian Army, including 23 tanks and 23 artillery pieces. Overall, Turkish drones are credited with killing 34 Syrian tanks and 36 artillery systems, along with a significant amount of other combat equipment. If one uses the average cost of a Russian-made tank at around $1.2 million, and an artillery system at around $500,000, the total damage done by Turkey’s drones amounts to some $57.3 million (and this number does not include the other considerable material losses suffered by the Syrian military, which in total could easily match or exceed that number.) From a cost perspective alone, for every $1 in losses suffered by Turkey, the Syrians lost approximately $5. Yesier Artificial Chri... Buy New $35.99 (as of 04:51 UTC - Details)
Turkey was able to take the lessons learned from the fighting in Idlib province and apply them to a different theater of war, in Libya, in May 2020. There, Turkey had sided with the beleaguered forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA), which was mounting what amounted to a last stand around the Libyan capital of Tripoli. The GNA was facing off against the forces of the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), based out of Benghazi, which had launched a major offensive designed to capture the capital, eliminate the GNA, and take control of all of Libya.
How to capture half a country
The LNA was supported by the several foreign powers, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia (via Wagner Group, a private military contractor.) Turkey’s intervention placed a heavy emphasis on the integrated drone warfare it had perfected in Syria. In Libya, the results were even more lop-sided, with the Turkish-backed GNA able to drive the LNA forces back, capturing nearly half of Libya in the process.
Both the LNA and Turkish-backed GNA made extensive use of combat drones, but only Turkey brought with it an integrated approach to drone warfare. Observers have grown accustomed to the concept of individual US drones operating freely over places such as Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan, delivering precision strikes against terrorist targets. However, as Iran demonstrated this past May, drones are vulnerable to modern air-defense systems, and US drone tactics would not work over contested airspace.
Likewise, the LNA, which made extensive use of Chinese-made combat drones flown by UAE pilots, enjoyed great success until Turkey intervened. Its electronic warfare and integrated air-defense capabilities then made LNA drone operations impossible to conduct, and the inability of the LNA to field an effective defense against the Turkish drone operations resulted in the tide of battle rapidly shifting on the ground. If anything, the cost differential between the Turkish-backed GNA and the LNA was greater than the $1-to-$5 advantage enjoyed by Turkey in Syria.
The big players – the US, Russia & China – are playing catch-up
Boxwood Wreath, Artifi... Best Price: $13.92 Buy New $25.67 (as of 04:51 UTC - Details) By the time Turkey began cooperating with Azerbaijan against Armenia in September 2020, Turkish drone warfare had reached its zenith, and the outcome in Nagorno-Karabakh was all but assured. One of the main lessons drawn from the Turkish drone experiences in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh is that these conflicts were not fought against so-called “poor countries.”
Rather, the Turks were facing off against well-equipped and well-trained forces operating equipment which closely parallels that found in most small- and medium-sized European countries. Indeed, in all three conflicts, Turkey was facing off against some of the best anti-aircraft missile defenses produced by Russia. The reality is that most nations, if confronted by a Turkish “drone swarm,” would not fare well.
And the multiple deployment of drones is only going to expand. The US Army is currently working on what it calls the “Armed, Fully-Autonomous Drone Swarm,” or AFADS. When employed, AFADS will – autonomously, without human intervention – locate, identify, and attack targets using what is known as a “Cluster Unmanned Airborne System Smart Munition,” which will dispense a swarm of small drones that fan out over the battlefield to locate and destroy targets.
China has likewise tested a system that deploys up to 200 “suicide drones” designed to saturate a battlespace and destroy targets by flying into them. And this past September, the Russian military integrated “drone-swarm” capabilities for the first time in a large-scale military exercise.
The face of modern warfare has been forever altered, and those nations that are not prepared or equipped to fight in a battlefield where drone technology is fully incorporated in every aspect of the fight can expect outcomes similar to that of Armenia: severe losses of men and equipment, defeat, humiliation and the likely loss of their territory. This is the reality of modern warfare which, as Gustav Gressel notes, should make any nation not fully vested in drone technology “think – and worry.”
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.


lewrockwell--2020-11-30--Edward Snowden on Big Tech Companies, Like Facebook, Censoring & Controlling Information

Glenn Greenwald is no stranger to censorship , he ’ s the journalist who worked with Edward Snowden ( NSA mass surveillance whistleblower ) to put together his story and release it to the world while working for the Guardian .
He eventually left the Guardian and co-founded his own media company , The Intercept , an organization that would be free from censorship and free to report on government corruption and wrong-doings of powerful people and corporations .
He recently resigned from The Intercept as well due to the fact that they ’ ve now censored him , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find his work here .
Anybody who reports on or sheds a bright light onto immoral and unethical actions taken by governments and the powerful corporations they work with has been subjected to extreme censorship .
In the case of Edward Snowden , he ’ s been exiled , and Julian Assange of Wikileaks is currently clinging to his life for exposing war crimes and other unethical actions by multiple governments and corporations .
There are many other examples .
What does it say about our civilization when we prosecute those who expose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governments and war crimes ?
Lightweight Mens Handm ... Buy New $ 29.99 Greenwald recently interviewed Snowden about internet censorship and the role big tech companies and governments are playing .
Greenwald explains that in one of his earliest meetings with Snowden , he ( Snowden ) explained that he was driven in large part by the vital role the early internet played in his life , “ one that was free of corporate and state control , that permitted anonymity and exploration free of monitoring , and , most of all , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by and among citizens of the world without corporate and state overlords regulating and controlling what they were saying .
This is what he and Snowden go into in the interview posted below .
Prior to that I provide a brief summary of Snowden ’ s key thoughts .
Snowden starts off by mentioning government surveillance programs and the companies they contracted to do this work and compares them to modern day Big Tech giants censoring information on a wide range of topics .
We see this today with elections/politics , to medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for example .
“ In secret , these companies had all agreed to work with the U.S. Government far beyond what the law required of them , and that ’ s what we ’ re seeing with this new censorship push is really a new direction in the same dynamic .
These companies are not obligated by the law to do almost any of what they ’ re actually doing but they ’ re going above and beyond , to , in many cases , to increase the depth of their relationship ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s willingness to avoid trying to regulate them in the context of their desired activities , which is ultimately to dominate the conversation and information space of global society in different ways…They ’ re trying to make you change your behaviour… – Snowden So basically , these Big Tech companies have become slaves , if you will , to the governments will , or at least powerful people situated in high places within the government .
Snowden brings up the fact that many of these companies are hiring people from the CIA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who come from the NSA , who have top secret clearances…The government is a customer of all the major cloud service providers .
They are also a major regulator of these companies , which gives these companies the incentive to do whatever they want .
This is quite clear if you look at Facebook , Google and Amazon employees .
There are many who have come from very high positions within the Department of Defense .
Amazon appointed Keith Alexander , director of the NSA under Barack Obama .
Turkish Ottoman Bork H @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on to explain how people get upset when government , especially the Trump government , tries to set the boundaries of what appropriate speech is by attempting to stop big tech censorship , he then says , If you ’ re not comfortable letting the government determine the boundaries of appropriate political speech , why are you begging Mark Zuckerberg to do it ?
I think the reality here is…it ’ s not really about freedom of speech , and it ’ s not really about protecting people from harm…I think what you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ de facto means of mass communication .
That represents influence which represents power , and what we see is we see a whole number of different tribes basically squabbling to try to gain control over this instrument of power .
What we see is an increasing tendency to silence journalists who say things that are in the minority .
You can watch the full conversation between Greenwald and Snowden below , the conversation is about 40 minutes long .
The Bolero Buy New $ 160.00 Closing Comments : This kind of information almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a society to truly create and disseminate journalism that is honest , integral and bi-partisan ?
Why is it that these types of organizations fail or struggle ?
How do some media companies fail ?
Well , they no longer stay true to their mission .
They fall to the pressure of politics and fall into ideology .
How many other times did ideology change what media outlets reported ?
Yes , it ’ s almost impossible to have zero bias , but how close can we get to zero ?
How @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who do not fit within the accepted framework and disseminate information that challenges the popular opinion are constantly being punished for simply putting out information ?
As Snowden mentioned above , these Big Tech companies in collusion with governments are literally attempting to not only censor information , but change the behaviour of people as well , especially journalists .
When you take away one ’ s business or livelihood as a result of non-compliance , you are in a way forcing them to comply and do/say things you they way you want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ massive amounts of censorship and demonetization here at Collective Evolution , but we haven ’ t changed as a results of it .
We simply created CETV , a platform that helps support our work as a result of censorship .

