Arguments about whether state capitalism can beat pure elite capitalism are pointless. Both of these models are infinitely worse than socialism where productivity and all decisions around it is in the control of the actual producers, the actual blokes & blokettes producing whatever they do.
In the end as far as both the producers and the population of the nation concerned they don’t give a flying f#ck whether the smarmy shiny arsed suit making damn stupid decisions claims to work for ‘Private Equity’ or ‘The State’ the result is inevitably similar – that is whatever suits the suits wherever it is that they hang out – which always somewhere far away from the blokes & blokettes.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Feb 4 2021 6:23 utc | 103

@ Debsisdead | Feb 4 2021 6:23 utc | 103 who wrote
”
Arguments about whether state capitalism can beat pure elite capitalism are pointless.
”
Why can’t we have state socialism where the actual blokes & blokettes producing whatever they do tell the state “suits” what sort of mixed economy they want?
I agree that we have state capitalism mostly now because them elite folks own the state folks…..we need to take the punch bowl (private finance) away from the elite….and build a state that we can trust with the punch bowl.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 4 2021 6:43 utc | 105

The Afghan Taliban have made a startling revelation that the United States forces in Afghanistan were involved in transporting Da’ish militants into the war-torn country through their helicopters.
Senior members of Taliban, who are currently on a visit to Iran to discuss the peace process, made the statement at a news conference in Tehran on Tuesday, according to Iranian Press TV.
They went on to add that the US forces were also helping the Islamic State militants escape the areas under the Taliban’s control.
Blaming the American forces for the recent uptick in violence in the country, the leaders said the US had defaulted on the terms agreed during the agreement in February and resumed the attacks.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2282373/us-forces-accused-of-transporting-daish-militants-into-afghanistan

Posted by: Mao | Feb 4 2021 7:22 utc | 107

Ecuadorians demand return to leftist Citizens’ Revolution on eve of election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYJqhSq1CHI

Posted by: Mao | Feb 4 2021 7:29 utc | 109

Another mediocre functionary of the empire, Susan Rice, has been put in charge of domestic policy, not a promising outlook for the people.
Posted by: suzan | Feb 3 2021 21:43 utc | 51
Isnt Susan Rice more an expert on genociding and exploiting foreign countries? That is no doubt why she is selected now for domestic policy.

Posted by: BM | Feb 4 2021 8:05 utc | 111

james #86
article up today on michael hudsons website…
At the Oxford Economics Society
you stirred up a hornets nest vk, lol…
Thank you James, that is one extremely lucid address by Michael Hudson. This world is so lucky to have his voice and his delightful mind applied to the greatest threat to our humanity. He comes from a long heritage of economic inquirers and thinkers and he gives credit to all the classical economists and their efforts to build a world as if people mattered.
The specific point on infrastructure investment was just clear and concise.
I was intrigued by his concluding remark:

The 19th century was really the golden age of industrial capitalism. Countries wanted to invest to make a profit. They didn’t want to invest in dismantling an existing industry, because there wasn’t much industry to dismantle. They wanted to make profit by creating industry. There was a lot of investment in infrastructure, and it almost always lost money. For instance, there was recently a criticism of China saying, “Doesn’t China know that the Panama Canal went bankrupt again and again, and that all the investments in canals and the railroads all went broke again and again?” Of course China knows that. The idea is that you make investment not to make a profit on basic large infrastructure. The 19th century was basically inter-state lending, inter-governmental lending, public sector lending. That’s where the money was made. The late 20th century was one of financialization, dismantling the industry that was already in place, not lending to create industry to make a profit. It’s asset-stripping, not profit-seeking.[my emphasis]

No wonder the short sellers of GameStop had a frantic dummy spit when the people did a good samaritan and invested in a good stock: The people gamed the Game. The people squeezed the vulture until it shat rocks, and then they kept the squeeze on. If lightening revenge attacks on short selling scumbags can be made a routine then there may be change. Guerrilla warfare on Wall Street.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Feb 4 2021 9:20 utc | 113

I think the “full-stop” summary is that the Putin-Xi axis has moved on.
“Containment” is no longer relevant in a world where an “unsinkable continent wide aircraft carrier” has supplanted sea lane control. Eurasia is now an on the ground reality for those countries that are physically connected to it. The US are still trying to dominate a space that they cannot access. They may cause a slow down in certain areas/countries, but the overall effect is only temporary.
“Finance”. What is a derivative, stock or share worth if the “money” of exchange is worthless? Trillions of what?
“Population control”; I suspect that one of the objects of the “reset” is to make the populations of the US and EU, behave as they imagine the Chinese do. ie, transform us into coolies for the use of the “semi-gawds”. This is why “debt” is to be forced on the plebs and our assets removed. The middle class is to be eliminated to stop any idea of “upward mobility”, to ensure inequality reigns supreme.
“Production and supply”; What do you want me to say about that? They have now got both, without the US being involved or capable of anything but more “sanctions”.
“Sanctions”; There are millions (literally) starving, dying from lack of medecines, displaced and thrown into “camps” to die, or being systematically brutalised. Other countries can see what is happening and see the obsession with which the “semi-gawds” suppress those they wish to plunder – and they will draw their own conclusions. Then act, or the people will have to change the puppets and then act for themselves.
“Overall” I seee the speeches of both Putin and Xi as “we no longer need you”, (but you will come to need us ?)
———–
Open question for today (to lighten the tone)
How many masks does it take to cover all the different faces of flip-flop Fauci?
(How can anyone still believe him? He gave money to Wuhan and was there at the set-up. I wonder what his position is today?)

