Mato's Blog

Feline news:
https://www.thedodo.com/piglet-and-kitten-cuddle-1576746877.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-35489215 Clever!
http://www.newser.com/story/217786/cat-has-90-of-vote-to-be-russian-citys-next-mayor.html
http://www.newser.com/story/219282/cat-missing-for-5-years-is-going-home.html
http://www.breakingcatnews.com/breaking-cat-news-special-report-shelter-cats/

Environmental news:
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/soil-productivity-cut-by-climate-change-making-societies-more-marginal-studies-20160128-gmfykc.html
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2986952/why_is_cornell_university_hosting_a_gmo_propaganda_campaign.html
http://dgrnewsservice.org/civilization/ecocide/agriculture/ethiopia-cancels-concession-for-karaturi-land-grab/
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/01/japanese-firm-to-open-worlds-first-robot-run-farm Robot run farms. What about weeding, pest control, and biological diversity?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/organic-agriculture-capitalism-and-the-parallel-reality-of-the-pro-gmo-evangelist/5506414
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-05/mugabe-declares-national-emergency-in-zimbabwe-over-drought
www.thestatesman.com/news/bengal/-cancer-second-biggest-killer-in-india/121361.html
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/08/19223/meet-rented-white-coats-who-defend-toxic-chemicals

Economic news:
http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/01/29/whats-driving-shocks-to-the-economy/
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/01/negative-interest-rates-sign-desperation.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/28/seven-years-of-monetary-quackery-can-the-fed-admit-it-was-wrong-yet/ Even the most progressive (left leaning) economists view economic growth as desirable, no matter what the impact on nature may be.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/weapons-of-mass-financial-destruction-wmfd/5504549
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-02-04/more-shipping-data-reinforces-recession-risk
www.thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.at/2016/02/whatever-happened-to-peak-oil.html
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-06/ukraine-bonds-crash-after-economy-minister-resigns-over-high-level-corruption
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/02/08/privatization-is-the-atlanticist-strategy-to-attack-russia-paul-craig-roberts-and-michael-hudson/ Important!

To sum up the economic news: Your money will be worth nothing!

Imperial news:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176096/tomgram%3A_ann_jones%2C_social_democracy_for_dummies/
http://williamblum.org/aer/read/143

Imperial conquest news:
www.salon.com/2016/02/07/intelligent_people_know_that_the_empire_is_on_the_downhill_a_veteran_cia_agent_spills_the_goods_on_the_deep_state_and_our_foreign_policy_nightmares/ I never thought that such an article could be published by Salon. This is the real stuff (except the annoying Obama whitewashing) and worth reading.
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/02/06/us-now-overtly-at-war-against-russia.html
http://sputniknews.com/world/20160204/1034227642/us-russia-military-force.html
http://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/38-syria-crisis/473-saudi-gambit.html
http://journal-neo.org/2016/01/24/reflections-on-the-paris-isis-meeting-talks-filled-with-sinful-crime/
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/government-has-been-allowing-uk-firms-to-sell-invasive-spying-equipment-to-countries-including-saudi-a6836651.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/can-peoples-power-save-the-bolivarian-revolution/5503513
http://yournewswire.com/captured-israeli-general-confesses-that-israel-sponsor-isis/
http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2016/01/doomsday-on-horizon-by-cindy-sheehan.html
http://www.workers.org/articles/2016/01/31/haiti-in-turmoil-as-masses-reject-corrupt-election/
www.globalresearch.ca/aid-money-laundering-as-an-ngo-racket-haiti/5504893
http://orientalreview.org/2016/01/28/macedonian-media-we-will-not-accept-a-puppet-leader/
http://www.pravdareport.com/opinion/columnists/03-02-2016/133242-syria_lost_generation-0/
www.independent.co.uk/voices/a-plan-must-be-made-for-life-after-isis-in-the-middle-east-a6860276.html The Islamic terrorists are losing, and suddenly Western journalists change their tune from “Butcher Assad must go” to thoughtful analysis and humanitarian appeals.
www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/russia-us-syria-turkey-terrorist-pyd-fsa-is.html Al-Monitor is a Washington based US propaganda outlet and this article is remarkable because it tells in straightforward and unmistakable words that Russia in Syria is fighting terrorists, thereby helping the US cause, and that Turkey and Saudi Arabia should get out of the way. If this is indeed becoming the official line, fears about WW III will be greatly diminished.
www.middleeasteye.net/columns/open-letter-ban-ki-moon-264475500 This open letter to Ban Ki-Moon is just another confirmation that the UN has become an absurdity and the best thing one can hope is a complete paralysis not only in the Security Council but also in all associated organizations.

