Thought of making another joke about the boat but that ship has now sailed.
Your host will, hopefully, be back by tomorrow.
Use as open thread …
Back to Main
March 30, 2021
Somewhat Out Of The Mud
Comments
More Chinese companies make foray into semiconductors
“Chinese companies learned a lesson after Chinese telecom firms ZTE and Huawei were sanctioned by the US – that is they need to resolve the foreign stranglehold on chip-making technology. As they are rushing into this sector, China’s semiconductors industry is likely to see a strong boost in three years,” Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Beijing-based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Local media reported on Tuesday that the 7-nanometer chips developed by Chinese tech giant Baidu-backed automotive intelligence technology company ECARX will soon enter mass production.
Paul 98
“The Australian government has just announced it will throw A$100 billion on a missile building plant.”
At the moment crypto-facist Peter Dutton becomes “defence” minister and leader of government business in the House, and as unemployment support is cut to 1994 levels.
Posted by: DeQuincey | Mar 31 2021 1:49 utc | 102
vk #97
On virus origins:
I agree. It’s time for the WHO to have some balls and start to investigate other nations. It would not surprise me at all if the SARS-CoV-2 originated either in Italy or in West Coast USA.
I think the WHO might find more information on the eastcoast USA where Fort Detrick is located.
If you have a west coast CBW facility that is equally poorly managed as Fort Detrick in mind let me know.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 31 2021 2:27 utc | 103
Here is a test of MoA itself
Interesting subtext to my post @1
I posted a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHcg3TNSRPs
The YouTube counter that indicates how many times something has been viewed is fraudulent.
A YouTube algorithm acts as a dampener to keep the count down.
Or perhaps not. The most surprising thing would be to learn that YouTube
is not manipulative.
Since I first posted the video link more than 12 hours ago @1 the Views counter has gone from 2470 to 2517.
Maybe the problem is with MoA itself, and it has fewer readers than I would have guessed
or readers don’t read, they skim, or they get bored easily and move on to the next post like they are
skimming Facebook for cat videos.
Click the link if you visit MoA
The view counter is 2517.
Posted by: librul | Mar 31 2021 2:29 utc | 104
@ 80 uncle tungsten… thank you and thanks for your many fine posts…
@ grieved on brainwashing and etc… i went and bought a 2nd hand lawn mower for 60$ – briggs and stratton motor, so should be good.. on the way their i listened to cbc’s flagship radio show ‘as it happens’ where they are discussing how canada is supposed to bring 8 families of the white helmets to canada, but have yet to do so.. they are presently in a camp in jordan… the radio hosts mentioned how russia and syria had been putting out propaganda on how the white helmets were not as they were advertised to be, but there was no dialogue about what the white helmets were other then the grand humanitarian relief group saving thousands of people… for the cbc to suggest to its own listeners that it was spreading brainwashing by saying all this, would be impossible… the cbc and most mainstream news outlets – bbc, and etc. etc. – are in the business of giving out the brainwashing western side of things.. it is only thru due diligence on the part of ordinary people where one might find the truth in all of the stories and sources for info available via the internet.. of course this begs the question – how much will the internet be censored moving forward?? hard to know, but i also heard tonight that maduro was banned from facebook… that might be an ultimately good thing in a round about way… that all said, i see that one can still see a vanessa beeley video on the white helmets… i wonder how long before youtube as a branch of google will take down alternative views such as hers?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDD0BBNC_mA
Posted by: james | Mar 31 2021 2:31 utc | 105
vk @ 97 — The WHO will never ascertain where SARS-CoV-2 ‘originated’ because they’re part of the plot and we know who their major contributor is. The consultations in these investigations have to be conducted behind closed doors because the truth cannot be revealed to the public, much like 9/11. Not under consideration for obvious reasons, was the evidence of genetic engineering and gain of function that have been suspected by knowledgeable professionals. It hardly matters any more because apparently the “vaccines” are now doing the job of enabling variants to spread: original virus escapes immunity in individuals due to sub-optimal immunity after the first jab, mutates and is shed and spread. This means the bugs are probably out of control until they naturally mutate toward a more benign state. Meanwhile, the wealth extraction and mass surveillance schemes continue as planned.
Posted by: norecovery | Mar 31 2021 2:52 utc | 106
@Posted by: james | Mar 31 2021 2:31 utc | 105
I ran the video you linked to. I confess that I had to step away but
it ran all the way through and the View counter has not changed.
I checked the Views very soon after you posted and they stood at 7752.
They are still at 7752. Am I missing something?
Posted by: librul | Mar 31 2021 3:55 utc | 107
If Covid is really going away this Spring as a global narrative I see the ramping up of Taiwan rhetoric as a potential part replacement along with Ukraine.
I keep thinking that at some point that China will sell off its $1+ trillion in US Treasuries and crash the world economy but that is what dying empire wants, somebody or thing to keep pointing blame onto while continuing the rape and pillage behind the curtain of deceit. Even if/when the US economy collapses without that ability for outside blame the international finance folk will hold up their hands and claim innocence of complicity in the collapse and ongoing global financial jackboot debt ratcheting.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 31 2021 3:58 utc | 108
@ 107 librul…. i watched your video as well after you posted it @ 104… what i heard is that a certain amount of the video has to be watched in order for the number to change.. 2/3rds or something – i am not sure… bottom line is although people post here at moa, it doesn’t mean everyone watches the videos.. i generally don’t as i prefer transcripts, but some like video… there may be some nefarious stuff going on with the system at youtube – highly possible – but i don’t know for a fact.. if i am any example, i will maybe watching one video off a whole thread.. i scan the comments and if interested i read transcripts.. i am much more selective on videos… the one i shared i only watched some of it, but it is for any straggler at moa in case they are unfamiliar with beeleys work.. cheers..
Posted by: james | Mar 31 2021 4:04 utc | 109
Duncan Idaho #83
On Bolsanero and Brazil:
But Biden appears to have issues.
We shall see what unwinds.
I don’t know about ‘unwind’ but when it comes to Biden the unfolding of many large denomination bills is what he is angling for.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 31 2021 4:10 utc | 111
…
9) reforming the US education system to support that goal
10) and championing “the principles of freedom” with rhetoric, sanctions and military force as necessary.
Hmm… I don’t know… those sounds very totalitarian to me.
Posted by: vk | Mar 30 2021 21:46 utc | 74
They also sound pointless, intoxicated and puerile.
Blinken & Co seem to have forgotten the old maxim…
“Those who can, Do. Those who can’t, Talk.”
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Mar 31 2021 4:15 utc | 112
Posted by: vk | Mar 30 2021 21:46 utc | 74
It is totalitarian. This probably isn’t anything new to you or most of the left-leaning MoA regulars, but I just watched a recent compilation of Noam Chomsky interviews called “Requiem for the American Dream.” Chomsky doesn’t really say anything new that we haven’t all heard him saying since the 60s, but he did raise an interesting comparison regarding the USA and other totalitarian states. It speaks to #s 7, 9 and 10 in your list most directly. What he said was something like this:
“If you say or do ______ criticizing the powers that be or something the plutocracy is saying or doing, you’ll be called all sorts of terms of abuse including “anti-American.” He then points out that being called anti-______ is only done in totalitarian societies throughout history. Anti-Soviet, Anti-German (Nazis), and whatever anti-Kim Jong Un would be called. If an Italian was criticizing the Italian government and someone called him “anti-Italian”, he’d roll over laughing because such a concept is literally ridiculous in a non-totalitarian state.
Posted by: _K_C_ | Mar 31 2021 4:15 utc | 113
@Posted by: Grieved | Mar 30 2021 23:52 utc | 91
In the same way that totalitarianism is great when it’s a “dictatorship of the proletariat”, the nations of the world are waking up to the thought that propaganda is something that can be a cause for good – and not only that, but even that the government of a free society is obligated to take a strong hand in propaganda, for the furtherance of that freedom, and as a true thing that a nation can and should protect, and perfect.
Aha! Now you have come to what is known in China as the “4 Cardinal Principles” of Deng Xiaoping.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Mar 31 2021 4:24 utc | 114
@Posted by: Grieved | Mar 30 2021 23:52 utc | 91
In the same way that totalitarianism is great when it’s a “dictatorship of the proletariat”, the nations of the world are waking up to the thought that propaganda is something that can be a cause for good – and not only that, but even that the government of a free society is obligated to take a strong hand in propaganda, for the furtherance of that freedom, and as a true thing that a nation can and should protect, and perfect.