Glenn Greenwald is no stranger to censorship, he’s the journalist who worked with Edward Snowden (NSA mass surveillance whistleblower) to put together his story and release it to the world while working for the Guardian. He eventually left the Guardian and co-founded his own media company, The Intercept, an organization that would be free from censorship and free to report on government corruption and wrong-doings of powerful people and corporations. He recently resigned from The Intercept as well due to the fact that they’ve now censored him, and is now completely independent. You can find his work here.
Anybody who reports on or sheds a bright light onto immoral and unethical actions taken by governments and the powerful corporations they work with has been subjected to extreme censorship. In the case of Edward Snowden, he’s been exiled, and Julian Assange of Wikileaks is currently clinging to his life for exposing war crimes and other unethical actions by multiple governments and corporations. There are many other examples. What does it say about our civilization when we prosecute those who expose harm, corruption, immoral/unethical actions by governments and war crimes?
Lightweight Mens Handm... Buy New $29.99 (as of 04:52 UTC - Details) Greenwald recently interviewed Snowden about internet censorship and the role big tech companies and governments are playing. Greenwald explains that in one of his earliest meetings with Snowden, he (Snowden) explained that he was driven in large part by the vital role the early internet played in his life, “one that was free of corporate and state control, that permitted anonymity and exploration free of monitoring, and, most of all, fostered unrestrained communication and dissemination of information by and among citizens of the world without corporate and state overlords regulating and controlling what they were saying.
This is what he and Snowden go into in the interview posted below. Prior to that I provide a brief summary of Snowden’s key thoughts.
Snowden starts off by mentioning government surveillance programs and the companies they contracted to do this work and compares them to modern day Big Tech giants censoring information on a wide range of topics. We see this today with elections/politics, to medical information dealing with coronavirus and vaccines, for example.
“In secret, these companies had all agreed to work with the U.S. Government far beyond what the law required of them, and that’s what we’re seeing with this new censorship push is really a new direction in the same dynamic. These companies are not obligated by the law to do almost any of what they’re actually doing but they’re going above and beyond, to, in many cases, to increase the depth of their relationship (with the government) and the government’s willingness to avoid trying to regulate them in the context of their desired activities, which is ultimately to dominate the conversation and information space of global society in different ways…They’re trying to make you change your behaviour… – Snowden
So basically, these Big Tech companies have become slaves, if you will, to the governments will, or at least powerful people situated in high places within the government. Snowden brings up the fact that many of these companies are hiring people from the CIA, who come from the Pentagon, who come from the NSA, who have top secret clearances…The government is a customer of all the major cloud service providers. They are also a major regulator of these companies, which gives these companies the incentive to do whatever they want.
This is quite clear if you look at Facebook, Google and Amazon employees. There are many who have come from very high positions within the Department of Defense.
In no case is this more clear than Amazon – Snowden
Amazon appointed Keith Alexander, director of the NSA under Barack Obama. Turkish Ottoman Bork H... Buy New $44.00 (as of 04:52 UTC - Details)
He was one of the senior architects of the mass surveillance program that courts have repeatedly now declared to be unlawful and unconstitutional….When you have this kind of incentive from a private industry to maintain the warmest possible relationship with the people in government, who not just buy from you but also have the possibility to end your business or change the way you do business…You now see this kind of soft corruption that happens in a constant way. – Snowden
Snowden goes on to explain how people get upset when government, especially the Trump government, tries to set the boundaries of what appropriate speech is by attempting to stop big tech censorship, he then says,
If you’re not comfortable letting the government determine the boundaries of appropriate political speech, why are you begging Mark Zuckerberg to do it? I think the reality here is…it’s not really about freedom of speech, and it’s not really about protecting people from harm…I think what you see is the internet has become the de facto means of mass communication. That represents influence which represents power, and what we see is we see a whole number of different tribes basically squabbling to try to gain control over this instrument of power. What we see is an increasing tendency to silence journalists who say things that are in the minority.
You can watch the full conversation between Greenwald and Snowden below, the conversation is about 40 minutes long.
The Bolero Buy New $160.00 (as of 04:52 UTC - Details) Closing Comments: This kind of information almost begs the question, are we ready as a society to truly create and disseminate journalism that is honest, integral and bi-partisan? Why is it that these types of organizations fail or struggle? How do some media companies fail? Well, they no longer stay true to their mission. They fall to the pressure of politics and fall into ideology. How many other times did ideology change what media outlets reported? Yes, it’s almost impossible to have zero bias, but how close can we get to zero? How can we achieve this when media outlets who do not fit within the accepted framework and disseminate information that challenges the popular opinion are constantly being punished for simply putting out information?
As Snowden mentioned above, these Big Tech companies in collusion with governments are literally attempting to not only censor information, but change the behaviour of people as well, especially journalists. When you take away one’s business or livelihood as a result of non-compliance, you are in a way forcing them to comply and do/say things you they way you want them done/said. We’ve experienced massive amounts of censorship and demonetization here at Collective Evolution, but we haven’t changed as a results of it. We simply created CETV, a platform that helps support our work as a result of censorship.
Reprinted with permission from Collective Evolution.


