The MoA Week In Review - OT 2021-064
Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:
It was a week where the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan overshadowed everything else. That is okay as huge consequneces will flow from these events.
- August 16 - Afghanistan - Chaos Pictures Increase Fallout From U.S. Defeat
Related:
- America leaves Afghanistan, and the regional geopolitics take over - Graham E. Fuller(!) / RSC
- AB INITIO: AFGHANISTAN - Patrick Armstrong
- Video: Disaster at Kabul Airport One, two
sayed salahuddin @sayedsalahuddin - 11:59 UTC · 22 Aug 2021
Almost all parts of Afghanistan enjoying peace for a week now after over 42 years of war, but Kabul airport has become the most violent part.
- August 17 - Afghanistan - Taliban Press Conference Notes
Related:
- Transcript of Taliban’s first news conference in Kabul - Al Jazeerah
- The Taleban’s rise to power: As the US prepared for peace, the Taleban prepared for war - AAN - Recommended Longread
- August 18 - Afghanistan - What Will Happen Next? A Provisional Government And A New Constitution.
Related:
- The Ides of August - Sarah Chayes
- Reflections on Events in Afghanistan - 5. Putin: Taliban is the reality - Indian Punchline
- Afghanistan Faces Economic Shock as Sanctions Replace Foreign Aid - New York Times
- August 20 - Britain Wants A Rerun Of The War On Afghanistan
- August 20 - Afghanistan - The New 'Northern Alliance' Resistance Has Already Fallen Apart
Some haggling seems to continue today but the outcome is assured.
---
Other issues:
Lebanon:
- 'Hell on earth': Lebanon unlivable as crisis deepens - AFP
- Hezbollah arranges Iranian fuel for Lebanon - Reuters
- CIA director was traveling in Middle East when Kabul fell - Axios
- Lebanon is under maximum pressure, and the target is Hezbollah: Iran sends its support - Elijah Magnier
Covid-19:
Science:
- The animal origin of SARS-CoV-2 - Science
- The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review (Full text) - Cell
- New SARS-CoV-2 variants have changed the pandemic. What will the virus do next? - Kai Kupferschmidt / Science
Vaccination / Breakthroughs:
- Alarmist reporting hides Covid vaccine success - Asia Times
- Israeli doctors find severe COVID-19 breakthrough cases mostly in older, sicker patients - Reuters
- How many COVID-19 vaccines has Oregon administered? -
In Oregon, 2.644.163 people or 62% of the state has received at least one dose.
Overall, 2.411.737 people or 57% of Oregon's population has been fully vaccinated.
<bigger
Big question:
- What to Do? – The European Dilemma - Patrick Armstrong / SCF
Use as open thread ....
Posted by b on August 22, 2021 at 13:47 UTC | Permalink
next page »'We Will Get You Home', Biden Tells Americans In Kabul And Vows To Help Afghan Allies
vs.
American mom trapped by Taliban describes horrific violence, pleads for Biden to solve evacuation crisis
FIRST ON FOX: An American mom trapped in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is worried she'll never see her kids again and in hiding with family members and Afghan allies – unable to reach Kabul's U.S.-held airport for a chance at an evacuation, she said Saturday.
"I really have given up hope, given up on the hope of going to the airport," the woman, whose identity is being withheld due to concerns for her safety, told Fox News. "It’s just not possible to make it through all those people."
She said there are as many as 20 Taliban checkpoints between her and the airport – and she’s one of an uncertain number of American citizens trapped behind enemy lines. . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Aug 22 2021 14:12 utc | 2
When will other occupied suzerainties ask Imperialist forces to leave?
The Taliban has been fighting the Imperial forces since their occupation started. However, people in Germany, Japan, South Korea,… that have been occupied by the Imperialists over many decades do nothing. Aren’t they democracy? What does it tell about these SUZERAINTIES? What percentage of their transactions are in Imperialist’s currencies? Are you okay with imperialism? Imperialists go back!
Name a democracy that isn’t a suzerainty.
Will Afghanistan’s fiasco create any wave of change?
Posted by: Max | Aug 22 2021 14:23 utc | 3
Bringing the discussion here from the collapse-thread:
Bidens 'at least we got Bin Laden' justification for the war; does it work? Does any one care? I mean it was ten years ago...
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Aug 22 2021 14:25 utc | 4
The 'Global Elites' project of 'Global Governance' has been discussed, on an on-going basis on Moon of Alabama, both in posts and in comments, including many of my own comments. To recall, the 'Global Elites', (the core group of which are the powers behind such organizations as the Bilderberg Group, the Council On Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, Tavistock Institute, the IMF, the BIS, World Bank, the UN, etc.) are trying to create a 'Global Empire' based on governance through Global Institutions. 'Full Spectrum Dominance', the Middle-East Wars, Color Revolutions, the Climate Crisis and now the 'Great Reset' are all elements of this project. One must remember that the core objective of this project is to subordinate all nation-states to these 'Global Institutions' (and indeed degrade the very idea of a 'nation-state'), which are largely based in Europe. Opposing this project have been the 'Multi-Polar World Order' led by Russia and China, and nationalists and populists in Western countries, such as Trump, Orban, Yellow-Vests, Brexiteers, etc.
It looks to me that there has now been a split in the ranks of the 'Global Elites' themselves. It appears that a section of the American financial elite, whose business is primarily U.S.-centric but who supported the Global Empire project under the illusion that this would be an American Empire, have finally understood that the 'Global Empire' project was something different and that the U.S. was destined to be just another colony of this Global Empire, whose sovereignty and wealth would be stripped away by the 'Global Elites'.
It appears that the split came this spring when it was realized that the 'Global Elites', in pursuit of their goals, were willing to sacrifice the U.S. by drawing it into a war against Russia that it could not win. It also appears that, as Tom Luongo explains, the 'Global Elites' were at the same time moving to transfer control over the global financial system from the U.S. Federal Reserve to global institutions based in Europe.
A key date that demonstrates this split was June 16. This was the day that Biden met Putin in Geneva, and, according to Luongo (https://tomluongo.me/2021/08/20/the-fed-says-let-me-squeeze-your-dollars-5-basis-points-at-a-time/), 'While that was happening the FOMC met and reversed the flow of dollars globally'.
The Biden/Putin summit appeared, at the time, to be completely out of character for the 'Global Elites' and their operatives (the U.S. Deep State including the State Department, CIA, parts of the military leadership, NATO, the EU) of whom it was assumed that Biden was a puppet. And indeed, these 'Globalist' elements have been trying to sabotage the results of the summit ever since.
Biden's decision to pull the U.S. military out of Afghanistan, appears to have a similar character to the summit, i.e. out of character for the 'Global Elites' and opposed by their operatives including the U.S. Deep State, NATO, the EU, Britain. A split in the ranks of the 'Global Elites', as discussed above, would explain the anarchic situation on the ground in Afghanistan and the seeming incapability of the US to deal with it. The fact that CNN is now turning on Biden also supports the thesis of such a split.
It looks like the position of these US-centric financial elites is moving closer to what Trump's position was, i.e.: abandon the idea of global empire, prevent, if possible, the economic and societal collapse of the U.S., and prevent the U.S.' main competitor, China, from achieving global preeminence.
But how did these US-centric financial elites manage to flip Biden? One can only assume that they made him an offer that he couldn't refuse.
Posted by: dh-mtl | Aug 22 2021 14:28 utc | 5
As an American it is difficult to feel sorry for other Americans "stuck" in Afghanistan. They are either military, contractors or government of some stripe. In all cases they were paid well for the risk they knew they were taking on.Nobody ended up there by accident.
Posted by: SwissArmyMan | Aug 22 2021 14:29 utc | 6
I tried to post this today at NC.
The site won't allow it. They have a strange cents of news.
Posted by: jo6pac | Aug 22 2021 14:35 utc | 7
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Aug 22 2021 14:25 utc | 4
My two cents - if there had ever been any evidence of:
1. Osama's involvement in 911
2. Osama's death as the US described it
then perhaps the 'war' was justified. But as those two things have never materialized we can only assume, much like Pandemic 2020, 911 was/is a mass psychological warfare operation to advance the dated imperial agenda outlined then at the Project for a New American Century, and now the 'new normal' of the World Economic Forum.
Posted by: gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 14:35 utc | 8
As a civil war in Lebanon looks more and more likely, I think it's important to note that this was kicked off by the explosion in Beriut's port which I have always contended was SABOTAGE (not bomb, missile, or accident).
