>>Adam Tooze / New Statesman
Despite forecasts of decline following the Afghanistan withdrawal, the US military is planning another century of global domination.
I guess Adam did not check US debt levels, social security and the rest of trust funds insolvency, or US military budgets as percentage of US gdp by 2030 as per current law (hint – they drop from 3,5 % to 2,8 % of GDP). Its not that the US wanted that decrease to happen, but it was forced to it. Debt levels will explode if current military spending continues, hence both parties were forced to cut future discretionary spending. Otherwise you will end up with hyperinflation in the US. There are limits to everything.
So on the one hand you have propagandist articles of the type “US Uber Alles”, and on the other hand you have articles like this..

“Social Security Is in Dire Shape. Americans Need Honesty. To call the newly released 2021 annual Social Security Trustees’ Report alarming would be a gross understatement. Only in a federal capital paralyzed by dysfunction would such a report fail to galvanize lawmakers to move immediately to rescue this most vital of all federal programs. Urgent action is necessary to maintain Social Security in its current form. The sobering numbers in this year’s report should animate swift corrective action by lawmakers who support Social Security. The financing shortfall has now grown to equal 25% of scheduled benefits for all future claimants. Think about that: How likely is it that lawmakers would immediately cut benefits by 25% for everyone, rich and poor, retiring next year and beyond? More likely, lawmakers would phase in reforms gradually, necessitating much larger eventual benefit changes for those affected—perhaps 30% or 40%. And if we want to spare lower-income individuals from reductions, they’d need to be still greater for everyone else.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/social-security-dire-shape-trustees-report-51631210968?mod=read_next
So regardless of propagandist article’s like Adam’s, me thinks that the King is naked.
>>With respect to global money – not to be confused with trade or economic growth – the dollar still rules. Much of the world’s payments, credit and finance continues to rely on the US currency.
Payments in US dollars dropped below 40 %, on a long term downtrend. At least use relevant current information.
>>The place to decipher its logic and direction is not Kabul airport or in the sound and fury of the op-ed pages, but in the budgets of the Pentagon and the strategies that direct them.
Yes, and future budgets show a decrease in military spenidng per current law, as signed by Biden and Congress (and Trump before Biden). This is simply unprofessional.

Posted by: Passer by | Sep 12 2021 15:19 utc | 4

Oldhippie wrote:
However, Palm Beach County has zero deaths and has had no deaths since early June. Broward County to the south has also had zero deaths since early June. And Miami-Dade has had zero deaths since early June.
_____________________________________
All the Florida counties have zero deaths since June because the State stopped reporting deaths by county June 3.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/florida-covid-cases.html
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/as-covid-deaths-soar-florida-curtails-public-records-on-which-counties-hit-hardest/2547538/

Posted by: jinn | Sep 12 2021 15:42 utc | 6

Highly recommended read of of the day:
China and common prosperity
In this article, Mr. Roberts recovers a very important excerpt of Xi’s speech:

“The Soviet Union was the world’s first socialist country and once enjoyed spectacular success. Ultimately however, it collapsed, mainly because the Communist Party of the Soviet Union became detached from the people and turned into a group of privileged bureaucrats concerned only with protecting their own interests. Even in a modernized country, if a governing party turns its back on the people, it will imperil the fruits of modernization.”

So we have here what is, at the same time, a rare glimpse of the CPC’s thesis on the collapse of the USSR (which is one of the mainstream hypotheses considered by historians of the area) and an indirect jibe at Vladimir Putin and co.: insult the Soviet legacy at your own risk, also, beware with your insults, as you’re insulting yourself.
–//–
Cool topic for discussion:
Why China’s economy is threatened by a property giant’s debt problems
The article itself is irrelevant. What is relevant is the context it came to be.
It is a common feature of the Western universalists to treat the rest of the world as inherently inferior and backward to the USA. That means that every significant problem the USA suffers the rest of the world will eventually suffer as they catch up with it.
There is an Economics Ph.D. in France called Mylène Gaulard. She’s a Marxist, and her thesis about China is that it is a normal “economic whale” (i.e. an emergent economy) like any other (Brazil, Turkey, Russia, India). Her line of argumentation is very straightforward: China is now a full-fledged capitalist nation; everything socialist in it are merely remains from the Maoist era, and are not important.
But, contrary to the rest, she has a hypothesis that she takes from this: China will collapse through a meltdown of its property/housing market. This is a cool moment to test that, because Evergrande is going bankrupt.
It is very rare for extremist positions (in this case, on the Left) to materialize in concrete, scientifically testable, hypotheses. People like Ms. Gaulard are very useful for historians because she serves as some kind of control group. If her hypothesis materializes or not, we can use it to try to guess the movements in the political-ideological sphere of a country or region. We can also have a glimpse of the inner contradictions of a fraction or a group or an ideology, i.e. its material base.

Posted by: vk | Sep 12 2021 16:12 utc | 8

Passer by | Sep 12 2021 14:50 utc | 1
Inflation. Add in rising Food prices and it is going to be a long dark winter.

Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 12 2021 16:16 utc | 10

@ Posted by: Passer by | Sep 12 2021 14:50 utc | 1
This is happening mainly for three reasons:
1) the pandemic collapsed Toyotism (“just in time”, zero stock); it is now only slowly recovering;
2) the USA is abusing the Dollar Standard, i.e. Biden is printing trillions of USDs as if there is no tomorrow, therefore exporting inflation to the rest of the world;
3) global warming is creating droughts in important Third World countries, which supply the First World with some basic commodities needed to sustain their middle classes’ cosmopolitan lifestyle (e.g. Brazilian coffee to the USA rising in price because of a massive drought in Brazil).

