zazen

Authoritarian regimes can pander to traditional culture to gain legitimacy. Totalitarian regimes destroy it to enforce new ideologies and consolidate power. Authoritarians are content to control the political sphere and leave some aspects of personal life untouched. Totalitarians got a PHD in micromanagement and want total control over a society - public, personal and political. Totalitarian regimes don’t just run the government, they run your life. You’re not just a citizen, but a walking billboard for their ideology. Their leader isn’t just great, their God. Authoritarians are cultural pick pockets, using tradition and cultural aspects to gain control - their drug dealers in nostalgia. Totalitarians want your soul and to re-shape culture completely - their drug dealers in Utopia. This is also why stage green isn’t exempt from madness. They can be totalitarian and tribalize - they just tribalize around green values. Gaia warriors will have us starving because our carbon footprints are bigger than big foot.

Got it, so the rise of Christian Nationalism isn't due to a lack of vision from progressives but a reaction to a vision they don't like - in some cases they probably can't even see the vision. I think what happens is that stage green's excesses or shadow elements get spotlighted by normies which causes them to go 'better to stay in our bubble because look at that shit over there'. For example just yesterday I've been seeing right wing/normie twitter sharing the degeneracy of grown men walking in San Francisco with their dicks out in front of children for Pride month - and a cop saying its fine. A public blowjob also took place - https://x.com/CensoredMen/status/1807591499061772462 So while fundamentalism may be a reaction to progressivism, we can understand whats causing it. I also think when people have children they tend to tilt towards conservatism. Like Russell Brand recently becoming a dad and now turning to Christianity. It's not just about faith - it's about the challenge of breaking down complex ideas for young minds. Distilling nuanced perspectives for kids isn't easy. So parents feel this pressure to present a solid identity, something their kids can latch onto and emulate. It's like they're trying to be a stable lighthouse in a often chaotic and confusing world. So most, out a of need for identity, belonging and convenience turn to religion. It's like a ready made kit of values and world views, neatly packaged in an easy to transmit format. It's the fast food of moral frameworks - quick, convenient, and easily passed down to the next generation. The issue is that along with those valuable life lessons comes a lot of baggage of religious literalism, dogma and half truths.

True, Chad Angel Gabriel was pointing to the eternal where you can be bliss. Thats the thing thats missing, intention. Its pointless if its being forced on people. I do think theres possibly something to praying even if not consciously engaged in it. Most people due to human bias and a evolutionary mismatch of ancient instincts in modern environments just seem to have bad thinking patterns and habits. Prayers and gratitude such as ''thank Lord for another day to live, thank Lord for my oatmeal and coffee I'm about to dive into'' can be a habitual practice that can have positive effects regardless of one's conscious engagement. Even if its half assed, you're training your brain to spot silver linings in a world that often feels like it's on fire. It's like you're hacking your own operating system. We don't need to understand every line of code to benefit from the update and our subconscious is doing the heavy lifting, rewiring neural pathways while we're busy doom-scrolling or netflixing. The shift on the subconscious it has may keep us slightly more on the positive end of the scale - thats probably what the studies are picking up on when they conclude positive benefits to prayer - something can also be said about rituals being relaxing. Its a bit like robotically brushing teeth, most aren't conscious when doing it but it has certain health benefits nonetheless.

In relation to your latest blog post on Christian nationalism which is brilliant - isn’t a contributing factor to the rise of Christian nationalism exactly because of this lacking vision by the left. Moral relativism of the left has left people starving for a moral anchor to guide them, and because most are too unconscious they revert to stage blue Christianity which they now are incorporating into stage Orange capitalism. Dogmatic divinity marrying vampiric capitalism. We have the likes of Richard Dawkins to Russel Brand converting to Christianity, or Dawkins just being a “cultural Christian”. Big time atheists like Dawkins and Ayaan Hursi Ali are suddenly donning the robes of religion, not out of sincere spiritual awakening, but as a desperate shield from a soulless secular culture they helped create. The left went too far in deconstructing structure and labelling everything as a construct as if it has no basis or meaning to a reality we very much feel with our senses. This left is right, up is down, man is woman politics has dizzied, dazed and disenfranchised many into regressing to old belief systems. Those beliefs will now be hinged to modern tools and levels of power with the ability to destroy and gut much progress out of society. They will be the new ‘deconstructionists’ but in their own way.

