This open thread came at a nice time 🙂
Germany tries to “buy off” the US and/or sell a thoroughly rotten deal internally.
It also indirectly supports my earlier comment about a lack of appropriate LNG terminals (but I could still be wrong). The time to build them (if approved) in a European country can most likely be measured in years 😛
Sputniknews.com reports on the German news report.
Of special interest is that they translate a part of it this way:

“”In return, the United States will allow the construction and operation of Nord Stream 2 to proceed unhindered. The US will not exercise its legal scope for sanctions,” Die Zeit quoted the letter as saying.”

Which makes much more sense but could still be entirely wrong as other translations say the exact opposite: that it does not exhaust the legal options for the US in regard to future sanctions.
So does
“werden nicht ausgeschöpft”
mean
“will not be exhausted”
or not?
If it does then Sputniknews are wrong despite how crazy it seems to not exhaust the possibilities for sanctions (but the Germans ought to know the US will do whatever anyway and break anything).
The original German document is not available for the public as far as I know.
The referenced “Die Zeit” news article is likely the following one (in German).
For the translation due to copyright issues I’ve posted it along with the most popular comment at pastebin. It will last for as long or as short as it does. Copy it (there is a download button on the site) if you want to keep the translation handy, it’s is plain text.
I used Deepl.com to translate (they’re also German btw), it seems very good to me, much better than others and good enough that it could be used as a tool to learn languages.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 16 2020 18:56 utc | 4

@ gruff 238 (from last open thread)
I agree that nefarious forces have infiltrated the fine arts as of late. These forces have always “nipped at the heels” of artists who attempt to steer the “signified” to align with a political use.
Communists have done this with their art since its rise.
In the past, you have given the example that the art of Jackson Pollock and abstract expressionism was harnessed by the CIA to be used politically. This is, of course, not true. Just because the CIA sought to export and harness an artist’s work for political means does not mean that this was the artist’s intention or that art critics can’t play a role in clearing the air about these works of art and return the signified back to to its original intent or even reveal more about the work of art, itself, than what the artist intended.
As I said before, western art works in spirit. It is a part of spirit. It fights automatically against any attempts to corral it and use it for material gain.
And so it is that today, western art is very well threatened by what you and I know to be nefarious forces in the west. This, we are in agreement with.
To add to this, think about how much modern art is indeed a critique of the world in which the artist lived.
Then think about how a communist might seize upon the artist’s critique and declare that the artist is a friend of communism for, say, showing the bad of American life.
We would argue, as art appreciators, that the communist goes too far. The artist is not saying that communism is a solution to what ails the west. The artist is merely pointing out the bad in that spirit can work its way through cultural understanding of these evils and arrive by spirit to its destination, appropriating and supplanting this evil through the Hegelian dialectic that works in spirit.
This is proof of the impatience of Marx and his unwillingness to engage with philosophy in spirit.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Sep 16 2020 19:03 utc | 6

Just finished watching the most recent Keiser Report including the second half guest interview, and I suggest barflies take 25 minutes and do likewise if they want to learn about the future economic direction within and without the Outlaw US Empire. The episode is titled “Chart of the Year,” the chart shows disposable income and its source: In 2008 with the fraudulent bank crisis, 18.8% came from the federal gov’t; in 2020, that amount rose to 24%. You can see it here. I suggest looking at the other charts offered at that twitter page, particularly the small business revenue and retail investor activity charts, the latter also discussed during the program.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 16 2020 19:31 utc | 8

German industry has no choice: only Russian gas will do. How did it get to this situation?
Ever since 2015 the Merkel government has needed support of the Greens. The political cost of this support has been huge. Closing nuclear and coal-fired power plants. Large investments in wind and solar energy. Yet this has not resulted in a reasonably priced, stable power supply. Now a plentiful supply of cheap natural gas is needed to install gas turbines to prop up the mains. Wind and solar energy production goes up and down fast; the Grrman word ‘Flutterstrom’ means something like ‘fluttering current’. Gas turbines are one of the few power plants that can change output fast enough to keep the mains stable if the wind goes down and the sky becomes cloudy at the same time.
In a related development, the European Union has decided to spend some 30.000 million euro for hydrogen based batteries The idea is using hydrogen energy storage to even out the electricity production.
When a society makes politically correct decisions it shows.

