The remnants of the Outlaw US Empire’s Terrorist Foreign Legion in Kurdistan might finally be routed by joint Turkish and Iranian efforts, an action long overdue. Kurdish national aspirations were used and egged on by the Outlaw US Empire to continue its regional destabilization efforts, which will continue until they’re stopped and includes the need for its ousting from Eastern Syria.
What stands as unfinished business in the region must be concluded so the region can finally stabilize, a political process that will still take several years to accomplish given peace but can’t be done without that peace. And yes, there’s a connection between the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the Kurdish-Iraq region, and Afghanistan resulting from 40+ years of meddling by Outlaw US Empire and its Terrorist Foreign Legion that must be confronted by CSTO, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and ultimately the SCO. That regional belt is the last area where the Empire still has the ability to destabilize within Eurasia, and their logistics are provided via Iraq, which means the Empire must be ousted from there to finish the job. Iraqis need to cease being a tool of the Empire and regain their independence. This all sounds like a tall order, but it must be accomplished if the region is to benefit from development.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 23 2022 16:55 utc | 103

Well, well, well.
A recent research study by France’s Ecole de Guerre Economique has found that 97% of the French intelligence services consider America to be the leading threat to French economic interests.
You are under contrôle: French elites privately fear the US and new research explains why
https://www.rt.com/news/566392-good-friends-better-enemies/
When even vassals like France can see that America is the threat, it’s a clear sign that the USA’s propaganda mask as the “Land of the Free” is imploding just like America’s lies about “Iraqi WMDs” or the 2-decade deception called the “War on Terrorism.”
In fact, America will soon have to change the name of French Fries back to Freedom Fries and put France back on its Enemies List. 😉

Posted by: ak74 | Nov 23 2022 17:53 utc | 105

ak74 @106–
Here’s the article that RT based its commentary on.
/////
Meanwhile, flying under the radar is the very good possibility of a nationwide rail workers strike within the Outlaw US Empire as this excellent article details, “Why Costly US Railroad Strike Could Become a Trap for Biden & Dems”. IMO, Congress will attempt to intervene, but events will take an 1877 turn. Use this search term to reveal many related sources for that event–1877 the great strike year.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 23 2022 19:07 utc | 107

picture of the Saint in the book above:
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DmagnMNVeFU/UTyz5DnITfI/AAAAAAAAE8c/q78fRtElaI8/s1600/image.jpg

Posted by: Scorpion | Nov 23 2022 19:20 utc | 109

IRGC: Iranian military advisor assassinated in bombing tied to Israel in Syria

A senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Division has lost his life in a terrorist bombing using an explosive device near the Syrian capital city of Damascus.
The IRGC said in a statement that Colonel Davoud Ja’fari, who served as a military advisor in the war-ravaged Arab country, was killed on Tuesday when a bomb planted by Israeli agents on the side of a road near Damascus went off. …

Posted by: Outraged | Nov 23 2022 20:02 utc | 111

NATO member and American ally, Turkey, just bombed an America-operated training base for Kurdistan militants in Rojava, Syria.
What was the reaction of the Americans to their Turkish ally bombing one of the USA’s own facilities?
Did America bomb Turkey back to the Stone Age as retaliation?
Did America place economic sanctions on Turkey?
Did America warn or threaten Turkey not to do it again?
Did America send a letter to Turkey with a box of chocolates asking Turkey to please, pretty please don’t do something so naughty again?
Nope.
America took it like a bitch.
Is NATO falling apart?
https://thesaker.is/is-nato-falling-apart/

Posted by: ak74 | Nov 23 2022 20:39 utc | 113

circumspect @115–
Thanks for your reply. You provide the reason why I see a repeat of 1877 as very possible. The Canadian Trucker Strike will be their model but on a much wider scale. Labor’s been incensed for a long time, and the very large number of unemployed are incensed too. We shall soon see what happens.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 23 2022 23:36 utc | 115

Iran, Syria, Turkey, backed by Russia vs US in the region. Saudi Arabia heading for SCO and BRICS. Major major changes.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 23 2022 23:54 utc | 117

Outraged @119–
Egypt won’t close the canal–its dependent on the money it earns. An “innocent” blockage would be a different matter.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 24 2022 0:31 utc | 119

Excellent article in ATOL about Xi’s upcoming third term.
https://asiatimes.com/2022/11/why-xi-jinping-will-not-enjoy-his-third-term/

Posted by: Scorpion | Nov 24 2022 1:39 utc | 121

Scorpion | Nov 24 2022 1:39 utc | 122
It is all happening and our propaganda tells us Russia is on the back foot.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 24 2022 2:14 utc | 123

ZH has a posting up with the title
Howls Of Outrage After New York Times Confirms SBF To Speak Alongside Zelenskyy, Yellen
The posting does contain lots of howls about SBF, a few about Yellen but none about Z even though it does include him as one of the howlers.
The shit show continues until it doesn’t and it is funny to see them putting this group of empire puppets together to defend Freedumb and Dumbocracy….Should be Hollywood level entertainment but the posting ended with a tweet from late this afternoon coming from Elon Musk asking “Is this really still happening NYTimes?”

