Huber' "The Great Big Backfire Raid" and Current Events

 One of the funnier parts of the Book 'Bathtub Admirals'  - by  one of my favorite (but now deceased) bloggers  (Jeff Huber ) depicted an apocryphal incident - "The Great Big Backfire Raid" - when he was serving as the flight commander on board a US aircraft carrier in the North pacific during the 1980's.  The incident involved a spurious practice exercise to counter what was imagined to be a massive raid by Russian attack aircraft flying out of the Kuriles and Kamchatka peninsula to surprise, overwhelm and 'do dirt' to Uncle Sam's best Navy. The 'hero' of the story wins a cap feather for his plan to 'spoof' the Russians into attacking a submarine pretending to be a carrier task force, and then 'embarrassing' them  by having the 'cavalry' (US Naval air power) show-up to electronically clobber them with missiles.

                                         The 'forlorn hope' heading for peace in Korea


The greatness of that 'plan' gained him the approval of the bathtub admirals who later in the book, turn on him when he displays the greatest military sin - a 'lack of confidence' that prevented the fleet from piling into the flagship, after the commanding Admiral had ordered it to stop without informing the rest of the fleet. Huber points out that such 'initiative' may bring rewards, but it's a first-class ticket out of a service where 'playing by the rules' and attending to the persona of ones' 'betters' is the wiser and more career-healthy course.   Huber pointed out that his naval peers were among the commanders who took the US into its middle eastern adventures. Their 'heirs' are commanding the US navy to-day. By extrapolation it's more than likely that similar 'career pathways' are pre-eminent in the other US armed forces. Regular dismissals from service for undefined 'losses of confidence in abilities to command' are more -than-just- regular occurrences.

So it comes as no big surprise to find that someone in the military likely approved the deployment of a MOAB in Afghanistan last week.  One of the main questions about the bomb, which has been in the arsenal for at least 10 years now, is why it wasn't deployed in Afghanistan before?  A prototype was available to drop on Tora Bora when Bin Laden was hiding there and it wasn't used. Supplementary questions included 'why now' and 'who gave the order'? Turns out it wasn't the CinC.  Or he never claimed credit for the 'great event' - having 'authorized the military' - they did it. He 'rah rahs' them.

                                                "Mothers"

Which then makes one wonder how things are going to pan out in Syria, should somebody think a follow-up to the 'one off' is needed?  Or how things are going to  go in the East China Sea this week should a next-generation bathtub admiral feel threatened by 'the Norks', or how things will go in eastern Europe with, possibly, a latter-day 'pistol pete' and his understanding of a green light?

                                                   Norks 'just asking for it'.


The interview Trump gave on the occasion of the cruise-missling reposte to Assad 'gassing his own people' is  telling.  First of all the CinC screwed-up the accepted notion of what militaries are - describing how "the generals" had told him the ships were "locked and loaded" - I thought Admirals knew about ships - but they probably didn't have yacht element at Trump's prep school and regatta day wouldn't have been a biggie. The Prez  went on to confide how he's slipped 'the word' to the Chinese President that the birds were flying to Iraq, no make that Syria - but he had to be corrected. Then he went off on a tangent to describe his dessert.

                                                 Dessert for Donald


Meanwhile back to real reality.

I few into Toronto the day of the great big bomb scare.  Although there was no indication that much was wrong other than a half-hour delay after landing, in 'getting a gate' to unload, the 'cluster-feck' at CCIS seemed almost entirely normal.  It was only later that a possible unusual level of surliness in the border security service was explained by what had turned out to be a significant security event that happened earlier in the day.  A red eye flight to Chicago that morning included a US passenger who had, in his luggage what turned out to be a 'dummy explosive device'.  It was in his checked luggage and was detected by standard screening for such things.

The device was apparently accessed and 'sniffed' for explosives.  Detecting nothing the luggage was loaded on the aircraft, as was the passenger and the rest of those with him. The plane then proceeded on its way. If  I  have the story correct,  it was in the queue for take-off when something started to go awry and the 'flight' was halted.

It would appear that dummy explosive devices may appear regularly at airports, as part of the training and testing of security personnel and equipment. I imagine, too, that when such testing/training occurs there is someone in high command who knows about it, and when the correct, or incorrect determination is made, the 'targeted' flight can proceed with no real hassle. In this event it appears that nobody may have known about any testing or training and that's hat caused  the stoppage.

A subsequent investigation revealed that the American traveler was traveling with his own personal 'dummy explosive device' - for whatever reason. The results were a 'mischief ' charge for him,  a significant delay for the 100 + people traveling with him, who had to have all their luggage re-checked and themselves re-processed for security an US immigration, a very late flight, missed connections and the disruption of one of Canada's busiest airports for a day. And then there were the high fives and congratulations that 'lives were saved' - even passengers were relieved by all the success.

I guess it was better they didn't know that somebody in 'security'  after sniffing the bomb - pictured below - still thought it was a good idea to put it, and the guy who owned it,  on their airplane.  Only somebody's toes 'getting stepped-upon' stopped it from flying to Chicago.

                                                   The Toronto 'pseudo-bomb'

Heads Up!

I thought I'd be writing about EUkrainia being really invaded. But no!

                                                    The Hebrew Sooth sayer

                                               Porko's peace bang-bang goes ka-blooie!

                                     Another one bites the dust - shot by a real EUkrainian


I started this. Then went 'on hols' for a few days. While I was away the shit hit the fan.

It seems that, after hearing that the Trump administration was removing the gunsights from himself and, perhaps,  the Baathists, peace-wise,  the President of Syria decided that he needed to, or more likely just wanted to,  drop some chemical weapons on a target within easy reach of the 'white helmet'  Oscar winners and the media attached to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory.

The necessity (or desire) was imparted to the world by little miss Haley, America's mouth at the UN. While not as strident as Gudrun the Widder, she makes the kind of case that would leave a Seal team in tears. She did a number on Assad and used the pix supplied by media 'on the scene' as evidence of the 'eevuls' tyrants do.  From 40 seconds after the first 'announcement;' the world knew who dunnit. This time it may not have been Putin, but Putin has his back.

                                                               The Russian 'slant'.

Big Donnie has decided to act 'Presidential' after the Syrian rebels supplied him with a saga. While, surprisingly, the 'Star Sangled Banner' crowd aren't waving lighters out front of the White House just yet (they want him to DO more), the 'innernational community'  and Trumps 'bettors' are adulating the hell out of the big palooka.  You'd almost swear they were 'up' for going 'in' alongside the Marines. Dead babies have such massive affects on those who don't believe aborted ones wind-up in a surgical bucket - or don't want to see those either.

Assad took the attack with equanimity. He sent a panel of generals out to inspect the destruction - that photo duly posted in western mendia - some kind of couterpoint that military sheiks are waaaaay safer than Syrian civilan infants, eh?  Even AFTER a damned good bombing.

Putin, the basilisk,  didn't act very 'manly' either. He simply called the attack a bad name and said he'd be slipping some more AA defences into Syria. He didn't 'go nuts' over his subway bombing either, rounding-up accused perps the next day, just like he had a regular security organization  - like Sweden's. No racing off to drop 'payback' bombs on Kirghizstan.   But he didn't have the 'slaughter of the innocents' on Anderson's '360' and CNN,  did he?

