The Objective Standard (TOS), the preeminent source for commentary from an Objectivist perspective has recently printed Bryan Larsen's work entitled "The Unknown Awaits" on its front cover. Cordair Fine Art Gallery, specializing in Romantic Realism, has a special offer for aficionados.
"The Unknown Awaits" by Bryan Larsen inspired by Ayn Rand's essay Apollo Versus Dionysos.
Quent Cordair Fine Art Gallery has posted a very special announcement on their Facebook page. Due to the the overwhelmingly positive response to "The Unknown Awaits" by Bryan Larsen on the cover of The Objective Standard, Cordair Fine Art Gallery offer a pre-sale promotion on prints of the painting. The prints measure 24" x 40" and the introductory price for the first 25 prints under a 50% deposit will sell for only... drum roll
$695
Call the gallery at +1-707-255-2242 to reserve a signed and numbered, limited-edition today.
Mehdi Hasan talks to retired Lt. General Michael T. Flynn, former head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, on how to deal with ISIS and Iran, and about the long term future of the Middle East. According to Flynn too much is invested in conflict and not enough in development. Flynn is a registered Democrat and a progressive.
Aug 4, 2015 Head to Head with retired Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn.
In the video Al Jazeera's Mehdi Hasan challenges retired Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, former head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), on the rise of ISIS, the War on Terror, and how to deal with Iran. Flynn is the former head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and a commander of J-SOC, the covert ops squad that hunted Al Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan all the way to Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.
Neo Communist party leader Alexis Tsipras set up a confrontation with the transnational elites as he is making good on his promise to end economic reforms. In the meantime national sovereignty and the democratic process have been suspended by the euro group, who in effect are trying to run the country instead of the elected government.
Stefan Molyneux explains why the current system is a prop up for the Socialist system of private money controlled by governments.
"The Tragedy of the Euro" by Philipp Bagus is a Must Read for all students of the euro disaster area. The book explains the history of banking and why current monetary system is so corrupt, that it is bound to collapse sooner or later. The Mises Institute has kindly released a free PDF of the book.
UPDATE:
Germany, which has taken a tough line on Greece, has profited from the country's crisis to the tune of 100 billion euros ($109 billion), according to a new study Monday.
The sum represents money Germany saved through lower interest payments on funds the government borrowed amid investor "flights to safety", the study said.
"These savings exceed the costs of the crisis -- even if Greece were to default on its entire debt," said the private, non-profit Leibniz Institute of Economic Research in its paper. "Germany has clearly benefited from the Greek crisis."
When investors are faced with turmoil, they typically seek a safe haven for their money, and export champion Germany "disproportionately benefited" from that during the debt crisis, it said.
"Every time financial markets faced negative news on Greece in recent years, interest rates on German government bonds fell, and every time there was good news, they rose." (Source)
The Obama administration is training and arming members of the 'moderate' Free Syrian Army (FSA). Syria is the US's Afghanistan 2.0 where they armed the Mujaheddin with stingers against the Sovjets which metastacized into Al Qaeda. The FSA consists of various factions of Islamists and has relabeled itself Syria Democratic Forces (SDF).
Free Syrian Army (FSA) Col. Abdel Jabbar Al Okaidi after the rebel capture of Menagh military airbase.
UPDATE:
@vplus About 35 of them fled to #YPG controlled area. They are under YPG protection now
CAPTURED SYRIAN REBEL DESCRIBES CIA TRAINING PROCESS
One of the captured men from Division 30 (all thoroughly screened for 'moderation') describes the training process (not necessarily true):
One of the alleged rebels captured by Nusra Front identified himself as Zakaria Ahmad Safsouf from the northwestern village of Jbala saying he was asked by a rebel commander to go to Aleppo where he guarded a post. He said that after spending between 10 to 20 days in Aleppo, fighters were sent to Turkey for a 45-day training program that ended with each rebel being given an M16 assault rifle as well as $400 and 400 Turkish Liras ($150). "They then send them back to Syria to fight the Nusra Front" (...) "There are senior American officers and telecommunications equipment so that (rebels) communicate with the coalition." (...) A U.S. military official seemed to deny any American connection to Division 30, saying on Friday that no member of a U.S.-backed rebel faction had been abducted. (Source)
US TAKEN BY SURPRISE: 31 TRAINEES ABDUCTED BY AQ IN SYRIA
Not only has the Obama regime constructed Islamic 'moderates', it also (mis)calculated that Nusra -- Al Qaeda in Syria -- would be its ally against ISIS. This is the make belief world of the Obama regime operating in the most explosive area on the globe.
