lewrockwell--2020-01-22--The Geopolitics of Epistemological Warfare: From Babylon to Neocon

I think any sane human being can agree that while war was never a good idea , war in the 21st century is an absolutely intolerable one .
The problem we currently face is that many of the forces driving world events towards an all-out war of “ Mutually Assured Annihilation ” are anything but sane .
While I ’ m obviously referring here to a certain category of people who fall under a particularly virulent strain of imperial thinking which can be labelled “ neo-conservative ” and while many of these disturbing figures honestly believe that a total war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in order to achieve their goals of total global hegemony , I would like to make one subtle yet very important distinction which is often overlooked .
What is this distinction ?
Under the broad umbrella of “ neo-conservative ” one should properly differentiate those who really believe in their ideology and are trapped under the invisible cage of its unexamined assumptions vs. that smaller yet more important segment that created and manages the ideology from the top .
I brushed on this grouping in a recent 3 part study called Origins of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jewish Conspiracy .
To re-state my meaning : This group doesn ’ t necessarily believe in the ideological group they manage any more than a parent believes in that tooth fairy which they promote in order to achieve certain behavioral patterns in their children .
Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 While belief in the tooth fairy is slightly less destructive than belief in a misanthropic neocon worldview of a Bolton , Pompeo or Cheney , the analogy is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideology-shapers serve the same role as those ancient high priests of Babylon , Persia and Rome who managed the many cults and countless pagan mystery religions recorded throughout the ages .
It is well documented that any cult could comfortably exist under Rome ’ s control , as long as said cult denied any claim to objective truthfulness- making the rise of Abrahamic monotheistic faiths more than a little antagonistic to empire .
Did the high priests necessarily BELIEVE in those dogmas which they created and managed ?
Was it politically necessary to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like everything in the world , exist as a whole with parts… but since they deny any principle of natural law ( justice , love , goodness , etc ) , empires are merely a sum of parts and their rules of organization can be nothing but zero sum ( 1 ) .
Each cultish group may coexist as an echo chamber alongside other groups sacrificing to whatever deity they wish without judgement of moral right or wrong bounded only by a common blind faith in their group ’ s beliefs- but nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or human nature is otherwise permitted .
Here the a-moral “ peace ” of “ equilibrium ” can be achieved by an oligarchy which wishes to lord over the slaves .
Whether we are dealing with Caesar Augustus , Lord Metternich ’ s Congress of Vienna , Aldous Huxley , Sir Henry Kissinger , or Leo Strauss ( father of modern neo-conservativism ) , “ Peace ” can never be anything more than a mathematical “ balancing of parts ” .
Now it is a good moment to ask : What does this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
To answer this , let us leap over a couple of millennia and take a look at something a bit more personal : Adam Smith and the doctrine of free trade .
Do Smith ’ s modern followers sincerely believe in the “ self-regulating forces of the free market ” ?
Sure they do .
Did Adam Smith actually believe in his own system ?
Whether he did or not , according to recent research conducted by historian Jeffrey Steinberg , Smith received his commission to compose his seminal book Wealth of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Lord Shelburne himself in a carriage ride from Edinburgh to London in 1763 .
The date 1776 is not a coincidence as this was the same Lord Shelburne who essentially managed the British Empire during the American Revolution and who always despised all colonial aspirations to use protective tariffs , emit productive credit or channel said credit towards internal improvements as Benjamin Franklin had championed in his 1729 Necessity of Paper Currency and Colonial Script .
Why develop Industry , asked Smith , when the new “ Law ” of “ absolute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what they are good at for the best price possible ?
America has a lot of land , so they should stick with agriculture and slave-driven cotton .
Britain had a lot of industry ( don ’ t ask how that happened because it wasn ’ t through free trade ) , so they should stick with that !
India had advanced textiles , but Britain had to destroy that so that India could then have a lot of opium fields so she could do that… which China could then smoke to death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Free Trade ” demanded it so .
Let ’ s look at another example : Charles Darwin ’ s theory of natural selection Darwin ’ s theory published in his Origins of Species ( 1859 ) was based on the assumption that all changes in the biosphere are driven by “ laws ” of “ survival of the fittest ” within an assumed closed ecosystem of diminishing returns .
Just as Smith asserted that an “ invisible hand ” brought creative order to the chaos of unregulated vice and self-interest , Darwin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scale evolution of species could be explained by chaotic mutations on the micro level beyond a wall that no power of reason , free will or God could pass ( 2 ) .
Did Charles Darwin believe his system ?
Probably .
But how about Thomas Huxley ( aka : “ Darwin ’ s Bulldog ” ) whose efforts to destroy all competing theories which included “ purpose ” , “ meaning ” , or “ design ” were crushed and ridiculed into obscurity ?
Huxley himself was on record saying he did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So why was this theory promoted by forces ( like Huxley ’ s X Club ) who recognized its many flaws ?
Well , here again it helps to refer to Darwin ’ s own account of his discovery from his autobiography where he wrote : “ In October 1838 , fifteen months after I had begun my systematic inquiry , I happened to read for amusement Malthus on Population , and being prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes on , from long-continued observation of the habits of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved , and unfavourable ones to be destroyed .
The result would be the formation of a new species .
Here then , I had at last got a theory by which to work ” .
And here we have it !
Reverend Thomas Malthus ( the cold hearted “ Man of God ” who taught economics at the British East India Company ’ s Haileybury College ) provided the very foundation upon which Darwin ’ s system stood !
Thomas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” of Huxley ’ s X Club were always Malthusian ( even before there was Malthus ) since empires have always been more focused on monopolizing the finite resources of an age , rather than encouraging creative discoveries and new inventions which would bring new resources into being- overcoming nature ’ s “ limits to growth ” ( a dis-equilibrium not to be tolerated ) .
Whether Malthus actually believed in the system which bears his name , as generations of his adherents sincerely do , remains to be seen .
However his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ unfit ” by the Ubermenschen of the British Aristocracy preceded Social Darwinism by a full century when he coldly called for the encouragement of the plague and other “ natural forms of destruction ” to cull the herd of the unfit in his Essay on the Principle of Population ( 1799 ) : “ We should facilitate , instead of foolishly and vainly endeavoring to impede , the operations of nature in producing this mortality ; and if we dread the too frequent visitation of the horrid form of famine , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of destruction , which we compel nature to use .
In our towns we should make the streets narrower , crowd more people into the houses , and court the return of the plague.
” A little later , Malthus even argued for the early extermination of poor babies who were of low value to society when he said : “ I should propose a regulation to be made , declaring that no child born from any marriage taking place after the expiration of a year from the date of the law , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the same date , should ever be entitled to parish assistance… The infant is , comparatively speaking , of little value to society , as others will immediately supply its place.
” The neo-Malthusian revivalists such as Princes Bernhardt , Philip Mountbatten and Huxley ’ s own grandson Sir Julian who birthed the misanthropic deformity today called the Green New Deal were not ignorant to this tradition .
The disastrous effect of this worldview upon races deemed “ unfit ” in the global south should also not be ignored .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ founded the World Wildlife Fund , 1001 Nature Trust and Club of Rome which imposed a technological apartheid upon the third world over the bodies of countless statesmen during the Cold War .
The Danger of Creative Thought to an Empire Encouraging creative thought and cooperation among diverse nations , linguistic , religious and ethnic groups tends to result in new uncontrolled systems of potential as humanity increases its capacity to sustain itself while imperial systems lose their ability to parasitically drain their host .
In Lincoln ’ s great 1859 speech , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Malthusian paradigm endemic of the British Empire when he said : “ All creation is a mine , and every man , a miner .
The whole earth , and all within it , upon it , and round about it , including himself , in his physical , moral , and intellectual nature , and his susceptibilities , are the infinitely various “ leads ” from which , man , from the first , was to dig out his destiny… Man is not the only animal who labors ; but he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This improvement , he effects by Discoveries , and Inventions.
” Lincoln ’ s economic commitments to protective tariffs , state credit ( greenbacks ) and internal improvements are inextricably linked to this view of man also shared by the earlier Ben Franklin .
Today , the positive paradigm which Lincoln died to defend is most clearly represented by the leaders of such nations as Russia and China- both of whom have come out repeatedly attacking the post-truth neo-liberal order and also the win-lose philosophy of Hobbesian geopolitics ( 3 ) .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ dance with impeachment and the neocon hand shaping Trump ’ s disastrous foreign policy agenda is tied to the oligarchy ’ s absolute fear of losing America to a new Eurasian partnership which Trump has promoted repeatedly since entering office in 2017 .
Xi Jinping and Putin have not only responded to this obsolete system by creating an alternative system of win-win cooperation driven by unbounded scientific and technological progress but they have also managed to expose the Achilles heal of the empire .
These statesmen have demonstrated a clear recognition that those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entirely unsustainable , and defeatable ( but not militarily ) .
Xi expressed this insight most clearly during his recent trip to Greece .
Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 10.00 Even though leaders like Putin and Xi understand this , citizens of the west will continue to be woefully unequipped to either make sense of these chaotic systems of belief , extract them from their own hearts if they are so contaminated or resist them effectively , without understanding that those who fabricated and manage these belief structures never truly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as Leo Strauss , Sir Henry Kissinger and Sir Bernard Lewis absolutely never believed in the ideologies their cultish golems like Bolton , Cheney or Kristol have adhered to so religiously .
Their belief was only that the sum-of-parts called humanity must ultimately be governed by a Hobbesian Leviathan ( aka : a new globalized Roman Empire ) , and that Leviathan could only be created in response to an intolerably painful period of chaos which their twisted tooth fairies would usher into this world .
( 1 ) From this standpoint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Calicles in Plato ’ s Gorgias dialogue or Thrasymachus in book one of the Republic– both of whom exemplify the oligarchical world view by denying the existence of moral principles- relegating them to merely useful tools by which the “ wise ” may lord over the “ slaves ” born into lower classes .
Neoconservative founding fathers like Leo Strauss or Alan Bloom who call themselves “ neo-Platonist ” merely take a literal reading of chosen selections from the Republic and then assert without evidence that Plato really believed in Thrasymacus and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For those interested in digging a bit deeper into this topic , the author delivered a lecture in 2010 titled The Matter Over Darwin ’ s Missing Mind .
( 3 ) Throughout the post JFK years , America ’ s clearest representative of this anti-oligarchical tradition was found consistently in the efforts of the late economist and Presidential Candidate Lyndon LaRouche.- a selection of whose works can be reviewed here .
The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation .

