Judge Napolitano has done a series of interviews over the past week with the common theme of avoiding Armageddon—a worthy goal! Interlocutors have included luminaries like Jeffrey Sachs and Doug Macgregor, and I encourage readers to look those videos up. Here, however, I’ll lead off with a regular Friday feature—Judge Nap talking with Larry Johnson and Ray McGovern. They discuss Zhou’s manipulation and the danger of that leading us into wars that we’re not prepared for—and that would be wrong in any event:
Historical irony: according to a map in church yesterday, the Midianites were located on the southeastern shore of the Red Sea. This means that Moses fled to Houthi country when he fled the Egyptian authorities.
The danger that these acute global crises present is greatly exacerbated by the fact that so many of the Western participants and their allies are deeply fractured and divided societies. I found this article by Jeffrey Tucker very illuminating about how our globalist leaders have shredded the social contracts that once held us together, and made us uniquely vulnerable to the challenges we are going to face. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/social-contract-shredded
Hey, Jeff. If it's the same guy, he used to do a column called "Spengler" for (if I recall, the Asia Times). It was just the kind of bleak, civilisational decline stuff that I enjoy. He wasn't too neocon back then, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was now.
Scott Ritter’s commentary I can emphasize with and makes a lot of sense, till I get to this point:
“ I watched as the Israelis lied about the nature of the Hamas attacks, turning what had been a flawless assault against a series of militarized settlements and military strongpoints”.
This bothers me.
A flawless attack does not target a peace rave and civilians, along with other war crimes.
Mr. Ritter also ignores more recent abuses by the Israeli’s:
- Uss Liberty - when will the perpetrators be brought to Justice?
- 67 war massacre of Egyptian POW’s.
- Israeli spying in the U.S.
And based on how the U.S. is used as a useful idiot, I would not be surprised if the Dancing Israeli story is real. Also ignored.
Plus Mr. Ritter was convicted, coincidentally after his estrangement from the U.S. deep state, with a sex felony, obviously having not been targeted and entrapped.
I would wonder if it was “suggested” to Mr. Ritter to write his “true” feelings on this mess. The question is who benefits by this?
Will public opinion against more money and arms for Israel persuade the neocons to back off? It depends how desperate they are to stay in power. My guess is that don't give a damn what John Q Public thinks as most of them are unelected. Hope I'm wrong.
Had a very interesting conversation with some friends yesterday about the current Mideast situation. The usual thinking was thrown out, terrorists, babies, our right to exist, fighting animals….in the middle of it I asked, you do know why the Arabs/Palestinians hold such a deep resentment don’t you? Crickets at first, then one person said well they thinks it’s their land, but it’s ours given to us by god. I suggested they read the Scott Ritter piece. This morning I awoke to a txt from one of them “OMG I never knew any of this, that was horrible, why didn’t I know this, why isn’t this taught to us.” Very timely posting Mark, thank you.
This morning I received a very polite email from a reader, urging me to read "the Bible", and particularly the part in Genesis about Israel being the apple of God's eye--in a manner of speaking. I replied, in part:
"Pay heed to Jesus. He said God can raise up children of Abraham from stones. That means he rejects the ideology of Chosenness [based on blood lineage], which [ideology] Paul in Galatians likens to self-idolatry. I recently did a post in which I linked all my early posts on topics like these. I highly recommend. Thanks for your support."
In those years old posts one of my main themes is the relationship of the Israelite scriptures and the Early Christian Writings. I do not regard "the Bible" as simply one long book--I don't regard that view as based in Christian faith.
Congratulations on your success in getting that point across. People of good will, after all. Gives one hope.
Most recent observations from the venerable MKB, and it’s not reassuring:
“The prognosis of “war fatigue” on the part of the United States and its allies in the proxy war in Ukraine was greatly exaggerated. On the contrary, the war is acquiring a new swagger.”
Hello Bluejay, yes, correct: Zhou is the rough Chinese translation of our “Joe” and is regularly used in these pages to denote our hapless and compromised (p)resident.
There was a great substack this week about how Israel is losing the information war, and badly.
You've probably heard Crypto Rich interview Tom Luongo, along with Alexander Mercouris and sometimes Alex Krainer. Crypto Rich is apparently Muslim. He has had a guest from Israel talking about Bitcoin in the past. Crypto Rich invited him on to talk, Jew and Muslim, about the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Rich is an absolute gentleman. But the Israeli Settler could only say that the Palestinians need to be forced from Gaza. It was horrible, pretty much unwatchable.
