Open (NOT Ukraine) Thread 2022-166
News & views NOT related to the Ukraine conflict ...
Posted by b on October 6, 2022 at 14:19 UTC | Permalink
next page »One of my new fun activities for the day is to check the @NATO twitter.
It never fails to give me a titter: Just today’s serving:
>… @Mircea_Geoana. Was pleased to open the annual NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives #NCGP conference. At #NATO, we strive to advance gender equality as a reflection of our values as we recognise the crucial role women play in our security and defence.
>…The number of active duty females in UAF exceeds that of all NATO countries.
Fast-track NATO accession. NATO could not ask for a more capable, intelligent, and committed member.
< https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/03/ukraine-military-women-record-numbers-medics/> “On the front lines, Ukrainian women are often the first responders”
~~ Women now account for about 22 percent of Ukraine’s military, a climb that began with the Russian-backed war in the east starting in 2014 but has soared since Russia’s full-scale invasion four months ago, according to Kateryna Pryimak, co-founder of Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement.
“Since February, the numbers of women signing up keeps growing and growing,” she said.
“in 2016….women served mostly in support roles and cooked in unit kitchens. “Now I see women drivers, mechanics, medics, machine gunners, commanders.”~~~
> #DYK (=did you know) that #NATO has supported the research of many #NobelPrize winners over the years? As the new #Nobel laureates are announced this week, check out the scientists and leaders who have been part of NATO’s Nobel network.
Following on from the spanking the Saudi energy minister issued to Reuters.
Here’s a BBC journo in an academy award winning performance…
https://twitter.com/yistaphobic/status/1577643489583677440
Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 6 2022 14:36 utc | 2
Col Senator Richard Black is back….
He’s got a new YT.
Watch him without other ytubbers talking over the top of him and “sharing” their inanities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIvWo_tswmQ
“…… Focus On The News with Senator Richard Black, your home for analysis of breaking news and in-depth discussion of current events in the United States and the world.”
Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 6 2022 15:00 utc | 3
The conflict in Ukraine is only a lesser aspect of the global conflict and upheaval - with drastic implications for future. And the Ukraine situation is increasingly a fait acompli, though the path to completion is not quite clear.
It looks increasingly that the economic conflict is bound to become much more tangible and damaging and will change the lives of many people for better or worse. In the US so far we have seen little repercussion so far - largely because the administration is able to mask the effects by manipulating data, restricting information, promoting preferred naratives, profligate spending (stimulus, going to preferred recipients), and money printing (including direct and indirect purchase of equities (ppt)).
Additionally, it looks like new conflicts are likely to be initiated. There is increasing pressure for pipeline through Syria. I would think that could work, if Syrie and Turkey get thier cut but seems that is not acceptable to the "west" (meaning of course the owners not the nations which serve them).
Posted by: jared | Oct 6 2022 15:25 utc | 4
jared | Oct 6 2022 15:25 utc | 4
The Syrian pipeline was proposed to the father of Assad (Hafez). He refused and so Syria became a pariah. There is an alternative that the Israelis now want that passes through Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
So no, the "west" won't agree, as Israel has already got it's hands on the Golan (Oil?) underneath, and is trying to encroach on Lebanon.
Posted by: Stonebird | Oct 6 2022 15:43 utc | 5
Observations from visiting Seattle WA container port.
A few weeks ago c1ue described the situation in Los Angeles' container port facility. I found it useful, since container shipping bottlenecks were blamed for shortages, inflation, etc. effects on the economy. Would that happen this year, too?
This past weekend I was in Seattle, and had a few spare moments to visit Seattle's container port on Saturday. I was able to walk along the road that runs beside the wharves. I spoke with Coast Guard, container storage-lot, and (adjacent) ferry operations personnel.
Here's what I learned:
The port can simultaneously handle about eight ships (my visual estimate based on dock length and number of cranes). Only one ship was at-dock.
There were two other container ships anchored within sight offshore.
There was no activity at the wharves. Monday through Friday operations only at this time.
Empty containers are being collected at dock-side. There are tens of thousands of them, arriving at a rate of about a thousand per day.
There is a 1000+ person waiting list to become a longshoreman. The jobs pay in excess of $100K. There is no shortage of willing workers.
The longshoremen are union workers. The union hall (admin office and training facility) is dock-side.
Traffic at the port is expected to increase rapidly as the holiday season approaches
The port's road infrastructure is not designed to efficiently move traffic off the major highways and into / out of the port. Roadways cross at-grade, and non-port-related commute/commerce traffic directly impedes port traffic.
BNSF's railroad container terminal is located right beside the wharves. It is divided from the wharves by a two-lane road. The rail yard was active on Saturday.
From those observations I infer that:
a. there isn't a labor shortage that's impeding traffic
b. there is currently plenty of excess ship-loading capacity
c. there are plenty of empty containers ready to go to Asia
d. the port's major throughput bottleneck appears to be poor highway design
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 6 2022 16:02 utc | 6
Is there any convincing way to debunk a claim that the nord stream bombing is Putin's false flag intended to turn Europe against USA?
Posted by: FieryButMostPeaceful | Oct 6 2022 16:09 utc | 7
@◙FieryButMostPeaceful | Oct 6 2022 16:09 utc | 7
Is there any convincing way to debunk a claim that the nord stream bombing is Putin's false flag intended to turn Europe against USA?Not if you are not already convinced, given the clear evidence.
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 6 2022 16:42 utc | 8
@ Posted by: Stonebird | Oct 6 2022 15:43 utc | 5
Yes, Syria refused (wonder why), but that was then. And now there has been some improvement of relations - Syria with Saudies, Turkey and others. Edogan is easy to win over, I imagine.
Posted by: jared | Oct 6 2022 16:53 utc | 9
From IntelSlava
🇶🇦❗️Qatar has set the rules for football fans at the 2022 World Cup, which starts on November 21.•The following were banned:
•Alcohol
•LGBT
•Open parts of the female body
•Swearing
• Disrespect for mosques
•Loud music and sounds
•Dating
•Photographing people without their permission.
Posted by: Down South | Oct 6 2022 17:07 utc | 10
The Telegraph reports:
Risk of three-hour daily blackouts this winter, says National Grid
Households could earn more than £10 a day by reducing energy use if supplies run short
By Rachel Millard 6 October 2022 • 2:00pmBritain faces blackouts for up to three hours a day this winter if it is unable to import enough energy.
National Grid has warned that households and businesses could be cut off for periods of time if electricity supplies run short.
The electricity would be cut off in some areas of the country to ensure power does not go down more widely.
Consumers will also be relied on to accept payments to cut their energy usage at peak times if supplies are looking tight.
Households could be paid more than £10 a day for reducing their energy use. National Grid plans to use the scheme at least 12 times even without energy shortages to encourage people to take part.
Coal-fired power plants are also being kept online longer than planned to help cover imbalances.
It comes as cuts to Russian supplies of gas to Europe amid its war on Ukraine have wreaked havoc on gas and electricity markets.
...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/10/06/national-grid-winter-blackouts-warning/
Posted by: too scents | Oct 6 2022 17:10 utc | 11
...for we cannot lodge and
board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen that live
honestly by the prick of their needles, but it will
be thought we keep a bawdy house straight. Hostess, Henry 5
Falstaff:...you may buy
land now as cheap as stinking mackerel.
PRINCE HENRY
Why, then, it is like, if there come a hot June and
this civil buffeting hold, we shall buy maidenheads
as they buy hob-nails, by the hundreds.
FALSTAFF
By the mass, lad, thou sayest true; it is like we
shall have good trading that way....1 Henry 4
there's a worthwhile article at wsws on Amazon labor (=slavery) but for a truer gauge of the actual state of labor relations in the world, there's no better place to look than sites like PORNHUB, XTUBE, REDTUBE, etc.
"the great thing about the internet is that the globe can be your pimp and john as the whole world upvotes on how much you can degrade yourself for money. innovators are rewarded in the marketplace."
if people care to look, how degrading labor is and how degraded people are that they accept it is very, very easy to see.
porn is honest. if you want to get paid, smile at how much you like being a dirty little whore or you'll be lucky if the boss simply fires you for not taking it AND liking it.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 17:22 utc | 12
Posted by: Down South | Oct 6 2022 17:07 utc | 10
I am on the floor laughing .So I guess the secretive gay male orgies will be ok , then? Those nations are famous for Male homosexuality. I know an expat engineer who was propositioned by his upper- class peers , in Saudi Arabia , as if they were asking whether he liked a cup of tea. Of course World Cups draw an almost wholly male demographic …
Posted by: Brother Ma | Oct 6 2022 17:23 utc | 13
FieryButMostPeaceful@7
Given the location of the explosions, it would be interesting to learn from the proponents of your theory, how they imagine that Russian agents could have reached the target without being detected.
Posted by: bevin | Oct 6 2022 17:24 utc | 14
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 6 2022 16:02 utc | 6
I liked your post. I never thought you could “sex up “ containers and ports , but there you go. Since geopolitics is now my interest ,I find anything to do with shipping interesting , so thanks.
Posted by: Brother Ma | Oct 6 2022 17:27 utc | 15
The context in which the current crisis has to be viewed is one of almost 80 years of US aggression against Russia and of imperialist refusal to enter into serious negotiations for peace.
The longstanding policy of the US and its Empire has been to conquer Russia. As the article quoted from below shows US plans, though modified after 1960, involved killing hundreds of millions of people- the bulk of them being eastern europeans, the population of the Warsaw Pact countries over whose 'victimhood' (lack of Levi denims) the 'West' has been shedding crocodile tears for decades.
Those who equate Soviet/Russian "imperialism" with western imperialism speak from a deep seated ignorance. Unless, as is the case with the media, Academy and 'public opinion' they are lying for reward.
"... after the United States “tested” its nuclear arsenal in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Churchill and right-wing American policy makers started to persuade the White House to bomb the USSR. A nuclear strike against Soviet Russia, exhausted by the war with Germany, would have led to the defeat of the Kremlin at the same time allowing the Allied Forces to avoid US and British military casualties, Churchill insisted. Needless to say, the former British Prime Minister did not care about the death of tens of thousands of Russian peaceful civilians which were already hit severely by the four-year war nightmare.
"He [Churchill] pointed out that if an atomic bomb could be dropped on the Kremlin, wiping it out, it would be a very easy problem to handle the balance of Russia, which would be without direction,” an unclassified note from the FBI archive read.