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 24 2022 2:56 utc | 125

The utter chutzpah of VP Harris’ recent trip to former colony of The Philippines demanding more military bases is breathtaking. This WSWS article sums it up nicely:

The Philippines represented a critical foothold for US empire in Asia. It was from Clark airbase and Subic Bay naval base that Washington staged much of its war in Vietnam. American planes launched from the Philippines carpet-bombed Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos.
These military bases, large and vital portions of Philippine territory ruled by the United States, were a standing affront to any semblance of national sovereignty. In 1991, the Philippine Senate voted, by a margin of one, not to the renew the lease.
When the Obama administration launched its Pivot to Asia, it sought by military means to contain and reverse the rising economic power of China. The restoration of bases in the Philippines, so vital to the projection of US military power, was a critical component of these plans. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), concluded in 2014 between the Obama and Benigno Aquino III administrations, was drawn up to restore US military bases to the former colony.
Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, however, and looking to pursue closer economic ties with Beijing, he rejected many of Washington’s most aggressive proposals and threatened to cancel the EDCA. Relations between the US and the Philippines soured.
The new Marcos administration finds itself caught between the United States and China and claims to seek friendly ties with both countries. Such a balancing act is impossible, however, as Washington’s trade war measures and provocations over Taiwan have rendered the entire Asia Pacific region fundamentally unstable.
Looking to secure the loyalty of the Marcos administration, the Biden administration signaled that it would turn a blind eye to his attacks on democratic rights. Marcos Jr. faces over $350 million in charges for contempt of court in the United States in cases associated with his family’s gross violations of human rights. He should have faced subpoena and arrest for criminal contempt on traveling to the United States in September, but the Biden administration arranged for Marcos’ safe travel to New York, where he held a friendly meeting with the US president. The thousands of murdered and tortured Filipinos represented in the legal cases against Marcos Jr. stood in the way of the interests of US imperialism, and Biden coldly buried their rights.
In her visit to the Philippines, Harris carried with her both the arrogant demands of US imperialism and its human rights pretensions. The most critical of Washington’s demands was for additional locations to be granted by the Marcos government for use as US military bases. The Pentagon had selected five locations in the Philippines that it wanted to have and drew up a list of the territory that it was requesting. Harris presented the list to Marcos.
The EDCA deal, which nearly died during the six-year term of Duterte, is a document of unbridled neocolonialism. It is an executive agreement that undermines the constitutional power of the Philippine Senate to supervise any foreign troop presence in the country.
The EDCA grants portions of Philippine territory to the control of the US military, but attempts to maintain the pretense of Philippine sovereignty by authorizing a single Filipino to access the bases upon requesting permission from US officers. All US personnel have extrajudicial immunity from local jurisdiction; they are not subject to Philippine law. Washington pays no rent for the use of bases, and if the US chooses to abandon a base, the Philippine government is required to pay for any “improvements.” Filipino staff working on the base are subject to American policing. There is no limit to the number of military personnel the US may deploy.
Philippine military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro told the press that the areas newly requested by the US under the EDCA included two locations on the Luzon Strait, which separates the Philippines from Taiwan, while the rest bordered the South China Sea. The selections are made in preparation for war with China.
Harris left her meetings with Marcos and Duterte to address a conference on human rights and the rights of women. “Remember,” she told the assembled audience, “you are not alone in your fight for our god-given rights.” She said that she was particularly committed to fighting for the rights of women and girls to live lives free from violence.
Along with the rule of the Catholic Church and the brutal Japanese occupation during World War II, no force wreaked more violence on Filipino women than US imperialism and its military. The bases, whose return Harris is demanding, fostered entire cities at the core of whose economy was the prostitution that serviced tens of thousands of US troops.
The commingled hypocrisy and war-mongering, Washington’s peculiar specialty, reached its apogee the next morning when Harris flew to the island of Palawan. She was the first high-ranking US official to ever travel to the island, which is famed mostly for its jungles and beach resorts. The closest point to the South China Sea, the island is the site of one of the locations that Washington is claiming under the EDCA.
Harris boarded a Philippine Coast Guard vessel, the Teresa Magbanua, and, unaccompanied by any ranking Philippine civilian official, delivered a speech to this branch of the Philippine military as they stood at attention. The vessel was named after a Filipino woman who was a general in the Philippine-American war and led organized guerrilla resistance against the forces of US occupation, but Washington does not let such historical trifles interfere with its ambitions.
“You are on the frontlines,” she told them, “standing up for the international rules-based order.” She made clear whose interests she was summoning them to defend, declaring, “America’s prosperity relies on the billions of dollars that flow through these waters every day.” The United States rejected “China’s expansive South China Sea maritime claims,” she asserted. This was a fight “for national sovereignty.”
What a farce! No other country in the world would dream of acting with the level of audacity and hypocrisy routinely displayed by the United States. Harris had just presented a list of portions of Philippine territory over which the US military proposed to exercise unquestioned rule. As representative of a foreign power, the former colonial ruler, she boarded a vessel of the Philippine armed forces and addressed the assembled uniformed personnel on the subject of… “national sovereignty.” The single greatest threat in Philippine history to the country’s national sovereignty has always been US imperialism.
Harris’ visit to the Philippines, meeting with Marcos and demanding military bases, vividly expose the essence of Washington’s plans. No matter the tactical maneuvers the Biden administration engages in with China, no matter the changes it may temporarily adopt in its rhetoric, Washington is committed to a strategy that leads to war and is actively making material preparations for the outbreak of armed conflict.