Jul 31, 2015
Warplanes believed to be part of a U.S.-led alliance struck Nusra Front positions in northern Syria on Friday following an attack by the al Qaeda-linked group on Western-backed rebels in the area.
Clashes between members of al-Qaida's branch in Syria and a rebel faction in the country's north believed to have been trained by the U.S. government have stopped after the rebels abandoned their headquarters, activists said Saturday.
The Nusra Front meanwhile released a video showing one of the captured rebels saying that the men in the faction known as Division 30 were trained in Turkey by U.S. officers and sent back to Syria with money and weapons.
The fighting came a few days after the U.S. and Turkey announced the outlines of a deal to help rebels push the Islamic State group back from a strip of territory it controls along the Syrian-Turkish border, replacing it with more moderate rebels backed by Washington and Ankara.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said members of the Division 30 faction fled to a nearby area controlled by a Syrian Kurdish militia. Abu al-Hassan Marea, a Syrian activist who is currently in Turkey near the Syrian border, confirmed Saturday that Division 30 fighters have withdrawn from their headquarters.
Abdurrahman and Marea said Division 30 had less than 60 fighters and that on Friday alone the group lost five fighters and 18 others were wounded.
A representative of Division 30 did not respond to written questions sent to the group's Facebook account.
On Friday night the Nusra Front said it attacked Division 30 and abducted some of its members, including its commander, because they were trained by the CIA and vowed in a statement to cut off "the arms" of the American government in Syria. During the fighting, U.S.-led coalition warplanes attacked the Nusra Front fighters according to activists. (Source)
July 31, 2015
Al Qaeda in Syria Kidnaps 31 US Trained FSA Rebels
In an apparent setback for the Obama administration’s campaign against Islamic State extremists, Al Qaida’s branch in Syria (Nusra) has captured a commander of a new U.S.-trained anti-jihadist force and several fighters, according to Turkish officials and Syrian rebels.
The abduction, confirmed on the ground but with details disputed by the Pentagon, underlines the risk the United States incurs by fielding a force in a battlefield so messy that a group trained to target one set of jihadists is seized by a rival set of jihadists before it even really began fighting enemy No. 1, the Islamic State.
Accounts of the incident from Turkish officials, Syrian rebels, Turkish media and a posting on the commander’s Facebook page, offer this sequence of events (Source)
If u want to know more about U.S trained rebel group allegedly captured by an AlQaeda affiliate in #Syria, read this pic.twitter.com/OupMPPKPZI
In the meantime rumors have it that the US launched airstrikes last night against Nusra. And Erdogan has ordered Nusra to attack the YPG, warning the Kurds that an attack on the FSA would bring out Turkey in a full scale war against them.
May 10, 2015
Rand Paul Blasts US Support of Free Syrian Army (Full Speech)
Rand Paul is trying to explain to hapless US politicians that so called 'moderates' are in fact mainstream Islamists who will eventually bite the hand that feeds them. None are so blind as those that can't see. For over a quarter of a century the West has constructed the illusion of a moderate Islam that simply doesn't exist! Islam is not Christianity.
Rand Paul Blasts John McCain & Democrats ‘Hypocrisy’ on ISIS War. FULL SPEECH - US beheaded after sold by moderates http://t.co/JcBK7tjSyA
An article in Christian Science Monitor describes the false Western narrative to a T. It makes no sense to support these Muslim Brotherhood operatives. Who believes these are democrats, needs his head examined (but then, the same lunacy happened in Egypt and almost pushed the country over the brink). What the article does explain however, is why Israel is 'supporting' them, rather than the Hezbollah-Assad-Iran axis. (Source)
Feb. 19, 2015
US, Turkey Agree To Train 'Moderate Syrian Rebels'
Turkey wants command of 'Moderate' Free Syrian Army
!! Turkey offering to take command of the FSA in ground operation if US establishes no-fly-zone over #Syriahttp://t.co/8lwCyBA44q
— Alamet#HandsOffSyria (@Alamet0) January 10, 2015
Jan. 5, 2015
'Moderate' FSA Has Got An All Female Battalion Now
Look, the FSA has got an women only unit now! And check out just how 'moderate' they are!
