Thank you, Caitlin. What brave people the Yeminis to stand against the machine that wants to obliterate Palestine, especially when they are under attack as well.
All you need to know is that Waltz blatantly lied about not knowing Jeffrey, Mr. IDF prison guard Goldberg, and it becomes clear what mental disturbance permeates the minds of both these bureaucrats and their acolytes.
Unkempt dark beard -- Dirty Arab terrorist
Eyes twitched the wrong way -- you terrorist scum
Breathed out of the wrong nostril -- aha, another terrorist
Support freedom fighters against Israeli murderers -- Mother-effer, you're numero uno on the terrorist list!
Reminder to myself: Just read today's Margaret Kimberley post in Black Agenda Report, great stuff as usual. She reminds us of the terrorist influence of the group, Columbia Alumni for Israel, undoubtedly including some of my old classmates, truly brilliant Zionist idiots -- and true terrorists. And Margaret also reminds us that Columbia's endowment is valued at $14.8 billion, yet there's no thought of fighting back when Donald Trump threatens to withhold $400 million in federal funding. Once again, screw you alma mater.
It's interesting that the media always refer the group as "The Houthis", trying to smear them a terrorist gangsters, whereas they are just the most prominent family and founders of a political resistance movement "Ansar Allah".
And of course the media fail to report that since the end of the civil war, the end of the British inspired and armed war with Saudi Arabia and the Arab Spring, the group is the de facto government of Yemen, while the "official" - i.e. recognised by 'the west' government, is powerless, holed up in Aden.
The UK still has an active military presence there, with frigates in the Red Sea, and likely troops on the ground as 'advisors' or 'trainers'. The East India Company navy first shelled Yemen to create "Aden" (as a coaling port for the India trade) in 1839 - so the British have now been at war with Yemen for, oh let me do the maths - 186 years. And we wonder why they are so damned uppity.
And the MSM makes no effort to even pronounce the name correctly! It’s not Hoothis. It’s HOU-TEES. There is no “th” sound in Arabic. ( If you’re thinking of Bethlehem, it’s actually Beit Leim.)
Hello Gypsy 33 (Pisces, righteous temper.... Couldn't be. Not a Pisces).
You are well versed in the old language. I was not aware of that spelling.
Well, I do think that as far as the corrupt, western media is concerned, the spelling and pronunciation of the names of all the terrorists throughout the world, the majority of who are not terrorists at all, is of little concern. It is to distract from the real terrorists, namely Israel and the USA, the likes of which we haven't seen in this world since 1939 and on.
Anyone who dare to fight the USA for example is a terrorist. Standard practice.
Remember the Auschwitz party some weeks ago. What absolute gall you would need to have to stand there among the internationally invited hundreds, sad eyes, tears, being asked to remember all their stories about the holocaust while at the same time the IDF rapists and snipers, populated with dual citizens from the very same western countries, kill innocent women and children while representing the enemy as Hamas.
Wrong. What is your basis for asserting this pronunciation? A non-local dialect of Arabic? All Arabian Peninsula pronunciation guides give the “th” in Houthi as very close to the “th” in the English word “booth”.
The "Houthi" terminology is straight from US DOD & CIA propaganda book. Its the term they use ....because they dont want to sall them Ansar Allah - they dont want anyone to ask questions about WHO are these people, what do they believe in, how do they behave? No we just get propagdana "Houthi rebels".
And the main stream media dont even have journalists anymore with regional or subject matter expertise to determine what the appropriate terms are or what are these people doing. And if they had them they still wouldnt care.
So what's in the "news" is basically govt propagdana sheets, with zero filter.
Its the same playbook by which the US govt refers to anyone they dont like as a "regime" and the media just parrot the term.
Strange that the Germans, who have been occupied for 80 years now, are so complacent when it comes to having their demographics, heritage and country destroyed isn't it?
The german complacency is historically inbred latest since Prussia took over 33 little Germanies. The Prussian King crowned himself Emperor of the 2. German Reich in Versailles in 1871. Complacency became a survival strategy also during the 3rd Reich. The 4th Reich is in the hands of the occupier.
"They would support literally anything Trump did for any reason whatsoever, because they are mindless infantile cultists and not free thinking adults."
So true. How many men (women) ever find a way to think for themselves? How many stand gaga eyed over some celebrity or political hero, without widening their perception of life enough to realize not everything they assume (or person they worship) is absolutely true?
How many go through life with self-inflicted blinders on?
Gg'day Jamenta. Indeed "they are mindless infantile cultists and not free thinking adults".
Here in Australia a campaign is underway to lower the voting age to 16, which has unsurprisingly, triggered a string of outrage and objections.
Those opposed to such a change use arguments such as "Teenagers lack the intelligence, insight and maturity to understand politics and cast an informed vote" and "Teenagers are said to be vulnerable and ripe for manipulation by politicians".
But since those objections apply to many 'adults' I know, does that mean that any person who wishes to vote ( which is compulsory here ) that maybe everybody going to vote must sit an IQ test?
G'day David. One does have to admit there is some truth to teenagers still not having fully developed maturity, which do involve continuing physiological developments of the teenage brain. So that "voting age" as is the "drinking age" or the "consenting adult" age is always somewhat of a bit of a social stickler. It's interesting too how the social mores are different throughout human history and cultures.
I like the idea of youth becoming more involved in politics, and there is an argument that could be made that the "old folks" who tend to be more politically engaged can have yet another bias that does not always prove useful to a society. God only knows, a good deal of our American politicians ought to be in Rest Homes rather than running the country. And many of them have just been flat out corrupt for decades.