Hezebollah has warned the West not to interfere with the Iranian shipment of oil. What happens if Lebanon authorities try to seize the Iranian oil (for any number of reasons)?
Just now: Lebanon raises fuel prices by 66% as it tries to ease shortages
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 22 2021 14:54 utc | 9
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 22 2021 14:54 utc | 10
I dunno about a civil war in Lebanon. Who's going to fight who for what? As long as the West insists upon a solution which is Israel-friendly, nobody is going anywhere. The country is not free to choose.
Posted by: Laguerre | Aug 22 2021 15:28 utc | 10
The rise of the alt-right and the death of Western science: the case of Ivermectin amid the COVID-19 pandemic:
Mississippi officials warn against using ivermectin for COVID-19 amid spike in poisonings
FDA warns against using animal parasite medicine as at-home COVID-19 treatment
The scenario is the same as always: alt-right leadership preach for Ivermectin (before it was HCQ) while taking the ultra-expensive Regeneron behind the scenes to treat themselves. It's like the Confederacy: officially, they were defending the slaveowners; in practice, the big slaveowners were sending the small slaveowners to die for them in the trenches of the Tennessee and Virginia.
--//--
Good news:
Chinese-made vaccines very effective for fully vaccinated people in tackling Delta variant: study
China has already inoculated 1.93 billion doses. 1 billion more to go.
--//--
Recommended read for this weekend:
--//--
Afghans like to deal with China, will never count on 'evil' US, says Afghan businessman
"Many of these people have never left Afghanistan and have no idea what the outside world is. They think that the US or Europe are paradises," he said. "I have been to over 60 countries and regions including the US and Canada. I know they will not be welcomed in these countries. Locals will look down on them and consider them parasites."
That's the ugly truth: for First Worlders, Third Worlders are merely vermin to be used to clean their floor. China and Vietnam realized that, and did the right thing.
The rest of the Third World has a clear choice: either rise in a wave of communist revolutions, or be condemned to the status of subhumans for the rest of their and their children's existence.
--//--
USA throws Germany under the bus with a WaPo journalist:
Germany stumbles in late efforts to rescue Afghan support staff, by Loveday Morris
This came out one day after Germany/EU officially claimed the deadline for evacuation imposed by the USA was "impossible".
--//--
Bingo:
We [the USA] Weren’t Happy Before the Pandemic, Either
The narrative that misery was born like a Greek goddess when the COVID-19 pandemic started is pure petty bourgeois propaganda.
--//--
The Taliban has a sense of humor:
Fox News was all over the place with this photo, probably to try to induce the USA to go back to Afghanistan. That won't happen, because the USA was militarily defeated, there was never any withdrawal/pullout.
--//--
--//--
Too much denial:
CBS accused of eco-overreach after claiming CLIMATE CHANGE ‘helped strengthen’ Taliban
I've never seen the American people so inconsolable before. If their mothers had died tragically, it wouldn't be that much grief. Didn't imagine a defeat in godforsaken Afghanistan would be so devastating.
--//--
August 17th marked the 110th birth of legendary grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik - USSR's first great sports achievement. Here's a photo gallery for the occasion published by RT Russia:
Первый советский чемпион: 110 лет назад родился легендарный шахматист Михаил Ботвинник
@12 vk - re: China vaxx
That is super interesting ... per article, single dose vs Delta very low vs symptomatic infection, double dose very high effect.
Since you follow this closely, did you see a recent report of Chinese daily or weekly vaccine and testing numbers? Thanks
Posted by: ptb | Aug 22 2021 15:40 utc | 12
Biden's MEGA Debacle
What is to be done?
Distraction Time!
Watch out!
What could knock this MEGA Debacle
off the front pages and headline?
The attention span of Americans is as fleeting as a finger-scroll.
Someone somewhere is addressing this issue, planning a distraction.
Watch out!
Posted by: librul | Aug 22 2021 15:59 utc | 13
gottlieb @9:
What I meant was: regardless of what actually happened; the propaganda stunt of trying to claim success by pointing to an execution ten years ago -- can it work? To me it seems far fetched.
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Aug 22 2021 16:00 utc | 14
“A Big Money Funneling Operation” — Afghanistan Vet Reflects On Withdrawal Of US Forces (Michael Tracey, July 13, 2021)
Posted by: S | Aug 22 2021 16:06 utc | 15
Very good question:
Remember Mao’s famine, forget Churchill’s racism: how the West colonised Asian minds
And to make things even worse, the Great Leap Forward wasn't even Mao's decision, but a wrong assessment by the Politburo over the excess of confidence of the Chinese peasantry after the great recovery of agricultural output since the foundation of the PRC. And the result was unexpected (because, had the peasantry been able to keep up, it would be a monumental success, therefore it was a "high risk, high reward" situation from a game theory point of view).
Churchill's genocide was entirely on his own, the result entirely predicted and intended. It's his signature there, for everybody to see. He killed, cold blooded, 4.3 million Bengali.
@Posted by: librul | Aug 22 2021 15:59 utc | 14
Not the Onion
They could "discover" an old Bin Laden communication:
"Bin Laden discussed a Nuclear Weapon"
(or dirty bomb as plan B)
Something! With the imminent 20th anniversary of 9/11 they have to distract the American people with something.
Posted by: librul | Aug 22 2021 16:13 utc | 18
@Norwegian | Aug 22 2021 16:11 utc | 18
Sorry, my mistake, I meant to agree 100% with
@gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 14:35 utc | 9
However, dh-mtl | Aug 22 2021 14:28 utc | 5 provides very interesting thoughts as well!
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 22 2021 16:14 utc | 19
@Jörgen Hassler | Aug 22 2021 16:00 utc | 15
The population will believe anything without evidence, the last year has shown it.
However, even if many believe fact-less lies, it does not become the truth.
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 22 2021 16:17 utc | 20
Has the Dollar Empire given up the dream of a global empire?
Haven’t seen strong signals to conclude “yes.”
What is the national hierarchy in the Financial Empire?
The Financial Empire is a global debt based financial system administered by the City of London and Wall Street, and enabled by NATO & Six Eyes (Five Eyes [USA+UK+Aus+Can+NZ] + Israel)?
The Global Financial Empire's hierarchical structure looks like the following:
– Core: SIX Eyes - English Union, huge debt generators, negative trade balance (U$A, UK)
– Conquered: EU/Germany,.., Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea – Debt distributors, positive trade balance (supporting the US$)
– Capital Rich: Russia, China, Brazil, Africa, Iran, ME – (Resource/Asset rich)
– Circumference countries: ROW
The U$A is the top management layer, CEO/CFO. It has a board seat. Why is it creating lots of IOUs?
Please look at the Dollar Empire’s key players in the treasury bond market.
Who are the sophisticated investors that are buying NEGATIVE “real” yields?
Who bought the $5 Trillion piled on the Monstrous U$A National Debt in 15 Months?
The Financial Titanic (Dollar Empire) is taking water (Debt) at an exponential rate. This is UNSUSTAINABLE. Are Americans sleeping or having fun while music is playing?
The average age of a global reserve currency is 94 years (80-110). It is said the US$ started on its reserve trajectory in 1921.
When will this Financial Titanic break?
Posted by: Max | Aug 22 2021 16:18 utc | 21
Many thanks to b for the coverage he has provided this week of Afghanistan concerns, and for this Sunday tabulation of readings. His first link to the Responsible Statecraft site is a must read. The map is very helpful, having states and cities in an unusual configuration, very interesting that, especially (for me) the location of Islamabad. And this description of the importance of Pakistan in the overall new adjustments that will be forthcoming:
... Pakistan’s western neighbor — India — poses the greatest strategic threat to Islamabad. Pakistan cannot tolerate unfriendly powers on both borders. It will do whatever it takes to maintain decent working relations with Kabul. And, of course, China has Pakistan’s back as a key link in the Eurasian Belt and Road Initiative. Pakistan must also be attentive to the Pashtun character of the Taliban movement; after all, there are more Pashtuns in eastern Pakistan than there are in Afghanistan itself...
[When I was in highschool in New Zealand, my father took off for a tour of duty with the UN, monitoring the then ongoing separations between Pakistani and Indian families in the Kashmir region. We children at home knew nothing of the agony and disruptions happening back then, only that Srinagar was an amazingly beautiful place.]
