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The airliner took off an hour late, at a time when no civilian aircraft were expected to be in the air. The type of missle that appears to have been used is designed to intercept incoming cruise missiles, and has a setting that automatically attacks anything not showing a valid IFF. Civilian aircraft do not carry military IFF transponders.
By far the most likely explanation is that the Iranians set their antimissile defenses to automatic in case the US decided to retaliate for the pro-forma BM attacks after all, and did not expect a civilian aircraft to fly into the area.
Meanwhile, the plane was far out of range of anything the US owns, and Iran isn't claiming to have picked up anything in their airspace. Had they detected a US aircraft, they would have assumed it to be on a strike mission and tried very hard to shoot it down.
The odds against this being a false-flag are so high that only a certfied paranoid lunatic would embrace the idea.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/28/20888815/nra-russia-senate-report-tax-exempt-investigation-irs-new-york-dc-james-attorney-general Does anybody find the argument that the NRA would basically dissolve if they were no longer tax exempt kind of bogus? Not that I like the NRA, just that they'd have revenue sources like membership fees. Sure, they'll lose some members and have to downsize, but that's different from closing down entirely.
Well that was a very interesting read, and I don't have much more to say about it. But I do have a question, since you seem to know a bit about this stuff. Do you think that a lot of the efforts to hold onto these checks and balances is holding out against a fight that has already been lost? The USA is a global hegemonic power, whose executive has greatly consolidated its authority, whose people have their freedoms at risk of being lost to corporations with zero constitutional limits?
Maybe it has already been lost, and we're just playing out the defeat right now. It's true that the public is extremely demoralized. I don't think we're headed for a total loss though. The foundation myths of the USA are still very strong, and as MSH says we're heading for a breakout from Bland Neoliberal Corporate Stasis in some direction soon. What direction remains to be seen, but I'm fairly hopeful we aren't heading for the iPrez timeline. And even if it is a lost cause I feel it would be somewhat counterproductive to just surrender.
Okay, now that I've got the text of the law on hand it is clear to see that it is not unreasonable - it is stated that it isn't illegal to attribute to Poland or the Polish people crimes committed by the Third Reich IF what you claim is factual/is part of an academic pursuit/is part of an artistic pursuit/isn't a pulbic statement.
So now we will have US troops fighting alongside Assad against a NATO member? :p
Assad has decided to send the Syrian army to Afrin, to help the Kurds defend themselves against Turkish attacks. They should arrive within two days, and will take positions overseeing the Syrian-Turkish border. Assad considers the Turkish operation as a violation of the territorial integrity of Syria.
Even though he has been very clear that he will not allow the Kurds to secede from Syria and form their own state, the Turks are a worse enemy.