The neocons and their fundamentalist Israel-loving (Bennie hearted that bombardment) buddies now in power (still)  in America  are going to have to do a lot better before 'the sheeple' start to lose interest in the White Sales and start demanding more bayonet practices. They 'fecked-it-up'  under Bush and let Obama away with murder - for all the wrong reasons. Problem is, there is still a large 'rump' of America who, while they might love bombing bad guys for killing babies,  still hate Trump on principle and would neither buy a condo, or another war, from him.



 



 But it's all no surprise.  Note the last one from South front. It was posted November 2016.

We're Havin' a Hearin', a Congressional Hearin'

America's latest best 'reality TV show' is now on - coming live from the legislature in Washington DC.  A "bilateral committee" of Washington politicos is looking into the case of the 'fudged' election and whether, or not, all the 'new' President's men had any truck with the 'comintern' in the Kremlin.

I say fudged as opposed to 'probably fudged' or the even more vague 'possibly fudged' election, because one thing EVERYBODY on the committee is sure about is that the Russians  'did something' to affect a US election.  They're trying to find out just what that was and who helped them do it. And PROVE it.  As a side show,  the committee is investigating any links anybody in the Trump administration may have had with the Russians. This because the most recent National Security director was in communication with the Russian ambassador to the US from a holiday home in the West Indies and the phone call was intercepted. He 'lied' about it and was forced to resign.  Since then the hue and cry 'who else' had gone up, followed, shortly,  by 'did Trump know about it?'

And so the pols have gathered.  But what initially looked like a slam dunk for the deprived Hilary is starting to look more like a national fiasco.

Recently  on the hot seat, one James Comey - head honcho of the FBI, who was assisted by some Admiral presently commanding the NSA. What a well-watered dope that lad is.  He led-off his perambulation by informing the panel that, although he had already imparted all his security wisdom to the principals of the body, and normally would not divulge what his agency was doing, he was "empowered" to let them all know that the FBI was investigating the Russian theft of a US election.

He concluded as to how, what he was about, was protecting America and Americans, wrapped himself in bumpff and hooey, then opened the floor to some questions. Some of the questions he was asked touched on other possible investigations - he was very fey about responding to those - pleading his version of 'the fifth' (If I told ya, we'd have ta kill ya, etc.) . But he received at least two 'lobs' that he must have thought he had belted right out of the park. One of those was in regard to Trump's recent charges that Obama had had his phone tapped.  When Comey replied that he 'had no information on that', his pronouncement was received as 'proof' that Obama had done no such thing and Trump was lying, again. The second lob was about Putin stealing the election by leaking stolen email - on that he could state it was true and the FBI was investigating the details. The big dope beside  him indicated that the NSA "had no information about that", because the NSA didn't focus on America but on threats from outside. You can go figure how that statement parlayed itself into  definitive proof that Putin had gerrymandered an election away from Clinton.   Apparently "I don't have any information" is a very meaningful term to US pols and their supersleuths.

He also dropped himself into some difficulty. - or allowed some sharpie to bamboozle him. One Representative - howdy dowdy or something, started to ask him about the intent of the FISA act and the courts in protecting Americans while attacking terror. Comey agreed that there were safeguards in place to protect innocent Americans who might inadvertently show up in investigations that did not really involve them. Their rights were protected by 'masking' their identity even up to the highest offices.  A jail term of 10 years was stipulated for anyone who "feloniously" divulged such information.  Dopey from the FBI even huffed and puffed a little about his desire to offer such protection. He asked his big buddy if the NSA could 'unmask' such  Americans and was told yes but only a handful were so qualified. He admitted there were more FBI employees who could 'unmask' Americans - because they dealt with more Americans (if that makes any sense)  'possibly a hundred',  but Comey didn't know for sure.

Led down a garden path,  Comey admitted there were others who could 'unmask' Americans cited in reports, if they were asked to, by higher authorities.

And then the representative unloaded. He laid out a chain of reports in national newspapers describing how 16 Americans - all members of the Trump transition team - had been 'unmasked' in a variety of materials that were 'gathered' apparently under FISA rules. There was no criminal cause for gathering the information and even less cause for having these citizens 'unmasked'. When asked if the FBI was investigating that crime Comey admitted it was a felony but he fell back on the 'fifth' and would neither admit or deny anything.  This is the start of another House investigation. For somebody leaked information and somebody unmasked as-yet-innocent Americans. And somebody requested their unmasking.

To round-off a bad day for the good guys, one of the co-chairs reported, to the media and President Trump, that he had been given evidence that indicated that "communications" from Trump administration staffers had been "inadvertently gathered" by National Security organizations. Information, the Chairman pointed out, that was available, now, to the officers of National Security organizations but also to politicians who might have been part of the former administration. Information that had been withheld from the sitting President.

The 'reaction' to that news was that, by failing to notify his Democrat co-chair of the finding before notifying the President, he had essentially 'destroyed' the work of the House committee.  Things had been going so well to nail Trump and then ..... kismet.  Trump might have been right about his email being 'tapped' and possibly Obama getting it. Whether Obama ordered that, or not, remains to be seen.

'Inadvertent' seems to have become a positive American character trait.

The Ever Present Threat to Things Flying through the Air

                                                 Orv and Wib and the first air fatality

Ever since Wilbur and Orville noticed that somebody could get hurt on, in, or under, a flying machine, mankind has taken 'the willies' about the notion of being smashed to death when an aluminium foil flying device  comes in contact with anything harder than itself. Indeed one of the scarier thoughts, and the subject of a number of  'thrillers' and actual murder plots, is to have something explode in a plane ... and fire its human contents into the open air and at great height. As some wag said of such things, 'it isn't the fall (if you've been spared the blast) that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the bottom'.

In the bad old days, when people weren't so easily 'radicalized', a notice on the wall often took the place of somebody with a gun as 'security' - in train and bus stations and airports, But those 'old ways' have changed.

                                                 Old fashioned 'nukuler' test site warning


To-day we are constantly reminded, as our forebears apparently weren't,  that life can be extremely transitory (as if it isn't) and that we need to be aware, very aware. Well somebody standing on the ramparts of our freedom needs to be aware, anyway.

                                               See the large cloud? The 'drone' didn't do it


And so, to-day, in a growing number of places, the fear that somebody can slip something explosive into a very difficult place,  has forced some of our defenders to ban all electronic devices - above a certain size, from being 'boarded' onto an aircraft with a passenger attached - at least from a small number of all-of-a-sudden 'very dangerous' air hubs.  If previous instant is any guide,  such 'prevention' will grow into a pound and  then a ton of cure - very soon,  everywhere.  For aren't 'they' out to get 'us' where ever we, and they, may be found?  If we plug one rat hole,  won't they only open another?  They used to just plant explosive  in luggage and detonate planes  but we've made that 'too hard' for them to do. They've tried exploding shoes and explosive underwear - should we be surprised that they've figured some molecular way of getting it into a functioning laptop or IPad?  Christ,  the ARE trying to kill us all, aren't they?

   
                                     You could get maybe three or four grams of Boom-boom in there.