Posted by: passerby | Sep 16 2020 20:33 utc | 10

Finnian Cunningham doesn’t mince his words over the vast difference in responses between the non-poisoning of Navalny and the declared desire by Trump to assassinate Syria’s President Assad:
“Trump’s bragging about murder just reflects the open descent of American power into the gutter of gangsterism. There is no shame relishing in the power to murder. There is only arrogance and presumption of impunity.
“That impunity is afforded by the spinelessness of Western leaders and corporate news media whose function is increasingly seen to be a propaganda laundry service for American war crimes and state terrorism.
“They jump to sanctimonious condemnation of Russia over dubious accusations of assassination involving apparently inefficient nerve poison, and without any evidence whatsoever.
“But an American president wallows in murderous schemes like a Mafia boss, and Western governments and media say nothing. That silence amounts to complicity.”
In other news, I’ve learned Xi will travel to the Outlaw US Empire to deliver China’s portion of the 2020 UNGA Debate which begins on the 22nd.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 16 2020 21:25 utc | 12

Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told Sean Hannity he believes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has consumed Tide Pod laundry detergent Tuesday night.
“Sean, with respect, there are times, particularly recently, when I think Speaker Pelosi is one of those people who tried Tide pods,” Kennedy told the Fox News host. “I want you to think about what she proposed today, this is what the speaker is threatening to do.”
https://dailycaller.com/2020/09/16/kennedy-nancy-pelosi-eaten-tide-pods/

Posted by: Mao | Sep 16 2020 21:30 utc | 14

More than 200 senior military officers backed President Donald Trump’s reelection in a letter warning that 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden will lead to socialist and Marxist influences on American government.
“It can be argued that this is the most important election since our country was founded,” the 235 retired senior military officers wrote in the letter open letter, which was released Monday by the Trump campaign, according to Military.com.
“With the Democratic Party welcoming to socialists and Marxists, our historic way of life is at stake,” the former officers wrote.
The letter continued: “We believe that President Donald Trump is committed to a strong America. As president, he will continue to secure our borders, defeat our adversaries, and restore law and order domestically.”
https://dailycaller.com/2020/09/15/senior-former-military-officers-biden-trump-marxism-socialism/

Posted by: Mao | Sep 16 2020 21:42 utc | 16

Washington Examiner @dcexaminer
@JoeBiden: “I’m not the president.
[@realDonaldTrump] is the president.”
[VIDEO]
https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1306328586392162304

Posted by: Mao | Sep 16 2020 21:51 utc | 18

Mao @16–
Those officers just proved they’re 100% blind to the reality that is before them with Powell and Trump’s mismanagement of the economy. They don’t appear to understand the very basic fact that both the Ds & Rs work for the same paymasters.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 16 2020 21:57 utc | 20

Northwest on fire!
Fire& unprecedented smoke … The whole West is on fire and the smoke in our little town is beyond unhealthy
NASA Smoke Model for this week
We’ve had extremely high levels of pm25/ for days now. It’s been very unhealthy to dangerous.
What happens if we pass 500?
Takes “I can’t breathe” to a whole different level.
I know there are Pacific Northwesterner’s on this board. How are you guys coping? Check in…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 16 2020 21:59 utc | 22

This deserves spreading widely, from the Assange extradition trial yesterday, Tuesday the 15th September.
The gloves were off on Tuesday as the US Government explicitly argued that all journalists are liable to prosecution under the Espionage Act (1917) for publishing classified information, citing the Rosen case. Counsel for the US government also argued that the famous Pentagon Papers supreme court judgement on the New York Times only referred to pre-publication injunction and specifically did not preclude prosecution under the Espionage Act. The US Government even surmised in court that such an Espionage Act prosecution of the New York Times may have been successful.
It is hard for me to convey to a British audience what an assault this represents by the Trump administration on Americans’ self-image of their own political culture. The First Amendment is celebrated across the political divide and the New York Times judgement is viewed as a pillar of freedom. So much so that Hollywood’s main superstars are still making blockbusters about it, in which the heroes are the journalists rather than the actual whistleblower, Dan Ellsberg (whom I am proud to know).
The US government is now saying, completely explicitly, in court, those reporters could and should have gone to jail and that is how we will act in future. The Washington Post, the New York Times, and all the “great liberal media” of the USA are not in court to hear it and do not report it, because of their active complicity in the “othering” of Julian Assange as something sub-human whose fate can be ignored. Are they really so stupid as not to understand that they are next?
Err, yes.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-10/

Posted by: JohninMK | Sep 16 2020 22:11 utc | 24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxEGiCiYKiA
Russia continues work on the creation of the first nuclear planetary aircraft
As it became known just yesterday, parts of the structures of the first nuclear planetship in the history of the planet Earth are already embodied in metal. At the same time, the general public does not know how far the work on the breakthrough project has already gone.
https://jpgazeta.ru/rossiya-prodolzhaet-raboty-po-sozdaniyu-pervogo-yadernogo-planetolyota/

Posted by: Mao | Sep 16 2020 22:11 utc | 26

Re Dr. Li Meng Yan.
When I first read the title to the news article, I said to myself: How can a Chinese level such an accusation at her own country?
Then , of course further reading told me that she was seeking British nationality, that she hailed from Hong Kong and wanted to please her British and American masters, and hurt Mainland China.
Anything to mess up China as a revenge as she is no longer under British protection in Hong Kong. Did she actively participate in the Hong Kong disturbances and feels she is in danger of being arrested for sedition?
Then she is trying to engender some notoriety with a view to generate some revenue.
Now, of course she would be a good false flag candidate as her death could be attributed to Xi.
Sure thing is that she is never going back to China. Never.