Aha! Now you have come to what is known in China as the “4 Cardinal Principles” of Deng Xiaoping.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Mar 31 2021 4:32 utc | 115
Do you think Macron is a killer? “Mm-hmm, I do.”
He would “pay a price” after Un intelligence released a report that found that French air strike in Mali this year killed civilians attending a Wedding.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/3c9abbcd-58ac-4a86-b4e4-82bc8e18b4ba
But for French army (and clown politicians), UN intelligence is unrelevant, “It is impossible to distinguish credible sources from the false testimony of possible terrorist sympathisers or people under the influence of — or threatened by — jihadist groups,” the ministry said.
“Relying on testimonies alone is not enough and it is a methodological bias”
Could you please remember for the next complaint from any kind of White Helmet?
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 31 2021 5:35 utc | 117
I have become used to YouTube ignoring by views because I, along with many others I suspect, am not a Google member, I deleted google cookies from my browsers years ago and continue to do so whenever I complete any browsing session. When I visit a you tube site, I am asked if I want to sign in, I click No thanks or whatever then I’m asked to agree to YT’s T&C I agree to this knowing as soon as I leave the site all the cookies alphabet google have foisted upon my browser will be deleted.
AFAIK visits views by humans not logged in to YT do not generate payment for vid posters and because the payments are determined by the number of ‘views’ a visit by the likes of myself does not shift the counter.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 31 2021 5:39 utc | 118
Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 31 2021 5:39 utc | 118
Hmm, but have you encountered any YouTube content that is protected from certain age groups viewing and which requires a sign in and whatever affirmations go along with being accepted as an “adult”?
For example try Adam Curtis’ documentary series originally from the BBC, which was called “Machines of Loving Grace….” – YouTube hosts it, but you simply cannot view episodes 2-4 without logging in and agreeing to whatever behind the scenes affirmations I mentioned. Otherwise, straight up “age wall”…
Posted by: _K_C_ | Mar 31 2021 6:07 utc | 119
Posted by: _K_C_ | Mar 31 2021 6:07 utc | 119
Sorry debsisdead, I meant the MOST recent series “I can’t get you out of my head” – episodes with transgender content have required me to log in to watch.
Posted by: _K_C_ | Mar 31 2021 6:10 utc | 120
Below is a link to the latest Wall Street on Parade posting about the Archegos blow up in progress
Shades of 2008: Derivative Bets Blow Up Archegos Hedge Fund; Inflict Billions in Losses on Global Banks
The take away quote
”
After pleading guilty to wire fraud involving insider trading in 2012 on behalf of another hedge fund he founded, Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang sometime thereafter quietly founded a “family office,” a hedge fund that is allowed to decide for itself if it needs to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There are no filings with the SEC to suggest it knows Archegos exists or how it operates and there are no 13-F filings with the SEC to show the dangerous levels of stock exposure and leverage it had amassed through derivatives contracts with some of the biggest banks on Wall Street. This, of course, raises the question as to just how much of this booming stock market is based on secret derivative contracts between dodgy hedge funds and federally-insured banks.
Bloomberg News reported yesterday that Archegos may have leveraged $5 to $10 billion in assets up to $50 billion in exposure. Instead of buying stock outright or buying stock options on exchanges, according to Bloomberg News and other media outlets, Archegos was using private derivative contracts (over-the-counter) to obtain tens of billions of dollars in stock exposure. A big chunk of that exposure was in shares of ViacomCBS and Discovery as well as Chinese tech stocks. As those positions had to be unwound as Archegos was unable to meet margin calls, ViacomCBS tanked over 50 percent with Discovery down more than 40 percent.
”
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 31 2021 6:26 utc | 121
Posted by: Ian2 | Mar 30 2021 23:13 utc | 86
Thanks for that link, I’ll give it a try.
Posted by: Paco | Mar 31 2021 7:09 utc | 122
@Per/Norway | Mar 30 2021 20:07 utc | 55
Jeg hadde nesten glemt jagland og hans rolle😳(i had almost forgot jagland and his role)
Jagland rose to prominence because of his general stupidity. As Foreign Minister in the early 1990s he was interviewed on TV after a round trip to several countries, saying that Norway was an important country because he saw Norwegian flags everywhere he went…
His stupidity also became his downfall, he was appointed to be Prime Minister in 1996 and made a total mess of it and resigned a year later after winning a general election (it’s a funny story).
So they pushed him aside and made him Chairman of the Nobel committee, an that is how Obama got his mail order Peace Price.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 7:25 utc | 123
My comment has appeared so I’m cross-linking it since that thread seems dead-ish.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 31 2021 7:29 utc | 124
librul | Mar 31 2021 2:29 utc | 104
Linked. But I do not use google if at all possible (RE,Debisdead comment).
Secondly, I prefer text first and then “visual” only if I have the time. (Shorts OK but long term viewing not)
********
To Jen and Uncle Tungsten.
Re, MH370.
Longer reply to come, (Jen) but the the actual contents of the “package”, could it have been a production unit for chips, as the declared contents were not “really” verified ? (Speculation). As always, the real test is can I believe the original information, or can I believe the information if it also depends ON the person?
Uncle Tungsten, This could be interesting vis the functioning of the Brain. ie central processor, and secondary “units” to deal with a large volume of input, but I will have to read carefully, I can’t even say I “skimmed” it correctly!
Posted by: Stonebird | Mar 31 2021 7:31 utc | 125
re Posted by: _K_C_ | Mar 31 2021 6:07 utc | 119
Yep I most certainly have observed yt’s attempt to enforce privacy deletion and altho I’m sure that as the age of big tech censorship continues to grow and grow, there will be more of this form of government demanded, corporate gatekeeping.
In the case of that Curtis doco “Can’t get you outta my head” I didn’t even bother with YT & found a copy on torrent instead.
I concede that there will be times when YT is the only option but buggered if I’m goin’ to acquiesce to such (what I consider to be) fascist policing of the net. Maybe I shall have to forgo the occasional vid, but it it really is that important the odds are high it will be available elsewhere.
p.s. if anyone does what to view “I Can’t get you outta my head” and has no option other than you tube & their age of consent/must be signed rort on us individual humans, let us know so I can make it available.
I don’t expect others to do the same, but I will say the more of us who do not just tug our forelocks to obvious corporate incursions, the more difficulty these greedy, monopolistic & unaccountable arseholes will have forcing their incursions upon the rest of us.
Solidarity is always the key.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 31 2021 7:34 utc | 126
@james | Mar 30 2021 20:23 utc | 58
The news coming out of Canada is indeed depressing. I used to think of Canadaian policies as independent, but not anymore.
Actually, the best ambassadors of Canada to me these days is the guys behind the YouTube channel “coldwarmotors”, that is some down to earth, funny and generally nice guys. We have to by-pass the politicians these days.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 7:38 utc | 127
@karlof1 | Mar 30 2021 23:02 utc | 84
Thanks for the Diesen quotes, he is a sharp analyst. It is clear that EU and NATO are just two sides of the same coin. When Norway voted in a referendum to stay out of the EU in 1994 (after doing the same in 1972), then PM Gro Harlem Brundtland (later Director-General of the WHO….) said “we have other methods”. Her favourite PM trainee was Jens Stoltenberg, now head puppet of NATO.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 7:53 utc | 128
Covid Update, Spring 2021
An update on virus origin, vaccines, early treatment, masks, long covid, and covid mortality.
https://swprs.org/covid-spring-update/
Posted by: Polirical Atheist | Mar 31 2021 8:03 utc | 129
@librul | Mar 31 2021 2:29 utc | 104
The view counter is 2517.
The counter as seen from here is 2569
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 8:14 utc | 130
Posted by: DeQuincey | Mar 31 2021 1:49 utc | 102
Thanks for the reply, Peter Dutton, has now risen to his level of incompetence, AKA ‘the Peter Principle’. Defence minister, wow.
He should have continued in his old job as a nasty cop in Cabulture, Qld.
It’s hard to imagine the profound lack of talent and integrity in Australian politics today.
Posted by: Paul | Mar 31 2021 8:15 utc | 131
Bernard F. #117
“Relying on testimonies alone is not enough and it is a methodological bias”
Could you please remember for the next complaint from any kind of White Helmet?
Touché comrade Bernard. But do tell your French speaking cousins in Canada as they are sorely in need of your advice.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 31 2021 8:18 utc | 132
@psychohistorian | Mar 31 2021 3:58 utc | 108
I keep thinking that at some point that China will sell off its $1+ trillion in US Treasuries and crash the world economy but that is what dying empire wants, somebody or thing to keep pointing blame onto while continuing the rape and pillage behind the curtain of deceit.