But never mind that, if they can get a bomb into your electronics, or their own, and get it onto an aircraft, it won't be any less dangerous in the cargo hold than it would be under your seat - at least personally, in a very direct way. (see the falling from great height reference above.)


To me the new precaution doesn't make a lot of sense, or as much sense as checking electronics for traces of explosive - they do - and making sure they actually work - they don't.  Some folk are saying, to-day, it's actually a 'safety measure' about exploding lithium batteries. That begs the question about what makes lithium batteries getting on  planes at 6 specific airports more dangerous than the lithium batteries getting on planes everywhere else?  Some of these batteries have been known to burst into flames.  I'm pretty sure that 'fire on board the aircraft' is probably lesson two in the aircraft safety training program - right after 'fastened seatbelts' and just after 'barfing'.

                                 
                                                     checking for explosive earbuds

Some other minds are saying it's 'airline competition' at work.  But who's losing here?  The business class? They regularly rent their 'own' plane for international travel and despite what's said at the other end, their baggage stows where their baggage goes. And many places they're VIP enough to have it and themselves whisked-off the airport tarmac with a police escort - unchecked and untroubled by customs and immigration. Frankly, Scarlett, I can't see the competition at work here, unless only some airlines flights are involved and not the travelers  from those 6 'hell-holes'  - with what could be 'kinetic' electronics.

                                         No bombs on this baby - unless it's assassination

Off-ghanistan

The first 'green on green' attack in Afghanistan, in a number of years, was reported yesterday when an Afghan soldier, apparently, turned a weapon on US 'advisors' wounding three of them.  The comcomittent reaction to the story ran the gamut from "let's be gone" to "vitrify the place", with almost every other previous comment mentioned,  in between.

While it isn't yet clear the Trump will - as some military experts, including the latest 'legatus legionis' to have been appointed, are calling for -  'mandate' a revitilized 'surge'.  Something useful to take back all those now-deserted 'posts' and 'bases', fly-in loads of new air conditioners, fridges and large screen TV's to replace those now 'aging'  in Afghan trash dumps. Something kinetic 'take the fight to the Taliban' (again), who have 'threatened' to overwhelm one of the best-trained and -equipped 'forces for freedumb' in west Asia.

They ( the pundits0 are giving Trump a triple option  for Afghanistan:  stalemate, failure or sending in more troops. Somehow I don't think Trump is going to want to win 'Bushco''s war in Afghanistan, or Obama's in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine or  West Africa for that matter, before he starts, and wins, one of his very own,  somewhere else. If he's smart,  he'd try 'doing' Venezuela - or Liberia.

Along with the steady stream of suicide bombings and the operations of the Afghan military, as Afghanistan 'gears-up' for another "fighting season",  the generous people of America have shipped-in another 4 Super Toucanos to help them make the jihadis 'stand-down' - and probably a double ration of anti-personnel bombs 'on the side'.  It's what real democracies do.

Here's a good bit of insight from Andre Vltchek, writing on Afghanistan, in Globalresearch - the Canadian alternative to the American  'neocon' narrative.

Andre Vltchek

Yemen: bleeding Yemen

 Aside from the odd report of another bombing travesty, or Special forces raid,  whatever is happening in Yemen continues to happen largely out of the eye of the western news reader.  Even the media 'spinsters' who have much of modernity in thrall to their blasts and counterblasts, ignore what's going-on in the middle east or at least the Arabian peninsula, as if how someone sits on a Whitehouse couch is ever-so-much-more imprtant.

Here are a couple of stories that have squeaked out

 The first in regard to 'Trump's BIG Seal raid:  US DoD released 'intel' material 'taken during the raid' one item of which was an AQ 'training video.'  It turns out that this was nothing new, a copy of the same video had been released on DOD sources a few years back. So the dead Yemenis at the very best had a ccopy of some very dated 'training' material.  Or somebody goofed by reposting archival material and calling it 'new'.   Whatever,  the official line is that the raid was 'a success' and some 'valuable intel' was found. This just wasn't it.

It's not botched, really. Trust us. 

The latest sad tale surfaced last week when it was reported that 'something' had shot-up a boatload of refugees, in the 'war zone'  off the coast of Yemen,  killing a number and resulting in a necessaary  humanitarian 'rescue' operation.  As time went by and the corpses drifted in for pick-up,  it turns out the incident 'might have been' a Saudi  Coalition Apache strike on what somebody thought was a boatful of 'smugglers bearing arms into Yemen'. That apparently happens 'all the time' and is probably why the Houtis haven't, as yet, surrendered to the 'natural' government  of their nation, or its coalition allies.  What is interesting is that refugees weren't travelling, as one might expect, from war-ravaged, starving Yemen to relative safety in Djibouti or the Horn of Africa states, these were refugees 'fleeing' almost-stable Somalia for an active, first-world category, war zone in Yemen. And they didn't make it.

Refugees under airstike

UNHCR appalled

Latest developments

In the wake of the travesty, a story floated out that the 'natural'  government of Yemen was  'pulling the plug' on America's airborne bombardment assistance plan (ABAP). Commenting from relative safety and civilization in Egypt, the 'Yemeni government-in-waiting' rapidly recanted the tale. The USA will be fully-vested in any bombing of Yemen, or Yemenis,  that they deem fit, or necessary to do. It IS for the 'good' of the people, and, if some eggs have get broken, they will all still enjoy the omlelet.

from Cairo

Last Word from the UNHRC - save the poor Somalis 

And as they used to say in 'revolutionary' places - 'la lutte continue, la victoire est certaine'. In this case there is no certainty of victory, just more death and lutte.

If You've been Keeping-up with Syria ... Duh! Eh?

If you've been keeping-up with Syria - which seems to have been knocked-out of western media by the murder of the Nork's leader's older 'playboy' stepbrother and the on-going saga of the 'evil that is Trump' - you may have noticed there is little being reported.  But that doesn't mean there is nothing going on.

 If you look at a situation map you will notice that Syria is, now, split into enclaves occupied by the actors of the piece. the Syrian Arab government and its Syrian Arab Army hold the capital and areas around it, they hold a strip of land extending toward the north west corner of the country - fighting is going on in Idlib (west of Aleppo). They have retaken Aleppo and are advancing east on two fronts  into territory held by ISIS.

ISIS territory now extends in a wide strip to the southeast, through central Syria, to the border of Iraq. It contains the ISIS capital of Raqqa and the air base city of Deir ez Zor.  The North Eastern part of Syria is largely held by Kurdish forces of the PKK, they also hold territory south of the Turkish border in western Syria.  It is to prevent the Kurds forming a large enclave along the border, that Turkish forces made an incursion into Syria  "in support of FSA forces fighting ISIS" (coloured green on the map above) .


The FSA ("moderate" rebels)   hold a considerable enclave west of Aleppo and another north of the Jordanian border. They also hold smaller enclves and villages in government-held territory.

An enclave in north central Syria has been invaded from Turkey. The Turks claim to be supporting an ill-defined group of what they claim are FSA fighters and who accompany them on operations.

                                            SFA "fighters" employed by the Turks.



