Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
October 13, 2022

Open (Not Ukraine) Thread 2022-171

News & views not related to the Ukraine conflict ...

Posted by b on October 13, 2022 at 14:52 UTC | Permalink

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People's Pundit and John Barnes have talked extensively about how conservatives poll dramatically different over the summer vs. before/after - and that the "summer surge" was entirely a result of this.

Not clear if this is true, but there certainly has been a change in polling that started around 2,3 weeks ago

The latest: Real Clear Politics projecting Republican Senate Majority in November 2022 election

RealClearPolitics predicted Democrats will lose their majority in the U.S. Senate next month, while Herschel Walker will lose his race to unseat incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA).

In its latest ‘Battle for the Senate’ projection map, the polling data aggregator predicted the GOP will flip Arizona and Nevada while it holds on to the seat being vacated in Pennsylvania by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 14:59 utc | 1

Below is a quote from the latest Wall Street on Parade posting that shows how the US public is being set up to take the God of Mammon financial losses


The OCC attempts to assign this unprecedented event to a decrease in trading in equity derivatives at the bank holding company. But Figures 15a and 15b in the Appendix of this report actually show equity derivative trading moving to the federally-insured bank in the second quarter. Figures 15a and 15b also show that 100 percent of trading in credit derivatives (the majority of which are credit default swaps) moved to the federally-insured bank in the first and second quarters of this year and out of the bank holding company. Credit default swaps are the most dangerous of the derivatives traded on Wall Street.
Trading does not belong in a federally-insured bank that is backstopped by U.S. taxpayers and that is holding the life savings of average Americans who put their money there because they can’t afford to take risks. The banking collapse of the early 1930s grew out of depository banks being allowed to engage in speculative trading on Wall Street. The runs on banks that followed the 1929 stock market crash and its aftermath led to thousands of banks failing.

In 1933 the U.S. Congress brought this form of casino banking to an end with the passage of the Glass-Steagall Act. It banned the combination of Wall Street trading houses with deposit-taking banks and created federal deposit insurance for commercial banks to restore the public’s faith in banking and stop the runs on banks. Glass-Steagall served the country well for 66 years until its repeal under the Wall Street-friendly Bill Clinton administration in 1999. It took just nine years after its repeal for Wall Street to collapse in 2008, in a replay of 1929.

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2022/10/casino-banking-wall-street-mega-banks-traded-more-in-their-federally-insured-bank-than-the-total-for-their-bank-holding-company/

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 13 2022 15:00 utc | 2

This is totally LOL

EV owners ask neighbors to ration power use so EVs can be charged

basically to enable the charging of our EV's

...

during this time you ration your electricity use. Ie: Air cons, washers, dryers etc off when we are charging our cars

Classic Limousine Liberal.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 15:04 utc | 3

Seems like protests in Germany gaining steam

Twitter source

Video pan of crowd looks legit.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 15:06 utc | 4

BLS Inflation report for September 2022

September inflation report: 8.2% year on year
Core CPI (i.e. overall minus food and energy): 6.6%

No sign whatsoever that inflation is moderating; Core CPI jump is reflecting inflation in services.

Food yoy: 11.2
Electricity yoy: 15.5
Energy yoy: 19.7
Fuel oil: 58.1

Note that the food price jumps in September and August (0.8% each month on month) are actually less than the previous months (1.2, 1.0, 1.1 respectively May through July).

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 15:29 utc | 5


I learned from the reference below. that
On January 16, 1794, Congress passed a resolution that prohibited anyone who owned stock or held an office in a financial institution from being in Congress. also I learned that The original Thirteenth Amendment (1810) prohibited lawyers from functioning in Congress.. https://ia801500.us.archive.org/3/items/deanna-spingola-the-ruling-elite-the-zionist-seizure-of-world-power/Deanna_Spingola_The_Ruling_Elite_The_Zionist_Seizure_of_World_Power.pdf

It is becoming clearer and clearer that congress does not work for those it governs. What then are the governed to do?

How can the average members of the public in western prone nation states promote for their president and other members of their elected governments non pilgrim society members?

Membership in the society is secret; and i believe Epstein's trial would have shown how threat, intimidation and blackmail keeps the affairs of secret societies secret and how such intimidation, is used to make government parties vote against the best interest of those it governs.

Over the years, nearly every president and high level member of governments seem to have been member of, or closely associated to one or more these secret organizations (mostly secret organizations seem to work by making government into a secret hidden arm of for profit influence on rule of law and formation and function of government institutions) operating both external to and embedded within the bureaucracies and working governments that govern us all.
IMO surveillance and secrecy are the feedforward feedback loop that allows special interest to carve out and profit from the privatization of monopoly powers. Surveillance and secrecy have captured "governed humanity" and surrendered it into "service of making oligarchs a profit".
Rule of law created by biased or corrupt politics is a tool of tyranny; it converts government into an invasive imperialistic assault weapon capable to undermine human rights.

Posted by: snake | Oct 13 2022 16:07 utc | 6

If one lived in the real world of market fundamentals, todays swing in the Dow 30 from a couple of hundred points down after the CPI news to now being up over 600 points would indicate some problem but it more shows the effectiveness of propaganda and owning the money supply.

The shit show continues until it doesn't.....

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 13 2022 16:09 utc | 7

Here we have some of the results of the CICA Conference, "Astana Statement on the Transformation of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia", my emphasis:

We, the Heads of State and Government of the participating States of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), meeting on 12-13 October 2022 in Astana on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of CICA, decided to chart the following course of our further cooperation:

1. We are launching a structured, comprehensive and transparent negotiation process on a gradual, step-by-step, consensus-based transformation of CICA into a full-fledged regional international organization.

2. The CICA transformation process will pursue the following main objectives: to identify key areas of future cooperation and to strengthen the institutional and institutional framework of our interaction.

3. We believe that the organization will contribute to ensuring dynamic, equal, comprehensive and balanced economic growth, interconnectedness, social and cultural development of the participating States. We will step up collective work within the organization in order to find joint solutions to the problems common to all of us of the XXI century. to ensure the security and prosperity of the region, the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the UN Charter.

4. Our organization will engage and cooperate in areas of interest to all participating States with other States, organizations and forums that share our objectives and principles to strengthen results-oriented and consensus-based multilateral cooperation in the region.

So, yet another multilateral organization aims at joining with other like-minded organizations thus knitting the region more firmly together. And as with the SCO, a big portion of the organization's focus is on anti-terrorism efforts which are detailed in other adopted documents that can be found here.

Putin made a short speech at the Summit which I'll provide in my next comment.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 16:31 utc | 8

"After Tulsi Gabbard renounced her relationship with the Democratic Party yesterday on the Joe Rogan show — and on the first episode of her new podcast, I kept seeing a lot of people wondering about Tulsi Gabbard’s relationship with the World Economic Forum. That is because back in 2015 the WEF put a picture of Tulsi on their website while claiming she was one of their Young Global Leaders. Here is everything you need to know about the WEF, their Young Global Leaders, and what Tulsi Gabbard has to do with them." From Tulsi Gabbard and The World Economic Forum — The Whole Story

Posted by: Kali El | Oct 13 2022 16:33 utc | 9

Putin's CICA Summit Address, emphasis mine:

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President of [Kazakhstan] Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich, Dear colleagues!

For 30 years, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia has been discussing pressing issues related to strengthening security and stability throughout the vast Asian region.

Today's meeting is taking place against the backdrop of major changes in global politics and the economy. The world is becoming truly multipolar, and Asia plays a very noticeable, if not key, role in this, where new centers of power are growing stronger.

The countries of the Asian region are the locomotive of world economic growth. Such integration associations as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Eurasian Economic Union are operating dynamically and with good returns.

Russia is also actively involved in all these processes. We stand for the development and prosperity of Asia and the creation for this purpose of a wide open space of mutually beneficial trade and investment cooperation, for the expansion and deepening of cooperation ties in various sectors of the economy.

Let me remind you that it was Russia that stood at the origins of the creation of the business council at the meeting, through which many successful conferences and seminars have been held over the past years on the entire range of economic topics.

And of course, together with other Asian states, we are doing everything to form a system of equal and indivisible security based on the universally recognized principles of international law of the UN Charter.

Our meeting and other regional associations have to deal with many acute problems, including the increased volatility of global prices for energy, food, fertilizers, raw materials and other important goods. This leads to a deterioration in the quality of life in developed and developing countries. Moreover, there is a real threat of hunger and large-scale social upheaval, especially in the poorest countries.

Russia, for its part, is making every effort to provide critical products to countries in need. We call for the elimination of all artificial, illegitimate barriers to the normal functioning of global supply chains in order to meet the urgent challenges of food security.

Like many of our partners in Asia, we believe that it is necessary to launch a revision of the principles of the global financial system, which for decades allowed the self-proclaimed so-called golden billion, which has closed all flows of capital and technology, to a large extent live at someone else's expense.

As a priority step, we see a more active use of national currencies in mutual settlements. Such measures would undoubtedly contribute to strengthening the financial sovereignty of our states, developing domestic capital markets, and deepening regional economic integration.

It is extremely important, together with other regional forums and organizations, to continue to work actively to resolve emerging crisis situations and conflicts in Asia, to strengthen cooperation between our states in countering the terrorist threat, identifying and neutralizing extremist groups, blocking their financial support, combating drug trafficking and suppressing the propaganda of radical ideas.

Unfortunately, Afghanistan remains one of the most acute security challenges for our region. Our colleagues have already spoken about this today.

This country, after more than 20 years of military presence of the United States and NATO, the failure of their policy, was unable to independently solve the problems associated with terrorist threats, which is confirmed by the ongoing series of bloody terrorist attacks, including the explosion near the Russian Embassy in Kabul on September 5.

In order to normalize the situation on the territory of Afghanistan, of course, it is necessary to jointly promote its economic reconstruction. But above all, we urge compensation for the damage done to Afghans during the years of occupation and the unfreezing of illegally frozen Afghan funds.

In the context of a settlement in Afghanistan, it would be useful to use the capabilities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and its regional anti-terrorist structure.

We also invite all Asian countries to cooperate more closely with the International Data Bank for Countering Terrorism, established at the initiative of Russia.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that Russia, together with China, has drafted a joint statement at this summit on security cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies. We hope that it will be approved.

In conclusion, I would like to mention the importance of strengthening multilateral cooperation between the states participating in the meeting in the social, cultural and humanitarian spheres, in promoting inter-civilizational dialogue and contacts between people.

In particular, volunteer movements also require support. The acute phase of the coronavirus pandemic, which we have passed, has shown the undoubtedly useful role that volunteer and youth structures play in providing assistance and assistance to the population. Russia has a good, rich experience in these matters, which we are ready to share with interested countries.

On the whole, I would like to note with satisfaction that the joint work within the framework of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures is progressing in a positive manner. Russia will continue to develop multifaceted cooperation with all the parties represented at this meeting.

We support the initiatives of Kazakhstan's chairmanship.

Thank you very much for your attention.

With the latest acts of terrorism being performed by NATO, IMO it's becoming clear that the term terrorism is becoming a cover term for NATO/Outlaw US Empire. The anti-terrorism principle, which also includes the extremism present within Color Revolution attempts, is now a major part of Eurasian multilateral organizations's aims. Thus, while none of those organizations are overtly against any one nation or bloc, it's clear that they're against those that are responsible for Terrorism and Extremism, which as we know consist of the Outlaw US Empire and its vassals.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 16:47 utc | 10

Pfizer director admits, there was no evidence that their vaccine would prevent transmission of Covid.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Rob_Roos/status/1579759795225198593?cxt=HHwWgoC8jb7Kt-wrAAAA

Posted by: Die Niemandsfuchs | Oct 13 2022 17:12 utc | 11

And as one can imagine, Putin held a number of talks with others at the Summit some of which are reported at the Kremlin's website. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement about yesterday's UNGA vote which I've machine translated and post in full below with my emphasis:

On October 12, during the resumed 11th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, a resolution "Territorial integrity of Ukraine: protection of the principles of the UN Charter" was adopted condemning referendums in the DPR, LHP, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

This odious initiative largely repeats the document vetoed by Russia on September 30 of this year in the UN Security Council. Once again, Western delegations moved the consideration of the Ukrainian story from the Security Council to the "platform" of the General Assembly, thereby proposing to sign the "inability" of the Council to implement its main task of maintaining international peace and security.

