Monthly Archives: July 2018

Cultural/Ideological Divide

2018 Book Publishing Predictions

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Mark Coker, Contributor

Founder, Smashwords

From Huffington Post

Clouds

1. 2018 will be another challenging year for the book industry – There’s no way to sugar coat it so I won’t. Book publishing is in a slow structural decline. Books are media. They’re a bundle of paper or a bundle a digital bits and bytes that carry stories and knowledge. They entertain, inform and inspire. Now think about the competition for books. The answer to that is basically, “all media.” Books are competing for consumers’ ever-fragmented attention against other media forms for entertainment, escapism and knowledge-building. These media forms include social media, cable television, streaming media services like Netflix or Spotify, video games, YouTube, podcasts, print magazines, and anything else that occupies our attention.

2. The glut of high-quality low-cost ebooks will get worse – In the old days of print publishing, the number of books in circulation was artificially constrained by the production output of traditional publishers, and by the shelf space available at brick and mortar retailers. Since ebook retailer shelf space is virtually unlimited, ebooks need never go out of print. This means that every day from this day forward, there will be more books occupying virtual shelves and competing for a readership whose attention is increasingly fragmented across multiple media forms.

3. Barnes & Noble is sick and will get sicker – I love Barnes & Noble. They’re our second-largest sales channel after Apple iBooks. The ebook team at B&N is excellent. But their ebook business is in trouble. It’s shrinking every year, and that shrinkage makes it difficult for them to give the business the investment it requires. The company is further distracted by activist shareholders that are agitating for the company’s sale. This will distract B&N from its main priority – it needs to refocus on becoming the best bookseller it can be.

4. Kobo’s sales will falter – Kobo, an internationally-focused mid-sized ebook retailer, has been one of the strongest performers in the ebook space over the last four years. While other retailers slipped and lost market share, Kobo was the little engine that could. They were smart to get into the business of powering other retailer’s ebook stores, and they forged positive partnerships with indie brick and mortar stores. Kobo has also had great success supporting indie authors, whose books now account for a sizable percentage of their store’s sales. Yet I don’t see how they’ll be able to keep their customers long term when they’re competing against a retailer that has over 1 million indie ebooks locked up and inaccessible to Kobo’s customers.

5. Devaluation pressures will persist – Publishing is on figurative fire but the industry doesn’t see the smoke yet. Large publishers look at Kindle Unlimited and think, “not a threat to me, those books are all dreck.” Yet Amazon’s success with KU is placing considerable devaluation pressure on ebooks. Publishers should read Clayton Christiansen’s Innovators Dilemma. A lot of those KU books are dreck, but KU has such a large critical mass of titles it offers an incredible value for consumers. There will always be a truly unlimited collection of 5-star books for readers to choose from, and for subscribers they feel like they’re reading them for free. You can bet KU subscribers are purchasing fewer traditionally published books as a result.

6. Single-copy ebook sales will decline – If readers can derive more hours of reading pleasure per dollar at KU than they can from buying single-copy ebooks, then single-copy ebook sales will decline not just at Amazon but at every ebook retailer.

7. Romance authors will feel the most pain from KU – Romance readers are the most amazing readers. These are the readers that read a book a day. These readers will migrate to the unlimited reading of subscription services, for which KU is the only significant provider as of today.

8. Large traditional publishers will reduce commitment to romance – I’m hearing from large publishers that they’re questioning their commitment to romance and are considering ceding that market to self-published authors. One told me, “There’s no way we can build a business selling $1.99 romance ebooks.” I think it would be a mistake for publishers to do this, because romance authors are the early-movers in terms of trend-setting. Indie authors dominate romance ebooks, but the indies of other genres are coming on strong. Are publishers going to abandon sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mysteries and thrillers too? The large publishers should embrace romance, not abandon it.

9. Email list fatigue – One of the most powerful platform-building tools for indie authors is the private mailing list. A lot of indie authors will see their email lists shrink this year as readers attempt to retake control of their inboxes.