Very recently the  White House announced that a US Marine artillery unit was being deployed to 'Raqqa' to assist FAS forces. There have been other US forces in Syria for some time now. They have taken and control the area around a Syrian Air Force base in the northeastern part of the country. It is possible that these forces are supporting Syrian Kurdish forces, although the PKK is, still,  designated as a 'terrorist organizaton' by the USA.It is reported that both US and Russian forces are located in the same city  Manbij, in  the northeast

US/Russian forces 'eyeball' each other.

In other areas the government has succeeded in removing rebel forces from water sources supplying the cities of Baghdad and Aleppo. Water has been restored to the former and is being restored to the latter.The government continues to be criticized for continuing to attack rebel-held areas in a few of its cities (Homs for example)

In a demonstration of the effect of the war,  a 1 000 man 'legion' (5th) was mobilized by the government,  after completing training, just last week.   It is reputed to have been trained to a highly effective edge by Russian trainers. While that might be the case, one only has to look in the ranks to see that Syria could be at the "Heimwehr'  stage of military population. The 5th Legion is currently part of the force 'stretching the envelope' around recently re-liberated Palmyra.  I'm inclined to  think that a very large number of Syria's fighting-age males are (wisely?) living out-of-country.

дезинформация (dezinformatsiya:disinformation)

The American disease is spreading north!  It's called "disinformation", Russian disinformation,  and how it's gonna wreck civilization.

                                  "Left foot in, left foot out - doing jiggery pokery, shake it all about"

For the past two days, it would appear, Canada has either been under attack or is imminently going to be attacked (depending on which one of the two 'media sources' (Macleans Magazine, National Post) that 'discovered' it)  by whatever parts of Russia are accused of 'attacking' America - skewing the vote there and electing a President nobody - 'except Putin' - wanted.

                                                     What more needs be said?

The 'threat', we are told, has arisen since Canada announced, on Tuesday, (well that's a fib, Putin has been trying to 'screw' Canada, or Krystia Freeland or both, for a much longer time),  that it will be continuing to 'support' Ukraine, in  small part, by maintaining a force of 200  military trainers, in Ukraine, until 2019.  No mention of Canada's already having had military forces, periodically,  in Ukraine dating back some 20 years and that whatever 'parts of Russia' etc,  not attacking us - until now.

                                 Khristia .... and freedumb. She even looks like a real Canadian

What this 'disinformation attack' is about is our (relatively) new Foreign Affairs Minister, Krystia Freeland and her stalwart defence of EUkrainia. It would appear that 'Russia' has, lately, been attacking her, personally, by claiming that her grandfather - a Ukrainian 'refugee' (they used to be called "DP's"  after WW2),  spent some of his 'war' time working for a  pro-Nazi,  anti-Jew, -Pole, -communist, etc publication that blossomed after Ukraine was 'liberated' by Hitler & Co.  The Russians have already listed Freeland on a 'sanctioned persons' list for some of the things she said and did, in person, to get Russians sanctioned here in Canada.  This latest 'move' (other than having been attributed to 'pro-russian blogs', there is no proof the Russian governmment is actually attacking at all)  is, supposedly, just like the Russian 'disinformation campaigns' that have blighted recent modern history. Although it would seem that, like the other 'disinformations',  the facts of the story are essentially true - but 'lacking in nuance'.

That good 'nuance' is being provided in Canadian media (Toronto Star) to correct the disinformation 'nuance' goes like this:

1.   You won't understand if you weren't there.  "War is hell", General Sherman said that, and you can't make omelets without breaking heads. Dirty deeds get done, by accident mostly, and, well, just because "good people" are scared for their lives and willing to do almost anything to survive.

2.  Some of them pretend to do one thing (bad stuff)  but they are really heroes (Brad Pitt and the Nazi-killerz?) , like Krystia's grandad, who used his 'job' to get documents for, and save the lives of,  "anti-nazi fighters".  Don't even try to understand it, except the 'other guys' were worse.

3.  It's been so long now and, heck, Krystia had nothing to do with it - except editing the book her Uncle wrote about his Pop.

4. There were a few of 'ex-nazis' who may have 'sneaked in' with the real refugees but they went on to live in peace and, we hope, tried to live down any evil they had done. If we caught them, we dealt with them ... so we're good and now so are they - unless somebody from Israel finds them.

5. The whole family would have been dead - murdered by the filthy Russians or Russian-sympathizing 'Commie' Ukrainians -  if they'd stayed in Europe - so would Krystia and she's innocent.

                                              Hier Wir haben den gutes Nazis. So?

This is  the 'Canadian chapter' of the 'other' Russian 'disinformation':  that there are  modern 'Nazis' fighting in Ukraine, and in the 'revolutionary' government there.  Once again the 'disinformation' may be in the nuance, for there are 'nazis',  or people who seem to espouse the 'value' of that aspect of Ukrainian history,  who actually do form voluntary military units fighting alongside regular Ukrainian armed forces, in what they call 'the ATO'. And some of the (former) leadership of such groups do hold high office in the government of Ukraine. One of them was invited to, and did, address the Parliament of Canada.  But, once again, our 'nuance' might (probably does) make him a great guy. The truth may be that, politically, he's still well 'right' of Oskar Dirlewanger.

                              Pariuby, founder of the Ukrainian Nazi party, smiles on parliament

So what's the effect of all  this?

Well  for starters - it's going to make any sort of improvement in the relationship between Canada and Russia 'more complicated' - if we wanted anything like that. Not that Canada needs worry,  for we've gotten along well without Russians for so long, now. For about 9 years Canada has been in the forefront of those nations of the world who have more concern for downtrodden Russians and the 'evil  that is done to them by their government'  than we do for the downtrodden of most other places on earth. Human rights for Russians seem far more important, to Canada, than, say, human rights for a lot of other people - many kinds of Moslems come to mind. For instance what Putin is 'doing to the gay population of Russia' is somehow much worse than anything Israel does, regularly, to the ordinary people of Gaza or what's happening to  the Rohinga, or the Houthis. We complain about Russia  and 'defund' our charities aimed at helping Palestine - or Yemen - or the Assad side of Syria.  Moslems 'do things' to "deserve" their treatment and Russian gays, well, they just don't.

But this isn't only about Russia for, you see, like Israel - (and this is perhaps why we don't gripe about human rights there; they have great human rights - for Israelis),  Ukraine is 'under attack'. Yes they don't like gays there, either, but the 'new' Ukrainian police, unlike Russian police, show-up to 'protect' the 'Rainbow March'. If Putin wasn't being so bad to them, they'd be nicer to everybody - or pass more nice laws they won't 'be able' to enforce. Ukraine has been "invaded", parts of it "illegally annexed" (Disinformation?  Nah, undebateable 'facts', dropped and left because they're 'common knowledge') and right now Ukraine is 'holding the Russians back from destroying European culture' (dezinformatsiye - in Ukrainian) . It needs "more effective" weapons, and it needs more money to fight - and to look after culture,  art and beauty - things they would be more interested in than armored divisions, bulletproof vests, night vision glasses and ballistic helmets if only ...  Putin would leave them in peace!