I think any sane human being can agree that while war was never a good idea, war in the 21st century is an absolutely intolerable one. The problem we currently face is that many of the forces driving world events towards an all-out war of “Mutually Assured Annihilation” are anything but sane.
While I’m obviously referring here to a certain category of people who fall under a particularly virulent strain of imperial thinking which can be labelled “neo-conservative” and while many of these disturbing figures honestly believe that a total war of annihilation is a risk worth taking in order to achieve their goals of total global hegemony, I would like to make one subtle yet very important distinction which is often overlooked.
What is this distinction?
Under the broad umbrella of “neo-conservative” one should properly differentiate those who really believe in their ideology and are trapped under the invisible cage of its unexamined assumptions vs. that smaller yet more important segment that created and manages the ideology from the top. I brushed on this grouping in a recent 3 part study called Origins of the Deep State and Myth of the Jewish Conspiracy.
To re-state my meaning: This group doesn’t necessarily believe in the ideological group they manage any more than a parent believes in that tooth fairy which they promote in order to achieve certain behavioral patterns in their children. Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details)
While belief in the tooth fairy is slightly less destructive than belief in a misanthropic neocon worldview of a Bolton, Pompeo or Cheney, the analogy is useful to communicate the point.
Cult Managers: Ancient Babylon and Now
Modern ideology-shapers serve the same role as those ancient high priests of Babylon, Persia and Rome who managed the many cults and countless pagan mystery religions recorded throughout the ages. It is well documented that any cult could comfortably exist under Rome’s control, as long as said cult denied any claim to objective truthfulness- making the rise of Abrahamic monotheistic faiths more than a little antagonistic to empire.
Did the high priests necessarily BELIEVE in those dogmas which they created and managed?
Hell no.
Was it politically necessary to create them?
Of course.
Why?
Because an Empire, like everything in the world, exist as a whole with parts… but since they deny any principle of natural law (justice, love, goodness, etc), empires are merely a sum of parts and their rules of organization can be nothing but zero sum (1). Each cultish group may coexist as an echo chamber alongside other groups sacrificing to whatever deity they wish without judgement of moral right or wrong bounded only by a common blind faith in their group’s beliefs- but nothing universal about justice, creative reason, or human nature is otherwise permitted. Here the a-moral “peace” of “equilibrium” can be achieved by an oligarchy which wishes to lord over the slaves. Whether we are dealing with Caesar Augustus, Lord Metternich’s Congress of Vienna, Aldous Huxley, Sir Henry Kissinger, or Leo Strauss (father of modern neo-conservativism), “Peace” can never be anything more than a mathematical “balancing of parts”.
Now it is a good moment to ask: What does this phenomenon look like in our modern age?
To answer this, let us leap over a couple of millennia and take a look at something a bit more personal: Adam Smith and the doctrine of free trade.
Smith at Her Majesty’s Service
Do Smith’s modern followers sincerely believe in the “self-regulating forces of the free market”?
Sure they do.
Did Adam Smith actually believe in his own system?
Whether he did or not, according to recent research conducted by historian Jeffrey Steinberg, Smith received his commission to compose his seminal book Wealth of Nations (published 1776) while riding with Lord Shelburne himself in a carriage ride from Edinburgh to London in 1763. The date 1776 is not a coincidence as this was the same Lord Shelburne who essentially managed the British Empire during the American Revolution and who always despised all colonial aspirations to use protective tariffs, emit productive credit or channel said credit towards internal improvements as Benjamin Franklin had championed in his 1729 Necessity of Paper Currency and Colonial Script.
Why develop Industry, asked Smith, when the new “Law” of “absolute advantage” demanded that everyone just do what they are good at for the best price possible? America has a lot of land, so they should stick with agriculture and slave-driven cotton. Britain had a lot of industry (don’t ask how that happened because it wasn’t through free trade), so they should stick with that! India had advanced textiles, but Britain had to destroy that so that India could then have a lot of opium fields so she could do that… which China could then smoke to death under the watch of British Gunships. “Free Trade” demanded it so.
Let’s look at another example: Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection
A Not-too-Natural Selection
Darwin’s theory published in his Origins of Species (1859) was based on the assumption that all changes in the biosphere are driven by “laws” of “survival of the fittest” within an assumed closed ecosystem of diminishing returns. Just as Smith asserted that an “invisible hand” brought creative order to the chaos of unregulated vice and self-interest, Darwin asserted that creative order on the large scale evolution of species could be explained by chaotic mutations on the micro level beyond a wall that no power of reason, free will or God could pass (2).
Did Charles Darwin believe his system? Probably.
But how about Thomas Huxley (aka: “Darwin’s Bulldog”) whose efforts to destroy all competing theories which included “purpose”, “meaning”, or “design” were crushed and ridiculed into obscurity? Huxley himself was on record saying he did not believe in Darwin’s system. So why was this theory promoted by forces (like Huxley’s X Club) who recognized its many flaws? Well, here again it helps to refer to Darwin’s own account of his discovery from his autobiography where he wrote:
“In October 1838, fifteen months after I had begun my systematic inquiry, I happened to read for amusement Malthus on Population, and being prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes on, from long-continued observation of the habits of animals and plants, it at once struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The result would be the formation of a new species. Here then, I had at last got a theory by which to work”.
Malthus’s ‘Dismal Science’
And here we have it! Reverend Thomas Malthus (the cold hearted “Man of God” who taught economics at the British East India Company’s Haileybury College) provided the very foundation upon which Darwin’s system stood! Thomas Huxley and the other “high priests” of Huxley’s X Club were always Malthusian (even before there was Malthus) since empires have always been more focused on monopolizing the finite resources of an age, rather than encouraging creative discoveries and new inventions which would bring new resources into being- overcoming nature’s “limits to growth” (a dis-equilibrium not to be tolerated). Whether Malthus actually believed in the system which bears his name, as generations of his adherents sincerely do, remains to be seen. However his own awareness of the needed extermination of the “unfit” by the Ubermenschen of the British Aristocracy preceded Social Darwinism by a full century when he coldly called for the encouragement of the plague and other “natural forms of destruction” to cull the herd of the unfit in his Essay on the Principle of Population (1799):
“We should facilitate, instead of foolishly and vainly endeavoring to impede, the operations of nature in producing this mortality; and if we dread the too frequent visitation of the horrid form of famine, we should sedulously encourage the other forms of destruction, which we compel nature to use. In our towns we should make the streets narrower, crowd more people into the houses, and court the return of the plague.”
A little later, Malthus even argued for the early extermination of poor babies who were of low value to society when he said:
“I should propose a regulation to be made, declaring that no child born from any marriage taking place after the expiration of a year from the date of the law, and no illegitimate child born two years from the same date, should ever be entitled to parish assistance… The infant is, comparatively speaking, of little value to society, as others will immediately supply its place.”
The neo-Malthusian revivalists such as Princes Bernhardt, Philip Mountbatten and Huxley’s own grandson Sir Julian who birthed the misanthropic deformity today called the Green New Deal were not ignorant to this tradition. The disastrous effect of this worldview upon races deemed “unfit” in the global south should also not be ignored. It is no coincidence that those three neo-Malthusian oligarchs founded the World Wildlife Fund, 1001 Nature Trust and Club of Rome which imposed a technological apartheid upon the third world over the bodies of countless statesmen during the Cold War.
The Danger of Creative Thought to an Empire
Encouraging creative thought and cooperation among diverse nations, linguistic, religious and ethnic groups tends to result in new uncontrolled systems of potential as humanity increases its capacity to sustain itself while imperial systems lose their ability to parasitically drain their host. In Lincoln’s great 1859 speech, the martyred leader stood up against this Malthusian paradigm endemic of the British Empire when he said: “All creation is a mine, and every man, a miner. The whole earth, and all within it, upon it, and round about it, including himself, in his physical, moral, and intellectual nature, and his susceptibilities, are the infinitely various “leads” from which, man, from the first, was to dig out his destiny… Man is not the only animal who labors; but he is the only one who improves his workmanship. This improvement, he effects by Discoveries, and Inventions.”
Lincoln’s economic commitments to protective tariffs, state credit (greenbacks) and internal improvements are inextricably linked to this view of man also shared by the earlier Ben Franklin.
Today, the positive paradigm which Lincoln died to defend is most clearly represented by the leaders of such nations as Russia and China- both of whom have come out repeatedly attacking the post-truth neo-liberal order and also the win-lose philosophy of Hobbesian geopolitics (3). The folly of America’s new dance with impeachment and the neocon hand shaping Trump’s disastrous foreign policy agenda is tied to the oligarchy’s absolute fear of losing America to a new Eurasian partnership which Trump has promoted repeatedly since entering office in 2017.
Xi Jinping and Putin have not only responded to this obsolete system by creating an alternative system of win-win cooperation driven by unbounded scientific and technological progress but they have also managed to expose the Achilles heal of the empire. These statesmen have demonstrated a clear recognition that those ideologies ranging from neo-liberalism to neo-conservativism are entirely unsustainable, and defeatable (but not militarily). Xi expressed this insight most clearly during his recent trip to Greece. Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details)
Even though leaders like Putin and Xi understand this, citizens of the west will continue to be woefully unequipped to either make sense of these chaotic systems of belief, extract them from their own hearts if they are so contaminated or resist them effectively, without understanding that those who fabricated and manage these belief structures never truly believed in them.
Neoconservative founding fathers such as Leo Strauss, Sir Henry Kissinger and Sir Bernard Lewis absolutely never believed in the ideologies their cultish golems like Bolton, Cheney or Kristol have adhered to so religiously. Their belief was only that the sum-of-parts called humanity must ultimately be governed by a Hobbesian Leviathan (aka: a new globalized Roman Empire), and that Leviathan could only be created in response to an intolerably painful period of chaos which their twisted tooth fairies would usher into this world.
—
(1) From this standpoint, it is worth reviewing the character of Calicles in Plato’s Gorgias dialogue or Thrasymachus in book one of the Republic– both of whom exemplify the oligarchical world view by denying the existence of moral principles- relegating them to merely useful tools by which the “wise” may lord over the “slaves” born into lower classes. Neoconservative founding fathers like Leo Strauss or Alan Bloom who call themselves “neo-Platonist” merely take a literal reading of chosen selections from the Republic and then assert without evidence that Plato really believed in Thrasymacus and Calicles’ worldview.
(2) For those interested in digging a bit deeper into this topic, the author delivered a lecture in 2010 titled The Matter Over Darwin’s Missing Mind.
(3) Throughout the post JFK years, America’s clearest representative of this anti-oligarchical tradition was found consistently in the efforts of the late economist and Presidential Candidate Lyndon LaRouche.- a selection of whose works can be reviewed here.
The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation.


