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October 3, 2021
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-076

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

—
Other issues:

AUKUS:

Pierre Morcos @morcos_pierre – 12:36 AM · Oct 1, 2021

French foreign minister @JY_LeDrian testified yesterday at a French Senate hearing on the implications of #AUKUS. An important discussion with French Senators which will be followed by other hearings. A 🧵 on the main highlights …

> "This is an appalling episode in Australia's international affairs and the consequences of it will endure to our disadvantage for a very long time," Turnbull said. Former Prime Ministers Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd, who led the center-left Labor Party, have also been vocal critics of the nuclear deal. <

Covid-19 misreporting:

The first story confirms that the data analysis in the NYT, criticized in the second story, is skewed. The last story, also by the NYT, is of Asia but makes no mention of China at all. This while China has applied more than 2.2 billion doses of vaccine and is exporting a billion more.

Assange:

I had linked to the first one in last week's review. While it has valuable new information it also includes some propagandistic 'Russiagate' nonsense.

Crickets:

Use as open thread …

Posted by b on October 3, 2021 at 14:19 UTC | Permalink
Comments

This Twitter Thread provides an educational lesson in Korean history from 1946 under the oppression of the Outlaw US Empire’s occupation:
“In the fall of 1946, 300,000 workers in southern Korea joined a general strike demanding rice and workers’ rights from the US military govt.
“On Oct 1, 1946, police killed a striker in Daegu, sparking a rebellion that swept southern Korea. This is the story of the Autumn Uprising.”
The thread author provides some of his sources: “U.S. Policy in Korea 1946-1948:
A Neo-colonial Model Takes Shape” and “Colonial Legacies and the Struggle for Social Membership in a National Community: The 1946 People’s Uprisings in Korea”.
Every place the Outlaw US Empire “liberated” then occupied after WW2 was returned to the Fascist officials locals had fought to eliminate only to see them reinstated and protected by the US military. In the blink of an eye, Fascists went from enemies to friends, or so it seemed. Kolko’s research for his Politics of War documents that policy began in occupied Italy in 1943, and I’ve questioned if Roosevelt or Wallace were ever aware of that being the case as the policy was at first instituted by SHAEF but then went global, and we’re still living with its negative outcomes.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 4 2021 18:53 utc | 101

Biden has used his Ace in the hole to get Congress to deal with the debt ceiling issue:
“This is going to undermine the safety of US Treasury securities, and it will threaten the reserve status of the dollar as the world’s currency that the world relies on. American credit rating will be downgraded, interest rates will rise for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, borrowing.”
Well, “the world” doesn’t rely on “the dollar as the world’s currency;” rather, it’s been forced to since 1945, while the Outlaw US Empire has grossly abused that status and no longer deserves it. His having to play that card shows us just how close the world is to dedollarization, which will likely finally come to an end when the current massive speculative bubble bursts.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 4 2021 19:05 utc | 102

Martyanov occasionally proves he’s a wit:
“But I might as well say it straight why this is happening–office plankton cannot govern, period … The West is run by a collective Fukuyama. And that is both the diagnosis and the indictment.”
The EU + UK energy crises are curious to watch. Gazprom’s beginning to fill NS2 with gas, but apparently its operational start can still be delayed by EU politicos.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 4 2021 19:26 utc | 103

BM #77
Thank you for the links to de.rt etc. I will go there in future as the english language version is a fishwrap and has been getting progressively worse over the years.
Shame on RT.
I guess Integrity Initiative makes regular cash contributions to keep the englander language people calm.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 4 2021 21:02 utc | 104

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 4 2021 19:26 utc | 103
Thanks for the Smoothie, I quite agree, the problem is nobody in charge knows how to make anything happen any more. It’s all Public Relations, throwing money around, and paper shuffling, all the time.
Somebody around “Biden” seems to understand the problem too, which is “interesting”.

Posted by: Bemildred | Oct 4 2021 21:22 utc | 105

karlof1 #103
plankton indeed! Thank you for that link to Martyanov in brutal speak mode. And the Kit Klarenberg piece at RT. Has Klarenberg departed the Sputnik?
A fine way to start the day.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 4 2021 22:05 utc | 106

@106 – a little plankton humor from spongebob.
Felicitations Malefactors

Posted by: lex talionis | Oct 4 2021 22:23 utc | 107

Funny graph:
How the “free market” actually works

Posted by: vk | Oct 4 2021 23:12 utc | 108

The Taliban have created a new type of mouse. It occasionally roars.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FA4plV6WEA0wHk4?format=png&name=small

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 4 2021 23:40 utc | 109

Sixty four years ago Russia demonstrated its technological leadership.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FA4nKyRWUAoTplA?format=png&name=small
Still there and now joined by comrade China. Its good to see the USA is still using Russian launch vehicles in order to assist.
HT @GeromanAT
It is extraordinary to see the extraordinary capacity of today’s Russian scramjet capability being coupled with metallurgy of the highest order sixty four years later. Unfortunately that inventive science has been diverted to military purpose to some extent but hopefully it will also manifest in peaceful space research and mission support. I have no doubt that joint efforts between Russia and China are on foot to that goal.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 4 2021 23:52 utc | 110

In New Zealand there are some wickedly funny and unruly citizens.
Message to the elite who assume they can refuge there in safety: it is not exactly safe even for state politicians.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 5 2021 0:11 utc | 111

Is this the hot potato its claims to be??

Posted by: snake | Oct 5 2021 0:15 utc | 112

An interview with a DIY lab savvy person who made a DNA Covid vax in July 2020. It runs for approx 15 minutes and is annoyingly circuitous but mighty fascinating. His vax is a reproduction of a method in a paper published in May 2020 and led to the creation of a panic attack by tptb.
From Useful Idiots with Taibbi and Halper, October 2, 2021.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 5 2021 0:46 utc | 113

Meanwhile gathering the Idlib head choppers together for a surprise.
Elsewhere @Zoka reports Syrian Arab Army reinforcements and battle gear assembling for an Idlib liberation drive.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 5 2021 0:55 utc | 114

Posted by: snake | Oct 5 2021 0:15 utc | 112
Is this the hot potato its claims to be??

Difficult to understand his concern for his bio-weapon hypothesis and his disregard of the outcome of the COVID issue.
As posters on Unz Review correctly note the global death toll from this event is huge at 5 million dead and counting, the economic after effects are equally great and still unresolved, yet both the MSM and Unz Review seem reluctant to closely examine all the issues of state misfeasance, malfeasance, and clear criminality.
No hot potato. Not even a damp french fry while the kitchen erupts in flame and the neighbourhood explodes.

Posted by: Sushi | Oct 5 2021 1:19 utc | 115

@vk – 78
The difference here is that you’re making a false equivalence. “Xi’s government” is not nationalist, but socialist. And it is not Xi’s government, but the CPC government.
Modi is a Hindu nationalist (and capitalist) government that is completely centered around his cult of personality.
So, it’s really a case of apple and oranges.
India is not full of huge banners with Modi’s face on it; in or before May 2024 there will be the next Indian general elections and Modi’s place will be up to the electorate, while Xi is president for life. India’s is also a mix of capitalism and socialism, just not such an army style command economy.
If you believe that Xi Jinping is not a nationalist than that is your fatal flaw. Anybody living physically next door to PR China knows this truth; Chinese citizens too, as they get plenty of nationalistic propaganda over them daily.

