Sic Semper Tyrannis

USG's Bizarre Change of Position in the Roger Stone Case by Larry C Johnson

There is zero forensic evidence in the public arena that supports the US Government's assertion that the Russian Government hacked the DNC. In fact, the forensic computer evidence that is available indicates that the emails from the DNC were downloaded onto something like a thumb drive.

There also is zero forensic evidence in the public arena that the Russians passed/delivered the DNC emails to Julian Assange/Wikileaks. There are only two ways to get DNC emails into the hands of Wiki people--an electronic transfer or a physical/human transfer. That's it.

And here is what we know for certain. First, since Edward Snowden absconded with the NSA's family jewels with the help of Wikileaks, U.S. and British intelligence assets have been monitoring every single electronic communication to and from Wikileaks/Julian Assange. They also have been conducting surveillance on all personal contacts with Assange and other key members of the Wikileaks staff.

Given these facts you would think it would be easy for Robert Mueller to explain how the Russians got their hands on the DNC emails and then passed them on to Wikileaks. But it is not easy because the foundation of the case against the Russians rests on assumptions and beliefs. No solid facts.

Open Thread 29 June 2019

pl

"Hasta la victoria siempre!" Che Guevare (and De Blasio)

Wonderful!

 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mayor-de-blasio-apologizes-after-quoting-che-guevara-at-a-miami-rally/2019/06/27/9e322ae8-9924-11e9-916d-9c61607d8190_story.html?utm_term=.065c34318d23

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 27 JUNE 2019 by Patrick Armstrong

PUTIN DIRECT LINE. (Eng) (Rus) Deep in the weeds, this one: trash (apparently piling up since Soviet times), healthcare, maternity and child care issues, farming, corruption (declining said Putin, it's the inevitability of punishment that matters), over-zealous inspectors, protecting Russia's electronic/internet/cyberspace against attacks (several mentions of Washington's attacks on Huawei), air routes, water supply. "Russia's greatest problem" was to secure "higher labour efficiency". Little on foreign issues other than that Putin & Co stand ready to talk (but I get the impression that they don't expect they'll get much chance to). Sanctions had led to substitution: "Look, if ten years ago I... had been told that we would be exporting agricultural products worth $25.7 billion, like we did last year, I would have laughed... " Suppose Russia gives in? he doubted sanctions would ever stop – Huawei again. Why is he polite to those "slinging mud at us"? he was brought up that way and rudeness isn't useful in negotiations. And we learned a reason why he does these things; "a direct line that is intended to bring the bottlenecks into focus and to find solutions to these problems". A theme this year was how orders from the centre often aren't fulfilled on the ground. He and the producers observed that "Problems end as soon as Direct Line starts". I re-read one of his earlier ones (from 2002) and I would say that today's concerns are smaller, they're more about the uneven implementation of strategic plans or fine tuning some strategy than the need for big solutions for big problems. Which is a sign, of course, of how far things have improved since then. (In those days, Russia was finished.) See below.

STATISTICS. I saw these numbers the other day. Life expectancy steadily climbing. Meat consumption up. Murders down. All reasons why Russians generally believe that Putin & Co are getting the job done. (And, it should always be remembered, half of those who don't like him, don't because he hasn't occupied Ukraine or bombed Tbilisi into obedience. Russian exceptionalists, so to speak.)

PEOPLE POWER. The Boss' advice was taken: referendum, strong opposition discovered, church cancelled. But the Boss' opinion should not have been sought. And, as we see every year in Direct Line, there are still too many people asking Batyushka to fix their roof.

FLOATING NPP. Approved for operation. It is to be towed to isolated places in the Russian north to provide power. Causing, no doubt, more blather like this or this about Russia taking over the Arctic.

FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION. Russia does its bit to ensure ships carrying goods through the Panama Canal can do so; it's the principle of the thing. (Russian ship transits Panama Canal. Now in Cuba.).

MH17. More unsupported allegations from JIT (note that Bellingcat seems to be the source.) Malaysia PM Mahathir (correctly) remains sceptical: "Even before they examined the case, they have already claimed it was done by Russia". As do I (the port air engine intake is an important clue). BTW, what happened to the last "conclusive proof" out of JIT... attentive people remember.

TRUE? FALSE? Who knows? it's the NYT after all. "U.S. Escalates Online Attacks on Russia’s Power Grid". Does that sound like a good idea to you? Anyway, it shows that pieces like this from 2017 were projection. All this provocation, baiting and risk because of... see below.

AMERICA-HYSTERICA. Not only did the FBI never examine the DNC's servers but it never saw an un-redacted final copy of the Crowdstrike report accusing Russia of hacking them. It's all assertion by interested parties. The interference meme is nonsense too – read this.

IRAN. I believe them when they say they will shut it down: they fought Iraq for eight years until they prevailed. Very dangerous indeed.

GEORGIA. The Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy meets in Tbilisi; the President, a Russian, gives a speech in Russian. This leads to riots. At the same time Washington and its minions are pushing for a Gay Pride march in a country where there isn't much support for such things. Washington is apparently deeply concerned about this in Georgia but not elsewhere. I agree with Jatras that it sounds like an attempt at a coloured revolution: protesters with signs in foreign languages are hardly grassroots (Russian in Latin script!!??). Moscow has banned flights to Georgia and blocked Georgian airlines: this will hurt their tourism revenue. Remittances are a significant part of Georgia's economy and Russia is the largest source so blocking those may be next on the list. (Worked with Turkey, didn't it?)

UKRAINE. Poroshenko's new church is de-laminating in fights over money.

© Patrick Armstrong Analysis, Canada Russia Observer

The Myth of Russian Media Influence by Larry C Johnson

Republicans and Democrats, along with almost all of the media, have accepted the lie that the Russians engaged in unprecedented "interference" in the 2016 Presidential election. It is a ridiculous proposition and is based on a presumption rather than actual evidence. The Intel Community said it is true so, by definition, it must be true.

Let's focus on the actual numbers. How much money did the Russians spend? According to Robert Mueller, $1.25 million per month. If you start that money clock in May of 2016, that means those pesky Rookies spent $8.75 million. But let us be generous and add on the previous four months, essentially starting the clock in January 2016 before the first primary votes. That brings the total to $13 million.

Hillary and Donald, by contrast, spent over $81 million on Facebook alone. According to TechCrunch:

Russian information troll farm the Internet Research Agency spent just 0.05 percent as much on Facebook  ads as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s campaigns combined in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, yet still reached a massive audience. While there might have been other Russian disinformation groups, the IRA spent $46,000 on pre-election day Facebook ads compared to $81 million spent by Clinton and Trump together, discluding political action committees who could have spent even more than that on the campaigns’ behalf.

Trump and Clinton, when you factor in their various political action committees, spent millions more.

A fuller analysis of the spending on the major social media platforms was provided by Medium.com:

How the OPCW’s investigation of the Douma incident was nobbled - Working Group on Syria

Paul McKeigue, David Miller, Jake Mason, Piers Robinson

Members of Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media 25 June 2019

• 1 Summary
• 2 Introduction
• 3 The Fact-Finding Mission in Syria
• 4 The boss: Sébastien Braha
• 5 The Team Leader: Sami Barrek
• 6 The freelance: Len Phillips
• 7 The interim and final reports
• 8 Distortion of evidence in earlier reports where Phillips was FFM Team Leader
  • 8.1 Idlib 2015: refrigerant canisters
  • 8.2 Khan Shaykhun 2017: recorded times of hospital admissions
  • 8.3 Ltamenah 2017: intact sarin persisting after months in the open
• 9 UK-led information operations associated with alleged chemical attacks
  • 9.1 Ministry of Defence: Targeting and Information Operations
  • 9.2 ARK, Basma, Mayday Rescue and the White Helmets
  • 9.3 SecureBio and the CBRN Task Force
  • 9.4 UK communicators
• 10 A next step: replication of the engineering studies
• 11 Role of external engineering experts and toxicologists
• 12 Acknowledgements

1 Summary

• The creation in 2014 of a new mechanism – the “Fact-Finding Mission in Syria” (FFM) – to investigate alleged chemical attacks allowed the OPCW to bypass the procedures laid down in the Chemical Weapons Convention for investigations of alleged use, and to set its own rules for these investigations.

• The roles of the Director-General and the newly appointed director of the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) are mostly ceremonial. The effective boss of the OPCW is the Chief of Cabinet Sébastien Braha, a French diplomat, and the Principal Investigator of the IIT is Elise Coté, a Canadian diplomat. Although these individuals have obvious conflicts of interest in relation to Syria, the OPCW lacks any procedure for managing such situations.

• The Technical Secretariat’s excuse for suppression of the Engineering Assessment – that evidence that the cylinders were manually placed rather than dropped from the air is “outside of the mandate and methodology of the FFM” – is fallacious and contradicts OPCW’s published reports on the Douma incident.

• It was already clear from open source evidence, as we pointed out in an earlier briefing note, that the Interim and Final Reports of the FFM on the Douma incident had been nobbled. Our sources have now filled in some of the details of this process. Specifically:

  • By mid-June 2018 there would have been ample time to draft an interim report that summarized the analysis of witness testimony, open-source images, on-site inspections and lab results. We have learned that the original draft of the interim report, which had noted inconsistencies in the evidence of a chemical attack, was revised by a process that was not transparent to FFM team members to become the published Interim Report released on 6 July 2018 that included only the laboratory results.

  • After the release of the Interim Report, the investigation proceeded in secrecy with all FFM team members who had deployed to Douma excluded. It was nominally led by Sami Barrek who as FFM Team Leader had left Damascus before the on-site inspections began. These FFM team members do not know who wrote the document that was released as the “Final Report of the FFM”.

  • We have learned from multiple sources that the second stage of the investigation involved consultation with Len Phillips, the previous leader of FFM Team Alpha who worked in the OPCW during this period as a self-employed consultant.

• From examination of three earlier FFM reports on incidents in 2015 or 2017 where Phillips was the Team Leader, it is clear that these reports also excluded or ignored evidence that these alleged chemical attacks had been staged. Specifically:

  • The FFM report on the alleged chlorine attacks in Idlib between 16 March and 20 May 2015 omitted the crucial fact, later noted by the Joint Investigative Mechanism, that the refrigerant canisters allegedly used as components of chemical munitions could not have been repurposed.

  • The FFM report on the alleged sarin attack in Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017 omitted the information, later noted by the Joint Investigative Mechanism which had access to the same records, that the recorded hospital admission times of at least 100 patients were too early for them to have reached hospital if they had become casualties at the time the attack was alleged to have occurred.

  • The FFM investigation of the alleged chlorine attack in Ltamenah on 25 March 2017, reported on 13 June 2018, led it to discover a previously unrecorded sarin attack nearby the day before, and to prompt the White Helmets to provide, eleven months later, munition parts that tested positive for intact sarin. The report failed to explain or even comment on how intact sarin could have persisted for so long in the open.

• This indicates that the suppression of the Engineering Assessment of the Douma incident was not an isolated aberration. In this context it is relevant that the opposition-linked NGOs on which the FFM has relied for evidence since 2014 have dubious provenance, and at least some of them have been set up under UK tutelage.

• The credibility of the OPCW cannot be restored simply by finding some way to reverse what were purported to be the findings of the FFM on the Douma incident, but only by an independent re-examination of all its previous investigations of alleged chemical attacks in Syria, and a radical reform of its governance and procedures.

• To resolve the discrepancy between the conclusions of the internal Engineering Assessment and those of the Final Report, a first step would be to make public the assessments of the external engineering experts on whom the Final Report relied. The engineering assessments were based on observations of the cylinders and measurements at the locations where they were found. As the cylinders, tagged and sealed by the OPCW inspectors, are in the custody of the Syrian government, it is feasible to undertake an independent study to determine whether the conclusions of earlier engineering assessments can be replicated. For such a study to be credible, it would have to be undertaken by a panel independent of OPCW, in accordance with methods for reproducible research.