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 4 2021 9:45 utc | 115

Cuba aims to immunise its population this year with its own coronavirus vaccine
Cuba is aiming to vaccinate its population this year with its own vaccine, which would be the first developed in Latin America.
The country claims it can make 100 million doses of Soberana 2, its most advanced vaccine candidate, in 2021.
“If all goes well, this year the entire Cuban population will be vaccinated,” said Dr Vicente Vérez, director of the Finlay Vaccination Institute.
Cuba has got off relatively lightly compared to many of its neighbours so far in the pandemic, with 19,122 cases and 180 deaths confirmed by the government.
This week Soberana 2 moved onto phase two testing, involving 900 volunteers, and if successful will move onto phase III with 150,000 volunteers in March.
Dr Vérez said the aim was to launch a vaccination campaign in the first half of the year, and it could also be offered as an “option” to tourists.
https://www.euronews.com/2021/01/21/cuba-aims-to-immunise-its-population-this-year-with-its-own-coronavirus-vaccine

Posted by: Mao | Feb 4 2021 9:57 utc | 117

In the vaccine war, Switzerland has now rejected the Astrazeneca;
does that mean that tourists who have “only” the AZ or are +65 with AZ vaccine will not be admitted in Switzerland or other countries who have said it is not effective on +65?

Posted by: Mina | Feb 4 2021 10:59 utc | 119

Mina, as far as I can see Astrazeneca release has only been delayed, the swissmedic agency wants more data before the release. That was the info yesterday 3.Feb.21

Posted by: Fran | Feb 4 2021 12:02 utc | 121

Europe’s Vaccine Rollout Has Descended Into Chaos: It should have been a success. What went wrong?
Because of this:
Covid-19 Live Updates: As U.S. Vaccinations Speed Up, Cautious Optimism Grows: More than 27 million Americans have received a first shot
The USA is simply using its imperial power to gobble all the vaccines. Not much to add here.
So far, 95% of all vaccines produced were already “secured” by the richest nations; of those “richest nations”, the USA by far “secured” the most. That’s why, even with a fucked up system and an elevated degree of political dysfunction and inefficiency, it already vaccinated almost 10% of its population (albeit, it’s worth noting, just 6 million fully inoculated, with the two doses).
It will probably all be in vain, though, as the vaccine only works on people that are not yet infected with the SARS-CoV-2. The USA is racing against time, as it already has dozens of millions of cases, therefore dozens of millions of people who cannot – even if they could – be inoculated with the vaccine (any vaccine, be it mRNA or adenoviral).

Posted by: vk | Feb 4 2021 12:33 utc | 123

Posted by: vk | Feb 4 2021 12:33 utc | 123
They laughed, mocked and denigrated SputnikV, and now what? Stand in line, it is a long one. Bad boy Orban was the only smart one. I see those arrogant northeners with the VanDerUberAllesLeyen asking Cuba¡¡¡¡¡ for help. Who could’ve imagine. Our imperial media today says that Borrell is in Moscow to scold Lavrov and Putin, and that an interview with the asset Navalny is obligatory. What a bunch of clowns.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 4 2021 12:52 utc | 125

@ Posted by: Nathan Mulcahy | Feb 4 2021 13:15 utc | 126
My first question to you is: do you know how to read?
The first “paper” you linked is not a trial, but a review of alleged trials. They’re from the bullshit association FLCCC I mentioned in my previous comment.
The second paper is not even peer-reviewed; it’s a preprint. In the footnote of the very article it is stated that:

Preprints are preliminary reports that have not undergone peer review. They should not be considered conclusive, used to inform clinical practice, or referenced by the media as validated information.

You did everything the Research Square told you not to do.

Posted by: vk | Feb 4 2021 13:31 utc | 127

Seasonal workers in Xinjiang labeled by Western media as ‘forced labor’: Exclusive with French writer Maxime Vivas
Confirms my take @ 123:
Row in West gives Chinese, Russian vaccines a chance: Global Times editorial

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that coronavirus vaccines from Russia and China could be approved for use in the bloc if they “show all the data.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German Health Minister Jens Spahn and French officials have also expressed such open attitudes.
These new attitudes from European officials are against the backdrop that the UK and US pharmaceutical corporations cannot delivery vaccines to EU according to contracts, and a feud has taken place in the West. This presents Chinese and Russian vaccines an opportunity.