lewrockwell--2020-01-22--Are Housing Markets Still Clearing Out the Trash of the Last Bust?

The SPDR S & P Homebuilders ETF closed the other day at 45.65 , poking higher than February 2006 ’ s 44.70 .
The conventional wisdom is : So everything is okeydokey in housing-land .
Well , here in the Sunbelt , the housing price rebound looks to have topped , and it could be rolling over like it did in , say , 2006 .
WolfeStreet.com gives us the pictures .
Housing writer Keith Jurow claims 25 million mortgages have been modified and millions of homeowners haven ’ t made a payment in years .
He told Real Vision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a show that some of these people haven ’ t paid five , six , seven , eight years and nothing is done with them .
You may say , well , haven ’ t they moved out and the places are empty ?
No , a lot of them are still living in these properties and I just pictured them laughing .
Wouldn ’ t you ?
Jurow says millions took cash-out refis ( refinances ) and that despite the rebound in home prices these folks still don ’ t have any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jurow says , Many mortgages have not just been modified once , but twice , and sometimes more .
A decade after the crash , loan servicers are holding higher-end mortgages rather than foreclosing .
Thus , there is plenty of shadow inventory lurking , waiting for the next crash .
To that point , “ If you take 25 million mortgages , and you prevent them from having been foreclosed , well , that ’ s going to affect the market and it did start to turn around prices around 2012 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t turn around until 2013 , but that did turn it around and gee , a lot of people thought the worst is over.
” The stock market has lost touch with earnings and reality , Homebuilder stocks included .
This mass forbearance stands in the way of the required market correction .
Murray Rothbard explained : The “ depression ” is actually the process by which the economy adjusts to the wastes and errors of the boom , and reestablishes efficient service of consumer desires .
The adjustment process consists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
[ T ] he depression is the process by which the economy returns to the efficient service of consumers .
In short , and this is a highly important point to grasp , the depression is the “ recovery ” process , and the end of the depression heralds the return to normal , and to optimum efficiency .
The depression , then , far from being an evil scourge , is the necessary and beneficial return of the economy to normal after the distortions imposed by the boom .
The boom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Engineering away a full clearing of the first housing boom will ultimately make housing crash 2.0 just that much worse .
The Best of Douglas French

The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF closed the other day at 45.65, poking higher than February 2006’s 44.70. The conventional wisdom is:
“Teamed with a resilient job market, low mortgage rates have helped boost home buyer demand,” Matthew Speakman, an economist at real estate data provider Zillow, told CNBC. “An extreme shortage of for-sale listings, particularly at lower price points, remains a concern and may ultimately result in a sharper re-acceleration in home prices than expected.”
So everything is okeydokey in housing-land. Well, here in the Sunbelt, the housing price rebound looks to have topped, and it could be rolling over like it did in, say, 2006. WolfeStreet.com gives us the pictures.
In Phoenix:
House prices in the Phoenix metro rose 0.5% in October from September and were up 5.8% from October last year, the fastest year-over-year growth among the metros. And it’s closing in on the craziness of 2006. House prices have nearly doubled in the eight years since September 2011:
In Las Vegas:
The Case-Shiller index for the Las Vegas metro ticked down in October from September and was roughly flat for the past four months. This whittled down the year-over-year gain to 2.3%, the smallest such gain since August 2012, when prices began to emerge from the collapse. House prices have skyrocketed 118% since March 2012:
In San Diego:
House prices in the San Diego metro edged down 0.2% in October from September and were essentially flat for the past five months. They’re up 2.9% year-over-year:
Housing writer Keith Jurow claims 25 million mortgages have been modified and millions of homeowners haven’t made a payment in years. He told Real Vision,
I’ve seen reports with a show that some of these people haven’t paid five, six, seven, eight years and nothing is done with them. You may say, well, haven’t they moved out and the places are empty? No, a lot of them are still living in these properties and I just pictured them laughing. Wouldn’t you?
Jurow says millions took cash-out refis (refinances) and that despite the rebound in home prices these folks still don’t have any equity. To refresh our memories, Jurow says,
2006 was just insane. 320 billion dollars taken out in cash just in that year, and boy, the debt helped the economy continue, even though things were showing signs of real problems.
Many mortgages have not just been modified once, but twice, and sometimes more. A decade after the crash, loan servicers are holding higher-end mortgages rather than foreclosing. Thus, there is plenty of shadow inventory lurking, waiting for the next crash.
To that point, “If you take 25 million mortgages, and you prevent them from having been foreclosed, well, that’s going to affect the market and it did start to turn around prices around 2012,” Jurow said. “Some markets didn’t turn around until 2013, but that did turn it around and gee, a lot of people thought the worst is over.”
The stock market has lost touch with earnings and reality, Homebuilder stocks included. This mass forbearance stands in the way of the required market correction. Murray Rothbard explained:
The “depression” is actually the process by which the economy adjusts to the wastes and errors of the boom, and reestablishes efficient service of consumer desires. The adjustment process consists in rapid liquidation of the wasteful investments….[T]he depression is the process by which the economy returns to the efficient service of consumers. In short, and this is a highly important point to grasp, the depression is the “recovery” process, and the end of the depression heralds the return to normal, and to optimum efficiency. The depression, then, far from being an evil scourge, is the necessary and beneficial return of the economy to normal after the distortions imposed by the boom. The boom, then, requires a “bust.”
Engineering away a full clearing of the first housing boom will ultimately make housing crash 2.0 just that much worse.
The Best of Douglas French


