(10-15-2019, 05:06 PM)Cynic Hero 86 Wrote: > You know full well John that the culture wars/partisanship is a
> dog and pony show designed to distract the masses. I'm going to
> ask you a simple question, when is the establishment class going
> to stop pretending it's still 1995?

(10-15-2019, 05:45 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 15-Oct-2019 CH86 returns

(10-15-2019, 05:06 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: >   You know full well John that the culture wars/partisanship is a
>   dog and pony show designed to distract the masses. I'm going to
>   ask you a simple question, when is the establishment class going
>   to stop pretending it's still 1995?  

Wait a minute.  Didn't you just say a few days ago that you were
leaving forever?  As I used to say to Sean Love, we can't miss you if
you don't leave.

Anyway, I assume that you mean your question as a dumb joke, but it's
actually very insightful, whether intentionally or not.

I've written about this particularly with regard to the Brexit
situation.  Everyone in the EU and UK expects the other side to
negotiate and be willing to compromise.  That's because they're
all pretending that it's still 1995, when the Silents were running
things, and they knew how to negotiate and compromise.  But today,
the Gen-Xers are in charge, and they're incapable of negotiating
and compromising.

So the answer to your question is this: The establishment class is
going to stop pretending it's still 1995 during the First Turning,
after WW III ends.

(10-15-2019, 12:25 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(10-14-2019, 11:27 AM)David Horn Wrote: The purpose of our small force in the region, and our commitment to the Kurds, was to keep ISIS in check, and the two large warring factions from burning the place to the ground.  Now we're out and, I suspect, the carnage will grow exponentially -- unless DJT gives Putting the relief from sanctions he wants so desperately.

If so, with the Islamic State gone, there wasn't any point to keeping the troops there.  I don't know which two large factions you're talking about, but why should our troops die instead of them?

(10-15-2019, 12:32 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(10-15-2019, 09:52 AM)David Horn Wrote: We might even fight limited wars using hypersonic missiles, but full-up fight-to-the-death war?  No.

This is kind of a scary statement.  It's exactly when disasters - wars, depressions, etc - start to be thought impossible that they're the most likely to happen.

(10-15-2019, 05:41 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 15-Oct-2019 World View: Iran in Syria

Lindsey Graham was interviewed on Fox News this evening, after he met with Trump for two hours.

He says that Iran is moving troops to take over the oil fields in Syria's northeast, and he recommended to Trump to send in American soldiers to protect the oil fields.

I wanted to report this because I haven't mentioned Iran so far in my previous reports.

(10-15-2019, 06:19 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: Sorry boomer but we'really not going to pretend that it's the equivalent of 1919 until the equivalent of 1955. Sorry but that's definitely not going to happen. And before you dismiss what i've said; keep in mind that the dynamics you described above DIDN'T happen during WW2.

(10-16-2019, 01:03 PM)David Horn Wrote: The stakes are simply too high, and the actors capable of starting a war like that are not crazy enough to try … except for the Donald of course.  Let's hope the military brass have enough control to stop it if he goes full postal.  I doubt any sane officer would permit a nuclear launch short of a response to one on us.

Quote:The factions are the Turks, and their natural allies, and the Iranians and theirs. The Russians are just in it for the money, but yes, they qualify as a faction too.

(10-16-2019, 02:32 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(10-16-2019, 01:03 PM)David Horn Wrote: The stakes are simply too high, and the actors capable of starting a war like that are not crazy enough to try … except for the Donald of course.  Let's hope the military brass have enough control to stop it if he goes full postal.  I doubt any sane officer would permit a nuclear launch short of a response to one on us.

Personally I don't regard the Ayatollah or Kim as any stabler.  Then there are Modi and Johnson, the Donald Trumps of their nations.  The number of unstable leaders of nuclear weapon nations only seems to grow, not shrink.

