SOME WORDS OF MODERATION, IS IT ALL LEADING TO THE SAME RESULTS ???

After few weeks of political maneuvering, Benjamin Netanyahu said he has formed a government in Israel, putting him on the brink of leading the most right-wing fascist administration in the country's history, and playing dangerously with the entire peace process within Israel, the illegally occupied territories, and the entire Middle-East. 

I received lately this letter from a knowledgeable and concerned party from within, I'm copying it verbatim and letting you be the judges.     

J Street . 

  

The past few weeks here in Israel have brought a series of frightening announcements as Benjamin Netanyahu assembles the most extreme, right-wing government in our history. 

 Itamar Ben Gvir -- who has encouraged violence against Palestinians and Arab Israelis and was once described as the “go-to” defense lawyer for violent settlers -- is in line to be Israel’s Minister for National Security, with authority over the police. 

Bezalel Smotrich -- a settler activist who has called for full annexation of the West Bank and has supported Arab-Jewish segregation within Israel -- looks set to be in charge of the settlements and the Occupied Territory.

Avi Maoz -- who has mocked trans colleagues, opposed gender equality laws and wants to cancel the Jerusalem Pride parade -- will likely play a significant role in the education ministry. 

This new government could do terrible damage to democratic rights and freedoms within Israel, not to mention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. While the final government is still a few days from taking office, we already know we’re going to need a strong, effective response from the Biden Administration. 

 Together, we must show the Biden Administration that pro-Israel Americans are deeply worried about Israeli democracy -- and want our leaders to stand up to Netanyahu’s band of extremists. It’s not just human rights advocates and progressives sounding the alarm. The former deputy of the Shin Bet security agency, Roni Alsheikh, has said Ben Gvir’s pending appointment makes him “anxious for the fate of the State of Israel.” 

 Amos Gilad, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence, has said that Smotrich would be “a major disaster” if he pursued his hardline proposals within the Ministry of Defense. 

 The Jerusalem Post Editorial Board said that Avi Maoz’s “blatant homophobia” and hostility to women and progressive Jews make him “unfit to have authority on Israel's education system.” 

 If leading, mainstream Israelis are comfortable pushing back against Netanyahu’s extremist allies, then we should expect similar leadership from a White House that has committed itself to equal measures of freedom, security and dignity for all Israelis and Palestinians. Please, let's all consider an end-of-year contribution to J Street to help push the Biden Administration to stand up for what’s right. Every donation strengthens our movement >> . 

True leadership from the US means standing up for the shared values at the heart of the US-Israel relationship, including equal rights and democratic freedoms. It means a clear red line against home demolitions, settlement expansion and annexation -- steps that lead to endless conflict and injustice. 

 Thank you, sincerely, for your support. Nadav Tamir Executive Director, J Street Israel.

As always my profound gratitude to all my good readers, stay safe and well. 

A GOOD ANALYSIS FROM THE LEVANT .....

Ghassan Salibi from Annahar Newspaper - November 29, 2022

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , considered that "Iran's policy succeeded in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria ," which led to what he described as "the defeat of the United States" in these countries, stressing that " The Iranian role in the three countries contributed to the failure of the American project to strike Iran through them. 

In his speech last Saturday before the "Popular Mobilization Forces," the Iranian leader stressed the importance of "geographical and geopolitical characteristics" for his country's policy, noting that "the Islamic Revolution changed the hearts of Iran's neighboring countries. And Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Somalia," boasting from this standpoint that "the Islamic revolution spread to the peoples of the region and neighboring countries and brought about change in them."

Khamenei stressed that negotiating with the United States will not end the unrest that the country has been witnessing for two months, "because Washington will always demand more."

It is not new for an Iranian official to acknowledge his country's control over a group of Arab countries. What is new is that Khamenei personally states this clearly. Perhaps because his regime is being shaken by the popular uprising today, he wanted to send a message of "pride" in his achievements, to his people first, and to the outside world second, who accuse him of inciting the uprising. Khamenei's statement clarifies the Iranian role, which is to "thwart the American project," but not in defense of the Arab countries, as Nasrallah claims, for example, but rather because the American project was intended to "strike Iran through them." In other words, Khamenei does not pay any attention to the entities of these countries, in which interference, without their will, of course, is a way to defend Iran in the face of the United States of America. Knowing that the American-Israeli project did not fail, it is the sectarian fragmentation of the region, and this is exactly what the Iranian role that Khamenei praises has led to.

However, Khamenei again contradicts himself when he boasts that the Islamic Revolution has moved to neighboring countries, meaning that his presence in these countries was aimed at expanding the Islamic Revolution, and not with the motive of thwarting the American project. He aspires to change "the hearts of neighboring countries", that is, to Islamize them according to the doctrine of the rule of the jurist, and he considers that he has succeeded in that.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview he made a few days before Khamenei's statement, with a group of journalists "away from the limelight", "unveiling" him: "We supported Hezbollah, and we still support it, and we will continue to support it because it is a strategic ally of ours," expressing " Fearing for Lebanon and its future in light of the current reality, because it is the main side of Syria, and stability in it is very important for Syria.

The Assad regime has never hidden its interference in Lebanon or its support for Hezbollah, not out of concern for the Lebanese people or Lebanon, but because the latter is the "flank" of Syria. The Assad regime has always acted as if Lebanon was not an independent entity governed by a state.

Of course, it is remarkable that the two statements, which have their own impact in Lebanon, coincided with the election of a president of the republic, who seems to be pending a regional and international agreement, which evidence does not indicate is imminent, with Khamenei questioning the feasibility of negotiating with the United States, which always demands “more.” Perhaps Khamenei was hinting at Iran's recent concessions, by demarcating the borders with Israel in Lebanon, and facilitating the election of a president and the formation of a government in Iraq. Instead of rewarding it for that, the United States is now demanding more in the wake of the popular uprising in Iran, which it is accused of fueling.

Only two days after the statements of Khamenei and Al-Assad, Patriarch Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi asked in his Sunday sermon from the Church of Maron in Rome: “What is meant? I erase the active Christian role in general and the Maronite in particular? The government immediately after the end of binding consultations? Is it more important than the head of state?”, warning that “Lebanon cannot wait for others to come to elect its president, especially since what is happening in the region does not necessarily promise solutions to existing problems, but rather the danger remains of the emergence of new wars that would lead to The complexity of the Lebanese solution.

The Patriarch is right to fear for the Christian and Maronite role, after all the developments in the region and in Lebanon. His fear was likely exacerbated by Khamenei's statement of "changing hearts" and the transmission of the Islamic Revolution to the peoples of the region. But the words of al-Assad and Khamenei are actually more dangerous than that, as they abolished the Lebanese entity in their statements. Will the patriarchate defend the entity that is subject to extinction, by adhering to the Christian-Maronite role only, even though most of the Lebanese are keen on the Christian role and the perpetuation of the entity, and they are resentful of the Iranian role? ? And if the opponent, who is linked to Khamenei and Assad, allows the Christians to maintain the position of the presidency, in the event that the demand is limited to this obsession, then will the patriarch accept a Christian president who resembles Emile Lahoud and Michel Aoun, as Nasrallah wants? Did the Maronite Patriarchate's reluctance to demand the overthrow of Lahoud and Aoun in the past protect the Christian role and save the entity from falling?