Posted by: CarlD | Sep 16 2020 22:41 utc | 28

ICYMI– Directed Energy weapns in space just acknowledged bt Sec Def Esper 0-16-2020 …after Dutchsinse caught their use live [!] fe days ago while b’casting video. “Dutch” does regular and accurate earthquake forecasting.
Dutch YT video of live catch 9-08-20:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDnzPkuJiX0
Today’s Esper ack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0RfYQuCL_M

Posted by: chu teh | Sep 16 2020 23:06 utc | 30

We’ve never backed a presidential candidate in our 175-year history—until now
By THE EDITORS | Scientific American October 2020 Issue
Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate in its 175-year history. This year we are compelled to do so. We do not do this lightly.
The evidence and the science show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people—because he rejects evidence and science. The most devastating example is his dishonest and inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost more than 190,000 Americans their lives by the middle of September. He has also attacked environmental protections, medical care, and the researchers and public science agencies that help this country prepare for its greatest challenges. That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy and the environment. These and other proposals he has put forth can set the country back on course for a safer, more prosperous and more equitable future.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-endorses-joe-biden/

Posted by: Mao | Sep 16 2020 23:14 utc | 32

re #29 Note at 18:05 on “Dutch” video he realizes it is a space-based source… e.g. beam weapon from a satellite!

Posted by: chu teh | Sep 16 2020 23:32 utc | 34

@ Posted by: Jen | Sep 16 2020 23:31 utc | 32
From the Land Destroyer article:

The three-person team was unable to visit Venezuela, but based their findings on 274 remote interviews with victims, witnesses, former state officials and others, and analysis of confidential documents, including legal case files.

So, yes, for sure the UN must have included this absolutely random case in their dossier (the two journalists may have been killed for many other reasons not related to freedom of speech, and the agents were judged and arrested either way), but they claim a much longer list of sources.
It’s not the first time “remote interviews” were used for lawfare. The OPCW used the same legal creature to legitimize the White Helmets and accuse Assad of using chemical weapons against women and children at the height of the Syria-ISIS War. In fact, they are random videos found on Twitter.
Those UN humanitarian organs are merely repositories for wives of Westerner oligarchs who are bored with their socialite lifestyles and want some adrenaline/grown-up routine. They are not flying to Caracas (much less to Syria), trust me.

Posted by: vk | Sep 17 2020 0:23 utc | 36

Berlin has offered to invest €1 billion in US liquefied natural gas (LNG) if Washington lifts sanctions against the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, newspaper Die Zeit reported on Wednesday.

https://www.rt.com/business/500822-germany-offers-us-deal/
I actually think it may be a reasonable win-win offer. Just as a commercial matter I think it makes sense for Germany and other Western European countries to subsidize the U.S. LNG supply to a certain extent, for instance by building such infrastructure, plus if necessary a limited ongoing subsidy to keep the LNG supply chain active at a lowish level. They should have an alternative ready to go if Russia tries to put the squeeze on them with the gas supply and/or prices some time in the future.
I’m not indulging in Evil Putin Russian Bear stuff; it’s just that it’s worth some money to Germany to keep its options open. And with Germany having decided to hurry global warming along by shutting all their nukes, they’re going to be burning a lot gas.
I expect a Biden administration will want to climb down from this particular confrontation, and this could be a mechanism for what the current Orange Occupant would call a “deal”.

Posted by: David G | Sep 17 2020 0:33 utc | 38

China rises.
“Executives from major U.S. corporations took turns appearing online at a Chinese virtual technology expo Tuesday, reaffirming the strategic importance of the market despite the intensifying tech rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
The 2020 Smart China Expo Online is being held in Chongqing — where Chen Min’er, a close ally to Chinese President Xi Jinping, serves as Communist Party secretary — as well as online. Chen is eager to advance the development of cutting-edge technology for industrial breakthroughs.
Top executives from China’s leading tech companies, like Huawei Technologies, Tencent Holdings and Baidu, as well as U.S. giants like Qualcomm, Intel and Hewlett-Packard, spoke at the expo’s opening ceremony.
Frank Meng, chairman of Qualcomm China, said the company had already invested in over 60 Chinese startups. “More than 10 smartphone models made by Chinese companies use Qualcomm’s 5G chips,” he said.
Intel China President Ian Yang announced plans to bolster chipmaking facilities in Chongqing, arguing that “the digital economy will develop the fastest in China.”
Meanwhile, Jason Juang, managing director of HP China, expressed support for Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure-building initiative, explaining that “HP ships computers by railfrom its Chongqing factory to around the world.”
Although the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has sanctioned Huawei and other big Chinese players, China continues to woo leading American technology companies. “With the global economy slowing down from the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese market, which is back on a trajectory for growth, is more important than ever,” a U.S. tech executive said.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/What-decoupling-US-tech-executives-line-up-to-speak-at-China-expo