At a time when Member States were once again subjected to enormous pressure, reaching the threat of sanctions, Russia proposed to hold a secret ballot on the project. Obviously, this would allow many delegations to express their true position without fear of the consequences of their "wrong" – from the point of view of Washington and its satellites – decisions. However, this proposal was rejected following the results of unscrupulous procedural maneuvers organized by our opponents in violation of all existing rules for the work of the General Assembly.

At the same time, despite all the tricks and unprecedented pressure (direct threats were made to stop financial support or humanitarian aid if member states disobey Washington), the anti-Russian document did not receive unconditional support: dozens of countries refused to vote in its favor. "For" were 143 states, the remaining 50 countries voted "against", abstained or did not take part in the vote. Among those who did not succumb to external pressure are such large and influential players as Algeria, India, Iran, China, Pakistan, South Africa, Ethiopia and others. We are especially grateful to Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Syria for their principled and resolute position.

There is no doubt that this resolution, contrary to its title, has nothing to do with the protection of the principles of the UN Charter. Statements of commitment to international law on the part of the United States and other NATO countries are nothing more than evidence of double standards, and there are many convincing examples in this regard. It was they who were in the forefront of supporters of the "independence" of Kosovo, insisting on its right to secede from the state, despite the absence of a real threat to the civilian population. Another example is the US statements about its readiness to use force to protect Taiwan, which is an integral part of the PRC.

Referendums in the DPR, LHP, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions were held in full compliance with the UN Charter, the norms and principles of international law and the 1970 Declaration on the Principles of International Law, which guarantees territorial integrity, but only to those states where "governments represent, without distinction of race, religion or skin color, all the people living in this territory." It is obvious that the Kiev authorities absolutely did not meet this criterion and do not meet this criterion, using terrorist methods against the civilian population and infrastructure.

In general, the adoption of the resolution once again confirmed that the West is trying to solve, first of all, its own geopolitical tasks in opposition to Russia, to maintain an elusive monopoly in world affairs, to split a number of member states of the General Assembly. It is also obvious that this confrontational initiative is aimed not at finding a peaceful settlement, but at prolonging the conflict in Ukraine.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 17:23 utc | 12

Classic Limousine Liberal.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 15:04 utc | 3

True! If only the listed source is actually known to be factually reliable??????

Interesting sources: UK-based Dail Mail often nicknamed "The Daily Fail". A well-oiled propaganda media machine. Noted for fake news. Extensively documented for extremely poorly written "z" grade propaganda. *(see TS Giesel's unbeaten top classic impressive work in the 1942/45 era). From countries 404, Syria, Venezuela, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Along with all other countries infested by the evil USSA resource pirates. Plus exhibits extreme denial of climate change! For one can never deny the basic laws of physics.

Second source: A resident of the extremely very rich conservative Blue ribbon suburb. Where many of the well-heeled natives spent millions in removing unsightly power lines. This suburb is the bastion that supports the local conservative LNP party unto death. Or the Oz equivalent version of the redneck racist USSA Republican party.

The last outgoing LNP DM! Never did say how the entire Oz Navy submarine branch numbering less than 200 staff. Could man all those future nuke subs on a very long expensive backorder? From the AUKUS partner contractors. Well, known and documented for massive multi-billions in late final delivery cost overruns.

The reliability of your source information on a scale of one to ten. Ten equals excellent first-class work! One is fit for the trash circular file accreditation! My rating of your source information is much less than five!

I am curious about how you source your author accreditation rankings.

Then again did not one of your sources infer the energy out of China's next-generation nuclear power plants would exceed the combined power outputs of the projected future of the so-called unreliable? green/renewable energy source projects in China?

In other news, many of the wiser Texas citizens. Are currently gearing up for the repeat of the epic main Grid Fail Winter of 2021. When the winter snow falls again in 2022.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 17:33 utc | 13

At his VK, Escobar provides an update on the protests in France that has an accompanying map lifted from Le Figaro:

"A nightmare. Major PORTS are blocked (see those red circles and red squares).

"Le Petit Roi's goons are starting to introduce FORCED LABOR; if you don't go to work, you will be fined or go to jail.

"You can't get away with stuff like that in France. Blowback will be a bitch. Le Petit Roi can have his 'transition economy' and eat it too."

Pepe also provides a link to this article, "Global finance vs global energy: who will come out on top?" by energy analyst Dr. Karin Kneissl, Austria's Foreign Minister from 2017-2019. A tidbit:

"To really understand the core of the conflict in Ukraine – where a proxy war rages – one must break down the confrontation thus: The US and its European allies, who represent and back the global financial sector, are essentially engaged in a battle against the world’s energy sector.

"In the past 22 years, we have seen how easy it is for governments to print paper currency. In just 2022, the US dollar has printed more paper money than in its combined history. Energy, on the other hand, cannot be printed. And therein lies a fundamental problem for Washington: The commodity sector can outbid the financial industry."

As you read, I'm not the only one who sees energy at the core of our conflict.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 17:40 utc | 14

5 video seconds of honesty from a sitting Democratic congresswoman

https://t.me/VigilantFox/6634

"I will never stop standing up for big pharma and standing against my constituents."

Spend another 30seconds looking at this woman's background. She punches every button to be the mouth speaking such a thing. And to be elevated to her position.

Posted by: oldhippie | Oct 13 2022 17:44 utc | 15

The Glass–Steagall legislation was enacted by the United States Congress in 1933 as part of the 1933 Banking Act, amended as part of the 1935 Banking Act, and most of it was repealed in 1999 by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA). Its protections and restrictions had also been chipped away during most of its existence by lenient regulatory interpretations and use of loopholes.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 13 2022 15:00 utc | 2

Say was this not passed by the Republican Party? Which dominated the 1999 congress. The economic failure of course was during the era when the serving Republican Party GW Bush President's term of office. GWB was noted for his long and very extensive holidays away from his main office at "Number One Observatory Circle"!

Of course, his father the third term President GHW Bush presided over the economic failure of the S&L Banks. This infers electing a Bush as a President of the USSA. This will thus guarantee a large Bank's economic failure is basically set in concrete!

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 18:07 utc | 16

AOC gets called out for her warmongering here.

Posted by: farm ecologist | Oct 13 2022 18:18 utc | 17

@karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 17:23 utc | 12

The new US National Security Strategy report is out. In it, there is a presentation of US-Russia relations that lacks veracity. (Not to say there aren't more such.)

p. 25

The United States, under successive administrations, made considerable efforts at multiple points to reach out to Russia to limit our rivalry and identify pragmatic areas of cooperation. President Putin spurned these efforts and it is now clear he will not change.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 13 2022 18:29 utc | 18

Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 18:07 utc | 16

They were passed by a wing of the Property Party. Which one is irrelevant.

Posted by: sippy the shot glass | Oct 13 2022 18:37 utc | 19

Posted by: Die Niemandsfuchs | Oct 13 2022 17:12 utc | 11

Interesting Well sort of?

Back in the real world of reality of the virulent SARS-COVID-19 pandemic.
417,329 new cases in last 24hrs 620,301,709 cumulative cases 6,540,487 cumulative deaths

The official point of origin of SARS-COVID-19 is listed as Wuhan Mega City China.
China Cumulative cases 8,219,677 new cases 325,175 cumulative deaths 27,135
USSA Cumulative cases 95,472,135 new cases 271,978 cumulative deaths 1,052,114
China is a country with strict lockdown codes mass vaccination rigorous testing programs
USSA is a country that is all voluntary codes of practice Plus one very crappy price-gouged to the extreme end of scale. The third-world broken private health care system?

Loaded questions? Which country is of first-world standards in handling this particular virulent airborne virus pandemic? Which country is directly/indirectly killing its own citizens? From the so-called freedom of speech as sold to them by the political science-based corporate merchants of doubt. Aided and abetted by anti-vaxxers regurgitating an endless conveyor belt of clueless identical lies!

A lie gets halfway around the world. Before truth has a chance to put its pants on. Winston Churchill

Choices listen and heed the killer's ignorant lies and die. Or get vaccinated and live a longer life!

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 18:53 utc | 20

6.5 million dead? In 2 and a half years? So lets see in 2,5 years about 200 million people have died.

100 million have died from and with the vaxxx (counting the same way as you count the covid deaths).

Oh and actualy you live longer by just catching the virus. After all you die from the virus after average life expectency.

Stop your Covid nonsense. Its a cold.

Posted by: Orgel | Oct 13 2022 19:12 utc | 21

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 15:04 utc | 3

EV story was from the Daily Mail, so I wouldn't get too Gell-Mann about it. Just saying...

Posted by: One Too Many | Oct 13 2022 19:58 utc | 22

Choices listen and heed the killer's ignorant lies and die. Or get vaccinated and live a longer life!

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 18:53 utc | 20

They are not vaccines in any sense of the term.
MRNA treatment rushed through with no trials of any rigor.
Rapidly diminished efficacy.
They don't prevent transmission.
There are many people suffering side effects.
The average aged of death from covid is greater than the average life expectancy.
It's a money spinner.
Not a meaningful treatment.

Posted by: jpc | Oct 13 2022 20:43 utc | 23

Bad Deal Motors On @13

re nicknames for the The Daily Mail

My favourite: The Daily Heil

"We're here to keep your prices down
We'll feed you to the hounds
To the Daily Mail..."

Posted by: S.P. Korolev | Oct 13 2022 20:53 utc | 24

@ jpc | Oct 13 2022 20:43 utc | 23 who only got one not quite accurate

You wrote
"
Rapidly diminished efficacy.
"
From a ZH piece with the title Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Turns Negative Within Months: Study


The effectiveness of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine against infection turns negative over time, according to a new study that was funded by the vaccine maker.

The effectiveness of three doses—a primary series and a booster—against infection remained above 50 percent after 150 days against BA.1, a subvariant of the Omicron virus variant, researchers estimated.

But against more recent strains, including the currently-dominant BA.5, the effectiveness turned negative.

Against BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5, the effectiveness went negative after 150 days.

Against BA.1.12.1, the effectiveness turned negative after 91 days.

Negative effectiveness means a vaccinated person is more likely to contract COVID-19, the disease the virus causes, than an unvaccinated person.

Researchers with Moderna and Kaiser Permanente, who carried out the study, also found that people who received three Moderna doses were more likely to become infected when compared to people who received just two doses.


Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 13 2022 21:03 utc | 25

@ Kali El | Oct 13 2022 16:33 utc | 9

"WEF Young Global Leaders" is a red-herring.

I watched/listened to Gabbard's podcast on youtube. She is an american, somewhat privileged, heart-felt concerned, reciting bedrock america's holiest myths. She has taken the Road to Damascus, spiritually, and physically too; but seems never to have left home.

She is not evil. She is naive and righteous. Which can be just as dangerous.

Posted by: Otter | Oct 13 2022 21:08 utc | 26

As I've predicted would happen for a while, the US sanctions on the people of Venezuela are having their effects felt back at home.

The City of El Paso, TX has created a migrant tracker dashboard due to the record influx of undocumented immigrants. Approximately 70% claim to be Venezuelan.

https://www.elpasotexas.gov/migrant-crisis/

This is more proof that Uncle Scam's sanctions on the Global South are designed to hurt regular people, and that they don't work to change leadership w/o further tampering like coup attempts, etc.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 13 2022 21:19 utc | 27

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 18:07 utc | 16

Gramm, Leach and Bliley were all Republicans. Like Bill Clinton.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 13 2022 21:22 utc | 28

@26 otter

Elaborate please.

From my vantage point, I see a military-vet-female, an anti-MIC advocate, someone who has spoken out against the war against Russia, and one of the only politicians who met with Assad in good faith.

The fact that she was a WEF young leader does not mean as much as some people say. Some context is needed. Perhaops it is merely a networking opportunity? Perhaps she was invited and encouraged? Perhaps she rejected it once she learned that the first step in did not mean you are a part of its evil intentions.

She is not an American-exceptionalist in the militaristic-bullying sense. I would say that America is exceptional in the sense that most other countries shouold adhere to their ethno-homogeneity and culture...for America, this does not seem to be an option anymore.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 13 2022 22:12 utc | 29

Otter | Oct 13 2022 21:08 utc | 26
that people will come out and say certain things w/more honesty means nothing when her goal is simple:
successful
participation.

tulsi gabbard is as "anti" anything as AOC or Trump or Sanders. it's theater so cheap that it's free brain bleach. if the 1st words out of its mouth aren't, "immediate 100% nuclear disarmament of the US" followed by "100% immediate defunding of the Pentagon", why in the hell would i care what a politician has to say? it can put the lotion back on its skin and crawl back into its hole again. me & precious no like!