So who do you trust in a democracy? Who gets to vote? Or is this the case that better to have some kind of voting public rather than some tyrant/dictator or Family that rules through every generation? Which is the better social politic? Sometimes Rulers can get things done that no Democracy of foolish voters could ever achieve. On the otherhand, Rulers can also be immorally and criminally corrupt. Who then decides who is in power, what rules a society is to live by? And surely, all civilizations depend on some kind of organized governance for the public good, and public social advancement of a country. The idea that a society can thrive with no rules at all, no regulations, no safety precautions is sheer bosh. Madness cooked up by billionaires who do not want any rules or regulations to hinder their unending avarice and neurotic power over others.
Jamenta, I think young people today are far more intelligent and informed than I was at that age - more years ago than I wish to admit - and these rankings of voting age, drinking age or age of consent vary from country to country and so would appear to be arbitrary lines drawn by adults.
These same 'adults' have seriously fucked up the world young people are inheriting, so I strongly believe they should have a say.
Would you deny Greta Thunberg the right to take the actions she did as a16 year old?
I'll add a link to a recent piece in Australian media from a man who holds a chair in Human Rights Law in the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne, in which he refutes the arguments against lowering the voting age:
The AVERAGE teen is not that smart, has little to no knowledge to base a decision on and most importantly is extremely subject to peer pressure and mass formation.
David, the question really wades into political theory, which I never spent much of my study time or book time on. (Spent more of my time in Psychology, Literature and Computers) As you say, consent for age varies from country to country, historical century by historical century.
At what point does youth take on the responsibility of adulthood? What is the best kind of government for a civilized society? Should someone smarter than Greta Thunberg decide whether she is allowed a platform to speak on or not? What censorship is good and what censorship is bad?
These are all areas of debate and political theory, which I can throw some of my uninformed opinion out upon, but I doubt would be able to match in argument - someone who is chair of the Melbourne Law School.
Passing a political policy literacy test would be a good idea. Some teens at 16 can argue well in defense of their beliefs, but the fact is that very few Western teens today have enough life experience and comparative knowledge to make an informed decision, just like most 'adults' as you stated.
Also, the human brain is not developed until at least the early 20s. If you can go die at 18, I believe you have a right to a voice though.
I turned 18 in 1970, when the voting age in Australia was 21. On my birthday I was required by law to register for the draft, to be sent off to Vietnam to be turned into dogfood in the service of Amerika. I didn't comply because I knew it was wrong and as far as I'm concerned teenagers today have the rights to have a say in their future that I was denied.
100% although today I mourn a little for Val Kilmer, not because I knew him or anything about his views, but because he was a pretty good actor who made a few enjoyable films. He was getting better as he aged as well.
"After two weeks of interacting with people who support Trump’s war I can confidently say that none of them know why the war is happening. They know it has something to do with the Houthis attacking ships in the Red Sea, but they never have any idea why those attacks started happening in the first place. They generally assume it’s because the Houthis are just plain evil and want to attack ships, or because Iran ordered them to do it in order to take over the middle east. The words “terrorists” and “pirates” come up a lot."
It doesn't matter. Supporters of the war support the war because they support Trump and the rationalization for that support flows from this basic fact.
If the only reason that could be articulated is that war is necessary because Houthis steal underpants, then they would support the war on those underpants thieves. If Biden were to have declared war on underpants thieving Houthis, Trumpers would proclaim the same rationale to be ridiculous. Until their hero did the same thing.
"Iran as sponsor of terrorism" is the same thing. What acts of terror exactly? 9/11? Nope, Sunni fanatics, sponsored and funded by Saudi Arabia and the Gulfie tyrannies.
Al Qaeda? Nope, Sunni fanatics, sponsored and funded by Saudi Arabia and the Gulfie tyrannies.
ISIS? Nope, Sunni fanatics, sponsored and funded by Saudi Arabia and the Gulfie tyrannies.
The Team D Cult does exactly the same thing, although, as the Front Row Kid party, Team D tend to have more glib rationalizations.
* Warning* Deadly Zionist killing, average is 40 a day now. I am afraid of especially the 3 year old Hamas Terrorists * Every day I say it can't get worse. Watched what I think was a grieving father video in Palestine early this morning. It was a beheaded baby 3 or less, missing limb parts, and the man was saying something while shaking the dead baby in the air outside the hospital like Do they have no God? I say Cancel Israel and it's supporters. Off to now listen to this Tim and Caity propaganda to make me happy. Make Palestine Again. BDS etc. Get to work for all. Help Wanted.
I like to point out to the Trump sycophants that there is an international treaty against genocide - that Trump and Israel have violated numerous times. And the actions of Iran, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon on behalf of Palestine are actually in keeping with the treaty.
This is not new Ms. Johnston. I remember when American youth were forced to attack the Korean people and the Vietnamese people. The compulsory military draft in the U.S. forced young Americans into those wars against Asian people. Wars in countries which the average American knew nothing about and could not locate on the planet.
There was no sizable resistance within the U.S. against the war on Koreans. In the case of the war against the Vietnamese people there was no serious resistance in the U.S. until American mothers began to pick up their son's bodies in plastic bags returned from Vietnam. Then there was sizable resistance.
In those American attacks on Asians the work was not done exclusively by pilots flying over their targets and dropping devastating bombs to do the killing by remote means; as is the case in Yemen. In those attacks on Koreans and Vietnamese, American soldiers were required to fight on the ground against Asians.
And those Asians were formidable fighters. The U.S. failed to win its war on the Koreans and a truce was eventually declared, a cessation of fighting. Technically we are still at war with Korea. The U.S. was defeated in Vietnam and the Vietnamese people took over control of their country and determined their own destiny.
