China just finished a three-day long meeting:
“The meeting often provides a rare window for domestic and global markets into the Chinese leadership’s reading of the world’s second-largest economy as well as policy priorities for the coming year. This year’s meeting has greater significance, as 2021 will mark a critical inflection point for the Chinese economy, when China seeks to further consolidate its steady recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, start the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and embark on its next centennial goal of building a modern socialist power.”
Improving the internal dynamics of its economy is China’s primary goal during this newest 5-Year Plan, which relies on several subsidiary goals. Clearly, intense focus will be given to increasing China’s overall Aggregate Demand as it continues its work in raising rural standards to become closer to urban realities. Read between the lines and you’ll see an effort to avoid the mistakes made by Neoliberal nations.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 18 2020 18:27 utc | 103

Mr. H.Schmatz
This mathematician does not have to worry about his next paycheck in case of a year-long shutdown.
A day-laborere and his family will gradually starve to death in case of a year-long shutdown.

Posted by: Fyi | Dec 18 2020 18:53 utc | 105

Pelosi Postpones Weekly Press Conference Today After Taking Covid-19 Vaccine
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/pelosi-postpones-weekly-press-conference-second-time-today-taking-covid-19-vaccine/
Must have hurt…

Posted by: gm | Dec 18 2020 19:11 utc | 107

Whoa!!! Stop the presses!! Republican Senator demands bill for $1200 direct payments be passed but is blocked by another Republican Senator.
“In a speech on the Senate floor Friday, Hawley said the $1,200 payments to adults and $500 to children—modeled after the checks provided under the CARES Act—are ‘the least that we can do.’
“‘It should be the first thing that we can do,’ said Hawley. ‘And as these negotiations drag on and on, fixated and focused and hung up on who knows what issues, let’s start with this. Let’s send a message to working families that they’re first, not last. That they are the most important consideration, not some afterthought.’
“After Johnson blocked his request for unanimous consent, Hawley said Sanders will be on the floor later Friday to demand passage of the direct payments.
“‘This is not the end of this fight,’ said Hawley. ‘I’m here right now on this floor. Senator Sanders will be back in a matter of hours to ask again for the same measure… I’ve been proud to partner with him on this effort.'”
I can’t recall the last time I read anything like that said by a Republican. Hawley is from Missouri, and it’s extremely rare to hear such rhetoric from a Blue Blood, although his Wiki page shows him to be a series of contradictions.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 18 2020 19:43 utc | 109

Dec 18 2020 3:37 utc | 57
There is a REMEDY fur our political nightmare:
Every 2 years, elections are held. Use P2P and internet to agree that …
Vote only for a candidate who demands a vote on Medicare For All.
Then, 2 years later, make it another 99% issue.

Posted by: chu teh | Dec 18 2020 20:19 utc | 111

India analysis and Modi’s neo liberalism backgrounder. 25 minute Video from redfish.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 18 2020 22:03 utc | 113

Canadian Cents | Dec 17 2020 21:00 utc | 38
Just WOW.Thanks referral to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgzB4_Zw3RE
I worked electrical/nuclear with early Programmable controllers/and at maintenance at Nuc Pwr Generators and alongside Westinghouse and Alstom personnel, etc. and could not make sense of , for example,
1. Big rush job to “upgrade” nuc electrical control and s/ware at a pwr plant
2.Suddenly GE buys Alstom
3. Siemens intimately involved in sabotage of Iran centrifuges ;[BTW was at U. when Jesse Beams was spinning at 1 million rps., so I paid attention]
Well, reference link just explained a whole lot!

