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October 16, 2022
The MoA Week In Review – (Not Ukraine) OT 2022-175

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

—
Other issues:

China:

Germany – China:

> [Economy Minister] Habeck promised to continue the dialogue with the business community and another meeting has been arranged for the first quarter next year, the two people said. "He has a steep learning curve, he is very open," one of them said. "The problem is that he is starting right at the bottom." <

Haiti:

Aaron Maté @aaronjmate – 0:24 UTC · Oct 16, 2022
Haiti is the first free country in this hemisphere, borne out of a slave revolt. For two centuries, it's been rewarded for that contribution to humankind with pillage, coups, destabilization, and military occupation from France, US, and their Western junior partners.

Miami Herald @MiamiHerald – Oct 15
Exclusive: U.S. will support sending ‘multinational rapid action force’ to Haiti

“Western” hostility to Haiti’s legacy of liberation is so entrenched that a French ambassador admitted that it factored in their 2004 coup of President Aristide, who dared to ask France to pay reparations for looting Haiti as the “price” of its freedom in 1804:

Keane Bhatt @KeaneBhatt -  May 21
A major revelation buried deep within this excellent historical overview: France’s then-ambassador admits on the record that the U.S. and France orchestrated a coup against Haiti’s elected president in 2004
The Root of Haiti’s Misery: Reparations to Enslavers

Prosecution Futures:

Use as open (NOT Ukraine) thread …

Posted by b on October 16, 2022 at 11:54 UTC | Permalink
Comments

So the Global South is “at risk” of choosing China/Russia over the US? Michael Hudson talking about a sovereign debt crisis this year? Strong Dollar and Global Dollar Shortage makes paying IMF and World Bank debts impossible for poor Nations? Well, the west has this covered – climate change makes miracles happen:
NYTIMES: 20 Nations at High Risk From Global Warming Might Halt Debt Payments –
The countries want their collective $685 billion in debts forgiven so the money can be invested in climate projects.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/climate/climate-disasters-poor-nations-iimf.html
Who is it? I guess it’s these (actually 55) Nations:
https://www.v-20.org/members
I cannot stop laughing. Western leaders are clowns but whoever is running this show sure isn’t.

Posted by: Turandot | Oct 18 2022 22:20 utc | 201

Wow at posters I think of as genuine getting caught up with c1ue, scorpion and nemesis?!?!
c1ue posts too much. Way too much. And it is always the same shit. Often ruins threads with spam. Very likely a paid shill.
Scorpion has all the typical right-wing prepper blind spots (and is posting too frequently at present but iirc doesn’t usually spam this much).
Nemesis has one punch line: Jews. Maybe he is sincere, but his blind spot is particularly ugly and well known.
So many threads are degraded by repetitive bullshit, please don’t feed people who are not genuinely looking for discussion.

Posted by: Rae | Oct 18 2022 23:02 utc | 202

@ bevin | Oct 18 2022 20:46 utc | 200 with the Doctorow link…thanks
Lets repeat it because I agree with its importance
Saudi Arabia and de-dollarization: today’s interview on Press TV, Iran

In today’s brief live interview on Press TV, I was given the opportunity to evaluate the newly announced decision of the Saudis to exclude representatives of the U.S. Government from their annual investment conference planned for the 25th of this month. I place this decision in the broader context of Saudi and the Gulf States’ realignment these past several months away from the global hegemon that has been their traditional security guarantor and towards partnership with Russia in creation of a multi-polar world.
The counterpart of this new Saudi policy is de-dollarization. Given the historic role of the Petrodollar going back to the 1970s in securing the dollar’s position as global reserve currency, the implications of a shift to bilateral petroleum trading in local currencies by the Saudis holds great importance for compelling the world’s biggest debtor to start paying for its wars and other extravagances from its own pocket and not from the pockets of the Rest of the World. This process may now move much more quickly than American financial analysts have assumed.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 18 2022 23:34 utc | 203

Australia has lost its sovereignty and decision making capacity:
https://johnmenadue.com/paul-keating-has-warned-us-that-our-strategic-sovereignty-is-being-outsourced-to-another-country-the-us/
This will not end well.

Posted by: Paul GV | Oct 19 2022 0:09 utc | 204

Are the Saudis the first of the rats to flee the sinking ship? Indeed, that would be a golden feather in the Russia/China multipolar cap. A seismic avalanche in defections from the mafia protection racket will follow. Back in the summer, we heard that KSA, Turkey and Egypt formally approached BRICS for membership. Following a recent state visit to KSA, Ramaphosa revealed that Crown Prince (er PM cough cough) MBS was in earnest. South Africa will host BRICS rotating presidency next year where bids for membership will be discussed and answered.

Posted by: Jun | Oct 19 2022 0:40 utc | 205

Thanks for the excellent news about the Saudis from multiple comments. They are the type of people you don’t stab in the back.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 19 2022 0:54 utc | 206

On Credit Suisse

On September 28, Risk.net named Credit Suisse the “Credit Derivatives House of the Year.” Three businesses days later, Credit Suisse saw its own Credit Default Swaps blow out to more than 300 basis points and some of its own bonds trade at 63 cents on the dollar. Simultaneously, its shares traded at an intraday low of $3.70 in New York on October 3, closing at $4.01, and putting it in crisis management mode.
On the same day that its stock, bonds and Credit Default Swaps were exhibiting severe stress, Reuters decided to run an article in the early afternoon reminiscing on the serial scandals that have plagued the global bank: words like “cocaine,” “kickbacks,” “fraud,” and “spying,” reminded investment managers of just how voluminous and varied Credit Suisse’s scandals had been of late.
Losing billions of dollars on derivatives and being scandalized in news headlines is apparently no barrier to getting an award from Risk.net.