There has been some pushback from local groups.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1696458/fishers-group-rejects-construction-of-more-us-military-bases-in-ph

Posted by: Jun | Nov 24 2022 4:23 utc | 127

Patrick Boyle goes bananas with FTX and Sequoia Capital.
Peeling back the revelations of which Institutional Investors got skinned alive.
utoob 17 mins of wry Irish wit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hue46YwRvSc

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 24 2022 5:36 utc | 129

Next stage in unintended consequences: CCTV blurs faces of Qatar WC football fans during live matches: not wearing masks, not keeping distance etc.
Also: Foxconn workers in Zhengzhou beat police with sticks because of endless lockdowns.
Xi Jinping’s domestic deceits are coming back to bite him in the *ss….

Posted by: Antonym | Nov 24 2022 6:40 utc | 131

@uncle tungsten 129
You might find my Contra Sanders illuminating. While you are at it, you might find my I Love Trash! at least somewhat amusing.

Posted by: Hermit | Nov 24 2022 7:28 utc | 133

Which leads to the question who designed and invented bitcoin. Now place your bets:
A) Some super genius who managed to keep it all anonymous and making it big or
B) a team of some three letter agency (ditto secret) or
C) a trillion monkeys typed up some random pdf document in some other random universe and somehow it quantom leaped into ours just a few years ago.
Posted by: C | Nov 23 2022 18:29 utc | 107
hmmm it’s between the monkeys and a three letter agency
BTC origin story is such a typical hollywood/Silicon valley wank.
not to mention that Silk Road Bitcoin drug bust that made it famous back in the day. The entire haul was “confiscated” by a certain 3 letter agency. I recall thinking back then it was too ridiculous.
If it takes money and power out of the ability of the people to understand and control it then I don’t support it.
Plus everyone I know who made money on it has lost most of it.

Posted by: K | Nov 24 2022 8:48 utc | 135

Elon Musk has a FTX memory problem. Or maybe he is just fickle.
From Semafor.com

The Scoop
Elon Musk used Twitter, the platform he now owns, to gleefully mock the meltdown of the crypto exchange FTX. His “bullshit meter was redlining” when he met the crypto exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, Musk has said.
But Musk was in a friendlier mood on May 5. Two weeks after clinching a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, he texted Bankman-Fried just after midnight and invited him to roll the $100 million stake he had owned for a few months into a privately held Twitter.
The previously unreported message, which was reviewed by Semafor, set in motion a chain of events that has bound the two men, whose companies are both in varying degrees of crisis. Bankman-Fried owns a sizable chunk of a now privately held and debt-laden Twitter, according to an FTX balance sheet prepared after the takeover closed on Oct. 28 and circulated to investors earlier this month, which listed Twitter shares as an “illiquid” asset.
Musk, who initially did not respond to a request for comment, tweeted Wednesday that “neither I nor Twitter have taken any investment from SBF/FTX” and also said Bankman-Fried “certainly does not own shares in Twitter as a private company.”

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 24 2022 9:45 utc | 137

I do not think this came up in the recent FTX/Crypto article/thread. If so, my apologies.

Congress members Tried to Stop the SEC’s Inquiry Into FTX
The ‘Blockchain Eight’ wrote a bipartisan letter in March attempting to chill the SEC’s information requests to crypto firms. FTX was one of those firms.
by David Dayen November 23, 2022
The Securities and Exchange Commission was seeking information from collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX earlier this year, the Prospect has confirmed, bringing a new perspective to an effort by a bipartisan group of congressmembers to slow down that investigation.
The March letter from eight House members—four Democrats and four Republicans—questioned the SEC’s authority to make informal inquiries to crypto and blockchain companies, and intimated that the requests violated federal law.
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) – chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, – whom the Republican caucus just elected as majority whip, the number three position in the House GOP leadership, led the letter. In a contemporaneous Twitter thread, Emmer wrote: “My office has received numerous tips from crypto and blockchain firms that SEC Chair @GaryGensler’s information reporting ‘requests’ to the crypto community are overburdensome, don’t feel particularly … voluntary … and are stifling innovation.”
We now know that FTX was one of those firms receiving information requests from the SEC, about the very activities that have brought down the firm. This raises the question of whether Emmer and the other congressmembers were acting on behalf of FTX (which has been credibly accused of snatching customer money to make risky bets) to try to chill an ongoing investigation from an independent regulatory and law enforcement agency.
Some of the “Blockchain Eight,” as the Prospect termed them in March, have benefited from crypto largesse. Five of the eight members received campaign donations from FTX employees, ranging from $2,900 to $11,600. Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), one of the signatories, received half a million dollars in support from a Super PAC created by FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame.
More consequentially, Emmer was the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for House Republicans, this year. The NRCC’s associated super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, received $2.75 million from FTX in the 2022 cycle; $2 million from Salame in late September, and $750,000 from the company’s political action committee.
That money helped House Republicans win the majority in 2022. Though FTX has been portrayed as a Democratic firm, thanks to the high profile of former co-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the company sprinkled around campaign donations fairly evenly, with a shade over 50 percent going directly to congressional Republicans and a shade under 50 percent to Democrats this cycle.
In an email, the SEC declined to comment. Six of the eight congressmembers have yet to respond to the Prospect’s inquiries.
see more https://prospect.org/power/congressmembers-tried-to-stop-secs-inquiry-into-ftx/