The Maronite community, headed by the Patriarchate, “made” the Lebanese entity with the aim of protecting the Christian and Maronite role, after the community expanded demographically, geographically, and economically. Is the concern today reversed, that is, protecting the role, even in the likeness of an entity, homeland, and state?

And if this new position is the result of the decline of the Christian presence and influence at all levels, and the lack of reliance currently on the guarantee provided by the entity and the existing central system in the constitution, after the dominance of "Hezbollah" over the state, then is it not better to express the position clearly, which is the preference for the system Expanded decentralization and work to endorse it, instead of just launching ambiguous positions, as if its owners were ashamed to propose what is commensurate with their current and strategic interest? Does moderation at the stage of exposing the entity to danger, in turn encourage the opponent to moderation? Previous experiences indicated the opposite. Here is the excellent Jaafari Mufti, Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan, and as usual after every statement by the patriarch, he confirms that "Lebanon's neutrality is forbidden, the time of Louis XIV is over, and broad decentralization is an existential danger."

What applies regarding the necessity of strategically correcting the positions of the Maronite Patriarchate also applies to the positions of most of the "change forces", which are still dealing with the presidential election and the fate of the entity, with a lightness that the supporters themselves can no longer bear. I have expanded on the analysis of this dilemma in my new book, published by Dar Saer Al-Mashreq, entitled “The Labyrinths of Change in the Age of Rejection.”

With repeated voting with the white paper, the white color "Bach" became yellowish, which deepened with the statements of Khamenei and Assad. And because we are in the World Cup football season, I borrow from him the meaning of the yellow card, which is the yellow card that the referee raises in the face of a player to warn him after he commits a mistake. And here are the deputies of the "defiance" raising the yellow card in the face of the parliament, to warn it against trying to repeat its fatal mistake against the "defiance", which is the commitment to the rules of democracy.

My, as always, gratitude to all my readers for their time with the blogs, stay safe and well. 

A DIFERENT POLITICAL BRAINWASHING AND PROPAGANDA STYLE.......

As President Macron and the French first lady are in an official Sate visit to America's President, surrounded by great friendship and pomp, I felt like exposing some of the opposing tactics and manipulations of the propaganda machines working day and night to obstruct and upset politicians and politics opposing their policies and maintaining of absolute power... 

I received lately an Arabic text claiming to be a recent authentic translation of President Macron of France speech, initially I couldn't believe the language, nor the insinuations in the report, checking and Googling the site I found that the speech was delivered the 26 of Sept 2017, and it was a good futuristic plan for Europe, with no allusion to many new topics and modern type political twists this modern translation claims, it is a cheap propagandist effort by specialized black rooms and propagandist paid by the other side, i.e. nowadays the Russian Putin camps and their affiliates, it's spreading powerfully in many parts of the world, more so in the Arabic world. I present you here with my translation of the Arabic report I received, just to have an idea of the little poisonous intrusions, and if you would google the link at the end, and read in English the original speech, up to you to make your own conclusions, but it's a good show of modern tactics to brainwashing minds efforts....      (Guo Rong (ID:xuu 5336)

Dangerous speech by the president of France

France, Europe and America.
The French President's internal speech came out and shocked the world!!

I highly recommend that you take your time to read this article as it foretells of future events that are likely to occur.

The opinions expressed fully express those of the current French President Emmanuel Macron!

Recently, at an internal meeting, Macron made a general analysis of the current international situation. He sighed: "Western domination is coming to an end!"

How do you see the transformation of the superpower in the world today? Macron's closed speech was very valuable.

Macron:

We live together in this world, and the envoys here know this world better than I do.

Yes, the international order is upending in a whole new way, and I am sure this is a major upheaval in our history, with far-reaching consequences in almost all regions.

It is a shift in the international system, geopolitical integration, and strategic reorganization.

Yes, I must admit that Western hegemony may be coming to an end.

Since the eighteenth century, we have become accustomed to an international system based on Western domination.

This France is inspired by the Enlightenment of the 18th century.

This is Britain from the nineteenth century led by the Industrial Revolution.

This America emerged from the twentieth century after two world wars.

France, the United Kingdom, and the United States made the West great for 300 years.

France is culture, England is industry and America is war.

We are used to this grandeur that gives us absolute dominance over global economics and politics.

But things are changing.
Some crises come from our mistakes in the West, while others come from the challenges of emerging countries.

Within Western countries, the many wrong choices the United States has made in the face of crises have severely shaken our hegemony.

Note that this didn't just start with the Trump administration, other US presidents made other wrong choices long before Trump, Clinton's China policy, Bush war policy, Obama's global financial crisis, and quantitative easing.

The misguided policies of these American leaders are all fundamental mistakes that shake Western hegemony. However, on the other hand, we have greatly underestimated the emergence of emerging forces.

They underestimated the rise of these emerging powers, not just two years ago, but ten or twenty years ago.

We underestimated them from the start!

We must admit that China and Russia have had great success over the years under different leadership styles.

India is also rapidly emerging as an economic power and at the same time it has also become a political power, China, Russia and India, these countries compared to the United States, France and the United Kingdom.

Let's not say anything else, just their political imagination is much stronger than Westerners today. Having strong economic power, they begin to search for their "philosophy and culture".

They no longer believed in Western politics, but began to pursue their "national culture". This has nothing to do with democracy or not. India is a democratic country, and it is doing the same too, searching for its "national culture".

When these emerging nations find their national culture and begin to believe in it, they will gradually get rid of the "philosophical culture" that Western hegemony instilled in them in the past.

This is the beginning of the end of Western hegemony!

The end of Western hegemony lies not in economic decline, nor in military decline, but rather in cultural decline.

When your values ​​can no longer be exported to emerging countries, this is the beginning of your decline.

I think the political imagination of these emerging countries is higher than our imagination.

Political imagination is very important. It has strong and coherent connotations and can lead to further political inspiration.

Whether we are more daring in politics, the political imagination of emerging countries far exceeds the imagination of Europeans today, all this shocked me deeply!!!

China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty, and more poverty will be lifted in the future, but in France, the market economy is increasing income inequality at an unprecedented rate.

The outrage of the middle class last year brought profound changes to the French political system, and since the 19th century, French life has been in a sort of equilibrium.

Personal liberty, democracy, and a wealthy middle class, these three are the tripods that balance France's politics, but the crisis was born when the middle class was no longer the cornerstone of our country, when the middle class believed that its interests were in jeopardy.

They will have fundamental doubts about democracy and the market system. Can such a system give me a better life?

They have the right to be highly skeptical and they have the right to join a radical political movement.

In the United Kingdom, the downfall of the political system is becoming more and more apparent.

The resounding slogan of Brexit, Take Back Control, says it all.

People believe that their fate is no longer in their hands, so they want to "take back control."

