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Posting stuff on my main blog, seemorerocks.is is becoming too difficult, so I have decided to activate my subscription with Substack and post my updates there and reserve that blog for articles that are simpler to post.
I sincerely hope you will subscribe to my page.
It, too is free.
My first item, a summing up of today's new is here:
Arriving in Ankara, the head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, realized from the first moment that he is unwelcome in Turkey. H.Fidan and R.T.Erdogan slammed the door on him at least three times and then went on the counterattack.
There were no joint statements with H. Fandan. The Turkish Foreign Minister dribbled away from the embrace of the American Foreign Minister in an indication that "now relations are not friendly".
At the same time, Turkish President Erdogan avoided meeting him, suddenly announcing that he would be... absent. The climate for the US in the country was and is "frozen".
Indicative of the coldness was last night's low-level reception of Anthony Blinken at the Ankara airport, where he was received from the Turkish side by the vice-mayor of Ankara Namik Kemal Nazli and the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for bilateral political relations, Ambassador Yaprak Balkan, points out the pro-government Type (Yeni Safak, Aksam, Yeni Akit).
"Complicit in the massacre of Gaza", placards of demonstrators in Istanbul called him, while in the early hours of the morning demonstrators tried again to storm a US base in northern Turkey.
Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannons at midday Sunday to break up a pro-Palestinian protest rally when demonstrators tried to enter Incirlik Air Base, where U.S. military forces are stationed.
The rally was organized by the Islamist-oriented Turkish NGO "IHH Humanitarian Aid Foundation". On Friday, this particular NGO started a convoy march from Istanbul, bound for Incirlik, in southern Turkey, with the aim of blocking the base.
Yesterday, the motorcade passed the last part of its route, while cars with demonstrators from the province of Urfa in southeastern Turkey also arrived in Incirlik.
This is the same organization that sent the "Mavi Marmara" ship to Gaza in 2010. The ship was part of the "Freedom Fleet" that attempted to break the blockade of Gaza and was carrying about 800 activists.
Israeli commandos stormed the ship, killing 10 activists and injuring many, including 10 Israeli soldiers. After this episode, Israel-Turkey diplomatic relations were "frozen".
The organization's president Bulent Yildirim, is asking the Turkish government to close the US bases Incirlik and Kurecik, claiming that they are part of the US plan to occupy Turkey. He has also called for a blockade of US bases around the world.
The development of the war between Israel and Hamas and efforts to de-escalate tensions in the wider Middle East region occupied the meeting held by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, with Turkish President Tayyip. Erdogan has has been justifiably criticized Washington several times in the past days for its "unlimited support for Israel".
According to Reuters, Blinken said the meeting with Fidan was good and productive and that humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip could be significantly expanded in the coming days. According to the US minister, the two also discussed the effort for sustainable peace in the Middle East.
"We are working very aggressively to get more aid into Gaza, as well as to continue to get people out of Gaza ," Blinken said, adding that an essential aspect of achieving a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is progress on the issue of abductees held by Hamas.
He also referred to the hostage issue, which he described as critical, saying "we are intensely focused on that."
"We have been clear about extremist violence. The Israelis have made promises, we will be watching closely," concluded the US Secretary of State.
The Al Jazeera network reported that during the meeting between the American delegation and representatives of the Turkish government, the Americans tried to convince Turkey to pressure Hamas to release the abductees.
However, from the Turkish side they clarified that the agreement to release the hostages should be mutual. That is, Hamas will release the abductees it is holding and at the same time, Israel will release the Palestinian prisoners it has imprisoned.
Also, the Turks asked the Americans for an unconditional ceasefire.
According to information coming from diplomatic sources in Ankara, Fidan "stressed the need to prevent Israel from targeting civilians in Gaza and immediately declare a full ceasefire".
In addition, as the sources said, "Turkey and the US agree on the need to prevent harm to civilians in Gaza, the need to provide humanitarian aid and the two-state solution. Today's meeting also emphasized the need to work together for the two-state solution."