It may go down in history as one of the biggest lies perpetrated on a catatonic public: the rival Islamists opposed to IS cast in the role of 'moderates and democrats'. The first tweet tells the narrative as framed by mainstream politicians and the media in the West. The second tweet shows what big a lie this narrative in reality is.
A Dutch newspaper recently had an interview with the son of Col. Abdel Jabbar Al Okaidi (in the video), Ahmed Al Okaidi. (Source)
Ahmed confirms that Islam is playing an increasingly central role in the FSA. Al Okaidi Senior deserted in Februari 2012 from the national army and joined the FSA. He has become one of the main assets of the rebel forces in Aleppo, Idlib and more recently in Kobani. Washington saw him as a moderate and gave him support. But since the FSA was routed earlier this month in an assault by IS, sources and funds have slowed to a trickle. Al Okaidi was forced to apply for support elsewhere. The results are devastating, Ahmed confesses in a café in the Turkish border town of Gaziantep.
Ahmed left Kobani for a visit to his chosen university. "The FSA has weakened considerably", he says. "In Aleppo half the force deserted". Most of them have fled to Turkey. According to Al Okaidi the FSA broke up into autonomous groups. Two years ago they may have been 'moderate', but they turned staunchly Islamist.
There's a reason. "Powerful individuals from Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the FSA's main sponsors in Aleppo. They sign off on every major mission. But they have but one goal: the spread of Islam. If they don't like the plan, they withdraw their support".
Recently many FSA fighters deserted to the Islamic State to participate in their siege of Kobani. As a reason Al Okaidi offers the US air attacks. "To many Syrians America is the main enemy. Any group that is attacked by the US, gets their support. If anything, the air attacks have made IS more popular".
According to Al Okaidi IS is still in control of seventy percent of Kobani. But he doesn't believe IS will take the town. "Our defense is much too strong. IS is losing a lot of assets in Kobani. They are killed by FSA or YPG snipers positioned on roof tops. On the day I arrived in Kobani alone some 85 Jihadists were killed. IS have become more careful.
They will only attack with long range arms". The FSA and the YPG are defending the thirty percent of the town they control. There are no direct assaults, simply because that isn't possible. We don't have the artillery, just mortars, kalashnikovs and automatics. IS on the other hand have all the modern arms and tanks".
The FSA has some fifty fighters in Kobani. About a hundred stayed behind in Aleppo. They are no longer fighting for freedom and democracy, but simply to earn a living. "They have families to feed", says Al Okaidi. Their pay of 150 dollars two years ago has shrunk to ninety dollars.
Al Okaidi thinks it is sad what the FSA has come to. Yet he is determined to continue fighting. "I can't give up now. It is my father's dream for me to rise through the ranks".
By special request of @HananShamounNL
Nov. 5, 2014
More Evidence of Atrocities by Obama's 'Moderate Syrian Rebels'
More material has emerged of Obama's 'moderate Syrian rebels' committing atrocities in Idlib. There's no telling how reliable this evidence is, but we don't need to have any illusions as to who these people are. They're evidently no seculars: Maarouf - who fled to Turkey - prays five times a day and has three wives.
Graphic Pics of Stronghold Vacated by Obama's 'Moderate Syrian Rebels'
Pictures released online and distributed through various Twitter accounts allegedly show jihadist Jund al Aqsa and Al Nusrah Front fighters in Jabal al Zawiya, Syria, which had previously been a stronghold for Jamaal Maarouf and his western-backed Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF).
In an assault that began last week, the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, supported by Jund al Aqsa, targeted the SRF and seized parts of its territory in Idlib province. (...) The photos showcase the fighters allegedly pulling up bodies from a well, a room where the SRF kept civilians and Islamic State fighters prisoner, and an alleged dungeon. Other photos show a destroyed jeep, an SRF flag burning, and piles of aid packages that were stockpiled by the SRF. One photo purports to be taken in the house of Jamaal Maarouf.
Al Nusrah has also released several pictures on one of its Twitter accounts purporting to show bodies in the aforementioned well. (Source) Pamela Geller describes how weapons provided by the Obama Government to the SRF and FSA end up with Nusra, as emerges from the above. (Source)
Nov 3, 2014 Video allegedly showing bodies pulled up from the well. View with discretion: graphic!
