i think it is all about entitlement… we need to find a way to get rid of inheritance and all be on an equal playing field… the future looks wonderful, but these f@kers will keep saying no to it..
Posted by: james | Dec 8 2022 16:39 utc | 3

Thomas Piketty (Capital in the 21st Century) was onto something when he suggested inherited wealth was a major problem.
But rather than hand it over to the state to redistribute with their usual corruption and ineffectiveness, I suggest that the wealth be managed by a series of non-profits who would allocate it to a new generation of entrepreneurs who prepare sound business proposals.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 8 2022 17:06 utc | 4

Fox News
GOP rips Brittney Griner deal for stranding Paul Whelan in Russia: ‘Celebrities over veterans?’
Republican lawmakers on Thursday criticized President Biden for a deal that returned WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison camp, but failed to free Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine veteran who has been jailed in Russia since 2018 on spying charges that the U.S. government has said are baseless.
In return for Griner, the U.S. agreed to send convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” back to Russia. Several Republicans said that was a bad deal given the serious charges against Bout, and that Biden missed a chance to get Whelan.
“If @POTUS is going to release a guy convicted of providing aid to a terrorist organization & conspiring to kill American citizens, he should have at least gotten BOTH Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan in return,” tweeted Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y. “A U.S. Marine is left behind in another bad deal made by Biden.” . . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 8 2022 17:11 utc | 6

Piketty was on to something re: inherited wealth, but if you want to look for real solutions, listen to Michael Hudson. There’s a discussion between him and Piketty on YouTube. His analysis of financial colonialism in the 70s was so apropos that it was used by the neo cons as a handbook. He also describes the economic underpinnings of NATO and why the US never has to actually repay foreign debt under the current system.

Posted by: Matthew | Dec 8 2022 18:43 utc | 8

but will Griner lose her right to vote?
it’s funny watching these drug warriors get worked up.
who’s the biggest arms dealer in the world, by far? why do i forget that every time i turn on the MSM! maybe cuz i have no more capacity for self-reflection than Trump or Biden does? i can’t recollect how many millions have been killed and imprisoned thru the US drug war…where’s my opioids???

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 8 2022 19:59 utc | 10

i don’t know, my sponsor keeps telling me to look on the bright side, so, it’s hard but i’ll try,
thanks to Russian aggression, maybe Griner can finally get the help she needs?

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 8 2022 20:08 utc | 12

@ Donnie | Dec 8 2022 20:13 utc | 13
yeah, the usa doesn’t like competition.. they do all sorts of dastardly things to get rid of the competition – laws being one of the nicer ways to get rid of the competition… rules based order ya know, lol…

Posted by: james | Dec 8 2022 20:31 utc | 14

fun band… i like the uplifting feeling it get from the music..
Parcels – ComingbacPosted by: james | Dec 8 2022 16:37 utc | 2
How about this one ?
“The Killers – Human”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIZdjT1472Y

Posted by: Tom_12 | Dec 8 2022 20:42 utc | 16

«seems odd that all the ruling bodies in the EU are from appointments and selection. The people of the countries that make up the EU have no say»
That to me seems an hallucination, because the EU treaties make clear that:
* The EU legislative power, composed of the EU Council (lower house) and the EU Parliament (upper house/senate) is made entirely of elected people.
* The EU executive power, composed of the EU Council (plus the Council of the EU for strategy), is also made entirely of elected people.
* The EU judicial is indeed made entirely of appointed people but that is common also in many EU member countries, where judges are not elected (many europeans think that the USA idea of electing judges is pretty bad).
There two flaws with the EU democratic system, but somehow they are never mentioned by those with the hallucination that the EU legislative and executive powers are not elected.

