Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
July 18, 2021
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-055

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

Alan MacLeod @AlanRMacLeod – 10:57 UTC · Jul 18, 2021

Incredible.
Fox News' editors blurred out the signs at what they claimed were "anti-government" demonstrations in Cuba 🇨🇺 because they said things like "Long Live the Cuban Revolution" and "The Streets Belong to the Revolutionaries." 😂
Taking fake news to a whole new level.
Embedded video

And check this: with no notification, the @NyTimes has gone back and stealth edited their original article on the protests.
"Hundreds" nationwide becomes "thousands" in one small town alone!
Pretty sus!

> Although civilian leaders may be accused of having overreached with visions of building Afghanistan into a democracy capable of defending itself, the military eventually embraced that goal. Claims by senior military officers of having “turned a corner” toward success in Afghanistan were repeated so regularly that critics  wondered whether the military was going in circles. <

Has the AP author read MoA?
Nov 28 2017 – Turning The Corner In AfghanistanMoon of Alabama


Other issues:

Covid-19 Delta:

Covid-19 Ivermectin:

Weather:

Use as open thread …

Comments

Norwegian #17
Invoking UK trash MSM for news of German flooding around a German blogsite was my immediate brain fart when I saw that. Thankfully the fart vaporised and I was left deeply foggy.
The severity of the German flooding could be attributed to the peculiar human practice of using engineering solutions to the management of major rivers. When humans ignore the function of flood plains as the means by which excess water can deplete its stored velocity then destruction happens.
The Rhine and other rivers are seen as transport infrastructure, the flood plains as valuable farmland and both managed in that mindset. So levees are built to restrain the flood overflow to protect those farmers and rivers are straightened to improve ease/safety of navigation. Voila! you get velocity and volume surging along a watercourse (no longer a river) and the extreme damage is magnified. The energy depletion that arises from sinusoidal water courses is transformed into battering rams at the bends of straightened rivers.
It is not necessarily climate change but more in the realm of human folly and hubris. Just don’t let these ‘designers’ loose on solutions to climate change, the rivers have spoken.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 19 2021 9:42 utc | 101

Posted by: vk | Jul 18 2021 18:28 utc | 23 — So, not only you have to get vaccinated – you have to be vaccinated with the “correct” vaccine (i.e. a Western pharma vaccine).
Posted by: Mina | Jul 18 2021 18:39 utc | 24 — But in their great kindness, the French are now accepting ppl vaccinated with “the Astra Zeneca serum produced in India”….
But of course, when they are not aiming “rubber-tipped” bullets at citizens’ faces and eyes, the French are super “civilised”, aren’t they?

Posted by: kiwiklown | Jul 19 2021 9:53 utc | 102

migueljose | Jul 19 2021 0:25 utc | 64
A question about Chile.
You from 64; 4. Watch for Bolivia, then Argentina, then Chile (after November elections) and then Venezuela to ally with and enhance Peru’s growth.
****
I came across this from Haaretz (I do not have a subscription – so can only access titles and first paras.)
Communist Party candidate Daniel Jadue ended up garnering barely 40 percent of the vote in the election for leader of the left-wing bloc. He was defeated by Gabriel Boric, a former student leader considered more moderate.
I am always suspicious about elections with “surprise” results when Israel and Palestinian support are in play. (Think Corbyn in UK)
So do you think the vote could have been tampered with? Particularly as the Israelis were “worried” about “anti-semitism”, and using it as an excuse to want their person in place. Jadue is pro-Palestinian.

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 19 2021 10:01 utc | 103

kiwiklown | Jul 19 2021 9:53 utc | 102
Civilization can be described as having good table manners before going out and beating up the neighbours.

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 19 2021 10:06 utc | 104

kiwiklown | Jul 19 2021 9:53 utc | 102
But of course, when they are not aiming “rubber-tipped” bullets at citizens’ faces and eyes, the French are super “civilised”, aren’t they?
I think that Macron is being deliberately divisive. He knows that his chances of winning the next election are being whittled down daily. So his tactic seems to be to divide france into Vax vs. Non-vax plus yellow vests. To put it another way – Those who obey and those won’t. Working on the idea that he can send in his storm troopers to eliminate the smaller “WillNot” and other dissenters before a general uprising happens against muzzle control measures.
So he has set up the situation for the use of force. The time-proved French manner of “winning” an argument.
It is also possible that that “slap” (punch in the face) may have shaken his self-overconfidence up a bit.
******
All we neeed now is to see the “Mini-Napoleon” to march on Russia, before he gets cold feet.

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 19 2021 10:27 utc | 105

Grieved #92

One would only take joy from finding a battle that one believed one could win. These are rare.

Yes, they are indeed rare, but they are sweet. I take whatever chance arises to walk in some of the great forests that I and many others fought hard to remove from the loggers clutches. These magnificent stands of forests and their intense song of the birds and crickets and cicadas, the soft tinkle of streams are truly prizes for all forest walkers to savor. They are the reservoirs of ecosystem complexity and tranquility and chaotic jumbles of fallen branches and leaves and epiphytes feeding the voracious fungi that decompose the ‘litter’ and reward us with colour and form.
One should fight the battles that are meaningful and joyful and that expand the earth but never tackle the futile until the time is right and the force is strong.
Sometimes I take the doubters and the beaten ones to walk with me in these forests and talk to them about how it was done and the names of the ones who came to the fore and took up the challenge and then I explain that with careful design, the building of mass movement, (and serendipity) they too can tackle the monsters in their battles. Just think of the patience of the forests and you get a hint of the patience that must attend a battle. Thats what Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh and so many others had in mind as they grew a revolution and walked to victory.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 19 2021 10:38 utc | 106

Stonebird #105
I suspect Macron will be the first to test the ‘NO vax then NO vote’ trick in an effort to stymie the gilet jaune. Outrageous – yes but then it is France and the state is run by brown shirts as ever.
Every day the freedom to seek natural immunity and remedial medicines is punished by excommunication.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 19 2021 10:45 utc | 107

Any discussion here of Putin’s article about how Ukraine and Russia are just bruthas from a different muthaland?

Posted by: Malchik Ralf | Jul 19 2021 11:03 utc | 108

In Afghanistan the greens are winning:
https://twitter.com/shuixiang32/status/1417028703096238080/photo/1

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 19 2021 11:06 utc | 109

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 19 2021 10:27 utc | 105 — “I think that Macron is being deliberately divisive…. So he has set up the situation for the use of force….”
Exactly how “civilised” leaders in “civilised” nations treat their citizens…. Taunt them into the streets, shoot them in the heads; then say, “…. but those were rubber bullets, no?”
How very, very, very civilised. Just like those “civilised” Israelis aiming for children’s heads.
So unlike those “uncivilised” Chinese using unarmed police with antifa-like Hong Kong rioters.

Posted by: kiwiklown | Jul 19 2021 11:31 utc | 110

Grieved | Jul 19 2021 4:47 utc | 87

And one wonders, as those street criminals in all of our legend work their way into acceptable society, how surprised were they to discover that those who already belonged there were vastly more criminal than they themselves?

There is a quote from good comedy Oscar starring Stallone, oldie but goodie (Stalone is “ex”-mobster in prohibition age):
You come into my house with your fine print and addendums and try to con me out of my dough? Geez, I’m used to dealing with mobsters, bootleggers, and gunzles, but you bankers… are scary.

Posted by: Abe | Jul 19 2021 11:53 utc | 111

Posted by: Hal Duell | Jul 18 2021 18:10 utc | 19
A readily available treatment would undermine the profits of the vaccine producing companies, and it would take the fear out of the fear/control equation.

Any reduction in profit would in turn undermine the excess surplus available to be distributed to the political authorities driving the “fear/control equation”. Political authorities therefore have vested interest in cancelling science, distorting the public debate, and denying civil liberties, where these issues conflict with their own monetary interest in amassing a large re-election war chest.