This reads so much like the 2007 to 2008 ‘incident’.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 19 2022 2:14 utc | 207

I am shocked at Mike Whitney’s new article at unz detailing the atomic bomb just dropped by America on the Chinese semiconductor industry. Here is the read.
It seems as though Whitney has really jumped the shark with this one. The question that arises through his piece is about globalization and whether “economic integration” which seems to be its euphemism these days, is a boon for humanity.
It does not need to be repeated what globalism has done for my country, the U.S. or Europe under the E.U.. It has been an utter travesty of justice.
One commenter replying to the piece says that looking at the nefarious ploy of the U.S. to sabotage China’s industry, has on its flip side the potential to reinvorgate American manufacturing.
So, in this way, I as an anti-globalist who has seen the wreckage done to the U.S. in the last forty years am genuinely impressed with the Biden admin for this action. But I still want NATO disbanded, the E.U. destroyed and normal relations with Russia restored.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 19 2022 3:08 utc | 208

Addendum:
Could this decision by the U.S. force China’s hand to covet full integration with Taiwan even more.
Boy, Uncle Sambo sure is a SOB. I am genuinely sorry that these grotesque global elites are using my country as a golem.
I hope China can make it without taking the bait.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Oct 19 2022 3:19 utc | 209

Concrete outcomes are actionable – yakety about “4 pillars” is not.
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 18 2022 16:01 utc | 188
Hi, thanks for the reply, maybe not your cup of tea, which is fine, but yeah all those things you listed are probably apart of/will play a role going forward, they already are I think.
You’d need to dig a bit deeper to understand what Nate means by the great simplification though. Similar to the limits to growth ideas. It’s not defined in the linked article comment. Others might relate better to it though, as it’s kind of complex as it integrates all kinds of different issues not usually considered / known to be directly connected. It’s about a different/more healthy rational way of looking at the world and ourselves.
A good intro summary in this free ebook by Nate – eg How to think about Reality, is where it starts.
– Reality Blind – Integrating the Systems Science Underpinning Our Collective Futures –
“Humans are reaching the end of the carbon pulse. Now we face a time of change that requires a quality of “systems thinking” and future planning never before required of our species.”
https://read.realityblind.world/view/975731937/i/
Each person community region etc will need to decide for themselves how they will “act” – Nate only outlines what unavoidably confronts humanity – he doesn’t claim to know how to “fix it” or what to after things unravel. It’s not for everyone. But for those who will ‘get it’ it’s a pretty good stuff although very depressing.

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 19 2022 3:37 utc | 210

Posted by: Rae | Oct 18 2022 23:02 utc | 202
Thanks Rae for saying that.
It’s so obvious and obnoxious and yes, it’s not just this thread.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Oct 19 2022 3:45 utc | 211

Re my #207
Here is the link at Wall Street on Parade
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2022/10/three-business-days-after-credit-suisse-was-named-credit-derivatives-house-of-the-year-its-own-credit-derivatives-blew-out/

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Oct 19 2022 3:55 utc | 212

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 18 2022 16:01 utc | 188
“Energy is very different for Americans vs. Europeans. America has the full capability of continuing to subsidize energy; the Europeans, not so much.
Credit: Credit is always going to be available. What is going on now is simply a pullback – it isn’t going to disappear and all fiat be replaced by a gold standard no matter what the gold bugs wet dream about.”
All good points. I get it. But the rhetorical questions which arise are: “Continuing” for how long? And how long is “always” going to be for?
Here is an example of how Nate (ex-OilDrum contributor) addresses both those issues: Draining America First see the page https://read.realityblind.world/view/975731937/280/

The above graph highlights this juxtaposition of stories told in our culture.
The two graphs are identical histories of the last 120 years of oil production
in the USA. The graph on the left is the one used by the energy optimists
to tell the story that the United States used ingenuity and technology to
surpass Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s largest oil producer;
that we are energy independent, and there are no energy shortages on the
foreseeable horizon. Indeed we will become an important energy exporter.
The (same) graph on the right tells a different story. The conventional
crude oil in the lower 48 states peaked in 1970. We supplemented that by
adding oil from the North Slope of Alaska and then drilled under the ocean
in the Gulf of Mexico. All those provinces are well past peak and into
decline – so we recently used drilled horizontal wells and fracturing
technology to access the source rock (from which all other oil originated),
shown in the red as tight oil in the shale formations. This oil depletes
rapidly, up to 90% in the first three years after a well is drilled, leading to
the Red Queen phenomenon.
Furthermore, we wouldn’t have been able to access this costly resource
without large additions of debt – both the shale companies themselves
accessing Wall Street debt markets, and society as a whole leaning on
central banks to lower interest rates and lubricate credit markets. From a
biophysical perspective however, using credit doesn’t create (much) new
energy resource, but functions as a larger straw, pulling resource
consumption forward in time.

