Afghanistan

"Now they can stand up and preach. People say this is democracy, but I don’t think it is democracy to let Nazis say what they want"...

The desire to take the American public out of the “of the people, by the people, for the people” business can minimally be traced back to the Vietnam War, to the moment when a citizen’s army began voting with its feet and antiwar sentiment grew to startling proportions not just on the home front, but inside a military in the field.  It was then that the high command began to fear the actual disintegration of the U.S. Army. From that moment on, the urge to demobilize the American people and send them to Disney World would only grow.

The United States provided approximately $35 billion in economic aid to over 140 countries in fiscal year 2014. The question is: Who received the largest slice of the pie from the U.S.?

Nearly all empires end due to over-extension. If brave people from Ottawa to Baghdad simply say “enough” within a brief space of time, hopefully this empire can dissolve relatively peacefully like the Soviet Empire did, leaving its host civilization intact, instead of dragging that civilization into oblivion along with it like the Roman Empire did. But beware, the imperial war party will not go quietly into the night, unless we in their domestic tax base insist that there is no other way. Russia’s entry into Syria has thrown all of the neocons’ schemes into disarray, as even Jordan, that favorite proxy force in Israel’s dreams of regional dominance, has begun coordinating with Russia, in spite of its billion dollars a year of annual aid from Washington. Et tu Jordan?!

As An American, I'm FURIOUS that We've Squandered Our Strengths and Resources ...

Moments ago something even more disturbing than the Fed statement took place when a blimp used by NORAD in its surveillance of the east coast has become untethered from its mooring in Maryland and it's now flying somewhere over Pennsylvania, according to NORAD spokesman Lt. Joe Mavrocki.

First it was wildfires, then it was unprecedented flooding, and now it is earthquakes.  In the past two weeks alone, more than 400 earthquakes have shaken San Ramon – a small city that sits approximately 45 miles east of San Francisco.  Never before have so many earthquakes been recorded in that area in such a short span of time. 

• Global shares rise as Riksbank helps ease Fed wait (Reuters)
• Asian Stocks Retreat Before Fed as Material Shares Lead Losses (BBG)
• For Fed, a Rates Puzzle Looms (WSJ)
• What the Superforecasters Say About When the Fed Will Lift Rates (BBG)
• U.S. Looks at Proposals to Step Up Fight Against Islamic State (WSJ)
• China Steel Head Says Demand Slumping at Unprecedented Speed (BBG)
• VW slumps to first quarterly loss in at least 15 years (Reuters)

The head of the UN Human Rights Council is at it again, although this time it appears Saudi warplanes spared the Yemeni wedding parties in favor of a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital that was completely destroyed along with all of the equipment and supplies inside around 11:30 PM local time. This is latest in a string of "mistakes" and the second tragedy to strike an MSF facility in the last 30 days.

With the US on its heels in the Mid-East in the face of an aggressive Russian air campaign and a resurgent Iran, regional governments are beginning to reassess their loyalties. First it was Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi proclaiming that his country would welcome Russian airstrikes against ISIS, then it was Jordan agreeing to coordinate militarily with Moscow, and now, in the latest embarrassement for the Pentagon, Afghanistan has reached out to Vladimir Putin for artillery, small arms and Mi-35 helicopter gunships. 

• European shares slip as easing expectations fade (Reuters)
• Valeant and Pharmacy More Intertwined Than Thought (WSJ)
• The Pawn Isolated: Valeant, Philidor and the Annals of Fraud (WSJ)
• Strongest Afghan Quake Since 1949 Triggers Search for Survivors (BBG)
• EU Agrees To Tighten Border Controls And Slow Migrant Arrival (AP)
• Volkswagen Suspends More Employees (WSJ)
• Volkswagen Loses Global Sales Lead to Toyota Amid Diesel Scandal (BBG)

"If European leaders fail to agree a plan to counter the sudden inflows of refugees, it could mean the end of the European Union. If we don't find a solution today, if we don't do everything we can today, then it is the end of the European Union as such," Prime Minister Miro Cerar said. "If we don't deliver concrete action, I believe Europe will start falling apart."

"Anyone caught in the vicinity is guilty by association. When a drone strike kills more than one person, there is no guarantee that those persons deserved their fate. … So it’s a phenomenal gamble.”

America is a nation divided, not only upon the means we should use to attain our ends in the world, but upon the ends themselves.