10. Pressure will build to drop author royalties – Indie authors celebrate their ability to earn 70% list on their ebooks, but this royalty rate will become increasingly untenable as Amazon’s competitors fall by the wayside. It was Apple’s entry into the market in 2010 that forced Amazon to raise royalties. Previously, Amazon paid authors only 35% list. With fewer viable retailers, Amazon’s now in the driver’s seat for author royalties. If they drop the payouts at KDP, other retailers will be forced to follow suit to keep their costs competitive.

Sunshine: 2018 won’t be all doom and gloom. Let’s look at some bright spots.

11. Audiobooks will be a big story in 2018 – Audiobooks were the fastest growing segment of the book industry last year, and I think this will continue in 2018. Audiobooks make books accessible to more readers by opening up new hours of the day for book consumption. You can enjoy audiobooks while you’re doing other things, whereas reading text requires your full undivided attention.

12. Audible will face increased competition – At present, Amazon has a virtual monopoly on audiobooks though its Audible division. They’ve stripped authors and publishers of all pricing control and pay paltry royalty rates. I think 2018 will be the year authors and publishers begin to stand up and revolt. A key catalyst for this revolt could be Apple. Up until about a year ago, Apple was bound by an exclusive supplier arrangement to only sell audiobooks sourced by Audible. Now that that agreement is over, will Apple rise up and foster more competition? Even if Apple does nothing, other forces are organizing to take on Audible’s hegemony over audiobooks.

13. Readers will still pay for books worth reading – One of the big takeaways from this year’s Smashwords Survey was that we found our bestselling authors were able to increase prices without undermining unit sales. $4.99 has joined $2.99 and $3.99 as pricing sweet spots. This tells me that authors who build devoted followings have pricing power. Their readers will follow them and stick with them as they move up from ultra-low prices to prices that are still really low. $4.99 is a great deal for a great book! This also indicates that a lot of authors are probably selling themselves short by pricing too low, or by participating in a certain subscription service that only pays them 1/2 penny a page. Episdode 7 of my Smart Author podcast explores the 2017 Smashwords Survey.

14. New subscription services will be introduced – In 2017, Kobo made moves to launch its own ebook subscription service to compete against KU. Scribd has been doing subscriptions for a long time. At present, B&N and Apple don’t offer subscription services. I think new subscription services are inevitable as retailers counter the threat posed by KU. The advent of more subscription services represents a potentially slippery slope. At present, Scribd is the only provider with an author-friendly model where the author is paid a percentage of their list price. But as we saw back in 2015 when Scribd cut back on romance, over-consumption can break the subscription model if readers read too much. Amazon’s response to this challenge, as was Kobo’s response, was to pay authors out of a shared pool. In this way, the retailer could balance its subscription revenue against the expense of providing those books. I’ve never been a fan of such pool-based models because they strip pricing control away from the author and can contribute to devaluation. I’ll have my eyes open in 2018 for author-friendly subscription services that can pay authors more than they’re getting at Amazon but without the exclusivity restrictions.

15. Calls will grow in the US for antitrust action against Amazon – This was one of my long shot predictions from last year, and I’m bringing it back because I think it’s becoming an inevitability. The US government so far has shown no inclination to restore fair competition to publishing. In fact, their bone-headed decision a couple years ago to charge publishers and Apple with pricing collusion only played into Amazon’s anti-trust abuses. But now that Amazon is aggressively disrupting other industries, from grocery and consumer retail to healthcare and transportation, I’ve got to imagine that the CEOs of the largest most powerful publicly traded companies in the US are going to start directing their lobbyists in Washington, DC to pressure the feds to put some controls on Amazon. If the European Union can make some progress bringing these powerful platforms to heel, it might give DC the backbone it needs.

16. Indies will reassert control over platform – Many indies have grown frustrated over the last few years at Facebook. After indies devoted significant time and money to build their followings at Facebook, Facebook pulled a bait and switch and started charging authors to reach their friends and followers. More indies will take steps in 2018 to form a closer, more direct relationships with their readers because as indies are learning, if someone else controls your access to readers, they can tax that access or take it away.