The same applies to American Gas fields. I think this is a good example of how Nate focuses on “how to look at reality”, eg everything is interconnected & systems matter more than anything, versus meekly accepting how it is always being sold to us as.
Oil used to be $5 a barrel. Cheap as. Yet, contrary to popular belief, the more expensive Oil has become the more we use and the faster we deplete the reserves and the more cheap Credit is made available to drill for even more. At $100 a barrel Oil is still dirt cheap. We know this because we are using more Oil today than ever before, because it’s so Cheap. What happens if/when the Price goes to $400 per barrel?

What society can and can’t do with oil depends on the financial and energetic cost, and as those costs rise, current levels of consumption will become increasingly difficult to sustain.
Yes, you conflate price and cost. But the bigger issue is you also conflate worth. The price is what it sells for, and the cost is what it takes to wrest it from the Earth, refine and transport. But the worth is the high man-hour labor equivalent. Oil has always sold for far less than its potential energy is worth to your culture – Thousands of times less for what it could accomplish for a sapient species.
It’s a bit like a man who inherits a rare coin collection, and then uses the
gold coins in a soda machine since they were free to him anyway. Earth ’s
consumers are confusing price and cost. Earth’s leaders are confusing price
and worth.
The Bottom Line: There’s the price the economic system can afford
for oil, and the financial cost to extract and produce it. They may be
very different. And they both ignore the inherent real worth of oil.

What is fossil energy ‘worth’?
Most of the labor done in the global economy is not done by humans at all but by fossil coal, oil, and natural gas, and it’s done thousands of times cheaper. At 4.5 years of Human Labour per Barrel of Oil equivalent and 105 billion barrels per year of coal oil and natural gas being consumed, human economies are currently supported by a fossil army equivalent to 500 Billion human workers (or about 100 times the amount done by human workers).
see chapter https://read.realityblind.world/view/975731937/184/
Sooner or later most of that Oil and Gas is going to run out and/or become inaccessible to society. The above also explains in part why it is the ex-colonial global south is still impoverished. It’s not because they are stupid or incompetent. It is because they have been intentionally kept dis-empowered by the West and it’s subservient chattels.
anyone curious could also see people like https://twitter.com/jasonhickel and https://citationsneeded.medium.com/episode-58-the-neoliberal-optimism-industry-and-development-shaming-the-global-south-cf399e88510e and people like Ugo Bardi https://cassandralegacy.blogspot.com/2018/10/why-economists-cant-understand-complex.html and of course Steven Keen …. all different but all seeing the same causation and the same near futures.
Unfortunately none can compete with the propaganda octopus put out by the neoliberal/neocon driven industrial techno-media complex

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 19 2022 5:09 utc | 213

@uncle tungsten | Oct 19 2022 2:14 utc | 207
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/swiss-national-bank-makes-another-large-draw-fed-swap-line-2022-10-13/

Posted by: too scents | Oct 19 2022 5:29 utc | 214

Some here may find the following articles / perspectives useful (or not)
October 1, 2022
Europe: How to Become Poor Peasants Again
All wars are wars for resources and, in modern times, they have been mostly for the resources that make the very existence of our civilization possible: fossil fuels. We all know how during WWII the attempt of the Germans to subdue the Soviet Union failed when they could not take control of the oil resources of the Caucasus. More recently, after President Carter declared that the oil resources of the Middle East are a “vital interest” for the United States (the “Carter Doctrine”), no one was surprised by the numerous wars and bombing campaigns waged by the US in the region.
Sometimes, though, the role of fossil fuels in wars is more subtle than just someone trying to steal someone else’s resources. Wars may not be a question of scarcity, but of abundance. That may be the case of the war in Ukraine that we can interpret as a direct result of the impact of “fracking” in the United States. During the past 10 years or so, the development of fracking led to a reversal of the static or declining production trend of fossil fuels that had been ongoing in the US for about 40 years.
https://www.senecaeffect.com/2022/10/europe-how-to-become-poor-peasants-again.html
February 13, 2022
How we Became What we Despised. Turning the West into a New Soviet Union
https://www.senecaeffect.com/2022/02/how-we-became-what-we-used-to-despise.html
August 28, 2011
The Seneca Effect: why decline is faster than growth
https://www.senecaeffect.com/2015/11/the-seneca-effect-why-decline-is-faster.html
And so it is:
“Every civilization carries the seeds of its own destruction, and the same cycle shows in them all. The Republic is born, flourishes, decays into plutocracy, and is captured by the shoemaker whom the mercenaries and millionaires make into a king. The people invent their oppressors, and the oppressors serve the function for which they are invented.” -Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 19 2022 5:46 utc | 215

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 19 2022 5:46 utc | 214

“The people invent their oppressors, and the oppressors serve the function for which they are invented.”

In this case, Europe must be impoverished and an underclass of peasants created to serve as footsoldiers of empire.
The Anglo-Zionist Empire does not have enough dumbed down, desperate and compliant meatbags to fuel it’s ambitions.

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Oct 19 2022 5:51 utc | 216

PS
imho, the US will never be able to replace the Gas supply that Russia used to provide to Europe/Germany. But they will keep getting very rich on what little they do ship over there and to the rest of the global market.
Europe, NATO, the EU is now stuck solid between a rock and a hard place. But imo this will all ‘blow back’ onto the USA soon enough and without fail. And it will not be pretty for the Americans, the Anglo-Saxons, the G7, nor the Five Eyes+1 nations. It is not the 1970s anymore.

