Bloomberg reports:

"One ton of aluminum requires about 15 megawatt-hours of electricity ..."

"In Germany, the power needed to produce a ton of aluminum would have cost roughly $4,200 in the spot market on Friday after topping more than $10,000 last month, according to Bloomberg calculations."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-04/energy-crisis-europe-s-aluminum-smelters-are-struggling-to-survive?srnd=premium-europe

---

Is aluminum really that important???

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 13:49 utc | 1

“MBS is a very dangerous man who is becoming more dangerous because of the power he’s accumulating.”

I got that quote from PressTV's breathless repeating of The Economist's article on MBS.

The Rothschilds and IRI (respectively the English and French Masons) agree that MBS is "bad bad bad". Gone are the days when Lawrence of a Labia and later his "American cousins" had a compliant, corrupt, degenerate, and obedient House of Saud, specially after king Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was dispatched on someone's orders.

Posted by: amused | Sep 4 2022 14:01 utc | 2

On oil transports evading GPS, I recall tankertrackers makes a specialty of that. They were very eager to find all the ways Iran used to work around the US boycotts, which I would not equate with international law.
Tankertrackers is good at mapping worldwide transfers of oil though, so they can tell how much oil a country really sells.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Sep 4 2022 15:02 utc | 3

Semiconductors and Taiwan’s “Silicon Shield” - Stimons Center

Wow! It seems to me, based on what I have read, that the quality of this reporting and exceptionalism come close to the quality of western MSM reporting on Ukraine!

A highly politicised article, stuffed with delusional claims. I am interested to see how completely ciue with his hands-on experience validates that assessment.

Posted by: BM | Sep 4 2022 15:02 utc | 4

This will be tricky - I almost transferred it to the 'Ukraine' thread, but a more accurate discussion NOT Ukraine ought to focus on the article's lead question, which in my opinion is not answered in the article b has linked to above from the Claremont Review:

Why are we in Ukraine?

To me, the article is rife with false assumptions about what the west, and specifically the US has been doing for a long long time. I know it seems fruitless to keep repeating what those are, but we ought to follow Lavrov's example: time and again he comes up with creative ways to explain why Russia is there. And we here have tried to help broadcast that message.

The ball is now in our court. Why are we there? And more to the point, why are we there ... still? ... right now? ... after all this wasted time, energies, sacrifices???

WHY?

And also, who is "we"?

I will repeat Putin's long ago question, a better one perhaps than these:

"Do you know what you have done?"

Please feel free to answer any of the questions, or to pose others. Creatively, and as positively as possible. Lavrovianly. We need answers! With respect to the west's aim, perogative, ability - whatever makes sense. Because nothing does for me at the moment, and I don't think I am alone.

I want to get out of this rut! So, in the manner of one of my 'back then seminar leaders,' I am posing questions which need to be answered, if not by us, by those who can influence matters in ways we are unable to do.

Why - important people whoever you are - why are we there? [lets not give it a name, just 'there' And b, if you feel this ought to be discussed on the Ukraine thread, my apologies. You can delete if necessary.]

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 15:16 utc | 5

@juliania | Sep 4 2022 15:16 utc | 5

Like unrealized losses, forever wars are an accounting trick. Collapse of the SMO in UA would mark an unacceptable amount collateral carried on the assets side of the ledger to -zero-.

The force behind the West's aggression is interest on a debt that must somehow be paid.

The West has borrowed against what isn't theirs.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 15:35 utc | 6

Posted by: BM | Sep 4 2022 15:02 utc | 4

"... U.S. support for Taiwan’s democracy reflects traditional American values but also the social, economic, and technological benefits of intellectual freedom.

These ideas are anathema to Chinese leaders and the Communist Party and are dismissed as U.S. and western propaganda ..." [b's link to the "Silicon Shield" article above]

We are on the same page, BM. Delusional claims indeed!!

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 15:43 utc | 7

On the previous thread, I said in my last comment that I needed to go and reread Solzhenitsyn's "The First Circle", and I began last night to do that. Very interesting to me were the following sentences of the 'Translator's Note' page in my thrift store acquired copy:

The word "sharashka" as it occurs in this story derives from a Soviet slang expression meaning "a sinister enterprise based on bluff or deceit." By 1949, the time of the novel, it meant, particularly, a special scientific or technical institute staffed with prisoners -- or, in Soviet slang, "zeks."...

Pairing the two concepts, title of novel and opening sentences from translator, I would suggest, without going further into the book itself, that as Putin has said, we in the west are now treading in the footsteps of the late USSR.

Maybe I'll reread "The Brothers Karamazov" instead.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 16:04 utc | 8

okay! thank you b for all your work and these additional links for greater perspective and understanding....

..... my take.... i guess i am an economic determinist, but i don't really know what that is supposed to mean.. for me the reason we are where we are is due finances.. most people want peace, equality and the basic necessities of life - food, shelter and clothing, along with family, friends and companionship.... we would all appreciate compassion, empathy and understanding too... the way i see it a small predator type class have ruined things in the west... michael hudson calls it financial capitalism.. the rentiers profiting off the fire sector - finances, insurance and real estate - fire... in the past developing countries like canada and the usa saw the importance of providing some basic necessities, whether it was health care, or government owned needs - electricity, gas or heating and such stuff too, but that has all been sold off the these same predators... call them blackrock, or financial conglomerates, or whatever... we are beholden the these rent seeking corporations and our gov't is also beholden to these same blackrock, financial corps and etc. etc... they have been captured....

so, juliania.. my answer to you is aside from reading michael hudsons latest book, people what the basic necessities of life! however one goes about defining that, it is our basic birthright to not be treated like slaves, whether it is to a financial oligarchy in the form of 50 year mortgages or whatever... life is meant to be more then what it is today and today is getting worse then better... that is why i believe this war in ukraine is happening.... the west and its financial ugliness wants to rape and pillage russia and china.... russia and china are saying no to this... thus the western response....

thanks everyone.. read michael hudsons latest book..

Posted by: james | Sep 4 2022 16:05 utc | 9

That "Biden Approval Falls" article appears to be an outlier. Biden's approval has been rebounding everywhere else.

Biden's Approval Rating Surges After Hitting Low Mark In July, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds - This is the firm that has consistently had the lowest approvals for Biden.

GOP seat lead shrinks as Biden approval ticks up

Biden's Job Rating Rises to 44%, Highest in a Year

Poll: Biden approval surges, rebounds to highest level since May

Biden bottoms out, pops back to 47% approval - This is the hard right wing Washington Examiner.

And there are more articles like this here

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Sep 4 2022 16:08 utc | 10

@ Inkan1969 | Sep 4 2022 16:08 utc | 10

polls.. paid for by the same corporations trying to resuscitate whatever dead body they want to keep on life support... it is isn't juan guiado, it will be biden or even better - freedom and democracy! i learned about the role of polls way back in a sociology of the media course i took in the late 70s! cheers...

Posted by: james | Sep 4 2022 16:12 utc | 11

The energy crisis is bringing the end of the euro closer.

The euro was initially a failed project, and now an energy crisis of historical scale can end it forever, predicts Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten.
https://t.me/sputnik/12333

I think also the Euro will fail relatively soon, and bt extension so will the non-democratic EU. And that is a good thing in the long run. Supposedly, the EU was a way to prevent war in Europe, but my opinion has always been that the EU was a way to wage war in Europe, and I have been proven right.

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 4 2022 16:34 utc | 12

Is aluminum really that important???

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 13:49 utc | 1

I suggest you undertake a little self-education on the subject before appearing foolish. It is quite a problem in Western society that people can pose fatuous questions totally unaware of how their own society functions.

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Sep 4 2022 16:50 utc | 13

@ james | Sep 4 2022 16:12 utc | 11

Yes, but wouldn't that also be true about the Reuters/Ipsos poll?

Posted by: Inkan1969 | Sep 4 2022 16:51 utc | 14

so will the non-democratic EU. And that is a good thing in the long run. Supposedly, the EU was a way to prevent war in Europe,

NO it was not !!!
It was created to give France security when the US wanted to re-arm West Germany in 1955 and France had vetoed the European defence Community in 1954.

It was the only way West Germany could re-emerge into European economic life and float the D-Mark (1957) the year the Treaty of Rome was signed.

It was about bedding West Germany - forbidden to have a General Staff - militarily in NATO and economically in EEC so it did not control its heavy industry but pooled it with France and Italy and Benelux

It is frightening how few people know the history of Europe since 1945

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Sep 4 2022 16:54 utc | 15

Biden wants a war with Russia, China, and in the US.
Jimmy Dore: Biden's "Hate Your Neighbor" Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amsK9CUBsO0

Posted by: Joe | Sep 4 2022 17:01 utc | 16

too scents @1: "Is aluminum really that important???"

Is anything that important?

We can do without aluminum, and steel, and plastics, and textiles, and industrially farmed foods, and so on, right? Why not? I say "Back to the trees!" It is better than letting Russia win, isn't it?

Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 4 2022 17:03 utc | 17

@Paul Greenwood | Sep 4 2022 16:54 utc | 15

I said "supposedly", because that was what people used to say. It does not mean it was true. I believed the opposite and voted against membership in the EU.

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 4 2022 17:13 utc | 18

Thanks, b, yet again. Thrilled by the return of Patrick Armstrong which I hadn’t yet noticed! Also hadn’t previously read his post on his role in the August 1991 coup attempt(embedded link to it in his post) which was so entertaining and so very Canadian - imho, imh(indigenous)o

I wanted to display my ignorance as a resident of Canada by commenting on the Air Power show that’s currently happening in Austria.

90 sec video - https://youtu.be/JXP6-s1p7Ro

Isn’t Austria kind of close to an active combat zone-er, special military operation zone, to fill the skies with all this fire power? … Are they just flying around or is this a special military air show operation? And why is Red Bull such a prominent sponsor, of fighter jets, really? These aren’t race cars. And what about the fuel shortages?

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Sep 4 2022 17:13 utc | 19

Interesting read by Engdahl

On August 22 the exchange-traded market price for natural gas in the German THE (Trading Hub Europe) gas hub was trading more than 1000% higher than a year ago. Most citizens are told by the Scholz regime that the reason is Putin and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The truth is quite otherwise. EU politicians and major financial interests are using Russia to cover what is a Made in Germany and Brussels energy crisis. The consequences are not accidental.

It is not because politicians like Scholz or German Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck, nor EU Commission Green Energy Vice President Frans Timmermans are stupid or clueless. Corrupt and dishonest, maybe yes. They know exactly what they are doing. They are reading a script. It is all part of the EU plan to deindustrialize one of the most energy-efficient industrial concentrations on the planet. This is the UN Green Agenda 2030 otherwise known as Klaus Schwab’s Great Reset.

Anyone one remember when Biden during the last presidential campaign spoke of a dark winter

Posted by: Down South | Sep 4 2022 17:32 utc | 20

@ juliania | Sep 4 2022 15:16 utc | 5 who asks

Why are we in Ukraine?

I want to focus on the "we" word

We is not America, any more than it is the UK, EU, Occupied Palestine or any other empire countries. We is the God of Mammon cult I keep writing about that is global in nature and, aside from the Pope's enclave in Rome and the City of London Corp. square mile, they do not affiliate with any specific nation but use the face of the most economically dominant one at the time as the Might-Makes-Right face of empire.

But we see that just like the obfuscation of Top/Bottom by the Left/Right myth we have the obfuscation of the folks behind the curtain by the current face of empire meme when all nations under empire are treated similar by the cult.

Look at all the textual white noise spewed forth at MoA about how America is the cause of empire and all would be fine if America was subdued....hogwash! BoJo/Truss, Marcon, Scholz and the rest are actively pushing the empire war in Ukraine.

So, along with neutering the Left/Right myth we need to neuter the lie that America is empire by itself. The We is the God of Mammon cult and any nations showing current fealty to that form of social organization.

The WHY is because the China/Russia axis represents an existential challenge to the centuries of God of Mammon control of most of our world.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 4 2022 17:34 utc | 21

not because politicians ... are stupid or clueless
@Down South | Sep 4 2022 17:32 utc | 20

---

Hard disagree. Promethean ignorance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithing_gods

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 17:46 utc | 22

Supposedly, the EU was a way to prevent war in Europe
Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 4 2022 16:34 utc | 12

The EU project was planned in detail by IG Farben during the Third Reich. The legal foundations for all the institutions involved were written by 2nd level leading nazi bureaucrats, with US support. So it isn't really very surprising that the EU is not democratic - it was intended to support corporatism (i.e. fascism), and that is what it does.

Posted by: BM | Sep 4 2022 17:50 utc | 23

So, along with neutering the Left/Right myth we need to neuter the lie that America is empire by itself. The We is the God of Mammon cult and any nations showing current fealty to that form of social organization.

The WHY is because the China/Russia axis represents an existential challenge to the centuries of God of Mammon control of most of our world.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 4 2022 17:34 utc | 21

Well said. I get quite discouraged by much of the commentary here and elsewhere about how 'The US' or 'UK' is doing X or Y whereas in fact it's an international cabal of hoo-knows-hoo pulling the strings. Are there millions of willing helpers in the US and elsewhere? Yes, of course but there are always willing dupes in any population, so not significant. In the West the vast majority of people in all its countries are not being represented by their leadership very well but that doesn't protect them from having to pay the price for the latters' many and terrible crimes.

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 4 2022 18:02 utc | 24

Hard disagree. Promethean ignorance.

Completely wrong. They know what they are doing. They’re simply using the Russian SMO as a cover to implement an agenda that predates the SMO.

One of the rare honest statements by Bill Gates was his remark in early 2021 that if you think covid measures are bad, wait until the measures for global warming. The European Union is in the process of imposing, top-down, the most draconian measures to date, that will effectively destroy modern industry across the face of the 27 states of the European Union.

Under cute names such as “Fit for 55” and European Green Deal, measures are being finalized in Brussels by unelected technocrats that will cause the worst industrial unemployment and economic collapse since the crisis of the 1930s. Industries such as automobile or transport, power generation and steel are on the chopping block, all for an unproven hypothesis called manmade global warming.

While most EU citizens have been distracted by endless restrictions over a flu-like pandemic called covid19, the technocrats at the EU Commission in Brussels have been preparing a program of planned dis-integration of the EU industrial economy. The convenient aspect of an unelected supranational group far away in Brussels or Strasbourg is that they are not accountable to any real voters.

They even have a name for it: Democratic Deficit. If the measures about to be finalized by the EU Commission under German President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice President for Global Warming Dutch technocrat Frans Timmermans, are enacted, here is a hint of what will happen.

Posted by: Down South | Sep 4 2022 18:02 utc | 25

News article in China is reporting that in August, cost of a TEU from China port to Los Angeles is only $3,400 (as compared to $20,000 a few months ago), and yet the shippers are still awaiting customers. They said shipments to US has halved, and they expect September, which is traditionally the Christmas stock up season, to be just as bad.

So, the US consumer market is drying up for China. That's the strategy to achieve in the drive to 'decouple' from China, and crash its economy, ain't it? Now, let's sit back and wait to see if China indeed would cry uncle and cave to America's "International Rules Based Order"--:-)

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Sep 4 2022 18:29 utc | 26

@Oriental Voice | Sep 4 2022 18:29 utc | 26

Can demand destruction happen in a command economy?

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 18:35 utc | 27

Related to the article on Marx, may I suggest the following essay by British literary scholar, Terry Eagleton, from The Chronicle of Higher Education:

https://www.chronicle.com/article/in-praise-of-marx/

In Praise of Marx, by Terry Eagleton.

Posted by: Ringo | Sep 4 2022 18:43 utc | 28

It is frightening how few people know the history of Europe since 1945

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Sep 4 2022 16:54 utc | 15

I highly appreciate your insightful posts. And yes, it is frightening indeed how many people, especially those living and grown up in western Europe, know next to nothing about their own history.

History has been weaponized by the U.S. propaganda machine from its day one in WW2, it still is to this very day. And thus remains today's totally fact-based consensus™️ that Germany and Europa was liberated by the Western Allies led by the United States.

The EU project was planned in detail by IG Farben during the Third Reich. ...

Posted by: BM | Sep 4 2022 17:50 utc | 23

If so, they were a little late, and why plan for something which was already unfolding with Hitler ruling half of Europe already?

No, that idea of "European integration" was pioneered by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894 – 1972). The EU even has a prize in his name, even though not widely known in general public.

Posted by: Nervous German | Sep 4 2022 19:05 utc | 29

@too scents, #27:

I don't know. I don't even know which one you are referring to as a 'command' economy.

I do think, however, that the Chinese economy ain't gonna crash. I think, over time, the decoupling with the west will appear as a kind of non-event in contemporary Chinese history. The rest of the world (outside of the so-called West) are developing, and 'demand' increasing as a natural consequence. Going forward, China doesn't need the 'western' demand as it used to as recently as 15 years ago. Now, the west is but a temperamental, self-centered, brattish, and often short-on-cash customers. Much like the Indians as customers to China's consumer goods :-)

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Sep 4 2022 19:26 utc | 30

Now, the west is but a temperamental, self-centered, brattish, and often short-on-cash customers. Much like the Indians as customers to China's consumer goods :-)

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Sep 4 2022 19:26 utc | 30

That's pretty much always been the case, even prior to the World Wars. It's just that we acquired the abilities to project our brattiness far abroad during the last century. America has perty much always been "agreement incapable."

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 19:39 utc | 31

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 19:39 utc | 31

yeah, as long as the rivers have run and the grass has grown.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Sep 4 2022 19:43 utc | 32

"People often prefer bad conditions to foreign rule."