17. Indie authors will take a closer look at podcasting to reach new readers – My limited experience of doing about a dozen episodes of the Smart Author podcast has opened my eyes to the power of this medium. I’m seeing greater opportunities for indie authors to use podcasting, just as they’ll use audiobooks, to make their words more accessible to new audiences. If you visit Apple Podcasts and click to their Arts category, you’ll find examples of the potential for these two media forms to come together. You’ve got authors who read their books (like Scott Siglar who’s been doing it for years, ever since the Evo Terra’s Podiobooks was around), authors who perform their own books, performers who perform public domain classics, and more.

Uncategorized

Why Doesn’t Putin Give Assad S-300’S?

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By George Ades – I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been asked: “Why doesn’t Putin give Assad S-300?”

First of all, I would like to say that if I were Putin, I wouldn’t be supplying the Syrian military with S-300s, at this moment in time.

Russia is in Syria, by invitation of the legitimate government of that Sovereign State, for one purpose: to rid Syria of the terrorist proxy army of the west. NOT to start WWIII.

Let me explain. What happens if the Syrian military gets S-300s and uses them to shoot down a US/NATO or Israeli plane? Will these superior forces back down and leave Syria alone? Unlikely.

The S-300 may be one of the best anti-aircraft weapons around, but it’s not a nuclear weapon. By itself, it will not be enough to deter a determined adversary. A lot more will be needed to counter the retaliation that will surely come once such a weapon is used by the Syrians. Is the Syrian military and people, fatigued by years of fighting these proxy forces, in a position to handle an all out war with Israel and/or the US/NATO? And what would Russia’s response to such an eventuality be? Would they stand idly by and see an ally destroyed by the US and its minions? What happens if they DO get involved, if the Russians themselves start shooting down Israel and/or NATO planes? THINK….

Both S-300 and S-400s are present in Syria. They are in the hands of the Russian military and since the terrorists have no official airforce of their own, their purpose is to act as a deterrent. So far, this has worked pretty well.

Let Syria liberate its soil first. Let the Syrians retake control of their own borders. Let them draw a breath from all these years of fighting and there will be plenty of time to supply that country with all it needs to safeguard its integrity. Now is not the time.

The Russian government’s and its military’s primary concern is to safeguard the Russian people’s welfare and security.

They are not there to satisfy some people’s lust for blood.

Russia has not invaded or bombed, threatened to invade or bomb any country. All the actions of the Russian leadership indicate that they are always pressing to resolve issues not by force, but through dialogue.

The Russian military is strong no doubt, but its function is the defence of Russian soil and that of the Russian nation.

Please avoid making shallow comments like: “Russia is afraid of taking on Israel.” If Israel had attacked Russia or Russians, I have no doubt they would more than adequately defend themselves. Remember, we are not talking about schoolyard fights here. Once the missiles start flying, it will get ugly very quickly and it will be nothing like watching a Hollywood movie from the comfort of your living rooms, while going through a six pack.

Uncategorized

Dems Put Finishing Touches on One-Party ‘Surveillance Superstate’

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MIKE WHITNEY via UNZ

The Democratic Party has made a strategic decision to bypass candidates from its progressive wing and recruit former members of the military and intelligence agencies to compete with Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. The shift away from liberal politicians to center-right government agents and military personnel is part of a broader plan to rebuild the party so it better serves the interests of its core constituents, Wall Street, big business, and the foreign policy establishment. Democrat leaders want to eliminate left-leaning candidates who think the party should promote issues that are important to working people and replace them with career bureaucrats who will be more responsive to the needs of business. The ultimate objective of this organization-remake is to create a center-right superparty comprised almost entirely of trusted allies from the national security state who can be depended on to implement the regressive policies required by their wealthy contributors. Here’s more background from Patrick Martin at the World Socialist Web Site:

“An extraordinary number of former intelligence and military operatives from the CIA, Pentagon, National Security Council and State Department are seeking nomination as Democratic candidates for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. The potential influx of military-intelligence personnel into the legislature has no precedent in US political history.

If the Democrats capture a majority in the House of Representatives on November 6, as widely predicted, candidates drawn from the military-intelligence apparatus will comprise as many as half of the new Democratic members of Congress. They will hold the balance of power in the lower chamber of Congress….