Posted by: chu teh | Dec 18 2020 22:49 utc | 115

Bemildred @115–
I wrote this for the next thread; but after reading your comment, it belongs here since the Trump thread didn’t want to have it. “Provincials” as you said who in reality are gutter-scum.
This may appear to be about getting Trump, but it’s more likely about keeping relations with Russia in the tank. For example, I remarked this morning that the only media report about Putin’s annual, impressive presser was the highly convoluted answer Putin gave to some recent fake news reports about his family and how they connect to the Navalny crap. It appears the writing has similar qualities meaning it was produced by similar sources. There’s only one way to properly illustrate this and that’s to provide what Putin related.
The Question:
“Alexander Yunashev: Good afternoon, Mr President.
I will take the advice from the young reporter [from the previous question which is also of some importance]. A number of interesting investigative reports have been released lately, for example, about your daughter, your former son-in-law Shamalov and other people who are allegedly close to you. This week the Alexei Navalny investigation also came out. Could you tell us why a criminal investigation into his poisoning and who did it has not been launched until now?
Putin: “I see.
“It is no surprise that these fake news stories emerge. It has always been this way and always will. There is a battle unfolding in the media space. Nothing new here. Do you remember the terrible developments in the Caucasus and efforts to fight international terrorism? How was yours truly portrayed by the international media and, unfortunately, in Russia as well? Remember how they portrayed me with fangs? I remember all this very well. Still, I have invariably proceeded from the premise that I need to be doing what I believe to be right for our country. When I do something, I do it not for the sake of pleasing someone abroad. This is the first part of my answer.
“The second part has to do with my close ones. This report is impossible to read. I flipped through it, since it talks about me, it seems, but it is such a cut-and-paste job, with so many things piling up, that I was unable to finish reading it. What did I want to point out in this regard? The report keeps repeating ‘the president’s son-in-law’ over and over again. At the end, however, he is referred to as the former son-in-law. This is the first thing I wanted to say. Still, in the text they keep driving home the message that he is my son-in-law. So this goes for point one.
“The second point is about ‘President Putin forbidding the elite to hold overseas assets.’ There is no ban preventing the elite from holding assets abroad. Public servants cannot have financial assets abroad. This was the right thing to do. They cannot hold accounts or other financial assets abroad. The company in question is 100-percent private. The state does not own a single share in it.
“The next question: who received shares in this company and how? It turns out that the company released a statement on this matter and what it thinks about these allegations. The company had a compensation scheme for its senior executives, and Mr Shamalov received stock just like all other senior executives. There are also other programmes for executives at a different level, and they received stock following a different scheme. Nothing special here.
“But ultimately, in my opinion, the most important thing is this: just now, aspiring journalist Shnurov asked about our hackers. What is written in the beginning? Note that it says that an unknown, anonymous person is pursuing goals we do not understand and then, apparently, this anonymous person is tracked down. What do I mean? It is said that what happened is similar to the events in 2016 when outlawed Russian hackers associated with Russian military intelligence hacked US Democratic Party members’ emails. Here is your anonymous person. I think we know who that is. Who called these hackers outlaws associated with Russian military intelligence? It was the US Department of State and US intelligence agencies, which are in fact the authors. At any rate, it is completely obvious that it was done upon their instructions. This is the first thing.
“The second is that the reference to the insinuation that our hackers, as they believe, interfered with US domestic policy in 2016 means that the purpose of this is clear. The purpose is to take revenge and try to influence public opinion in our country in order to interfere, of course, with our domestic politics. This is absolutely obvious. It is absolutely obvious to me and, I think, it will also become clear to the majority of readers if they pay attention to the things I have just mentioned.
“But to this end, I would like to emphasise the following:
“One should be driven by… now I want to address those who ordered these publications, not those who actually wrote them. I know that if they get an assignment from intelligence services they have to write it. But those who order these kinds of articles, should not be driven by revenge or act on the assumption of alleged exceptionalism; instead, they should develop relations with their international partners based on mutual respect and the fundamental standards of international law. Then we will be able to achieve shared success in the areas that are essential to all of us.
“Now, with regard to the patient of a Berlin clinic. I have already mentioned it many times, and can repeat only certain things. Mr Peskov told me just yesterday about the latest speculations in this regard concerning our special service officers’ data and so on. Listen, we are perfectly aware of what this is all about. It is about legalisation the first time around and now. This is not about an investigation. This is about legalising the materials from the US special services.
“Do you really think we are unaware of the fact that they are tracking locations? Our special services understand this well and are aware of it. Officers of the FSB and other special services are aware of it and use telephones whenever they believe they should not be hiding their location, etc. But if this is so – and rest assured that this is so – it means that this patient of a Berlin clinic has the support of the special services, those of the United States in this particular case. And if this is the case, then it gets interesting and the special services should, of course, be looking after him. However, this does not mean at all that he must be poisoned. Who cares about him? If they really wanted to, they would have, most likely, carried it through. His wife addressed me, and I gave the green light to have him treated in Germany that very second.
“There is one important thing that the general public is not paying attention to. It is a trick to attack the people at the top. Those who perform it thus propel themselves up to a certain level where they can say: see who I am talking to? I am a person of the same calibre, so treat me as a person of nationwide importance. It is a well-known trick that is used in political dealings around the world.
“I think, though, that something else, not these tricks, should be used to gain people’s respect and recognition. You need to prove your worth either by doing something important or by putting together a realistic programme with specific goals that can be implemented in a particular country, Russia, in this particular case.
“I urge the opponents to the current government and all political forces in our country to be led not by personal ambitions, but by the interests of the people of the Russian Federation, and to come up with a positive agenda in order to overcome the challenges facing the country. And we have many of them.” [My Emphasis]
The rational flow is probably better in Russian with some key emphasis lost in translation. But Putin delivered the main point on the ordering and authorship, and IMO it’s the same for much of the crap thrown our way since 1990. The only reason we aren’t being treated to similar material about Biden is he’s not one of the current targets, while legitimate anti-Biden stories are completely suppressed until they disappear under the rug. IMO, BigLie Media has become close to what State Media was in the USSR.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 18 2020 23:39 utc | 117

Re-upping The Jimmy Dore Show videos—for those who haven’t seen them—on Dore’s demand to the “progressives” to withhold their vote for Nancy Pelosi unless she brings vote for Medicare For All to the House floor:

• Support Grows For Leveraging Pelosi Vote for Medicare For All (December 16, 2020)
• BREAKING: AOC’s Gas Lighting Gets Called Out On Twitter! (December 17, 2020)

I think it’s safe to say “The Squad” is finished. No one with half a brain will trust them after this episode. Best thing Jimmy has done this year.

Posted by: S | Dec 19 2020 0:41 utc | 119

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 18 2020 23:39 utc | 118
Thanks for that, very interesting. I don’t think it’s a problem with translation, I think he thinks very fast, you just get the high points, enough to follow along if you pay attention.
“Gutter scum” works, I stopped paying much attention, their work is very recognizable by the memes they select to attack whomever, it’s very much a bunch of cliches by now. Mostly projection from what I can tell.
Interesting message too, my kind of guy, but I doubt it will be heard.

Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 19 2020 1:44 utc | 121

This is awesome, he nails the dilemma which our owners are confronted with;

I’ll put it this way: It is not as though the American ruling class is intelligent, competent, and patriotic on most important matters and happens to have a glaring blind spot when it comes to appreciating the threat of China. If this were the case, it would make sense to emphasize the threat of China above all else.
But this is not the case. The American ruling class has failed on pretty much every issue of significance for the past several decades. If China were to disappear, they would simply be selling out the country to India, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, or some other country (in fact they are doing this just to a lesser extent). Our ruling class has failed us on China because they have failed us on everything. For this reason I believe that there will be no serious, sound policy on China that benefits Americans until there is a legitimate ruling class in the United States. For this reason pointing fingers at the wickedness and danger of China is less useful than emphasizing the failure of the American ruling class. The bottom line is the true enemies of the American people are no foreign nation or adversary—the true enemy of the American people are the people who control America.
This way of thinking points to a dilemma for the American ruling class. Contrary to a lot of the rhetoric you hear, much of the American ruling class, including the “deep state” is actually quite anti-China. To fully account for this would take longer than I have here. But the nutshell intuitive explanation is that the ruling class, particularly Wall Street, was happy for the past several decades to enrich both themselves and China by destroying the American working class with policies such as “free-trade” and outsourcing. But in many ways the milk from that teat is no more, and now you have an American ruling class much more concerned about protecting their loot from a serious geopolitical competitor (China) than squeezing out the last few drops of milk from the “free trade.”

The Zürich Interviews – Darren J. Beattie: If Only You Knew How Bad Things Really Are

Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 19 2020 2:00 utc | 123

@125 S & @123 vk
S is correct. The rationale for doing nothing is procedural based on the assumption of a long process to win – i.e. perhaps decades. This is what AOC is now saying – although she wasn’t on campaign. On campaign, she was saying that we can do this now, and the voters knew that was true.
What Dore and many others are saying to AOC and others is that this long process used to be the case, but the situation has changed. We are now in an extreme moment. We’re in a killer pandemic, and the issue is simply universal healthcare, which every nation has, except the US. It’s crystal clear.
We are at a point in history where there is leverage to bring this to the floor and shine the light of truth on every poser, every hypocrite, every false politician pretending to support this cause yet failing at the test.
And then in 2022 they can be swept away, and replaced with more authentic people – and the job will be done.
That’s the strategy at stake here. The job can be done. In two years, the lost vote of 2021 becomes the victory of 2022.
And since every politician can calculate this as well as we can, then, understanding the consequences of failing to support this, they might actually get the job done in 2021. That’s how potent this moment is – and no procedural timidity can overturn the revolutionary potency that inheres in this political moment.
S, I applaud your support for this moment, and vk, I urge you to reconsider in this light.

Posted by: Grieved | Dec 19 2020 2:37 utc | 125

@ karlof1 | Dec 18 2020 23:39 utc | 118… thanks.. would you mind sharing a link to the quoted sections in your post? you usually do! thanks..

Posted by: james | Dec 19 2020 3:08 utc | 127

Bemildred #115

You have to remember these people really do think they are better. They do think in class terms even if they avoid that rhetoric in public. The problem is they thought they could control China like they did Japan. That was dumb then and it looks even dumber now. You can see similar dumbness in their lack of grip on any realisitic view of Russia. Provincials really. Rich peasants.

Thank you, they certainly DO think in class terms ALWAYS. + Rich peasants is perfect :))
Thankfully they are blinded by hubris at the same time. The USA destroyed the Allende government in Chile in 1973. After the Nixon Kissinger visit to China in 1979 they assumed they could just pull a color revolution stunt when they deemed it to be the right time. Perhaps in their hubris they thought every Chinese worker would be infatuated with capitalism and growth.
They tested that out in the People Power colour (yellow) revolt in the Filipines in 1986 following a rigged election by Marcos. In 1989 only 16 years after China had been buoyed up with growth and development following the opening to USA capitalism, they tried out the same trick in Tienanmen square in China but those students were up against the ruling party of the entire nation – not the ruling class. BIG MISTAKE. The ruling party of China was solidly backed by the peasant and working class that was finally enjoying some meager prosperity and reward a mere 40 years after the Chinese Communist Party and their parents and grandparents had liberated China from 100 years of occupation, plunder, human and cultural rapine and colonial insult. Then in 2020 it was tried on again in Hong Kong. FAIL.
The hubris of the ruling class and its running dogs is pathetic.
We see the same with Pelosi and the ruling class in the Dimoratss today. They push Biden Harris to the fore, piss on the left and refuse to even hold a vote on Medicare for All in the middle of a pandemic. Meanwhile the USAi ruling class has its running dogs and hangers on bleating that “its wrong tactic, its premature, its whatever craven excuse to avoid exposing the ruling class for what they are – thieves, bereft of compassion, absent any sense of social justice, fakes lurking behind their class supposition.
They come here to the bar with their arrogant hubris, brimming with pointless information some even with emoji glitter stuck on their noses. Not a marxist or even a leftie among them. Still its class that matters and its the ruling class that we must break.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 3:12 utc | 129

