On May 13 a leak to the New York Times launched an ‘troops to Iran’ scare: The US military is exploring a plan to deploy 120,000 troops to the Middle East as tensions with Iran intensify – NYT/Business Insider, May…
Author: MoonOfAlabama.org
This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings.
Some time ago, the commenting at Billmon's Whiskey Bar became a bit excessive. Billmon therefore closed the comments at his place on June 29, 2004. The community of commentators was left behind to search for a new place.
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community.
Bernhard started and still runs the site. Once a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators.
The name of the original Whiskey Bar was taken from Bertolt Brecht's Alabama Song where the first line goes:
"Show me the way to the next whiskey bar".
The name Moon of Alabama was taken from the first line of the chorus of that song:
"Oh, moon of Alabama ...".
The design of this site has been directly stolen or re-engineered from the Whiskey Bar site.
The Leaden Lady Steps Down
It was high time for this to happen: Theresa May has announced she is to stand down as Prime Minister on 7 June following months of mounting pressure over her failure to deliver Brexit. … Mrs May will remain in…
Why Trump’s Huawei Ban Is Unlikely To Persist
The Washington Post World page summarizes a piece about consequences of Trump’s ban on the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei: A key chip designer and British telecom companies suspended some dealings with the Chinese tech giant over security concerns. However,…
Venezuela – After Opposition Support ‘Deflated’ – U.S. Targets Food Aid Supply
The hot-air figures the U.S. used for its regime change efforts in Venezuela failed to do their job. The New York Times declares their movement “deflated”. Eleven hours after the story went live (and the White House had called?) the…
Uber Drivers Learn To Game Its Antisocial System
Uber and other ride-hailing companies use surge pricing, also known as “dynamic pricing” or “demand-based pricing.” They increase the ride fare if the demand for rides is greater than the available capacity. In moments of heavy demand, they increase their…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-28
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: May 13 – Syria – OPCW Engineering Assessment: The Douma ‘Chemical Weapon Attack’ Was Staged See also: Rob Slane at The Blogmire – The Sinking Credibility of the Organisation for the Prohibition of…
Why The Takedown Of Christian Strache Will Strengthen The Right
During the last days a right wing politician in Austria was taken down by using an elaborate sting. Until Friday Christian Strache was leader of the far right (but not fascist) Freedom Party of Austria (FPOe) and the Vice Chancellor…
Open Thread 2019-27
News & views …
Propaganda Intensifies Trade War With China
The dwindling empires’ main propaganda outlet, the New York Times, continues its anti-China campaign. It is now by blaming China’s president for the failure of trade negotiations with the United States. How Xi’s Last-Minute Switch on U.S.-China Trade Deal Upended…
Trump Administration Withholds Information That Could Debunk Russian Interference Claims
On Tuesday Russia’s President Putin again rejected U.S. claims that his country interfered in the 2016 elections in the United States. Additional statements by Foreign Minister Lavrov provide that there is more information available about alleged Russian cyber issue during…
The Lunacy Of Waging A War On Iran Which China And Russia Will Win
The scare mongering about an attack on Iran continues. Bolton must be laughing his ass off how easy he can play the issue based on nothing. He simply counters any debunking of the alleged ‘thread from Iran’ by upping the…
U.S. Increases Risk Of War On Iran Without A Path To De-escalation
Is the U.S. military, which lost its powerful positions in the White House, trying to get National Security Advisor John ‘Stache’ Bolton fired? A ‘leak’ to the New York Times accuses Bolton of preparing for war on Iran: At a…
Syria – OPCW Engineering Assessment: The Douma ‘Chemical Weapon Attack’ Was Staged
On April 7 2018 Syrian ‘rebels’ claimed that the Syrian government used chlorine gas and Sarin in an attack on the besieged Douma suburb near the Syrian capital Damascus. They published a series of videos which showed dead bodies of…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-26
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: May 6 – Syria – Russian And Syrian Airforce Prepare The Ground For An Attack On Idlib Province Turkey called on Russia to end the Syrian operation but to no avail. The Syrian…
Media Amplify Iran War Propaganda – Play Up Intelligence Lies
The Trump campaign launched a propaganda campaign to prepare the public for a war on Iran. The campaign is similar to the one the Bush administration ran in 2002 and 2003 preparation for the war on Iraq. Anonymous officials make…
Botched Post Day
Those days one spends hours on a post only to find that it is dull and lacks logic. No, I won’t let you read it.