The general explanation for why the U.S. was at war with those Asian countries was the so called "Domino effect." If the U.S. did not prevent those countries from choosing socialist governments, then it was claimed that eventually, in quick succession all Asian countries would choose socialist governments. Like dominos falling over against one another. The word socialist was not the preferred word used in the U.S. mainstream media. The MSM used the word communist instead which was part of the communist conspiracy lunacy of senator Joe McCarthy and his paranoid movement.
Those American boys who went to fight, kill and be killed far from home, on the flimsiest of pretexts should not all be painted with the same brush. Some of them were gung-ho, willing killers. But most were reluctantly doing what they misleadingly believed to be their patriotic duty; and, sadly, many lost their lives doing it. Those American boys who fought in Asia performed well as soldiers. It was the Evil Empire which threw them to the devil which failed.
What is going on in Yemen is not new. The U.S. Empire is on its last legs. But it is still lethal. Whether or not anything geopolitically useful for the U.S. is being accomplished in Yemen is doubtful.
>>"The word socialist was not the preferred word used in the U.S. mainstream media. The MSM used the word communist instead which was part of the communist conspiracy lunacy of senator Joe McCarthy and his paranoid movement."
That's what they'd like you to believe. But if I remember the number correctly it was something like almost 90% of all Koreans wanted to form a government with the North Koreans in 1950... But of course the West (particularly the US) didn't want another Communist government in the world since China had just turned Red. Another thing they don't want you to know is how much the US destroyed North Korea (and a good part of what would become South Korea). If you think photos of Gaza look bad with all the rubble... Try doubling or tripling that amount of destruction of habitations and you'll have what the US did to North Korea. (My dad served in the Marines there in 1950-52, was wounded twice, medivac-ed to Tokyo, had his legs put back together with metal pins and limped painfully the rest of his life. He returned to S. Korea many decades later to see what all had become of the country that he knew so little about as a 17 year old recruit in 1950. He always hated war after his service, and did his best as a college professor and minister to keep boys from being sent over to Vietnam. He realized after his service that "war is a racket" for rich men to make profits at the poor people's expense.)
South Korea had no legal or popular basis whatsoever. It didn’t exist until the US unilaterally imposed it. The comprador South Korean government was extremely unpopular prior to the Korean War.
The USA true to form, after a war of utter devastation on the Korean people - and unable to win - forced them into the North and South. It tried to do the same in Vietnam but Ho Chi Min wouldn't have any of it! And chased out the Americans. As they did with the French.
ouch. - i did a deepseek - first academic history, then from a communist perspective (with some personal preferences):
The Korean War: A Communist Perspective on Causes, Responsibilities, and Southern Atrocities
The Korean War (1950–1953) is often misrepresented in bourgeois historiography as a "communist invasion" of the South. From a Marxist-Leninist standpoint, the conflict was a revolutionary struggle for national liberation against U.S. imperialism and its puppet regime under Syngman Rhee, whose brutal dictatorship provoked popular resistance and necessitated the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to defend Korean sovereignty. Below is an analysis grounded in anti-imperialist scholarship and declassified archival evidence.
1. Historical Context: U.S. Imperialism Divides Korea
The division of Korea at the 38th parallel in 1945 was an imperialist imposition by the United States and Soviet Union, but the U.S. occupation sabotaged reunification. While the DPRK under Kim Il-sung swiftly organized People’s Committees—grassroots socialist governments that redistributed land and industrial assets—the U.S. military government in the South (1945–1948) systematically repressed leftist movements. Over 70% of Koreans supported socialism, yet the U.S. installed Syngman Rhee, a reactionary exile with no popular base, to create a capitalist puppet state.
Syngman Rhee’s Appointment: Rhee was handpicked by the U.S. despite his collaboration with Japanese colonialists and opposition to Korean independence. The 1948 "elections" in the South, held under martial law and boycotted by leftist parties, were a sham to legitimize Rhee’s dictatorship. The U.S. suppressed the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence (CPKI), which had broad support, and banned the Workers’ Party of South Korea.
2. Southern Atrocities: Fascist Repression and Massacres
Rhee’s regime, backed by U.S. arms and advisors, waged a campaign of terror to crush dissent:
Jeju Uprising (1948–1949): When 60,000 islanders protested the division of Korea and Rhee’s rigged elections, U.S.-trained South Korean forces slaughtered 30,000 civilians (10% of Jeju’s population), branding them "communist sympathizers." U.S. officers oversaw the scorched-earth operations.
Bodo League Massacre (1950–1951): Rhee’s regime compiled lists of over 300,000 suspected leftists, including women and children, and executed at least 100,000 without trial. Mass graves were later uncovered near Daejeon and Busan.
Labor and Peasant Suppression: Strikes by workers demanding land reform were met with executions. The Yeosu-Suncheon Rebellion (1948), led by soldiers refusing to attack Jeju, was crushed with U.S. military aid, leaving 3,000 dead.
These atrocities exposed Rhee’s regime as a fascist entity, sustained only by U.S. patronage.
3. Revolutionary Resistance in the South
The Southern masses, inspired by the DPRK’s socialist reforms, organized guerrilla movements:
Partisan Armies: By 1950, over 30,000 guerrillas operated in the South’s mountains, coordinating with the DPRK to overthrow Rhee. The U.S. labeled them "bandits" but acknowledged their widespread support.
Worker-Peasant Alliances: Landlords and collaborators (many ex-Japanese collaborators) reclaimed redistributed land, sparking peasant revolts. The DPRK’s promise of land reform galvanized Southern rural support.
4. Causes of the War: Defense Against Imperialist Aggression
The DPRK’s advance on June 25, 1950, was a defensive response to:
Southern Provocations: Rhee’s regime, emboldened by U.S. promises, launched over 2,000 border incursions in 1949–1950, including the Haeju Massacre (June 1949), killing 600 Northern civilians.