Yeah, but bad conditions of life plus foreign rule is a mix way too far...

And this is what the rulers of Europe, like Baerbock, Ven der Leyen, Borrell pretend that their citizenry swallow with...

Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | Sep 4 2022 20:23 utc | 33

EU to discuss breaking the energy market.

Bloomberg reports:

European ministers will discuss radical measures to rein in soaring energy costs, from gas-price caps to a suspension of power derivatives trading, as the bloc races to respond to the deepening crisis.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-04/eu-to-debate-radical-energy-intervention-tools-as-crisis-worsens#xj4y7vzkg

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 20:29 utc | 34

So I see NYT has an article up which acknowledges the Russian claims about "biological research labs":

Russia’s Unfounded Claims of Secret U.S. Bioweapons Linger On and On

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 4 2022 20:37 utc | 35

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 20:29 utc | 34

LOL. EU again trying to fix problems that wouldn't exist without the EU in the first place.

Before EU "market" and "privatization" discovered natural monopolies, everything was just fine. Long-term contracts for cheap energy were not only on energy, but for society as whole.

Q: Why is it that we don't yet have soaring costs for tap water or garbage collection? A: There is neither a GarbageEx nor a WaterEx.

Now something tells me that the EU's "fix" for gas, oil and electric will only make things worse for average Bertrand, Luigi and Hans.

Posted by: Nervous German | Sep 4 2022 20:40 utc | 36

james @9--

Hudson's merely our contemporary chronicler of a longstanding aspect of human history. Bastiat in the 1840s was his Era's Hudson. The radical rabbi in Roman Palestine was his Era's Hudson and was made into a God. And there are others I've omitted, the point being the current phenomenon isn't new. As you said, read Hudson's books.

psychohistorian @21--

I resisted the use of the term Globalists for quite awhile because it was too general. I prefer Neoliberal Globalists because its more precise as it differs vastly from the globalism promoted by China, Russia and the emerging Multipolar World. The Ancient Greeks were shrewd enough to see their Era's Neoliberal Globalists as having a diseased character which they named Pleonexia as well as several similar terms. Megalomania is another term I'd employ: "Megalomania is an obsession with power and wealth, and a passion for grand schemes." And of course, the concept of Divide and Rule wasn't formulated by Machiavelli as it had existed for several thousand years before he published it.

Ultimately, humanity is doing battle with a group of very sick yet very powerful people, mostly male, who use the current Empire as a cloak to hide behind. Attaining the level of comprehension we and others have after years of study is rare--if it were widespread, humanity wouldn't be in its current pickle. The main hindrance IMO is too few people understand that solving the pickle is in their most earnest interest because they're kept from doing so via Divide and Rule. Such circumstances allow only a select few to see and analyze the Overall Big Picture, Past & Present. That's why Hudson, Escobar, Crooke, Putin, Lavrov, Xi, Wang, and others are priceless. And that's why I work to disseminate their work so more people can gain the needed understanding to solve out global human dilemma.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 4 2022 20:49 utc | 37

@Posted by: Nervous German | Sep 4 2022 19:05 utc | 29

"His father, who spoke sixteen languages and embraced travel as the only means of prolonging life

Hence they want us not travelling any more...so that we can not scape the daily European boredom even once a year....

Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | Sep 4 2022 20:52 utc | 38

@Posted by: Nervous German | Sep 4 2022 19:05 utc | 29

"...had prematurely abandoned a career in the Austrian diplomatic service that took him to Athens, Constantinople, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, to devote himself to study and writing...."

It seems to me that from these Caudenhove-Kalergi-s, the father was quite better than the son...
Yeah, the man really knew how to live....

Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | Sep 4 2022 20:55 utc | 39

Thanks, james | Sep 4 2022 16:05 utc | 9 and also too scents @6 - artisticly separated bookends that stress, if I read you correctly, the carpetbagger issue, kudos to Michael Hudson. And Bill Black as well.

too scents is sparingly droll; james in earnest butterfly mode. I remember carpetbaggers from highschool studies on the aftermath of the Civil War - I might be remembering wrong, karlof1 can correct me. I sometimes get mixed up with what I knew from New Zealand highschool days, when 'apples from Annapolis' was memorized. (Later when living in Annapolis nary an apple orchard did I see. Some charming deserted colonial homes up the Severn, explored by canoe, however, and no doubt a few apple trees there. They would not be deserted now.)

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 21:06 utc | 40

@bruised northener

The airpower takes place annualy. I remember that i had to be there when i spent my time at the military in 2004 or 2005.

Redbull: didi mateschitz, the owner of redbull 1. Is from the area where it takes and is known to sponsor everything in this area 2. Is a plane freak. He owns several old and historic planes, built an own hangar for them and is a pilot himself. No surprise there.
3. He sponsors everything related to (xtreme) sports.

So there is no surprise there.

4. As a side note: he is outspokenly anti-woke and owns the only independent tv channel in the german speaking countries which did not (and still does not) go along with the rona-propaganda.

Posted by: Orgel | Sep 4 2022 21:16 utc | 41

Ringo | Sep 4 2022 18:43 utc | 28

Thanks for the Eagleton link, Craig Murray owes him a shout-out as he had a book titled Why Marx Was Right out a few years ago. He's always great fun to read, almost as humorous and erudite as Karl himself. And a good reminder that before it was a term of abuse denoting woke nonsense, 'Cultural Marxism' was a respected field of study.

Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Sep 4 2022 21:19 utc | 42

Ringo | Sep 4 2022 18:43 utc | 28

Thanks for the Eagleton link, Craig Murray owes him a shout-out as he had a book titled Why Marx Was Right out a few years ago. He's always great fun to read, almost as humorous and erudite as Karl himself. And a good reminder that before it was a term of abuse denoting woke nonsense, 'Cultural Marxism' was a respected field of study.

Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Sep 4 2022 21:19 utc | 43

karlof1@37, your work to broadcast the views of those listed is very much appreciated. it is the butterfly effect or the mystery of same discoveries occurring @ the same time globally...truly ideas do change the current & to this end you & those you mentioned are pivotal, for imo there has never been such a time in known history. thank you.

Posted by: emersonreturn | Sep 4 2022 21:27 utc | 44

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 4 2022 20:49 utc | 37

"That's why Hudson, Escobar, Crooke, Putin, Lavrov, Xi, Wang, and others are priceless."

Whilst I agree, none of them are confronting, writing about the main issue now.

In fact I think the subject is pretty much banned here, and at The Saker's blog, whilst I have enormous respect for the people running these blogs.

For the last couple of years, from my perception, it has felt pretty much the same as early 2003, before the Iraq war, when over 1 million people including me, marched through London.

Yet then and now, I felt alone. Of those 1 million people, protesting about a war, which hadn't stated yet, the vast majority of them - probably around 95% believed the Official US Govenment Story re 9/11. I told everyone I knew. Almost everyone thought I was mad. Eventually I learned to keep my mouth shut, because I was getting too much grief.

It's pretty much the same now, though the implications are far worse for the future of the human race.

This time, I worked out what the agenda was much faster. 9/11 took me 17 months. covid took me less than 3 months, and totally terrified me, and still does.

https://alethonews.com/2022/09/02/these-global-tyrants-want-to-make-slaves-of-us-all/

By Dr Mike Yeadon

Extract

"Everything that’s happened and is happening becomes much simpler and it all makes sense when you force yourself to think the impossible. If you experimentally adopt the position that our government is actively working to harm us, to dismantle modern society and enslave the people in a digitally controlled totalitarian world, it all fits."

Posted by: tony_0pmoc | Sep 4 2022 21:29 utc | 45

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 4 2022 20:37 utc | 35

Ah, a good example of what I like to call pre-bunking. I'm sure there are better terms for it, but what the NYT attempts to do there is preempt any Russian allegations in the reader's mind and instill or strengthen both the Empire's narrative and a sense of suspicion among the PMC in the USA.

One technique this author uses is to name every possible 'conspiracy theory' on the laboratories in order to Alex Jones-ize anything the Russians might be saying or say. Of course China gets lumped in too. How convenient, right?

And has it truly been "thoroughly debunked" that the US (or CIA) had a hand in the AIDS crisis in Africa? I point back to a documentary I was pushing to Scorpion the other day about the mysterious plane crash that killed Dag Hammarskjold. Blaming this theory only on the KGB is disingenuous at best.

What a coincidence, as well, that the recent coronavirus outbreak and the monkeypox thing followed closely after simulations of outbreaks involving the EXACT SAME types of pathogens - AND - that said pathogens are KNOWN to be studied extensively by the US military and its adjacent 3LAs! Surely, just a conspiracy.

It all really comes down to discrediting whatever evidence Russia produces on Monday before they have a chance to make their case.