S, VK, Grieved
Can I add that the Pelosi gang will not hesitate to put legislation forward that will be diametrically in opposition to the wishes, ideology of the Squad. YOU CAN BET ON THAT. This will expose and be used to oppress the Squad as being socialists opposed to USA USA USA etc etc. And the Pelosi gang will never hesitate, they will attack and attack and have their press minions attack and attack. The Dimoratss will demand that the Squad vote WITH them on some mighty dodgy if not downright loony legislation, they will whip and whip the squad to vote with them – no matter what.
Exposing the feckless contradiction, the theft, the greed of the ruling class is the right stuff even though the time is never right. The time for Sanders was never ‘right’ but the time was the moment he chose to do what was right – win or lose – up against the lion or the mouse = he chose the right time and the right dialog and it galvanised action and an avalanche of power shift. Regardless of Sanders demise and broken promise, it is up to the current crop of success from the Sanders campaign momentum to reinvigorate the promise in the minds and hearts of the millions that reached out for change with th campaign.
Now is always the right time to set up legislation for a desirable future, yesterday was always the right day to plan better but today is the day to act.
Millions donated small dollars as a promise of their commitment to change and it is now time for ten or twelve people to donate their political power to demand change, demonstrate solidarity and rebuild faith with the millions today.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 4:02 utc | 131

Here is a Katie Halper / Briahna Joy Gray peek into the Biden clown cart reality. Just as we could tell from the Trumpsters idiotic anecdotes and asides in the campaign and before inauguration, so we can tell from this leaked video about what life in the Biden White House will be like.
This 50 minute video is well worth the look or take a slice or two and savor. A strong drink could assist or the periodic break out for a prayer.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 4:53 utc | 133

@ Grieved | Dec 19 2020 6:01 utc | 135 with the rant about the Dems and Medicare for All
The US government has been financialized like the majority of the Fortune 500. Since the 1970’s the trajectory in the US has been to reduce government spending on social safety net programs and privatize the Social Security Insurance program. While SSI was raped by Reagan/Greenspan/Congress and taken from the independence of actuaries and made a political budget football including false claims of being and “entitlement” program the safety net social programs fared worse. In the early 1970’s, when I was familiar with the planning for and provision of social services like for developmental disabilities, alcoholism, mental health, job search help, infancy care (WIC) and drug abuse, the concept of continuum of care helped the different agencies collaborate and really help folks. Then the Fed stared changing the rules of the way money was to be spent that developed columns of services that don’t interact/coordinate with each other as well as reducing overall low income support.
I also want to add to what you wrote earlier that humanity use to make other than the throw-away-to-churn-the-money-mill products that were both designed and built better/to last. It fits with our throw away food system with all that packaging and none of it refillable, seemingly by design…..
….
….
because as I continue to write here, its all about the God of Mammon instead of the support of the masses social structure with the underpinning of the God of Mammon way of life is controlled by the global private financed owned elite and the support of the masses way of life is exampled biggly currently by China.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 19 2020 7:11 utc | 135

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 18 2020 23:39 utc | 118
IMO, BigLie Media has become close to what State Media was in the USSR.
With one big difference, the scope is global and the tools are… well, like comparing a pencil with the most sophisticated printing press. Overall the translation sounds like what I heard, and the main point should be that Putin is able to talk at length and just about any subject since it is very hard to think of a pre arranged setup à la 2016 debate when the questions to be posed had been previously provided to the Clinton team.

Posted by: Paco | Dec 19 2020 7:44 utc | 137

Paco #139
Thank you that is a mighty good idea and a great offer.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 9:03 utc | 139

@114 uncle tungsten
Thanks for the redfish video suggestion. Worth watching not only to get insight about the current developments in India but also understanding the global Zeitgeist.
I couldn’t avoid to identify the exact same type of developments and problems that working class and increasingly also middle class facing in other parts of the world.
The globalization of capitalism since the fall of USSR and Warsaw pact, has caused accelerated monopolization of political and economic power everywhere in the world, this was achieved by enforcing the same neoliberal agenda globally. No matter if you look at the USA, Germany, Iran or India, you discover the same type of “reforms”. Reforms that result in increased poverty, more and more middle class families are losing their socioeconomic position and becoming part of working class.
One come to the understanding that the “Great Reset” we are talking about recently, is not something new in the beginning and making, it’s only the continuation of an agenda which has been in implementation since 30 years ago.