Sputnik V’s trial results came out at Lancet one day after the German government publicly cogitated using the Russian vaccine.
But there’s other information on the Chinese vaccine:

However, there is no hurry. China’s vaccine research and development institutions need to mind their own job of improving the vaccine while keeping up with the highest standards of data integrity. Entering the European market still needs to proceed with excellent performance. The fight against the epidemic is destined to be a protracted struggle. As long as Chinese manufacturers put enough efforts, they can grasp the opportunity.
Global vaccines are in short supply. China’s huge population needs to be vaccinated, and a large number of developing countries are waiting for the arrival of Chinese vaccines. Not to fail these expectations is the first responsibility of the relevant pharmaceutical companies in China. It would be a huge success if domestic vaccine supplies can support the demand of Chinese vaccinations this year, and produce an international output no lower than that of the US and the UK. That means Chinese vaccines promote global fairness by helping developing countries.

China’s plan is very clear:
1) it will only go full steam ahead with the production of its vaccines when they’re ready ready, i.e. when phase III trials are complete;
2) it will only begin mass production and distribution when its enough not only for its own people, but also to at least cover the Western pharmaceuticals’ productive capacity.

Posted by: vk | Feb 4 2021 13:51 utc | 129

I haven’t linked any papers, you silly little man
I just know from past experience dealing with your slippery dishonest and disingenuous ways that you have almost zero expertise, practical or otherwise, in 99% of the all the topics on which you pretend to be an expert.

Posted by: Triden | Feb 4 2021 14:01 utc | 131

@ Posted by: Triden | Feb 4 2021 14:01 utc | 131
But your mistress (Nathan Mulcahy) did.

Posted by: vk | Feb 4 2021 14:06 utc | 133

@ Posted by: Nathan Mulcahy | Feb 4 2021 14:05 utc | 132
From the preprint you linked here:

Methods: We conducted a systematic search of PUBMED, EMBASE, MedRxiv and trial registries.We excluded prevention studies and non-randomized or case-controlled studies. We identified and included 18RCTs. Data we recombined from 2282 patients into a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Discussion: Many studies that were included were not yet published or peer-reviewed and meta-analyses are prone to confounding issues. Furthermore,there was a wide variation in standards of care across trials, and ivermectin dose and duration of treatment was heterogeneous. Ivermectin should be validated in larger, appropriately controlled randomized trials before the results are sufficient for review by regulatory authorities.

This “larger, appropriately controlled randomized trial” was linked in a previous Open Thread by the owner of this blog, which I re-linked here. It showed ivermectin is a placebo.
Here’s a link to the definition of meta-analysis:
Meta-analysis
Long story short: the only ignorant, illiterate here is you, my friend.

Posted by: vk | Feb 4 2021 14:17 utc | 135

@ Posted by: Triden | Feb 4 2021 14:01 utc | 131
But your mistress (Nathan Mulcahy) did.
Posted by: vk | Feb 4 2021 14:06 utc | 133
A simple “Whoops, I was wrong” would have been a far less childish and emotionally insecure way of admitting your error

Posted by: Triden | Feb 4 2021 14:21 utc | 137

Correction to my post #138: “the winter of 2019” should read “the winter of 1919”.

Posted by: S | Feb 4 2021 14:27 utc | 139

@downtownhaiku | Feb 4 2021 3:19 utc | 90

Yes, Ford Escort = good car

Depends on your definition of “good” I guess. I have had 2, first a 1977 model that was ok but rusted away, and then a Brazilian Ford Escort from the mid 1980’s that rusted and fell to pieces and ended its life running on 3 cylinders. Fun times.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 4 2021 14:43 utc | 141

Did I mention there is also need for taxpayer money to finance the expansion of cages for unaccompanied illegal kids?
Posted by: Old and Grumpy | Feb 4 2021 14:43 utc | 142
Gullible Biden-voters, Late-November 2020:

Horray, no more kids in cages!!!!”

Reality, Jan 2021″:

Posted by: Triden | Feb 4 2021 15:07 utc | 143

Iran may reverse fatwa banning nukes if Israel, US act dangerously
And who could blame them for doing that?

Posted by: farm ecologist | Feb 4 2021 15:18 utc | 145

Interesting take on how Israel gets away with regular strikes on Syria:
https://ejmagnier.com/2021/02/01/does-russia-wink-at-israels-bombing-of-syria/

Posted by: Et Tu | Feb 4 2021 15:21 utc | 147

@Gravel Rash | Feb 4 2021 10:53 utc | 118

Also note that quite a few doctors and scientists, including world renowned experts, have spoke out against the covid meme, most have been cancelled from social and all media and many also lost their jobs. Interesting enough the cynics among us on almost every other subject find nothing unusual or disturbing about this.
Many people have decide that although the media lies about almost everything else they are 100% honest about covid, and only covid. They apparently don’t find any contradiction in this.

Yes, isn’t that curious indeed. I for one have called this a total fraud from day one, and still do. I will need physical evidence presented to me to change my mind.