On Monday, Russia will make a presentation before representatives of the 184 nations that have signed the Biological Weapons Convention. The United States, Ukraine and other countries will be able to respond later in the week. Because the treaty has no verification or enforcement provisions, there will be no official ruling on Russia’s claims, but on Friday nations can state their positions.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 21:30 utc | 46

RE: the "thoroughly debunked" theory that the CIA and South African apartheid government played a role in the spread of AIDS among black Africans - https://newafricanmagazine.com/18285/

The article is too long to excerpt here without leaving something important out. Some funny/interesting facts:

>The NYT took the lead in "debunking" the theory that time too!

>The South African man making the admissions on camera is also named Alex Jones!

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 21:38 utc | 47

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 21:30 utc | 46

Re: pre-debunking, yes, "limited hangout", it means they can no longer just ignore it. Like admitting Hunter had a laptop and he lost it. They have to give up the "You dare to question me?" approach.

As far as I know, the Russian diplomats have not yet been given visas for said meeting.

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 4 2022 21:48 utc | 48

Thank you for focusing on 'we', and what a 'we', psychohistorian | Sep 4 2022 17:34 utc | 21 !

I award you the Homeric Eagle's Gaze Award for far seeing and unblinkingly concentrated gaze - you are nothing if not consistent! (Awkward phrase that, but meant admiringly.) Yes, it is not simply the lowly rentiers - there are deities involved, or idols - I'm no fan of 'monotheism', I realize - my God is complex, in essence beyond human understanding - or where's the stretch? Even the universe is hardly graspable - it isn't! But Mammon, that's to roll around in, that's Scrooge McDuck, that's Gyges' Ring!! And those gods are grubbing around, sordid and ... well, I will except Athena. She's something else, isn't she? Better she to guard the Treasury than those centaurs...

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 21:52 utc | 49

juliania @40--

The Post-US-Civil War's Carpetbaggers were nothing new; all wars produce them. In Post-WW2 Europe, the US Military were the Carpetbaggers, but few writing in English have written about all that.

tony_0pmoc @45--

Whilst I agree, none of them are confronting, writing about the main issue now.

In fact I think the subject is pretty much banned here, and at The Saker's blog, whilst I have enormous respect for the people running these blogs.

IMO, if you closely follow them, they do, but all have different ways of articulating the dilemma/pickle I write about above. Here there's an ongoing discourse about Bioweapons over the last two months about which both Grieved and I commented upon last night. We try very hard to stick to the facts instead of hyperbolic assumptions as the latter destroys credibility. Plus, there're a great many smaller factors that combine to make the larger whole that also need to be understood. The struggle also includes legitimate competition that needs to be seen/appraised separately. For example, what are the reasons why Russia and China are following their current paths, for they aren't the same although their goals are similar. And there are a host of others.

emersonreturn @44--

Thanks for your kind reply. A great deal is going to occur this September. Hopefully, I'll be able to convey most of the important parts. In case you haven't discovered them yet, both Ehret and Chung have Substack sites that can be easily found. Ehret's been writing very prescient articles recently.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 4 2022 22:15 utc | 50

And yes, Scorpion. I think the UN presently is trying to be Mount Olympus, but in the wings is Delphi ... some place smaller, less accessible, but in this age of teleportation all can voice themselves there...perhaps a city-state, some holy place of natural beauty not manmade, the UN Charter enshrined... a new Round Table ... the world could come ... we have the means ... already it is taking shape in our minds ... a place of peace, existential axis of peace ...

My dairyfarming uncle called me 'Dreamer' and said "Pray all you like but that field still needs plowing." I don't think he'd heard of San Isidro; they know him here in New Mexico.

I'm not the only one.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 22:20 utc | 51

@ Inkan1969 | Sep 4 2022 16:51 utc | 14

absolutely inkan.. that is true too! cheers james

@ karlof1 | Sep 4 2022 20:49 utc | 37

thanks.. the names change, but the story remains the same.. more people need to hear it... thanks for all your posts karlof1 including your response @ 50 to tony...

@ juliania | Sep 4 2022 21:06 utc | 40

thanks for asking the questions! everyone is going to answer in their own way which is also good!

Posted by: james | Sep 4 2022 22:22 utc | 52

Thanks, Ringo, | Sep 4 2022 18:43 utc | 28 - such a delicious taste of an article in praise of Marx - I loved the illustration! And it starts off so promisingly; I'm sure it is an excellent piece. Unfortunately, you have to sign in, and these days I just don't. But in my future world, we'll go enjoy to the fullest!

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 22:32 utc | 53

With regards to AIDS, which was really a precursor to what is going on now....this is my view.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome occurs when most of your natural immune system is significantly degraded.

It was first publicised around 1982, with gay people the first to be terrified. My sister was killed by AIDS, and she was a very senior nurse, and mother. She wasn't gay, except in the original meaning of the word. She (like me) had a relatively mild inherited muscular problem. She decided to take a drug procainamide, which worked in almost completely eliminating the muscular problem. So I researched procainamide, by going to the medical reference section of Manchester's Central Library. Basically what it said on the tin, was "not to be used on a long term basis, because it will destroy your immune system", which it did. It took around 20 years to kill her, to mask a minor problem. I am almost certain I told her, but she wouldn't take any notice of her younger brother. I didn't take it. I am still here. She barely made 50. I just put up with it.

AIDS, though real, was media hype. You can get AIDS, by not getting enough sunshine (vitamin D) or not having a good diet.

What kills most people who get AIDS are Prescribed Drugs, you get from your Doctor for a minor problem (or no problem at all - if you had a healthier more active lifestyle). Whilst some drugs are essential and life saving, most are not.

When researching stuff objectively, its good to get to primary sources, and have an open mind - reading different people's point of view, who are the most expert on the specialised subject you can find.

https://duesberg.com/

"On the basis of his experience with retroviruses, Duesberg has challenged the virus-AIDS hypothesis in the pages of such journals as Cancer Research, Lancet, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science, Nature, Journal of AIDS, AIDS Forschung, Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapeutics, New England Journal of Medicine and Research in Immunology. He has instead proposed the hypothesis that the various American/European AIDS diseases are brought on by the long-term consumption of recreational drugs and/or AZT itself, which is prescribed to prevent or treat AIDS. See The AIDS Dilemma: Drug diseases blamed on a passenger virus."

Posted by: tony_0pmoc | Sep 4 2022 22:41 utc | 54

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Sep 4 2022 19:26 utc | 30

China is like Russia that way, isn't it, Oriental Voice? Like, and yet completely different!

[I'll stop now, b, I promise. And in case anyone is wondering, no, I am not inebriated; but in New Mexico extreme heat, such as the dome we are on the edge of at present, produces with the teeniest breeze (a table fan will do) an euphoria that past artists have taken in, to advantage, with the drier higher air - it will pass.]

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 22:43 utc | 55

Thank you, karlof1 | Sep 4 2022 22:15 utc | 50, Grieved, PeterAU1, those posts were so inspiring - thank you for your dedication, and as a brave man posting as Namaste said eons back at Firedoglake:

Never give up.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 23:02 utc | 56

Posted by: tony_0pmoc | Sep 4 2022 22:41 utc | 54

Ah, Tony, so much to learn ... even the science is always on the edge of the unknown. Madame Curie, a lovely sheltie we had and gave an ointment against her persistent itch...far far too strong. It cured the itch but brought debilitating joint pain. How she suffered, just a dog but we loved her. Xola was her name. She taught us all we needed to know about side effects.

Blessings on you and on your sister.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 23:16 utc | 57

@53 juliania | Sep 4 2022 22:32 utc - "you have to sign in"

Perhaps you don't.

I'm using Firefox and as with most any article I go to, I selected the built-in Reader View. It strips ads and other detritus from a page, and formats the text in a large font and a perfectly narrowed page, exactly what you want to lean back and read without distraction. In this case, it also removed the block.

You might try using Firefox (although I recall your computer is not that recent?).

Posted by: Grieved | Sep 4 2022 23:19 utc | 58

@54 tony_0pmoc | Sep 4 2022 22:41 utc

Thanks for that link - that's the core of the truth I believe.

Some might find Kennedy's work on AIDS more accessible. It takes up a large proportion of his recent book about Fauci. Laurent Guyenot wrote a 6,000 word article last year that distills this part of Kennedy's work into an even more readable review of the situation. It's perhaps the best stand-alone reference on that mysterious disease and its pharmaceutical treatment. It shows irrefutable patterns of behavior from the medical establishment that we have seen simply repeated in more recent times.

Posted by: Grieved | Sep 4 2022 23:39 utc | 59

Posted by: tony_0pmoc | Sep 4 2022 22:41 utc | 54

Interesting information. But how then do the anti-retroviral meds included in the cocktail help people live longer if it's not a virus derived illness?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 23:53 utc | 60

Grieved | Sep 4 2022 23:19 utc | 58
There is also an add on that gets past virtually any paywall. I have downloaded it and can now read western propaganda to my hearts content.
I have used mozzilla for the past decade as my email program. It to my surprise is heavily censored. Mozzilla not my sisters settings rejected an email as spam that I tried to send her. We live within Orwell's world.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 4 2022 23:58 utc | 61

As far as I know, the Russian diplomats have not yet been given visas for said meeting.