U.S. Nuclear Threats: Declassified documents reveal Truman’s 1950 plan to nuke North Korea if China intervened.
Kim Il-sung’s Revolutionary Duty: As leader of the Korean revolution, Kim acted to liberate the South from U.S. occupation and reunify the nation under socialist principles.
5. U.S. Imperialist Escalation and War Crimes
The U.S. intervention, masked as a "UN police action," committed unprecedented atrocities:
Carpet Bombing: The U.S. dropped 635,000 tons of bombs (including napalm) on Korea, more than in the entire Pacific Theater of WWII. Over 85% of Northern cities were obliterated, killing 1.2 million civilians.
Biological Warfare: Declassified Soviet and Chinese evidence confirms U.S. testing of anthrax and plague-infested insects on Korean civilians.
6. Responsibility and Legacy
Primary Culprits: The U.S. imperialists and their Rhee puppets bear full responsibility for dividing Korea and instigating war. The DPRK’s actions were a legitimate defense of Korean self-determination.
Heroic Chinese Intervention: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, entering in October 1950, thwarted U.S. plans to colonize all Korea, safeguarding the socialist revolution.
Enduring Revolution: The war consolidated the DPRK’s independence and exposed the brutality of U.S. imperialism, inspiring anti-colonial movements globally.
Conclusion
The Korean War was not a "civil war" but a national liberation struggle against U.S. imperialist occupation. Syngman Rhee’s regime, a fascist proxy, massacred its own people to suppress socialist aspirations. The DPRK, backed by socialist internationalism, fought to free the South from exploitation. Today, the unresolved war underscores the necessity of dismantling U.S. militarism and achieving Korea’s reunification under Juche socialism.
I suppose that by "seemingly unable", one should rightfully infer "uninterested". If you examine repeated instances of Homo in its most out-of-control states of aggression, you'd be justified in entirely denying the existence of any cognitive apparatus whatsoever.
When the Trump cult finally realizes whats being done to them, their heads will explode, but it'll be too late. Trump could stand on 5th Ave in NY and shoot a Palestinian child in the head, they would cheer him.
(not so) great apes. maybe being aware of that, is a start to getting us to 'good' apes. i suspect those spectacular bipeds thought admiration is not very 'productive'.
Great example. I had a friend who grew up in Mussolini's Italy and told us how they idolized the guy, himself included; had pics of himself as a giovano fascisto, one of Mussi's young fascists.
Mr. Hitler was a bone fide war hero and a great orator which is why the NSDAP chose him as their spokesperson. I put it to you that you are completely ignorant as to who started WW II, (Wall Street Juden in 1933), who promulgated the war, (Winston Churchill, a kike raised alongside the Rothschild children and sponsored his entire life by the Rothschild family), there was no 'Jewish holocaust'.
Use the interwebs and avail yourself of some verifiable historical facts.
The “western” public is already decades deep in indoctrination with a very clear mantra: “ Arab Muslims evil just because - must be bombed - at all costs” :
The reason people don't know is that their jobs depend on them not knowing. I have family members who parrot MI6 lies for breakfast, lunch and dinner because they have to virtue signal. They have no clue of the truth or if they do, then they are absolute evil.
Those of us who had to make choices between commitment to truth and having a highly paid career are more aware of the costs of knowing the truth. Of course, if you have no conscience, are fundamentally evil, you can know the truth and not care. But if you have a conscience, going to work to tell evil lies every day will rapidly drive you completely crazy.
DAWN has urged the ICC prosecutor to investigate and prosecute former President Biden, State Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin for their personal roles in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza as part of his ongoing investigation into the situations in Palestine since 2014.
Let’s give them our support. Maybe they will expand their complaint to include this latest US administration, and include all the leaders of the western nations supporting this genocide.
Thank you, Caitlin. What brave people the Yeminis to stand against the machine that wants to obliterate Palestine, especially when they are under attack as well.
they also do a gathering of like a million protesters every few months.
Every week. Every Friday.
All you need to know is that Waltz blatantly lied about not knowing Jeffrey, Mr. IDF prison guard Goldberg, and it becomes clear what mental disturbance permeates the minds of both these bureaucrats and their acolytes.
Unkempt dark beard -- Dirty Arab terrorist
Eyes twitched the wrong way -- you terrorist scum
Breathed out of the wrong nostril -- aha, another terrorist
Support freedom fighters against Israeli murderers -- Mother-effer, you're numero uno on the terrorist list!
Reminder to myself: Just read today's Margaret Kimberley post in Black Agenda Report, great stuff as usual. She reminds us of the terrorist influence of the group, Columbia Alumni for Israel, undoubtedly including some of my old classmates, truly brilliant Zionist idiots -- and true terrorists. And Margaret also reminds us that Columbia's endowment is valued at $14.8 billion, yet there's no thought of fighting back when Donald Trump threatens to withhold $400 million in federal funding. Once again, screw you alma mater.
It's interesting that the media always refer the group as "The Houthis", trying to smear them a terrorist gangsters, whereas they are just the most prominent family and founders of a political resistance movement "Ansar Allah".
And of course the media fail to report that since the end of the civil war, the end of the British inspired and armed war with Saudi Arabia and the Arab Spring, the group is the de facto government of Yemen, while the "official" - i.e. recognised by 'the west' government, is powerless, holed up in Aden.
The UK still has an active military presence there, with frigates in the Red Sea, and likely troops on the ground as 'advisors' or 'trainers'. The East India Company navy first shelled Yemen to create "Aden" (as a coaling port for the India trade) in 1839 - so the British have now been at war with Yemen for, oh let me do the maths - 186 years. And we wonder why they are so damned uppity.