lewrockwell--2020-11-30--Do Buy an Old Car – Better Yet, an Old Truck

For several sound reasons , political as well as economic , the purchase of a new car in this new environment is arguably a very bad idea .
For more on that , see here .
For several equally – and corollary – sound reasons , now is an excellent time to buy an old car and even better , an old truck – as friends of mine just did .
Their choice – a mid-1990s full-size Dodge Ram truck with a mechanically injected Cummins turbodiesel straight six – was perhaps the best possible choice .
First , because it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ performing work in addition to mere transportation .
Being able to haul – and pull – in addition to carrying are virtues cars lack .
Second , because it is a truck and so capable of traversing roads and dealing with conditions that cars aren ’ t built to handle .
In the Third World future that appears to be intended , roads may become impassable due to lack of repair ; this is already becoming a problem in many areas and is likely to get worse as the tax cows stop giving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ milk ” use the proceeds for their own needs .
Handmade Hooded Mens P ... Buy New $ 88.88 A truck will not only enable you to get home – and to wherever you need to go – it makes it feasible to make a home where it is difficult if not impossible for those without a truck to go .
A less-accessible home is a safer home , ipso facto .
It may also make it a less expensive home in that a hard-to-reach home is harder to sell to the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the policies most of them supported .
The farther you can get away from them – and out of their reach – the better .
Fourth , a truck is strong .
It will have a heavy steel frame built out of literal steel girders that you can attach cables and winches and hooks to and which can take a load without bending .
Steel frames are also much easier to fix in the field if that ever becomes necessary .
A steel frame can be pulled back into shape with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be cut and welded if they rust .
And it takes a long time for rust to become a structural issue with a steel frame , because of the thickness of the steel itself .
Unibody cars are also generally made of steel but it is of thinner gauge – to save weight , the main reason for cars no longer being built with separate steel frames onto which the body is mounted – and so it rusts through more quickly and because the whole car is literally welded together it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also more susceptible to crippling damage from relatively minor impacts .
A deer strike that might dimple a truck ’ s fender ( that can be pulled back into shape or unbolted and replaced with a new one ) might total a car – or at least , damage it sufficiently as to render it unusable .
Trucks also have bumpers made of steel – not “ covers ” made of plastic .
Bumpers can be bumped .
And used to bump things .
A bumper can serve to part the peacefully protesting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ cover.
” The Best of Eric Peters

For several sound reasons, political as well as economic, the purchase of a new car in this new environment is arguably a very bad idea.
For more on that, see here.
For several equally – and corollary – sound reasons, now is an excellent time to buy an old car and even better, an old truck – as friends of mine just did.
Their choice – a mid-1990s full-size Dodge Ram truck with a mechanically injected Cummins turbodiesel straight six – was perhaps the best possible choice. First, because it is a truck and so capable of performing work in addition to mere transportation. Being able to haul – and pull – in addition to carrying are virtues cars lack.
Second, because it is a truck and so capable of traversing roads and dealing with conditions that cars aren’t built to handle. In the Third World future that appears to be intended, roads may become impassable due to lack of repair; this is already becoming a problem in many areas and is likely to get worse as the tax cows stop giving milk and the takers of the “milk” use the proceeds for their own needs. Handmade Hooded Mens P... Buy New $88.88 (as of 04:52 UTC - Details)
A truck will not only enable you to get home – and to wherever you need to go – it makes it feasible to make a home where it is difficult if not impossible for those without a truck to go. A less-accessible home is a safer home, ipso facto. It may also make it a less expensive home in that a hard-to-reach home is harder to sell to the city people currently fleeing the civilizational devastation imposed by the policies most of them supported.
The farther you can get away from them – and out of their reach – the better.
Fourth, a truck is strong. It will have a heavy steel frame built out of literal steel girders that you can attach cables and winches and hooks to and which can take a load without bending. Steel frames are also much easier to fix in the field if that ever becomes necessary. A steel frame can be pulled back into shape with a come-along and a big tree; sections can be cut and welded if they rust.
And it takes a long time for rust to become a structural issue with a steel frame, because of the thickness of the steel itself.
Unibody cars are also generally made of steel but it is of thinner gauge – to save weight, the main reason for cars no longer being built with separate steel frames onto which the body is mounted – and so it rusts through more quickly and because the whole car is literally welded together it is more difficult to repair when damaged and also more susceptible to crippling damage from relatively minor impacts. A deer strike that might dimple a truck’s fender (that can be pulled back into shape or unbolted and replaced with a new one) might total a car – or at least, damage it sufficiently as to render it unusable.
Trucks also have bumpers made of steel – not “covers” made of plastic. Bumpers can be bumped. And used to bump things. A bumper can serve to part the peacefully protesting seas far more effectively than a plastic “cover.”
Read the Whole Article
The Best of Eric Peters


