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Shady Ray

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Everything posted by Shady Ray

  1. Errrrbody bluffing up in here.
  2. Not sure where else to put this, but it is worth noting in the context of the NATO summit that the non-partisan Scientific Services of the German Bundestag (equivalent to the US Congressional Research Service) came out yesterday with a formal opinion on the legality of the US activities in Syria. A group of legislators sought this guidance as part of their analysis on whether the Anti-IS campaign that Germany currently supports (nominally, at least) is, in fact, permissible under relevant German regulations: International Valuation of Russian, American and Israeli Involvement in the Syrian Conflict Unfortunately, only German language is available, but the findings are: Re Russian Activity in Syria: Re US intervention in Syria: This is being reported as the "first step" towards German withdrawal from the U.S. Anti-IS coalition, which will certainly pave the way for other EU bit-players to bail, as well. Of course, the impact of Germany et al withdrawing is minimal with respect to the situation on the ground, but it is interesting to to see the German media making such efforts to point out that the Bundestag's legal analysts find the U.S. anti-IS operations against both IS and Assad's regime to be in violation of international law, only to then clearly deem Russia's participation in military activity against "rebels" in Syria to be legal and justifiable under those very same rules.
  3. This. And if the alliance doesn't come apart from external pressures in the Baltics, just wait until NATO's hyper-expansionism into the Balkans fully plays out and it ruptures internally right down the Western side of the peninsula. Ultimately, the EU and NATO are no longer tied together by common objectives for the region, and that is untenable moving forward when mutual defense obligations contradict EU expansion objectives. And there are endless possibilities for mutual defense contradictions if every country down there is guaranteed protection from attack through Article 5. Just as an example, take the good and righteous government in Albania. Sure, ever-wise John McCain and peace-loving Lindsey Graham never tire of speaking of the wonderful and freedom-loving people of Albania, but the population of every NATO member country in the EU is fully aware that Albania is a fully corrupt narco-state enabled by Washington, run by gangsters in Tirana, and increasingly full of ISIS sympathizers out in the poorer rural areas. And if Albania is Michael Corleone, it's client-quasi-state next door, Kosovo, is Sonny: Far less intelligent and far more out of control. And NATO is in bed with those maniacs and the EU populace is well aware of it. So, since NATO membership is essentially viewed by those countries as a required stepping stone to the EU and nothing more, the closure of the path to the EU's free movement and free money will make NATO far less important to the citizenry. The EU is going to let Serbia in at some point given how many accession chapters the Serbs have already completed. There will be pressure for Bosnia to eventually accompany, but Bosnia is a volatile dump without much going for it and is still a powder keg. If Serbian admission happens, the repeated delays by Brussels, year after year, to even consider many of the newer NATO additions like Albania and Macedonia for admission is going to end up causing some volatile electorate down there to get more irrational than they already are. Along will come some irredentist asshole like the current ones in Edi "Greater Albania' Rama or Bush/Clinton's Favorite Drug Lord/Human Organ Trafficker, Hashim Thaci in Pristina, whose key to unlocking more and more power is to get more and more ethno-nationalist and aggressive towards some neighbor that they have hated for centuries. Because the Balkans are gonna Balkan and NATO isn't nearly big enough of a carrot anymore to change that instinct. Eventually, NATO membership becomes much less valuable when no one really takes it seriously, which is what is happening when the locals are "in the know" about how exaggerated the Russian threat truly is. Which they very well do. Those people down there don't see NATO as a protector from The Bear. They see NATO much more for what it did for Bosnia and Kosovo and they want a bodyguard to protect, both from their aggressors, as well as from retaliation when it misbehaves. Despite our preference for nice, clean Good vs. Evil war propaganda, in the Western Balkans, it's just a bunch of Darth Vaders with zero loyalty to "Western Values". Stupid to commit to protecting all of them from one another, but in true fashion, that's what we are doing. Won't last.
  4. If Prince is getting a cut, he's nowhere near the top of the graft hierarchy. “Blackwater’s work with the CIA began when we provided specialized instructors and facilities that the Agency lacked"... “In the years that followed, the company became a virtual extension of the CIA because we were asked time and again to carry out dangerous missions, which the Agency either could not or would not do in-house.” --Erik Prince, 2013 https://www.thedailybeast.com/exclusive-erik-prince-on-blackwaters-secret-cia-past The CIA has "turned a blind eye" - at a minimum- for 70 years on heroin, opium and cocaine production and trafficking...Burma, Laos, Colombia, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, Mexico just to name a few. I am not saying they are doing that here, but if Erik Prince is getting a cut, its via the payment of his invoices to his paymasters at Langley. That isn't something he has the clout to do unilaterally, IMO. But at a minimum, CIA isn't helping the situation: Anyway, Alex Jones at Infowars, er, I mean Judy Woodruff at PBS Frontline summarized it pretty well 30 years ago. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/archive/gunsdrugscia.html
  5. This. Although, they've actually moved to Colleyville at the corner of Glade and 121 right by Hall's Grocery. Much bigger place than the original location off Southlake Blvd...and now they offer a great selection of German beers. When we lived in the area my Kraut wife would hit that place up weekly to buy the groceries from home that she couldn't find elsewhere...of course at 4 times the price for much of the imported groceries and Christmas stollen/lebkuchen. Great store owned by really good people.
  6. Shady Ray