"Unthinkable as it may seem, Churchill’s plan literally won the hearts and minds of US policy makers and military officials. Between 1945 and the USSR’s first detonation of a nuclear device in 1949, the Pentagon developed at least nine nuclear war plans targeting Soviet Russia, according to US researchers Dr. Michio Kaku and Daniel Axelrod. In their book “To Win a Nuclear War: the Pentagon’s Secret War Plans,” based on declassified top secret documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the researchers exposed the US military’s strategies to initiate a nuclear war with Russia.
"The names given to these plans graphically portray their offensive purpose: Bushwhacker, Broiler, Sizzle, Shakedown, Offtackle, Dropshot, Trojan, Pincher, and Frolic. The US military knew the offensive nature of the job President Truman had ordered them to prepare for and had named their war plans accordingly,” remarked American scholar J.W. Smith (“The World’s Wasted Wealth 2”).
"These “first-strike” plans developed by the Pentagon were aimed at destroying the USSR without any damage to the United States....
"...“The Soviet atomic bomb test on August 29, 1949 shook Americans who had believed that their atomic monopoly would last much longer, but did not immediately alter the pattern of war planning. The key issue remained just what level of damage would force a Soviet surrender,” Professor Donald Angus MacKenzie of the University of Edinburgh remarked in his essay “Nuclear War Planning and Strategies of Nuclear Coercion.”
"Although Washington’s war planners knew that it would take years before the Soviet Union would obtain a significant atomic arsenal, the point was that the Soviet bomb could not be ignored.
"The Scottish researcher highlighted that the US was mainly focused not on “deterrence” but on “offensive” preemptive strike. “There was unanimity in ‘insider circles’ that the United States ought to plan to win a nuclear war. The logic that to do so implied to strike first was inescapable,” he emphasized, adding that “first strike plans” were even represented in the official nuclear policy of the US.
"Remarkably, the official doctrine, first announced by then US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles in 1954, assumed America’s possible nuclear retaliation to “any” aggression from the USSR.
"Eventually, in 1960 the US’ nuclear war plans were formalized in the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP).
"At first, the SIOP envisaged a massive simultaneous nuclear strike against the USSR’s nuclear forces, military targets, cities, as well as against China and Eastern Europe. It was planned that the US’ strategic forces would use almost 3,500 atomic warheads to bomb their targets. According to US generals’ estimates, the attack could have resulted in the death of about 285 to 425 million people. Some of the USSR’s European allies were meant to be completely “wiped out.”
“We’re just going to have to wipe it [Albania] out,” US General Thomas Power remarked at the 1960 SIOP planning conference, as quoted by MacKenzie...."
Posted by: bevin | Oct 6 2022 17:41 utc | 16
I am reading that the zionist entity is preparing for an offensive against Lebanon..They want to steal that gas field at all costs..I just hope a rain of Iranian made missiles will fall from the sky over the occupied lands to purge those greedy thieves.
Posted by: LuBa | Oct 6 2022 17:46 utc | 17
"These “first-strike” plans developed by the Pentagon ...
Posted by: bevin | Oct 6 2022 17:41 utc | 16
---
I worked on 2nd strike plans. The problem was that the terrain following radar would get lost when the cruise missile flew over a crater created in the 1st strike.
Posted by: too scents | Oct 6 2022 17:55 utc | 18
There is increasing pressure for pipeline through Syria. I would think that could work, if Syrie and Turkey get thier cut but seems that is not acceptable to the "west" (meaning of course the owners not the nations which serve them).Posted by: jared | Oct 6 2022 15:25 utc | 4
The best route for "the west" for the huge Qatari gas field is across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, to Northern Israel, then under the Med to somewhere near Athens, Greece. It could also pick up recently discovered gas near Cyprus.
Given recent precedents, security would have to be beefed up.
'
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Oct 6 2022 17:58 utc | 19
For those not following, the most recent Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan conflict has apparently ended.
However as recently as last week the Azeris killed 3 Armenian soldiers with mortar fire and continue to harass and making encroachments.
https://www.armenpress.am/eng/news/1093632
Posted by: Al | Oct 6 2022 18:02 utc | 20
@ karlof1 | Oct 6 2022 20:53 utc | 291
>> When did we stop trying to make our Union more perfect and cease using the Preamble as guidance for good governance?
>> This of course tests their knowledge and all too many are unable to answer what ought to be an easy question.
Umm.... Doesn't sound easy to me. Sounds more like a rhetorical question asking why we can't have nice things.
Karlof, what's the answer?? TIA.
Posted by: dfg | Oct 6 2022 18:09 utc | 21
At her Weekly Briefing, Maria Zakharova discussed the UNSC meeting about the pipeline terrorism and its investigation and noted its SOSDD essence. All emphasis mine:
At the initiative of Russia, on September 30 of this year, a meeting of the UN Security Council was held in connection with the rupture of three lines of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. All members of the UN Security Council acknowledged the fact of deliberate sabotage and unanimously supported the need for a transparent international investigation into what happened. It's a constructive unity, but then something went wrong. Russia's participation in such an investigation seems indisputable to any educated person. Neither lawyers, nor technology engineers, nor financiers, nor economists, public figures can imagine how such an investigation can take place without the party to which all this belongs. Turns out it's possible. A number of Western members of the UN Security Council have said and continue to say that Russia will not be invited, but will not be allowed to participate in their investigative activities and investigations. It was suggested that security guarantees for cross-border infrastructure should be developed.Has there been such a thing in history? Yes. An example is the Malaysian Boeing, which crashed over the territory of Ukraine. When was Malaysia allowed to participate in the investigation and allowed to be included in the "working group"? Of course, not immediately, but after a long time. Let me remind you that the plane was Malaysian. It's a classic of the genre. This, first of all, even before the analysis of the motive, speaks about what it means to have something to hide. The owner (not even the investor) of the equipment, infrastructure and the resource pumped through these pipelines are not allowed to investigate. So, something is being hidden from him. This is not the first time the West has done this. I would like to emphasise that in the situation with the Malaysian Boeing, the situation was exactly the same, only with regard to Malaysia as the owner of the aircraft.
For our part, we drew attention to the absurdity of the accusations that have been made and continue to be made against Russia for the destruction of Nord Stream, where we have invested a huge amount of investment. Not only was money allocated and not spent. The project worked. These are huge investments that led to the creation of a unique, safe and efficient energy supply system for the European continent.
At the same time, participants in the meeting were invited to compare a number of well-known facts that raised questions about the possible role of some countries in this matter.
A thorough technical analysis of what happened during the Security Council meeting was presented by gazprom's representative S.V. Kupriyanov. He confirmed the readiness of our company to find ways to resume the work of gas pipelines, noting that it is not yet possible to determine the timing of the restoration of the destroyed "threads".
In general, the meeting was useful for promoting objective information, primarily among constructive UN member states.
Separately, it is worth noting the undignified behavior of the French presidency of the UN Security Council, which deliberately delayed the timing of the meeting and denied the representative of Gazprom pjsc the right to respond under the pretext of the company's affiliation with the Russian Government. Can you imagine? The meeting was joined by a representative of the corporation directly involved in all issues of energy supplies, the gas pipeline itself, its construction, commissioning, who has all the financial, economic and technological information. This is first-hand information. The French presidency denied not itself or even members of the UN Security Council, given that this is an official meeting of the Council, but the whole world has the right to hear the opinion of the owner regarding what happened to his property. Such a biased position forces us to begin to look more carefully at the selection by Western states of representatives of organizations, including non-governmental ones, at the events of the UN Security Council, including through the prism of their financing or control by the government.
I want to remind our Western "former partners" that they like to attract their stars, whom they call "celebrities", i.e. people from show business, cinematography and music, to participate in various events at the UN venue. Not just public figures who are professionally engaged in a particular topic, but people who are far from the problem under discussion, who, due to the recognition factor, attract public interest. Western countries, so fond of inviting famous actors, singers, athletes to discuss political or environmental issues, refused to bring a professional position to a world audience. That's amazing. Next time there will be something to talk about.
And not just MH-17. Since 2000, every provocation aimed at Russia refused to share information that relevant treaties demanded must be shared. So, this Lawfare against Russia aspect of the hybrid war against it long predates Ukraine. Further evidence that the Cold War never ended.
dfg | Oct 6 2022 18:09 utc | 21
there's no vision of the "general welfare" for which people (supposedly) form governments.
the only vision is to find a scapegoat for why stuff sucks. look at all the anti-semitism, fag-bashing, and gender performance from the keyboard warriors at MoA who are terrified of a girl using the same bathroom as them.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 18:13 utc | 23
karlof1 | Oct 6 2022 18:11 utc | 22
unfortunately it's worse for many of us than she knows, as the West is loaded from top to bottom in any position of authority with people filled with Bircher sap. and they are everywhere, making sure kids learn about the "gulag archipelago" and how awful Mao was and why Cuba is a failure, not about their own prison state or US/Anglo relations with Japanese imperialism or...oh no. how can people even have basis from which to question what their gov't is up to? well, they could look at the piles of homeless people outside their windows and get a pretty good idea that the forces of light are also NOT at work in Ukraine, but they ain't gonna do that.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 18:23 utc | 24
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 6 2022 18:11 utc | 22
Perhaps the FUKUS/NATO/UN will put Bono in charge of the Nordstream shamvestigation?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 6 2022 18:37 utc | 25
the keyboard warriors at MoA who are terrified of a girl using the same bathroom as them.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 18:13 utc | 23
You've got it wrong. They are afraid of a man dressed as a woman using the bathroom with the kids they don't have. To be fair, they are not scared of a boy dressed as a man killing the kids they don't have with semi-automatic weaponry in their schools.
That having been said, your comment seems a bit off-topic, even for a O/T where I haven't seen any discussion of men, women or trans.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 6 2022 18:40 utc | 26
@ Oct 6 2022 18:09 utc | 21
there's no vision of the "general welfare" for which people (supposedly) form governments.
The vision was of the general welfare of the wealthy white guys who wrote the documents and were included in the government, definitely excluding women, blacks, indigenous etc . . .which has worked out as intended, I'd say.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 6 2022 18:45 utc | 27
Current US Reuters headlines
"Youth in Transition
As children line up at U.S. gender clinics, families confront many unknowns"
Epstein's Lolita express is now mainstream norm.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Oct 6 2022 18:46 utc | 28
Posted by: FieryButMostPeaceful | Oct 6 2022 16:09 utc | 7
What no government official can acknowledge — even among the Euroland victim nations of this awesome stupidity — is that the US demolition of the Nord Streams was an act-of-war against our own allies. By the way, the blogger who styles himself as “Monkey Werx,” notable for tracking the world-wide military flight movements, presents a comprehensive play-by-play of just exactly how the mission was accomplished. I’ll summarize but you can read his full report (click here) for yourself.