Posted by: Blissex | Dec 8 2022 20:48 utc | 18

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 8 2022 20:42 utc | 15
That was exquisite. Thanks. (She has hands like V. Horowitz 😉
James, can u ‘beat’ this?
Mickey Hart ‘n friends
g’nite…

Posted by: waynorinorway | Dec 8 2022 21:02 utc | 20

@ waynorinorway | Dec 8 2022 21:02 utc | 20
hey! you like those playing for change videos! i like this… they are playing with the basic clave rhythm that bo diddley immortalized…
all these musicians are or were basically borrowing from african music traditions..
sweet dreams!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Diddley_beat

Posted by: james | Dec 8 2022 21:30 utc | 22

Egypt joins BRICS bank – official
The country has reportedly been welcomed into the financial structure, further expanding the lender’s global reach
Egypt has officially become a member of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS group of major emerging economies, the country’s government announced on Wednesday.
The NDB was established by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in 2014 to finance infrastructure and sustainable development in member states and other emerging economies. Since 2016, the bank has invested in multiple projects, including $7.2 billion in India alone, according to the NDB.
Egypt, which has so far not joined BRICS, expressed an interest in becoming a member in July, along with Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It is now preparing to apply for membership, BRICS International Forum President Purnima Anand earlier said.
…

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 8 2022 21:39 utc | 24

Sean the Leprechaun @ 1:
You could always start with the family background and political connections of the current EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Liar’s father Ernst Albrecht was himself a politician at state level (Minister President of Niedersachsen [Lower Saxony], equivalent to State Premier in Australia or State Governor in the US) and the Albrecht family itself has a long history as one of the upper-class families of the Electorate of Hanover in the 18th and early 19th centuries when Hanover had a long political connection with the United Kingdom through the British monarchy at the time.
On her father’s side, von der Liar’s great-grandmother Mary was descended from the Ladson family of South Carolina, who owned plantations in the American South and owned large numbers of slaves until the 1860s. An early ancestor of von der Liar was Joseph Wragg who built his fortune transporting huge numbers of slaves across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to North America.
The von der Leyen family itself made its fortune in the silk trade and silk weaving industry in the 1700s. Von der Liar’s husband Heiko von der Leyen is Medical Director of Orgenesis Inc, a pharmaceutical company specialising in developing cell and gene therapy treatments.
There are other controversies surrounding Ursula von der Liar including a plagiarism scandal surrounding her doctorate and cronyism / procurement scandals during her time as Minister for Defense in Angela Merkel’s government.
One might almost believe that von der Liar had to be shunted to Brussels: she was too much of an embarrassment to stay in Berlin but she also had too many powerful family and business connections to be pushed out of government.

Posted by: Jen | Dec 8 2022 22:34 utc | 26

@waynorinorway, #20:
Thanks for this vid clip :-). I’m also surprised to see Elvis Presley and Celine Dion had actually done a duet.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 8 2022 22:58 utc | 28

Klaatu | Dec 8 2022 23:08 utc | 29
But then I probably just missed the joke.

Posted by: Klaatu | Dec 8 2022 23:12 utc | 30

Harryash:
European US space shuttle emergency landing option in case no one told you (your question was the last comment I read so far this week and it was many threads ago).
No idea why that wasn’t on your internet but in fairness I haven’t even bothered confirming what I say (hubis is great!), maybe yours is broken? 😛
· · ·
Croatia (speculation!), so was that USSR jet drone crash a proof of concept or previous attack gone wrong due to an upgrade fubar/snafu? 180 degrees off due to some bit flip big endian vs. small endian brainfart? I could buy that 😀
I’m not going to see where the midpoint between the Croatian crash site and the Russian base is and whether or not that is somewhere in ex-Ukraine or what kind of places a straight line drawn between the two goes through. Maybe later if I’m still alive next decade.
· · ·
Are they still selling bananas in Kiev?

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Dec 8 2022 23:30 utc | 32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXi23qiu7a8