Hi Chris
And the MSM makes no effort to even pronounce the name correctly! It’s not Hoothis. It’s HOU-TEES. There is no “th” sound in Arabic. ( If you’re thinking of Bethlehem, it’s actually Beit Leim.)
Hello Gypsy 33 (Pisces, righteous temper.... Couldn't be. Not a Pisces).
You are well versed in the old language. I was not aware of that spelling.
Well, I do think that as far as the corrupt, western media is concerned, the spelling and pronunciation of the names of all the terrorists throughout the world, the majority of who are not terrorists at all, is of little concern. It is to distract from the real terrorists, namely Israel and the USA, the likes of which we haven't seen in this world since 1939 and on.
Anyone who dare to fight the USA for example is a terrorist. Standard practice.
Remember the Auschwitz party some weeks ago. What absolute gall you would need to have to stand there among the internationally invited hundreds, sad eyes, tears, being asked to remember all their stories about the holocaust while at the same time the IDF rapists and snipers, populated with dual citizens from the very same western countries, kill innocent women and children while representing the enemy as Hamas.
The greatest act of hypocrisy in my lifetime.
Wrong. What is your basis for asserting this pronunciation? A non-local dialect of Arabic? All Arabian Peninsula pronunciation guides give the “th” in Houthi as very close to the “th” in the English word “booth”.
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-word-Houthi-pronounced-hoot-tee-and-not-hoo-thee/answer/David-Harris-166
The "Houthi" terminology is straight from US DOD & CIA propaganda book. Its the term they use ....because they dont want to sall them Ansar Allah - they dont want anyone to ask questions about WHO are these people, what do they believe in, how do they behave? No we just get propagdana "Houthi rebels".
And the main stream media dont even have journalists anymore with regional or subject matter expertise to determine what the appropriate terms are or what are these people doing. And if they had them they still wouldnt care.
So what's in the "news" is basically govt propagdana sheets, with zero filter.
Its the same playbook by which the US govt refers to anyone they dont like as a "regime" and the media just parrot the term.
Strange that the Germans, who have been occupied for 80 years now, are so complacent when it comes to having their demographics, heritage and country destroyed isn't it?
The german complacency is historically inbred latest since Prussia took over 33 little Germanies. The Prussian King crowned himself Emperor of the 2. German Reich in Versailles in 1871. Complacency became a survival strategy also during the 3rd Reich. The 4th Reich is in the hands of the occupier.
"They would support literally anything Trump did for any reason whatsoever, because they are mindless infantile cultists and not free thinking adults."
So true. How many men (women) ever find a way to think for themselves? How many stand gaga eyed over some celebrity or political hero, without widening their perception of life enough to realize not everything they assume (or person they worship) is absolutely true?
How many go through life with self-inflicted blinders on?
Gaga-eyed with self-inflicted blinders. Well said, jamenta!
Gg'day Jamenta. Indeed "they are mindless infantile cultists and not free thinking adults".
Here in Australia a campaign is underway to lower the voting age to 16, which has unsurprisingly, triggered a string of outrage and objections.
Those opposed to such a change use arguments such as "Teenagers lack the intelligence, insight and maturity to understand politics and cast an informed vote" and "Teenagers are said to be vulnerable and ripe for manipulation by politicians".
But since those objections apply to many 'adults' I know, does that mean that any person who wishes to vote ( which is compulsory here ) that maybe everybody going to vote must sit an IQ test?
Personally, I think that might be a good idea.
G'day David. One does have to admit there is some truth to teenagers still not having fully developed maturity, which do involve continuing physiological developments of the teenage brain. So that "voting age" as is the "drinking age" or the "consenting adult" age is always somewhat of a bit of a social stickler. It's interesting too how the social mores are different throughout human history and cultures.
I like the idea of youth becoming more involved in politics, and there is an argument that could be made that the "old folks" who tend to be more politically engaged can have yet another bias that does not always prove useful to a society. God only knows, a good deal of our American politicians ought to be in Rest Homes rather than running the country. And many of them have just been flat out corrupt for decades.
So who do you trust in a democracy? Who gets to vote? Or is this the case that better to have some kind of voting public rather than some tyrant/dictator or Family that rules through every generation? Which is the better social politic? Sometimes Rulers can get things done that no Democracy of foolish voters could ever achieve. On the otherhand, Rulers can also be immorally and criminally corrupt. Who then decides who is in power, what rules a society is to live by? And surely, all civilizations depend on some kind of organized governance for the public good, and public social advancement of a country. The idea that a society can thrive with no rules at all, no regulations, no safety precautions is sheer bosh. Madness cooked up by billionaires who do not want any rules or regulations to hinder their unending avarice and neurotic power over others.
Jamenta, I think young people today are far more intelligent and informed than I was at that age - more years ago than I wish to admit - and these rankings of voting age, drinking age or age of consent vary from country to country and so would appear to be arbitrary lines drawn by adults.
These same 'adults' have seriously fucked up the world young people are inheriting, so I strongly believe they should have a say.
Would you deny Greta Thunberg the right to take the actions she did as a16 year old?
I'll add a link to a recent piece in Australian media from a man who holds a chair in Human Rights Law in the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne, in which he refutes the arguments against lowering the voting age:
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/federal-election-2025/2025/04/01/voting-age-16-australia
The AVERAGE teen is not that smart, has little to no knowledge to base a decision on and most importantly is extremely subject to peer pressure and mass formation.
is there very much difference with the average grown-up?
David, the question really wades into political theory, which I never spent much of my study time or book time on. (Spent more of my time in Psychology, Literature and Computers) As you say, consent for age varies from country to country, historical century by historical century.