Posted by: daffyDuct | Sep 17 2020 2:07 utc | 40

vk and farm ecologist
Those “Independent”(NOT) inspectors conducting this investigation must also work for OPCW. Remote learning is becoming very fashionable these days. At least they wouldn’t loose their heads going to Venezuela. The same can’t be said for a visit to that paradise in Idlib.
Since these “inspectors” can’t do an honest days work anymore investigating crimes committed by the US and Israel and other western satraps on pain of being treated like Julian Assange,(Each day Julian is woken at 5am, handcuffed, put in holding cells, stripped naked and x-rayed. He’s transported 1.5h each way in what feels like a vertical coffin in a claustrophobic van. He’s in a glass box at the back of court from where he can’t consult his lawyers properly. (Stella Moris twitter account) they do what their masters tell them to. Otherwise no paycheque, and CERB and other covid relief aid is about to end. This is all a distraction from the crimes of the real evil empire. Oh look, there goes Navalny the squirrel. I hope Putin doesn’t poison his “nuts”.

Posted by: Tom | Sep 17 2020 4:59 utc | 42

4# Sunny Runny Burger
The whole Navalny-saga has been staged in cooperation with fifteen Der Spiegel and 7 die Zeit journalists,as John Helmer has stated in his really very interesting and entertaining gorilla radio interview.Udo Ulfkotte comes to mind,who wrote a book how CIA commands and keeps under threat a lot of news outlets in Germany and Europe.It looks as if the regimechangers jumped a bit to quick on the Navalnychok bandwagon,without really thinking through the in and outs and consequences.By passing the hot potato of the crippled poisoning story to Sweden and France ,the result is that now Macron,Putin and Merkel will sort it out together,and Annegret and Heiko,who both failed in taking over their own political parties and were rewarded with the Defense and Foreign affairs ministries,are now exposed as the atlantist lying puppets they have been groomed to be.They are utterly incompetent and stupid,like the rest of their generation coming to power,especially the females that became Defense ministers in NATO-countries.AKK and Maas however will be most likely find another job within the European Union framework,as is done usually for incompetent or in their own country compromised politicians.

Posted by: willie | Sep 17 2020 7:05 utc | 44

Below is another Xinhuanet posting link
China issues white paper on employment, labor rights in Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Region
The post is a summary and they provide a link to the whole paper at the end and I am just beginning to read it but think the following quote from it is instructive.
”
Xinjiang is located in the northwest of China. For historical and a range of natural reasons, it has long lagged behind other parts of the country in development, and there is a large impoverished population. The four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, namely, Hotan, Kashgar, Aksu and Kizilsu Kirgiz, in particular have a poor eco-environment, weak economic foundations, and a serious shortfall in employment carrying capacity. They are identified as areas of extreme poverty. In addition, terrorists, separatists and religious extremists have long preached that “the afterlife is fated” and that “religious teachings are superior to state laws”, inciting the public to resist learning the standard spoken and written Chinese language, reject modern science, and refuse to improve their vocational skills, economic conditions, and the ability to better their own lives. As a result, some local people have outdated ideas; they suffer from poor education and employability, low employment rates and incomes, and have fallen into long-term poverty.
”
China is offering education, job training and jobs for all and I would challenge the West to offer the same…..moderate prosperity for all.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 17 2020 7:23 utc | 46