2 Introduction

In response to our release of the suppressed Engineering Assessment, OPCW management produced three explanations in the space of ten days:

1. The Engineering Assessment “is not part of any of the material produced by the FFM” and Ian Henderson “has never been a member of the FFM”. (Deepti Choubey, 11 May)

2. Henderson was “on the sidelines of the FFM”, but his report was “a dissenting assessment” and “his findings were considered but were a minority opinion as final report was written” (off-the-record briefings to Scott Lucas and Brian Whitaker, 16 May). The Director-General, answering a question on 6 June, confirmed that the Engineering Assessment “was considered and it was analysed, it was part of the investigation”, thus contradicting Choubey’s email of 11 May).

3. Henderson was in Douma “to provide temporary support to the FFM” but the Engineering Assessment was excluded because it “came too close to attributing responsibility, and thus fell outside the scope of the FFM’s mandate.” (Whitaker’s “informed source”, quoted 24 May). This was the explanation given by the Director-General in a “Briefing for States Parties” on 28 May: Henderson “was tasked with temporarily assisting the FFM” but his report was “outside of the mandate of the FFM with regard to the formulation of its findings.”

These three mutually contradictory excuses bring to mind Sigmund Freud’s story of the defences offered by a man who was accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in a damaged condition:

In the first place, he had returned the kettle undamaged; in the second place it already had holes in it when he borrowed it; and in the third place, he had never borrowed it at all.

This fumbling response to the release of the document casts doubt on the Director-General’s statement that the OPCW first became aware in March 2019 that it might have leaked. No leak investigation was launched at this time. It is however evident that by 14 March 2019 several delegations at the OPCW were aware that there was dissent among FFM team members. A commentary by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the Executive Council on 14 March had blocked the Russian proposal to hold a briefing with “all without exception experts of the OPCW Mission” and commented that “such a briefing could reveal very serious inconsistencies in the anti-Syrian conclusions in the Final Report”. A gloating tweet from the Netherlands delegation that the Russian proposal had been voted down with “only 5 votes in favour” was retweeted by the Canadian and UK delegations.

HARPER: THE REAL COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF A US-IRAN CONFLICT

"The great Bilderberg secret of 2019 had to do with why, suddenly, the Trump administration has decided that it wants to talk to Iran `with no preconditions.'

"It all has to do with the Strait of Hormuz. Blocking the Strait could cut off oil and gas from Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Iran – 20% of the world’s oil. There has been some debate on whether this could occur – whether the US Fifth Fleet, which is stationed nearby, could stop Tehran doing this and if Iran, which has anti-ship missiles on its territory along the northern border of the Persian Gulf, would go that far.

"An American source said a series of studies hit President Trump’s desk and caused panic in Washington. These showed that in the case of the Strait of Hormuz being shut down, whatever the reason, Iran has the power to hammer the world financial system, by causing global trade in derivatives to be blown apart.

"The Bank for International Settlements said last year that the `notional amount outstanding for derivatives contracts' was $542 trillion, although the gross market value was put at just $12.7 trillion. Others suggest it is $1.2 quadrillion or more.

"Tehran has not voiced this `nuclear option' openly. And yet General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force and a Pentagon bête noire, evoked it in internal Iranian discussions. The information was duly circulated to France, Britain and Germany, the EU-3 members of the Iran nuclear deal (or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), also causing a panic.

"Oil derivative specialists know well that if the flow of energy in the Gulf is blocked it could lead to the price of oil reaching $200 a barrel, or much higher over an extended period. Crashing the derivatives market would create an unprecedented global depression. Trump’s former Goldman Sachs Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin should know as much.

"And Trump himself seems to have given the game away. He’s now on the record essentially saying that Iran has no strategic value to the US."

--- Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, June 5, 2019

__________________________________________________________________________________

Well it may not be a sure thing that you can "take to the bank," but Pepe Escobar may be right.  Is anyone in their right mind prepared to run the risk of a new global economic and financial catastrophe triggered by a war between the United States and Iran?  Undoubtedly, many war games have been played in recent months on just how such a war would proceed.  Recent US public leaks of cyber attacks against Iranian computer systems associated with their radar and air defenses raise the question of US capabilities to strike targets inside Iran.  But IRGC has vast numbers of fast boats capable of swarming US Navy vessels, commercial tankers and other ships transitting the Straits.  The likelihood of a panic on derivatives markets associated with oil price spikes is real.  So Pepe is probably addressing the BIG collateral damage associated with the creeping steps towards a new Gulf War.

In the next few days, President Trump will be in Osaka for the G-20 meeting.  He is set to meet with Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, among other world leaders.  No doubt the prospects of a new Gulf War will be high on the agenda in those private talks.  No doubt the economic consequences will be on the minds of all those leaders.  Talk about a "lose-lose" proposition.

 

The gathering of the knuckledraggers (my people)

I have to be careful in my choice of words with you pilgrims and assorted fellow travelers.   In my narrow world a "knuckledragger" may be heavy handed but is not necessarily without virtue.

I am more and more convinced that Trump and his crew (Kushner, etc.) are not equipped intellectually to comprehend or deal with men for whom some things are not for sale. 

Kushner and his helpers on the Deal of the Century are interested in peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis only because they see, however dimly, that Israel's long term prospects require some sort of  peace.

The peace that they want is visible now.  It is a peace in which there is no Palestinian state and in which the Palestinians accept their permanent status as a subject people at the mercy of their Israeli masters.

As LBJ used to say, "This dog won't hunt."  Some things are not for sale.  The Alamo is not for sale.  Jerusalem is not for sale.  The Iranians say that "the door of diplomacy" is closed forever.  That statement should be taken seriously

The Trumpistas and their friends believe that everything is for sale, but, in fact everything is not for sale.  Is Israel for sale?  No amount of bribe money will cause the despised Palestinians to give up their dream of nationhood.  One would think that Jews would understand that but, evidently their tribalism overcomes everything else in their heads.

Iran will not be brought to its knees with economic sanctions and stupid statements which imply that submission to the will of the "City on a Hill" will make them prosperous and well off.

The knuckledraggers are gathering on both sides in the US/Iran crisis.  War is likely.  pl

The IC and the Civil Service laws.

There have been a number of comments on SST on the subject of  a general purge of people from the national agencies.  From the comments I understand that the commenters know nothing of the Civil Service laws of the US.  The permanent staff of CIA, DIA, State INR and NSA (the main agencies) are overwhelmingly civilian civil servants protected against arbitrary dismissal and protected in their employment by due process.  Their bosses are a handful of generals (DIA and NSA) and careerist civilian SESs (look it up) who want nothing more than to serve their political masters in the administration of the day.  Considering the obstacles the civil servants do a remarkable job and have not the ability to jump the chain of comment to publish material that their toady bosses will not allow to go forth.  Try reading my old essay "Artists and Bureaucrats."  or "Bureaucrats and Artists."  It is around somewhere.  Exert yourselves.  pl

737 Max & Boeing Update, by BabelFish

737 Max & Boeing Update

The Paris Airshow has come and gone. Airbus did very well, particularly with the new A321 XLR, signing up an impressive array of customers. This is why this is cool for passengers.

Your correspondent lives in Jacksonville. Going to Europe, for instance, usually involves flying to a hub (Miami, Charlotte, Philly, Newark, etc) and then to a European destination on a wide-body jet. The A321 XLR can economically fly to Heathrow from Jacksonville with, say, 180 passengers. Similar city pair connections across the globe will now be possible in this narrow-body (single aisle) jet. These flights will be profitable at near half the passengers that a wide-body jet can carry. The jet can potentially have additional fuel added to future model updates. The longer trips are also possible with models of the 737 Max.

This is at the bottom half of where Boeing is aiming their projected 797 Medium Market Aircraft. Boeing announced that if they do launch the 797 program, they will start with the larger model. It is usual to start with the smallest model first but that would put it head to head with the XLR. I am searching chats to see if fellow enthusiasts believe the A321 family is now developmentally tapped out, much as we thought the 737 was at its developmental end. I believe that is the case.

Boeing has obviously had a tough year. They took another hit when American Airlines ordered the XLR over long range versions of the Max. And Boeing suffered yet another hit when it learned that the first flight of its 777X, a much anticipated update that was hoped to be featured in Paris , would be delayed as much as six months due to a design issue with the new GE engines that needs correction. This is not unusual but the optics and timing were not good.

From Wikipedia:

“Engines were installed by early January 2019.[42] The first 777-9 body join happened in February for a delivery planned in summer 2020 to Lufthansa. The roll-out of the prototype occurred on March 13, 2019, in a low-key employees-only event overshadowed by the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 on March 10. The GE9X engines installed on the 777X prototype were first run on May 29. However, a compressor anomaly occurred on another engine during pre-delivery tests, and the maiden flight previously planned for no earlier than June 26 will now be delayed while the engines are modified to a final certifiable configuration. As of 17 June 2019, GE expressed confidence that the engine would receive certification during the fall and that the first flight of the 777X would still occur in 2019. The 777X test plan was later revised as several months are required to develop and test fixes to the GE9x, and first flight slipped to October-November.”” 

 

AND THEN, in Paris, Boeing and IAG, the parent company of a group of airlines such as Aer Lingus and British Airways, signed a letter of intent for 200 hundred Max aircraft. It was a spectacular turn about from what had truly been a very bad year for Boeing. There is no word on how deeply discounted these aircraft will be but it appears Boeing made them a deal they couldn’t refuse. And Airbus is quite put out about not being allowed in.

The 737 Max return to service looks like October in America. Airline pilots are currently selecting the segments they will fly for September and the FAA approval of a new version of MCAS plus an agreed upon training regimen is still to be accomplished. Return to service in other countries looks to be a more complicated process.

This YouTube video is an excellent summary of the whole 737 Max/A321 saga.

https://youtu.be/BfNEOfEGe3I

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-airshow-boeing-iag/boeing-737-max-boosted-by-iag-plan-to-order-200-jets-idUSKCN1TJ1WV

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/23/american-airlines-ceo-politics-a-factor-in-return-of-boeings-737-max.html  

 

Is the Iranian nuke weapons program an illusion?

There is so much rubbish said about the supposed Iranian nuclear weapons program that it is a good idea to "review the bidding." about this.

Iran does have a nuclear power program, but:

"In 2012, sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, reported that Iran was pursuing research that could enable it to produce nuclear weapons, but was not attempting to do so.^[15] The senior officers of all of the major American intelligence agencies stated that there was no conclusive evidence that Iran has made any attempt to produce nuclear weapons since 2003.^[16] In a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, the United States Intelligence Community assessed that Iran had ended all "nuclear weapon design and weaponization work" in 2003.^[17] U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated in January 2012 that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons capability, but was not attempting to produce nuclear weapons"  wiki on Iran and weapons of mass destruction.

As you can see from my 2017 post linked below I have long thought that Iran does not have a nuclear WEAPONS production program and has not had one since 2003 when US occupation of Iraq eliminated the possibility of the survival of some elements of the earlier Iraqi nuclear weapons program eliminated by the UN inspections regime acting on US intelligence (I was involved) after the 1st Gulf War.  In 2003 the Ayatollah Khomeini ruled that an Iranian nuclear weapons program could no longer be justified as a deterrent in the absence of an Iraqi program.  He then cancelled authorization for the program.

The IAEA has not found that Iran has a nuclear WEAPONS program.  This is taken by the hawks as PROOF that the IAEA is not inspecting thoroughly enough.  On that basis it can never be proven that Iran does not have a nuclear WEAPONS program.

If that is so why is it that the notion persists that Iran does or did have before JCPOA a nuclear WEAPONS program? 

1.  The Israeli terror at the thought that Iran might secretly be constructing the necessary one or two nuclear weapons needed to destroy Israel drives the media IO campaign for maximum means and levels of pressure.  This has been an enormously successful campaign.  It has made the image of an Iranian program vivid and enduring

2.  Iranian cleverness.  The Iranian perception seems to have been that if the West, especially the Gringos,  wish to believe that there is an Iranian nuclear WEAPONS program, then let us negotiate with them over it.  Before JCPOA, there was an immense amount of Iranian money impounded in the US.  Now there is less.  If Trump had not cancelled US participation in JCPOA, who knows what other benefits might have accrued to Iran.

JCPOA was probably a lot like Qaddafi surrendering his nuclear weapons program to earn good will from GW Bush.  Libya's nuclear program consisted of warehouses full of crates that the Libyans treated with superstitious awe.