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 13 2022 22:21 utc | 30

Tulsi Gabbard is currently assigned to the 351st Civil Affairs Command (351 CACOM), an Army Reserve psyop unit.This same unit was once headed by psyop guru Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely, a major Qanon proponent and co-author of "From PSYOP to MindWar" with Michael Aquino.

Wouldn't trust a word this woman utters. Absolute shady figure. She was on the rooster of the Council on Foreign Relations for several years, and much more if you dig deeper into her vita.

Posted by: v | Oct 13 2022 22:29 utc | 31

@Bad Deal Motors On
@Tom_Q_Collins

Focusing on the sponsors of the bill ignores the reality that Clinton signed it (Democrat president) and it was pushed heavily by Clinton's Treasury Secretary - Robert Rubin.
Rubin not only promoted the idea before he joined the Clinton administration as Treasury secretary, he resigned right before the bill was signed so he could become Chairman of Citigroup's Executive Board.

So the repeal of Glass Steagall was unquestionably a bipartisan legislation.

That's the problem with CDS: it causes failure to understand that the struggle isn't a Democrat/Republican thing, or even a conservative/liberal thing.

It is a class war.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 22:31 utc | 32

In case you missed it, in Italy there was a quite surreal scene where Liliana Segre, a Holocaust survivor who was assigned some bodyguards because of threats to her life at the age of ~90, passed the seat to Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa, who is pretty much as fascist as you can get in public without breaking some law and was elected with 17 votes from the "left", while Berlusconi's Forza Italia abstained. Otherwise Meloni seem to have toned down a bit, that also means she will probably keep licking US boots, but that's hardly surprising.

Posted by: Proteiros | Oct 13 2022 22:31 utc | 33

In response to
"
Tulsi Gabbard is currently assigned to the 351st Civil Affairs Command (351 CACOM), an Army Reserve psyop unit.This same unit was once headed by psyop guru Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely, a major Qanon proponent and co-author of "From PSYOP to MindWar" with Michael Aquino.

Wouldn't trust a word this woman utters. Absolute shady figure. She was on the rooster of the Council on Foreign Relations for several years, and much more if you dig deeper into her vita.
Posted by: v | Oct 13 2022 22:29 utc | 31
"

I just finished reading a ZH piece with the title
AOC Humiliated At Town Hall In Viral Clip: 'Why Can't You Be More Like Tulsi Gabbard?'

GRIN! At least Tulsi may represent an break from the current group of insiders which provides opportunity for ??? when the opportunity door opens that this civilization war brings?

May you live in interesting times!

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 13 2022 22:51 utc | 34

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 18:53 utc | 20
Posted by: jpc | Oct 13 2022 20:43 utc | 23

ignorance during a public health threat is also a public health threat.

now going on 3 years. so many superhero virologists created, w/their laser beam all-penetrating eye of truth, that managed to avoid the pitfalls of deliberate medical disinformation, unlike the 100's of millions if not billions of others, all living under the same contrived umbrella of ignorance and misery. unfortunately all drinking from the same water fountain, breathing the same air, and pissing into each other's breakfast cereals.

who does not agree that medical disinformation is rampant and is business as usual, esp in the US? now why is that acceptable, whatever one believes about the coronavirus? because Americans are individualistic know it all know nothing idiots. tell them that masks don't do anything and then tell them border walls keep out Mexicans. watch them nod like you said something profound. just ask TrumBiden. Biden at a car show: "See! No one is wearing masks. The virus is over."

ain't that America? b/c no one is wearing a mask at a car show, the crisis must be over. but don't you dare smoke a cigarette at that car show. despite the tobacco industry's decades of effort to be fair and honest, medical science finally found evidence that tobacco is bad for us and proven that 2nd hand smoke is worse than Hitler.

Posted by: v | Oct 13 2022 22:29 utc | 31
thanks. desperation is a smelly cologne.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Oct 13 2022 23:02 utc | 35

Bloomberg - just a week ago.

By Lu Wang and Elena Popina
October 5, 2022 at 2:31 PM CDT

One giant options transaction may have sparked the S&P 500’s bounce on Wednesday, according to
Wells Fargo & Co.
The trade, which involved buying and selling call options tied to the index at a cost of around $31
million, probably helped fuel a recovery that saw the benchmark gauge erase a 1.8% decline, says
Chris Harvey, the firm’s head of equity strategy.

Theories that derivatives trading has potentially driven movement in an underlying asset have been
relatively common in this year’s topsy-turvy markets, though are also often disputed. Generally, the
view is that a market maker on the other side of an options transaction will have to buy or sell stocks
to balance positioning.

Depending on the exposure, a concept referred to by the Greek word delta, the dealer may exert
outsized influence on the market. This time, in the eyes of Harvey, the impact was positive.
“The Greeks of the trade are likely what gave a mid-day pop to the S&P 500,” Harvey wrote in a note to
clients.
The trade included buying 20,000 S&P 500 calls expiring in October with a strike price of 4,500 and
14,000 bullish contracts expiring in March at a strike of 4,300, while selling 48,000 calls maturing in
January with an exercise price at 4,500 -- a bet that essentially says stocks would rally in coming
months.

“The dealers who took the other side of this had a huge amount of risk to offset,” said Gareth Ryan,
managing director at IUR Capital, adding that they could have bought equity futures to keep their
books neutral. “It certainly could’ve impacted the cash market. This is one of the largest trades by size
that I have seen in a long time.”

Posted by: daffyDuct | Oct 13 2022 23:03 utc | 36

Don Bacon @18--

Thanks for posting that snippet. What can you expect from strategy papers when you insist on lying to yourself about import facts? I was just about to read Global Times editorial on the subject, "US’ new national security report lack of creativity, full of viciousness," and there's an accompanying article too, "Biden's national security strategy hypes 'China challenge,' full of outdated confrontational mentality". Here's the editorial's opening paragraph:

"The White House on Wednesday released its new National Security Strategy (NSS). This is a routine of every US government and an important document that reflects and guides the incumbent government's internal affairs and diplomacy. But after reading the 48-page document, the international community generally feels a strong sense of unease and concern. The 'national security' pursued by the US will come at the expense of the security of other countries. If the path and direction stated in the report is followed, the superpower of the US will sooner or later go to the opposite side of world peace and stability, and the consequences will be unimaginable." [My Emphasis]

The writer continues:

"The release of the strategy report was delayed for several months due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, but we did not see from the report that the US had deeply reflected on the root cause of the conflict, let alone learned any lessons. Instead, it further strengthened the camp confrontation and binary opposition mindset that led to the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine." [My Emphasis]

The writer then concentrates on the portion devoted to confronting China. But from just this little bit we can surmise that it's more of the same old shit poured into a new can. However, it appears that the writer needs to learn something about the Outlaw US Empire for he believes the Cold War ended:

"It has been 31 years since the end of the Cold War, but the political elites in Washington still have not learned to coexist with other countries in a new way."

IMO, it's China's fault for failing to realize the Outlaw US Empire will never give up its goal to dominate the world, and to also see that goal was inherited--if not stolen from--the Empire's Colonial mother: England. Why is it that China and other nations fail to see what they ought to be seeing? Well, to be fair, the writer does see many things as this portion reveals:

"The new report is a mirror, reflecting the selfishness, ambition and the deepest fears of Washington's political elites. In all its national strategy reports, Washington emphasizes US' 'leadership.' There is nothing wrong with ambition, but what does the US want to do by 'leading' the world? The report shows that the US is still trying to rope in one group and fight another, creating division and confrontation in this world....

"In its quest to suppress and contain China, Washington has lost its mind." [My Emphasis]

The other article provided this summary regarding China:

"Chinese experts said that the Biden administration's national security strategy basically continues the Trump-era position on China, and is more of a summary of US action and intention.

"The strategy suggested that the US basically has three goals it wants to achieve in the future: limit China's development in the high-tech field; limit Chinese influence, promote ideological alliances, and prevent the success of the Chinese system from being widely recognized around the world; and make further provocations over the Taiwan question to trap China, experts noted." [My Emphasis]

I'm curious to see just how the bolded goal above was described and how it's to be accomplished. Given the overall continuity, I doubt Biden had any direct input despite BigLie Media saying otherwise, as with this example:

"CNBC believes that the Strategy generally functions 'more as an aspirational expression of a president's values than as a blueprint for military plans.'"

If that's actually the case, then Biden wants to become a War President; but then, he is already.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 23:05 utc | 37

It is a class war.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 13 2022 22:31 utc | 32

No argument from me there. I was a little too caught up with my graduate program during Clinton's presidency to pay a lot of attention at the time. What I know now is obviously due to reading the history, which says that the populist (and mostly segregationist) southern Democrats and some from the north, were the main voices for the bottom half of the class war from the 30s through the 70s (I don't know a lot about politics before that period). Wright Patman of Texas comes to mind; it so happens he was drummed out of the party during the Watergate years as a younger group came in.

As far as Bill Clinton goes, I don't have much of a deep handle on his *actual* politics regarding the economy. I do know the man was an early technocrat and as was - and is - typical of such politicians, surrounded himself with "experts" from their respective sectors, not just business. I've never taken much time to read about Rubin's influence on his economic or trade policies, but I do know - as I'm sure you do too - that Glass Steagall had been whittled away to a point that it was in many ways not even useful anymore by the time it was repealed/replaced.

There has been a class war in the US since the first unions formed, but it really heated up after the Powell Memo began to circulate among the business elite class in the late 60s and early 70s. From that point on it has been a war on the working class framed as though it's the workers or the poor who are the ones waging and winning it. That started off and carried through the 90s as a Republican fronted initiative. However, President Carter also laid some of the underpinnings for the rising technocracy that has now subsumed the Democrat party, and which has ultimately the same economic goals as the Chamber of Commerce, etc.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 14 2022 0:32 utc | 38

What I meant to say is that I was caught up in my education in the early to mid 90s, not just a graduate degree. I make this clarification because it was during my graduate degree that the scandals and pseudo scandals really started to pile up on the Clinton administration and I didn't have time or energy to care.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 14 2022 0:35 utc | 39


There was a time, in a previous century, when Australia had politicians who were interesting people, and some were even courageous. They had convictions and a vision of Australia as an independent nation with a unique history. All that is gone. The revolutionary international revisionist project aims to bury these Australian qualities and ideologically customise this nation.
Occasionally a discordant voice can be heard above the drone in the wilderness.
The voice I'm reproducing in print here is of our irreverent former P.M. Paul Keating. He is still in top form verbally, and I like the message. It's from the Guardian:

One of Australia’s former prime ministers, Paul Keating, has speculated that King Charles could renounce the UK monarch’s claim on Australia because the royal family hoped that Australia would become a republic after the referendum in 1999.

The former Labor leader says he discussed his ambition for Australia to become a republic with Queen Elizabeth during a private exchange at Balmoral in 1993. He says he told the Queen he would “not involve her family” in his campaigning for an Australian head of state.

“I think the royal family would have been so glad for the referendum to have passed, to be honest,” Keating told Prof James Curran, a University of Sydney historian, during an online event on Wednesday evening.

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if King Charles the Third, the king of Australia, doesn’t volunteer … to renounce his claim on Australia.

“Look at the French. The French had a revolution for their republic. The Americans had a revolution for their republic. We couldn’t even pinch ours off Queen Elizabeth the Second – who didn’t want it. We couldn’t take the title, even if the monarch was happy to give it.”

Keating, Australia’s prime minister from 1991 to 1996, said the Australian Republican Movement wanted him to re-enter the fray after the death of Queen Elizabeth in early September but he wasn’t motivated to resume his public advocacy.

“Why would you? We fluffed it,” Keating said on Wednesday. “If Australians have so little pride in themselves, so little pride that they are happy to be represented by the monarch of Great Britain, why would somebody like me want to shift their miserable view of themselves?”

Keating said the case for Australia to become a republic was so obvious it made itself.

“Who in their right mind could believe that the monarch of Great Britain could represent our aspirations here?

“We occupy one of the oldest land masses, the oldest continents on Earth, perhaps the oldest societies on Earth – it’s so pathetic. [Becoming a republic] barely [needs] an argument … and there was [Scott] Morrison running off to Cornwall with that other fruitcake, what’s his name … Boris Johnson.”

