Today is the anniversary of the Beginning of the End.

It has been seven long, bloody years since our planet was set on a path of global conflict and self-destruction by a gang of psychopaths who thought it would be a good idea to take control of the world by staging a false flag attack on the U.S.A. a la Hitler and the Reichstag. Well over a million Iraqis and tens of thousands of young men from America and its "partners," both the coerced and the bought and paid for kind, are dead.

This cabal of rapacious gangsters have shocked, raped, pillaged and plundered the patrimony of America to the extent that U.S. citizens must now make choices between whether to eat or stay warm, assuming they have a roof over their head at all. The infrastructure of a once-proud nation has rotted away, both psychologically and physically. Today, the American government is a global pariah, and the American people are headed for the trash heap of history.

At the same time, the planet is facing challenges of another kind - climate change - that, even without global war, will take a devastating toll likely in terms of billions of humans and animals, not to mention the flora that underpins life in our world. Already millions are dead and more are dying due to "human caused" global suffering and lack of foresight in respect of the climate and our resources.

Meanwhile, the US presidential election farce is rolling merrily along even though we know that none of the pathological morons seeking the highest public office in the land have any intention of doing anything significant to change the trajectory of our unhappy civilization. I find it ironic that the US election process, long known by insiders to be a contest of "electability" based on appearance, now includes a bona-fide beauty queen. It was bad enough when an actor was elected to act as president...

But I digress.

Through it all, SOTT.net has worked day and night, from around the globe, to keep you - the reader - up to date on those things crucial not only to your awakening, but your very survival. Even before it all began, before SOTT was even thought to be a necessary venue for understanding what is going on here on the BBM, I was seeking the answers to just what is wrong with our world in other respects via years of research culminating in the Cassiopaean Experiment. That experiment led to the book "High Strangeness" which has recently been reviewed by Richard Dolan, author of UFOs and the National Security State: History of a Cover-up. His encouragement has been most welcome. It was in the context of the Cs material, which dovetailed so perfectly with Richard's hard, factual, documentary research, that the understanding of our current reality was framed, and that understanding has not only stood the test of time, it has been remarkably accurate time and time again.

But it hasn't been easy. It has cost us dearly in almost every imaginable way. And it continues. I am writing today because SOTT.net is in a state of emergency and not for the first time this year, either! We have definitely been experiencing stormy weather in more ways than one. Even though it is the time for our usual fund raiser which we hold twice a year to supplement book sales (SOTT will never go commercial!), SOTT again faces additional financial burdens that we hope our readers will share with us.

As Sarah Palin's vice-presidential nomination continues to energize the religious right, the hypocrisy of right wing authoritarians becomes more apparent than ever.

According to psychologist Robert Altmeyer, authoritarian personalities are characterized by hierarchical submission to traditional authorities, aggression and conventionalism. Altmeyer has done extensive empirical research on the subject, which is summarized in his book, 'The Authoritarians'.

©Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images

"Take the pawn and I'll take your knight." "Yeah, but the Middle East will be open for check." "We'll see about that. Nice ceremony."

While the world slept through the month-long cyclic dream of the Olympic Games, the Axis of Evil took the opportunity to move its pieces onto Russia's doorstep. The Eastern bear responded, and the US/UK/Israeli propaganda machine went into overdrive.

As usual, ordinary people paid a heavy price for this deadly game of global chess.

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*Kakistocracy is government by the very worst, least principled, and most incompetent people. You will be forgiven for thinking that the word, kakistocracy, perhaps derives from the word, "caca", itself derived from the Latin, "cacare". In fact, kakistocracy derives from the Greek, kakos, meaning "bad".)

Let me make myself clear from the outset: I am not running for President of the United States, I just am *not doing* it, though I am constitutionally fully qualified, and, truth to tell, would be much better for the country in many ways, on many levels, than the current, thug occupant of the White House (notice that I do not refer to him as "President"). But, no, I really and truly do not aspire to be President of this godforsaken Kakistan masquerading as the USA.

Now that that crucial non-announcement is out of the way, permit me to set forth a couple of the many reasons for my subdued, cyberspace non-campaign for the Oval Office.

A few days ago, I received an email from a person named "Angus" who informed me that my article "Racism not defence at the heart of Israeli politics" was causing "quite a stir" in the UK and that he would like some details about me as he was planning to write something in response. From the beginning it was pretty clear what "Angus'" agenda was, but I decided to give the benefit of the doubt, at least to begin with. The exchange that ensued has left us with a much better insight into the minds and methods of those vociferous defenders of Israel that are doing so much in British academic circles to ensure that the Israeli government continues to enjoy immunity for its human rights abuses in Occupied Palestine.

Read on, it's a real trip!

Every year since 2002 the University and College Union (UCU), the largest trade union and professional association for academics working in further and higher education throughout the UK, has attempted to implement some form of boycott of Israeli academic institutions that have been shown to be complicit in the ongoing persecution of the Palestinian people. And each year, amid much acrimony and cries of "anti-semitism", boycotters meet with significant resistance from pro-Israeli members of British academia, and other institutions.

This year however, lowly Sott.net has inadvertently become involved in the melee.

©Gary Varvel

There is a well-known Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Judging from the rapid unfoldment of "interesting" world events, it is clear that we ain't seen nothing yet and whatever providence has in store for us, it surely is going to become curiouser and curiouser.

So what went on this month, other than more bloodshed, cynical manipulation and overt war propaganda?

©Matan

Beside the daily atrocities and ongoing Palestinian genocide, it seems that there are other curious things happening lately in the land of sour milk and poisoned honey. First we had a meteorite sighting that caused quite a stir, raising hysteria that Iranians are testing their missiles with the goal to finally eliminate the bravest sons and daughters of Yahweh. And this time we have a report about a mysterious 'simultaneous sighting' on a national scale.

Coincidently, there were quite a few similar mass sightings in other areas of the world recently. But considering the history of this particular cursed place, we have to wonder what's going on and what will happen next.

The following text is a translation of the Hebrew article in Ynet describing the event.

That Sarkozy was always going to eviscerate France's tenuous military and political neutrality once he took office should have been obvious to all. Long before he somehow managed to win the 2007 French elections, he was already known as 'Sarko the American' not to mention 'President Bling Bling'. It seems it's just not possible for a French politician to truly admire the American empire builders (as Sarko seems to) and not grovel at their feet.

After all there are great personal advantages to be had from aligning oneself and one's nation (whether they like it or not) with the last great empire. There is the sense of being on the "winning side" (who now can stand up to the US juggernaut?). There is immediate access to the massive resources, influence and intelligence assets of the empire through which previously impossible goals become not just possible but a matter of policy.

Up until Sarkozy's nomination as President last year, France had a 40 year long history of staunch opposition to the type of US diplomacy that has brought us the ludicrous yet deadly "war on terror". As long as there was a major world power that was still relatively independent, there was still a third option - that if small yet strategically important nations weren't "with the US" they weren't by definition "with the terrorists". They could be "with France".

This citizen was Tasered for refusing to lie down, and then Tasered again for refusing to get back up. Long live the Taser!

I was asked to attend a Citizens Police School as part of our local police department's community outreach program. This program is held a couple times a year and lasts 12 weeks. Although this sort of thing wouldn't normally interest me, given the large amount of bad press the police are getting across the country I decided to sign up in order to learn more, in effect, to do some research. What I discovered left me with the strange urge to check if my passport was still valid.