Another interesting article on the rural urban divide by Ramin Mazaheri and how the fake left just doesn’t get it.
“Because he was raised in reactionary America Rittenhouse likely does not have the proper, modern and progressive education of these groups I’m about to list, but I immediately saw the possibility of similarities between him and members of the Iranian Basij, the Cuban members of Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and members of the Chinese Communist Party. I immediately perceived a possibility that Rittenhouse was not motivated by only evil, racism and rage, but by a desire to help and serve, patriotic love, self-sacrifice and other worthy impulses.”
“I have to pass on an unfortunate reality: not all gun-toting heroes are as handsome and dashing as Che Guevara.
Your average male Basiji buttons his shirt all the way to the top, wouldn’t be caught dead in public in shorts and would likely pause and reflect if you asked him whether he was “dashing”. Basiji women can be similarly blasé about being perceived as chic.
“But I guarantee you that if they protected your house from being burnt down, or prevented your getting thrown into poverty due to your store’s stock being looted, you would think these nerds were the coolest people in the world.”
I have learned not to bother asking US fake-leftists about their opinion of the 17-year old Basiji who in 1980 went to face the Iraqi invader (and the soldiers of many Western nations) totally, totally outgunned and died to protect his family and home. Asking an American Democrat to comment on the still-living reality of these enormous sacrifices is like asking them to comment about life on a distant planet.
Rittenhouse is not a hero such as they, of course, but the US left cannot even perceive the world in these very real, life and death terms – Rittenhouse and his supporters grasp this reality much better.
The American fake-left instead are consumed with identity politics and transgender bathrooms – they have no real concept of what leftism is for countries which have actually seen war and colonisation”
http://thesaker.is/why-the-us-left-loses-they-cant-support-kyle-rittenhouse-kenoshas-jacob-blake/

Posted by: Tom | Sep 17 2020 7:43 utc | 48

The word “socialism” is a slur in the U.S. I wish it wasn’t but it is. Try using “public sector” instead. Almost everyone understands and supports some public sector– police, fire, bridges, schools, roads…
Every country has a “socialist” sector. Just don’t call it that in the U.S. You will find more support for your/my position if the “s” word is not used.
My apologies to non U.S. barflies. We Americans are kind of fragile…

Posted by: migueljose | Sep 17 2020 10:37 utc | 50

Lequel choisir ?

Posted by: Charles Michael | Sep 17 2020 12:01 utc | 52

@ Posted by: Paco | Sep 17 2020 12:11 utc | 53
Just look at the map. If Germany wants to dominate Europe, it has to dominate Poland first. That’s not optional.

Posted by: vk | Sep 17 2020 12:23 utc | 54

Erdogan is publicly humiliating the EU:
Erdogan Fans Feud With ‘Incapable’ Macron in Incendiary Tirade Amid Turkish-Greek Mediterranean Spat
It will be interesting to see how the Europeans react, because Turkey is still drilling in the East Mediterranean and absolutely nothing is happening against them.

Posted by: vk | Sep 17 2020 15:09 utc | 56

If you can’t beat them, ban them..
“Ecuador: Correa’s Party Denied Ability to Register for Election”
ban them

Posted by: arby | Sep 17 2020 16:27 utc | 58

David G | Sep 17 2020 0:33 utc | 38
I understand the arguments you’re making, and they are political or geopolitical. Whether you or others will agree or even consider my remarks that follow here I guess will depend on whether you consider climate change a real human crisis. I do, and therefor:
Liquifying natural gas is probably one of the worst applications of that fuel source imaginable because the process of liquification is very energy intensive and will itself release vast amounts of greenhouse gases. Add that contribution of GHG’s to that of the ocean-going vessels which also add their contribution. There is also the process of re-gasification at the receiving terminals though I’m not conversant with the energy demand involved in that.
It’s difficult for me to discuss this issue without coming off like a US isolationist or “America First(er),” but there is so much BS surrounding the hydraulic fracturing gas boom in the US that it is difficult to get to the real bottom of things. These frack wells have a relatively short productivity window and just how much can eventually be produced is not at all certain. At this time there is already more produced in the US than can be consumed here immediately, and this is the real impetus for exporting it as LNG. Living in the heart of the Utica/Marcellus (and having been part of the boom making it work) I can tell you that it was sold to all us ordinary citizens as a guarantee of energy security for the next 100 years. That is not the real or actual belief of the gas producers: theirs is to sell as much of it as quickly as possible to try to generate as much profit as the market will bear – period. US energy security is a phrase for US suckers.
What I’m getting at, in a nutshell, is that the US does have an immediate opportunity to get mostly off of coal just with the new gas boom infrastructure already built out, but only if we keep it here. Do we not (or should we not) have a responsibility to lower our emissions, along with the rest of humanity? Again, substituting one slightly less polluting hydrocarbon for another is a dubious strategy considering the severity of the crisis (imo,) but it would be a step in the right direction. LNG processing negates any advantage natgas has over coal or oil. It also goes balls-to-the-walls to produce, sell, and consume it, when the actual reserves may in fact be dubious.
Geology is a hobby of mine, so I’m no expert, but it seems to me that shalegas deposits should be ubiquitous on every continent. I know that popular European sentiment has basically said NO to hydrofracking, and for very good reasons, but why should the US be the sacrifice zone for European sensibilities?
In 2014 the Obama administration commissioned a study and report by the US DOE (I’ve referenced it here in the past) to answer the question: “Will LNG sourced from the Marcellus/Utica and exported to Europe and Asia INCREASE GHG emissions?” It purported to be a cradle to grave analysis (from fracking to LNG conversion, transport, and off-loading) and compared that to a summarized model of current European and Asian use of coal and fuel oil. The report concluded that it was basically a wash, but the report was flawed because it only took the gas to the receiving terminals in Rotterdam and Shanghai, and not to the grave of distribution and consumption. That DOE study also asked the wrong question, which should have been – Will it REDUCE GHG emissions? That answer is a definitive NO.
As I said, these considerations will only seem important if you consider climate change a crisis that must be addressed.
I downloaded the report as a pdf, and so have no e-link to offer. The exact name of the report is: “Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Perspective on Exporting Liquified Natural Gas from the United States May 29, 2014 DOE/NETL-2019/1649”