Keating concluded his observations by stating: “Charles the Third, king of Australia, is a constitutional aberration. That’s what it is.

Wednesday night’s conversation between the historian and the former Australian prime minister was hosted by La Trobe University. The dialogue was wide-ranging, covering Australia’s relationships with the US and China, the Aukus submarine deal, Australia’s contemporary sense of identity, and what actions Australia should contemplate in the event of military confrontation over Taiwan.

Keating doubled down on his previous strident criticism of Australia’s decision to enter the Aukus partnership with the US and the UK, and he said it was not too late for the Albanese government to back out of the agreement to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Curran asked Keating whether Labor withdrawing from Aukus would hand the Coalition a potent national security wedge. Keating countered: “Governments in office should make their own stories.”

Keating contended it was against Australia’s national interest to tie itself to the US in Asia when the US had “no idea what to do with itself in Asia”.

“Australia has a very poor idea of itself now,” Keating said. “Its head of state is the monarch of another country, its strategic sovereignty is being outsourced to another state, a North Atlantic state, the United States. It doesn’t know what it is or what it should be.”

Keating said the US was “not interested in thinking allies”, they wanted “dummies as allies”. He characterised the Quad – a security partnership between the US, Japan, India and Australia to counter China’s rising aggression in the region – as “a piece of strategic nonsense”.

He said if persistent tensions over Taiwan escalated to a full military confrontation, Australia should stay out of it. “Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest,” Keating said. “We should be no more interested in the political system of Taiwan that the political system of Vietnam, or Kazakhstan.”

Keating suggested the US would lose if it chose to defend Taiwan militarily against a forced reunification by China. “The chances of the Americans having a victory over Taiwan are nil in my opinion, and why would we want to be part of that defeat?”

“If, finally, the Americans walk away from east Asia, we are left behind … we can’t put an outboard motor on Australia at Broome, start the motor and move the continent off to San Diego, we are stuck here as the Americans take off back to the continent across the other side of the Pacific. We live in a Chinese world. That’s the truth of it."

Posted by: Australian lady | Oct 14 2022 0:54 utc | 40

@40 Australian Lady:

Many thanks for that excerpt from Paul Keating. Warms the heart to hear such exposition and mental clarity. You can hear the frustration in his voice, wondering what became of the spirit of his country.

I think that same refrain might be heard in the remarks from the old warriors in the U.S., England, Germany...

I heard a terrific two-hour wide-ranging dialogue between Yves Smith (Naked Capitalism), Mark Sleboda, and Gonzalo Lira early this afternoon. In that dialog Gonzalo Lira made the point that he sees the American public as emotionally exhausted. Numb.

I think this condition is showing up, maybe even mostly, in the seniors who remember what it was like, and how enervated and estranged from our brethren (friends, community, etc.) we've become. We're facing all this mostly alone, we people who remember. We're on the high seas of a constructed flood of ignorance, and we're afflicted with a good recollection of the right way we should be heading...and that's assuredly _not_ where we're heading.

That's the stuff depression is made from.


===

On the subject of that wide-ranging dialog posted over at NC, it would be tough for me to overstate my appreciation of that discussion. There are parts, esp. when Yves Smith explains the U.S. economy (1:25 mark, of a 2-hr discussion), where inflation comes from, what components of the economy are still functioning, and what lies ahead for the U.S. economic viability... I've not seen nor heard so much, so accurate, said so well.

For you new readers who are trying to make sense of what's happening around you, it'd be tough to invest two hours better.

Thanks again for that great dialog with Keating, Australian Lady. Terrific stuff. He would have been an awesome addition to "a multi-polar world", would he not?

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:19 utc | 41

@32 c1ue, who said:

===> It is a class war. <===

Short, accurate, consequential.

In those few instances where the little people prevailed against the big people, what behaviors/traits/strategies did they exhibit?

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:29 utc | 42

psychohistorian #34

Thank you. Meanwhile the theatrics squeeze out all legitimate contenders by monopolising centre stage.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 14 2022 1:34 utc | 43

@43 Uncle Tungsten:

I think you've identified the root problem: we don't control the message, or the series of messages (the "narrative"), or the message-delivery channel (the medium).

The smartest thing the oligarchs / rulers do is to control the "fourth estate". It enables all the rest of the manipulations. I say it's the strategic capability, trumps all.

Blogs and the Internet help; they enable the curious and the rebellious / non-conformists. We number less than 1% of the population.

The Blob controls the rest.

To level the playing field, I think we're gonna need some better tools. We need a way to reach people we're not already talking to.

To the Bar at large: How do we do that? Got any ideas?

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:54 utc | 44

In response to
"
To level the playing field, I think we're gonna need some better tools. We need a way to reach people we're not already talking to.

To the Bar at large: How do we do that? Got any ideas?

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:54 utc | 44
"

I don't think we need to reach people as much as we need to be ready when the collapse happens to push for removing global private finance from our countries of the West. The God of Mammon folk are being challenged by the China/Russia axis and it will be when they are successful that the work begins to build a new West w/o private finance at the core of the social contract.

The China/Russia axis is just fighting for the right to exist and it will be up to us in the empire bubble to carry the efforts of the China/Russia axis into our own sovereign nations.

At 74 I don't know what part of that process I can live to see but that where I hope humanity goes.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 14 2022 2:10 utc | 45

@ by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:54 utc | 44

My view is that people are neural networks in the interpretation that our capabilities depend on our training and most people are trained to care for the basic short term needs of life: food, sex and whatever they like. Some have additionnal training on cognitive tasks. Some classes of people have longer term interests and some of them cooperate to control our institutions. They are obviously bright and they work for their own interests, Being bright and well connected, they can only be checked by equally bright and connected people who are less narcissic.

So my answer to your question is very good schools. The purpose of schools is more than teaching basic tasks; the main purpose of schools is to train the mind on cognitive tasks: learning to learn. The Internet is a tool for communications, but there is also a need for discipline and for the development of human relations.

Posted by: Richard L | Oct 14 2022 2:36 utc | 46

Choices listen and heed the killer's ignorant lies and die. Or get vaccinated and live a longer life!

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 13 2022 18:53 utc | 20

Still yammering on about this I see.
Facts:
1. Vaccination does not prevent infection or spread. In the best case scenario it may jumpstart your immune response. The worst case, myocarditis.
2. There are dozens of preventative and therapeutic measures that are equally effective in preventing the spread of a potential Covid-19 infection.

My body, my choice. End of discussion.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Oct 14 2022 3:35 utc | 47

Posted by: Australian lady | Oct 14 2022 0:54 utc | 40

Thanks for your post. You have to admire Keating, at the very least for not being too afraid to speak his mind.

Funny side story. My mum and aunt grew up in Bankstown, and Keating used to catch the train back from the cbd with my aunt and two of her friends after work each day, and would go out of his way to walk them all home via a circuitous route. He never acted inappropriately and was always a gentleman, according to my aunt, and I take her word as truth.

He also once called the conservative opposition "a conga-line of suck-holes" on the floor of parliament, which always brings a smile to my face.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Oct 14 2022 3:43 utc | 48

Australian lady #40

"governments in office should make their own stories."

Paul Keating nails it well. If only it were that easy. However there is nothing to gain through cowardice and that especially applies to Australia's stance toward the USA.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 14 2022 4:26 utc | 49

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Oct 14 2022 3:35 utc | 47

Can anyone provide any objective information on the myocarditis thing and the oft stated "fact" that hundreds of thousands to a million people have died due to side effects of the mRNA vaccines?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 14 2022 4:47 utc | 50

https://www.globalresearch.ca/fbi-truth-tellers-white-supremacist-narrative-nonsense/5794817


On the other hand, the FBI apparently cherishes its dog whistle “racists” who are essentially agents provocateurs, most notably radio talkshow host Ted Turner.

More than a decade ago, I wrote:

Radio talk show host and blogger Hal Turner was an FBI trained agent provocateur, his attorney told reporters in Hartford [August 18, 2009]. The supposed white supremacist worked for the agency from 2002 until 2007. “His job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest,” Michael Orozco told the Associated Press.

The article I wrote originally appeared on Infowars and Prison Planet. The above link in the byline of the repost now points to an ad for an old Alex Jones documentary. I am persona non grata at both websites and I imagine a lot of the work I did there has made it to the memory hole.

But let’s not wander off track.

As the case against Turner and the revelations of his attorney reveal, the government did not abandon its COINTELPRO tactics, as it claimed in the mid 1970s. The FBI, acting as the establishment’s political secret police, continues to undermine political movements the elite consider dangerous and a threat to their control and influence.

Recall, I wrote the above more than a decade ago, and since that time the situation has grown far worse, predictably so under the mentally compromised Joe Biden.

The FBI infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1950s and 60s.

“During the 1960’s, the FBI’s role was not to protect civil rights workers, but rather, through the use of informants, the Bureau actively assisted the Ku Klux Klan in their campaign of racist murder and terror,” the authors of “COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story.”

Church Committee hearings and internal FBI documents revealed that more than one quarter of all active Klan members during the period were FBI agents or informants. However, Bureau intelligence “assets” were neither neutral observers nor objective investigators, but active participants in beatings, bombings and murders that claimed the lives of some 50 civil rights activists by 1964.

Bureau spies were elected to top leadership posts in at least half of all Klan units. Needless to say, the informants gained positions of organizational trust on the basis of promoting the Klan’s fascist agenda. Incitement to violence and participation in terrorist acts would only confirm the infiltrator’s loyalty and commitment.

The report, nearly impossible to find on the internet, notes the FBI established “dozens of Klaverns, sometimes being leaders and public spokespersons. Gary Rowe, an FBI informant, was involved in the Klan killing of Viola Liuzzo, a civil rights worker. He claimed that he had to fire shots at her rather than ‘blow his cover.’ One FBI agent, speaking at a rally organized by the Klavern he led, proclaimed to his followers, ‘We will restore white rights if we have to kill every negro to do it.’”

In other words, the FBI was a prime motivator in racist violence, same as it has more recently worked behind the scenes to fabricate Islamic terror groups.

Unless and until departments/agencies like CIA, FBI, Federal Reserve etc. are shut down USA will remain RINO (Republic In Name Only), a post-constitutional failed state with nuclear power and hosting an international credit cartel. Volatile mix.

Expecting such endemic corruption to be remedied by mid-term or Presidential elections in the current polity is a form of mental illness. USA is a pathocracy.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 14 2022 5:05 utc | 51

#Economics

❗️ All over the Western world, the data on inflation in the United States was received with shock. The White House and the Fed have been trying to bring down the price increase for many months - but it still continues. In September, dollar inflation was 8.2% - in particular, it continues to disperse the rise in food prices and rent.

For Biden, this is very bad news, because today's inflation report is the last before the November congressional elections. And it is inflation, according to polls, that is the key problem for Americans. In second place is crime. Both of these agendas work against the Democratic Party.

It is obvious that the Fed will have to further sharply tighten the screws in the monetary sphere - by raising the rate to a record high level in 15-20 years. In the US, this has already led to turmoil in the financial markets. And the real estate market is in danger of crumbling due to the rise in mortgage rates.

Unfortunately, America knows how to solve its economic problems in only one way - to kindle a war in Europe. What we are now seeing.


https://t.me/Slavyangrad/14100

Posted by: Down South | Oct 14 2022 5:08 utc | 52


@ Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:54 utc | 44
@ psychohistorian | Oct 14 2022 2:10 utc | 45

"I think we're gonna need some better tools. We need a way to reach people we're not already talking to."

"I don't think we need to reach people as much as we need to be ready when the collapse happens to push for removing global private finance from our countries of the West."


Neither of you is writing about how to present opinions (however powerful and correct) in ways which others can discuss, test, perhaps accept or reject .. with reasons, logical arguments, which might legitimately include "I am afraid to do that".

Tom Pfotzer (says he) wants "better tools" to "reach" to persuade; when the best tool is "Tom is a pretty smart guy, and he's usually right, and he knows how to explain stuff, and he doesn't try to make me feel like an idiot".

psychohistorian (says he) wants "to reach people" "to be ready ... to push", the dictatorship of the elite; as if those beyond arms-length are more likely to be pushable.


"These are the people in your neighbourhood; the people that you see each day."

We are taught to fail. We are taught to construct false arguments. We are taught to defer to teacher's authority.

When you cannot talk over the back fence, and construct a trivial analysis with contributions from both sides, you are a good student.

Posted by: Otter | Oct 14 2022 5:26 utc | 53

Regarding anti-vaxxers from a clue free Playboy 'Autism' Bunny and upwards.