Posted by: Europe is Lost | Dec 8 2022 23:56 utc | 34

Viktor Bout’s real crime was flying in the Operation Turquoise peacekeepers, over the objections of Dallaire and Kagame, thereby saving 130,000 lives.
As for the Thai “sting” that got him, it was preemptively satirized, to wit, the satire of the sting was published two years before the sting that it satirized: Jormungand Pulsar part one.
To see that Jormungand Pulsar part one is a satire of the Thai sting, some matters need to be understood.
First, Jormungand is generally a satire of the American propaganda film (against Bout), Lord of War. In this regard, the Bout like character is Koko Hekmatyar, based physically on Mika Brzeziński (think of the ties between Zbigniew Brzeziński and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar). Sarcastic reference is made to Dallaire’s training of child soldiers for Uganda when he was assisting Uganda’s invasion of Rwanda, by having a child soldier (Jonah) as a main character.
In Jormungand Pulsar part one, Koko is pushed into accepting an arms deal that does not interest her. She indicates, “we will pretend to take the order and leave” and “Koko Hekmatyar does not accept credit,” thus satirizing the sting/arrest and prosecution of Viktor Bout, two years before the sting happened, on precisely the question of intent/mens rea, arguing that there was none.
Jormungand also satirized the Yugoslavia propaganda: it sticks to the Serb-bad (Republic of T) Bosnia-good (Republic of S) script, then flips it at the end: they land at Planina (Bulgarian for airport, usual slavic is gora) airport. Bulgaria lies between the Serb and Turkish area, thus republic of T(urkey) and republic of S(erbia), i.e. making it a reference to Ottoman imperialism.

Posted by: Johan Meyer (2) | Dec 9 2022 0:18 utc | 36

To: Jen | Dec 8 2022 22:34 utc | 26
Finally someone with some meat regarding the van der Leyen. Thanks!
Here is something else: Yes, she comes from one of the richest families of Germany
ever:
Look at Wikipedia Germany:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_(Beamten-_und_Politikerfamilie)
Her father Ernst Albrecht, the politician. Father of him, Carl Albrecht.
Father of Carl Albrecht was another Carl Albrecht. Father of the older
Carl Albrecht was George Alexander Albrecht. Following that link and
the wife of George Alexander was Louise Dorothea Betty Knoop, daughter
of Baron Ludwig Knoop.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Knoop
Knoop was one of the richest German’s of his time (did they and if how
did they reduce their wealth since then?). Guess where he made it?
Yeah, in Russia..!
Feel free to dig more.

Posted by: C | Dec 9 2022 0:38 utc | 38

Blissex @ 18:
From none other than the European Parliament itself:

“The European Parliament is the EU’s only directly-elected institution …”

True, the EU Council may be made up of elected people but only of people elected by electors of that EU member state that holds the EU Presidency for six months.
The current EU President Ursula von der Leyen was voted into her position by members of the EU Council and the EU Parliament after the previous President retired and the position was going vacant. All the voters had to do was scrutinise her record as a national German politician (in itself a bit suspicious, as the Germans could have polished up her CV and “forgotten” to add a few things) and vote Yes or No to her nomination.
In other words, the people who make up the EU Council and the EU Commission are not directly elected by the public and in a sense Sean the Leprechaun @ 1 is right.

Posted by: Jen | Dec 9 2022 0:38 utc | 40

Hadn’t really seen this thesis laid out all in one place, but I do tend to agree with the notion that…
Trump is the opposable thumb of the establishment

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Dec 9 2022 2:05 utc | 42

Suddenly everything is quiet about the “China Protests” and how China is collapsing, et al. Actually, what is going on is very interesting. But the real seriousness of how China is dealing with the aftermath is not being reported and it is going to make your eyes twitch!
https://metallicman.com/this-is-what-happened-to-the-cia-assets-the-ned-organizers-and-the-participants-in-the-shanghai-covid-protests/

Posted by: Rufus Arrr | Dec 9 2022 2:43 utc | 44

@ Rufus Arrr | Dec 9 2022 2:43 utc | 44 with the link/posting about China Covid protests…thanks
Many who read your posting will think the handling too harsh for some but I agree with the serious response against those most complicit.
Will the West learn from China’s example? Only when forced to do so by RoW

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 9 2022 3:11 utc | 46

Posted by: Jen | Dec 8 2022 22:34 utc | 26

Von der Liar’s father Ernst Albrecht was himself a politician at state level (Minister President of Niedersachsen [Lower Saxony], …

Albrecht’s initial career was as a senior EU official in Brussels where Ursula attended the international school. At the EU, Albrecht would de facto have been serving at the pleasure of the U.S. government. Albrecht was later re-deployed to handle Lower Saxony.
Significantly, Ursula herself lived for several years in Palo Alto, California.