lewrockwell--2020-01-22--UN Security Council Hears OPCW Inspector Testimony

We have long maintained that the alleged chemical attack in Douma , Syria , on April 7 2018 was faked by Jihadists shortly before they were evicted from that Damascus suburb .
By the end of last year leaked documents and a whistle blower from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW ) had proven that the OPCW managers had manipulated the report their staff had written about the incident .
The OPCW inspectors who had investigated the case on the ground in Douma found that there was evidence that a chemical attack had happened .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alleged attack must have died of other causes .
The yellow canisters found at the locations of the alleged attack were not dropped from helicopters but clearly manually placed .
Using the Arria-formula , a procedure to have witnesses testify to the UN Security Council , Russia and China invited other UN members to listen to the testimony of OPCW inspector Ian Henderson .
He denounced the false final report the OPCW management had published .
Henderson , a South African engineer , was a team leader at the OPCW where he had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Henderson ’ s testimony can be watched here .
Philip Watson transcribed Henderson ’ s speech : Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 I need to point out from the outset , I am not a whistleblower .
I don ’ t like that term .
I am a former OPCW specialist who has concerns in many areas and I consider this a legitimate and appropriate forum to explain again these concerns.Secondly , I must point out that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As well as the professionalism of the staff members who work there.However the concern I have does relate to some specific management practices in certain sensitive missions .
The concern , of course , relates to the [ Fact Finding Mission ] investigation into the alleged chemical attack on the 7th April in Douma in Syria .
My concern , which is shared by a number of other inspectors , relates to the subsequent management lock-down and the practices in the later analysis and compilation of the final report .
There were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I joined shortly after the start of field deployments was to Douma in Syria , the other team deployed to Country X .
The main concern relates to the announcement in July 18 , of a new concept , the so-called FFM Core Team which essentially resulted in the dismissal of all the inspectors who had been on the team deployed to locations in Douma and had been following up with their findings and analysis .
The findings of the final FFM report were contradictory , were a complete turn-around , with what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and after the Douma deployments and by the time of release of the interim report in July 2018 our understanding was that we had serious misgivings that a chemical attack had occurred .
What the final FFM report does not make clear and thus does not reflect the views of the team members who deployed to Douma .
( In which case I can really only speak for myself at this stage ) .
The report did not make clear what new findings , facts , information , data or analysis in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , chemical analysis , engineering and or ballistics studies had resulted in a complete turn-around in the situation from what was understood by the majority of the team and the entire Douma team in July 2018 .
In my case I had followed with a further six months of engineering and ballistics studies into the cylinders .
The results of which had provided further support for the view there had not been a chemical attack .
This needs to be properly resolved , we believe ( Douma FFM Team ) , through the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my situation it is not a political debate .
I am very aware that there is a political debate surrounding this .
Perhaps a closing comment from my side , is that I was also the inspection team leader who developed and launched the inspections , the highly intrusive inspections , of the Barzah [ Scientific Studies and Research Center ] facility outside of Damascus .
And I did the inspections and wrote the reports for the 2 inspections prior to and the inspection after the chemical facility , or the laboratory complex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the missile strike .
That however is another story altogether and I shall now close .
The Barzah SSRC was destroyed in a large scale U.S. missile attack shortly after the Douma incident .
It had been a civil institution concerned with agricultural and medical research .
No prohibited substances were found there during intrusive OPCW inspections before and after the U.S. strike .
Barzeh Research center before and after – bigger In his closing remarks at the UNSC Russia ’ s Permanent Representative at the UN , Vassily Nebenzia , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing clearly – that something fishy is cooking in the OPCW .
When we point at it , our colleagues tell us every time that OPCW , the 2013 Nobel peace prize laureate , is the gold standard of professionalism , integrity and impartiality .
We would like it to be such and we adopted a PRST in November 2019 exactly aiming at this .
Unfortunately , the impartiality and integrity of the OPCW TS is seriously questioned , and not just by us and other member states , as today ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Courage Foundation ” can hardly be labeled as “ Russian agents ” .
They are reputable personalities and include such figures as Jose Bustani , first OPCW DG , respectable members of academic community , former senior officials of the US and UK intelligence community , and such names as Noam Chomsky and Oliver Stone to name a few .
( You were provided with a copy of their letter and related materials ) .
Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 10.00 Why do some of our colleagues so vehemently defend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which some are believed were fabricated ?
Because any seed of doubt about chemical episodes conclusions would lead to challenging the expediency and legitimacy of already illegitimate missile attacks against a sovereign UN member state .
In that light the Douma incident plays a key role .
Because if it transpires that the FFM report was made up , it would lead to questioning earlier episodes like Khan-Shaykhun and others , which resulted in the termination of [ Joint Investigation Mechanism ] .
… Our colleague from Viet Nam asked what to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I think that this issue must be discussed at the OPCW .
Legitimate questions and issues that member states face should be addressed and discussed .
The question why the first report of the OPCW FFM was shelled initially , and then disappeared and destroyed should be answered .
So far we are denied – we and other member states – are denied such an opportunity .
Videos from Douma at the time of the incident showed some 30 bodies of dead persons .
Most were children .
It is up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had murdered them .
The OPCW manipulation of the original reports of its inspectors ’ findings is a cover up for that huge crime .
The manipulation of the investigation of the Douma attack by the OPCW management also raises doubt about other issues , like the Skripal affair in Britain , in which the OPCW was involved .
The OPCW needs to come clean .
It must fire the managers who were involved in the manipulation of the Douma reports .
Other cases the OPCW was involved in need to be re-investigated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alabama .

We have long maintained that the alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria, on April 7 2018 was faked by Jihadists shortly before they were evicted from that Damascus suburb.
By the end of last year leaked documents and a whistle blower from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had proven that the OPCW managers had manipulated the report their staff had written about the incident. The OPCW inspectors who had investigated the case on the ground in Douma found that there was evidence that a chemical attack had happened. The murdered people seem in videos from the alleged attack must have died of other causes. The yellow canisters found at the locations of the alleged attack were not dropped from helicopters but clearly manually placed.
Using the Arria-formula, a procedure to have witnesses testify to the UN Security Council, Russia and China invited other UN members to listen to the testimony of OPCW inspector Ian Henderson. He denounced the false final report the OPCW management had published. Henderson, a South African engineer, was a team leader at the OPCW where he had worked for more than twelve years.
Henderson’s testimony can be watched here. Philip Watson transcribed Henderson’s speech: Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details)
I need to point out from the outset, I am not a whistleblower. I don’t like that term. I am a former OPCW specialist who has concerns in many areas and I consider this a legitimate and appropriate forum to explain again these concerns.Secondly, I must point out that I hold the OPCW in the highest regard. As well as the professionalism of the staff members who work there.However the concern I have does relate to some specific management practices in certain sensitive missions. The concern, of course, relates to the [Fact Finding Mission] investigation into the alleged chemical attack on the 7th April in Douma in Syria. My concern, which is shared by a number of other inspectors, relates to the subsequent management lock-down and the practices in the later analysis and compilation of the final report. There were two teams deployed. One team which I joined shortly after the start of field deployments was to Douma in Syria, the other team deployed to Country X. The main concern relates to the announcement in July 18, of a new concept, the so-called FFM Core Team which essentially resulted in the dismissal of all the inspectors who had been on the team deployed to locations in Douma and had been following up with their findings and analysis. The findings of the final FFM report were contradictory, were a complete turn-around, with what the team had understood collectively. During and after the Douma deployments and by the time of release of the interim report in July 2018 our understanding was that we had serious misgivings that a chemical attack had occurred. What the final FFM report does not make clear and thus does not reflect the views of the team members who deployed to Douma. (In which case I can really only speak for myself at this stage). The report did not make clear what new findings, facts, information, data or analysis in the fields of witness testimony, toxicology studies, chemical analysis, engineering and or ballistics studies had resulted in a complete turn-around in the situation from what was understood by the majority of the team and the entire Douma team in July 2018. In my case I had followed with a further six months of engineering and ballistics studies into the cylinders. The results of which had provided further support for the view there had not been a chemical attack. This needs to be properly resolved, we believe (Douma FFM Team), through the rigours of science and engineering. In my situation it is not a political debate. I am very aware that there is a political debate surrounding this. Perhaps a closing comment from my side, is that I was also the inspection team leader who developed and launched the inspections, the highly intrusive inspections, of the Barzah [Scientific Studies and Research Center] facility outside of Damascus. And I did the inspections and wrote the reports for the 2 inspections prior to and the inspection after the chemical facility, or the laboratory complex at Barzah SSRC, had been destroyed by the missile strike. That however is another story altogether and I shall now close.
The Barzah SSRC was destroyed in a large scale U.S. missile attack shortly after the Douma incident. It had been a civil institution concerned with agricultural and medical research. No prohibited substances were found there during intrusive OPCW inspections before and after the U.S. strike.
Barzeh Research center before and after – bigger
In his closing remarks at the UNSC Russia’s Permanent Representative at the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said:
Today’s discussions reveal one thing clearly – that something fishy is cooking in the OPCW. When we point at it, our colleagues tell us every time that OPCW, the 2013 Nobel peace prize laureate, is the gold standard of professionalism, integrity and impartiality. We would like it to be such and we adopted a PRST in November 2019 exactly aiming at this. Unfortunately, the impartiality and integrity of the OPCW TS is seriously questioned, and not just by us and other member states, as today’s presentation demonstrated. Members of the “Courage Foundation” can hardly be labeled as “Russian agents”. They are reputable personalities and include such figures as Jose Bustani, first OPCW DG, respectable members of academic community, former senior officials of the US and UK intelligence community, and such names as Noam Chomsky and Oliver Stone to name a few. (You were provided with a copy of their letter and related materials). Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details)
Why do some of our colleagues so vehemently defend the reports by the OPCW FFM, which some are believed were fabricated? Because any seed of doubt about chemical episodes conclusions would lead to challenging the expediency and legitimacy of already illegitimate missile attacks against a sovereign UN member state. In that light the Douma incident plays a key role. Because if it transpires that the FFM report was made up, it would lead to questioning earlier episodes like Khan-Shaykhun and others, which resulted in the termination of [Joint Investigation Mechanism].
…
Our colleague from Viet Nam asked what to do next, what are the nest steps. I think that this issue must be discussed at the OPCW. Legitimate questions and issues that member states face should be addressed and discussed. The question why the first report of the OPCW FFM was shelled initially, and then disappeared and destroyed should be answered. So far we are denied – we and other member states – are denied such an opportunity.
Videos from Douma at the time of the incident showed some 30 bodies of dead persons. Most were children. It is up to day unknown who they were and who had murdered them. The OPCW manipulation of the original reports of its inspectors’ findings is a cover up for that huge crime.
The manipulation of the investigation of the Douma attack by the OPCW management also raises doubt about other issues, like the Skripal affair in Britain, in which the OPCW was involved. The OPCW needs to come clean. It must fire the managers who were involved in the manipulation of the Douma reports. Other cases the OPCW was involved in need to be re-investigated.
Reprinted with permission from Moon of Alabama.