Posted by: Norwegian | Feb 4 2021 15:36 utc | 149

@Bemildred #21
For every Huawei, there are a dozen extremely lackluster SOEs.
Personally, I don’t see the SOEs as the driver of China’s growth – rather, I see them as beneficiaries.
If you have ever visited both countries, the contrast cannot be more stark.
China has immensely improved its infrastructure over the past 35 years since I first visited in 1984.
India, in contrast, still has regular power outages even in major cities like Mumbai.
Roads, trains, internet, water, sewage – China has leapfrogged India across the board.
Secondly, what few people realize is that China has effectively deployed a startup ecosystem between its provinces. Different provinces have focused their bureaucratic and financial efforts on a handful of specific areas. Some have worked, many have not. The piles of junked bicycles due to the “shared bicycle” scam startups is one example of a failed one – which ironically was imported to the Western democracies via the cheap disposable bicycles designed for the Chinese startups. Ditto scooters.
Thus the other lesson isn’t that SOEs uber alles in economics – it is that the provincially supported SOEs which succeed are reinforced while their failures languish.
This is in contrast to many other country’s SOEs which are basically sacrosanct.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 4 2021 15:45 utc | 151

@William Gruff #72
Your rant would be more credible if it were not for the fact that the unemployment top-ups and stimulus checks are going precisely to the people who don’t have cash.
Equally that inflation has been across the board with the exception of rents in major cities. A significant number of the Robinhood crew are exactly those people using stimulus and unemployment payments to join the stock market (and get screwed sooner or later).
Rich people benefit from economic stimulus no matter what because they already own a disproportionate percentage of assets – assets increase in value with massive monetary printing.
But what is less written about is that inflation causes wages to increase because the poor people will demand more pay in order to survive.
Ultimately what matters is political focus. The rich use their money, the poor have to use organization and focus. Sadly, Americans are so historically ignorant that they seem to have to reinvent the wheel every generation or two – as compared to Europeans who seem to instinctively know that fighting bad laws and policies is cheaper if they are vigilant than waiting until there’s a real problem.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 4 2021 15:54 utc | 153

Posted by: vk | Feb 3 2021 18:06 utc | 6
No we do not exist no more now(after 20 years that this path has begun)..we are officially a German colony just like Angela wanted us to be.And Mario the jesuit will be the hammer that will destroy the last rights and expectations of the working people.The saddest thing is that it was all widely expected.

Posted by: LuBa | Feb 4 2021 15:58 utc | 155

@Triden #122
2 police officer suicies isn’t obviously out of whack.
There are under 700K police officers in the US; there were 219 police suicides in 2020.
DC police is 3800 – they would average 1 per year anyway from the national average.
Actual suicide rates in major cities – I’d bet they are higher than the overall.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 4 2021 16:03 utc | 157

EoinW | Feb 4 2021 14:20 utc | 136
One more mask a day, keeps the covid man away? After masks, plastic nose plugs ?
I share with you the idea that the Health services themselves are not helping. Oh, they supply the “experts”, where each one is more pro-doom than the previous. That way they can garantee more TV spots to be invited to. Many health service “providers” must know the truth but are probably too scared to say it out loud.
I wonder if at the very beginning, Governments were TOLD that the virus was military. This would explain the panic to enforce lockdowns and social distancing. This “secret” was to be kept from the public in case THEY panicked as well (or asked for explanations). It is not necessary that it did or did not come from Military research (but I assume the former.). The panic is/was real. Governments went “batsh%t” crazy, (a surprisingly appropriate word).
Then all the “greedies”, leapt in to make a fast buck. Experts (as said), Big Pharma, Bill Gates, (who also pays Johnson and Vallance and Wittie in the UK), and now Wall Street and Davos and so on.
Having found that a) it pays and b) it allows control of opinions and potential trouble makers – the question is can they “allow” the end of Covid. (Multiple variants are running wild apparently, jumping over oceans and appearing in the most unlikely places. The countries that have seen the number of cases and deaths diminue, and lockdowns reduced, don’t seem to get the “nouveau doom virus”-

Posted by: Stonebird | Feb 4 2021 16:32 utc | 159

c1ue @153
If the cash the FED prints ends up in circulation in the real economy (not the equity markets, which have little to do with the real economy anymore) then it will be inflationary. There is no way around that. To be certain, many millions of Americans desperately need that cash, and the rich just as certainly do not. I am not trying to advocate for this economic bind being a good thing, I am just pointing out that it exists. This is just one of the contradictions built into market economics that guarantees crisis, or in present conditions guarantees deepening crisis.

Posted by: William Gruff | Feb 4 2021 17:18 utc | 161

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 4 2021 15:45 utc | 151
Thanks, that was interesting. I’m not a big fan of SOEs, I just think they are a tool to manage development and your economy, direct leverage on it you might say. I would not be surprised if the Chinese make mistakes, probably lots, everybody else does. SOEs seem appropriate for any “public services” too. And anything else where profit is not the primary motive. I was speculating that they use them as incubators, in which case you would expect spotty results. If the debris is left laying around too long that would be “sub-optimal”, but not a crisis in an economy like China’s, they provide jobs, and we have lots of debris laying around here too. If you see jobs as a way to give people self-respect and a decent living while getting some useful work out of them it’s a much different picture, and so much more humane than “welfare”.
That said, I don’t disagree with what you said, and I expect you are better informed about China than I.