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 19 2022 6:13 utc | 217

Oh there are other possibilities.
The US wins the battle of Ukraine and manages a Coup to get rid of the Putin cliche to then Bantustan Russia into several new nations (duly voted for by the people of course!) …. then the oil and gas, timber, grain, fertilizer and minerals will begin flowing back to Europe and world immediately “under new management” being predominantly US/UK multinationals.
And it will all be cheap as dirt but sold in USD! And the global economy will boom … except in China who will quickly have to confront a major lack of energy supply.
Only time will tell how this game ends.

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 19 2022 6:45 utc | 218

This is truly impressive!! Look at minute 3:45. It is there! The Seneca curve! Generated by an early dynamic model called “World1”. And the peak is in 2020!!!
1973 Computer model predicts the end of civilisation in 2020
see 10 mins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCxPOqwCr1I
Australia’s largest computer predicted trends such as pollution levels, population growth, availability of natural resources and quality of life on earth. ABC’s This Day Tonight aired this story on 9 November, 1973.
Ugo Bardi goes on to say:
Among other things it is another demonstration that simple models are always better than complicated models. The more parameters you put into a model, the easier you are misled. The series of “WorldX” models of the 1970s was already more than sufficient to outline the path of the world system for the next 50 years.
Ukraine 2014-2022 being but another symptom and not the cause or the cure.

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 19 2022 7:36 utc | 219

Today I began to watch the first part of the new Adam Curtis documentary “TraumaZone”, a BBC production as nearly all of Curtis’ docos are, I was wary because the BBC cannot be trusted to make any TV show much less one that is allegedly based on facts as documentaries are meant to be, without intrusive, frequently blatant editorialising in favour of what ever lies the current english government is peddling. So far I have only watched the first episode (by using a vpn & bbc iview) which covers the period 1985 to 1989. I guess what the BBC calls the collapse of communism. It starts with Gorbachev’s inauguration.
I’m not going to get into this obvious fallacy; that by the time Gorbachev was made politician in charge centralisation combined with the circumstances enacted after WW2 necessary to recover from a conflict that destroyed so much of the USSR but which play it safe pols had kept on long past their use-by-date, the USSR had little to do with communism much less socialism, that the structure of society had degraded into state capitalism rusted out by corruption as I would rather examine the methods the bbc has used to turn their footage of a society which saved the west from naziism into a deliberately evil pariah state so as to bolster the BBC’s propaganda about the people of Russia 3 or 4 decades after this footage was shot.
We were told that this doco would be unique in that it would have no voice-over. Curtis’ work is notorious for Curtis’ own narration. His supercilious to the point of condecesion attitude which is full of glib spiel, backed with arcane quotations always makes his work watchable even if one disagrees with his conclusion – lacking that what could be worth watching in a work free of it?
Still the premise seemed interesting, a series of films made from to the thousands of hours of video shot by the BBC Russia outpost in the years 1985 to 1999 detailing the collapse of the USSR and the decade of misery Russians suffered up until the election of the V Putin administration.
What I wasn’t prepared for was that although there was zilch narration there are many entirely subjective, unsupported by evidence captions which do play with truth as well as perception. In addition editing plays a big role by alternating seemingly disparate scenes in an effort to insinuate an entirely specious point of view.
Part of episode 1 features the Togliatti car plant. According to the captions, on taking office as leader Gorbachov was told that communism was collapsing because of incompetence & corruption. We are then told that the introduction of perestroika allowed decision making to be handed down to factory managers. However these managers decided there was no saving the factory so they stole completed vehicles and sold them to gangster mobs.
If true the logical solution should have been to involve staff (all of whom when shown were working with dedication) in the factoty decision making.
However like all politicians ‘Gorby’ reinforced the system which had rewarded himself so well. He conned & politicked his way to the top of thee thabks to upper-middle Party managers, therefore Gorbachev handed power to them completely ignoring the rampant corruption which slithered in & established itself during the Breznev era. The types who power was handed to were the very types who had brought the USSR to the brink of collapse. Like amerika now most of the so called leaders were old and out of touch who only accepted younger people who shared the same points of view as the old hacks.
Of all the leaders of the USSR Gorbachev was the worst. He was an expert political manipulator who could play the politics game as good as someone like Nancy Pelosi and like her he had no real principles.
All the previous leaders had been around in the Stalin years & understood at a basic level that as hard as Stalin could be, he was a true believer in socialist principles who died almost as materially impoverished as he was when he was born.
I’ve only watched part of the series of 7 films as it is hard to watch people getting so screwed by local crims and international gangsters, the parts are in chronological order beginning with Gorbachev’s inauguration.
I’ve put ’em where you can access them if you wish cos Brits can watch it on iplayer for free but I dunno how available it is anywhere else.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven

Posted by: Debsisdead | Oct 19 2022 7:48 utc | 220

@Rae #202
All I’m hearing is wah wah wah – someone has information to post that I don’t like.
If you don’t like it – don’t read it.
Otherwise, fuck off with your bullshit.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 15:40 utc | 221

oh good, now I’m banned on some sites on Vox Media for exposing bullshit about Ukraine. I wasn’t even that inflamatory, just posed easily verifiable historical facts like NATO is run by the US, in response to articles shilling for the war. these politically correct moderator weasels are everywhere these days.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 19 2022 15:46 utc | 222

@SeanAU #212
You said

“Continuing” for how long? And how long is “always” going to be for?