I don’t think China will deliberately cause a crash, they are smarter than that. Instead of causing a 737 MAX style crash, they will try to remotely guide it into some kind of emergency landing, maybe not saving the pilots but hopefully most of the passengers.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 8:24 utc | 133
psychohistorian #121
Ghastly story! Thank goodness for Wallstreetonparade.
My take away is these closing paragraphs:
ViacomCBS Class B typically trades about 27 million shares a day. But the volume in the stock over the past few trading sessions grew to 8 times that amount as the share price logged staggering losses. On Wednesday, ViacomCBS’ share volume was 89.8 million; Thursday it traded 44.2 million shares; Friday’s volume spiked to 216.6 million shares while Monday’s volume reached 213.57 million shares.
Making the situation even more striking, the prospectus filed with the SEC by ViacomCBS for a secondary offering last week to sell approximately $1.67 billion of its Class B common stock and approximately $1 billion of its Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred stock, had six Joint Book-Running Managers, two of which include – wait for it – Morgan Stanley (listed as number one) and Goldman Sachs (listed as number four). The underwriters priced the common stock at $85 a share. The press release for the deal said it was expected to close last Friday, March 26. That’s the day that the stock traded in the open market at a high of $66.27 and a low of $39.81 and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were dumping shares of ViacomCBS because of their involvement with the highly leveraged hedge fund, Archegos Capital Management.
As we have stated repeatedly, this market structure is the market structure from hell.
The mantra from the big shots as overheard during the Occupy Wall Street Movement:
There is no conflict of interest
We only do good by our clients
There is no conflict of interest
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 31 2021 8:54 utc | 134
re _K_C_ | Mar 31 2021 6:10 utc | 120
I admit to not being a total adam curtis fan for reasons that would take to long to explain. However I have just checked on usenet, torrent sites and BBC iplayer (available to anyone with a UK virtual private networks (world VPN coverage including US, UK, ANY euro nation plus most other nations, now cheap as chips at about USD $30 per year, or free for something a bit slower) and all episodes of “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” are available on all those platforms plus I’m sure others besides.
You Tube is a convenience, it is far from essential and in my experience there are very few vids only available on YT much less any that cannot be accessed anonymously. Yep that could become a little more difficult but where there is a will there is a way certainly applies to today’s lowest common denominator capitalists who have drawn the curve of control Vs expenditure well shy of 100%.
That of course is not forgetting that YT do not have exclusive copyright on BCC produced anything.
Their claimed provenance is probably not real either.
We need to stop believing that google’s rights to anything trump our own – they try it on knowing that most people will take the least line of resistance and ‘log in’to YT as demanded when the reality is, no greedy arse is entitled to jack shit.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 31 2021 9:17 utc | 135
@vk: “If an Italian was criticizing the Italian government and someone called him “anti-Italian”, he’d roll over laughing because such a concept is literally ridiculous in a non-totalitarian state. ”
Ha-ha. Based on Italians I know, anyone NOT hating the Italian government would be called “anti-Italian”, by everyone.
Anyhow. With all due respect to Mr Chomsky (who these days sounds more like a liberal dembot than anything else), what’s in the name? Who cares what establishment bots call you?
They call you “anti-American”, “racist”, whatever – and after a while it makes you happy, to be called these names. They just confirm your anti-establishment credentials. It’s when they stop calling you “anti-American”, you should start worrying…
Posted by: Mao Cheng Ji | Mar 31 2021 9:21 utc | 136
More blow back from Pastor Morrison’s Australian weapons spend – a -thon. Unfortunately the AFR story below is hidden behind a paywall.
Defence to face audit over new weapons purchases
The Auditor-General has agreed to Labor’s request to examine the Morrison government’s $270 billion arms build up.
Posted by: Paul | Mar 31 2021 10:53 utc | 137
Posted by: Debsisdead | Mar 31 2021 5:39 utc | 118
Thanks for explaining these intricacies. I want out.
It used to be easy to do the interthing!
Posted by: Paul | Mar 31 2021 11:05 utc | 138
From serfs in a feudal society to citizens in an equitable society. Tibetans celebrate 62 years of liberation. This is truly something to celebrate just from a life expectancy perspective if nothing else.
It would be interesting to find out more of this transition so if any barflies can recommend informed, dispassionate reporting do let me know.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Mar 31 2021 11:30 utc | 139
Someone asked about France and the Sputnik vaccine… well…. they know what happen to lackeys who dare mentioning it
https://www.euronews.com/2021/03/28/slovakia-s-prime-minister-to-step-down-amid-sputnik-v-vaccine-scandal
French minister of defense (!), 5 days ago
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/03/26/france-slams-russias-sputnik-vaccine-as-propaganda-tool-a73377
U turn of his position on 3rd February
https://www.europe1.fr/politique/aucun-blocage-pour-diffuser-le-vaccin-russe-spoutnik-en-france-selon-le-drian-4022725
The French EU commissionner gives the tune (former CEO of Bull and France Telecom… now selling the digital passport despite the fact his job should be related with ‘the internal market’)
https://www.latribune.fr/depeches/reuters/KBN2BE0JP/coronavirus-l-europe-n-a-pas-besoin-du-vaccin-russe-spoutnik-v-dit-breton.html
“Spoutnik V, les Russes ont un mal fou à le fabriquer. Il faudra sans doute les aider, on verra ça au second semestre. S’il faut leur fournir une ou deux usines pour le fabriquer, pourquoi pas, mais pour l’instant priorité aux Européens”, a-t-il ajouté.
“Aujourd’hui, nous avons clairement entre nos mains la capacité de livrer 300 à 350 millions de doses d’ici la fin du mois de juin et donc d’ici le 14 juillet (…) nous avons la possibilité d’atteindre une immunité au niveau du continent.”
Posted by: Mina | Mar 31 2021 11:35 utc | 140
This is going to make a hit!!
https://www.rt.com/russia/519683-animals-coronavirus-vaccine-registered/
Posted by: Mina | Mar 31 2021 12:08 utc | 141
Mao Cheng Ji @136
It is sadly true that Chomsky isn’t the brave anti-establishment voice that he used to be. If I were to guess it may be due to waking one morning to find his dog’s head less its body in the bed next to him or something like that. Chomsky would understand that nonverbal communication being attempted by the elite’s enforcers, I am sure.
Posted by: William Gruff | Mar 31 2021 13:03 utc | 142
Josh Rogin crushes WHO’s lame attempt to whitewash China’s role in unleashing SARS-CoV-2 from their Wuhan lab
I am hoping that this story is able to get MoA back into the swing of things. Rogin’s story is trash. It’s pity that a hack like him gets a good paycheck while MoA has to depend on donations. MoA is much more professional.
After Rogin links to previous Washington post stories and occasionally to the WSJ when he makes assertions about the U.S. State Dept, WHO Organization, methodology of report, etc. MoA links more closely to the original source material.
Is there any reason not to go to the WHO website directly to get as much info on their methodology and composition of the investigators as well as find out their statements?
Yes, because that is what hacks like Rogin do. It’s easier to quote like minded hacks to reinforce what you want to believe rather than check things out for yourself. The few times I go to the WHO website, I always find that the prevailing view is wrong. But I don’t get paid either, I just annoy the small number of friends that I have.
Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Mar 31 2021 13:22 utc | 143
For those who looked at the once boring and mundane Australian body politic.
Now the body politic it is consumed by multiple sex scandals galore at every level of government and on both sides of the parliament.
The British parliamentary sex scandal syndrome of days gone by is industrial scale now in Australia.
Has anyone noticed ‘a former defence minister’ having ‘liaisons’ with rent boys at parliament house?
Australians and barflies should note you have heard this whisper here first. No names.
The plot thickens.
Hubris is always fatal.
Posted by: Paul | Mar 31 2021 13:52 utc | 145
Are we finally looking at the last days of the EU and the Euro?
UK media & globalists panic as Le Pen is set to defeat Macron in France
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 14:09 utc | 146
@by: Christian J. Chuba | Mar 31 2021 13:22 utc | 143
It’s not only easier, it’s in order to drive peoples to well controled narrative.
I tried to find Minusma report on Mali’s civilians bombing by french army. I googled : no Minusma, just MSM toiletspapers. I tried Qwant, it’s the same.
Somebody knows smthg better? 20 years ago was COPERNIC accurate for internet research..
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 31 2021 14:13 utc | 147
Two more trains of tanks, trucks, materiel seen moving to Crimea.
