Open Thread 2021-046
News & views ...
Posted by b on June 17, 2021 at 12:13 UTC | Permalink
next page »Any good recap of what *really* happened at Geneva? I have been following Andrei Martyanov's blog, patrick Armstrong and Gilbert Doctorow and their ideas, so coming from there I didnt have much expectations coming from this meeting; but any indicators ? At face value it seemed like tensions "should" go down against Russia - but simultaneously NATO and G7 ratch things up against China.
Posted by: Eol | Jun 17 2021 12:33 utc | 2
The Grayzone has a long, very good interview with Mexican Juan Luis Granados Ceja mostly focused on Mexico but covers the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Ceja is a treasure, grew up in the U.S. and now a leftist journalist in Mexico gives lots of info and insight into president Lopez Obrador--AMLO-- describes him as center left but definitely not a sellout, Ceja likes him and his approach.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp1no7Idbx4&t=3009s
If you want to get more of a handle on what's going on in Mexico and where they-- and Latin America- are going (hint, pink tide is back and growing with some support from China but mostly home grown) this is worth your time. Grayzone is becoming an international heavy hitter. They are going to foreign countries and exposing the blueprints and networks behind U.S. imperial regime change operations and getting strong support from emerging left and center left in those countries and then spreading the bombshell reports here in the "homeland", ruffling lots of feathers. Aaron Mate just returned from Syria where he met with Mohammad Marandi and spent time on the ground there. Mate is steaming mad. This report/discussion is over 2 hours long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9iqWnpBFZk&t=4757s
Grayzone's Ben Norton is in Nicaragua working with natives on a detailed expose of the U.S. regime change operation there. Bottom line: the wheels are falling off, imperial whores are being exposed, Latin America is rising.
Posted by: migueljose | Jun 17 2021 13:01 utc | 3
Concerning Geneva, what I see is that there was a decision to put some breaks on the increase of tensions and deterioration of diplomatic relations, and more importantly, negotiate limits on nuclear arms.
This is a very minimal program, but unless the aim is to "duke it out", an important program.
Concerning pushing or not pushing Russia together, one should observe that Russia shares borders and interests. For example, Russia is increasing the capacity for delivering natural gas to China and to extract more natural gas in the regions that are closer to China then to Central Europe. If powers to be in Europe decide to switch from Russian natural gas delivered by pipelines to liquified natural gas -- from USA, Qatar and, yes, Russia, this is something that Russia can adapt to with a rather modest economic cost when you look at the full picture of hydrocarbon export. The cost to EU countries is also in the range that they can adapt to, but WHY SHOULD THEY PAY THAT COST? For that matter, it probably dawned on some Europeans, especially German speakers, that American are very nice when they want Europeans to bear the costs of Imperial postures, but they are very stingy themselves, with the exception of spending on their own military.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 17 2021 13:15 utc | 4
Posted by: Eol | Jun 17 2021 12:33 utc | 1
I see a duversity of opinions, mainly of the Joe did great or Joe was a disaster sort, and nothing really convincing as not being gossip. The attitude I get from the Russian gov't outlets I would call satisfaction, and if anything supportive of Biden.
Post-Summit, Putin Says Image of Biden Drawn by Media Has Nothing to Do With Reality
Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 17 2021 13:15 utc | 5
José Carlos Llerena and Vijay Prashad detail the ongoing coup attempt in Peru, naming names and giving important history. One key factoid that got my attention: new U.S. ambassador to Peru is Lisa Kenna; she was an advisor to... Mike Pompeo. What? Wait!
"The United States appointed a new ambassador to Peru. Her name is Lisa Kenna, a former advisor to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a nine-year veteran at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and a US Secretary of State official in Iraq. Just before the election, Ambassador Kenna released a video, in which she spoke of the close ties between the US and Peru and of the need for a peaceful transition from one president to another. The “presidential transition sets an example for the whole region,” she said, as if anticipating a serious challenge."
Bottom line, the people will fight. I'm not sure the Peruvian upper class is as tough as the Bolivian Nazis. Biden's support might not be enough. Castillo and his people won't back down.
https://orinocotribune.com/the-coup-that-is-taking-place-in-peru/
Posted by: migueljose | Jun 17 2021 13:35 utc | 6
The topic of pushing China and Russia together or cleaving them apart is in part delusional. These are big boys who know how to ignore cheers or hollers, instead doing what they want. At the end of the day, the same "big boy" attitude prevents very close cooperation, although some projects are being developed. The drift away from payments in dollars and euros that can be inspected and obstructed by Americans (who were given the keys to SWIFT from some retarded idiots in a declining subcontinent) will continue in any case. USA was in the position of the best bank that ever was, but the customer service proved to be very crappy, forcing the search for alternatives.
A more interesting topic is pushing Belarus into the bosom of Mother Russia. Belarus is peculiar in the region on two points. The natives are least nationalistic in east-central Europe, and they have some pride in being pragmatic, очень хитрые. The second point is that Soviet traditions are well preserved, both in terms of economy (large public sector aiming to provide good jobs) and security. The state sector on its own is not that profitable and needs some support, so Belarus had a strategy of wiggling some subsidies from Russia while also getting some other opportunities to make a buck or save money, "multi-vector" approach.
That "multi-vector" approach was vexing to Russia and now is being shut down by EU, although, still, with some holes. But with some "successes" that must please Putin. I know one example: Russia was pressing Belarus to stop using ports in Lithuania and Latvia, even though simple geography makes it a better route for Belarus than the Ust Luga next to St. Petersburg. And that demand was now fulfilled by Balts themselves. Investments in Ust Luga are not in a danger of becoming white elephants, Klaipeda, Riga and the railroad companies of Lithuania and Latvia will need to take care of disposing a large amount of rusting metals.
Now with Protasevich affair in full swing, it becomes interesting how far EU will go. Belarus provided solid proofs that the affair is ridiculous, that knowledge can be silenced in Western information space that seems to be controlled with increasing rigidity and efficiency, but domestically and in Russia you have a different information space. Thus inconveniences, if any, of Belarus-Russia integration, will be well tolerated at home. If this is not an "own goal", what is?
Western information space suffers from a typical imperial dilemma: what do you do when you can do everything? Why not having "free press" operating in all spectra, printed, televised, on-line that is the envy of the world for its quality and variety, and yet, tightly controlled to foster imperial aims? Excellent, make plans, hire people, do it! But will "the world" envy it, or ridicule? There is a lot of ridicule in Russian-language info space, and I suspect, the same happens in China. If the aim is to restore Cold War type of division of the globe into zones, that is fine, if you want global domination, that stabilizes Russia/China/Iran/in-between while eroding the American brand in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 17 2021 13:56 utc | 7
One more for the "five stages of grief" series:
Ruling party chief proposes small modular reactors as energy aid to North Korea
"Under the precondition of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, SMRs could be a useful way to supply energy to North Korea that has many mountainous regions and a shortage of power transmission and distribution networks," Rep. Song Young-gil, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), said in his speech to a parliamentary plenary session.
Let me guess: those SMRs will all be produced and supplied by a South Korean chaebol.
Translating the politician's words: "we didn't win the war against North Korea and North Korea won't fall. Let's just act as if it did".
Pathetic and desperate wishful thinking: the only reason he's bargaining is North Korea's nuclear weapons.
--//--
This "Joe Manchin is cockblocking all of us" thesis is one of the most stupid, most asinine narratives the American Left has ever come up with.
1) Joe Biden is, himself, a "moderate Democrat";
2) a single person never stopped the great designs of the USA. We're talking about the nation that murdered JFK by blowing up his head. Getting Joe fucking Manchin, from West fucking Virginia, out of the way would be cakewalk for the USG.
So no, Joe Manchin isn't the reason why filibuster still exists. This is all kabuki.
The American Left should stop deceiving its followers.
--//--
Desperation is already starting to kick in:
Here we go again: China’s wrong turn in population policy, by Michael Sutton, The Japan Times
The same governments lamenting the aging society always have enough to spend on the war economy and new military technology. Like America and Russia, Chinese leaders are happy to put people on Mars and build bigger bombs, but they ignore the plight of the vulnerable, older adults and the poor.While nations cannot agree on climate change, they can agree on profligate military spending. This is the truth behind nations plagued with the so-called aged society. Some of those billions earmarked for war, could be used to help the old and poor in China, America and even Japan. If military spending continues to be a blank check with governments salivating over the prospects for war and mass slaughter, what mother will feel safe with her children growing up in that kind of world? Good luck with the new birthrate policy Beijing. Make sure you remember the children.
So, he's implying the Three Children Policy will work, right? That's funny, because, some weeks ago, the Western MSM was all over China, rubbing on its face the policy would be ineffective.
Here's the Chinese government's official statement on the Three Children Policy:
--//--
Superpower by 2020!
The Ganges Is Returning the Dead. It Does Not Lie.
Covidiots will tell you the Ganges is lying up to its teeth.
--//--
Dana Milbank, from The Washington Post, has lost his composure:
The absurdity of Putin’s lies should be obvious. Thanks to Trump, they aren’t.
--//--
Related to the talk about medicine in the previous post:
Ageing process is unstoppable, finds unprecedented study
“Our findings confirm that, in historical populations, life expectancy was low because many people died young,” said Aburto. “But as medical, social, and environmental improvements continued, life expectancy increased.“More and more people get to live much longer now. However, the trajectory towards death in old age has not changed,” he added. “This study suggests evolutionary biology trumps everything and, so far, medical advances have been unable to beat these biological constraints.”
--//--
The "model nation" shows its true face once more:
Post-AZ injection deaths in Taiwan shed light on true face of DPP: experts
--//--
US should ask scientists to investigate itself if it truly cares about origins: epidemiologist
I agree. If the US scientists are so worried about the possibility the SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a laboratory, why don't they also ask their government to investigate their own labs?