The straightforward way to "take back control" is to leave the European Union. They hate the European Union, they hate old politics, and they want something more politically creative.

In the final analysis, the political system of the past failed to benefit the British and even made their lives worse and worse, but the political leaders at the top did not realize this.

So they failed.

As for the United States, although Americans belong to the Western camp, they always have different humanitarian standards (meaning religion) than Europe.

Americans' sensitivity to issues of climate, equality, and social balance does not exist in the same way as Europe (which means that the gap between rich and poor in the United States is much larger than it does in Europe).

There is a clear gap between American civilization and European civilization. Although the United States and Europe are closely allied, our differences have always existed.

Trump's rise to power has amplified the original differences.

I must stress that Europe is different from the United States.

Of course, neither Hungarian Catholics nor Russian Orthodox Christians can decide on the plan for European civilization, but Europe's long-term pursuit of the United States to expel Russia from the European continent is not necessarily true.

The United States needs to confront Russia and Europe, but does Europe need it?

Europe is cooperating with the United States to expel Russia, which may be Europe's biggest geopolitical mistake of the 21st century.

The consequence of expelling Russia is that Putin has no choice but to embrace China, and this only gives China and Russia a chance to warm up.

Let one of our competitors combine with another to create a big problem, which is what the Americans do.

If Europe had not expelled Russia, Russia's policies would not have been anti-Western at all. Now, in terms of geopolitics, it is impossible to provide much assistance to the great powers of the East.

But Europe's problem is the military problem.

Because of the existence of NATO, it becomes very difficult for Europe to form another European army, and as long as the “European army” does not exist, Europe will be under the control of the political orders of the United States.

Unfortunately, when I spoke about this with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, we were all pessimistic. In Europe, no one has the ability to form a European army, and no one has the ability to form a European army. Politics, giving investment.

But the European military is the main point of check and balance in the United States. Without the European army, Europe would never have true independence.

Yes, the United States is an ally, a long-term ally of us, but at the same time it is an ally that has been hijacking us for a long time.

France is a powerful diplomatic power, a permanent member of the Security Council, and the heart of the European Union.

Pushing Russia out of Europe could be a far-reaching strategic mistake.

If France cannot pull Russia back into Europe, it will also be reluctant to continue its involvement, inflaming tensions and isolating Russia.

At the moment, neither Russia nor that eastern power has an interest in forming an alliance, but no one is sure whether the Western world is pressing more and more.

Will China and Russia still say with certainty that we will not form an alliance?

Is the enemy of our friend necessarily our enemy?

Russia is the enemy of the United States, so should it be the enemy of Europe?

We need to build the new structure of trust and security for Europe, because if we do not facilitate relations with Russia, there will be no peace on the continent.

Americans say a country that invests heavily in weapons and equipment, is a declining country in demographics.

Americans ask me, are we afraid of this country? Should we come to terms with such a country?

I asked the Americans, what about swapping the positions of Russia and Canada?

In addition to economic turmoil and geopolitical turmoil, the third major turmoil we are seeing now is undoubtedly the turmoil of the technological revolution.

The Internet of Big Data, Social Media, and Artificial Intelligence, When big intelligence spreads in globalization, the progress of information technology is developing at an unprecedented speed.

One of the problems with the globalization of intelligence is the globalization of emotion, violence, and even hatred.

The technological revolution has brought us profound anthropological changes, and it has created us a new space, a space that requires humans to re-examine and formulate rules.

This is an area of ​​rules for new technology that the world has never touched, and it is also a rule of the international system of the Internet with which everyone must agree and participate.

But before this new set of rules was fully established, the new technological revolution brought us not only economic imbalances, but also anthropological class contradictions and ideological contradictions.

Ultimately, it will lead to severe disruption and instability of our proud democracy.

All envoys here can see economic turmoil, geopolitical turmoil, information technology turmoil and democratic turmoil.

All of these disturbances occur at the same time, but what do we do?

What should we do now? Will we continue to be spectators, commentators, or take on the responsibilities that we have to take on?

But one thing is for sure, if we all lose our political imagination and let the customs of past decades or even centuries dictate our strategies, we...

President, minister, diplomat, soldier, everyone in this room continues to do so as in the past.

That's for sure, we will "lose control".

And after "getting out of control", what awaits us is disappearance.

Civilization fades, Europe fades, and with it the moment of Western domination.

In the end, the world will revolve around two poles: America and China, and Europe will have to choose between these two rulers.

Europe will completely lose control, so I believe in only one thing for now, and that is courage - the political strategy of daring to break through and take risks.

This kind of political strategy that is different from the old Europe of the past, will lead to the failure of many things now, and there are also a large number of commentators in the country, and critics say it will not work.

But what is fatal is not the comments and criticism, but the loss of “brave heart” and “imaginative thinking”, and I believe that only by experiencing some courageous and imaginative policies can reflect the French national spirit in depth, in the best way.

Only France can re-establish a deep European civilization; Only France can consider the question of European survival from the perspective of European strategy and international politics.

The French spirit is the spirit of stubborn resistance and the pursuit of a different world. The spirit of resistance will never succumb to the inevitability and adaptability of things

This kind of execution is carried out in the extraordinary spirit of the French people, and the historical trend that only France can change the historical trend that is gradually engulfing Europe has formed “poles”.

After that, France will have several important directions on the agenda. The first is the Eurasian Agenda.

France will promote a better integration of China's New Silk Road with the European Communication Strategy, but this integration must be done with respect for our sovereignty and our rules.

Ten years ago, we made some mistakes in the integration of Europe and Asia. When Europe was dealing with the great financial crisis, in order to get help, it had to carry out privatization to reduce some of Europe's sovereignty.

From Italy in the south to England in the north, but we don't blame the clever Chinese, we can only blame ourselves for being stupid.

In addition, in the face of the rise of China, France must also develop a "French strategy" with the United States in the Indo-Pacific region.

This is a "complement" to France's strategy of welcoming the Chinese Silk Road.

If we help our opponent in one place, we have to check and balance it in other places. This is the usual way in politics.

France should establish "French influence" in the Indo-Pacific to counterbalance the rise of China's power in the region. After all, France has millions of residents and about 10,000 soldiers in the region.

France wants to become one of the major naval powers at sea.

France's second important agenda is to prioritize the establishment of European sovereignty.

I have spoken to many people that European sovereignty is by no means an empty word, but we have already made the mistake of leaving the voice of sovereignty to the nationalists.

Nationalists in no way represent our sovereignty, which is a good word, and the core of our democracy. But if the government loses control of everything, there is nothing left for sovereignty.

So the nationalists have the right to make their voices heard, but they in no way represent European sovereignty.

For decades, Europe has established a strong and friendly market, but at the same time, we are also the most open and naïve.

And when we discuss European sovereignty, we must also include the United Kingdom deeply. Regardless of the final outcome of Brexit, European sovereignty includes the United Kingdom.

The other direction of European sovereignty is national defense. With regard to European defense, there has been no progress since the 1950s, and it is even forbidden to discuss it.