Posted by: Sushi | Jul 19 2021 12:06 utc | 112

Without first reading replies this morning am going to call bullshit on myself and a previous post.
As far as I can tell the previous record of 353mm rain in 24 in Germany stands. I did see a map showing 1146mm. That map in error, leaving out a decimal point from what should have been 114.6. The heavy rains did take place over a very broad area. Science reporting and especially numerical reporting always queasy. Sorry to have joined that.
Better index would be structures that have been in place hundreds of years damaged and washed away. Built environment that has withstood previous floods doesn’t easily go away in the next flood.
Again, apologies.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jul 19 2021 12:28 utc | 113

@vk 7
It is touchingly naïve how the zoonotic origin is still making the rounds, without any credible evidence. Just like the lab leak BS. It’s like a religion. Good luck with believing…

Posted by: Idiocrates | Jul 19 2021 12:33 utc | 114

It is not just Macron
Vaccine apartheid is the new normal, and the upper class will be grateful to governments for stopping never-ending migrant waves that had for results the rise of AfD, Trump etc. They can keep exploiting the resources of the third world with better sealed borders now that only the upper middle class of the BS countries will be allowed out (tests, vaccinations, on top of passports… QR code and apps needing updates, more difficult to fake).
And no complain from EU and UN at the idea that India, which produces more than half the pills ingested on the planet would be considered as unsafe when it comes for its production of AstraZeneca? Taxpayers money is used to finance Covishield, but the products are to be kept within the third world.
Also, those who think BoJo is making an experiment have not looked at the results of opening clubs in Spain/Italy/Portugal first, then Netherlands, then France. Not to forget football, which already caused the increasing numbers going steadily in the UK for a month. Even Copenhagen is now a cluster, thanks to the success of its football team and the movement of supporters in and out…

Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 12:54 utc | 115

@Paco #93
My view is somewhat different.
There is a killed virus vaccine for COVID in Russia. For me personally, a killed virus vaccine removes most of the potential risk associated with mRNA developed vaccines.
However, if taking this killed virus vaccine does not meet vaccine passport requirements – what exactly is the point?
I am also watching to see how “mixed” vaccines will work. What if you take a J & J as first dose and a Sinopharm as a 2nd? Is it worthless? Is it reduced efficiency? Will you qualify for vaccine passport?
This is a multiple dimension problem, particularly since I am fully expecting another wave as various countries/US states open up.
Where I am – the wild success of the Recall Newsom petition coincided (!) with the removal of pretty much all restrictions this past week. Note that the upcoming 9/14 special recall election will only be the 4th time a gubernatorial recall has successful qualified to be enacted in the entire United States. This will actually be the 2nd recall election in California – the previous one is where Gray Davis wound up getting recalled and eventually replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
View from the ground: While foot traffic is nowhere near where it was pre-COVID, it is 10x more than it was 2 months ago.
I am also seeing fewer and fewer people wearing masks. 6 months ago, it was 90%+. Now it is 50% or less.
Parties have started up again. Bars, clubs etc.
As such, I am fully expecting another wave – smaller than before but still significant.

Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 13:37 utc | 116

Haiti
Paul Jay has a very good interview with Jafrik Ayiti, best yet on Haiti’s history and current situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiQvm4ORqYw

Posted by: migueljose | Jul 19 2021 13:45 utc | 117

I am not a medical professional.
Without a doubt, awareness and use of ivermectin has been suppressed
what other treatments have been suppressed so well that we haven’t even heard of them?
For example:
PEA (palmitoylethanolamide)
could it decimate the Fear Factor?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1098882321000150?via%3Dihub
Micronized / ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) as natural neuroprotector against COVID-19 inflammation
As you are likely aware cytokine storms (runaway inflammation) are significant killers from Covid.
Our bodies naturally produce PEA (palmitoylethanolamide) to mollify inflammation reactions.
I am not a medical professional.
PEA (palmitoylethanolamide) is produced by the body and administration of it shows no side effects.
It has been used for years for treatment of chronic pain.
Micronized PEA is available over-the-counter.
Administration during early onset of Covid, should everyone have this in their personal medicine cabinet?
Or, would it decimate the Fear Factor from Covid and further inhibit acceptance of mRNA vaccines.
I am not promoting PEA. I am asking the question if there are other treatments besides ivermectin
that are being suppressed.
I am not a medical professional.

Posted by: librul | Jul 19 2021 13:48 utc | 118

@c1ue 116
However, if taking this killed virus vaccine does not meet vaccine passport requirements – what exactly is the point?
Very good question, but the answers I think have been available for a while and (for me) they are: make money, more money, create an alternative reality aka decoupling, create dissonance, stoke fear, subdue. All the good stuff!
Some also think (I am no yet there) that we are getting culled – did anyone mention experimental vaccines?

Posted by: Idiocrates | Jul 19 2021 13:56 utc | 119

This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.
“Results Among the 52238 included employees, 1359 (53%) of 2579 previously infected subjects remained unvaccinated, compared with 20804 (42%) of 49659 not previously infected. The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection remained almost zero among previously infected unvaccinated subjects, previously infected subjects who were vaccinated, and previously uninfected subjects who were vaccinated, compared with a steady increase in cumulative incidence among previously uninfected subjects who remained unvaccinated. Not one of the 1359 previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated had a SARS-CoV-2 infection over the duration of the study. In a Cox proportional hazards regression model, after adjusting for the phase of the epidemic, vaccination was associated with a significantly lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among those not previously infected (HR 0.031, 95% CI 0.015 to 0.061) but not among those previously infected (HR 0.313, 95% CI 0 to Infinity).
Conclusions Individuals who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection are unlikely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination, and vaccines can be safely prioritized to those who have not been infected before.”

Necessity of COVID-19 vaccination in previously infected individuals

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 19 2021 13:59 utc | 120

Thanks Bemildred, this is not really news that people who have been infected do not need it, but the question is, why the EU and its supposedly strong healthcare net does NOT make a serology of everyone before vaccination? And why no journalist has asked the authorities the question?
As to the “Russian vaccine being a dead virus/inactivated” please check each vaccine on wiki or anywhere else. Sputnik is also a viral vector vaccine, i.e. an experimental one, like AZ and J and J.From what I gathered, there sole vaccine based on this technology that had been rolled out before was for Ebola. Only some of the Chinese vaccines are based on the inactivated virus.

Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 14:21 utc | 121

Conclusions Individuals who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection are unlikely to benefit from COVID-19 vaccination, and vaccines can be safely prioritized to those who ave not been infected before.
_________________________________________
There have also been studies that suggest that people who have had Covid have worse side effects from the vaccines.

Posted by: jinn | Jul 19 2021 14:23 utc | 122

There have also been studies that suggest that people who have had Covid have worse side effects from the vaccines.
Posted by: jinn | Jul 19 2021 14:23 utc | 122
It would bt surprise me, if that was so.
I would not assume all people with a prior case of COVID will not want vaccination, but no need to panic. If you have vulnerablities, you should think your situation over, your necessary exposures, and whether you can choose your vaccine for yourself or not, the quality of care available to you.
Mostly, I think peoples decisions should be respected. Given due consideration, case by case. THAT is good medicine. If this disease is going to get me, I want it to be my mistake.
And I favor the Chinese approach, stomp it out, wherever you find it, right away. We do know how, we just don’t want to pay.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 19 2021 14:39 utc | 123

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 19 2021 10:01 utc | 103
re Chile’s election
“So do you think the vote could have been tampered with? Particularly as the Israelis were “worried” about “anti-semitism”, and using it as an excuse to want their person in place. Jadue is pro-Palestinian.”
Good question. Here are a few guesses. I think the U.S. Democrat Iowa primary was rigged by Israeli operatives so your question could point to that kind of meddling. One unique dynamic in Latin America is the current emerging of a two-prong power bloc of socialist Marxists and the indigenous first nation families/tribes which has surprised the imperial toadies. Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala are majority native and Bolivia is leading the way in this convergence: president Arce is a university trained intellectual and Marxist/Socialist while vp David Choquehuanca is Aymara, very connected to his people, fluent in Aymara. Both have been friends and comrades in the struggle with Evo Morales since the 1980s. Bolivia is the role model and everyone knows it. Morales is very active and working with Pedro Castillo in Peru who is, IMO, impressive.
Back to Chile. I don’t know if the indigenous/leftist blocks are working together.I think they are trying. Chile has a sizeable minority indigenous nation– the Mapuches. They make up 13% of the population, about the same as the percentage of Blacks in the U.S. I know very little about the Mapuche but from the few posts I have read recently they will be a factor in Chile going forward. Elisa Loncón, a Mapuche woman, is one of the leaders to watch as she heads the group who will put together a draft of Chile’s new constitution. I hope she is like Evo Morales and Pedro Castillo and not like Ecuador’s indigenous pretty boy traitor Yaku Perez.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisa_Lonc%C3%B3n
Stonebird’s question highlights a traditional area of U.S. Zionist actions: Iowa primaries and Ecuador’s latest election show their strength but they are losing in the street as ballot box manipulations and bribes appear unable to keep up with the massive anger and mobilizations.
Chile is on fire. Peru is on fire. Colombia is on fire. Brazil is on fire. All of those countries were supposed to be neolib success stories not too long ago. Not any more.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chileans-Choose-Sichel-and-Boric-as-Presidential-Candidates-20210719-0002.html

Posted by: migueljose | Jul 19 2021 15:18 utc | 124

@ Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 13:37 utc | 116
Sputnik V does not have the dead SARS-CoV-2 (i.e. it is not a “live vaccine”). There are no live vaccines against COVID-19 in existence today.
Live vaccines are indeed risky, and they’re usually only authorized to be given when one travels to a dangerous region (e.g. if you want to travel to the Amazon Rainforest, you have to take the Yellow Fever vaccine, which is a live vaccine and kills one every one hundred patients who take it).
There is zero risk you’re going to develop COVID-19 by taking the Russian or the Chinese vaccines. They use viral vector, not the dead virus.

Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 15:23 utc | 125

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 19 2021 10:38 utc | 106
” Just think of the patience of the forests and you get a hint of the patience that must attend a battle. Thats what Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh and so many others had in mind as they grew a revolution and walked to victory.”
wise words. thank you. The forest can teach us if we are humble and patient enough. It will make us stronger.

Posted by: migueljose | Jul 19 2021 15:32 utc | 126

@ Grieved | Jul 19 2021 6:02 utc | 92
Thanks…We won sometime [need a massive majority]
I just wanted to say that the COVID-19 battle is now unwinnable.
“THEY” succeed in dividing “US”. [MoA is a good example, Saker “full throttle” and so on]
As Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 19 2021 10:27 utc | 105
Agree
Volontary divisive, another “creative chaos”

Posted by: Rêver | Jul 19 2021 15:36 utc | 127

To twist Pink Floyd a little bit: “Are there any unvax’ed people in the theatre tonight? Get them up against the wall!”
In my mind, the vaccines can be safely prioritized to those who otherwise, too, would happily consume GMOs. Also to those who think it’s chic to have non-biodegradable compounds like 2-[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide in your tissue. And those who think it’s worthwhile to check yourself for inexplicable bruises days and weeks after the injection. Because if you do get them, you’re advised to see a doctor. Hm, now did I get this one from bumping into the kitchen table the other day or did it just come out of nowhere?

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Jul 19 2021 15:36 utc | 128

One more for the “uncivilized” series:
What China Expects From Businesses: Total Surrender (NYT)

Unlike regulators in Europe and the U.S., the country is using the guise of antitrust to align tech titans with its priorities, our columnist writes.

Translation: the greatest feature of our (i.e. the “civilized”) regulator agencies is that they don’t work.

Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 15:42 utc | 129

@ Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 14:21 utc | 121
The quid pro quo is that the government is offering the vaccine for free at the point of use, for everybody and in all regions.
You would be right if the vaccine wasn’t universally offered. But, since they are, there’s no reason to prefer treatment if you can have prevention (which is cheaper either way, as it is being offered for free at the point of use). I can’t wrap my mind around the fact people in the West is still advocating for taking Ivermectin/HCQ/etc. every time one shows some symptoms instead of just taking the vaccine for free once in a year – it doesn’t make any sense.
The real problem with Macron’s vaccine passport is that he’s excluding people vaccinated with Russian and Chinese vaccines – vaccines which are not only scientifically proven to work, but are safer, cheaper and overall better than the Western ones. That’s a clear, blatant use of the French governmental machine for commercial warfare purposes. Now, not only the French people will have to take an unnecessary risk with the Western vaccines (which can cause thrombosis, heart problems, transverse myelitis-like inflammation, plus the probable fertility issues related to mRNA technology), they’re paying taxes to protect those very same pharmaceuticals which are unnecessarily putting their lives at risk.

Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 15:49 utc | 130

This bit of news is flying a bit under the radar. The barflies ought to have a whiff. Headline on this Guardian piece is decieving as the real info is concealed in the last paragraph or two.
https://www.theguardian.com/international
Indian government/agencies used Israeli NSO spyware to hack numbers that include the Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s as well as Pakistani diplomats, Kashmiri rebel leaders, and Indian opposition figures. Findings vetted by an NGO and overseen by a group of 16 newspapers.

Posted by: Tranquiloquist | Jul 19 2021 15:49 utc | 131

About the violence of the river… and the delicacy of civilized oppressors

Über die Gewalt
Der reißende Strom wird gewalttätig genannt
Aber das Flußbett, das ihn einengt
Nennt keiner gewalttätig.
Der Sturm, der die Birken biegt
Gilt für gewalttätig
Aber wie ist es mit dem Sturm
Der die Rücken der Straßenarbeiter biegt ?
Berthold Brecht

Posted by: Odenwälder | Jul 19 2021 15:58 utc | 132

vk
sic, inform yourself
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/emea/four-types-covid-19-vaccine-snapshot

Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 16:04 utc | 133

@ VK

"there's no reason to prefer treatment if you can have prevention".


… If ???

Posted by: Rêver | Jul 19 2021 16:06 utc | 134

migueljose @Jul19 13:45 #117
I almost stopped watching at 1:20 when Paul Jay said: “the dictatorship of President Moise .. the hands of the United States and Canada have been ever present”.
In fact, Moise’s actions were entirely consistent with the Haitian Constitution which provides for a 5-year term of office for the President and allows the President to rule by decree in the circumstances that Moise faced (the establishment essentially shut down normal operation of the government to block Moise’s rule.)
This proves that Paul Jay’s principal point – that USA and Canada created a “monster” like Noriega or Hitler – is just bullshit. President Moise is nothing like the thugs he is compared to by the propagandists. That is clear to anyone that bothers to look beyond the establishment narrative (see Al Jazeera interview; and UN speeches: 2017 UNGA2020 UNGA). Smearing Moise as a dictator or wannabe dictator is necessary to undermine support for Moise’s anti-oligarch agenda.
Paul Jay’s narrative is virtually the same as establishment media. Yesterday (Sunday, July18), the New York Times published the following article on it’s front-page: U.S. Habit of Backing Strongman Allies Fed Turmoil in Haiti. When so-called “independent journalists” like Paul Jay mirror the establishment narrative, you know that something is very wrong.
The most interesting point of the video is @40:45 when Paul Jay’s Canadian guest tells us that the biggest arsenal of weapons is held by the oligarchs who also provide weapons to the gangs. This is yet more evidence of what I’ve been saying: Moise was smeared as promoting gang violence but it was the political establishment and the oligarchs that they serve who was really behind the uptick in gang violence.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 19 2021 16:10 utc | 135

Good link VK.
The NYT cannot fathom how the bourgeoisie cannot rule and do whatever it wants in China. Imagine that–the economic life a country should serve a collective purpose for everyone! For the NYT, this is “autocracy” and “total submission” — yawn. China has allowed markets to grow, the law of value operates, wage labor and exploitation exist, inequality rose (but is falling) but market socialism is not a chimera. The state has a collective purpose and is not ruled by capital. This is worth protecting.

Posted by: Prof | Jul 19 2021 16:14 utc | 136

@ Mina | Jul 19 2021 16:04 utc | 133 about commenter vk
Thanks for the correction of our seemingly accepted bar information misleader and ideologue.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 19 2021 16:19 utc | 137

@ Malchik Ralf | Jul 19 2021 11:03 utc | 108… the answer to your question was a few threads back in moa history…. was already discussed.. cheers…

Posted by: james | Jul 19 2021 16:25 utc | 138

@ Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 16:04 utc | 133
“Whole virus” is not live virus.
Sinopharm, Sinovac (also Sputnik V) use human adenovirus as the “whole virus”, not the dead SARS-CoV-2 virus. They are viral vectors, not the real thing itself. Side effects are possible, but you will never develop COVID-19 from them, that’s mathematically impossible.
You cannot develop disease X with the virus of disease Y. That’s a definitional truth. It would be the same as claiming some people may develop AIDS without having the HIV.
–//–
@ Posted by: Rêver | Jul 19 2021 16:06 utc | 134
The argument for HCQ only made some sense when there wasn’t vaccines. In that scenario, any desperate measure made some sense from a game theory perspective.
But, now that all the First World countries are offering their populations vaccines (even if the inferior Western versions) for free at the point of use, it makes no sense to advocate for some kind of miracle pill.
Let’s assume you don’t want to get vaccinated because you believe in freedom and other ideological concepts that makes you hate your own government and want some miracle pill as an alternative solution (HCQ, Ivermectin etc.). Even if they did work, they would be an inferior solution to vaccination, because:
1) you would still have to go to the doctor and do the exams to confirm you have COVID-19 in order to get a prescription for the pill;
2) if you don’t believe in doctors and is advocating for self-medication, you would have to live with a flask of HCQ or Ivermectin in your bathroom or your purse for the rest of your life. You would also have to take the pill every time you have some symptom that could be COVID-19. Not only that’s more dangerous for your health, that’s a less free life than if you had taken the vaccine (which you only need to take once a year);
3) it would be much more expensive: HCQ/Ivermectin would reach status of Aspirin. It would be that extra bill every human on Earth would have to take in their lives, that obligatory flask of pills that would have to be part of every family’s essential drugs (on par with aspirin, cough syrup, paracetamol etc. etc.);
4) rise in consumption would inevitably lead to the pharmaceuticals producing them to control supply and hike up prices. Black market for Ivermectin is already a reality in some Third World countries in which the conspiracy theory gained strength in the face of the absence of vaccines. There are registered cases in Brazil of people losing their livers thanks to HCQ overdose (they erroneously think it creates a “force field” because they don’t know what the meaning of “treatment” is);
5) is is more risky from the purely epidemiological point of view. HCQ/Ivermectin is still a treatment, not a prevention. You would still have to incur the risk of developing the more severe (and lethal) form of COVID-19 on the premise the pill will stop it before it advances to that stage.

Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 16:39 utc | 139

Just in time to wipe Israeli NSO cyber mischief out of the news cycle, the headline story this AM is that the evil communist Chinese are in fact the most notorious hackers up to the highest level, and the 5 Eyes alliance is very very certain about it:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/u-s-u-k-allies-blame-chinese-government-for-microsoft-hack-1.1630444

Posted by: jayc | Jul 19 2021 16:50 utc | 140

vk, Sinovac is NOT a viral vector vaccine.
https://doh.gov.ph/vaccines/know-your-vaccines
(Ask for knowledge, as far as in Philippines)

Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 16:55 utc | 141

@140 There is no need for anyone to worry about the NSO Group. They simply help governments maintain public safety.
https://www.nsogroup.com/

Posted by: dh | Jul 19 2021 16:59 utc | 142

It’s back to the Space Race and its weaponization, which are the twin concerns of this Global Times editorial. But based on our recent examination and further previous assessments here and at his website by Martyanov, does China really have anything to fear? For example, how valid are the assumptions within this paragraph:
“The US has been developing its space situational awareness (SSA) for a long time, which is leading far ahead. With the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, its star wars and anti-missile capabilities are already the strongest across the world. But the US is not satisfied. Its ambition to achieve ‘all-weather, all-dimensional’ information control from outer space to ballistic missiles is turning arms control into formalist attempts. This severely threatens the minimum balance of power needed for global peace.”
Given the latest NATO/Outlaw Anglo Empire behavior, the following policy proposal is advocated:
“China and Russia must strongly oppose the US’ efforts to extend the military competition among major powers into space and oppose its attempts to construct DARC with its allies. China and Russia need to expose the US’ shameless practice to further develop space warfare capabilities by hyping the so-called space threat from China and Russia. If the US adheres to such moves, China and Russia should take countermeasures, in a bid to strategically frustrate the US’ ambitious plan.”
IMO, based on what we know all China and Russia need do is to continue what they’re already doing since they hold the high ground in almost all respects when it comes to capabilities as the assumptions within the first citied paragraph are incorrect such that there’s no need to impose the proposed policy.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 19 2021 17:03 utc | 143

So unlike those “uncivilised” Chinese using unarmed police with antifa-like Hong Kong rioters.
Posted by: kiwiklown | Jul 19 2021 11:31 utc | 110
Oh they were most certainly armed. Just too “uncivilized” to go weapons-free on the antifa rioters.
Translation: the greatest feature of our (i.e. the “civilized”) regulator agencies is that they don’t work.
Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 15:42 utc | 129
They totally work in the west and protect the incumbents by setting artifical hurdles for new entrants.
On top of that the established players in the western private sector will always pay more for people with ways to circumvent and twist the intent of whatever good regulations that’re left. They will always be a few steps ahead than the regulators. Revolving doors will see to that.
China, in its “uncivilized” ways are basically saying no we’re not going to play by your silly rules and fall into the same traps. If it isn’t good for the country, vee will find ways to shaft you, comrades.
Besides, the CPC couldn’t care less that a bunch of (mostly offshore) billionaire investors and funds don’t get their IPO payday.
Modern china’s most valuable commodity going forward is its vast population and market. They’re not going to piss that up the wall.

Posted by: A.L. | Jul 19 2021 17:15 utc | 144

karlof1
My guess is that the US intends putting weapons in space.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/the-pentagons-mysterious-x37b-space-plane-sets-new-orbit-record/news-story/3405beaafbc1e7f4f7e7c709542480a8

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 19 2021 17:25 utc | 145

@Idiocrates #119
I will just note that I have very little to quibble about the vaccine itself – my concern is entirely for the new mRNA production process.
As for culling: I heavily discount that theory.
If they are culling, they are culling primarily their own adherents. The limousine liberal sector is very heavily on board with vaccination – with the holdouts being the ones that were anti-vax to start with.

Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 17:30 utc | 146

@Mina #121
You might note that I never said Sputnik is a killed virus.
There are 5 different vaccines available in Russia right now. 1 is a killed virus, the others are not.

Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 17:31 utc | 147

@vk #125
I don’t see how you go from “killed virus” – which is what I said – to “live virus” – which is what you are alleging.
Nor did I mention the word Sputnik even once.
If you cannot read nor understand what is written, perhaps you should either read again or reflect for some time before posting idiocy.

Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 17:34 utc | 148

vk @ 130

I can’t wrap my mind around the fact people in the West is still advocating for taking Ivermectin/HCQ/etc. every time one shows some symptoms instead of just taking the vaccine for free once in a year – it doesn’t make any sense.

Yet in the very next paragraph you write:

Now, not only the French people will have to take an unnecessary risk with the Western vaccines (which can cause thrombosis, heart problems, transverse myelitis-like inflammation, plus the probable fertility issues related to mRNA technology), they’re paying taxes to protect those very same pharmaceuticals which are unnecessarily putting their lives at risk.

You are trying to have your cake and eat it too.

Posted by: Down South | Jul 19 2021 17:36 utc | 149

@Bemildred #120
The preprint doesn’t actually say how many people, overall, got COVID during the study.
That is actually rather important.
How many cases of COVID in the vaccinated?
How many cases of COVID in the unvaccinated but no previous COVID?
All they say is that people who have COVID didn’t get it. So what? Maybe there were very few cases, period among the study group.

Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 17:37 utc | 150

Relevant to my comment about Haiti @Jul19 16:10 #135
Caitlin Johnstone: “We’ve Got To Fight Disinformation,” Says Empire Made Entirely Of Disinformation
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 19 2021 17:46 utc | 151

@ Posted by: Down South | Jul 19 2021 17:36 utc | 149
The Western vaccines are risky (and much more expensive) in relation to the Russian and Chinese vaccines, but safe (and cheaper) in relation to taking HCQ/Ivermectin to the alleged necessary dosage required to treat COVID-19. Simple logic, actually.

Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 18:33 utc | 152

Those loyal to President Moise’s anti-oligarch agenda have been fighting to retain power.
Official: Haiti’s interim prime minister to step down

“I present my compliments to the Haitian people who have shown political maturity in the face of what can be considered a coup. … Our Haitian brothers gave peace a chance, while leaving the possibility that the truth could one day be restored,” Henry said.
. . .
The political turnover followed a statement Saturday from a key group of international diplomats that appeared to snub Joseph as it called for the creation of “a consensual and inclusive government.”
“To this end, it strongly encourages the designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry to continue the mission entrusted to him to form such a government,” the statement from the Core Group said.
The Core Group is composed of ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the U.S., France, the European Union and representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
Monique Clesca, a Haitian writer, activist and former U.N. official, said she doesn’t anticipate any changes under Henry, whom she expects to carry on Moïse’s legacy.
. . .
The Core Group statement was issued hours after Moïse’s wife, Martine, arrived in Haiti on Saturday aboard a private jet clad in black and wearing a bulletproof vest after being released from a hospital in Miami. She has not issued a statement or spoken publicly since her return to Haiti …
Moïse designated Henry as prime minister shortly before he was killed, but he had not been sworn in. The neurosurgeon was previously minister of social affairs and interior minister. He has belonged to several political parties including Inite, which was founded by former President René Préval.

Note: Moise was killed on the day that Henry was to be sworn in as Prime Minister. Soon after Moise’s assassination, Joseph was chosen by Party cronies as the “Interim Prime Minister” and he immediately asked USA to intervene.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 19 2021 18:44 utc | 153

Peter AU1 @145–
China just launched and landed its own “space plane”, but said:
“While no images or further details were revealed, the flight soon prompted waves of attention among curious netizens. However, responding to their curiosity, the administration only said, kind of proudly, ‘This is too advanced to be put on display.'”
Further comment was given by Song Zhongping, “a space analyst and TV commentator”:
“‘The most remarkable highlight of this mission is the craft’s reusability, since it has verified a number of breakthroughs in materials and technologies that are required in developing a carrier capable of returning safely to the Earth,’ Song said.
“Technologies required for reusable suborbital spaceflights are even more demanding, as the spacecraft had experienced both the environment in space and that under the Earth’s atmospheric influence.
“‘China’s mastery of the technologies will greatly boost the research into space planes, having laid a solid foundation for developing one of our own in the future,’ Song said.”
So it appears China now has a workable space shuttle. As with others, I’m curious as to its appearance.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 19 2021 18:48 utc | 154

@ Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 16:55 utc | 141
Then I must have a problem in translation. In my mother tongue, we usually equate the inactive virus with live vaccine. If memory doesn’t fail me, Sinovac uses a human adenovirus.
Either way, the very source you mention states the Sputnik V is viral vector. So it is not just the case that Europe is afraid of inactive virus vaccine (which is the most consolidated technology either way).

Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 18:55 utc | 155

@154 Cont’d–
China also used its Chang’e 5 lunar probe to “hybridize” rice seed which is now producing its first crop. A curious experiment whose outcomes will become interesting reading.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 19 2021 18:57 utc | 156

Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 17:37 utc | 150
The preprint doesn’t actually say how many people, overall, got COVID during the study.
That is actually rather important.
How many cases of COVID in the vaccinated?
How many cases of COVID in the unvaccinated but no previous COVID?
All they say is that people who have COVID didn’t get it. So what? Maybe there were very few cases, period among the study group.
Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 17:37 utc | 150
Well, it’s not random in the first place, is it? Why bother? It’s an ad hoc study to look at observed results among a bunch of health care workers in s psrticular organization. No it doesn’t prove anything. I don’t think that was the point. I’m certainly not going to argue that it does.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 19 2021 19:13 utc | 157

vk @ 152

Simple logic, actually.

If only.
HCQ has been prescribed for decades in Africa for malaria. It has an extensive track record that is well documented. It was first used in the US in 1955 and is on the .WHO’s list of essential medicines. It is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and porphyria cutanea tarda.
It only got a bad rep after a concerted propaganda campaign against it by Big Pharma after Trump promoted its use as an early treatment for COVID-19 threatening the vast profits vaccine manufacturers and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were expecting to make in the race for the vaccine, HCQ is so cheap to make that Sandoz pledged to donate a total of 130 million doses to help combat Covid-19.
Compare that to an experimental mRNA vaccine with no track record to speak of where the manufacturer imposes a Non Disclosure Agreement with each country before they allow distribution of their vaccines. If they are as safe as you say, why the secrecy? What is there to hide?

Posted by: Down South | Jul 19 2021 19:15 utc | 158

migueljose | Jul 19 2021 15:18 utc | 124
Thanks a lot. So there is to be a “generational change” in Chile? Interesting times lie ahead
*******
Karlofi@154
Chinese space shuttle? Whatever next, reusable rockets? “Calling a certain Mr. Musk.”

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 19 2021 19:31 utc | 159


A lot of pissed off media people will try to get back at NSO Group …
Posted by: b | Jul 18 2021 16:46 utc | 11

DW News is reporting the NSO Group shenanigans and the “Israeli” source thereof.
Also re: ‘surprise’ floods…
DW is reporting that there is no co-ordinated system of weather warnings in Germany. i.e. plenty of (more than enough) official and semi-official orgs with partial roles to play, but no overarching system of CONTROL +/or responsibility/authority.
Fortunately, it should be easy to fix now that the cause has been identified (interim Turf War skirmishes aside).

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jul 19 2021 19:38 utc | 160

Stonebird @159
Yes, reusable rockets. The test from a couple days ago was actually not a spaceplane but a booster that takes off vertically and lands horizontally. It is suborbital. It is intended to be the first stage for a spaceplane system. The spaceplane that goes with it was tested last September by launching atop a regular expendable booster. That too was a huge success that got its designers all excited.
The spaceplane that was tested in September is roughly comparable to the US X-37B in size and capabilities, with the difference, of course, that it is designed to work with a reusable fly-back booster instead of an expendable one. As well, where t US X-37B is the finished product, the fully reusable spaceplane system that this latest test by China shows is in its late stages of development is itself just a testbed for a much larger system to follow.
This isn’t to say that a small spaceplane with room for five or ten passengers won’t be put into production by the Chinese based on this system because such a vehicle would still be extremely useful. The important point is that their plans are much bigger.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 19 2021 20:15 utc | 161

@Bemildred #157
There’s nothing wrong with having all the members of a specific company/health care group/hospital as subject for a study.
Yes, these members are not going to be representative of the population overall, but that’s fine so long as this is clear (which it is).
However, the selective disclosure of study data is a very different matter. This is more in line with how pharma companies attempt to manipulate drug trial results.
I’m not saying that is what is happening here – merely that the lack of overall data makes the pre-print paper of limited credibility even over and above any other issues.

Posted by: c1ue | Jul 19 2021 20:16 utc | 162

Not too long ago, I cited and linked to a source that termed Financial Capitalism the epitome of Fascism. Today, I again cite Dr. Hudson saying the same thing during the most recent interview posted to his website:
“Jussi: When we look at the economy today, it seems like it’s very, narrowed down to individual agents and how to optimize, maximize their profits or whatever you would call it. But in a society, you actually have relations with others also, so is there a difference between how the classical economists view society and how the neoclassical views it?
“Hudson: Sure. They’re diametric opposites. Neoliberalism is really not individualism, because it ends up destroying individual choice. It’s an anti-government policy. What they call individualism is getting rid of government controls. They don’t want governments to have the power to tax rentiers. They don’t want government to have the power to regulate the banks. Let the banks decide what to make money on, and let them decide who’s going to administer the Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank and other government agencies. This is a travesty of individualism. It’s dictatorialism. That used to be called fascism a century ago.
“A financially centralized economy creates an oligarchy and denies 99 percent of the population a voice in policymaking. That’s euphemized as individualism, but it’s fascism basically. The idea is to prevent government from doing anything that does not favor the FIRE sector and the monopolies that it creates.” [My Emphasis]
This ultimately results in the following:
“That [all income is earned income] means that all wealth is earned, and wealthy people are not the parasites that classical economics depicted them as being. The pretense is that they’re productive people, as if the world could hardly exist without banks and landlords to manage it. They now call themselves the ‘meritocracy.’ It’s as if the host needs the parasite, because neoliberal economies are all about the parasites, even if they kill the host. So basically you have a predatory economics using a rhetoric designed to distract attention from what Adam Smith and the classical free market economists were actually talking about.” [My Emphasis]
As we know, Fascism cannot exist without employing the Big Lie on a massive scale to manufacture consent for policies inimical to the masses. So you have a political party touting itself as supportive of the masses while it actually works to rob them and their state of all wealth and gets away with that due to its alliance with Big Media. Thus, Big Media is also Fascist, as is the entire FIRE sector essentially, although one can find a few honest actors. For Dr. Hudson, myself and others, what becomes essential if Financial Fascism is to be defeated is the masses need to know there IS and alternative to Thatcher’s TINA:
If you don’t teach the history of economic thought anymore, and if you don’t teach economic history in the economics curriculum, how are people to know that there is an alternative and that things don’t need to be this way? The economy doesn’t have to suffer from debt deflation. It doesn’t have to go into debt to get an education. You don’t have to go bankrupt to pay your medical bills. You don’t have to save up your pensions by investing in companies that are trying to cut your wages.
“There’s no real economic discussion of how economies actually work. Instead, you have a parallel universe of how a hypothetical economy would work in a completely different world – a world in which governments don’t exist, in which bankers are very productive and help the economy grow. The bankers, landlords and monopolists are depicted as the most productive organizers of society, trying to protect labor and industry from intrusive governments and taxes.
The proper role of the state is to minimize rentier income and prevent a rentier-oligarchy.” [My Emphasis]
And the role of Neoliberal governments as exemplified by Pinochet:
“To disappear and relinquish its power to the banks and the One Percent. The only role of government is to do what it did in Rome: to assassinate popular leaders who advocating cancelling the debts or redistributing the land. The role of the state for neoliberals is to protect the oligarchy from the people, to prevent real economic democracy and roll back everything that the 19th century was fighting for: creating a parliamentary democracy in order to free economies from the rentiers. You roll back reforms. Essentially they want neo-feudalism, so we don’t have to call it fascism. We can call it neo-feudalism. They want to put things the way they were back in the 12th century.” [My Emphasis]
All that’s within the first third of the linked interview. A great many get confused over the term economic rent, and here Dr. Hudson provides one of his clearest explanatory examples:
“Classical economics said that we pay many prices way over what the value of things are, and the difference is economic rent. It’s okay for people to pay the cost of construction, building a house or producing a commodity. But if you have to pay interest and all sorts of financial charges and rent extraction on top of this, that’s not value, that’s empty price, that’s price without value. That’s what economic rent is. So that really should be the key focus of economic reform and for thinking about how economies work.” [My Emphasis]
And as usual, there’s so much more to read and learn–no matter how much Dr. Hudson I read, I always learn something, which of course is why I read him.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 19 2021 20:53 utc | 163

Surging U.S. drone prices show how America First is backfiring

The Trumpian ban was intended to force the U.S. to manufacture its own, which has been subsequently embraced by the Biden administration which has continued to champion Trump’s anti-China and protectionist overtures. Congress is further advancing legislation to cement these drone bans.
However, a report today in the Financial Times reveals this policy has in fact been of a massive detriment to the government. It found that in manufacturing drones within the U.S., the cost of doing so was not only an estimated 8-14 times more expensive, but in addition had a reported 95 percent less efficiency in censors, making it an all-round less desirable product than the Chinese counterpart they had banned. This reveals the self-defeating and punishing logic of U.S. anti-China protectionist policy, of which is attempting to force changes in manufacturing against market dynamics. Given these policies are not about to stop, Americans better get used to it.