MW reports that overnight on the 26th of September, a Navy P8 Poseidon submarine-hunter jet flew out of the US to the Baltic. It did not land in the UK to refuel — thus avoiding any tracking complications — but rather rendezvoused over Grudziadz, Poland, with a US mid-air refueling plane, which it hooked up with for more than an hour. The P8 was equipped with Mk54 air-launched torpedoes. After un-docking from the refueler, the P8 followed a route west along the Nord Stream pipelines, descended to bomb-run altitude, and dropped its weapons. Kaboom. Then, fully refueled, the P8 flew directly back to the USA. Days later, when confronted at the UN by Russia with a yes-or-no question as to US responsibility for the Nord Stream caper, the US representatives refused to answer one way or another. Cute.
Posted by: Jimmy Flies By | Oct 6 2022 18:50 utc | 29
@karlof1 Oct 6 2022 18:11 utc | 22
Good job, k. The MH17 reference is striking, indeed. Quote from Asiatimes :
...responsibility for an investigation belongs to the state within which an incident occurs. While the Ukrainian government initiated the probe, it requested that the Netherlands lead it. Malaysia, as the state which owns the fallen aircraft, was entitled under those same protocols to appoint observers to the probe and be briefed on its findings... Malaysian officials were "not invited to attend certain meetings" and denied opportunities to view the aircraft at the crash site.
That the NS leaks are located in the Swedish exlusive economic zone is just another EVIDENCE of NATO being the culprit. This, and only this, enables to exclude the owner. AGAIN.
Posted by: OttoE | Oct 6 2022 18:57 utc | 30
The best route for "the west" for the huge Qatari gas field is across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, to Northern Israel, then under the Med to somewhere near Athens, Greece. It could also pick up recently discovered gas near Cyprus.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Oct 6 2022 17:58 utc | 19
Actually, no chance. Far too vulnerable to jihadis. Even within Saudi, which is not all that well-controlled by Riyadh.
Posted by: laguerre | Oct 6 2022 18:59 utc | 31
dfg @21--
The Preamble provides the rationale for governance under the 1787 Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Capitalization of words was done for emphasis; take note of what's emphasized and what's not. First of course is determining what Union means, and that would be the entire polity--states and citizens--and to do that via legislation. The answer to when we ceased trying to improve the Union is clearly subjective, but I would say during Adams presidency and its undeclared war against France which gave rise to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Another answer could be the flawed Constitution itself that allowed the continuation of slavery and greatly restricted the voting franchise and that those two glaring issues weren't immediately solved but took many decades and a major war. The inability to agree on a unionwide political-economy instead of allowing sectional politics to dominate is another. Yes, many debates ensued over these and other issues that attempted to improve the Union, but the opposite occurred instead and the Union became segmented by section.
I asked to note what wasn't emphasized. The most glaring word is defence given what took control of the nation in the 1880s--The quest for Imperial expansion beyond the Frontier. Whose interest was served by that change in governance? Certainly not We the People. What about the sidelining of the Treasury and takeover of the nation's finances by a group of private bankers in 1913? That didn't serve the People's Interest whatsoever.
And as a supposedly Christian nation, why the policy of genocide toward the natives and related policy of continental expansion to serve Slavery? Yes, there were abolitionists. But there were also Christian zealots advocating death to slavers--John Brown being the most well-known example.
The very fact that the proceedings of junta plotting the Coup to overthrow the Articles of Confederation were never to be made public ought to tell one that perhaps the Preamble and its noble sentiments was complete bullshit; that the propaganda engaged in to convince the newly independent people who owned enough property and worshiped the proper Protestant denomination to vote for an instrument that installed a king was full of wishful thinking; that said propaganda tarred those against the coup as Anti-Federalists when they were pro-liberty and limited government without a king and nobility-implied upper legislative house. That the only way the vote was made in favor was due to the promised inclusion of what's known as the Bill of Rights, which is now mostly destroyed? What if everyone the age of 21 and over had been allowed to vote, would it have been approved? Very unlikely, which is why the vote was so restricted.
We just witnessed popular referendums undertaken in what are now renewed portions of Russia. Given current criteria of what constitutes genuine democracy, the vote in 1787 doesn't even come close as fewer than 20% of those over 21 voted; so, the coup was exactly that--a coup. And how many citizens of the Outlaw US Empire recognize and understand the above facts? Very few. Why? Because the genuine history of the Outlaw US Empire isn't taught at any level of school, from K-24. And yes, there are many aspects of our past that our greatest PhDs on the subject kept quiet and remain silent about. Currently, Dr. Hudson is the most exact, but even he doesn't discuss everything that might be discussed, although he's gone deeper than most.
And I said it was an easy answer. Well, yes, if you answer the 1787 Constitution failed on all counts at its ratification and present the many excellent arguments by those known as Anti-Federalists to justify your answer.
karlof1 | Oct 6 2022 18:11 utc | 22
Good job, k, as always. The reference to MH-17 is striking. (Pardon the pun).
Quote from Asia Times:
...responsibility for an investigation belongs to the state within which an incident occurs. While the Ukrainian government initiated the probe, it requested that the Netherlands lead it. Malaysia, as the state which owns the fallen aircraft, was entitled under those same protocols to appoint observers to the probe and be briefed on its findings... Malaysian officials were "not invited to attend certain meetings" and denied opportunities to view the aircraft at the crash site.
The location in Sweden's eclusive economic zone appears carefully selected to facilitate the exclusion of the owner again. Another evidence of NATO being the terrorist.
Posted by: OttoE | Oct 6 2022 19:08 utc | 33
Qatar and Iran are to jointly develop their shared massive gas field. Its gas will likely go to Eurasia and Africa.
@b
please delete #33. I didn't see it after page refreh and wrote #30 again. Thank you.
Posted by: OttoE | Oct 6 2022 19:12 utc | 35
@ Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 6 2022 16:02 utc | 6
Poor highway design plagues all of downtown Seattle, not just the port :)
I plan container ships out of Tacoma and Vancouver (but not T18/Seattle lately) -- import and export volumes are both starting to drop noticeably, and my last ship in from Asia was conspicuously not full. Unclear what it means in the long term though.
Posted by: Planner | Oct 6 2022 19:17 utc | 36
President Joe Tzu announces today that all federal marijuana possession convictions will be pardoned.
Why not remove it from Schedule I as well?
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 6 2022 19:20 utc | 37
Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 6 2022 18:40 utc | 26
open thread.
people who don't care about the manufacture of diabetes and suicide among youth also don't care about the gender bullshit. it's just something for them to get worked up about.
people who don't care about the routine legal sex trafficking everywhere under capitalism also don't give a shit about this gender bathroom nonsense. again, it's just an issue for bored soap opera fans to get worked up about. oh no! daddy's little boy won't go fight in Iraq like daddy did! there goes the rooster, oh no! if only americans "fighting" over this nonsense had the tiniest effect on them being at war with everyone else on the planet all the time. it doesn't. it's just an issue to get people worked over in the gigantic Nike "just do it" swoosh factory emotional/rhetorical wave machine we all live inside of.
and if it takes "gender non comformity" to get american kids to flee the US school system, they can all sign up for sex changes, all 100% of them. why should any kid give a shit what his parents think? they are just trying to turn kids into clones of themselves.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 19:37 utc | 38
rjb1.5 | October 06, 2022 at 19:37
the real fear is that kids won't sign up for the gender performance called "warfare".
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 19:44 utc | 39
A speed bump on the road towards a cashless society?
With record-high inflation, Canadian shoppers are well aware that the cost of just about everything is going up.But they can soon expect to see a new demand for their dollars when they shop, because starting Thursday, retailers and other businesses will be allowed to charge them a fee every time they swipe their credit card once notice is provided to card companies.
While consumers love the convenience and rewards of paying with credit cards, they have raised the ire of retailers for years because as part of the original card agreements, stores had to give a percentage of every sale to the card providers for making the transaction happen. The fee can range from fractions of a per cent to more than two per cent for some premium cards.
As part of their card agreement, merchants were forbidden from passing on that cost to consumers. But that all changed earlier this year, when Visa, MasterCard and other card providers settled a long-running lawsuit on the issue in Canada — agreeing to rebate merchants $188 million for what are known as interchange fees that merchants were charged in the past decade. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/credit-card-surcharge-shop-1.6606997
Could this sort of thing put a monkey wrench in the WEF's gears? I guess it will depend on whether enough people switch to cash to save a few dollars, or alternatively whether merchants buckle and continue to give Visa et al., a chunk of their profits for no good reason.
Posted by: farm ecologist | Oct 6 2022 19:45 utc | 40
(For poster Exile's possible benefit, the following is copied from Ukraine Open Thread 2022-164.)
A few years ago there was a study made of US Army general officers during WWII. Conclusion was the high command ( Marshall etc ) ruthlessly fired even semi-competent Generals.If someone recalls the name or can link would be a help.
Thanks fellow barflies
Posted by: Exile | Oct 3 2022 5:17 utc | 221
I don't know whether this is the study you refer to, but the book Marshall and His Generals seems likely to address the subject of interest.
Posted by: David Levin | Oct 4 2022 12:41 utc | 293
Posted by: David Levin | Oct 6 2022 19:58 utc | 41
More from Zakharova's briefing on the Nordstream Terrorist Act. All emphasis mine:
Situation in Denmark and Sweden around sabotage at Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2The Danish Maritime Agency informed about the introduction of a safety zone with a radius of five nautical miles for ships and a radius of 1 km for aviation. This was done after the discovery on September 26 of this year of natural gas leaks on the Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines. All vessels in the dangerous area were advised to leave immediately.
Three ships of the Danish Navy are now in the area of the incident - the frigate "Absalon", a patrol ship and an environmental control ship. The Danish Energy Agency reported that there were no security threats to the population of the nearby islands of Bornholm and Kristansø.
Official Copenhagen proceeds from the fact that this incident is not an accident, but the result of deliberate actions, and considers it necessary to conduct an international investigation of this incident. At the same time, according to Danish Foreign Minister J. Kofod, Denmark does not intend to conduct a dialogue with Moscow on this issue. It can only be explained by the fact that perhaps they know who did it. Therefore, they are not interested in Moscow's opinion. After all, a suspect has been identified and you can discuss the problem with him or bring him to justice. There is no other reasonable explanation.
On September 27 of this year, immediately after the media reported about explosions on gas pipelines, Swedish Foreign Minister A. Linde hastened to declare that the "desperate" Russian leadership could behave "irrationally and mercilessly." I take it into account. Judging by the events developing, in particular in the White House, it is there that the leadership behaves irrationally and mercilessly. Thanks to the Foreign Minister of Sweden for the wonderful find.