Larry Johnson at Sonar21 has just said the same thing about Israel being out-PRd: " Israel seems oblivious to the fact that it is losing the PR battle and losing it badly." Instead of at least pretending that they are going after Hamas operatives with targeted ops, they are deliberately singling out vulnerable civilian areas for destruction. Now they want to attack the Gaza Al Quds hospital. Al Quds means "The Holy". Just as the US thinks it can throw its weight around the world without pushback, the Netanyahu regime believes it can still get away with goading and insulting the Arab world. However, the world has moved on and they are going to find out to their cost how dangerously wrong they are.
Do you suppose any of the geniuses in DC have considered what would happen if we lost one, or both, of those carriers? It seems to me that we are just sitting ducks and, as you said Mark, this thing could go very wrong very fast.
Same guy who thought the best money we ever spent was in Ukraine so they could kill Russians. Pretty sad when that’s the best we can do in the “foreign policy” department is some war mongering fanatic.
Hmm. But destroyed? Or just brought down a few pegs? I have hope that whoever is orchestrating this wants the world to keep turning roughly as it has been with maybe a few tweeks to the world order. They can't all be insane ... or can they?
Not to mention the American people. Each one carries about as many souls as those that died at Pearl Harbor and 9-11. We are not being prepared to be engaged in war.
With two carrier battle groups in the Eastern Mediterranean and one in the Indian Ocean we could have 18,000-20,000 sailers deployed plus the amphibious ship with marines. Add in the small groups in all sorts of places in the Middle East (Syria, etc). With 600 bases around the world we are spread thin everywhere. With KSA and Iran chatting it up we could face a United Middle East. The political momentum could translate into an irresistible force that compels Middle Eastern governments to join. When Kuwait joins the pile on it will be like an avalanche from the Mount Everest of sand dunes. Plus we have Russia and China pushing from behind. Putin is turning the Middle East into a giant proxy war against us, complete with cement boots as we wander, as if demented, and into the quicksand. Has Turkey mobilized its reserves? Erdogan might end up as the Emperor of the New Ottoman Empire if things go horribly wrong and we will then see if the open border policy is inclusive of Israelis.
Not to mention we have millions of violent Muslims who have slithered through our borders and living off the tax payer thanks to the Democrat/neocon/Zionist lust for chaos and the money it brings them. These interlopers in our midst may be activated to create turmoil if any war breaks out in the ME. We would be fighting external and internal enemies. World on fire is not just a phrase for a series, but the reality we face as we move towards total war and the depopulation they desired.
Good point Mark. ‘We’ are doing it to ourselves. The question is why? Incompetence? Ignorance? Stupidity? Or is there some malign purpose in all of this?
Very well expressed, esp the “Mount Everest of sand dunes” with our demented dear leader trying vainly to get a toe-hold…And IIRC, from Zerohedge, based on a CNN report, the Carney may have been playing ball not with the Houthis in Yemen, but more likely with the Chinese based in Djibouti…informed speculation, to be confirmed, but this only adds to these terrible events spinning out of control.
Funny thing. You work hard at what you do and make thoughtful replies to comments. And “suddenly” you have a great community here. Congrats and well done.
I don't think "Netanyahoo" or his revenge agenda enjoys as much popular support among Israelis as the MoA article implies. Recall he was the subject of mass protests just a few weeks ago --- protests that are now criminalized due to the war he declared.
I think for many the history of Israel’s founding was based on the movie “Exodus”, or maybe the Uris book, good flix, good read, very short on historical accuracy. It was my view for many years until a seminar on terrorism I attended for work. Even then I didn’t necessarily believe the instructors. Did my own research, oops I should known better than trust a movie for a history lesson.
I'm keeping an open mind about whether the HAMAS attacks were a part or whole false flag, but the truth is that they bring benefits as well as massive challenges to Bibi. He gets to be a war leader with supreme powers, can go all in on his enemies, and gets some serious financial and military support out of his main sponsor nation before it goes belly up.
It must be tricky running a conscript army when half the country hated you already, and the entire country (96% was the poll I saw) blames your government for the unbelievable "intelligence failure" that precipitated the war.
Remember, the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago concluded in regime change. The army was out in the streets, demanding and eventually getting resignations at the top. I think the situation is much more volatile now.
The only thing that can save Netanyahu and unite the country is a massive crisis that can make all his political and legal problems vanish. It looks like he's found it.