Alas, their sole mononeuron is permanently locked into an unstoppable self-lying loop to the bitter end. To put it politely in the terms of Forrest Gump language "Stupid is as stupid does".

Even a subreddit treats all "Anti-Vaxxers as ignorant trash. Ones that should be locked up in public mental care health homes. To prevent self-harm. To both themselves and the public at large. Their replies are in the epithet of every known insult in every language used by man. Wowser is a very polite term when compared to the long list of verbal insults used in that subreddit!

Then of course there is a very sad tale of one rather unfortunate 19-year-old female "fall" person down under in Oz. Left with an Oz High Court bill of AUD$214K dollars. The Oz High court in an unusually unanimous decision has given the 'Anti-Vaxxer Movement" down under in OZ the great Oz well-known F-O two-finger salute! Smart High Court Judges!

Google/Duck Duck Go/Yahoo one "19-year-old woman must pay $214,000". Not one of the claimants has one brass razoo to spare. Between the lot of them put together.

The real problem with the entire gullible herd of anti-vaxxers on this planet. Can be written in the basic Arabic numeral "0"! Called absolute zero knowledge on the very subject they preach.(sigh)

Meanwhile back in China, such idiot is as idiot anti-vaxxer thinking is automatically erased by computer censors. Lucky them.

I can only conclude that the very tragic American Influenza Pandemic of 1917-1921 is an Anti-Vaxxer's wet dream.

Finally, wait for it there exists a new complete fantasy claim. A lie that is so big. It dwarfs the ones as told by DJT. lol

Supposedly down under in Oz. The New South Wales State government has ordered a mandatory injection for all cloven beasts in the state. A non-existent brand-new mRNA vaccine. To treat the deadly FMD virus. The lie goes thus "a cattleman injected an entire herd of cattle(What no Animal vet?). Thirty-five cattle expired/died on the spot, quite literally".

That which is too good to be true usually is!

Anti-vaxxers on the other hand believe they are literally gods chosen few to lead us with lies directly to the valley of death. On the fastest direct route known to man.

Given the actual constraints imposed by all laws on the freedom of speech limits.
All one can legally say to every existing anti-vaxxer on this planet is the following words. "Please tell me no lies, thank you! Cease and desists from telling lies to oneself. End of story"! sigh......

Lest we forget! In the age before mass vaccination programs became commonplace. The median average human age was fifty years old. In the Roman Empire era, it was a mere thirty-five years. The children they cherish so well had a very high mortality rate.

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 14 2022 5:32 utc | 54

Can anyone provide any objective information on the myocarditis thing and the oft stated "fact" that hundreds of thousands to a million people have died due to side effects of the mRNA vaccines?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 14 2022 4:47 utc | 50

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/10/no_author/analyst-estimates-at-least-20-million-people-have-already-been-killed-by-the-covid-vaccine/
(Article published today)

And an e-book: https://www.globalresearch.ca/new-pdf-ebook-the-worldwide-corona-crisis-global-coup-detat-against-humanity-by-michel-chossudovsky/5791054

You can also look for articles by Dr. Malone, Dr. Mercola and Dr. Peter McCollough.

Numbers are all over the map because there are no established, universal definitions and counting methods. One example is the important difference between 'death from covid' and 'death with covid.' IMO the main figure to keep track of is total mortality (from all causes). If that total mortality figure has changed significantly in the past 2 years then it is reasonable to conclude that either the pandemic or the vaccine or both is involved. Some articles published about this have noted that the increase in 2020 was marginal whereas in 2021 it spiked up several orders of magnitude beyond normal. This spike occurred after the introduction of the vaccines, but that doesn't mean the vaccines are the cause - it might still be the pandemic itself especially if 'long covid' caused too much stress to too many old and sick people with pre-existing conditions. On top of that, vaccines by the same manufacturer vary greatly from batch to batch (a hard to find study revealed a while back), so more opaque variables. Morticians in many countries report high percentage of bodies coming in a) younger than usual and b) with bizarre never seen before clotting. No studies from our governments, of course, who are only interested in vaxing young children these days. Alarming reports of blood problems in young women affecting menstruation, fertility, pregnancy and childbirth. Alarming reports about sterility in males plus increase blood-related heart issues. Also cancer increases. Reports all over the place. Hard to verify.

Bottom line: the whole thing stinks any which way you look at it.
And we live in a world where facts are very hard to come by.
And where experienced experts in any given controversy are often silenced or worse.
It is literally impossible to know what is going on for sure.
About anything.

Dark times... I guess it's always that way when civilizations degrade.

I am sometimes optimistic that the new Eurasian civilization will be a great leap forward, especially when reading Putin's clear, well-reasoned speeches. But at other times it seems that despite all the high-falutin rhetoric, all that's going on is that the Chinese, Russian and other emerging growth nations are merely taking over the same post industrial revolution secular growth-oriented models which after decades of internal stagnation and self-destruction in the corrupt West are re-emerging in fresh, positive, dynamic ways with lots of upside growth potential due to abundance of resources and real estate (in Russia) and almost a billion in poverty to enter middle class (in China). The models work very well during growth phases. But what happens to these polities once the growth boom, which in these Asian nations including Russia will last a century or so, is over? Will they prove substantively different, sustainable, sane?

We won't be around to find out. But I don't yet see that they are offering any truly radical improvements to the current Sick West models which have been strangled by Bank$ter tribes and need to go through some sort of modern (rigged) equivalent of a Debt Jubilee to keep chugging along somehow afterwards. A Reset they call it. Naked Oligarchic techno-fascist Totalitarianism I'd say.

The point being that either the Eurasian shift will prove highly beneficial and usher in a new Golden Age or it will just be the last gasp of a dying civilization ushering in a new new Dark Age. Time will tell, though it's unlikely most of us at this bar will be around long enough to find out but if I had to bet I'd take the Dark Age because the new polities are standing on the rotten, festering foundations of the old. Not a good start, not good seed.

Meanwhile, despite Rome burning etc., I have a house to finish building (the structure is now done but the embellishments like kitchen and bathroom and windows etc. are still lacking), its attached meditation hut to repair (damp stone floor), then hours, months and years of quiet contemplation therein of an ancient Olmec valley it looks out on, now populated mainly by sheep and cows, whilst effortlessly contemplating the ever-present nature of mind... Hopefully the world will stay together long enough for me to make it up there next April or May at which point I hope to spend less time following all this nasty, fin del mundo, mess!

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 14 2022 5:37 utc | 55

@ Otter | Oct 14 2022 5:26 utc | 53 who evidently just stumbled into the bar

WTF are you mumbling about deferring to teacher's authority here?

I worked on PUBLIC policy research in the 1970's before it was shut down by the money mafia and that is the sort of bottom up authority I want to see re-birthed in the US/West.

And what is this dictatorship of the elite shit? Lurk here for long? Yes, we have dictatorship of the elite currently and I call it he God of Mammon cult that can be traced back at least 300 years. With that dictatorship of the elite comes totalitarian control of what profess to be sovereign nations of the West....you know, freedumb and dumbocracy
Yes, I am in favor of eliminating all of global private finance tools and replacing them with an agreed upon and managed set of public finance utilities provided by truly sovereign nations of our world.....and that is what China/Russia axis is about.

I have a sign in my front yard that says I SUPPORT PUBLIC BANKING and links to www.publicbankinginstitute.org...and am communicating with my neighbors regularly.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 14 2022 5:42 utc | 56

It is open war on Russia. USA can't hide their cowardly hand behind their proxy's any longer. The US blew up NordStreams. Hmm. Do you think the Chunnel is a target now?
Russia has asked over and over if there is a diplomatic solution. The West (USA) will not talk and they are the belligerent antagonist. It is really 5th grade foreign policy designed to obliterate the status quo.
Thank you Russia for staying your hand as long as you have against such provoking drunken belligerents.

Posted by: Dotar Sojat | Oct 14 2022 5:54 utc | 57

Jon_in_AU @ 48:

"... [Paul Keating] also once called the conservative opposition "a conga-line of suck-holes" on the floor of parliament, which always brings a smile to my face."

No, that "conga line" description came from one-time fellow Labour Party politician Mark Latham, not from Paul Keating.

Keating could be quite witty if cutting. Of one politician, Andrew Peacock, known as a glamour boy (once rumoured to be best buddies with Hollywood actress Shirley Maclaine) and at the time tilting at a second go as Leader of the Opposition, Keating queried: "Can a soufflé rise twice?" Of another opposition politician Peter Costello, Keating said "... he's all tip and no iceberg ..."

His utterances have been collected and can be viewed on various websites like this one.

Posted by: Jen | Oct 14 2022 6:06 utc | 58

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Oct 14 2022 3:43 utc | 48
“……conservative opposition "a conga-line of suck-holes" …
Where’s the lie?

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 14 2022 6:11 utc | 59

To vaxed boy.. dude you ate the cake. Now you are on a path to die soon. You should put your affairs in order. If you are on anything from any pharma company you are on the wrong path and you are choosing the easy way. The way is not easy. Pharma only masks the problem. You need to go deeper and address and confront the root of the problem. If you can do that you could extend your existence.
Everyone is dying and brutally incapacitated because they were vaccinated. That's the truth. They want you dead. And they want to take everything from you. Wake up!

Posted by: Dotar Sojat | Oct 14 2022 6:12 utc | 60

As we circle back to 2020 and the Great Global Vexxing
Kevin Sorbo. @ksorbs
Anyone regret getting the jab?
https://twitter.com/ksorbs/status/1580268810124152834?cxt=HHwWhMCi0YaHn-4rAAAA
23k retweets… in 12hours…

[acshooally. I now notice…..all those twitter profiles that once had their jab status loudly-proudly on their avatar line……where they gone?]

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 14 2022 6:40 utc | 61

Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 14 2022 5:32 utc | 54
Foot n Mouth Disease in OZ:


Foot-and-mouth disease, FMD, is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. The virus has not been detected in Australia for more than 100 years.
But we should be aware of the risks of FMD arriving on our shores. FMD can be transmitted in air particles between animals housed closely together.
https://www.agriculture.gov.au › biosecurity-trade › pests-diseases-weeds › animal › fmd.
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, deer, camelids (includes alpacas, llamas and camels) and buffalo. FMD does not affect horses, or companion animals such as dogs and cats. Australia remains free of FMD.
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au › animals-and-livestock › beef-cattle › health-and-disease › viral-diseases › fmd

So preventative measures have worked for a century….
The (to be developed) mRNA vaccine looks like a solution in search of a problem.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-fast-tracks-fmd-vaccine

“It is critical that we develop mRNA vaccines for FMD and Lumpy Skin as quickly as possible to protect our State’s livestock sector,” Mr Saunders said.
“The threat of FMD is ongoing and there are concerns Lumpy Skin Disease could enter northern Australia this coming wet season, so it’s critical we continue to do what we can as quickly as we can.
And
Last par, the money shot:
The pilot program is part of a $65 million investment from the NSW Government to prepare for and prevent exotic animal diseases, which brings the total investment in biosecurity this year alone to $229 million – the biggest biosecurity investment by a single jurisdiction on exotic pest and disease control.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Oct 14 2022 6:52 utc | 62

Posted by: Jen | Oct 14 2022 6:06 utc | 58

I stand corrected. Thanks Jen. I should have confirmed the source of that quotation first. My bad.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Oct 14 2022 7:52 utc | 63

I was going to post this earlier but forgot. There is a world of international relations outside of the west other than adolescent postage stamp trolling, bullying, sanctions, strife and chaos.

Kim Jong Un sent Birthday Message to Putin

Posted by: Jun | Oct 14 2022 8:16 utc | 64

Holy shit... Borrell called Europe a "garden" and most of the rest of the world a "jungle". "And the jungle could invade the garden".
https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1580806982868832256

This is textbook colonialism: we the civilization have to guard ourselves against the wild primitives.
The most frustrating thing is, that people supposedly on the political left support this crap and this war. And I suspected the decisionmakers thinking like this, but this asshat is just saying it openly...

Posted by: Roland | Oct 14 2022 8:59 utc | 65

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:54 utc | 44


To the Bar at large: How do we do that? Got any ideas?


I'd love to see this whole blog moved to Second Life. The bar fights will be a scream ...