Posted by: vk | Sep 12 2021 16:21 utc | 12

Passer by | Sep 12 2021 14:50 utc | 1
My 12; Although on second thoughts “inflation” is just the easy answer. Governments in the EU get a lot of their extra tax revenue from a percentage based on the sale price of fuel. Due to all the potential and real handouts that Gov’s have been trying to bribe people with, they could be very pleased that prices have risen and remain high.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they also raise the TVA (France, VAT in UK) as well, Which is almost everywhere at 20%.

Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 12 2021 16:31 utc | 14

VK
Ho Fung Hung makes the same argument in his book, China Boom.
Tooze is too enamored with US power. He takes static economic indicators and overvalues them. He ignores long term trends and fails to look at other key issues, like ideology, political competence, state capacities, military and technological realities.
He also owes his career to US capitalism.
He is a good social democrat historian but, without Marxist social science, he can’t grasp the essential movements in global political economy. If one actually believes in Marxism, then the US is bound to fail because capitalism is just crap.

Posted by: Prof | Sep 12 2021 16:36 utc | 16

re: Adam Tooze article
Getting to the conclusion of the article, it wraps up with the focal point of future US power – developing a qualitative advantage in military technology deep enough to overcome disadvantage in overall economic strength. That the US will face this disadvantage is no longer questioned.
I have a lot of respect for Tooze, but this kind of argument misses the mark. The reason is the finality of the lose-lose strategic logic with nukes. Barring accidents, great power competition will remain the stuff of proxy conflict and economic conflict, not who can be the first to build and orbit their version of the Death Star from Star Wars.
The proxy conflict half has room for tech advances (Azerbaijan vs Armenia is a great example), but as usual in asymettrical conflict, it is relatively low tech stuff. The winning combination is cheap-yet-potent, not expensive-and-world-record-unique. China wins any such contest without breaking a sweat.
The economic conflict half is where we are now. There are several tech levers remaining that China does not also have. Mostly, they are in EU and Taiwan and South Korea. The one really big area clearly in US hands was biotech. And here, with every possible advantage, completely fell on its face.
US policy is going to have to come to terms with multipolarity. I suppose the main takeaway from the Tooze article, for me, is that under Biden, we’re not ready for that moment yet.

Posted by: ptb | Sep 12 2021 16:41 utc | 18

vk @ 8 posted.
We can also have a glimpse of the inner contradictions of a fraction or a group or an ideology, i.e. its material base. <= yes, but let us formalize that contradiction into a set of thesis..so we can develop a common dialog to enable us to recognize contradiction when it begins to appear? technology to do that is available? why not develop some useful early warning rules.. and formalize how to investigate them, and how to formalize their guts into enlightened statements that help everyone continue the investigations and improve the early enlightenments into a mature understanding.. ? Clearly, we have come to understand there is not one global-ism, but a set of global situations, which dominate particular a top level domain in all places, at the same time, around the entire world. These global systems reach deep into the guts of each of the 256 nation state (so the globalist operate at all of the national levels) and they operate within each nation state at the neighborhood level . In these different places, their propaganda, their activities are localized, but their goals and attachments to the central global system is the same. Each global domain can be explained as a virus; the collection of virus collectively is useful to explain global-ism. Each global domain one itself potently destructive to democracy, human rights and local power to create a government and economy in accord with the right of self determination. But each is very different in how it infects, and destroys independence, and takes over control of the nucleus of the host. Posted by: Odenwälder @ 11 It is not possible to prevent the majority of the population from succumbing to manipulation and propaganda. And I'm sorry that I don't have a solution. But a responsibility, to teach my children not to be easily manipulated. 9/11, Islam, Gender, Economics or Covid-19... These global groups imposed contractions on the societies they infect. .. we must understand at the global level the political system of the nation states are but global manipulated puppets. It is not always the same globalist and the manipulation is not always the same way? There are glob list representing the oil and gas business, there are globalist representing education business, there are globalist representing the coal and nuclear energy businesses, there are globalist representing the military industrial complex, there are globalist representing the food distribution business, there are globalist representing the construction industry, and there are globalist representing the automobile business, the pharma business, the medical business, the hospital business the insurance business, and so on .. until we separate out each of these global systems and identify them and learn to examine their individual separate activities in isolation. we will never be able to develop that sense of understanding ( a model with variables) you need to teach your child how not to be manipulated. Of course, we must all become experts on Propaganda. We must be able to recognize it, and to learn to counter its impact on the masses, just as soon as it appears in a society. also we must understand global-ism cannot be successful if the world stays off the digital platform it will be easier to defeat global-ism. One way to defeat global-ism is to force the system backward to analog..

Posted by: snake | Sep 12 2021 17:21 utc | 20

>>Although on second thoughts “inflation” is just the easy answer.
Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 12 2021 16:31 utc | 14
Inflation also means a drop in GDP. A 30 % drop in the value of the dollar means an instant drop in US GDP and thus, in US influence around the world. I’m not going to mention the drop in US dollar usage around the world inflation this and the reserve currency issues this would cause. Inflation is not the answer for the US Empire.
>>I wouldn’t be surprised if they also raise the TVA
The US needs to raise taxes (substantially) or print lots of money to continue paying its bills. But the debt is so high even this is not enough, hence the cuts in discretionary spending (and military spending) baked in with bipartisan approval in future US budgets under. Under current law, US discretionary spending will drop to all time low 5,5 % of GDP by 2030, military spending – to 1930s 2,8 % of GDP. In other words, there are 3 things coming for the US: higher taxes, inflation and austerity.
If you look at US naval plans, ship numbers will be similar in 2030, even though China will be pumping up many more in the next 10 years. That is austerity for you.
Posted by: ptb | Sep 12 2021 16:41 utc | 19
>>US policy is going to have to come to terms with multipolarity. I suppose the main takeaway from the Tooze article, for me, is that under Biden, we’re not ready for that moment yet.
Not right now. Its too early for that and they can still play games. The numbers show that the US crunch will be around 2030. A that point, several crisis coincide in the US (China overtaking the US in MER, the US debt crisis, and the US social/cultural crisis – the decline of its european derived population and the rise of majority minority country).
Posted by: vk | Sep 12 2021 16:21 utc | 12
Many more reasons. Russia stopped supplying additional gas volumes via Ukraine, sending a message that Nord Stream 2 pipeline must be opened, or energy prices will explode. Open NS-2, and the price drops.
Another reason is that as the world seeks to abandon coal, it is piling up on natural gas, which is leading to all time highs in the gas price.
There was also a cold winter, which led to low nat gas levels in gas storage. Wind and solar also performed poorly this year in Europe. There was also lots of maintanance work starting after the lockdowns, plus a spike in consumption as lockdowns ended.