Thars what’s needed. Biden's presidency is less "hope and change" and more "nope and the same." He's the political equivalent of a participation trophy - there just for showing up, but not presenting a bold vision and stepping into it, he can barely step up the airforce 1. Biden's not Trump. And for a lot of people that's enough. But "not being the other guy" is a pretty low bar for the leader of a major power. US has gone from "Yes We Can" to "At Least He's Not That Guy." It's like being excited that your car's on fire because at least it's not exploding. Progressives aren’t excited for Biden, but are for not having Trump. They aren’t playing to win but to not lose - a negative excitement, which isn’t really excitement at all. It’s lukewarm political loyalty. It's familiar and safe, but it's ultimately unsatisfying and out of touch with what America actually needs right now.

A minimum effective dose of exercise to garner the most results would be something as basic as the following: 2x a week full body resistance training / weights. 30-45 min 2x a week cardio (any kind) at low-medium intensity for 30 minutes. Heart rate should be high enough to be breathing heavily but not so high you can barely hold a conversation or speak. If unfit - a brisk walk will achieve this, if fit - a light jog with or without incline, if very fit - jogging with at a incline will achieve this. 1x a week do 15-20 minutes of High intensity interval training (HIIT). You want at least a total of 10 minutes in the high intensity zone giving it your all or almost your all. You can make up that 10 minutes in multiple ways. Do 1 min on (give your all) 1min off (resting, or slow movement) done 10 times. Or 3 min on (medium high intensity giving it almost your all) 2-3 min off (rest, slow movement) done 3-4 times. You can make HIIT low impact on joints by doing it on a airbike/elliptical machine. 1x a week stretch/yoga for 20 minutes. That's 2.5 hours of your time a week to give to amping up the only vessel you have to experience this life in. Not a waste of time at all.

Perhaps both. If we are not separate from the All, but a living expression of it - then our purpose is a discovery (inherent) and a creation (extrinsic). It's unveiling that which has always been, and a shaping of that which is becoming. Inherent purpose is that which is, extrinsic purpose is that which is yet to be - which we work towards with what we have (capabilities and environmental opportunities). The feminine path of purpose is surrender (to what is, presence) the masculine path to purpose is striving (to what can be, potential).

So the same group of countries that have a history of lying, stealing, cheating and invading the global South/East, expect to be invited into a fold comprising mostly of the global South/East? Who are creating this alliance exactly to counter the West trampling on their sovereignty and development. Don't think so, they need to earn that trust. African nations one after the other have been kicking out Western influence and talking back like never before. Decades of the West abusing its power and position has left a bitter after taste that will take some time to go away. The West imposes sanctions on countries that often cripple those countries, then cries about countries wishing to create a parallel system to rid itself of this tyrannical tentacle of a tool which disrupts their ability to trade and develop. Other countries will be dictating some of the terms now - like the Somali pirate meme goes - I am the captain now. It's not like China hates Europe or doesn't want anything to do with them either - in fact they were at the end stages of signing the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) , before the Ukraine war kicked off, which is now gathering dust. I wonder who benefits from that: ''In total trade, China overtook the United States in 2020 and became the EU's largest trade in goods partner. However, in 2022 the United States retook the first position.'' Europe's been trading with Asia since Marco Polo was in diapers. But now they're supposed to cut ties because America says so? The US is that kid who lives across the street but insists on dictating who you can play with in your own backyard which happens to be a blessed piece of land linked to many other geographic players and partners for business. US sits by itself across the Atlantic in jealousy wanting to maintain a semblance of authority and power, whilst securing a running stream of profits to its coffers. Just like in post WW2, Europe became dependent on US markets, US military protection, and US approval. The almighty dollar became king, and Europe's once proud nations found themselves sheep to America's dictates. In the game of realpolitik, there are no permanent allies, only permanent interests. And America's interest has always been to stay on top - even if it means keeping its "friends" on their knees. For a insightful perspective on BRICS I'd suggest these two videos and 18 minutes of your time which you can make approx 10 with 1.5x speed:

Mind the gap between rhetoric and reality The Western hypocrisy in regards to democracy, free speech and human rights will have you thinking Westerners don't value their own Western values - but its the elites who don't. Every day people may have values, elites have interests. Power brokers weaponise the values of the populace as a smokescreen for their own gain. They wear these values like a cheap halloween costume. This domestic sleight of hand shows up in Western foreign policy also. Spreading democracy and liberty is a guise for global dominion. The elites have perfected the art of harnessing the good hearts of the many to funnel power and profits into the hands of the few. Campaign promises, emotional appeals, manufactured consent with a complicit media, token gestures and scapegoating are all the tools of politics. The tragedy is that the energy, passion, and genuine desire for positive change exhibited by ordinary citizens are real. But in the hands of cynical power, these become just another resource to be exploited. This exploitation of goodwill creates a feedback loop of polarised extremes - either despair and apathy or tribalism and anger. As people witness their efforts repeatedly twisted or nullified, they retreat from civic engagement, or become engaged in a tribalistic way full of anger against the 'other' side of the political aisle they lay blame to. Westerners are raised on lofty notions of democracy, freedom, and human rights, only to witness their nations routinely violate these principles both domestically and abroad. This grand canyon between rhetoric and reality creates a pervasive sense of disorientation, disillusionment and disenchantment. Whats packaged to Westerners about their society, isn't whats found once the wrappers open. They struggle to reconcile the high-minded values they've internalised with the often brutal realpolitik practiced by their governments. In a cruel twist, many individuals internalise this discord, believing the fault lies within themselves rather than the system that surrounds them. This is where leftism creates a atmosphere of shame, guilt and self loathing over the West's past and current injustices. To remedy this, its important to realise that this feeling of malaise and cognitive dissonance isn't because of you, its because of whats around you. It's not your state of mind, it's the state of affairs of the structure you live in. In light of Leo's recent video on traps, heres one to be mindful of: don't internalise the contradiction and cognitive whiplash caused by the difference between public ideals and private interests. Quite literally, you need to mind the gap between rhetoric and reality - be mindful enough to separate elite interests and actions from the peoples - or else conflating what your country does with what you or your neighbour are will lead to nihilism, confusion, tribalism and in the case of leftists, self flagellation.

It’s not necessarily pro-Russian to view a chain of cause and effect and how provocative the West has been. Nigel Farage and Trump are now even using the forbidden P word and the narrative is shifting - as always much too later after the fact once countless lives are lost. And both have been labeled Putin lovers now or pro-Russian. America has a huge sway on Europe and meddles in its politics. They are the main foundation holding the security architecture of Europe together via NATO. In 2023, the U.S. accounted for about 68% of total NATO defense spending, amounting to approximately $860 billion. This figure is more than ten times the defense spending of the second-highest contributor, Germany. So of course we have to include them in discussion. But if we want to look at Europe then let’s take a look at what was behind Nord stream, who gains from that? Why hasn’t Sweden released its findings due to the “sensitive nature of the findings”. Why did Boris Johnson who’s a lapdog of the US possibly sabotage early peace talks when he met Zelensky? Who does it circle back to, who gains. US provided 5% of Europes Gas before the war which has now jumped to 20%. The Western narrative is that this is about re-establishing Russian nationalism and imperialism. Why would Russia who is already the largest country in the world with some of the richest resources and a very long border it has to protect with an ever shrinking number of men needed to protect it - wish to destabilise themselves further with a war creating a sink hole for their already declining demographics and expanding their borders even more which need even more men to protect it. Russia, just due to its demographics would have faded in its power anyway, this disruption, provocation and entanglement only hastens their decline. Which is what the West want, to disrupt Russia and China. The difference between them and the West in terms of war is that the West goes into war whilst looking for the next one - they go to war out of necessity. Don't mind the silly title of the video, the full Piers Morgan / Jeffrey Sachs interview was insightful but heres a shorter version: You say BRICS topple governments and invades countries but beside Russia invading Ukraine, who have they toppled or invaded? Let’s not get started on the long line of colour revolutions, coups and invasions done by the US - it will go into more pages than the Israel / Gaza thread Leo had to lock lol. Just two years ago Imran Khan was taken out by corrupt elites thanks to US backing, which he boldly said was US was behind on Sky news. Meddling in a nuclear armed country sitting on fault line of another nuclear armed country (India) and with a population of over 230 million, talk about being a stabilising force in the world. All because he denied the US to use his country to host US bases and was on good terms with China/Russia.