Charlatans are a plague in modern science.
--//--
Looks like China isn't the only one desperate to solve the low birth rates issue:
WHO proposes to ban women from drinking alcohol
The World Health Organization has proposed a ban on drinking for women of childbearing age, according to the draft Global Action Plan against Alcohol for 2022-2030.
The West can do social engineering too. And much better than the CPC.
Covid report from India. The second wave has hit southern states and maharastra state very hard and now cases are coming down all over India- just like in January 2021. At that time Modi started vaccination drive and second wave happened. Now Modi is launching another jab drive for people from ages 18 to 45 from June 22 and we will have to wait and see third wave will happen or not. My take is that at least in southern states natural immunity has come to general population and so it will not be very severe. A lot of people who got the jabs are getting covid19 and are being hospitalized. Govt is not giving any data about breakthrough cases. Rao
Posted by: R M Rao | Jun 17 2021 14:39 utc | 9
Posted by: migueljose | Jun 17 2021 13:35 utc | 5
Thanks for the link! In "western information space" it is hard to find news and intelligent comments about countries that "nobody cares about", in part, because the events there do not fit well into the "western narrative" of freedom, prosperity and human rights gently fostered by benign institutions of the rule based world order.
Latin America and Caribbean are very uninteresting as the region, while the Empire scores one success after another, these stories are patchy, successes are reverted from time to time. What is being even more boring, reigns of presidents loyal to the rule based world order lack the shine of prosperity and human rights. As I followed the link given by Miguel Jose, I found more examples of an interesting phenomenon: disposable political parties, single use vehicles to get to power and execute according to rule based benign advise. Volodymyr Zelykovsky's "Servants of the People" navigates in this direction, like his predecessor Poroshenko, in Americas Lenin Moreno in Ecuador was replaced by Lasso, most probably another single use, and Peruvian Nationalist Party is an example that I learned today.
As the populations in Ukraine, Peru etc. are often reluctant to accept the "benign advise", the trick is to launch a party that promises everything to everybody, win, rule with the benign advise and a good dose of the traditional corruption and become universally hated. In Peru, a former "leftists" Olanto Humala, creepy looking but with a very photogenic wife (if Wikipedia pic is still valid), won presidency in 2011 and now the wifey keeps running the party, winning 1.6% of the vote this year.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 17 2021 14:41 utc | 10
On a previous thread, two readers linked to a transcript in Russian of VVP's interview on NBC. A full English transcript is now available on katehon.com. Apologies if this is old news.
Posted by: spudski | Jun 17 2021 15:37 utc | 11
Can't teach a pig how to fly:
The West should stop with this charade and open up its markets to the Sputnik V, which is the real deal.
Competition is over, we already have a clear winner. Now is time to mass product and distribute it.
i liked this - "To be eligible for prisoner swap with US, Washington would have to confirm Navalny works for American intelligence, says Kremlin"..
Posted by: james | Jun 17 2021 16:05 utc | 13
"The Ganges Is Returning the Dead. It Does Not Lie.
Covidiots will tell you the Ganges is lying up to its teeth."
The Jew York Times can say anything they want when only the entritled can get to read it!
Posted by: Mann Friedman | Jun 17 2021 16:06 utc | 14
@vk | Jun 17 2021 15:37 utc | 11
You're working off the assumption that vaccinating the population is the primary purpose. Isn't it interesting how all Western made vaccines (including CureVac) are DNA (using viruses) or mRNA based?
The entire rollout for the vaccines are suspicious. Remember that the rollout is by age with the most vulnerable (read expendable) population first, followed by age groups. Most regions in the beginning only had one choice in vaccines at a time due to "supply issues" with long pauses between when vaccines are made available again. Not a very efficient way to vaccinate, but a methodical testing regime for DNA and RNA vaccine technology.
It also explains why Astrazeneca was passed around Europe like a poisoned chalice. Countries banning the vaccine at the slightest hint of side effects while loudly proclaiming to others that the "benefits outweigh the risks" to encourage other countries to use it.
DNA and RNA vaccines are not more effective, easier, faster, or cheaper to produce and store, but it does not require a working virus, and this aspect is what makes it invaluable to biological warfare. Current proven vaccine technologies require a working virus: by weakening, killing it or by ripping off and collecting the viral proteins.
The efficacy of the vaccine is not the primary concern, it is to test DNA and RNA technology on human subjects. With this technology, vaccines for the next virus can be produced, stockpiled or even administered to the population before the bioweapon leaves the lab, thus limiting the blowback for the next attack.
Posted by: Sid Victor Cattoni | Jun 17 2021 16:18 utc | 15
Suzerainties vs Sovereignties
Sovereign nations (China, Russia, Iran, Syria, Belarus,... Germany?, EU? Japan?) need to clearly define their core common interests and communicate them with clarity and coherently. If not, they will be at a significant disadvantage to the Financial Empire and its suzerainties. The Empire likes to capture through divide and rule. Sovereigns are in an information war with the Empire to win the hearts and minds of the world.
Some of the ideas for sovereigns key themes are: MULTILATERALISM, respect for sovereignty, strategic stability, lead by examples, fair competition, peace, trade in respective national currencies,... These themes need to be repeated multiple times at events, articles, news media,...
Each INITIATIVE goes through multiple phases: Setup -> Summit -> Spectacle -> Spin -> Success/setback
It is essential to LEAD & win each of these phases by being proactive. In addition, to great strategy and vision, one needs to have a great PR & communication plan to lead and win the spectacle (press conferences), spin (sound bites) and success stories (de-dollarization progress, vaccine diplomacy, sovereignty, future projects...). The Empire is good at choreographing its events, ambiance, sound bites, spinning, deceptions, negative framing, promoting its key messages...
A good article from China’s Global Times on the summit, spectacle and spin.
“Now that Biden has finally met almost all the leaders of major world powers, except for Chinese President Xi Jinping, and now he can probably prepare for the last and the most significant one as Biden is learning what the positions of all his major counterparts are on China,”
How does one outperform & outsmart the Financial Empire?
Posted by: Max | Jun 17 2021 16:27 utc | 16
Yesterday I commented about the release of the plans Russia and China have devised for an International Lunar Research Base and am linking to that comment so those interested yet missed it will get to read and bookmark the material. Many probably don't know that China was excluded from participation in the ISS by the Outlaw US Empire, and that China sees its space program as the most important statement it can make that it cannot and will not be constrained in its development. Today's Global Times editorial is quite eloquent and powerful on that point and IMO is an excellent predictor of future happenings. China now has its own space station up and running, and will be adding to it:
"Space has always been among the strictest fields in the US' technical blockade against China. Out of all great powers, the US-led International Space Station keeps only China out the door. Washington has always arrogantly believed that China's technological advancement depends on "stealing," and isolating China can lock the country in backwardness.
"But it is right in the field of space that China is taking the firmest steps forward to catch up. Because the country used to be excluded from the International Space Station, China has built its own space station, which will become the only space station in orbit in a few years. The game between China and the US over space cooperation is changing completely.
"Such a change has just begun. China, with an open mind, is full of stamina. Rigid US policy to maintain its advantage using blockades will be pierced time and again. It will be hard to sustain. At the same time, the global technology exchange system, centered on the US, will be changed too. Instead, a new pattern with multi-technology centers, including China, will be shaped. In this pattern, technology communications among countries will be more fair and equal. The hegemonic system in which the US can impose sanctions and determine other countries' destiny will gradually collapse.
"Semiconductors are now the core lever in the current US technology blockade against China. China's subversion of the US blockade in the space sector is destined to repeat in the semiconductor field, and this will be a process in which US semiconductor companies lose their global influence. In the end, it is the US tech companies themselves that will be suffocated in Washington's blockade policy."
The Lunar Base project is open to all nations capable of participating according to the planning documents released yesterday. I won't be the only one curious to see how the Outlaw US Empire responds.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/korea-watch/shampoo-now-200-north-korea-bad-news-187870
I'm telling you, the picture the hyper cute NK lady ( Yeonmi Park) paints of North Korea looks accurate. They are in big trouble.
Posted by: Eighthman | Jun 17 2021 16:39 utc | 18
Sorry folks but like a dog that has its owner's trousers by its teeth, I cannot let this go -- what about the dissappearance of "Islamic" "terrorism" in the West at a time when it should have ramped up a good four or five magnitudes. The rise of Yellow Vests, Black Lives Matter, and anti-scamdemic lockup is the best fertile ground imaginable. Of course, The Powers That Should Not Be moved on from proxies to ultimate targets; That is obvious, but why does it seem that perhaps outside of the likes of journalists and readers of sites such as Moon of Alabama, Unz Review, The Saker, OpEdNews, yada, yada, yada, no one, at least stuck in the two lamescream bubbles of the likes of Fox Hasbara, Fox Plunderbund on the one hand, or Clinton News Network, MSDNC, and Jew York Crimes on the other, does no one notice??? This is the ultimate in Vidal's American Amnesia.
Posted by: William Haught | Jun 17 2021 16:39 utc | 19
Mr Max | Jun 17 2021 16:27 utc | 15
In Europe, the only sovereign country is the United Kingdom.
The United States created two sovereign countries in the Western Hemisphere - Cuba and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
In Southeast Asia, the United States created a single sovereign state: the Socialist Republic or Vietnam.
In Northeast Asia, the United States created another sovereign state: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
In the Middle East, and among Muslims in general, there is only a single sovereign state: the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Then there are India, Russia, and China.
(One could debate whether Malaysia or Myanmar are also sovereign...)
As you can see, there are not that many sovereign states in the world.
The so-called Liberal State, is in fact, a country that is being ruled, directly or through layers, by a single sovereignty - which resides in the Great White Father of Washington DC.
In effect, those that have joined the Liberal US Empire, have forfeited their sovereign rights on foreign and domestic policies to those of the United State. You can see it all over Europe but also among Muslim countries as well as in East Asia.