Posted by: vk | Jul 19 2021 21:11 utc | 164

William Gruff @161–
Thanks for providing Stonebird with that further explanation.
I find it curious for China to see the need to engage in a discussion topic that includes Community Regeneration. It soon becomes clear that the Community consists of humanity: “Climate Change, Global Crises, and Community Regeneration. Yet the title one sees in the listing is “China-USA in the new Cold War.” At the link is one of what’s supposed to be a series of Dr. Hudson lectures, this being #1, where I’m still trying to locate the remainder.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 19 2021 21:43 utc | 165

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jul 19 2021 1:36 utc | 71
Let me help with that. I too am away from my usual home. I posted here recently on the book ‘Murdoch’s Pirates’ by Neil Chenoweth, a multi award AFR journalist. This book is mind blowing and detailed in [alleged] blatant criminal activity. Perhaps that it is ‘unavailable at the detestable Amazon, I bet some strings were pulled for that. However the book is available on Australian bookseller BOOKTOPIA, they ship to Aotearoa. News Corp did not take legal action against the author or publisher.

Posted by: Paul | Jul 19 2021 22:22 utc | 167

karlf1 #163
Thank you for the Hudson link and your extract. His clear voice has refined over the past few years and he is an excellent historian. And yes, ‘The proper role of the state is to minimize rentier income and prevent a rentier-oligarchy’ – China seems to have stopped short of ‘prevention’ but insists on a short leash. Perhaps that is good enough when the state is strong and its support base enormous. In the USA the state is weak and the support base is continuously subjected to fragmentation attacks through the fascist media.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 19 2021 22:24 utc | 168

Paul #167
Thank you for that book reference. You reminded me of the recent expose of the UK health minister’s demise as a result of Murdoch publishing the video from within his office. Did the UK ever bother to consider the security parameters of Murdoch getting his hands on internal security material or would that have been viewed as unnecessary?

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 19 2021 22:31 utc | 169

John Cleary @166–
Thanks for providing that link back to your initial comment as I mostly missed that thread.
uncle tungsten @168–
Thanks for your reply! People nowadays usually hear the term Populist used as a negative as the Establishment Narrative seeks to delegitimize any resistance to its rule. As some understand, Marxism was to culminate in what ought to be described as a Populist government as it aims at first serving the needs of its citizenry, including their development, which also means providing security for those pursuits from internal and external threats. Putin’s conferences with members of Russia’s government continually supplies examples of what that entails that can be used as benchmark comparisons with other governments. Today’s meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and National Projects provides such an example. Putin begins with the following:
“In May 2018, we outlined the key areas of our work until the middle of this decade, and last year, in July 2020, we extended our planning horizon to 2030. The decision was made considering the speed and scale of social, economic and technological transformation happening in Russia and the world in general.
“Our country must not only respond to these challenges but be the leader of global changes. We have everything to become one. We need to set and solve everyday tasks, which build up, and remember systemwide tasks as well, as they both create the canvas of long-term development.
“Certainly, the aftermath and challenges of the pandemic require certain adjustments to certain plans, but again, this does not mean that we are changing our strategy. On the contrary, the responsibility of authorities at all levels is to speed up the pace of work and stay committed to our priorities while making tangible changes happen.
“I would like everybody to note that the programme we are implementing received public support during the 2018 presidential election. Therefore, it must be finished, no question about it. Our citizens’ expectations are justified.” [My Emphasis]
Also note the USSR vestige that mimics current Chinese practice of long term planned development. Oh I do wish the transcript contained the entire discussion as much more could be learned. But for the primary purpose of seeing the fundamental difference between a populist/collectivist government versus the Neoliberal government’s goals outlined by Hudson @163, this document works quite well. Some will reply saying that it’s a Russian election year, and Putin’s just trying to buy votes for his party. My rebuttal would be that Putin’s been consistent in his populist message since 2014, Maidan, the Coup, and first round of illegal sanctions, while increasing his emphasis on family wellbeing in 2017 that’s escalated every year since. Putin’s smeared as working for the Kleptocrats because he’s fundamentally a man-of-the-people who tirelessly works for the people’s interest, does it very well, and is thus the bane of all Neoliberals and their orcs.
It would be great if China’s government was as English language friendly when it comes to its government’s proceedings so they could be reported on and shown to be populist/collectivist in their nature and thus negate the totalitarianism smear. The White Papers, Global Times, People’s Daily, and Xinhuanet are important but are not sufficient for those of us unable to read or listen to Chinese.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 19 2021 23:17 utc | 170

Very related to Putin’s activity noted @170 is this Anti-Republican Party jab by D-Party shill Robert Reich:
“The Republican Party Is an Enemy to American Families: Mike Lee’s Republican Party—the putative party of ‘family values’—doesn’t support needy families.”
I’m sure it wouldn’t take very long to dig up plenty of facts saying the same about the D-Party beginning with Clinton in 1993. It would be very refreshing to read Reich saying that both the Ds & Rs are Neoliberal parties that care nada for the hoi polloi and aim to serve the interest of their Donor Class, which is the crux of the matter. Since Reich’s screed centers on Child Poverty, which is of course caused by Family Poverty, we should recall that China has eliminated that very scourge from its society. But there’s not one word about China’s accomplishment along with some angry motivating language saying We Must Do Better than China that would be the proper level of shaming for both parties. Rather, we’re treated to the usual partisan attack saying it’s all the Rs fault that does zero to solve the issue and only serves to prolong it. Now I’m all for pointing-out the R-Party’s inhumanity, but the damned reality is the Ds are no better. And by omitting that fact turns what might have been a good essay into yet another piece of partisan trash.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 19 2021 23:42 utc | 171

I haven’t read to the end of the thread yet so this may be redundant.
@ Posted by: Mina | Jul 19 2021 14:21 utc | 121
There are now three covid vaccines produced in Russia. The most recent, CoviVac, is

“what’s known as a whole virus vaccine — it includes the spike proteins on the outside of the viral envelope (its shell, as it were) and its genetic material on the inside. It’s quite a common form of vaccine.
“In the case of CoviVac, the virus has been inactivated so that its genetic material cannot infect cells or replicate but can still trigger an immune response.
“The Chumakov Center says the vaccine can be stored at temperatures between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (35-46 degrees Fahrenheit), which would make it suitable for transportation without deep refrigeration, as required for some other vaccines.
“It has been reported by the Russian TASS news agency that CoviVac may be suited as a “secondary immunization” or booster. It may also be good for people with chronic diseases and older people, as its side effects are said to be less noticeable than those of other vaccines.
“The Russian researchers say that because CoviVac is based on the whole virus, it will be effective against most variants or mutations. “

https://www.dw.com/en/two-more-russian-vaccines-what-we-do-and-dont-know/a-56811025

Posted by: suzan | Jul 20 2021 0:04 utc | 172

Good news for Germany:
Reuters: US and Germany reach agreement on Nord Stream 2
A rare permission by the Empire conceded to a province. Just don’t except another one for the next 100 years.

Posted by: vk | Jul 20 2021 0:22 utc | 173

karlof1 #170
Quoting Putin:

“I would like everybody to note that the programme we are implementing received public support during the 2018 presidential election. Therefore, it must be finished, no question about it. Our citizens’ expectations are justified.”

He speaks the essence of democracy – our citizens expectations. Exactly that.
Once a small collective of wags who were totally tired of the neoliberal management BS adapted their system and applied it to every elected party member in our region. It comprised an evaluation scorecard against every party policy and election platform manifesto. It included requests for citations of parliamentary speaches consistent or contradictory to the manifesto. We distributed this to each branch member throughout the region and invited them to evaluate their elected official against this volume of Key Performance Indicators and reply to our branch and we would post the result on our web page.
This was not received well by the party state office or the elected members.
It precisely conformed to the party and election manifesto and was entirely consistent with the promises made by the Premier and Ministers as they set out on their tasks in the new government. It would have been the type of ‘stuff’ the corporatist management consultants would be delivering had they been lucratively contracted to perform.
The reaction was extreme, the threats risible and severe at the same time. They were all published. A small change happened. Then the branch was dissolved and everyone observed the slap of fascism. I have enjoyed other such examples of holding power accountable. Its the merry prankster in me. There was bit of drinking and laughter to celebrate our successful model and the demise of a few elected piggies.
What Putin is doing is showing an accountable style of democracy and I venture to say that he would be finished if he did not take this approach as the Russian people have traversed promising and at times rough terrain to arrive where they are. Putin presents as accountable and sincere and so builds respect and so holds the party electoral base together. Surrounding him are like minds with commitment to their responsibility. Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation seems likewise dedicated: http://premier.gov.ru/en/events/

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 20 2021 0:49 utc | 174

Erdoghan said this – he really did!!
GEROMAN thinks he should consider what Turkey is doing in Syria
I wonder when Turkey will end its occupation of Armenian lands.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 20 2021 3:15 utc | 175

Trick question…
Every other day since 911, the cabal keep warning about the danger of moslem terrorism to FUKUS,
How come it IS the Chinese who have been dying like flies at the hand of said terrorists in Afpak, the stans, Afrcia, SEA,….?
when was the last time you heard about a gringo targeted by AQ, TTP, ISIS, the caliphate ….????