Posted by: Pacific Observer | Dec 9 2022 3:53 utc | 48

@ Sunny Runny Burger | Dec 9 2022 0:29 utc | 37
never heard that band or track before.. i liked it.. thanks… as for the talk on inheritance and etc. etc. – how to make the world a better place… people need to figure out at a much earlier age in life that they can’t take any of it with them and that they are related to everyone on the planet, not just those from their immediate family… although i know lots of times people can’t even get along in their own family, so treating the whole world like your whole family is going to be very difficult for some – especially the greedy… greed is a sickness.. i feel sorry for those who have it.. that’s the end of my small rant on inheritance related matters..

Posted by: james | Dec 9 2022 4:49 utc | 50

Inheritance is bad.
Posted by: Rae | Dec 9 2022 4:00 utc | 48
Yep, that is complete loser-speak. You obviously never made anything worthwhile in your life, and thus have nothing to leave to your family.
I’m more than willing to bet that you’d be signing a completely different tune about the death taxes if you were good for something.

Posted by: averros | Dec 9 2022 5:02 utc | 52

hey! you like those playing for change videos! i like this… they are playing with the basic clave rhythm
that bo diddley immortalized…all these musicians are or were basically borrowing from african music traditions..
Posted by: james | Dec 8 2022 21:30 utc | 22
Thanks for the link. My musical expertise is limited to ‘do I enjoy the sound coming to my ears?’
I can’t follow rhythm patterns much beyond a metronome but that allows me to get a lot of pleasure
when I do pick up on what’s really going on. In fact I’m so limited there that instead of listening to
Desmond’s ‘Take Ten’ I usually just listen to ‘Take Five’ twice. Just kidding but ‘you drummers’ are
in a world of your own it seems. I forget who said it but I’m reminded of the quote ‘ playing the drums
allows me to sit in with a lot of great musicians’. Kidding again of course.
I found Paul Simon’s Graceland album very enjoyable when it came out.
Yeah, I like the Playing For Change vids. The concept fits with what most of us @MoA are all about.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Dec 9 2022 5:24 utc | 54

An important assembly will take a further step to becoming reality, “Putin Arrives in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek to Attend EAEU Summit”:
“Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Thursday that the EAEU leaders will discuss the formation of a common gas market during the summit.”
The idea is to create a pan-Eurasian gas market that will be supplied by the soon to be formed GASEC, kin of OPEC+. An excellent idea that will benefit extraction companies, users and will promote further development.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 9 2022 5:42 utc | 56

ZH has a posting up with the title
THE TWITTER FILES, PART II – Twitter’s Secret Blacklists
The beginning quote

After nearly a week’s delay on the second installment of “THE TWITTER FILES” – Twitter’s internal correspondence surrounding their decision to censor the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story – Journalist Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) has begun releasing more information via Twitter.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 9 2022 5:50 utc | 58

karlof1 | Dec 9 2022 5:42 utc | 55
The oil price cap was as big a blunder as stealing Russia’s reserves. This going to hurt the west bigtime.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Dec 9 2022 6:01 utc | 60

Below is a Xinhuanet posting about Xi’s trip to SA and this one shows China’s commitment to Palestine

