1. Joe Scarborough and his MJ crew are on a hyper-nationalist journey in which the Cold War image of the USSR continues to dominate their collective Borgasm.
2. They fret and fret over a variety of issues such as the supposed Russian intention to invade Ukraine. What proof there is for that escapes me but, no matter... Why do they bother to ponder this possibility? If it is going to happen, that will become manifest. If it does not happen, well, it did not happen. The only reason one would be interested in forecasting something like this would be if one contemplated a forestalling effort and I do not think that is a real option for the US and its Borgistic pals. Mutual nuclear annihilation lurks in the background and the JCS knows that well.
3. Donald (the Closer) Trump and his minions are the object of intensive Borgist media efforts to portray them as agents of Vladimir the Hood (LeCarre reference). It is now discovered that Berlusconi (the Letch) was also a servant of The Evil One brooding in his Kremlinesque castle (Lord of the Rings reference). I actually think the Letch was interestingly human and nothing like a Borgista. Can anyone doubt that this latest smear campaign is directed by the Obamanite information operations center in the White House?
3. The Turks. Ah yes, the Turks. On the one hand they are going to attend cooperation meetings in Teheran with Russia and the Shia mullahcracy. On a second hand they are talking about improving relations with the Syrian government. With yet a third hand they have in the last couple of days let 1,000 jihadi reinforcements pass through the Turkish Hatay Province border crossings for the evident purpose of reinforcing the jihadis at Aleppo where these creatures have lost a lot of men. It would seem to me that the Russians and Iranians know about this since I do. I think the Sublime Porte did things more skillfully than this but, what do I know?
4. Then there is the Aleppo battle itself. This thing has become such a meat grinder for the jihadis that the R+6 must think it worth continuing for a while. As someone on SST mentioned there has emerged a pattern in which Syrian forces advance into a rebel held area of the city and then withdraw to allow the jihadis to re-occupy it. This is a great convenience since the area you withdrew from is "target rich" after the jihadis advance int it. And then there are the hunting trips across Idlib Province being conducted by Russian and Syrian air. This must be a real meat market.
Hilly is going to have a lot to deal with in her role as mother of us all.
pl
https://southfront.org/turkey-permits-1000-terrorists-to-cross-border-and-enter-in-syrias-idlib/
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-russia-iran-idUKKCN10S0V9
smoothiex12
"This is a substantive and a very significant difference." Well, well. I do not take well to being lectured. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 19 August 2016 at 04:41 PM
Thank you for elevating me to the sublime and bringing me "down to earth" again with this "terza rima." I am not a Dantista, but I have read the poet in both Italian and in English translation plus the Singleton translation and commentary and much more comment. I do not know, however, if the Russians or Iranians led him there.
Posted by: Haralambos | 19 August 2016 at 05:10 PM
"Dangerous times."
Indeed. We are witnessing the self-fulfillment of a (fake) prophecy. Russia is becoming more defensive and assertive - what else the casual abusers in the US government should expect. No trust means greater danger of a fatal mistake. The real "deciders" are either very confident in the US ability to prevent (with some superior technology/weaponry) a nuclear catastrophe on the US territory or they are suicidal poker-players. We live in a society where deeds and words of those in the highest echelons of power are not connected to personal accountability. This is dangerous.
Posted by: Anna | 19 August 2016 at 05:37 PM
"Even during Cold War there was a degree of admiration for Western "culture."
Actually, amongst Russian intelligentsia the admiration was passionate and unconditional. It took a lot of dishonest actions by the West to eliminate this "adolescent" love of Russians for everything Western.
Posted by: Anna | 19 August 2016 at 06:05 PM
In my opinion, no leaving NATO, Turkey is so deeply, historically, and strategically a part of it, has been from the get go, and people with the right frame of mind here know it.
Turkey is no France, or Greece, in and out as it suits the winds of popular demand will never happen.
Shanghai Cooperation Council membership for Turkey is a trump card against an unresponsive EU, and a magic show against US. Perhaps, some people should wake up to the fact that they are dealing with a wily, smart and a survivor of a politician with the instincts of a rat of which would put old Mach, and Al and Benito and the rest to shame. Erdogan is a genius in rhetoric, Churchill could only be his humble understudy. But Erdogan could never touch Ataturk, but hey, the poor guy is too busy turning over his grave these days.
Posted by: Kunuri | 19 August 2016 at 06:50 PM
Red Cloud? Don't you mean Sitting Bull? Yes, Red Cloud did manage to kill Fetterman, who disobeyed orders and led his men to their deaths.
Posted by: morgan | 19 August 2016 at 07:42 PM
Hubris: America the 'beautiful' & 'the exceptional one'.
Posted by: YT | 19 August 2016 at 07:57 PM
Lochte became such a big case here in Brazil only because at first we tried to make good by capturing the robbers (we desperately try to be good hosts amid a chaotic nation and violent city), but then it became obvious that he tried to smear the host nation to cover his ass (or whatever else he was thinking), so the cops and judiciary branch of our Government rushed to clear the case.