That is why they are no-bodies, history will not be written by them but on them.
So, you can be sovereign and therefore the enemy of the United States (and Finance Capital) or a Nowkar (man-servant) of US and the Financiers.
That is why it is critical for these remaining sovereignties to develop their economies so that their populations are not tempted to sell themselves into indentured servitude to this godless financial hegemon which, in the ripeness of time, will destroy the substance of Humanity for this order does not stand for anything but "bread" and lacks any "knowledge of Word of God" - in fact, it dismisses it as being stupid/non-sensical/mendacious/irrelevant.
Such an order, in fact, will not endure.
Posted by: fyi | Jun 17 2021 16:45 utc | 21
Mr. Eighthman | Jun 17 2021 16:39 utc | 17
Chinese leaders will not let North Korea sink.
Posted by: fyi | Jun 17 2021 16:49 utc | 22
karlof1 @19
Or Zionist terrorism has been "justified" by "Islamic terrorism," real or manufactured. Unless there is so much push-back (I see very little outside a few member of the House, and even there) that they do not dare, least we get Crescent Lives Matter and an alliance between BLM and CLM, but that is speculation too high in octane even for me.
Posted by: William Haught | Jun 17 2021 16:55 utc | 23
Here's Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg's very impassioned and articulate discourse on the covid phenomenon. Not too much new, but a prescient corroboration of what a few of us around here have been discussing. Which reminds me...thanks to juliania for the contributions and solidarity.
Sid Victor Cattoni @ 14
The efficacy of the vaccine is not the primary concern, it is to test DNA and RNA technology on human subjects. With this technology, vaccines for the next virus can be produced, stockpiled or even administered to the population before the bioweapon leaves the lab, thus limiting the blowback for the next attack
Yeah, here in Italy, in some regions, they're even planning to substitute the second dose for AZ recipients with the Pfizer brew...something about supply chain problems, hehe, and stupid me didn't even know that these concoctions are apparently interchangeable.
Posted by: john | Jun 17 2021 17:11 utc | 24
Does anybody know any good webside about the Chinese space program? I have found Dragonspace so far and will take a closer look when I have some time.
Posted by: m | Jun 17 2021 17:37 utc | 25
fyi@20 stated;
"In effect, those that have joined the Liberal US Empire, have forfeited their sovereign rights on foreign and domestic policies to those of the United State. You can see it all over Europe but also among Muslim countries as well as in East Asia."
In fact, there is NOTHING "liberal" about the U$ empire, and it's conduct with the rest of the world.
https://search.yahoo.com/search?p=liberal+definition&fr=yfp-t-s&fp=1&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
Posted by: vetinLA | Jun 17 2021 17:52 utc | 26
@ fyi (# 20),
Good points. Who creates money in the UK? Another way, to test if a nation is sovereign is by looking at the CURRENCY in which it conducts its international trade. If the majority of nation’s trade is in the currency of another nation, then it is a VASSAL of that entity. There is no sovereignty without monetary sovereignty.
China is one of those nation which has successfully managed its MONETARY sovereignty. Japan and the EU are monetarily strong but not sovereign yet. The trade balance of a nation reveals its financial strength. The currency holdings of Russia provides good insights into the monetary sovereignty of nations. It is essential for China and Russia to broaden their Non-$ Bloc to succeed and in the process expose monetary imperialism, myths (capitalism, democracies, free markets, - liberal state). Until they go on offensive, they will be attacked by the lackeys of Empire’s media, like Putin was at the Swiss summit.
Money is the most important fuel in the world economy today. Those who monopolize money production become de facto OWNERS that control & steal human labor, resources, profits ... in perpetuity. Any nation not speaking out against monetary imperialism, hegemony & dominance, is COMPLICIT in its crimes.
“Americans have a choice. Either continue to quarrel over trivialities or wake up, really wake up, to the reality being planned and do something about it. The future is shaped by investment choices. Not by naughty speech, not even by elections, but by investment choices. For the people to regain power, they must reassert their command over how and for what purposes capital is invested. And if private capital balks, it must be socialized. This is the only revolution – and it is also the only conservatism, the only way to conserve DECENT human life. It is what real politics is about.”
"The true equation is ‘democracy’ = government by world financiers.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien
Can national sovereignty & democracy be restored?
Posted by: Max | Jun 17 2021 17:54 utc | 27
@23 john
Thanks for that link. I've only dipped into it so far, but already heard things that I hadn't quite realized. Dr. Wodarg has the right to talk on these things, because if I recall correctly he was one of the very first to be vilified.
We are now in the time when we can have these longer discussions that reprise the last year or so and set the actual, true history into the medical record. This one helps that process.
And also, the corruption of the medical profession, to which he is now speaking (it's running as I write this). The interviewer is using the words "medical mafia", citing the later manifestations we've seen this year. But this interview seems that it will do much to illustrate the long process of corruption that has happened over the years and decades, and this is very valuable to learn.
Worth spelling the link out, if I may:
Swine Flu And Covid: Pandemic Deja Vu? / With Dr Wolfgang Wodarg 9th June
Many thanks for this.
Posted by: Grieved | Jun 17 2021 17:55 utc | 28
@14 Sid Victor Cattoni
That's a very compelling framework. And as john adds from Italy, if testing in the field is the true dynamic behind the rollout, many things fall into place.
I copied your comment because I seem to recall an earlier one of yours was deleted here, and I remember wishing I had copied it to save.
We now live in the postmortem of the pandemic, where not only can we piece together the true story of what we've lived through, but also we can use what we've seen to look at the players on the stage and come to understand more about their scale of operation, their thinking, and their plans for the future.
That future is one that they believe they control, and unless we learn clearly what they are and how they are working, then that future will belong to them. And it's ugly.
~~
The interview running in the background has moved into Shock Doctrine territory now, and is offering a lot of material for the corruptions operating behind the scene. Also solutions are offered.
I recommend it highly - the links are @27 and @23.
Posted by: Grieved | Jun 17 2021 18:10 utc | 29
Sid Victor Cattoni@14 writes "DNA and RNA vaccines are not more effective, easier, faster, or cheaper to produce and store, but it does not require a working virus, and this aspect is what makes it invaluable to biological warfare. Current proven vaccine technologies require a working virus: by weakening, killing it or by ripping off and collecting the viral proteins." This is illogical. mRNA vaccines requires a sequenced genome. Sequencing is done on live viruses, which makes the first sentence incorrect. Further, yes, biological warfare does require a vaccine for self-protection, like giving your soldiers gas masks before you launch chemical warfare bombs or shells. But, biological warfare also requires live virus to test its efficacy. (As a bioweapon, covid is a remarkably ineffective one, nowhere near plague or smallpox or even anthrax or cholera in lethality.) And weaponizing a virus most certainly requires making sure it can survive and spread from the delivery system. That requires live virus too.
Just because sentences follow the rules of grammar doesn't mean they actually make sense.
China is part of the besieging powers, moderating its joint economic warfare with the US against the north largely, so far as I can tell, to prevent a sudden collapse. There is not one legitimate reason for China to restrict trade with the north. No, avoiding US sanctions is not a legitimate reason. No, getting rid of nuclear weapons while leaving the US at war with Korea isn't either. No, limiting foreign trade by driving the hardest bargain possible isn't either. No, letting private corporations decide all issues of foreign trade isn't either, and worse, undermines the national government. The industrial northeast is possibly starting to fall behind, possibly even being sacrificed by restorationist forces determined to destroy Korean socialism. China as of now most certainly opposes Korean socialism, and wants the north to fall, except not into US hands. This is a fools' dream, I think. Capitalist reunification, how ever catastrophic for the people of the north would be, will be in alliance with the US. Despite their fondest dreams and repeated threats (as they see it, promises,) China is not a bourgeois state. A re-united Korea will never ally with them.
Posted by: steven t johnson | Jun 17 2021 18:16 utc | 30
Mr. Max | Jun 17 2021 17:54 utc | 26
At the present time, there is no alternative to US Treasury Bills if one has to park hundreds or tens of billion USD to park somewhere.
There are not alternative capital markets with that depth anywhere else in the world.
Posted by: fyi | Jun 17 2021 18:18 utc | 31
Mr. Coronavictus | Jun 17 2021 18:22 utc | 31
Those numbers are almost certainly false.
Multiply everything by a factor of 2 since reporting from rural India is non-existent.
Posted by: fyi | Jun 17 2021 18:31 utc | 32
France is trying to convince the European agency to validate the Chinese vaccine because it needs the return of the Chinese tourists to boost its economy. Despite the Chile example, showing that the Chinese vaccine does not work that good with the latest strains (as expected. like with flu shots).
Posted by: Mina | Jun 17 2021 18:35 utc | 33
@ fyi (#30),
Majority (97%) of money in the UK is created by private banks. Who OWNS British?
If nations don’t build an alternative to US Treasury Bonds and the dollar capital markets, then they can continue to be VASSALS of the Dollar Empire. They need to stop complaining and create something. Enslaved are treated poorly.
Nations’ elites want to park their money in the dollar market, then beg for FDI &/or loans. They’re lost. One can never make any more progress than what they can IMAGINE...
“What is bad is not that man lives and dies, but what dies within man while he lives. Perhaps the most important thing that dies within man while he lives is his imagination.”
– Albert Schweitzer
Posted by: Max | Jun 17 2021 18:52 utc | 34
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 17 2021 14:41 utc | 9
Interesting comments as always Piotr Berman. You and most commenters here provide a very important function as we share our perspective from where we are and share with others. Your thought on the way imperial operatives create "one use" players like Lasso in Ecuador along with similar tricks in Ukraine is spot on, IMO. I think some of us are "connecting the dots" on stuff like that.
thank you.