Posted by: vinnieoh | Sep 17 2020 17:26 utc | 60

I commented yesterday that the episode of the Keiser Report I linked was certainly one not to miss, including the second half interview with Michael Pento, who Max asked to stick around for the next show. I must say that Mr. Pento ought to be listened to as he’s extremely concerned about our current distress and the further chaos that’s coming. That said, here’s that next episode which delves into the massive prevarications done over the last 5 decades about a number of differing issues along with the economy. And yes, you’ll want to listen to Max let Mr. Pento expand upon the “Fiscal Cliff” that was mentioned at the end of the previous program.
Apparently, the NPR investigation into plastics recycling (Audio report at link) Stacey uses as metaphor wasn’t just released according to this announcement. The initial video program was called “Plastic Wars” and is available at the link. My searches turned up no transcripts, so the video report and the audio report from 9/11/2020 are it.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 17 2020 19:24 utc | 62

No tragedy without a touch of comedy, the incredible criminalistic work of team Navalny led by the mysterious Pevchikh/Singer collecting all sorts of evidence, and successfully taking it out of the jurisdiction where the supposed crime was committed. The comedy side of it, the brand of the supposedly contaminated water bottle: Sacred Source, as headspring initially, but with interesting connotations.

Posted by: Paco | Sep 17 2020 20:47 utc | 64

USA, land of opportunity:
Unemployment claims fell last week as layoffs persisted
Unable to Pay Rent, Small Businesses Hope for a Deal With Their Landlord
Deal Reached in N.J. for ‘Millionaires Tax’ to Address Fiscal Crisis

Posted by: vk | Sep 17 2020 21:07 utc | 66

Merkel is a hapless dupe? Merkel is a duplicitous has been?
Neither
Merkel is the perpetrator of the entire Navalny hoax.
Here is an interesting take on the Navalny idiocy:
To find out what’s really going on, I interviewed Swiss businessman Pascal Najadi. He’s known for investigating high-level misconduct. Cases from Great Britain to Russia to Malaysia have been on his radar screen. Now he’s seen a blip appear from Germany. He tells me it is about the Navalny case. Here’s my interview.
The ‘hate russia’ mania is so pathetic.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 18 2020 0:56 utc | 68

This is something fun…
https://twitter.com/NYTWA/status/1306636414910595073
Taxi drivers read Michael Hudson!

Posted by: juliania | Sep 18 2020 1:30 utc | 70

Al Jazeera is reporting that Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the UN-recognised Fake Libyan Government, said he’ll resign in October, citing “progress in talks to unify the country” (which NATO destroyed and looted in 2011).

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 18 2020 2:32 utc | 72

Below is a short posting from Xinhuanet about Russia/Belarus/empire
”
MOSCOW, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko stressed “the inadmissibility of any interference in the internal political processes” in Belarus during a phone talk Thursday with U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan.
Rudenko also emphasized the inadmissibility of “attempts to destabilize” the situation in Belarus and “impose unilateral mediation services from outside,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
He said that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s initiative to carry out a constitutional reform to liberalize the country’s political system is promising.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin accused the United States of playing a key role in preparing the protests following Belarus’ presidential elections.
He alleged that the preparations began in 2019 and early 2020, when Washington channeled about 20 million U.S. dollars through various non-governmental organizations to help organize the protests.
”
Reads like a clear calling out of empire perfidy to me.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 18 2020 3:36 utc | 74

psychohistorian #75
“unfortunately he has achieved Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now
Yep”
Very well said. On Biden – you could directly quote LBJ on Gerald Ford:-
“He’s a nice fellow but he spent too much time playing football without a helmet.”
“He can’t fart and chew gum at the same time.”
(politely interpreted by the msm as “walk and chew gum at the same time”.)
I reckon Biden can do better than Ford who had a reputation for clumsiness. He never recovered from an incident in 1975 when he tripped over getting out of the presidential jet in Austria. I am waiting for that roll down the stairs whereupon Kamala Harris rises to the top of the dung heap. One small step for a man and one giant leap backwards for mankind.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 18 2020 6:30 utc | 76