Nov. 3, 2014
Obama's 'Moderate Syrian Rebels' Defect to Al Qaeda
SRF leader Maarouf has ended his alliance with Nusra. He's fled to Turkey (tweet) after losing a battle with Nusra. 'I am not fighting against al-Qa’ida… it’s not our problem', he told The Independent earlier this year. (Source) Apparently he's now joined the Syrian Revolutionaries' Front (SRF), a US-backed Islamist group. He has sent a strong message to Abu Muhammad al-Joulani (Wiki), the leader of Nusra (Al Qaeda in Syria), angry for fighting him in Jabal al-Zawiya. The close relationship that binds Nusra and many other rebel groups in Syria puts the SRF in a weak position.
The US-backed SRF and other "moderate" groups were tasked since early 2014 by the Obama administration to fight other hardcore Wahhabi militant groups such as ISIL and Nusra Front. Until recently, the SRF conducted joint operations with Nusra; however, recent fighting seems to suggest that this alliance is over. (Source) The US administration must be mad to count on these war lords as 'boots on the ground'. They're all pawns of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey in one way, shape or other.
Maarouf no longer controls anything in idlib. His men & wives fled. Nusra was backed by Jund al Aqsa & some Ahrar https://t.co/THMCeUZaGQ
— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) November 1, 2014
Oct. 28, 2014
General Allen Sees Political Role For FSA
Has the US dropped the FSA? We have to be realistic. The Obama regime has been pursuing the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood wherever it got the chance. Egypt, Gaza, Turkey and Syria. The US already know who they are. If Obama is dropping the FSA -- which is not very likely -- it is not over their Islamist qualifications. In fact, they may have been upgraded from 'boots on the ground', to government in waiting. The US is pursuing a 'political solution' rather than a military one.
While Turkey has finally allowed the Peshmerga to pass over its territory to defend Kobane (ETA early hours of the morning), their demand to drop 1300 men of the FSA in the town to fill the vacuum once IS when defeated, is still on the table. The Kurds will not be amused. (Source) Related: The Caliphate Conspiracy (Source)
The FSA has long been suspected of being not quite as 'moderate' as the Obama administration makes them out to be. As students of Islam well know, there is only one Islam. Moderate Islam is a typical example of Orientalism: a Western notion projected on to an Islamic concept that is none of the sort. It would be like selective shopping in Catholicism, accepting the Pope, but not Confession. It wouldn't be Catholicism, it can't be done.
But back to the FSA which the Obama admin has been training and arming for some years now. (Source) It is rumored that the 9/11 attack on the CIA annex at Benghazi may have been a flunked operation to arm the FSA through Turkey. Clandestinely, but once vetted, the arrangement will be official and training and arming can start in earnest.
In the video above is one of the key men in Syria, the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) Col. Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, who operated mostly in the greater Aleppo area, who was open about his daily communication and collaboration with extremist jihadists from IS and al-Qaeda's official branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.
He refers to their fighters as brothers. In one footage after the rebel capture of Menagh military airbase, he even appeared standing next to an Egyptian jihadist from IS, Abu Jandal, while thanking him and his group for their contributions.
The US is known to have funneled military aid to al-Okaidi and others in the FSA the last couple of years. (Source) Video on the secret training mission (source). Read articles about this video (source) (source).
Given the connections it is obvious that the FSA is aligned to the Muslim Brotherhood (Wiki), which has long infiltrated the Obama administration. The director of the CIA, John Brennan, a converted Muslim (source) in an infamous video described the organization as the "moderate", "secular", "democratic" and "peaceful" alternative to Al Qaeda (the Islamic State was still in a rudimentary stage at the time of Brennan's confirmation).
The result of the US-MB partnership has been the war in Libya, the Arab Spring in Tunisia and in Egypt, the latter resulting in the disaster of the Mursi Government. Trouble is also ahead for King Abdullah of Jordan, who the MB see as a Western puppet (video). Other countries ruled by the Brotherhood are Sudan, Gaza, paymaster Qatar and Turkey.
The Obama administration in order to get Congress on board is going through the process of vetting the FSA so that by the end of the year a small army can be operational as 'boots on the ground'. Here is the preliminary result of that vetting process. (Source) Every crest speaks volumes about its lack of moderation, invoking mottos as "Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah". Compare the texts with the last, the crest of the Islamic State.