lewrockwell--2020-01-22--Iran’s Drift Towards US and Israeli Behaviour

Beyond the showdown between Washington and Tehran , Thierry Meyssan highlights the profound change in Iran ’ s behaviour .
This country , which used to be very observant of international law , now disregards it , joining the United States and Israel , which have never recognized it .
The 195 member states of the United Nations claim to want to resolve their conflicts without resorting to war , but to the Law .
Since its creation by the Hague Conference of 1899 , the Law has been based on a simple idea : just as individuals – including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from civil war by submitting to national law , so states can protect themselves from war by voluntarily submitting to international law .
By “ International Law ” I mean the procedures that govern relations between States , not those that , from Nuremberg to the ICTY , legalize the judgment of the defeated by their victors .
Three members of the United Nations now display a lack of understanding of international law , while others no longer refer to it and , after having distorted the concept of “ human rights ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multilateralism ” [ 2 ] .
Three States outside the Law The first is the United States , which since its creation two centuries ago has been a nation “ like no other ” .
According to its national myth , it was a refuge for the puritanical sect of the “ Pilgrim Fathers ” of the Mayflower and is today a refuge for all persecuted , religious and political .
In the name of which they have always refused to apply international treaties in domestic law ; judge the behaviour of others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationals who act in the same way ; and refuse to allow any international jurisdiction to take an interest in their internal affairs [ 3 ] .
This is the profound reason why they urged other countries to join the League of Nations , but refused to do so .
If they accepted the principles of International Law during the Cold War , from the creation of the United Nations to the disappearance of the USSR , they returned as soon as they could to their previous behaviour .
Thus , in 1999 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Yugoslavia , taking with them their vassals from the Atlantic Alliance .
Then , under false pretences , they launched wars in Afghanistan , Iraq and Libya .
Their attacks against Iranians in two Middle Eastern countries , Iraq and Yemen , on 3 January 2020 , are all equally illegal .
Before Our Very Eyes , ... Thierry Meyssan Best Price : $ 20.52 Buy New $ 17.94 The second was Israel ’ s unilateral proclamation on 14 May 1948 , in violation of the United Nations ’ process of partitioning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tel Aviv has been watching the Security Council pass resolutions that it flouts .
Whenever sanctions are contemplated against it , it can count on the protection of the United States and is not subject to it .
It sees itself as eternally threatened and can only survive through war ; a cultural position that may come to an end when its citizens defining themselves as Jews ( Likud ) outnumber those defining themselves as Israelis ( White-Blue ) .
There is now a third : Iran .
Historically , Tehran has executed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world , but never foreign nationals .
For example , Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had the philosopher Ali Shariati assassinated in London and then , after 1978 , the Islamic government had counter-revolutionaries assassinated in Europe .
These murders were never officially claimed .
During the war imposed by Iraq , Iran attacked the interests of its enemies abroad ; for example , the attack on US and French UN forces in Beirut in 1983 .
But this was carried out by Lebanese proxies ( who later participated in the founding of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activities of Hezbollah soldiers ( the CIA ’ s regional secret meeting ) .
However , in the last two years , Iranian forces have several times fired missiles at Israel from Syrian territory without claiming responsibility for it , in violation of the 1973 Syrian-Israeli ceasefire .
And this month , missiles were officially fired from Iran at US forces in Iraq , in violation of Baghdad ’ s sovereignty [ 4 ] .
The United States thinks of itself as the nation of the persecuted and therefore can not take advice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sees itself as the refuge of a threatened people and therefore can not receive advice from those who have ignored it or worse violated it .
But Iran ?
How can this evolution be explained , if not by a profound change in Power ?
Everything began to go wrong at the end of 2013 and since 2017 we have been witnessing demonstrations , not only in Tehran and Isfahan , but throughout the country .
Little by little the institutions have been transformed .
The judicial system , independent of the executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organ of political repression [ 5 ] , going so far as to sentence former nationalist vice-president Hamid Baghaie to 15 years in prison behind closed doors for secret reasons [ 6 ] The Guardian Council , which – during the Revolution – was supposed to ensure that foreign agents were excluded from the elections , became an opposition censorship body , going so far as to describe the team of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as “ bad Muslims ” ( sic ) .
Whereas in Islam , the clerical function is to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a takeover of power by a clergy that violates all legal principles .
We have been saying this for 6 years : this has nothing to do with the opposition between pro and anti-Westerners , nor with the question of beliefs .
It has to do with the return of the age-old problem of the Iranians : the blind veneration of the clerical function , whatever the dominant faith .
There will be no solution without a constitutional separation of civil and religious powers .
In all eras , under all kinds of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regimes , it has arisen .
I repeat , this has nothing to do with the 1978 revolution , which , contrary to popular belief in the west , was not with the clergy , but against it .
Ayatollah Khomeini had been rejected by his peers , who only rallied to him after his victory .
They were then zealous to make people forget their previous excesses .
If we refer to the already declassified US official documents [ 7 ] , the then National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzeziński , considered the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against a Shah who had become too greedy .
He organized the return of Imam Khomeini under the mistaken belief that he was like other clerics .
He was disappointed as soon as he made his anti-imperialist speech at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery .
Many actors in the Middle East understood this development , starting with Hezbollah and Syria .
They have both distanced themselves from Iran ’ s domestic politics .
In the midst of the war , Damascus did not have an Iranian ambassador for more than a year .
Westerners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perceive this change because they were prisoners of their own propaganda against the 1978 Revolution .
They interpret the current movements in Iran on the basis of their countless attempts to overthrow the regime and not by observing the behaviour of the Iranians .
The explanations of the USA and Iran before the Security Council As with every military intervention abroad , after their exchange of bombs , the United States and Iran assured the Security Council that they were acting in accordance with the United Nations Charter .
Ambassador Kelly Craft ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Qassem Soleimani on January 2 , 2020 is surreal [ 8 ] .
It makes no reference to the simultaneous assassination attempt on his deputy , the top-secret Abdul Reza Shahlai , in Yemen [ 9 ] .
It makes a series of accusations against Iran ’ s allies , but none against the target itself .
President Trump ’ s accusations of an imminent attack on four US embassies by Soleimani are no longer mentioned .
They were moreover refuted by the Secretary of Defense , Mark Esper [ 10 ] .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reply of January 7 .
The letter of Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi is just as absurd [ 11 ] .
It establishes the legality of an Iranian reply , but not of this reply .
Nothing authorizes Iran to strike Iraqi territory without authorization from the government in Baghdad .
9/11 - the big lie Thierry Meyssan Best Price : $ 10.31 Buy New $ 77.74 Moreover , Iraq immediately protested against the actions of the United States and Iran [ 12 ] .
Many people think that there is no reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t care .
It is that they perceive it as a constraint and not as a protection .
In his Leviathan , the philosopher Thomas Hobbes , who had lived through the English Civil War ( 1642-1651 ) , showed that individuals must do everything possible to protect themselves from chaos .
Those who faced the jihadist armies knew how right he was ; others , asleep at night in their comfort , ignored him .
Hobbes even went so far as to think that an authoritarian state is better than the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drifts of the State , which he compared to Leviathan , the monstrous beast that closes the underworld .
Moreover , there is nothing monstrous about international law .
It does not offend any conscience .
To deviate from it threatens peace and therefore the lives of all of us .
[ 1 ] “ Theory and Practice of Human Rights ” , by Thierry Meyssan , Translation Roger Lagassé , Voltaire Network , 4 October 2019 .
[ 6 ] “ Former President Ahmadinejad ’ s vice president : Sentenced to 15 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” , Translation Anoosha Boralessa , Voltaire Network , 30 March 2018 .
[ 7 ] Foreign Relations of the United States .
Iran : Revolution , January 1977–November 1979 ( Under Declassification Review ) ; Iran : Hostage Crisis , November 1979–September 1980 ( In Production ) ; Iran : Hostage Crisis , September 1980–January 1981 ( Under Declassification Review ) , US Secretary of State .
[ 8 ] “ US notification of the elimination of Qassem Soleimani ” , by Kelly Craft , Voltaire Network , 8 January 2020 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. forces killed Soleimani , they targeted a senior Iranian official in Yemen ” , John Hudson , Missy Ryan and Josh Dawsey , The Washington Post , January 10 , 2020 .
[ 10 ] “ Esper says he “ didn ’ t see ” specific evidence showing Iranian threat to 4 U.S. embassies ” , Melissa Quinn , Face The Nation , CBS , January 12 , 2020 .
[ 12 ] “ US and Iranian violations of Iraqi sovereignty ” , by Mohammed Hussein Bahr Aluloom , Voltaire Network , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thierry Meyssan