Posted by: migueljose | Jun 17 2021 18:53 utc | 35
Johnathan Cook nails the inherently dishonest two state mantra:
"It seems that every liberal newspaper needs a Thomas Friedman – the UK’s Guardian has Jonathan Freedland – whose role is to keep readers from considering realistic strategies for Israel-Palestine, however often and catastrophically the established ones have failed."
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/99
Great clip of an indignant Biden attempting to justify the Bandit State abomination as a vital US interest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYLNCcLfIkM
I suspect a majority of Americans would be delighted if all 'aid' to this parasite was cancelled forthwith.
Posted by: Paul | Jun 17 2021 19:29 utc | 36
The Lunar Base project is open to all nations capable of participating according to the planning documents released yesterday. I won't be the only one curious to see how the Outlaw US Empire responds.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 17 2021 16:33 utc | 16
To me, it is unclear what is the value of a Space Station. What few experiments they can do can be done by remote control. On the other hand, Lunar Base can move astronomy a big step forward, combining vacuum of space and with a base for large instruments. A sustainable habitat outside Earth could be interesting too...
While exciting, this project has marginal importance compare to independence from Imperial chip technology. Military does not need the latest chips, as Boeing showed -- although the took it waaaaay to far, combining processor that was not updated for decades (it could well be antediluvian...) with ideas that COULD make some sense with a modern processor, i.e. automatic correction of pilot decisions on the basis of sensor inputs. But a decade old chip technology is sufficient for military and aviation. Which is not the case with consumer electronics that have to deal with inefficiencies of software in myriad of apps.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 17 2021 19:32 utc | 37
Grieved @ 28
The interviewer is using the words "medical mafia", citing the later manifestations we've seen this year
Yes, the circuitous depravity they've engaged, the 'offer you can't refuse' has worked wonders, as the interviewer attests his young peers who've taken the jab only to regain their 'freedom', like my youngest daughter, 30, against my spoken preference, and my silent prayers.
Posted by: john | Jun 17 2021 20:20 utc | 38
@17 karlof1
Thanks for that link to the Global Times editorial. Here's a part that really caught my eye:
Sooner or later, international public opinion will reach a critical point of subversive perception as China's modern and peaceful elements continue to accumulate. It will understand why the US' blockade against China is ineffective and what is supporting China's development. It will know why the "bellicose" China has not been in a war for 30 years, while the "peacekeeping" US has been in wars for decades.
So there it is, the Chinese perspective on the folly of those who don't understand the passage of time, and those who don't care to invest into a sustainable future.
Within the diplomatic sphere, China will be as wolfish as she chooses, but within the so-called "information war", she has already decided that living well is the best revenge, and that there is no point in hurling empty words at a straw opponent for trivial satisfactions.
Because, reality itself will induce that "critical point of subversive perception" in global opinion, and all China has to do is work on that reality.
And THAT is what I call a viable strategy.
Posted by: Grieved | Jun 17 2021 21:17 utc | 40
Regarding China.
Well known political scientist Eric Li made the very useful point that the opening up and stunning expansion of the Chinese economy and society that occurred under Deng's leadership did not originate in that time itself. It all followed from the Mao era, and could not have happened unless the Mao leadership had prepared the way for exactly such an event.
This is vastly misunderstood in the west, and it bears repeating.
Eric Li made these points in a Going Underground show on RT, and the Friends of Socialist China published some important transcribed excerpts from the interview, including this pivotal concept:
But it was in the first 30 years that we took our life expectancy – which in 1949 was about 40 – to 67 in the late 1970s. Literacy rate went from negligible to just over 80%, 100% among young people, in the late 1970s. Industrial base was built in the first 30 years, and more importantly, national independence, because China acquired nuclear weapons so nobody could invade it. That allowed it to pursue its own path after the first 30 years of the People’s Republic.So Deng Xiaoping’s reforms were successful, in many ways, because the foundation was laid in the first 30 years.
The show is here:
Eric Li: China’s Meteoric Rise Impossible Without Achievements of Mao Era
and the excerpts are here:
Eric Li on the continuity between Mao-era and reform-era China
~~
I have agreed with this notion ever since reading Ramin Mazaheri's study of Chinese data showing how life overall was improved from the Cultural Revolution - perhaps the most mischaracterized of all events in modern China. He wrote an 8-part series of essays on this theme at the Saker: A necessary revolution in discussing China’s Cultural Revolution: an 8-part series (1/8)
The whole series is best accessed through the links only completed in the final part.
So, how can this be? Consider that statement by Eric Li above, that when Mao arrived to power, the literacy in China was something close to nil. But by Mao's departure, the literacy rate was 80%. And Deng could have achieved very little without that stunning change in literacy.
What did it take to bring education to the countryside of China, where most people lived? It could not have been achieved without also bringing political power to the villages. Mazaheri illustrates all this very well, in the series I highly recommend. It took that very Cultural Revolution to rip the power of society away from even the government itself and to re-plant it into the individuals and communities of rural China.
It was actually an amazing transfer of sovereignty. Yes, it had its destruction, and everyone, including me, has some regrets over what the Red Guard damaged before being restrained.
But it worked.
When Deng gave the command to open the economy, it was because everything was then ready. Deng himself had long worked on the preparations, alongside Mao.
~~
Mazaheri made his own point in the series, that, whether we like it or not, culture and history live in the cities, and history is told from the cities. The Cultural Revolution took the city dwellers and shook them up, depositing them in the countryside to gather lice and blisters. History never spoke well of this second revolution, but it was written and storied by those most aggrieved.
The data that Mazaheri discusses shows a completely different picture. The countryside learned to read and write, but never told the stories of losing privilege, only of humbly, and gratefully, ascending to the realm of the ordinary human.
Posted by: Grieved | Jun 17 2021 21:58 utc | 41
Grieved @40--
Thanks for your reply! I wanted to read this entire interview before I linked and commented. The title as you'll agree is most intriguing:
"China is a democracy by Lincoln's definition: former Singaporean FM"
And I agree 100%. But does the Outlaw US Empire also fit the definition today?
George Yeo is a very wise man and former Singaporean Foreign Minister, who makes numerous sage observations:
"The criticisms from the West are mounting, it's a part of a larger strategy to put China on the defensive, to win over more allies against China, and to reduce China's threat to Western dominance of the world.
"China is not a threat to America, but China is certainly a threat to American dominance in the world, just by growing and becoming more influential. There is a concerted effort to put China down."
Yeo and I share the same worry for the same reason:
"What worries me, in particular, is the way the Taiwan card is being played by the US. Henry Kissinger has reminded the Americans that US acceptance of Taiwan as part of China is the basis of US-China relations. This is not a card. This is the bedrock. If you start playing with the bedrock, you can bring down the whole structure of relations between two very big and important countries." [My Emphasis]
The hotheaded Congress is a big worry:
"China can keep the temperature under control. But, in the US, it may quickly go out of control. The problem will suddenly become much bigger. It is a possibility which China must carefully factor into its calculation."
This important point IMO many fail to include in their analyses:
"If China were like India, divided by language, religion, caste, I don't think the US will be worried at all [about China]."
Does China want to become a Super Power?
"China is too old and wise to ever want such a thing. China will never want to be super power, because it knows such an ambition depletes you and would bring troubles upon yourself. Let's be good neighbors, good friends, try and help each other. That is Chinese approach....
"China will become a great power and be very influential. This will be a threat to the Western liberal system. There are many countries in the third world who are not Western and are also finding their way to the future. Western countries tell them that there's only one way to the future, that the Western way is the only way. Now they see China has a different way."
Why is China vilified while Singapore isn't?
"Singapore has a very different history. It was established as a trading post of the British East India company. Our legal systems, administrative systems, political systems, are all derived from the British model. But 3/4 of the people of Singapore are Chinese, they share common cultural characteristics with the Chinese people in China. I compare Singapore and China in this way - China is a big tree. Singapore is a tiny bonsai. They have similar genetics with common cultural genes. At one level, the political systems are very different. But at another level, they look strangely similar.
"One obvious comparison is the Communist Party of China and the People's Action Party (PAP) in Singapore, which has been governing Singapore since 1959. People are surprised that the PAP has been able to govern Singapore through election after election, staying in power and looking after the welfare of Singaporeans. It is not a communist party, it's a democratic party, but its organizational structure has Leninist roots."
Yeo's discussion of democracy is quite nuanced and begins thusly:
"My view of democracy goes back to the essence of democracy, to the Greek origin of what democracy is - which is the people as master. Abraham Lincoln talked about government of the people, by the people, for the people. By this definition, China is a democracy....
"The best democracy is the one which is for the people, of the people and by the people, according to its history and culture. Even in Western democracy, there are wide variations....
"What is democracy? In the end, we go back to its essence - governance of the people, by the people for the people. We go back beneath the structures and the systems. You can have the best structure and systems."
But here's what I consider a big stumbling block:
"You can still have a democracy controlled by a small group of people who are very wealthy."
Yeo provides no caveat for that assertion, with which I disagree, as IMO the model of Plato's Republic has failed everywhere it's been attempted due to corruption. But Yeo does go on to say:
"It is impossible for a US-style democratic system to work for East and Southeast Asian countries."
On China's current government:
"China is an old civilization with 5,000 years of history. But China as a republic is very young. China only became a republic in 1911. How does China find consensus? In the old days you had the Chaoting (imperial government). But once you become a republic, how do you choose successors?
"We have the Communist Party who represents the entire population. But even within the Communist Party there are millions of members, there are many layers. At the bottom you have elections at the village level. But beyond that, constant discussion and debate about who are better able to lead.
"The problem in Chinese society has always been corruption. If corruption exists, whatever system you have, you no longer govern in the interest of common people. President Xi, by reversing the trend of corruption in China, has done Chinese society a very great favor.
"This is to me is his single greatest achievement. If China can continue to control corruption, its future will be very bright. " [My Emphasis]
And the next to last question is one rabid Westerners are clamoring to have asked and answered:
"GT: Generally speaking, which do you think is more efficient in good governance, open one- party system or multi-party system?