Posted by: Passer by | Sep 12 2021 17:33 utc | 22

Two recent threads Covid and its vaccinations, and 9/11. 9/11, a terrorist event marked the start of the US war of terror. US destruction of Muslim countries. Peak terror was Syria/Iraq with the promotion of well made snuff movies, website that could be book marked by anyone and always accessed by ‘journalists’. That while there were news stories of military units being set up to fight ISIS on social media.
Now a new military era. The war against China. Kicked off with a somewhat mild pathogen. Mandatory vaccinations for that mild pathogen. More rights will be taken from us in the west, same as throughout the war of terror and never returned. But more than that, the marker for the pivot away from destruction of muslim target countries and onto China I think actually is the form the war on China will take. It is a form of military attack that can use plausible deniability, limiting a corresponding counter attack.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 12 2021 17:52 utc | 24

Only a shyster could think that the 1905 case is astrong precedent. Covid is just like smallpox?!?

Posted by: Platero | Sep 12 2021 18:14 utc | 26

thank you b…. and thank you to the many informed and curious posters too…..
oldhippie…. playing with the numbers is a game that kids play… adults play it too, but for different reasons… i think it is called propaganda, or pushing a particular agenda… leaving info out is an important part of it..
florida data from worldometers.
listening to keith jarrett now – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHGx_6w-lmU – image quality not the best, but the quality of the improvisation is stunning… was tied up playing in the tofino jazz festival yesterday.. lots of driving to and from to get the gig, but was super fun…

Posted by: james | Sep 12 2021 18:26 utc | 28

RE:Navalny I really would like to know what happened, the way you want to know how the stage magician did it, but I’m highly prejudiced and mostly wonder how the British pulled this one off. Poisonings are as predictable as Bond movies: in the end the Brits did it.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Sep 12 2021 18:39 utc | 30

vk | Sep 12 2021 16:36 utc | 15
I admit these figures are old but it gives you a real view of the sort of revenue scales that various states claim. they are somewhat variable as the Govt’s are out to get as much loot they can get away with.
Remember the gilets Jaunes – fuel cost were the trigger.
*
“The data shows the Netherlands has the highest tax on unleaded petrol in the EU, at 68% of the cost at the pump, while Bulgaria is the lowest at 51%. France’s fuel taxes – 64% on unleaded and 59% on diesel – are among the highest in the EU, but compare evenly with those in the UK.”
*****
Passer by | Sep 12 2021 17:33 utc | 22
I’m in the EU so you are probably correct about the US, but the underlying assumption is that Governments NOW have to find increased sources of income. Like ordinary folk. So what do they do is tap the neighbours for a dime (or two) to make ends meet. The EU has a long history of draining resources necessary for future investments, to pay for their own salaries. I presume the US is the same with added pork.

Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 12 2021 19:15 utc | 32

Stonebird
In Australia, we have state excises and federal excise. They are added to the straight price of fuel then as the are called excises, GST is added to that price. I did work out what the government makes on fuel a number years back and it was close to two thirds the browser price went to the government. But that getting charged tax on the excises – we are told excise is not a tax so we are not paying tax on a tax….

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 12 2021 19:23 utc | 34

Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 12 2021 19:15 utc | 32
>>The EU has a long history of draining resources necessary for future investments, to pay for their own salaries.
Problem is, EU is not living in ordinary times. Energy prices are reaching record levels, some local resources are depleting, debt is at all time high, growth at all time low, and the demographics lead to old population facing pension issues. It also looks like the Covid era is going to bust tourism, something important in Europe.
Some in Europe are better, such as Germany, Scandis and the Netherlands, but the South, France, Belgium, Britain, and eastern Europe are not looking good.
For example look at Spain – demographics are terrible, debt is at all time high, many unemployed people, electricity prices at all time high, state debt at all time high, tourism faces bust. Does this look good to you? No. There is a reason both people in the US and in Europe think that the new generations will have it worse than previous ones. These attitudes do not come from nothing.
This wasn’t the case back then. 20 – 30 years ago, people were optimistic about the future, about progress, etc. Not so much these days.