I wonder if Mrs Merkel is sorry she bought into the Navalny version of NATO’s anti-Putin Skripalmania plot yet? ABC America and PBS are showing a White Helmets-style video clip of unidentified hands purportedly belonging to members of Team Navalny, reaching into an ultra-tight shot of an anonymous bedside table, in an anonymous location, to recover two water bottles with blue caps.
Unfortunately for Ms Merkel the video doesn’t explain why Navalny was staying in a cheap hotel with cheap furniture, nor when the video was shot. The time is quite important. In a normal hotel a vacated room is tidied and cleaned within hours of the guest’s departure and certainly no later than early the following day.
Since the Original Story was that Navalny drank some Meddled Tea at the airport, and the Germans didn’t blame his illness on Skripal-chok for a couple of days, via the MSM, it would be silly not to ask “How long after the hotel room had been cleaned and tidied did Team Navalny go to the hotel to shoot their White Helmets movie?

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 18 2020 8:19 utc | 78

Funny how differently one can see the world.
To me “Marlon Brando in the Godfather” is a lame and stupid criminal while “Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now” is an intelligent and sincere individual switching sides and going native. The second is a superlative bordering on idolatry while the first is an insult.
The Australians did all right (if one thinks they had any business being there, which they didn’t) in Viet Nam before the CIA came along with their necrophiliac ear-collecting bullshit. The Australians should have killed the “Americans” while saying they were KIA.
There’s more than one lesson there for those who want to learn.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 18 2020 10:36 utc | 80

#79 willie
Well,because of unanimity needed for European Union decisions,the sanctions on Belarus are stalled.It is the isle of Cyprus that conditions its vote pro-sanctions to imposing sanctions on Turkey,which is a threshold most countries do not dare to cross,Germany not in the least.Turkey has a lot of power in european countries and all atlanticist sissy government officials shit their pants before Erdogan,who regularly visits turkish and AKP gatherings in various european countries while governments look the other way,even in the face of clashes between kurdish and turkish.

Posted by: willie | Sep 18 2020 10:48 utc | 82

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 18 2020 8:19 utc | 81
After Germans demanded publicly that Russia is supposed to cooperate they now have no leg to stand on as Russians could not have found the incriminating bottle.
The bottle being removed from a hotel room full of Navalny’s friends points to Navalny’s friends.
I don’t think German arguing would go very far even if they tried.

Posted by: somebody | Sep 18 2020 11:35 utc | 84

“Bolivia’s ‘interim president’ withdraws from upcoming election, one day after poll shows pro-Morales candidate in the lead ”
if you can’t beat them, run away and scream fraud
Same shit going on in Ecuador.

Posted by: arby | Sep 18 2020 12:23 utc | 86

Too much absurdity in Navalny case to take anyone’s word on trust — Kremlin

“We cannot explain this, because this bottle, if it ever existed, had been taken somewhere in Germany or elsewhere.”
“This means that an object that could serve as an evidence of poisoning has been shipped away. This is yet another question: why and so on,” he said.
[…]
“De facto, the situation is as follows: the OPCW Technical Secretariat says ‘we know nothing, talk to the Germans,’ and the Germans say ‘we know nothing, talk to the OPCW,” the spokesman [Peskov] said.

Germany’s case is already lost. Each blow to their lies are impelling them to tell other lies to cover for the previous ones. By now, Russia already knows the Belarusian intercepted intelligence is genuine and that this is a fully-fledged fabrication by the Germans. They’re only playing now – Peskov knows the bottle doesn’t exist because he knows the Omsk doctors are telling the truth.
–//–
Exclusive: Sergei Lavrov Talks About West’s Historical Revisionism, US Election and Navalny Case
Good interview. Recommend.
–//–
CDC says U.S. should have enough coronavirus vaccine to return to ‘regular life’ by third quarter of 2021
I think those propagandists from the OECD should review their review on their world economy forecast.
–//–
Art eats itself in the capitalist world:
It’s a Banana. It’s Art. And Now It’s the Guggenheim’s Problem.
What a time to be alive: when you degenerate to such a level that makes Socialist Realism look good.