Beyond the showdown between Washington and Tehran, Thierry Meyssan highlights the profound change in Iran’s behaviour. This country, which used to be very observant of international law, now disregards it, joining the United States and Israel, which have never recognized it.
The 195 member states of the United Nations claim to want to resolve their conflicts without resorting to war, but to the Law. Since its creation by the Hague Conference of 1899, the Law has been based on a simple idea: just as individuals – including political leaders – agree to protect themselves from civil war by submitting to national law, so states can protect themselves from war by voluntarily submitting to international law.
By “International Law” I mean the procedures that govern relations between States, not those that, from Nuremberg to the ICTY, legalize the judgment of the defeated by their victors.
Three members of the United Nations now display a lack of understanding of international law, while others no longer refer to it and, after having distorted the concept of “human rights” [1], prefer “rules-based multilateralism” [2].
Three States outside the Law
The first is the United States, which since its creation two centuries ago has been a nation “like no other”. According to its national myth, it was a refuge for the puritanical sect of the “Pilgrim Fathers” of the Mayflower and is today a refuge for all persecuted, religious and political. In the name of which they have always refused to apply international treaties in domestic law; judge the behaviour of others severely, but a priori absolve their nationals who act in the same way; and refuse to allow any international jurisdiction to take an interest in their internal affairs [3]. This is the profound reason why they urged other countries to join the League of Nations, but refused to do so. If they accepted the principles of International Law during the Cold War, from the creation of the United Nations to the disappearance of the USSR, they returned as soon as they could to their previous behaviour. Thus, in 1999, they illegally attacked the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, taking with them their vassals from the Atlantic Alliance. Then, under false pretences, they launched wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Their attacks against Iranians in two Middle Eastern countries, Iraq and Yemen, on 3 January 2020, are all equally illegal. Before Our Very Eyes,... Meyssan, Thierry Best Price: $29.44 Buy New $24.97 (as of 05:40 UTC - Details)
The second was Israel’s unilateral proclamation on 14 May 1948, in violation of the United Nations’ process of partitioning geographic Palestine. For seventy years, Tel Aviv has been watching the Security Council pass resolutions that it flouts. Whenever sanctions are contemplated against it, it can count on the protection of the United States and is not subject to it. It sees itself as eternally threatened and can only survive through war; a cultural position that may come to an end when its citizens defining themselves as Jews (Likud) outnumber those defining themselves as Israelis (White-Blue).
There is now a third: Iran. Historically, Tehran has executed its opponent leaders abroad, all over the world, but never foreign nationals. For example, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had the philosopher Ali Shariati assassinated in London and then, after 1978, the Islamic government had counter-revolutionaries assassinated in Europe. These murders were never officially claimed. During the war imposed by Iraq, Iran attacked the interests of its enemies abroad; for example, the attack on US and French UN forces in Beirut in 1983. But this was carried out by Lebanese proxies (who later participated in the founding of Hezbollah) and directed against the illegal activities of Hezbollah soldiers (the CIA’s regional secret meeting). However, in the last two years, Iranian forces have several times fired missiles at Israel from Syrian territory without claiming responsibility for it, in violation of the 1973 Syrian-Israeli ceasefire. And this month, missiles were officially fired from Iran at US forces in Iraq, in violation of Baghdad’s sovereignty [4].
The United States thinks of itself as the nation of the persecuted and therefore cannot take advice from others, the persecutors. Israel sees itself as the refuge of a threatened people and therefore cannot receive advice from those who have ignored it or worse violated it. But Iran?
The evolution of Iran
How can this evolution be explained, if not by a profound change in Power? Everything began to go wrong at the end of 2013 and since 2017 we have been witnessing demonstrations, not only in Tehran and Isfahan, but throughout the country. Little by little the institutions have been transformed. The judicial system, independent of the executive and legislative branches, has become an organ of political repression [5], going so far as to sentence former nationalist vice-president Hamid Baghaie to 15 years in prison behind closed doors for secret reasons [6] The Guardian Council, which – during the Revolution – was supposed to ensure that foreign agents were excluded from the elections, became an opposition censorship body, going so far as to describe the team of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as “bad Muslims” (sic). Whereas in Islam, the clerical function is to say the law, we are witnessing a takeover of power by a clergy that violates all legal principles.
We have been saying this for 6 years: this has nothing to do with the opposition between pro and anti-Westerners, nor with the question of beliefs. It has to do with the return of the age-old problem of the Iranians: the blind veneration of the clerical function, whatever the dominant faith. There will be no solution without a constitutional separation of civil and religious powers. In all eras, under all kinds of dominant religions, under all kinds of regimes, it has arisen.
I repeat, this has nothing to do with the 1978 revolution, which, contrary to popular belief in the west, was not with the clergy, but against it. Ayatollah Khomeini had been rejected by his peers, who only rallied to him after his victory. They were then zealous to make people forget their previous excesses. If we refer to the already declassified US official documents [7], the then National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzeziński, considered the clergy as the ally of the US against a Shah who had become too greedy. He organized the return of Imam Khomeini under the mistaken belief that he was like other clerics. He was disappointed as soon as he made his anti-imperialist speech at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery.
Many actors in the Middle East understood this development, starting with Hezbollah and Syria. They have both distanced themselves from Iran’s domestic politics. In the midst of the war, Damascus did not have an Iranian ambassador for more than a year. Westerners, for their part, did not perceive this change because they were prisoners of their own propaganda against the 1978 Revolution. They interpret the current movements in Iran on the basis of their countless attempts to overthrow the regime and not by observing the behaviour of the Iranians.
The explanations of the USA and Iran before the Security Council
As with every military intervention abroad, after their exchange of bombs, the United States and Iran assured the Security Council that they were acting in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
Ambassador Kelly Craft’s letter announcing the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani on January 2, 2020 is surreal [8].
It makes no reference to the simultaneous assassination attempt on his deputy, the top-secret Abdul Reza Shahlai, in Yemen [9].
It makes a series of accusations against Iran’s allies, but none against the target itself.
President Trump’s accusations of an imminent attack on four US embassies by Soleimani are no longer mentioned. They were moreover refuted by the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper [10].
The only accusation against Iran itself is the reply of January 7.
The letter of Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi is just as absurd [11].
It establishes the legality of an Iranian reply, but not of this reply. Nothing authorizes Iran to strike Iraqi territory without authorization from the government in Baghdad. 9/11 - the big lie Meyssan, Thierry Best Price: $7.89 Buy New $54.80 (as of 07:40 UTC - Details)
Moreover, Iraq immediately protested against the actions of the United States and Iran [12].
The interest of International Law
Many people think that there is no reason to respect the Law if others don’t care. It is that they perceive it as a constraint and not as a protection.
In his Leviathan, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who had lived through the English Civil War (1642-1651), showed that individuals must do everything possible to protect themselves from chaos. Those who faced the jihadist armies knew how right he was; others, asleep at night in their comfort, ignored him. Hobbes even went so far as to think that an authoritarian state is better than the torments of chaos. He accepted the drifts of the State, which he compared to Leviathan, the monstrous beast that closes the underworld.
Moreover, there is nothing monstrous about international law. It does not offend any conscience. To deviate from it threatens peace and therefore the lives of all of us.
—
[1] “Theory and Practice of Human Rights”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Voltaire Network, 4 October 2019.
[2] “Multilateralism or International Law?”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Pete Kimberley, Voltaire Network, 11 December 2019.
[3] American Exceptionalism and Human Rights, Michael Ignatieff, Princeton University Press (2005).
[4] «Estados Unidos / Irán: a propósito de sus recientes cartas remitidas al Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas relativas a sus acciones militares», Nicolas Boeglin, Derecho Internacional Público. Costa Rica, 13 de enero de 2020.
[5] “Iranian Justice challenges political parties … except one”, Translation Anoosha Boralessa, Voltaire Network, 15 August 2017.
[6] “Former President Ahmadinejad’s vice president: Sentenced to 15 years in jail following a secret trial”, Translation Anoosha Boralessa, Voltaire Network, 30 March 2018.
[7] Foreign Relations of the United States. Iran: Revolution, January 1977–November 1979 (Under Declassification Review); Iran: Hostage Crisis, November 1979–September 1980 (In Production); Iran: Hostage Crisis, September 1980–January 1981 (Under Declassification Review), US Secretary of State.
[8] “US notification of the elimination of Qassem Soleimani”, by Kelly Craft, Voltaire Network, 8 January 2020.
[9] “On the day U.S. forces killed Soleimani, they targeted a senior Iranian official in Yemen”, John Hudson, Missy Ryan and Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post, January 10, 2020.
[10] “Esper says he “didn’t see” specific evidence showing Iranian threat to 4 U.S. embassies”, Melissa Quinn, Face The Nation, CBS, January 12, 2020.
[11] “Iranian notification to bomb American bases”, by Majid Takht Ravanchi, Voltaire Network, 8 January 2020.
[12] “US and Iranian violations of Iraqi sovereignty”, by Mohammed Hussein Bahr Aluloom, Voltaire Network, 9 January 2020.
The Best of Thierry Meyssan