Is there REALLY an Iranian nuclear WEAPONS program?  pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2016/01/httpswwwwashingtonpostcomworldnational-securityfiguring-out-the-dimensions-of-irans-past-research-into-nuclear-weapon.html

A bad day for the lobby? What a shame!

"Many of the pundits who pushed for war are also Israel focused. Bill Kristol– who helped promote Tom Cotton to the Senate with funding from the Emergency Committee for Israel —  is deeply disappointed in Trump’s decision. Bret Stephens has been the leading “warmonger” at the Times, writes Andrew Bacevich.

The teaser for a recent Bret Stephens column in The New York Times accurately summarizes its contents: “If Iran won’t change its behavior we should sink its navy.”…

“Nobody wants a war with Iran,” writes Stephens. Actually some people do want war, almost surely including President Trump’s secretary of state and national security adviser. So, too, does Stephens himself. The deceptive history that he chooses to propagate can have no purpose except to promote armed conflict and to impede any understanding into America’s role in planting the seeds of forever war."  Weiss in Mondoweiss    

 

---------------

Worth reading.  So many of my old "friends" are mentioned, so many.  pl

https:/worth reaading/mondoweiss.net/2019/06/trumps-climbdown-defeat/

Stainless Steel and Methane, by BabelFish

 

 

In the near future we may be witness to an advancement in the use of materials that harken back to the earlier days of the US space program. And a rocket constructed of one of the early materials, stainless steel, that will be powered by methane, aka “swamp gas”.

SpaceX, after planning to use composite fuel tanks and aluminum alloy rocket bodies suddenly dropped that after considerable expenditure in the manufacturing processes needed and designed and started production of a prototype “Star Hopper” sub-orbital vehicle, primarily from stainless steel. They are doing this an open part of their Boca Chica, Texas facility. The narrator makes a great comment, calling the finned, short and stout shape of this vehicle as looking like “an H.G. Wells fever dream of the future”. It looks nearly Art Deco to me.

A controversial part of this design is the planned use of cooling pores in the outer skin of one side of the ship, to serve as a “heat shield” by expelling methane to dissipate the heat of re-entry. As the full up Starship model is intended to go to Mars, do an atmosphere entry there and then come back to Earth and do a re-entry here, an ablative type of heat shield will not serve.

Methane is the fuel of choice for both Blue Origin's new BE-4 and SpaceX's Raptor rocket engines. The complexity of why this is a good selection takes a good bit of an excellent video I have watched three times to try to absorb all the basic facts. Neither engine has flown yet but the commitment is there to make each a reality, as they are both far along in development and testing for flight.

The BE-4 will power Blue Origin's New Glenn heavy launch system and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. The Raptor will power the SpaceX Star Hopper sub-orbital development vehicle and the ambitious Starship heavy launch system they intend to use for orbital cargo, missions to the Moon and also Mars.

Of note, methane can be produced on Mars, if needed, to fuel a return journey to Earth. No one said this was going to be cheap or easy! Hydrogen can be produced as well. Both will require water ice to be mined.

I am going to link in two YouTube videos that address both subjects, one relatively short and one nearly 50 minutes long. They both do a superb job of explaining each subject for we non-engineering types. The longer video, from Everyday Astronaut, has time stamps to go to individual segments. Disclosure, Everyday is a SpaceX fan.

https://youtu.be/6AcE7hBhpYU

https://youtu.be/LbH1ZDImaI8

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_(rocket_engine_family)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BE-4

Idlib Dawn... a Tough Nut - TTG

The R+6 is finding the jihadi infestation of Idlib to be a tough nut to crack. The SAA is adjusting tactics and operational plans accordingly. I bet some in the SAA now wish they struck right after they liberated Aleppo.

——————

BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:45 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Armored Division has departed the northeastern countryside of Latakia after a 45-day-long battle at the key town of Kabani. According to a military source in Damascus, the 4th Armored Division, including most of their elite 42nd Brigade (Ghiath Forces), have been redeployed to the Kafr Naboudeh front in northwestern Hama.

The 4th Armored Division will reportedly take part in the Syrian Arab Army’s new push to secure Kafr Naboudeh’s eastern flank, which is currently exposed because the jihadist rebels control the imperative hilltop of Tal Sakher.

When asked if the battle for Kabani is over, the source said the high command has shifted their attention to northwestern Hama, where the Syrian Army is attempting to retake several sites in order to reopen the main road between Sqaylabiyeh and Mhardeh.

The majority of the Syrian military’s casualties during the battle of Kabani were from the National Defense Forces (NDF) and reconciled rebels.

For now, it appears that the battle for Kabani is over, which is a decisive victory for the jihadist rebels. If the jihadists lost Kabani, the Syrian Army would have a downhill battle to the key city of Jisr Al-Shughour in western Idlib.  (AMN)

——————

Since the Idlib Dawn offensive started in early May, the SAA has had to fight hard to gain and keep every inch of soil. But they fight wisely. They are not risking massive casualties to take or defend an objective. Proof of this lies in the ability of the 4th Armored Division to redeploy to Kafr Naboudeh after several weeks of failed attacks on Kabani. The SAA knows time is on their side. They are proceeding in a determined and methodical manner.

The jihadis, OTOH, are fighting desperately. They are still well manned, well armed and far from broken, but they are taking serious casualties resisting the SAA advances and especially in their repeated counterattacks. An effective SAA tactic is to retreat in the face of determined jihadi counterattacks and then unleash devastating artillery fire on the now concentrated jihadis. 

The jihadis are not alone. Turkey is keeping them supplied with the latest anti-tank missiles and AA missiles. They are also facilitating the movement of jihadi reinforcements. I am curious to learn Moscow’s calculus in balancing their interests in Damascus with their interests in Ankara. “But is a puzzlement.” 

TTG

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-armys-4th-division-heads-to-northwestern-hama-after-kabani-battle-ends/

And Khamenei will do what?

A grown up man should be able to change his mind without suffering a paralyzing terror of accusations of "wetness."  Whatever his true reasons for aborting the strikes  as a kind of coitus unterruptus, I applaud the decision.

And now we will see what the Supreme Guide and/or Suleimani will do to the IRGC knuckle dragger in charge at Hormuz.  We will see.

It is Khamenei's turn now.  pl

On The Slippery Slope. By Walrus.

The NYT is reporting that President Trump set what sounds like a “Surgical Strike” against Iranian military targets in motion but checked fire at the last minute.

This action was allegedly in response to Iran’s  downing of an American drone in international waters off Hormuz.

The veracity of the NYT is open to question however this report is in accordance with my own confirmation bias because it sounds like a replay of Kaiser Wilhelms last minute remorse after irreversibly setting in motion the 1914 mobilisation. In 2019, thanks to modern communications, President Trump was able to releash the dogs of war.

My concern is that President Trump does not take action that plunges us into an irrevocable war. The tanker attacks look to me like gifted amateurs armed with no more than tape, C4, timers and speaker magnets. I mean - Dastardly Iranian saboteurs in bright red life jackets?? This reminds me of the story of The Elephant and The Gnat.

The Iranian actions and our responses may prove pure fantasy. I would like to think that older and wiser heads are in charge and sober calculus is at work. The truth may be far funnier and sadder.

What says the Committee?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-approves-strikes-on-iran-but-then-abruptly-pulls-back/ar-AADaA3K?li=BBnb7Kz

Trump - a man for some seasons

I have very mixed feelings and thoughts about the man:

1.  I like his economic policies.  I don't believe any of the Democrat ravings about his policies being intended to benefit the 1% ers or that they have done that.  I have looked carefully at the present federal income tax laws and that just ain't so.  Look at the effect his policies have had on unemployment, especially of women and minorities.  Look at how many jobs are available for new hires in America.  Look at the reduction of taxes on working class people  At the same time, we should remember that upper income people in the US were already paying the bulk of income tax in actual dollars BEFORE this new tax law.

2.  If he wants to slug it out in trade negotiations with China and the EU, I am all for it.  Let him not take counsel of his fears!.   The trade deal with Canada and Mexico is so patently to the benefit of us all that a Democratic obstruction to the deal under "Fast Track"  will surely be seen as purely political.  Perhaps Trudeau can talk sense to Pelosi in his talk with her next week.

3. Immigration - US law admits 1.2 million permanent immigrants a year.  That is enough.  False appeals for asylum should be firmly rejected.  If he wishes to round up illegals whose final status has been legally decided and deport them I am all for it.

4.  He should stop insinuating that he would like a 3rd term.  We do not need presidents for life in the US.  If he wants a third term, let him sponsor one of his people.

5.  He is allowing the consolidation of executive foreign policy power in the hands of neocons and Zionists.  Pompeo, Esper (Pompeo's USMA classmate), Bolton, Bolton's stsff, these people seek imperial domination.  Gina Haspel should fear for her job..  There are undoubtedly Pompeo stay-behinds at CIA.

6.  He is seeking to make the Palestinians permanent serfs of the Israelis, a captive work force.  He allows Israel to control US policy in the ME.  Whether or not this is from political fear or conviction is irrelevant.  They run our show and the belligerence toward Iran is a reflection of both neocon free floating hostility and Israeli desire to dominate the region using us as tools.

7.  I like his space program.  I like the creation of a US Space Force that will eventually be out of the grasp of USAF.

All in all a mixed bag.  pl

SST not for sale or rent

I receive a lot of offers of money as fees for publication of material or ads.  SST is not a commercial enterprise.  It is my retirement hobby.  I accept gifts that are not fees for service.  Those who do not contribute receive the same benefits as those who do.  Fees are not accepted.  pl

9/11, the Pomp, the AUMF and Iran

The question has been raised on SST of the true import of DJT's remark to the little guy from ABC that Iraq did not attack the US on 9/11 but that he thinks he knows who really did. By process of elimination it is easy to understand of whom he speaks;  not Israel, not Saudi Arabia, not Turkey, not the Vatican, probably not the British (joke).

Iran?  Bingo!

After all, Iran is revealed as the source of all evil, something like the Nazis but potentially more dangerous (another joke) and at some points in history Iran has helped Sunni fanatics; Hamas, AQ field men trained by Hizbullah in Lebanon ...

Ah! Hah!  If  that is so then the general purpose AUMF can be tortured into providing legal authority for Trump to order any level of lethal military activity against Iran for however long he wishes to continue it, or until January, 2021, whichever comes first.

Trump has no clue whatever about anything not analogous to a real estate deal or business public relations with the public.  A combination of excessive Tee Vee 24/7 news  and "briefings" from Bonkers Bolton and his crew seem to have convinced DJT  that to be "the man they thought he was" he must punish Iran.  My guess is that the first blow will be air strikes east of the Hormuz Strait against facilities supposedly the locus of such horrors as a SAM-7 attack against a Raptor drone from the fleet.  (BTW, the SAM-7's effective range is such that drone must have been in Iranian airspace).

And BTW, pilgrims, Ole First in his Class is down in Tampaland today jawboning the leaders of CENTCOM (Mideast), and SOCOM (badass commandos worldwide).  Why is he there?  The Secretary of State has no constitutional or legal role in dealing with the armed forces.  That being the case one can only think that there is push-back from senior commanders over the prospect of war with Iran and that Trump has been persuaded to let him do this unprecedented visit to wheedle or threaten his way into their acquiescence.    pl

https://www.vox.com/2019/6/14/18678809/usa-iran-war-aumf-911-trump-pompeo

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pompeo-meet-u-s-commanders-amid-growing-crisis-iran-n1018356

Exposing the Fraudulent DNC Suit Against Trump for Russian Collusion by Larry C Johnson

The Democrats are in big trouble now that the plot to destroy Donald Trump's Presidency is being uncovered. The facts that will be revealed in the coming months will fully expose the foundation of lies and show that the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community were weaponized against U.S. citizens who dared oppose Hillary Clinton.

I want you to look back at the suit the DNC filed against Trump and the Russians in April 2018. The so-called facts asserted by the DNC in their complaint are not so clever lies. Did they really believe that this concoction of crap would hold up in the face of a serious investigation?

Let's look at the specifics (you can read the full complaint here).