Canada is willing to help train-up the army to do all that the 'right way'. We have, and will, continue to give them money. Ms Freeland and the Ukrainian-Canadian community would like Canada to give them, (even sell if necessary), "more effective" weapons to shoot at 'their' Donbass. But I may be 'disinformed' - maybe EUkraine doesn't need money, or weapons, or anything else and is really at peace ..... nah.

'Russian invasions' play better - we grew up  with that threat - we've 'seen' them on the TV - in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. We've 'seen' what the Russians have done to Afghanistan, to Latvia and Lithuania and Estonia - oops, those may have been anti-Russian events. We've seen Kruschev and his UN shoe (something else never actually recorded on film)  and we've 'known the fear' of a nuclear stand-off.  We've heard the warning sirens - and we've ducked and covered.

Like the nice man in the Star said, to-day, 'We weren't really there and we can't understand' - he may be right. But if he is, then shouldn't we take into consideration that, having lost World War One and come very close to losing the Second World War Two, the Russians  have 'been there' more than we have?  And might understand Ukraine better than some romantically-homesick 'Canadian' greatgrandchildren?

                                            Definitely NOT bullshit - it's Love

Disinformation aside, what we need to bear in mind that this could all be heading in a direction our grandparents (who "didn't want to know" about war  (?)- the Star) had some real fear of going. Depending on everybody to be 'rational' about nuclear weapons when they can't be rational about an election, accents the point that emotions 'make us' do more than common sense - and often the 'wrong' thing. Disinformation, whether coming from Russia, or the counter-disinformation 'necessary' to make 'theirs' look bad - drives an emotional reaction.  If you've heard Krystia when she gets' upset' you would know that.

I checked out the word 'disinformation' - it didn't look like a 'real' word. It wasn't - until sometime in the 1980's. According to Wikipedia,  it's a 'translation', or transliteration, of a probably-just-as-contrived "Russian word".  Isn't it strange that, having bested the propaganda of the Comintern, and International Communism, the 'agitprop' and a plethora of Soviet propaganda forms about almost everything we love, we have to 'borrow' another 'Russian  word'  to describe something even more nefarious - 'twisting the truth'.

                             Definitely not bullshit either - it's desecrating a Presidential bed

It's a pity that there are such 'truths' for them to find, and twist.

Some other of our 'truths'?  Good guys have to be evil - otherwise, 'the other guys would win'.  THEY 'choose' to do evil and WE have it forced on us. We're good and they're just not. Like Krystia's granddad and all the German Nazis?

                                     Casey, Casey... Casey from the emerald isle - and 'the agency'


ADDENDUM: Smashback Canada

From the pages of the little tabloid that should - Canada's opposition leader (pro tem) - the gorgeous and smart Rona Barrett - reminds us all of the diplomat and pantywaister that was Steve Harper 'standing-up' to Putin when all the other leaders of 'the wurld' were too afraid. Yes!  Steve told Vlad to  'Get out of Ukraine' and backed-that-up by banning a couple of Russian businessmen and some others from ever coming to Canada,  if they were thinking about that. He deployed the forces (or a couple of hundred of them) to go on a mission to 'train-up' a 'real' military for EUkrainia  and backed their fight for 'freedumb'. He  gave them money and flak vests, boots and helmets ( they left most of those unused for the rebels at Debaltsevo).  But he failed to send them the lethal weapons they so desperately needed to kill even more eastern Ukrainians than the 10 000, or so, they already have, with the lethal weapons they've already got.

And now, having so desperately tried , striven even, to "normalize" relations with the Russians - it's time for 'the Kid' to "get serious" (never mind the new troops he's deployed to Ukraine and the Baltics, or the money he's donated for us,  the Mounties now 'training-up' a real police force to match that military in EUkraine, or all his support for their 'freedumb')  and do "what we've done for the Kurds", fer pete's sakes, arm those poor Ukrainians!

And Jesus wept again.

All the Kink's Men & the Lyin' Liars Who Lie

    
                                    Jeremy Scahill on the underlying wrongs

             
                              The one war Trump doesn't want to lose: the first one

                             Another war Trump won't want to lose: the latest one


Trump is the third 'War President' elected, in a row. He won't want to be the first President to 'lose' one. That's his first consideration. What he has done,  so far,  reflects 'not losing' being his job #one.


The news this week has, either, Trumpco rising to new heights of 'greatifying' America, or imploding as it and he, personally, goes into a 'deth spiral'. As last week and the last 38 before,   it is all about 'false news' and the variety you prefer best.  America and the Brits are shocked, they tell us, shocked, that fake news is now the only variety they get. As if, by some miracle, the 'hoo hah' we've all been ingesting for at least 18 years has been much different.  What's different is that more people are starting to call it crap. Even the mall-trotters are starting to wake up to the fact that the brown 'goo' on their mouths isn't the latest 'in' shade of lipliner. The sub-adult population - at least - have been wearing it   since they were born.

 
                                        Fake news and the Fakin' Fakirs who fake

What is telling is that 'the poop' could, for the first time,  take down an American government.

The other day, after the resignation of Trump's National Security Advisor, and more particularly Trump's "continued defiance", the media -  especially 'the voices' providing the sound track to the leaked calls - were crying that the "problem" still remained - foul treason was still afoot - and they wanted to know what Trump knew about it.

Today, after his appontment of  'Deth Lord Vader' to head-up the NSC (I thought he gave that job to Kellogg at the same time as the newbie came aboard - but I'm probably in error) the news is full of squawks about how the 'new guy' is demanding to retrofit the NSC 'so it works for him' and how that means Trump's favorite civilian warfighter - and loose cannon -  Bannon of Breitbart - will 'have to go'. Another Pro-Trump part of the media is making noises about how the 'power' in America, the 'deep state', is 'encircling Trump with its minions'.  Either to make sure he upsets no applecarts, or help remove him when he does. Some bookies are giving odds on the impeachment date, others on when Trump's war kicks-off. Both events sooner rather than later.

Trump to-day reformatted his immigration policy, or rather this emigration policy,  for it sees a lot more people leaving America than coming in.  We'll have to see if is a) appealed or b) stands another judicial ruling - the White House claims he has every right, if not a duty, to keep certain people out of America. Up until now that referred to invading armies. His 'duty' is, of course, transferrable to the Dirlewanger battalion of the Grenzwache. Eggs will get broken to make the American omelet greater.

In the meantime watch out for WW3!


Updates: the new immigration policy got the same judicual treatment as the first one.
             : Trump is upping the ante: more US boots in Syria, Afghanistan could be 'resurged'. 

Forward Two Weeks

The Blogroll, a satirical US website that pokes fun at their military mind, came to life last week in a unique story of how some bozos in uniform  tasked to find potential adherents to ISIS or jihadi entities and wean them away from evil-doing by being better, or smarter, or perhaps nore fun than the promise of a glorious death in battle and 72 heavenly houris -  (with a couple of willing hand maidens)  to make the 'meanwhile' more fun than merely hacking at infidels - screwed that up. Somehow the 'guys' - probably as a result of overexposure to a beer tent somewhere - not only 'effed up' their mission, they got caught and outed doing it.  Now they're 'targets' for any domestic terrorists they missed and might meet in Piggly Wiggly or the Likker Barn.  Fun.

Fightin' sojers, from the net. They the best, the best you bet.