Warren Dew Wrote:

David Horn Wrote:The factions are the Turks, and their natural allies, and the Iranians and theirs.  The Russians are just in it for the money, but yes, they qualify as a faction too.

So which of those do you think Americans should die for, again?

(10-16-2019, 02:27 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(10-15-2019, 06:19 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: Sorry boomer but we'really not going to pretend that it's the equivalent of 1919 until the equivalent of 1955. Sorry but that's definitely not going to happen. And before you dismiss what i've said; keep in mind that the dynamics you described above DIDN'T happen during WW2.

Actually, they did happen in the runup to WWII, for example with the various Naval Treaties.  Originally everyone found a compromise, then there was less and less compromise in subsequent treaties until they couldn't get to anything anyone would sign any more.

Granted, it seems to me it was the idealists rather than the reactives that didn't want to compromise in both cases.

(10-16-2019, 03:33 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote:

(10-16-2019, 02:27 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(10-15-2019, 06:19 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: Sorry boomer but we'really not going to pretend that it's the equivalent of 1919 until the equivalent of 1955. Sorry but that's definitely not going to happen. And before you dismiss what i've said; keep in mind that the dynamics you described above DIDN'T happen during WW2.

Actually, they did happen in the runup to WWII, for example with the various Naval Treaties.  Originally everyone found a compromise, then there was less and less compromise in subsequent treaties until they couldn't get to anything anyone would sign any more.

Granted, it seems to me it was the idealists rather than the reactives that didn't want to compromise in both cases.

Yes at first But not after about 1935 or so when Hitler unveiled the Wehrmacht. In the far east no one really sought compromise after about 1932. Any agreements after these periods were purely tactical moves. This remained the case even after 1945, the idea of honest compromise did not reemerge until 1954, after Stalin's death and the subsequent purge of Stalinist hardliners from the Kremlin leadership.

(10-16-2019, 09:04 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(10-16-2019, 03:33 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: Yes at first But not after about 1935 or so when Hitler unveiled the Wehrmacht. In the far east no one really sought compromise after about 1932. Any agreements after these periods were purely tactical moves. This remained the case even after 1945, the idea of honest compromise did not reemerge until 1954, after Stalin's death and the subsequent purge of Stalinist hardliners from the Kremlin leadership.

The second London Naval treaty permitted Japan to sign and prevent escalator clauses up to 1937, so we were still pretending it was 1919 up until then.  I do think WWII ended the pretense - with Pearl Harbor for the US - and the current pretense will end with WWIII.

• Turkey and the United States agree to a ceasefire
  
• Turkey's long preparations for invasion of Syria
  
• Turkey's uncontrolled invasion into Syria
  
• Dozens of warring parties and ethnic groups in Syria
  
• The rise of Russia's influence in Syria
  
• Will there be a war between Turkey and Russia?
  

• Syria's armed forces, Russia's armed forces,
  
• Iran, Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah,
  
• ISIS (Islamic State, Daesh),
  
• HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Nusra Front),
  
• JFS (Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, JFS, Front for the Conquest of Syria),
  
• Turkey's armed forces, SNA (Syrian National Army),
  
• United States armed forces and coalition forces,
  
• YPG (People's Protection Units), PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)
  
• SDF (Syrian Democratic/Defense Forces), multiple Kurdish groups,
  
• several Christian groups and other religious minorities

• Turkey deal may ease domestic criticism of Trump but doubts remain (AFP, 18-Oct-2019)
  
• Tentative Syria Cease-Fire Is a Major Win for Turkey (ForeignPolicy, 17-Oct-2019)
  
• Turkey has agreed to a ceasefire in Syria, but key questions remain unanswered (AP, 17-Oct-2019)
  
• The Assad-SDF deal was in the works before Turkey’s Syria operation (TRT World, Turkey, 17-Oct-2019)
  
• US hails Turkish cease-fire; Kurds must vacate border area (AP, 17-Oct-2019)
  
• Erdogan snubs US, seeks Russia help (Reuters, 17-Oct-2019)
  