As I read Mark's post, I couldn't help but think to myself: this has all been in the cards since 1948. There is no one-state or two-state solution that will cleanse the initial transgression. And even if you give the builders of the Zionist state the entire benefit of the doubt regarding subsequent events, it is apparent the Palestinians will never forgive the original sin (if you will). Then I read the story of the Qibya massacre.
True. Even the most favoured solution, a two-nation entity, won't work. It still doesn't answer the question of why the Pals should settle for half their original territory.
The alleged “Hamas intercepted call” that Israel realeased as evidence that Hamas BOMBED the Gaza Hospital was EDITED, EFFECTS were added, & the call was DIVIDED on two separate channels (meaning it was not intercepted).
Historical irony: according to a map in church yesterday, the Midianites were located on the southeastern shore of the Red Sea. This means that Moses fled to Houthi country when he fled the Egyptian authorities.
The danger that these acute global crises present is greatly exacerbated by the fact that so many of the Western participants and their allies are deeply fractured and divided societies. I found this article by Jeffrey Tucker very illuminating about how our globalist leaders have shredded the social contracts that once held us together, and made us uniquely vulnerable to the challenges we are going to face. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/social-contract-shredded
I don't know Arabic or Hebrew. Interesting tweet re atrocity reports:
https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1716122932517158913
I hope Goldman hasn't gone full jingo. I used to love his Spengler articles.
What does this refer to? Goldman is a one of a kind neocon-friendly Larouchite (the Larouche part is a compliment)
Hey, Jeff. If it's the same guy, he used to do a column called "Spengler" for (if I recall, the Asia Times). It was just the kind of bleak, civilisational decline stuff that I enjoy. He wasn't too neocon back then, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was now.
Scott Ritter’s commentary I can emphasize with and makes a lot of sense, till I get to this point:
“ I watched as the Israelis lied about the nature of the Hamas attacks, turning what had been a flawless assault against a series of militarized settlements and military strongpoints”.
This bothers me.
A flawless attack does not target a peace rave and civilians, along with other war crimes.
Mr. Ritter also ignores more recent abuses by the Israeli’s:
- Uss Liberty - when will the perpetrators be brought to Justice?
- 67 war massacre of Egyptian POW’s.
- Israeli spying in the U.S.
And based on how the U.S. is used as a useful idiot, I would not be surprised if the Dancing Israeli story is real. Also ignored.
Plus Mr. Ritter was convicted, coincidentally after his estrangement from the U.S. deep state, with a sex felony, obviously having not been targeted and entrapped.
I would wonder if it was “suggested” to Mr. Ritter to write his “true” feelings on this mess. The question is who benefits by this?
Or am I just being to cynical and paranoid?
I have read/heard that the attacks on the military bases ringing Gaza inflicted as many as 600 KIAs. I can't vouch for that myself.
I can tell you that every CI course I went to emphasized that Israel's espionage ops in the US were by far the most aggressive.
And where is Epstein’s client list?
And Epstein did not kill himself.
Will public opinion against more money and arms for Israel persuade the neocons to back off? It depends how desperate they are to stay in power. My guess is that don't give a damn what John Q Public thinks as most of them are unelected. Hope I'm wrong.
Nothing will stop the wealth creation apparatus that is the money operation of the neocons. Just ask Yellen.
Had a very interesting conversation with some friends yesterday about the current Mideast situation. The usual thinking was thrown out, terrorists, babies, our right to exist, fighting animals….in the middle of it I asked, you do know why the Arabs/Palestinians hold such a deep resentment don’t you? Crickets at first, then one person said well they thinks it’s their land, but it’s ours given to us by god. I suggested they read the Scott Ritter piece. This morning I awoke to a txt from one of them “OMG I never knew any of this, that was horrible, why didn’t I know this, why isn’t this taught to us.” Very timely posting Mark, thank you.
This morning I received a very polite email from a reader, urging me to read "the Bible", and particularly the part in Genesis about Israel being the apple of God's eye--in a manner of speaking. I replied, in part:
"Pay heed to Jesus. He said God can raise up children of Abraham from stones. That means he rejects the ideology of Chosenness [based on blood lineage], which [ideology] Paul in Galatians likens to self-idolatry. I recently did a post in which I linked all my early posts on topics like these. I highly recommend. Thanks for your support."
In those years old posts one of my main themes is the relationship of the Israelite scriptures and the Early Christian Writings. I do not regard "the Bible" as simply one long book--I don't regard that view as based in Christian faith.
Congratulations on your success in getting that point across. People of good will, after all. Gives one hope.
There is still hope for the world if there are enough people like your friend, FL.