In the long run, we are all dead. Not the least bit clear what the point of your questions are, particularly since they are value judgements – hence question that should be answered by societal consensus. Do we prioritize suffering today for increased prosperity tomorrow? What do we prioritize now vs in the future?
Philosophical yakety is a waste on time on societal consensus functions.

Draining America First

The United States has chosen a highly distributed/low density, private-car transport societal model. This model isn’t going to change any time soon nor without a literally tyrannical government effort a la Pol Pot. I don’t see the point at all of bemoaning past choices and present structure when it is literally already done.
The United States has drilled for its peak cheap conventional oil because it was the first to discover oil drilling and the leader in making use of the abundant cheap energy provided by oil. The United States has also been a leader in developing new technologies and capabilities to extract oil, and other fossil fuels, from previously uneconomic sources.
But Nate’s “analysis” is junk because he fails to understand a basic tenet of economics: so long as there is an iota of incremental economic benefit, a resource is going to get extracted and used. Even at today’s prices – gasoline is only slightly more expensive than milk. Cheaper than organic milk.
From my perspective – cheap oil prices drive up demand. Demand consumes supply. Suppliers seek more supply, and if they cannot get it economically at previous costs, increase prices. The problem solves itself in the long run.
Nor is this just theory: prior to the discovery of oil, whale blubber rendered into oil was a major resource. Whalers out of the “green” NorthEast scoured every greater distances from New England in search of whales to shoot, kill and melt down their fat. They had gotten literally to the point of 2 year voyages at which time the whole pyramid collapsed.
The Dutch did something similar with peat: the Pax Netherlandia – a brief period between the Spanish unipolar era and Pax Brittanica – was heavily based on burning peat for energy. Burning peat revolutionized ceramics, sugar refining, etc – but peat is a limited resource. The Dutch crafted ever more ingenious methods to extract peat including sub-water level peat mining – I’ve seen field where this was done that are now mini ponds. Eventually it just became unsustainable – plus the Brits (and steam engines) discovered coal and took over.
So unless a cheaper, better source of energy is discovered – we’re going to have fossil fuels until the day when the cost of obtaining and using it is higher than anything else. And it ain’t gonna stop until then.

Sooner or later most of that Oil and Gas is going to run out and/or become inaccessible to society.

So isn’t that a self-solving problem?
I am not seeing any shortcuts or workarounds here, nor anything else actionable.

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 15:56 utc | 223

Average cost of charging an EV now higher than driving on diesel or petrol in the UK.
Electric Charging Infrastructure UK – parkers.co.uk

Audi Q5 (2.0 TFSI petrol) vs E-Tron
Petrol takes you 46 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 35 miles
BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe (420d) vs i4
Diesel takes you 73 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 44 miles
Citroen C4 (110hp diesel) vs e-C4
Diesel takes you 84 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 59 miles
Mercedes-Benz GLA (2.0 petrol) vs EQA
Petrol takes you 43 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 52 miles
Peugeot 208 (110hp diesel) vs e-208
Diesel takes you 89 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 56 miles
Vauxhall Mokka (110hp diesel) vs Vauxhall Mokka-e
Diesel takes you 80 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 50 miles

Note Parkers made a specific effort to use identical make/model cars but petrol/diesel vs. electric to show better equivalency. All that is missing are the relative prices of the petrol/diesel models vs. the EVs.
For the Vauxhall models – the difference is considerable:
Vauxhall Mokka-e press release

The new Vauxhall Mokka e is on sale now. The standard petrol-powered model costs from £20,735 while the Mokke e electric car will set you back from £30,840 – that’s taking into account the £3,000 Government plug-in car grant.

50% higher price AND more expensive to refuel. So much winning…

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 16:04 utc | 224

Germany Facing Retail Collapse – Der Spiegel via RT

Retail turnover in Germany started to decrease in August. According to the Federal Statistical Office, sales in real terms fell by 1.3% compared to July, and by 4.3% versus August 2021. Food sales were down 1.7% from July and 3.1% year-on-year, reaching their lowest level since 2017. Textiles and shoes, household appliances, and construction supplies were other segments seeing a decline in sales.

This is not good. While Germany is less dependent on consumer spending for GDP than the US, it is still a big part: 51.9% vs. 68.2% (US).

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 16:08 utc | 225

@pretzelattack #222
Sad but that’s the way of the Western world: the banhammer for deviating one iota from the elite line.
While we disagree on many things, I believe we agree that freedom of expression is a fundamental tenet of Western democracy.
So where does the banhammering leave us?

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 16:10 utc | 226

Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 16:10 utc | 226
gagged with a sock and tied up in the basement, is what it feels like. I’m sure I’m on some lists, somewhere, in the bowels of the state apparatus, along with many other people (yourself included), to deal with after the war is over. I don’t want to exaggerate, but it’s getting like the 50’s, or the Wilson administration. I’m sure this blog is specifically targeted by the Integrity Initiative, CIA etc.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Oct 19 2022 16:20 utc | 227

c1ue has posted ~6247 words in ~42 posts to this thread. Many of them in quick succession.
Genuine discussion killed. Thread killed. Again.
Why do you tolerate this, b? People have been banned for much less. And you don’t even have to ban him, just limit to some kind of reasonable posts per thread. We will probably never know the motivations of most people here – but posting that much is clearly spam with bad intentions.