Posted by: juliania | Aug 22 2021 16:33 utc | 22
Jörgen Hassler @15
gotcha - sorry if my first response seemed a knee-jerk thingy - so to answer your question in the spirit it's asked:
agree with you 100%. Most folks moved on from Afghanistan in disgust BEFORE Osama was allegedly taken out, so I don't see how pointing to "See, see it was all worth cuz we got the bad guy" can possibly resonate with anyone under 85. peace.
Posted by: gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 16:33 utc | 23
The largest man made megalith in the world is found in Yangshan in China, weighing more than 16 thousand tons. It has clear similarities with megaliths in Petra/Jordan, Baalbek/Lebanon and similar sites in India and Italy. Most interestingly, there are toolmarks in all these sites that closely resemble toolmarks from modern mining machines.
Video in English from China
Tool Marks on Yangshan Monument Match Modern Machine Marks
It is very difficult to avoid the idea that the ancient toolmarks resulted from machinery similar to our modern machinery, and by implication an ancient advanced civilization must have existed long before the start of our civilization ~4000 BC.
Yangshan is not the only incredible megalithic site in China, there is also the Longyou caves, which was discovered in 1992, and required removal of 1 million cubic metres of stone. It has extensive regular toolmarks which look like toolmarks from machinery:
Longyou Caves: Created by a Lost Ancient Civilization with Machines?
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 22 2021 16:43 utc | 24
vk @ 12
I like the idea that the Chinese are not using Mnra and are using an inactivated virus but why would I believe the party's organ? It is sort of like me believing WAPO or the NYT.
Of course, the NYT says the opposite. I would tend to believe their vaccine has less side effects and it is a real vaccine not a medical treatment like the Wests shots.
When everyone is not to be believed what should one do? Stand back and watch the show, stay healthy, and let this thing blow over.
Posted by: circumspect | Aug 22 2021 16:45 utc | 25
@Posted by: gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 16:33 utc | 24
You asked:
" I don't see how pointing to "See, see it was all worth cuz we got the bad guy" can possibly resonate with anyone under 85"
Perhaps we should ask, How can they get it to resonate?
They want to, for sure, no doubt. Will they act? Likely. What will they do?
See my @14 and @19
Posted by: librul | Aug 22 2021 16:46 utc | 26
Russia has been betrayed by the U$A in 1917, 1947, 1991, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2020...? “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
What evidence/signals supports the viewpoint of a thaw in relationship between Russia and the U$A?
The following developments invalid the “thaw” viewpoint and expose it as a ruse & propaganda:
– Russia has de-dollarized its long term holdings after the summit
– It is leading and trading in Non-$ currencies
– It is strengthening its relationships with China and the EU
– Biden administration continues its sanctions against Russia policies
– Biden administration introduced stringent requirements on Nord Stream 2 in its agreement with Germany
– The Empire is still pursuing regime change in Belarus and Russia’s neighborhood
“Russia won’t tolerate the post-Cold War global system dominated by a single leader. That type of world order has never been acceptable for Russia. Maybe someone likes it and wants to live under a pseudo-occupation, but we won’t put up with it.”
- Vladimir Putin
One can’t fool all the people all the time.
Posted by: Max | Aug 22 2021 16:47 utc | 27
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 22 2021 16:43 utc | 25
Indeed, Humans, as we are constituted, go back a couple hundred thousand years. But we only made civilization a few thousand years ago? Please. Who knows how many times we've been destroyed by the cometary cosmos, planetary belches, or ourselves?
Thanks for the interesting topic.
Posted by: gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 16:51 utc | 28
thanks b.... the focus on afganistan has been great and warranted.... i wonder if laguerre will contribute to moa now? lol...
i want to highlight @ dh-mtl | Aug 22 2021 14:28 utc | 5 post... while it is hard to know and speculative, i think there is some merit to his speculation... in fact, if one reads @patrick armstrongs article at the bottom of b's post, one could conclude just how important and central finance is to all of this... and yes @ max addresses this too... it is hard to discuss it in the specifics as the specifics have been intentionally left out and / or obfuscated... it is like talking about a shadow some see, but no one can put their hands on the one casting the shadow... and this does go into the topic of covid and the lockdowns as well in so far as one wonders how much of this is about financial repositioning or a game of really high stakes on the open seas where they are figuring out how to screw the little people royally... and of course there is the royal family - uk and uk having pulled out of the european project.... finances seem so central to all of this...
Posted by: james | Aug 22 2021 16:59 utc | 29
@ Posted by: circumspect | Aug 22 2021 16:45 utc | 26
mRNA was never really a thing. It requires -70°C (and that's the limit, ideally, it should be -90°C or even lower than that) freezers to adequately storage - something only the top hospitals of the world have - and they require 50lbs dry ice per container to transport (export). There was never any perspective for Pfizer, Moderna et al to ever conquer the entire market for the COVID-19 vaccine, it was never realistically considered by the Third World countries.
What I think happened was that, since Dr. Fauci is a major stakeholder of Moderna, there was a push for the technology in the USA. Also, since the mRNA technology is still experimental, it is easier to patent and thus to extract monopoly rent from its commercialization.
My bet is that Pfizer and Moderna have the perspective to monopolize the First World markets only (specially the USA one, by far the biggest), while the Third World will essentially take the normal, Chinese vaccines. For that, the main enemy of Pfizer and Moderna is AstraZeneca, not Gamaleya or Sinopharm and Sinovac.
The elites from some pro-USA Third World countries tried to defame the Chinese and Russian vaccines while propping up the American ones, but, eventually, reality imposed itself on their delusions and the Chinese vaccines took over.
I would also recommend the link to the Indian punchline site for a brief analysis of the Putin/Merkel press conference on Friday, along with that of Biden on Saturday. (I hope to be able to visit both soon). Here is a quote:
...Putin refused to discuss the US’ defeat in the war, saying, “concentrating on it for too long, emphasising this failure does not serve our interests.” Putin sounded cautiously optimistic about western opinion leaning toward dealings with Taliban-led Islamic Emirate. Russia probably senses that the US-Taliban direct contacts are assuming a constructive spirit...
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Posted by: juliania | Aug 22 2021 17:10 utc | 31
Some are astonished that the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan is stating that negotiating with the new at powr there is going on easier than with the previous adminsitration...
Well, according to the images at hand, the multitidinary crowded encounters enjoy quite more order, respect in keeping silent while listening to others, and lack of usual unpoliteness than any of our Western parliaments where the unwillingness and inability for doing anything on behalf of the good for the people is compensated by a lot of name calling, hysteric outburt and performances, and empty noise, so as to keep the population shocked and confused enough so that they do not stop thinking to realize it is all theater to cover the fact they are all doing nothing with their taxes except conspiring to crush them ans use them as canon fodder on behalf of foreign powers who always remain safe at the other side of the Atlantic...
https://twitter.com/Natsecjeff/status/1429049951766687759
Posted by: Asha K. | Aug 22 2021 17:15 utc | 32
About "The European Dilemma".
The problem with Europe is that the endgame of the whole European project was to create a superpower that could compete on equal terms against the USA after the creation of the Euro. The European elites theorized that the Euro would quickly rise and supplant the USD, thus resulting into some kind of "prodigal son" scenario, where Western Civilization (and, with it, Western supremacy) would peacefully come back to its homeland from exile in North America. I remember this debate vividly, because that's one of the first subjects I followed carefully when I started to get interested in politics.
Obviously, that's not what happened. The Euro never came close to being a competitor against the USD. Most of Euro international transactions still only happen between the EU members, i.e. the Euro never really internationalized. To make things worse, the EU suffered even more than the USA with the financial crisis of 2008. It was clear that the USA was the ceiling for the West. Nowadays, the EU is essentially japanified, i.e. mired in perpetual stagnation, interrupted by some double-dip recessions here and there. It is in a "waiting for Godot" mode. Godot will come sooner.
My expectations is that Europe will continue to slowly degenerate, to the point where it will become, geopolitically, the western version of SE Asia (although it will still have more prestige than SE Asia because it has two nuclear powers - UK and France). They will try to survive until China (i.e. communism) collapses, I think that's the "strategy".
@gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 16:51 utc | 29
Yes, it is becoming clear that at least once before an advanced human civilization existed with world wide reach, the megalithic sites found in increasing numbers around the world is telling us that. But current cultural traits such as "US exceptionalism" stand in the way of mainstream acceptance, as the current dogma can't accept anyone to be as advanced as the "west", now or in the past.
I believe it is almost established that the civilization before our own was destroyed by the comet impact that hit North America ~12800 years ago (more precisely the Laurentide ice sheet over present day Michigan), as witnessed by the Carolina Bays on the US east coast (secondary ice boulder impacts). This caused extinction of the megafauna in the US and in my opinion caused unimaginable large tsunamis across the Atlantic wiping out civilization there. We have only a faded memory of this in the form of the biblical floods.
Could there have been several prior civilizations interrupted by extinction events? I think that is indeed possible, but I prefer to focus on the hard evidence that there was at least one civilization before us, and such evidence is massive and growing. It also has implications for the present times.
I don't know, but it would not be surprising if the Buddhas of Bamiyan that the Taliban blew up in 2001 turns out to be much older than the 600 AD as claimed by conventional historians using carbon dating (there is no way to carbon date stone).
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 22 2021 17:22 utc | 34
After reading that transcript from the Taliban’s press conference, I have to disagree with everyone who claims that the Taliban are being state-managed by Russia and China. Only another follower of Islam could have that kind of influence over this group. Yes, they do appear to be carefully scripted by someone with international PR and diplomatic saavy, but it has to be someone who is Muslim. In that GrayZone interview with Pepe Escobar, posted by migueljose, Escobar claims the Taliban are under the influence of Mohammed bin Zayed, who is the mentor of Mohammed bin Salman.
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Aug 22 2021 17:25 utc | 35
Babylon Bee made a hilarious video on supposedly hateful white men
Posted by: Down South | Aug 22 2021 17:25 utc | 36
VK @31:
I think the vast sums of money thrown at Moderna and the buying of Biontechs variant also was an attempt to become leader in a cutting edge technology, something the US of olden days used to be.
If other vaccines turn out to be just as effective, it will be a great loss of prestige. And probably money to, as they are a lot cheaper, and 'the sky is the limit' pricing for pharmaceuticals only works in the US.
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Aug 22 2021 17:36 utc | 37
Reading Magnier, the position of Israel and its western backers is that sanctions relief and renewal of the nuclear deal with Iran is not currently possible as “lifting the maximum pressure means that all the previous US efforts to curb Iran’s will and progress are due to fail just when the results of these sanctions are turning in favour of the US in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.” But this has always been the thinking - that the opponents need just one further kick and they will collapse - and it has been consistently wrong and has consistently resulted in the “Axis of Resistance” widening its influence and expanding its military deterrent. Leaving aside the long-term viability of the criminal US policy of enforcing economic sieges on Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, the developing game of “chicken” regarding the Iranian fuel vessel steaming to a Syrian port looks like a flash point and crisis enabler waiting to blow.
Posted by: jayc | Aug 22 2021 17:40 utc | 38
Ah, the Western center-left and its incurable Orientalism Syndrome:
Labour says PPE contracts must not go to Xinjiang firms that use forced workers
Interesting interview with Dmitry Orlov on collapse both USSR and US
01:01:34 long.
KunstlerCast 348 Revisiting “Reinventing Collapse” with Dmitry Orlov
Posted by: Down South | Aug 22 2021 18:04 utc | 40
@35 The statues were partially made from organic material, wood and straw. They were dated using organic evidence found in the rubble.
Posted by: dh | Aug 22 2021 18:13 utc | 41
dh-mtl @ 5 says: The core objective of Global Governance has been to subordinate all nation-states to 'Global Institutions' Opposing Global Governance has been the 'Multi-Polar World Order' led by Russia, China, nationalists and populists in Western countries, such as Trump, Orban, Yellow-Vests, Brexiteers, etc.
max @ 22 asks: has the Dollar Empire given up the dream of a global empire?
Constitutional Federalism ("we the few, own and control everything you the masses will need therefore you must do as we say) reveals it took the British just 12 years to reclaim ownership of America (The new American Democracy was defeated by the wealthy and powerful ex British Aristocrats in 1788)." Regime Change by the ex-British Colonial Aristocracy upended American independence (1788). Regime change replaced the Articles of Confederation with the constitution. Ratification described in Article VII of the Philadelphia constitution reads:
<= "The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the Same."
So ratification was not put to a vote of the People? In fact most of the people did not notice that the Articles of confederation(1776-7) had been replaced by the Constitution of the USA(1788), because the name of both governments was the same.
The people's problem with federalism materialized into the southern states (1865) waring against the federalist constitutional government. In that war Lincoln proved scrip can serve as the reserve currency and that any attempt to challenge the global money cabal carries with it the death penalty. Tsarist Russia saved the Union from the British bankers supporting the confederacy, The Tzar ordered war ships to be anchored offshore on both East and West ends of America to deny British War ships.
So my answer Max; the nation state system stabilizes the foot hold of the globalist. ALAE people of the world are divided by the nation states, and ruled by the nation state system, the Globalist will never surrender..
by: SwissArmyMan 6 No remorce for those contractors caught in Afghanistan <=Returning Americans t/b rerouted to the Moon?
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1232071.shtml <=China vaccine effective..
https://www.rt.com/russia/532308-kadyrov-us-control-taliban/ Afgan another 9/11
Posted by: snake | Aug 22 2021 18:25 utc | 42
@ snake (#43), thanks for your perspective... well appreciated.
If your conclusion is “the Globalist will never surrender..”, then what are Americans-humanity’s choices? Be ENSLAVED or challenge the imperialism and enslavement?
Human beings need to stop wasting time in propaganda and frivolous issues, and answer the most important question: what kind of world we want? There is no point in living in the darkness. Luck challenges might!
Do you want to remain enslaved in a suzerainty?
Posted by: Max | Aug 22 2021 19:03 utc | 43
Why is MoonofA publishing discredited misinformation regarding the proportion of vaxxed to unvaxxed hospital patients? Anyone who's been paying even marginal attention would know that they've changed their policy and are not testing vaccinated people as a matter of procedure unlike unvaxxed, are running the PCR test at 28 for vaxxed and 35 for unvaxxed, and are counting those vaxxed less than two weeks ago and more than three months ago as unvaxxed. B should issue an immediate retraction of his dangerous conspiracy theory that DARPA-funded experimental mRNA gene therapy non-vaccines are anything but a malignant bioweapon. Does B have any financial commitments to Pfizer that he hasn't disclosed? A good heuristic for avoiding corona misinformation is appraising the actual scientific peer-reviewed studies and steering clear of drug cartel marketing press release stenography.
Posted by: Normal | Aug 22 2021 19:06 utc | 44
Military Industrial Complex Master Plan
We only do bad options
and that is good
As they lead to failures
and that is good
As failures equal victory
if failures are sustainable
and forever generate lots of war profits
and jobs in the Interagency
(the Interagency is what the Deep State calls itself)
--------
What bad option is being prepared next?
Posted by: librul | Aug 22 2021 19:10 utc | 45
In 1975 the US lost Vietnam. Surely a lot of people were celebrating like now. 15 years later the US won the Cold War.
Posted by: Robert Macaire | Aug 22 2021 19:15 utc | 46
@Posted by: Robert Macaire | Aug 22 2021 19:15 utc | 47
After the US "gained" China in the 1970s, the Vietnam war made even less geopolitical sense. In the end, they didn't "lose" very much. They also didn't "win" the Cold War, the other side imploded after Gorbachev's moves completely undermined the legitimacy and power of the communist state. At the very same time, China was ramping up the exponential growth that has made it such a strong challenger (aided by the US hubris at "winning" the Cold War and getting lost in "humanitarian" intervention and the GWOT.
We are now in a very different place to 1975. China is a rising power, not a failing one, and is tightly allied with Russia and increasingly Iran. The US, and West, are much weaker in the sense of basic leadership, technical and military capabilities - which have been hollowed out after 40 years of neoliberal financialization and outright fraud, including the strip-mining of the public sector and commons.
15 years from now, 2036, China (and ironically Russia) may very well be seen as winning the second Cold War. The leadership of the US is working hard to make that happen as they continue to loot the wealth of the nation and proletarianize the rest of its citizens.