Fidan also drew Blinken's attention to the fact that the bombing of civilian targets and the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza is unacceptable.
During the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was noted that the NATO enlargement process in the context of sweden's accession, bilateral and regional issues were also discussed.
Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported that a demonstration was held outside the Foreign Ministry in Ankara by members of the Youth Union of Turkey, an anti-American organization, whose demonstrators demanded "the American killers to leave Turkey. "
At the same time, Turkish media chose to highlight a move by Hakan Fidan during the reception of Anthony Blinken.
According to CNN Turk media Anthony Blinken tried to hug his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan to make a move and "cut off" the intention of the American Secretary of State.
I started having some thoughts about the situation in Gaza. I got to thinking that Hamas will keep Israel busy shooting down Hamas's relatively insignificant missiles and by so doing deplete their own Iron Dome missiles. There are already some signs that that might be happening.
MIght a tactic be for Hezbollah and Iran to hold back with the powerful stuff until Israel is sufficiently weakened.
To confirm my thoughts, Hal Turner came up with his own thoughts....
The United States of America is now in severe danger. We're actually unable to fill all the missile tubes in our own Navy because we're so short on them; and we cannot make more, fast enough to defend our own land.
Think of the last two World Wars. There was no known start date like a football game. The start of both was only known in hindsight.
Hamas now have to go 'all in' as they know that they face annihilation by the IDF. Hezbollah (Iran) no doubt will do the same knowing this is their best chance ever in achieving their aim of wiping out Israel.
Rumours abound that Hezbollah will declare war on Friday. Yemen have already done so. How long before Jordan, Syria and Egypt join the mess? Maybe even Turkey?
USA are of course 'joined at the hip' with Israel. UK too. So both nations will be dragged in to protect Israel which will lead to Russia, China and others (Pakistan, Iran etc...) getting involved.
And China will surely use the crisis to open op a Pacific front by invading Taiwan and maybe the Phillipines too. The USA are going to be very stretched to cover all three fronts effectively - Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Arab and China/Taiwan.
Meanwhile, there are other flashpoints that don't even get any coverage anymore but are just as dangerous - Serbia/Kosovo, Armenia/Azerbaijan and North/South Korea to name just three that are either at war, or on the verge of one.
Undoubtedly we are already in WW3.
It's just going to get worse.
As it gets worse, a cold, hard reality is going to become crystal clear: We don't have enough missiles to defend ourselves, and we CANNOT make more, fast enough.
A Reader of this website, and listener to my radio show, has shared the following:
I have been having difficulty in posting on this blog for the last day or so, so I am transferring this "rough-and-ready" version from my other blog. If you see nothing more go to
Things are deteriorating rapidly.
The United States has been told by Iraqi groups that all American troops must leave Iraq immediately or all US bases in that country will be attacked; all troops, killed.
"One American present in Iraq is too much, Abu Ala al-Walai said."
Today the Secretary-General of the Iraq Islamic Resistance, Harakat Al-Nujaba, Sheikh Akram Al-Kaabi, confirmed that the Iraqi Islamic Resistance has decided to liberate Iraq militarily. "The matter has been resolved, and what is coming is greater."
The speakers continued by saying "We in the Islamic Resistance, “Ashab al-Kahf,” send an unequivocal message that we are ready and will continue to strike American bases until our land is liberated."
Hezbollah in Lebanon has issued what many people BELIEVE is an "Ultimatum" to Israel: Stop the war against Gaza by 3:00 PM local time, this Friday, 03 November, or Hezbollah will enter the war. Speculation is rampant that Iran may do so as well.
Social media is presently "lighting-up" with claims that an order to attack may be given when Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised speech to the world.
Confirmation that a speech by him is, in fact, scheduled, is everywhere:
Timed to Affect Financial Markets?
It is worth pointing out that most major actions around the world are usually timed to take place AFTER major Stock Markets close, so as to minimize the effect on financial markets. However, this Friday at 3:00 PM in Israel, is **not** after global markets close! So if some kind of attack is ordered, or announced at 3:00 PM local time in the Middle East, it will most definitely affect global markets.