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 4 2021 17:38 utc | 163

S @138–
Thanks so very much for your report! I thought something was stirring in Ukraine with the return of the UkroNazi enablers to power in the Outlaw US Empire. As Hudson pointed out in his presentation at Oxford, the times are becoming desperate for the Empire with the formation of the Eurasian Bloc combined with the unmasking of the massive fraudulent foundation of the Outlaw US Empire’s financial markets and its entire economy. Ukraine will be seen as the only useful tool to destabilize Russia, so I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see the forces that Trump was going to move from Germany to Poland to instead be moved to Ukraine and actually used to force a military victory over Donbass. The Ukrainian public’s political positions you reported show a divide greater than that existing within the Outlaw US Empire, and an actual Civil War is ongoing in Ukraine, not just rhetorically being postulated.
Bottom line is the Outlaw US Empire must do its utmost to destabilize the newly formed Eurasian Bloc and protect its dollar hegemony if it’s to be successful in kicking the two cans–debt deflation and hyper-inflation–further down the road: The asset bubble will pop causing the former while the debasement of having issued so many dollars will cause the latter in real commodities like food and oil/transport fuels.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 4 2021 17:57 utc | 165

Good news, if true:
Biden to end US support for offensive operations in Yemen

Posted by: Bemildred | Feb 4 2021 18:22 utc | 167

Bemildred @167–
Certainly, but I see it as a housecleaning issue where assets are being redeployed to counter the real threat to dollar hegemony posed by the rising Eurasian Bloc. Hudson’s Oxford talk was extremely timely!!

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 4 2021 18:31 utc | 169

Myanmar holds first cabinet meeting after major reshuffle
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/2021-02/02/c_139716519.htm
22.01.2021 (09:15)
Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu held talks with the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
http://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12340122@egNews
January 22
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing welcomes and meets Russian Defence Minister Army General Sergey K. SHOIGU
https://cincds.gov.mm/node/10355
Posted by: Mao | Feb 3 2021 20:10 utc | 33
This intervention by the military in Myanmar is a very interesting development, and there is much more to it than meets the eye. It is all about rolling back the US/UK colour revolution of 2015 and rescuing the sovereignty of Myanmar – nothing else. The 8th November elections, which were massively fraudulent, were the trigger, part of the legal vehicle for the intervention, the central and most pertinent manifestation of the grounds for the intervention, what vastly increased the risks to Myanmar sovereignty, and what ‘broke the camel’s back’, but I think in important respects the fraudulent election per se is really only one part of the jigsaw, the whole picture of which is the US colour revolution which bore fruit in the election of 2015 in which Aung San Suu Kyi came to power.
Was the intervention a “coup”? No. In reality, I believe, it was not a coup for the following three reasons:
1) The military carrying out the intervention were already part of the government – and indeed they were already the government as far as all aspects of military defence, police, security and protection of the national sovereignty is concerned – i.e. specifically the content of the intervention and everything it entailed;
2) The Myanmar constitution specifically reserves the Defence and Internal ministries [and one other, I think Justice, I’ll have to check later] for the military, and the military is constitutionally obliged to protect the national security and national sovereignty against threats;
3) The constitution specifies provisions for the declaration of emergency.
Note the last line of the Xinhuanet link above: “The state power has been handed over to Min Aung Hlaing [the commander in chief of the army] under the Constitution.”
Now note the next two links, concerning a visit by the Russian Minister of Defence General Shoigu, on 22nd January 2021, to the Myanmar Defence Ministry in Naypyidaw. Oh, that was before the intervention, so it must be separate … but wait a minute! That was just one week before, and it was General Shoigu himself. The intervention was early in the morning of 1st February. According to the election schedule, the newly elected parliament members were supposed to be officially endorsed later that same day – therefore it was the most critical moment with respect to rescuing the national sovereignty from attack by the US/UK.
During that night, the army simultaneously surrounded Yangon, Mandalay, and every town throughout Myanmar. The key perpetrators of the colour revolution were swiftly detained, the state of emergency was declared, communications TV and internet cut, and key installations were secured. One week after the visit of General Shoigu! Doesn’t that have at least a whiff of that brilliant Russian military strategic planning? A tempting connection, I would say.
Look again at that second link above. General Shoigu said: “I am sure that today’s meeting will contribute to the development of all areas of our partnership in the military field. We are always open for a substantive conversation.” And from General Min Aung Hlaing: “Despite the long distances, our countries are very close. Russia, as a loyal friend, has always supported Myanmar in difficult times, especially in the last four years.” Also: “For reference: Since 2001, Russia and Myanmar have established the entire legal framework for effective and mutually beneficial bilateral military-technical cooperation, which is developing dynamically. … Military cooperation between the two countries has also been developing intensively over the past five years.”
Who are the leading experts, on this planet, in foiling US/UK colour revolutions?
Expect the course of events following this intervention to be very orderly, meticulously legal, highly effective, and just. Not just because Russia is involved, but also because that is likely to be a condition for the Russian support. The Myanmar military have long had very close ties with the Russian (and before that Soviet) military.
Oh, and by the way, Burmese friends have told me this “coup” is totally unlike the military coups in 1962 and 1988. In Yangon and Mandalay the military – and also the police – are virtually not to be seen at all on the streets, since Tuesday (in at least some towns there is still a substantial military presence – I think that is probably because of heavy US-sponsored/armed/trained insurgencies in those areas). The situation is described as “almost completely normal”. That is, except for long queues in the banks, as many people try to withdraw cash. The central bank has imposed a limit on withdrawals of 10 million Kyat (about US$8000) – that, I suspect, is not so much to prevent a run on the banks as to prevent capital flight by fugitives of justice! US$8000 is quite generous under the circumstances!
I wonder, that Bolivian election success, that was quite a miracle, wasn’t it! I wonder if they had some help in protecting against election fraud conspiracies?
I do hope that Ecuador is getting help to protect against suspension of the coming election this Sunday, and other hindrances!