Russian agents trespassed onto the DNC's computer network in the United States, as well as other email accounts, collected trade secrets and other private data, and then transmitted the data to Defendant WikiLeaks, whose founder, Assange, shared the defendants' common goal of damaging the Democratic party in advance of the election.

Now look at these facts. There was no forensic evidence that Russia "hacked" the DNC. Oh yes, you have been fed the nonsense that the intelligence community "concluded" that is what happened. But we need only look at what CrowdStrike CEO Alperovitch and FBI Director have stated in public.

Alperovitch told Washington Post Reporter Ellen Nakashima on June 14, 2016 the following:

Why Mars? By BabelFish

The romance of exploration. Voyages of discovery, with intrepid heroes inspiring others to go with them or to pay their way . Columbus had Ferdinand and Isabella as his patrons. Lewis and Clark had Thomas Jefferson and, by way of his office, the people of America.

Perhaps it all peaks with the Apollo program landing humans on the Moon, in what can be described as a money is no limit program. A nearly pure expression of the Cold War. Let us also remember that Congress canceled funding for the last 3 missions. 

There have been a lot of thoughtful folks who believe that the Apollo program was in the wrong sequence. They saw the correct progression as moving from the X-15 and the Air Force DynaSoar space planes to a full time presence in Low Earth Orbit and then to the Moon. The Air Force was well into developing a Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) but it did not make the cut versus Apollo. NASA did come up with Skylab, post Apollo. That probably should have come first, according to the LEO advocates.

NASA tried to apply the “Can Do” magic to the Shuttle. Given the original objectives of a flight every one or two weeks, it was a miserable failure. Blasphemy you say? Let me use an old fashioned business term we uttered when someone proposed spending money on anything new. How do I get my bait back? How does this pay for itself? Fully accounted for with all program spending included, each Shuttle flight came out at $1.5 Billion USD. 

Did we benefit from the Apollo program? Did we benefit from the Shuttle program? Complex questions and answers. Where they worth it? IMHO, that is truly in the eye of the beholder. And the arguments get circular.

Sarcasm has it that we got the beverage Tang from Apollo and not much else. That would be wrong, both about Tang and the Apollo benefits for technology, education, program execution knowledge. I've linked in an older article about the subject that still rings true. The issue to argue about is could we have had the same benefits by building an big LEO space station first, thus making Moon explorations more affordable and sustainable? 

Was Apollo worth it? I believe the answer is yes, and that is despite our country giving up technologies like the Saturn series rockets and the F-1 engine that powered the Saturn 5.

Regarding the Shuttle, many feel NASA got caught flat footed by the early end of the Apollo program, felt the lash of threatened budget constraints and dreamt the right dream. IMO, they just got the scale of the technical challenge and the breadth of what to try to field very wrong. Was it worth it? I think the answer is no. And, yes, I worked on the program. $1.5 BUSD per launch! We did keep the solid rocket booster technology and the main engines (SMEs). The expense of the program prevented too many other things NASA could have started, IMO.

So, why a manned mission to Mars?

If you have the time, I would invite you to read Andy Weir's book, “The Martian.” Also a good movie but the book more thoroughly explores the subject of astronauts on Mars. It is a work of fiction, so items like the threat of wind pushing things around is fiction. The Martian atmosphere is far to thin to tip over an ascent stage.

Our Mars exploration to date has  been primarily focused on the search for life outside of our planet's environments. We have a sturdy robot travelling across the surface and multiple craft in orbit doing photography and science measurements. The next NASA rover is scheduled for launch next year and other countries are planning efforts. It is true that getting to Mars and landing or getting into orbit is notoriously hard.

It has been said that much of the past years of robot science activity on Mars could be done by an astronaut in a few hours. Perhaps true but the robot doesn’t care about radioactivity levels, micro or light gravity and other hazards involved in getting to Mars, staying there and getting back. The rovers, landers and orbiters require no life support or consumables, run no medical risks.

On the other hand, a human can fix things, troubleshoot, organize, plan and other tasks that our robots can not do. We have good examples from servicing missions to the Hubble telescope and some satellite rescues. We have good examples of fixes that could have been done with by an astronaut in a few minutes, had one been present.

One link below is to an intensive, very tech discussion on the hazards to humans on the surface of Mars and what should be done to accurately calculate the risks involved, perhaps even the viability of going there. It is most assuredly no “Roamin in the Gloamin!”. In particular, the radiation hazard is daunting, in both flight mode and on the planet surface. Many of the advanced discussions about long term stays on the surface include burying or covering any habitats and enclosed workspaces in Martian dirt (regolith). Even the rovers will have to be speedy to minimize exposure time. (Maybe a Tesla rover with a Ludicrous mode?)

My belief is that in discussing near term manned Mars missions, say by 2030, the U.S, Elon Musk, etc. are once again, like Apollo, trying to “hit a home run.” We can't even assure funding for the one space station we have and we are talking multi-billions for a moon gateway and a trip to Mars. I am truly not worried about  the sun going nova in a billion years and not inclined to panic about a dinosaur killer. I believe we should consider ourselves and all of the nations of Earth decades away from an attempt, probably many decades. If we go, we need to get over our peer and near peer rivalries and go as a consortium. 

https://www.nap.edu/read/10360/chapter/5

shttps://www.computerworld.com/article/2525898/nasa-s-apollo-technology-has-changed-history.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-20_Dyna-Soar

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Orbiting_Laboratory

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canceled_Apollo_missions

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/future-mars-missions/2/

http://www.mysti2d.net/cormier2d/LV1/Exploring%20Mars%20n%C2%B01/files/Activity%201/article_robots.jsp.htm

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/424586/was-the-space-shuttle-a-mistake 

 

Neo-Bolsheviks and proletarians need not contribute.

All those who wish to encourage me to continue with SST, please pony up through paypal.  This is not a fee for payment.  pl

“US Ramps Up Online Attacks on Russian Power Grid, NYT Says” - TTG

Walrus has already started an engaging conversation on this subject. As someone deeply involved in the early development of DoD cyber operations, I wanted to add  my two cents from a different angle. I am not as horrified by this development as many here are. But I am very uneasy with the apparent involvement of Bonkers Bolton. That creature is as dangerous as a malfunctioning Dalek. I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand these things. Even if he did, he wouldn't care.

—————

The U.S. is stepping up digital incursions into Russia’s electric power grid in a warning to President Vladimir Putin, the New York Times reported, citing current and former government officials. While the U.S. has probed the Russian grid since at least 2012 and there’s no evidence it has turned off power, the Trump administration’s strategy has shifted more toward offense with the deployment of U.S. computer code inside the grid and other targets, the newspaper said. The effort has gotten far more aggressive over the past year, the Times quoted an unidentified senior intelligence official as saying.

The administration declined to disclose specifics, according to the report. However, National Security Adviser John Bolton said publicly on Tuesday that the U.S. is taking a broader view “to say to Russia, or anybody else that’s engaged in cyberoperations against us, ‘You will pay a price,”’ the Times said. (Bloomberg)

—————

This is a far cry from our early attempts at preparing to conduct offensive cyber operations. I remember attending several briefings at one of these early organizations at the NSA. The control of offensive tools was as restrictive as the control of nuclear weapons. It was obvious these things scared the crap out of DoD and NSA back then. It’s equally obvious DoD and now CYBERCOM have learned to stop worrying and love the “Cyber-Bomb.” Our use of the Stuxnet worm to sabotage Iranian centrifuges was proof of our growing comfort with these things. 

However, Stuxnet was used against Iran. We’re comfortable with raining all kinds of death and destruction throughout the Middle East. Now we’re taking actions to disrupt Russia’s power grid. That’s playing with raining death and destruction upon a nuclear capable peer competitor. Hacking the grid is one thing. We’ve all done that for many years. That’s just part of the intelligence preparation of the battlespace (IPB). Implanting weapons to disable the Russian grid is a leap beyond that. Seems CYBERCOM has embraced the concept of operational preparation of the battlespace (OPB), a concept widely practiced in JSOC and in other parts of the special operations community. MG Michael Repass, a former 10th Group Commander, wrote a paper in 2003 describing these things. 

"Advanced Force Operations consists of US SecDef-approved military operations such as clandestine operations. It is logically part of Operational Preparation of the Battlespace (OPB), which follows the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace, a concept well-known in U.S. and NATO doctrine, OPB is seldom used outside of SOF channels. OPB is defined by the U.S. Special Operations Command as "Non-intelligence activities conducted prior to D-Day, H-Hour, in likely or potential areas of employment, to train and prepare for follow-on military operations.” 

I don’t think this was ever official policy, but OPB was widely viewed as a powerful tool to break the CIA’s stranglehold on covert action, at least on the operational level. Given that CYBERCOM is a unified combatant command finally gaining independence from NSA and the IC in general, this embrace of OPB is a natural progression. What else CYBERCOM copies from JSOC’s authorities and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) will be interesting. It could also be quite dangerous. Cyber operations are here to stay. They are becoming more effective for reconnaissance and attribution, for disrupting a target’s networks and infrastructure and for perception management. The inhibitions against engaging in these operations are relaxing.

An interesting point in the NYT story is that it appears Trump has not been briefed on this stuff. Perhaps CYBERCOM and DoD don’t consider this level of OPB rising to the level of Presidential decision making. Pulling the trigger on grid disruption certainly should. Why wouldn’t they brief the President? Is it to keep him in the dark out of a lack of trust? That’s disheartening. Now with the story published all over the world, DoD should feel impelled to fully brief the President. The best outcome would be Trump pushing for negotiations with Russia, China and maybe others to develop a de-escalation/non-proliferation treaty on cyber operations with the same vigor and earnestness that we once approached nuclear weapons.

TTG

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-15/u-s-ramps-up-online-attacks-on-russian-power-grid-nyt-says

“Combating Terrorism with Preparation of the Battlespace”

“Trump calls newspaper report on Russia power grid treason”

Candi C Debaca - a Communist on the Denver city council

“I think that we’re in late phase capitalism and we know it doesn’t work and we have to move into something new, and I believe in community ownership of land, labor, resources and distribution of those resources,” she continued. “And whatever that morphs into is I think what will serve community the best and I’m excited to usher it in by any means necessary.”  dailycaller quoting CDebaca

------------

We have long had an official Communist Party in the US.  This party has regularly put forward candidates for office.  I don't know of any having won office.  We should remember that John Brennan voted Communist in a presidential election before he joined the CIA. The CPUSA has always been made up of two sections 1 - The visible part and 2 - the occulted (hidden) section that was altogether the tool first of the Comintern and then later of the intelligence services of the USSR, NKVD, etc.  Members of this latter section lived under cover as non-Communists.

IMO a Communist cannot legally take the oath of office that everyone above the status of dogcatcher takes in the US on assuming office.  Such oaths always contain a phrase in which the oath taker legally swears to "defend the Constitution of the US against all enemies, foreign and domestic."  The governmental structures built by the US Constitution inherently limit the power of a "vanguard party" as it would inevitably try to move toward a "dictatorship of the proletariat."   CDebaca's red new deal would clearly require a dictatorship of the proletariat.  The Bill of Rights  (first ten amendments of the US Constitution) would stand squarely in the path of the realization of Candi's reverie.

Brennan's false oath taking should have been challenged in court.  Candi's false oath taking should be challenged in court.  pl

https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/13/cdebaca-denver-city-council/

Attacking Russian Power Grid ??? By Walrus.

“The NYT in an article is alleging that The United States Government has deliberately and with malice and forethought inserted unspecified computer malware into the Russian Federation power grid infrastructure with the obvious intention of destroying or severely damaging it if needed.

”But now the American strategy has shifted more toward offense, officials say, with the placement of potentially crippling malware inside the Russian system at a depth and with an aggressiveness that had never been tried before. It is intended partly as a warning, and partly to be poised to conduct cyberstrikes if a major conflict broke out between Washington and Moscow.“

My opinion, if the article is true, which I doubt, is that such an operation would constitute an act of war. As such the Russian reaction, if they believed this to be true, could be, to put it mildly, “disproportionate”. 

To put that another way, it is one thing to dick around in the shadows, but to overtly engage in what amounts to life threatening attacks on civilians? Folks, how are you going to feel if Russia puts missiles back in Cuba? That is on the same scale of action as this alleged stunt.