"Yeo: There is no simple answer to this question. I would say the most important factor is not the structure or the system. It is the moral quality of the people and their leaders." [My Emphasis]
The emphasized is what sets apart the NATO-Bloc from almost all other nations and is why that Bloc is going down and other nations are rising.
m @25 "Does anybody know any good websites about the Chinese space program?"
Thanks for the tip re dragonspace, you could also check out Go Taikonauts!. There is at least one other good site in English that I lost the link for if anyone else has any suggestions.
karlof1 @17
Thanks so much for your excellent posts recently regarding advances in nuclear energy and space technology. I had never heard of the lead-cooled fast reactor technology before, apparently it's been powering Soviet/Russian Alfa-class subs for decades. Seems superior to the sodium/potassium cooled setups as the coolent doesn't catch fire when exposed to the atmosphere, as happened with the Japanese fast reactor and others. Helium cooling might also be an option to avoid the other issues (maintenance etc) with molten metal coolent, although I'm not technically literate enough to know if it can be scaled up to large power reactors. The accelerator-driven subcritical reactors are fascinating also, especially the fusion driven one the Russians have developed.
Using nuclear reactors to directly produce hydrogen rather than using generated electricity for electrolysis also seems promising. I had always though of it as an explosion risk a la Fukushima but it seems to have great potential to produce (almost) zero carbon fuel.
Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Jun 17 2021 22:29 utc | 43
Grieved @41--
I was fortunate to have my Post-grad China seminars taught by a China specialist who also happened to be Asian. We used JK Fairbank's textbook and specialist readings about what by the year 2000 had become four distinct periods in China's modern history: Postwar to Great Leap Forward; GLF to Cultural Revolution; CR to Deng's Reforms and initial opening period; then the era of escalating Foreign Direct Investment and industrial takeoff. My thesis was aimed at the fourth period to determine the main sources of FDI which I suspected differed from the conventional wisdom at the time--Big Western Corporations. China has experienced many ebbs and floods during its very long history; and IMO, today's China is now in a different period than the fourth, which IMO ended when Hu Jintao was replaced by Xi Jinping and his two main thrusts to improve China's future: the Belt and Road Initiative and the Anti-Corruption Campaign. We might also include China's 2030 UN Development Goals since they dovetail with the last several 5-year plans. My point is that we can probably expect a new period with every change of CPC leader, which since Jiang Zemin has become consistent ten year intervals.
The person climbing onto Xi's shoulders also stands on those of all who came before, which is of course not at all like Western democracy. But when the outcome is measured, IMO China's system's superior. And for the West it's a great mistake to try and compete with China on the international stage as that's not what China's about whatsoever; China's about lifting up all its people so they all have an opportunity to excel and have a high moral purpose. And China's not going to deviate from that path, while the West will find it very difficult to emulate China. As Yeo said, it's the differing cultures that cause the divergent paths.
Pastor Morrison at worship to his God, power:
"Biden and Morrison are trying to slow China’s rise back for no other reason than that China is doing very well. They appear to think that any country that does well is a threat to them unless it is prepared to obey and follow the Western powers subserviently."
Biden and Morrison are on 'a hiding to nothing.'
Posted by: Paul | Jun 17 2021 23:21 utc | 45
Was the "Capitol Riot" an Inside Job? IMO, good reasons to think so are surfacing. Putin's upped the game by saying they could easily be considered political prisoners whose constitutional and human rights are being violated. And given the FBI has orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks in order to frame innocents provides some credibility to that possibility.
And the beat goes on........
More evidence of Outlaw US Empire involvement in Bolivia coup attempts--yes two! Definite continuity of policy toward Latin America since the Filibusterers of the 19th Century--Don't let any of those nations no matter how small have an independent government and its own development path--EVER!!
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 17 2021 23:24 utc | 46
Have had the same thoughts. And maybe it's tough to have to take it from Tucker Carlson, but as you point out the FBI, especially since 911, has a long history of setting up sting operation terrorism, and busting their own operation, arresting the terrorists to much ballyhoo etc. etc. And now the 'war on terror' has come home to a war on 'domestic terror', it shouldn't be surprising that Proud and Boogaloo Boys etc are fully infiltrated by, and perhaps led (in order to bring to ground said 'domestic' terrorists) by government agents.
So the idea that FBI or DHS other agencies are involved makes perfect sense.
(always enjoy your posts)
Posted by: gottlieb | Jun 17 2021 23:44 utc | 48
S.P. Korolev @43--
Thanks for your reply! Russia's advances in fission and China's in fusion are being combined and over the next several years we'll hear of that merger's fruits. As for news about the various space programs, Spacenews seems to be the best informed. It's article provides links to the documents and to a ROSCOSMOS produced video that outlines the Lunar project. This article predicts a new Space Race will develop, which I doubt for reasons I've already stated. The author fails to note the Moon Treaty arrangement is almost the same as that made for Antarctica--each nation's research base is linked to its nation's sovereignty, which is also the same for vessels.
gottlieb @48--
Thanks for your reply! This op/ed voices just a few of the many justifiable concerns this next phase of the Terror War will take. What many proposed as the genuine meaning of 911 may will be proved correct--to criminalize the entire nation.
Mr. Grieved | Jun 17 2021 21:58 utc | 41
I think had the late Mao Tse-Tung died or retired from power by 1958, tens of millions of people would have remained alive; that they themselves or their progeny would have been with us today.
The Great Leap Forward, the Campaign Against Rightists, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution were disasters for Chinese people; and like the Green Movement in Iran, a manifestation of elite power struggle.
Freedom and Trust both have this in common: "Absence of Fear"; which the Chinese Revolutionaries failed to foster in China, reproducing the same pattern of a distant authority exercising power through staffing by winners of an examination system. Three thousand years of bafflement on how to protect the life and property of an individual against the malfeasance of Authority, near or far, persists.
Posted by: Fyi | Jun 18 2021 0:54 utc | 51
US embassy in London disrupted by pro Palestine activist. Bonus, truth telling film clip.
US pro Palestine activists stop Israeli container ship from docking:
https://popularresistance.org/protesters-prevent-israeli-container-ship-from-docking/
Momentum is building worldwide, hasbara flops.
Posted by: Paul | Jun 18 2021 1:00 utc | 52
No surprise here. Latin American compradores don't even go to the bathroom without American permission.
Hot salts render good clean heat and even batteries, Just think about it, the Germans get hot just using it.
The energy storage sector is becoming a pretty crowded and competitive field as more and more companies come up with solutions that will be absolutely crucial to dealing with the intermittency of renewable technologies. Now there’s one more technology to add to the list that looks set for a bright future, not just as a supplier of grid balancing power but also because of its ability to feed direct heat energy into industrial processes and municipal heating systems.
And the waste product after a few thousand cycles? - lime for brick making.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 18 2021 2:22 utc | 54
I watched a fascinating CGTN live coverage of the Chinese 3 astro-cosmonauts launch yesterday YooChoobReplay → . Really interesting to see the approach they took in televising the morning effort. I saw proud, happy, enthusiastic participants, giving credit where due to US, Soviet, and Russian historic space programmes, and in action their own home grown unique ideas for this segment of their big space station project. I believe China has long been banned by the US from partipating in their space programme, so what I watched was the result of that futile effort. It's an amazing video 4 hour view, but the panel commentary is interesting and at times hilarious. They were having a well deserved ball. I was envious watching live from within their time zone from our recently created fear bunker way down south of the future.
One of the panel guests was a director of company for Asia and Pacific space cooperation. I expect to see in the future the "other" countries in our region, who are usually ignored by our psychotic world, to be invited up to space in the future. Maybe NZ will get a flight or two, but I'd be suprised if we do. While this was going on Australia cancelled its ongoing deep sea research programme with China "on security grounds". 3 cheers for the fuckup Australia has become.
sorry-to-link-frm-this-rag →
Posted by: Dim sim | Jun 18 2021 2:44 utc | 55
An excellent montage of the many Biden wandering speeches is to be found and experienced here with Krystal and Saagar venting spleen on the wastrel.
SAD
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 18 2021 2:46 utc | 56
Mr. Dim sim | Jun 18 2021 2:44 utc | 55
I think Chinese Licensed a lot of space-related technology from Russia.
I was struck by a few recent Australuan police dramas that I watched; is every one is Australia just angry?
Posted by: Fyi | Jun 18 2021 3:04 utc | 57
FYI@57
"I think Chinese Licenced a lot of space-related technology from Russia." If so that demonstrates they're not stupid. Keep focused on the goal. One small comment the engineer on the panel said that surprised me was the SpaceX engine is a space shuttle engine remodelled. (i.e. Neo-liberalised govt asset -> billionaire's bank a/c?)
"I was struck by a few recent Australian police dramas that I watched; is every one is Australia just angry?" Australian police drama, sorry you were exposed, they're best avoided.
Posted by: Dim sim | Jun 18 2021 3:37 utc | 58
the cops in portland are going to lead us. they quit cuz they couldn't punch old ladies or use military weapons and tactics or had some something change that made policing less fun.
wonder what kind of union support they get, unlike UAW and SEIU and the teachers?
but they quit.
100% of us should follow their lead and quit. what will they do? send in the cops?
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jun 18 2021 4:14 utc | 59
New Eastern Outlook is running a 'story' by Phil Butler - The Biden-Putin Summit: Don’t Let Hope Be Crushed This Time where the good Mr Butler runs this paragraph:
And here’s a key takeaway no other media I have scanned beyond Politico is emphasizing. Where the highly publicized cyberattacks are concerned, Biden said he’d given Putin a list of 16 off-limits entities from everything from the energy sector to water systems. But here’s the key thing. President Biden stressed that Putin needs to take action against cybercriminals on his soil who carry out such attacks, including the use of ransomware. The implication here is, the Kremlin had nothing to do with these attacks, but the American president is asking Putin to fix the problem. Biden even went so far as to suggest the two countries could come to some sort of cybersecurity arrangement. And this, my friends, it real progress.