lewrockwell--2020-11-30--Another Version of History

Another Version of History

NEW YORK—There are times while living in this here dump of New York when I doubt if anyone ’ s heard of the word magnanimity .
By the looks of it , no one among the left-wing media circles has .
That egregious Amanpour woman called Trump a Hitler on CNN after the election , which reminds me : During my dinner ’ s drunken aftermath , I noticed a man in my house who hardly bothered to greet me as host , one James Rubin , a vulgar American who is or was married to that rather unattractive Iranian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those two are Bonnie and Clyde .
And I never did find out who invited that bum to my house , but someone obviously did .
But back to magnanimity , or lack of , after Biden ’ s extremely narrow win .
The idea put forth by the Bagel Times , The Washington Post , and CNN—the three major sinners—that nothing has changed in this country since the 1960s as far as race is concerned is so patently absurd , it rivals the left ’ s claims that the 73 million who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supremacists .
Although Biden to his credit has made the right noises , the Trump-hating media seeks revenge , which in turn splits the country further than it already is .
I don ’ t wish to soil these here elegant pages by naming the American hacks who write such rubbish ; suffice it to say they ’ re one and the same as the wanker who got caught wanking during an editorial meeting of the New Yorker magazine .
One such lowlife writes that the long-running class and cultural wars in America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aggrieved who resent and despise them .
Not surprisingly , it is exactly right , but the other way round .
It is the bicoastal elites who look down upon , condescend to , and detest those working-class suckers who believe in their country and their church and their traditions .
White Dish Rack - Wall ... Buy New $ 485.00 Furthermore , although it is now clear that voting by post did for Biden what Chicago ’ s Mayor Daley did for JFK back in 1960 , a clown who used to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a quasi-porn magazine that discrimination on the basis of race helped Florida go for Trump .
( How do they think these things up ? )
They have no shame and the last thing on their mind is to unite the country .
All this follows a pattern , starting with what ’ s taught in America nowadays—that speech the lefties dislike is itself violence , but when violence is directed against those speakers it is free expression .
Where in hell is Kafka now that we need him ?
The left-wing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insists that left-wing riots are peaceful protests , as when a Bagel Times columnist went to Portland during a bloody riot and demanded to know “ what riot ?
” And yet magnanimity in victory is very important , and we have Versailles in 1919 to thank for it .
Imagine the millions who would not have died and even more millions who would not have suffered if that buffoon Woodrow Wilson and the fat Clemenceau had not insisted on cruelly punishing the Germans .
Never mind , we ’ ll just have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are bigoted , greedy , and somewhat stupid white people and get on with it as the Bidenites take over and reinvent America and the world .
The Best of Taki Theodoracopulos

NEW YORK—There are times while living in this here dump of New York when I doubt if anyone’s heard of the word magnanimity. By the looks of it, no one among the left-wing media circles has. That egregious Amanpour woman called Trump a Hitler on CNN after the election, which reminds me: During my dinner’s drunken aftermath, I noticed a man in my house who hardly bothered to greet me as host, one James Rubin, a vulgar American who is or was married to that rather unattractive Iranian Amanpour. If Trump is Hitler, those two are Bonnie and Clyde. And I never did find out who invited that bum to my house, but someone obviously did.
But back to magnanimity, or lack of, after Biden’s extremely narrow win. The idea put forth by the Bagel Times, The Washington Post, and CNN—the three major sinners—that nothing has changed in this country since the 1960s as far as race is concerned is so patently absurd, it rivals the left’s claims that the 73 million who voted for The Donald are all white supremacists. Although Biden to his credit has made the right noises, the Trump-hating media seeks revenge, which in turn splits the country further than it already is. I don’t wish to soil these here elegant pages by naming the American hacks who write such rubbish; suffice it to say they’re one and the same as the wanker who got caught wanking during an editorial meeting of the New Yorker magazine. One such lowlife writes that the long-running class and cultural wars in America are between the coastal elites and the aggrieved who resent and despise them. Not surprisingly, it is exactly right, but the other way round. It is the bicoastal elites who look down upon, condescend to, and detest those working-class suckers who believe in their country and their church and their traditions. White Dish Rack - Wall... Check Amazon for Pricing.
Furthermore, although it is now clear that voting by post did for Biden what Chicago’s Mayor Daley did for JFK back in 1960, a clown who used to review plays for the Bagel Times writes in a quasi-porn magazine that discrimination on the basis of race helped Florida go for Trump. (How do they think these things up?) They have no shame and the last thing on their mind is to unite the country.
All this follows a pattern, starting with what’s taught in America nowadays—that speech the lefties dislike is itself violence, but when violence is directed against those speakers it is free expression. Where in hell is Kafka now that we need him? The left-wing media follows in goose step when it insists that left-wing riots are peaceful protests, as when a Bagel Times columnist went to Portland during a bloody riot and demanded to know “what riot?”
And yet magnanimity in victory is very important, and we have Versailles in 1919 to thank for it. Imagine the millions who would not have died and even more millions who would not have suffered if that buffoon Woodrow Wilson and the fat Clemenceau had not insisted on cruelly punishing the Germans. Never mind, we’ll just have to get used to the fact that we are bigoted, greedy, and somewhat stupid white people and get on with it as the Bidenites take over and reinvent America and the world.
Read the Whole Article
The Best of Taki Theodoracopulos


lewrockwell--2020-12-01--Trump Pardons Flynn…It’s a Good Start!

Trump Pardons Flynn…It’s a Good Start!

Last week President Trump granted a “ full pardon ” to Gen. Michael Flynn , his first National Security Advisor .
In a White House statement announcing the pardon , the Administration pointed out that the relentless pursuit of Flynn was a partisan effort to overturn the results of the 2016 election .
The pursuit of Flynn was spearheaded by people who refused to accept the results of the 2016 election and worked to undermine the peaceful transfer of power , said the White House .
These same people are the ones accusing Trump of undermining the election by challenging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the 2020 presidential election .
The White House statement also cites partisans in politics , the media , and the Deep State which sought to prevent Trump from being elected , to prevent him from taking office once elected , and to remove him on false pretenses once in office .
Trump 2020 - Keep Amer ... Buy New $ 9.99 In order to push the false narrative that Trump was somehow elected due to the intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin , the coup-masters had to make it appear that a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the Russians .
Flynn was the unlucky victim of their smear machine , accused of “ Russia collusion ” over an innocent telephone call with the then-Russian Ambassador in Washington during the transition to a Trump Administration .
Yet when Joe Biden ’ s transition people bragged recently that Biden was connecting with foreign officials before inaugurated , the media praised it as a welcome return of the “ experts ” to foreign policy .
While it is very good news that President Trump is in the mood to pardon those victims @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very much hope that he is only warming up .
It would be a great tragedy if other Deep State victims are left to suffer for their non-crimes .
Tweeting about her legislation that calls for charges against Edward Snowden and Julian Assange to be dropped and the Espionage Act reformed , US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard told President Trump , “ since you ’ re giving pardons to people , please consider pardoning those who , at great personal sacrifice , exposed the deception and criminality of those in the deep state.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Ron Paul Institute Board Member , is a co-sponsor of Rep. Gabbard ’ s legislation , making it a real bipartisan effort to restore the rule of law in the United States and to rein in the Beltway warmongers .
Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are not criminals .
They are heroes for telling us the truth about what criminals in government were doing in our name and with our money .
The fact is we were lied into war over and over again .
While those wars were profitable for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people overseas and robbed our own children and grandchildren of trillions of dollars wasted on neocon lies .
And meanwhile , as Ed Snowden showed us , the intelligence community declared us the enemy and set up an elaborate internal spy network that would make the East German Stasi green with envy .
President Trump : you have the incredible opportunity to right the terrible wrongs perpetrated by the Obama/Biden Administration .
History will smile kindly upon you if you also grant full pardon to Julian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other truth-teller who faces persecution for exposing the Deep State warmongers .
The Best of Ron Paul , MD