Posted by: BM | Feb 4 2021 19:08 utc | 171

Lavrov had a very keen answer to this question at yesterday’s presser:
“Question (translated from Arabic): Moscow’s rhetoric on protests in the West, in part, on Capitol Hill, and the Western response to unauthorized actions in Moscow are very different. Don’t you think that the Russian position is too diplomatic, thereby giving the West more opportunity to interfere in Russia’s domestic affairs? Shouldn’t Moscow start referring to those that were arrested for the riots on the Capitol as political prisoners?”
As is Lavrov’s style, his answer is four paragraphs long and contains a surprise. I’ve gone around the main force of his answer with the following excerpt to entice barflies to click the link and read all about it, and his answer to the question that follows this one:
“Sergey Lavrov: I’d say that the West presents very specific, one-sided coverage of not only the events linked with Alexei Navalny but also everything that is taking place in Russia….
“I understand those who think that Russia could be more aggressive in reacting to the openly high-handed, unseemly rhetoric from Western leaders. In our diplomatic and political culture, we are not used to resorting to thuggish rhetoric. We are polite people and are used to achieving our goals in a civil and civilised manner. As we say: ‘God is not in power but in truth.’ We also have a good proverb that should be remembered: ‘Honey is sweet, but the bee stings.’ Those who take our polite manners for a sign of weakness are making a big mistake.”
I very much look forward to the upcoming visit by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, this Friday.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 4 2021 19:27 utc | 173

@William Gruff #161
What you said is true if nothing else changed, but everything else has changed.
All the travel, restaurant, bar and other entertainment jobs list is deflationary.
So is the 10m+ additional out of work.
Let’s not even get into what lockdowns are doing in terms of unexpected consequences.
Thus again, not at all clear you understand what you are talking about.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 4 2021 19:45 utc | 175

@Bemildred #163
The CCP aren’t gods or demons. They certainly must have some sacred cows they won’t gore.
However, to date they have been extremely pragmatic and smart. Mistakes that are made are not tolerated if they threaten what the CCP considers its goals and mandate.
Consider, in contrast what American SOEs do: Fannie Mae, Amtrak, the Post Office, etc etc.
Not every function which a society deems important needs to be profitable but equally, failure to follow through to ensure a given function works and improves is a sign of incompetence at best.
China’s energy policy is a good example: (“all of the above: nuclear, coal, solar, hydro. They’ll send their reps to the various time and money wasting international worthless treaty talks but ultimately they do what they think is needed for China to improve.

Posted by: c1ue | Feb 4 2021 19:57 utc | 177

Joe @172–
Thanks for that!! Yet another example of how the media obfuscates–Amazon STOLE “more than $61 million worth of customer tips meant for its delivery drivers,” but BigLie Media are running a PR exercise by saying Amazon merely “withheld” those monies over the past 5 years. Do read the story at the link and send it around. Amazon–and so many others–must be anti-trusted into tiny little pieces.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 4 2021 20:07 utc | 179

Machine translation of a paragraph, today’s conversation between Blinken and Lavrov:
In connection with the situation raised by E. Blinken around A. Navalny, the Minister gave detailed explanations about the need to respect the legislation and the judicial system of the Russian Federation. He drew the attention of the Secretary of State to the problems related to the prosecution in the United States of persons who protested in connection with the results of the presidential election, and called for transparency of the relevant judicial procedures.
Diplomacy at work, good manners is the minimum required.

Posted by: Paco | Feb 4 2021 20:12 utc | 181

The trial VK sites against Ivermectin was only of a single dose against placebo. Would be better with some follow up doses. But, it still found reductions in viral loads. The PCR results which are it’s main metric aren’t really relevent. In a therapeutic, we are looking for a reduction in symptom severity, rather than being clear on a PCR. There are plenty of RCT’s showing strong results, not really any evidence against…

Posted by: WastedTalent | Feb 4 2021 20:43 utc | 183

c1ue @175
There is no point in my arguing about it as we are almost certain to have the pleasure of watching the economy’s ongoing train wreck in realtime. Attempting to bail out a portion of the population will be tried and we will get to see the results.
America’s service economy was built upon the back of a manufacturing economy. Like an arch that has been built over a hill of soil that has since been removed, America’s service economy remained even after the manufacturing economy was lost. Now that arch has collapsed there is no way to build it back.