Posted by: Antonym | Oct 5 2021 1:39 utc | 116

Random stats – Euro natural gas storage….
https://agsi.gie.eu/#/
suggestion – click on “graph” button for countries of interest, and select “all” for time period.
most countries actually look okay (leaving aside that it is no longer safe to assume that the amounts stored in each country are going to be consumed there, since they may be owned by traders looking for an arbitrage opportunity).
Netherlands, Austria, Ukraine stand out as below typical levels of storage.

Posted by: ptb | Oct 5 2021 2:03 utc | 117

If any of you has an “Insurrection” lasting more than four hours, read this blog post:
https://fivegunswest.blogspot.com/2021/10/if-you-have-insurrection-lasting-more.html

Posted by: FiveGunsWest | Oct 5 2021 2:11 utc | 118

snake@63
People care about their health and losing ones job is detrimental to ones health.
It isn’t so much that people aren’t wary as much as they don’t deem it worth the hassle. Just get the jab and your problems go away. Keep your job. Go to concerts sporting events and restaurants and access health care even etc like a normal person. All u gotta do is get jabbed.
Its all very creepy how people accept reward for compliance with a normal life. They’re so willing to denigrate healthy people as outcasts against obvious logic because “it just ain’t worth fighting”. Almost like a purge is happening and an intentional separation of “deviants” is occuring. The idea of yellow stars is obvious without taste but I do feel as if a symbol of “otherclassness” is warranted as it may get hard to find my fellow deviants lol
I like to use the slow boiling frog theory. If people were to be told about all the restrictions we seemingly welcome today at the beginning of this pandemic vs what we know about the virus today as being equitable i think wed have alot of angry jumpy frogs but instead we have today’s slippery slope to tyranny disguised as pandemic measures discussed with experts and debated by leaders for the good of the herd lol
Noone one rushed the guards at the camps cause noone one was able to convince enough people to do it and lone wolf foolishly charging the guard towers would just serve as an example not to try. Hope as well plays a large part as you provided an example of as things could always get worse/better but alas hope like pride just fucks with ya.
I have allies but they’re all jabbed or are doing so and there’s no union support. Everyone just wants their pound of bread and a chance at another day. Can’t says I blame em as jobs that pay decent with benefits are like unicorns around here. Risk vs reward.

Posted by: PleaseBeleafMe | Oct 5 2021 3:29 utc | 119

@96 NC
Some sage advice. I’m going higher up the union food chain on Friday plus it helps when u know the guy. My other option with the census was to lie and say I’m vaxxed as they say its an honour system and will possibly audit.To me (and for lack of better example) that smells like they just want people to declare themselves joos (unvaxxed). It could buy me more time and I could avoid this testing shit. When I get found out ill say I’m computer stupid and was stoned lol
Wish I was sleeping with a lawyer.
I’m working on my living in the woods plan for when I can’t hold out any longer. I’ll never get credit again and ill be holding alot of cash for a bit but fuck it.

Posted by: PleaseBeleafMe | Oct 5 2021 3:50 utc | 120

I was over at The Saker’s place because I’ve haven’t been there in some time, and he does some decent analysis from time to time, though his social/lifestyle commentary, like so many expats from Russia or eastern Europe, tends to be ridiculously conservative, to me at least, to say the least
and in his newest piece on possible war in the Pacific with China he says:
http://thesaker.is/china-in-the-crosshairs-is-a-war-in-the-far-east-and-pacific-next/
“By the way, I also highly recommend to all my readers to read Moon of Alabama (https://www.moonofalabama.org/) at least once a day. ‘b’ is a very solid analyst and his website is superb. Even better is the fact that he often writes about topics I do not cover, or he covers them differently, so make sure to check him out daily :-)……”

Posted by: michaelj72 | Oct 5 2021 4:23 utc | 121

On the effectiveness of vaccines against covid there is a very annoying conflation going on , and there is a Project Veritas video which builds on it and makes it worse.
It is plausible and likely that protection from an actual infection to a reinfection is better than protection from vaccination against the first infection. That comparison only applies after you’ve been ill and it does not mean that it is safer to get infected than to get vaccinated. It is much safer to get vaccinated and that seems to be the case over the whole age range although for young people the advantage is not that dramatic. But because of the polarization the proponents of vaccines downplay the advantage of actual infection and the opponents respond with conclusions which are totally wrong.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Oct 5 2021 6:30 utc | 122

The kiddy diddling alone is enough by now to justify thermobaric bombardment of the Vatican, history of art and religious freedom be damned; although a column of tanks would certainly be more tasteful.
The Catholic Church is nothing else than the undying corpse of the Roman Empire, a lich raping children ad maiorem dei gloriam.
Unfortunately, not all cults of perversion and superstition are equally susceptible to this sort of “decapitation attack”, even though they’re largely equally despicable.

Posted by: Misotheist | Oct 5 2021 9:14 utc | 123

credit where due, that Pat Lang article was very good. roughly “they may want our standard of living, but they don’t want our culture”, succinct and accurate.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 5 2021 13:23 utc | 124

michaelj72 @Oct5 4:23 #121
I have a problem with analysis that suggests that there is suddenly a problem between USA and China.
Anyone following international affairs knows that Trump’s get-tough trade polices were just the start of an effort against China. Trump’s ‘crack down’ on trade with China was followed quickly by psyops/propaganda regarding Hong Kong, Uighurs, Taiwan, etc. And now we are suddenly at the point where the possibility of a shooting war is discussed.
And, if pundits like Saker are ready to discuss the possibility of war with China then why are they ignoring the missile-basing in Australia as I described @Oct3 16:04 #13 and @Oct3 16:35 #20? Note: b has also focused on the subs.
<> <> <> <>
I will reiterate what I’ve said here many times: IMO USA began a full-bore effort to counter Russia and China by the fall of 2014 after Kissinger’s WSJ Op-Ed in August 2014 calling for USA to return to it’s Cold War glory (which I termed a virtual declaration of war at the time). 10-months later, Trump entered the Presidential race declaring MAGA! Biden has continued a MAGA Cold War policies but with a softer touch that is cheered by USA allies poodles.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 5 2021 14:16 utc | 125

Texas Is the Future of America
You know what? I agree with this headline.
–//–
Fears of a ‘Bottleneck Recession’: How Shortages Are Hurting Germany
“Bottleneck Recession” – the latest Keynesian made up term to say debt doesn’t matter and governments should keep printing money.
–//–
This is how you identify a sinecure ideologue:
The U.S. Needs a Sanctions Policy That Works, by Christopher Sabatini, Chatham House, for the NYT

Such an evaluation should establish other diplomatic tools to lay out concrete, realistic steps toward calibrated relief of sanctions (regime change does not count), diplomatic channels to negotiate through third parties, financial incentives through development aid or assurances to private investors to induce change, and coordinating with other sanction-applying entities in these diplomatic efforts.

