The scrambling of RAF fighters to intercept two Russian aircraft underscores the dangers posed by US and European imperialism’s reckless actions against Russia.

More... (http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/04/25/jets-a25.html)

The US is increasing the number of F-15 fighter jets based in Lithuania from four to 10; these will be joined by up to ten F-16s from the Danish Air Force as well as four Polish MiG-29s and six Canadian McDonnell Douglas CF-18 fighter jets. The RAF is sending four RAF Typhoon fighters as part of the NATO offensive. The fighter planes are supported by AWACS and airborne refuelling craft.
NATO is also deploying several naval vessels to the Black Sea. These include the frigate USS Taylor, the French frigate Dupleix and the French surveillance ship Dupuy de Lôme, who will join the destroyer USS Truxtun, forming a battle group capable of launching Sea Hawk attack helicopters and Tomahawk cruise missiles deep into Russian territory.
Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, naval ships from non-Black Sea countries must obtain permission from Turkey to pass through the Dardanelles and Bosporus Straits, and are limited to a stay of 21 days. The convention prohibits the passage of larger fighting ships from non-Black Sea states, such as the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, currently in nearby Greek waters.
Historically, control of this vital sea route linking the Black Sea with the Mediterranean has been a source of bloody conflict between the great powers. It was a theatre of war in World War I, with over half a million casualties in the Gallipoli Campaign alone.
General Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has said several members of the Alliance have offered to send ground troops into eastern European member states, and he would soon make recommendations about how to deploy them. He said the situation was more than a crisis, “For NATO, it’s bigger than that. It’s a paradigm shift”.

The stupid, bloody bastards. This is so willfully reckless, so pointedly unnecessary, so fucking bourgeois...

The stupid, bloody bastards. This is so willfully reckless, so pointedly unnecessary, so fucking bourgeois...

A total of 'up to' 34 fighters from all of NATO, this is symbolic, same with their little flotilla, easy meat for Russian surface-to-surface missles in those restricted waters. The Poles want 10,000 US troops, fat chance, empire ain't footing that bill no more and needs the troops for Africa. Mebbe they can get some foot soldiers from the Syrian front....nevermind. Obama's 'smart wars' are proving a one trick pony, people are on to these CIA cakewalks. Talk is cheap and the US is cheapening it even more.

I keep thinking "they're not going to do this" but sure enough they are moving full speed ahead. Thomas Piketty's book on economic equality can be sold out (people yearning to understand what is wrong with this economy) and Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders can say all they want about holding bankers accountable and taxing the 1%. None of it matters. The party is going to proceed with getting us into war (while blaming it squarely on Putin), pump up the economy with war supply sales (who cares about all the humans lost along the way), and then Hillary Clinton is going to run for president. And we are screwed because the alternative is even worse.

I keep thinking "they're not going to do this" but sure enough they are moving full speed ahead. Thomas Piketty's book on economic equality can be sold out (people yearning to understand what is wrong with this economy) and Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders can say all they want about holding bankers accountable and taxing the 1%. None of it matters. The party is going to proceed with getting us into war (while blaming it squarely on Putin), pump up the economy with war supply sales (who cares about all the humans lost along the way), and then Hillary Clinton is going to run for president. And we are screwed because the alternative is even worse.

The Republicans cannot put forward anyone who is worse than Hillary Clinton and Clinton would not be worse than anyone they put up. There are not, in reality, two parties, at all - just the one, inhuman, party of capital.

You know, there is even an argument to be made that a Republican prez would be less likely to go to war with a powerful country like Russia. Democrats seem to become crazed, somehow, hysterical blood-lust, maybe. Democrats from Wilson to Clinton are just one murderous tribe. Nixon and the Bushes? Amateurs...

The Republicans cannot put forward anyone who is worse than Hillary Clinton and Clinton would not be worse than anyone they put up. There are not, in reality, two parties, at all - just the one, inhuman, party of capital.

You know, there is even an argument to be made that a Republican prez would be less likely to go to war with a powerful country like Russia. Democrats seem to become crazed, somehow, hysterical blood-lust, maybe. Democrats from Wilson to Clinton are just one murderous tribe. Nixon and the Bushes? Amateurs...

You can bet the farm that McCain could never have imposed this obscene excuse for healthcare, the Dems would have hooted him out of the building. Likewise Obama's 'surge', putting SS 'on the table', the murderous drone campaign, record deportations.... It's just like down at the precinct house, where the 'good cop' really ain't so.