Posted by: Passer by | Sep 12 2021 20:09 utc | 36

Max 33
A few I have been thinking about. What are the aims of the west-if it can be called that? Throughout the war of terror, it was difficult to pick up any solid aims – taking down the Arab states around Israel was one, otherwise generally annoying Russia and China as both have areas of Muslim populations, and the constant minor attacks on Russia which is the hereditary enemy of the anglos. Basically the US simply squandered its massive military and economic total dominance of the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Through this time China has build itself into a major economic power and a reasonable military power. Russia quietly built new generations of weapons systems and suddenly, the anglo world is facing loss of world dominance it has held for a very long time.
The empire where the sun never set. The main international language used is English. After world war two, the US dollar backed by a set amount of gold was widely used then when it was converted to the petro dollar, virtually every countries needed dollar to by oil. International language anglo, international currency anglo.
The pivot on China gave a better idea I think of where power lays. Here in Australia, our neighbors, our trading partners are the Asian countries to the north of us. We are part of the Asia Pacific. At some after the announced pivot on China, our then PM announced that we are part of the anglosphere. An anglo outpost in the Asian world.
In watching what has happened since then, especially recently, the driving force is continued anglo dominance of the world.
Virtual all international organisations set up after WWII are anglo.
I watch the people around me and how they respond to the anti china propaganda and there is a great fear of other cultures and languages dominating world affair. China continuing on its path will become the center of the world. Other countries will be drawn to it. The belt and road, win win economic corridors – all roads lead to Beijing. Russia and other asian countries will be a very big part in this.
But that fear of other cultures that I see around me, that also goes up to the halls of Anglo power.
I see anglo dominance as the driving force and this is very different from money that has no nationality.
Money, as in Rothchild ect, I don’t see as the pinnacle of power. The money people will have to work in the interests of anglo dominance or lose their money. You see this in the silicon valley new money. Those kids that write a few computer programs and make billions, for what is termed the IC community, taking that from them and breaking them would be childs play. They must toe the line.
The anglosphere – the five-eyes Intel agreement, the monarch of England as head of state for Canada, Australia, New Zealand – the circles of power around the monarch and the circles of power in the US all tied together.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 12 2021 20:10 utc | 38

@ Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 12 2021 19:15 utc | 32
It has nothing to do with the EU in special.
Every nation-state has to tighten its belt when inflation is high. Except the USA.
The USA can export its own inflation to the rest of the world, which is then forced to tighten the belts of their own peoples. This happens because we live in the Dollar Standard: every nation-state, if it wants to keep trading, has to pay and receive payments in USDs. In order to keep the trade balance stable, the rest of the world has to sustain the purchase power of the USD. Therefore, when the USG prints trillions of USDs, the rest of the world is forced to give an amount of commodities and services equivalent to the printed amount. This material wealth is then siphoned to the USA, where its population will enjoy the new imports; in exchange, the USA allows the rest of the world to keep trading between themselves.
In other words, the USA is the free market itself. It is the HQ of capitalism. Biden will soon pass a USD 1.2 trn infrastructure package; it will use this money to purchase whatever it needs to build infrastructure in the USA. The USA will give absolutely nothing in return to the exporter nations in exchange for those USD 1.2 trn in infrastructure: the exporter nation will simply have to accept those USDs as means of payment and give whatever the USA wants to buy with them in return.
That’s why even the EU is having to tighten the belts of its people, while the USA is on a spending spree: the American people will not have to tighten its belt to enjoy Biden’s new infrastructure package. That’s why there’s no talk about rising taxes in the USA at all.

Posted by: vk | Sep 12 2021 20:27 utc | 40

Which PM was that?

Posted by: Fabian | Sep 12 2021 20:49 utc | 42

@ snake | Sep 12 2021 17:21 utc | 20
Thanks, I’m agree that the next generation needs to disconnect and turn back to analog.
For example, I educate(d)my kids to read hardcopy, not only online, to take notes on paper…
The Globalistan is always in travesty with “ready to swallow” ideas and new trigger words. And Wikilies.
So many “on line lies”.
Back to public libraries.

Posted by: Odenwälder | Sep 12 2021 21:02 utc | 44

Jose Garcia @Sep12 20:24 #39
Your comment shows your ignorance and a surprising lack of skepticism.

• Israel tracked the terrorists for months before 9-11 and warned USA two weeks before.
• The Saudis funded al Queda and had access/intelligence. And it was just revealed that Saudi diplomats were in close contact with two of the terrorists in the weeks before 9-11.
• Despite the above: Saudi nationals were allowed to flee the country immediately after 9-11. Israeli Mossad operatives that celebrated the attack were also allowed to leave. And Salman of Saudi Arabia who rant the al Queda funding operation for the Saudi is now KING and his son MbS is CROWN PRINCE despite breaking the system of Saudi succession. This was essentially, a CIA-supported coup because Salman/MbS could not be successful if CIA backed the other faction. Also note the Trump-Salman lovefest at the orb.
• And there’s more: despite the utter revulsion at Islamic terror networks, the Obama Administration allowed ISIS to rise. Intelligence reports were faked; massive oil trading with Turkey was allowed; and Israel provided healthcare for ISIS wounded.

You might want to read through the 9-11 thread to learn about the many problems with the 9-11 narrative.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Sep 12 2021 21:22 utc | 46

Posted by: Roger | Sep 12 2021 21:11 utc | 45
Yeah, but these are not “projections”, but spending authorised under current law, approved by both Republicans and Democrats. By the way, the US never faced such debts in history. This isn’t the 70s.
Yes, the US can theoretically keep spending at current levels. But then it will enter hyperinflationary spiral.
Look at *alternative scenarios* by CRFB for keeping current spending. If spending at current levels continues the US will face annual budget deficits reaching 18 % by 2050 (which is crazy), and also growing fast. In other words, hyperinflation and the end of the dollar as a reserve currency. That is why no one is talking about keeping current spending into the future, neither Trump, not Biden, nor anyone of importance. These are simply terrible numbers never seen in US history, no getting away from that. And the longer the US waits to tackle the debt, the harder it becomes.
https://www.crfb.org/papers/analysis-cbos-march-2021-long-term-budget-outlook

Posted by: Passer by | Sep 12 2021 21:41 utc | 48

migueljose #3
Thank you for that link to the OAS report. In 5 days there will be a meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). There is a clear intention to dissolve the colonialist occupied entity of the OAS and not before time. That report has a link to one mighty detailed expose of the treacherous game played by OAS Secretary General, Mr. Luis Almagro.
Bolivia’s Foreign Minister, Rogelio Mayta delivers a thorough shellacking of the perfidious treachery that Almagro committed in his support or advocacy for the Bolivian illegal coup one year ago.