Couple guesses, here, I know this is speculative. The Uke army has now been fully mobilized, in battle order, at the LOCs in Donbass and Crimea for too long. It is not possible to just camp like that for extended periods. Past time to make a decision, advance or withdraw. Uke army does not function w/o thousands of mercenaries. Those mercenaries have to be jumpy. If/when mercenaries decamp Uke army folds, probably the Ukraine collapses.
Russian deployments could be entirely for show, just to kill morale on other side. But they do not need all the tanks. If any offensive happened Russian rocket artillery could take out every piece of heavy equipment Ukes have in minutes. They could do that entirely with rocket artillery on Russian side of border. There was already plenty in Crimea. Tanks would be for moving towards Zaporozhye and Odessa.
Even if Ukraine attempted something sensible like an orderly withdrawal that would cause political chaos. And when did the Ukes ever do anything sensible?
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 31 2021 14:15 utc | 148
@William Gruff 142,
Nah. I figure, it’s just that as you get older, more well to do, more comfortable, you become more appreciative of the status quo.
Posted by: Mao Cheng Ji | Mar 31 2021 14:24 utc | 150
Re:142 William Gruff,
Yes Chomsky is no longer the great anti-establishment figure he was back in the 70s and 80s but to be fair to Chomsky he is 92, so I’m not surprised that he’s slowing down. I noticed back in 2010 he was just retreading the same points again and again in his writings and I think his last two books were just his old essays updated with new intros. Also most of his recent commentaries have been linking current events as continuations of policies started in the 70s, to some extent this is true but I’m sure some new trends have emerged over the past 40 yrs but Chomsky is too old to start new lines of research.
Posted by: Kadath | Mar 31 2021 14:33 utc | 151
Guys, remember that USD 3 trn infrastructure package (that was supposed to be USD 6 trn as per campaign promise) Biden was planning to give?
Yeah, it’s been further lowered to USD 2 trn:
Biden promises ‘historic’ $2tn spending in infrastructure – but Capitol Hill fight awaits
I remember well a Chinese diplomat/high official (don’t remember the name) publicly telling – more than 10 years ago – that, albeit the USA is mighty, its resources were limited, and that’s why it would fail in its “New American Century” project. It was my first Chinese article, the one that started my curiosity and interest in this all-important subject.
P.S.: when are the Americans going to rebuild Puerto Rico? It’s been more than five years now…
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/31/pers-m31.html
An excellent summary of the WHO report, and a thorough dissection of the US response to it. Damon is a good writer.
Posted by: Prof | Mar 31 2021 14:48 utc | 153
Digital Spartacus: like anything else Covid was quickly turned into a shouting match dominated by untrustworthy people of all kinds on all sides including a lot of people who do not and are unable to understand core biological concepts and the limits of knowledge.
I do my best not to get involved or waste too much time. I try to be a “China of one” 😀 (of course that can have limited effectiveness as an individual, in the end it will be luck but I’m trying to be as lucky as possible) and certainly won’t be taking any super-suspicious western chemical injections (currently all of them).
I have previous experience with “experimental vaccines” (and what a bunch of incompetents they all are) and I don’t want a second go.
But what’s right for me isn’t right for everyone or perhaps most people.
I can say one thing though: if something goes wrong you’re always on your own and good luck proving anything at all.
One can already see this when it comes to the rather obvious cases of fatal blood-clotting, now imagine anything less obvious but life-debilitating in five years time, or ten, or twenty, and realize how …messed up and chance-less… you would be.
Anyway that’s the view from my position. Been there, done that, didn’t even get a t-shirt 😛
“Evolutionary pressure” is real but I find it impossible to say/predict whether any pressure caused by western concoctions will be worse or better than the pressure caused by western incompetence allowing huge numbers of people to become infected (each cell in each infected person becomes the natural equivalent of bioreactors and RNA synthesizers = billions of chances of hitting just the right mutations for more virulent viruses —as has happened many times by now).
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 31 2021 15:01 utc | 154
Oops, that should be: …each infected cell in each infected person… since not every single cell in an infected person’s body will be infected.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 31 2021 15:09 utc | 156
About Sputnik vaccine in EU
Do you think Thierry Breton is a killer? “Mm-hmm, I do.”
Kostkiller for 40 years, he don’t give a shit for collateral victims. Just a plunder tunnelling remains from french industry to US for à while.
http://techrights.org/2019/11/17/the-cost-killer/
Posted by: Bernard F. | Mar 31 2021 15:21 utc | 157
Chinese Foreign Ministry calls on WHO to address possible coronavirus leaks from US labs
“”As for the possibility that the virus leaked after a lab incident, members of the expert group said that they would inspect laboratories all over the world if the need arises. As you know, the Wuhan labs have already been inspected. But when Fort Detrick will open its doors to experts?” she said. “I would like to know why there aren’t any reports about the Fort Detrick lab in foreign media. News about it came in June 2019 but nothing has been heard of it since then… Why are you silent?” the Chinese diplomat added.”
Posted by: arby | Mar 31 2021 15:33 utc | 158
Follow up to #148 above
SouthFront is reporting 28 battalions of Russian troops deployed to Crimea and Krasnodar. 25 more battalions on the way. This is not defensive, Crimea was already quite well defended. The game is afoot.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 31 2021 15:37 utc | 159
I’ve commented before that the Ukrainian situation is likely about to go much hotter. I’ve seen speculation that maybe Kiev is just bluffing, because it was so obvious they were shipping large amounts of armor to the contact line, but I don’t buy that. What the hell would be the purpose of a “bluff?” Is the Donbass, or Russia, suddenly going to surrender because those big, bad Nazis are moving their armor to the front? Don’t see it. I still believe the O’Biden neocon group of Russophobes that brought us the Maiden coup are back in power and feeling it, and needing distractions from their abysmal home front, and so have given Kiev its marching orders; and the only thing delaying open conflict has been German (and French, to some extent) reticence about being fully on board, plus unusually late winter weather.
Regardless, Russia is clearly not taking it as a bluff, which given their undoubtedly strong intelligence in this area speaks loudly. Apparently their Southern District military exercises near the border have ended without the units returning to base, and as this article from SouthFront shows the Russians have started a massive redeployment to Crimea. People forget the US Interstate Highway system was an Eisenhower program originally instituted for military defense purposes–now look at the Crimean rail bridge, and tell me Russia didn’t fully realize how nice it would be to be able to quickly redeploy a large armored force essentially in the rear flank of any UkroNazi force attacking the Donbass. Looks like those who thought Russia’s intervention, should it start, would be a minimal one are wrong. If it starts in earnest, I think Russia has already decided to go all in.
https://southfront.org/no-more-obstacles-for-war-in-ukraine-russia-deploys-troops-in-crimea/
Twitter feed showing several videos of Russian military deployments in Crimea and Southern Russia
Posted by: J Swift | Mar 31 2021 15:41 utc | 160
Looks like I didn’t miss much here at MoA: the same handful spouting non-credible nonsense.
Like “the economic boom is coming” – bollocks.
All that is keeping the US and Europe economies afloat are the wealthy who have gotten even wealthier from COVID policies. And they’re about to pull in their horns:
ex-Tiger Management Asia family office behind trade frenzy
Archegos Capital Management was forced by its banks to sell more than $20 billion worth of shares after some positions moved against him, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. The companies involved ranged from Chinese technology giants to U.S. media conglomerates.
…
Hwang was an institutional stock salesman at Hyundai Securities Co. in the early 1990s, where he dealt with Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management. Robertson hired him in 1995 after Hwang won an annual prize awarded to the person outside of Tiger who had contributed most to the fund’s success.
After Robertson closed Tiger, Hwang set up Tiger Asia Management, in part with money seeded by his mentor Robertson.
In December 2012, Hwang admitted to illegally using inside information to trade Chinese bank stocks and agreed to criminal and civil settlements of more than $60 million.
Probably Hwang’s entire fortune wiped out. From a different article on Yahoo:
By Thursday’s close, the value of the portfolio fell 27% — more than enough to wipe out the equity of an investor who market participants estimate was six to eight times levered.
Next up: Crypto-art nonsense
Cryptoart/NFTs compared to the Japan art bubble
On paper, Japanese real estate was worth quadruple all US real estate combined, and Tokyo’s Imperial Palace carried a higher valuation by itself than every square kilometer of property in Canada. Spurred by the disorienting rise in national wealth, membership to Japanese golf clubs became so pricey that the Nikkei invented a special index to track their value… which eventually summited at $200 billion.
No surprise, then, that Japan ruled the art market in this period. In February 1990, the Los Angeles Times reported that “Japanese dealers and collectors are snapping up about 40 to 50 percent of total sales at London-based Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses, in some cases, dealers say, with little regard for quality and price.”
