Thanks Mark.

This one particularly interests me because it points to something broader.

Take for example us: A small group of people occupying a totally obscure newsgroup website which only exists because its funded by Dan to retain his sanity, yet we pretty much are unanimous in knowing by astute judgement which geopolitical sources are worthwhile and which are useless propaganda and to be honest make collectively good calls on that basis.

Sometimes I ask myself what makes the contrast: a bunch on nobodies who know whats happening and a bunch of somebodies such as the above with vast amounts of wealth and funding for research and all the possible political connections you might need to have your finger on the pulse.

Which proposes the first question and that of course is: "Do these people actually believe what they are saying?"

-I think that often they do.

Granting them a good allotment of intelligence, there's clearly something very different in the way we look at the world and the way these others do.

On that its obvious that a large part of their thought process involves not looking at the actual facts but squaring it with other matters, the first which is their own tendentiousness, the later financial remuneration: i.e. personal background and funding. In the case of "Institute for the Study of War" the background is anti-Soviet/Russian Lithuanian heritage of the neocon Kagans...the latter is the money from the military industrial complex. The outcome of thought under these meshed parameters is predictable.

The third part is intent.

Our "truth" is to properly understand what is actually happening but its easy to forget that theirs is to actually change that reality so far as they can.

Their standpoint is epitomised by the Karl Rove quote I mentioned below:

'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out."

Our truth is about fact: to understand what is happening... but theirs is geared quite differently towards intent: i.e. how can we understand this and explain it in a way that promotes our agenda?
But of course they are wrapped up in their game and quite unable to see the other players perspective.

In terms of understanding, we by far surpass them merely by acknowledging that there is still more than one player in this game. That Rove was wrong: history is not yet unipolar and created by one party.

In proof of that the failure to create the Rovian "new realities" in terms of Russia are manifold. The largest failure was of course a misjudgement of economic might: the believe that "sanctions" by themselves could destroy their opponent. Yet it was plain as day to those in the real world that any opponent self-sufficient in food, fuel and raw materials such as Russia could never be beaten by such means.
The next was that Russia could not prevail over the collective war machinery of the 45 nations opposed to it. Unfortunately they had lost sight of the fact that they were pitting a "for profit" military industrial complex against an existential one made for winning wars with extensive historical experience of turning its own raw materials into armaments.

Thirdly they were relying on Colonial empire myths that should have been exploded long ago: that the Russian people were backwards, badly educated: incapable of organised opposition: savage "orks". This of course has turned out to be ludicrously false.

So...where are we?

-At the most dangerous stage of all: The empire still refuses to acknowledge that it cannot stamp its way through the world as it thought it could.
Unfortunately its still working on the Rovian premise that it can "create its own realities" but the only tool left in the box is the poor proxy Ukrainian trenchfodder who are learning the hard way about the realities of Industrial war and Geopolitics.


Only Russia can end this war and it can only do so if the US shows honest compliance: paradoxically the only way the US can achieve this after so much deceit arrogance and dishonesty is by betraying the Ukrainian ally it has promised the world to.

The US has had no qualms about doing so in the past when necessary: but usually after years of procrastination and hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

I feel sorry for Ukraine: more so when I see in my minds eye the smirking face of Zelensky at the Minsk accords...laughing at Putin's frankness: believing he was a fool because with the assured backing of the west Zelensky clearly had no intention whatsoever of adhering to any peaceful settlement over Donbas.

Zelensky...not merely an actor completely out his depth but an amateur political fool who has managed to destroy an entire country: even against the wishes of the opponent it hates.

-What an achievement.

And the west? what a shower of shit we are.