… it should be noted that there would be no comparable influx of Bernie Sanders supporters or other “left”-talking candidates in the event of a Democratic landslide. Only five of the 221 candidates reviewed in this study had links to Sanders or billed themselves as “progressive.” None is likely to win the primary, let alone the general election.” (“The CIA Democrats, Patrick Martin, The World Socialist Web Site)

Progressive candidates are being ignored to make room for center-right functionaries who will focus on reducing government spending, rolling back Trump’s trade policy, and supporting the foreign wars. This new wave of fiscally-conservative Democrats will execute their tasks in a party that serves as the political wing of the federal bureaucracy. Democrat leaders have long-abandoned the idea that a party should be a vehicle for political change. Their aim is to create a top-down pro-business collective that marginalizes activists and liberals in order to avoid disruptive political convulsions that impact corporate profitability. Here’s more on the Dems’ attack on its liberal base from an article by Patrick Martin:

“The New Jersey Democratic Party establishment successfully imposed its choice in contested congressional nominations, brushing aside several candidates backed by Bernie Sanders and his Our Revolution group. Nearly every Sanders-backed candidate in other states—for governor of Iowa and congressional seats in Iowa, Montana New Mexico and California—suffered a similar fate.” (“US primary elections in eight states confirm rightward shift by Democratic Party”, Patrick Martin, The World Socialist Web Site)

As a result “Only a handful of candidates running under the Bernie Sanders banner survived primaries held in six states on Tuesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, only seven of 31 candidates endorsed by Our Revolution —- had been declared winners.” (USA Today)

Simply put, Democrat leaders have successfully derailed the progressive bandwagon. Even so, Sanders role vis a vis the Democratic Party has always been a bit of a ruse. Here’s how author Tom Hall sums it up:

“The major political function of Sanders’ campaign is to divert the growing social discontent and hostility toward the existing system behind the Democratic Party, in order to contain and dissipate it. His supposedly ‘socialist’ campaign is an attempt to preempt and block the emergence of an independent movement of the working class.” (“Is Bernie Sanders a socialist?”, July 16, 2015), Tom Hall, World Socialist Web Site)

Sanders’ task will become increasingly difficult as progressives realize that the Dems are building a party apparatus that sees activism as a fundamental threat to their strategic objective, which is to create a secure environment where business can flourish. Sanders has helped the party by seducing leftists with his fake liberalism, but he has undermined the aims of working people who need an independent organization to advance their own political agenda. As long as Sanders continues to sell his populist snake oil from a Democratic soapbox, liberals are going to continue to hope that the party can be transformed into an instrument for progressive change.

The evidence, however, suggests the party is moving in the opposite direction. Here’s more from Patrick Martin’s:

“The Democratic Party’s promotion of a large number of military-intelligence candidates for competitive districts represents an insurance policy for the US ruling elite. In the event of a major swing to the Democrats, the House of Representatives will receive an influx of new members drawn primarily from the national security apparatus, trusted servants of American imperialism……The preponderance of national security operatives in the Democratic primaries sheds additional light on the nature of the Obama administration (which) marked the further ascendancy of the military-intelligence apparatus within the Democratic Party….

The Democratic Party is running in the congressional elections not only as the party that takes a tougher line on Russia, but as the party that enlists as its candidates and representatives those who have been directly responsible for waging war, both overt and covert, on behalf of American imperialism. ….

The upper-middle-class layer that provides the “mass” base of the Democratic Party has moved drastically to the right over the past four decades, enriched by the stock market boom, consciously hostile to the working class, and enthusiastically supportive of the military-intelligence apparatus which, in the final analysis, guarantees its own social position against potential threats, both foreign and domestic. It is this social evolution that now finds expression on the surface of capitalist politics, in the rise of the military-intelligence “faction” to the leadership of the Democratic Party.” (“The CIA Democrats,” Patrick Martin, The World Socialist Web Site)

The dramatic metamorphosis of the Democratic party hasn’t taken place in a vacuum but in a fractious and politically-charged environment where elements within the intelligence community and law enforcement (FBI) are attempting to roll back the results of the 2016 presidential elections because their preferred candidate (Hillary Clinton) did not win. And while these agencies have not yet produced any hard evidence that their claims (of collusion with Russia) are true, there is mounting circumstantial evidence that senior-level officials at these agencies were actively trying to entrap members of the Trump campaign to justify more intrusive surveillance in the hopes of uncovering incriminating evidence that could be used in impeachment proceedings.