TTP’s double-face is evident from the fact that since the return of their captured leader Baitullah Meshud from GITMO, and his creation of the TTP, the TTP has invoked an undeclared Jehad against the Chinese, attacking them every now and then, whereas not a single American asset has been hit in Pakistan nor in Afghanistan.

[1]
Lots of people were scratching their heads over Bush’s release of Abdulah Mehsud from gitmo.
Didnt Bush, Cheney called Mehsud and his colleagues most dangerous hombres ?
Turns out they had a special college in gitmo, nick named Penny Lane, where dangerous anti gringo jihadists were reprogrammed into CIA controlled bounty hunters doing FUKUS bidding,

Abdullah was later named as the commander of Al Qaeda-affiliated militants who ordered his band of subordinate fighters to kidnap two Chinese engineers (one was killed during a rescue attempt gone bad).
The Afghan Taliban were displeased with the incident and reportedly booted Abdullah Mehsud out. They were also suspicious of his activities since he was mysteriously released by the US military “crusaders” from Guantanamo.

[2]
no wonder gitmo is still up for biz inspite of promises promises to close it down.
hehehhe
[1]
https://www.pakistankakhudahafiz.com/10-tourist-killed-ttp-miscreance-exposed/
[2]
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/abdullah-mehsud-cia-and-the-orgins-of-ttp.489681/
PS
Too many bozo,
Too little time,.

Posted by: denk | Jul 20 2021 3:51 utc | 176

“Gen. Tariq Khan, ex Head Pakistan’s Central Command and Frontier Corps that defeated Pakistani Taliban (TTP) in a provocative interview… ”
Rather entertaining at times, if you ask me:
“Terrorism will only go away if all intelligence agencies are ended”
Answering the last question, he claims that Taliban now is emptying all vehichles going into Kabul for fuel, and otherwise stopping transport of fuel into the city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb8hMrqBXP4

Posted by: Cunctator | Jul 20 2021 4:09 utc | 177

@ denk… good stuff.. keep it up.. thanks…

Posted by: james | Jul 20 2021 4:14 utc | 178

james 178
Glad to know, thanks.
Btw in an earlier thread my reply to Grief was hold up by the spam filter,
hope he saw that.
Also thanks to b for providing this
invaluable platform.
Be back

Posted by: denk | Jul 20 2021 5:45 utc | 179

Barflies may make of this as they wish, warning Covid alert for the uninterested:
https://www.wa.gov.au/search-results.html?q=Public%20health%20act%202016#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=Public%20health%20act%202016&gsc.page=1
This is scary.

Posted by: Paul | Jul 20 2021 5:51 utc | 180

Thank you Susan.
I am surprised no one is discussing viral vectors vaccines. Some people are sceptical about those too (Raoult recommended the Chinese, classical, inactivated one, and said he is now happy that Sanofi and the Chinese have struck a deal together because according to him Sanofi has some of the best adjuvants on the market).
Someone here had posted a link to Gamaleya about the thromboses effect of AZ and interesting details were provided about production methods that could account or Sputnik being safer. The big unknown here is J&J but it seems that in the EU at least the one distributed is produced locally, after the repeated problems at the US factory.

Posted by: Mina | Jul 20 2021 7:45 utc | 181

William Gruff | Jul 19 2021 20:15 utc | 161
Thank you very much for the precisions.
I note that the Chinese have plans, as do the Russians, for all the next steps in any direction. While in the EU we (actually they, as I have nothing to do with it) are only “reactive”.
The ESA and launchers seem to have been “defunded” and the US is still trying to catch up in many fields. (See Gordogs earlier commentaries)
***
One thing of note is that they are also building the necessary infrastructures for a big leap forward in Xinjang areas. Or at least that is how I estimate that all those windfarms, Oil producing areas (power supplies) will be used. You lose Electricity when transported over long distances, so logically the use will primarily be closer to the source.

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 20 2021 8:29 utc | 182

Pedro Castillo the new Peruvian president. Peru is a big and important country, congratulations IberoAmérica, a big step towards independence.

Posted by: Paco | Jul 20 2021 9:27 utc | 183

More new/old news, the US to buy more Russian rocket engines:
https://gl-news.com/news/the-usa-wants-to-buy-new-rocket-engines-from-russia/
But the news as published by the captive MSM is how nice it will be to do space tourism, with the billionare wankers taking selfies at the border of space.
Here is no evil Google’s take on imported rocket engines, intimating they say:
The United States is buying Russian rocket engines not because of any problems with its domestic engine engineering programmes, but to subsidize Russian rocket scientists and to prevent them from seeking employment in Iran or North Korea, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno has intimated.
Decadence is evident when hypocrisy is normal.

Posted by: Paco | Jul 20 2021 10:18 utc | 184

That should have been:
the US to buy more SOVIET rocket engines
Te evil empire never dies.

Posted by: Paco | Jul 20 2021 10:29 utc | 185

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jul 20 2021 3:15 utc | 175
I haven’t found a Turkish reference to this. I wouldn’t trust a Reuter’s translation. However, Erdoğan does have rather odd ideas. This one seems a bit far fetched though, given that even Erdoğan must realize the the Taliban are Afghanis.
His hypocrisy here would be clearer in reference to Syria, where Turkey occupies part of a UN recognized state. Most of ancient Armenian lands were absorbed by the Eastern Roman Empire(Byzantine)long before the Ottoman’s (and others) took them from the Byzantines, though lesser Armenia, 800 or so years ago in Cilicia, was taken by the Selcuk Turks, I believe, and then absorbed by the Ottomans.
Erdoğan claims the occupation of Syria is temporary, but, unless forced out by circumstances, his temporary could be somewhat permanent, in his mind, given that he does not recoginize the legitimate government of Assad.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 20 2021 12:47 utc | 186

Various posts above.
Part of the hypocrisy of vaccine fascism in the West is not just not recognizing Chinese and Russian vaccines, but also not recognizing that those who have previously had COVID, also have as much, if not more, immunity to the disease as provided by the vaccines themselves.
As I understand it, these people who have such immunity are also being coerced into getting a vaccine in the West. This makes very clear what the agendas of these governments are, and it is not the health of their citizens.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 20 2021 12:56 utc | 187

Will Martine Moise run for President of Haiti?
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 20 2021 14:00 utc | 188

Cuban Remittances it has become an Urban Myth the the Evil Castro’s inhale money sent into Cuba with the same relish as smoke from a delicious Habanos.

Biden, “We would not do that now because the fact is it’s highly likely the regime would confiscate those remittances or big chunks of it.”

The only reference to an actual tax I have found, and it was hard to dig up, was the Cuban govt charging 10% for U.S. dollar transactions. Does anyone have any updated information on how much money actually gets to the relative? This is knowable.
A Cuban expat in the U.S. sends $300 to relative in Cuba.
At some point the the relative can talk to them on a cell phone (very hard to monitor). So we must know.
It is telling that FOX spends no effort to find actual Cubans have have sent or received remittances but gives us the regime change answer anyway.

Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Jul 20 2021 14:08 utc | 189

@189 Good Question. It would be interesting to know how the money is sent. I assume cash through the mail is not an option so it must go through a bank at some point. Or could it be credited to a credit card account and thence to an ATM. Are there ATMs in Cuba? Lian?

Posted by: dh | Jul 20 2021 15:16 utc | 190

@187 Blue Dotterel
Yes, as I’ve seen other scientists confirm, natural immunity from having recovered from the disease is the absolute best form of immunity.
I’m on ivermectin – which as all of us know (except the willfully ignorant) does act as a preventive, not just as a treatment. But it’s true that I’ll never get natural immunity that way.
And if we are going to live in an age of plagues – and the masters of Fort Detrick and Gilead seem bent on that course – maybe it’s time to fight back with a resistant body.
Just a stray thought at the moment. Still pondering that one.

Posted by: Grieved | Jul 20 2021 15:21 utc | 191

’Catastrophically worse’: Scale of India’s Covid-19 deaths 10 times higher than officially reported – study
If true, that would be the worst humanitarian catastrophe in India since Churchill’s genocide of the Bengali.