Also relayed in the same piece: the Japanese foreign ministry confirmed that, between January and September 1989, the country imported $1.55 billion worth of just paintings, or about $3.25 billion in today’s dollars. For reference, that’s equivalent to about one-third of all fine-art sales made at auction in 2020, according to the latest Artnet Intelligence Report.
And the Beeple and associated nonsense? Buyer was a guy who is pushing a “crypto-art fractional ownership” venture. Or in other words, this guy was just talking (and paying) his book.
And the trifecta:
Kuppy on Ponzis Go Boom
I believe two primary forces were at play that finally broke the internet bubble; equity supply and taxes. Look at a deal calendar from the second half of 1999. The number of speculative IPOs went exponential. Most IPOs unlock and allow restricted shareholders to sell roughly 180 days from the IPO. Is it any surprise that things got wobbly in March of 2020 and then collapsed in the months after that? Line up the un-lock window with the IPOs. It was a crescendo of supply—even excluding stock option exercises and secondary offerings. The supply simply overwhelmed the number of crazed retail investors buying worthless internet schemes.
Back in 2000, I used to joke that in a scenario where a company wanted to raise equity capital, but insiders wanted to sell, they’d both dump shares on the market—but the insiders would get out first. What do you think that did to share prices as both parties fought for the few available bids?
However, the proximate cause of the internet bubble’s collapse was when people got their tax bills in March and had to sell stocks to pay their taxes in April. What’s the scariest thing in finance? It’s when you owe a fixed tax bill from the prior year, yet your portfolio starts declining. You start selling fast to stop the mismatch. Trust me, I’ve been there. Tax time is pushed back a bit this year, but it is coming.
I bring this all up, because the SPAC market is in the process of detonating and it will take the Ponzi Sector with it.
Let’s look back at the internet bubble. A VC firm would IPO 4 million shares at $20, the stock would open at $50 and end the day at $100. Everyone chased it to get in. Then the brokers would upgrade it and the CEO would go on TV. With a 4 million share float, it was easy to manipulate the shares higher. Often, the newly IPO’d company would level out well north of $100 a few weeks later. It was a virtuous cycle and everyone played the game.
What was left unsaid was that there were another 46 million shares held by management and VCs and these shares would hit the market 180 days later. At first, the market absorbed the new supply so no one showed concern—then the market choked. I wrote about this when talking about the QS unlock. This process is about to repeat, but now with the odd nuances of SPACs.
A typical SPAC deal involves a few hundred million dollars raised for the SPAC trust—this is the only real float. Then a few hundred million more is raised for the PIPE—these guys are buying at $10 because they plan to flip for a gain as soon as the registration statement becomes effective—which is often a few weeks after the deal closes. When a company merges with a SPAC, billions in newly printed shares are given to the former owners—those shares start to unlock a few months later in various tranches. Finally, the promoters behind the SPAC get to sell.
When you look at a pre-merger deal trading at a big premium to the $10 trust value, you’re looking at an iceberg. There might be ten or twenty restricted shares for every free trading share—all of these guys desperately want out. It’s a game theory exercise—how do you find enough bag-holders without destroying the price? Hence, part of why the current price is determined by an artificially restricted float and the unlocks come in tranches. As restricted shares come unlocked, the promoters lose control of the float and the house of cards collapses.
Part of the hilarity of SPACs is that the promoters claim to be aligned with shareholders because they exit last in terms of unlock tranches. What’s left unsaid is that their shares have almost a zero-cost basis—hence when they sell out at well under $10, it’s still all profit.
Meanwhile the acquired company insiders often have an even lower cost basis because they founded the company at a negligible cost, there were bidding wars by various SPACs which drove the valuations to nosebleed levels and the acquisition targets are often mostly fake anyway.
When there were only a few high-profile SPACs, this supply could be absorbed—very much like 1999 with internet IPOs. This made people unconcerned about the supply deluge.
Now we’re starting to enter the teeth of the unlock window from 2020 vintage SPACs. There are literally tens of billions a week in stock flooding the market—except there’s no natural shareholder base for these things. There are only so many retail punters who wake up and want to buy a fake “green” company with no revenue and no path to revenue—much less profits.
…
You may wonder how the SPAC bubble will infest the rest of the Ponzi Sector. It comes down to collateral and shareholder bases. On the collateral side, much of the Ponzi Sector bubble is built on leverage. That could be margin debt or YOLO call options, but it’s all leverage.
As asset values decline, brokers will force punters to de-lever. This will lead to waves of selling, leading to more forced selling. As for YOLO call options? They’re not exactly firm bedrock when it comes to a bubble. The SPACs and the Ponzi Sector are all tied together, because they all have the same shareholder base. As these owners take losses, they’ll be forced to sell “best in class” Ponzis like Tesla [TSLAQ].
…
I have my sights on a certain ETF for this cycle. Go through ARK Innovation ETF’s [ARKK] position list, go through all the quasi-affiliated firms that have copied this position list. All these firms have surprising concentrations in the same names.
When it comes tumbling down, you don’t want to own any of these positions—especially the ones where ARKK owns more than 10% of the shares. You won’t want to own positions that are owned by people who own ARKK type positions as they’ll be forced sellers too. You want to be as far away from the Ponzi Sector ecosystem as possible.
Posted by: c1ue | Mar 31 2021 15:42 utc | 161
Someone asked about the captain of MV Ever Given but it might (usually wouldn’t) not matter because in the Suez canal ships are boarded and commanded by pilots from the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority (aka SCA). There supposedly was two of those on board during the crash; the statement from the owner BSM that is used as reference for this claim in the source referenced on Wikipedia includes the following text (my emphasis):
[…]ran aground while transiting northbound under pilotage through the Suez Canal[…]
If there is an inquest we probably would get to know the names of the captain and pilots but it might not matter much anyway.
According to marinetraffic.com as of “2021-03-31 14:42 UTC” the ship is still stopped/held at 30.35775° / 32.38651° which seems to be the Suez-connected Great Bitter Lake or Small Bitter Lake (these are where the ‘Yellow Fleet’ was stranded from 1967 to 1975 according to Wikipedia).
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 31 2021 15:43 utc | 162
Patrick Armstrong on The Swamp and the never ending Trump/Russiagate BigLie. For those paying attention, the entire affair provides excellent evidence for the will-full misleading of the American public for reasons that don’t make any rational sense, and Armstrong connects many dots. Here’s how he displays the Whopper:
“The US security organs expect us to believe,
“giving no proof,
“that there was lots of malign activity
“which had no effect on the election whatsoever.
“Which is telling us they think we’re even stupider. Russia swung the election four years ago but forgot how to this time? Putin’s attempt to keep Trump in was blocked by security measures adopted when his tool was President? This time Putin wanted Biden in? Russia’s efforts on behalf of Trump were countered by China’s on behalf of Biden and Iran’s interference broke the tie? But then, information operations don’t have to make sense, they just have to create an impression: Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela do bad things to good people.” [Emphasis Original]
Sounds like a script for the Keystone Kops, but what’s written above is what was doled out to the Outlaw US Empire’s public. And given that correct title, we should probably expect no less than lies, lies, and yet more lies. It’s tempting to laugh at the amazing level of ineptness, but the urge gets tempered quickly when one recalls why this was done and who the target of this travesty was/is–to further manipulate and divide the US public so The Swamp could install its choice in 2020–its choice being Kamala Harris.
Clearly oldhippie and I were thinking the same thing. And he’s right, Crimea is already virtually impregnable, and the Ukie armor was not headed for the border with Crimea. No, this is clearly a Russian strike force, there in anticipation of offensive action.
Posted by: J Swift | Mar 31 2021 15:49 utc | 164
For those who want to know: the ARKK position list up to 1% holdings:
TSLA 10.92
SQ 6.35
TDOC 6.3
ROKU 5.41
Z 3.64
BIDU 3.44
ZM 3.32
SPOT 3.12
SHOP 3.09
CRSP 2.89
EXAS 2.73
TWLO 2.58
NVTA 2.54
U 2.46
DOCU 1.98
NTLA 1.93
PSTG 1.7
BEKE 1.64
NTDOY 1.59
IOVA 1.58
PRLB 1.57
TXG 1.57
SE 1.53
TWST 1.43
IRDM 1.39
ICE 1.32
PLTR 1.29
TWOU 1.23
PD 1.18
TWTR 1.18
TCEHY 1.17
EDIT 1.11
NVS 1.08
BEAM 1.07
SNPS 1.04
PCAR 1.01
VCYT 0.99
TREE.UW 0.98
FATE 0.97
I worked for one of the companies on this list – they’re not all Ponzi. But a lot of them are.