Posted by: Framarz | Dec 19 2020 9:14 utc | 141

Framarz #142 and #143
Thank you and I have noticed the shift in terminology. I try to avoid it as I believe in the need to be extremely clear about socialism and capitalism. I prefer to avid CCP and prefer Chinese Communist Party. I take care to compare western issues with how Cuba is actually doing. Keep making it clear there is a range of alternatives to private finance capitalism and IMF usury.
The weavers of deceit and theft that are private finance capitalists are indeed oligarchs and they attempt to crush any discussion of repossessing their wealth and redistributing it so that more people can do more work with it and generate stronger societies. The private finance vultures live in dread of a Tobin tax so I say bring it on. Wherever cash is locked away and idle – take it and give it to the people as it is they who know how to put it back to work and generate security and peace within communities.
Wherever power is monopolised in industry then force a devolution of shares to workers and unions and pay shares as taxes to the state so that dividends go to all including the state. As it is now in many countries mega corporations extort tax holidays to set up production units in the counties and dump the entire cost of infrastructure expansion onto those counties as part of their extortion. Information monopolies are the most critical to dismantle. Look at the west where critical journalism has been reduced to mediocre stenography and those with integrity are entirely reliant on other monopolies to squeeze their digital content between the pillars of censorious monopolies like twitter and facebook etc. These monopolies are managing public content and creativity and should be in public ownership – NOT just shareholder public but the entire public.
There is this ruse of oligarchs today just as in Venice in the 16th and 17th century where the Doges in their magnificence spy on the citizens and reward citizens for spying on each other, where social cohesion and solidarity is corroded and rots within. That is what the neo liberal and private finance agenda is – to monopolise $$$ and power and decision making within the hands of decrepit gerontocrats like Pelosi, Lord Rothschild, Rupert Murdoch, Queen Elisabeth etc, etc.
Enough of this rant… thank you Framarz. Long live those countries that have for decades repelled the evil that would crush their freedom and socialism. May Russia find its way to reintegrate socialism within its future.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 10:30 utc | 143

@ Posted by: S | Dec 19 2020 2:14 utc | 125; also Grieved, William Gruff et al;
There are three problems with your argument. I’ll put them in reverse order of importance (the most important for last):
1) Who told you the American people needs Medicare for All? For what I’m observing, the American people is doing fine with 300,000 dead in ten months, and are protesting to extinguish all the restrictions to small and medium businesses, that the deaths would be worth it. Also, in this very blog it was published an article praising the USA’s capacity to take a lot of deaths without incurring the danger of a revolution, praising the resilience of the American system; in other words, it is a myth Americans don’t like death – as long as it is not theirs and their families, death is fine and even desirable;
2) Installing a Medicare for All would imply a very radical, very traumatic, reform of the American system as it is. Over the decades, America’s privatized healthcare system built up an entire middle class that exists on being the middle man between the consumer and the hospital – those are the insurance industry workers. They also include petit-bourgeois (small insurance and lawyers who specialized on the area). In other words, the USA has a large class of kulaks whose sole existence is to suck off the private healthcare industry. Building a Medicare for All system would, therefore, imply in a very traumatic process of dekulakization in the USA, where an entire middle class would have to be destroyed or virtually destroyed (reduced to insignificance in numbers);
3) It is doubtful the USA even has the resources to build a Medicare for All system at this point. You can print the dollars, but you would still have to import most of the medicine from India and China and most of the medical equipment from China. Many highly specialized medicines for rare diseases also have to be imported from Western Europe (mainly from France, Germany and the Netherlands). This would further accelerate the USA’s deindustrialization process, and weaken the USD even more. Over time, printing dollars to buy stuff from abroad will not be effective anymore, and the system would collapse. Long story short: the USA simply doesn’t have the resources to build a universal healthcare system anymore.

Posted by: vk | Dec 19 2020 13:17 utc | 145

-uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 4:20 utc | 133
On Briahna Joy Gray
I think Jimmy Dore’s M4A plan is exactly the right one, and has the best chance of succeeding/advancing the US toward a universal health-care system.
I also hazard to bet that the big corporations vested in the current private health system remaining the status quo think so too, and are sufficiently worried by Dore’s plan.
Worried enough to bring in a polished media-genic, ‘youth/identity-genic’ corporate litigator lawyer like Briahna Joy Gray ( who worked at 2 corporate law firms) , and with carefully/visibly burnished ‘liberal/socialist’ creds (Stein 2016/Bernie 2020 Press Secretary; hired by Intercept 2018; writes for various mockingbird print media outlets), too co-opt and lead the Jimmy Dore plan.
And then make sure the Dore plan gets strangled in the cradle before the momentum gets too strong.
I think Dore sees through this too, and is wary and well on guard to keep it from happening.
See Dore’s 1-on-1 YT with Joy-Gray yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4CyduP4RxM

Posted by: gm | Dec 19 2020 14:57 utc | 147

vk @146
I pleaded with you to not to further discredit Marxist analysis. When you make posts such as this can you at least lead with a disclaimer that the post is not the result of Marxist analysis and is instead just nonsense that you pulled out of your ass?

Posted by: William Gruff | Dec 19 2020 15:54 utc | 149

Operation SNOWGLOBE:
[apologies if I missed this shocking story being posted here already]
SNOWGLOBE was the forward-looking 2015 FBI DOJ/FBI HRC $18M bribe-taking sting/blackmail plan to keep Obama/Deepstate in the catbird seat, and Hilary in line and under DOJ’s thumb after she won the 2016 election.
This is according to the video statement below from former FBI confidential asset Patrick Byrne (Overstock founder used as FBI honey-pot to set up Maria Butina).
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/293156
More background by the Duran’s Alex Christoforou here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exN487f7q7o