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 24 2022 10:02 utc | 139

uncle tungsten | Nov 24 2022 5:09 utc | 128
Thanks for the heads up. That was excellent especially from 22 to 32 minutes.
times link https://youtu.be/RQsRMkqJIY8?t=1323
sample

Norm Finkelstein … and the whole job of leftists as they understood it back then, the whole job of the left, if you’re a member of a political party is to constantly point out the conflict of interest, what they call contradictions but we can leave that aside, the conflict of interest between the ruling Elite the capitalist class and yourself.
To constantly point out their interests are not your interests. Their interests are not your interests – don’t be fooled. And for them the Hallmark of what you call Class Consciousness was seeing that fundamental conflict and cleavage between you, your class, your interests, and the ruling class.
Now let me be clear that’s exactly what Bernie Sanders did – he knew, he internalized it, was in his bone and in his blood that tradition and that’s why day in and day out and day in and
day out, in both of his campaigns, he kept talking about there are a bunch of Crooks, there are a bunch of crooks – Big Pharma a bunch of crooks – and he did exactly what an old-time socialist would have done.
Class Consciousness their interests are not your interests. He kept going on television, could you imagine if you were in Goldman Sachs and you heard this guy on National Television saying – Goldman Sachs a Bunch of Crooks – he did exactly what he was supposed to do.
BUT then what happened, when it came to the foreign policy all of a sudden the bunch of crooks became a band of angels. The bunch of crooks metamorphosed into a band of angels. You’re telling me the same people who are cheating you day in and day out, stealing your wealth, stealing your labor, these same people are suddenly heartbroken by what’s happening to the Ukrainian people.
Are you telling me that they’re suddenly so concerned about the Ukrainian people?

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 24 2022 11:09 utc | 141

Is NATO falling apart?
Posted by: ak74 | Nov 23 2022 20:39 utc | 113
Most Interesting.
One reality concerning the fall of “EU”. Will be really bad for all those protesting “more is better” fat greedy for the lion’s share of the mother-of-all subsidies. Will be killed off faster than you can imagine. How sad(not)! No more free money. No more government less than cost price local city worker tax-subsidized new annual farm equipment allowance. All because of the farmer’s money that is due! Will be diverted to city dwellers’ unsurvivable subsistence-level unemployment benefits.
Soon these cash-poor EU dirt/carbon polluting farmers would say. Oh no, we are now completely farked. 😉

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Nov 24 2022 13:01 utc | 143

For USians, something to culture-jam colonialism today…
Livestream: National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock
Organized by the United American Indians of New England (UAINE). The opening prayer ceremony is not recorded so there is a standby at the beginning.
53 years ago UAINE occupied and raised their flag on the replica of the Mayflower in Plymouth harbor, and painted Plymouth Rock red. Since then they have gathered every 4th Thursday of November for what has become Native Americans’ National Day of Mourning, a gathering part spiritual, part political, drawing indigenous elders and activists from all over the Americas and the world joining in solidarity: Palestininians, Pacific Islanders, Sámi, Okinawans and more. Elders speak of struggles for human and land rights, struggles to free political prisoners, and surviving over 500 years of European colonialism.

Posted by: Vintage Red | Nov 24 2022 13:58 utc | 145

#146
But the USA did destroy its balanced economy in favour of an absolute oligarchy and Russia and China have succeeded in their manufacture and modernisation. USA meanwhile is declining to a two-bit shit show armed to the teeth and spitting spite.
The rest of the world can see where the future is for their people living in peace and prosperity and it is NOT close to the USA.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 24 2022 20:07 utc | 147