A different paradigm: The concern isn’t the condition of Biden, it’s the condition of a system that props him up in the first place. The concern isn’t about the state of the candidates, but about a structure that enables their rise. What it makes clear is that who sits at the seat isn’t running the show, but that who is running the show is obscured from the public eye. The fact that these are the options in a nation of over 300 million full of talent exposes a political machine that maintains the status quo of entrenched interests.

Money is the lifeblood of American politics, seeping into every corner of the system and corrupting it from within. It’s not democracy, it’s oligarchy with the lipstick of the democratic process. - The ballot box is a suggestion box. Voting has become a hollow ritual, a pressure release valve for public discontent rather than a genuine mechanism for change. We're given the illusion of choice, but the menu is curated by two parties not allowing for anything else. - As voting rights expanded, the relevance of those votes contracted. Allow the public to cathartically shout into a sound proof room, but let them know their grievances are heard. We've won the right to participate in a system that's been quietly hollowed out from the inside. Voting became democratised, but the power behind that vote has been diluted to homeopathic levels. - The Supreme Court ruled corporations with personhood status alchemizing them into people and money into speech. Money literally talks, but what language? Money became words. Words became votes. Votes became commodified. It's a legal fiction that's metastasized into a political cancer. By equating money with speech, they've essentially given megaphones to the wealthy while the rest of us are left shouting into the void. It's turned democracy into an auction house where policies go to the highest bidder. This unholy trinity - the neutered ballot box, the diluted vote, and the corporate citizen - forms the backbone of our modern oligarchy. It's a system where the appearance of democracy is maintained while its substance is stripped away, leaving us with a plutocratic skeleton wearing the tattered skin of a republic.

Its a breath of fresh air for the uninformed who are just peddled self loathing hate and white man bad rhetoric, to learn that slavery was a wide spread scourge on the planet not uniquely done by “White people” and the fact that Britain played a major role in ending it. I’d add that other details should also be acknowledged for the full picture to avoid simplistic conclusions. It’s good the commentary noted how abolition wasn’t solely moral but incentivised by economics / self interest. The bottom line of businessmen and monied elites seemed to coincide along moral lines, just like today. The overlap between the Industrial Revolution and the abolition of slavery points to economics as also being a factor behind ending slavery as the transition from an agrarian economy to an industrial one occurred. Theres a complex interplay of economics, morality, and technological advancement driving changes. The American slave trade, being the most recent large-scale example of slavery in the West, has disproportionately shaped our perception of slavery as a whole. Its particularly brutal and racially-driven nature has been projected onto historical slavery practices worldwide. We think how they practiced it is how everyone else practiced it. While all forms of slavery are inherently disgusting, the American system was uniquely severe in many aspects, distinguishing it from others. From Chat gpt: “Islamic slavery differed from the Atlantic slave trade, being generally less oppressive. It wasn't racially based and offered more rights, integration, and social mobility. Slaves had legal protections under Sharia law, including property ownership and access to justice. There are cases of slaves winning cases against masters and becoming wealthy merchants. Manumission was also encouraged (freeing of slaves). Prophet Muhammad - “Your slaves are your brothers. Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears.” About Eunuchs - they weren’t just used in Islamic societies but globally including in Europe. Christian regions such as the Byzantine and Balkans were a source of eunuchs as it was culturally accepted and practiced there including in Africa and central/East Asia. Castration wasn’t permitted in Islamic Sharia ruling and didn’t occur within Islamic jurisdiction or societies - eunuchs were bought from regions partaking in the practice even predating Islam. Historically, eunuchs were trusted and integral members of households of royalty and kings due to their inability to produce heirs. They held positions of trust within the royal court, especially in the roles involving close contact with the royal family which raised them to a certain status compared to other slaves.'' As for the guy in the last video: he explains that the many groups fighting each other are Muslim, then conflates the fact that they’re Muslim as the main reason they’re fighting - attributing Islam as inherently violent. So when Muslims fight, it's because of their religion, but when Christians spent thirty years turning Central Europe into a blood-bath in the 30 years war as just one example - thats just politics as usual. Europeans, Christians, Muslims and Asians all fought against and within each other, so it isn’t uniquely a creed thing, just a human thing.