This expert opinion and the Prosecutor’s examination show that the actions of Mr. Almagro and the SSD were one of the triggers for the political crisis undergone in 2019; that they are liable for precipitating the crisis, for the infringement of the constitutional order, and for the grave human rights violations recorded in that dark end of 2019; and that they acted negligently, to say the least, but with premeditation.
The Communiqué of August 9 and Mr. Luis Almagro’s statements thus constitute the anticipated plea of ​​his defense—an unconscious confession of his guilt. The binding nature that Mr. Almagro claims seek to guarantee impunity.
Unfortunately, Mr. Luis Almagro’s actions are not surprising to us; he clearly took sides in the internal politics of Bolivia in October 2019, against the MAS; and he is now doing the same against the legitimate government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia inasmuch as the MAS took office once more after having won the 2020 elections resolutely. Mr. Almagro’s statements constitute hate speech, disqualifications without arguments, and the utterances of a political enemy—the problem being that he serves as Secretary-General of the OAS.
When Mr. Luis Almagro utters statements, it is to some extent the OAS itself that is speaking and we hence ask ourselves: Do Mr. Almagro’s words represent the thinking of the 33 OAS Member States? In the particular issue, we raised here, has this Council at least debated any of the aspects related to the expert opinion carried out? The answer is a plain No.
Thus, Mr. Almagro’s actions not only constitute an act of interference, but also a deinstitutionalization of the OAS. The General Secretariat should be an instance to bring together States, capable of creating consensus in the midst of discrepancies and differing views. In Bolivia’s view, however, this OAS, with Mr. Almagro as Secretary-General, does not live up to that purpose and it is with regret that we observe that many of the States represented here today are of the same view.
The Member States do not need a General Secretariat that does not bring together States, that divides, that anticipates judgment, adjudicates and condemns at discretion as a daily practice, and that creates power and voice beyond all rules.

The OAS has been a tool of the Canada/US colonial exploiters for a long time. I expect they will not retire gracefully. Good luck to the South American and Caribbean states. Barflies might read this piece as well.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 12 2021 21:52 utc | 50

NYT link given by b about the recent coup in Guinea:
And although numerous U.S.-trained officers have seized power in their countries — most notably, Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt — this is believed to be the first time one has done so in the middle of an American military course.
——————–
When the kids are cutting classes, they are often to no good.
Shortly after Libya government, and the country, was shattered by Western intervention, chaotic situation emerged in Mali, with active participation of graduates from American military training. Good students joined Tuareg rebels in Saharan part of Mali, while the bad students remained in the military and were ordered to fight the rebellion (ISIS affiliation emerged too). Bad students that they were, they staged a coup rather then brave the murderous heat and the fire from their more apt colleagues. The connection to Libya was that Tuareg in Libya got hold on a sizable amount of arms from the arsenals of the collapsed government, and claiming ISIS connection was making arms transfer more smooth — I think Libyan Arab salafists got hold on them first, but they were willing to contribute to the cause of Caliphate in Mali (this may be too logical to explain what happened in chaotic times).

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Sep 12 2021 22:41 utc | 52

Platero @ 27
If I put ‘Florida covid’ in the search bar and allow google to search a chart promptly comes up that tells me the death toll in Florida is 350 per day averaged over seven days. Current to September 11. That came up this morning and it still comes up. Google tells me that info comes from New York Times. Pursuing the matter further at NYT hits a paywall. Yes, if I try Worldometer there is a completely different and much lower number. Which number would be preferred? How would anyone tell?
James @ 28
Yes, these are children’s games. The two covid deaths I have personal knowledge of are both more than a year old. I am certain that one of those was not a covid death even if registered as such. The other included at least three obvious co-morbidities and obese seniors with diabetes who drink martinis by the pitcher are not likely to live long in any case.

Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 12 2021 22:57 utc | 54

I have only posted here a few times before, but I read Moon of Alabama nearly every day. I maintain massive respect for Bernhard Hoftsman, even though I disagree about a few things. This is completely normal. It took even The Saker about 10 years, for him to finally get 9/11, and b is more than half way there already. Of course no one can mention COVID, or we will all get annoyed with other. The Jabbed vs The Unjabbed
I love the original, but accidentally came across The Doors version
I don’t know if you are allowed to post videos here
“The Doors Live 1968”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv-CxAr0HeA
Tony

Posted by: Tony_0pmoc | Sep 12 2021 23:20 utc | 56

The usual simplistic nonsense.
We can figure out what the

Posted by: c1ue | Sep 13 2021 0:00 utc | 58

oldhippie | Sep 12 2021 22:57 utc | 54
I know no one who has died of, or has had, C19 and I know a lot of people. However, I know five people who have died of the experimental medical treatment

Posted by: FiveGunsWest | Sep 13 2021 0:09 utc | 60

uncle tungsten
Daddy bush as part of his resume had been director of central intelligence at one point. The sort of position at the time of the attack that would be be essential to ‘overlook’ the various warnings and insure investigations ran into dead ends.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 13 2021 0:37 utc | 62

Odenwälder #49
Thank you for that link to Miri Wood Syria News.
That was a brilliant salut to Satoshi Omura and his gift to humanity in Ivermectin. The ‘mass formation’ of opposition to this remarkable medicine is truly appalling.
Miri Wood is a journalist of distinction that’s for sure.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 13 2021 1:13 utc | 64

@ Peter AU1 (#38), good points on the global dominance. It can all be summed up under the theme, “Global Dominance and Suzerainties.”
The goal of the existing global dominance is to democratize, privatize, financialize and securitize all key assets, thereby building a PRIVATE Empire. The Ruling Clans are pursuing a different form of imperialism, not colonizing nations but democratizing and privatizing them to dominate through a PRIVATE POWER. Many call the existing phase as Monetary Imperialism or Financial Empire, including Michael Hudson. Even the French are pursuing monetary imperialism in Africa.
Highly recommend David Abernethy’s book, The Dynamics of Global Dominance.
A wise individual said it well:
“Who controls the food supply CONTROLS the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls MONEY can control the WORLD.”