Last week President Trump granted a “full pardon” to Gen. Michael Flynn, his first National Security Advisor. In a White House statement announcing the pardon, the Administration pointed out that the relentless pursuit of Flynn was a partisan effort to overturn the results of the 2016 election.
The pursuit of Flynn was spearheaded by people who refused to accept the results of the 2016 election and worked to undermine the peaceful transfer of power, said the White House. These same people are the ones accusing Trump of undermining the election by challenging what appears to be serious voting irregularities in the 2020 presidential election.
That is called “projection.”
The White House statement also cites partisans in politics, the media, and the Deep State which sought to prevent Trump from being elected, to prevent him from taking office once elected, and to remove him on false pretenses once in office. Trump 2020 - Keep Amer... Check Amazon for Pricing.
In order to push the false narrative that Trump was somehow elected due to the intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the coup-masters had to make it appear that a high-ranking official was involved in monkey business with the Russians. Flynn was the unlucky victim of their smear machine, accused of “Russia collusion” over an innocent telephone call with the then-Russian Ambassador in Washington during the transition to a Trump Administration.
Yet when Joe Biden’s transition people bragged recently that Biden was connecting with foreign officials before inaugurated, the media praised it as a welcome return of the “experts” to foreign policy.
While it is very good news that President Trump is in the mood to pardon those victims of the warmongering Deep State, I very much hope that he is only warming up. It would be a great tragedy if other Deep State victims are left to suffer for their non-crimes.
Tweeting about her legislation that calls for charges against Edward Snowden and Julian Assange to be dropped and the Espionage Act reformed, US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard told President Trump, “since you’re giving pardons to people, please consider pardoning those who, at great personal sacrifice, exposed the deception and criminality of those in the deep state.”
My good friend Rep. Thomas Massie, a Ron Paul Institute Board Member, is a co-sponsor of Rep. Gabbard’s legislation, making it a real bipartisan effort to restore the rule of law in the United States and to rein in the Beltway warmongers.
Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are not criminals. They are heroes for telling us the truth about what criminals in government were doing in our name and with our money.
The fact is we were lied into war over and over again. While those wars were profitable for the military-industrial-Congressional-media complex, they snuffed out the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people overseas and robbed our own children and grandchildren of trillions of dollars wasted on neocon lies. And meanwhile, as Ed Snowden showed us, the intelligence community declared us the enemy and set up an elaborate internal spy network that would make the East German Stasi green with envy.
President Trump: you have the incredible opportunity to right the terrible wrongs perpetrated by the Obama/Biden Administration. History will smile kindly upon you if you also grant full pardon to Julian Assange and Edward Snowden – and any other truth-teller who faces persecution for exposing the Deep State warmongers.
The Best of Ron Paul, MD


lewrockwell--2020-12-01--The Past Lives On: The Elite Strategy To Divide and Conquer