Posted by: Rae | Oct 19 2022 20:24 utc | 228

In response to
”
c1ue has posted ~6247 words in ~42 posts to this thread. Many of them in quick succession.
Genuine discussion killed. Thread killed. Again.
Why do you tolerate this, b? People have been banned for much less. And you don’t even have to ban him, just limit to some kind of reasonable posts per thread. We will probably never know the motivations of most people here – but posting that much is clearly spam with bad intentions.
Posted by: Rae | Oct 19 2022 20:24 utc | 228
”
I chose not to respond to usual ignorance that c1ue displayed about Isaac Asimov in this thread.
I have noticed that c1ue and Scorpion, another textual vomitorium about the grace of monarchy and how China is anti-spiritual, are complimenting each other….grin
I think b mostly does a good job keeping the MoA bar civil and that is more important to me than range of opinion. That said, why not set a limit of comments per thread and manage it appropriately? I like the idea and see its useful applicability these days….thanks for the suggestion.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 19 2022 20:44 utc | 229

The “Daily Fail” Propaganda trash strikes again with the usual 2% mixed well with lies complete fiction and the usual BS.
Shock/horror headline “Thirty former RAF pilots are paid £250,000 each to train Chinese to shoot down Western aircraft in possible threat to national security”! Dated Thursday, October 20th, 2022. Clearly a very slow news day!! 🙁
In reality, the major Chinese commercial airlines have been on a hiring binge since 2016(source “Strait Times, etc”. Since the country has hired up to 100 foreign native “English Speaking” pilots. Complete with healthy bonuses and three-year standard contracts. A subclause of a stand down without pay should there be an unprecedented slowdown in daily flight hours. As per SARS-COVID-19 Pandemic.2019-2022.
To no one’s surprise, this trash propaganda has gone viral with the Yankee/CIA controlled Western Corporate media “FAUX Hate the RED Chinese”! The new “Bogeyman”, after the alleged evil “Russian Federation”.
Who needs more clickbait wanker full-on “Furphy” based powered poopaganda anyway?
In other news two years ago “How Asian Airlines Make Money After Paying Pilots $500,000?” link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQnGyxTujPk
That which is too good to be true 2% poopaganda, usually is!

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 19 2022 20:59 utc | 230

@pretzelattack #222
In other news:

Matt Orfalea @0rf – 16:20 UTC · Oct 19, 2022
INSANE: YT deleted this podcast for “misinformation” bc @mtaibbi & @scotthortonshow discussed YT’s suppression of my vid on Democrats claiming the 2016 election was illegitimate. Neither they nor I ever made any claims of election fraud. See for yourself! (1/4)

Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi – 16:50 UTC · Oct 18, 2022
So, YouTube demonetized a video made by @0rf, then reversed its decision, then demonetized a second video. Now an interview I gave mentioning all this with ⁦@scotthortonshow⁩ has been shut down. ⁦@TeamYouTube⁩ what’s going on? libertarianinstitute.org/blo…

Posted by: S | Oct 19 2022 21:47 utc | 231

Interesting
Alas, for “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” ‘DJT’ legal woes just keep on growing. A long-running defamation case. One where ‘DJT’ used every legal trick to defer until the legal expiry date. Has now reappeared, to threaten his “no winner” sorry posterior.
In other news, NEW YORK STATE has passed an amendment to extend the term limit concerning ‘CRIMINAL SEX ASSAULT CASES’.
Will this mean ‘DJT’ cannot run away from his past questionable behavior issues? Can this law change result in an additional new(old) more serious criminal case before 2024?
Is ‘DJT’ AmeriKa’s female portion of the population’s worst nightmare? Can a convicted felon campaign from a prison cell? Which way will the female dominated voters vote?

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 20 2022 10:40 utc | 232

@ Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 16:04 utc | 224
Interesting. Only if the world we live in is so simple.
Whilst a carbon-polluting ICE can move people from point a to point b. Only as long as there is adequate toxic petroleum-based fuel to fill the tank. When your Petroleum based filler station is closed. What are you going to do? Run it on peanut oil?
The next major problem with all ICE cars is the annual registration, insurance, maintenance, fools running red lights, drunk drivers, and car depreciation costs. For example, BMW mod 4, when you drive a brand new one off the lot. After three years you have automatically lost 45% of its capital value.
The relatively simple value in calculating fuel consumed from point a to point b. Is not entirely accurate. One should also include all running costs to obtain a more accurate figure. Together with future replacement costs for a good measure as well.
Truth is stranger than fiction – Mark Twain

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Oct 20 2022 11:15 utc | 233

Truss has resigned as Conservative leader and Prime Minister

Posted by: Ranelagh | Oct 20 2022 12:47 utc | 234

Well, it’s a sign of the magnitude of the events happening in the world right now: Dominic Barton gave a 20 min exclusive interview with Canada’s BNN Bloomberg.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/video/dominic-barton-on-role-as-former-ambassador-transition-to-rio-tinto~2546217
Barton is Chair of the Board of Directors for RioTinto. Prior to that, he was Canada’s Ambassador to China (during the Meng Wanzhou saga). Prior to that he was Global Managing Director at McKinsey & Company.