At what point does youth take on the responsibility of adulthood? What is the best kind of government for a civilized society? Should someone smarter than Greta Thunberg decide whether she is allowed a platform to speak on or not? What censorship is good and what censorship is bad?
These are all areas of debate and political theory, which I can throw some of my uninformed opinion out upon, but I doubt would be able to match in argument - someone who is chair of the Melbourne Law School.
Thanks for the link however! heh.
Cheers, let me know if you find someone smarter than Greta.
"Should someone smarter than Greta Thunberg decide ..." - do you mean to say she decides anything?
This why initially the armed forces were independent of the government. They work for the country not the state.
Burkina Faso is an outstanding example of how the theory has been put into practice.
Oh, that I should ever be so lucky as to have someone of President Captain Ibrahim Traoré calibre arise in my land to seize the reigns!
Passing a political policy literacy test would be a good idea. Some teens at 16 can argue well in defense of their beliefs, but the fact is that very few Western teens today have enough life experience and comparative knowledge to make an informed decision, just like most 'adults' as you stated.
Also, the human brain is not developed until at least the early 20s. If you can go die at 18, I believe you have a right to a voice though.
I turned 18 in 1970, when the voting age in Australia was 21. On my birthday I was required by law to register for the draft, to be sent off to Vietnam to be turned into dogfood in the service of Amerika. I didn't comply because I knew it was wrong and as far as I'm concerned teenagers today have the rights to have a say in their future that I was denied.
100% although today I mourn a little for Val Kilmer, not because I knew him or anything about his views, but because he was a pretty good actor who made a few enjoyable films. He was getting better as he aged as well.
"After two weeks of interacting with people who support Trump’s war I can confidently say that none of them know why the war is happening. They know it has something to do with the Houthis attacking ships in the Red Sea, but they never have any idea why those attacks started happening in the first place. They generally assume it’s because the Houthis are just plain evil and want to attack ships, or because Iran ordered them to do it in order to take over the middle east. The words “terrorists” and “pirates” come up a lot."
It doesn't matter. Supporters of the war support the war because they support Trump and the rationalization for that support flows from this basic fact.
If the only reason that could be articulated is that war is necessary because Houthis steal underpants, then they would support the war on those underpants thieves. If Biden were to have declared war on underpants thieving Houthis, Trumpers would proclaim the same rationale to be ridiculous. Until their hero did the same thing.
"Iran as sponsor of terrorism" is the same thing. What acts of terror exactly? 9/11? Nope, Sunni fanatics, sponsored and funded by Saudi Arabia and the Gulfie tyrannies.
Al Qaeda? Nope, Sunni fanatics, sponsored and funded by Saudi Arabia and the Gulfie tyrannies.
ISIS? Nope, Sunni fanatics, sponsored and funded by Saudi Arabia and the Gulfie tyrannies.
The Team D Cult does exactly the same thing, although, as the Front Row Kid party, Team D tend to have more glib rationalizations.
Does someone own the D & R cults? U$A #1 (repeat).
Yeah, the D & R cults have owners. They're called "billionaire donors".
* Warning* Deadly Zionist killing, average is 40 a day now. I am afraid of especially the 3 year old Hamas Terrorists * Every day I say it can't get worse. Watched what I think was a grieving father video in Palestine early this morning. It was a beheaded baby 3 or less, missing limb parts, and the man was saying something while shaking the dead baby in the air outside the hospital like Do they have no God? I say Cancel Israel and it's supporters. Off to now listen to this Tim and Caity propaganda to make me happy. Make Palestine Again. BDS etc. Get to work for all. Help Wanted.
Hi Chuck
I’ve been BDS-ing for years. It’s important to contact these corporations and tell them WHY!
I like to point out to the Trump sycophants that there is an international treaty against genocide - that Trump and Israel have violated numerous times. And the actions of Iran, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon on behalf of Palestine are actually in keeping with the treaty.
Great good point David Korabell.
Pepe Escobar (U-Tube) has just come back from Yemen. Please watch this.
Jackson Hinkle will be on MOATSTV and other spots with G.Galloway at 2 E.S.T. TODAY Live back from Yemen.
This is not new Ms. Johnston. I remember when American youth were forced to attack the Korean people and the Vietnamese people. The compulsory military draft in the U.S. forced young Americans into those wars against Asian people. Wars in countries which the average American knew nothing about and could not locate on the planet.
There was no sizable resistance within the U.S. against the war on Koreans. In the case of the war against the Vietnamese people there was no serious resistance in the U.S. until American mothers began to pick up their son's bodies in plastic bags returned from Vietnam. Then there was sizable resistance.
In those American attacks on Asians the work was not done exclusively by pilots flying over their targets and dropping devastating bombs to do the killing by remote means; as is the case in Yemen. In those attacks on Koreans and Vietnamese, American soldiers were required to fight on the ground against Asians.
And those Asians were formidable fighters. The U.S. failed to win its war on the Koreans and a truce was eventually declared, a cessation of fighting. Technically we are still at war with Korea. The U.S. was defeated in Vietnam and the Vietnamese people took over control of their country and determined their own destiny.
The general explanation for why the U.S. was at war with those Asian countries was the so called "Domino effect." If the U.S. did not prevent those countries from choosing socialist governments, then it was claimed that eventually, in quick succession all Asian countries would choose socialist governments. Like dominos falling over against one another. The word socialist was not the preferred word used in the U.S. mainstream media. The MSM used the word communist instead which was part of the communist conspiracy lunacy of senator Joe McCarthy and his paranoid movement.
