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NOTE FROM MSK: A flame war erupted on this thread that got mixed with the substance, but ultimately hogged the topic, so rather than spend a couple of hours separating this from that and keep it all trying to make sense, I've thrown the entire thread in the Garbage Pile and locked it. Michael Not Good - Iran Escalation The context: Gulf of Oman attack – US says Iran is behind ‘torpedo’ attack on American-linked oil tanker and bombing of second ship The reaction: Let's see how this turns out, but it's already not good. Michael

Iran Nuclear Deal Blues This just hit Drudge. The link goes here: Netanyahu: Iran Nuclear Deal Is Based on Lies – Here's the Proof This article includes Bibi's presentation on a YouTube video (it's in English except at the very end): There is a massive amount of incriminating material. The full text of the presentation is here. A quote by Bibi from his talk: If this is true, and at this point, I doubt it will turn out to be false, this will make former President Obama, as the leader of a nation, the biggest putz in human history. That dude was preparing the way for nuclear winter. Out of evil? No... I don't believe so. Instead, out of incompetence. Out of sheer incompetence. Michael

Most readers will already of course be reacting to the events in Iran. As I use Twitter I realize that 40% of the 'factness' of reported events is analysis and posturing. On the fourth day of protests, getting the fine grain of these events is not easy, since you have to plow through so much crap. Greta van Susteren tweeted a useful link to the VOA live blog. It is not a trove of details, but a terse timeline. Including President Trump's tweets. The most awful analyses are coming from the so-called 'regressive left,' exemplified by the Max Blumenthal, who has become a heartless 'tankie' leftist. The kink in these folks hoses stems from their indoctrination at what I call Anti-Imperialist U (Amal Saad, Sharmine Narwani, Ben Norton, Rania Khalek, Caleb Maupin, and Max will use the occasion of the protests to curse other leftist-progressives, liberals and neo-cons -- not offering any cogent argument. Attack, attack). Party Men. They will be perfectly unmoved by any violent repression of the protests. I consider their awful behaviour a kind of cult sickness. -- I follow a few rather manic Iranians (outside) who are using Twitter to tirelessly firehose individual videos and snapshots of events coupled to real time. It is an enormous crisis/opportunity for the leadership in Iran to show the world what it is -- to either embitter its young generation more deeply, or to relieve the repression and undertake some kind of major reform. In the meantime, a lot of sleeplessness. A more spare and sober running commentary and occasional great media sampling is at Iranwire. I feel a foreboding. I think the government will choose repression and it will be grotesquely out of order. Again. "Welcome back to the world, Iran. Show us what you are, and let's see if we can do more business." -- some of the almost-screaming arguments I've seen are searching for the 'source' and 'leadership' or 'support' in the state for the protests. Rouhani says peaceful protest is a right. Who has more to fear, the government or the young?

A noteworthy, remarkably lucid recap of what has happened. We have blundered away U.S. financial and strategic options. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-21/multipolar-world-order-economics-vs-politics

Tonight for the first time I heard a well known voice on a national news program Juan Williams say on "Special Report with Bret Baier" on FOX NEWS that Israel striking Iran to prevent their nuclear weapons program could lead to world war. No one on the panel raised any disagreement with that assessment. Charles Krauthammer gives a 90% chance of a strike before the next American election and agrees the time frame leaked by the Defense Secretary is possible - April-May-June. I know I have been talking on-line about expectations of a financial collapse and world war for some time - you hear a little here and there but I was surprised to hear it so matter-of-a-factly discussed without dissention tonight. Are people in this country really going to be caught by surprise since it is hardly being discussed? Does the public even remotely realize Afghanistan and Iraq and even Korea and Vietnam were tiny conflicts compared to what world war means? I get the feeling that being removed from total war for 2 1/2 generations the general public is clueless. Dennis May