GM Woke

If Bruce can transition into Caitlyn then GM can do basically the same thing – with the difference being Bruce probably paid for his own surgery .
GM is going to want your “ help ” paying for its transition .
In a few days , you ’ ll see what you ’ ll be paying for .
The shaved Adam ’ s apple ; the .
.
.
augmentation .
And the removal .
It is GM ’ s virtue-signaling plea for forgiveness .
The bad ol ’ GM wants you to forget all about those “ gas guzzling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early 2000s .
It will now make a time-guzzling electric version of the same thing .
Which is just as wasteful , by the way – but in a way that ’ s acceptable today .
Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 10.00 But far more obnoxious .
The original Hummer never feigned virtue .
It was what it was – and didn ’ t pretend to be something it wasn ’ t .
This electric Hummer ?
Could the effrontery be more spectacular ?
It ’ s just as large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EVs are , due to its massively heavy battery pack .
Which is massively heavy because the massive vehicle it ’ s powering needs probably three times the power necessary to propel a Corolla-sized car .
Is power produced without “ carbon ” ?
The power used to extract the materials that go into a twice-as-large as necessary – for basic transportation – electric battery ?
The power generation necessary to feed a battery that ’ s three times as powerful as necessary .
.
.
for basic transportation ?
How much less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weight ?
How sooner must the massive battery pack be recharged ?
How about those massive tires ?
Twice – probably three times – as much rubber ( made from oil and made using power ) as is necessary for tires for basic transportation .
How much unnecessary metal , plastic and glass goes into the Woke Hummer ?
It ’ s all very unnecessary … and thus , wasteful .
The same opprobrium directed at the original – but with an important difference .
The original never presented itself as saving anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electric Hummer ’ s is grotesquely the opposite .
It is presented as the antidote to an alleged problem – “ climate change ” – which is now alleged to be a “ crisis ” but plainly isn ’ t .
If it were , something like the electric Hummer – and anything like a Tesla – would be prima facie evidence of lunacy or a species of arrogant indifference that makes driving a 9 MPG gas-powered Hummer seem an act almost worthy of beatification in comparison .
The Best of Eric Peters

If Bruce can transition into Caitlyn then GM can do basically the same thing – with the difference being Bruce probably paid for his own surgery.
GM is going to want your “help” paying for its transition.
In a few days, you’ll see what you’ll be paying for. The shaved Adam’s apple; the . . . augmentation. And the removal.
Behold!
The electric Hummer.
It is GM’s virtue-signaling plea for forgiveness. The bad ol’ GM wants you to forget all about those “gas guzzling” Hummers it made back in the early 2000s. It will now make a time-guzzling electric version of the same thing. Which is just as wasteful, by the way – but in a way that’s acceptable today. Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details)
But far more obnoxious.
The original Hummer never feigned virtue. It was what it was – and didn’t pretend to be something it wasn’t. This electric Hummer? Could the effrontery be more spectacular? It’s just as large, probably much heavier – as all EVs are, due to its massively heavy battery pack. Which is massively heavy because the massive vehicle it’s powering needs probably three times the power necessary to propel a Corolla-sized car.
And to provide five-times Corolla power.
Is power produced without “carbon”? The power used to extract the materials that go into a twice-as-large as necessary – for basic transportation – electric battery? The power generation necessary to feed a battery that’s three times as powerful as necessary . . . for basic transportation?
How much less is the range because of all that weight? How sooner must the massive battery pack be recharged?
How about those massive tires? Twice – probably three times – as much rubber (made from oil and made using power) as is necessary for tires for basic transportation. How much unnecessary metal, plastic and glass goes into the Woke Hummer?
It’s all very unnecessary … and thus, wasteful. The same opprobrium directed at the original – but with an important difference. The original never presented itself as saving anything. Its wastefulness was honest.
The electric Hummer’s is grotesquely the opposite.
It is presented as the antidote to an alleged problem – “climate change” – which is now alleged to be a “crisis” but plainly isn’t. If it were, something like the electric Hummer – and anything like a Tesla – would be prima facie evidence of lunacy or a species of arrogant indifference that makes driving a 9 MPG gas-powered Hummer seem an act almost worthy of beatification in comparison.
Work it out.
Read the Whole Article
The Best of Eric Peters


lewrockwell--2020-01-22--Man, ‘Richard Jewell’ Hit Home!

Man, ‘Richard Jewell’ Hit Home!

I love just about all Clint Eastwood movies , but Richard Jewell is in a class by itself .
This one was personal .
This one Clint Eastwood made for me .
Only a handful of people in America know what it ’ s like to be Richard Jewell and unfortunately , I ’ m one of them .
Mr. Eastwood got it right .
Two thumbs up !
I rarely ever go to the movies .
Nearly seven years after my acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin , I still have to be very cautious about where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a man took a shot at me and missed my head by inches .
He will be in prison for another dozen years or so , but every time I see my name trend on Twitter , I am reminded there are people out there who would like to pick up where the assassin left off .
My gut reaction in watching Richard Jewell was sadness .
The film reminded me just how much heartache an accusation this heinous puts a parent through .
For those who don ’ t know the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Centennial Park in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics .
He alerted authorities to the backpack and helped clear the area .
Two people were killed when the bomb inside the backpack went off , but many more would have been killed if Richard had not acted on his suspicions .
For a brief period , people called him a hero , but then the media and the FBI turned on him and accused him without evidence of being an attention-seeking security guard .
They call it “ trial by media , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movie hit home .
I absolutely identified .
Richard and I were both cop wannabes — or so the media told us .
We were both gullible .
We both believed law enforcement had our best interests at heart .
We both believed reporters wanted the truth .
We both believed everyone was basically good and then we both realized what fools we had been to believe all that .
As I sat there in the dark , my stomach in knots , I found myself wishing Richard was still alive so I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell him , “ Yes , Richard , you are a hero.
” I know as only a few others do how gut wrenching it is to be at the center of the storm like this .
You can only imagine what people think of you .
You worry that everyone thinks you are the monster the media created .

I love just about all Clint Eastwood movies, but Richard Jewell is in a class by itself. This one was personal. This one Clint Eastwood made for me. Only a handful of people in America know what it’s like to be Richard Jewell and unfortunately, I’m one of them. Mr. Eastwood got it right. Two thumbs up!
I rarely ever go to the movies. Nearly seven years after my acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, I still have to be very cautious about where I go. A few years ago, a man took a shot at me and missed my head by inches. He will be in prison for another dozen years or so, but every time I see my name trend on Twitter, I am reminded there are people out there who would like to pick up where the assassin left off.
My gut reaction in watching Richard Jewell was sadness. The film reminded me just how much heartache an accusation this heinous puts a parent through. For those who don’t know the story, Richard found a suspicious backpack in Centennial Park in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics. He alerted authorities to the backpack and helped clear the area.
Two people were killed when the bomb inside the backpack went off, but many more would have been killed if Richard had not acted on his suspicions. For a brief period, people called him a hero, but then the media and the FBI turned on him and accused him without evidence of being an attention-seeking security guard. They call it “trial by media,” and it is beyond horrible.
This movie hit home. I absolutely identified. Richard and I were both cop wannabes — or so the media told us. We were both gullible. We both believed law enforcement had our best interests at heart. We both believed reporters wanted the truth. We both believed everyone was basically good and then we both realized what fools we had been to believe all that.
As I sat there in the dark, my stomach in knots, I found myself wishing Richard was still alive so I could reach out and hug him and tell him, “Yes, Richard, you are a hero.”
I know as only a few others do how gut wrenching it is to be at the center of the storm like this. You can only imagine what people think of you. You worry that everyone thinks you are the monster the media created.
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-01-22--Understanding the Fabian Window