Those American boys who went to fight, kill and be killed far from home, on the flimsiest of pretexts should not all be painted with the same brush. Some of them were gung-ho, willing killers. But most were reluctantly doing what they misleadingly believed to be their patriotic duty; and, sadly, many lost their lives doing it. Those American boys who fought in Asia performed well as soldiers. It was the Evil Empire which threw them to the devil which failed.
What is going on in Yemen is not new. The U.S. Empire is on its last legs. But it is still lethal. Whether or not anything geopolitically useful for the U.S. is being accomplished in Yemen is doubtful.
>>"The word socialist was not the preferred word used in the U.S. mainstream media. The MSM used the word communist instead which was part of the communist conspiracy lunacy of senator Joe McCarthy and his paranoid movement."
Well said!
North Korea surprise attacked South Korea in an attempt to conquer and subjugate it. If that isn't self defense, what is?
That's what they'd like you to believe. But if I remember the number correctly it was something like almost 90% of all Koreans wanted to form a government with the North Koreans in 1950... But of course the West (particularly the US) didn't want another Communist government in the world since China had just turned Red. Another thing they don't want you to know is how much the US destroyed North Korea (and a good part of what would become South Korea). If you think photos of Gaza look bad with all the rubble... Try doubling or tripling that amount of destruction of habitations and you'll have what the US did to North Korea. (My dad served in the Marines there in 1950-52, was wounded twice, medivac-ed to Tokyo, had his legs put back together with metal pins and limped painfully the rest of his life. He returned to S. Korea many decades later to see what all had become of the country that he knew so little about as a 17 year old recruit in 1950. He always hated war after his service, and did his best as a college professor and minister to keep boys from being sent over to Vietnam. He realized after his service that "war is a racket" for rich men to make profits at the poor people's expense.)
South Korea had no legal or popular basis whatsoever. It didn’t exist until the US unilaterally imposed it. The comprador South Korean government was extremely unpopular prior to the Korean War.
The USA true to form, after a war of utter devastation on the Korean people - and unable to win - forced them into the North and South. It tried to do the same in Vietnam but Ho Chi Min wouldn't have any of it! And chased out the Americans. As they did with the French.
ouch. - i did a deepseek - first academic history, then from a communist perspective (with some personal preferences):
The Korean War: A Communist Perspective on Causes, Responsibilities, and Southern Atrocities
The Korean War (1950–1953) is often misrepresented in bourgeois historiography as a "communist invasion" of the South. From a Marxist-Leninist standpoint, the conflict was a revolutionary struggle for national liberation against U.S. imperialism and its puppet regime under Syngman Rhee, whose brutal dictatorship provoked popular resistance and necessitated the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to defend Korean sovereignty. Below is an analysis grounded in anti-imperialist scholarship and declassified archival evidence.
1. Historical Context: U.S. Imperialism Divides Korea
The division of Korea at the 38th parallel in 1945 was an imperialist imposition by the United States and Soviet Union, but the U.S. occupation sabotaged reunification. While the DPRK under Kim Il-sung swiftly organized People’s Committees—grassroots socialist governments that redistributed land and industrial assets—the U.S. military government in the South (1945–1948) systematically repressed leftist movements. Over 70% of Koreans supported socialism, yet the U.S. installed Syngman Rhee, a reactionary exile with no popular base, to create a capitalist puppet state.
Syngman Rhee’s Appointment: Rhee was handpicked by the U.S. despite his collaboration with Japanese colonialists and opposition to Korean independence. The 1948 "elections" in the South, held under martial law and boycotted by leftist parties, were a sham to legitimize Rhee’s dictatorship. The U.S. suppressed the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence (CPKI), which had broad support, and banned the Workers’ Party of South Korea.
2. Southern Atrocities: Fascist Repression and Massacres
Rhee’s regime, backed by U.S. arms and advisors, waged a campaign of terror to crush dissent:
Jeju Uprising (1948–1949): When 60,000 islanders protested the division of Korea and Rhee’s rigged elections, U.S.-trained South Korean forces slaughtered 30,000 civilians (10% of Jeju’s population), branding them "communist sympathizers." U.S. officers oversaw the scorched-earth operations.
Bodo League Massacre (1950–1951): Rhee’s regime compiled lists of over 300,000 suspected leftists, including women and children, and executed at least 100,000 without trial. Mass graves were later uncovered near Daejeon and Busan.
Labor and Peasant Suppression: Strikes by workers demanding land reform were met with executions. The Yeosu-Suncheon Rebellion (1948), led by soldiers refusing to attack Jeju, was crushed with U.S. military aid, leaving 3,000 dead.
These atrocities exposed Rhee’s regime as a fascist entity, sustained only by U.S. patronage.
3. Revolutionary Resistance in the South
The Southern masses, inspired by the DPRK’s socialist reforms, organized guerrilla movements:
Partisan Armies: By 1950, over 30,000 guerrillas operated in the South’s mountains, coordinating with the DPRK to overthrow Rhee. The U.S. labeled them "bandits" but acknowledged their widespread support.
Worker-Peasant Alliances: Landlords and collaborators (many ex-Japanese collaborators) reclaimed redistributed land, sparking peasant revolts. The DPRK’s promise of land reform galvanized Southern rural support.
4. Causes of the War: Defense Against Imperialist Aggression
The DPRK’s advance on June 25, 1950, was a defensive response to:
Southern Provocations: Rhee’s regime, emboldened by U.S. promises, launched over 2,000 border incursions in 1949–1950, including the Haeju Massacre (June 1949), killing 600 Northern civilians.
U.S. Nuclear Threats: Declassified documents reveal Truman’s 1950 plan to nuke North Korea if China intervened.
Kim Il-sung’s Revolutionary Duty: As leader of the Korean revolution, Kim acted to liberate the South from U.S. occupation and reunify the nation under socialist principles.