But it is time to build an initiative with more sovereign nations for national defense, drawing on European money and European militaries.

I think this is the best time in decades to discuss "European Defense Sovereignty," which requires all envoys here to work even harder.

Another focus of European sovereignty is Europe's thinking about borders, which will also extend to the topic of population and migration.

As Europe has experienced an unprecedented migration crisis since 2015, we must move away from an emergency management system for refugees in order to create a sustainable talent intake mechanism.

Most importantly, we must work with the International Organization for Migration to revive the immigration nomination work we did in Paris.

The last part is about economic and financial sovereignty.

We are now actively talking about Iran and continue to defend our claims to the Iranian agenda.

But the US dollar has its "specialty", so even if we decide to protect Iran, our companies will rely on the US dollar to move forward.

Note, I'm not saying that we have to fight the dollar, but that we need to build "real euro supremacy".

But this process is very slow, we are progressing very slowly!

And when creating digital c, Europe also needs to reconsider, because digital currency will also affect future economic sovereignty.

Rebuilding European sovereignty, economic sovereignty, national defense sovereignty and border sovereignty is the only way to truly advance European integration without interference from other countries abroad.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us have strong and coherent diplomacy, and at a time when Western hegemony is being challenged, we must use our political imagination.

Control the fate of the Europeans and return control to our people.

I count on you to play an important role in diplomacy, and I am grateful for these requests.

I will always be by your side to keep France at the center of leading a range of important political issues.

Let our envoys have strong representative power around the world to defend our national interests, override our national interests, and let our values ​​spread around the world.

I thank you!

Long live the republic and long live France!

- Emmanuel Macron

This article is very important, be sure to read it carefully. I hope everyone can watch this article and share it with friends and family, so that it can help more people.

This article was copied from the public account: Guo Rong (ID: xuu5336)

I urge all my readers to Google and read the initial talk of Sept. 2017 of President Macron , it will be chocking to most to see the obvious manipulation displayed clearly with this claimed version of it. 

As always, my profound thanks to all for your time sharing this blog. 

HIDEN FACTS OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS ......

 

https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gsyz25881dlG74EsG156S4

Prince Muhammad bin Salman gave a dangerous interview to the American newspaper The Washington Post, in which he exposed the hidden and exposed the lie of what the Salafists called the Islamic awakening, and he admitted that Saudi Arabia’s spread of Wahhabism was not purely for God’s sake, but was a response to an American demand and an employment of Islam to serve American interests.

Bin Salman said that this was the result of a political deal that America concluded with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, and that the marketing of this extremist religious ideology was only to serve the battle against the Soviet Union.

This statement was a scandalous scandal, and the Washington Post commented on this scandal by saying:

“It has now been confirmed that the spread of Wahhabism was nothing but a tool of the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, and that all these Qur’ans and those mosques, and the headscarves, the chins, and the short jilbabs. etc., all of this was in fact nothing but makeup, costumes, and accessories for the role required to be represented in the Cold War movie; And that the Islamic peoples were naive puppets in a dirty political game that has nothing to do with Islam.”

The story began on December 27, 1979, when the US National Security Council approved a plan entitled:

(Jihad in Afghanistan against atheism)
Written by Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor
Immediately Brzezinski began a tour of the Middle East to convince the leaders of Islamic countries of his plan.
Brzezinski began his tour with a secret visit to Cairo on January 3, 1980, where he met Anwar Sadat.
Then he met King Khaled in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on January 4.
Then he met President Zia-ul-Haq in Islamabad, Pakistan on January 5.

Muhammad Hassanein Heikal says in his book Unholy Wars, p. 31:
Brzezinski called on these countries to play a leading role in the war against the atheist Soviet Union, which invaded an Islamic country.
There are those who mobilize and train fighters, etc.
The strange thing is that the Jew Brzezinski was speaking as if he was one of the companions of the Messenger of God who were jealous of Islam, and Brzezinski succeeded in convincing the Arab leaders to agree to its legitimacy and enthusiasm for it unconditionally.

Muhammad Hassanein Heikal says:

Sadat's meeting with Brzezinski lasted 3 and a half hours, during which Brzezinski focused on that both Al-Azhar and the Muslim Brotherhood would have a major role in the war against the Soviets. They are graduates of Al-Azhar colleges and have close relations with him (for example, Burhan Al-Din Rabbani and Abd Rasoul Sayyaf).
Brzezinski added that the role of the Muslim Brotherhood may be more important than that of Al-Azhar, especially since they have branches affiliated with them in most Islamic countries, in addition to the fact that the largest leaders in Afghanistan belong to the Brotherhood (such as the famous leader Abdullah Azzam, for example).
Brzezinski stressed the need for coordination between Al-Azhar and the Brotherhood, and asked Sadat to undertake the task of uniting the joint efforts for them.

Indeed, this trinity of Sadat, Al-Azhar and the Brotherhood played the role assigned to it, exactly as Brzezinski defined it.. The implementation of the scheme began with a statement by Sadat in which he said:

“The world should not be satisfied with issuing statements of condemnation of the Soviet Union, but practical measures must be taken.”

On 12/30/1979, Al-Ahram published the fatwa of the Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Gad Al-Haq Ali Gad Al-Haq, calling on the Muslims of the world to support the Afghan revolutionaries.
Only two years later, the President of the Republic issued a decree appointing Sheikh Jad al-Haq as Sheikh of Al-Azhar.

As for the Brotherhood, they were at Brzezinski's good faith and played a role that exceeded what was required of them!
In Egyptian universities, Brotherhood students ignited the enthusiasm of students, held conferences and seminars, and organized campaigns to collect donations of money and blood.
On the other hand, and on the authority of the group’s guide, Hamid Abu Al-Nasr, the Brotherhood’s leader, Dr. Kamal Al-Helbawi, stayed for 6 years, traveling between Afghanistan and Pakistan to follow up on the implementation of the group’s orders and instructions. In addition, the relief committee of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate led by Dr. Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh sent many doctors. to Afghanistan, and also raised huge sums to contribute to the training of fighters and to provide them with weapons, medicine and food commodities.

In the book Sleeping with the Devil for the CIA officer Robert Baer, ​​the author mentions that the Brotherhood was the largest supplier of fighters in Afghanistan, and the writer revealed in detail how America used the Muslim Brotherhood to do dirty work in many countries, especially in Afghanistan!

Muhammad Hassanein Heikal wrote in "Consultations" magazine, February 2000, that Egypt and Saudi Arabia transferred 35,000 fighters from 43 countries to Afghanistan.

In the book The Hidden Relations between America and the Arab Countries by John Robert, and the book is available on the internet and can be downloaded, the author says that more than 300 fatwas were issued in Saudi Arabia by official clerics, such as Abdul Aziz bin Baz and Muhammad bin Uthaymeen, independent sheikhs, academics, preachers and preachers, all agreed. On the premise of jihad with money and soul in Afghanistan.