Posted by: William Gruff | Feb 4 2021 21:06 utc | 185

It is real clear ( very few things are ever clear, but this is) that US and it’s European vassals have totally failed the covid test. Canada and Mexico as American dependencies are also in the muck. The only other country doing so poorly is Brazil, currently operated out of Langley with a psychotic local frontman. Politically or medically the failure is complete and evident to everyone. “The science” is subsidiary to Pharma and to Intelligence. The medical establishment is utterly disgraced. That would include the primary referee journals.
The bleeping vaccine is brought to you by DARPA, In-Q-Tel, the Gates Foundation, the Clinton Foundation and Jeffrey Epstein. Stunning that supposed leftists give a second of credence to the not-a-vaccine. It is untested gene therapy from the bowels of the military and spookdom.
Any claiming daily that Marxism and history are sciences does not know the meaning of words.
There is currently nothing to replace western medical “science”. Given time Russia and China might do something, for time being it is not there and does not translate. I would assume there are capable researchers in lots of places, there is no intact system for them to be heard. The Empire is crumbling, expect collateral damage.

Posted by: oldhippie | Feb 4 2021 21:39 utc | 187

Another exciting look into the workings of Russia’s economy and an assessment of its progress, particularly in the Agricultural sector: “Working meeting with Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.” These two paragraphs IMO are fascinating for what’s revealed, but they’re just a small portion of the entire report:
“Why, Mr President, do we have to resolve these not so much difficulties, as tasks. For example, we do not have our own grain market indicator. For reference, Russia is the largest grain exporter, but we urgently need to develop exchange trade, so that we have our own grain exchange with a significant turnover, and our own market indicator. We understand what needs to be done, and the Prime Minister has set the same tasks, so we will work on that. But before that, as soon as April 1, we plan to launch contract registration. I mean, we will also take one of the exchanges, and all exporters will register their contracts.
“Why is this important? Because we could certainly take the customs service’s price, for example, as the indicative price. But that would come from old contracts, so by and large, that would be an irrelevant price – 230 or 240 in that old contract, when new ones are concluded at 300. We will not be able to protect our market. That is why it is so important for us to establish that indicator. And we are working on it now.” [My Emphasis]
No commodity exchange like Chicago’s Board of Trade!?! Wow! When Russia finally gets that “indicator” mechanism up and running, its economy will become even stronger with greater resiliency. And you’ll also read that compared with the EU’s economic performance during the pandemic, Russia was better even with the sanctions. Some may recall that a few months ago Putin proposed further cuts to Russia’s overall defense budget so it could provide more support for its programs aimed at developing its human capital.
William Gruff @185–
When I read reports like the one linked to above, I try to imagine what the USA might look like if its priorities were like Russia’s and China’s and not made to work for just a tiny number of already rich people. It’s so fucking tragic because it all could be so much different and close to Utopian rather than driving toward Dystopia.

Posted by: karlof1 | Feb 4 2021 21:51 utc | 189

@ uncle tungsten | Feb 4 2021 9:20 utc | 113…… thanks! i agree.. the article is quite good…

Posted by: james | Feb 4 2021 23:46 utc | 191

Recomended long read detailing the network of Pierre Omidyar’s civil society NGOs:
The billionaire takeover of civil society
It shows how billionaires sheepdog nice but dim middle-class progressives into furthering the goals of the capitalist class.

Posted by: Ash Naz | Feb 5 2021 1:16 utc | 193

c1ue # 154 ignorantly spewed:
“Your argument would be more effective if the Soviet Union had not failed.” FFS your level of comprehension is nothing short of appalling!
For anyone reading this who is puzzled at such a storm in a teacup, here is the entirety of my post at #103:

Arguments about whether state capitalism can beat pure elite capitalism are pointless. Both of these models are infinitely worse than socialism where productivity and all decisions around it is in the control of the actual producers, the actual blokes & blokettes producing whatever they do.
In the end as far as both the producers and the population of the nation concerned they don’t give a flying f#ck whether the smarmy shiny arsed suit making damn stupid decisions claims to work for ‘Private Equity’ or ‘The State’ the result is inevitably similar – that is whatever suits the suits wherever it is that they hang out – which always somewhere far away from the blokes & blokettes.