Guess what, you idiot: the USG is already doing of this stuff you’re proposing.
–//–
Taiwan is already showing the first signs of sobering up, blinks first:
Failure to defend Taiwan would be ‘catastrophic’ for peace in Asia, Tsai Ing-wen says
If the Taiwanese people knows what’s good for itself, it should: 1) vote the madmen of the DPP out of power and 2) hang the entire DPP leadership in public square as an apology to the Chinese people.
Also, related:
What the US should do about Taiwan, by Stephen Bryen, Asia Times

As an immediate step, the US could launch fighter aircraft operating around Taiwan – with Taiwan’s agreement – to let the Chinese know they have a bigger problem on their hands.
In addition, US carriers could be redirected to the region, to double or triple the number of fighter aircraft that can respond to Chinese threats. Above all, clustering AEGIS cruisers and guided-missile destroyers in the region challenges China’s ability because AEGIS missiles can knock out China’s fighters.
Bringing in air and naval assets and positioning them between China and Taiwan would let China’s leaders know they need to stop violating Taiwan’s air space.
Moreover, if China thinks its intimidation tactics will get the US to force Taiwan into giving up its independence, perhaps with Biden’s help, they are likely miscalculating since the president cannot afford to pay that political price after the debacle of Afghanistan.

Leaving aside the absurdity of the proposal from a legal standpoint (the Taiwan Strait is not international waters by any stretch of imagination, therefore the even the made-up concept of “freedom of navigation” applies), you have the counter-logical argument that, because the USA lost the war against a much inferior enemy (the Taliban in Afghanistan), it will necessarily win a war against a much superior enemy (PRC). Mr. Bryen is bananas.
–//–
Xinhua Headlines: China goes all out to cope with power outages
A little pain for a necessary long-term gain.
–//–
America’s ‘pivot to Asia’ finally shifts into gear
The author makes an endless lists of military operations in the region. However, the USA’s main problem is not military, but economic: there will come a time where domestic problems will catch up with the USA, and it will not be able to throw a carrier group on it anymore.

Posted by: vk | Oct 5 2021 14:17 utc | 126

pretzelattack @Oct5 13:23 #124: … credit where due, that Pat Lang article was very good.
Except it wasn’t.
“They don’t want to be like us” is really a lame excuse for failure and continued support for oppressive regimes like Saudia Arabia and Israel.
Pat Lang could’ve turned the spotlight back onto USA warmongers but instead (predictably) blames the victim. Why should ‘they’ want to be like us when we don’t live up the ideals that we insist that ‘they’ adopt?
Pat Lang’s message is really anti-Woke, not anti-militarism. Traditional societies are conservative. They view our liberal “freedoms” as offensive. And our answer to that has been: “stuff it!” simply because TPTB have to ‘sell’ their warmongering to a domestic audience.
<> <> <> <> <>
Having been ridiculed and silenced by Pat Lang, I can/will no longer comment on his site.
Furthermore, I find it somewhat curious that b links to Pat Lang’s site when commenters at moa have pointed out numerous times how Lang’s allegiances/POV and his suppression of dissent at his site make his opinions untrustworthy by the realist community.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 5 2021 14:39 utc | 127

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 5 2021 14:16 utc | 125
If I remember correctly, the Uigher Jinoside psyop actually gained steam precisely on the 2nd of week of backlash against US’ caging of inmigrants…

Posted by: Misotheist | Oct 5 2021 15:17 utc | 128

Here is a link on New Zealand’s current covid situation:
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/world-reacts-end-nzs-elimination-strategy

Posted by: juliania | Oct 5 2021 15:36 utc | 129

Saw a link to this article on Chinese cooperation with the Taliban… and I think it’s worth posting prominently (and nice street map!)
https://strikesource.com/2021/10/02/report-taliban-leaders-are-meeting-at-the-chinese-embassy-in-afghanistan-daily/

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Oct 5 2021 15:49 utc | 130

Further to my comment @130, here is a nice tie in from CBC’s the National (The Moment for Oct. 4)
https://mobile.twitter.com/CBCTheNational/status/1444995729152487426

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Oct 5 2021 15:54 utc | 131

The importance of the “Chinese Korean War epic” The Battle at Lake Changjin is duly noted by Tom Fowdy. The film’s trailer imbedded in the article differs little from Western war epics except for the roles being reversed–patriotic Chinese troops assembling then attacking US forces led by a smug General McArthur:
“Despite there being thousands of movies glorifying US exceptionalism and militarism, CNN predictably branded The Battle at Lake Changji a ‘propaganda movie’ – but that ultimately tells us little about why it’s been so successful, and why there is such an appetite for films like this in China….
“[T]his particular movie is proving popular for specific reasons, and it is true to say they are political: there is a rising wave of patriotism in view of China’s increasing tensions with the US. The film’s premise has never been more relevant.
“Whilst nationalistic movies have had huge success in China before – in particular the now notorious Wolf Warrior 2, which depicted a fictional rescue mission in Africa – the Korean War has long held a special status in contemporary Chinese history.
“Officially described as ‘The War to Resist American Aggression And Aid Korea’, China’s intervention in the conflict in 1950 is heralded as a historical turning point as it represents the moment where the country was no longer prepared to be militarily subjugated or bullied by the West. Instead it stood up to it, and held its own in the process, consolidating itself as a force to be reckoned with. [My Emphasis]
It would be folly to ignore observations like mine and Fowdy’s for what are very solid reasons:
“[The Korean War’s] legacy instils a sense of confidence that China has taken on the US before, held its own and can do so again.
“This sets the stage for its relevance today, with US-China tensions escalating, the Americans attempting to advance their military containment of China via AUKUS and sporadic aircraft carrier naval exercises, while things are heating up in the Taiwan Strait.
“As a result, the legacy of the Korean War has become something the Chinese people can connect with in a patriotic way, expressing their own sense of national confidence with a view to the challenges which lie ahead.
“And whilst a film is a film, its message and the legacy of that war should be taken seriously: that China is always prepared to fight for its own interests, press hard and endure sacrifices for doing so, whether in the past, present or future. This is how the Chinese people understand their own national obligation.
“The People’s Republic of China is built wholeheartedly on these recurring themes of humiliation and national revival, and in no circumstances will Beijing let the country be subjugated again. We will see this play out in the various flashpoints of the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and so on, and while conflict may not be inevitable, the message is abundantly clear: do not underestimate China.” [My Emphasis]
That message was again made clear by today’s Global Times editorial which depicts DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen as grasping for straws as she crys for help in an article published by Foreign Affairs:
“Tsai repeatedly used the word ‘democracy’ in the article, like a cultist regarding what she called ‘democracy’ as a talisman. However, everyone can see that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has hijacked Taiwan’s democracy and has turned it into an extreme ideology to confront the Chinese mainland … Taiwan’s practices of acting as a strategic outpost against China in exchange for US’ protection is the craziest gamble in the history of international politics….
“The further the DPP authorities go down the path in colluding with external forces, the closer they move to their tomb.
“There is no force in the world whose will to ‘defend Taiwan’ is stronger than China’s will to fight against secession and achieve reunification. To be precise, they are completely incomparable. China dares to have a life-and-death fight against any force that hinders our reunification, but no force dares or is willing to fight to the death against the world’s second largest economy, as well as a nuclear power, in order to prevent China’s reunification.” [My Emphasis]
And as China has said, any provocative move to bolster Taiwan’s defenses–Outlaw US Empire deploying troops stationed in Japan and/or South Korea to Taiwan, for example–will be met by immediate action by China’s PLA to occupy Taiwan and force reunification. And that’s where the movie’s importance comes to play as combat between PLA and Imperial Stormtroopers becomes quite possible–the Chinese knowing they won the first time while the Americans are again underestimating China’s resolve. Most importantly, Taiwanese are politically divided on reunification, with the mainland being on good terms with the KMT as it sees them as unification partners.
Ultimately, the Outlaw US Empire has much to lose and nothing to gain by further antagonizing China over Taiwan or the SCS or anything else. The GT editor remains too shy to boldly pronounce China’s being the world’s economic leader, but that fact is now true and will remain so for decades to come. The Outlaw US Empire’s debt ceiling crisis shows very well that it can’t afford any new conflicts and must disengage from those it remains involved with.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 5 2021 16:05 utc | 132