I doubt we will ask the USA to deport him over such a minor crime. We have better things to do.
By the way, it was not the first case of this type in the Olympics. A romanian medal winner (judo, IIRC) also made up a history about being assaulted to cover up a confusion he created in a hotel while being drunk.
Regarding Russia`s sports bans, what I can`t get over is that the sport courts allowed collective punishments. Just put yourself in the place of one of the athletes that did nothing wrong and couldn`t participate in the olympics or even show that they were innocent... collective punishment is something out of the middle ages...
Regarding Trump, Clinton, the Borg, Russia, Ukraine and Syria... I just can`t get over all this red baiting coming from democrats. It is like we did not live through the last Iraq War, the disaster that the arab spring turned out to be, the Georgia - Russia war... and, like I said, democrats are doing the red baiting now.
Go figure.
Posted by: Alves | 19 August 2016 at 11:52 PM
For once I can speak as an expert on this subject. I have been involved in drug testing either as a technician (Los Angeles Olympics and the Orange County Coroner's Office as a civilian) or the forensic drug testing laboratory in Wiesbaden as an officer. There is not one shred of evidence that any system wide doping was being used in Russia other than testimony from an extremely corrupt Russian (Rodchenkov) paid to say what he said. If you analyze what he has been alleging it is ridiculous. No Director of an institute would be involved personally in any testing and I doubt would have a clue how to do anything anyways. He states he personally in the middle of the night substituted samples through a hole in the wall. It is so ridiculous it is amazing anyone even believes it at all. Every sample is unique and tamper proof and there are cameras everywhere and personnel work 24/7. I guarantee a Director in the laboratory after hours would have been noticed by everyone. But to state he did it nearly every day? I am amazed by the ability of MSM to accept the ridiculous. McClaren is a stooge with a suspicious take on this. The effort to permit Klishna, allegedly using doping who was to be suspended from the games but could compete only if she competed not as a Russian puts a clear light on it.
On top of that competitions in foreign countries are tested in the foreign laboratories there. No Russian officials would be involved in any way nor would have any access to the samples which are handled as forensic evidence. The kinds of performance enhancing drugs alleged to be used have long half lives so random testing or definitive testing would yield at least a few positive results yet there have been none. There is also no evidence from prior Olympics other than the usual single episodes which occurs in every sport and every country, the US included. Every athlete is tested randomly and definitively after winning an event. This entire fiasco was done at the behest of the US as a political move to exclude Russia from the games. The effort was only partially successful but still over 30% were excluded and we see the results in the US medal count. Also, all the samples from previous competitions are stored frozen and can be retested any time. None of that has occurred which I find suspicious as well.
I personally loath doping and I especially loath professional athletes competing in the games. That rule change, again done at the behest of the US, was terrible. I have been an amateur athlete all my life and maybe not all that great, I have competed openly and honestly with a fair number of wins in my life. But, I always worked a real job and athletics were never my main occupation nor should it be so for any amateur competitor. Allowing professionals to compete against amateurs gives them an unfair advantage as they do not have to support themselves and reap large rewards for winning. If the money was removed from the equation there wouldn't be a doping problem at all. But, the financial rewards are so great of course people are doing anything they can to win. If any country has a systemic doping problem it would be the US where money is king. I am not saying doping isn't happening and I am certain it is being done all the time and new methods are being utilized which are difficult to get ahead of in the laboratory. However, it is all going to be moot once genetic programming takes hold and we should start seeing performance improvements through genetic engineering sometime in the next 20 years or so. Once that starts there will be a no holds barred approach to competitions and I suspect all rules will be abrogated once this begins in earnest.
Posted by: Old Microbiologist | 20 August 2016 at 05:26 AM
Just call it imperialism, i.e. the nationalism of the oppressor, aka the Arabs' stumbling block for 700 years... That'll do.
Posted by: Timbre Sick o' More | 20 August 2016 at 02:49 PM
Yup; trade beat up Beatles records for top coats or Melodia recordings ...
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 20 August 2016 at 03:21 PM
They were evidently channeling Vergil, i.e. the Human Reason.
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 20 August 2016 at 03:23 PM
irf520,
Zbiggie Brzezinski quite literally wants that exact specific thing . . . to divide Russia into several smaller countries. I remember him writing an article about that. Here is the first link to it I found in searching.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1254548/posts
Posted by: different clue | 20 August 2016 at 07:24 PM
SST,
Among the various meanings to be drawn from Hamadan, is it agreed one of them is that it effectively means all options are NOT on the table vis a vis if the JCPOA fails?
Thanks,
Mac
Posted by: Mac | 21 August 2016 at 10:56 PM
Excuse my ignorance, but please tell me what a "Borgist" means. Once I know that, I'm sure I will appreciate much more the bon mot "borgasm"!
Posted by: JL Finch | 22 August 2016 at 11:55 AM
Mac,
No, all options will remain on the table for rhetorical reasons, actual implementation of the worse one is a suicide leap into the abyss by any leader authorizing it.
Posted by: Thomas | 22 August 2016 at 12:36 PM