At a joint news conference held later by Prime Minister Margaret Andersson, Foreign Minister A. Linde and Defence Minister P. Hultqvist, the Swedish Government's assessment of what had happened was presented in a more cautious manner. It was emphasized that this was a "planned sabotage", but the explosions occurred in international waters and are not considered in Stockholm as a targeted attack on Sweden. However, it was added that "no scenarios are excluded".
The Swedish Prosecutor's Office, with the participation of the Swedish Security Police, is investigating the incident. Ships of the Swedish Navy, as well as ships and aircraft of the Swedish Coast Guard, were sent to the area of the incidents.
On October 3 of this year, the Swedish Prosecutor's Office decided to restrict access with a ban on diving and moving in the gas leak zone in the Swedish exclusive economic zone until the completion of the "crime scene examination". The move has already been criticized by Swedish international lawyers, who have questioned whether the Swedish authorities have legal grounds to impose such restrictions on international waters. The Swedish prosecutor's office said in response that the access of other vessels, including Russian ones, to the area of the accident, they say, is not closed, provided that their movements will not create obstacles to the investigation. If Stockholm does not hear itself and the statements of its neighbors, not only geographical, but also nato, then the obstacles to the investigation are created by them. They have already said many times all in turn and collectively that they will not allow Russia to investigate.
For our part, we consider the actions to damage the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines as a deliberate diversion (as has been repeatedly said) against the most important infrastructure facility of the Russian Federation. We will seek a comprehensive and open investigation with the participation of representatives of the Russian competent authorities and Gazprom PJSC. Only if this condition is met can its results claim to be reliable and objective. If the West has "as always" (non-admission of owners, failure to provide facts and factual material, concealment of facts) and the emphasis is placed on controlled media and manipulation of data through the media in the form of "leaks" and unnamed sources, then it is clear what this investigation will lead to. It won't lead to anything. As has happened repeatedly over the decades.
More from Zakharova's briefing on the Nordstream Terrorist Act. All emphasis mine:
Situation in Denmark and Sweden around sabotage at Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2The Danish Maritime Agency informed about the introduction of a safety zone with a radius of five nautical miles for ships and a radius of 1 km for aviation. This was done after the discovery on September 26 of this year of natural gas leaks on the Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines. All vessels in the dangerous area were advised to leave immediately.
Three ships of the Danish Navy are now in the area of the incident - the frigate "Absalon", a patrol ship and an environmental control ship. The Danish Energy Agency reported that there were no security threats to the population of the nearby islands of Bornholm and Kristansø.
Official Copenhagen proceeds from the fact that this incident is not an accident, but the result of deliberate actions, and considers it necessary to conduct an international investigation of this incident. At the same time, according to Danish Foreign Minister J. Kofod, Denmark does not intend to conduct a dialogue with Moscow on this issue. It can only be explained by the fact that perhaps they know who did it. Therefore, they are not interested in Moscow's opinion. After all, a suspect has been identified and you can discuss the problem with him or bring him to justice. There is no other reasonable explanation.
On September 27 of this year, immediately after the media reported about explosions on gas pipelines, Swedish Foreign Minister A. Linde hastened to declare that the "desperate" Russian leadership could behave "irrationally and mercilessly." I take it into account. Judging by the events developing, in particular in the White House, it is there that the leadership behaves irrationally and mercilessly. Thanks to the Foreign Minister of Sweden for the wonderful find.
At a joint news conference held later by Prime Minister Margaret Andersson, Foreign Minister A. Linde and Defence Minister P. Hultqvist, the Swedish Government's assessment of what had happened was presented in a more cautious manner. It was emphasized that this was a "planned sabotage", but the explosions occurred in international waters and are not considered in Stockholm as a targeted attack on Sweden. However, it was added that "no scenarios are excluded".
The Swedish Prosecutor's Office, with the participation of the Swedish Security Police, is investigating the incident. Ships of the Swedish Navy, as well as ships and aircraft of the Swedish Coast Guard, were sent to the area of the incidents.
On October 3 of this year, the Swedish Prosecutor's Office decided to restrict access with a ban on diving and moving in the gas leak zone in the Swedish exclusive economic zone until the completion of the "crime scene examination". The move has already been criticized by Swedish international lawyers, who have questioned whether the Swedish authorities have legal grounds to impose such restrictions on international waters. The Swedish prosecutor's office said in response that the access of other vessels, including Russian ones, to the area of the accident, they say, is not closed, provided that their movements will not create obstacles to the investigation. If Stockholm does not hear itself and the statements of its neighbors, not only geographical, but also nato, then the obstacles to the investigation are created by them. They have already said many times all in turn and collectively that they will not allow Russia to investigate.
For our part, we consider the actions to damage the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines as a deliberate diversion (as has been repeatedly said) against the most important infrastructure facility of the Russian Federation. We will seek a comprehensive and open investigation with the participation of representatives of the Russian competent authorities and Gazprom PJSC. Only if this condition is met can its results claim to be reliable and objective. If the West has "as always" (non-admission of owners, failure to provide facts and factual material, concealment of facts) and the emphasis is placed on controlled media and manipulation of data through the media in the form of "leaks" and unnamed sources, then it is clear what this investigation will lead to. It won't lead to anything. As has happened repeatedly over the decades.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 6 2022 18:11 utc | 22
Wow. Up until now I was only ~80% sure that Ukraine shot down MH-17. Now I am 100% sure.
Posted by: farm ecologist | Oct 6 2022 20:11 utc | 44
Someone I know works for (=gets support from) "World Vision." This same person, we'll call him Mr NGO, also works for (=gets support from) electronics firm "Bosch". Because I already know about World Vision, I decided to investigate Bosch's "diversity in hiring program," knowing that it contradicts World Vision's.
Now World Vision got in some trouble because they tried to initiate a "don't ask don't tell" policy among staff and affiliates some time ago. No freakin' way. Their base of religious supporters threatened to stop funding them. So, because World Vision works for Mammon, they caved.
Many of us don't need to know about this incident with World Vision to know they are a capitalist front group, but what about Bosch ("Live fantastic #LikeABosch")? I tracked down where they claimed they get their "diversity" practices from. Or rather, the "definitions", goals, etc., that they base their supposed practices on. Guess where that ultimately comes from?
https://www.depts.ttu.edu/lgbtqia/Documents/terminology-2015.pdf
here's a link to the pdf. see if you can make sense of any of this gibberish. try to find a definition of any term they use that is not wholly circular.
it's not about the rights or wrongs of anything. Bosch's one goal is to homogenize all of humanity into an electronics-devouring indistinguishable goo. World Vision's one goal is to make sure no one gets the idea that "god is a commie". but if you are a hairy bear who likes to rub up against other bears? we at Bosch have got some devices
just
for
you
btw, this person, Mr NGO, and World Vision are wholly owned subsidaries of USAID. the goal is homogenization, not diversity.
just who is it that is confused? in the definitions provided by Texas Tech U, justice = media representation. If only people stopped saying BITCH, then feminism could win! only upper middle class career climbers think this way. the rest of us are trying to stay out of prison or pay the rent.
nobody is arguing over bathroom access because of how healthy we as a society are. au quite the contraire.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 20:13 utc | 45
Chinese yuan becomes most traded foreign currency on the Moscow Exchange, surpasses the US dollar
GT
Boy, those sanctions sure do work.
Posted by: Passerby | Oct 6 2022 20:20 utc | 46
bevin @16--
Thanks for posting that article which for me is a reminder. Blinova now writes for RT and Sputnik.
/////
Given Zakharova's briefing and other Russian sources I've read, Russia assumes a cover up like all those that came before; it's even predicted how it will be done. I concur. My opinion is reinforced that Russia's best policy move is to cease all energy related exports to the Collective West except those flowing through Turk Stream. Let the EU's economy disintegrate as it will be by its own hand. Allow me to present the first Q&A from today's briefing to further back my opinion:
Question: Head of the EU Permanent Delegation to Serbia Eduard Jofre called on Belgrade to coordinate with the EU the sanctions policy against Russia. How would you comment on the blatant political pressure exerted by Brussels on Belgrade?Maria Zakharova: The unilateral restrictive measures taken by the European Union in circumvention of the UN Security Council are illegitimate from an international legal point of view. Now there are many statements regarding the observance / non-observance of international law, Westerners are running from the UN General Assembly to the Security Council (and back). They would have thought of themselves at that moment. The question would be asked whether their actions are consistent with international law. In particular, the adoption of unilateral sanctions. They can put decisions in front of them, open the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions, explanations to them and understand that unilateral sanctions are illegitimate. If they commit such illegal actions, they have no right to speculate about the legitimacy/illegitimacy of the actions of others.
By continuing this policy, the European Union, which pays lip service to the rule of law, not only violates these principles, but also literally forces other states to follow the same path. Coercion to engage in illegal activities is itself outlawed. We consider offensive and categorically unacceptable the practice used by the European Union to impose decisions on other states in the formation of which they did not take part. This has not only legal, but also criminal qualifications. In the case of Serbia, such confrontational steps do not meet its national interests, as the country's leadership has repeatedly stated.
By its actions, the EU violates the principles of the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe of 1975 on the sovereign equality of states, respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty. Then they talk about sovereignty as an international legal norm. Demonstrates a consumerist attitude to candidates for accession, considering certain regions its "backyard" and applying neocolonial ambitions to them. With a calculator in its hands, the EU calculates the number of EU statements and decisions to which the candidate countries have not joined, does not disdain open blackmail and coercion, shamelessly uses these states as markets and sources of labor resources. This is not just politics, but the phenomenon of neocolonialism of the 21st century. Patched up, reinterpreted, but the methodology remained the same. At the new technological level, old well-established concepts of colonial superiority are being adopted.
So the European Union does not even hide that Serbia will not become a member of the European Union until it "settles" its relations with Pristina. We need to call a spade a spade: until Belgrade does what the West wants it to do. In the EU sense, it means the recognition of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of the region in violation of the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Also to the question of international law. Brussels should clearly answer the question: will UN Security Council Resolution 1244 be recognized? Perform? Simple question, everyone might be interested. As long as they invoke international law. And they do it where it is profitable. Where not, they say that the world order is based not on law, but on "rules. Even then, no one guarantees that any of the EU members will not block its accession in order to force Belgrade to make concessions on bilateral matters.
We hope that sooner or later there will be forces in the European Union capable of showing respect for the right of states to an independent foreign policy, historical ties and national traditions. History knows examples when it was possible to build mutually beneficial interaction with partners both in the West and in the East, competently using their geographical position.
The sooner Europe and world is rid of such a Fascist institution the better. Given the Big Picture Hybrid War of Zero sum versus Win-Win, I'm sure China and RoW would agree. Almost a billion people are being held hostage so they can be plundered and need to be freed from the chains too many have yet to become aware that bind them.