Tuyzentfloot | 122 re effectiveness of vaccines
I see a problem that I’d like to ask your opinion about.
Last year, 2020, was a year with a pandemic from a newly emerged virus, with a high death toll, and we were all caught completely unprepared. For Germany, that led to a total of 701.098 deaths from Jan 1 to Sep 26, which was more than the 691.133 we had Jan 1 to Sep 26 2019. Excess deaths of roughly 10.000, one might call it, due to the virus.
But now, in 2021, with a less deadly virus strain, with preventive measures in place, with improved treatment protocolls, but most of all, with new vaccines, for the period Jan 1 to Sep 26 we find ourselves with 727.174 deaths on our hands? 26.000 more deaths than 2020? How is this possible?

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Oct 5 2021 16:08 utc | 133

“I will reiterate what I’ve said here many times: IMO USA began a full-bore effort to counter Russia and China by the fall of 2014 after Kissinger’s WSJ Op-Ed in August 2014 calling for USA to return to it’s Cold War glory (which I termed a virtual declaration of war at the time). 10-months later, Trump entered the Presidential race declaring MAGA! Biden has continued a MAGA Cold War policies but with a softer touch that is cheered by USA allies poodles.
!!
”
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 5 2021 14:16 utc | 125
I distinctly recall Obomber coming up with the “Pivot to Asia” line.

Posted by: arby | Oct 5 2021 17:03 utc | 134

@ Scotch Bingeington | Oct 5 2021 16:08 utc | 133… interesting data… where are you getting the data from? thanks..

Posted by: james | Oct 5 2021 17:04 utc | 135

obviously the mental health issues associated with all this would feed into the numbers.. suicides, and etc. etc…. not sure how to factor all of it together…

Posted by: james | Oct 5 2021 17:05 utc | 136

@120 pbm
Take care of yourself. You probably don’t need me to mention this to you, but if you do go house-less, watch what people you roll with.
I am on the west coast in/around Portland and have been completely aghast as to its rapid disintegration and homeless proliferation. It will not get better without a vast overhaul of leadership which will take economic reorganization on a National-level. In the meantime, the level of mental illness on the streets is just too depressing to stare too long into.
Just as I will pray for my sake and for the sake of my family in the face of employment-hardship, so I will also pray for you and those like yourself.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 5 2021 18:31 utc | 137

james | 135
The data comes from Statistisches Bundesamt/Destatis, our Federal Statistics Office.
You can download it here: Sonderauswertung Sterbefälle (Special analysis of death rates)
It’s an excel file with death registrations. You can have a look at daily, monthly, males, females, age groups etc. It covers the last 5 years or so. 2021 is updated week to week, current numbers are for calender week 38. They add a further week every Tuesday, as they get the data.
Your thoughts?
Around here, nobody seems to care.

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Oct 5 2021 19:11 utc | 138

@Scotch Bingeington, I would say ‘I don’t know, never thought about it’. I also think it is difficult draw conclusions from large scale ‘bulk’ data for an epidemic which goes in waves which strongly insinuate deeper causes which then fail to materialize.
Looking closer I don’t know what the numbers are supposed to suggest. The daily covid deaths graph for Germany has a peak in january and high numbers till about may when they dropped off, and since then there is only a small increase in september, while cases actually went up considerable last month. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/germany/#graph-cases-daily
The period with excess deaths is between november and february when protection provided by vaccination was still minimal: https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid . There is a small dip in march too.
So the curve is unremarkable for what you would expect from a naive vaccination point of view.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Oct 5 2021 19:27 utc | 139

@Jackrabbit
do you disagree with the characterization? the Taliban do in not want to be like us, and whatever his analysis of why that is is based on some notion of white american cultural superiority does not invalidate that observation. from my perspective, there is little reason for them to emulate american society. it is the error american policymakers have made over and over, so often I think they now believe it themselves. in their view America is the advanced civilization that now bears the white man’s burden formerly assumed by the european colonial powers, and that view could not be more myopic and wrong.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 5 2021 20:46 utc | 140

I should add that I no longer frequent his site because he blocked me from commenting, and deleted my comments pointing out some ridiculous assertions he made about global warming. I think he is intellectually dishonest, but he has had good information on the White Helmet fraud in Syria in the past.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 5 2021 20:49 utc | 141

pretzelattack @Oct5 20:46 #140:

do you disagree with the characterization? the Taliban do in not want to be like us

To answer that, you have to define what “be like us” means.
Does it mean to have plutocracy with persistent homelessness, pervasive surveillance and propaganda, and supremacist mindset with military bases around the world?
No, it means being the poodle and plaything of such a beast.
So we shouldn’t be surprise that anyone with any integrity and capability doesn’t want to “be like us”.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 5 2021 21:45 utc | 142

@ karlof 132
Tsai repeatedly used the word ‘democracy’ in the article
She got that from the US which also repeatedly uses the “d” word, ad nauseam. And what they both mean by it, and sometimes replace it with, is elections (vs. autocracy). It’s obvious to them (but not to us) that democracy means elections, which of course is not the defintion of democracy (government by citizens via representatives). The US is actually an oligarchy.
Unfortunately, we know damned well that the representatives that US citizens elect, by the ones voting anyhow, don’t represent the citizens that voted for them. In fact there is no mechanism built into the US “democracy” that can enable government by citizens. Other countries have referendums, for example. China points out that its country is democratic, with governance by citizens up through various committees. Is it? Well they get better results so maybe it is.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 5 2021 22:23 utc | 143

Jackrabbit wrote:
To answer that, you have to define what “be like us” means.
____________________________________________________
I think “be like us” means what Hollywood and television and Madison Avenue say it means. The Taliban does not want to be like that.
The tens of thousands of Afghans who wanted to “be like us” (as defined above) showed up at the Kabul airport in August and the Taliban let them leave.

Posted by: jinn | Oct 5 2021 22:43 utc | 144

@ 144
The many Afghan traitors lined up at the Kabul airport because they wanted to stay alive.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 5 2021 23:59 utc | 145

Patrick Boyle reports on the China property barfing binge.
Fantasia joins the Evergrande death spiral today. A 9 minute utoob vid.