It also begs the question of the likelihood of any meaningful negotiations with Russia, or China over anything at all.

What does the committee think?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-escalates-online-attacks-on-russias-power-grid/ar-AACV9BZ

40% of French electricity is from nuke plants.

f

"Nuclear power is a major source of energy in France, with a 40% share of energy consumption in 2015.^[1] Nuclear power is the largest source of electricity in the country, with a generation of 379.1 TWh, or 71.6%^[2] of the country's total production of 519.4 TWh, the highest percentage in the world.^[3]

Électricité de France (EDF) – the country's main electricity generation and distribution company – manages the country's 58 power reactors.^[4] EDF is substantially owned by the French Government, with around 85% shares in government hands.^[5]

France exported 38 TWh of electricity to its neighbours in 2017.^[6] France becomes a net-importer of electricity when demand exceeds supply, in rare cases of very inclement weather, because of the lack of more flexible generating plants."  wiki

----------------

Chernobyl! Fukushima! Three Mile Island!   I can hear the outcry from right here.  Oh, scuse me!  Raht heah!.  (language notation for you all.  Well , some of you all)  This reminds me of the blonde TV dummy recently reporting from Rheims on the women's soccer championship who batted her blue eyes at the camera and said that she just couldn't understand why the locals didn't say Reems when mentioning the city.  She said that they unaccountably pronounced the name as "Hann."  Sweet Jaysus,  Are they actually paying this creature?

Seriously, the French electricity company is tightly controlled and largely owned by the government.  Security is tight and lethal.  There is continuous ongoing reactor safety research and installation of product improvements and guess what?  There is NO pollution.

Well, duh!  If we went down that road maybe we could start exporting electricity as well as oil/gas.  pl

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France

The Tanker Attacks In the Gulf of Oman: Cui Bono?

by Willy B

            So who was really responsible for the attacks, yesterday morning, on the two tankers in the Gulf of Oman? Was they really the result of Iran lashing out in a frustrated response to U.S. sanctions, as both Israel and the US are claiming? Or were they perpetrated by parties who would like to see the US and Iran at war, as a couple of commentators I've seen has suggested?

                Late last night, US Central Command sent out a statement, with an account claiming that an IRGC boat had arrived to remove an unexploded limpet mine from the hull of the Kokuka Courageous. The statement included an attached video purporting to show the removal of the mine by crew members of the boat. The video is of such poor quality, however, that it's impossible to tell what's really going on, where the boat came from and who's on board.

                This morning, however, the ship operator of the  Kokuka Courageous was telling a different story. Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo Co, said during a press conference in Tokyo that at the time of the second attack on the ship (there were two reported attacks, the first one damaged the engine room and the second forced the crew to evacuate) the crew saw flying objects which he believes could be bullets (RPG’s maybe?), and denied possibility of mines or torpedoes because the damages were above the ship's waterline. He called reports of mine attack "false." The crew is aboard the destroyer USS Bainbridge, so presumably they told the same story to the US Navy.

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Printing Up A Rocket -- By BabelFish

This subject combines 3 of my favorite topics. First, 3-D 'Printing', also known as additive manufacturing. Second, the proliferation of small lift or 'lightweight' commercial rocketry. Third, the repurposing of government owned (public owned) assets into a thriving private business.

On 3-D printing, we need to divest ourselves of the image a simple machine producing miniature plastic Yodas. This technology is rapidly maturing and I believe will be pervasive. Taken to its full potential, the process of creating goods through our current chain (cheap labor, shipping,  further material handling to a retailer, inventory management and then sales) becomes owning the intellectual property and a local efficient way of making it as ordered. Imagine Amazon distribution centers becoming Amazon manufacturing centers. Every piece of clothing you own is bespoke, perhaps 'printed' in your own home.

Of course there are many challenges. Can you invent a durable, affordable electric motor for a blender or mixer or power tool that can be made this way? More than that, what will happen to all the folks working in the many jobs in the traditional chain? I believe this will effect a profound change in society, in our whole civilization. It will not be an instant cataclysm but IMO it will be as profound as the original Industrial Revolution.

I receive weekly email summaries from Ars Technica on rocketry in three categories. In Small Lift, the number of firms and countries that are launching or planning to launch payloads is growing fast, as are the downsized payloads themselves. Relativity Space is just one of these. This is a two for one, both in rocketry and repurposing public facilities.

Relativity has been using 3-D metal printers (metal is the medium) to make rocket parts and now plans to print an entire rocket. They are serious players, as can be seen by the agreements they have with NASA to repurpose a large facility at the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, MS. I am familiar with Stennis, as it was one of our locations on the Shuttle External Tank program. They have a launch area at Cape Canaveral as well.

Rocket Labs is another promising firm, building components in California and launching from New Zealand. Of note, their Rutherford motor is the first liquid fuel orbital booster to use an electric powered fuel pumping system. The standard since the V-2 has been the turbo pump, in various plumbing arrangements. They have already been to orbit with their Electron launch system.

The list of companies working in this area seems to grow every month. Virgin Galactic will do orbital launches from an airdropped vehicle. The Pegasus rocket is already in this market, having first flown in 1990. Stratolaunch Systems was started by Paul Allen, among others, and Scaled Composites built an enormous airplane mothership for them but the firm has ceased operations following his death.

These are heady times for these firms. Launch startups are potentially slated for locations in Ecuador, the U.K. and Italy. It would appear likely that there will be some consolidation among all these firms some where in the future but right now it appears they are in a true Golden Age for small lift.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saadiampekkanen/2018/02/26/small-rocket-industry-heats-up-across-apac-as-space-is-declared-open-for-business/#5a7ed69e9bbd

https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/11/relativity-is-building-a-3d-printing-rocket-manufacturing-hub-in-mississippi/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_(rocket)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_satellite

https://www.machinedesign.com/3d-printing/positive-effects-3d-printing-accessibility-society

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/rocket-report-small-launch-reckoning-starliner-slip-a-lunar-falcon-heavy/

https://www.relativityspace.com/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic

"A US government assesment" Not an intellligence assesment?

"Intelligence reports are normally released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and labelled an "Intelligence Assessment." This report was described as a "Government Assessment" and the unclassified version was released by the White House Press Secretary. One former intelligence official told Inter Press Service that the description as a "Government" rather than an "Intelligence" assessment "means that this is not an intelligence community document"; another said that the White House had apparently "decided on a position and cherry-picked the intelligence to fit
it".^[3]

A 29 August article from the Associated Press describes an unreleased report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that outlined the evidence against Syria that included "a few key caveats — including acknowledging that the U.S. intelligence community no longer has the certainty it did six months ago of where the regime's chemical weapons are stored, nor does it have proof Assad ordered chemical weapons use."    wiki

--------------

Pompeo described the judgment of Iranian guilt in the Gulf of Oman burnings as "a US Government Assessment."   In light of the chicanery involved in the "US Government Assessment" after the Ghouta "attack" in 2013 I would like to know how many agencies of the USIC concur in the present judgment .  pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Government_Assessment_of_the_Syrian_Government%27s_Use_of_Chemical_Weapons_on_August_21,_2013

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 13 JUNE 2019 (by Patrick Armstrong)

CORRUPTION. I haven't written much on the subject lately not because corruption in Russia has stopped, but because I haven't seen much to comment on. But there are some things this week that are worth reporting. An official has been charged with fraud: in essence taking money for something that wasn't done. Another more complex case combines organised crime, officials, embezzlement on state projects and incomplete plea bargains made earlier by a defendant. The third case involves a traffic accident and the collusion of a forensic expert to get the guilty party off. Further investigation revealed the fake forensic report but the punishment of the expert appears to be trivial. Details are at Southfront. Probably the most interesting case is that of Ivan Golunov. a reporter specialising in corruption stories. He was arrested on drug charges on Friday; immediately his lawyer said the drugs were planted. On Saturday a court released him into house arrest. On Monday three newspapers came out in his support and the Interior Ministry said several different DNA signatures were on the drugs. On Tuesday the prosecution dropped the case, he was freed, the police who arrested him were suspended and an investigation into their conduct opened. Two senior police generals were fired today. Two things strike me: how quickly it happened, and the fact that the Interior Ministry swiftly produced evidence suggesting the drugs were planted. (RFE/RL amusingly spins it as if Putin had personally been behind every step until forced off by public pressure.) My conclusion from all this: plenty of fraud, embezzlement and police misbehaviour but also a system that is, at the very least, making it more difficult for the bad guys.

PUTIN POPULARITY. Also from RFE/RL is this: "Russians' Trust In Putin Sinks To New Low". The reference is to a May VtsIOM poll. But there were two questions: in the question of approval of institutions, "President of Russia" scored 65.8%; in the open question of which politician do you trust, "V.V. Putin" scored 31.7%. The Kremlin asked VtsIOM to explain how twice as many people could "approve" as "trust" and the answer was the difference between closed and open questions. I'm a bit confused myself (can there be anybody in Russia who doesn't know that Putin is President?) but I don't think that Putin & Co have much to worry about. (And the poll showed that his pedestal party was still well in front. Contrary to what you'd think if you believed the Western media, as customary, the KPRF is second and Zhirinovskiy third; Navalniy is lumped in with the pack sharing 10% support).

SPIEF. Just wrapped up; each year's bigger than the last. 19 thousand participants from 145 countries, 650 agreements worth 3.1 trillion rubles ($48 billion).

RUSSIA/CHINA. Putin and Xi spent quite a lot of time together: Putin: "truly comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction"; Xi: "high level of bilateral relations and close strategic cooperation". Putin's spokesman says it would be wrong to think they were "coordinating efforts" against Washington. Well... not perhaps in exactly those words: maybe they're just making plans, or taking action.

DOLLAR. "International financial organisations need to adapt and reconsider the role of the dollar, which, as a global reserve currency, has now become an instrument of pressure exerted by the issuing country on the rest of the world." Said Putin at SPIEF, after much talk with Xi Jinpeng. Neither engages in empty talk or boasting: I think they're ready to roll. Once Washington started using SWIFT as a weapon it stopped being convenient.

D DAY. Rather curious guest list but this is the rationale. Russia (and other former USSRs) not invited; sets off usual fuss. But two balanced Western takes: AFP and New Statesman. This interesting set of polls show that the Russians do have some reason to feel neuralgic. I will have something soon on SCF arguing that many Russians underestimate the importance of D Day even if Westerners over-hype it. It was an essential part of the 20%.

NUGGETS FROM THE STUPIDITY MINE. "How British spies smuggled secrets about Putin's new supersonic bomber out of country..." Yeah, sure; then they boasted to the DM. Sounds like the sort of story the Integrity-Challenged Initiative would invent thinking it was a wizard jape.

EUROPEANS ARE REVOLTING. According to a Spanish newspaper, Washington is demanding closer integration in weapons manufacturing between the USA and Europe. American LNG is now "freedom gas", almost twice the price of Russian gas (but, as we all know "freedom isn't free"). And Ankara has until 31 Jul to drop the S400 purchase or no F35s (a threat or a promise? Latest F35 catastrophe). Erdoğan remains defiant. Trump mulls sanctions over NordStream 2. "From now on, the US will put might over market" and Europe may have to choose between the two.

© Patrick Armstrong Analysis, Canada Russia Observer

"I don't like the food here" Sara said

"Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, accepted a plea bargain on Wednesday morning and will pay about $15,000 in fines and restitution to settle accusations that she misused about $100,000 in public funds in managing the couple’s official residence.

Prosecutors said that Ms. Netanyahu, whom they charged with fraud, had concealed that a cook was on the payroll so that she could order hundreds of catered meals from expensive restaurants and charge them to the state.

Under the deal with the State Attorney’s Office the amount of public money at issue was halved to about $50,000, and Ms. Netanyahu agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of trickery, specifically that she deliberately exploited another person’s mistake. She is due to pay about $2,800 in fines and $12,500 in restitution.