Donald Trump has veen visibly active since taking office, calling in the photographers for the daily PR stunts - like Mexican fences and Muslim terrorist bans. And not calling in the photographers while he continues with the all-important task of 'defending' America by killing Yemenis and droning the  Muslim world.

Seal raid "Botched"?

He spent last Saturday morning 'taking' calls from five or six world leaders.   That must be part of 'the Boss thing' he has going - for he also 'cancelled' a meeting with the President of Mexico after the latter said 'he wouldn't be there as there was nothing worth meeting about'. I imagine he saw sitting through an hour of Donald's 'ideas' about how Mexico could pay to keep Mexicans out of the USA, as something he'd prefer to avoid.  That wasn't the end of it,  for Donald did call to tell him to 'look after the bad hombres', or America would do that for him.

                                             Bad Hombres in their rape and killin' outfits

He called Putin.  He didn't call Porko who, being the thorough-going asshole he is, decided that the iron was hot enough to try reestablishing the territiorial integrity of EUkraine by "slowly advancing" into the "Pig Farm" at a town called Avdiivka, just outside Donestk.  Naturally the DPR forces responded to all the tanks and artillery, with some of their own.  The battle (a Ukrainian 'offensive' by some descriptions) is currently still underway.  Since it mostly involves middle-of-the night artillery firing into DPR towns, the greatest number of the fallen have been the Maidan dopes Porko has living in pig sties on the 'eastern front".  Donald should call him and tell him to look after his 'погані люди' before Putin does.  

                                                          EUkrainian bad hombres

In like fashion - to celebrate the accession of the Donald - Benny Netanyahu approved construction of 200 new homes in East Jerusalem and the recognition of  number of 'settlements' in the West Bank. Just to show he's a 'real mensch',  he also sent in the police to remove an illegal settlement - built within sight of what appear to be three or four 'Eretz Israel' realty developments. So that's probably more because it was an eyesore, or the 'settlers' were 'doing religious traditions' that disturbed the neighbors, than it was an effort to make America happy. The resulting news coverage was the standard pastiche of 'poor Jews' resisting the Allegemeine SS and the Totenkopf Verbande -  they way they wished their forefathers had. The police didn't need riot gear, dogs or live ammo as they would have, facing a crowd of 'jihadi women'.   The settlement wasn't bulldozed. 

Thank goodness all this positivity wasn't messed-up when 6 Muslims were shot to death in Quebec. That may not have been  as terrible as gays being offed in mid revel  but it was news - some 'crazy person' shot up their mosque.  Authorities are trying to figure out why.
 

Save Us President Trump!

 The civil war in Ukraine has become a hot one again.  The Kyiv governent is claiming to have been "attacked" after it 'slowly advanced' into rebel territory to 'restore its territorial integrity'.

 Last week the Kyiv cabal were announcing the liberation of the ''Pig Farm" at Ardiivka, one of the largest commercial hog-farming operations in EUkraine, and, lately, feeding the Donbass Republics.  Since then the fighting - most usually in the form of artillery fire - has spread along the front. Kyiv makes very much of separatist forces 'committing war crimes' by shelling civilian areas.

Here Graham Phillips posts about the on-site first-person  reports of  American Patrick Lancaster, from Donetsk,  Ardivka and other towns in the DPR.   You don't get reality like this coming from Kyiv.

Graham Phillip' s site

Donbass January 30.  Ukraine is under attack!

January 31st Slava Eukrainia - stop those miners!

 You don't see this on our news.

 Feb 1st 'freedom' is still "under attack"

The 'Russian' attackers.


Both Phillips and Lancaster are independent journalists - depending on donations to fund their reporting.

Both also do a lot to bring relief to the civilians of the affected areas.  Last week the trains were stopped for the first time in 4 years. Water and electricity are disrupted daily and of course the Ukrainian government pays nothing to any Ukrainian citizens inside what they call 'temporarily occupied' areas.

Check them out and please consider helping.

From this Day Forward

Trump may be 'on the job', but it's going to take America 4 years to get used to him.

While Washington and its media bathe in concentrated applied stupidity, the rest of the world continues down the road to heck in a handcart.
To wit -

 A double reminder of the threat that is Iran and the good guys in EUkrainia guarding the parapets of probity and western civilization. Remember how the Ukes didn't sell Chinese-made AA missiles to ISIS?  Well they defintely weren't trying to sell anti-tank rocket parts to Iran.  That was the Russians. Thank goodness they couldn't ship the stuff direct.

Caught ya, vlad!

The Italians are dealing with a snow catastrophe  and  Charlie Hebdo is 'taking the mickey' out of them. Meanwhile somebody rescued adorable puppies from the destroyed hotel.  'Where there are puppies, there is 'opa.'

Awww! How cute is this? 


Charlie, is nothing sacred?

Meanwhile in the heart of all that's good and holy, some tempests in the pisspot: first somebody's lying about the Inauguration crowd.  But who really cares, besides  some female stars of superhero movies, Madge the Vadge.and more than 4 million women world-wide?   Oh and the Trump White House and the liberal press - well - the Conservatives too.

Lying Liars who Lie

And Madge - the spokeswoman for all who Rock and Roll - is on the carpet for telling a million dames  she's often thought of blowing-up the White House. Sure she was "only fucking joking", but like, does she think America's as normal as she is?


The Pussy that Roared


Meanwhile Africa does 'Africa' as well as Africa often does. The quaint little western African enclave of  Gambia - which hasn't been on the front page since it was trans-shipping slaves, had an election recently. Apparently the Prime Minister, or President-for-life, was voted out of office.  Rather than appear at the inauguration of the new guy, like civilized folk,  he threatened to call out the army and defend himself.   The neighborhood was up in arms, literally, about that. the former colonial powers sent some gunboats and Marines to cruise off-shore. But the 'boss' (his Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammah) saw sense and jetted-off to refuge  neighboringEquatorial Guinea.

Not before taking a planeful of expensive automobiles, and household furnishings with him - or reputedly some $10 million in pocket cash.  He left enough 'belongings' behind to fill another three aircraft. It is questionable that these will be forwarded to him.


How much can you swipe, swiper?
 

And last but not least to-day and interesting but somewhat sad bit from Ireland.

Faith an begorrah. May she rest in peace.

From a Horse's Mouth

This guy is surprisingly cogent. He must have had some 'escape and evade' training  from some really smart guys.

Every Time it Rains, it Rains Ducats from Hevin.

Just as Simon Ostrovsky, the late lamented Ukrainian freedumb pundit, once remarked at seeing a gang of Chetniks manning a roadblock in Crimea, "You can't make this stuff up." That wasn't half so weird as what's all over America's mediawaves to-day.

                                                              The Wizard of Aws  


 The US Security Agencies in their 'omnibus' report on the state of cyber-America apparently inserted a 35 page report on what they consider 'the smoky gun' that Vlad Putin might be pointing at President  Don's orange dome: Sex and preversion "on tape" and ready to hit Porn Hamster.