On the heels of Evergrande’s debt crisis, there are increasing signs of stress in China’s real estate market after Fantasia Holdings failed to make a bond payment.
Fantasia Holdings, a Chinese developer of luxury apartments missed $315 million in payments to lenders on Monday, sparking fears that financial strains in the country’s outsized property sector are spreading beyond the troubled Evergrande conglomerate.
Fantasia Holdings, a Shenzhen-based developer, missed repaying $206 million worth of bonds that matured Monday, the company said in a stock exchange filing. It is now assessing “the potential impact on the financial condition and cash position of the group,” it added.
Separately, the property management unit of Country Garden, China’s second largest developer by sales after Evergrande, said in a filing that Fantasia had failed to repay a company loan of about 700 million yuan ($109 million). Fantasia had informed the company that it would probably “default on [its] external debts,” Country Garden Services added.
S&P and Moody’s slapped “default” credit ratings on Fantasia and said the non-payment of principal would likely also put the company in default on its remaining bonds.
The downgrade follows Fantasia’s announcement that it had missed payment on its $205.7 million bond due on the same day, and reflects the weak recovery prospects for Fantasia’s bondholders after its default.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2021 0:24 utc | 146

jinn @Oct5 22:43 144: … what Hollywood and television and Madison Avenue say …
Yeah, that’s the myth for public consumption. Too many of our own people have been brainwashed into thinking that those myths are who they are … and fall prey to the notion that the world must be made to adhere to the goodness inherent in those myths. They CAN’T SEE how the myths don’t reflect reality.
Although the myths are alluring to many, I think the leaders/tribal leaders of the countries that we seek to destroy/remake (for their own good) look past those myths. They are not dumb sheep like the Western public. They see us for who we are and understand the intentions of our power-elite. They see our alliance with the Saudis and Israel. They see how the Palestinians are treated (especially if they are Muslim). Etc.
IMO it’s a sad state of affairs because the Western enlightenment was hijacked. The West could’ve led the world if it had demonstrated more wisdom and less avarice.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 6 2021 0:42 utc | 147

Congressional kabuki is outed by Taibbi and Halper who decline to be useful idiots in this case. 8 minute utoob
Are Manchin and Sinema really tanking the bill on their own? Or is this all a beautifully performed piece of theatre?
“Look how hard we tried to pass the spending bill,” Biden will say. “And we would’ve gotten it too, if it weren’t for those meddling moderates!” We’re starting to think it’s all an act, with Dems casting Manchin and Sinema as the dramatic foils.”
Bernie Sanders will act as the lead in the saddlebags and go out of his way to ensure Senate dumbf#kery. Anyone but Trump!!!

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2021 0:53 utc | 148

@133 Scotch Bingeington
There is actually a small school of thought on the fact of deaths remaining essentially unchanged through 2020 but rising in 2021. This school may or may not grow – it’s not very strong in the forensic research narratives yet, and its import is a hard one to accept without blowing apart one’s entire view of one’s government and institutions.
The UK funeral director who surfaced in a video interview recently noted that he saw no change in deaths during 2020, in fact a slight decrease in numbers from 2019. Then at the end of 2020 he saw a spike in deaths that followed immediately after the first vaccine rollout.
The import is obvious: that deaths attributed to COVID-19 were exaggerated, largely by mis-labeling many causes of death as being from the virus. And that while influenza cases and deaths disappeared in 2020, their number was taken by COVID-19 cases and deaths. Recall here that most “diagnosis” was not performed by professional evaluation of symptoms but by the PCR test – never designed to diagnose, and ridiculously promiscuous in its count with the cycles set so high.
The import of the increased death rate in 2021 is also obvious: that the vaccines are killing at least as many people as are reported in the US VAERS and the UK Yellow Card databases, and likely many more than are reported. So in the end, the increase in deaths will largely be from the vaccines, combined with lockdown distress. A real damage from the cures for the unreal disaster.
This thesis is one of those things that boils down to what one is prepared to accept as a model of government behavior. Personally, I’m quite prepared to accept the whole rabbit hole that this opens a door to – why not, after the callous abuse the powers that be have heaped on us these last two years? – but I would like to see more studies and analyses in order to join that school of thought completely.
I stand at the gates of the school, waiting for more collateral and the opinions of peers. I think with more time, these things may well come.

Posted by: Grieved | Oct 6 2021 1:11 utc | 149

Jackrabbit wrote:
Yeah, that’s the myth for public consumption. Too many of our own people have been brainwashed into thinking that those myths are who they are … and fall prey to the notion that the world must be made to adhere to the goodness inherent in those myths. They CAN’T SEE how the myths don’t reflect reality.
______________________________________________________________
Yes, but regardless of who else is chasing after the myth, the question was does the Taliban want to be like that. The answer is clearly no.

Posted by: jinn | Oct 6 2021 2:07 utc | 150

Grieved just above, I appreciate your measured analysis of this issue.
I also have been looking into this with your suggestions and other suggestions, with similar conclusions.
The fact that we are in a pickle, with ongoing societal restrictions and little public data much of which is contradictory leaves us to draw our own conclusions.
My wife and I accepted the AstraZeneca vaccine when it was available to us. I would not accept the mRna versions. Here in BC Canada we now need vaccine passports to go to restaurants, bars or indoor events including the gym. This is now a huge yellow star issue for regular people, and for those who need to, or can afford to travel internationally the dollar cost of pre-flight testing is onerous.
Interesting about Ivermectin. The FLCCC website has a table of clinics that will prescribe that, broken down by state. I ordered some from afar and it was waiting in my mailbox when I arrived in the US last Spring. The same site accepted my order but it never arrived in Canada.
I have now purchased at a lower price Ivermectin from buy ivermectin . us, and they do not offer shipping to Canada, although they seem to have accepted my order and it is pending shipment to a US address where I can get it.
You have stated that you take IVM as a prophylactic, did that come via prescription?
I feel the need to have my own supply of preventative and curative drugs, and that they may not continue to be available.
By the way, I sent my first lot of IVM to a family member in the US who was very ill and diagnosed with Covid-19, 101 degree fever. He took those pills on the fourth day of illness and felt better within a day. Although I sent much documentation and suggested dosages, and this person is intelligent and well-read, they did not follow up on the available research.
So that is what we face, an almost overwhelming popular opinion fed, in my opinion, by bad information benefiting those who are now and will continue to profit from this entire situation.
Thanks for your ongoing clear and optimistic messages, and I appreciate the fellowship amongst our fellow Moonbats.
Stay strong,

Posted by: jonku | Oct 6 2021 4:16 utc | 151

Below is a Xinhuanet posting that I find curious because these seem like high up folk but not the normal faces…for me anyway
”
BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will meet with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Zurich, Switzerland, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Wednesday.
Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, will meet with Sullivan “according to the consensus reached by Chinese and U.S. heads-of-state on Sept. 10 in their phone call and as agreed upon by China and the United States,” said Hua Chunying.
“They will exchange views on China-U.S. relations and relevant issues.” Hua said.
”