• Esper says U.S. staying in Syria, but withdrawing south of Turkish advance and deal in works to have Russians protect Kurds (Military Times, 13-Oct-2019)
  
• Russian and Syrian troops fill void as US pulls troops out of Syria (Military Times, 15-Oct-2019)
  
• Money, hatred for the Kurds drives Turkey’s Syrian fighters (Military Times/AP, 15-Oct-2019)

• Turkey defends Syria invasion, despite almost universal condemnation (11-Oct-2019)
  
  
• Turkey poised to invade Syria to set up 'safe zone' (08-Oct-2019)
  
  
• Syria peace summit issues delusional call for political solution in Idlib (28-Oct-2018)
  

Guest Wrote:> The protests in Hong Kong seem to be dying off. Do you think that
> they'll die off completely?

• The Hong Kongers hate the mainlanders.
  
  
• The Hong Kongers speak Cantonese, while the mainlanders speak
  Mandarin.
  
  
• Tensions are growing along the Beijing-Hong Kong and north-south
  fault lines, and China is overdue for a new massive anti-government
  rebellion, following the Taiping Rebellion (1852-64), and Mao's
  Communist Revolution (1934-49).
  
  
• Young people are very aware that Hong Kong is scheduled in 2047 to
  lose any special democratic freedoms that were supposedly guaranteed
  by the CCP when Britain handed over Hong Kong in 1997. In particular,
  young people are aware that if they get married, then any children
  they bring into the world will be under the thumb of the violent CCP
  dictatorship.

• A journalist tried to ask Hu a question about Tiananmen
  Square, and he was jailed, something that infuriated the journalist
  fraternity.
  
  
• Hu introduced Hong Kong's new Chief Executive from the mainland,
  C.Y. Leung. Leung insulted many present by giving his inaugural
  address in Mandarin, the language of the mainland, rather than in
  Cantonese, which is the first language of more than 90 percent of Hong
  Kong’s people.
  
  
• Some 100,000 protesters joined a pro-democracy march from Victoria
  Park to the shoreline of Victoria Harbor. (These are, of course,
  British names.)
  
  
• Many of the protesters carried old British-era Hong Kong flags,
  which carry the British Union flag in one corner. It has become a
  symbol not so much of nostalgia for the British as a banner for those
  demanding real autonomy.
  
  
• There was a huge contingent of Falun Gong protesters. The Falun
  Gong sprang up in mainland China in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen
  Square massacre, and had millions of adherents before Beijing crushed
  them. Since around 2000, anyone belonging to the Falun Gong on the
  mainland is subject to arrest and torture.
  
  
• A public opinion poll shows 64% of those polled thought that Hong
  Kong had become a worse place since the handover.

• Massive anti-government street protests paralyze Lebanon
  
• Brief generational history of Lebanon
  

• The prime minister, currently Saad al-Hariri until Saturday, must
  be a Sunni Muslim.
  
• The president, currently held by Michel Aoun, must be a Syriac
  Maronite Catholic.
  
• And the speaker of parliament, currently held by Nabhi Berri, must
  be a Shia Muslim.

• Lebanon Sees Largest Protest Yet as Video of Woman Kicking Minister's Bodyguard Goes Viral (Haaretz/AP, 20-Oct-2019)
  
• Ministers resign after third day of protests in Lebanon (AlJaz, 19-Oct-2019)
  
• Hundreds of thousands in Lebanon’s biggest protest for years; PM promises reform (TimesOfIsrael, 20-Oct-2019)
  
• Lebanon's Hariri agrees to reforms amid nationwide protests over economic crisis (Reuters, 20-Oct-2019)
  
• Lebanon's mass revolt against corruption and poverty continues (Guardian, 20-Oct-2019)
  
• Timeline of the Lebanese Civil War From 1975 to 1990 (ThoughtCo, 13-Aug-2019)