Most recent observations from the venerable MKB, and it’s not reassuring:
“The prognosis of “war fatigue” on the part of the United States and its allies in the proxy war in Ukraine was greatly exaggerated. On the contrary, the war is acquiring a new swagger.”
Makes for distressing reading. Link below.
https://www.indianpunchline.com/biden-gives-booster-dose-to-the-faltering-ukraine-war/
I’ve been trying to figure out who is this Zhou that you keep referring to. Is that what you call Biden? If so I missed the first reference
Well, not so much translation--but the pronunciation is basically identical in Chinese: Zhou/Joe. Ref to his and Hunter's Chinese millions.
Ha that’s funny.,too bad it took me so long to ask. Otherwise I enjoy your newsletter
Thank you!
Hello Bluejay, yes, correct: Zhou is the rough Chinese translation of our “Joe” and is regularly used in these pages to denote our hapless and compromised (p)resident.
There was a great substack this week about how Israel is losing the information war, and badly.
You've probably heard Crypto Rich interview Tom Luongo, along with Alexander Mercouris and sometimes Alex Krainer. Crypto Rich is apparently Muslim. He has had a guest from Israel talking about Bitcoin in the past. Crypto Rich invited him on to talk, Jew and Muslim, about the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Rich is an absolute gentleman. But the Israeli Settler could only say that the Palestinians need to be forced from Gaza. It was horrible, pretty much unwatchable.
https://nordicmonitor.com/2023/10/us-keep-turkey-at-arms-length-sidelining-the-erdogan-government-in-major-events/
Larry Johnson at Sonar21 has just said the same thing about Israel being out-PRd: " Israel seems oblivious to the fact that it is losing the PR battle and losing it badly." Instead of at least pretending that they are going after Hamas operatives with targeted ops, they are deliberately singling out vulnerable civilian areas for destruction. Now they want to attack the Gaza Al Quds hospital. Al Quds means "The Holy". Just as the US thinks it can throw its weight around the world without pushback, the Netanyahu regime believes it can still get away with goading and insulting the Arab world. However, the world has moved on and they are going to find out to their cost how dangerously wrong they are.
Al Quds means Jerusalem in Arabic.
Hi, Jeff. Just checked. It means both - the most Holy place, aka Jerusalem. Whatever the nuance, it's bad optics for the IDF.
This is not a sign of Turkey's insignificance and weakness but rather that of the US.
https://nordicmonitor.com/2023/10/us-keep-turkey-at-arms-length-sidelining-the-erdogan-government-in-major-events/
Exactly. No problems for Erdie. He will just tootle off to talk to the real movers and shakers: Russia and China.
Do you suppose any of the geniuses in DC have considered what would happen if we lost one, or both, of those carriers? It seems to me that we are just sitting ducks and, as you said Mark, this thing could go very wrong very fast.
Yeah - on that I just saw Lindsay Graham speak in Israel. He all but declared war on Iran. It was quite disturbing how mad he looked.
Same guy who thought the best money we ever spent was in Ukraine so they could kill Russians. Pretty sad when that’s the best we can do in the “foreign policy” department is some war mongering fanatic.
He's not the only one and yours isn't the only country producing these psychos - he's just the loudest.
Someone is sitting back and laughing. Hmm. Who would want to see the US, Israel, and Palestinians destroyed?
Hmm. But destroyed? Or just brought down a few pegs? I have hope that whoever is orchestrating this wants the world to keep turning roughly as it has been with maybe a few tweeks to the world order. They can't all be insane ... or can they?
McCain prototypical.
Not to mention the American people. Each one carries about as many souls as those that died at Pearl Harbor and 9-11. We are not being prepared to be engaged in war.
May I be cruel and say that anyone in a neocon-run nation who is still in the armed forces needs their head examined?
With two carrier battle groups in the Eastern Mediterranean and one in the Indian Ocean we could have 18,000-20,000 sailers deployed plus the amphibious ship with marines. Add in the small groups in all sorts of places in the Middle East (Syria, etc). With 600 bases around the world we are spread thin everywhere. With KSA and Iran chatting it up we could face a United Middle East. The political momentum could translate into an irresistible force that compels Middle Eastern governments to join. When Kuwait joins the pile on it will be like an avalanche from the Mount Everest of sand dunes. Plus we have Russia and China pushing from behind. Putin is turning the Middle East into a giant proxy war against us, complete with cement boots as we wander, as if demented, and into the quicksand. Has Turkey mobilized its reserves? Erdogan might end up as the Emperor of the New Ottoman Empire if things go horribly wrong and we will then see if the open border policy is inclusive of Israelis.