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 6 2021 4:27 utc | 152

Word of a US-China agreement to abide by a “Taiwan Agreement” is now circulating on Western mainstream media headlines. Most of them refer back to the same Reuters article primary text, which references President Biden apparently responding to presser questions using the exact verbatim: “I’ve spoken with Xi about Taiwan. We agree … we’ll abide by the Taiwan agreement … We made it clear that I don’t think he should be doing anything other than abiding by the agreement.”
What “Taiwan Agreement” is this referring to? That’s certainly not an official title or even common shorthand for any pre-existing US-China bilateral agreement, such as the Three Joint Communiques. That leaves only the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which the Reuters report also theorizes (on behalf of Biden thanks to his lack of clarity). However, the TRA was unilateral US legislation appended after the Communiques were agreed to, and so is not an agreement of any sort, let alone something that the PRC is even in a position to “agree” to abide by. Any communication regarding the TRA that the US would formally give to China wouldn’t be an agreement, but rather a declaration.
So then what motivated Biden’s puzzling use of language? Personal overall unfamiliarity with Cross Strait issues an policies? Unlikely, given how long he’s been in congress and involved with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A typical Biden gaffe? Perhaps, and whether due to a momentary lapse or as part of something more chronic is irrelevant (though worrying). I think it is more likely that this is a verbal expansion of the US’s policy of “strategic ambiguity” regarding Taiwan, meant to rhetorically reframe the US’s unilateral Taiwan policies as subjects that the PRC “agreed” to. Never mind that this is of course plainly false, given how much of a storm the PRC raises each time the US sells its weapons to the ROC government, in accordance with the TRA. Nonetheless it would be in keeping with other recent attempts by the US and Taiwan’s current government to symbolically alter the cross strait status quo.
I suspect this topic will be brought up during one of Hua Chunying’s pressers, so it’ll be curious to hear what China’s official response to this will be.

Posted by: J D | Oct 6 2021 8:21 utc | 153

JD #153
The only Taiwan agreement I can recall is the one at the end of WWII when the USA recognised Taiwan as part of China after having nuked the Japanese into craven charcoal. At that time the Kuomintang puppet stooges were expected by the USA to win the battle against the Communist revolution. The ‘agreement to recognise China authority over Taiwan’ was, of course a ploy to prop up the plundering puppets of empire. Oops bad timing as in 1949 the liberation forces of the Chinese People’s Army marched in to every city.
That was the agreement then and it remains in force NOW. This repetitive USA blustering is simply the bleating of a whipped dog.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2021 8:49 utc | 154

jonku and Grieved
As I see it the pharmaceutical giants are about to register a new medication like Pfizemectin or Iverchloroquine and get a patent by the usual strong arm means. Then they will market that at some extreme price and keep the various governments of the world under their thumb. Appeals at patent law will proceed for a few years and then (perhaps) the patents will be annulled. Too late. The jabbed will be jabbed, the jabbed with extreme medical conditions from the jab will be suing and the next booster will be in the pipeline… and so it goes.
Keep your stash dry and on the shelf and plant your herbs is my precautionary tale. Because vax or no vax this little beastie is on the loose. Keep in good with the vetinary suppliers if you live in lala land and Ivermectin is banned.
I do believe the people of western nations are not about to get their hands on the other vax and they will never be recognised as valid. We are at a sorry pass indeed.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2021 9:00 utc | 155

Never forget: Today marks 45 years since the terrorist bombing of Cubana de Aviación flight 455. All 73 passenger and crew members on board the airliner were killed as the CIA targeted the Cuban Revolution.
Ht GEROMAN
And the USA continues to protect the butcher who organised this bomb attack.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2021 9:09 utc | 156

Sept. 2021 report: Banking on the Belt and_Road. Insights from a new global dataset of 13427 Chinese development projects: https://docs.aiddata.org/ad4/pdfs/Banking_on_the_Belt_and_Road__Insights_from_a_new_global_dataset_of_13427_Chinese_development_projects.pdf

Posted by: Antonym | Oct 6 2021 10:44 utc | 157

Check out the table beginning on page 158, column 11: “Sovereign and hidden debt exposure to China as % of GDP (AidData” . Remember that Sri Lanka with “only” 12.1% recently had to restrict their imports to finance their foreign debts.
Laos 64.8%, Congo 53.4%, Eq.Guinea 49.7%, Angola 49.5%, Maldives 40.3%, Tonga 35.4%, Suriname 34%, Zambia 32%, Kyrgyz rep. 31.6%, Mozambique 31.5%, Samoa 29.9%, Sudan 28.3% etc.

Posted by: Antonym | Oct 6 2021 11:05 utc | 158

@jackrabbit yest YOU have to define what “be like us” means. Lang’s definition is not the same as my definition, or your definition, and, crucially the talibans’s defintion. i think their defintion is a lot close to my definition than your definition.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 6 2021 14:23 utc | 159

meanwhile, let’s light a candle for those poor, poor helpless giant fossil fuel corporations, so victimized by scientists in every goddamn country on earth.
https://mariannewilliamson.substack.com/p/travesty-of-justice
the very same people who say big pharma is controlling the world’s governments to push a lie about covid simultaneously claim that big oil and big coal are helpless victims of relatively powerless scientists. it is an absurd position to take, which denies that money and concentrations of power run our society, and protests jailing Julian Assange and Craig Murray while sweeping Stephen Donziger under the rug.
“A multi-national fossil fuel giant was able to use a US courtroom to prosecute – and sentence to prison! – a Harvard educated environmental lawyer who led a team that successfully challenged their criminal drilling practices in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The case has sent shivers through the environmental movement, signally as it does the viciousness with which oil conglomerates will come after those who dare to threaten their hegemony.”
that is the reality. the fossil fuel shills want to ignore that.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 6 2021 14:29 utc | 160

that article is absolutely infuriating, Chevron acting like the US government, aided and abetted by the US government, acting like the Scottish government going after Craig Murray, giant corporate entities in effect ruling our lives. Caitlin Johnston doesn’t enable comments anymore so I’m venting here.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 6 2021 14:34 utc | 161

@jinn #47
Totally wrong.
A ponzi scheme is where the proceeds from new entrants is used to pay old entrants. Ponzi schemes collapse because at a certain point, it becomes mathematically impossible to keep up.
There is no such setup in crypto.
Nobody gets paid anything except miners, and the miners get paid from as-yet unissued crypto. In fact, mining is how bitcoin supply increases (and the only way).
People get “paid” in crypto only when they sell for fiat or trade the crypto for something of real value. In the meantime, it is no different than trading baseball cards.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 14:51 utc | 162

@Max #58
SWIFT is in Belgium because the original trans-Atlantic cables were in Belgium.
The rest of your usual NWO/bankster conspiracy is, as usual, nonsense.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 14:53 utc | 163

@Bemildred #80
That article is idiotic and insipid.
Putin has always worked for government. Trump had never worked for government.
Putin has government leadership experience and networks. Trump does not and likely still doesn’t.
Putin wrote a master’s thesis on how Russia can regain its economic, political and sovereign place in the world via energy policy. Trump?
The article is yet another hit piece written by a moron with zero knowledge or world experience.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 14:57 utc | 164

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 14:57 utc | 164
The un-Trump. Yes? The anti-Trump. The not Trump.