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Oct 20 2022 15:55 utc | 235

RT has a story up predicting a third Palestinian infitada will happen soon and may already be underway. If it does happen it would present an ideal opportunity for Iran, Hezbollah and Syria to make an all-out attack against Israel. If Iran actually sent drones to Russia and maybe got some hypersonic missiles in trade, then Iran would have a powerful, undefensible weapon to turn on Israel.
https://www.rt.com/news/564555-third-palestinian-intifada/

Posted by: Chas | Oct 20 2022 15:58 utc | 236

RT has a story up predicting a third Palestinian infitada will happen soon and may already be underway. If it does happen it would present an ideal opportunity for Iran, Hezbollah and Syria to make an all-out attack against Israel. If Iran actually sent drones to Russia and maybe got some hypersonic missiles in trade, then Iran would have a powerful, undefensible weapon to turn on Israel.
https://www.rt.com/news/564555-third-palestinian-intifada/
Posted by: Chas | Oct 20 2022 15:58 utc | 236
While speculative, Iran-Russia cooperation is bound to remain MUCH stronger that before. American strategy (strategery?) of antagonizing everybody at once gives fruits. Israel, on its end, refrains from any weapon supplies to Ukraine… There is some exchange of threats here…

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Oct 20 2022 16:26 utc | 237

I post on this site because my pro-peace position gets me unfriended on Facebook, and shadowbanned on twitter.
I tried to organize a protest against the war in my U.S. hometown. No one came. Zero. It’s rough being someone who is not gung-ho about WWIII in USA today.
What other welcoming communities are there? Gab is dead.

Posted by: GoFast | Oct 20 2022 23:24 utc | 238

another variation on ignoring suffering and resigning oneself to the “fact” of evil’s existence and doing nothing about it. […]
Posted by: Jen | Oct 17 2022 22:38 utc | 147
There is a long tradition of that kind, Greek/Hellenistic philosophical/ethical schools, Stoics, Cynics, Epicureans, tended to shun public involvement and extol personal improvement. In the age when the power was held by war leaders and/or rapacious demagogues, optimism about “doing something about evil’s existence” was hard to justify. Today we are SO MUCH BETTER … or not.
Christianity itself was a strain of Judaism strongly influenced by Stoicism, a dominant philosophy of the time, but not necessarily improving it.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Oct 21 2022 1:30 utc | 239

So isn’t that a self-solving problem?
I am not seeing any shortcuts or workarounds here, nor anything else actionable.
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2022 15:56 utc | 223
Um, yeah. That is the point. Including that it is not only inevitable but unavoidable. There are no workarounds here. And it’s why he calls it the great simplification. Well at least that is my understanding of it. So I don;t know why you appear to be ‘arguing’ about any of what I have said shared. But no big deal my end.

Posted by: SeanAU | Oct 21 2022 1:44 utc | 240

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3196399/chinas-ideology-tsar-wang-huning-tipped-head-national-peoples-congress
An expert in Western culture (majored in French, wrote best-selling America against America after visiting for a while in 1988 time period) is reported to be appointed the National People’s Congress (NPC) Chairman whilst also being one of the few held over in the 7-man top-level committee Politburo about to receive several new members (after retiring several current ones) when Xi’s new term begins at week’s end. Wang is widely credited as being the nation’s most influential philosopher-visionary. Interesting man and a living example of how the Chinese political system moves superior people up the ladder into superior positions. (Some pigs – correctly – are more equal than other pigs even in a socialist-communist country ‘with Chinese characteristics!’).

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 21 2022 1:57 utc | 241

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 19 2022 20:44 utc | 229
Apologies to the bar and psycho – despite his silly attacks on monarchy to get a rise out me! – for excessive posting yesterday. A long drawn out nightmare involving broken down old cars and mechanics which has lasted almost five months now negatively affecting both the pocketbook and a building project took an especially nasty turn a few days ago as a result of which have been more angry than hardly any time in my life. Some of that intense frustration leached over into this forum.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 21 2022 2:00 utc | 242

https://www.revolver.news/2022/05/biden-minster-of-truth-nina-jankowicz-and-the-secret-nato-funded-cabal-to-subvert-western-democracies-using-disinformation-as-cover/
Good piece on deep state sausage making.

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 21 2022 2:43 utc | 243

An expert in Western culture (majored in French, wrote best-selling America against America after visiting for a while in 1988 time period) is reported to be appointed the National People’s Congress (NPC) Chairman whilst also being one of the few held over in the 7-man top-level committee Politburo about to receive several new members (after retiring several current ones) when Xi’s new term begins at week’s end. Wang is widely credited as being the nation’s most influential philosopher-visionary. Interesting man and a living example of how the Chinese political system moves superior people up the ladder into superior positions. (Some pigs – correctly – are more equal than other pigs even in a socialist-communist country ‘with Chinese characteristics!’).
Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 21 2022 1:57 utc | 241
You always manage to find the western backed anti China rags to quote from Scorp. SCMP is one such pile of western shit.
Then to add insult to your ignorance you call the Chinese “pigs” while pretending you are referring to Animal Farm.
Your rhetoric is slimy.