Ban Ki-Moon was hand picked by the USA and is the worst Secretary General the UN has ever had. The decay of the UN under his leadership may now be terminal. Regional groups of nations have to install parallel organizations who are free from US influence, organizations which gradually take over the useful work which many UN-organizations do.

I personally have not paid much attention to the Palestinian cause in the last years because when Hamas and other factions joined the war against Syria I considered this as an utter betrayal. Syria under Hafez al-Assad and Dr. Bashar al-Assad was the greatest supporter and benefactor of Palestine. Palestinian refugees in Syria had nearly the same rights and possibilities as native Syrians, the Yarmouk Camp was the most affluent Palestinian settlement in the world.

When Palestinian youth in Yarmouk, Sbeineh, Homs, in the Lebanese camps Burj el-Shemali, Rashidieh, and in various other refugee camps joined the Islamic insurgents and fought against the very government which unwavering had supported their struggle for half a century I closed the book on the Palestinian cause, but not without registering the continuing crimes against humanity committed by Israel.

Israel tries to make the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as miserable as possible with the clear visible goal to either exterminate them or chase them away into surrounding Arab countries. This is genocide, and the fact that Jews themselves were victims of genocide is another proof that “the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history” (paraphrasing Hegel).

I was for many decades a fervent supporter of Israel and admired the socialist culture of the Kibbutzim. It took years to overcome my positive bias toward Israel and it was a painfully slow learning process, during which I had to force myself to even look at evidence that contradicted my positive views about Israel.

I cheered the Six-Day War and never doubted Israel’s claims that it responded to an attack by Egyptian forces. I dismissed the information about the preceding water disputes between Syria and Israel and viewed the occupation of the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the West Bank including East Jerusalem as a necessity to secure Israel’s existence. I heard about the 300,000 Palestinian and 90,000 Syrian refugees and I heard the reports about military executions of Arab civilians and POWs (Prisoners of War), but it didn’t change my mind.

It took several years and a constant stream of disturbing news about persistent harassment, oppression, and atrocities to make me observe the Middle East situation from a different angle. I started to look for alternative sources of information beyond the mainstream media and I discovered bewildering and disturbing discrepancies between these new informations and the official approved narrative.

First I was confused, but as the bits and pieces of the information puzzle suddenly formed a coherent picture it felt like a veil had been lifted from my eyes. It was an epiphany and I suddenly understood!

We are brainwashed. We are lied to and dumped down. I knew that before and I should not have been astonished to find out that it holds true even more for an emotionally charged issue like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Looking back at all these years when I was unwavering and unquestioning defending Israel against any criticism is quite sobering and disillusioning. I considered myself to be open minded, tolerant, free from prejudices and intelligent enough to look behind the scenes and lift the curtains and sort out the lies.

I was not immune to misinformation, propaganda, media brainwashing, I fell in a trap like so many others!

Propaganda is evil, malign, dishonorable, but the Israeli version of propaganda, called Hasbara, is even more evil and vile. Hasbara is not meant to convince, but to cause disgust, aversion, and hate. Hasbara plays with words and reinterprets phrases in creative ways to confuse people, make any constructive dialogue impossible, and enrage opponents. Once again: Hasbara is not meant to convince, it tries to project superiority, might, chutzpah, thereby deliberately causing disgust, aversion, and hate.

Hate is a painful and very unhealthy mental condition and one has to take care that the Israeli masters of Hasbara will not make one hateful and that they have to consume their hate by themselves.

Remembering Rachel Cory.

About Syria

As mentioned before, the Syrian/Russian battle strategy is straight forward: First the supply corridors from Turkey to IS (Islamic State), Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, and other Islamist groups have to be cut and the conquered territories fortified. This happened partly with the offensive in North Latakia (Salma, Bayırbucak area), and the Aleppo offensive.

The Turkish northwestern border of Idlip province is still open (Atmah, Bab al-Hawa, Darkoush, Khewrbet Al-Joz, Ayn al-Bayda). Bab al-Hawa, near Sarmada and al-Dana, will be the main rebel supply route now and there needs to be a push against Jisr Shughur soon. 

This is a high definition picture. Click on it and zoom in to see the details

Bab al-Salam in the north of Azaz is also open, but it is expected that the Kurdish YPG (disguised as SDF) will take care of this supply route.

After the newly conquered areas around Aleppo and north Latakia have been consolidated and front lines fortified, Idlib needs to be attacked in a pincer movement from Aleppo in the East and Latakia in the West.

The supply lines from Jordan and Israel have to be eliminated by agreements with these two countries. The rebel held territories in the South have to be divided in half (fall of Sheikh Miskeen and push against Nawa), to cut supply lines between Daraa and Quneitra.