Posted by: Bemildred | Oct 6 2021 15:02 utc | 165

@ptb #117
Thanks for the link, very useful.
As for the rest of your comment – totally off.
Historical gas storage reserves for 10/1
2021: 73.25%
2020: 94.65%
2019: 96.91%
2018: 82.31%
2017: 84.17%
2016: 89.89%
2015: 82.32%
So the amount stored, cross all of Europe, is the lowest it has ever been in the past 7 years.
More importantly though, the flow-in and -out numbers show that the system is set up to handle huge inflows and outflows. The storage is 1/10th of flow capacity.
Thus if supplies are tight and storage is low, the recipe for a potential real shortfall is in place.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 15:11 utc | 166

@Tuyzentfloot #172 (and other vax-skeptical)
The issue with natural immunity isn’t that it is better. I don’t think even the mainstream doctors argue that.
The issue is: how do you tell who has natural immunity, when it wears off, etc?
How do you separate the sheep from the goats – the natural immune vs. those who have never had it, pretending to be, vs. those who had it but the immunity wore off (because it does)?
Remember that the premise behind the vax campaign is that this will “stop COVID”, and for that to work – everyone (or at least 80%+) need to be vaccinated.
So in this Bizarro world – vaccination makes sense. It is far easier to track when everyone got vaccinated than it is to figure out who got COVID confirmed by testing, when immunity wore off, etc etc.
Again: I neither agree that the vaccine makes automated sense for everyone (because it neither prevents infection or spread) nor that COVID vax and other policies make sense medium/long term.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 15:18 utc | 167

@Bemildred #165
I don’t see the point of comparing the 2 at all.
Among other things, the nations they represent are totally different.
I liked Trump because he at least talked about things deemed taboo by the bought-and-paid-for politicians and their American oligarchy sponsors/peers. But ultimately no American is ever going to completely change the dynamics in this country without a literal revolution.
Putin, on the other hand, is completely different. Whatever you want to say about him, Russia has been managed with amazing capability and finesse for Putin’s entire career as its head. They’ve gone from economic basket case into self-sufficiency and regional hegemon even in the face of on/off sanctions, constant embargos, media attacks etc.
Nor is Putin a solo player – his success stems in no small part to his peers, network and nationalism of the Russian people.
Are the pseudo-liberals in the Democrat party nationalists in the sense of wanting America to be better for all Americans? Are the pseudo-conservative Republicans any different?
Trump at least likely doesn’t mind or care that Americans do better whereas the deep state has been undermining the welfare of the American people for a long, long time.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 15:26 utc | 168

@pretzelattack #160
yes, one single lawyer. If they were so powerful, they would be doing it to the entire Environmental Defense Fund and all of the other eco-shill-lawyers.
Donziger just pissed off the wrong people and was incompetent in his own defense.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 15:30 utc | 169

More crash data bits:
China orders its energy firms to secure winter supplies at all costs
Above I already took the link ptb provided and showed that EU gas storage is at least at a 7 year low.
I also looked at US fracking production – it has fallen every month since November 2020. I didn’t add it all up, but the shortfall could easily be double digit percentages.
Japan fossil fuel energy generation at 90%
The shutdown of Japan’s nuclear reactors meant Japan’s fossil fuel energy production percentage went from 60%ish to 90% – much of it LNG but also substantial oil and coal (Yes, even in Tokyo – there’s an oil burning electrical plant on the way from Tokyo to the US military base in Yokosuka).
High energy prices affect everything: transportation/cooking/heating for consumers but also fertilizer, steel, manufacturing input transport etc etc.
I don’t know if we’re in for a Jimmy Carter style Oil Embargo – that requires oil imports to actually get curtailed – but a 2008 style spike in both oil and natural gas is very possible.
And we all know what happened in 2008…

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 15:42 utc | 170

I just finished editing the machine translations of the two most recent discussions published by noted Chinese scholar and author Zhang Weiwei at his portion of the Guancha website. My aim was to provide further examples of the Chinese perspective that’s discussed amongst Chinese so we might communicate better via improved discourses. In other words, to really understand China/Chinese, one must go there and not just rely on Western publications and English language Chinese media. Here are the titles Zhang gave to these discussions combined with the link to their translations, “the success of china’s system is the west’s greatest fear” and “in a vicious attack on the western media, the head-on attack must be a head-on attack”.
The importance of knowing the Chinese perspective is shown by this item published today by Global Times, “China’s UN envoy refutes US’ lies concerning China, urges US not to repeat mistakes”:
“China’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN) on Monday slammed the US’ groundless comments on issues related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet and called on the US to put aside its arrogance and prejudice….
“Zhang stressed that China firmly opposes the abuse of the platform of UN to deliberately provoke confrontation and fabricate human rights issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs. He urged the US not to go further down the wrong path….
“Lies repeated a thousand times are still lies. Countless facts have proven that the US’ accusations are groundless and made out of its own political needs to cause chaos and contain China’s overall development. China firmly opposes and rejects this, said the envoy.
“Meanwhile, Zhang called on the international community to pay attention to the human rights situation in the US, pointing out that the US chose to ignore its bloody suppression of native Americans and enslaving African Americans, attempting to bury its dark past in history.
“The country often regards itself as a defender of democracy and human rights, but in fact, it is the biggest destroyer of democracy and human rights, he said, noting that world needs dialogue rather than confrontation, and countries should choose cooperation rather than creating division.” [My Emphasis]
While reading the second discussion, you’ll see the basis behind China’s growing assertiveness that began to emerge during Trump’s Trade War and was revealed for all to see at the Anchorage meeting earlier this year with Biden’s crew.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 6 2021 16:50 utc | 171

Many may not know there’s a formal organization aimed at regulating the proliferation of missile technology, but there is and Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov addressed its Plenary Meeting today. I find the opening line of reasoning curious:
“The world is undergoing tectonic shifts accompanied by increased conflict potential, instability and volatility. Former security structures are eroded and replaced by new, more complex forms of interaction. Some countries are overtly striving to reshape the political landscape in order to ensure their dominance over others and substitute international law with a so-called ‘rule-based world order’. Coercion is acquiring a greater role, with ‘undesirables’ being pressured with tougher sanctions, and extremely harsh, peremptory rhetoric bordering on insult and inconsistent with ways of traditional diplomacy becoming more widespread. As a result, there are fewer opportunities to reach agreement and political compromise.
“These international developments are directly related to the missile component. Missile systems have long become an integral part of national, regional, global and outer space security systems, with their share steadily rising. Qualitative development of missile technologies and improved missile performance in terms of strike potential, speed and range make these weapons attractive to states for accomplishing combat tasks and delivering effective strikes, including prompt ones, against a wide range of targets, even the most critical ones. Needless to say, the destructive power of a missile increases manifold when used to deliver weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
“According to our estimates, the role of missile technologies is going to increase further. We all will have to take into account the rapidly changing missile realities and respond to them in a timely manner.
“The world community is hardly ready for the upcoming challenges related to the realm of missile technology. We are short of tools to face them.”
Russia’s in the vanguard regarding missile technology and development; so, it appears to be willing to limit its own success.
“Thus, the missile ‘field’ (unlike that of WMD) lacks a global legally binding instrument to contain missile proliferation. The Russian Federation considers the development of such a regime to be a strategic goal. A global missile non-proliferation regime would ensure transparency in implementing missile launches and programmes, as well as eliminate any possibility of unauthorized and uncontrolled transfers of missile technologies from states that possess such technologies to other countries. This global regime would constitute an independent mechanism and complement the existing agreements (the MTCR and the Hague Code of Conduct)….
“Exchange of views on the missile issue at various multilateral platforms shows that our partners do not avoid the topic in principle, but – just like before – are clearly unwilling to be bound by any formal dialogue commitments like the UN Panel of Governmental Experts, let alone more advanced initiatives to establish a global legally binding instrument to prevent missile proliferation.” [My Emphasis]
This is clearly very curious behavior given the hue and cry over Iran’s missile program. IMO, the West desires to gain parity with Russian missile advancements before it will agree to limit anything. But that makes little sense as Russia will continue work to extend its advantages, as will China and Iran. IMO, if the West doesn’t want to fall further behind, it will need to alter its position and negotiate seriously.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 6 2021 17:35 utc | 172