Melaleuca #1
Is she a journalist or a Tool ?
She’s proficient in delivering lectures wrapped in a tissue of a question.
https://twitter.com/CNBCMiddleEast/status/1577696456764710913
I'd say a tool and a fool. iEarlGrey calls her a Karen.
I note that Venezuela is an Opec member and wonder if the tool has bothered to report on their experiences of USA globally mandated sanctions.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2022 20:37 utc | 48
As part of their card agreement, merchants were forbidden from passing on that cost to consumers. But that all changed earlier this year, when Visa, MasterCard and other card providers settled a long-running lawsuit on the issue in Canada — agreeing to rebate merchants $188 million for what are known as interchange fees that merchants were charged in the past decade. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/credit-card-surcharge-shop-1.6606997Could this sort of thing put a monkey wrench in the WEF's gears? I guess it will depend on whether enough people switch to cash to save a few dollars, or alternatively whether merchants buckle and continue to give Visa et al., a chunk of their profits for no good reason.
Posted by: farm ecologist | Oct 6 2022 19:45 utc | 40
A sure sign we are heading into a major recession in Canada. They will want to ensure they eventually get paid, so CC companies encouraging a switch to cash/debit cards is hardly a surprise.
As long as they do not do away with our polymer bills, I am happy. Lots of small vendors, contractors in particular, will give decent discounts for non-digital cash.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Oct 6 2022 20:38 utc | 49
is the food in the US poisoned?
there are plenty of people in the US who walk in to the grocery store and worry that someone has tampered w/the food.
and plenty of people who eat what they find out of the random trash can they just so happened to walk by.
the latter group all share the same bathroom already. call it nature, call it the great outdoors, call it that public port a poopy or that alley way or those bushes over there. or the community center, if it's open.
the "gender reveal" party does not care that millions of americans already have no safe place to pee. anymore than Greg Abbott cares about abortion. the pentagon does not care about the environment because they put a few solar panels up.
public opinion is a resource to be exploited. getting the public to fight over which group is "privileged" because they get to use the bathroom...ugh. i can't complete that sentence.
btw, how many more "family bathrooms" will be needed w/all the teen preggers soon to be running around in schools across the land? and guess how much the "god hates fags" crowd cares about that fact?
people who don't believe in social equality will kill each other over their toilet training issues, since "everybody poops" is merely the name of a tract crapped up by some commie child-corrupting bowel movement or other. "everybody poops" is not a scientific fact that we should build our society upon.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 20:42 utc | 50
This Q&A is the last I'll provide from today's briefing:
Question: Recently, many media outlets have been writing about the fact that representatives of large European businesses have begun to transfer production from Europe to the United States. The main reason is the difference between gas and electricity prices. Do you think Europe is threatened with deindustrialization? And what role does the United States play in this process?Answer: Yes, we have noticed these publications. It's a very interesting topic. Indeed, the European business elite is considering the possibility of transferring unprofitable production from Europe to the United States against the backdrop of an explosive rise in energy prices in the Old World.
Experts believe that the European Union faces a new stage of deindustrialization. Only now, with the transfer of production not to Southeast Asia, but to the United States, where the economic situation is also far from ideal, but at least the cost of energy resources remains at a significantly lower level than in the European Union, and their availability is generally guaranteed.
At the same time, Brussels itself is responsible for the crisis situation in the energy sector that has arisen in the European Union, which is fraught with long-term negative consequences for the industrial potential of the EU member states. As a result of his ill-conceived energy policy, which he called "green", aimed at accelerating the reduction in the consumption of hydrocarbon raw materials, and the unleashed sanctions "war" against our country, the EU faced the problem of energy shortages, a galloping increase in prices for the relevant resources. The numbers speak for themselves: currently, the spot price of natural gas in the European Union is almost 10 times higher than in the United States. And these are the same United States that calls the EU its partner.
It has already come to the point that in some EU member states plants are being closed, including the largest steel and chemical industries. Even in these conditions, Brussels clearly does not intend to reconsider its course of abandoning energy cooperation with Russia. Now this is generally a big question, given the sabotage on gas pipelines.
Instead, the increase in supplies to the European Union of significantly more expensive American liquefied natural gas continues. According to statements by official representatives of the European Commission, for eight months of this year they have doubled.
European business, tired of the promises of the leaders of the European Union to find some alternative supplies and sources of energy to replace Russian gas, oil, coal, is at a loss and is looking for some "spare airfields". Against the backdrop of the unprecedented political dependence of eu member states on Washington and their unwillingness to defend their real interests before their "suzerain", the United States inevitably turns out to be the best of the worst options for the transfer of production capacities for European business circles. Overseas, prerequisites are also created for this. This is still irrelevant to the situation that has developed as a result of sabotage at Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. We have yet to learn about all the circumstances of what happened.
It is no coincidence that the time when such publications appeared. The fact is that in November of this year elections to the US Congress should be held. These same publications are very reminiscent of advertising "booklets" about American investment advantages over the European Union. All this is necessary in order to show at least nominal, "on paper" the successes of the Joe Biden administration in the economy and to help the Democrats maintain control over the legislative branch. True, the American media "muffle" the fact that behind every plant moved from abroad or the expansion of production in the United States there are numerous concessions and preferences from the White House, up to the exemption of a business ready for relocation from taxes, its subsidization, etc. That is, this part does not fall into the advertising "booklet". But experts understand everything.
Even so, according to official statistics, the U.S. economy has already entered recession. The fall in GDP in the first quarter of 2022 is 1.6%, in the second - 0.9%, the inflation rate is 8.3%. For comparison, in the European Union it is already more than 10%. As for the US national debt, the other day it exceeded $ 31 trillion. Naturally, these amounts, checks, accounts that are signed for the conflict in Ukraine hit the sectors of the real economy.
In such a situation, the European Union, which has turned its economy into a real hostage of the current American administration, probably can only sympathize. The tests ahead of them are enormous. They themselves for many years went "on the lead" of Washington, trusting the words of their ally. And now, suffering, they pay their ally for their own unfulfilled hopes and mistakes.
Yes and Yes are the answers. Deliberate policy? Most certainly.
and Tom, can i post comments about the antisemitism rampant on this site, or will that be "off topic" too?
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 20:45 utc | 52
@rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 20:45 utc | 51
can i post comments about the antisemitism rampant on this site, or will that be "off topic" too?Maybe we can offer some balance
Liz "I am a huge zionist" Truss
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses/10971
Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 6 2022 20:49 utc | 53
karlof1 #22
And not just MH-17. Since 2000, every provocation aimed at Russia refused to share information that relevant treaties demanded must be shared. So, this Lawfare against Russia aspect of the hybrid war against it long predates Ukraine. Further evidence that the Cold War never ended.
Thank you for that post. It is the rules based order! Get with the vibe, just dance and sing along and all will be fine ;(
Bravo Maria Zakharova.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2022 21:07 utc | 54
rjb1.5 #51
and Tom, can i post comments about the antisemitism rampant on this site, or will that be "off topic" too?
Typical hasbara ploy.
No reference, just pure BS designed to smear the entire site.
Complete evidence free exaggeration.
Free Palestine from the semitic butchery masquerading as vicious semitic apartheid.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2022 21:15 utc | 55
d. the port's major throughput bottleneck appears to be poor highway design
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 6 2022 16:02 utc | 6
I read about a year ago that CA recently changed some environmental regulations such that only new or almost new (?) trucks are permitted. This meant banishing 90% of prior trucks from the LA port operations.
Managed collapse though reasonable people continue to refuse to countenance it. Just like they insist the hundreds of food processing facilities burned down the past year either is fake news or actuarily normal.
And so it goes...
farm ecologist | Oct 6 2022 20:11 utc | 43
At the time I read both Ukraine 'official' news and 'separatist' social media. Ukraine had BUK units on the frontlines as reported by AP. Ukraine put out official maps of the frontlines and that was close to what I was reading in separatist social media. I identified two Ukraine positions that would have been within BUK missile range of the aircraft. One to the northwest and one to the south. Some time later Rus MoD published sat pics of two launchers in that southern position. All British media published headlines "Putin's missile" within minutes of the plane coming down.
The people around me have all moved from US is the biggest threat to world peace to "we need US to protect us" Effin retards. I watch this crap, the bellingcrap propaganda investigation conducted for the JIT. The MI6 frontman couch potato giving talks to nato...
That disassociation with reality moves into all spheres. In the west, we have moved into a post human world. Like the Ukroids that want to be part of the west. They are fed like sheep to the slaughter into the Russian guns. At the moment the ukroid sheep regardless of losses think they are winning because Russia is doing a reset. They will all be deceased cannon fodder before this is over.
I watch those about me, unable to distinguish between official bull and reality. But even here, the destruction of what we are as humans is evident. The inability to distinguish between tolerance and promotion. The Reuters headline I posted earlier.
The aboriginal people of Australia, the first people out of Africa according to genetic tracing...their social structure is the basis of human society. In the west, most have lost touch from that. From anything real. From hunting and gathering to science the industrial age and manufacturing. The realities of life have been thrown out to be replaced by the so called service industries.
Your username suggests sustainability. Is it me or is it the western world that has gone mad? Gender bending for young children is now mainstream norm in US. US chemical companies now own a great deal of western farmland. Not to mention Ukraine farmland.
The west is returning to serfdom, all the peasants blinded by the bright lights of the rainbow flag and assorted pysops products.
MH17 is just a small part of the big picture.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Oct 6 2022 21:24 utc | 57
From UNZ:
Did Uncle Sam, a.k.a. Wile E. Coyote, Blow Up the Wrong Pipeline?
And what's behind the unending parade of acts of self-destructive imperial hubris?
A good read.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2022 21:25 utc | 58
Pepe Escobar conducted an interview via E-mail with Dr. Hudson and has written up the results in a new article, "Michael Hudson: A roadmap to escape the west’s stranglehold: The geoeconomic pathway away from the neoliberal order is fraught with peril, but the rewards in establishing an alternative system are as promising as they are urgent."
Well, it's not a straight-forward recipe, and the steps needing to be taken aren't really new given all the articles he's written on this topic over the last four years. There's this segment that jibes with Zakharova's statement on EU deindustrialization I posted @50:
The Cradle: In the medium term, is it feasible to expect German industrialists, contemplating the coming wasteland, and their own demise, to revolt en masse against the NATO-imposed trade/financial sanctions against Russia, and force Berlin to open Nord Stream 2? Gazprom guarantees the pipeline is recoverable. Don’t need to join the SCO to make that happen…Hudson: “It is unlikely that German industrialists will act to prevent their country’s de-industrialization, given the US/NATO stranglehold on Eurozone politics and the past 75 years of political meddling by US officials. German company heads are more likely to try and survive with as much personal and corporate wealth intact as they can in the wake of Germany being turned into a Baltic-state-type economic wreckage.