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 4 2022 21:48 utc | 48

Sorry, totally missed your reply. I did a search and couldn't find anything about the diplomats and visas. Is there a good source for that? Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 23:58 utc | 62

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 4 2022 23:58 utc | 61

Yep, here's the paywall defeat add-on I use. https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome

Pretty sure they have one for Firefox and maybe Brave as well. I really should stop using Chrome.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 23:59 utc | 63

Good evening. Found you on the Duran. Looking forward to your readings. From BHM.

Posted by: Joe Pfau | Sep 5 2022 0:07 utc | 64

Posted by: juliania | Sep 4 2022 23:16 utc | 57

Re being hot

1. Where they filmed Star Wars Matmata - South Tunisia - OK I was a lot younger and slimmer then - in an air conditioned coach on a cheap holiday with my girlfriend. like walking from a fridge into an oven.

2. Turkey. My now wife and daughter too (cheap holiday). We got off the plane from London. It didn't seem particularly hot. The tour rep who took us to the airconditioned bus told us...It was 57 degrees centigrade here last week. Nice scouse girl (liverpool - like the Beatles) ...but I didn't believe her. Two days later - walk from the hotel - 5 minutes through a furnace - then straight in the sea. We met this couple doing boat trips, and got on the boat all day 8 Euros each inc food and wine. So I asked how hot is today? She said a lot cooler here out at sea - 47 degrees in the shade on the beach.

Re dog:

"How she suffered, just a dog but we loved her"

She suffered a bit at the end, but she nearly made 20 years old, which ain't bad for a cat.

However, I am still very upset. I'm grieving. I buried her a few days ago on my 69th birthday. She was a lovely polite gentle cat. She would sometimes gently touch me, in the middle of the night, to see if I was still alive.

Posted by: Tony_0pmoc | Sep 5 2022 0:08 utc | 65

Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 23:59 utc | 63

It probably does not matter much which browser is used. They are all monitored. I started a Russian VK account to post the bio weapons briefings because at the moment that is not censored in the west. Having my email to my sister intercepted was a bit off and eye opener.
We in the west who are aware of what is happening in the world are heading up shit creek without a paddle.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 5 2022 0:09 utc | 66

polls.. paid for by the same corporations trying to resuscitate whatever dead body they want to keep on life support.

Posted by: james | Sep 4 2022 16:12 utc | 11

Haaa!

Interesting.

Modern polling involves complex mathematics and sampling to reduce error rates. Plus the reality is that up to 50% of USSA citizens polled previously. Would dearly love troll-in-chief DJT to serve time for his fallacy claims of a stolen election in 2020. Including the incitement factor of the January 2021 DC riot.

Bonus point one. Guess how many fraudulent votes were cast in the 2020 prez vote.
(a) Is it ten million?
(b) Is it less than ten thousand? Statistically, the real answer is.....
Bonus point two- In how many USSA states in 2020? Did the pro DJT votes exceed 60%? Texas is a state where the imported whites(Karens?) will no longer dominate in the next decade. Is not one of those states by the way!
Bonus point three. Women voters now exceed male voters since 1980. Are the existing redneck pro-DJT GOP existing policies favorable to the woman voter?

As for the white racist bigoted redneck dumb-me-down "DJT" GOP followers. Just like 'Troll-in-chief' DJT! They reap what they sow.

Even blind Freddy can see that one. The results from the 2022 midterms. Will not be as predictable as the GOP DJT supporting rednecks desire. Hence the Biden popularity rebound. As one goes down the other goes up.

Interesting times ahead. :)

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Sep 5 2022 0:43 utc | 67

Having my email to my sister intercepted was a bit off and eye opener.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 5 2022 0:09 utc | 66

How'd that happen? Any idea who intercepted? A full message or just metadata/addresses?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 5 2022 0:48 utc | 68

Sorry, totally missed your reply. I did a search and couldn't find anything about the diplomats and visas. Is there a good source for that? Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Sep 4 2022 23:58 utc | 62

TASS has it:

None of Russian delegates to UN General Assembly received US visa so far — envoy

It seems they are saying "We don't suport a visa ban" while just not issuing visas for the Russian delegation. So clever.

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 5 2022 0:58 utc | 69

Sputnik's FYI on the Eastern Economic Forum that begins tomorrow provides Putin's agenda, his main participation occurring on the 7th when he'll address the plenary session of the 7th EEF; its theme this year is "On the Path to a Multipolar World."

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 5 2022 1:01 utc | 70

Bemildred | Sep 5 2022 0:58 utc | 69

We will see how clever it is when Russia refuses to let the new American ambassador into the country. the current one retired on friday.

Posted by: Cchip | Sep 5 2022 1:34 utc | 71

We in the west who are aware of what is happening in the world are heading up shit creek without a paddle.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 5 2022 0:09 utc | 66

Since most email software traps are text sensitive only. If you can succeed in sending a picture attached to the email. Then you can try stenography.

Computer "Stenography". A sort of digital replacement of the old photographic microdot under the postage stamp. A technique where one can encode text within a picture of a pet cat/dog/wolf/Toyota Sequoia/Sunflower/whatever?

Using the same software can be key locked with an easily broken old obsolete AES256 key. With a such key given. The end user/recipient can then decode the hidden text within the picture.

There exists a number of free-to-use stenography software. From the no install portable Windows no-install app such as "hide'n'send". 'Secret messenger' and so forth.

Linux has its own 'steghide' tools as well.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Sep 5 2022 2:02 utc | 72

The energy / money crisis is totally contrived and controlled by extremely rich and powerful humans (who are behaving like aliens from another planet) trying to kill us all.

There is no less energy this year, than there was last year, except for that used in the Ukraine killing vast numbers of people (all part of the agenda)

Energy - We live on the most beautiful planet - in the known universe. there is no shortage of energy on our planet. We have got the sun, and the earth below.

I mean if you were on a passing starship...and you saw our planet.....a bit like when you were a teenage kid (and you know you stand no chance can't even speak to her, she is just so beautiful)

Well that's our planet earth (she said ok)

So its all thunder and lightening now here where we live - a bit like - well take your pick

Holst The Planets or Black Sabbath.

A bit late to start raining, but every little bit helps. the harvest is in now.

in england we have lots of festivals. all of them are based on people looking at the sky, and noticing the changing seasons ...they all get rebranded - by whichever religion is the current theme...and are absolutely brilliant for easter eggs, and christmas presents, and solstice stuff - beautiful people dancing in fields etc.....

But I like it really cold, after 2 weeks in a hot country...when I get back home I have literally rolled myself in the snow in shorts and t-shirt in my back garden, which I love, but I am missing my cat.

My wife says, we can't have a kitten yet.

She is still grieving too

Money is worth nothing. Gold is worth nothing....just shiny stuff

think about it - where did money come from...

imagine you find yourself on a desert island - like in the TV Series "Lost".

No one has got any money. How are you going to survive?

trade pretty pebbles, from the other side of the island, or show by example, and catch some fish, and build some basic shelters from the storm which is surely coming

or sit there do nothing, and stick your head in the sand?

I have ordered a large amount of smokeless coal. Our chimney still works and we have a new grandchild on the way.

Our old home will be warm, this winter.

We live near a fresh water stream

I reckon I will make 70. Already outlived the cat.

Not dead yet

Tony

Posted by: Tony_0pmoc | Sep 5 2022 2:12 utc | 73

It's all going to implode. Sweden just gave their electricity companies 250 billion kronor ($25 billion) loan/bailout guarantees. Finland gave 10 billion euro guarantees to electricity companies. These are 1/8 and 1/11 of annual tax revenues. First you get the electricity crisis, manufacturing crisis, coming massive unemployment crisis, then banking crisis, finally the Target 2 system of balances going tits up. And the end of the euro zone, defaults and national currencies. Massive nationalizing of assets.

Someone will get hanged, hopefully in Brussels.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/europe-implodes-its-leaders-plan-radical-intervention-including-price-setting-suspending

Posted by: unimperator | Sep 5 2022 2:14 utc | 74

It's all going to implode.

Sweden just gave their electricity companies 250 billion kronor ($25 billion) loan/bailout guarantees. Finland gave 10 billion euro guarantees to electricity companies. These are 1/8 and 1/11 of annual tax revenues. First you get the electricity crisis, manufacturing crisis, coming massive unemployment crisis, then banking crisis, finally the Target 2 system of balances going tits up. And the end of the euro zone, defaults and national currencies. No one will capitalize the ECB. Massive nationalizing of assets.