@151 jonku and @155 uncle tungsten
Of course, we haven’t yet really started to fight back.
I monitor my local newspaper for letters to the editor. Every topic always has someone on the other side. And yet for all the narrative about the need to vaxx etc, no one raised their hand to speak. I often wondered lately if I had the courage to be the first, but I was also curious to wait for the wave to break. Last weekend, finally, someone wrote a letter, not that good but it clearly pointed the faulty logic of the vaxxed being afraid of catching the very disease they were vaxxed against.
I also know that there are many people in this area who are not going to take the gene therapy, and some who even know about ivermectin. Apparently the most popular radio talk show in the county has people like nurses calling in with their own anecdotes from the front lines, and the real reasons hospitals are short of nurses (and thus short of ICU beds).
The Wurlitzer narrative is broad and deep, but not seamless. The counter narrative is a Swiss cheese of holes, with some pieces connecting. And yet it does exist, and will gain in strength, and there will be, in the US at least, some 15-30% of market segment that doesn’t want anything to do with the shit products, and will prefer to follow an artisanal diet.
Meanwhile, yes, Pfizer already made its $100 billion from the vaccine, and will push what booster trade it can. But Merck has its new pill ready for EUA, and Pfizer and Moderna are close behind working on theirs. All knock-offs of ivermectin, and they may or may not be safe. They’ll be patented but I don’t see that ivermectin itself can be destroyed – merely embargoed.
But the point is that the narrative is already changing to talk about treatments, and how these pills (at $700 per course for treatment), are a godsend compared with the monoclonal antibodies (at $2,00 per treatment). Commerce now changes the narrative to talk about treatment. And thereby weakens the “vaccine or bust” exclusivity.
~~
So. The struggle in the US will be if they try to force medicines from the governmental level. That’s where the fight will begin, if there is to be one at all, and if the mythos of the Constitution is still powerful (I think it is).
Everything else, is just shit commerce. And a sector of the population will opt for its own custom “natural” products to fight disease with (“cranks, health nuts, anti-vaxxers and conspiranoids”) but will be left alone by government. Eventually over time, a more solid counter narrative will cohere. The intelligent, the lucky and of course the rich will stay safe. Everyone else will eat shit and either die or live – perhaps no greater risk than eating Big Mac and drinking fluoride. Welcome to the shithole West.
People will get other careers, lawsuits will occur, the whole sorry story will continue. But the great irony is that while we can fight government, we can’t fight commerce, except by personal boycott. I think, personally, the wave has crested and broken, and will roll back from governmental abuse. There are a lot of very angry people who are just waiting for someone from the government coming to “help” them.
~~
As to ivermectin, I now choose my words very carefully. I recently learned that is is illegal in the US to use a prescription drug without a prescription. I haven’t studied the law on this, and probably won’t – so if anyone knows…? Ivermectin is an off-label prescription if prescribed. Horse paste of course is not a prescription medicine for humans.
Anyway, I know that some in my circle have the medicine from India, and that the last two attempts to purchase more have failed. The bite of sanctions? This is what it must feel like for all those blockaded nations out there.
I agree that this entire fucking episode is one sorry tragedy built on greed and contempt for ordinary people. And it won’t get any better without forces acting to make it better. It seems to me this thing came from Detrick, and that US interest in biowar will only continue to get stronger as its other powers decline.
It wasn’t a total slam dunk for the bad guys. I think it remains to be seen how far they will try to push this thing. I don’t see the battlefield appearing yet. We were all blindsided in 2020. But we only get blindsided once.

Posted by: Grieved | Oct 6 2021 18:35 utc | 173

@Grieved #173
I went to Mexico last week to get a bunch of dental treatment done.
Los Algodones is right across the border from Yuma. You can take a public transit bus from the airport to the border crossing in 1 hour or less.
If you are uncomfortable staying in Mexico, there’s an Indian casino 5 minute drive away (on bus route too).
You can buy a one course Ivermectin + Azithromycin course for $11, and no prescription necessary.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 6 2021 19:10 utc | 174

@174 c1ue
I had seen your earlier comment to that effect recently – thanks for this additional info. We have people here who go to Mexico at times, so I think that’s probably the new mouse line (so much softer than rat line).
Fortunately we were early adopters and we’re okay, but I have always wanted to stock up on behalf of potential others, and because we saw in 2020 how fragile all of the “just in time” supply chain is for everything.
In a crisis, there are doctors here who will prescribe a treatment course, and I suspect there must be some in many other places too – one should poke around in one’s locale – but it will never beat the Mexico price however 😉

Posted by: Grieved | Oct 7 2021 1:25 utc | 175

Thanks c1ue for chiming in with your experience and first-hand knowledge.
Just wanted to add that the site I linked above also sells Fluvoxamine, which seems to be equally effective as IVM and can cross the blood-brain barrier, as does the spike protein, to cure “brain fog” in short term and long term covid.
Site is: buy ivermectin . us
In my current understanding, IVM does not get to the brain.
I have a colleague who caught covid from her daughter and now has ongoing effects such as lack of focus and ability to make plans.
This is similar to what Dr. Malone talked about, saying he had covid and brain fog, in the podcast How To Save The World In Three Easy Steps.

Posted by: jonku | Oct 7 2021 5:48 utc | 176

@c1ue
Possibly OT, but speaking of Mexico:
I don’t know where you live/are from, or whether (or not) you’re vaccinated, but last time I checked, Mexico is one of four countries to be ‘open’ for visitors from the US.
https://www.kayak.com/travel-restrictions?&origin=US
Various other countries that don’t have closed borders instead require visitors to be either fully vaccinated, provide a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test result, or quarantine upon arrival.
Assuming you weren’t (and still aren’t) vaccinated, what was your experience regarding COVID-related restrictions?
If news broke out that either of the four Latin American countries (Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Colombia) lifted restrictions, then I must’ve missed it.
Side note: Considering that Belarus never issued any restrictions, at least the last time I checked, what are the circumstances there such that it’s “open with restrictions”?

Posted by: joey_n | Oct 7 2021 8:49 utc | 177

@c1ue , I wasn’t aware I was vax-skeptical.
I agree that the main challenge for organized immunity is that the additional bookkeeping for people with immunity through infection is complicated.
I also agree that it is a peripheral question whether natural immunity is better or worse. Either way vaccines and natural immunity are in the ballpark of ‘sufficient immunity’. The fact that the comparison is pushed to the foreground itself is problematic. I have encountered it as official point of view in Belgium but that is already a few months back when they argued based on measured titers of antibodies. It was not central to policies, it only enhanced the policy ‘therefore you need to get vaccinated’.
I don’t see this policy as bizarre in general however. It only gets weird and even harmful when you try to push it further once you realize the bar you are trying to reach is pretty high. Keeping hospitalizations low is a reasonable bar. eradicating the virus is silly and dangerous. Even getting to the level that epidemical waves are avoided may be aiming too high.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Oct 10 2021 10:01 utc | 178

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