“ They call my people the White Lower Middle Class these days .
It is an ugly , ice-cold phrase , the result , I suppose , of the missionary zeal of those sociologists who still think you can place human beings on charts .
It most certainly does not sound like a description of people on the edge of open , sustained and possibly violent revolt , ” wrote the marvelous New York journalist , Pete Hamill in “ The Revolt of the White Lower Middle Class ” in New York magazine .
He added : The White Lower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a cocktail party on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and monstrous images arise from the American demonology .
Here comes the murderous rabble : fat , well-fed , bigoted , ignorant , an army of beer-soaked Irishmen , violence-loving Italians , hate-filled Poles .
Lithuanians and Hungarians….Sometimes these brutes are referred to as ‘ the ethnics ’ or ‘ the blue-collar types.
’ But the bureaucratic , sociological phrase is White Lower Middle Class .
Nobody calls it the Working Class anymore .
He wrote that on April 14 , 1969 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Leather Crossbod ... Buy New $ 39.99 Transferred from NYC to the middle of the country half a century later , these people are referred to as Trump ’ s “ deplorables.
” They comes in baskets , as Hillary Clinton said .
And even though they represent nearly half the voting public in the last two presidential elections – 70+ million Americans – their complaints are dismissed as the rantings of ignorant , conservative racists .
Name calling substitutes for understanding .
This is not an accident .
Like Hamill , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – my working-class Bronx to Pete ’ s Brooklyn .
We both attended the same Jesuit high school in different years .
Unlike Hamill , known for his gritty street reporting , because I have been a college sociology professor , I could falsely be categorized as a northeastern liberal intellectual oozing with disdain for those who voted for Trump .
This is false , because , like Hamill , I see it as my intellectual duty to understand what motivates these voters , just as I do with those who voted for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Donald Trump , nor did I vote for Joseph Biden , or Hillary Clinton in 2016 .
I am not one of those sociologists Hamill refers to ; I use the term Working Class and am acutely aware of the social class nature of life in the U.S.A. , where the economic system of neo-liberal capitalism is constructed to try to convince working Americans that the system cares for them , and if they grow disgusted with its lies and inequities and rage against the machine by voting for anyone who seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ super-rich reality TV real estate magnate named Trump who is not with them ) , they are dumb-ass bigots whose concerns should be brushed off .
The truth is that both the Trump voters and the Biden voters have been taken for a ride .
It is a game , a show , a movie , a spectacle .
It hasn ’ t changed much since 1969 ; the rich have gotten richer and the poor , working , and middle classes have gotten poorer and more desperate .
Those who have profited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Plated ... Buy New $ 12.99 The Institute for Policy Studies has just released a new analysis showing that since the start of the Covid-19 “ pandemic ” in mid-March and the subsequent transfer upwards of $ 5 trillion to the wealthy and largest corporations through the Cares Act , approved 96-0 in the U.S. Senate , 650 U.S. billionaires have gained over a trillion dollars in eight months as the America people have suffered an economic catastrophe .
This shift upward of massive wealth under Trump is similar to Obama ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the backs of American workers .
Both were justified through feats of legerdemain by both political parties , accomplices in the fleecing of regular people , many of whom continue to support the politicians that screw them while telling them they care .
If the Democrats and the Republicans are at war as is often claimed , it is only over who gets the larger part of the spoils .
Trump and Biden work for the same bosses , those I call the Umbrella People ( those who own and run the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ produce and direct the movie that keeps so many Americans on the edge of their seats in the hope that their chosen good guy wins in the end .
I am well aware that most people disagree with my analysis .
It does seem as if I am wrong and that because the Democrats and their accomplices have spent years attempting to oust Trump through Russia-gate , impeachment , etc .
that what seems true is true and Trump is simply a crazy aberration who somehow slipped through the net of establishment control @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those 146 + million people who voted for Biden and Trump this seems self-evident .
But if that is so , why , despite their superficial differences – and Obama ’ s , Hillary Clinton ’ s and George W. Bush ’ s for that matter – have the super-rich gotten richer and richer over the decades and the war on terror continued as the military budget has increased each year and the armament industries and the Wall Street crooks continued to rake in the money at the expense of everyone else ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t be disputed .
There are many more .
So what ’ s changed under Trump ?
We are talking about nuances , small changes .
A clown with a big mouth versus traditional , “ dignified ” con men .
Lavender Spa Gift Box ... Buy New $ 39.95 If you were writing this script as part of long-term planning and average people were getting disgusted from decades of being screwed and were sick of politicians and their lying ways , wouldn ’ t you stop the reruns and create a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is Hollywood where creative showmen can dazzle our minds with plots so twisted that when you leave the theater you keep wondering what it was all about and arguing with your friends about the ending .
So create a throwback film where the good guy versus the bad guy was seemingly very clear , and while the system ground on , people would be at each other ’ s throats over the obvious differences , even while they were fabricated .
Variety is necessary .
You wouldn ’ t want to repeat the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man came into town out of nowhere to clean up the mess created by the poorly spoken white sheriff who loved war and then the black hero went on to wage war in seven countries while his fans sat contented in the audience loving the show and making believe they didn ’ t see what was happening on the screen even though their hero jailed whistle blowers and greatly expanded the surveillance state right in front of their eyes .
No , as the years passed , those two guys turned out to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it off , and a famous photograph appeared of the good guy ’ s wife hugging the bad guy , which was not a good thing for the script that has the Republicans warring against the Democrats .
A new story line was needed .
How about an opéra bouffe , someone suggested , and the rest is history .
Or pseudo-history .
This is the real matrix .
The most sophisticated mind control operation up to this point , with the coronavirus lockdown added to propel it to what the producers hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I say ?
The Towers pulverized .
David Ray Griffin told us the truth repetitively .
Lucchese Women ’ s ... Buy New $ 295.00 Minds of this generation destroyed , as Allen Ginsberg said in Howl : “ I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.
” It ’ s been many generations now .
There has been a form of social madness growing over the decades and it is everywhere now .
Look at people ’ s faces , if you can see them behind the masks ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the scared rabbit eyes that you see on the wards of mental hospitals .
The look that says : what the fuck has happened as they stare into a blank screen in a tumbling void , to paraphrase Don DeLillo from his new book Silence , where people speak gibberish once their digital world is mysteriously taken down and they wander in the dark .
We are in the dark now , even though the lights and screens are still shining for the time being .
Let those who think I am wrong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same show , consider this .
If Trump is truly the opponent of the Deep State , the Swamp , the corrupt establishment , he will pardon Julian Assange , Chelsey Manning , and Edward Snowden who have been persecuted by these forces .
He has nothing left to lose as he exits stage right .
The journalist Julian Assange has done more than anyone to expose the sick underbelly of the gangster state , its intelligence and military secrets , its illegal and immoral killings .
That is why he has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long .
It ’ s a bipartisan persecution of an innocent man whose only “ crime ” has been to tell the truth that is allegedly the essence of a democratic society .
Chelsey Manning has also suffered tremendously for exposing the savagery of U.S. military operations .
And Edward Snowden has been forced into Russian exile for telling us about the vast global surveillance systems run by the NSA and CIA to spy on the American people .
Three innocent truth-tellers at war with the Deep-State forces that Donald Trump says he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supporters claim , he will pardon these courageous three .
It ’ s all in his power .
A simple , clear message as he goes out the door .
If by the smallest chance he does pardon them , I will be very happy and publicly apologize .
If he doesn ’ t , as I expect , please don ’ t say a word in his defense .
My ears will be stuffed with wax .
For he won ’ t , because , like Biden , he is controlled by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exposed .
But back to the working class “ deplorables ” that voted for Trump .
They aren ’ t going anywhere .
Their grievances remain .
For decades , under Democratic and Republican administrations , their lives have been hollowed out , their livelihoods taken as corporate thieves have ravaged their towns and cities by closing down the factories where they worked and sending them overseas for greater profits .
Small farmers have been “ liquidated ” for agribusiness .
As always , the coastal urbanites have considered rural people stupid , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ words clown , boor , and villain have all originally meant farmer or countryman or lower-class peasant .
Such hidden etymological social class prejudices have a way of persisting over the years .
Towns and small businesses disappear , traditional values are ridiculed , drug addiction and suicide increase , the fabric of traditions crumble , etc .
This list is long .
The people who voted for Trump feel betrayed ; feel like victims .
Of course , as Pete Hamill wrote of the NYC white working class in 1969 , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all racists , they have their reasons , but these reasons are poison and despicable .
But overall , these Trump voters are , in Hamill ’ s words , “ actually in revolt against taxes , joyless work , the double standards and short memories of professional politicians , hypocrisy and what he considers the debasement of the American dream.
” Any politician , he added , who leaves these people out of the political equation , does so at a very large risk .
That risk has been growing over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ things , and for many Americans these are desperate times .
Everywhere you look , there are long lines at food pantries and soup kitchens .
The unemployment numbers are staggering .
Homelessness .
Suicides .
Drug and alcohol addictions rising .
Clear signs of social disintegration .
This is true not just in the United States but is happening around the world as neo-liberal economic policies are exacerbated by the widespread lockdowns that have given rise to massive protests worldwide , protests that the corporate press has failed to publicize since doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ promotions of the lockdowns .
In England , the Mirror newspaper just printed the legendary Australian journalist John Pilger ’ s article about his 1975 interviews with impoverished English families with this lead : John Pilger interviewed Irene Brunsden in Hackney , east London about only being able to feed her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes in 1975 .
Now he sees nervous women queueing at foodbanks with their children as it ’ s revealed 600,000 more kids are in poverty now than in 2012 .
Many Trump voters no doubt know that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But he said the right things , and desperation and disgust will grasp onto the slightest will-o ’ -the-wisp when disbelief in the whole rotten system is widespread .
Let ’ s not bullshit : everyone knows the game is rigged .
Fill in the names of the political charlatans .
The system is built on lies to keep the illusions brightening the screen of the great picture show , what Neil Gabler has rightly called “ life the movie.
” Biden voters no doubt desperately hope that we can go back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” even while knowing this is a losing game .
Many of them try hard to conceal their true feelings , that their hatred for Trump and their love of living in times when imperialism is concealed as democracy is what they want .
They don ’ t want to know .
Concealment of the atrocious underbelly of normal is their hope and desire , even while they too are being fleeced and secretly know that the “ new normal ” will be far from their restorative dreams .
There are exceptions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden will significantly change things , but I would say they are a very small minority .
Many Biden voters say they have voted for the “ lesser of two evils , ” an old , worn-out excuse that in a rigged system will perdure .
Little changes .
The past lives on .
Next year ’ s Academy Awards will be interesting .
A wit I know suggested that perhaps Trump and Biden will be nominees for the Best Actor in a Leading Role and they will tie for the Oscar .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has ever happened .
The first was in 1932 when Fredric March and Wallace Beery shared the award .
March starred in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Beery in the boxing film , The Champ .
Both winners will be announced as starring in the same film , confusing the audience until it ’ s named : The American Nightmare .
Then raucous cheering will erupt from the jaded audience .
Dr. Jekyll will embrace Mr. Hyde and the melded Champ will take a bow as he winks for the cameras .
@ @ @ @ @