Posted by: Roger | Aug 22 2021 19:34 utc | 47
Posted by: ptb | Aug 22 2021 15:40 utc | 13:
Efficacy of Chinese vaxx is reflected in another respect that's not been discussed in the media, and that's the case of Hong Kong. Predominant people of Hong Kong were inoculated with Sinovac or Sinopharm. Now, as the Delta variant rages regions surrounding Hong Kong: Vietnam, Philippine, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, et al, Hong Kong shows little new spurts of the pandemic. There were a few cases reported in Hong Kong due to imported carriers from India and Philippine, but in general there is no Delta pandemic in HK.
There are other pockets of regions elsewhere on the globe that used Sinovac/Sinipharm predominantly, such as Brazil, Hungry, Serbia, etc. Wonder how these are faring with the Delta surge.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Aug 22 2021 19:43 utc | 48
jayc @Aug22 17:40 @39
... the developing game of “chicken” regarding the Iranian fuel vessel steaming to a Syrian port looks like a flash point and crisis enabler waiting to blow.
Yeah, that's why we're all talking about it./sarc
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 22 2021 19:46 utc | 49
Adding ...
Surprisingly little interest in what is developing in Lebanon.
!!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 22 2021 19:47 utc | 50
The overview of cases vaccinated against non-vaccinated is misleading as it fails to show the adverse reaction to the vaccine.
Why are these ignored?
For the 2.6 millions that have received a dose how many 'patients'=adverse reaction which require medical attention have there been?
This would give a better overview for the risks of the 2 groups.
It could be easily taken from VAERS database to complete the overview. The non-vaccinated have zero adverse reaction to the vaccine...
Posted by: LP | Aug 22 2021 19:56 utc | 51
@Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 22 2021 19:47 utc | 51
"Surprisingly little interest in what is developing in Lebanon."
Yeah, in a flash that is *all* we could be talking about.
Posted by: librul | Aug 22 2021 20:08 utc | 52
You guys notice that most high profile world problems are govt problems? Maybe it's govt that's the problem? No govt. No problem.
Posted by: Jezabeel | Aug 22 2021 20:12 utc | 53
A significant finding not mentioned in the global times articles and only obliquely alluded to by Oriental Voice is that the inactivated virus vaccines used in China have been found to reduce Delta VOC viral loads (preprint), reducing transmission. There are no such findings I know of for breakthrough mRNA or adenovirus vector vaccines reducing Delta viral loads.
Also, China is starting to make use of mRNA vaccines in alliance with BioNTech, probably as booster shot experimentation.
=======
Transmission dynamics and epidemiological characteristics of Delta variant infections in China
Our study provided a comprehensive assessment of the epidemiological characteristics of the Delta variant. Higher transmissibility was demonstrated for the Delta variant, as indicated by a higher reproduction number, shorter latent and incubation periods, and shorter serial intervals compared to the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 (5, 13, 16-18). We observed higher viral loads in cases infected with the Delta variant which might contribute to more rapid and intense transmission. In addition, we found the inactivated vaccines could effectively reduce viral loads in cases infected with the Delta variant and further lead to lower transmissibility.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.12.21261991v1.full
Posted by: suzan | Aug 22 2021 20:16 utc | 54
A significant finding not mentioned in the global times articles and only obliquely alluded to by Oriental Voice is that the inactivated virus vaccines used in China have been found to reduce Delta VOC viral loads (preprint), reducing transmission. There are no such findings I know of for breakthrough mRNA or adenovirus vector vaccines reducing Delta viral loads.
Also, China is starting to make use of mRNA vaccines in alliance with BioNTech, probably as booster shot experimentation.
=======
Transmission dynamics and epidemiological characteristics of Delta variant infections in China
Our study provided a comprehensive assessment of the epidemiological characteristics of the Delta variant. Higher transmissibility was demonstrated for the Delta variant, as indicated by a higher reproduction number, shorter latent and incubation periods, and shorter serial intervals compared to the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 (5, 13, 16-18). We observed higher viral loads in cases infected with the Delta variant which might contribute to more rapid and intense transmission. In addition, we found the inactivated vaccines could effectively reduce viral loads in cases infected with the Delta variant and further lead to lower transmissibility.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.12.21261991v1.full
Posted by: suzan | Aug 22 2021 20:16 utc | 55
Biden Live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4LqfiekveM
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 22 2021 20:19 utc | 56
james | Aug 22 2021 16:59 utc | 30
I like the analogy that we are hermits sitting at the back of a cave observing the world through the opening.
It is also a close analog to how we make sense of reality through narrative. But what do we really know?
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 20:34 utc | 58
@ Posted by: suzan | Aug 22 2021 20:16 utc | 55
One private laboratory in China is developing an mRNA vaccine. Chinese pharmaceutical giant Fosun is partnering with Biontech (Pfizer in the West) from Germany to localize its mRNA in Taiwan (Taiwan doesn't want Mainland vaccines for political-propagandistic purposes but Pfizer doesn't have the industrial capacity to give the vaccines directly, so it is doing this maneuver to get the vaccines it needs). But this is a Taiwanese government initiative, not a CPC one.
Your wording makes it seem like if it is a CPC-backed megaproject, when it isn't. China has a robust private system, and has at least 71 vaccines in development as by July 2021.
"The elites from some pro-USA Third World countries tried to defame the Chinese and Russian vaccines while propping up the American ones, but, eventually, reality imposed itself on their delusions and the Chinese vaccines took over."
Posted by: vk | Aug 22 2021 17:00 utc | 31
I agree with what proceeds it too.
Questions:
How fast do they break down?
Break down into what? (not good)
Are they not breaking down before and after injection?
Are there heritable changes?
What about long term (repeated exposure) ADE? Is that a thing? It's an unknown.
ADE is the less likely auto immune disease. What is the other one?
Can we believe China?
B et many don't seem to understand that when the vaccines prevent severe infection isn't the issue here.
It is like arguing with yourself. It misses the point entirely. This is an illegal experiment.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 20:45 utc | 60
@ Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 20:45 utc | 60
It's science. The Chinese vaccine is inactivated virus, which is consolidated technology, that we know for a fact to work. It is your bread-and-butter vaccine, the same technology used in the obligatory vaccines you take as a kid.
It is the Western vaccines that use experimental technologies.
hmm i guess Botvinnik was the first sports star of the USSR, leaving aside quibbles about what qualifies as a sport.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 22 2021 20:49 utc | 62
The Australian Strategic Policy Institutehttps://xjdp.aspi.org.au/about/
Are these people reliable? They claim to have satellite imagery.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 20:54 utc | 63
"It is your bread-and-butter vaccine, the same technology used in the obligatory vaccines you take as a kid.
It is the Western vaccines that use experimental technologies." - vk @ 61
Absolutely, I go to great lengths to point that out to family. We all vaccinate our kids. I even would volunteer (for that). It is fascism I object to. My body right?
I should have clarified that. Also these spike proteins seem to be of concern regardless of vaccination looking forward.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 21:02 utc | 64
Tariq Ali voices an opinion on the Afghanistan victory for self determination and the debacle for all invaders at New Left Review.
The twentieth anniversary of the ‘War on Terror’ thus ended in predictable and predicted defeat for the US, NATO and others who clambered on the bandwagon. However one regards the Taliban’s policies – I have been a stern critic for many years – their achievement cannot be denied. In a period when the US has wrecked one Arab country after another, no resistance that could challenge the occupiers ever emerged. This defeat may well be a turning point. That is why European politicians are whinging. They backed the US unconditionally in Afghanistan, and they too have suffered a humiliation – none more so than Britain.Read here: https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/debacle-in-afghanistan
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 22 2021 21:20 utc | 65
Normal @ 45
What I find interesting is that persons who are adept at ferreting out bullshit in political speech, who are not impressed by handwaving in political speech, who analyze and skewer apologetics in political speech - those same persons simply roll over and play dead when propaganda is wrapped in sciency speech.
It s not only our host. Very common. Seems to have little to do with intelligence. Or even with the training in subservience called education.
Posted by: Oldhippie | Aug 22 2021 21:28 utc | 66
"For the 2.6 millions that have received a dose how many 'patients'=adverse reaction which require medical attention have there been?
This would give a better overview for the risks of the 2 groups.
It could be easily taken from VAERS database to complete the overview. The non-vaccinated have zero adverse reaction to the vaccine..."
LP @ 52 Depending on the source you use, being universities, you can multiply VAERS by betweeen 10x and 100x.