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Oct 14 2022 9:10 utc | 66

Can anyone provide any objective information on the myocarditis thing and the oft stated "fact" that hundreds of thousands to a million people have died due to side effects of the mRNA vaccines?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 14 2022 4:47 utc | 50

I have made no assertion about numbers, they have been exaggerated by extremists on both sides.

Here is what our "get vaxxed" provincial government published. Most believe they undercounted.
https://www.canadiancovidcarealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/covid-19-myocarditis-pericarditis-vaccines-epi.pdf

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2110737

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Oct 14 2022 9:12 utc | 67

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 14 2022 4:47 utc | 50

For a start:

https://stevekirsch.substack.com/

Posted by: Goingo | Oct 14 2022 9:21 utc | 68

Posted by: Roland | Oct 14 2022 8:59 utc | 65

You left out the scary part, he then said: "The gardeners should take care of it,.."
That all sounds more than a tad 'fourth reich' to me.
We need to banish these slimes for life, to an island somewhere, with an active volcano.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Oct 14 2022 9:25 utc | 69

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:54 utc | 44


To the Bar at large: How do we do that? Got any ideas?

Crowdfund an ml specialist and a software developer to convert the entire archive of MoA into hundreds of a.i conversational bots.

Embed the bots in a computer virus and unleash them upon the internet where they will pop up on user's computers and engage in endless dialogue ...

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Oct 14 2022 9:25 utc | 70

Embed the bots in a computer virus and unleash them upon the internet where they will pop up on user's computers and engage in endless dialogue ...

But leave out posts by Trollwoda and Tom UK.

Posted by: Goingo | Oct 14 2022 9:29 utc | 71


@ psychohistorian | Oct 14 2022 5:42 utc | 56

"@ Otter | Oct 14 2022 5:26 utc | 53 who evidently just stumbled into the bar"
I admit that I visited several other estemed establishments, before coming here. Some of them serve actual German beer, DaB. It is only due to 60 years of practice, that I did not stumble over the shadow cast by the bouncer at the entrance.

"WTF are you mumbling about deferring to teacher's authority here?"
Perhaps you should read my post again. Or not, as you choose. Or sit on your doorstoop, waiting for the cold corpse of capitalism to be carried past.

"Lurk here for long?"
About 17 years, I think, since the Orange Revolution. (I still have an orange toque;
and I ocassionally listen to Ruslana's 'Дикі танці' and 'Рахманінов'. Too bad she wasted her talents on football hooligans and PaperClip Ukrainians.) Although I may be remembering another site.

"I have a sign in my front yard that says I SUPPORT PUBLIC BANKING ..."
I used to have a sign saying "Vote Alexa".

"...and am communicating with my neighbors regularly."
Why then must you wait for "when the collapse happens "?

Perhaps you should read my post again. After a good night's sleep and 2 cups of coffee.

Posted by: Otter | Oct 14 2022 9:46 utc | 72

Roland:
Want to know something which makes it really funny? He's only saying that because he and his sort are now more deathly afraid of the original inhabitants of said "garden" than they have ever been before (and they always were afraid from the start). It's desperate panic :D

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Oct 14 2022 9:50 utc | 73

As you read, I'm not the only one who sees energy at the core of our conflict.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 17:40 utc | 14

Macron is not in danger; he is one of the more rational Western leaders, even if far from perfect. I suspect he's not all that keen on the hate-Russia policy, but he's always had a policy of solidarity with the EU allies, and Germany can't simply be dumped, in spite of the naivety of Scholz and Von der Leyen.
The oil strikers in France are not striking because of poverty; they're well paid. They just want to be paid better, if the oil companies have a windfall.
There is only an energy crisis because of Ukraine. We're all interdependent these days, and getting huffy over Russian policy is pure idiocy, as I'm sure you agree. Live and let live should be the policy of Western powers, but that's hard for the nutters in Washington.

Posted by: laguerre | Oct 14 2022 10:33 utc | 74

Saudi Arabia and Russia starts new joint projects. They have a lot of feedstock which can be refined in place, and EU will be lacking own chemical refinement across the board.

"❗️Russia and Saudi Arabia are discussing joint petrochemical projects both on Russian and Saudi territory, Russian deputy Prime Minister A. Novak said.

❗️Rosatom will soon submit documents as part of the competition for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia, Novak said.

https://t.me/rian_ru/181796
https://t.me/rian_ru/181794

PS: This could be a reason for Saudi's active participation in POW exchanges & OPEC+ also favoured Russia."

Posted by: unimperator | Oct 14 2022 10:52 utc | 75

@ jon | 69 and @Sunny Runny Burger | 73

Yeah it is scary.
And they might be in a panic because they are not winning, which is a good thing (@sunny). But their insanity and selfrighteousness has risen to a point where I could imagine them doing a false flag with some dirty nuclear bomb or blowing up one of their own nuclear power plants and claiming it was ye olde evil ruskies. Then we would be just one step away from nuclear annihilation of the planet (or WW3, which might just be the same thing).

Posted by: Roland | Oct 14 2022 11:19 utc | 76

The french unions have signed a deal this morning. The collapse of France, foreseen by many here, hasn't happened. It's all as usual in France, strike all the time, and then they make a deal, though it has to be said there are still some wrinkles still to go. Nobody really wants to make things worse than they are, as nothing can be done about Ukraine.

Posted by: laguerre | Oct 14 2022 12:10 utc | 77

Posted by: Roland | Oct 14 2022 11:19 utc | 76

It is very much a dystopia at this point, although in many regards it has been for at least 2500 years.

Could it even come to the point where the public of the 'collective west' have to actively protest in favour of intranational military coups, just in order to rout the insane cabal lording over us?
That's disturbing just in contemplation.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Oct 14 2022 12:16 utc | 78

I'm now taking the university class, "Acronyms and The Lost Treasure of the Nibelungs." My suspicion is the course's title exists only to invite another reduction into incomprehensibility. WTM?

Posted by: Elmagnostic | Oct 14 2022 12:41 utc | 79

Read on Revolver News that the "Jan 6 commission" is calling Trump, conveniently right before the midterms.

The socialists forget the fact that people get tired of endless "investigations" like this one. No one will believe that "Trump directed people to overthrow the government" - if he had, it would have been revealed in the first week or month.

There have been investigations in Europe of how the former government handled a crisis of one sort or another. If this goes on for a year, or two years, it just becomes ridiculous. If you didn't find something right away, people won't believe you.

Posted by: Tenet | Oct 14 2022 13:15 utc | 80

The socialists forget the fact that people get tired of endless "investigations" like this one. No one will believe that "Trump directed people to overthrow the government" - if he had, it would have been revealed in the first week or month.

Posted by: Tenet | Oct 14 2022 13:15 utc | 80

I read Trump's speech and found no hint whatsoever of encouraging violence. Hence, the premise of Congress's "investigation" into January 6 is a crock.

Posted by: David Levin | Oct 14 2022 14:12 utc | 81

The smartest thing the oligarchs / rulers do is to control the "fourth estate".

How do we do (defeat) that? Got any ideas?

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 1:54 utc | 44

---

The situation that exists today is the same dynamic present in any previous empire: cunning predators are both smarter and more goal oriented than "normal" people.

Why are priests included in the highest castes? Because whether secular or ecclesiastical, they frame the narrative, control its transmission and manage the retail end of faith distribution.

I realize the types of highly intelligent people who frequent this space bore easily, so there's a tendency to become distracted and lose focus with peripheral topics.

To those I would say, study vpp's 9/30 speech; it really is all anyone needs to know. We will either all end up prematurely dead, or the globe will birth a new multi polar world order.

Since I find no need to worry about nuclear war - seeing as I would be dead - a much more interesting prospect is whether we might successfully navigate through this particular historical moment.

In that regard, the sky literally is the limit. Every rule, every assumption, every institution, every power channel will be revised and/or destroyed.

One need not question how to fight the entrenched old order - it will no longer be extant. Rather, each will be free to satisfy whatever ambition they may possess with whatever degree of energy they may wish to devote in the mad rush to fill the vacuum.

Posted by: B9k9 | Oct 14 2022 14:15 utc | 82

From the start of a longer report from France24 the French government-owned MSM outlet and BBC equivalent (ie. clear government propaganda bias). The bold emphasis is added by me and the general strike next week starts on the 18th. 7% is likely far below real inflation. Here:

"TotalEnergies on Friday said the company had signed a salary agreement with two French unions. With the hardline CGT union walking out of negotiations, however, France continued to face fuel shortages ahead of a general public sector strike next week.

Under the terms of an agreement with the CFDT and CFE-CGC unions, TotalEnergies on Friday said the company had agreed to a seven percent increase for 2023 salaries.

But with the hardline CGT union, which initiated the industrial action, walking out on Thursday night’s discussions and renewing their strike call on Friday, France faced a deepening fuel shortage crisis.

Four of the country's seven refineries remained shut, and around a third of the country's service stations are either low on petrol or completely dry, according to the energy transition ministry."

Link to the source "Two French unions sign agreement with TotalEnergies, but CGT continues strike".

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Oct 14 2022 14:23 utc | 83

Following posts on Martyanov's site on the Cuban missile crisis I got myself into a substantial diversion today.

First off, I had no idea that there was actual shooting involved! The US was dropping vast quantities of depth charges on four nuclear-armed Soviet submarines. Whilst the US viewed them as 'signals' ordering them to surface - in international waters! - the information the US transmitted to the Soviet Union was too late to reach the submarines, as the US was already hotly pursuing them aggressively trying to force them to surface, as a result of whoch they were out of radio contact with Moscow. Diabolical! One of the subs virtually launched a nuclear torpedo at the US aircraft carrier, but one of the three officers required to assent the launch refused.

Next I followed a link to the closely averted risk of launch of nuclear missiles in September 1983 averted by Stanislav Petrov's suspicions of a false positive identification of US missile launches, just 3 weeks after the Soviets shot down Korean Airlines flight 007. Then a list of all the nuclear weapons near-misses. Diabolical.

Finally I followed a link to a description of the circumstances of the Flight KAL 007 shoot-down. Diabolical. Based on known actions and proclivities of the US over multiple decades, I am willing to bet my arse that the following happened:

1) It is known (including court testimony) that the US/Boeing have the capability to remotely take complete control of any Boeing aircraft in the air, anywhere in the world, with absolutely zero knowledge of the pilots, and completely overriding all actions of the pilots. I would assume that this is likely to include falsifying the instrument indicators, but I don't know that for a fact. This information came out subsequent to 9/11, and was later confirmed and elaborated in the course of other accident investigations. From memory, I think one key investigation in which this came out in court was in connection with an alleged "pilot suicide" involving an Air Germania flight which suddenly took a nose-dive into a mountain, rather like the Boeing Max. (There have been many such alleged "pilot-suicides", and Boeing has a massive financial interest in asserting that it is pilot-suicide, but in one such Indonesian case it was proved - civil case - that a defective elevator actuator was responsible).

2) It is known that the 007 flight set out on a massively wrong bearing (25 degrees) for over 5 hours, made no effort to correct it, appeared to be totally oblivious of their position, and totally oblivious of the wrong course. It is seriously incomprehensible that the crew were unaware of this for over 5 hours and were hundreds of kilometers from their intended course.

3) It is known that the flight was tracked at multiple points by US military radar, in some cases hundreds of km from its proper course.

4) It is known that it passed directly into a US air defence zone that it is prohibited to civilian aircraft, yet the US military to no corrective action.

5) It is known that the US military destroyed their radar records of the flight (or at least alleged they had done so) within 30 hours after the flight.

6) It is known that the US illegally diverted responsibility for the flight to the ICAO which has no ability to subpoena evidence, and that the US military withheld most of the evidence they had.

7) It is known that KAL007 flew hundreds of km into Soviet airspace, and that it flew directly into a Soviet military prohibited airspace zone on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

8) It is known that the US had a Boeing RC-135 spy plane was operating close by, that the path of the RC-135 CROSSED that of KAL007, and that the US withheld news of the RC-135 presence from investigations, until revealed by the Soviets.

9) It is known that the US, after the shoot-down, aggressively inflated the propaganda against the Soviet actions, much as they are doing today concerning Ukraine, and in direct contrast to their response to the shoot-down of Iran Air 655.

10) It is known that the Soviets were convinced the aircraft was a US spy plane.

11) In my opinion the entire sequence of events was planned and executed by the US to force the Soviets to shoot down the Korean flight KAL 007, by setting up the RC-135 flight path, taking control of the KAL007 aircraft from after takeoff from Anchorage - including instrument displays, and forcing the large deviation from its planned flight path for over 5 hours, causing the crew to have no worries by falsifying the instrument readings.