“They call my people the White Lower Middle Class these days. It is an ugly, ice-cold phrase, the result, I suppose, of the missionary zeal of those sociologists who still think you can place human beings on charts. It most certainly does not sound like a description of people on the edge of open, sustained and possibly violent revolt,” wrote the marvelous New York journalist, Pete Hamill in “The Revolt of the White Lower Middle Class” in New York magazine. He added:
The White Lower Middle Class? Say that magic phrase at a cocktail party on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and monstrous images arise from the American demonology. Here comes the murderous rabble: fat, well-fed, bigoted, ignorant, an army of beer-soaked Irishmen, violence-loving Italians, hate-filled Poles. Lithuanians and Hungarians….Sometimes these brutes are referred to as ‘the ethnics’ or ‘the blue-collar types.’ But the bureaucratic, sociological phrase is White Lower Middle Class. Nobody calls it the Working Class anymore.
He wrote that on April 14, 1969. Yesterday. Little changes.
Firu-Handmade Women Le... Buy New $42.99 (as of 05:17 UTC - Details) Transferred from NYC to the middle of the country half a century later, these people are referred to as Trump’s “deplorables.” They comes in baskets, as Hillary Clinton said. And even though they represent nearly half the voting public in the last two presidential elections – 70+ million Americans – their complaints are dismissed as the rantings of ignorant, conservative racists.
Name calling substitutes for understanding. This is not an accident.
Like Hamill, I am a NYC born and bred Irish-American – my working-class Bronx to Pete’s Brooklyn. We both attended the same Jesuit high school in different years. Unlike Hamill, known for his gritty street reporting, because I have been a college sociology professor, I could falsely be categorized as a northeastern liberal intellectual oozing with disdain for those who voted for Trump. This is false, because, like Hamill, I see it as my intellectual duty to understand what motivates these voters, just as I do with those who voted for Biden.
I didn’t vote for Donald Trump, nor did I vote for Joseph Biden, or Hillary Clinton in 2016. I am not one of those sociologists Hamill refers to; I use the term Working Class and am acutely aware of the social class nature of life in the U.S.A., where the economic system of neo-liberal capitalism is constructed to try to convince working Americans that the system cares for them, and if they grow disgusted with its lies and inequities and rage against the machine by voting for anyone who seems to be with them (even a super-rich reality TV real estate magnate named Trump who is not with them), they are dumb-ass bigots whose concerns should be brushed off.
The truth is that both the Trump voters and the Biden voters have been taken for a ride. It is a game, a show, a movie, a spectacle. It hasn’t changed much since 1969; the rich have gotten richer and the poor, working, and middle classes have gotten poorer and more desperate. Those who have profited have embraced the fraud. Turandoss Gold Plated ... Buy New $13.99 (as of 05:17 UTC - Details)
The Institute for Policy Studies has just released a new analysis showing that since the start of the Covid-19 “pandemic” in mid-March and the subsequent transfer upwards of $5 trillion to the wealthy and largest corporations through the Cares Act, approved 96-0 in the U.S. Senate, 650 U.S. billionaires have gained over a trillion dollars in eight months as the America people have suffered an economic catastrophe. This shift upward of massive wealth under Trump is similar to Obama’s massive 2009 bailout of the banks on the backs of American workers. Both were justified through feats of legerdemain by both political parties, accomplices in the fleecing of regular people, many of whom continue to support the politicians that screw them while telling them they care.
If the Democrats and the Republicans are at war as is often claimed, it is only over who gets the larger part of the spoils. Trump and Biden work for the same bosses, those I call the Umbrella People (those who own and run the country through their intelligence/military/media operatives), who produce and direct the movie that keeps so many Americans on the edge of their seats in the hope that their chosen good guy wins in the end.
I am well aware that most people disagree with my analysis. It does seem as if I am wrong and that because the Democrats and their accomplices have spent years attempting to oust Trump through Russia-gate, impeachment, etc. that what seems true is true and Trump is simply a crazy aberration who somehow slipped through the net of establishment control to rule for four years. To those 146 + million people who voted for Biden and Trump this seems self-evident. But if that is so, why, despite their superficial differences – and Obama’s, Hillary Clinton’s and George W. Bush’s for that matter – have the super-rich gotten richer and richer over the decades and the war on terror continued as the military budget has increased each year and the armament industries and the Wall Street crooks continued to rake in the money at the expense of everyone else? These are a few facts that can’t be disputed. There are many more. So what’s changed under Trump? We are talking about nuances, small changes. A clown with a big mouth versus traditional, “dignified” con men. Kim and Pom - Lavender... Buy New $39.99 (as of 05:01 UTC - Details)
If you were writing this script as part of long-term planning and average people were getting disgusted from decades of being screwed and were sick of politicians and their lying ways, wouldn’t you stop the reruns and create a new show? Come on, this is Hollywood where creative showmen can dazzle our minds with plots so twisted that when you leave the theater you keep wondering what it was all about and arguing with your friends about the ending. So create a throwback film where the good guy versus the bad guy was seemingly very clear, and while the system ground on, people would be at each other’s throats over the obvious differences, even while they were fabricated.
Variety is necessary. You wouldn’t want to repeat the film from 2008 when a well-spoken black man came into town out of nowhere to clean up the mess created by the poorly spoken white sheriff who loved war and then the black hero went on to wage war in seven countries while his fans sat contented in the audience loving the show and making believe they didn’t see what was happening on the screen even though their hero jailed whistle blowers and greatly expanded the surveillance state right in front of their eyes.
No, as the years passed, those two guys turned out to be buddies, and their wives hit it off, and a famous photograph appeared of the good guy’s wife hugging the bad guy, which was not a good thing for the script that has the Republicans warring against the Democrats.
A new story line was needed. How about an opéra bouffe, someone suggested, and the rest is history. Or pseudo-history. This is the real matrix. The most sophisticated mind control operation up to this point, with the coronavirus lockdown added to propel it to what the producers hope is a conclusion.
What more can I say?
Billy Joel said it: “JFK blown away.”