At least with Trump in office it will be comedic to see how MAGA fans spin every move he makes as some aikido move to 'drain the swamp' or 'fight the deep state.' The same crowd that rightly criticise Democratic drones strikes and interventions will slap a MAGA stickers on the same actions under Trumps oversight and claim it as some stroke of genius. Empires gonna empire. It's genuinely painful to see an old man unable to keep it together and struggle on stage. Anyone who's had a loved one suffer from mental slowdown will feel for him. That only says more about the political structure than it does the candidates - its a revealing ass crack in the facade of American democracy. Only the most trusted will be allowed to steward the titanic ship of a fading empire, we'r just having fun re-arranging seats on the deck and playing musical chairs.

@Gennadiy1981 and any other Israelis. This offers a different perspective you may find interesting - whilst not everything is agreed with it’s another angle to look at the situation from.

@Gennadiy1981 @Nivsch @Vrubel @hundreth @Merkabah Star @Danioover9000 You know what? I bet if we all shared bread we’d have a laugh and get on despite different views. Like merkabah said, pass the popcorn - pass the bread too, and some of that Palestinian/Israeli olive oil. Sweet Jesus loves ya’ll.

@hundreth @Vrubel As hundredth said it’s about the unintended outcome although the intent may seem good. As Vrubel said - most reasonable people don’t have an issue with the question but enough unreasonable people exist who are too polarized on the subject and can’t hold nuanced views. These questions are heavy and rigged, like the “do you condemn October 7th?”question - initially it seems straight forward but then it isn’t because there’s a context to the question and many passionate and polarized people who will hear your one word answer and autocomplete the rest of your views and misunderstand you. These questions are dripping with loaded assumptions that cling to both the answer and the person answering. They're designed to be yes or no questions, but they demand caveats. For pro-Palestinians, being pushed to denounce October 7th (which any sane person would) risks having that one word (Yes) misused to undermine the Palestinian cause itself as they get conflated. To curb conspiracy theories, it's probably better for a nation's elites to prioritize their own country. While alliances are important, these relationships fall apart if an ally seems to care more about your country than their own people. This stirs conspiracy theories and resentment, making the public pull back their support which Israel very much needs. In the US and Britain, for example, people are questioning why aid is sent to Israel when their own citizens need financial help, or why their armies and navies are scattered across the world—bombing Houthis in the Red Sea or sitting in the Mediterranean to contain Hezbollah—instead of protecting their own borders or waters. What they see is their leaders putting another nation’s borders and people above their own. It's in Israel's own interest to ensure other states aren't acting in its name in ways that further enrage their populations against it. Israel already does plenty on its own to provoke global anger anyway.

The heuristic and policy says more about the state than the applicant. It's a mirror that doesn't reflect the fitness of the applicant, but the insecurities of the state subverted by anthers politics to the point they politicise their own operations. Germans this time aren't subject to the actions of the state with many stars across the Atlantic ( US neutering Nord stream ) but to the state with one star across the Med ( who they have historic guilt over massacring ) It can also be counter productive and risk back lash - just look at Americans even amongst the right now questioning their figure heads about being America or Israel first. This enforced pampering of Israel makes natives question their leaders loyalties and interests. Either way, applicants can just say what needs be said, and roam among Germany with fractured loyalties no one knows about. So what does it actually provide except a symbolic act to alleviate their historic guilt? In trying to rectify the sins of its past, it just risks compromising its future.