Ms. Netanyahu, 60, was indicted on charges of fraud and breach of trust a year ago in the case, which covered the years 2010 to 2013. Prosecutors accused her of “exploiting her status as the wife of the prime minister” and colluding with a top aide in a “planned, ongoing and systematic” scheme to break government rules and conceal it from state accountants."  NY Times

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Sara, Sara,,,  What a naughty girl you have been.  You had the government chef at the PM's residence order out for you and then the two of you reimbursed the operation from government funds?

And people, cruel, probably Anti-Semitic people, say that you are abusive to residence staff and repair crews.  Ah, but they are Jews .  Alas, more self-haters.

"They have no right to say we should live like bourgeois"  She was speaking of the public in Izghael.  It will be interesting to see if her hubby is re-elected.  pl

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/world/middleeast/israel-sara-netanyahu.html

Kamala the Terrible (and uncle joe)

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said the Justice Department would have “no choice” but to charge President Donald Trump with obstruction of justice if he finished his term without being impeached.

Speaking with NPR’s Scott Detrow in an interview published Wednesday, Harris said special counsel Robert Mueller essentially set the stage for criminal charges against Trump with his investigation into the 2016 election. Longstanding Justice Department policy says that a sitting president cannot be indicted, and Harris said that was essentially the only reason Mueller did not charge Trump was the DoJ policy against indicting sitting presidents.

All that would change in 2021 if the Democratic presidential hopeful were in the White House and the Justice Department were under her watch, she said.

“I believe that they would have no choice, and that they should,” Harris said of the Justice Department’s charging Trump with obstruction. “I believe there should be accountability. Everyone should be held accountable. And the president is not above the law.”"  politico

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So, the new rule will be - if you lose a federal election in the US your victorious opponents will prosecute you and seek to imprison you.  I know a lot of American political history and I really think this has never been done before.  But, now, the Harpies (Pelosi, Gilliland, K. Harris) have promised the left wing  foule that if they win they will seek to imprison Trump.  Uncle Joe is far ahead, and unless some instance of molestation comes to light or he nods off during an interview, he has a good chance of getting the nomination.

My SWAG is that he would choose a VP nominee whose persona and age would to some extent offset his doddering foolishness.

Kamala Harris looks to me to be the most likely; woman, photogenic, California, a jurist, radical enough to satisfy the mob.  If he did that then we would have a high chance of seeing a KH presidency.  God help us.  pl

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/12/kamala-harris-trump-justice-obstruction-1361467

John Solomon Gets It Wrong on Kilimnik by Larry C Johnson

Up till now John Solomon, a reporter at The Hill, has done important work in exposing the Deep State conspiracy to take out Donald Trump. That said, he does not understand the world of intelligence and law enforcement when it comes to "confidential sources." At least that is the case with his latest piece, Key figure that Mueller report linked to Russia was a State Department intel source. You have to read deep into his piece to get to the heart of the matter:

So Kilimnik’s delivery of the peace plan to the Trump campaign in August 2016 was flagged by Mueller as potentially nefarious, but its earlier delivery to the Obama administration wasn’t mentioned. That’s what many in the intelligence world might call “deception by omission.”. . .

Yet, omitting his extensive, trusted assistance to the State Department seems inexplicable.

If Mueller’s team can cast such a misleading portrayal of Kilimnik, however, it begs the question of what else might be incorrect or omitted in the report.

Konstantin Kilimnik was not a special State Department source. He was a routine contact. Solomon is correct is pointing out that the Mueller team portrays contacts with Kilimnik as nefarious and potentially illegal. That is just another example of the fraud and shoddiness that is the Mueller Report.

A genuine Foreign Service Officer aka FSO (i.e., someone who has taken passed the Foreign Service exams and been appointed to the State Departmnet) serving in a U.S. Embassies overseas do not recruit nor run "confidential" human sources. That is the work of the CIA and the DIA. Foreign Service Officers meet with foreign citizens and they do so without having training in conducting clandestine meetings and using clandestine methods to communicate. 

Almost all meetings between a FAO and a foreign "source" occur at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate or at some public diplomatic function, such as a reception. The FSO does not set up "secret" meetings.

The Union Man, The Moscow Honeymooner, Pocahontas and The Chicken Man

We won't bother to discuss the GOP nomination for president.

OTOH, the Democrats; Social Democrats, Socialists, Greens, Anarcho-Syndicalists or whatever they are, be interesting.

1. Joe Biden -he says he is a " union guy," and a lower middle class/working class man of the people.  He does not seem to have ever had a job that would fit that description.  Well, he has now abandoned support of the Hyde Amendment which he has supported for 40 years.  This bar to the  spending of federal appropriated dollars on abortions is near and dear to the Catholic and other pro-life population.  I wonder what Cardinal Dolan (a version of Joe, but clad in red) will say about Joe's defection from Catholic teaching on the murder of children.   Probably nothing would be the most likely occurrence.  Joe has also adopted a program for de-industrialization of the US in order to "save the planet."  The Leftos in the party have demanded that and he accepted their demand.  Such a program is, of course, in direct opposition to the needs and interests of his fellow union men and women.  Alas!  Poor Joe!  I knew him and he always was a dummy. 
2. Bernie! Bernie!  How could you and your lovely bride have thought that an Intourist  Soviet government guided tour of the USSR was a good idea for your introduction to wedded bliss?  How could you have thought that?  The photo of you singing bare chested at a picnic in Russia during the Cold War is a crushing burden to carry.  Tiny Vermont is a charming place but it ain't America writ large. The Lefty 60s refugees, the flinty "leave me alone" old Yankees and my French Canadian relatives make up a heady but unusual brew of voters.  You won't find anything like that in many states.
3. "My parents said I was an Indian!"  Oh, come on!  Have you never looked in a mirror?  The essential dishonesty of her many claims to minority status , and therefore deprivation of privileged majority status when combined with her animosity toward business are obvious burdens.  The Indians don't claim her as one of their own   If the economy doesn't "tank," her plaintive cries of jealousy against the banks will sound mighty hollow.  Remember.  This is a wealthy and tenured Harvard professor, who, like Comrade Bernie, is a millionaire rentier.  That's Marxist techno talk folks.
4. The mayor of little South Bend, Indiana is a clever fellow, well spoken, well dressed, and handsome in a diminutive sort of way.  He must have been very popular at Oxford University, the centerpiece at every party.   Unfortunately, he, too, has burdens.  He said yesterday that it was inaccurate to ask that America should be made great again because America was "never that great."  In that statement he mimics the NY Cuomos and other Lefty people.  Well, pilgrims, most of us dumb cluck Americans do think that America was always great and deserves a chance to be better yet.  And then, there is his Queerness.  The gay folk, many of them in the media, are exulting in increasing acceptance by Americans of Gay people.  IMO, they are counting their chickens early.  A fact lurking behind Romney's many defects as a candidate was the nasty truth that a lot of people said they would vote for a Mormon for president but did not.  That combined with his snobbishness, haughtiness, etc. was just too much for many.  Mormons are Christians?  OK.  I'll take their word for it, but many do not.  This phenomenon will IMO carry over to mar the chances of the Buttigieg couple occupying the residence in the White House, no matter how photogenic and in love they may be.  BTW, Mayor Pete is Maltese in ancestry.  The Maltese  speak a dialect of Arabic in which his surname means "father of chickens."  (Abu Dajjaj).  So, it would seem that someone in his family was once in the chicken bidness. 

And these are the leading four ...  pl

USMCA will now move to ratification

IMO Trump had a very good trip across the pond.  It was pretty much flawless in its execution.  The only real glitch in the whole thing was the fit of Trump's white tie monkey suit at the royal dinner.  He looked very funny in that rig.  Evidently he just doesn't give a damn about clothes.  That may actually be one of his better points.  I have a tail coat and a couple of dinner jackets and a tuxedo hanging in a closet.  I praise the lord for not having needed to wear them for a long time.

The success of his negotiation with Mexico is another massive success.  He got what he wanted.  The Mexicans got what they wanted.  Canada is going to ratify USMCA.  Mexico will do the same.

Will the Democrats in the US Congress really dare to try to block ratification of this favorable trade pact.  I doubt it.  If they do the damage done to US workers by their action or inaction will damage their electoral prospects.  pl

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-could-decide-over-the-weekend-to-hold-off-on-tariffs-white-house-official-says/2019/06/07/6adb7d86-892d-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html?utm_term=.0b5e0e27b63d

Title 10, Paragraph 1161. Bad news for Mike Flynn?

"10 U.S. Code § 1161. Commissioned officers: limitations on dismissal

• U.S. Code
• Notes

prev | next

(a) No commissioned officer may be dismissed from any armed force except—

(1)

by sentence of a general court-martial;

(2)

in commutation of a sentence of a general court-martial; or

(3)

in time of war, by order of the President.

(b)

The President or the Secretary of Defense, or in the case of a commissioned officer of the Coast Guard, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating when it is not operating in the Navy, may drop from the rolls of any armed force any commissioned officer (1) who has been absent without authority for at least three months, (2) who may be separated under section 1167 of this title by reason of a sentence to confinement adjudged by a court-martial, or (3) who is sentenced to confinement in a Federal or State penitentiary or correctional institution after having been found guilty of an offense by a court other than a court-martial or other military court, and whose sentence has become final."  US Code

 

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Attention pilgrims!   LTG Michael Flynn US Army (ret) is awaiting sentencing in the aftermath of one of the Mueller sting trials. Flynn is RETIRED from the US Army.  That means he is still a member of the US Army rather than being a FORMER member of the US Army.  As a RETIRED member he is still subject to recall to active duty to face disciplinary or administrative action.  As is stated in Title 10, paragraph 1161 above, he can be Dismissed from the service administratively if sentenced to confinement.  The root of this provision in the law lies in the long standing tradition in the US that commissioned officers (Lieutenant and up) cannot be confined and if sentenced to confinement be a court-martial or civilian court must be ejected from the US military as though they had never served.  Enlisted service members can be given a bad discharge, but not commissioned officers.  This is a form of death in life.  In addition to the loss of retirement pay (an unvested benefit), rank, medical care, etc  A loss of identity and feelings of  deep shame would also result.

 

Military retirees do not receive pensions.  They receive pay at a reduced rate appropriate to the rank and length of service.  There are no residual benefits from this form of compensation if status as a retired service member is lost.  This has nothing to do with any other benefits that may be received from something like the VA.

 

The administrative action of Dismissal would require an active decision on the part of the Secretaries of Defense or Army.  But I ask you, pilgrims, who in the Trump Administration would decide to protect Mike Flynn?  Who among them would not prefer to see him stripped of everything rather than have a Lieutenant General sit in jail with their "brand name' painted across his forehead.

 

I am not surprised that Flynn has now decided to get new lawyers.  pl

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/michael-flynn-fires-lawyers-pending-sentencing-in-mueller-russia-probe/2019/06/06/17f44830-8871-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html?utm_term=.bf118bfd9d7a

“Assad urged Syrian refugees to come home. Many are being welcomed with arrest and interrogation.” - TTG

A few days ago the Washington Post prominently featured an article chronicling the trials and tribulations of returning Syrian refugees at the hands of Assad’s security forces. 

——————

Assad urged Syrian refugees to come home. Many are being welcomed with arrest and interrogation.

By LOUISA LOVELUCK | The Washington Post | Published: June 2, 2019

BEIRUT — Hundreds of Syrian refugees have been arrested after returning home as the war they fled winds down - then interrogated, forced to inform on close family members and in some cases tortured, say returnees and human rights monitors.

Many more who weathered the conflict in rebel-held territory now retaken by government forces are meeting a similar fate as President Bashar al-Assad's regime deepens its longtime dependence on informers and surveillance.

For Syrian refugees, going home usually requires permission from the government and a willingness to provide a full accounting of any involvement they had with the political opposition. But in many cases the guarantees offered by the government as part of this "reconciliation" process turn out to be hollow, with returnees subjected to harassment or extortion by security agencies or detention and torture to extract information about the refugees' activities while they were away, according to the returnees and monitoring groups.

Almost 2,000 people have been detained after returning to Syria during the past two years, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, while hundreds more in areas once controlled by the rebels have also been arrested.

"If I knew then what I know now, I would never have gone back," said a young man who returned to a government-controlled area outside Damascus. He said he has been harassed for months by members of security forces who repeatedly turn up at his home and stop him at checkpoints to search his phone.