                                                Donald doing a Beauty Contest Deal


The story is that Trump was in Russia in 2013, doing a beauty contest deal, when he heard that the Obamas had recently stayed in the same hotel in Moscow. He asked for and was accommodated in the 'presidential suite'. At some point he started to think that 'defiling' the bed in which the Presidential couple had slept, was a real good idea.   And so, for that express purpose, he is reputed to have hired three Moscow 'demimondaines' who were to 'pee' on the bed - one of those hotelroom 'ho-horrors' they tell us all about - while he watched.  Apparently there were happy endings all round. The girls never complained about being stiffed on the tab,  or sold their stories about a special 'wet-job' for somebody who looked like a well-tailored Ronald MacDonald.   (He wouldn't have mentioned why they were taking a leak on that bed, would he?  He's so secretive and all.)  For whatever reason they've kept professionally mum.   According to the saga, Don got off and the bed got wet.

                                This gal peed her pants on a bed. Imagine three high-class hos
                                        - nekkid and not having accidents or sun glasses.

No doubt the English 'James Bond - secret agent'  who gathered this intel  (and is in hiding in danger of a Cheka hit squad - now that he's been 'outed'.  (Didn't Snowden do that crap - endangering people etc))   found out about that.  He also found out that Trump was, apparently, unaware that Russian intelligence had his room number and recorded the proceedings  - in case he should ever wind-up needing to 'do Russia a solid'.  Now he is, potentially, in that 'happy place'.  So he needs to know, eh?  Apparently, so does America.


Makes one wonder that,  if  the Russians thought Trump defiling a bed was worth recording, why didn't the have dolby and HD recording the President and Mrs O 'sanctifying' it?  Or not.   Either might have been informative intel.

             

                                                                Sanctifyin' a bed.


But, come on, 'Trump's golden shower' isn't news  - balling a golden retriever  maybe, only if it was male and he had a Mexican midget remove its teeth with a monkey wrench first.  Americans would watch Trump once -  have a laff and go get another frosty while something 'stimulating' loaded-up. Like how many people ever saw Hulk Hogan winning his million dollar defamation suit?  Or Gene Simmons ( I'm true to Shannon in my heart, folks. Believe me.) chewing gum and wearing his cowboy boots in action with a hyper-inflated nymphette?  And those two were really famous. 

Whether this report was a part of the one Trump said he would 'take under advisement' last Friday, or a second, separate, highly-sensitive one, exposed only to the two Presidents by  the NS chief Clapper - and reminiscent of a J. Edgar Hoover visit to the WH -  it somehow 'leaked out' to a rag site called 'BuzzFeed' -  probably a subsidiary of 'Crowd Strike' -  the other 'corporate player' involved.

                                                      One of the BIG 3? Buzzfeed? No!

Clapper is 'regretting' the leak. So either Donald did it on himself for the publicity, or Obama did it.

Obama's probably too shocked for comment,  by the revelation that anybody would pee on, or have ho's in,  a 'presidential bed'  - being as they're all 'iconic' at any number of American hostelries.

                                                               The Cast of 'Capers'

I wonder if US national security ever looked into the as-yet-unfounded, and no-longer-important,  allegations that some of the 12 flights he took on Jeffery Epstein's  'fun airlines' , or the visits he made to the convicted pedophile's 'fantasy island', might not actually have involved Willie Jeff Clinton - besporting himself with the multimillionaire's  underaged 'handmaidens'?  Epstein was convicted, in a real case, on the real  evidence of a then 13-year-old, who also claimed to have been 'serviced' by a number of 'his elite friends'. That story stopped - as if by magick .....  or voodoo - something else with which Putin's 'lies' smeared the Clintons. 

America is a soul sick land. Perhaps a nuclear holocaust is just what is needed. God said the 'next time' wouldn't be a flood  - or a wetting of the bed.

1000 Days of War

It is coming up to 1000 days of war Ukraine.

The struggle seems as intractable as ever, seen by the Ukrainian side, and most of the 'civilized'  west, as a 'Russian aggression' - a defense of freedom, civilization and Europe from the potential of Russian threat and aggrandizement.

From the other side it appears somewhat less complex - some apparently very foolish people resisting 'goodness' for reasons only known to themselves. For if Putin's 'Red hordes' were involved, the propaganda would be in overdrive,  wouldn't it? Or it would be even more secret than how he hacked an election.

 I relay Graham Phillips photographic tribute to what war really looks like in Eastern Ukraine. CAUTION: He shows war as it, sickeningly, can be. Propaganda it ain't.

Far less graphic and more heroic, a view from the other side.

It's Probably Just as Well We Didn't Know.

As your Mom probably said, "What you don't know won't hurt you.'  Not only did that mouthful came from a simpler time, it also probably indicated her degree of familiarity with the legal system - in which ignorance of the law remains no excuse.

But it wasn't what we didn't know that apparently 'hurt' us, or somebody,  the most last year, it was the bullshit we did know - that led to the time being called being called "the year of false news". It was so bad that a fiat of Congress, working in rare syncopation with the outgoing 'prexy', led to it now being 'illegal',  in America,  to initiate or to publish 'news' that is known to be untrue.  Such a law might stop the 'funsters' at 'The Onion' or 'Charlie Hebdo' or 'The National Enquirer' , but it gets that black eyed 'ex-admiral' who 'does' the WH press  briefings off the hook.  For he knows squat about anything he's lying, or not, about. Frankly, Martha, like the other 'faux' tales - like the gallant rebels fighting-off a genocide in Aleppo, or the Russians hacking the hell out of all that's good and decent left in America - the BS wasn't even mildly entertaining.

 But what it did do was cause the mainstream media to have to 'cut' some other stories that truly might have annoyed the sheeple.

One of the biggies this year were stories casting our friends and allies in less-than-complimentary light. Not the standard Afghan or Iraqi allies, constantly 'on the take' and doing their darnedest not to adopt good old American values, no siree. This time the lamp of ill-light fell upon our friends in Saudia Arabia, and Kyiv and even Manila.

The Saudis started 'buying the biscuit' when they tried to quash a court case against them for damages arising out of the 'Nine-Eleven'. While we know that the Iranians have been 'buttoned' by the courts as holding some fiscal responsibility for setting things aright, the notion that the nation that spawned 11 of the 14 hijackers and the organization to which they pledged allegiance, should walk away unencumbered was a long time being set-aside. But it did. and spite all the diplomacy a few hefty donations could buy,  the court ruled that the suit could move ahead. No doubt while the 'shriners' prepare their defense, the legal team is playing a game of 'all pile on the A-rab' - class action suit wise.  This should be a doozie - for a number of reasons.

Kyiv is another major source of horsepellets. To read of it Putin is attacking them daily - killing them by the tens while an uncaring world sends neither the money, nor more lethal weapons.  Every so often that neo-nazi 'right sector' they claim to be 'harmless',  takes to the streets demanding Maidanic change, war a l'outrance with 'the russians' and, last week, a removal of the Jews ( 'Sieg heil! Get out of my homeland!").  Meanwhile the economic basket case of  EUropa is losing its basket.  But that's all Putin's fault, too.

While were at it,  we should mention another under-reported weeping ulcer in Libya where the 'rebel' forces we 'put down'  just recently by deploying the Marines and US naval aviation to 'assist' our pal General Haidar, had the affrontery to send a jet to shoot up one of his 'arms runs',  just yesterday.  The fat Lady can't even find the Syrian theatre.  We'll be reading more about her, there .. or not.