Posted by: gm | Dec 19 2020 16:47 utc | 151

james @128–
Putin’s presser transcript is finally complete.
As Putin and others noted, this was a most difficult year. I hadn’t read his concluding remarks until just now. I’m going to copy/paste them along with the question that sparked them. And it most unequivocally answers a longstanding question Billy Joel asked at a time that seems like it was only yesterday:
“Viktor Sineok: Izvestia, Viktor Sineok.
“Mr President, we have heard many questions about many different problems but mine is a little different. Over the past year we have understood, we really felt what it meant to have a very hard time, including emotionally. You said at the press conference a few years ago that you put your emotions into your work. Here is my question: what sort of emotions have you felt in recent years, including this difficult year of 2020? And which emotions would you like to wish us in the coming year? Maybe you already know how you will toast the New Year?
“Vladimir Putin: Please, be seated.
“As to which prevailed – the good or the bad… You know, each year brings issues we have to overcome, and each year brings us great joy – both family, and state, national achievements. Against all odds, we have great achievements that we can and should be proud of, and we are.
“Yes, the year was complicated, but what would I like to draw your attention to? You know, this is what I thought about when you were asking me this question. Haven’t we faced difficulties in our recent history? Just now, in this meeting I remembered how hard life was in the 1990s and the early 2000s. It seemed at that time that there was no light at the end of the tunnel, that there was nothing. No army, no economy, a ruined social sphere and skyrocketing unemployment. One out of three lived below the poverty line, but look at what it is like now.
“Yes, there are problems. Yes, people are still living a very hard life, and there are very many such people. That said, the foundations of Russian statehood, the pillars of the Russian economy, and the potential of the state are incomparable with what they were in the 1990s and the early 2000s. This gives us tools we have never had before. This gives us an opportunity to focus on resolving the most important, most urgent problems without forgetting about the strategic development goals of the Russian Federation.
“As for toasts, like every person, every citizen, I always have toasts for the New Year. It is only important that the amount of champagne and other drinks you consume is limited. As for toasts, the number does not matter.
“Of course, we will all raise toasts to the people in our lives, our family, friends and colleagues. But I, my family and friends always have one main toast – ‘To Russia.’
“Not to finish my remarks on this pathetic note but on something heart-felt, I would like to say the following: during this meeting, some of my colleagues asked me what we were planning to do to support families with children and whether we have plans for this. This is what I would like to say. Some volunteers told me recently that they have various ideas and initiatives on supporting children before the New Year. Unfortunately, this year large events like children’s New Year parties have been cancelled due to the restrictions. Large events in theatres, children’s studios and so on have been cancelled as well.
“But still, this is an unusual holiday. It comes with expectations and hopes for the future and, at the same time, with difficulties. Therefore, before coming here I consulted the Government and the Presidential Executive Office. We agreed that our country, our state will also give a gift to our children. It is a small, modest gift, but nevertheless, we will pay 5,000 rubles to all families with children under 7 years old; 5,000 will be paid for every child in this age group.
“I would like to thank all of you for our common work. I would also like to wish you all the best. I hope we have not worn each other out. I would like to hope that the people who listened to us for more than four hours, for four and a half hours, have found this useful and interesting.
“For my part, I would like to say that the meeting was very useful for me. We will do all we can to give the best possible response to all your questions, concerns and problems that are faced by the country and each Russian family.
“All the best to you!
“Thank you very much.” [My Emphasis]
We now most certainly know that the Russians Love Their Children Too. However given the behavior of the Outlaw US Empire, I very much doubt the same can be said, which makes for a very dangerous situation. Putin has a truthful sincerity to him that is utterly vacant from every US President I’ve known in my life except for JFK–he made a very positive impression on my very young mind, something that was clearly missing from LBJ and Nixon prior to my rather abrupt awakening in 1970. Perhaps that’s because none ever promised to do anything for Commonfolk as anything aimed at promoting the people’s wellbeing was always opposed. I don’t know how the average Russian feels about Putin’s words, but I would be very proud to have such a leader as focused on the wellbeing of what makes his Nation great–its people.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 19 2020 19:28 utc | 153

More research on SNOWGLOBE and Patrick Byrne; apparently taken from some blog, journal or interviews done by Byrne himself:
https://uncoverdc.com/2020/10/21/patrick-byrne-the-story-behind-the-clinton-bribe/ (Oct 21, 2020)
This goes all the way back to 2005, and comes forward to the present. Reads kind of krazytown in places right from the start:
For example, secret meetings in 2005-2006 with then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter [~ the time Spector had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma–Spector died in 2011] together with other senators, and a letter of immunity for Byrne which Senator(s) placed on file in secure-storage at DoJ in excchange for some service Byrne says he agreed to do at their request).
Its a several thousand word long post, sounding in places pretty unbelievable, and ending with the quote:
“You told me to find you the Deep State, I found you the Deep State.”
Crazy? maybe…but then again an awful lot of crazy, unbelievable things have been happening and coming to light as being true, especially in recent time off these last two years.