    Iran

    The Iranians paid those funds into a "Foreign Military Sales Account" originally set up by the US Government to receive Iranian payments for US Military jets/tanks/weaponry prior to 1979. The Shah's govt had over $10 billion in weapons orders in the pipeline when he went into exile and the balance of the FMS account was $400m at the time of the hostage crisis. Carter froze the fund, Reagan unfroze it after hostage release, and then kicked the entire issue to an international tribunal in The Hague, and the status of the balance of the FMS has been contested as part of the larger claims resolution process since then. The US has long said the FSA was an interest-free account and the Iranians have long said the fuck it was. So, all that said, I don't think it would have required Congressional authority to release the funds since it wasn't technically "spending" by the Federal Govt... But I bet you'll still see some shady shit come to light, nevertheless.
  7. Agree with you re oil, but as long as those two countries want us waging war in the ME in order to advance their geopolitical objectives, our bought-and-paid-for political class will gladly oblige.
  8. Not sure where you are based during your stay but in case you are in BW/southern Hessen you might consider hitting the Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest, which kicks off this Saturday and runs for the next three weeks. It is a really nice festival without a lot of the hassles of the Oktoberfest. Plus, if the weather stays warm, you can enjoy that great beer along with an endless parade of good looking women in low cut dirndls all looking to get getrunken.
  9. Sorry, meant to post to sandman but I’m a fucking idiot on the new board. Point remains the same.
  10. I live here (Munich) and I typically use flugladen.de. Just booked 612€ from MUC-DFW via Delta over ATL departing 4/12. If you can brave a strictly German language site you can get flights from DFW for a grand or less pretty regularly. And they are legit.
  11. Today is Sam's 13th birthday. Proper steak for an early dinner. First 50 degree plus day of the year in Munich. Sam is a happy guy. Been a good boy every step of the way.
  12. Continental Western Europe is going to offer lip service wrt punishing Russia, at best. As discussed on other threads on a site that shall not be named, politicians here in Germany and elsewhere in Europe need dat gas and oil from an actor seen by the public as reasonable (Russia) as opposed to participating in a PR circle-jerk session with an actor seen as politically schizophrenic (the US). And, yes, Russia is seen as sufficiently dangerous (but yet rational and predictable) here while the US is currently seen as completely unpredictable. And don't shoot the messenger.
  13. Shady Ray

    Graham Nash

    This. Right. Here.
  14. This. Don't worry though...Saudi Arabia will bravely fight Iran to the last American. They will sell the Right on "Standing with Israel" and off we will go to another "wonderfully planned" war in the ME, only this time much likelier to fail even more spectacularly than our frolics and detours through Iraq and Libya. Fucking absurd.
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