Someone will get hanged, hopefully in Brussels.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/europe-implodes-its-leaders-plan-radical-intervention-including-price-setting-suspending

Posted by: unimperator | Sep 5 2022 2:17 utc | 75

Below is a (key for me) quote from a posting at ZH and sourced from Bullionstar.com with the title of

Eurasian alliance plans a Moscow World Standard to destroy LBMA’s monopoly in precious metals pricing

This currency device representing a basket of currencies and commodities is something which another Sergei, namely Sergei Silvestrov of the Russian Security Council’s scientific council, talked about in a 4 July 2022 article by URA. Silvestrov says that the Russians have worked on an algorithm which values a range of commodities in terms of gold, and adds commodities to a basket of gold and currencies to produce an intrinsic value for a means of payment. This algorithm is called ‘settlement gold’.

Silvestrov says that:

“As a result, the Russian ruble and monetization will not be determined by the balance of supply and demand against Reserve currencies. And not by just gold either, but by a wide range of commodity and currency values ​​produced by domestic producers.

It is worth noting that 40% of these valuables are produced in the Russian Federation, 60% in the EAEU countries and 80% in the BRICS countries. Just in those very countries, some of which are now under sanctions pressure, the ultimate goal of which is to establish control over resources.”

This is the neutron bomb that will bring down the God of Mammon empire....so, not a matter of if, but when.....GRIN!!!!!

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 3:00 utc | 76

On a Covid related note there is a posting at ZH sourced from EpochTimes with the title of

Data For Newly Authorized COVID-19 Boosters Based On Mice, Not Humans

The take away quote

The data for Pfizer’s booster was based on just 8 mice, Pfizer scientists told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) vaccine advisory panel in June. The data for Moderna’s booster was based on 16 to 20 mice, some of which received the original booster, according to a presentation slated to be delivered to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) advisory panel on Sept. 1.

Yeah, like I am going to trust reputed vaccines based on mice testing...NOT!!!

The shit show continues until it doesn't and what a shit show we are watching

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 3:05 utc | 77

And then from ZH there is announcement of the release of $1.1 billion in arm sales to Taiwan to which China responded

China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 3:08 utc | 78

@psychohistorian, #74 ff. (except Rona, won't comment that)

We've been hearing stuff like this for some time now, some of it for years. Glazyev's plans for rebasing the Ruble, China's warnings of a "final solution" of the Taiwan question. Based on that, it might be easily dismissed in western capitals as "just more blah blah".

Methinks however, that Russia and China are just waiting for the perfect moment. We can assume they're in sync, China buying time while Russia does the dirty work in a theater not only limited to Ukraine anymore.

In a few hours, when Euro trading opens, nat gas price discovery will see a new historic record high. The G7 is doing everything to destroy itself, so why stop the enemy while he's making mistakes? With Russia depleting NATO of its stock and China gaining more and more leverage over global trade, there's no hurry to implement these things overnight. But when the time comes, it will be a bang no G7 politclown can laugh away or overplay with "we are working on it", because there will be ever-increasing civil unrest outside while factories close down due to unpayable energy costs.

It will be that moment western barflies will wake up to a new reality in price discovery for everything, learning that any commodity and any product that needs to be imported from Russia or China will be only payable in RUB and CNY, alternatively in physical gold.

How will the FED or the ECB (and their masters) react to that? Freeze any citizen asset worth more than 100k USD/EUR? 50k? 10k? Make ownership of physical gold verboten? How far will they go before accepting it's over for them?

Posted by: Nervous German | Sep 5 2022 3:24 utc | 79

@ Bad Deal Motors On | Sep 5 2022 0:43 utc | 67

well, it is just my viewpoint... it is difficult with polls, as one has to ask - how many times was it taken, before the results were released? who paid for it? what exactly were the questions and etc. etc. etc.... i try not to follow usa politics very closely.. it leaves me with a nauseating feeling, lol.... all the best to you, and some kind of deal that continues to motor on...

Posted by: james | Sep 5 2022 3:35 utc | 80

@ Nervous German | Sep 5 2022 3:24 utc | 77 who ended their response to my comment about an alternative value based monetary system by writing

"
How far will they go before accepting it's over for them?
"

We are watching how far in real time which is a bit dicey. Who are "they"?

Does it include the CFO of Bed Bath and Beyond who just committed suicide?

I have not seem a compilation of the recent die offs (forced/voluntary) of the top end but have seen a few more than normal, I think

The current Western monetary system, not having any intrinsic value, is only a measurement of debt that will become a pariah to hold when a money with intrinsic value becomes a reality.

I posit that part of bringing the God of Mammon bully to ground is a managed global debt jubilee that will be forgiven out of the (physical property) hide of the elite instead of the pension funds and municipal bond market.....the China/Russia axis are winning the civilization war and will set the jubilee terms.

Empire needs a war with public backing and that would take a US president with leadership ability or some way to convince the Western public that the China/Russia axis folks are evil incarnate.....not happening so far and the public is jaded from all the attempts, IMO.

Hang in there. There has to be more adults in the "room" than just us barflys and give credit to the China/Russia axis adults doing a stellar job of keeping humanity out of nuclear war, so far....it is not every day one sees the challenge to the centuries old form of social organization of the West that we are watching as the 101 chairborne...

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 3:55 utc | 81

@50 karlof1 | Sep 4 2022 22:15 utc

Thanks for the tip about Ehret and Chung. I read Ehret's latest tonight at Strategic Culture, but the images don't load - prompted me to look up his substack - now bookmarked, thanks.

I'm far beyond my formal knowledge in this realm of thought, but Ehret is basically describing a dichotomy between two ideologies. One is the current thought that rules and oppresses us today: the mechanistic, Malthusian, limited and shrinking view of energy and the universe, and life within it.

Contrasted with this view is the view that the universe is filled with life, and manifests order much more than the apparent chaos that can be seen in subsets of its totality, but not in its essence. Essentially, the universe is alive, and is actively in the process of creation every moment, rather than the process of decaying. And science shows this, more persuasively than the theory of ultimate decay.

Ehret delves into Big Bang physics - and the refutation of this theory by real science, which was in turn persecuted by the Rockefeller Foundation, which had to have its own view, and its own profit-making preferences.

Here's the article:

Is the Age of Big Bang Cosmology and ‘the Science of Scarcity’ Finally Coming to an End?

And back to earth from all the cosmology and the ideology, the rubber meets the road in paragraphs such as this:

And so now, we find ourselves trapped within a shrinking box of resources, and increased rates of scarcity across all fields that directly support life: energy, healthcare, agriculture. It isn’t that this scarcity is necessary. Even if next generation technological breakthroughs in all domains had not been sabotaged (they were), then even existing technologies and resources, IF organized and used justly, as the new multipolar alliance is doing, could eliminate hunger and want for the currently existent 7.7 billion souls on the earth with relative ease.

Ehret is venturing far into the vast cosmos, and returning intimately to the cellular behavior of embryonic biology, in order to show that the observations are all the same one thing: the universe is alive, and creating, and we are part of this abundance. But there is a geopolitical aspect also of course, as the forces in play at the level of ruling classes today are of the opposite view - as we well know - that the useless eaters are a burden, and must go.

~~

Buddhist teachings have always said this, observed by the wise and the realized minds of humanity over the ages, all the same, one observation: that the universe already exists in its perfect being, ineffable, formless, constant and ever-present...and yet there is a display of phenomena that it manifests continually - a display, not a reality - which arises and then dissolves back into the essence of the universe - that essence being the very nature of reality itself - whence it came.

And we beings grasp at each moment's display and try to turn it into a permanent thing - doomed to fail as it changes in each next moment - and the absolutists and malthusians will see it only as decay, not seeing the next abundant thing arising.

~~

Synchronistically, Mattias Desmet in his recent book on mass formation has used the same set of opposing views to describe the ideological contest we find ourselves in today. The mechanistic worldview that resulted from the Enlightenment and which gave such early progress has now stratified and solidified to enslave us, while the familiarity with a world that is biologically and spiritually alive has been driven away from us. And yet, says Desmet, all our institutions of science and civilization depend on that familiarity and are increasingly impoverished from its lack.

[Reminder: I am far outside my knowledge of history, philosophy and science here. And I can only take Desmet's word for the history of the west over the last 300 years.]

This is not yet the fully fledged review of the Desmet book that I have wanted to offer, but the parallel between what Ehret is saying and what Desmet is saying is completely solid. This, one can clearly see.

And all this comes back to our observations of the anti-human themes politically at work in our world today, that spell a doom for us that triggers all our survival reflexes to full alert.

~~

So these are the writers and thinkers who are describing the full contexts for the time we find ourselves in. Even though we must fight at the gut level, these are the words that we must have to satisfy all the forms, to write the reasons to the record, and to know and explain to others, why we fight.

We will fight these anti-humans, these transhumanists, because we must, or die. And these authors cited here, along with others, are describing the guiding principles of the struggle.

The transhumanists wish to transcend being biologically human because they haven't managed to succeed at being human. And rather than accept that blow to the ego, they rationalize that human nature is not worth having. And so they would do away with humanity. They are life's greatest losers, holding some of the world's greatest power.