Hate speech laws already exist and rightfully so. But this isn’t about clamping down on hate, it’s about mandating acceptance, linguistic tyranny similar to forcing someone to utter a lie under duress. It’s like Jordan Peterson railing against the tyranny of compelled pronouns—except he wouldn’t be critical of this. It’s almost verbal and ideological assault to demand new citizens declare recognition of a state possibly implicated in their suffering and a contributing factor in them having to seek out citizenship in there the first place. It’s just ironic that their right to reside in Germany hinges on a pledge to a state in the hot seat of the world court for genocide which is concluded to at least be plausible. The condition of citizenship is to declare recognition of a state who inflicts atrocious conditions on a stateless people - from a state which inflicted atrocious conditions on those people historically (Hitler and the Nazi regime) Western elites love to bomb regions into the Stone Age, chest beat about how civilised and developed they are, then complain about people from those regions showing up to seek refuge from their actions. Seems like Israel is the one being pampered and their feelings hurt because people don’t want to acknowledge or love them. They want to lawfully rape people into loving their glorious existence lol

Perhaps cohesion, perhaps conformity to state sanctioned opinion trampling on individual freedom of thought. Sounds cohesive and not inflammatory at all to mandate a statement which rubs salt into the wound many immigrants feel who presently live in Germany and are yet to come. Particularly from the Middle East fleeing conflicts exacerbated by Western/Israeli foreign policy. They are asked to thumbs up a country they perceive played a part in or has been used as a tool by the military industrial complex to wage war on their homelands. Some people may believe Israel doesn’t have a right to exist and that this fantasy can ever come true, but most just believe it doesn’t have the right to exist as it does - occupationally which has historically always led to conflict and bloody uprisings. What Israel does have the right to is the right to remain silent, as it stands accused on the world stage - anything it says or does on a personal or political level will be held against it whether by the courts or by the consciousness of the world which it cares little for in its arrogance.

As you come from a Orthodox background its best to keep in mind that questioning something isn't rejecting it, but only revealing it in a new light with nuance. A few ways prophecies can be explained: Wisdom of pattern recognition - The observation of cyclical patterns in nature, society, and history can inform predictions that appear prophetic. Vagueness / retroactive interpretation - Many prophecies are worded in a way that allows for multiple interpretations. The ambiguity makes it easier to fit various events to the prophecy after the fact. Confirmation bias and their self fulfilling nature - People tend to remember and emphasise predictions that come true while forgetting or ignoring those that don't, creating an illusion of accuracy. The existence of a prophecy can influence people's behaviour, potentially leading to its fulfilment. A better way to view prophecy is like a promise - of a vision or intention. They are like promises or intentions made sacred that mobilise people to work towards them, sometimes over generations. When these promises are finally fulfilled, we look back and call them prophetic. Perhaps it's not mystical foresight - it's human determination making a vision come true.

New German citizens must declare Israel’s right to exist - https://www.ft.com/content/56e6182c-4c00-433f-a43d-57ad131781a6 Reminds me of a US anti-BDS law that demands contractors pledge loyalty to Israel by not boycotting or divesting from Israel. If Israel were such a "Righteous nation with the most moral army'' it wouldn't require legally mandating a pinky-swear promise to not protest against them politically or economically. Apparently, loyalty is measured not in hearts or minds, but in contracts and signatures.

Let’s not forget the hostage that is the US political system.