If this is true, then it is probably also true that the missile damage to the plane was not as serious as adduced by the ICAO report; in particular the 3 hydraulic systems alleged to habe been destroyed were not in fact necessarily destroyed, because they could have been under the sole remote controle of Boeing. Thus is is probable that the rather strange pattern of the flight path after being hit was also controlled by the US, right up to and including the final spin into the sea. Whereby it can be assumed that the US would try to ensure that the final crash was in international waters; nevertheless there is some reason to believe the Soviets may have used trawlers to quickly pull the wreckage inside their territorial waters.

Posted by: BM | Oct 14 2022 14:37 utc | 84

Followup to the 58.1% year on year rise in heating oil in the September 2022 inflation report:

Heating Oil supplies perilously low in US heading into [General] Winter

With Just 26 Days of Heating Oil, US Households Face Costliest Winter in Decades

Inventories are at the lowest seasonal point in weekly data
Heating costs seen surging to the highest in at least 25 years

This winter is shaping up to be the costliest for heating in a generation -- especially for households in the US Northeast that must burn oil to stay warm.

26 days in context:

How Much Does It Cost To Heat With Oil

An average-sized home in New England will use between 570 and 1200 gallons of heating oil per year. The average home will cost $1,200 to $2,000 per year to heat for will-call customers, and $1,500 to $2,500 per year for automatic delivery customers.

Note this article was written in November 2020. I suspect heating oil prices are 75% to 100% higher then as opposed to September 2021 compared to September 2022 - which the latest CPI report compares.

Systemically: Use of Heating Oil by the EIA

In the winter of 2020–2021, about 5.3 million households in the United States used heating oil (distillate fuel oil) as their main space heating fuel, and about 82% of those households were in the U.S. Northeast Census Region.1

In 2020, residential consumers in the Northeast used about 2.6 billion gallons of heating oil, equal to about 85% of total U.S. residential heating oil sales.

So the good news: only 4% of the households in the US use heating oil, but these households will be paying about double or more what they were in 2020: $2770 ($5.33 * 2600000000 / 5000000)

Heating oil prices to record high in October 13 2022 - smallbiztrends.com

New data from the US Energy Information Association shows the average price for a gallon of No. 2 residential heating oil jumped from $4.62 to $5.33 in the last week, a 15% increase. That’s the highest price ever, at least since EIA started tracking this data in 1990.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 14 2022 14:37 utc | 85

@Tom Pfotzer #44
You're going to see a lot of techno-utopian responses - they are all garbage.

Mainstream media is a bullhorn to the blogs' kazoo. This isn't going to be changed by tweaking features of the kazoo.

What we are seeing now is much more insidious than mere incompetence and sycophancy; mainstream media has been captured by the oligarch class. Oligarchs own the companies, they populate the workers and managers, and the oligarch class social dynamic regulates their behavior.

Any rising blog or alternate media platform has to navigate a minefield of diversionary paths:

the first is pure class tunnel vision. No sharing of tunnel vision, no "viral" outreach growth either by algorithmic tech company or "influencer" class repeat.

The second is social pressure. Few people, especially in the chattering classes, are able to withstand heavy social pressure by their very nature. Now embed them in a roiling soup of oligarch class peers - it becomes practically impossible. There's a reason why you pretty much only see old people saying the unsayable - the younger have too much to lose.

The third is economic co-option. Look at The Intercept as an example of how money and staffing can be used to turn a literally revolutionary outfit into just another brick in the wall.

The fourth is social condemnation: racist, homophobic, anti-semite, etc etc.

The fifth is literal outlawing - we have seen this with RT; we will see this with purely American outfits that don't even have a funding or theoretical link to foreigners. Alex Jones is leading the way: as nutty as a lot of his shit has been, it has by no means been entirely false - and the kangaroo judgements being laid on him are blazing a trail.

This changes if and only when revolution occurs - which is when the oligarch actions have so utterly discredited themselves that anything they say - good or bad, true or untrue, becomes automatically odious.

This is a time solution, not a feature solution.

Fortunately we have made incredible progress just in the past 2+ years.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 14 2022 14:51 utc | 86

Tom Pfotzer. Subject: How Little People Become More Effective

Got some really good feedback to the Q's I posted above. Here's rejoinder:

====
psychohistorian said, in part:

I don't think we need to reach people as much as we need to be ready when the collapse happens to push for removing global private finance from our countries of the West...At 74 I don't know what part of that process I can live to see but that where I hope humanity goes.

Tom: To be ready when the collapse happens, if indeed that's what occurs, we need prep lead-time. See comments next on that score. Re: living to see it....you're living, and you're seeing it now. MoA is one example of collaborative action to get a grip on the situation, and plot course. The rivulet becomes a river over time, and across distance. Furthermore, you're age and experience render out as great navigational input; the problems are mostly located between our ears.

===

Richard L said, in part:

They [the predators] are obviously bright and they work for their own interests, Being bright and well connected, they can only be checked by equally bright and connected people who are less narcissic.

So my answer to your question is very good schools. The purpose of schools is more than teaching basic tasks; the main purpose of schools is to train the mind on cognitive tasks: learning to learn. The Internet is a tool for communications, but there is also a need for discipline and for the development of human relations.

Tom: Very well-conceptualized and described. I advocate for higher-performance distribution of the excellent ideas fostered on this and other like-minded forums. The "discipline and devel of human relations" is exactly right. We need to elevate our team's competency level. An on-line, free, crowd-sourced school. Few have time or money for formal school.

====

Otter said, in part:


[you are not] writing about how to present opinions (however powerful and correct) in ways which others can discuss, test, perhaps accept or reject .. with reasons, logical arguments, which might legitimately include "I am afraid to do that".

"[talk to] the people in your neighbourhood; the people that you see each day."

We are taught to fail. We are taught to construct false arguments. We are taught to defer to teacher's authority.

Tom: Yes to all, esp. the "talk to your neighbors" bit. Modifier: most of us don't currently have neighbors that are amenable to these sort of discussions, that's why we need the MoAs of the world. I also concur on the "I am afraid" aspect. Fear is a perfectly wonderful repression tool. We need to discuss this much more, and share fear-management technique.

===
Arch Bungle said "I'd love to see this whole blog moved to Second Life. The bar fights will be a scream ..."

Tom: I had no idea Second Life existed. I need to consider it more. Immediate reaction: big resource and learning curve. Would richer interactions be helpful? Yeah, definitely. I have a lot more to say on that one...later.

Arch: Crowdfund an ml specialist and a software developer to convert the entire archive of MoA into hundreds of a.i conversational bots. Embed the bots in a computer virus and unleash them upon the internet where they will pop up on user's computers and engage in endless dialogue ...

Tom: Another provocative notion. Tell us how to do this without the invasive/annoyance factor. Consider what components would be invested in some sort of platform that delivers out changed world views, and provides the tools necessary to actualize said worldview.

===

B9k9 said:


The situation that exists today [oligarchs control the fourth estate (the press)] is the same dynamic present in any previous empire: cunning predators are both smarter and more goal oriented than "normal" people.

Why are priests included in the highest castes? Because whether secular or ecclesiastical, they frame the narrative, control its transmission and manage the retail end of faith distribution.

[I think the most interesting] prospect is whether we might successfully navigate through this particular historical moment.

One need not question how to fight the entrenched old order - it will no longer be extant. Rather, each will be free to satisfy whatever ambition they may possess with whatever degree of energy they may wish to devote in the mad rush to fill the vacuum.

Tom: Ties in with Buckminster Fuller's perspective: "Don't spend effort fighting the existing system. Spend the effort building the new system". I agree totally. But I don't agree that there will be a vacuum.

I see it more like an evolving compost pile...many bacteria, good and bad, duking it out in the marketplace. If we're going to prevail, we need some implementation ideas, e.g. how to walk the talk. Our navigation is pretty good as-is. And we need numbers. How to get numbers? Provide solutions (ways to live my life according to my ideals) that actually work in the compost pile we have now. Consider the crucial role that autarky plays in Russia's overall strategy.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 15:02 utc | 87

Posted by: BM | Oct 14 2022 14:37 utc | 84

Let's take a poll. How many think they've seen various elements of my 11 points above before in various different historical actions of the US over the last 7 decades? Taken together, does it typically reflect US behaviour?

Posted by: BM | Oct 14 2022 15:07 utc | 88

Re: vax

Increased risk of Myocarditis from the vaccine is real:

Clinical Considerations, Myocarditis by the CDC

In April 2021, increased cases of myocarditis and pericarditis were reported in the United States after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna). Data from multiple studies show a rare risk for myocarditis and/or pericarditis following receipt of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. These rare cases of myocarditis or pericarditis have occurred most frequently in adolescent and young adult males, ages 16 years and older, within 7 days after receiving the second dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna). There has not been a similar reporting pattern observed after receipt of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine (Johnson & Johnson).

Note that while the above says myocarditis is "rare" - that isn't the point. ANY harms introduced into otherwise healthy children, regardless of benefits much less the extremely "rare" COVID deaths in that age group, is a net negative benefit for vacciation. And it is a fact that the myocarditis onset rate is not much different than the COVID death prevention rate from vaccinating - at which point, the question is why vaccinate 16 year old males?

As for additional deaths from COVID vaccines vs. "deaths prevented": the vaccine 3rd trial data that has come to light has shown that overall deaths - from all causes - in the vaccine group are comparable to overall deaths in the COVID vaccinated group from all causes. It is true that these numbers are small, but the point again is that if COVID vaccination is truly reducing or removing a significant cause of mortality (COVID), the overall death rates for the vaccinated group should be measurably lower. They are not.

But of course, myocarditis is not the only impact. The insurance companies saw a spike in under 40 mortality in 2021 - right after mass vaccinations started. Is it a coincidence? Possibly. We will see in time. But the spike was significant enough to affect policy payout rates across the industry. There have also been all manner of very public figures - soccer and other athletes falling down dead. Maybe anecdotal, maybe not - again time will tell.

The point isn't even whether the COVID vaccine works - defined as either preventing/reducing spread (which it does not except in very narrow windows) or reducing mortality (which it also does not when viewed over time). The point is whether the vaccines actually net benefit their subjects, and that is still unclear for those under 50.

I expand further on the 2 points above:

Point 1 is that the data is very clear that the COVID spread reduction/prevention is vanishingly small. What benefit exists for COVID spread reduction/prevention is literally in the 3 or less months - meaning unless you boost every 3 months, COVID spread reduction/prevention is simply not happening. I doubt there are more than a handful of ultravaxxers doing a booster every 3 months...

Point 2 is that the data is also very clear that COVID vaccine efficacy in reducing hospitalization and/or death reduces dramatically, again in the 3 month window. Basically after 6 months, the reduction disappears.

Contrast this with "natural" immunity - the reduction in hospitalization/death conferred from surviving a COVID infection lasts for 2 years which was the limit of the studies I saw.

So from a pure data perspective: if you have not gotten COVID yet as verified by an antibody blood test, then you could vaccinate, then get COVID, then stop vaccinating. But for anyone under 50, the actual risks of hospitalization/death - presuming you don't have significant comorbidities - is vanishing low to start with.

If you have already gotten COVID, you derive ZERO benefit from vaccinating unless you are in a high risk group: over 60 and/or with major comorbidities.

Or in other words: COVID vaccines are more like flu vaccines. Get it if you are old and high risk, waste of time otherwise unless you really think you are unlucky.

From my perspective: the primary concern I have is with the mRNA technology. I have already gotten COVID - so there is ZERO medical benefit to get vaccinated but I may just get the Novavax so that I could potentially travel through Europe, the next time I want to visit Russia instead of paying $2500+ tickets through Turkey or Dubai.

This is 100% because of bureaucratic bullshit and nothing to do with health or risk.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 14 2022 15:10 utc | 89

@Scorpion | Oct 14 2022 5:37 utc | 55

months and years of quiet contemplation therein of an ancient Olmec valley
Oh, I would like to see the Olmec stone heads in real life...

Posted by: Norwegian | Oct 14 2022 15:16 utc | 90

energy at the core of our conflict.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 13 2022 17:40 utc | 14

There is only an energy crisis because of Ukraine.

Posted by: laguerre | Oct 14 2022 10:33 utc | 74

---

BP founded based on Persian fields in 1908. Shell founded on basis of Indonesian reserves in 1907.