• Israel-Hezbollah-Lebanon border clash fizzles quickly, no repeat of 2006 war (02-Sep-2019)
  
  
• Saad Hariri shocks Lebanon by resigning as PM while in Saudi Arabia (05-Nov-2017)
  
  
• Arab League brands Lebanon's Hezbollah a terrorist organization (12-Mar-2016)
  
  
• Paralyzed Lebanon decides to export its garbage to Europe (24-Dec-2015)
  
  
• How Israel panicked in pursuing the summer Lebanon war with Hezbollah (23-Dec-2006)
  
  
• Massive Beirut explosion killing Rafiq Hariri puts Lebanon into state of shock (16-Feb-2005)
  

(09-19-2019, 03:32 AM)Marypoza Wrote: > -- you were listing examples of how the Government comprised our
> national security. I believe Rags was responding to that

> Bernie/Tulsi 2020

(09-12-2019, 02:41 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 12-Sep-2019 World View: The CCP Master Race

(09-11-2019, 10:27 AM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote: >   Yup, in the name of globalization, John.  I wouldn't say it was
>   "the US". Now if we explain why this happened , then the finger of
>   blame points to multinational corporations and their toadies in
>   all manner of places in the US government.

This is really silly, but it's not surprising that you would say that,
given your view that China and the United States are the same or, as
you put it, "two peas in a pod."

I've spent thousands of hours researching China's history, and how
over two millennia the culture has developed its belief that the
Chinese ("yellow race, black hair, brown eyes, yellow skin") are the
superior master race and why they're totally contemptuous of us and
our laws and our way of life because we're all barbarians.

So the reason that the CCP believe they can arrest and enslave a
million Uighurs, or violently attack Buddhists and Christians, or can
ignore their own signed agreements over Hong Kong, or can ignore
international law in the South China Sea, or can steal intellectual
property or cheat on trade is because they believe that they've been
granted by the Kingdom of Heaven the right to do anything they want to
the barbarians.  I can assure you that this has nothing to do with
multinational corporations or the toadies in the US government.

Just as a murderer might justify his actions by blaming the way his
parents raised him, the CCP justifies its illegal atrocities by
referring to the Opium Wars and the "Century of Humiliation"
and the "Unequal Treaties."  They ignore, for example, the massive
atrocities committed by Mao Zedong that brutally killed tens of
millions of Chinese in the horrific Great Leap Forward and
the disastrous Great Cultural Revolution.

If you'd like to understand what's really going on with China, rather
than ridiculous things like toadies in the US government, then read my
book:

"World View: War Between China and Japan: Why America Must Be
Prepared" (Generational Theory Book Series, Book 2) Paperback: 331
pages, over 200 source references, $13.99
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732738637/

If you actually want to know what's going on, then this will tell
you.

(10-21-2019, 07:18 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 21-Oct-2019 Russian Agent

(09-19-2019, 03:32 AM)Marypoza Wrote: >   -- you were listing examples of how the Government comprised our
>      national security. I believe Rags was responding to that

>   Bernie/Tulsi 2020

Why are you supporting a Russian Agent?

(10-21-2019, 07:18 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 21-Oct-2019 Russian Agent

(09-19-2019, 03:32 AM)Marypoza Wrote: >   -- you were listing examples of how the Government comprised our
>      national security. I believe Rags was responding to that

>   Bernie/Tulsi 2020

Why are you supporting a Russian Agent?

(10-22-2019, 08:20 AM)Marypoza Wrote:

(10-21-2019, 07:18 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 21-Oct-2019 Russian Agent

(09-19-2019, 03:32 AM)Marypoza Wrote: >   -- you were listing examples of how the Government comprised our
>      national security. I believe Rags was responding to that

>   Bernie/Tulsi 2020

Why are you supporting a Russian Agent?

-- I'm not. Why are you believing a senile delusional old bag who is waaaaay past her expiration date & who attempts to sabotage a fellow sistah?