In conclusion, despite all that Prince Muhammad bin Salman has revealed about the reality of Wahhabism, it is unfortunate that the manifestations of Wahhabism are still spreading like the plague in our societies, as if Islamic peoples do not learn from their experiences and that they can be bitten from the same hole a hundred times without learning.

Mahmoud Hosni Al-Radwan - Quoted from Al-Jawhar website 30/10/2022*

As always my profound many thanks to all my readers all over....

DIFFICULT SITUATIONS REQUIRING DIFFICULT DECISIONS.....

 

According to the Washington Post and the NY Times, who both reported in late Sept. that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, offered his own version of giving the order to Russian forces that were under severe pressure from a Ukrainian attack in the southern city of Kherson not to withdraw, but maintain their ranks and positions. Putin seemed unwilling to withdraw from the entire area of western Dnieper river, however if that was the case back then, it does not appear to be the case now. 

The Russian defense minister, Sergey Shoigu, announced few days ago, that Russian forces are in fact withdrawing to the eastern side of the Dnieper. Assuming this move is not a hoax, nor a bluff to facilitate another attack and further massacres, the Russian forces in fact withdrew to the eastern banks of the river out of the city, and are leaving behind the only regional capital they captured more than 8 months ago. 

This is not something a man like Shoigu would or can do on his own, it is clear that orders came from higher authorities, the president himself in this case. From a Russian military perspective, this withdrawal makes a lot of sense, as general Sergey Surovikin, commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine said himself, in a televised interview with Shoigu, this step will save the lives of many of our military forces, and it will enhance our fighting abilities. The east banks will prove much easier for our forces to defend, as the Ukrainians will have to cross the river to continue their offensive. 

The newspaper continues " But this decision, although a military necessity, nevertheless it represent a humiliating defeat for Putin and the Russian forces". The original story goes back to World War Two, whereby during the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler was famous for his refusal to give permission for his forces to withdraw, even when it was the only logical tactical military move. Even when the Red army was besieging the German Sixth army on the outskirts of Stalingrad in the late 1942. The German leader refused permission for his forces to withdraw, " I will not return from the Volga" he shouted. 

Kherson is an important port practically on the Black sea, and the capital of one of the four regions that Putin illegally annexed in Sept. Moreover, the Russians hoped to use Kherson as a base to widen their attacks and deployments. By which they could capture nearby cities like Mykolaiv and eventually Odessa. This would have allowed them to strangle Ukraine from the Black sea, which forms the main artery for their commerce and exports. 

Apart from the difficulty of retreating, and crossing rivers under fire, the Russians are losing an important defensive position west of the Dnieper, and more importantly they are losing access to the northern Crimean canal, an important source of water for the entire Crimea, this will render control of Crimea more difficult and complex. And more so, since the land bridge built by Mr. Putin to connect main land Russia with Crimea was heavily damaged. 

This new situation will only help demonstrate within Russia the real difficulties of the war and its impossibilities on the ground. It is already providing much-needed encouragement to Ukrainians, within the country and from outside, where both sides of the fight will be facing a tough time with winter. The West in general is acclimatizing itself with shortages of energy and their rising prices. 

Even the American Congress is getting more ready to approve new military packages with even more highly sophisticated armory, thus diminishing the side of Donald Trump that was pushing for less aid and giving up the Ukraine. But all of this, in my opinion, should not make us fully optimistic for a total win, nor a total defeat of the Russian invasion. 

Mr. Putin has shown, and more so lately, a fair willingness to negotiate, his approval to allow grain export from the Black sea, rolling out his nuclear threats, and his acceptance to military weaknesses leading to tactical withdrawals, all indicate that the man is not unstable nor suicidal, he's not going to start world war three. He will not for sure declare nor admit defeat, let's give the man a half honorable way out, he's already tarnished and heavily bruised, and I'm certain he could be convinced to a fair end of his miscalculated colonial invasion and destruction of Ukraine and its people. 

Let the West, led by America, seize the opportunity and push Ukraine to try and solve the conflict, in an intelligent and a more pragmatic and peaceful way. Both sides need to show some rationality, pragmatism and willingness to back down if and when it works in their favor.

 As always, my profound thanks to all, stay safe and well.                                

PRAGMATISM PAR EXCELLENCE.....

Israel Lebanon: Hezbollah's pragmatism in the maritime dossier Thursday, October 27, between Israel and Lebanon on the delimitation of their maritime border is a victory that Hezbollah fully claims. In a televised speech, the leader of the Party of God, Hassan Nasrallah, hailed "a very great victory for Lebanon: for the state, the people and the resistance". The Lebanese Shiite movement can only applaud an agreement it has called for, because of the economic benefits that Lebanon hopes for from the exploitation of gas fields in the Mediterranean. It nevertheless places him in an uncomfortable position.

Spearhead of the "axis of resistance" to the Jewish state, Hezbollah is forced to justify the signing of an agreement with the enemy against those who raise the bogeyman of normalization. It is "not an international treaty, nor a recognition of Israel", insisted Hassan Nasrallah, presenting the agreement as a simple "technical arrangement". He was responding to Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who on Thursday welcomed a "recognition" of Israel by Lebanon, two countries technically in a state of war.

The idea is also being debated in Lebanon, agitated by detractors of the armed movement such as the leader of the Lebanese Phalanges (Kataëb, Christian party), Samy Gemayel, who estimated, in a tweet, on October 12, after the finalization of the agreement, that Hezbollah “has fully recognized Israel (…) and has moved on ideologically to another stage”. Denouncing a "deception", Hassan Nasrallah insisted on the precautions taken by the Lebanese side to avoid this pitfall. At the end of indirect negotiations carried out under the aegis of the American envoy Amos Hochstein, the Lebanese and Israeli delegations signed the agreement on Thursday, each in a room, and on two separate letters, at the headquarters of the Interim Force of United Nations in Lebanon (FINUL) in Naqoura, southern Lebanon.

"It's not normalization in the strict sense, but it's still an agreement between two warring states, which creates a precedent for negotiation," said Mohanad Hajj Ali, researcher at the Carnegie Think Tank in Beirut. It broke a taboo in Lebanon, broke the argument that if you support the resistance, you can't negotiate with the enemy. Avoiding the collapse of the country It is a paradigm shift for the Party of God, created forty years ago under the aegis of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, to lead the "resistance" to Israel, and which still refuses to disarm, on the grounds that the Jewish state has occupied the disputed area of ​​Shebaa Farms since its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.

On the issue of the maritime border, Hezbollah has played the card of pragmatism. Throughout the negotiations, which he followed down to the smallest detail without being a party to them, he showed support in principle for the position of the Lebanese authorities. On July 13, Hassan Nasrallah finally came out in favor of an agreement. "The extraction of oil and gas will bring billions of dollars to the Lebanese state, and it is the only way - economic and financial - to save the country", he said then. The Party of God is anxious to avoid a total collapse of Lebanon, both economic and security.