Posted by: gm | Dec 19 2020 20:33 utc | 155

On the M4A initiative, I’d like to note that Medicare isn’t free; you must pay a premium and it doesn’t cover a raft of things, some that are very expensive like in-home care or LTC for Alzheimer’s. In other words, it’s not a panacea, although it is better than nothing, which is the point. However, Universal Single Payer that covers everything IMO is the best course of action and will put Big Med and Big Pharma where they out to be–Out of Business.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 19 2020 21:07 utc | 157

gm #148
Thank you gm. I see the Dore move has quickly built a coalition across the spectrum to give M4A a fighting chance and to separate it from the cult of the individual. The Squad is the sticking/opportunity point and those are the trigger voters that will likely avalanche Pelosi out of the chair and finally out of office. There is a chance that a rogue outside the Squad could also declare a pro M4A vote and demand Pelosi DO IT.
I get it that Briahna Joy Gray is likely a conservative product of the USAi education/grooming machine. Bernie Sanders campaign appears to have had many. Yet (I guess) they had vaguely leftish tendencies whatever that means in the USA spectrum. Thanks for the video link. I am mindful that Katie Halper is a big promoter of Briahna and she has never seen (expressed) the deception and sellout of Sanders AFAIK. At least Halper has never called out Sanders betrayal. She too is a product of the USA monopoly/deception politics indoctrination. They do their best from their view through the Overton window.
Its a broad coalition of D and R and many who could never bring themselves to vote for this tragic system that calls itself democracy.
You say

“I also hazard to bet that the big corporations vested in the current private health system remaining the status quo think so too, and are sufficiently worried by Dore’s plan.
Worried enough to bring in a polished media-genic, ‘youth/identity-genic’ corporate litigator lawyer like Briahna Joy Gray ( who worked at 2 corporate law firms) , and with carefully/visibly burnished ‘liberal/socialist’ creds (Stein 2016/Bernie 2020 Press Secretary; hired by Intercept 2018; writes for various mockingbird print media outlets), too co-opt and lead the Jimmy Dore plan.
And then make sure the Dore plan gets strangled in the cradle before the momentum gets too strong.
I think Dore sees through this too, and is wary and well on guard to keep it from happening.“

That is a clear analysis of the players IMO. You can bet the industry heavyweights have by now already gamed out their sabotage of the move and are mobilising voices to confuse it and diminish it – that seems clear to me from the videos at both Dore and Halper. Plus the industry will have gamed the amendment strategies for when the Bill hits the Congress floor. There will be mayhem when that happens and they will both make it and drive it. These stakes are mighty high. They will already have gamed the replacement for Pelosi when/if she quits in the next few weeks. (That might even be their first big ploy).
The Insurance ghouls own an industry that filches the public and private purse, they own the candidates (well most) in their primaries and they own them once elected. Then they own both political parties. I assume they own many Hospitals and clinics too. Transforming this to M4A will be like separating two mighty strong magnets and then finding some way of keeping them apart. Without a tightly price capped medical service regime the system will be gamed mercilessly.
Time will tell.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 21:35 utc | 159

@ karlof1 | Dec 19 2020 19:28 utc | 154 / 155 .. thanks karlof1! yes – the difference between russia giving the children some money and the thought of the usa on the edge of evicting many people is a sad overview that you’ve captured…
i see the comments on navalny in the transcript.. thank you!

Posted by: james | Dec 19 2020 21:50 utc | 161

@vk #151:

. . .in this context, putting the whole thing on the floor will just legitimate both parties’ position that the American people doesn’t want M4A.

More nonsense. How can a vote by representatives serve as evidence of what the U.S. people want?
1. The absolute majority of U.S. citizens want Medicare For All. That’s a basic fact that has been established by multiple public opinion polls.
2. If the “progressives” refuse to implement Dore’s idea, that will show them to be liars—a useful outcome.
3. If the “progressives” follow Dore’s idea, but Pelosi refuses to bring the vote to the floor, a process for selecting a new speaker will commence during which the “progressives” will be able to demand the same thing from any prospective candidate—a useful outcome.
4. If Pelosi brings the vote to the floor, but it doesn’t pass, that will show the Democratic Party to be working against its voters on a major issue—a useful outcome.
5. Those who force the vote on Medicare For All and vote for it will be re-elected, those who don’t will not.

Posted by: S | Dec 19 2020 22:35 utc | 163

Yesterday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a video-conference with the Outlaw US Empire’s Asia Society that was covered in a series of Global Times articles. In this one, the tone is conciliatory and a few more direct quotes from Wang are provided, like these two:
“China-U.S. relations are never a zero-sum game, and the success of either party is not at the expense of the failure of the other party.”
“We hope the United States can work with China to rebuild a strategic framework for the stable and sound development of bilateral ties, with mutual respect as the premise, enhanced dialogue and consultation as the approach, deepened integration of interests as the driving force, and solid foundation of public opinion as the support.”
The second is far more confrontational:
“Despite China’s earnest efforts to build China-US relations on the basis of coordination, cooperation and stability, some US politicians continue to make strategic miscalculations, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.
“What we see and hear every day from almost all senior officials of the US government are attacks and accusations toward China without real evidence. [Sounds like Lavrov & Putin] Some attacks contain the presumption of guilt or are used as some sort of emotional catharsis…”
“Wang said some US politicians have made a series of strategic misjudgments on China-related issues.
“They have neglected the broad common interests and room for cooperation by listing China as a ‘major competitor,’ even a ‘threat.’
[Wang stated] “This is an error. China is not a threat to the US. It has not been in the past and will not be in the future.”
IMO, only the Outlaw US Empire’s policy toward China can render China into an enemy, and Wang’s remarks are clearly aimed at Biden’s team.
The Outlaw US Empire’s attempts to undermine the rapidly growing multilateralism of the planet’s nations led to Wang’s best reported line:
“This is the era of globalization, and the interests of all countries are interrelated.”
That point is one the biased Asia Society can hardly ignore, unlike the Outlaw US Empire’s Pompeo and Trump.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 19 2020 22:49 utc | 165