Posted by: Max | Sep 13 2021 1:22 utc | 66

Tony @ 56
Band is very subdued. And JM sitting in a chair? At least they hit all the notes.

Posted by: Platero | Sep 13 2021 1:42 utc | 68

@ oldhippie
Its extremely obvious that POS DeSantis is having his people explicitly misreport the death rates when any comparison is made to other states, such as Texas etc., Look out for one-off data catch ups a few weeks apart.

Posted by: Roger | Sep 13 2021 1:46 utc | 70

The EU has a long history of draining resources necessary for future investments, to pay for their own salaries.
Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 12 2021 19:15 utc | 32
This seems to me improbable. The EU bureaucracy is miniature, far smaller than UK’s for example. So, even if they were paying themselves such enormous salaries, it wouldn’t amount to a bar on investment. And secondly, one of the most visible products of the EU has always been investment in the infrastructure. You see it everywhere you go in the formerly poorer Mediterranean countries, where EU financed investment can be seen everywhere. A view like yours can only be maintained by shutting your eyes to the blindingly obvious, though I agree such views are quite common on this blog, where the good has to be ignored, because perfection has not been achieved.

Posted by: Laguerre | Sep 13 2021 2:42 utc | 72

Platero @26
The author of the article says he graduated from law school, but most of his career was spent as a journalist. It shows. His analysis of the precedent conveniently fails to discuss, as you note, whether horrible smallpox is equivalent to Covid with its vast survivability. Just as importantly, he fails to discuss the difference between a local health board’s boots-on-the-ground’s perspective on stopping a heinous killer with a proven vaccine, and that of a national executive trying to dictate what’s good for everyone a vast nation of 330 million despite broad differences in state and local circumstances and experiences with not only Covid but also a vaccine with does noes not stop infection nor transmissibility. The case discussion does not cover important issues such as priorities in state vs. federal regulation on health issues, or even whether the executive or legislative branch of the federal government should control outcomes of clearly a non-emergency situation (if there had been a true emergency, it should have been handled differently a long-time ago). I have no idea how the Supremes would rule, but they are certainly not bound by the precedent discussed in the article.

Posted by: zakukommander | Sep 13 2021 3:14 utc | 74

Another thought on power and part of what makes me think money itself is not the source of power. This thing called national interest. Who determines what is national interest? It is the ultimate trump card in any court of law. It may come under different terms in different countries but it is always there. Go to close and the abyss will let you know, karlof1 by one of his recent comments has been there. I have been there.
The likes of Assange, Snowden, Manning and various other whistle blowers all went too close to the abyss of national interest.
In the five eyes, this national interest is largely set by US and perhaps a lesser extent UK, but it is very much anglosphere national interest.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 13 2021 4:37 utc | 76

@25 — Passer by | Sep 12 2021 18:02
“Is this why the US and the EU are going crazy about China’s State-owned enterprises? Whatever she is selling Western (capitalist) authorities are not buying it. Dismantling China’s SOEs has been a core western demand to China.”
Looks like just another wedging point without consistent logic. If they are worried about state owned enterprises then why not focus on the oligarchic city-state and ex-British colony of Singapore which extends its extra-territorial powers over its citizens and permanent residents globally. In 2007, Canadian lawyers concluded that a “number of factors amply demonstrate that Singapore is not governed by the rule of law.” Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) were elected to power in 1959 with 43 out of the 51 seats in the Assembly. Lee Kuan Yew became the first Prime Minister and the PAP has remained in power without discontinuity since with never less than 95% of the parliamentary seats. Singapore’s Section 31 permits enforced urinalysis and Section 8A “prohibits any citizen or permanent resident of Singapore to use any prohibited drug outside of the country, and if found guilty to be punished as if they committed that act within the country” — and that would include pot smoking in the USA. Since 2010, 23 prisoners have been executed in Singapore for drug offences under Section 17 of the Misuse of Drugs Act (2008) – only five have been executed for other offences.
There are plenty of “Chinese” government owned enterprises in Singapore (including telecommunications) that western reformers could fixate themselves on if they really were serious. But of course, the real issue is not what is portrayed on the surface. If London or Washington DC (or more correctly, Wall St NY) run the government then all is ok. The issue is, as for Russia, the Chinese government works for the people/citizens; whereas in the US the government works for the corporate oligarchic class. Hence Jack Ma is nailed and brought under control in China, while the western plan was for his class to emerge and join the criminal 0.01% running the show from behind the plutocratic curtains.

Posted by: imo | Sep 13 2021 5:11 utc | 78

..
WHO has the motive, means, track record for launching the SARS2 FF against China.
——————————
Faq
[work in progess]
FUKUS covert/overt wars on China since 1949 with bio war fares highlighted.
1950 Korean war, bioweapons used on NK., Chinese civilians
1955, CIA/TW attempt at Zhou Enlai’s life airliner with 200+ people onboard plunged into the sea bed of SCS.
1959 CIA/RAW Tibet riot,
CIA recruiter to Tibetans

You wanna kill some Chinese ?