As more information surfaces, and we learn more about the “unmasking,” wiretapping, National Security Letters, FISA warrants, paid informants and other surveillance abuses that were directed at the Trump campaign, we should think back to 2005 when the New York Times first reported that the National Security Agency had been eavesdropping on Americans inside the United States “without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying.” (“Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts,” New York Times) That incident was reported just 13 years ago and already we can see that the infrastructure for a permanent Orwellian police-state – that uses its extraordinary powers of surveillance to sabotage the democratic process and maintain its stranglehold on power – has already arisen in our midst. And while Russiagate is proof-positive that these malign spying techniques are already being used against us, the Democratic party is now creating a home for deep-state alums and their military allies so they continue to prosecute their war against personal liberty and the American people.

Current Events

The Energy Cliff Approaches: World Oil & Gas Discoveries Continue To Decline

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by SRSrocco

By the SRSrocco Report,

As the world continues to burn energy like there is no tomorrow, global oil and gas discoveries fell to another low in 2017. And to make matters worse, world oil investment has dropped 45% from its peak in 2014. If the world oil industry doesn’t increase its capital expenditures significantly, we are going to hit the Energy Cliff much sooner than later.

According to Rystad Energy, total global conventional oil and gas discoveries fell to a low of 6.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Boe). To arrive at a Boe, Rystad Energy converts natural gas to a barrel of oil equivalent. In 2012, the world discovered 30 billion Boe of oil and gas versus the 6.7 billion Boe last year:

In the article, All-time low for discovered resources in 2017, Rystad reports, it stated the following:

“We haven’t seen anything like this since the 1940s,” says Sonia Mladá Passos, senior analyst at Rystad Energy. “The discovered volumes averaged at ~550 MMboe per month. The most worrisome is the fact that the reserve replacement ratio in the current year reached only 11% (for oil and gas combined) – compared to over 50% in 2012.” According to Rystad’s analysis, 2006 was the last year when reserve replacement ratio reached 100%.

The critical information in the quote above is that the world only replaced 11% of its oil and gas consumption last year compared to 50% in 2012. However, the article goes on to say that the last time global oil and gas discoveries were 100% of consumption was back in 2006. So, even at high $100+ oil prices in 2013 and 2014, oil and gas discoveries were only 25% of global consumption.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, global oil capital investment has fallen right at the very time we need it the most. In the EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2017, world oil capital investment fell 45% to $316 billion in 2016 versus $578 billion in 2014:

In just ten years (2007-2016), the world oil industry spent $4.1 trillion to maintain and grow production. However, as shown in the first chart, global conventional oil and gas discoveries fell to a new low of 6.7 billion Boe in 2017. So, even though more money is being spent, the world isn’t finding much more new oil.

I believe we are going to start running into serious trouble, first in the U.S. Shale Energy Industry, and then globally, within the next 1-3 years. The major global oil companies have been forced to cut capital expenditures to remain profitable and to provide free cash flow. Unfortunately, this will impact oil production in the coming years.

Thus, the world will be facing the Energy Cliff much sooner than later.

Check back for new articles and updates at the SRSrocco Report.

Cultural/Ideological Divide

Comment on – The Racial Realignment of American Politics

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mark green says:

Brilliant synthesis. Excellent article. Patrick McDermott hits it out of the ballpark, noting correctly that ethnocentrism is “instinctual”. So true. So obvious. And this suppressed truth is just the tip of the iceberg. America lives under ‘intellectual occupation’.

But the hardening scientific facts involving race, kinship, and phenotype are testament to the hollowness of ‘anti-racist’ rhetoric and ideologies that dominate so much of the American landscape.