"People are still being taken by the secret police, and communities are living between suspicion and fear," he said. "When they come to your door, you cannot say no. You just have to go with them."  (WaPo)

——————

I have no reason to doubt the heavy handed scrutiny and harassment faced by returning refugees, as well as the extraction of ransoms from refugees’ families. A similar report appeared last February about the experiences of Syrian refugees returning from Germany and there has been a steady stream of similar articles. Assad’s security forces never had a reputation for finesse. However these reporters fail to mention Syria’s real national security concerns of weeding out, or at least identifying, jihadists and their sympathizers among the returning refugees. This is especially true in light of IS determination to continue the jihad as they insinuate themselves into the Syrian populace. Such is the nature of war, especially in this region. 

My guess is that this article was featured so prominently in the WaPo as part of the general campaign to depose Assad and keep Syria down as a broken, war torn country. I have also noticed an increase in the wailing about the barbarity of Assad and Putin in bombing and shelling the long suffering inhabitants of Idlib. As the SAA continues its slow, steady, hard won advances against the Idlib jihadis, the wailing is bound to get louder. 

Loveluck’s article was reprinted in “Stars & Stripes” where I read it without being subjected to Jeff Bezos hawking a subscription to the WaPo.

TTG

https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/syrian-refugees-return-to-arrests-harassment-1.584240

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/06/a-deadly-welcome-awaits-syrias-returning-refugees/

Boeing, Boeing - by Babelfish

737 Max, a layperson reflection and IMHO.

First, there is a terrific YouTube channel, Mentour Pilot, that I watch, which is hosted by a current European 737 captain. It is not ‘sound bite video’ and is an investment in time but it is thorough and he is a very good presenter. I will try to link in some of his videos.

I wrote this piece for Facebook, a few weeks back. I thought it might be a useful waypoint for the journey the commercial aircraft world is going on, for the rest of this year.

The first Boeing success in passenger jets was the 707, in the late 50s. That was followed by the 727, once ubiquitous as a short haul airliner. The 737 followed in the late 60s. The point here is that all three jets had essentially the same cross section. The 737 had the same engines as the 727 but only two rather than three. They were models of the legendary JT8D, much longer than wide. This allowed for shorter landing gear.

The 737 is the most popular airliner in history. There is one unique feature involving the landing gear. The main gear wheels do not have an outer cover when retracted. The tires are exposed, just like a P-40 Warhawk from WW2. This is due to a design decision that was driven by a predicted need to operate from small airports with few resources. It was done to keep the jet low while on the ground, for loading and maintenance,and it did not leave room for the typical fuselage bulge (fairing) for wheel covers.

So far, 1950s cross section and low to the ground design, assisted by a jet engine that did not have a big fan in front.

The 737-400 got big fan engines. The nacelles (engine covers) are actually flat on the bottom, rather the normal circular shape, to keep the same landing gear and low profile. It works but looks a tad odd. It was a first of other compromises to come.

By 1984, Airbus had designed and began selling the main competitor to the 737, the A319/A320/A321 series. Designed later, from a clean sheet, the fuselage profile is wider. (I prefer this plane as the seats are side to side roomier.) Jet Blue is a big customer. There is a higher stance and the wheels are fully enclosed when they retract. Unlike the 737, there was room for larger, more efficient engines without resorting to tricks with the nacelles or engine placement. The cockpit is more modern. They are outselling the 737, which also still continued to sell very well. The 737 is considered to be at the end of its possible development. The A320 series is clearly not. After several generations of both planes, each sporting incremental improvements in engines and avionics, a new emphasis on even larger, more fuel efficient engines arrived.

As a side note, we enthusiasts kept wondering when or if Boeing would replace the 737 with an airplane even more modern than the Airbus competitors. Like wider, with an up to date cockpit and avionics and lighter structures like the fabulous 777 and 787. The discussion was that the Max was one iteration too much. But they sell all they can make without the unbelievable investment a new airplane would take. It is found money, living on an investment made in the late 60s. Important to understand that the 737 is a huge cash cow, funding much of the rest of the commercial division, including the development of new aircraft. Any drop in sales is a serious matter. The A320 series has the same status with Airbus.

The YouTube channel,  Mentour Pilot, explains the technicality of the changes made to the 737 to get to the Max version and what the MCAS system is. I will try to include a link below. The Max has new engines that are so much larger than the original JT8D, that they had to move them forward and upward to make them fit. It changed the center of gravity and gave a pronounced pitch up dynamic when the now more powerful thrust was applied. Excessive pitch up can be very bad, like get into a low altitude stall and crash the jet bad. At too high an nose angle the wings lose lift. No lift, no flying, just a plane dropping from the sky. And the pilot asks for that increased thrust at take off and climb, down low with little altitude to work with.

A serious development factor with the Max was to get pilots to be able to transfer from the prior generations of 737 to the Max with as minimal a training program as possible. A very big selling point. The competitor jet is more comfortable (IMO), a more modern design so you need a competitive edge. The MCAS system was the key. It allegedly made the Max fly like the older generations, preventing the higher thrust from causing a uncontrollable pitch up. One pilot stated that his transition training was 60 minutes on an IPad. Pilots stated they were not aware it was even there, running the whole time. There is no way to “turn it off”.

Things get real technical at this point but the basic system relies on a correct read from a single pitch sensor or AOA (angle of attack) sensor. The jet has two, looking like small vanes on either side of the fuselage, just below the cockpit. Focus on the fact that the safest version of MCAS, using both sensors rather than one, cost more money. And so many airlines did not order it.

Now the story starts going very badly. If the one sensor the basic system is looking at goes bad, MCAS does not know the actual nose pitch of the jet and starts to take over trying to fix a problem that isn’t there. The pilots can not turn it off. As stated, most didn’t even know it was there. Without the sensor working properly it is going to do the wrong things. In Lion Air, the sensor and system was repeatedly found faulty on prior flights. In the Ethiopian crash, there is evidence that a bird strike knocked it off the aircraft. The only thing the pilots can do is turn off the electric motor that controls the horizontal stabilizer (sets pitch or nose angle) and crank the stabilizer by hand. Again, watch the Mentour Pilot video on this.

There is evidence that pilots were reporting issues prior to the Lion Air crash and they absolutely confronted Boeing after it. I have to tell you that this reminds me of the moment after the Challenger accident when we were informed of the outcome of the Rodgers Report and there was undeniable evidence that appropriately placed people knew the infamous O-Rings were leaking all along and were worse as the temperature got colder. We were gutted.

With the Shuttle, IMO, people were allowed to redefine their jobs as “making it  fly”, not making it fly safely. The word safely got crushed out. I believe Boeing had all the evidence needed to stop this as early as a year ago, if not further back. Corporate cultures, NASA included, create lethal environments for people who scream STOP! See the Columbia accident for a repeat at NASA. It was bad enough that action wasn’t taken before the Lion Air accident. I fully believe it’s absolutely inexcusable after.

It is not a silly question to ask if Boeing Commercial Aircraft will survive this event. No Lockheed, Douglas or Convair airliners are being manufactured these days. One thing money can’t buy is trust. Airlines are cancelling 737 orders. Airbus is selling large numbers of the A320 family and has the financial backing of European countries. The A380 failure (enormous investment and far too few sales) could have taken out a company but not  a group of nations. China has a need for some 7,000 regional planes. They are working hard to develop and make their own competent aircraft and to compete internationally. They are a nation, not a private company that has to make a profit.

I (layperson that I am), do not think Boeing Commercial Aircraft will disappear but it may lose its peer status with Airbus. They will fix the Max. That being said, there are serious issues in resolving the correct training to give to pilots. The sales edge of very little training is gone. There are reports that 737 Max simulators, a very big deal in training pilots, need faults corrected in their software. Getting this model back to flying was thought to be a matter of a month or two. Now August may be the earliest qnd the Paris Air Show, where many new sales are usually announced, is nearly at hand.

Boeing has been trying to make a decision on the all new 797, which would replace 757s and 767s now ageing out of usefulness. The market is estimated at 4,000 aircraft on a global basis. Airbus is pitching an A321 variant as the right answer. Their more modern aircraft, the A321, still has room for development. Boeing has to fund, develop, and launch the 797 aircraft. At that point they will be still left with no replacement for the 737.

There is a saying that a commercial aircraft firm bets the company when developing a new airliner. Did Boeing bet the company on not developing a 737 replacement? It looks like we may find out in the next few years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlinocVHpzk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD0JabYjF3A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoDMTwJwHyI

Is Bolton Trashing Yet Another Arms Control Agreement?

by Willy B

There's been a lot of verbiage lately about the alleged nuclear threat emanating from Russia, often citing Russian President Vladimir Putin's March 1, 2018 address to the Federal Assembly as proof of Russia's malignant intentions. Mark Schneider, an analyst with the National Institute for Public Policy, writing in Real Clear Defense on May 30 went so far as to claim that Russia threatens pre-emptive nuclear attack on the US. "We have moved from the fantasy that there was no threat from Russia after the demise of the Soviet Union to a recognition of a serious Russian threat to the U.S. and its allies, including a nuclear threat in the last two years of the Obama administration and the Trump administration," Schneider wrote. "However, characterizing the relationship between the U.S. and Russia as 'competition' as it now appears in U.S. Government documents, does not go far enough. Lockheed and Boeing compete; Russia threatens preemptive nuclear attack. It is unilaterally trying to create a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states in the classic 19th Century sense while building the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. There is no competition here but rather a serious threat from Russia." He says this while the U.S., under the tutelage of British imperial geopolitics, is trying to make the entire globe its sphere of influence.

The day before Schneider's piece appeared, Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, Jr., the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, appeared at the Hudson Institute to, among other things, accuse Russia of violating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by carrying out low yield nuclear tests at its facility in Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic (video and a transcript of Ashley's remarks can be found here). “The United States believes that Russia probably is not adhering to the nuclear testing moratorium in a manner consistent with the zero-yield standard,” Ashley said. "Our understanding of nuclear weapon development leads us to believe Russia's testing activities would help it improve its nuclear weapon capabilities. The United States, by contrast, has forgone such benefits by upholding a zero-yield standard.”

Pfizer was afraid to announce an Alzheimer's cure?

"A team of researchers inside Pfizer made a startling find in 2015: The company’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis therapy Enbrel, a powerful anti-inflammatory drug, appeared to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 64 percent.

The results were from an analysis of hundreds of thousands of insurance claims. Verifying that the drug would actually have that effect in people would require a costly clinical trial — and after several years of internal discussion, Pfizer opted against further investigation and chose not to make the data public, the company confirmed.

Researchers in the company’s division of inflammation and immunology urged Pfizer to conduct a clinical trial on thousands of patients, which they estimated would cost $80 million, to see if the signal contained in the data was real, according to an internal company document obtained by The Washington  Post."  WP

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Hey folks at Pfizer, we old people don't want to read this kind of stuff.   Corporate cowardice is NOT an excuse.  I have a Pfizer lobbyist living two doors away.  I may go tell her what I think of this nonsense.  pl

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/pfizer-had-clues-its-blockbuster-drug-could-prevent-alzheimers-why-didnt-it-tell-the-world/2019/06/04/9092e08a-7a61-11e9-8bb7-0fc796cf2ec0_story.html?utm_term=.d6fe06a53a60

Octopus are Great!

"At the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., there's a room filled with burbling aquariums. A lot of them have lids weighed down with big rocks.

"Octopuses are notorious for being able to, kind of, escape out of their enclosures," says Bret Grasse, whose official title at MBL is "manager of cephalopod operations" — cephalopods being squid, cuttlefish and octopuses.

He's part of a team that's trying to figure out the best ways to raise these sea creatures in captivity, so that scientists can investigate their genes and learn the secrets of their strange, almost alien ways.

For decades, much of the basic research in biology has focused on just a few, well-studied model organisms like mice, fruit flies, worms and zebrafish.

That's because these critters are easy to keep in the laboratory, and scientists have worked out how to routinely alter their genes, leading to all kinds of insights into behavior, diseases and possible treatments."  NPR

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As  a baldy oldy, I watch a lot of documentary TeeVee.  "Curiosity Stream" is a hell of a learning instrument.   I have learned a lot about my Norman ancestors there.  My mother in law (who lived with us for ten years) was confident that I was a member of the oppressor class.  If ancestry tells you anything she was right.