Whom Not To Trust – U.S. Government Indicts Another Intercept Source
Another source that provided government secrets to The Intercept has been uncovered and indicted by the U.S. government. The Intercept was created to privatize the National Security Agency documents leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The online magazine is financed…
Will the U.S. And Israel Wage A “Summer War”?
J. Swift comments at the end of the Iran JCPOA thread (emphasis added): After sleeping on all the increasingly shrill statements being issued by Bolton & friends designed to amp up pressure and generally beating the war drums against Iran,…
How The U.S. Is Pressing Iran To Breach The Nuclear Deal
363 days ago the U.S. left the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the ‘nuclear deal’ with Iran, and reintroduced sanctions against trade with Iran. When the U.S. reintroduced sanctions on Iran it provided sanction ‘wavers’ for some customers of…
Syria – Russian And Syrian Airforce Prepare The Ground For An Attack On Idlib Province
Throughout the last months the military situation in west Syria was more or less stable. That is about to change. While this map is from August 2018 it is still mostly accurate. Idleb province, and parts of north Hama, are…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-25
April 29 – Baghdadi Is Back And Turkey Might Be His Next Target April 30 – Venezuela – Random Guyaidó’s New Coup Attempt Turns Out to Be A Dangerous Joke May 1 – Venezuela – Guaidó Got Snookered – White…
Israel Again Bombs Gaza – But Is It “In Response”?
Since Friday noon a fire exchange between besieged Palestinians in the Gaza strip and Israel escalated into heavy bombing and missile fire. The reporting thereof in U.S. media again proves that these are unable to fairly cover on the conflict….
Venezuela – Forensics Of A Clownish Coup
Tuesdays clownish coup attempt in Venezuela failed. The Trump administration got snookered. It will have to either change its tactic or leave the issue alone. National Security Advisor John Bolton is pressing for a war on Venezuela. While the Pentagon…
Venezuela – Coup Failure Necessitates A New Policy – Bolton The Stache Is Pushing For War
After the failed coup attempt in Venezuela at least some people recognize the reality that its government has significant support. The coups failure necessitates a new policy. Unfortunately John Bolton is the man in charge of it. He is likely…
Venezuela – Guaidó Got Snookered – White House Starts Beating War Drums
Yesterday’s failed coup attempt in Venezuela significantly hurt the Trump administration’s international standing. It delegitimized its Venezuelan clients Juan Guaidó and Leopoldo López. After recognizing that their original ‘regime change’ plan failed (again) the White House starts to beat the…
Venezuela – Random Guyaidó Launches New Coup Attempt
The Random Guyaidó who the Trump administration tries to make president of Venezuela launched another coup attempt against the government. He announced his intent in a series of tweets around 6:00 am local time (machine translated): Juan Guaidó @jguaido -…
Baghdadi Is Back And Turkey Might Be His Next Target
Remember this dude? bigger He is back. bigger Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, self declared caliph of ISIS, appeared in new video published today. These are the first pictures of him since some three plus years ago. He mentions the recent attacks…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-24
April 21 – Happy Easter I also wish a Happy Easter to those of you who, like the guys below, celebrate it today under Orthodox rites. April 24 – End Of Sanction Waivers For Iran’s Oil Will Hurt Trump’s Voter…
San Diego Synagogue Shooter Was Swayed By The New York Times?
Yesterday John Earnest, a 19 year old white supremacist, entered a synagogue in San Diego with an AR-15 style weapon. Inside the synagogue, filled with Sabbath worshipers, he open fire and killed one person and wounded three. He fled but…
Russia Think Tank Study Shows How To Overextend And Unbalance The U.S. of A.
The Russian institute for Research and Analysis for National Defense (RAND) recently assessed how to further damage the United States: Overextending and Unbalancing Russia – Assessing the Impact of Cost-Imposing Options This brief summarizes a report that comprehensively examines nonviolent,…
U.S. Citizens Who Raided North Korea’s Embassy In Spain Are “Dissidents”?