These liberal creeds pretend to repudiate (all) ‘racism’ and bigotry, but in political fact, they strategically target only white Americans. This makes these lofty ‘values’ not only disingenuous but unfair and destructive.

Highfalutin (but bogus) liberalism has come to play a diabolical role. It undermines white cohesion and white solidarity. Meanwhile, from high above, irreversible demographic changes are being orchestrated.

MacDermott correctly observes that the West’s unsought ethno-racial transformation is what’s behind the reinvigoration of white identity in Europe and America. This at least is good news.

Says MacDermott:

“Ethnic conflict has been a constant in human relations—everywhere and throughout history. More recently, 64 percent of all civil wars since 1946 have divided along ethnic lines. Such conflicts are highly correlated with genetic diversity and ethnic polarization. Some of the worst examples, such as Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sudan, have included ethnic cleansing and genocide.”

Very true. Very important. And while MacDermott avoids mentioning a more obvious example, the most persistent expression of this phenomena can be seen in Israel/Palestine, where allegedly ‘Semitic’ Jews are doing whatever it takes to keep their lesser (Semitic) cousins at arms length–in this case, in the caged ghettos of Gaza and the West Bank.

Undue and uncompromising Jewish influence in Zio-America is allowing this race-born outrage to continue. Sadly, Israeli savagery routinely receives Zio-Washington’s unconditional blessing, trillion-dollar subsidy, and unflinching diplomatic cover.

But besides the disputed territory and Israel’s untouchable political power, what nourishes the endless Israel/Palestine impasse?

Jewish ‘exceptionalism’ is one key motivator.

The Chosen people are convinced that they are born vastly superior to their Semitic cousins.

Thus, strict segregation is required for the assurance of ‘Jewish (genetic) continuity’. This objective however requires steadfast cruelty since the natives are still restless and rebelling.

Supremacism means never having to say you’re sorry. This is especially true since, ironically, peace between Jews and Arabs could potentially lead to increased Jewish ‘outmarriage’ in Israel and consequently, the gradual reduction in Israeli (Jewish) IQ and Jewish ‘exceptionalism’ (supremacy).

Over time, potential genetic intermingling would very possibly undermine Jewish magnificence and therefore, Jewish cohesion. This could then translate into a loss of Jewish solidarity and ‘community’. It’s possible.

This downturn could subsequently affect Jewish wealth and power, and that is certainly not an outcome that the Jewish community desires.

Leaders of the global Jewish community are smart enough to envision this scenario and to prevent it from happening. They use The Holocaust (and it’s potential re-0currance) as an all-purpose excuse. But it’s phony. Self-segregation is a sacred, ancient Jewish value. Thus the glamorization of interracial romance is directed only at the goyim, as is the message of Open Borders. Just turn on your TV. It’s there constantly.

These ‘liberal, democratic’ messages however are never advocated in Israel, nor are they directed at young Jews via Israeli TV, news, entertainment or education.

You will never see glamorous depictions of Jewish/Arab miscegenation on Israeli television, even though black/white ‘family formation’ on Jewish-owned mass media in America is ubiquitous.

Hostile US elites (Jews) apparently want non-Jewish whites to become mixed, brown. This racial objective however is anathema to Jewish values. It’s strictly for the goyim.

Meanwhile, whites in America are not permitted to think or hold values like Israeli Jews, or to even express similar preferences inside the civilization that they and their forefathers created. This speaks volumes about the lack of freedom in America. Yes, we live under intellectual occupation.

For many Israeli Jews (the dominant thinking goes) strict segregation–if not active warfare–is the only sure way to maintain ‘hafrada’ (separation) for Jews in Israel since they are surrounded by tens of millions of similar-looking but ‘unexceptional’ Arabs.

Unlike America, walls (and segregation) remain sacred in Israel. But not here.