https://x.com/KimDotcom/status/1804265849647436070 https://x.com/ArthurM40330824/status/1804407156407423199 In addition to above and in light of the recent beach attack in Sevastapool killing + terrorist attack claimed by ISIS in Dagestan targeting Churches (odd how ISIS in 8 months of Israel / Gaza haven't scratched a olive tree in Israel yet always seem to attack the enemies of the West) By Alon Mirzahi: Something has to also be said about American strategic stupidity, escalating at the same time in Ukraine and the ME. Here's just one aspect of it: Russia has a meaningful presence very close to Lebanon. It has very deep ties to Iran. By hurting Russia at home (maybe you've seen the Ukrainian-American attack on beachgoers in Crimea that took place a few hours ago: Putin and Lavrov are pointing fingers at the US directly), the Americans are pushing the Russians to want to retaliate, or take revenge. This is basic stuff. Now, think whatever you want about Russia and the Ukraine war, Russia has tremendous military capabilities, on par, and in some areas (like hypersonic missiles) even ahead of the US. As the US is rushing to protect and assist Israel's war on Lebanon, why expose American troops to Russian capabilities by escalating in Ukraine? A slight uptick in the help Russia provides Hezbollah and Iran, or Syrian Islamic resistance forces, could mean the lives of many, many Israelis and Americans. Hezbollah may have some super-advanced missiles, why push Russia to give them another 100? And we saw a bit of the intelligence Hezbollah has on Israel, can you imagine what Russia has, and can provide? The Americans must know that in Lebanon and potentially Syria, Russians have the perfect playfield to exact revenge on American forces who are shedding their blood in Ukraine. So why be so callous and dumb about it? In normal and sane times, the US would come to certain understandings with Russia before it allowed any escalation in the ME. But now it lets Israel start another war after it's already fatigued from one, in an atmosphere of open war against Russia, and when Russian forces have been deeply established in the region and have close relationships with Iran and its proxies. You thought I was kidding when I talked about an American aircraft carrier sinking. Believe me, if Russia wants a carrier to sink (directly or by proxy), it will sink. Look what the Houthis have done with 3rd rate missiles. I simply cannot understand the American callousness and strategic stupidity. Western elites are playing with their militaries as if it's all a monopoly game, one in which they are very unsophisticated players lacking all foresight and finesse. It is so obvious they are walking into a huge trap with absofuckinglutely nothing to gain, and no plan.''

Some highlights from a article by John Pilger from 2016 - https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/23/a-world-war-has-begun-break-the-silence/ ''In the last eighteen months, the greatest build-up of military forces since World War Two — led by the United States — is taking place along Russia’s western frontier. Not since Hitler invaded the Soviet Union have foreign troops presented such a demonstrable threat to Russia. Ukraine – once part of the Soviet Union – has become a CIA theme park. Having orchestrated a coup in Kiev, Washington effectively controls a regime that is next door and hostile to Russia: a regime rotten with Nazis, literally. Prominent parliamentary figures in Ukraine are the political descendants of the notorious OUN and UPA fascists. They openly praise Hitler and call for the persecution and expulsion of the Russian speaking minority. This is seldom news in the West, or it is inverted to suppress the truth. In Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — next door to Russia – the US military is deploying combat troops, tanks, heavy weapons. This extreme provocation of the world’s second nuclear power is met with silence in the West. What makes the prospect of nuclear war even more dangerous is a parallel campaign against China. Seldom a day passes when China is not elevated to the status of a “threat”. According to Admiral Harry Harris, the US Pacific commander, China is “building a great wall of sand in the South China Sea”. What he is referring to is China building airstrips in the Spratly Islands, which are the subject of a dispute with the Philippines – a dispute without priority until Washington pressured and bribed the government in Manila and the Pentagon launched a propaganda campaign called “freedom of navigation”. What does this really mean? It means freedom for American warships to patrol and dominate the coastal waters of China. Try to imagine the American reaction if Chinese warships did the same off the coast of California. I made a film called The War You Don’t See, in which I interviewed distinguished journalists in America and Britain: reporters such as Dan Rather of CBS, Rageh Omar of the BBC, David Rose of the Observer. All of them said that had journalists and broadcasters done their job and questioned the propaganda that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction; had the lies of George W. Bush and Tony Blair not been amplified and echoed by journalists, the 2003 invasion of Iraq might not have happened, and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children would be alive today. The propaganda laying the ground for a war against Russia and/or China is no different in principle. To my knowledge, no journalist in the Western “mainstream” — a Dan Rather equivalent, say –asks why China is building airstrips in the South China Sea. The answer ought to be glaringly obvious. The United States is encircling China with a network of bases, with ballistic missiles, battle groups, nuclear -armed bombers. This lethal arc extends from Australia to the islands of the Pacific, the Marianas and the Marshalls and Guam, to the Philippines, Thailand, Okinawa, Korea and across Eurasia to Afghanistan and India. America has hung a noose around the neck of China. This is not news. Silence by media; war by media.''