Posted by: c1ue | Mar 31 2021 15:59 utc | 165
And last but not least: Unicorn startup unprofitability
Jeffery Funk on America’s Broken Startup System
According to Jay Ritter, about 20% of startups at IPO time were profitable over last four years, much more than the 10% of Unicorn startups in 2019 and 2020.
…
Even worse, a remarkably large fraction of start-unicorns have high levels of unprofitability, as shown in the chart below.
In 2019, 21 of 73 had losses greater than 50% of revenues, and another 13 (including Uber, Lyft, Pinterest, and Snapchat) had losses greater than 30% of revenues (not counting liquidations).
In 2020, 19 of 70 had losses greater than 50% of revenues, and another 11 eleven had losses greater than 30% of revenues.
…
Consider the 59 Unicorn startups for which full 2020 income results are now available. Twenty-six had higher ratios of income to revenues, 29 had lower, and four about the same, despite most achieving more than a 30% increase in revenues and some more than 100% in 2020 than in 2019. This simple counting suggests that overall, we shouldn’t expect a vast change in profitability in the near future.
When not even a pandemic can save you – the business is doomed.
Posted by: c1ue | Mar 31 2021 16:06 utc | 166
Ref. Brazil and Argentina ; vaccines.
Excuse me if this has already been covered in the later comments here, i am only a part way through reading and wish to pass on information which is already in the public domain in reply to a post which i have just read.
A search of Brazil, Argentina and the Pfizer negotiations abuses will bring up many sources of the details of these negotiations. I offer just one here, and with a quote.
Here’s a list of Pfizer’s demands – Brazil waives the sovereignty of its assets abroad in favour of Pfizer, that the rules of the land – be not applied on Pfizer, that Brazil take into consideration a delay in delivery, that Pfizer is not penalised for a delayed delivery, and that in case of any side effects, Pfizer be exempted from all civil liability.
The government of Brazil calls these clauses abusive. The Pfizer deal with Brazil failed too.
Pfizer wanted sovereign assets, including military bases put up as collateral/ insurance should there be claims against the company.
https://www.wionews.com/world/how-pfizer-tried-to-bully-argentina-and-brazil-in-exchange-for-vaccines-366037
There are numerous sources available for the details of the failed negotiation, alas some South American nations have made deals in silence. And yet one comments poster wishes for us to believe different ?
Posted by: Fíréan | Mar 31 2021 16:11 utc | 167
karlof1 @ 163
The Taibbi article Armstrong links to is quite good as well.
Posted by: Digital Spartacus | Mar 31 2021 16:13 utc | 168
@J Swift | Mar 31 2021 15:49 utc | 164
No, this is clearly a Russian strike force, there in anticipation of offensive action.
That is what they want you to believe in Washington.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 16:15 utc | 169
J Swift @160–
The Southfront item you linked discussed what was an upcoming video conference between Putin, Macron, and Merkel, for which we now have these results published by the Kremlin. As for Ukraine, here’s what’s reported:
“During an in-depth exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine, the leaders confirmed the lack of alternatives to the 2015 Minsk Package of Measures as the basis for a settlement of the internal conflict in that country. The President of Russia emphasised that it is important that the Kiev authorities implement all the previous agreements reached at the top level, primarily on establishing a direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk and settling the legal aspects of a special status for Donbass. The Russian leader expressed serious concern about the escalation of armed confrontation on the contact line being provoked by Ukraine and its refusal to implement the additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire coordinated by the Trilateral Contact Group in July 2020. The leaders’ political advisers will continue their joint efforts.”
Still trying to get Kiev to do what it signed up to do almost 6 years ago. I also think another aim of the call was to further separate France and Germany from overall EU policy since those two nations aren’t Russophobic idiots, and the overall tone of the Kremlin’s report was positive. The key question: Do France and/or Germany have any leverage over the Uki government, which based on past performance I’d have to say very little.
youtube and google topic.. i have a google account, but never sign in, except when i have uploaded music videos of groups i play in, in the past… my friend encourages me to start using peertube…i think there are a few other video places that aren’t censored, but that is the main one i know is an alternative to youtube..
read what luke smith has to say about youtube deletion here – https://lukesmith.xyz/deletion
@ Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 7:38 utc | 127… thanks… things changed some time ago and canada is now a 100% full supporter of 5 eyes bullshit.. not sure when it is going to change either… will check that website out that you mention… cheers..
@ Digital Spartacus | Mar 31 2021 13:38 utc | 144…
check this thread from 10 days ago that solicited a lot of response on your question on –
Vanden Bossche
Posted by: james | Mar 31 2021 16:24 utc | 171
Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 31 2021 16:16 utc | 169
Kiev was not satisfied being discussed without being present, but not much can be expected from Europe which is what I just heard Lavrov stating during the Valday conference on the Middle East that took place this morning, there are no materials yet on the MID site but I think it will be reported shortly. With the irony that is his brand Lavrov answered a question concerning the need to limit the number of participants in international conferences to the directly concerned parties and leave aside the ones looking for a prestige participation, to that effect he said that the west can be considered as a unit especially now that Europe has taken refuge under the shadow of big brother USA, not with those exact words but clearly stating that Europe is back in the US bag fully. I think there is much noise about military deployments in Donbas and Crimea, but Putin was clear and brief about it, if Ukraine goes for a military solution it will cease to exist as a state, the rest is pure speculation.
Posted by: Paco | Mar 31 2021 16:30 utc | 172
Digital Spartacus @167–
Yeah, I thought about including a link to that in my comment along with the citation Armstrong provided which said quite a lot. Meanwhile, Biden allies with McConnell over taxes on the Donors. And the quibbling over what’s being called the Infrastructure Bill is hilarious when compared with China’s method of long term planning. I’ll make a prediction that what qualify as priorities won’t be prioritized, such as ensuring all communities (the 300+ along with Flint, MI) in the USA have safe water to drink, bathe and cook with. At least there’s no gloom with today’s weather here on the Oregon Coast.
james @ 170
Thanks for that james, and I did read through that thread and the responses. I was curious that it did elicit so much response.
Posted by: Digital Spartacus | Mar 31 2021 16:38 utc | 174
Thanks to b for keeping these open threads going, sort of like having the bar stay open but no one behind the counter means that some interesting brown bags are being brought in by and for the customers here. (Doing well as well, customers!)
I would like to thank psychohistorian also for bringing a fresh link last open thread to the Pepe/Michael discussion (it being western Holy Week I’m going to first names). I did go to the link but was constantly distracted by side flashings (I know, clear my cache!) so got back to the original Saker posting in the end – like MoA, thinking can be done without distractions.
I post again perhaps the startling opening comment that Michael made:
“…I think the world has changed so much [since Nixon took the US off the gold standard]in the last 50 years that what we have now is not really so much a conflict between America and China or America and Russia, but between a financialized economy, run by financial planners allocating resources and government spending and money creation and an economy run by governments democratic or less democratic, but certainly a mixed economy…”
That is, I think, your mantra, psychohistorian, and I think the clearest definition of something I myself have been pursuing, which was the idea of convergance, which Pepe has referenced in a recent post, and which sent me to the Flannery short story “Everything that rises must converge.”
I would say that Russia, being a Christian nation in the true sense (also many other faiths in their true senses, not to forget atheism as well) has followed that seemingly scientific dictum in their patient handling of the west’s obduracy. The latter best explained by the conclusions of the Pepe/Michael dialogue, which seem so bleak, as does the ending to Flannery’s story. Nations have made and are making choices; war seems inevitable. Bleak outlook.
And yet, the statement IS positive: “Everything that rises must converge.” Flannery used it for the title of her second set of short stories, among which is my favorite one, “Revelation”. One might say it is an Easter statement. Patience, people! Orthodox Easter is not until May Second! Meanwhile, the western one will help us with a preview!
Posted by: juliania | Mar 31 2021 16:39 utc | 175
karlof1 @ 172
I was certain you had read the Taibbi article as well. It will be quite interesting to see how eviscerated the final Infrastructure Bill will become before it is launched. I’m guessing it will be used to score political points when it is gutted and won’t be anywhere near what it purports to be at the moment. Also interesting that the time frame is 8 years.
Posted by: Digital Spartcaus | Mar 31 2021 16:44 utc | 176
More Ever Given: SCA investigation has begun (from an ‘Egypt Today’ article at noon today) and will be public, states that it is the ship operator rather than ship owner that will be accountable to any findings.