We the living, have more power.

Posted by: Grieved | Sep 5 2022 4:16 utc | 82

@ Grieved | Sep 5 2022 4:16 utc | 80 with the value adding comment at MoA...thanks

If I might add a bit...

I am reading, slowly for me, The Systems View of Life, by Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi....book suggestion came from a Crooke posting

In the Concluding remarks of Chapter 3 there is the following:

As we move further into the twenty-first century, transcending the mechanistic view of organizations will be as critical for the survival of human civilization as transcending the mechanistic conceptions of health, the economy, or biotechnology. All these issues are linked, ultimately, to the profound scientific, social, and cultural transformation that is now under way with the emergence of the new systemic conception of life......

This book takes me back to my Future studies work in college where I read General System Theory by Ludwig Von Bertflany which these folks refer to in their book...grin

The book is a brain stretcher though for an old guy spending his time like this weekend on his knees installing 3/4" oak flooring and gluing each board....there is mechanistic and then there is mechanistic...grin

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 4:38 utc | 83

@81 psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 4:38 utc

dude, I helped put in a granite slab patio last week...and we frame out the shed tomorrow. It's good that I have good help because I am far outside my formal mechanistic knowledge too :)

But yeah, Crooke gets Desmet, as we've seen, and it forms part of his thinking. I don't know if he reads Ehret, but karlof1 has the kind of chutzpah that may bring those writers together, getting close the way he did with Hudson and Escobar. I don't have that kind of collegiality, but I've come to see it as a force in its own right. And if Escobar groks it, the river runs free.

All the tributaries run to the great river. And for many of those streams, as you show in your stories, we recognize now that actually we were trekking near the headwaters many decades ago. We loved the taste of the water then, but we never saw the rush of the river to the ocean until now.

I swear, we may even win this fight, man.

Posted by: Grieved | Sep 5 2022 5:00 utc | 84

The transhumanists wish to transcend being biologically human because they haven't managed to succeed at being human. And rather than accept that blow to the ego, they rationalize that human nature is not worth having. And so they would do away with humanity. They are life's greatest losers, holding some of the world's greatest power.

We the living, have more power.
Posted by: Grieved | Sep 5 2022 4:16 utc | 81

Beautifully expressed, thank you

Posted by: K | Sep 5 2022 5:04 utc | 85

However, I am still very upset. I'm grieving. I buried her a few days ago on my 69th birthday. She was a lovely polite gentle cat. She would sometimes gently touch me, in the middle of the night, to see if I was still alive.

Posted by: Tony_0pmoc | Sep 5 2022 0:08 utc | 65

No wonder you miss her, she was a caring friend. Cats are amazing, thanks for sharing

Posted by: K | Sep 5 2022 5:10 utc | 86

Below is a quote from an aggregator article sourced from DPA (?) with the article titled
Key German bishop pushes back at Vatican criticism of reform effort

Bätzing is head of the German Conference of Bishops and is leading a group called the Synodal Path, which is looking at ways to give women equal standing in the church. Other topics explored include sexual morality, priestly celibacy and questions of how to deal with authority.

The Vatican recently issued a statement saying that the German group had no authority to consider such sweeping changes to Church structure.

But Bätzing used his sermon to question how the Church could ever find itself in a situation in which it doesn't think it has a responsibility to change in some cases.

What's being attempted in Germany right now is not a "cheap" answer to the questions of the time. "It's the set path of the Church since its beginning," adding that the effort is trying to salvage something positive after the reputational damage the Church has suffered in recent years.

I also skimmed the heading of an article the other day about Pope Frank pulling on the financial strings of the German Knights Templar.

If you want to know what came before all those Deep State agencies around the world, just look at the history of the Jesuits

I have written here before that I think that Pope Frank, as the Pope, is a permanent member of the God of Mammon cult. How does the Catholic Church reconcile the current support of usury with the teaching in their bible? In case it isn't obvious, the Catholic Church does not practice what it preaches.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 5:14 utc | 87

And while I am dreaming, how about if we name the UN replacement organization

OWN - Organization of World's Nations

It has a nice "ring" to it for me...grin

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 5:41 utc | 88

Here a very good one just release in YT... the creator’s PRC in Canada... Difference Frames the World or DFTW please watch and enjoy.... Please help if you are able....I cannot PayPal freezed my accounts....

Part 1: What If Japan Conquered China.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-vahJOhkdQ

Posted by: JC | Sep 5 2022 5:42 utc | 89

@87 psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 5:14 utc

I'm still here. And just riffing, but here's a thought I've had often: why is it that all the secret societies that have wielded and currently do wield power and influence are...secret?

• Who exactly are they afraid of?
• Why exactly are they operating in secret?
• What is the true balance of power, in which they operate, that exposure can jeopardize their schemes?

~~

And one day soon we must discuss the media...that we still talk about almost as if they were a real combination of disparate viewpoints, and leading to a consensus.

When now they are simply cells in one organism, one corporate PR machine, nothing left of the individual parts whatsoever.

And this is not an observation of current society, this is the positive ID of the main enabler of most of the big geopolitical crimes happening now, caused by the US.

The media is now fused into one big thing. And it has one big story. And it is criminal to its core. Saturated with crime and evil intent - and without which, most of the crimes could not happen in such broad daylight as they now do.

So, if life has become more deadly and despicable from the degenerate scum who rule us, we need to be clear that it's the media committing the front-running on those crimes.

The media are not an accomplice after the fact. The media are now the front-runners who clear the path for the thugs to come in and pillage.

The media are the worst of the criminals. The quisling, Vichy media are worse than criminals, they are the betrayers who open the doors in the dead of night for the thugs to come in.

Theirs is a crime of an entirely special category. We have yet to decide on the punishment.

We should talk more about this.

Posted by: Grieved | Sep 5 2022 5:52 utc | 90

@ Grieved #90 who wants to talk about reviving this entry from Wiki

"
The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints.[1] In 1987, the FCC abolished the fairness doctrine,[2] prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either Commission policy or congressional legislation.[3] However, later the FCC removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in August 2011.[4]
"

I agree!

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 6:09 utc | 91

I need to retire but keep finding information to share...sigh...this one is for those that are critical of the Chinese social credit system

Below is a quote from a US AP story with the title

Tech tool offers police 'mass surveillance on a budget.' It's raising 4th Amendment questions.

Fog's tool is accessed through a web portal. Investigators can enter a crime scene's coordinates into the database, which brings back search results showing a device's Fog ID, which is based on its unique ad ID number.

Police can see which device IDs were found near the location of the crime. Detectives or other officers can also search the location for IDs going forward from the time of the crime and back at least 180 days, according to the company's user license agreement. But, Fog's data can go back as far as June 2017, according to emails from a Fog representative to Florida and California law enforcement agencies.

While the data does not directly identify who owns a device, the company often gives law enforcement information it needs to connect it to addresses and other clues that help detectives figure out people's identities, according to company representatives' emails.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 5 2022 6:23 utc | 92

I have made my final post stating the bleeding obvious on current vid commenters here as we have shifted a ways off the Ukie topic into the realms of all messaging.

About a week or so ago there was a MoA thread where a number of posters swore that they never followed any corporate/mainstream news any longer, that they took all their facts from blogs and YouTube/Rumble/Rokfin vids.
I didn't bother to respond but I did wonder yet again how it was even though people determined to avoid corporate media still adhered to pretty much the same topics as corporate media does.

I have pointed out here quite often about how we are being diverted from issues that may be important to our or our family's existence, by media yet we still follow the same subjects that corporate media steer us unto but instead imagine that relying on 'alternative' sources to be sufficient.

But I still read corporate media most days as well as watching many of the same vids as many here do. If we don't follow corporate media we cannot stay aware of the subject or direction of deceits. I read/watch other sources for useable ideas of how the deceits may best be resisted yet only a fool would swallow any unquestioned because that way is the same mistake too many have already made.

I have followed Jimmy Dore for several years now, watched George Galloway's shows since RT was closed down and even, this may surprise some, watch Christoforou's vids most days. I got into him after watching a couple of Mercouris vids on Ukraine early this year at the time he, the same as every other commenter, was asserting Russia would never invade Ukraine. We now rightly see that as wishful thinking and Mercouris was no more incorrect than a host of others.

It was one time when he had that amerikan lawyer Barnes on his show that I decided I needed to check out who check Mercouris was. Both Alexes were practically crawling up Barnes' arse and I found that bloke to be objectionable. Galloway talks about the prejudices of the 'gin and jag' set in england, to me Barnes was a member of the equally biased country club & republican party set in amerika with his plush surroundings, fat cigar, incessant name-dropping and photos of himself shaking hands with assorted rethug has beens. Just like the gin and jag set in england I found Barnes' schtick objectionable. All the cries of freedom and liberty inevitably boil down to merely the freedom to take cash from others, combined with the liberty to stay free if you get caught cheating.