Understanding the Fabian Window

The following video was produced by Truthstream Media In the video below , Truthstream Media discusses one of the most @ @ @ @ @ organizations of modern globalism and the “ new world order – The Fabian Society .
@ @ @ @ @ their obsession with incremental tyranny and the erasure of individual and national sovereignty .
Though @ @ @ @ @ On Foreign Relations have now taken over at the forefront of the globalist effort , @ @ @ @ @ , the beginning of the modern push towards an everlasting totalitarian empire ruled by the @ @ @ @ @ and tactics helps us to understand exactly what is taking place today .
The “ @ @ @ @ @ being established now , and it must be stopped… Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy @ @ @ @ @ Card i ... Buy New $ 50.00 Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ @ @ @ @ @ ... Buy New $ 15.00

The following video was produced by Truthstream Media
In the video below, Truthstream Media discusses one of the most dangerous and ideologically insane root organizations of modern globalism and the “new world order – The Fabian Society. The Fabians are notorious for their obsession with incremental tyranny and the erasure of individual and national sovereignty. Though other organizations like the Council On Foreign Relations have now taken over at the forefront of the globalist effort, the Fabians were the foundation, the beginning of the modern push towards an everlasting totalitarian empire ruled by the elites. Understanding their history and tactics helps us to understand exactly what is taking place today. The “Brave New Word” is being established now, and it must be stopped…

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lewrockwell--2020-01-22--What Happens to Someone’s Brain When They Complain Too Much

We all know those types of people who always find something to complain about , maybe we are even one of them !
How much of an effect does complaining actually have on the brain and what can we do about it ?
New research shows exactly how complaining every day might be affecting our brain and because the brain is an amazing and resilient organ we can even reverse these effects .
The first step is becoming aware of the issue .
What is your first thought when you wake up in the morning ?
Are you already dreading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and thus right out of bed , you find yourself in a grumpy mood ?
Well , if this is you , know that it is not too late to make a change .
Complaining can become a habit , and the more we do it , the more we continue to do it .
With some effort , we can break this habit and start to see the world in a more neutral light , if we choose to take action .
Within the past couple of decades , thanks to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we can now clearly see that the brain is indeed capable of rewiring itself .
It is up to us , however , to make these necessary adjustments in order to allow for this to happen .
Neuroplasticity means the brains ability to change and form new neural pathways and synapses , this is what allows us to break old habits , form new ones , learn new skills , grow , change and essentially , evolve .
Because of neuroplasticity , we have the capability to : • Recover from certain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to know , that there are two sides of the coin and we can indeed rewire our brains for the worse , if we pick up habits and behaviors that are detrimental to our well being , such as complaining .
According to Alex Korb , Ph.D. , and author of The Upward Spiral : Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression , One Small Change At A Time , “ In depression , there ’ s nothing fundamentally wrong with the brain .
It ’ s simply that the particular tuning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pattern of depression .
It has to do with the way the brain deals with stress , planning , habits , decision-making and a dozen other things — the dynamic interaction of all those circuits .
And once a pattern starts to form , it causes dozens of tiny changes throughout the brain that create a downward spiral.
” How Does Complaining Affect The Brain ?
When we get caught up in the habit of continually complaining , in the form of thoughts in our heads or out loud to anyone and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it will directly alter our thought processes .
Altered thoughts lead to altered beliefs , which will inevitably lead to a change in behavior .
In fact , our brain possesses something that is called the negativity bias , meaning that the brain has a tendency to focus more on what ’ s wrong via our perception , not what ’ s going right or the positive events in our life .
These negative thoughts can actually drown out the lighter experiences over time so that you aren ’ t able to even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place in your life .
Neuroscientist , Dr. Rick Hanson sums up the negativity bias quite nicely , “ Negative Stimuli produce more neural activity than do equally intensive positive ones .
They are also perceived more easily and quickly.
” So , by continually allowing ourselves to complain we are strengthening this behavior , as mentioned above , the first step towards changing this is to become aware of the problem .
That alone , will make see the issue and likely ponder on your negative thoughts .
How Can We Change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to say that we always need to “ think positive ” a common new-age misconception , but we should take the necessary action steps to move beyond the effects of thinking negatively all the time .
Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 10.00 A simple and effective technique is to wear a complaining bracelet , this is a tactic that I learned from watching an episode of Oprah years ago .
You simply wear a bracelet , any kind that can easily come off , and every time you catch yourself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or out loud to someone else , you switch wrists so you can be aware of what is happening .
To hold yourself accountable , let your family , friends , and co-workers know of your challenge so in case you don ’ t realize that you ’ re complaining , they can call you out too .
The goal is to see how long you can go without having to switch the bracelet , but this technique is also powerful for showing you how much you are actually complaining in the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ psychology researcher and her colleagues from the University of North Carolina showed how people who meditate daily have more positive or uplifting emotions than those who don ’ t .
After a three-month experiment , Fredrickson ’ s team found that “ people who meditated daily continued to display increased mindfulness , purpose in life , social support and decreased illness symptoms.
” If you are new to meditation , there are a ton of resources available to help get you started .
Just 15 to 20 minutes a day could be enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life , for the better !

We all know those types of people who always find something to complain about, maybe we are even one of them! How much of an effect does complaining actually have on the brain and what can we do about it? New research shows exactly how complaining every day might be affecting our brain and because the brain is an amazing and resilient organ we can even reverse these effects. The first step is becoming aware of the issue.
What is your first thought when you wake up in the morning? Are you already dreading the day ahead? Is it cloudy, and thus right out of bed, you find yourself in a grumpy mood? Well, if this is you, know that it is not too late to make a change. Complaining can become a habit, and the more we do it, the more we continue to do it. With some effort, we can break this habit and start to see the world in a more neutral light, if we choose to take action.
Neuroplasticity
Within the past couple of decades, thanks to the development of brain imaging and neuroscience, we can now clearly see that the brain is indeed capable of rewiring itself. It is up to us, however, to make these necessary adjustments in order to allow for this to happen. Neuroplasticity means the brains ability to change and form new neural pathways and synapses, this is what allows us to break old habits, form new ones, learn new skills, grow, change and essentially, evolve.
Because of neuroplasticity, we have the capability to:
Increase our intelligence
Learn new and life-changing skills.
Recover from certain types of brain damage
Become more emotionally intelligent
Unlearn harmful beliefs, habits and behaviors
‘Neurons that fire together, wire together.”
It is important to know, that there are two sides of the coin and we can indeed rewire our brains for the worse, if we pick up habits and behaviors that are detrimental to our well being, such as complaining.
According to Alex Korb, Ph.D., and author of The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change At A Time,
“In depression, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the brain. It’s simply that the particular tuning of neural circuits creates the tendency toward a pattern of depression. It has to do with the way the brain deals with stress, planning, habits, decision-making and a dozen other things — the dynamic interaction of all those circuits. And once a pattern starts to form, it causes dozens of tiny changes throughout the brain that create a downward spiral.”
How Does Complaining Affect The Brain?
When we get caught up in the habit of continually complaining, in the form of thoughts in our heads or out loud to anyone and everyone we come into contact with, it will directly alter our thought processes. Altered thoughts lead to altered beliefs, which will inevitably lead to a change in behavior.
In fact, our brain possesses something that is called the negativity bias, meaning that the brain has a tendency to focus more on what’s wrong via our perception, not what’s going right or the positive events in our life. These negative thoughts can actually drown out the lighter experiences over time so that you aren’t able to even see the good events that are taking place in your life.
Neuroscientist, Dr. Rick Hanson sums up the negativity bias quite nicely,
“Negative Stimuli produce more neural activity than do equally intensive positive ones. They are also perceived more easily and quickly.”
So, by continually allowing ourselves to complain we are strengthening this behavior, as mentioned above, the first step towards changing this is to become aware of the problem. That alone, will make see the issue and likely ponder on your negative thoughts.
How Can We Change Our Brain?
This isn’t to say that we always need to “think positive” a common new-age misconception, but we should take the necessary action steps to move beyond the effects of thinking negatively all the time.
Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details) A simple and effective technique is to wear a complaining bracelet, this is a tactic that I learned from watching an episode of Oprah years ago. You simply wear a bracelet, any kind that can easily come off, and every time you catch yourself complaining about something, in your head or out loud to someone else, you switch wrists so you can be aware of what is happening. To hold yourself accountable, let your family, friends, and co-workers know of your challenge so in case you don’t realize that you’re complaining, they can call you out too. The goal is to see how long you can go without having to switch the bracelet, but this technique is also powerful for showing you how much you are actually complaining in the first place.
Meditation & Mindfulness Practices
Barbara Fredrickson, a positive psychology researcher and her colleagues from the University of North Carolina showed how people who meditate daily have more positive or uplifting emotions than those who don’t.
After a three-month experiment, Fredrickson’s team found that “people who meditated daily continued to display increased mindfulness, purpose in life, social support and decreased illness symptoms.”
If you are new to meditation, there are a ton of resources available to help get you started. Just 15 to 20 minutes a day could be enough to change your brain and your entire life, for the better!
Reprinted with permission from Collective Evolution.