You should have seen Ollie North on Brian Kilmeade's Fox show last night. He was on fire making all the right calls.
He worked with the Iranians. I wonder he knows.
That's a pleasant surprise. I'd have thought he'd be going full Curtis Lemay on this one.
Not to mention we have millions of violent Muslims who have slithered through our borders and living off the tax payer thanks to the Democrat/neocon/Zionist lust for chaos and the money it brings them. These interlopers in our midst may be activated to create turmoil if any war breaks out in the ME. We would be fighting external and internal enemies. World on fire is not just a phrase for a series, but the reality we face as we move towards total war and the depopulation they desired.
"we could face a United Middle East."
Yes. We are driving them together--against us. Totally not smart.
Good point Mark. ‘We’ are doing it to ourselves. The question is why? Incompetence? Ignorance? Stupidity? Or is there some malign purpose in all of this?
Never underestimate joes ability to fuck things up
Very well expressed, esp the “Mount Everest of sand dunes” with our demented dear leader trying vainly to get a toe-hold…And IIRC, from Zerohedge, based on a CNN report, the Carney may have been playing ball not with the Houthis in Yemen, but more likely with the Chinese based in Djibouti…informed speculation, to be confirmed, but this only adds to these terrible events spinning out of control.
Yow, that is quite a picture.
Look who’s joining the festivities….
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1826479/Israel-Hamas-Middle-East-China-war/amp
Our side does "freedom of navigation"; their side does "Provocation!"
Right. I saw a different version of that.
Thanks for working so hard on these. It is well thought out and edited.
You're very welcome!
Funny thing. You work hard at what you do and make thoughtful replies to comments. And “suddenly” you have a great community here. Congrats and well done.
Thank you for the Scott Ritter link. Powerful testimony.
I've recently run across https://ifamericansknew.org/about_us/whoweare.html and think you might appreciate Alison Weir's research on the origins of the Israel Lobby in the US.
I don't think "Netanyahoo" or his revenge agenda enjoys as much popular support among Israelis as the MoA article implies. Recall he was the subject of mass protests just a few weeks ago --- protests that are now criminalized due to the war he declared.
I think for many the history of Israel’s founding was based on the movie “Exodus”, or maybe the Uris book, good flix, good read, very short on historical accuracy. It was my view for many years until a seminar on terrorism I attended for work. Even then I didn’t necessarily believe the instructors. Did my own research, oops I should known better than trust a movie for a history lesson.
I'm keeping an open mind about whether the HAMAS attacks were a part or whole false flag, but the truth is that they bring benefits as well as massive challenges to Bibi. He gets to be a war leader with supreme powers, can go all in on his enemies, and gets some serious financial and military support out of his main sponsor nation before it goes belly up.
It must be tricky running a conscript army when half the country hated you already, and the entire country (96% was the poll I saw) blames your government for the unbelievable "intelligence failure" that precipitated the war.
Remember, the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago concluded in regime change. The army was out in the streets, demanding and eventually getting resignations at the top. I think the situation is much more volatile now.
The only thing that can save Netanyahu and unite the country is a massive crisis that can make all his political and legal problems vanish. It looks like he's found it.
They've only "vanished" in that they're swept under the rug for now. Israelis are not goldfish, and the rug is looking pretty lumpy.
Oops, wrote this before I saw Mark's latest post, which takes on the issue directly.
Still a great comment. Pat yourself on the back. Brilliant minds think alike!
As I read Mark's post, I couldn't help but think to myself: this has all been in the cards since 1948. There is no one-state or two-state solution that will cleanse the initial transgression. And even if you give the builders of the Zionist state the entire benefit of the doubt regarding subsequent events, it is apparent the Palestinians will never forgive the original sin (if you will). Then I read the story of the Qibya massacre.
I thought Scot Ritter's piece was spot on.
True. Even the most favoured solution, a two-nation entity, won't work. It still doesn't answer the question of why the Pals should settle for half their original territory.
Jackson Hinkle @jacksonhinklle
The alleged “Hamas intercepted call” that Israel realeased as evidence that Hamas BOMBED the Gaza Hospital was EDITED, EFFECTS were added, & the call was DIVIDED on two separate channels (meaning it was not intercepted).
Another FAKE from Israel!
From
earshot.ngo
7:04 AM · Oct 21, 2023
Well, whoever did the hospital bombing, the PERCEPTION of who did it is already firmly set in stone in the Middle East: the Israelis.