re: “Time will tell.”
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 21:35 utc | 160
Agreed. It is going to be a [another] YUGE fight if the PTB can’t stop it from getting out into the open…
And Dore is striking at the opportune moment now, while the iron is hot, while the domestic deep state (the de facto servants/protectors to the interests of our Overlords) is busy/tied up fighting, and to finish off and complete the election steal coup against Trump.
If the US can ever get to a health care system like that of Japan or Canada, I think many (including Dore (?) would consider it a YUGE victory.
It would also drive reduction of the US budget available to fund MIC and 3-letter agency abuses/atrocities/war crimes and and treason.

Posted by: gm | Dec 19 2020 22:56 utc | 167

Kyle Kulinsky calls out hopeless Joe as being another first term time waster as he gets immediately conned by scumbag Dem senators. A good takedown in a three minute video.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 19 2020 23:37 utc | 169

Below is a combination of two Reuters postings that describes the posturing between China and the West in regards to finance
”
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has drawn up new rules that will allow authorities to review foreign investment on national security grounds, the country’s state planning agency said on Saturday.
The new review system will cover foreign investments in military sectors as well as “important” investment in energy, natural resources, agriculture, internet technology and financial services, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said.
The NDRC said the review system was in line with international practice and would help balance the economic benefits of further opening with the need to ensure national security.
”
”
Publishing the investment rules is “not protectionism or backtracking from opening-up policies,” the NDRC said, asserting that “opening up without protection is not sustainable.”
”
IMO, this is the core of the civilization war being fought between the private finance based West and the public finance based China.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 20 2020 2:17 utc | 171

gm #171
Good find gm. I am certain I saw Leni Riefenstahl at 0:24 – on the motorbike.
Stylistically it made my arm twitch 😉

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2020 2:32 utc | 173

@ uncle tungsten # 173 with the Slate link about American “education”…thanks
I had to bring over one quote from the article that uses my latest descriptive term for the period we are going through
”
The whole thing could only be diagnosed, in that community’s collective clinical opinion, as a shitshow.
”
A shitshow here, a shitshow there, pretty soon the whole place starts to stink.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 20 2020 3:11 utc | 175

Posted by: gm | Dec 20 2020 1:25 utc | 171
The video: suitable for torturing prisoners at Gitmo. Brain fry in no time. They say he likes Adderal.

Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 20 2020 4:18 utc | 177

@175 uncle tungsten
Yep. Brilliant. 14 minutes of pure gold. Politics 101, explained by a comedian who has riled the establishment and made the bootlickers squirm and distort themselves to appear genuine and not be revealed as empty phonies.
And AOC gets the bootlicker’s reward. She gets the boot in the face, courtesy Nancy. And as Jimmy articulates so well, AOC is still going to vote for Pelosi no matter how much Pelosi kicks her.
What a pathetic loss of position for AOC with the people who voted for her. What a betrayal. And all the progressives have now been removed from committee power by Pelosi in favor of corporate shills, who will set the legislative agenda for the next two years.
I know all this because a comedian just explained it to me, in detail. Alexandria, you should have listened to Jimmy. Not too late to force the vote for M4A – having thrown away all your integrity, what do you have left to lose?

Posted by: Grieved | Dec 20 2020 5:46 utc | 179

thanks uncle t for the dore vid…. i wonder how the cheerleader is going to spin this?

Posted by: james | Dec 20 2020 7:55 utc | 181

james #182
A cheerleader is trained to cheer anything and everything the team does except when in a forest of bears who’s porridge has been kept from them. That’s not a calm space to be in right now.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2020 8:56 utc | 183

China’s economy of peace: the end of dollar hegemony. A short read from globalresearch by Peter Koenig:

Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he has worked for over 30 years on water and environment around the world. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for online journals and is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020). He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2020 9:29 utc | 185

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Dec 20 2020 9:21 utc | 185
The real pedant in this case was Sting back in the 80’s at the hight of the cold war, assuming that we love our children and probably the dammned reds do not. Sometimes I have the feeling that anglos love a lot more there pets that everybody else’s children.

Posted by: Paco | Dec 20 2020 10:10 utc | 187

@uncle tungsten (many posts)
Thanks for the Jimmy Dore links, that was very revealing stuff.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 20 2020 12:26 utc | 189

@ 185 Jon_in_AU … thanks jon! right back at ya!
@ uncle t – lol!
@ 189 paco – i think you are right in all that..

Posted by: james | Dec 20 2020 17:37 utc | 191

Leo Panitch has passed.
“ Some five weeks ago he was hospitalized and diagnosed with multiple myeloma. While in the hospital he contracted Covid-19 and this developed into viral pneumonia. This is a collection of interviews with Leo, who gave great encouragement to creating theAnalysis.news”
https://theanalysis.news/interviews/our-leo-has-passed-away/

Posted by: suzan | Dec 20 2020 21:03 utc | 193