First major GB offensive in WW1 was Basra nov 1914. First JP strike against west was Singapore (pearl) Dec 1941.

It's always been about energy resources. Private (credit) money requires "growth" in which to service previous loan tranches. Growth is only possible with energy surplus.

Usa peaked in 1973, MENA fairly recently. Who controls the entire globe's last great stores? Who governs 1/6 of the world's land mass? (Just 150m people controlling 1/2 size of all africa.)

Who must have it to perpetuate the $usd system?

Posted by: B9k9 | Oct 14 2022 15:16 utc | 91

Indonesian dedollarization
‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

Might interest some here.

The world's largest muslim nation starts to move away from the USD according to "Bank Indonesia Calls on Importers, Exporters to Stop Payments in US Dollar, Reports Say" (Sputniknews):

"Bank Indonesia has called on importers and exporters to use national currencies in international payments to reduce the dependence of Indonesian financial markets on the US dollar, Indonesian news portal Tempo.co reported on Friday, citing the regulator's senior economist."
Which should be easy:
"About 90% of export-import payments are conducted in US dollars, while the share of Indonesian direct exports to the US is estimated at only 10%, and US imports account for 5%," Head of the Solo Bank Indonesia Representative Office, Nugroho Joko Prastowo, told reporters, according to the report."
And cheaper:
"[...] saying that a conversion fee applies to the settlements in international currency, and that in dollar payments the charge doubles."
There's a little bit more information if one follows the link, if I'm reading it right then several large and important Asian countries have already agreed to do this in trade with Indonesia.

· · ·

[Dedollarization is a funny mouthful but Wiktionary accepts it both hyphenated and ...dehyphenated... but there are no entries for either dehyphenated or de-hyphenated (lol meta-ironic)]

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Oct 14 2022 15:17 utc | 92

@laguerre #74

You said

There is only an energy crisis because of Ukraine.

Utterly false.

1) Due to ESG, "Green activism"/Divestment from fossil fuel companies, Alternative energy pandering and policy actions by Western governments plus COVID pandemic lockdowns/slowdowns - the entire fossil fuel industry is investing less in new exploration than ever before.

That is one of the big reasons why they are making outside profits.

2) The Alternative energy pandering plus nuclear shutdowns in Japan and Germany due to Fukushima have increased reliance on Russian natural gas in Europe and in Australian coal in Japan. This puts pressure on the entire international energy ecosystem.

Ukraine is an accelerant; the cause was already having effect long before 2/24/2022. European gas prices started rising in summer 2021, for example.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 14 2022 15:27 utc | 93

Tom Pfotzer. Subject: How Little People Become More Effective, part II.

(b, I apologize in adv. for length. Last one (from me) on this thread).

@86 c1ue:


That was a sledge-hammer response, c1ue. Earned your pay today. Every word is true, read it twice, folks.

You and I have covered this (less-well) earlier. I re-assert: the time to prep the next-gen people and ideas is now, when the gettin' is good. When the oligarchs crash, it's not going to be a felicitous scene, c1ue. There's going to be a lot of collateral damage. Certainly a very fractured society, and quite possibly one that's very under-resourced.

Consider revolutions. They generally don't work out all that well. Need I cite examples? The aftermath takes a heck of long time to evolve into something better, and it often evolves way worse.

Do we want to seed the "compost pile" now with lots of beneficials, or take our chances on the flood of noxious weed-seeds that inevitably populate crash-scenes?

On the subject of top-down repression: right now, the oligarchs are waaaaayyy overloaded. Asia got out of the cage, and it's bigger than they are now. They have big problems, and aren't going to be spending a lot of time and effort stepping on us ants right now.

Ants, get thee moving! What are you going to need in order to function in tomorrow's world (less resources, many existing provisioning systems (ag, energy, transport, health-care, materials sourcing) trashed and/or too expensive. Are you going to try to re-build your house under those conditions? Gonna be tough.

I say we don't hang around waiting for the roof to cave in on us. Let's GTFO of Dodge, and gradually move into more viable surrounds.

My thesis "techno-solution" is dirt-simple: get really good at evolving _technique_, and even better at sharing it.

What if we learn how to build teams of capable, conversing, collaboration-enabled people. Learn how to make deals. Make processes-leading-to-products that put production-of and ownership-of the necessities of life directly into the hands of the little people.

Let's transition from chronicling our own demise and begin navigating to "Western Economy 2.0: What Comes After"

The "techno-solution incrementalism" I'm advocating is to get out of first-gear (bunch of posts that fall down the memory-hole 1 day after they're written) and get focused on and provisioned to create viable solutions implementable at the household level (where they're off the radar, and where we have control / volition).

That takes "different tools". No incrementalism about it, c1ue, what I'm envisioning is a structural shift.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 15:35 utc | 94

Today it's solar, renewables, net zero by 2050. Nothing new:
Things will get worse before they get worse
.
In 1973 president Nixon announced "Project Independence". Conservation and alternative energy would make the US self-sufficient by 1980. The plan was to have 1,000 nuclear power plants by the year 2000.

Posted by: Passerby | Oct 14 2022 15:59 utc | 95

@Tom Pfotzer #94
I respect your goals, but I don't agree that your strategy will achieve them.
I am extremely dubious of "seeding".

Revolution is chaos - the destruction of the existing social/economic order. You can't control chaos nor is there any relationship between pre-revolutionary sentiment and post-revolutionary government that lasts (revolutionary governments vastly predominantly don't last).

On the too little side: you have the incrementalists who will try to pass little fixes in the face of a tide of anger, but end up getting overwhelmed.

On the too much side: the Levellers, the Robespierres etc.

The ability to thread the needle between the "too little, too late" and the "kill them all (the oligarchs and any other "bad" people) and let (insert magical authority here) sort them out" is naive to the extreme.

A revolution is a primordial broth from which strong personalities, luck and societal "character" brings forth something new.

The best survival strategy is to simply not be in it, but it is equally true that a revolution is the best chance for the nobody to become king.

It all depends on what your personal risk/reward ratio is.

But it is 100% true that the idealists die first. FWIW.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 14 2022 16:07 utc | 96


THREAD: The US government's new export controls are wreaking havoc on China's chip industry.
New rules around "US persons" are driving an "industry-wide decapitation."

https://twitter.com/jordanschnyc/status/1580889341265469440


If true, this brings the economic war of the US against China an the ROW to a new level.

Posted by: clayt0n | Oct 14 2022 16:09 utc | 97

@ Tom Pfotzer | Oct 14 2022 15:35 utc | 94 who wants to build a new world instead of beating on the old one.

I agree and have tried that here a few times over the years to no avail. I think that for most people to consider doing such is a step too far for comfort.

I keep beating on the public/private finance narrative because of the effects that it has on the social incentives and control issues. The West needs bottom up public policy planning like China but that won't happen with any effect until the levers of finance are under public control.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 14 2022 16:27 utc | 98

BM @84

"2) It is known that the 007 flight set out on a massively wrong bearing (25 degrees) for over 5 hours, made no effort to correct it, appeared to be totally oblivious of their position, and totally oblivious of the wrong course. It is seriously incomprehensible that the crew were unaware of this for over 5 hours and were hundreds of kilometers from their intended course."

Both formerly secret Soviet Union and US archives on the matter have become public until 2018. There is various books written on a basis of these official records. Nothing exciting nor mysteries remain. The Soviet records especially were very clear and detailed what happened.

The Soviet records on statements of the flight 007 captain very clearly explain why the pilot ended up where they ended up, and described also various attempts to change the course. The problem with flight signal towers took the flight onto wrong course at the beginning.

"3) It is known that the flight was tracked at multiple points by US military radar, in some cases hundreds of km from its proper course."

The nearest radar before entering to USSR airspace was civilian aviation radar and radio station at the Rovaniemi airport in Finland. The Rovaniemi airport heard the radio calls of the flight, which stated clearly that they had lost their way. The flight was already then in the USSR airspace.

"5) It is known that the US military destroyed their radar records of the flight (or at least alleged they had done so) within 30 hours after the flight."

The flight route is available from the Soviet records. Nothing extraordinary there. Route follows the logic of radio calls by the crew.

"7) It is known that KAL007 flew hundreds of km into Soviet airspace, and that it flew directly into a Soviet military prohibited airspace zone on the Kamchatka Peninsula."

It is also known that Norwegian and Finnish authorities followed the flight before it entered to USSR airspace. The flight was already communicating being lost but did not receive radio messges that were sent to it. Upon entering to USSR airspace, soviet MIG fighter flew next to the plane. MIG failed to follow the internationally agreed manoeuvers to indicate the KAL007 properly its request to follow the lead and land, for which reason 007 continued without changing its course. MIG was running out of fuel and had no other choice but to shoot 007.

"8) It is known that the US had a Boeing RC-135 spy plane was operating close by, that the path of the RC-135 CROSSED that of KAL007, and that the US withheld news of the RC-135 presence from investigations, until revealed by the Soviets."

This was revealed by the same Soviet documents that reveal also all that I wrote above.

"9) It is known that the US, after the shoot-down, aggressively inflated the propaganda against the Soviet actions, much as they are doing today concerning Ukraine, and in direct contrast to their response to the shoot-down of Iran Air 655."

It was the cold war. Propaganda was the way of life on both sides. As it is again in case of Ukraine.

"10) It is known that the Soviets were convinced the aircraft was a US spy plane."

Not true. The Soviet documents state clearly that the first MIG could not establish proper visual to 007 but shot it before having to return to base for running out of fuel. 007 pilot was Korean war veteran pilot and managed to keep the flight in the air despite of loosing the end of left wing. The flight turned towards Finland.

The second MIG that found 007 saw civilian passengers inside the plane, recognised the flight number and nationality and the fighter pilot reported that to commanders, stating clearly that the flight is civilian. At this stage the flight already had taken a turn to head airspace of Finland which was only about 6 minutes away.

USSR had lost its face just recently with another incident in which Finnish flight school plane had lost its way and had flown hundreds of kilometers into Murmansk airspace, landed into military airfield thinking that they had landed in Sweden, filled their tanks form canister on the military airfield strip, then took-off while waving good bye to soldiers who waved back at them, then flew another hour plus before having to land into wilderness after running out of fuel again.

Due to this previous event, the USSR commaner responsible for the Murmask airspace could not afford 007 to reach out of Soviet airspace. He would have been court-martialed. The MIG pilot was given an order to shoot down 007 which the pilot refused and repeated that its civilian aircraft. The pilot instead forced 007 to land on the frozen lake. It was only to the extraordinary skills of 007 pilot that he managed to lamd the flight on the frozen lake without breaking the ice. If the ice had broken, the plane would have been destroyed. The site was only some 150km from border of Finland in the USSR. All this is clearly reported and archived in USSR archives, open for researchers today.

"11) In my opinion the entire sequence of events was planned and executed by the US to force the Soviets to shoot down the Korean flight KAL 007, by setting up the RC-135 flight path, taking control of the KAL007 aircraft from after takeoff from Anchorage - including instrument displays, and forcing the large deviation from its planned flight path for over 5 hours, causing the crew to have no worries by falsifying the instrument readings.

If this is true, then it is probably also true that the missile damage to the plane was not as serious as adduced by the ICAO report; in particular the 3 hydraulic systems alleged to habe been destroyed were not in fact necessarily destroyed, because they could have been under the sole remote controle of Boeing. Thus is is probable that the rather strange pattern of the flight path after being hit was also controlled by the US, right up to and including the final spin into the sea. Whereby it can be assumed that the US would try to ensure that the final crash was in international waters; nevertheless there is some reason to believe the Soviets may have used trawlers to quickly pull the wreckage inside their territorial waters."

It is not true. This is all fantasy. You should study soviet archives.

Posted by: Tigger | Oct 14 2022 16:58 utc | 99

As Jim Morrison of the Doors wrote and sang in “Wild Child”:

With hunger at her heels
And freedom in her eyes
She dances on her knees
Pirate prince at her side
Staring into
The hollow idol’s eye

The “she” is the world. Hunger represents the poverty of most of the people, freedom their recently-inculcated aspiration for liberation. But she dances on her knees in thrall to imperialism, the pirate prince being the dominance and rapacity of the colonial masters, while the world stares into the hollow idol of materialism and material betterment. The staring symbolizes the blind belief in materialism’s salvific quality, which is illusory and can never offer any kind of ultimate salvation or satisfaction.

Posted by: Cabe | Oct 14 2022 17:02 utc | 100

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