RIYADH, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Riyadh.
Xi pointed out that China-Palestine friendship is deeply cherished by their people, adding that over the past five decades and more, the two sides have always trusted and supported each other.
No matter how the international and regional situation changes, China always firmly supports the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore the legitimate rights and interests of their nation, and always stands with the Palestinian people, Xi said.
The international community should prioritize the Palestinian issue on the international agenda, keep to the direction of the two-state solution and the principle of “land for peace,” and facilitate resumption of peace talks on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, Xi said, adding that China will continue to work for an early, just and durable solution to the Palestinian issue.
Noting that next year marks the 35th anniversary of China-Palestine relations, Xi emphasized the need for the two sides to make good plans for celebrating the anniversary.
The two countries signed a tourism cooperation document, actively advanced negotiations for a China-Palestine free trade agreement and successfully held the second session of the Chinese-Palestinian Joint Committee for Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation, Xi said, adding that China has provided a large amount of vaccines and other anti-COVID supplies to Palestinian refugees, and will continue to do what it can to help Palestine develop its economy and improve people’s well-being.
China commends Palestine’s active participation in and efforts to promote the collective cooperation between China and Arab states, and will increase communication and cooperation with Palestine on advancing China-Arab relations and delivering the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, Xi said.
For his part, Abbas said that the Palestinian people are deeply proud of their friendly relations with the Chinese people, adding that China is Palestine’s sincere and trustworthy friend and has always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people by offering Palestine all-round and unconditional support on the political, economic, moral and other fronts.
All Palestinian people hold sincere affections for the Chinese people, he said, noting that China’s positions on the international stage are fair and just, and its initiatives and propositions are positive and constructive.
Pointing out that Palestine stands firmly with China, Abbas reaffirmed Palestine’s steadfast commitment to the one-China principle and firm support for China’s just position on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Palestine firmly supports and actively participates in Belt and Road cooperation and stands ready to work with China to continue strengthening cooperation in all areas, Abbas said, adding that Palestine looks forward to working with China to make the first China-Arab States Summit on Friday a success.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 9 2022 6:33 utc | 62

https://thecradle.co/Article/Analysis/19283
Xi Jinping’s Visit to Saudi Arabia and the overthrow of Atlanticism
The historic China-Arab Summit currently underway in Riyadh symbolizes the emerging Eurasianism in the Persian Gulf.
By Matthew Ehret
December 08 2022

Posted by: Scorpion | Dec 9 2022 6:45 utc | 64

Peter AU1 | Dec 9 2022 5:32 utc | 54
It’s got everything to do with it. One of the indy journalists covered it. Not sure who it’s was, maybe Lancaster. It was around 2015-2016.
Scratch the surface of any war and you will find God botherers lurking.

Posted by: Klaatu | Dec 9 2022 7:04 utc | 66

If Ursula von der Leyen was voted into office in a clear and democratic way, then there should be some tabulation of the votes somewhere, no?
But yet it seems impossible to find this information. I can’t even find a simply tally (i.e. 100 for, 50 against). Really transparent, let me tell ya.

Posted by: Sam | Dec 9 2022 8:11 utc | 68

@ psycho
“In 2021, the U.S. military spending represented nearly 40 percent of the world’s total, more than the next nine countries combined. (my bold)”
That dramatically undercounts it, two ways.
First, re-estimate the war budget yourself the way this guy did more than a decade ago: https://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1941
Second, add up all the war budgets of all NATO.
Compare that to the RoW.

Posted by: klik2 | Dec 9 2022 8:27 utc | 70

Prisoner swaps between US and Russia, Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine wants so called collaborates as prisoners to swap rather than than starring in nazi snuff movies yet Azov POW’s were hit with HIMARS a few months back. Whatever was at Azovstal seems to have value as a trade currency. Big fishes, medium fishes and little fishes of a HQ?

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Dec 9 2022 8:58 utc | 72

lol people who refer to estate taxes as “death taxes” are usually bootlickers.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Dec 9 2022 9:02 utc | 74

Goooood morning barflies & b – quick question did I get a comment binned yesterday on the topic of the PATHOCRACY?
Or did I write it and forget to post? Just asking, not a problem if was deemed as being o/t, or whatever.
Anyway the jigsaw appears to be resolving from its kaleidoscopic fragmentation as the WC heads towards a Xmas zenith and the World turns!
Too much to ponder so will just meander with some that I’ve noticed this crispy pre dawn few hours of surfing.
There are an awful lot of handsome celebs – mostly male – joining Xi and MBS Saudi.
Bollywood, Korean, Beiber! And Ronaldo signing up for hundreds of millions in that reshaping .
Along with the MBS brokering a deal for the prisoner swap a Russian Arms Dealer for a Yankee sports player!! I must admit this is one set of characters and story I have absolutely no background about or followed – Anyone? Can point me to some idea of who and what and why? The How seems to be clear enough – Caesar has a photo of a exchange at AbuDhabi airport which looks exactly like a old fashioned spy exchange as the two parties walk between their planes whilst a line of Arab dressed gents oversee it !!! Just wtf?
Xi gets a kingly welcome and brings a massive contingent of top business folks who all sit opposite the Saudis and looks like hundreds of billions of business deals going down and NOT necessarily in $$$. The Uigher ‘genocide’ fairytale is wholly dismantled, no one mentions the Saudi backing of head chopping jihadis and wahabbism is put on a back burner with the dismantling of the daily incessant megaphone speakers on all mosques everywhere causing untold misery to everyone subjected to its crackling cries all day.
Xi quips that the Saudis learning Chinese is great thing and hopes more do for better business.
It seems the Old Slave Traders and Silk Roaders have decided to return to the ancient land connection of commerce that joined the far east to Africa and Europe
The Dead Empires Dogs are madly barking as what they thought was their caravan – moves on.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Dec 9 2022 9:25 utc | 76