– – – – – – –
Different topic: Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) since I also noticed that ‘Egypt Today’ had a small article on GERD titled “Arab countries voice solidarity with Egypt over water rights”. Not sure what to make of it, looks political and deliberately non-constructive or combative/”passive aggressive” to me and not the constructive approach Egypt (and Sudan) should take. In other words it looks like Egypt isn’t gaining any traction and succumbs to “finding anyone who agrees with our own interpretation” (and then don’t really get that either).
I could be very wrong about that interpretation, hopefully I am.
Difficult to understand Egypt on this issue, it gives the impression they don’t want any agreement. Again: mea culpa if wrong.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 31 2021 16:50 utc | 177
@james | Mar 31 2021 16:24 utc | 170
There are alternatives to YouTube, the censoring helps speeding up the process. 2 of the alternatives include https://rumble.com/ and https://odysee.com/ . Odysee looks promising.
The YT censorship is crazy, even talking about ancient carvings can get you deleted multiple times without warning, as it happened to the indian Praveen Mohan. Other people, like Randall Carlson, are seeking “refuge” in specialised sites like HowTube
Big tech is shooting itself in the foot with these censorship practices. Twitter has been throttled down in Russia and it looks like they will be completely blocked soon.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 16:53 utc | 178
J Swift @ 164
Sorry I have not saved old links. Ukraine does have a small army positioned at Crimean border, happened at same time they lined up at Donbass border. It is comical, it is like they want to do Charge of the Light Brigade all over again. Pure suicide mission, they are there.
This is all being done out of Washington. We have no real forces of our own available. Behavior says no one at top has a clue how truly pathetic our proxies are in this case. What you call a strike force is going to be more like a pacification and occupation army. Ukraine is a failed state, it will collapse at a touch. It may collapse before it is touched, the Russian army will move in for humanitarian purposes.
This is a big story. Everyone without exception is fast asleep.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 31 2021 16:57 utc | 179
Sunny Runny Burger@ 176
Some more background on GERD.
GERD
Posted by: Digital Spartacus | Mar 31 2021 17:01 utc | 180
@ juliania | Mar 31 2021 16:39 utc | 174 with the shout out to me about financialization and mixed economies…thanks
In one of the Hudson articles he makes the statement that all nations since Roman times have been mixed economies in on form or another. That structure stays hidden in the West because global private finance controls the levers of the mixed economy under the myth of freedumb and dumbocracy.
If the mixed economies of the West were transparent, they would be performing the same sort of moving 5 year planning process that China is doing. The proposed Biden investment/taxation proposed boondoggle will do little for the public and continue the rape by the elite…..but freedumb and dumbocracy rule the MSM waves of propaganda…..barbarism at its finest moment.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 31 2021 17:04 utc | 181
oldhippie @ 178
The Minsk Package of Measures that Ukraine has dodged signing for six years does indeed indicate other hands in the pie. Plausible deniability and all.
Posted by: Digital Spartacus | Mar 31 2021 17:06 utc | 182
Valday Conference Middle East.
Lots of interesting points, all Middle East, and there are lots of points in that part of the world.
As a reference, here in Russian for the time being, it will be quoted and translated.
https://youtu.be/9crxX3R9SFo
Posted by: Paco | Mar 31 2021 17:15 utc | 183
John Helmer on Dawn Sturgess Inquest
https://twitter.com/bears_with/status/1377155857931116547
“UK govt plan for show trial exposed by decision to call Bellingcat but exclude Skripals. Govt lawyer refers to ‘death of Navalny’.
Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 31 2021 17:28 utc | 184
Digital Spartacus
Ukraine did sign Minsk. They have entirely failed to do one thing they were pledged to do. Current government would not be able to comply. Could not comply in whole, could not comply in part.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 31 2021 17:31 utc | 185
psychohistorian @ 180, thank you for your response also! Yes, that entire dialogue with Pepe was worth a careful reading, as also the prior one on rent extraction. It’s a huge subject getting explained to non-economists in a vibrant way – I’m sure they have their differences but the combination is just fun to read. And Michael’s points about the decisions currently being made by the US Administration as being orchestrated by the financial elite determined to break whatever is left of the mixed economy this country used to have… I don’t think it is going to work. Transparency is what they fear, hence the ‘sanctions’ on free speech, but even those work against them because secrecy is having to be jettisoned, so people will see.
And if what oldhippie posts above is true, we are getting close to the final revelation. Which makes sense since poor Ukraine is where it all started to unravel, (for me at least.) Poetic justice that Biden becomes the leader we pay attention to in the US. And talk about a massive mired ship! It’s like we are at Moscow seeing the hapless French Empire about to be turned by tiny fires all around the city. And the Russian general whose policies were so hugely dismissed by even his own compatriots, vindicated as the French armies begin the slow march home…
My mother used to say “It’s always darkest ‘fore the dawn.” As have done many mothers, past and present. (Though my experience is that it is always coldest at the dawn.)
I can remember unknown citizens running down streets with cameras to report to the world what was happening in the cities of Ukraine. Replays of sports fans marching with arrows to show the false flag operators in action. Ah, this is the same technology that was brought to us to spy upon us. How ironic that it can also teach!
Posted by: juliania | Mar 31 2021 17:33 utc | 186
@John Gilberts | Mar 31 2021 17:28 utc | 183
Govt lawyer refers to ‘death of Navalny’.
That could explain why Navalny decided to return to Russia. For the insane western governments he was more useful dead than alive.
Posted by: Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 17:39 utc | 187
oldhippie @ 184
It was my understanding that they signed the Minsk Protocol and the subsequent Minsk II agreement, but haven’t implemented the ceasefire or the hostage exchange. I thought though that the package of measures was something other than within the framework of the two agreements. Apologies if I have that incorrectly.
EU Briefing
Posted by: Digital Spartacus | Mar 31 2021 17:45 utc | 188
Oldhippie ad J. Swift.
(Speculation)
Could the objective of Kiev’s backers be to LOSE. ie. If Kiev goes all in, then Russia steps up, What happens? Zelensky screams to high heavens about “Russian aggression” and NATO is asked to come and to “save” Ukraine? NATO then gets permanent access to the Black sea.
Could the object be to get Ukraine within the NATO arc? The secondary “reason” is that Crimea is the center of the Russian Southern defense system. (Always has been). By acting, the Russians will be forced to use (and give away the positions of) its radar and other systems. Which is the reason that there are so many spy planes around the area.
Note that any attack using Turkish drones won’t make Erdogan any more loveable to the Russians. They have also invented a “through deck cruiser” which to the uninformed eye looks exactly like a small carrier with a flat deck rather than a “cruiser”. Useful for helicopters or vertical take-off planes.
The build-up into Crimea was three days ago, but these should confuse the Ukes.
There are thousands of these tanks. (4 photos)
https://twitter.com/5thSu/status/1377266210979467265/photo/1
Note that the Russians are not guaranteeing a “status quo” (Peace) after the 1st April, and Zelensky has been getting/organising the legal aspects of “declaring war” sorted out.
Posted by: Stonebird | Mar 31 2021 17:46 utc | 189
Paco @171–
I sense a very high probability that the Outlaw US Empire and a goodly number of its vassals with be omitted from the international cyber security conference Moscow has long wanted to convene since they’ve been the main impediment in getting one organized. I found this long Scott Ritter op/ed, “The pending collapse of the ‘rules-based international order’ is an existential threat to the United States,” to be important. I tried to find a free copy of the 1999 essay Ritter uses as his foil–“The nature and sources of liberal international order” by Daniel Duedney and G. John Ikenberry–but only abstracts and paywalls did I encounter. There’s much I could cite, but first I need to make one point clear–this “rules based order” doesn’t have its rules published anywhere for all to see and is NOT close to what’s internationally recognized as the genuine agreed upon, published and ratified International Rules Based Order: The UN Charter. Ritter writes:
“Here Biden runs into the fundamental problem of trying to justify and sustain a model of economic-based global hegemony which was founded at a time when the existence of a Western liberal democratic ‘order’ could be justified as a counter to the Soviet-led communist bloc. The Cold War ended in 1990. The ‘international rules-based order’ that was created at the behest of the US to prevail in this conflict continued, however. It seems that the US wasn’t simply satisfied with preventing the spread of communism; its raison d’être instead transitioned from being the leader of an alliance of liberal democracies, to being the global hegemon, using the very system devised to confront communism to instead install and sustain the US as the undisputed dominant power in the world.” [My Emphasis]
That aims of that system were finally published in 1996, Joint Vision 2010, five years after GHW Bush announced the emergence of a New World Order with his invasion of Iraq and were soon updated and republished in 2000 as Joint Vision 2020, the goal being Full Spectrum Dominance of the planet and its people–a fascist not liberal goal unless one lumps them together as one. Ritter does a good job of detailing the escalation of the Outlaw US Empire’s arrogance that was induced by the Cold War’s end and what had always been the goal of US policy since WW2’s end.