Already criticized for his involvement in Syria alongside the Assad regime, he is accused by many Lebanese of bearing responsibility for the country's financial sinking and the deadly explosion in the port of Beirut. “Hezbollah is keen to reap the benefits [of the deal], both to bolster its national legitimacy and narrative of 'resistance' – which has been fading for years – and to secure a sustainable cash flow for its operations at home and abroad,” said analyst Hanin Ghaddar in a note for the Washington Institute think tank. In party rhetoric, Hezbollah coerced Israel into concessions by using weapons of deterrence. On July 2, the Israeli army intercepted unarmed drones that the movement had launched over the Karish gas field to prevent the Jewish state from starting its exploitation.

The gesture, which caused a rise in tensions on both sides of the border, was interpreted as a tactic to relaunch negotiations then at a standstill, rather than as a real desire to rekindle a front, which had remained relatively calm since the war in 2006.

The Party of God has compromised. He gave the green light to the sharing of the Cana gas field and to the payment of compensation to Israel by the Total Energies group, which operates the field. He endorsed maintaining the status quo on the "line of buoys", which was established by Israel after its withdrawal from Lebanon as a presumed maritime border. And he implicitly recognized the mediating role of the United States. The signing of the agreement has the effect, in the short term, of avoiding a conflict.

On Thursday, Hassan Nasrallah announced the end of his party's "exceptional" mobilization against Israel. “Hezbollah can afford to pacify the Lebanese front in view of the new regional role it has assumed since 2016 as military adviser to resistance groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen,” said Mohanad Hajj Ali. The agreement reduces the risk of escalation between the two parties, who are now interested in preserving their respective economic interests, without, however, eliminating the threat of a new conflict.

 Hélène Sallon .    This Saturday at 12:00 Négar DJAVADI Screenwriter, director and author of “Désorientale” answers questions from Dominique Laresche (TV5MONDE) and Ghazal Golshiri (Le Monde). Broadcast on TV5MONDE and on Internationales.fr Le Monde - October 29

A good article depicting some important tactical and strategic shifts in the local policies of all parties and sides surrounding the Lebanese and Israeli conflict.... As always , my usual many thanks to you all. 

ALL OCCUPATIONS, ANNEXATIONS AND POPULATION TRANSFERS ARE ILLEGAL.....

Israeli occupation is illegal under international law: UN Commission

By Commission of Inquiry

October 22, 2022: Information Clearing House -- "OHCR" -There are reasonable grounds to conclude that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is now unlawful under international law due to its permanence and the Israeli Government’s de-facto annexation policies, according to the first report to the General Assembly issued today by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.

Underlining that under international humanitarian law the occupation of territory in wartime is a temporary situation and does not deprive the occupied Power of its statehood nor its sovereignty, the three-person Commission called on the General Assembly to request an urgent Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of Israel’s continued refusal to end its occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“Recent statements by the Secretary-General and numerous member States have clearly indicated that any attempt at unilateral annexation of a State’s territory by another State is a violation of international law and is null and void; 143 member States including Israel last week voted in favor of a General Assembly resolution reaffirming this”, stated Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. “Unless universally applied, including to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, this core principle of the United Nations Charter will become meaningless”, she added.

In reaching its findings, the Commission reviewed the policies and actions employed by the Governments of Israel to maintain the occupation, and annex parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Commission’s review was based on interviews with experts and stakeholders, and submissions received following a call for submissions issued on 22 September 2021.

The 28-page report focuses on the sustenance and advancement of the settlement enterprise, including statements made by Israeli officials indicating the intent to maintain permanent control over the land in violation of international law. The Commission concludes that by continuing to occupy the territory by force, Israel incurs international responsibilities and remains accountable for violations of the rights of the Palestinians individually and as a people.

“By ignoring international law in establishing or facilitating the establishment of settlements, and directly or indirectly transferring Israeli civilians into these settlements, successive Israel governments have set facts on the ground to ensure permanent Israeli control in the West Bank”, Ms. Pillay stated.

In producing its report, the Commission reviewed Israel’s expropriation and exploitation of land and natural resources, and Israel’s restrictive urban planning and zoning policies in the West Bank, noting that land is often confiscated for military purposes but is then used for settlement construction. The Commission reviewed statements by Israeli officials indicating that Palestinian construction is seen as an impediment to Israeli settlements, requiring action such as confiscation, demolitions and displacement. The Commission also observed similar processes in East Jerusalem where the restrictive planning and zoning regimes, which have obstructed adequate housing, infrastructure and livelihoods, have contributed to shrinking space for Palestinians.

The report also points to Israeli Government policies which have had a serious and multi-faceted impact on all areas of Palestinian life, including access to clean and affordable water, which has impacted the entire Palestinian agricultural sector, limiting opportunities for livelihoods particularly affecting women.

“There is so much ‘silent harm’ and psychological trauma, that may not be immediately apparent, resulting from the erosion of economic, social and cultural rights. These debilitating processes have severe short and long-term consequences and must be urgently addressed”, said Commissioner Miloon Kothari.

The Commission dedicated a significant part of its report to reviewing the impact of Israel’s occupation and de-facto annexation policies on Palestinian human rights, noting the coercive environment intended to force Palestinians to leave their homes and alter the demographic composition of certain areas. To this effect, the Commission reviewed the demolition of homes and destruction of property, the excessive use of force by security forces, mass incarceration, settler violence, restrictions of movement, and limitations on access to livelihoods, basic necessities, services and humanitarian assistance.

The Commission emphasized that this ongoing coercive environment has fragmented Palestinian society and ensured that Palestinians are unable of fulfil their right to self-determination among other rights. The Commission also noted the extremely harmful impact of the air, land and sea blockade of Gaza on Palestinian human rights.

The report outlines a specifically damaging impact on children, who experience constant military presence, arrest and detention, frequent attacks and acts of violence, restrictions on movement, home demolition and destruction of infrastructure and property. The Commission emphasized that the cumulative effects of occupation practices, including restrictions on movement, have had a pervasive discriminatory effect on Palestinian women, noting that they experience gender-based violence during their everyday activities.

The report concludes by saying that some of the policies and actions of the Israeli Government leading to permanent occupation and de-facto annexation may constitute elements of crimes under international criminal law, including the war crime of transferring, directly or indirectly, part of one's own civilian population into occupied territory, and the crime against humanity of deportation or forcible transfer.

“The actions of Israeli Governments reviewed in our report constitute an illegal occupation and annexation regime that must be addressed”, stated Commissioner Chris Sidoti. “The international system and individual States must act and uphold their obligations under international law. That must begin at this session of the General Assembly with a referral to the International Court of Justice”, he added.

Background

The UN Human Rights Council mandated the Commission on 27 May 2021 to “investigate, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up and since 13 April 2021”. In July 2021, the President of the Human Rights Council announced the appointment of Navanethem Pillay (South Africa), Miloon Kothari (India) and Christopher Sidoti (Australia) to serve as the three members of the Commission and indicated that Ms. Pillay would serve as Chair. Resolution A/HRC/RES/S-30/1 further requested the commission of inquiry to “investigate all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.” The Commission of Inquiry was mandated to report to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly annually from June 2022 and September 2022, respectively.