[75]
It seems the Old Slave Traders and Silk Roaders have decided to return to the ancient land connection of commerce that joined the far east to Africa and Europe
BUT you forget to mention why the Silk Road was disrupted…………ISLAM………the fall of Constantinople and the Muslim takeover of Central Asia……..
WHICH is why Columbus had to sail WEST to find India

Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Dec 9 2022 9:37 utc | 78

Barflies should not let themselves be diverted by this Blissex type’s dissemination.
For example he claims that Van der Leyen’s position on the European Commission is purely administrative – just a public servant in fact and therefore should be appointed just like any other technocrat. This is a frequent deceit made by apologists for the EU which I highlighted a few days ago when I last posted on the lack of democracy in the EU – I would link to it but in a contest between the plethora of threads per week at MoA, google site search and my memory, we all lose.
Anyway as I pointed out at the time, although the EU bosses claim that commissioners are just dedicated public servants, a lie which is easily refuted by the simple fact that all of the present gang of alleged technocrats are former national POLITICIANS, if any have held jobs as senior public servants IE permanent heads of ministries/departments or the like, that is purely incidental, part of their ‘pre sleazy pol’ careers and irrelevant to how they came by the gig.
It also should be pointed out that yes, whilst the amerikan president is appointed by ‘the electoral college’ those electoral college positions are determined by the votes of citizens. As we saw with the last prez beauty contest, electoral college members are enjoined to vote according to the results of each states popular ballot. It is also worth noting that like the archaic method of selecting members of england’s house of lords, the process was designed centuries back and is subject to contemporary popular demand that it be reformed to ensure that there is no leeway for personal preference.
Yet knowing this, knowing that such a system of selection of euro commissioners was archaic, more in keeping with process instituted by systems first recovering from the tyranny of monarchical government, the corrupt slugs who wrote up the ‘Lisbon Treaty’ and it’s subsequent bullying refusal to accept “No” infliction on the people of europe, did so knowing damn well that their proposed structure was a return to previous euro tyrannies and grossly ‘undemocratic’.
The Euro parliament has a kabuki role in this process as we saw with the election of Van der Leyen. As you can read here, vander leyen’s appointment was judged to be “undemocratic by the eurp parliament:

“The European parliament’s political groups have united to condemn the selection of the next European Commission president, branding the process an undemocratic stitch-up by national governments.”

That link is behind a paywall so here is an unpaywalled description of the 100% corrupt process used to ensure the next EU prez was a dyed in the wool warmonger devoted to ensuring dollars & euros continued to flow for the military industrial complex.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Dec 9 2022 9:44 utc | 80

Here’s how the Grinder Bout exchange was completed
https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1600945329133977602
If Grinder didn’t hate America this wouldn’t have happened.
US Vets must be very happy to see Grinder return to the US.

Posted by: Tom_12 | Dec 9 2022 9:54 utc | 82

Bloody hell Jen and C put up a lot of reading.
Thanks both.