Cephalopods have become an interest.   I started out with the red Humboldt squid in the Gulf of California.  These were well documented for a while (to include their rapacious hunger).  They are called "El Diablo Rojo" by the local fishermen.  They now seem to have disappeared from that body of water.  Where they have gone is a mystery.

I then moved on to the Giant Squid (archeteuthis).  They were until recently invisible as living specimens, lots of dead, rotting Giant Squid but not live ones.  But a few years ago a Japanese scientist had the dream of his life fulfilled when a living one approached the submersible he rode and just hung about for a while posing for snaps.

There is supposedly something something called the Colossal Squid (the Kraken?) but we don't have pics of those as yet.

Octopus are very special creatures.  They are incredibly smart.  I was in a lab once looking at a two footer in a clear sided tank.  It sat there on the bottom in the sand inspecting me in return.  I slowly waved one hand back and forth in a foot long arc.  It blinked and then repeated the gesture.

I do not eat octopus.  pl

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/06/03/727653152/why-octopuses-might-be-the-next-lab-rats

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Intelligence

The Conundrum of UFOs, by BabelFish

JBS Haldane: 

"I have no doubt that in reality the future will be vastly more surprising than anything I can imagine. Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."

How does a professional pilot, civilian or military, set themselves up to be treated like leper? Yes. Report an encounter with a UFO! Even worse, bring back proof, like a military sensor video recording.

There have been consistent reports from Navy pilots, flying off both coasts of America, of things on their radar, things seen visually and tracked by camera, on both coasts, that fall smack dab into realm of being a UFO. There are tantalizing bits of information. When equipped with a new radar, Hornet pilots began picking up tracks of objects that behaved unlike objects normally observed. What does that mean? A software fault? Any number of natural phenomena? Pilot physiology?

Generalizing, a pilot observed UFO usually displays non-natural actions. It moves in non-ballistic courses, seemingly defying Professor Newton. It can make true 90 degree turns while flying at a very high rate of speed.  It can hover at any altitude. It can accelerate/decelerate at speeds that put on enough G-forces to crush a human pilot. And they appear to do this for hours, using energy at a rate far in excess of the jets that are tracking them. They get picked up by radar but do not generate plumes of infrared energy that can picked up by a FLIR sensor, as would be the case with a combustion powered aircraft.

We should be skeptical about all this. Good science is based on skeptical reasoning. That being said, perhaps being cynical does not obtain. These pilots do not appear to be fools or charlatans. While I can’t bring myself to believe we are being visited, that is primarily due the science involved, not because I believe we are alone.

Here is Dr. Michio Kaku, a popular science explainer and physicist, on the subject.

"When discussing the possibility of interstellar travel, there is something called “the giggle factor.” Some scientists tend to scoff at the idea of interstellar travel because of the enormous distances that separate the stars. According to Special Relativity (1905), no usable information can travel faster than light locally, and hence it would take centuries to millennia for an extra-terrestrial civilization to travel between the stars. Even the familiar stars we see at night are about 50 to 100 light years from us, and our galaxy is 100,000 light years across. The nearest galaxy is 2 million light years from us. The critics say that the universe is simply too big for interstellar travel to be practical.

Similarly, investigations into UFO’s that may originate from another planet are sometimes the “third rail” of someone’s scientific career. There is no funding for anyone seriously looking at unidentified objects in space, and one’s reputation may suffer if one pursues an interest in these unorthodox matters. In addition, perhaps 99% of all sightings of UFO’s can be dismissed as being caused by familiar phenomena, such as the planet Venus, swamp gas (which can glow in the dark under certain conditions), meteors, satellites, weather balloons, even radar echoes that bounce off mountains. (What is disturbing, to a physicist however, is the remaining 1% of these sightings, which are multiple sightings made by multiple methods of observations. Some of the most intriguing sightings have been made by seasoned pilots and passengers aboard air line flights which have also been tracked by radar and have been videotaped. Sightings like this are harder to dismiss.)"

Just as a teaser, we can also discuss the Kardashev Scale. 

“Nikolai Kardashev, a Soviet astrophysicist born in 1932, devised a method of rating advanced civilizations. Technological advances, according to Kardashev, could theoretically create conditions where a society could maximize use of energy: first, maximizing the energy striking a planet from its local star; second, maximizing all the energy emitted by a local star, not just that which falls on that civilization’s planet; third, maximizing the energy derived from all the stars in that civilization’s galaxy; and fourth, maximizing the energy from all the galaxies and intergalactic medium within the entire Universe. He categorized each of these stages as Type 1 through Type 4.

Based on Kardashev’s speculations where does our civilization sit today? We are Type 0, somewhere between 0.7 and 0.72 producing 15 Terawatts of energy, a mere fraction of the energy a Type 1 would harvest from the physical world. The renowned theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku, has speculated on Kardashev’s scale and believes humanity will attain Type 1 status within a century or two, How? Through harnessing of fusion, and antimatter.” 

Do I think these phenomena are “real?” Yes I do. Do I think we are clever enough to know or figure out what they are? I think not yet. Is it worth pursuing a solid answer. Emphatically yes!  I hold that our positive advancement in technology and science has been fueled by those who ignore the cynics and refuse to surrender to “we just don’t know.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/us/politics/ufo-sightings-navy-pilots.html

HARPER: POMPEO PRONOUNCES KUSHNER PLAN DOA

On May 28, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in New York City for a closed-door meeting with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.  In remarks that were covertly recorded and passed along to the Washington Post, Pompeo effectively declared that the Middle East peace plan conjured by First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner was a non-starter and would be rejected by most parties.  Instead of the "deal of the century" touted by President Donald Trump, Pompeo conceded that the peace scheme was a losing proposition.  "I get why people think this is a deal that only Israel could love.  I understand the perception of that.  I just hope everyone will give the space to listen and settle in a bit." Pompeo continued his blunt remarks:  "I don't want to call it failing.  Call it whatever.  I fail a lot, so it's not about using a word like that."  Pompeo admitted that the State Department is giving a good deal of attention to what to do next if the Kushner Plan flops.

Until Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu failed to put together a majority cabinet this week and had to call snap elections for September, it had been expected that the long-awaited Kushner Plan would be rolled out this month.  Now the launch date is delayed until late September or early October after a new Israeli government is formed and sworn in.

Pompeo has shown some unexpected political savvy by distancing himself from the doomed "peace plan," which appears to be little more than a scheme to buy Palestinian capitulation through a combination of promises of Arab money and political strong-arming from the Gulf States and Israel.

"Here's a health unto her majesty!" Trump wants a UK/US trade deal. Bravo!

"Trump’s comments come as British politics remain on edge. The country is scheduled to leave the E.U. on October 31, after delaying its original departure date by months due to a lack of political consensus in Britain. 

Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation earlier last month after repeatedly failing to gain support for the withdrawal deal she negotiated with the E.U. Parliament rejected the withdrawal deal three times and May was unable to win backing for it to pass in a fourth vote.

Trump also said he “wouldn’t pay” the $50 billion so-called “divorce bill” to settle the U.K.’s financial obligations with the E.U.: “I’m only saying this from my stand point. I would not pay, that’s a tremendous number,” Trump said.

A number of leading Brexit supporters are calling for the U.K. to prepare to leave the E.U. without any deal at all, which means Britain would have no trade arrangement with the bloc, likely resulting in economic disruption. "   CNBC

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There is always the pesky problem of a re-emergent intra Ireland hard border, and then there is the loud mouthed mayor of greater London.  He is something like the British version of De Blasio, the lord mayor of greater Manhattan.

Nevertheless, Trump's instinct in offering full support for a major US/UK trade relationship is, IMO, a sound idea. essentially a reversion to US/UK trade relations from the status quo ante the EU.  What was wrong with that set of arrangements?

The globalists on both sides of the Atlantic will grind their jaws in frustration.  So much the better!  What would Scotland do?  "Time will tell."

*******

Please watch the video of the official reception at Buckingham Palace.  The troops are from the Grenadier Guards Regiment of the Household Division.  President Trump when escorted by the commander of troops to inspect the guard of honor asks the Grenadier officer if he may speak to the men.  After a moment's thought the commander responds in the affirmative and Trump chats his way down the lines speaking with astonished soldiers.  Prince Charles finally joins in the conversation.  Trump's exchange at the end of the front rank with the Regimental Sergeant Major of the Grenadier Guards must have been a wonderful moment.  The two companies of the Guards then passed in review behind "Here's Health Unto Her Majesty ," and "The British Grenadier," (their regimental march.)

Pilgrims, I have been in a hell of a lot of parades, guard mounts and the like and IMO the president's desire to talk to the men was altogether charming.  pl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otkCfacn_Uw

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/02/trump-tells-uk-to-walk-away-if-eu-doesnt-agree-to-brexit-deal.html

More Evidence of the Russian Meddling Lie by Larry C Johnson

The American public, with the enthusiastic support of most of the media, have been sold a big lie about Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential election. As I have noted in previous pieces, there was nothing new nor special nor unique about Russian espionage activities inside the United States, including information and computer network operations, in 2016. Russian espionage and covert action against the United States has been a matter of fact since 1919. And the United States has been similarly engaged in such activities inside Russia. 

What made 2016 unique and dangerous is that US law enforcement and intelligence agencies decide to use the ruse of Russia as a weapon to attack the candidacy and then the Presidency of Donald Trump. This attack entailed creating evidence that Trump was soliciting Russian assistance and the creation of the myth that Russia hacked the DNC. Anyone who challenges this lie is branded immediately as a Russian stooge and puppet of Putin. 

We have very specific evidence regarding the fraud perpetrated about the so-called "hacking" of the DNC. Bill Binney and I have posted two pieces--one showing that the forensic evidence in the metadata of the DNC documents posted at Wikileaks could not have transferred over the internet and one showing that Guccifer 2.0 was the creation of some person or entity other than Russia.

There is another piece of public evidence that provides circumstantial evidence that the intelligence community case against Russia with respect to the allegation of extraordinary meddling is a fabrication. I am referring to the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment--Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections.

Open Thread 2 June 2019

pl

We have become ignorant. We are skilled but uneducated ...

"A liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free (Latin: liber) human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment.^[1] It has been described as "a philosophy of education that empowers individuals with broad knowledge and transferable skills, and a stronger sense of values, ethics, and civic engagement ... characterised by challenging encounters with important issues, and more a way of studying than a specific course or field of study" by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.^[2] Usually global and pluralistic in scope, it can include a general education curriculum which provides broad exposure to multiple disciplines and learning strategies in addition to in-depth study in at least one academic area.

Liberal education was advocated in the 19th century by thinkers such as John Henry Newman, Thomas Huxley, and F. D. Maurice. Sir Wilfred Griffin Eady defined liberal education as being education for its own sake and personal enrichment, with the teaching of values."  wiki

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Churchill and George Marshall.  We don't have leaders like them anymore.

Churchill did not attend a university.  He said that his greatest teacher at "public" school was a man who taught him how to write an English sentence, "subject, verb, object adorned with modifiers as needed" and then to group sentences together in paragraphs with coherent meaning.  Yet Churchill wrote massive works of history, "The Second World War," "A History of the English Speaking Peoples," etc.  I read them when they were published.  I was a boy but the books were so beautifully, and clearly written that I could easily handle them.

George Marshall never wrote anything unofficial that I know of.  Perhaps there is a magazine article somewhere?  In retirement he lived at Dodona Manor, a modest house in Leesburg, Virginia and steadfastly refused all offers of book contracts.  His many papers are stored at the Marshall Library in Lexington, Virginia.  He donated them.  Eisenhower became wealthy from the earnings derived from "Crusade in Europe."

Neither man had anything like a STEM degree.  Neither attended a university like Stanford or Oxford.  But somehow they presided over the triumph of Western Civilization, a triumph of values over mere brute force.

How did they manage that?  They both had open minds that relentlessly sought the truth and then applied what they learned in all the situations they encountered.  Are we still capable of that?  I doubt it.  pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_education