The Commissioners will present their report to the General Assembly on 27 October.

The full report in six languages and more information on the work of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, can be found at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/co-israel/index

My many thanks to all my readers, stay safe and well. 

FACTS AND REALITIES ........

 

China is rapidly becoming the dominant power in the world...

 

1. They have a very low tolerance for crime. The death penalty is quickly and regularly used for terrorists, murderers and drug traffickers.

 

2. Very low tolerance for religion. They don't believe there is a magic man in the sky. Nothing like a God. Almost no religious killings???, and getting rid of all the negative aspects of the native Chinese Muslim population as fast as possible.

 

3. They have not been involved in any costly wars or invaded any country for the past seventy years.

 

4. Their main weapon of choice to take over the world is finance, and countries around the world are falling fast.

Not just the United States and Canada, but the whole world is in trouble.

 

In the near future, China will employ millions of American workers and dominate thousands of small communities across the United States. China's acquisition of US companies set a new all-time high last year, and it's on track to break that record this year.

 

The acquisition of Smithfield Foods is a prime example. Smithfield Foods is the world's largest pork producer and processor. It has facilities in 26 US states and employs tens of thousands of Americans. It directly owns 460 farms and has contracts with about 2,100 others. But now a Chinese company has bought it for $4.7 billion, meaning Chinese people will now be the biggest employer in dozens of rural communities across America.

 

Thanks in part to our massively inflated trade deficit with China, the Chinese have trillions of dollars to spend. They are only beginning to exercise their economic strength.

 

It is important to keep in mind that there is often not much difference between "Chinese government" and "Chinese companies". In 2011, 43% of all profits in China came from companies where the Chinese government held a majority stake. 

But China isn't just relying on acquisitions to expand its economic power.

 

“Economic bridgeheads” are established throughout America and Canada. For example, Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. recently opened a $100 million plant in Thomasville, Alabama. Many residents of Thomasville, Alabama will be happy to have a job, but it will also become another community that will now be heavily dependent on Communist China.

 And guess where other Chinese companies are rooting? DETROIT.

Chinese companies are investing in American companies and new automotive technology, selling everything from seatbelts to shock absorbers in retail stores, and hiring experienced engineers and designers in a bid to soak up talent and expertise. expertise of national car manufacturers and their suppliers. .

 If you recently purchased an "American-made" vehicle, chances are it contains a number of Chinese parts. Industry analysts struggle to put a price tag on Chinese suppliers in the United States.

 China is very interested in acquiring energy resources from the United States.

 For example, China is currently mining coal in the mountains of Tennessee. Guizhou Gouchuang Energy Holdings Group spent $616 million to acquire Triple H Coal Co. in Jacksboro, Tennessee.

 At the time, this acquisition didn't really make a big splash, but now a group of conservatives in Tennessee are trying to stop the Chinese from blowing up their mountains and taking their coal.

 And very soon, China may want to build entire cities in the United States, as it has done in other countries. Right now, China is building a city bigger than Manhattan, just outside Minsk, the capital of Belarus. And not only in America, just a quick look at Volvo, the Swedish car company and one of the leaders in car technology worldwide is fully owned by Chinese partners.... 

 

Are you starting to capture the image? China is booming and for a long time while America is playing political games.

 If in doubt, just read the following:

 

When you add up all the imports and exports, China is now the number one trading nation on the entire planet.

 # Overall, the United States has had a trade deficit with China over the past decade that amounts to over $3 trillion.

 # China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.

 # China now has the largest new car market in the world.

 # China now produces more than twice as many automobiles as the United States.

 # After being bailed out by US taxpayers, GM is involved in 11 joint ventures with Chinese companies.

 # China is the world's largest gold producer.

 # The US Olympic team uniforms were made in China.

 # 85% of all artificial Christmas trees in the world are made in China.

 # The new World Trade Center tower in New York features imported glass from China.

 # China now consumes more energy than the United States.

 # China is now overall the largest producer of goods worldwide.

 # China uses more cement than the rest of the world

I'm collecting and presenting these facts and numbers, not to make a statement against or for the U.S or the Western world in general, but to draw clear attention to what is China today and what might even happen in the future, I believe the U.S. and the world ought to look at China in different ways than the old classic look, and politics should follow and change from the past traditional ways, that has a lot of the old colonialist bias incorporated in it, a truly more global look with no absolute one sided leadership is the new rule, China and its people and leadership are showing great signs of responsibility in the way they're growing and becoming a true partner in leading the world and its common goals, Russia chose another way of classical behavior, war, invasion and brutality to maybe try and reach part of the same global sharing, and it's doomed to fail, let's be ourselves smarter and not push China into the same path. 

Let's not turn and build on our envious feelings and jealousy , more important let's not transform our envy and jealousy and our exaggerated sense of superiority into total cruelty and destruction.......

My usual many thanks to all my good readers, stay safe and well. 

TO SOME OF US...... THE OLDER ONES.

You know …… time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years.

It seems just yesterday that I was young and embarking on my new life. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went.
I know that I lived them all.
I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams.

However, here it is …… the last quarter of my life and it catches me by surprise.
How did I get here so fast?
Where did the years go and where did my youth go?

I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that I was only on the first quarter and that the fourth quarter was so far off that I could not visualize it or imagine fully what it would be like.

Yet, here it is …… my friends are retired and getting grey - they move slower and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me but I see the great change. They’re not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant …… but like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd become.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day and taking a nap is not a treat anymore. It's mandatory because if I don't of my own free will, I fall asleep where I sit.

And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did. But at least I know that, though I’m on the last quarter and I'm not sure how long it will last, that when it's over on this earth, it's over. A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done; things I should have done but truely there are many things I'm happy to have been done.
It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not on the last quarter yet, let me remind you that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life do it quickly.
Don't put things off too long. Life goes by so quickly.
So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether you're on the last quarter or not.

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of life. So, live for today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember - and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the past years.

‘Life’ is a gift to you.
Be Happy!
Have a great day!

Remember, it is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

You may think:

Going out is good - but coming home is better!

You forget names - but it's okay because some people forgot they even knew you!

You realize you're never going to be really good at anything like golf - but you like the outdoors!

The things you used to care to do, you aren't as interested in anymore - but you really don't care that you aren't as interested.

You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV on than in bed – you call it ‘pre-sleep’!

You miss the days when everything worked with just an ‘On’ and ‘Off’ switch!

You tend to use more 4 letter words – ‘what’ and ‘when’

You have lots of clothes in your wardrobe, more than half of which you will never wear – but just in case!

Old is good -
• Old is comfortable
• Old is safe
• Old songs
• Old movies
• …… and best of all,
• Friends of old!

So, stay well, ‘Old friend!’
Have a fantastic day!
Have an awesome quarter – whichever one you’re in!

It's not what you gather but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived. 

As always, many thanks to all...

LEBANON TODAY .....