One of the stories that isn't being told about Syria is the notable lack of 'getting even' being done by Assad's victorious forces.  He even allowed the UN to organize buses to run the fleeing rebels, with their small arms, and, it is reported, some of their hostages and possibly even western military advisors,  off to  the nearest rebel strongholds. Very few of them have been abused, let alone summarily executed. But we were told anyway that it was a "genocide"! That was just a lie.

The white helmets disappeared as if they never existed, maybe they were just more cinematography.

Yemen gets the odd mention, which is truly odd.

 The Philippines seems to be 'spinning out of control' in the hands of a 'mad' despot who probably stole his election, too, and who doesn't seem to have much interest in inviting the US navy to face off against China over 'Philippine waters',  or asking the Marines to teach them how to kill 'terror'. We won't hear much before the assassination.

Central West Africa is another cesspit being 'orchestrated' by Africom - another fine division of the 'greatest farce for good on erth' - and that's why we don't hear much about it, either. Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Congo - all 'caca holes' - but no news is the best kind.

So while we haven't had much to worry about this past year, having a Trump at the helm promises to have the media working overtime to debunk his 'hooey' and edjumacate America to his pearls. Her isn't even the real President, see? Her's locked up in her study, planning a minyin wummins' march on Washington.

The 'commies' have a couple of interesting takes on other untold stories too.

Sputnik Dishes

Instead they give us 'massive responses' to just plain stupid.

Ft. Lauderdale

We're in safe hands with these bozos.
Not.

The US Election - nausea edition

Lordy, lordy it's half of fordy!   Only a couple of weeks left in the Obama ruptured duckery and then , once again, America can be the land that Israel ordained it to be.   Don Trump's inaugural barge will leave the power people of  Pluto, Florida -  those who attended at the 'emprah's new year's ball' and soiree for $180 bucks a pop - and the "White House South" - 'Mar-a-Lago', (trans: 'Bad of the last', or 'the worst' in Neapolitano) and steam up Pennsylvania Avenue.

Hilaria's Take on the New Year's disgrace

Meanwhile up north, the Russians looked like they were running some sort of Exodus, for  a plague of sanctions descended from the WH on some specific Russians for what the US government think they know, or think they were told, Putin's hackers had done to 'Democrazy'.  Not enough to have an election rescinded, obviously, but enough to make somebody - particularly a Hillary supporter,  think that, if whatever it was hadn't happened, Hilary might have attracted more black non-voters and increased her popular vote figures - the ones that say, "I won!"  In a late development, to bring that message of fear closer to the minds of Americans , a government source used a clip from a popular video game (where hackers gather info to help them open safes)  to illustrate the existing danger.

Getting serious about hacking 

But back to the Russians.

The US State Department issued marching orders for a number of Russian diplomatic staff to cease, desist and remove themselves, before midnight, from the magical kingdom - for 'espionage'.  The numbers included  the chef at a legation in California and what might be described as a 'coven' of Russky Christadelphians, or an  Amway team, or Scientificisicians living in a  'group retreat center' on Long Island .  I guess they'll be taking their higher power home to mind-meld with Vlad.

Among others sanctioned, were the head, deputy head and a few other high-ranking members of the Russian security apparatus (no Disney trips for those birds).  Surprisingly,  a young female Russian is complaining, to-day, that she and her security company - she has actually won a few EU rewards for finding hacking activities - have been arbitrarily accused of 'helping' Russian state security find out what John Podesta had in his inbox - or that Hilary's friends didn't want Bernie Sanders doing more than flailing before 'the goddess'.

Actually I think it's likely that her business might be competition for 'CrowdStrike', the US anti-hacking, now multi-million dollar 'corporation' that is US state security's sole, apparently,  font of wisdom. The Russian boss of that operation probably offered a merger - between the two they could have 3/4 of the globe 'covered'. But she wouldn't bite his bag and so he's getting his pals to do him a solid.  If she's smart,  we'll hear that they're 'dating'.

Happy Birthday Mohammed! Your party's a Blast!

December 12 is the birthday of the Prophet. And something seems to have been happening.

 While there is a split among Muslims on the celebration of the date - some Muslims, Wahabis for instance don't celebrate it  because it isn't recorded that Mohammed did and they accuse those who do of 'emulating the kaffirs', who celebrate Christmas at the same time of the year. There are other Moslems who do celebrate the day as the joyous occasion when the origin of their world view and their 'salvation', the last Prophet of God, appeared on earth. Other aspects of Mohammed's life are celebrated, as indeed is most of what he said or did;  that, all, is recorded in the traditions of the Hadith and Sunnah - other sources, or guides, to understanding the Koran.

But for something that  isn't 'celebrated' the 'nativity' season got started with a bang and has proceeded with a string of  'Muslim-inspired (or blamed)  outrages'.  Since the 12th there have been a spate of incidents across Europe, Africa and Asia with ISIS, or other radical Islamic groups readily taking 'credit' through the action of an acolyte  - as if, if they didn't claim credit, we wouldn't give it to them anyway. Along with the spate of actual attacks there has been a related rise in the reports of a number of plots detected and threats eliminated - the reason we maintain those national security apparati -  to 'prevent' such attacks.

What should be interesting to us all is that the 'outrages' seem to be spreading.  Turkey, which has for years been deemed 'safe enough' to develop a burgeoning Eurotourism industry, is feeling the effects of a mass withdrawal of the western  Europeans. The hardy souls from Russia who were maintaining their share may be less likely to show up since the targeting of the Russian ambassador by a 'radicalized' Turkish cop, and a refocusing of some dissident attacks on tourism centres.  Egypt has been hamstrung in much the same way, as have the former haunts along the north African coast. A Canadian tourist was recently killed in Jordan, and her son injured, in an apparent 'terrorist' strike (or family feud with local police).  The chances of being blown, or shot up on 'hols' is increasingly daunting to all but the most reprobate sex tourist, power-drinker or Speedo idiot.

The latest form of mass killing seems to draw a page from Palestinian history, where heavy equipment or motor vehicles have been used to run people down. The latest event - disgruntled Tunisian driving a semi-rig through a Christmas Market in Berlin - attracted some attention; particularly after the accused suspect then traveled fairly freely through western Europe, with no ID (he had carelessly left that in the truck cab) before coming to eternal rest in a gunfight with Italian police in Milan. 

Not to be ignored,  'religion', too, remains under attack at the 'joyous season' : Christmas celebrations in newly-liberated (newly-subjugated?) Aleppo were targeted and Christians across Africa and western Asia were definitely threatened, if not  'under attack',  in Central Africa, Chad, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Egypt. A 'Christmas tree lighting' in eastern Ukraine was, reportedly, shelled.

Just after the stroke of midnight on the last day of 2016, Istanbul time,  two (reportedly) gunmen opened-up on a crowd celebrating in a nightclub  - 25 dead last count and manhunt underway.

The western holiday season wraps up at New Year, but a distaff, and no less troubled side, will continue into January   The 'fun' in celebration of the Prophet,  may not be finished yet.

Happy freakin' New Year!