It's All About Jews

NEO: Will Israel Be on the Table at the Trump-Putin Summit

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By
Gordon Duff, Senior Editor

Editor’s note: Trump will meet Putin in a more solid position than otherwise due to the resignation of SC Justice Kennedy. Kennedy, a closet liberal in conservative guise, was considered untrustworthy by Trump’s handlers and forced to resign based on his sexual history. Kennedy has an odd history in the court, having backed gay marriage and abortion rights but led the move to hand America over to the banking cabal under Citizens United v. US. This was “his baby” and a disaster for America.

Black Cube dropped a bomb on Kennedy, forcing his resignation or arrest/impeachment in order to give Trump the needed votes on the court to insulate himself from impeachment.

However, we go to Syria and the Middle East for today’s story, published in Russia:

Moscow: Israeli planes have been bombing Syria and, less publicly, the Houthi regions of Yemen, using “roundabout” routes to evade air defenses. This, in itself, is not controversial. However, what is controversial is reports that Israel has been operating out of bases inside both Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Sources not only confirm these reports but military analysis of Israel’s missions, as they announce them publicly, prove use of particularly Saudi bases is mandatory.

Questions then arise regarding the degree of inter-cooperation between these nations and the Gulf States, against Syria, against Yemen, against certainly Iran and to a lesser known extent, in support of ISIS operations across the region.

Of course, none of this would be possible without logistical support, mission planning and AWAC services supplied by the United States.

Thus, we are confronted with a leading question; how will Russian policy in the region address this threat to their own interests?

Geopolitical Consequences of Trump/Putin Summit

Will Vladimir Putin come out of the Helsinki summit with some idea of who Trump really is, and moreover, who is really running the United States? Is it the rich, the military-industrial complex or a mysterious cabal of dark figures, cults, councils and secret societies warned of by John Kennedy back in 1963?

Is anyone really in charge in America at all? Does America exist as a nation with policies and interests or has the current flurry of direction changes and chaos signaled a nation in free fall?

America is playing a double game in Syria. America is standing aside while Assad forces are retaking the South, a seeming agreement to keep Iranian fighters out that that portion of the wider conflict, despite denials, is inexorably in play. American policy is clearly not its own, leaving America as a minor player whose government was bought and paid for by Saudi cash and Israeli lobbying efforts, or so many analysts are now coming to realize.

The Mueller Probe and the Politics of ISIS

Even the Mueller investigation is now re-centering on the Saudi’s and Gulf States and their ties to Americans names like Erik Prince and Dick Devos, names that have long been “fronts” for Israel’s power in America.

Yet America is openly soft peddling on the war in ISIS, minimally doing nothing, with ISIS strength East of the Euphrates River consistent under US inaction. Syria and Russia claim America is aiding ISIS, arming and training them, safeguarding their commanders and even supplying them with intelligence and command support.

This second, the “counter-policy” of America in Syria, in direct violation of accords with Russia, serves Israeli and Saudi interests. That Israeli and Saudi interests are one in the same reflects in what is evidenced in Syria and Israel’s attacks there. We will take a moment to examine these.

Yemen

The war in Yemen has been ongoing for years. In addition to the Gulf States and even mercenaries from as far away as Latin America, the US and Israel have been directly involved. Attacks are planned and supported by the US, the air attacks, the naval blockade, using American assets in the region and stockpiles of American weapons and fuel.

Israel has flown missions against Yemen for years. On May 11, 2015, two Saudi “painted” American built F16 fighters were shot down over Yemen, as examination of wreckage found them to be of a variety and type only sold to Israel and not among Saudi inventory.

Some asserted that Israel was testing advanced weapons on Yemen, from Jeff Smith at Veterans Today, former IAEA inspector and UN arms control officer:

“PHOTO ANALYSIS OF THE SHOT DOWN F-16 IN YEMEN SHOW THAT THEY ARE THE EARLY MODEL; BLOCK A/B F-16 GROUND ATTACK CONFIGURATION VERSION (IT HAS THE SMALL OR WHAT IS CALLED THE SHORT TAIL) WITH ROYAL SAUDI AIR FORCE MARKINGS BEING NEWLY PAINTED ON THE AIR FRAME. ALL OF THE SO-CALLED ARAB COALITION AIRCRAFT ARE BLOCK C/D NOT A/B.