I’d post the entire essay, but will limit myself to just his conclusion:
“An American retreat from being the ‘indispensable’ power, and a corresponding embrace of a leadership role based upon a more collegial notion of shared authorities, would not mean the physical demise of the US – the nation would continue to exist as a sovereign entity. But it would mean an end to the psychological reality of America as we know it today – a quasi-imperial power whose relevance is founded on compelled global hegemony. This model is no longer viable. The fact that the Biden administration has chosen to define its administration through an ardent embrace of this failed system is proof positive that the survival of post-Cold War American is existentially connected to its ability to function as the world’s ‘indispensable nation’.
“American exceptionalism is a narcotic that fuels the country’s domestic politics more than global geo-political reality. The ‘rules-based international order’ that underpins this fantasy is unsustainable in the modern era and makes the collapse of the ‘exceptional’ United States inevitable.” [My Emphasis]
The “We’re #1” mantra is one form of the narcotic that blinds the USA to its actual condition while other lies and distortions are employed to distract the public from the insane level of ongoing corruption. I often remark on the growing gap between the false narrative and a reality that’s now exposed thanks to the pandemic. The basic question IMO is, How much longer can the USA operate based on the exceptional level of falsehoods and gross disparities?
Navalny declares hunger strike, he is not allowed to be checked by his own doctor. Of course private medicine is best, according to Navalny, I know Jimmy Dore plus many around here do not agree.
Posted by: Paco | Mar 31 2021 18:03 utc | 191
Paco,
That is probably because his own doctor can get him his drugs and the doctors at the jail won’t.
Posted by: arby | Mar 31 2021 18:26 utc | 192
Paco @190–
Navalny’s a spoilt brat and yearns for his drugs. The reality is he likely doesn’t need anything aside from nutritional supplements. I’d like to see Moscow link Assange to Navalny but don’t think that’s likely given the nature of Russian policy.
Discovered this Jeff Brown, Pepe Escobar hour long conversation but have yet to listen to it yet.
Situation in South America, revisited.
Held to ransom’: Pfizer plays hardball in Covid-19 vaccine negotiations with Latin American countries
Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American governments during negotiations to acquire its Covid-19 vaccine, and the company has asked some countries to put up sovereign assets, such as embassy buildings and military bases, as a guarantee against the cost of any future legal cases, according to an investigation by the U.K.-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Posted by: Fíréan | Mar 31 2021 18:38 utc | 194
Digital Spartacus: I’ve commented on the topic earlier in MoA threads on the subject and other open threads that are getting old now. That article seems to push some weird narrative ignoring the years of AU, EU, and US, involvement in negotiations between the three main parties (and never enough to satisfy Egypt primarily although I can only judge by the outcome), or the record rainfall/flooding last year across many different parts of mid-northern Africa including Sudan and to some extent at least Ethiopia, and the very vague Egyptian public statements that never seem to include much more than a general complaint about the dam while ignoring their own dam and reservoir and the capabilities this gives them and which they were intended for from the start (taming the Nile or at least the Egyptian part of the Nile).
Nah it’s not Ethiopia that’s playing (stupid) games here and whatever problem Egypt really has seems not to be about water: the issue is nowhere as difficult as they make it.
Some of the Egyptian outbursts kind of show their hand or at least the hand of someone either very intransigent or incredibly stupid or with ulterior motives; like the idea of physically destroying the dam by bombing it.
Whether such “ideas” reflects the position of the government of Egypt is unknown to me. I wouldn’t want to think it does but something is missing from the picture, that much is clear. At the same time I would have thought both Egypt and Sudan would have welcomed the large increase in available electricity the region will get, maybe the only problem is that it is Ethiopian or non-muslim? Are they only setting the stage for faked outrage and dishonest war? That would be truly idiotic and evil.
Or could it be US pressure using Egypt as a proxy to avoid or weaken a fairly independent and relatively strong African nation? Only too possible but I don’t know. The differences between Egypt and Sudan (which is further away from the US political orbit) might hint at this.
All speculation on my part but this has dragged on for so long now that the dam will be complete and full before anything is settled if things continue at the same pace, maybe such a de facto is what any belligerent forces is counting on to use as a pretext to introduce themselves.
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Mar 31 2021 18:49 utc | 195
@ Norwegian | Mar 31 2021 16:53 utc | 177.. i agree with you… there is also peertube as an alternative.. i asked my tech friend about this and here is his comment –
“i think platform hopping is becoming the new normal, but i still think platform independence is the only real future. and again i’m thinking it’s contingent on simpler/cheaper hosting solutions.”
here is the rest of his commentary on my questions…
cheaper hosting solutions means what??
$50/month linode instance gives me 160Gb of storage. a video platform will use that up quickly at any sort of scale
block storage, beyond that it’s $1/10Gb for “block storage”
but in the future if the price of these things drops (as it continues to) it’ll reach a tipping point where it becomes economical to self-host in terms of costs/benefits and someone will craft an easy to use platform front end to self-host your content, so you don’t need to rely on a platform
peer-tube is a piece of the puzzle
i think it depends how censorious the major platforms become
the more censorious then the faster it’ll happen. but i think in 5 or 10 years you’ll see more people with their own hosting solutions to avoid platform censorship
meaning people who get demonetized for having opinions contrary to the promoted narrative
which last year was largely about silencing dissenting opinions on covid, or the election”
it is in line with your comments on censorship speeding the process…
Posted by: james | Mar 31 2021 19:05 utc | 196
attached to last comments from my friend on the above @ 195 topic..
“the temptation is too great for these corps to bend over to avoid trouble with political powers. or they wind up getting dragged in front of congress over bullshit nobody else cares about”
Posted by: james | Mar 31 2021 19:07 utc | 197
Stonebird @ 188
Zelensky will not scream. He will be in Tel Aviv or dead. Since no one here is paying attention, last week Zelensky’s Presidential offices were besieged by 3000 Pravy Sektor hoodlums. As theatrical as Jan 6 at Capitol but much more damage and crowd much closer to out of control. I’ve no idea what Kolomoisky or other oligarchs are up to, suspect they are become irrelevant. Arsen Avakov, only constant member of post Maidan governments, Interior Minister, commander of all militias, would be my pick for next US puppet. For about five minutes if he does not run. Hypernationalist neo-nazi for show, he is a Soviet Armenian Jew. Avakian before he relocated to Ukraine. US choices for local scum lord are invariably bad.
Russia moved an S-500 Prometheus system to Crimea. Too big to hide and no need. Airspace over Crimea and Donbass is effectively closed. Any 70s era cruise missiles the US frigates in Black Sea want to launch will be swatted like flies. The vaunted Turkish drones are bigger than model airplanes, about size of a 1938 J-3 Piper Cub. Only slightly faster. There is no need for inflatable tank decoys.
Russia does not need or want Ukraine. They might secure entire Black Sea coast, they will secure Donetsk and Lugansk, they might take Kharkov which is even closer to border than Lugansk. Otherwise it is just dead weight. It will be closed to NATO. Blinken and Nod can postulate any sanction they want, victors will write the tale. No one will care what the loser squawks about. Ukraine will continue to hemorrhage emigrants and continue to fade away.
Let us pray no fool reaches for the nukes.
Posted by: oldhippie | Mar 31 2021 20:38 utc | 198
Both Lavrov and Putin have commented on their admiration of Yevgeny Primakov. One of the late Russian Prime Minister’s publications is Russian Crossroads: Toward the New Millennium whose first chapter is completely devoted to his analysis of the newly coined Russian President Vladimir Putin. That interesting beginning can be freely read here, while at The Archive, you’ll need to sign in and join the wait list to check out the entire book. The overview of Putin is informative and paints a rather different picture of the then newbie although the fundamentals noted still remain.
What the fuck is that?
German official calls for construction ‘moratorium’ on Nord Stream 2 to repair US relations
Germany’s Transatlantic Coordinator Peter Beyer on Wednesday called for a construction moratorium on the Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany undersea natural gas pipeline, in what could signal a change in German policy.
“The project is a serious stumbling block for the restart of transatlantic relations,” Beyer told a German weekly. “The Americans expect us not only to change our rhetoric, but also to let actions speak for themselves. I, therefore, advocate a construction moratorium for Nord Stream 2.”
Since when Germany has a “Transatlantic Coordinator”? Is that a real public office? For serious? I almost burst out laughing when I read that.