@146
Wall Street MNCs do not transfer “sensitive and out of reach technology” to non-aligned states, and certainly not to a Communist country. What it does is exploit cheap labor from developing countries through transfer of low-end technology used for mass production. Or, are you also drinking the kool-aid that China stole everything?
Posted by Robin Daverman
Does the effectiveness of the rapid economic success of China, based on centralized decision making and non-elected bureaucracy become a model to emulate for the rest of the world?
A: Except this “centralized decision making, non-elected bureaucracy” is not the real China. This is the “Cartoon China” invented by Western political journalists, who are all morons with less brain cells than an amoeba. The real China can be perfectly understood by trained engineers with some work experience in product development. The Chinese government follows strict product development guidelines in policy making, i.e.,
Collect potential user input >>> research >>> prototyping >>> iterations >>> national launch >>> post-market surveillance >>> start developing next-gen.
They do exactly this, all the time. Everything is prototyped, starting from a district, collect data, then to small towns, then to big cities and provinces, and finally going national launch. So with every policy, there’s 10 – 20 years of data behind it. That’s how the decision is really made. Not by a “who” but by a well-tested working prototype, with reams of spreadsheet of data behind it, with results independently replicated in multiple sites and multiple provinces.
As to the bureaucracy, it’s a mixture of election on the grassroot level, and national double-blinded exams, but then promoted on a “weighted average performance index”. Hard numbers such as “under your management, what is the average life expectancy improvement, college education enrollment, GDP growth, GDP per ton of carbon emission, poverty reduction rate, …”. So instead of “let everyone vote which horse runs the fastest”, you say, “I have a clock. I measure all horses at the same time. I let the clock tell me which horse runs fastest”.
This system sounds really simple, but actually really hard to do on a “whole population” level. Basically, you need the whole population to be into numbers, taking prototyping as a given, and NOT religionize ANYTHING. If Jesus Christ did his 3-fish-feeding-5000-people miracle in China, the Chinese would go, wow this can be a useful skill! Can this be replicated by other people, and can you give me a spreadsheet of all participants so I can verify the numbers? “Because, if you really understand a car, you can build a car. If you can’t build a car, you don’t really understand it, no matter what you claim. Right? So how about build that car in front of me?” – that’s how engineers think.
Prototyping is a lot harder than speech and powerpoint. You can make a wonderful speech if you just talk about one thing, but for a prototype to work, EVERYTHING has to work. Why do you think there are so many car talkers and not many car makers. But if you do the hard things early, you’ll save yourself a lot of grief down the road.
Also bum experimental outcome is a given, just like clinical trials will always have some bad outcomes. For example, Shenzhen is not the only “trial spot” for economic development. China started city-level trials on 4 cities. Only Shenzhen came out great. 2 others were so-so, and 1 ended up becoming a crime den. So why. You need to take the data and analyze it, and then try to replicate what works in other cities and towns to confirm your finding. Or with direct democracy. China did trial on something like 200,000 villages for 20 years. What happened in Russia, or in the Middle East, in Latin America – those are actually not accidents, but under certain circumstances, destined outcomes. Hints of those showed up in a lot of Chinese villages, so even now a lot of central governments’ effort is on cleaning up the “oligarchs” created by that experiment.
So you need the whole population to understand that trying new things is part of life. It will always be painful and messy. The vast majority will fail. You only endure this if this is the only way to truly advance. You basically can’t do that in a religious/formerly religious society, because there’s the Book/Ideology/Mumboism, and If You Follow the Book/Ideology/Mumboism, Everything Will Be Perfect! Who in the world will want painful uncertainty, if there’s easy certainty to be had?
But the most important thing is – objective criteria will wash out the elites, because there’s a “return to the mean” biological phenomenon. I mean, which Olympic runner gets to pass his gold medal to his son or daughter? Which great soccer player lasted even 2 generations? This is like the most inheritable trait, and every generation, a new better athlete shows up! The offspring of the “elites” tend to have neither the physical / mental traits nor the endurance to get to the top. They will mostly be average. So if you want to improve your children’s lot in the future, you have to try to improve everyone’s lot, because your offspring will soon become, well, one of the crowds. This is essentially forced rotation. Sure a lot of people want to rotate up but who wants to rotate down? China was the only country, 2,000 years ago, to decide who gets into the government by national double-blinded exams. 2000 years later, it’s still the only one!
There’s simply not a politically feasible way to “emulate the China model”. People are not blind or stupid. If it’s easy to do, it’d already be done!

Posted by: Jun | Nov 24 2022 20:39 utc | 149

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 24 2022 10:02 utc | 139
Thanks very much! I remember David Dayen from back in Firedoglake days. It’s sad but not surprising that both parties are deep into the crypto non-regulation muck. Maybe the time for party mechanisms is over. Too costly in more ways than one.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 24 2022 21:21 utc | 151

@ psychohistorian | Nov 24 2022 20:11 utc | 148

Reuters is reporting that Ghana is going to buy oil in gold instead of US dollars…..
I didn’t report it earlier but the US Treasury market is losing foreign buyers as well as having China and Japan selling parts of their massive holdings. Japan is doing it to prop up its country and China is doing so as part of the civilization war with the global private finance cult.

When will the trickle turn into a flood re the rush to exits, re loss of ‘Full Faith & Confidence’ in toilet paper ?
Ie ~’29, Global financial collapse bringing forth the Great Depression through the 30’s right up to WWII.

Posted by: Outraged | Nov 24 2022 22:00 utc | 153

Outraged | Nov 24 2022 22:00 utc | 153 “When will the trickle turn into a flood re the rush to exits, re loss of ‘Full Faith & Confidence’ in toilet paper ?”
I tend to check on this twitter acc when it comes to financials. Part of my daily reading. https://twitter.com/thesiriusreport

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 24 2022 22:32 utc | 155

@ Peter AU1 | Nov 24 2022 22:32 utc | 155
Thank you kindly for the tip & link. Financials is far from my strong suit, & almost everything MSM appears to be BS slanted verbage.
Will check it out. Cheers.