The Towers pulverized. David Ray Griffin told us the truth repetitively. Lucchese Women’s... Check Amazon for Pricing.
Minds of this generation destroyed, as Allen Ginsberg said in Howl: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.”
It’s been many generations now. There has been a form of social madness growing over the decades and it is everywhere now. Look at people’s faces, if you can see them behind the masks; everywhere the strained and stressed looks, the scared rabbit eyes that you see on the wards of mental hospitals. The look that says: what the fuck has happened as they stare into a blank screen in a tumbling void, to paraphrase Don DeLillo from his new book Silence, where people speak gibberish once their digital world is mysteriously taken down and they wander in the dark. We are in the dark now, even though the lights and screens are still shining for the time being.
Let those who think I am wrong about Trump and Biden being players in the same show, consider this. If Trump is truly the opponent of the Deep State, the Swamp, the corrupt establishment, he will pardon Julian Assange, Chelsey Manning, and Edward Snowden who have been persecuted by these forces. He has nothing left to lose as he exits stage right.
The journalist Julian Assange has done more than anyone to expose the sick underbelly of the gangster state, its intelligence and military secrets, its illegal and immoral killings. That is why he has been hounded and locked away for so long. It’s a bipartisan persecution of an innocent man whose only “crime” has been to tell the truth that is allegedly the essence of a democratic society.
Chelsey Manning has also suffered tremendously for exposing the savagery of U.S. military operations.
And Edward Snowden has been forced into Russian exile for telling us about the vast global surveillance systems run by the NSA and CIA to spy on the American people.
Three innocent truth-tellers at war with the Deep-State forces that Donald Trump says he opposes.
If he is what his supporters claim, he will pardon these courageous three. It’s all in his power. A simple, clear message as he goes out the door. If by the smallest chance he does pardon them, I will be very happy and publicly apologize. If he doesn’t, as I expect, please don’t say a word in his defense. My ears will be stuffed with wax. For he won’t, because, like Biden, he is controlled by the very forces that these truth-tellers have exposed.
But back to the working class “deplorables” that voted for Trump. They aren’t going anywhere. Their grievances remain. For decades, under Democratic and Republican administrations, their lives have been hollowed out, their livelihoods taken as corporate thieves have ravaged their towns and cities by closing down the factories where they worked and sending them overseas for greater profits. Small farmers have been “liquidated” for agribusiness.
As always, the coastal urbanites have considered rural people stupid, uncouth, and clownish, as the words clown, boor, and villain have all originally meant farmer or countryman or lower-class peasant. Such hidden etymological social class prejudices have a way of persisting over the years.
Towns and small businesses disappear, traditional values are ridiculed, drug addiction and suicide increase, the fabric of traditions crumble, etc. This list is long. The people who voted for Trump feel betrayed; feel like victims. Of course, as Pete Hamill wrote of the NYC white working class in 1969, there are racists among them, and with all racists, they have their reasons, but these reasons are poison and despicable. But overall, these Trump voters are, in Hamill’s words, “actually in revolt against taxes, joyless work, the double standards and short memories of professional politicians, hypocrisy and what he considers the debasement of the American dream.” Any politician, he added, who leaves these people out of the political equation, does so at a very large risk. That risk has been growing over the decades.
Yet desperate people do desperate things, and for many Americans these are desperate times. Everywhere you look, there are long lines at food pantries and soup kitchens. The unemployment numbers are staggering. Homelessness. Suicides. Drug and alcohol addictions rising. Clear signs of social disintegration. This is true not just in the United States but is happening around the world as neo-liberal economic policies are exacerbated by the widespread lockdowns that have given rise to massive protests worldwide, protests that the corporate press has failed to publicize since doing so would give the lie to their promotions of the lockdowns.
In England, the Mirror newspaper just printed the legendary Australian journalist John Pilger’s article about his 1975 interviews with impoverished English families with this lead:
John Pilger interviewed Irene Brunsden in Hackney, east London about only being able to feed her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes in 1975. Now he sees nervous women queueing at foodbanks with their children as it’s revealed 600,000 more kids are in poverty now than in 2012.
Vast numbers of people are suffering.
Many Trump voters no doubt know that Trump was never going to save them. But he said the right things, and desperation and disgust will grasp onto the slightest will-o’-the-wisp when disbelief in the whole rotten system is widespread.
Let’s not bullshit: everyone knows the game is rigged.
Trump is a liar.
Biden is a liar.
Great Britain’s Boris Johnson is a liar.
Fill in the names of the political charlatans.
The system is built on lies to keep the illusions brightening the screen of the great picture show, what Neil Gabler has rightly called “life the movie.”
Biden voters no doubt desperately hope that we can go back to some semblance of “normal,” even while knowing this is a losing game. Many of them try hard to conceal their true feelings, that their hatred for Trump and their love of living in times when imperialism is concealed as democracy is what they want. They don’t want to know. Concealment of the atrocious underbelly of normal is their hope and desire, even while they too are being fleeced and secretly know that the “new normal” will be far from their restorative dreams. There are exceptions, of course, true believers who think Biden will significantly change things, but I would say they are a very small minority. Many Biden voters say they have voted for the “lesser of two evils,” an old, worn-out excuse that in a rigged system will perdure.
Little changes. The past lives on.
Next year’s Academy Awards will be interesting. A wit I know suggested that perhaps Trump and Biden will be nominees for the Best Actor in a Leading Role and they will tie for the Oscar. That will be the second time that has ever happened. The first was in 1932 when Fredric March and Wallace Beery shared the award. March starred in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Beery in the boxing film, The Champ.
Both winners will be announced as starring in the same film, confusing the audience until it’s named: The American Nightmare. Then raucous cheering will erupt from the jaded audience. Dr. Jekyll will embrace Mr. Hyde and the melded Champ will take a bow as he winks for the cameras.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
The Best of Edward Curtin