Spanish authorities suspected the CIA of involvement in the February 22 raid on the North Korean embassy in Madrid: At least two of the 10 assailants who broke into the embassy and interrogated diplomatic staff have been identified and have…
Joe Biden Joins Crowded Primaries
Today we learned that this dude is again running for president. bigger In his campaign launch video Joe Biden waxes about the “core values of America” but makes zero political proposals. He claims: Our very democracy, everything that has made…
End Of Sanction Waivers For Iran’s Oil Will Hurt Trump’s Voter Support
The U.S. is waging a total economic war on Iran: The United States announced on April 22 it will no longer grant sanctions exemptions to eight countries, including Turkey. … “This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to…
Happy Easter
Easter echoes the older human festivities that celebrate the arrival of spring. The dark and cold days of winter are gone. The bright time of fertility has come. Today’s fertility symbols of Easter, the egg and the hare, relate to…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-23
Note: Your host is traveling and visiting family. Posting throughout Easter will be light. Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama: April 15 – Notre Dame On Fire – Updated April 16 – CIA Director Used Fake Skripal Incident Photos…
Libya – U.S. Reveals Support For Hafter’s Side
The situation on the ground in Libya has changed little since we last looked at it two weeks ago. The Libyan National Army (LNA) troops of General Hafter attack the militias which support the UN recognized government in Tripoli from…
Security Breach At U.S. Embassies In Tunisia And Kuwait Almost Caused A Disaster
by L. W. A U.S. security intelligence officer at the U.S. embassy in Kuwait said: “Kuwaiti authorities discovered 200 gram of C4 high explosive packed in a hole inside a book in a rucksack belonging to a U.S. Marine, minutes…
First Thoughts On The Mueller Report Release
The report (pdf) by Special Counsel Robert Mueller is out. Russiagaters will now try to find any word in there that they could use to contradict the report’s conclusion. While I intend to read the full report and to write…
Open Thread 2019-22
News & views …
CIA Director Used Fake Skripal Incident Photos To Manipulate Trump
CIA Director Used Fake Skripal Incident Photos To Manipulate Trump An ass kissing portrait of Gina Haspel, torture queen and director of the CIA, reveals that she lied to Trump to push for more aggression against Russia. In March 2018…
Notre Dame On Fire – Updated
Notre Dame, the 800 years old central cathedral of Paris, is on fire. bigger bigger Here are two short videos at the beginning of the fire 1 2. The second one shows scaffolding around the 90 meter high spire above…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-21
Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama: April 8 – Why Is Trump Designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps As Foreign Terrorist Organization? April 14 – Why Is Europe Trying To Sabotage Iran’s Nuclear Deal? April 9 – The Demise Of…
Why Is Europe Trying To Sabotage Iran’s Nuclear Deal? – (Updated)
Updated below — The Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), limits Iran’s nuclear activities for 15 years. After that period Iran would still be bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its Additional Protocol. But Iran…
CIA’s Vault 7 Files Launched New Case Against Assange – Attack Intends To Prevent Further Leaks
After the arrest of Julian Assange by British police and the unsealing of the U.S. indictment against him, the question is why is the U.S. doing this and why now? The indictment alleges that Assange ‘conspired’ with Chelsea Manning by…
Met Police Arrests Julian Assange
An hour ago the Metropolitan Police arrested Julian Assange, the publisher and editor of Wikileaks, in the Embassy of Ecuador in London. RT has video of the arrest from outside the embassy. A police statement said: Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71)…
Open Thread 2019-20
I’ve got nothing …
The Demise Of The ‘Western’ System
A U.S. made fighter jet that is claimed to evade radar, finally evades radar: Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force says an F35A fighter jet disappeared from radar over the sea off Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Japan…
Why Is Trump Designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps As Foreign Terrorist Organization?
After their failed coup plot in Venezuela, the Trump administration launched another crazy plan: The United States is expected to designate Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps a foreign terrorist organisation, three U.S. officials told Reuters, marking the first time Washington…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2019-19
Last week’s posts on Moon of Alabama: April 2 – Turkey’s Problems Will Change The Dynamics On The Idlib Front April 4 – U.S. – Turkey Spat Intensifies April 3 – No Chinese Troops Arrived In Venezuela April 5 -…
Libya – From Ghaddafi To Hafter
Libya is back in the news as the so called Libyan National Army under General Hafter is moving to attack Tripoli. How did we get here? In March 2011 the United Kindom, France and the U.S. set out to destroy…