There already has been talk of shifting production – and management – to the United States, which will block Germany from obtaining energy, metals and other essential materials from any supplier not controlled by US interests and their allies.
The great question is whether German companies would emigrate to the new Eurasian economies whose industrial growth and prosperity seem likely to far overshadow that of the United States.
Of course the Nord Stream pipelines are recoverable. That is precisely why US political pressure from Secretary of State Blinken has been so insistent that Germany, Italy and other European countries double down on isolating their economies from trade and investment with Russia, Iran, China and other countries whose growth the US is trying to disrupt.”
I'm not surprised that the Kremlin's and Hudson's assessment of what German and EU big business will do coincides. Yesterday I got notified that our next Patreon session with Dr. Hudson will Oct. 20th at 2:30pm Pacific. (You must be a minimum $9/mo patron to participate.)
The alternative currency/trading system was also discussed. IMO, when this system goes active, there'll be a massive repudiation of dollarized debt on the grounds that it's odious, which is certainly true. Hudson's words on this are ominous:
"The break will be difficult, and US diplomacy will do everything it can to disrupt the creation of a more resilient economic order. But US policy has created a global state of dependency in which literally There is no alternative but to break away." [My Emphasis]
It's likely some good info got left out via the editing process. The unasked question was as usual, When?
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 20:45 utc | 51
You can post whatever you want. If it turns out to be bullshit I'm sure you'll be called out and corrected.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 6 2022 21:49 utc | 60
Lavrov vs Aussie presstitute....
When you want to lock horns with a gentleman of far superior intellect it's probably best to do some basic research.
Posted by: ted001 | Oct 6 2022 21:54 utc | 61
uncle tungsten | Oct 6 2022 21:15 utc | 54
whatever. let's count the number of times the words "Soros" and "Jew" have occurred just on the latest thread on Ukraine.
i wasn't aiming that comment at Tom Q Collins, certainly not at the site host.
Elvis sang a song about how suspicion corrupts. "we can't go on this way with suspicious minds."
fear is the mink killer, as Muad'Dib said.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 21:55 utc | 62
Peter AU1 @56--
You're quite sane, I'm happy to say. And not all of the world's gone mad. What's happened is what was once considered the advanced portion of humanity was indoctrinated and their reasoning facilities became greatly degraded. I'm tempted to write more, but the topic is highly complex and stereotyping doesn't work because each nation's context differs. But there's one constant that hasn't really changed for 4,000+ years, and that's the Class War between Debtors and Creditors. IMO, it's that conflict that driven most of the cultural changes we've seen. In Australia's case, the convicts transported there had more in common with the aborigines than with their jailers, but they weren't allowed to know that truth, just as with the planting in America.
@ bevin | Oct 6 2022 17:41 utc | 16
This is why I like this site so much; I always learn something new, complete with references to the sources, in this case the Kaku/Axelrod book. It is interesting how Kaku, a popularizer of gee-whiz science and material progress in the US and therefore supposedly invested in the system, shows himself true blue here by ripping the veil off the aggressors in the most direct way possible. How interesting that he was a student of Edward Teller and started out working on the development of nuclear weapons, but later apostatized from his mentor's position, co-authoring the book as a slam against such weapons. Of course, the book is not well known.
Indeed, were it well known, what are we to think of would-be American genocidists and mass murderers who contemplated massacres that would dwarf all the deaths in World War II? Sadly, back in the 1960s I played war games with a high school acquaintance who said, "If I had the power, I would plaster the entire area between Japan, Pakistan, and Indonesia with atomic bombs to exterminate all those excess people and keep them from occupying our planet." On another occasion, he said, "If I had the power, I would kill all the human race except for 100,000 carefully-chosen persons who could then be served by machine servants." Now, who in the rest of the world ever has had to hear such things? That person went on to become a US Army intelligence officer (now fortunately retired), but I imagine the same attitudes pervade everywhere among US intelligence and security personnel.
A knee-jerk reaction would be to say, pass a damnatio memoriae on all those would-be murderers (and sometimes actual murderers too) who ever promoted such ideas, curse their names, and blow up and desecrate their graves, grind up their remains, and throw them in the sewer. But what good would that do? What needs to change is the demand of the US power elite for hegemony. They can't possibly get it, but their quest for it could be the destruction of us all, and trying to remove them from their crusade would also likely to provoke them to try to destroy everything rather than lose power, just like Hitler in the end.
So thanks for that, bevin. Much appreciated. It's really helpful, especially since I would like to develop a course on the ethics of nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Cabe | Oct 6 2022 22:05 utc | 64
rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 21:55 utc | 61
I meant I was not accusing Tom Q Collins of anti-semitism but rather was replying to his statement that I was "off topic".
it would be fun to do overlapping sets of people "concerned" about the following: 1) 100% support for Israel 2) 0% support for "groomers" in the nation's youth, except military recruiters.
are children getting their USRDA of estrogen in the school lunches? they neither know nor care. such concern for the kids.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 22:09 utc | 65
This post from Richard Murphy is reproduced at the excellent Sheffield based website run by Philip Roddis who introduces it thus:
"Excellent post yesterday from Quaker, tax specialist and modern monetary theory advocate, Richard Murphy. Do read in the context of that other MMT sympathiser, a debt specialist with over half a century of academic, political and corporate experience. For all the differences of style and – on the face of it – political approach, and for all that Richard Murphy’s focus is on Britain while Michael Hudson’s is international, there’s a striking complementarity to their thinking...
..the social-economy closest to the one he so eloquently argues for is China rising; as Professor Hudson, with equal eloquence and passion, argues.
Richard Murphy opens with the extraordinary chaos in which a UK government barely a month old is inextricably embroiled. From there he proceeds to dissect – in a way post Corbyn Labour should be doing but decidedly isn’t – neoliberalism.
http://steelcityscribblings.uk/wp/2022/10/05/uk-in-turmoil-a-quaker-speaks/
Posted by: bevin | Oct 6 2022 22:09 utc | 66
@ karlof1 | Oct 6 2022 19:05 utc | 32
Yes, and despite the elite control of all the statehouses of the states of the time and the limited voting franchise, the Constitution barely got ratified. It was actually rejected by North Carolina and Rhode Island, which were quite a bit later (1789 and 1790) constrained to accept it, it barely passed in the two big states of New York and Virginia, and there was a lot of popular opposition in Massachusetts as well.
Posted by: Cabe | Oct 6 2022 22:15 utc | 67
@ Peter AU1 and others
Below is a book review I created back in 2007, my Almost nakedcapitalism days. It is just a peek into the mental masturbation that society in the West is subject to
AGNOTOLOGY Book Review
Who am I and why would you want to read anything I write? I am a 60+ forcibly retired supply chain computer geek with educational background in macro-economics and future studies. I am one of those DFHs you hear about who knew he would never make it in the corporate world as an economist/futurist so went out and made companies a lot of money with inventory management and distribution tools until I took off the side mirror of a Chevy Avalanche with the back of my head while riding my bicycle 3 year ago….which is also the reason I have so little patience with the obvious (to me) criminality and social immorality of the ruling oligarchy.
What is Agnotology? What does the Agnotology book say about it? What does Agnotology have to do with capitalism?
Agnotology [The Making & Unmaking of Ignorance] is a book (collection of essays) edited by Robert N Proctor and Londa Schiebinger
What is Agnotology? It is defined as a term to describe the cultural production of ignorance (and its study)
This term is being forwarded by Robert N. Proctor and others interested in the timely study of ignorance with focus on the manufactured sort. The book begins with a preface by Robert N Proctor who is a professor of History of Science at Stanford University. The subsequent essays are grouped into three Parts:
I ) Secrecy, Selection, and Suppression
II ) Lost Knowledge, Lost Worlds
III ) Theorizing Ignorance
Professor Proctor's prime example of agnotology centers on the tobacco industry. He touts a quote from an internal 1969 Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company memo saying, "Doubt is our product." when showing how this industry had the audacity to spend profits from its customers to brainwash them into believing that there was doubt that smoking causes cancer.
The 4 essayists in part I of the book provide similar manufacturing of ignorance insights in areas of censorship, environmental science, public health and women's orgasms.
The 3 essayists in Part II of the book focus on showing how western society has suppressed medicinal plant knowledge for abortions because they were against them, how the American white man trivialized and ignored the indigenous fossil knowledge of the American Indians and lastly about ignorance in Archeology.
The 4 essayists in Part III of the book expand on the theories of ignorance in ways that are daunting to understand completely let alone summarize. Suffice to say that terms like bounded rationality, confirmation bias, patriarchy, ethnocentrism, social memory, and the evolution of the Precautionary Principle in relation to Risk Management are discussed, analyzed and postulated about.
While much ignorance is really the absence of knowledge, ignorance can also be produced by warriors in ongoing economic, political and cultural battles.
Other examples of agnotology are “intelligent design” or faith based political economies, resistance to global warming, the car centered transportation culture...and of course whether unregulated investment banking is toxic or not.
Pride of ignorance is the biggest impediment for critical thinking individuals to overcome with efforts that appeal to simplistic economic euphemisms like free markets good/ govt regulation bad. The biggest lies are that totally unrestrained corporatism and “free” markets are best and bigger is better. Having faith that the economic fundamentals are supportive of the American dream is akin to so many individuals seemingly unable to evolve beyond Enlightenment understanding of the various religion myths.
One of the concepts that is missing in discussions is that the maximization of self-interest is rarely consistent with the maximization of social interest. A forum is need to reconcile the conflicts between self and social economic interests.
The unstated paradox of Agnotology is that it is the basis of more study of an obvious problem that rational people would consider antisocial behavior, which is what the big complaint is of agnotology claimants. The further frustration is that these studies do not include any proscriptions about making the efforts to propagate disinformation criminal.
While I am supportive of the study of agnotology to the extent that it describes and calls out misrepresentation of fact, I believe that studying our social ills is not the solution to resolving systemic and architectural problems. To me agnotology is reflective of the breakdown in moral constructs within the social/political fabric. American society has compromised the first amendment’s freedom from religion, has abrogated consistently applied rule-of-law and no longer provides the equality of opportunity that would be evidence of the egalitarian society conceived of by the founding fathers.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 6 2022 22:37 utc | 68
bevin @65--
Thanks for that! I'll investigate.
Cabe @66--
Yes, true; but, where did you learn those facts? From a school text or on your own?