100x stands out as not being plausible however run those numbers using 10x and you get a very alarming result. 10x is quite conservative given the times.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 21:31 utc | 67
what i find interesting is that people who oppose Big Pharma then turn around and claim the fossil fuel companies are helpless victims of the some scientists.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 22 2021 21:41 utc | 68
Posted by: Robert Macaire | Aug 22 2021 19:15 utc | 47
Unfortunately for most American citizens, the "US" didn't win the Cold War. The FIRE sector and military-media-surveillance-industrial complex won it. If one was/is "lucky" enough to be a part of those groups, then sure I guess the US won.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 22 2021 21:43 utc | 69
David G Horsman #63
The Australian Strategic Policy InstituteAre these people reliable? They claim to have satellite imagery.
I am sure they are reliably conservative ex military and corporate people. Perhaps they do have satellite images that they use to make their case. Is their satellite image interpretation reliable?
The hand wringing text on their pages may be evidence based but for me it reads like foaming mouthed 'hate china' hysterics and is entirely absent the history of repeated terrorist attacks on residents in the province. It entirely ignores the history of China in the last century, persistent invasions and colonisations, and attempted genocide. So they fail to set the context of a people risen from poverty and humiliation in the last 80 years to a Chinese standard of self determination and living worth protecting.
That missing context brands the The Australian Strategic Policy Institute as petty, transparent, propagandists.
Here is a detailed backgrounder on their board members.
Do they compare their alleged data against the mountain of dead that Australia wreaked in Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan through its direct and indirect alliance with the killer of nations in the USA? No - they omit that data point.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 22 2021 21:44 utc | 70
Posted by: Oldhippie | Aug 22 2021 21:28 utc | 66
I suppose this is in reference to the mRNA vaccines. Is there a reliable source for the claims I keep seeing that billions of people will drop dead or suffer horrific illnesses and infections as the result of the Moderna, Phizer and AZ vaccines? I've seen some YouTube videos and they all meander about rather than focusing on the alleged science that backs up this theory. Or is the outcome going to be less severe than all that, and what should we expect to see in the coming years in the segment of the population that took an mRNA shot?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 22 2021 21:45 utc | 71
Good ol' Teflon Tony:
Tony Blair: Why We Must Not Abandon the People of Afghanistan – For Their Sakes and Ours
"Or is the outcome going to be less severe than all that, and what should we expect to see in the coming years in the segment of the population that took an mRNA shot?"
Tom_Q_Collins @ 71 That is certainly the hope but at this point is unknown. There are studies available on the risks involved.
Fred Cohan found in the Intercept comments did one. He is pro vaccine if that matters. I will look for the one I read.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 22:07 utc | 73
I still find the mixed logic confusing: we are cheering the slap down given to the MIC (no more war on terror) but cheering on its replacement by the Pharmaceutical-Media complex (war on seasonal respiratory illnesses)? From the 80s Muslims were heroic, then demonic, now they're just normal people trying to live their lives. Once we used to have 'cold and flu' that routinely carried off elderly people in whom it developed into pneumonia; now we have hysteria in which the death of a 92 year old becomes a headline with the byline "and she was unvaccinated". War on terror, war on covid, war on drugs, blah blah blah. Wars are rackets. Northrop-Grumman~Pfizer~Raytheon~Merck: same shareholders.
Posted by: Patroklos | Aug 22 2021 22:07 utc | 74
Patrick Armstrong seems to get away with moider on col Lang’s imperium. How?
No proof of Taliban coordinated moider as cried wolfers hoped and daily hyperboles in the MSM stenographers.
Moider in the Gaza daily ignored.
One could look at England’s local oldest colonies to see Moider by a thousand betrayals to see how the rats will fight to the death. The new narratives being trialled on the hapless Scots as usual. Here at a brave bloggers site.
https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/
Craig Murray approaching a month as a political prisoner.
Keep the truth flowing. Thanks b.
Posted by: DG | Aug 22 2021 22:11 utc | 75
Caitlin Johnstone did a piece on Blairs latest excretion.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 22 2021 22:39 utc | 76
We have no idea what the long term effects of the mRNA injectibles will be. That is a current experiment in process. This technology has never been used in humans before. I can guarantee, however, that when the effects are discovered, the results will not be televised.
Someone linked to a 9-11 Truth video and I have been watching it. There was a time when I was very involved in 9-11 truth and it started coming back to me, as I watched the "debunkers" talk about gravity and fires and pancaking and puffs of air. That's right! There are people who believe anything their overlords tell them, and they cling to their beliefs even if experts in the field explain how ludicrous the official stories are.
The last few years I have switched to trying to overcome people's belief that Russia stole the 2016 election with $45,000 in Facebook ads. Also that a man can have a woman's brain, which makes him a woman, liking lipstick and swirly dresses (which is genetic to women's brains, you see).
And now here we are with the bat/ferret/human/pangolin combination virus, which totally happened in a wet market and then spread rapidly around the world, but no matter, our trusted drug companies managed to come up with a Magic Vaccine in only a couple of months, which is completely safe and effective.
They are probably the same people, those who believe in 19 Arabs with box cutters overcoming the entire US security and military apparatus, and men with accidental women's brains in their bodies. They probably were first in line for the Magic Vaccine, and now they are screaming that their Magic Vaccines don't work because of the skeptics who refused to submit, just like the authorities tell them to do.
Because that makes sense. Not.
Corbett on Graham Fuller...https://www.corbettreport.com/who-is-graham-fuller/
Posted by: wagelaborer | Aug 22 2021 22:40 utc | 77
That is because, from the very start, governments and the corrupt media have tried to paint the virus as "egalitarian". Everyone is at equal risk of severe illness or death...even when the statistics make it very plain that is not the case. You need to understand just one thing about this pandemic- like every other one in history it will eventually fade away...and it will do so when the virus and the host populations reach a compromise so to speak. I mean naturally acquired immunity. When enough people have hosted the virus, eventually they will serve as blocks to it's rapid spread. You will never eradicate it because it has animal hosts. Those animal pools mean it is here to stay and yet there are some governments that seem to think they can achieve zero covid. Impossible. But our benighted rulers are oblivious to reality. For them, this is another opportunity to manipulate and propagandize us. After all, covid handed the elites the tools they needed to steal back the White House from OMB (orange man bad). I'm sure they have wet dreams every night about what else they can accomplish! At the very least they demand a Political victory over the virus.It cant be allowed to run it's natural course (which it has done anyway), it takes government intervention like masks and lockdowns that are of zero value, but make the government look like they are in control. And when they fail it is your fault for not believing hard enough in them! The vaccines are no different. Yes, there are issues with these mrna stabs, we do not know their long term effects, but that is the least of the issues. The political establishment demands compliance with the vaccine because the government MUST take credit for ending this pandemic. The credibility of the establishment, globalism, neoliberalism, and the whole Atlantisist Empire is at stake.
Posted by: nook | Aug 22 2021 22:41 utc | 78
Oldhippie | Aug 22 2021 21:28 utc | 66
"...the training in subservience called education."
Consider the difference between "education" and "schooling".
The word "education" was deliberately created to mean "to lead out", [regardless its use as verb or noun, etc], derived purposely and directly from the Latin roots e [from or out of] and ducere [to lead]. "Education" does not mean or suggest what it is you want to be lead out of...poverty? ill health? degradation? ignorance? etc. It's purpose is not to lead you "into" some condition, such as "into a trap".
"Schooling" seems clearly to mean the process if some "others" putting information into persons who are to ingest and use that information, without necessarily knowing its source or truthiness, much less the intentions of those who selected, edited and presented the data to be ingested. I.e., one goes to "school" only to inflow "stuff".
As for "intelligence", there exists no standard definition and, certainly, any test that claims to give a number for one's intelligence, such as "Intelligence Quotient or IQ", farts in the face of truth and is absurd.
E.g., how can Artificial Intelligence" have meaning without knowing [strong agreement by all] on definition of "intelligence"?
Regarding the common expression "thinking outside the box", if one were searching for "the box" and found the human "mind", there indeed is the jackpot repository of AI. Historically, few explorers of that realm have have lived to tell of any results beyond respect for the magnitude of it as a trap, perhaps even the ultimate human trap that dwarfs inquiries into E=MC² and space-time.
Posted by: chu teh | Aug 22 2021 22:42 utc | 79
@ Roger (#48), you had stated earlier (in the open thread) that the Empire’s wars continue until it is defeated. It wants to achieve full spectrum dominance. If this is the consensus of others too then we know the Empire’s ultimate GOAL. Everything else is secondary.