SO, THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE 50 SURPLUS US F-16 A MODELS GIVEN TO ISRAEL DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION OR IT IS A RECENTLY SURPLUS EX-NATO AIRCRAFT EITHER FROM ITALY OR PORTUGAL. THE ONLY OTHER OPTION IS THAT THEY WERE DIRECTLY SUPPLIED FROM THE US COVERTLY.

IT WAS CARRYING THE 300-GAL CENTER LINE LONG RANGE BOLT ON CONFORMAL DROP TANK WITH NO AIR TO AIR REFUELING CAPABILITY OR ECM EQUIPMENT. THEREFORE, IT WAS SHOT DOWN. TOO SLOW AND NO COUNTERMEASURES. IT WAS ALSO USING THE OLDER APG-66 RADAR. RIYADH OR UAE TO YEMEN IS ONLY 600 MILES.

HOWEVER, ISRAEL TO YEMEN IS 1200 MILES. AN F-16 WITH 3 DROP TANKS, 4X 1000 LB. BOMBS AND 2 SIDEWINDER MISSILES FOR SELF-DEFENSE IS DO-ABLE FROM ISRAEL. THE VERY SAME DISTANCE AND MISSION CONFIGURATION AS NEEDED TO HIT IRAN.”

What this proves and what it proved with Yemen in 2015 it also proves for Syria and Israel’s air assaults there. Israeli attacks on Syria, which show routes over Saudi and even Turkish airspace, attacks that come in from the East over Iraq, require air to air refueling which America could only do or something far more sinister. Israel is operating out of bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, aircraft, drones, and has been for years.

Where planes were painted in Saudi markings, something Israel has always done, they openly use their own markings, planes and crews living in Saudi Arabia, based there to attack Syria and quite probably Iran as well.

The Summit

A summit meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is scheduled for July 16, 2018. Trump will arrive after golfing in Scotland for sure but he may well sink NATO before sitting down with the Russian prime minister.

Trump’s economic war on China has now spread to the EU, with bans on dozens, if not hundreds, of American products, evidence of European protectionism and the machinations of the World Trade Organization, now the subject of Trump’s endless ire.

The hope for many, an end to American sanctions on Russia, may be in the offing as the US moves further from its NATO partners. One must remember that trade relationships are the heart of NATO.

On a darker note, Pentagon militarists would replace Germany with Poland as America’s primary NATO partner, moving major bases closer to Russia, posturing for the long-planned dissolution of the Russian state Vladimir Putin may well have saved from full dismemberment and “puppetization.”

The questions many ask are these:

  • Who really controls the US? What is the extent of Israeli influence, are they America’s “junk yard dog” or has America now become a puppet of the international cartels?
  • If Trump is “Russia’s man” as many say, why has America invaded Syria and why has the US participated in irresponsible fear mongering over unproven allegations of Russian use of chemical weapons?
  • If America is prepared to torpedo NATO, how is Trump prepared to counter the potential offsetting alliances between Russia and China or Turkey and Iran or any mix of the four?

Conclusion

The paradigm shift in how inter-relationships in the Middle East are now perceived, with Saudi Arabia and Israel openly cooperating at many levels, well should impact all nations. The issues are several, certainly terrorism and security, but also access to needed and affordable supplies of oil and gas.

Certainly, to an extent, the manufactured instability that has pushed oil to near record levels has made America’s insistence on blocking Iranian oil sales as well as the Nordstream gas project more than controversial.

Increasingly, the supposed roots of terrorism, Islamic extremism and Saudi Wahhabism, are discarded for more realistic models, gas and oil market manipulation, supporting the global arms market and providing a backdrop for the less publicly known aspects, narcotics and human trafficking.

The key to it all may well be a few Israeli air attacks on remote regions of Syria requiring non-existent capabilities, attacks Israel loves to brag about even when their darker alliances may well be exposed.

Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War that has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades and consulted with governments challenged by security issues. He’s a senior editor and chairman of the board of Veterans Today, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
https://journal-neo.org/2018/07/01/will-israel-be-on-the-table-at-the-trump-putin-summit/