//////
Finnian Cunningham provides a good essay about BRI, "All Roads (and Railways) Leading to China… and the West Ain’t Happy". The portion of his report that follows is part of a template we've seen very often well before BRI was announced:
"Shouldn’t Western powers perhaps consult with China’s BRI partners about how they actually assess their prospects? In all the reams of negative reporting, Western media rarely if ever report the willing partnering with China of countries like Laos. It’s like their opinions don’t count. The United States and its Western allies simply presume to know better.
"Another recurring unsubstantiated allegation made by Western media is that China’s colossal infrastructure plans are causing large-scale ecological damage and displacing local farming communities. Somehow, Radio Free Asia cited precisely that 'a total of 4,411' farming families were made landless by the China-Laos railway. The publication did not say how that seemingly exact figure was obtained. It did, however, admit that 'most of them have been compensated'.
"Typically, no credible evidence is presented by Western media for claims of detrimental impact. This author journeyed on the China-Laos rail link at the end of September and viewed endless, rolling green landscapes, showing minimal ecological disruption beyond the laying of tracks. The same can be said for a new expressway road bridge under construction across the Mekong River between China and Laos. The verdant jungles surrounding the bridge and motorway worksites appeared untouched." [My Emphasis]
MH-17, Skripals, Nordstream bombing, 911, and so many more all follow essentially this same framework. I now call this the plundering of minds. Sometimes it's hard to believe there was a time when that didn't happen, but that as well before the internal combustion engine was invented, although even then one had to critically reason.
In Australia's case, the convicts transported there had more in common with the aborigines than with their jailers, but they weren't allowed to know that truth, just as with the planting in America.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 6 2022 22:04 utc | 62
I'm sure that's not true at all.
Your username suggests sustainability. Is it me or is it the western world that has gone mad? Gender bending for young children is now mainstream norm in US. US chemical companies now own a great deal of western farmland. Not to mention Ukraine farmland.
The west is returning to serfdom, all the peasants blinded by the bright lights of the rainbow flag and assorted pysops products.
MH17 is just a small part of the big picture.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Oct 6 2022 21:24 utc | 56
It's not you, the West was getting nuttier for a long time, but had a complete breakdown over Covid, and may never recover.
Posted by: ZX | Oct 6 2022 22:54 utc | 70
The declaration of independence signed by British American colonists should be remembered as a manifesto of secession, or declaration of war against Britain. A number of scholars have pointed out that the formula of grievances are not even original, but a compilation of political tracts published by Anglo parliamentarians, dutch, and German "natural rights" philosphers earlier in the century.
The first constitution of the United States are the Articles of Confederation, signed 1877. The SECOND constitutional convention produced the 1787 document.
Posted by: sln2002 | Oct 6 2022 22:58 utc | 71
I used the date of the agnotology file on my Mac and it is wrong. The book wasn't published until 2008 and I now think my report was created more in the 2008-9 time frame....I did buy a 1st edition hardback and gave it away during Occupy Portland days
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 6 2022 23:08 utc | 73
psychohistorian @67--
Thanks very much for your comment!! The book reviewed Agnotology: The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance, and can be found to read here. I see it sells for $17-20 used/new at alibris. I'm somewhat surprised you never mentioned this work before here or in our conversations.
Thanks again!
ZX @69--
The commonality in question was their communalism, which was the culture of those jailed in England. Convicts that escaped and went native learned that and never went back. Same as in America. And as was finally done in America, the convicts were forced to make war on the natives so that they wouldn't join forces against their shared foe. Funny your comment appeared soon after psychohistorian's.
WARNING: GENDER BENDER PILE UP AHEAD
Because the local library had to make room for more novels about sparkly teen vampires, chaste Mormon teen vampires that is, they dumped a 1953 Arden "Henry 5" into the 5 finger discount bin, last reprinted in the early '80's, in very unread condition.
what was Queen Elizabeth to learn from this play, except what cockstrutting braggart liar fools men are? what a bunch of empty boasting their "heroism" is? that they are killer bees making war solely to steal from the flowers? their religion is "property rights" (as the Archbishop of Canterbury makes abundantly clear) and proto-fascist Christian nationalism? their laws are gilded pretexts for their greedy plunder?
that war is theft of women's labor? heroism is stealing from one house to plunder another house?
yeah, for starters.
Dressed in gleaming armour, he strode through the ranks
of those fighting in the front, then made a stand
over the corpse, like a mother beside her calf,
lowing over her first born, with no experience
of giving birth till then. In just that way,
fair-haired Menelaus stood above Patroclus. (Iliad 17:3ff)
Just as a father mourns his son, when he burns his bones,
his newly married son, whose death brings parents
dreadful sorrow—that’s how Achilles kept crying then,
as he burned his companion’s bones, dragging himself
round and round the pyre, lamenting endlessly. (Il. 23.221ff)
similar sentiments are in that rich and jewy text called "the bible".
"among men, none is greater than the mother of men." Song of Myself. nah, nothing is greater than self-creation thru knowledge. just ask Oedipus.
gee, amidst all the gender non-comformity (ha ha ha, what a joke), who noticed how Harriet Tubman has became a CIA agent? maybe Viola Davis can play the role in a Disney action flick?
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 23:35 utc | 76
@36 Planner:
You said:
I plan container ships out of Tacoma and Vancouver (but not T18/Seattle lately) -- import and export volumes are both starting to drop noticeably, and my last ship in from Asia was conspicuously not full. Unclear what it means in the long term though.
Tom: Very interesting, indeed. I was actually shocked to see:
a. No activity on the weekends.
b. Big stockpile of empty containers, obviously out-bound, but waiting. Why wait? It's mid-October, it takes time to transport-out, fill, then transport-in those containers. Why the big stockpile of containers waiting to go outward to Asia?
c. Wharves mostly empty
d. Only two ships (possibly, but not necessarily) waiting to get loaded. Remember the images of all those ships awaiting unload in the LA off-shore anchoring slots?
So, all those datapoints said to me "shipping volume is down!".
And then you confirmed it with your reports of incoming ships only partly loaded. Shippers don't make money with partly loaded ships.
Hmmm.
Now, what could account for that?
a. Orders from U.S. retailers are way down, otherwise they'd be getting ahead of the curve, given last years shipping bottlenecks.
b. China can't ship yet. Production is bottlenecked somehow, the goods aren't ready to ship
c. Something else. Production down voluntarily, shipments curtailed or delayed voluntarily. Whose volition? U.S. or Chinas?
Interesting, indeed.
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 6 2022 23:39 utc | 77
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 6 2022 21:55 utc | 61
let's count the number of times the words "Soros" and "Jew" have occurred just on the latest thread on Ukraine.
Ukraine Open Thread 2022-165 (at 380 comments)
"Jew": 0
"Soros": 0
Ukraine Open Thread 2022-167 (at 156 comments)
"Jews": 0
"Soros": 0
Even the term "zionist", which isn't antisemitic, but can be misused in an antisemitic way, appears only a couple of times and refers to the political stance.
I may have missed some misspelled instancies and of course someone could consider the lack of references to jews and Soros as a sign of antisemitism.
Posted by: Proteiros | Oct 6 2022 23:39 utc | 78
Interesting how pipeline fiasco repeats itself in Europe/North Africa
https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/blog/will-the-spaniards-smell-the-coffee
Posted by: cestafigos | Oct 6 2022 23:46 utc | 79
In today's meeting on economic issues, Putin noted one sector of the economy was falling, emphasis mine:
At the same time, I want to note some negative trends in the economy.Thus, consumer demand is still weak. We've talked a lot about that. Now let's talk in more detail. There are nuances here, it requires attention from our side.
In August, as in July, retail sales in Russia fell by 8.8 percent in real terms, and in September this dynamics fell even further. Moreover, in the last week of the month, the trade turnover decreased even in nominal terms.
And, as I have already said, we will need to talk separately on this topic. I would like to ask you to report on what is proposed to be done for the stable operation of the consumer sector and for its progressive growth.
First, the public's tendency when conflict and chaos is occurring is to be frugal and save your resources, not spend on additional things you don't need--the fundamental moral problem of materialist accumulation related to consumer products. Thus, what I emphasized. The leaders of government need to promote consumption, but not just for the sake of spending. IMO, the straight talk approach would work best:
"We know the times appear uncertain, so prudence says save not spend. But the nation's economic health needs to have a higher level of goods purchasing than what's occurred over the last few months. What's needed is a pragmatic increase in spending on things made in Russia. Yes, this is an unusual request but it's something we can all do to help Russia and our people."
Wages are higher and rising, keeping pace with inflation. The employment level is considered full. All other macroeconomic indicators are good. The problem's a puzzle.
capitalists talking about gender is like capitalists talking about bullying.
"kids, even though your entire future depends on your grades and you are all in a squid game, DON'T BULLY. even though the boss, the landlord, the taxman, the doctor, and any creditor, will express species confusion as they bully and terrorize your parents, as whoever in office threatens every day to nuke some country or other (usually Iran), KIDS, DON'T BULLY." and then give the kids a completely arbitrary list with pseudo-definitions of what the "adults" mean and watch how "bullying" just becomes another way to bully and terrorize kids.
i think that that's actually the real plan, confusion. not to lose the war or civilization thru sex change operations. my experience is that the priest and football coach are as big a threat to kids as anyone.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 7 2022 0:19 utc | 81
Proteiros | Oct 6 2022 23:39 utc | 77
yeah, i just made up my comment out of thin air, based on nothing. it's still early yet. did Scorpion or Nemesis post on those dates w/o blaming Soros for everything? a Halloween miracle.
did you search for Jewry? international Jewry?
be as anti-Israel as you can be. i'm all for it. down w/the zionist state. holocaust the zionist state, but let's not confuse the welfare queen and crack whore for the pimp, named Uncle Sam. nor the people for any state or gov't, which is the trick of fascists.
btw, when kids marry who they want, they tend to stop fighting their parents' battles. can't let that happen. cf Kreon in 'Antigone'.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 7 2022 0:31 utc | 82
"the plundering of minds" never truer word spoken as they say. I watch the self destruction occurring and Enrico's music from 'once upon a time in the west' is plying in my mind.
Here in Australia - those shearers at Barcaldine, how far we are away from them.. As karlof1 says, the plundering of minds.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Oct 7 2022 0:50 utc | 83
The Morgenthau Plan, and its current iteration. (One more time, gotterdammerung.)
- F.D.R., Eisenhower, Patton, German P.O.W.s, the Rand report, Nordstream pipelines and Germanophobia. And the long arm of Jewish vengeance.