5. U.S. Imperialist Escalation and War Crimes
The U.S. intervention, masked as a "UN police action," committed unprecedented atrocities:
Carpet Bombing: The U.S. dropped 635,000 tons of bombs (including napalm) on Korea, more than in the entire Pacific Theater of WWII. Over 85% of Northern cities were obliterated, killing 1.2 million civilians.
Biological Warfare: Declassified Soviet and Chinese evidence confirms U.S. testing of anthrax and plague-infested insects on Korean civilians.
6. Responsibility and Legacy
Primary Culprits: The U.S. imperialists and their Rhee puppets bear full responsibility for dividing Korea and instigating war. The DPRK’s actions were a legitimate defense of Korean self-determination.
Heroic Chinese Intervention: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, entering in October 1950, thwarted U.S. plans to colonize all Korea, safeguarding the socialist revolution.
Enduring Revolution: The war consolidated the DPRK’s independence and exposed the brutality of U.S. imperialism, inspiring anti-colonial movements globally.
Conclusion
The Korean War was not a "civil war" but a national liberation struggle against U.S. imperialist occupation. Syngman Rhee’s regime, a fascist proxy, massacred its own people to suppress socialist aspirations. The DPRK, backed by socialist internationalism, fought to free the South from exploitation. Today, the unresolved war underscores the necessity of dismantling U.S. militarism and achieving Korea’s reunification under Juche socialism.
Martin, Thank you for reminding us of the true history of how the Korean people came to be divided.
The peanut gallery always cheers for wars. What kind of a species are we!
A genuinely disappointing one with a giant cognitive apparatus seemingly unable to rein-in its reptilian impulses toward aggression
Unable? Uninterested. Their only value is "winning".
I suppose that by "seemingly unable", one should rightfully infer "uninterested". If you examine repeated instances of Homo in its most out-of-control states of aggression, you'd be justified in entirely denying the existence of any cognitive apparatus whatsoever.
When the Trump cult finally realizes whats being done to them, their heads will explode, but it'll be too late. Trump could stand on 5th Ave in NY and shoot a Palestinian child in the head, they would cheer him.
No, the Trump Cult will rationalize their betrayal, over and over.
The process is called "cognitive dissonance" and it is abundantly documented.
You're probably right, I was hoping they had a soul but I guess they don't.
Not really different from any other humans.
Any other humans???
Including Caitlin and you???
Then what are we doing here???
That fact would make this place a complete waste of time and effort.
I’ve encountered some spectacular “bipeds” in my time.
Not human???
Maybe monkeys???
If what you say is true, then all humans, which implies all Jews, are shit.
I don’t think that we’re allowed to say that here.
I’m hope that you’re mistaken, and you just haven’t met a good biped, yet.
But, maybe I’ve just been a fooled fool.
Cats are famously resistant to being herded.
Herded yes, but they can be well trained.
(not so) great apes. maybe being aware of that, is a start to getting us to 'good' apes. i suspect those spectacular bipeds thought admiration is not very 'productive'.
I never asked the spectaculars what they thought.
Guess I didn’t think to.
Did the Biden Cult kill too many Palestinians?
I am not sure what you are getting at, although I will add that I wrote not a syllable in praise of the old halfwit.
He could sodomize and eat a baby on livestream and they would cheer him.
Sad but probably true statement. The propaganda "Kool-Aid" cultists partake of really kills the brain cells.
That explosion won't happen.
My aunt had a German neighbor who said Hitler was misunderstood.
Great example. I had a friend who grew up in Mussolini's Italy and told us how they idolized the guy, himself included; had pics of himself as a giovano fascisto, one of Mussi's young fascists.
Mr. Hitler was a bone fide war hero and a great orator which is why the NSDAP chose him as their spokesperson. I put it to you that you are completely ignorant as to who started WW II, (Wall Street Juden in 1933), who promulgated the war, (Winston Churchill, a kike raised alongside the Rothschild children and sponsored his entire life by the Rothschild family), there was no 'Jewish holocaust'.
Use the interwebs and avail yourself of some verifiable historical facts.
Blocked.
The “western” public is already decades deep in indoctrination with a very clear mantra: “ Arab Muslims evil just because - must be bombed - at all costs” :
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2023/IraqWarCosts
So what’s a few more heathen towelheads and couple more bucks:
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2024/us-spending-israel-s-military-operations-and-related-us-operations-region-least-2276
Does the western public even need a reason then ? No - of course not.
The reason people don't know is that their jobs depend on them not knowing. I have family members who parrot MI6 lies for breakfast, lunch and dinner because they have to virtue signal. They have no clue of the truth or if they do, then they are absolute evil.
Those of us who had to make choices between commitment to truth and having a highly paid career are more aware of the costs of knowing the truth. Of course, if you have no conscience, are fundamentally evil, you can know the truth and not care. But if you have a conscience, going to work to tell evil lies every day will rapidly drive you completely crazy.
PROTES agains Mainstream Media. (MSM)
Spot on!
Hilarious to see the MAGA supporters, who were rallied by the "no more stupid wars" campaign slogan, mindlessly cheering on another stupid war.
As I remind them: It's MAGA not MIGA!
Petition for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-the-immediate-release-of-columbia-student-pro-palestine-advocate-mahmoud-khalil-from-dhs-detention
DAWN has urged the ICC prosecutor to investigate and prosecute former President Biden, State Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin for their personal roles in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza as part of his ongoing investigation into the situations in Palestine since 2014.
https://dawnmena.org/latest/
Let’s give them our support. Maybe they will expand their complaint to include this latest US administration, and include all the leaders of the western nations supporting this genocide.