Posted by: Outraged | Nov 24 2022 22:40 utc | 157

Videos show protests erupting at world’s largest iPhone plant in China
From semafor.com

Protests erupted Wednesday at the world’s biggest assembly plant for Apple’s iPhones, in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, according to videos circulating on social media.
Footage showed workers chanting and facing off with authorities at the Foxconn factory. In some videos, police appeared to release tear gas and the employees hit back with fire extinguishers. Semafor has not independently verified the videos.
The protests appeared to be triggered by plans to delay bonus payments to workers, Reuters reported. Dissent has also grown in recent weeks over strict COVID-19 guidelines that require employees to live and work on site to minimize outbreaks.
In a statement to Semafor, Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm, acknowledged that some new hires “had doubts about” pay, which the company said “has always been fulfilled.”
“Regarding any violence, the company will continue to communicate with
employees and the government to prevent similar incidents from
happening again,” Foxconn said.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Nov 24 2022 22:49 utc | 159

@149 Jun | Nov 24 2022 20:39 utc
Thank you. That was an excellent look at the Chinese system. Very well put together – thanks for taking the effort to explain.

Posted by: Grieved | Nov 24 2022 22:57 utc | 161

Jun | Nov 24 2022 20:39 utc | 149
an excellent contribution about China, thx for sharing. It rings true to me. As Xi calls it socialism and capitalism with “Chinese characteristics”. I saw examples of this when looking into EV and nuclear power developments and responses to climate change in China – they do do things differently. Besides being science and engineering based/focused it also involves great teamwork between sectors of society. They are built differently these Chinese than people in the west. Although I barely know anything myself, that is the sense I get. Almost everything the west thinks it knows about China and her people is a Myth imho.

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 24 2022 23:43 utc | 163

“…China and most certainly the laughably labeled “Great Power” Russia actually contributed _nothing_ to the creation of the world we live in. Neither did China. And certainly not the global south…”
what-u-smokin-pau@146
So what are you smoking?
Among the things that China invented, six hundred and more years ago were moveable type for printing, gunpowder and firearms. And wheelbarrows. And that is just scratching the surface- the Grand Canal, the ever normal granary system and so on.
What did the United States ever create? It didn’t even recognise copyright for authors until the day before yesterday. Its textile industry was based on smuggled machinery and imported expertise.
That is the way that the world generally works-technology is easily and quickly transferred and we all benefit (or not) as a result.
For eighteen of the last twenty centuries China has been the major centre of learning, technology, wealth creation, food production, arts and social development.
Smoke less. Learn more.

Posted by: bevin | Nov 25 2022 1:20 utc | 165

Poor Macron is saying a very sensible thing: if these two big animals can’t figure out how to play nice together, it going to ruin destruction on the whole jungle.
Is he wrong? Did he misspoke?
posted by: what-u-smokin-paul | Nov 24 2022 18:09 utc | 146
——————–
Being a gardeniard , trust Macron to spout this equal opportunity blame bollocks.
‘Two elephants fighting to be king’…
your ass !
More like that mofoking eagle vulture stalking the peaceful panda
Been that way since the limeys started the Opium wars,.
France post De Gaulle has been up to its eyeballs in the garden assault on the jungle.
Libya for example was a Frenchie campaign, led from behind by USAsshole as usual.

Posted by: denk | Nov 25 2022 2:37 utc | 167

@ denk | Nov 25 2022 2:37 utc | 167
Been that way since the limeys started the Opium wars,.
France post De Gaulle has been up to its eyeballs in the garden assault on the jungle.
Libya for example was a Frenchie campaign, led from behind by USAsshole as usual.
Indeed far too few are aware of what the mighty G7 got up to over centuries in China, forget about Frenchies & then so called IndoChina. Just cannot get over losing Algiers and finally getting kicked out of supposed post Colonial Africa. Same for New Caledonian rigged referendums.
Good to see you regularly posting.

Posted by: Outraged | Nov 25 2022 2:54 utc | 169

@ denk | Nov 25 2022 3:22 utc | 170
Ah thank you, do periodically check up on Mick Wallace, Clare Daly, true hearts, who Speak Truth To Power, literally face to face, allotted 120 seconds, inside the lions den. Will add Laurent Louis to my link list. b may obtain more resources or free time available soon.

Posted by: Outraged | Nov 25 2022 3:32 utc | 171

@Posted by: Scorpion | Nov 25 2022 1:15 utc | 164
Is there anything you post not an anti-China talking point? This is yet another hypocrisy when being a “princeling” is often a prerequisite for Western leaders but a slur when applied to China. To my knowledge, Xi Jinping is the only princeling in the Politburo Standing Committee. And, princeling is a misnomer since his father was purged from the Party and sent to work in a factory when he was ten years old which had the opposite effect of nepotism. Besides, any man who still carries his wife’s purse after decades of marriage must not feel that entitled.

Posted by: Jun | Nov 25 2022 6:28 utc | 173

Is there anything you post not an anti-China talking point?
Posted by: Jun | Nov 25 2022 6:28 utc | 173
Exactly my thought when I read that. I’m so sick of that poster’s mealy crap.
Unfortunately for the bar there is more to that agenda than anti-China.
It’s evident in the Putin bashing post @ 1:22 utc | 166, which is presented in
the ‘interest’ of ‘different viewpoints’. Subtle but constant is the form.
Thanks so much for your post on China @20:39 utc | 149 (& also Philippines @ 4:23 utc | 127.
Pleasing to see informed commentary.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Nov 25 2022 8:18 utc | 175

@ Old canadian | Nov 25 2022 13:23 utc | 176
Yes indeed. Shit rises alright. Now the Philippines will be screwed over again. Poor Haitians doomed to be brutalized forever for the affront of that first slave rebellion. The so called civilized nations within their ‘Garden’ never forgive nor forget … ever.