E. Michael Jones offers an illuminating account of policy decisions of the immediate post WWII period, and their relevance to contemporary western geopolitics.
https://www.unz.com/ejones/germania-delenda-est/
Posted by: Australian lady | Oct 7 2022 0:55 utc | 84
@ rjb1.5 | Oct 7 2022 0:19 utc | 80
This is really true about bullying. The powers that be always say one thing and do the opposite. My example is: "We have this exemplary democracy here in the US, where people actually vote to elect their official political leaders," blah, blah, blah, but the real power is in the corporations, whose model of governance is a totalitarian dictatorship, where any act of resistance or rebellion cannot be met - yet - by physical execution, but rather by termination, meaning loss of livelihood. And they have the gall to call it a democracy. Well, as the poet said, "Look out kid; they keep it all hid."
Posted by: Cabe | Oct 7 2022 0:57 utc | 85
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 7 2022 0:31 utc | 81
Yeah, I like nitpicking, but honestly these were the first threads I checked.
There's a lot of other instancies, "rampant" seems an exageration, but I'm new here and the search function on Moa isn't very capable.
When I see expressions as "international jewry" I tend to ignore them, considering them as conspiracy theories and skipping (I'm also currently witnessing how the term "conspiracy theory" is being redefined) or to see them as a reaction to political correctness that wouldn't materialize as actual antisemitism. Actual antisemitism is still alive and I am likely way too optimistic in this reguard.
The main problem I see in their use is that they take away the focus from actual problems (e.g. some people having way too much money and power), which is pretty much what Nazis already did. In an old NY Times interview an Azov member believed that Putin is a Jew, guess they had the same fantasy in the old times.
Posted by: Proteiros | Oct 7 2022 1:28 utc | 86
We look at the east. The multi polar world But the self destruction of the west. Nobody broaches it.That line between tolerance of what people do in their private lives and massive promotion of everything anti family. There is no discussion of it here. That line between tolerance and promotion of ..
I guess it is bad when I refrain due to pc on a forum like this. There are those I respect for their honesty, but apart from looking at the eastern front, this massive genderbender pysops on the home front needs to be looked at and discussed. Even here, anyone speaking out about this psyops is denounced as homophobic.
It is an issue that needs to be looked at and addressed. Tolerance vs promotion.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Oct 7 2022 1:30 utc | 87
@ peter au... from last night.... you were wondering... james is not a do gooder, lol... cheers james
Posted by: james | Oct 7 2022 2:19 utc | 88
@83 Australian Lady
Thx for the link. E. Michael Jones is a gem of a Catholic.
But...shhhhh! We are not supposed to talk about the Jewish influence in the finance sector (10 of the 15 largest hedgefunds in the world run by Jews), our media (do I need to mention Hollywood?), politics (Biden's cabinet littered with them). Do we need to mention the anti-Russian hatred that Jews have carried for generations and the fact that winning back Crimea and the area around the black sea would be the regaining of the territory of Ancient Khazaria?
No, no, no! Just the facts please. There is no room for investigation into this matter. The matter is settled completely. *rubs hands together with maniacal laugh*
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 7 2022 2:58 utc | 89
Proteiros | Oct 7 2022 1:28 utc | 85
you are right about "rampant", which is more troll play than anything, with the exception of a few regulars. but "putin is a pussy" and "putin is a faggot" and such like also fit the bill. "masculinity" = "ruthless impetuosity". nah, that's not a big gender performance.
Cabe | Oct 7 2022 0:57 utc | 84
absolutely. when students are given a checklist detailing "prejudice" where nothing is defined, anxiety and self-policing and #MeToo shaming, groupthink and conformity and worse will follow. In that Texas Tech doc i linked to, only the merest lip service is paid to class, money, wealth, debt and the like. Why is that? because the discourse of gender/race as deployed serves certain interests, definitely not the students. the goal is to make them paranoid, docile sheep, no matter where they prefer to rub their fur.
--------
who is helped if the twist-free gender warriors set the school board straight? there will be no less vulnerable and easily exploitable youth because of the faux outrage and virtue performance of the gender warriors. homelessness and hunger aren't decreasing because men (sic) put on a show of protecting the family. but nice show. nice fangs and spittle.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 7 2022 3:42 utc | 90
rjb1.5 | Oct 7 2022 3:42 utc | 89
homelessness and hunger aren't decreasing because men (sic) put on a show of protecting the family. but nice show.
also true even if my local youth homeless shelter (the one with all the kids sleeping on the sidewalk, cuz America cares) happens to be one of those that freely hands out condoms and hormone therapy. no, they definitely should not be giving kids hormone therapy but for all that much seeming display of virtuous concern, are the material conditions of kids improving? hell to the hell no.
why can't adults sympathize w/the 15 year olds caught up in these battles, instead of using them as megaphones and props? and what does it matter whether you are right or wrong? what changes? you feel better about yourself?
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 7 2022 3:50 utc | 91
@83 Australian Lady
That article is a tour de force from Jones. B should have a look at it as his recent post about the empire's war against Europe/Germany goes hot could be updated with some of Jones' research on the subject.
Barflies, have a look.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 7 2022 4:40 utc | 92
Below is a quote form a Xinhuanet posting about the IMF
The global economy is moving "from a world of relative predictability - with a rules-based framework for international economic cooperation, low interest rates, and low inflation... to a world with more fragility - greater uncertainty, higher economic volatility, geopolitical confrontations, and more frequent and devastating natural disasters," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a curtain raiser speech ahead of the 2022 Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank scheduled next week.
Any barflys want to guess which side in our civilization war between public/private finance Kristalina Georgieva supports?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 7 2022 5:20 utc | 93
Very early AM greetings to the bar from Montreal. Fwiw, I think these two articles from La Presse are important:
Vikings in France
https://www.lapresse.ca/cinema/2022-10-06/le-film-viking-de-stephane-lafleur-sera-distribue-en-france.php
Dead whales on the beaches of Argentina
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/environnement/2022-10-06/morts-en-serie-de-baleines-australes-en-argentine.php
Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff spoke before MP’s on a relevant committee. I see he was flanked by a minder from Canada’s Five Eyes dept, the Communication Security Establishment, who wasn’t there just to make sure he stayed on message, I guess. Actually he did manage to both stick to the talking points, and make some truthful statement, both at the same time.
Unfortunately for our wannabe imperial overlords, Canadian cannon fodder which was previously unavailable due to domestic post-tropical storm cleanup, is now reduced to essential services only due to staffing shortages. Now the games begin as the pols debate what are essential services for Canada’s armed forces. May sanity prevail.
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Oct 7 2022 8:37 utc | 94
American Enterprise Institute screaming for Biden to destroy TurkStream, too. They want, and it's in their interests to demolish EU economy. Anyone not seeing what's happening, I have a certain London bridge to sell you.
https://www.aei.org/op-eds/biden-should-kill-turkstream-to-promote-transatlantic-energy-security/
Posted by: unimperator | Oct 7 2022 8:50 utc | 95
Proteiros #77
Thank you for exercising the precision to exorcise the demon.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 7 2022 8:59 utc | 96
... Kaboom. Then, fully refueled, the P8 flew directly back to the USA. Days later, when confronted at the UN by Russia with a yes-or-no question as to US responsibility for the Nord Stream caper, the US representatives refused to answer one way or another. Cute.
Posted by: Jimmy Flies By | Oct 6 2022 18:50 utc | 29
There is a lot of promotion of the P8 theory but is anyone claiming that this theory can account for all of the known explosion events? Prior to discussions of P8 involvement, the most obvious non-drone platform was USS Kearsarge, it needn’t be a question of one or the other.
Mentioning only the P8 theory has the effect of allowing USS Kearsarge to slip out of frame.
Posted by: anon2020 | Oct 7 2022 9:01 utc | 97
anon2020 #96
Mentioning only the P8 theory has the effect of allowing USS Kearsarge to slip out of frame.
Agreed. I have not followed this with any depth but my initial assumption was along the lines of Kearsage set the explosives and P8 triggered the event. It may have been a trial run for some new gear they were testing and the P8 was running back and forth with differing code or frequency or transmission power combinations or until it reached the bingo. Given the design and duration of Kearsage attendance, I feel confident it was a component part of the gig.
Perhaps Kearsage will be advised to steer clear of the South China Sea as mountains and magic might await.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 7 2022 9:09 utc | 98
About political. EU Pushes For More Sanctions Which Will Come Back To Bite It
The EU and US might have political aims other than “color changing” Russia. Remember 666, build back better.
First of all, it is to do away with human rights as best stated in the Declaration of Independence – the alternative being kind of digital slavery all around the place. That includes social impact and social credit programs on human development, education, energy, health and loyalty included.
Secondly, it is to impose New Green Deal on the whole world, accounting on the fact that EU is the world’s largest trading block. EU has declared such itself – it aspires to become a standard setting organisation in all matters. Please, don’t laugh, they really do think so. Price cap fits right into this policy. Carbon markets are about making the real price of energy only a fraction of its trading price.
The War is serving both purposes well, so far. There’ll be dire lack of energy in EU coming months, which will help to establish social energy credit sustem for its citizens, like MyCarbon. Social health care was dramatically weakened already during the covid years – with BigPharma making huge inroads –, digital-ID with vaccination credits was practically made compulsory. This system exists and is ready to be redeployed. Both aims, energy and health, will meet now, non-complying people will be locked out of society purely on digital basis.
And yes, the money as such will change nature – every transaction can and will be monitored. Anonymity should cease to exist. No business for disloyal.
True, while the war helps to change societies for 666 in the Old and New World, military loss to Russia will seriously hamper the process of imposing natural capitalism, Colonialism 2.0 Green Deal on the Rest of the World.
Should natural capitalism – privatization of commons, of life really, now called “services of the eco-system” – imposed without first subjugating Russia, it would become absolutely the richest and most impactful country in the world. So many natural resources managed by so few, comparably.
Based on these ideas the Davos crowd should want the war to continue at least until next spring, if not longer. The EU shall not perish, it’s too important for their plans. Nation states, on the other hand, will be reduced as the case with Germany shows. Elites will be offered "the world government", instead.
Posted by: js | Oct 7 2022 9:09 utc | 99
Any barflys want to guess which side in our civilization war between public/private finance Kristalina Georgieva supports?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 7 2022 5:20 utc | 92
---
https://kawsachunnews.com/imf-tells-bolivia-to-drop-its-successful-economic-model
Posted by: too scents | Oct 7 2022 9:10 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Is she a journalist or a Tool ?
She’s proficient in delivering lectures wrapped in a tissue of a question.
https://twitter.com/CNBCMiddleEast/status/1577696456764710913
Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 6 2022 14:35 utc | 1