Two Surprises at the End of 2015

There are two things that many thought would happen this year that didn't pan out.

The EU Trembles

Already under tremendous pressure due to the financial strains of the worldwide recession and tensions over the status of the Euro, the EU itself is now faced with a number of growing crises.

Arms Dealers and the Business of War

Century Arms has a long history of being involved in covert and shady arms deals connected to the US intelligence community and their secret wars. Right-wing and corporate connected militias which in many cases are little more than CIA fronts also seem to be clients of choice. This is one of those many points where the lines between the corporate and intelligence complexes get a little blurry.

The Death of an American Allied Salafi

The death of Zahran Alloush, leader of Syrian faction Jaysh al-Islam has shed some light on the nature of America's so called 'moderate' rebels. The truth is that much of what is called the Free Syrian Army is in fact comprised of Salafis allied to al Nusra/al Qaeda. This has been suggested for some time and the evidence is mounting.

Official Admissions That Iraq Was Never About WMD

The Mainstream Media continues to focus on the question of 'bad intelligence' with regard to WMD in Iraq. They continue to suggest that if the the CIA had done its due diligence and the process of interpretation hadn't been politicised by the White House then perhaps the United States would not have invaded Iraq in March 2003.

Beck's Bimbos and the Manipulation of Christians and Conservatives

I was renting a hammer drill at a local tool rental outfit and I noticed the old fellow running the shop was watching some kind of conservative programme but I could tell it wasn't FOX news.

Singapore: American Spying on the Strait of Malacca

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-singapore-southchinasea-idUSKBN0TQ2K720151208

The US continues to overtly and covertly build its Asian forces. If this has made the news, then it means there are already many things happening that are outside of official press releases and not open to comment.

Epilogue to Indochina

I heartily recommend the recent Frontline programme: Terror in Little Saigon. It was an interesting and refreshing look into the Vietnamese-American community and their activities during the 1980's and beyond. It reveals a little known epilogue to the war in Indochina. The repercussions of that war and its aftermath live on to this very day.

Deep State Italy and the Passing of an Era

Licio Gelli (1919-2015) has finally died. At present I am not afforded the time needed to write a proper article on this man. It's ironic because I've often thought of him as of late. I've been rather absorbed in both the Vatican, Fascist remnants in Europe, sympathetic regimes in Latin America and the 1960's and 70's.

ISIS and the Strategy of Tension

Because it is almost undisputed that Qatar and Turkey are supporting ISIS and in Turkey's case purchasing black market oil from them, it is believed by many that ISIS is a fiction, a Western intelligence asset. It's all simply theatre. The struggle is not real.

This is frustrating because this is once again a case of the conspiracists being on to something and yet taking it too far, to the point of discrediting the whole notion.

Front National: The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-politics-idUSKBN0TW00320151213

An interesting turnaround to be sure. The Front National went down in defeat in the second round. Few would have predicted that.

Evangelical Rejections of Sola Scriptura, Guns and the Loss of Gospel Ethics

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/jerry-falwell-jrs-troubling-remarks-on-guns/419019/

This indictment all too well demonstrates the bankruptcy of American Evangelical claims regarding authority. To their shame, this secular author calls out and rightly identifies figures such as Falwell Jr. and DeMint as rejecting Scripture as their doctrinal foundation. He's right in arguing they have utterly abandoned it and in fact did so long ago. This article more or less restricts the conversation to violence, retaliation and guns, but the cancer which infects American Evangelicalism is in fact terminal and has metastasised to almost every aspect of doctrine, thought and action.

US Nativism and China

I've mentioned this before but I keep hearing variations of this argument, and I find it striking how misled so many people are.

In just the past couple of weeks I have either participated in or overheard conversations where the Chinese are invoked as a source of anti-American scheming. People seem to believe the Chinese have conspired to destroy American manufacturing and enslave us to their cheap goods.

Front National and the 2015 French Regional Elections

http://www.politico.eu/article/big-gains-for-far-right-in-french-election/

The Front National (FN) has made noteworthy gains in the French regional elections. The shift to the Right is part of an ongoing trend but has been recently buttressed by the immigration crisis and the 13 November Paris attacks.

While Le Pen is probably too far to the Right to take over the leadership of France, the Right-ward swing will likely benefit Nicholas Sarkozy who seeks a return to office. Voters who will vote FN in the first round will likely embrace Sarkozy's UMP/LR in the second. Sarkozy's restoration to the presidency will be welcomed by Washington.

Sacralism, the UMC and an Ex-CIA Agent

The CIA has a long history of infiltrating Think-Tanks and other media type and activist organizations that are able to serve its purposes in the realm of information dissemination.

It's rather interesting though admittedly inconclusive that a character like Mark Tooley, an admitted former CIA agent is heading an 'institute' devoted to influencing the mainline United Methodist Church.

Greenwald and Brennan: Public Fear and the Power-Grab

Glen Greenwald is by no means the only person that is pointing these things out but I thought this small clip was particularly effective in communicating a range of issues regarding the US Establishment's attempt to capitalize on the Paris attacks. Of course the San Bernardino shootings will also facilitate this argument.

Arbitration, Corporate Interests, the ACA and Pilgrim Ethics

http://www.npr.org/2015/11/12/455749456/have-we-lost-a-constitutional-right-in-the-fine-print

This discussion on the Arbitration system was for the most part a rehash of information and arguments that are well known. The corporations hate and detest Class Action lawsuits. As with most issues, it's complicated. There are good arguments against Class Action suits and yet there's no doubt that many of them are essentially frivolous endeavours that accomplish little more than enriching lawyers.