Posted by: Outraged | Nov 25 2022 13:36 utc | 177

SeanAU@174
This article might interest you, if you haven’t already read it. There are many similarities between Roy and Chandra Bose.
Both were driven mad on the best sense of the word, by imperialism.
https://jacobin.com/2021/08/mn-roy-anti-colonialist-indian-independence-mexican-communist-party-comintern-lenin-colonial-policy

Posted by: bevin | Nov 25 2022 15:27 utc | 179

Iran issues 10-day ultimatum to Iraqi Kurdistan, threatening large-scale military operation
The key problem is the fact that there are at least two large American military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, which will most likely lead to clashes between the US and Iran.
Turkey and Iran conducting ground operations against the Kurds at the same time?

Posted by: circumspect | Nov 25 2022 16:18 utc | 181

Kanye West asks Donald Trump to be his vice president in 2024 run; Trump has screaming fit, rapper says
Here

Posted by: Bemildred | Nov 25 2022 17:34 utc | 183

Below are quotes from a ZH posting

There’s a remarkable concession appearing in The Washington Post today:

“a majority of Americans dying from the coronavirus received at least the primary series of the vaccine.”

The latest data shows that 58% of COVID-19 deaths in August 2022 were from people who were vaccinated or boosted. Based on past figures and the current trends, we can reasonably estimate that the number of vaccinated/boosted COVID-19 deaths will only rise. (In September 2021, the vaccinated accounted for 23% of COVID-19 deaths; in January/February 2022, the vaccinated were 42%.)
This is what happens when you rush ineffective and dangerous vaccines.
The FDA’s promises of efficacy – 91% for the Pfizer vaccine and 93% for the Moderna vaccine – were always based on hope, not data. So too were the promises of safety. At the time of the official approvals, both Pfizer and Moderna hadn’t submitted any type of long-term numbers on effectiveness. Their trials were polluted with the unblinding of participants and their safety studies are “ongoing.”
Now, we’re seeing efficacy numbers plummet within months of vaccination. The pandemic is of the vaccinated. The boosters? They’re to the benefit of the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical companies, as they mask the true problems with the two-shot vaccines.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 25 2022 18:24 utc | 185

Today’s Food for Thought
This is how Russiagate worked: Make it up and then never stray near available facts.
The truth doesn’t mind being questioned, but lies always do…
When we allow our cognitive biases to control us we allow our minds to become enslaved to them.
Furthermore, there are many people of various factions out there ceaselessly manipulating and “molding” the cognitive biases of the people endeavoring to reduce them to unawares puppet mind-slaves for their causes and personal beliefs.
When you are not willing to objectively consider information that defies your cognitive biases it’s a good time to consider whether you yourself have been reduced to such a mind-slave.
Unfortunately it follows that most people online don’t want to hear your opinion. They want to hear their opinion coming out of your mouth.
Straw manning is when you create a caricature of the others ideas and then attack those rather than what they truly believe.
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-emotion
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/personal-incredulity
=====================================================================================
XI’s Core Principles – as long as the two sides follow the principles of respecting each other, seeking common ground while reserving differences, maintaining exchanges and mutual learning, and pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation … on the whole relationships will keep building in a good way.
Ignoring those core principles on an internet forum and everything turns to shit.
=====================================================================================

Posted by: SeanAU | Nov 26 2022 0:56 utc | 187

I suppose this could just as well go on the latest Ukraine thread but will post quotes below from a recent ZH article titled
As Negotiations Fracture, EU Postpones Talks On Russian Oil Price Cap To Monday
Quote

Although today was the deadline for EU diplomats to determine the specifics of the Russian oil price cap, we pointed out earlier just how “great” discussions were going with Poland rejecting a proposed cap of $65 per barrel as being too soft, while Greece refusing to consider anything below $70.
…..
As previewed earlier this week, the bloc has been locked in a fight over how strict the Group of Seven-led price cap should be. Poland and the Baltic nations are outraged at a proposal to cap Russian oil prices at $65 per barrel limit, as the level is above the rates Moscow sells crude now, making the entire price cap discussion completely meaningless and purely an exercise in virtue signaling.
Poland is demanding additional sanctions, a review mechanism, and a price below the market level, according to a senior diplomat.
…..
Still, Europe can only kick the can so long: the Dec. 5 deadline is looming, at which point EU sanctions on Russian oil are set to kick, and the disruption to the market will likely be greater if the price cap isn’t in place as all Russian oil exports would be suspended, unless of course Europe stops being a vassal state of the US State Department and decides to do away with the Russian sanctions entirely (for an objective assessment of who holds the upper hand in Europe, read Ambrose Evans-Pritchard with “Putin has another gas shock for us: the deindustrialisation of Europe “.
The EU sanctions would bar access to insurance and services for any ship transporting Russian oil. The cap allows access to those services, but only if the crude is purchased below a certain price. The US proposed the price cap earlier this year as an alternative to EU sanctions that were so strict they risked shutting down swaths of production.
The US argued that a spike in prices caused by EU sanctions could eventually help Putin — as well as being ruinous for the global economy.
Oil prices have fallen in recent days, partly on signs a deal could keep Russian oil flowing, easing the pressure on the global market. Then again this is Europe, and anything that is seen as a consensus outcome will never happen…