I find it more than irksome when a reporter cites the numbers out of Biden's mouth and generalises about Putin's position. Any reporter with a fair minded approach would have quoted what Putin said at his press meeting following the 'summit'. Perhaps Mr Butler missed it and its online access. I recall Putin being very clear when he spoke of ONE specific accusation by the USA where the Russians considered and investigated and responded and then went on to mention the 45 occasions when Russia accused and asked the USA to address USA based cyber attacks on Russia to get NO RESPONSE AT ALL.
This is mealy mouthed and evasive reporting giving Biden the advantage of specific numbers and then glossing over the Russian position. It is not exactly Biden propaganda but it sure is a pile of tosh. Integrity Initiative will be pleased. Come on NEO you can do better than this.
The good Mr Butler is right about it all being real progress for the two to have even met. The calm tolerance of Russia confronted by an aggressor that has taken every dirty step to plunder the nation, threaten it militarily, invade and murder people in the lands of its allies, blockade it economically and intimidate its trading partners, steal its properties and embassies, is extraordinary and, yes, this is real progress.
But it is not Biden progress - he cannot achieve that low hurdle. It is Russian progress in the interests of a peaceful world.
Perhaps now the USA might now respond to the 45 cyber attacks on Russia that came from Bidenland.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 18 2021 5:00 utc | 60
Covid idiots too?
1 in 4 COVID patients hospitalized while vitamin D deficient die – Israeli study
https://www.timesofisrael.com/1-in-4-hospitalized-covid-patients-who-lack-vitamin-d-die-israeli-study/
Posted by: Coronavictus | Jun 18 2021 6:30 utc | 61
@43 S.P. Korolev
Thanks!
My favourite space side is this one. Syntax and punctuation is rather creative so translation software wight regularly rais a white flag. The level of detail on the other hand is astonishing. The author writes mostly about un-manned space flight which unfortunately means that many parts of the Chinese space program aren`t covered.
Posted by: m | Jun 18 2021 10:23 utc | 63
In response to uncle tungsten@60,
While I agree with your general sentiment, I do believe Butler is correct, going by your quote of him, of what the key take-away is. The impression one gets from the quote is of Biden as the driving force when it comes to initiating negotiations on cyber-security, which was also picked up on by the Politrussia group. Your paraphrasing of Putin helps to illustrate the main roadblock to cooperation in the field, namely US unwillingness, which is well known. As such, it's fair of Butler to interpret this development as a major policy shift -- first, in floating the idea of cooperation, and second, in essentially exonerating the Russian government of direct involvement. After 7 years of wall-to-wall coverage where all cyber-crimes, misdemeanors and nothing-burgers on "the Internet" were claimed to have been conducted by specially trained Russian cyber-guerillas at the behest of Vladimir Putin, one might be tempted to call it a schism or expression of heretical thought in the context of American politics.
Mentioning Putin's counterpoint detracts from that context and might give the reader the wrong impression of who the interested party is, since the Russian stance on cooperation in this field clearly hasn't changed. I'm also rather apprehensive about this topic getting too much mainstream attention, even though it would be interesting to gauge the reaction of Russiagaters, since there are doubtless many interested parties who could use this information to manipulate public opinion for personal reasons. That it isn't already being done is either a sign that a deal in this field is being treated as vital to national security, or it's just under the radar for the time being.
Posted by: Skiffer | Jun 18 2021 10:37 utc | 64
Mandatory vaccination with experimental vaccines is abhorrent and it should have us all worried.
Unfortunately majorities in many countries have accepted this in the name of protecting public health.
This is a very tragic situation and should be given our full attention.
And no, no one should be blackmailed to have these vaccines because they work in a hospital, or a care home. They have the right to refuse at least as long as these vaccines are in the experimental phase.
In Greece they are already preparing laws to make vaccination mandatory for doctors, health workers, teachers and … firefighters.
This is highly terrifying.
Posted by: DG | Jun 18 2021 10:44 utc | 65
Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 17 2021 16:43 utc | 20
Zionist terrorism begat Islamic terrorism, the destructive mission is the law of the Judahites themselves, see Deuteronomy, ' The Lord thy God will set thee on high above all other nations of the earth... the Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself ... and all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they will be afraid of thee...thou shall lend unto many nations and thou shalt not borrow. And thou shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath.'
'He shall deliver their kings into thine hand and thou shalt DESTROY their name from them.'
Unfortunately, this Jewish supremacism goes on throught all Deuteronomy and the Torah. The Talmud is worse.
What came first?
Posted by: Paul | Jun 18 2021 11:40 utc | 66
I have not commenting here for a while nor been following comments. I have been watching the situation in Afghanistan for some time an d thinking that the US intends for the Taliban to take over to make it harder for China to include Afghanistan in the belt and road project. Initially it was the breaking of the truce or whatever that agreement was call and again bombing the while while also breaking the former agreement on the date of the final US pullout. As the government relies totally on foreign support, they will look to Russia and China for support which would be unacceptable to the US
Although the former president of the US was blocked on social media and still is, the spokesman for the Taliban does have a Twitter account and a couple of recent videos on it show government forces not surrendering but joining the Taliban side. I think this pretty much confirms the US intends for the Taliban to take control when they pull out.
Twitter account for the Taliban spokesman https://twitter.com/Zabehulah_M33
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 11:40 utc | 67
Mr. Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 11:40 utc | 66
There is nothing in Afghanistan worth anything to China or the Chinese.
Afghanistan runs on US funds, I doubt US will provision funds to Afghanistan after their eventual takeover.
Posted by: fyi | Jun 18 2021 12:54 utc | 68
@ 3 migueljose, thanks for the links!
So the journalist from Mexico is addressing the issue of militarization in Mexico to two American journalists. In Canada, I remember back in the 80's, there was a real push to become more neutral, to leave NATO, to become non-aligned. That was, until our military leaders got hold of a microphone and explained exactly what fate was in store for us if we were to de-militarize. (That was a bit of an eye-opener.) It only worsened in the 90's. I won't go into any details, but I remember the military withdrew a lot from friendly public events as it focused even more deeply on not-so-friendly defence, in an increasingly (hate to use the term but) hybird war scenario.
It's not easy sharing a border with the USA. Let them de-militarize, ok? If the Canadian experience is any kind of example, then Mexico should join NATO.
Speaking of Canada in the 90's, in another thread, I raised the controversial subject of a suspicious wave of immigrants from China during that time. What made them suspicious is that they had no pressing economic or social need to migrate. The PC lobby (those great defenders of bad govt policy) promoted the value of diversity, how great it is when people chose to re-locate, not because they are foreced to, but because they want to settle somewhere else. In that other post, I made the comment that immigrants who choose to stay in Canada are, generally, those who are against the prevailing authorities, those who only go to the US border to spit across it (an image which I stole from some expert interviewed in the media at that time, I think). Chinese-Canadian citizens, and Canadians of Chinese descent, complained about these newcomers back then as well. (They came here by force of circumstance!)
I noticed that today PM Trudeau is virtually participating in a fireside chat with Teresa Woo-Paw during the 2021 Chinese Canadian Leaders’ Summit, organized by the Action, Chinese Canadians Together (ACCT) Foundation. I wonder where that foundation fits into the mix?
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jun 18 2021 13:33 utc | 69
EOL
1. Reaffirming focus on nuclear weapons as the main public geopolitical weapons, disarmament, and power balance topic. Promising each other to continue and/or reestablish and strengthen this narrative. All the rest is mostly fluff, at least right now.
2. Reaffirming some hidden rules and truths. Likely based on confirming that the US (or at least this particular US administration) is (still) aware of the prime cause for the UK-US special relationship which I'm guessing might consist of still classified UK/MI6 "hidden history" signals intelligence gathered from the USSR and which Russia and possibly also China has direct knowledge of. The current noise out of Clinton and Trump indicates the US is not or that most POTUSes aren't (which makes sense since they shouldn't normally have any need).
I think Putin might have been making direct references to the second point when saying something to the effect of "clearing the air". I do not know any details and could be entirely wrong about the UK-US thing but I'm starting to suspect whatever it is anyone in the US who is told the details automatically becomes a security risk, and certainly any politicians. This would make things very difficult on their part.
I've cut this comment down so much lol, hopefully it's not my own personal "EOL": I'm speculating! :)
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jun 18 2021 13:55 utc | 70
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 11:40 utc | 66
good to see you back.
Howzat new Sydney airport going?
Posted by: Paul | Jun 18 2021 13:57 utc | 71
Nothing? It doesn't matter what you think or for the purpose of replying to your shit, what China thinks. It is what the US thinks that counts here as to ensuring Taliban takes control or not just as they are leaving.
https://hir.harvard.edu/wakhancorridor/
"Afghanistan is the very definition of a geopolitical pivot. Long called the “Graveyard of Empires,” the country still lures larger powers keen on exerting influence in Central Asia, and the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of land protruding out of Afghanistan like the handle of a cooking pot, exemplifies this strategic geopolitical position. Three separate geopolitical conflicts intersect in the Wakhan Corridor: the so-called “New Great Game” between Russia and China over Central Asia, the rising geopolitical contest between China and the West over the new Belt and Road initiative, and the ever-inflamed (but now ratcheted) tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. However, China’s recent moves to build a road through the corridor will upset this delicate geopolitical balance in its own favor."