“The war against the challengers to the Anglo-Saxon and colonist settler nations will never cease until the AS's are thoroughly defeated and forced to accept other's right to independence and sovereignty. They have seen off Spain, France, then Germany (twice), and then the Soviet-bloc. The new challengers, China-Russia-Iran, may have forced a tactical retreat from overreach but that is all it is. The war will continue until the AS's are thoroughly beaten or climate change makes who is on top an irrelevant question.Never trust the AS's until your boot is on their neck (as said Sun Tzu in my imagination).”
What was Financial Empire’s PLAN A? The Financial Empire had captured Russia in 1990s (it owned Yeltsin & his gang) and was going after China in the early 21st Century. It wanted to encircle China and control its resource supplies. It entered Afghanistan, ME and its plan was to control all global natural resources, including the supply chain and thereby dominate China’s development. Remember, we all live in resource economies. The one in whose currency all the resources are priced, dominates the world.
If the plan A would have succeeded then Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, South China Sea, would have been controlled by the Empire and China would have to submit to the Empire like Germany & Japan. However, Vladimir Putin was a game changer. In 2007, he openly declared that Russia will pursue an independent path and become a sovereign nation. This is the reason why the Empire never worried about China’s rise and wanted it to be a manufacturing hub in its global construct. Now China and Russia are working together, to go after the Financial Empire, which they need to DEFEAT.
The Empire’s subjects either end their Empire or be ready to pay all the liabilities when defeated. They can’t claim ignorance or innocence. Looking the other way is not an option. The Financial Empire is their stratagem and the global driving FORCE. Each of its power pillars along with their evil intent are being exposed!
How to checkmate the Financial Empire? De-Dollarize, De-Militarize, Dismiss its propaganda.
Posted by: Max | Aug 22 2021 22:43 utc | 80
I don't think that the vaccine is the endgame. I think it's the passport.
Back in the day, my uncle ran cattle. He turned them loose in the summer to forage, along with the other farmers, and then they rounded them up in the fall, branding the babies with the same brand as their mothers, to prove ownership.
It was rather haphazard. Same with other commodities. There was a time when inventory was done once a year. The rest of the time you would ask for something not on the shelf and the storekeeper would have to go in the back and look to see if he had it.
Not anymore. Cattle have ear tags with GPS, and stores have computers which allow them to check inventory, even at other stores. The USPS can tell you exactly where your package is on its journey.
Our overlords are now going to apply that technology to keep track of their human chattel. They want to know where we are at all times and will control access to necessities as they see fit.
And say Dick Cheney needs another heart transplant. How convenient to have medical information along with location of potential sources. Here you go, Dick. There is a healthy teenager in Kansas, now in chemistry class, and there is also a robust young man in Ghana, out working in the field, both perfect tissue types. Take your pick.
Posted by: wagelaborer | Aug 22 2021 22:51 utc | 81
The rise of the alt-right and the death of Western science: the case of Ivermectin amid the COVID-19 pandemic:
Mississippi officials warn against using ivermectin for COVID-19 amid spike in poisonings
FDA warns against using animal parasite medicine as at-home COVID-19 treatment
The scenario is the same as always: alt-right leadership preach for Ivermectin (before it was HCQ) while taking the ultra-expensive Regeneron behind the scenes to treat themselves.
You seem to ignore the fact that CDC and US pharmacies have made Ivermectin USP tablets impossible to obtain. The issue is not the Ivermectin obtainable at farm and feed stores, it is the dosage available. Dosages are mostly designed for horses and cows, which weigh 500 kgs. This is 10x the mass of women and 5 x the mass of men. Problem is most US citizens can no longer add, subtract, divide, or multiply. Not to mention their total lack of common sense.
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 22 2021 23:01 utc | 82
@ Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 22 2021 23:01 utc | 82
No wonder, as the drug is not approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19:
Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19
If an American doctor prescribe ivermectin for COVID-19, denounce him, because his place is in jail and without a license.
Highly recommended:
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/debacle-in-afghanistan
The great Tariq Ali, who I heard speak at the first large anti-war protest in Toronto in October 2001. Back then he condemned the looming invasion of Afghanistan as a hypocritical war of revenge, and as an imperialist effort to implant military forces in Central Asia, all of which would culminate, he said, in a brutal occupation.
I always kept in mind that we in the anti-war movement were right from the start. Too bad there were so few of us.
Posted by: Prof | Aug 22 2021 23:16 utc | 84
Why is MoonofA publishing discredited misinformation regarding the proportion of vaxxed to unvaxxed hospital patients? Anyone who's been paying even marginal attention would know that they've changed their policy and are not testing vaccinated people as a matter of procedure unlike unvaxxed, are running the PCR test at 28 for vaxxed and 35 for unvaxxed, and are counting those vaxxed less than two weeks ago and more than three months ago as unvaxxed. B should issue an immediate retraction of his dangerous conspiracy theory that DARPA-funded experimental mRNA gene therapy non-vaccines are anything but a malignant bioweapon. Does B have any financial commitments to Pfizer that he hasn't disclosed? A good heuristic for avoiding corona misinformation is appraising the actual scientific peer-reviewed studies and steering clear of drug cartel marketing press release stenography.
The PeaceHealth - Oregon Data is ereal.... My Wife, Natalie worked for them in Washington State.
Vaccines do work. Ivermectin works....
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Aug 22 2021 23:21 utc | 85
@Posted by: wagelaborer | Aug 22 2021 22:51 utc | 81
You are not so misdirected.
Today I was viewing a video at a Telegram chanel about how a guy have tracked through Bluetooth a lot of strange numbers with the same pattern at the proximity of payement cages at a mall,recognized by his smrtphone as unknown devices, when the known ones appeared as usual with their corporate name and user. His telephone registered an increase in "unknown devices" reaching fast 56..As soon as he left for the parking the number lowered...
IMO, the first goal of this will be tracking the resistence, where they go and who they meet, to crush them all...
Then, they will know at all time of day what you watch, read, write in your device, what are your fears, your mood, your weak points, and, of course, your medical record...Some will never achieve a health insurance anymore, as these data will be passed through for profit no doubt amongst corporations...
Posted by: Asha K. | Aug 22 2021 23:27 utc | 86
@76 That's a remarkable picture of Blair. He looks diabolical. I suppose he thinks he looks like a hip progressive philosopher along the lines of BHL.
Posted by: dh | Aug 22 2021 23:36 utc | 87
I got the 'full' Pfizer vaxx. No epiphany. It probably just doesn't work.
They say that Israelies got the Pfizer or Moderna, at the world's highest compliance rate (90%+). So what happened? LOOK (scroll down to the 'total cases' chart):
https://tinyurl.com/8ydsspvb
@65 uncle-t, @84 prof - Re: Tariq Ali piece
Thanks! He's a fantastic speaker, and one of the few on the left who never gave up on his principles.
Also @Prof 84 ... I dunno. I remember wall-to-wall people on 3rd avenue in New York stretching for tens of blocks. It was downplayed pretty effectively on TV. But deep down, most people weren't fooled, simply too scared to go against the media-managed consensus.
The Dem party post 2004, and even worse under Obama, trying to outdo the Republicans in enhancing the administrative-state powers of the security apparatus was the saddest thing. That was the lasting contribution of the whole "war on terror". The way things are going, it won't be long before the US right re-takes full control of this administrative apparatus. Not looking forward to that day.
Posted by: ptb | Aug 23 2021 0:20 utc | 89
For an example of why mRNA vaccines have a risk of ADE see:
"Dengvaxia consists of an attenuated yellow fever virus that expresses genes of each of the four types of dengue virus. The Philippine FDA greenlighted the vaccine in December 2015, based on research funded by Sanofi Pasteur in which Capeding played an important role. For example, she was the first author on a 2014 paper in The Lancet detailing a study among more than 10,000 children in five Asian countries that showed Dengvaxia worked and had a good safety profile. In April 2016, the Philippine government launched a $67 million public school–based immunization program for Dengvaxia.
That alarmed some scientists, because the dengue virus is peculiar: A first infection is rarely fatal, but a second one with a different virus type can lead to much more serious disease, because of what is called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), in which the immune response to the first virus amplifies the effect of the second type. Scott Halstead, a retired dengue expert formerly at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, argued that dengue vaccines could have the same effect, and warned that Dengvaxia should not be given to children never infected with dengue. But a vaccine panel at the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded in 2016 that Dengvaxia was safe for children aged 9 and older."