Posted by: K | Oct 21 2022 2:44 utc | 244

nPosted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Oct 16 2022 22:39 utc | 59
Thanks so much,Tom. I’m sending your info to the Indian half of my family. I am NOT going to share it with my Christian friends. They do not need to know.

Posted by: HelenB | Oct 21 2022 2:45 utc | 245

https://www.rt.com/news/564548-tulsi-gabbard-democrat-grift/
Interesting take on Tulsi Gabbard from RT. His opinions is that she is positioning herself to be a news presenter for Fox!
Low and behold I just saw her interviewing Jeffrey Sachs on CNN on the Tulsi Gabbard Show. ??
I don’t follow internal US politics as a rule anymore, this one just jumped out and I thought it might be interesting to some here.

Posted by: K | Oct 21 2022 3:47 utc | 246

@ K | Oct 21 2022 3:47 utc | 247 who wrote about Gabbard
”
Low and behold I just saw her interviewing Jeffrey Sachs on CNN on the Tulsi Gabbard Show. ??
”
Gabbard and Sachs together? Wow…it reminds me of the saying about if you see a train coming just get out in front of it and make it look like a parade….somebody trying to cover their ass and buy off the opposition….sigh

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 21 2022 3:57 utc | 247

“This is a very interesting, and disturbing, find on SARS-CoV-2 origin. See last tweet in thread for link to (near) layman explanation.”
The political circumstances, the fact no host animal has been found, what has come out of Ukraine. Pretty bloody obvious the host was a US petrie dish. Headlines the other day a Boston university had crossed omicron with the original strain and achieved an 80% kill rate in mice.
Time for the US and UK to cease to exist.US sets red lines like Assad using chemical weapons. UK obliges. Same here. Idiots talking up nukes and red lines means UK will oblige. At that point both cesspits cease to exist.
Both Macgregor and Larry Johnson say the clown show are talking about using nukes thinking they caqn defeat Russia in limited nuke war. They are as dumb as the Ukies.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Oct 21 2022 4:45 utc | 248

https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1583395289637220352?cxt=HHwWgMDTnY7orPkrAAAA
Rules based order 80 years? Prior to early 2000’s it was international law. This shit hole wont go the way of nazi Germany, it will simply cease to exist. And the way these idiots have been talking, they will cease to exist very soon.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Oct 21 2022 10:35 utc | 249

On 16 December 2021, the UN adopts a resolution against neo-nazism.
Two countries voted against: USA and Ukraine. In hindsight, this UN resolution could be interpreted as Russia preparing the terrain for an intervention in Ukraine.
Article 107 of the UN Charter refers to the Second World War. One of the aims of Special Military Operation is “denazification” of Ukraine. Given that V. Putin studied law, mentioning “denazification” might not be coincidence, but perhaps a way to leave open the possibility of saying the Russian SMO is under article 107.
Also, there are references that some states consider the word “enemy state” in UN Charter article 107 obsolete. Would this by any chance be the same states that voted “no” on the UN resolution against neo-nazism?

Posted by: Passerby | Oct 21 2022 11:43 utc | 250

From Mike Norman Economics….
you can see in this Government Money Market Mutual fund prospectus that the Fed has created a new govt obligation for USD savers to save in…
They have $20b (fund’s largest holding) in a RRP with the FRBNY at the 3.05% RRP rate:
This is going to go up towards 4% in two weeks then towards 5% in December… 🤑🧟‍♂️🤑🧟‍♂️
This RRP asset has been created as an alternative to a depository account at a system Depository Institution for USD savers because those institutions don’t have a high enough value of regulatory assets to allow these USD balances to be on deposit there… due to the regulatory asset value reduction effects of the Fed’s own policy rate increases themselves…
Rube Goldberg arrangements but it’s still understandable…
My economic research service predicts interest rate increases at every FED meeting through the beginning of 2024….
All to reduce aggregate demand to a level at or below available supply..
Which is basically defying gravity as explained here….
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/10/19/britains-stark-choice-ahead-transformation-or-collapse/
Five years ago, I warned in a study that Europe faces an increasing risk of state failure due to the escalation of interlinked environmental, energy and economic crises – and I found an intriguing pattern: states begin to fail within 15 years of losing their main sources of energy and economic revenue.
Britain’s North Sea Oil production peaked in 1999. Fifteen years later, as its domestic oil production haemorrhaged, fringe right-wing nationalist forces had moved increasingly into the mainstream. They blamed Europe, immigrants, asylum seekers, Muslims and ethnic minorities for Britain’s intractable social and economic crises.
During that period, the quality of the UK’s energy dropped by a third, if not more. In 2000, a year after the UK’s North Sea Oil production peaked, Britain’s ‘energy return on investment’ (EROI) – a ratio capturing the amount of energy used to extract a single unit of energy – was around 9.6. By 2012, this had plummeted to 6.2. This is well below the minimum EROI benchmark of 11 considered necessary to sustain continued economic growth.
What is happening to Britain now is symptomatic of a wider global phenomenon. Its dependence on oil, gas and coal is self-cannibalising. The scientific consensus shows that it is driving us towards climate catastrophe and, at worst, civilisational collapse.
Ditto for the EU….
INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Oct 21 2022 13:19 utc | 251

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