Beirut, Lebanon from where the speech will come, is six hours ahead of the US East coast. Our Stock Market will open a half hour AFTER Hezbollah's announcement. The Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) in London is four hours ahead of the US East Coast, so it will be 1:00 PM in London when the announcement is made. Paris and Berlin are five hours ahead of the US East Coast, so it will be 2:00 PM in those major cities and their markets will also be open when the announcement comes. Given the scheduling, many, many people around the world will be quite nervous about what will be said this Friday.
Social Media is laying it out:
and:
Hezbollah is run by the man giving the speech this Friday.
He and others around the world have been taken aback by the level of slaughter being inflicted by Israel on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The death toll is staggering . . . over eight thousand CIVILIANS. One United Nations boss in the region said yesterday "70% of the dead are women and children. No one can call this "collateral damage." In other words, it appears to be PLANNED by Israel, that they kill mostly women and children!
OIL EMBARGO?
Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, posted a worrisome message on social media:
Iran controls access into and out of the Persian Gulf, which accounts for upwards of twenty percent of global oil shipments. If Iran were to block the Strait of Hormuz to impose an oil embargo, the entire world would be affected immediately.
A lot of people around the world pay little to no attention to what's taking place in the Middle East right now. If things go "wild weasel" this Friday, those people will get a dose of reality fast. As the price of oil skyrockets if the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, and people start having to pay $10 a gallon for gasoline, they can thank their own inattentiveness to world affairs, for the hole in their wallets from fuel costs. Which, by the way, would come as the entire northern hemisphere is heading into winter. Cold winter. When people need oil and gas to keep warm.
A lot of folks who haven't been paying attention, might suddenly find themselves having to make a choice: Do I eat or do I keep warm? Because if prices skyrocket, they won't be able to do both.
The People's Republic of China has JUDGED the United States of America as being "War Addicts." As families of anyone with Chemical Dependency know, making such a determination is the step before an "intervention" to put a stop to an addiction!
A uniformed spokesman from China's People's Liberation Army brought the judgement to the world via a Press Conference. ""The USA are war addicts." The country has existed for 240 years, and only 16 years it did not go to war. They built 800 military bases around the world. "Wherever the US military goes, people die everywhere," said a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
The Minister of Social Rights in Spain, Ione Belarra, has called for the International Criminal Court in to prosecute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, labeling him a war criminal.
The country of Turkiye', via its President, Recypt Erdogan, said yesterday "The Israeli administration, relying on the unconditional support of Europe and America, has been committing crimes against humanity in front of the whole world for exactly 25 days. The international press is also silent and seeking coverage for Israel." He finished by revealing "Turkey will take legal action against Israel at the International Criminal Court."
The Rafah border crossing opened to allow some foreign and dual nationals to leave Gaza – but bombs are still dropping.
‘A catastrophic situation’ across hospitals in Gaza Strip
Most of the casualties or the injuries [in the Jabalia area] have been taken to the Indonesian Hospital, but the Indonesian Hospital’s situation is one of the most complicated situations.
All hospitals here in the Gaza Strip now … [are] operating without fuel. They have a shortage of medical staff, medical equipment. Yet the injuries keep on coming.
The largest hospital in the Gaza Strip [al-Shifa] … has announced that in just a few hours it will completely stop operating because of the shortage of fuel. It has been taking fuel from private sectors.
Fuel has not been entering for over three weeks now.
It’s a catastrophic situation because … when the hospital stops operating, that threatens the lives of thousands.
Israeli military spokesman says forces breached Hamas front line in northern Gaza
Spokesman Hagari said the Israeli operation in Gaza was “progressing as planned”, Israeli media reported.
“With planning in advance, precise intelligence, and joint attacks, our forces broke through Hamas’s frontlines of defence in the north of the Gaza Strip,” Hagari said, according to the Times of Israel.