The fact that the USSR failed is my point, the USSR was the epitome of state capitalism, that is that huge centralised enterprises run by decision makers far removed from the industry’s basis, inevitably lead to poor decision-making and failure, whether they be capitalist or pseudo socialist ie state capitalist.
In the west those large industries especially manufacturing failed dramatically by the end of the 20th century because after having spent years on life support via tariffs preferential government contracts and all the other subsidies which gave to the rich whilst the actual producers were ground further & further down with anti-union policies & laws, casualisation of the workforce finally failed as nation states like amerika were forced to quit protectionism & subsidies & dumping.
The house of cards collapsed, but in the west the boss class & owners were rewarded with handouts to encourage them into the financialisation parasitic scam.
Both western capitalism and state capitalism have been massive failures.
amerikans & englanders are fond of using Chernobyl as an example of the failure of state capitalism but they rarely if ever mention the much bigger damage done to the environment and virtually every living creature by DuPont’s release of PFOA’s into earth’s environment. As I understand it, since DuPont began manufacturing and proliferating this substance (which never occurs naturally) into our world from 1951, because they wanted to corner the market on non-stick cookware, more than 95% of our planet’s population have been contaminated by carcinogenic PFOA’s a compound which just accumulates as we have no way of getting rid of it once contaminated.
That is just one of many. Anyone could have made that error but only a huge centralised conglomerate such as DuPont would have been willing and able to cover up the toxification of the planet for more than 50 years.
This was easy to do DuPont bought the politicians who controlled the agencies which are meant to protect.
The traces of this are still visible, right there for anyone, the media plays ignorant. The current Biden nominee for EPA boss made his bones as a DuPont lawyer denigrating and lying to terminal cancer victims including children who were dying from PFOA induced cancers, in order to “protect the shareholders”.
There are degrees of foulness across the spectrum of capitalist enterprises and pure western capitalism appears to be the most foul.
The old USSR has some nasty skeletons in its closet (see the attempt to increase agricultural production in Monrovia with irradiated crop seeds) but none of ’em ran nearly as long as western capitalist scams such as the PFOA one, most likely because, the primary motivation for state capitalist cover ups is to prevent career embarrassment & is generational, whereas western capitalism is entirely driven by greed & profit and that is cross generational.
Anyway back to the main point – if you insist on continuing in this pathetic endeavour to boost yourself to yourself by trying to critique others posts but never offering anything useful just negativity, I earnestly suggest that you put more effort into reading & comprehending what is posted that you wish to critique. Otherwise you will continue to come across as a pathetic drongo type who adds nothing of use to the dialogue at MoA.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Feb 5 2021 3:05 utc | 195

…and financialization is the chosen road to feudalism.

Posted by: chu teh | Feb 5 2021 5:31 utc | 197

suzan @ 100 thanks this is what i got out of that report.
Atlantic council proposes USA strategy to counter China’s CPP geopolitical strategy,
USA status quo <==structural & functional difference ==> Nationalist Xi in China.
USA Rule of law <== coercive national unity ==> ethno nationalism.
Allow no competition <==China now as America before 1913 ==> system, policy.
Revision power <==CPP governed China v oligarch governed America ==> Revisionist power.
western propaganda <==Totalitarian police state see ref below ==> Eastern Propaganda.
3000 owners of USA <== who do you believe? ==> 91 million members of CPP.
1% own 99% of wealth <== Oligarch wealth is out of bounds ==> Xi family CPP wealth .
federalism <== decision and control in both China and USA ==> Centralized, authoritarian.
– – – – – – —
Oligarchs @ USA has it <== quest for technological power ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Oligarchs @ USA has it <== quest for technology power ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Oligarchs @ USA has it <== military superpower capacity ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Oligarchs @ USA has it <== bandwagon credibility, influence ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Oligarchs @ USA has it <== strategic partnership w/super power ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Oligarchs @ USA want it <== Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Oligarchs @ USA have it <==Global Reserve Dollar Status ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Oligarchs @ USA have it <==territorial growth and dominance ==> Chinese Oligarchs Wants it.
Those who wrote the report found “The overriding political objective should be to cause China’s elite leadership to collectively conclude it is in “the interest of the oligarchs in charge of China to allow the existing US-led liberal international order to stand as is.
The alternative for the USA based oligarchs would require them to build a rival (to China). Then the report threatens China’s CPP, by stating if the CPP wishes to remain in power at home, it should not to attempt to expand China’s borders or to export its political model beyond China’s shores.
IMO the overriding political objective of Americans should be <=to force American Industry to return home, <=to close the borders to foreign anything and <=to suffer as a nation until America (not the USA) can reestablish its technological know how and can create from that know-how the industrial might needed to make America great for those living in America. to hell with the globalist and their wealth. Nothing in the report talks about the use of the nation state to create the monopoly powers (copyrights and patents) that concentrate the wealth in such a few people on either side of the nation state divide. It is arguable to suggest “the USA governed America” is less authoritarian than “CPP governed China”. Kennan containment destroyed and transformed the thriving American industrial base into a global POS.. Can you believe it, the report says Oligarch controlled USA hegemonic powers is necessary for the Oligarch owned USA. And to do that the Oligarch owned USA should adopt and maintain its “Allow no competition” policy by adhering to seven integrated policy components (none of which Americans think important, desirable or necessary): retain L-T national power, red line deterrence policy, continuously frustrate China with enforcement of non essential national security interest claims, use state subsidized competition to deny China, and pretend to be cooperative in addressing mega threat issues. The same kind of containment policy adopted by the oil and slave bandits against Germany that led to WWI. 1. horror”>https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/02/they-dont-only-rape-but-also-bite-all-over-your-body-horror-stories-told-by-chinese-defectors-contin.html#comments”>horror that does no harm
i would say the report is about generating hell for the citizens of the world.

Posted by: snake | Feb 5 2021 7:12 utc | 199