The Dems are worse than the Republicans, either party is a tool of the ruling class but the Dems string along a significant portion of the working class, to our great detriment. Our class must completely break with these ruling class pigs if there is ever to be real progress.

Our class must completely break with these ruling class pigs if there is ever to be real progress.

I want this for a bumper sticker! I'd get my truck keyed in Morgan county, but it'd about be worth it...

I keep thinking "they're not going to do this" but sure enough they are moving full speed ahead. Thomas Piketty's book on economic equality can be sold out (people yearning to understand what is wrong with this economy) and Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders can say all they want about holding bankers accountable and taxing the 1%. None of it matters. The party is going to proceed with getting us into war (while blaming it squarely on Putin), pump up the economy with war supply sales (who cares about all the humans lost along the way), and then Hillary Clinton is going to run for president. And we are screwed because the alternative is even worse.

So, two possible thoughts for you....

1) If they "win", they win nothin'. They are back to square one - what they have right now. If they lose, they may lose it all. This is the famous "Empire Problem".

2) The alternative is not "worse". Historically, it is mostly the Dems who start wars while the pubs talk a good game. It's not always true ( the 2 Iraqs) but it is mostly true.

Our class must completely break with these ruling class pigs if there is ever to be real progress.

Ultimately I agree - the trick is how to do that. Something has to be a big enough pull because until there is a real alternative you will have poor religious folks looking to one party for what they view as protection of their beliefs, and poor minorities looking to the other for protection of their rights. This is putting it in very simple terms but basically this is what is going on. The republicans throw the religious folks a bone and do a bit to protect their interests in worshiping freely etc, while the democrats do the same for women, gays, blacks with protection in civil/gender rights.

If we are honest we all know that most of us qualify as "poor" these days as the wealth is hoarded in just a few pockets. If someone can figure out how to take it to the next level and articulate that we will get somewhere.

Ultimately I agree - the trick is how to do that. Something has to be a big enough pull because until there is a real alternative you will have poor religious folks looking to one party for what they view as protection of their beliefs, and poor minorities looking to the other for protection of their rights. This is putting it in very simple terms but basically this is what is going on. The republicans throw the religious folks a bone and do a bit to protect their interests in worshiping freely etc, while the democrats do the same for women, gays, blacks with protection in civil/gender rights.

If we are honest we all know that most of us qualify as "poor" these days as the wealth is hoarded in just a few pockets. If someone can figure out how to take it to the next level and articulate that we will get somewhere.

A lot of air is going to go out of the 'Far Right' when Obama leaves office, all of those angry white men are going to have a lot less to be angry about, even if pre-ordained Hillary is The One. It's always been mostly about race for them.

It also seems apparent that Obama is saving his most 'controversial'(anti-working class) acts for after the election this November and win or lose he will claim the necessity of austerity.

The departure of Obama from the scene will also 'break the spell' on black folks, the gang at BAR is gonna look pretty smart when the dust clears.

A lot of air is going to go out of the 'Far Right' when Obama leaves office, all of those angry white men are going to have a lot less to be angry about, even if pre-ordained Hillary is The One. It's always been mostly about race for them.

It also seems apparent that Obama is saving his most 'controversial'(anti-working class) acts for after the election this November and win or lose he will claim the necessity of austerity.

The departure of Obama from the scene will also 'break the spell' on black folks, the gang at BAR is gonna look pretty smart when the dust clears.

Just like the Ukraine is mostly about Nazism, the U.S. is mostly about slavery ("race"). Democracy and Slavery as the two cornerstones of national being - how is that for a contradiction?

They ought to have a black and white flag.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8k2YD5f5W1rlZuUCZTdwjonJFXf_7Dh_n_LgHl3rYWKiSRLOxN47faWG5 (http://www.thebellforum.com/imgres?imgurl&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.barnhardt.biz%2F2014%2F01%2F11%2Fon-christie-proving-the-barnhardt-axiom%2F&h=0&w=0&tbnid=f0Z_FHdkcSoHHM&zoom=1&tbnh=179&tbnw=282&docid=wN3Ms0okmVreEM&hl=en&tbm=isch&ei=YZZeU6y6OpK4yAHM04G4AQ&ved=0CAIQsCUoAA)

The spell won't entirely be broken though, IMHO. The Bill Cosby Golden Era of the Black Middle Class is upon us... just as the Middle Class as a whole dies.

There's another contradiction...