1962 FUKUS instigated Indo./sino war,
1963 CIA funded anti Chinese riots in BaNdung, iNDON.
1965 [[[CIA/MI5]]] orchestrated INdon genocide on ethnic Chinese.
1989 CIA/MI6 TAM, destabilisation/demonisation.
1993, Chinese freighter Yinhe hijacked by USN, pirates at hight sea.
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/06/world/no-chemical-arms-aboard-china-ship.html
1998 CIA/MI6 orchestrated Indon pogrom , mass rapes on ethnic Chinese.
tHe mastermind of that putsch is going round the circuit of western democrazies sourcing for more WMD, I heard he had clinched a deal with LOckheed Martin for a billions $ F16 deal, arranged under the Trump regime,
1999 BOmbing of Chinese embassy in ex Yugo,
2001 Hainan spy plane, Chinese pilot died.
2003 SARS1,
ethnic bioweapon
2003 Iraq invasion,
Chinese embassy sacked by ‘riotsers’
oil contracts with Saddam nullified.
2006 regime change in Kenya
2008 Tibet riots,
2009 Xinjiang bloodbath,
2011 Libya,
Tens of thousands Chinese workers forced to evacuate, economic loss hundreds of billions.
2013 Mali terrorism
Russian/Chinese rail executives slaughtered.
2013 Bird flu H7N9, Asia pivot
2014 Sudan,
2014 Ebola as pretext to ratchet up militarisation of Aftrica, target China.
2014
Xinjiang terrorism, HK riots, Mh370 mass murder, bubonic plague, Ebola, Dengue,
2015 FUKUS orchested Congo riots against Chinese .
2015
Sri lanka regime change
Chinese investments torpedoed.
2018
Washington, with the backing of New Delhi, sponsored the ousting of pro-Chinese President Abdulla Yameen
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/31/pomp-o31.html
2018 bird flu, H7N9
2019 HK riots , Xinjiang demonisation, swine flu, army worms, attack on Chinese food chain.
2020 SARS2, H5N1, locusts.
2020
Chinese ambassador to Israel bumped off.
2021
Full spectrum smear campaign over Xinjiang , HK, covid, yellow peril.
FUKUS prepping for
Four fronts attacks at Lakdah, TW Straits, SCS, ECS !
2021
sleepy wily joe turned EU against China, arm twist LIthuan to switch camp.
SK, Israel forced to join in the UIghur inquisition.
2021
coup in African GUinea,
Chinese investments on infrastructure and minerals in peril.

Posted by: denk | Sep 13 2021 5:35 utc | 80

I struggle to understand why b decided to link the New Statesman propaganda article.

Posted by: S | Sep 13 2021 6:17 utc | 82

Laguerre | Sep 13 2021 2:42 utc | 72
I was actually being sardonic, rather than strictly accurate.
However, Do not under-estimate the cost of Governments, Bureaucrats, Brussels clique etc. on the overall economy. As in France it was claimed that 25% of the “workers” were in Gov. Offices and on the Govt. Payroll. I think this has since changed, but at one time increasing the number of civil servants was considered a way to reduce the “unemployment level”.
****
Looking closely at your reply – you think I was referring to “just” the EU (Brussels) when I take the “EU” as the collective including all the individual Governments as well , and which, once upon a time, included the UK.
This deserves a longer reply (Cost/benefit of the EU), but sorry, not today – homework calls….

Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 13 2021 7:52 utc | 84

The menage a trois between UAE, Turkey and Kurdistan will not be televised, much to our relief.
However reporter Vladimir Odintsov of NEO is writing about it. Here is a snippet but the entire report is a must read. One gets the distinct whiff of imminent treachery in every paragraph.

That Abu Dhabi could make peace with Ankara became clear from the January statements of former UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, who indicated that the Emirates see no reason for confrontation with Turkey beyond the fact that the republic’s leader supports the Muslim Brotherhood. After a while, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also said Ankara was ready to establish relations with Abu Dhabi.
However, the thaw in bilateral relations between the regional rivals has been also possible thanks to the active mediation activities of the head of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, who maintains relations with both leaders, but especially with Erdoğan. Let us not forget that the 2010 oil deal allows Erbil to export oil produced in the region to Western markets, bypassing Baghdad. Ankara has become an economic “lifeline” for the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan. As “payback,” official Erbil has long been a trusted partner of Ankara, the Turkish army’s expanding operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party. For its part, the UAE financially supports refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan.

It take the patience of a lion named Lavrov and Assad to work through this on behalf of Syria.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 13 2021 9:05 utc | 86

Mick Wallace slams the EU for its part in the war racket in Afghanistan:

Will anyone in #EU be held to account for #Afghanistan – ‘Or does anyone get held to account in the War Industry..? We destroyed a country, and you talk about gains? Afghanistan has been left the poorest country per capita in Asia. The numbers in Poverty has doubled since 2001..’

The EU reply – ‘what me worry?’