Posted by: vk | Jul 20 2021 15:46 utc | 192

Posted by: Grieved | Jul 20 2021 15:21 utc | 191
Also, to mitigate the effects of the disease, a proper well-balanced diet would be necessary and some exercise. I am not in N. America, so I did have a shot of Sinovac in the early spring, but that Monday afternoon sitting outside, I got a chill from not wearing sufficient clothing for the weather, or so I thought.
The next day, I had difficulty with some tiredness and a developing bronchial cough (I had the same some 7 years previously). This continued through the weak, no doubt exsacerbated by my continuing to work (online, not in person).
On the weekend, ı visited the local hospital in the small town, and had a PCR, chest ex-ray, and blood test. I did not get the results, but the young doctor diagnosed COVID and put me on a five day treatment of favacovir, an antibiotic and cough suppressant.
I continued working, but by the end of the five days felt much better, though it took a few more days to completely get rid of the cough and feel more energetic (when not at the computer, I was in bed). A later x-ray showed no issues, so that is that.
What I find odd is that the bronchial cough I had in the spring 7 years ago lasted for two months, so was much “worse” than this one. I hadn’t had it since until this spring. So, I am not wholly convinced it was COVID rather than something else. If it was, it was pretty mild, considering I probably made it worse by working through it, something I would not have done if my work was not all online, and mostly at my own time.
I will get another Sinovac shot in a few weeks.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 20 2021 16:26 utc | 193

Posted by: vk | Jul 20 2021 15:46 utc | 192
Given the relative poverty in India, as well as the “over-stretched health services, it wouldn’t be too surprising that a pandemic disease would make it worse than in wealthier countries with better health services.
As for the numbers, who knows? It doesn’t seem there is much consistency in the way numbers related to COVID are tabulated across or within countries.

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 20 2021 16:36 utc | 194

The transcript my comment @170 is based on is now complete, so I’ll add the following:
It is possible to say without any exaggeration that we must put our hearts into what we are doing, not just spend funds, time and efforts. It is necessary to work not just for appearances’ sake or a report, but for the people and in the name of the people. Each project or initiative we suggest must meet the needs and interests of our people. To achieve this, we must conduct a respectful conversation with our people and listen to their proposals and critical remarks, getting what is called feedback.
Let me repeat that our task is to let Russian families feel tangible, positive changes in their life, see how the social sphere is improving in reality rather than on paper, that the number of environmental problems is going down, poverty and inequality are falling, whereas the life span and real incomes are increasing.
“The robust positive dynamics of these integral indicators must become obvious proof of Russia’s growing wealth and the high quality of work that we are doing. People should be able to perceive all these changes in practical terms in their life
.” [My Emphasis]
Pardon me, but those are the words of a Populist Collectivist Democrat that IMO Marx would admire. No Western government has that sort of governance priority or philosophy, and none want any form of “feedback,” which IMO is the essence of a collectivist democracy.
/////
Here we have a curious op/ed related to Putin’s “Civilizational Essay” that makes an interesting proposal in its introduction and thesis:
“In recent years, Vladimir Putin has mentioned several times the ideas of Lev Gumilev – one of the fathers of modern Eurasianism – in the context of the roles of civilization and cultural factors in Russian domestic politics.
“In an article ostensibly about Ukraine, published last week, the Russian president expanded Gumilev’s initial argument, outlining what we might now call Putin’s Civilizational Doctrine in International Relations.
“Before analyzing this doctrine’s key points and potential international consequences, let me take a step back to briefly trace its roots. Why Gumilev, and why now?”
The writer calls Putin a “conservative,” but IMO that label is incorrect–I see Putin as a Progressive Nationalist Collectivist, which is as close to being a political unicorn as possible. Unfortunately, the writer doesn’t consider the remainder of Russia as he mentions only its European core, whereas today Putin publicly acknowledged Russia’s diversity:
“At the end, of course, I would like to wish all of us success, but I cannot but mention one more thing. It so happens that this year our country is celebrating the air festival, MAKS-2021, and yet another festival – I will speak about it shortly – practically at the same time. I am referring to the festival celebrated by a considerable number of Russian citizens – Muslims. Today, they have one of their principal religious festivals, Eid al-Adha.
I would like to note that approximately 15–20 percent of Muslims are employed in aviation and the aircraft industry. Our major, leading engine- and aircraft-building companies operate in predominantly Muslim-populated regions of the Russian Federation. There are many people who are celebrating this double festival among pilots and airmen as well.
“I would like to take this occasion to extend my best wishes to all of them on this.” [My Emphasis]
There are a great many Russians who aren’t connected to its European core that must be included in any Russian Civilizational Model. In the same speech I just cited, Putin mentions the partnership with Kazakhstan, which was once the Central Asian core of the Russian Empire but is now independent, although a large percentage of Kazakhs are Muslim and non-Muslim Russian speakers (and the same can be said about the other Central Asian ‘Stans).
Russia is getting an opportunity few nations ever get–the chance to remake itself, and I see that process occurring in a very rational yet dynamic manner. Eventually the West will rue what it did to Russia post 1991 as it sinks into stasis and worse. Until the West stops lying to itself about Russia and China and about itself the gap between them will continue to grow as the former rise while the latter sinks.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 20 2021 17:15 utc | 195

Paco @183–
Yes, excellent news! Rob Ridenour provides a short recap and reports on some of the Fujimoris’s–father and daughter–crimes. Unfortunately as reflected in the election results, there’re a very large number of radical-right supporters in need of conversion which the new government’s policies need to address. Now to run Bolsonaro out of Brazil.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 20 2021 17:58 utc | 196

Now the antithesis; The US version of karlof1 | Jul 20 2021 17:15 utc | 195, post on Putin and Russian Governmental theory.
Why give it all to the Corporations? (By Jonathan Turley)
https://jonathanturley.org/2021/07/19/the-shadow-state-embracing-corporations-as-surrogates-for-government-action/
“The political convenience of relying on corporate controls is most evident in the support for a massive system of corporate-based speech controls now implanted in the United States.”
Here he is talking mainly about media and censorship, but you have to remember that Corporate “Governance” has been the dream of the filthy rich for a long time.
Part of which were the various “trade” deals that would have taken supremacy both over normal ” local Laws” and over individual National legislatures. TPP, TTIP, TISA, CETA. Via the ISDN and 3 person “arbitration” courts consisting of people drawn from 15 (mainly) US Legal groups specializing in Corporate Law – as “judges”.*1* These are already used in certain cases where the Corporations are claiming the equivalent of what they WOULD have made as profits when stopped by “local” (native?) National interests. (Spain). The Original EU constitution was threatened with the same thing in the numerous “addena” proposed. (Add in various other “arbitration courts ie against Russian interests)
You already know the biggest Corporate takeover of a Government function……The Federal Reserve.
I am not sure we shouldn’t also consider the Pentagon as a “Corporation” because of it’s revolving-door ties to Industry. (plus Oil theft and other sidelines)- CIA and other Intelligence Agencies are not really under Government supervision, and the CIA is a drug dealing major anyway.
****
These are my “candidates for the “Deep State” that are taking over in Europe and the US.
****
*1* You, or your Governement could not appeal these arbitration panels, whose deliberations were secret, and absolute. Any other interest groups (ie. against pollution, or against Corporate behaviour – Monsanto/Beyer) were to be excluded right from the beginning.

Posted by: Stonebird | Jul 20 2021 18:38 utc | 197

Stonebird @198–
Thanks for your input!! You’ll recall my introducing the concept of a political-economic group I termed Anti-Human, which when you deeply study history can be recognized as having existed for many centuries, so the concept’s coinage might be new but its essentials are very old. Hudson talks of it all the time but never uses my phraseology, although he writes of its evils. Several author/activists have written works with the concept implied in their titles: Profit Over People and The Race to the Bottom. When David Korten’s book When Corporations Rule the World was published, I bought it and recognized he was essentially describing the new Fascism but without the detail Hudson included in his Super Imperialism and later essays where the Financialists are the true long term Anti-Human group that must be separated from run-of-the-mill industrialists who are also capable of being socialists.
IMO, if the current level of indoctrination and maleducation continue in the West, the global society will become bifurcated into one part that knows what’s actually happening to the other part while that latter part has no clue as to what’s real/true–a reversal of what was postulated during the Cold War. Yes, my opinion’s influenced by Die scheinheilige Supermacht: Warum wir aus dem Schatten der USA heraustreten müssen (or The Sanctimonious Superpower: why we need to step out of the US shadow) I reported on at the latest China thread.
The Outlaw Anglo Empire long ago modeled itself on Rome, its Empire and its Evil Class War of Oligarchs–that Age’s Anti-Human group–versus its own and other peoples. What it’s done over the centuries is the exact inverse of those values it touts.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 20 2021 19:23 utc | 198

“The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.”
~ Lord Acton
[John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton] (1834-1902), First Baron Acton of Aldenham

Posted by: John Cleary | Jul 20 2021 19:52 utc | 199

I scream, you scream …
… yet Israeli tyranny continues.
Israel vows to ‘act aggressively’ against Ben & Jerry’s

Israel’s prime minister vowed Tuesday to “act aggressively” against the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling its ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories, as the country’s ambassador to the U.S. urged dozens of state governors to punish the company under anti-boycott laws.
In Monday’s announcement, Ben & Jerry’s said it would stop selling ice cream in the occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem. The company, known for its social activism, said such sales were “inconsistent with our values.”

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 20 2021 20:41 utc | 200