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 23 2021 0:21 utc | 90
Posted by: Oldhippie | Aug 22 2021 21:28 utc | 66
No, it's not just matter "wrapped in science". This blog and certain 24/7 commentators routinely insult intelligence of readers on matters geopolitical as well. At points it is close to barf-bag time given how uncritically certain geopolitical actors' view are repeated and rah-rah'ed on this blog.
Covid hysterical response and the ensuing 'fog of (psychological) war' peripheral discussions are primarily against individual liberties, non-institutional choice, and establishment of global governance structures. They are institutionalizing humanity, globally. Everything else is theater.
Any person with critical thinking facilities would minimally be alarmed at the orchestrated societal upheaval of the past 2 years. If healthy adults were dropping dead in the streets, ok, maybe that would justify what has been pushed down our throats everywhere, from corporate and spook mainstream organs to so called alternative voices but this response over some variant of flu?
Posted by: unmoved | Aug 23 2021 0:21 utc | 91
"If an American doctor prescribe ivermectin for COVID-19, denounce him, because his place is in jail and without a license." - vk @ 83.
Canada as well. You say some fucked up things vk.
Posted by: David G Horsman | Aug 23 2021 0:34 utc | 92
@ Robert Macaire | Aug 22 2021 19:15 utc | 47.. are you a neo con because you sound like one... you might enjoy pat langs site.. i am sure he'd welcome you!
@ David G Horsman | Aug 22 2021 20:34 utc | 58.. i like your analogy... it reminds me of the lao tzu saying - the further you go, the less you know.... ultimately we don't know as much about a lot of things, as we would like to think we do.. better off being humble and receptive to learning something new.... @ 92 - one can't get ivermectin in canada, except for treating animals... i better mention that last exception, as i got reprimanded last time for forgetting to point it out...
@ Patroklos | Aug 22 2021 22:07 utc | 74... who is cheering on big pharma here?? i missed it.. vk maybe.. that might be about it..
@ DG | Aug 22 2021 22:11 utc | 75.. one would think patrick armstrong is smarter then that.. maybe he will chime in... it sounds as though pat lang has completely lost his marbles...
@ Prof | Aug 22 2021 23:16 utc | 84 quote - "I always kept in mind that we in the anti-war movement were right from the start. Too bad there were so few of us." i agree with @ ptb | Aug 23 2021 0:20 utc | 89... i think there were many more opposed to war then the media was ever willing to let on..
Posted by: james | Aug 23 2021 1:06 utc | 93
David G Horsman @ 63, Uncle Tungsten @ 70:
According to The Grayzone, the Australian Strategic Policy Initiative has received funding from various weapons manufacturers including Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman, and from the US State Department, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the government of Japan.
If the ASPI claims to have credible open source satellite evidence of forced labour camps in Xinjiang province in China, they may be getting it from the same hucksters Bellingcrap buy their stuff from with cryptocurrency.
Posted by: Jen | Aug 23 2021 1:13 utc | 94
To anyone who knew anything about Afghanistan this was inevitable, and on the very day Kabul was captured in 2001 I had predicted that the day would inevitably come when the Taliban would be back in the city. But the Americans thought they were - in the words of Karl Rove - "an empire now, and we create our own reality." Nobody asked reality if it was aware of this.
The invasion was never about Osama bin Laden - America didn't have any problems negotiating with the Taliban from 1996-7 when bin Laden was in the country already. It was about, asking other things:
Occupation of a strategic nation from which Iran could be invaded from the east, terrorists could be pushed into China from the west, and Russia destabilised from the south;
To secure pipelines from the Central Asian stans that American firm UNOCAL were to be given the contract to build;
To make immense profits for the military industrial complex;
To secure slush funds for the CIA from opium cultivation, which the Taliban had banned;
To steal Afghan minerals, and, of course
To secure a "place in history" for George W Bush.
Former American soldier Laura Jedeed wrote about her experience in Afghanistan that...
"I remember Afghanistan as a dusty beige nightmare of a place full of proud, brave people who did not want us there. We called them Hajjis and worse and they were better than we were, braver and stronger and smarter...I remember laughing about how stupid the Afghans were to not know we aren’t the Russians and then, eventually, realizing that I was the stupid one."
Like the Taliban or hate them, their victory over the American Empire must count as an event that marks history. From this point on America - reduced from attempting to colonise Afghanistan to begging the Taliban to not attack their embassy - is so undeniably in terminal decline that nobody can miss it. And countries like India that have made themselves "allies" of the American Empire are now beginning to realise that an America that can't even rescue its citizens from Kabul won't commit economic, political, and military suicide by taking on Russia and China on their behalf.
Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 23 2021 1:16 utc | 95
@92 David G. Horsman
Thanks for putting the unspeakable into words.
There is a vast wealth of evidence now from around the world that ivermectin works to prevent developing SARS-CoV-2, works to reduce viral load, and works to stop the transmission of the disease.
Against this are only the warnings from established institutions that all show compelling evidence of regulatory capture, and zero proof of either harm or failure to work.
Zero proof of failure, massive proof of success.
To shrink into a comfort zone of ignorance in the face of such reality is an indulgence of selfish degradation that I find impossible to describe in words. I'm glad that you took on that task.
And thank you for putting the case so plainly.
Posted by: Grieved | Aug 23 2021 1:26 utc | 96
Apologies if this has already been discussed but seeing as the 'Farewell to Bourgeois Kings' article went down well here I thought I'd link to this article from the same blogger. While it's a little brutal for my taste (he returns the contempt he received from the Swedish 'Left' in spades) and I agree with @Jörgen Hassler's criticism of his sloppy use of term 'Professional-Managerial Class', it's still an important contribution to understanding the emerging split in the Western Left.
On Strasserism and the Decay of the Left
Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Aug 23 2021 1:34 utc | 97
Noteworthy bits from Telesur:
According to a posted Tweet from @wartimeallies, 250,000 Afghans need to be evacuated. Says more airports need to open and the evacuees transported to Guam to speed up the process.
“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) met on Sunday in the Saudi city of Yeda to address the current situation in Afghanistan. The 57 countries called for a “national reconciliation” and urged the Taliban to maintain Afghans’ security, stability, and unity.”
From Mexico, fire due to lightning strike at Pemex off-shore oil platform.lNo fatalities.
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Aug 23 2021 1:35 utc | 98
vk @ 31 and later
The elites from some pro-USA Third World countries tried to defame the Chinese and Russian vaccines while propping up the American ones, but, eventually, reality imposed itself on their delusions and the Chinese vaccines took over.
I can easily see that happening. There is massive disinformation to be waded through buy there are some excellent scientists saying beware. I never by new car on the first model year. Same for a vaccine and new medicines. I have avoided some bad ones in my time.
On another note..
Ivermectin is manufactured for either veterinarian use or human use. Veterinarian Ivermectin is not recommended for human use due to differences in purity. For human Ivermectin, generic tablets are available through most retail pharmacies.
It is being heavily studied.
Some studies
More studies
Global Regulatory Status
It is an antiviral. What makes no sense is the Western World does not allow treatment of this virus and is threatening and penalizing doctors for doing their job.
Shots only. Anything these West World morons propose and reject should be deeply suspected and investigated.
Posted by: circumspect | Aug 23 2021 1:38 utc | 99
Posted by: james | Aug 23 2021 1:06 utc | 93
I was always against going into Afghanistan, and against treating 9/11 as a military problem, rather than a criminal one. But I was much in the minority in that at the time, lot's of yellow ribbons and flag decals.
Iraq on the other hand provoked massive demos, both here and abroad. Totally ignored. Now forgotten.
Bush II himself got a lot of pushback on his "selection" as we called it, not unlike Trump's inauguration.
Posted by: Bemildred | Aug 23 2021 1:45 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Yes, the pre-planned Clusterfuck in Kabul, or Bay of Pigs 2.0, or whatever shook the world as victims of 20 years of lies and death reasserted a modicum of control over their situation.
The outrage and howling from the CIA-controlled media and the Establishment over Biden's correct decision is hilarious.
keep up the good work.
Posted by: gottlieb | Aug 22 2021 14:11 utc | 1