The desert areas at the moment are left to IS terrorists, who will fade away after supply lines are destroyed. When no more ammunition and money comes from Turkey and Jordan, many insurgents will lay down their arms and the unrepentant individuals will be eliminated step by step in mopping-up operations. According to US intelligence reports, the IS fighting force has already been diminished from 31,000 to 25,000.

This plan has until now been successfully executed and the main patrons of the Islamist rebels (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE) are running out of options because there are not many safe roads left to transfer military supplies and quite a few shipments are destroyed during transit by Russian airstrikes.

The one card left to play is a Turkish invasion at the Jarabulus, Al-Rai, Bab al-Salam line. This is IS (Islamic State) territory, and Turkish troops will not encounter resistance, because for the Jihadists it doesn’t matter if the crossing points and supply corridors are a few kilometers south.

If Turkey goes to war in earnest, it could destroy the Russian air force in Syria easily. Turkey has 240 F-16’s, 4 Boeing 737 AEW&C (AWACS), drones, and cruise missiles. Turkey could close the Bosporus strait and there could be deadly submarine battles both in the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea (Turkey has 13 German built submarines).

Russia has sent the anti-submarine destroyer “Vice-Admiral Kulakov” to the Syrian coast, which indicates that a military conflict with Turkey is considered as possible.

Russia could stop gas supplies and bomb Turkey’s mediterranean and Black Sea ports.

Russia will not let it come to that. The mosts likely reaction to a Turkish invasion will be small scale but steady air attacks, including cruise missiles, against the invasion forces to slowly grind them down. Russia will not announce or confirm such actions but condemn the Turkish invasion in a diplomatic offensive, stressing Syria’s sovereignty and the Westphalian principle.

While the imperium is not used to retreat or compromise and is led by high risk gamblers, Russia is a responsible geopolitical player. Good to have one sane leader who will not risk nuclear armageddon.

About Ukraine

Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union Ukraine was the most prosperous Soviet republic, despite the fact that there were deep fault lines in society and a history of ethnic strife and Nazi-collaboration. The rushed introduction of a free market economy, the privatization of public property, and the abandoning of social welfare under the guidance of Western advisors caused, as in all other former Soviet republics, a deep decline of living standards. Life expectancy for males fell by ten years.

Tricksters and fraudsters took advantage of the chaotic situation and became the oligarch class.

In Russia, which saw a similar decline as the Ukraine, Vladimir Putin superseded the drunkard Boris Yelzin and started to reign in the oligarchs (Berezovsky, Khodorkovsky, Yevtushenkov). He also renationalized key industries via the big banks and tried to curtail Western influence and economic dependencies. The current Western sanctions are very helpful in this respect because they give Russia the chance to develop local businesses and become self sufficient.

Ukraine did not have a leader like Putin and the tricksters and fraudsters are still in charge.

The disaster capitalists (equity firms, investment banks, big agricultural corporations) and vulture capitalists (Singer, Sheehan, Grossman, etc.) like it this way. They will not come to the rescue, they will not make attempts to heal a sick society, they will just try to pick up the most luscious pieces from the corps.

The only conciliation one can feel in regard to this is the fact, that Western ruling elites apply the very same methods of social and economic destabilization also to their own countries. This is a questionable and less than noble sentiment of course, but it at least gives hope to the weary and dispirited observer that the imperium one day will implode due to internal stress and decay.

News from cat land

The ordeal of my little cat lady Lucia is continuing. Her injured tail developed necrosis and two thirds of the tail had to be amputated. Unfortunately the vet applied a totally inappropriate bandage to the surgical wound which Lucia was able to remove while I was sleeping. She unfortunately also pulled out the surgical threats and the wound opened again. I rushed to the vet with her to be told that another surgery is unavoidable.

This would have meant the third anesthesia in ten days and as I wanted to avoid this outcome I took Lucia and drove to another vet who agreed to try healing the wound without another surgery. For the next 10 days Lucia has to wear a ruff and we have to visit the new veterinarian every three days to change the dressing and bandage. Lucia also gets half an antibiotic tablet every day and some laxatives.

Until now it seems to work. It is sunny and mild and normally I would spend my time with garden work but I have to stay inside giving company to Lucia, who is longingly looking out the window into the garden.

Fortunately in the last month I have reactivated many personal contacts and people are visiting all the time. Lucia gets attention from everybody, I suspect that some visitors come to see her rather then me (which would be fine with me).

Personal contacts need and deserve a lot of time. The cats need and deserve a lot of time. Tending the garden needs a lot of time. There is not much time left to read, research, and write blog posts.

Well, other people with more spare time hopefully will step in.