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 14:01 utc | 72
On the subject of Mexico's membership in NATO, here's a little help from your friendly neighbours to the extreme north. (This would sort of qualify as interference, I guess? But have to get the ball rollin' somehow. :-)
https://natoassociation.ca/exploring-the-possibility-of-mexican-membership-in-nato/
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jun 18 2021 14:26 utc | 73
@Peter AU1
NATO training mission for Afghan security forces to move forward after US withdrawal:
NATO leaders on Monday committed to moving forward with training for Afghan security forces after the U.S. military withdraws all its troops from Afghanistan, which President Biden says will be completed before Sept. 11.NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in remarks following a meeting of the alliance in Brussels, said the coalition’s leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to continue to stand with Afghanistan with training and financial support for Afghan forces and institutions.”
NATO is also increasing troops in Iraq (as USA reduces troops). This was announced in February 2021:
After a recent meeting of defense ministers in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the Alliance would expand the size of its security training mission in Iraq, increasing troop levels from 500 to 4,000.
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jun 18 2021 14:39 utc | 74
Apple Daily search shows waning influence of Western interference: Global Times editorial
The Guardian/The Observer is particularly inconsolable. It has been publishing about this non-stop since it happened.
My guess is the British government is particularly involved with the Apple Daily.
--//--
Cornwall Consensus a sign that neoliberalism is at crossroads
Neoliberalism as a unified political doctrine is already dead - it was killed by the 2008 financial meltdown. What we have now is a plethora of post-neoliberal doctrines, each one represented by ex-neoliberals, each one clinging to one aspect or fragment of neoliberalism, trying to save what they can from this defunct ideology. Sure, you can still find pure neoliberals who survived the 2008 mass extinction event in specialized publications on finance - but they're not of significant societal influence.
You can still claim neoliberalism still exists, but certainly not as a (Washington) consensus anymore.
@b
Billmon’s Whiskey Bar is accessible through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine project, e.g., the last posts, made in December 2006. However, it is very inconvenient to use, as links to previous posts and post categories don’t work automatically; they must be manually copied and pasted into Wayback Machine’s search bar, followed by manually choosing the last capture made before December 28, 2006. Also, pictures don’t work.
In 2009 you have offered a CD with a complete archive of Whiskey Bar and Moon of Alabama, but I don’t know if it’s still available. If it is, well, it is still very inconvenient (and even worse than using Wayback Machine), as it’s hard to find a computer with a CD drive nowadays, and, more importantly, the posts can’t be discovered through search engines, and one can’t post a link to them.
It would be great if you added a subsite, say, at billmon.moonofalabama.org with a full copy of Whiskey Bar and added automatic redirection of billmon.org/archives/* links to billmon.moonofalabama.org/*, so that links in old posts like “WB: Rates of Return” would work.
Posted by: S | Jun 18 2021 15:58 utc | 76
This is turning straight into an China vs USA Cold War.
The US won't attack China because the damages would be too great for their markets, but they will lure some useful idiots (Aussie, Japan) to do the deeds, but Japan won't do it, too crafty, and Australia is far too weak to do something like that, the other way is to wait for a cause like Taiwan to rally around their allies.
China meanwhile will just sit there building their stuff while US burns.
Posted by: Smith | Jun 18 2021 16:12 utc | 77
Biden Admin Asks Americans to Report ‘Radicalized’ Friends And Family
https://planetfreewill.news/biden-admin-asks-americans-to-report-radicalized-friends-and-family/
My neighbors had their window open during my morning constitutional. Lots of suspicious noises coming from
them thar hills.
I might feel guilty if I don't report them, no telling what they are capable of, especially after their dog went in my garden.
ps.
Thanksgiving Day dinner all over America should generate a lot of calls this year.
Be sure to grease the conversations.
The more calls the merrier.
Posted by: librul | Jun 18 2021 16:16 utc | 78
12 Monkeys
Saving endless countries
from the demons we create
whilst we hoover every nickel
from every sovereign state
we MUST be number one
we must KILL the cometition
even if it takes
a biological emission
Once the enemy is ravaged
we'll sell our vaccination
but not too soon until we prune
the elder population
Then we'll point our stinking finger
at the countries we deplore
and blame them for our crimes
like so many times before
Posted by: ld | Jun 18 2021 16:32 utc | 79
Linda Jean Doucett @79
So your plan then is to start decomposing in this thread?
Posted by: William Gruff | Jun 18 2021 17:08 utc | 80
William Gruff @80
Just spewed my coffee
Love you to pieces
Thanks for the laff
Posted by: Linda Jean Doucett | Jun 18 2021 17:40 utc | 81
Peter AU 1 @72--
Good to read your comments again! As you've probably assumed, fyi is a disrupter troll. Afghanistan's been an observer member of the SCO for almost a decade now, and IMO that organization believes it can do business with the Taliban primarily because the Taliban have also evolved. IMO, the primary goal for SCO and Iran is to get all NATO-Bloc forces out of the region, which will allow for a new political arrangement in Kabul and an opportunity to begin BRI development projects that will work to further stabilize Afghanistan. Most important will be the elimination of the gross corruption and poppy industry that must be done. I'm sure the Taliban will insist on a "clean" government; and development projects will give the people something to do besides tend poppies. Of course, we shall see what reality brings. The primary corruption sources have always been the Western War Lords, and with their poison removed, Afghans will finally have an opportunity to develop their nation.
Paul @66--
Of course, Torah also says only Yahweh can provide the Hebrews with a homeland, perhaps in Palestine; but it's not at all up to them when they will earn that gift, although their actions will be the main determining factor. And as the Orthodox have pointed out since the beginning of the Zionist plot, the invasion of Palestine and the terror wrought there by Zionist terrorists will effectively cause Yahweh to judge the Hebrews are still unworthy of a homeland and must continue to wander. Zionists like the South Africans before them are imprisoning themselves of their own accord, and instead of developing a jewel in the desert are creating a dystopia from which many will flee. And it appears the new government of Occupied Palestine has opted to have it out with Hamas and thus initiate its endgame, which will eventually result in a one-state solution depending upon how much damage the Zionists do to themselves and the region.
Bitcoin miners exit China, beat a path to the U.S. as crypto climate shifts
Cryptocurrency industry are moving to mainland imperialist native countries. The above link is to an interesting article in Washingtonpost today. From this article you can see some dimension of the industry.
Jiang had about 300,000 computers humming around-the-clock in 20 specially ventilated warehouses across remote northern China, guzzling enough electricity to power a small city. The sophisticated machines cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The digital currency they minted was worth even more.
One Chinese miner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared political repercussions in China, said he predicted 60 to 70 percent of his peers would migrate their operations to the United States or Europe. He said he is building about 50 shipping containers to house his computers to plop onto an oil field in West Texas, and is breaking ground on a 33-megawatt site in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
what is problem in China?
That sudden chill, Chinese bitcoin miners and executives predict, will only deepen. The Chinese government has appeared uneasy not only about the industry’s carbon footprint but also the intrinsically uncontrollable, decentralized nature of cryptocurrency.
There are probelms in Russia and Iran too:
Even so, Jiang said he was considering two sites in Texas and Tennessee. It seemed less risky than other places, including the Middle East, where he had operations shut down by authorities, or Russia, where his colleagues’ expensive computers have been seized by corrupt police.
How much energy is consumed?
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences this year predicted China’s bitcoin mining industry by 2024 could consume more energy than Italy. University of Cambridge researchers estimated that bitcoin miners globally accounted for more energy use than Argentina.
Some disadvantages in USA:
Jiang ticked off a number of disadvantages to expanding in the United States: too many “environmentalists who worry about wildlife and the birds,” he said, and too much “White liberal idiocy” preoccupied with climate change — the science of which he has doubted. U.S. electricity was six times more expensive than in China, he estimated, and he would have to pay relatively high wages to I.T. staff to keep his computers purring.
So the problem is not energy cost, neither IT staff. Electricity cost in China is 6 times lower than USA. How much is it? Can anyone tell the cost of electricity in Texas?
We can see in near future Bitcoin and other tax evading cryptocurrencies will reach its natural limits, then it will be a casino tool and a weapon in western civilization arsenal for plundering other nations wealth.
Posted by: arata | Jun 18 2021 18:35 utc | 84
Putin asked Lavrov to provide his report on the Summit to commence today's meeting of Russia's Security Council. I'd sure like to know what he said!
karlof1 and jackrabbit
Thanks for the input there. I am not sure if Taliban is still listed as a terrorist organisation in Russia, but I had read something about Russia and Iran working with the Taliban to eliminate ISIS. Some time back I was seeing a lot of stuff that US politicians and others weren't happy as US pulling out would leave Afghanistan to Russia and China. All went quiet on that front as US broke their agreement with the Taliban to kick off the conflict again but also continued with the pullout.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 19:15 utc | 86
85 Cont'd--
TASS provides what was likely part of Lavrov's report he provided at a presser held today:
"'I’ve read the assessments of US officials, including the participants of the talks, on the outcomes of the Geneva talks. They are trying to position themselves in such a way that they said: 'We need to return the personnel that will facilitate the work of the embassy, we need to get Russia to respond to the accusations related to the activity of hackers, who are attacking the American infrastructure, and we need to get Russia to release the Americans serving prison sentences.' This is not the approach that the presidents talked about. I want those, who comment on the results of the summit in such a way, to hear this: this will not be a one-way street,' the minister said.
"Lavrov pointed out that Putin had supported Biden’s offer to resolve the existing issues on a mutually acceptable basis. 'If the logic of the Americans is like this: we returned the ambassadors, and now you should do everything we want, and then we will see - about diplomats, cyber attacks, convicts - this is not acceptable. <…> So, if the logic that the presidents expressed in Geneva prevails among the bureaucrats, I think we will get results,' the Russian top diplomat concluded."
Lavrov's comments are currently available in Russian only and were made at a presser with his Belarussian counterpart. Lavrov expressed more about the Summit's discussions in response to a question about Belarus being mentioned in the talks:
"The Belarusian topic was touched upon, not as an individual topic, but in the context of conceptual discussions that took place between the presidents. They were conceptual, but had a very specific refraction in practical politics. I mean this. Every nation - it was recognized - has its own history, culture, traditions, values, and they should be taken for granted if not respected. This is a fact of the modern world, its civilizational diversity, which "under one row cut" does not work. That's clear to everyone.