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 26 2022 5:58 utc | 189

Below is another Xinhuanet posting that shows what China is doing to manage its housing market…again, a big difference from the West as reinforced in the last sentence of the posting

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — China’s six major state-owned commercial banks have signed agreements with high-quality real-estate enterprises, aiming to facilitate the stable and healthy development of the real-estate market.
The six banks announced the provision of credit support amounting to more than 1 trillion yuan (about 140.2 billion U.S. dollars), mainly for real-estate development, mortgages to consumers, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain financing and bond investments.
The six commercial banks are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China.
The move comes after a 16-step guideline issued by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on Wednesday, which encouraged commercial banks to grant loans for the acquisition of real-estate projects in a prudent and orderly manner.
Support will also be given to two policy banks on issuing specific loans to qualified borrowers to ensure the delivery of housing projects, the guideline noted.
Previously, the PBOC issued 200 billion yuan worth of special loans to ensure the timely completion of pre-sold housing projects and put in place structural policy tools to encourage active participation by commercial banks.
From January to October, China’s banking sector lent 2.64 trillion yuan to property developers, according to the CBIRC.
“The government’s recent actions to step up support for developers’ funding could improve the companies’ financial flexibility and partly temper their near-term refinancing pressures,” said Kelly Chen, a Moody’s vice president and senior analyst.
The PBOC and the CBIRC said at a work conference on credit business on Monday that private developers are supported in raising funds through bond issuance.
Last week, Chinese authorities released a circular to allow qualified property developers to withdraw pre-sale funds. After being assessed, developers that meet standards regarding credit risks, financial conditions and reputation will be eligible to receive the letters of guarantee.
Economist Ren Zeping said in a research report that the recent support package could be interpreted as a policy turning point for the real-estate market. He however pointed out that the confidence of residents and their ability to purchase houses are yet to be restored in the short-term.
On the demand side, mortgage rate cuts, tax relief and other measures rolled out in favor of home buyers are spurring demand and stabilizing property market expectations.
In the 16-step guideline, Chinese authorities encourage financial institutions to set reasonable down payment ratios and interest rates to bolster demand for mortgages.
China recently allowed commercial banks to reduce the floor of interest rates on home loans by 20 basis points for first-home buyers. The loan interest rates of the housing provident funds for these buyers have also been cut, dropping 0.15 percentage points.
In addition to mortgage rate cuts, China announced in late September that it would refund personal income taxes collected from any homeowner who is selling their current house to buy a new one. The relief measure, which is in place from October to the end of next year, can save eligible residents 30,000 to 50,000 yuan in most cities.
Upholding the stance of “housing is for living in, not for speculation,” China will continue to support people’s essential housing needs, as well as their needs for better housing.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 26 2022 6:13 utc | 191

@psychohistorian | Nov 25 2022 18:24 utc | 185

The latest data shows that 58% of COVID-19 deaths in August 2022 were from people who were vaccinated or boosted.

And from that we can conclude….

Posted by: Norwegian | Nov 26 2022 11:57 utc | 193

ZH has a posting up with the title
Biden Admin Reverses Trump Ban On Chevron Pumping Venezuelan Crude
Quotes

Update(1355ET): On Saturday the White House announced a monumental shift its Venezuela policy, given only a short time ago Washington didn’t even officially recognize Nicolás Maduro as the socialist Latin American country’s legitimate ruler, which includes easing longtime oil sanctions and allowing Chevron to pump Venezuelan crude and export it to the United States.
……
For this reason Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth recently estimated it would take “months and years in order to begin to maintain and refurbish fields and equipment and change any investment activity.” For this reason many are seeing the White House’s conditional six month license as a completely unrealistic timetable and constraint.
……
According to The Wall Street Journal, the easing of sanctions is contingent on the implementation of a $3 billion humanitarian project that is expected to be announced by President Nicolas Maduro and his opposition this weekend. The project would be paid for with Venezuelan funds that have been seized by the US.
……..
US sanctions on Venezuela have had a devastating impact on the civilian population, but the Biden administration’s steps to ease sanctions are likely an effort to keep global oil prices down.
The move comes as the US and its allies are planning to implement a price cap on Russian oil that could backfire and cause Russia to significantly cut production.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 26 2022 19:19 utc | 195

In Germany there is growing discontent about media and government. See the links to today’s demonstrations; these are not shown in the MSM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veoPDrET3tg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y1CSLVeDsY

Posted by: fanto | Nov 26 2022 21:07 utc | 197

@ too scents | Nov 26 2022 21:50 utc | 198
Thank you. Significant. KMT essentially supports ultimate re-unification … not independence.
As Empire squeezes ever tighter, more countries slip through it’s fingers, as supposed power further wanes.

Posted by: Outraged | Nov 26 2022 22:01 utc | 199