Posted by: vk | Sep 18 2020 13:51 utc | 88

What a time to be alive: when you degenerate to such a level that makes Socialist Realism look good.
Why shouldn’t it, it always looked good except during the dark decade in the 90’s when the biggest country in the world was almost sold over on a one to a thousand valuation.
Take a look to the restoration just accomplished on the Northern River Station, Moscow river, the northern part of the city, I have a series of pictures of a run down place falling apart, to top it off in the winter, shot from the frozen river, a sad and depressing picture, and now a fantastic park.
https://www.the-village.ru/city/fotorep-eda/rechnoy-vokzal

Posted by: Paco | Sep 18 2020 14:42 utc | 90

Helmer on Navalny…
A Tale of Two Bottles – Navalny Poison Slowest Acting Weapon in Assassination History
http://johnhelmer.net/a-tale-of-two-bottles-navalny-poison-slowest-acting-weapon-in-assassination-history/
“Their tale of the two bottles invites an epoch-load of incredulity…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Sep 18 2020 15:55 utc | 92

Taiwan’s back on the front burner, “PLA Friday drills not warning, but rehearsal for Taiwan takeover: Global Times editorial”, and “PLA starts real combat-oriented drills in Taiwan Straits amid Krach’s visit, approaches island from four directions”. From the editorial:
“From our point of view, the PLA is still restrained. Every time a high-ranking US official visits Taiwan, the fighter jets of the PLA should be one step closer to the island. If the US secretary of state or secretary of defense comes to Taiwan, the PLA should fly its aircraft over the island and conduct exercises above it. The missiles we test should also fly over Taiwan, even its ‘Presidential Office Building.’ If Taiwan authorities continue to act aggressively, such scenarios will definitely come true….
“The US and Taiwan must not misjudge the situation, or believe the exercise is a bluff. Should they continue to make provocations, a war will inevitably break out. Those who have underestimated China’s determination recently have all paid the price. China decisively put forward the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong. China has shown that it doesn’t fear war on the China-India border. The Taiwan Straits is by no means a place where separatists can act recklessly. If Taiwan authorities try, they will definitely be met with the mainland’s military solutions.
“Taiwan is a small place. It has no conditions for a modern military confrontation. Taiwan independence is a dead end.” [My Emphasis]
From the second article, which put the notion that Taiwan has its own ‘airspace’ in quotes, signifying that it doesn’t:
“The PLA operations have multiple dimensions that make secessionists on the island a turtle in a jar, and the PLA can turn the exercises into real action any time if Taiwan secessionists insist on their obduracy.”
Some say Trump’s not trying to promote a war. I disagree:
“On Thursday, US Representative Tom Tiffany introduced legislation calling for the US to resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and end the ‘outdated and counter-productive’ one-China policy….
“Experts also said that if the US scraps the one-China policy, then Article 8 of the Anti-Secession Law of China will be activated, which means China shall use nonpeaceful and other necessary means to solve the Taiwan question once and for all.” [My Emphasis]
I’m sorry to have to write the following, but I’ve had about all I can take from the actions of the Outlaw US Empire: Go ahead Trump, scrap the policy then get into your coffin.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 18 2020 17:22 utc | 94

Lavrov engaged in an important interview with Sputnik News which has published some of the conversation, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only has an incomplete transcript available as I type. As usual, Lavrov’s very detailed in his answers and the questions this time are also rather complex. The result is I suggest people read the article then tomorrow consult the transcript which ought to be whole by then.
Lavrov’s an excellent human, and he’s clearly troubled by our times. So, we too ought to be troubled and aware that the primary trouble maker is devoid of any moral scruples.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 18 2020 18:04 utc | 96

@ karlof1
please do not be discouraged by the lack of replies to your posts. I have been called a fool by at least one regular here so I tend to not write much to try out the old adage of better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and prove it.
for me, it is difficult to expand on your points, I just kinda nod my head and add your ideas to others in my own attempt to make sense of this crazy world we live in.
you are one of the heavy hitters on this site, please continue and don’t assume silence means you are being ignored

Posted by: dan of steele | Sep 18 2020 22:07 utc | 98

Musing about society from a sociological, anthropological, historical, and political-economic viewpoint–the four areas I majored in while at university.
What constitutes the foundation for a functional community/society?
Enough resources and knowledge equitably distributed satisfying the basic needs of its members and thus avoiding want and its byproducts: strife/angst/envy.
But is that enough? What about the non-material?
There must be social solidarity within the community about the management of the resource base and how it’s to be maintained such that the primary goal can be continual.
What about the problem of genetic inbreeding; how will that be solved?
Peaceful interactions with other communities must occur and “new blood” invited to join.
What directions should aspirations take?
The accumulation of knowledge since the accumulation of things is essentially hoarding which deprives others of resources they might require with the attendant negative results noted above.
//–//
Utopian? Perhaps. Some societies actually functioned in the above manner, and a very few still do. The larger world unfortunately is a dysfunctional mess thanks to the Zero-sum philosophy. It seems humanity lacks wisdom, or perhaps is kept from gaining the wisdom it needs to prevail against its own excesses and mistaken notions about what’s correct and morally proper.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 19 2020 0:24 utc | 100