The Kurds have also smelled a rat. On Thursday (Oct. 23) we reported (source) that the FSA had confirmed sending 1300 fighters to Kobane to help the Kurdish forces combat Islamic State. The architect of this plan turned out to be none other than the scheming Turkish President Erdogan. He announced during a press conference that the Kurds had accepted the proposal. But on Friday Oct. 24 the Kurds had become skeptical. Bulat Jan, a Kurdish spokesman taunted the FSA, saying:
"If they really want to fight Daesh, they can attack from Azaz and Ifrin (in northern Syria) eastwards. Any force that enters our areas without our permission would be considered an enemy force."
He stopped short of saying whether the Kurds would turn them away. Like Erdogan, al-Okaidi said on Thursday he would send fighters into Kobane, but Jan voiced suspicion about Okaidi's intentions saying the Kurds would not "allow him (Okaidi) to play the role of a Trojan horse". (Source) To be continued.
Note from the editors: We thank our partner from Syria for helping us collecting and translating the material in this post. Given the situation she prefers to remain anonymous. Here's more in helping us identify our so-called partners in the Middle East and keeping tabs on their double crossing deception and schemes against our true, natural allies.
Free Syrian Army Col. Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi. The FSA are quite open about their alignments. (Source)
FSA Uniform.
The 'moderate' members of Syrian Opposition Coalition performing a Hajj ceremony in Mecca.
Ever since men started on the quest to explore the world, a war has been waging for the objective or the subjective approach. The latest subjective version is "it's all a computer simulation".
Jul 31, 2015 David Brin - Could Our Universe Be a Fake?
David Brin, sci-fi writer and space scientist is rejecting the notion that the universe is a subjective mental construct. Our senses may not be perfect, but they don't have to be, in order to discover reality. Our perceptions are filtered by experience and reason. Are aspirin, the combustion engine and the refrigerator just mental constructs? The attack on reason, the war on reality continues...
From 2005 to 2015 global oil output has increased from 83 million to 93 million bpd (1.29%).
The oil and gas companies with the most impressive increases often all state-owned. Other economically less rational resources are taking over, but only at the expense of the tax payer.
Hamas's totalitarian rule over the Gaza Strip seems to be nearing its end, as the Islamist movement faces increased challenges from various militias in the area. Many Palestinians are worried that Gaza will fall into the hands of Islamic State or Al-Qaeda.
Jul 30, 2015 Philippe Assouline, international relations expert, on ISIS in Gaza.
"By Allah's will, we will uproot the state of the Jews and you [Hamas] and others will vanish as the Gaza Strip will be ruled by sharia, whether you like it or not." — Spokesman for the Islamic State.
In public, Hamas leaders do not admit that their movement is being challenged by Islamic State and Al-Qaeda supporters in Gaza. It is more convenient for them to blame "Israeli occupation" for the violence, on the pretext that only Israel is interested in removing Hamas from power. This claim, however, has proven to be untrue.
It is time for the international community to realize that the Palestinian dream of establishing an independent state is being destroyed by none other than the Palestinians themselves. (Source)
Since time immemorial, our climate has been and will always be changing. Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace explains why 'climate change', far from being a recent man-made disaster, is, for a myriad of complex reasons, a fact of life on Planet Earth.
Jul 27, 2015 Patrick Moore explains why “climate change” is a fact of life on Planet Earth. YouTube Channel Prager University. (Source)
Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday said facts don’t support climate change, in a speech that described the notion as a front for power-hungry politicians who want to control Americans’ lives.
During an appearance before some of the most influential conservative donors in the country, the Texas Republican said there is no factual basis for scientists’ research that shows the planet is changing.
The onslaught of ISIS has almost become synonymous with the heroic stance of the Kurds at Kobane and their brothers of the Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. Since 2006 a Libertarian miracle has been sprouting. The PKK clans are experimenting in an obscure form of direct democracy.
Nov. 10, 2014 Author Stephen Mansfield of the book The Miracle of the Kurds, has a message for the US. Scroll down for more.
UPDATE: Link to the original including annotations (source)
Egypt is struggling to restore the country after narrowly having escaped rule by the Muslim Brotherhood. The former military leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, currently the country's President, is showing true leadership in uniting the country and spearheading efforts to reform Islam.
Jul 24, 2015
Egypt has issued warrants for both Obama and Hillary for their Muslim Brotherhood shenanigans.