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 13 2021 9:52 utc | 88

Posted by: Roger | Sep 13 2021 0:52 utc | 63
>>The CFRB is this and that
It cites CBO, not an argument.
>>Revenue is taxes, and the CBO assumes current tax rates.
It doesn’t, it assumes almost all of the individual tax cuts to expire at the end of 2025 under base case scenario, which is the case under approved current law. Moreover, Biden needs to raise taxes further to pay for his multi-trillion spending packages, regardless of the debt situation. So you don’t have that much tax space that you think.
>>debt was 125% at the end of WW2
At the end of WW2 the rest of the industrialised world was destroyed, the US was nearly half the global economy, growth rates were higher than in today’s China, energy was ultra cheap, and demographics are one of the best, with very young population.
>>Current US government debt to GDP is 107% which is not that high compared to many other nations
Its higher than in most other nations, plus the US is one of the few nations that has no plan tackle its debt, unlike Europe.
>>Central government spending of 31% is not high with respect to many other successful nations
It will keep increasing further, see trajectory.
The bigger problem there is the budget deficit, which keeps increasing in peace time and this is no WW2 situation that lasted 5 years, here we are talking about ever growing annual deficits leading to hyperinflationary spiral by 2050 under current law (18 % and growing).
I’m not going to mention that CBO assumes no wars or recessions in the future, so its estimates are extremely optimistic.
The other problem is as the US share in the global economy is declining, it gets harder for the dollar to remain a world main reserve currency. This isn’t 1945, by 2050 China will be nearly twice bigger in PPP GDP and India will be nearly as big as the US. The center of the global economy is shifting towards Asia (which was the case for thousands of years), and Asia, just like the EU, mostly trades with itself. So you are looking at multi-currency regime in the future, where money moves into other currencies, into CNY, into gold, into crypto-currencies, etc. With the dollar being only one of options.

Posted by: Passer by | Sep 13 2021 11:00 utc | 90

@ Posted by: imo | Sep 13 2021 5:30 utc | 79
The problem with the “China is Confucianism” argument is that it explains everything while explaining nothing. It’s an umbrella argument that can be fit in everything that happens in China. When China was conquered and humiliated by the imperialist powers in the 19th Century, was it because of Confucianism too?
What we know for sure is that, on Mao’s part, there was no doubt: he used Marxism-Leninism and Marxism-Leninism only. The CPC is a Marxist-Leninist party.

Posted by: vk | Sep 13 2021 12:08 utc | 92

Another example of how Confucianism has become the Deus ex Machina that explains everything intrinsically Chinese:
A liberal world with liberal China: If China pursues its Confucian mold again, it could be held back by refusing to modernize
Confucius has suddenly become the founding father of China.

Posted by: vk | Sep 13 2021 12:31 utc | 94

Panjshir;
Videos appearing of Taliban happily counting millions of greenbacks found in crates, that were found in Saleh’s hideout ($6.5m at least, plus 18 gold bars). Ghani earlier had said that HE was not the one who stole the millions, and the prospect is that he could be telling (most of) the truth.
There were also VAST amounts of ammunition and weapons found at the same site. From the videos, some of it may have been there for a long time, (Dust on the lower halves of some boxes of ammunition, in the corridors packed from floor to ceiling), but more could have been added later as they are lacking the accumulated dust.
*
A couple of things here; Tajikstan was NOT at the regional SCO meeting. Is there a potential conflict of interests? (Saleh is Tajik).
Haqqani seems to have played his cards right, but his connections to Al Qaida need to be clarified straight away. As hardliners are very visible in the “temporary” Govt.
(Early Al Qaida => CIA. Is this still true?)

Posted by: Stonebird | Sep 13 2021 12:45 utc | 96

posted by Joe @ 5 .. Thanks for the link, Raises questions re elements needed to prove Covid 19 participants culpable for maybe conspiracy, use of government for private gain, price fixing, etc. and acts against humanity?
conspiracy, price fixing and use of government for private gain
have a RICO look
price fixing?
organized crime defined
The question coming into view are governments, their agencies and organized NGOs and private entities including MSM liable<= if it can be shown they are responsible for misleading recommendations, mandates and for redacting Covid 19 data scenarios? Since there is no 2nd government which would allow the governed to monitor the governors who run the governments of the world, and no court independent of the 256 member governments of the nation state system that contains all 8 billion persons in the world, there is no place of merit to charge possible villains and no court to bring charges and defendants to answer charges of crimes against humanity? If ever the people of the world are going to get a fair shake from their government, it is going to be necessary to get installed a 2nd government. One that is completely independent of the nation states but that is funded by 10% of the gross budgets and receipts of those 256 governments. Posted by ptb @ 18 US policy is going to have to come to terms with multipolarity. I suppose the main takeaway from the Tooze article, for me, is that under Biden, we're not ready for that moment yet. The usa, managed by private interest, is not likely to change course! Posted by Passer @ 22 Many more reasons. Russia stopped supplying additional gas volumes via Ukraine, sending a message that Nord Stream 2 pipeline must be opened, or energy prices will explode. Open NS-2, and the price drops. <=not sure about that.. the LNG group will jump for joy.. if prices rise! Sounds like an agreement was made.. Posted by Peter AU1 @ 38 the driving force is continued anglo dominance of the world. <=The anglo world governments (democratic republics) are Oligarch serving fronts they are part of the private group in the anglo world that use government to make the people of the world produce for them. The private groups will force (democratic republics) governments to do anything necessary to maintain private control over global dominance. denk @ 80.. "WHO has the motive, means, track record for launching the SARS2 FF against China." <=government is indifferent, maybe private oligarch who dictate to the puppets that run the nation state governments Several blame Covid <=scenarios have surfaced: one, covid scenarios reduce the population of the world. two, covid scenarios were imposed to eliminate competition from small business and small nations. In my area, very few small restaurants and even automobile repair shops have survived, but nearly all of the chains have experienced no real downturn. three, western oligarchs expected to be able to blame China so as to have the governments they control start a war (cold or hot). four, The economy needed to be slowed down, and the fed refused to slow it down..

Posted by: snake | Sep 13 2021 13:38 utc | 98

@Bemildred | Sep 13 2021 12:34 utc | 95

USA, the Tanya Harding of international relations.

LOL, I remember Tonya Harding, from the Olympics at Lillehammer 1994. Crybaby.

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 13 2021 13:49 utc | 100