At times we may be accused of promoting and believing in conspiracy theory, but the reality on the ground reinforces our position and our vision of political philosophy and public policy planning for countries. From the start, what was required was the complete destruction of Lebanon on the economic, cultural, political and societal levels. This project comes after the complete destruction of Syria. The goals are now known to everyone. The goal is to get rid of the confrontation states through internal destruction, after Israel's wars failed to achieve this goal.

350,000 depositors whose money was confiscated in Lebanon's public and private banks, those within the general framework cannot access their accounts and can only benefit from it a little as these banks allow. On the other hand, the country lacks the most basic necessities of life such as electricity, gas, medicine and water, in the most complex crisis that Lebanon has experienced since the civil war.

The exchange rate of the dollar in the Lebanese market also rose to record levels, reaching 39,000 Lebanese pounds per dollar. On the political level, the government formation is stuck and there are no prospects for a breakthrough soon. All of what has been mentioned may suggest that the country is slipping into more chaos and turmoil and a fire is burning under the ashes in preparation for a new round of chaos and the collapse of institutions and entering into a new cycle of violence and instability.

Few days ago, a Lebanese girl attacked a Lebanese bank with a weapon (it was later said that it was just a toy) and demanded to release her frozen balance in the bank. The story in its first lines comes in a natural context. The girl is considered compelled to do such work, especially since it is said that she has a sister who has cancer and is waiting for treatment on the hospital bed. However, if we go a little further in analyzing and linking the events to each other, it will become clear to us that there is preparation for a new round of violence and chaos in which regional and international players are interfering.

While President Michel Aoun is speaking positively about the border demarcation talks with Israel and how the new proposals and joint talks have secured great demands on the Lebanese side, today a fierce campaign is underway in Israeli circles to torpedo the agreement from its foundation. Of course, reliance in this file is on spreading chaos in Lebanon, starting by exploiting the needs of depositors and ending with the file of the Lebanese presidency.

Officials in Lebanon should not be overwhelmed with optimism in the demarcation file, as the battle is long and delicate, and they must understand the conspiracies being hatched against them and be civilized for all of them. The resistance has created a pivotal equation in the border demarcation process that everyone should benefit from, which is the equation of “oil and gas wealth or war.” Every Lebanese official should benefit from this equation to the maximum.

Lebanon, which is going through a systematic process of starvation against its people from regional and international players on one side, and Israel on the other, must know that the solution lies in the first place in the acquisition of oil and gas fields. These wealth will provide the country with enormous job opportunities, in addition to being a prelude to establishing a solid infrastructure that will provide Lebanon with gas and electricity. And then we will talk about exports and their positive impact on the citizen's livelihood.

In conclusion, do not go unnoticed by the new Israeli statements based on Israel's readiness to secure 10 percent of European gas this winter. Therefore, you, the Lebanese government and people, must be patient and maintain the new equation to benefit from Lebanon's wealth. "Our fortunes or war".

This analysis was written originally for Arab readers by Dr. H. Abul EZ, the translation and moderate adjustments to suit the blog by me. Thanking all my good readers for following up. 

WHILE WE PRESENT OUR RESPECTS TO THE VICTIMS, WE STOPED ASKING WHO AND WHY ....

 

The Triumph of the Official Narrative: How the TV Networks Hid the Twin Towers’ Explosive Demolition on 9/11 By Prof. Graeme MacQueen and Ted Walter Global Research, September 09, 2022 AE911Truth 8 September 2022

This article is the second installment of a two-part research project we began in July 2020 with the article “How 36 Reporters Brought Us the Twin Towers’ Explosive Demolition on 9/11.” In that article, our goal was to determine the prevalence, among television reporters on 9/11, of the hypothesis that explosions had brought down the Twin Towers. Through careful review of approximately 70 hours of news coverage on 11 different channels, we found that the explosion hypothesis was not only common among reporters but was, in fact, the dominant hypothesis. Our second question, which we set aside for the present article, was to determine how, despite its prevalence, the explosion hypothesis was supplanted by the hypothesis of fire-induced collapse. In this article, we shall concentrate not on reporters in the field, as in Part 1, but on the news anchors and their guests who were tasked with discovering and making sense of what was happening. As we trace the supplanting of the explosion hypothesis with the fire-induced collapse hypothesis, we witness the great shift toward what quickly became the Official Narrative. We do not see our task as trying to discover whether the Official Narrative of 9/11 is true or false. In the 21 years since the attacks took place, it has been proven beyond all reasonable doubt, we believe, that the Official Narrative is false. While we support and participate in the further accumulation of evidence for this position, as well as the presentation of this evidence to the public, we believe it is also important to look into how the triumph of the Official Narrative was accomplished. If we are able to discover this, we will greatly advance our understanding of the psychological operation conducted on September 11, 2001 — and, thus, our understanding of how other psychological operations are perpetrated on the public. Our Argument Our argument is that two strategies were employed to accomplish the triumph of the Official Narrative: (a) Where news anchors were sincerely dedicated to discovering the facts of the situation, Strategy One was employed. This strategy involved directly confronting the news anchor of the relevant network with an “expert” who would explain that the destruction of the Twin Towers was caused by structural failure induced by the airplane impact and the ensuing fires. This would allay concerns about reports of explosions in the towers and would domesticate the news anchor so that he or she would stop raising problematic questions. Of course, as we can see clearly today, these experts could not possibly have known what they so confidently proclaimed. In fact, we can now see that their explanations were simply wrong. But their interviews seem to have accomplished their goals on 9/11. To illustrate this strategy, we shall choose as our chief examples CNBC and CNN, whose anchors showed the most interest in the explosion hypothesis, and we will also look at CBS and NBC. (b) Strategy Two was used on all networks, regardless of the stance of the news anchors. This strategy involved developing two related narratives — two engaging, emotionally charged stories — that appeared to explain the day’s horrors and offered viewers a set of active responses. They were not scientific hypotheses and were not directly related to the destruction of the Twin Towers, but indirectly they appeared to favor the fire-induced collapse hypothesis more than the explosion hypothesis. By the end of the day, they had silenced the explosion hypothesis. The first of these two stories is what we shall call the War on Terror narrative. This grand narrative, resonant with older storied events, explained how the righteous, the civilized, the United States had been subjected to an act of war from the evil, the uncivilized, the terrorists supported by nations in the Middle East and Central Asia; and how American leaders must respond to this aggression with an initiative that was warlike on many levels. This narrative was articulated early (before noon on 9/11) and was repeated throughout the day. It established the foundations of the Global War on Terror. The second story is the Bin Laden narrative, which nested within the wider War on Terror narrative and was used to transform myth into plausible history. According to this narrative, an evil Saudi national based in Afghanistan had masterminded the attacks. It is extremely important to grasp the relationship between these two narratives and what may seem as detailed — even esoteric — facts about the destruction of the Twin Towers. If the buildings were destroyed by pre-planted explosives — as we believe has been demonstrated through years of research — the two narratives, however rational and moral they appeared to be to many television viewers, are profoundly misleading in their political analysis and profoundly immoral in their prescriptions. A very good assessment through a different angle, but factual and sober by two academic and research specialists.  As always my many thanks to all, stay safe and well.