"This diversity, this national specificity, the national values that have suffered for centuries of ancestors, must be taken into account in the preparation and harmonization of approaches to those profound and not yet very clear predictable changes that are coming in international life. They have embraced the modern world and do not bypass any state, whether it calls itself liberal, democratic or something else.
"This understanding was extended to not very long-term references to the situation in the Republic of Belarus. They affirmed that it is necessary to be guided by international law, This understanding was extended to not very long-term references to the situation in They affirmed that it is necessary to be guided by international law, ensuring the sovereign equality of states, respecting the right of peoples to determine their own destiny without interference from outside ensuring the sovereign equality of states, respecting the right of peoples to determine their own destiny without interference from outside.
"That's the way this conversation took place, but it affected more than one country, as I said. I thought he was very helpful."
This was a machine translation, so it will be curious to read how its put in English when that transcript gets completed tomorrow. But if correctly related by Lavrov, Biden admitted to the basic tenets of the UN Charter and accepted their primacy, which ought to make global headlines.
Peter AU 1 @ 86--
Unless the decision was made quietly and not publicized, which IMO is doubtful, the Taliban remains classed as a terrorist group by Russia, but its members have been to talks in Moscow, so there's some leeway there. Yes, the Hawks don't want to cede anything anywhere, but reality is making itself known domestically, and its been proven the Forever Wars are a political ball and chain for incumbents that refuse to leave them. Biden hasn't announced this, but IMO he's trying to improve the image of the Outlaw US Empire by making it more law abiding and "nicer/gentler" as GHW Bush vowed 30 years ago. Putin's assessment of Biden's mental acuity IMO is very important. IMO, more deeds will need to be done, but Putin likely thinks Biden is capable of workmanlike negotiations.
karlof1
I thought that may have just been Putin being diplomatic but you may be right on Putins assessment of Biden. Andrei Martyanov had a short piece on the summit at his blog, the basics of it was that US has finally realized Russia is too strong for them to take down and so they must start talking.
Not long back I saw Putin answering a question involving his interaction with other leaders. He used Churchill as an example. He said Churchill was an allie of the Soviet Union until Germany was defeated, then with the advent of the atomic bomb wanted to attack the Soviet Union, but then when the Soviets developed there first bomb, gave up the idea of attacking with nuclear weapons and took a more diplomatic approach. He said he can work with people like that as they understand realities.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 20:01 utc | 89
@ Peter AU1 (# 89),
The Soviet Union was brought down by manipulating the oil price. It is unfortunate that the Soviet Union priced its oil in the US$. Any nation that prices its resources and goods in the US$ &/or pegs their currency to it, is at a significant disadvantage and can be captured through financial warfare. It is mind boggling to see Russia let its currency float and made it convertible. According, to Empire’s analysis, Russia doesn’t grasp the financial arena well and this strategic weakness needs to be exploited.
The Financial Empire’s strength is in the financial sphere. It will pursue financial warfare as well as regime change to capture China and Russia. If it doesn’t succeed them it will pursue the military option. Japan was finally captured through the Plaza Accord. China has done well by controlling its currency and the financial system.
Posted by: Max | Jun 18 2021 20:24 utc | 90
Max
I looked into the petrodollar some years back. After oil reserves were found at Prudhoe Bay, the US engineered the first oil crisis in I think 73 with the saudis and gulf arabs. The price of oil shot up. There was ques lined up at fuel bowsers in the US and this allowed legislation for the Alaska pipeline to be forced through. With the completion of the pipeline and when the first barrel of oil came through, US engineered the Iranian revolution. With that, oil prices shot up and the US had an unlimited petrodollar credit card as everybody needed a lot more US dollars to buy oil.
If the soviet union was selling oil in US dollars, then it too benefited greatly from this.
I don't think selling oil in US dollars was the cause of the soviet collapse, rather they were trapped in an artificial ideology. China has avoided this by rather than blindly following a narrow ideology can never change, allowing it to evolve and change. Social system and governance is a bit like a diet -a little bit of everything in proportion. US is trapped in an ideology that is at the opposite end of the spectrum to the soviet union.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 20:54 utc | 91
@ Peter AU1 (#91),
I didn’t say, “selling oil in US dollars” was the cause of the Soviet Union fall. It was the OIL PRICE. The high price of oil led to bloated budgets in the Soviet Union. The oil price dropped in 1980s creating internal problems and weakening the system, which didn’t have internal cohesion. They thought the West will help instead of looting them.
A united nation with good values can withstand many shocks. A divided nation with hodgepodge values and priorities can’t withstand a major shock and falls.
Posted by: Max | Jun 18 2021 21:15 utc | 92
Good little rant by Gowans--
What does humanity have to look forward to? Not what Canada represents
Posted by: arby | Jun 18 2021 21:41 utc | 93
Max, looking the oil chart, the price of oil only dropped from Iranian revolution price to 1973 oil crisis price. it drifted back from the iran price and then suddenly dropped to the 73 level. what caused that drop? I haven't looked into that. But soviet union would have collapsed anyway. Trapped in their ideology they could not provide green grass for their people. Putin has often said the leaders at that time and I think up to Yeltsin knew they had to change but none had any idea of how to go about it.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 18 2021 21:59 utc | 94
@75 S
That
it’s hard to find a computer with a CD drive nowadaysis rubbish. Most computers still have a DVD drive, and that one is compatible with all CDs. Also there are USB DVD drives for those who have not. In fact such a resource is not so much different from any other hard drive or stick. Granted links cannot be resolved (most of them).
Posted by: aquadraht | Jun 18 2021 22:22 utc | 95
@ Peter AU1 (#94),
It is my understanding that Bush worked with his oil friends to bring the price down and they were compensated in alternate ways. This aggravated and accelerated Soviet Union’s problems. The stock market crashed in 1987 and enabled the Empire to start its next cycle. The Soviet Union was fooled to follow a certain path as guided by their traitors.
An interesting FRACTAL emerges from those financial events. If one to were forecast a similar scenario, what would the event sequence look like. Someone is waiting for the Empire at the end! “In God We Trust”
Even we Americans know we need to change our unsustainable socioeconomic system but aren’t in rush as the dollar liquidity provides a cushion, until it doesn’t...
Name a nation that is stable, strong and with a sustainable socioeconomic system. Change is the only constant
Posted by: Max | Jun 18 2021 22:31 utc | 96
Thanks, john @24 and Grieved @ 28 for linking to the interview with Dr. Wodarg. The background in the previous bird and swine flu scenarios I could see as precursors to the hype and profitmaking concerns that have been ramped up, but I'm puzzled by his negativity on masks. I can't see how masks would feature as pro-medical mafia, particularly as one can make their own mask, as I did. In fact, antimasking seems helpful to the political agenda for creating fear and uncertainty in the population. It can help, assuredly, if people have the notion that masks aren't effective - they would then seek out a vaccine alternative. So that part of his argument didn't make sense to me. I have my mask when I shop - maybe it is useless as he says, but I rather think it is like taking vitamins, something that can't perhaps be proven, like my netting preventing elephants from invading my garden. But hey, masks make sense to me and this virus is worth masking against, easy enough to do so long as its about.
Nobody's perfect, I guess, and its not really a foundation stone for his other arguments, which are compelling, that 'shock doctrine' techniques are in play. So, thanks again for the link - he's a good man and gives us plenty to think about.
Posted by: juliania | Jun 18 2021 22:32 utc | 97
Biden desperately wants JCPOA "revived" before the new Iranian administration is installed. But in that he faces a huge challenge for many of the illegal sanctions placed on Iran that must be removed before Iran will resume its role in the treaty were placed by Congress and thus must be repealed by that body. And given the very powerful and certainly irrational Hatred/Fear of Iran--which is probably more powerful today than Anti-Communist sentiment--that will be a very difficult political task to accomplish. And the Iranians know that fact. The Iranians understand that the entire culture-based negative outlook toward Iran based on decades of virulent propaganda must be changed within the Outlaw US Empire, which is what it's going to take to get Congress to cancel its illegal sanctions.
To John, I would say it is the most painful thing to be unable to communicate with our children on this matter. Their trust of government entities is a hard one to grapple with - we ourselves when young did not completely trust our parents; it's natural, and the world is an even harsher environment for young folk these days. All I can hope for my own trusting family members is that their good health practices and natural immunity will overcome even these invasions - I pray that for them, and simply caution them with respect to their own children who are now at risk. They weren't around for thalidomide; they don't remember the polio years. They have nothing to compare this to, and all media which has given them a culture to enjoy is now their worst enemy? We appear to them now as fanatics in the face of what they 'know'. Old fogies. (Even if they love us.)
But time will tell. Time WILL tell. So, give your daughter as much support as you can; be there for her. I heard a radio program once that said the good seeds, the ones that have survived, those will outlast the sham ones, and for all the damage the latter have done, there will be a resurgence of natural entities which survive. Life will overcome death; it's nature's way. And already we have those resisting this vaccine-cacaphony who are drawing lines in the sand wherever they are. Change is coming. Hang in there, because you want to be around when it does!
Posted by: juliania | Jun 18 2021 23:47 utc | 99
Mr. by: Max | Jun 18 2021 22:31 utc | 96
There are many such nations: Bhutan, New Zealand, Holland, Switzerland, Norway, Costa Rica, Cuba, Finland .....
Posted by: Fyi | Jun 19 2021 0:06 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
America needs to ratify the verification protocol to the BWC biological weapons convention, so as to prevent next time.
Pros & cons for various interest groups?
Posted by: Imagine | Jun 17 2021 12:24 utc | 1