Yet both the Alexes were just about licking the bloke's arse and at one point Mercouris got so carried away in his awe that he went for the old fellow legal eagle thing by mentioning his "years at the old Bailey", yet Barnes rebuffed him fast quickly changing the subject, so I thought 'what was that about' and decided to check out Mercouris. Since then I haven't bothered too much with him. His mannerisms seem to be an indication of medication, self-medication or insanity and for me distracted too much from his spiel so I quit watching his vids.

I still watch Christoforou yet much of his stuff is just rehashes of news heard elsewhere seasoned with Christoforou's opinion and when it strays into all too predictable global warming denial I cannot be bothered as he tries to mix reality into a fantastic conspiracy even though there is more than enough evidence for a more straightforward if rather mundane strategy cooked up by greedies.

The primary problem with the elaborate conspiracy Christoforou expounds is that while yes the leading movers and shakers in Germany forcing the war are the so-called green party, every other nation on the west's side is led by political organisations which despite protestation to the contrary from time to time, have wilfully obstructed any effective moves to counter global warming. It would not surprise me in the least if germany's greens follow exactly the same lame neoliberal schtick.

Just as england's tory party have decided the best way to rid their nation of healthcare for all while not upsetting the people is to loudly praise the NHS whilst starving it of funding, pretend environmentalists such as we see in virtually every nation, loudly speak for energy-saving while interspersing designed to fail programs with a refusal to properly regulate energy corporations. Consequently they bring mugs around to their corporate bosses way of thinking, that is that taking on global warming is error ridden pie in the sky stuff, rather than the simple need to replace fossil fuel consumption wherever possible.

You don't have to look far to find that tosh, it is repeated here at MoA often enough nowadays. That it is one of several shibboleths of what was once a cause of the left that has now been ditched by many leftists eager to join forces with the former right adds to the annoyance, it doesn't diminish to see another obvious tool of the rich to oppress us all, so casually cast aside.

I have no time whatsoever for critical thinkers who are unable to accurately analyse the mess that over-population, over consumption and under thinking has brought upon this world.

I have no doubt that christoforou's act requires a lot of skill eg it was sad to see the new atlas trying to replicate it the other day but failing.
In the end though for me the walk 'n talk through Athens, Belgrade and now Nicosia, is just as much a prop for the show as Mercouris & Barnes leather-buttoned furniture, lap it up all you wish but it would be better if all of that were put aside and focus remained on the issues. Really like a legacy fishwrap's masthead or a TV show's artfully designed set these things need to be consigned to irrelevancy in favour of considering 'just the facts'

'The New Atlas', Jimmy Dore and George Galloway cover myriad other topics and I'm really pleased to see that Dore has begun to run stories on Africa - you know the place that most of the civilised world has been feasting off for the past 300 hundred years, yet most purveyors of news of any ilk treat stories about Africa like the dreaded silent but deadly fart.
On the few occasions 'civilised folk' do take an interest in any story about Africa the story is gonna be about how the event impacts on those civilised folk, rarely if ever genuine tales about the life of Africans.

All of us need to gather information from as many diverse sources as possible taking none of it at face value, questioning everything about, indulging our prejudices is unavoidable, what is not is acknowledging those prejudices to yourself while you sift the info.
That is the sole opportunity humanity has if it is to be successful in getting to the other side of the current mess we are, over populated, under-informed and stupidly loyal to whatever sound the sweetest.
The entire push of leaders or for that matter opinion leaders is counter to the next step humanity must take. The world has become so desperate and needy a place for humans that only a drongo would delegate decisions to others on any type of long term basis, much less the lengths of time our current elected and unelected 'leaders' currently enjoy.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 5 2022 7:45 utc | 93

Buddhist teachings have always said this, observed by the wise and the realized minds of humanity over the ages, all the same, one observation: that the universe already exists in its perfect being, ineffable, formless, constant and ever-present...and yet there is a display of phenomena that it manifests continually - a display, not a reality - which arises and then dissolves back into the essence of the universe - that essence being the very nature of reality itself - whence it came.
Posted by: Grieved | Sep 5 2022 4:16 utc | 82

Sorry Grieved, but that is the opposite of what the Buddha said - he said everything is constantly changing - no exceptions. See for example the Cakkavati-Sihanada Sutta (The Lion's Roar on the Turning of the Wheel), 26th sutta in the Digha Nikaya, and the Aggañña Sutta (Knowledge of Beginnings), 27th sutta in the Digha Nikaya. Although, strictly speaking, the description of the eons of an expanding universe and eons of a contracting universe, and so on - indeed all the cosmology described in those two suttas - should be understood as the contextual beliefs of that time - i.e. Brahmin conceptionalism, reinterpreted as a medium for the Buddhist teachings of non-self, impermanence, and dukkha.

Posted by: BM | Sep 5 2022 7:49 utc | 94

Ho letto che alcuni congressisti e senatori USA sono andati in Kazakhistan carichi di dollari per interferire nelle elezioni. Se se ciò accadesse e il Kazakhistan divenisse una nuova Ucraina la Russia sarebbe presa dalle retrovie e quindi qualsiasi trasporto militare partito dalle basi di Aviano e Sigonella li porterebbe senza esitazioni a bombardare la base di Sigonella e il MUOS di Niscemi. Scoppierebbe la guerra nucleare. Lei che ne pensa?

Posted by: Horace | Sep 5 2022 10:03 utc | 95

Every British subject is a winner today. Congratulations and enjoy your prize.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 5 2022 12:04 utc | 96

too scents | Sep 5 2022 12:04 utc | 96

Yeah, Mary Elizabeth Stuss apparently.

Stuss as in German 'der Stuss'.

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Sep 5 2022 12:41 utc | 97

Is aluminum really that important???

Posted by: too scents | Sep 4 2022 13:49 utc | 1

Because of low weigh, corrosion resistance and some other properties, aluminum was preferred for many products, and product parts. One can ask a serious question: is it necessary, can it be substituted?

Aluminum products can often be substituted. One can have steel cans instead of lighter aluminum cans, iron pots instead of aluminum pots etc. Probably the biggest headache is replacing aluminum parts. A car, truck, a home may be produced or build without aluminum parts after RE-ENGINEERING, and creating a new supply chain. Something that may take years, and it may be more rational to just live with less for few years, perhaps with an economic crisis, that go through it -- if the situation is temporary. Especially that substitute materials may create bottlenecks of their own, e.g. copper, or components of special steels.

Mind you, it really goes back to: can we live without natural gas? As natural gas was harder to transport and store than oil, its price was very steadily much lower than oil, in Europe, twice cheaper, in USA, at least four times. Moreover, for heating and producing electricity, natural gas is much easier to use than oil products. With that in mind, there is no sufficient infrastructure like refineries to produces fuel oil or fuel-oil run generators to substitute the bulk of natural gas. If the current situation that Europe and many countries have to use LNG that became quite a bit MORE expensive than natural gas is permanent, then in the fullness of time those refineries etc. can be built. Like with aluminum, it does not help now. But there is no guarantee that this is a permanent situation, so there is no rush to risk tens and hundreds of billions for investments that may never be needed. Such a situation may be worse than a crisis: permanent decline.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Sep 5 2022 13:21 utc | 98

So, the US consumer market is drying up for China. That's the strategy to achieve in the drive to 'decouple' from China, and crash its economy, ain't it? Now, let's sit back and wait to see if China indeed would cry uncle and cave to America's "International Rules Based Order"--:-)

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Sep 4 2022 18:29 utc | 26

—————-

I think China will be fine. It seems to be their plan to decouple from the west as well many other countries are going to do. Or at least conduct trade more on their own terms.
———

In a post-globalization world China has an excess of urban industrialization and capital and the rural regions are still relatively poorer.

But the rural regions have a lot of resources and cultural practices including collectives that could be monetized and developed in an eco-friendly way by using this excess urban liquidity and well organized foreign investment. (Rather that this liquidity go into financial speculation)

China is considering using these national resources (rather than gold) as a peg for the yuan thus reconstituting monetary sovereignty.

This would lead China to have a more powerful internal economy and international trade would serve as a complement to this.

This is possible because the central government recognizes the importance of using its monopolized financial sector for community welfare. (Ten Crises)

Posted by: financial matters | Feb 4 2022 0:26 utc | 66

Posted by: financial matters | Sep 5 2022 13:22 utc | 99

Posted by: Horace | Sep 5 2022 10:03 utc | 95

Interesting speculation. Kazakhstan is the key component of the Russian Federation Space Program. The polite story. The Dumb Yankees have two chances of stirring up trouble within the country. "Buckley's and none!"........

The Kazakhstan state internal security service would have covered the Yankee visitors closer than heat rash and bed bugs.

In other news from Kazakhstan. The local "Police Widows Association". Received a very generous cash donation from several foreign visitors. A number of local politicians will be permanently retiring from politics. For health reasons.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Sep 5 2022 13:53 utc | 100