Posted by: Klaatu | Dec 9 2022 10:24 utc | 84

My god this bar has degenerated into some low form of talkback radio since righters began to hang around. Who gives a flying fuck what pink bits the amerikan repatriee likes to play with or anything else about her personal life aside from the fact that she broke russian law by smuggling dope into the place? This is what shits me the most about rightists; they always have to have someone, some group of humans who they hate. Why? Humans are humans in my years on this planet I discovered a long time ago that a person’s character is never determined by the colour of their skin, whether or not they adhere to a particular set of ancient superstitions or what other human’s bits get them off, yet this is why I really struggle to tolerate rightists. They always appear to need some easily definable group of humans who they congregate around hating. Sometimes it’s homosexualists, sometimes it’s unwhite people or jews, sometimes it’s anyone who subscribes to a different set of old wives’ tales than those they themselves reckon are the ‘truth’.
The thing is it is always some group of ‘other’ humans who the bosses of their particular stupidity have selected for them to resent.
The bosses – so called leaders or philosophers for the screwed up, do this because they know if they select a group of humans to use as scapegoats and blame the ills of the world on em, it is far easier to gather a group of unthinking individuals, ones who will not think too hard about inconsistencies in their rationale, that it is to put in the hard yakka of developing a cogent logic which ordinary humans will adopt because it is simple to see the thinking works.
The object is to get followers not thinkers, so “give ’em someone to hate” easy peasy – now pass round the hat and issue the orders.
Griner was arrested and imprisoned because she broke Russian drug laws, imprisoning types who smuggle pot into a country is common happens every day in amerika as well as pretty much everywhere else, still it’s not gonna endanger the state, especially since the pot was for her own use. Now people can argue that locking someone up for that is wrong & I would agree but only in regard to me own nation, if it is somewhere I am visiting as a guest especially when I knew it was illegal if I got caught, I would accept whatever I copped. Not only hosts have responsibility, guests also are expected to follow the customs of the land they visit. The Russian govt decided she had learned her lesson and more importantly other potential visitors had as well.
On the other hand Whelan did enter Russia with the intent to do the nation damage. He was a spy determined to cause trouble for his hosts. Victor Bout was set up – the fact that the creeps in Hollywood made a movie about him betrayed the lengths the amerikan MIC went to in order to remove Bout as a competitor, amerikan arms merchants pissed that Bout closed so many deals whined to the amerikan govt about him so a media beat up about him was created, leaks about him being the subject of a movie were spread and pressure put upon the Thai government to allow his extradition once the bloke’s name had been sufficiently disparaged (see Assange J. and the shit he copped for ten years prior to being arrested) for a good example of how the boss class/ elite operates.
the warmongers have played you all on this. There was simply no way that Russia would agree to a prisoner exchange for a known spy & failed saboteur, the amerikan indoctrinators knew this but deliberately ignored that reality so they could create a belief in the average amerikan consciousness, knowing full well a swap would never happen, just so they could get the unthinking portion of the amerikan population spouting nonsense here and/or anywhere else on the net they can spread their disinfo.
Yawn – wake up dingbats yer being played again.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Dec 9 2022 12:09 utc | 86

Any Europeans care to comment on who you voted for when electing the EU Commission and EU Parliament. What was their platform and did they follow through on their promise? Anyone know what the voter turn out was in each country. Did your party get voted in? Was your vote wasted? Will you vote in future EU Parliament and Commission elections? Is your vote counted? Do you feel you wasted your time voting? You got a vote, right? Crickets………
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Dec 9 2022 12:51 utc | 88

A poor Ukrainian refugee speaking clear Russian while complaining about their bad treatment in Germany.
https://twitter.com/runews/status/1601176247349878785
She’s clearly an airhead.
My message to her, “Find a job, any job. Earn the money to buy what you want.”

Posted by: Tom_12 | Dec 9 2022 13:55 utc | 90

At 48 sec mark Griner lets us know everything we need to know about who this person is. I’d love to see what is written on on Griner’s birth certificate. My guess Bret.
https://twitter.com/runews/status/1600923657047396353

Posted by: Tom_12 | Dec 9 2022 14:17 utc | 92

“It is my understanding the silk road is very old with originally Persia the middle man between China and Rome/Mediterranean. That seemed to have continued into Muslim times. Many Muslim/mixed communities springing up along the silk road or perhaps rather old communities taking up Islam. Some very old cities through the stans that were based on the silk road.” Peter AU1@82
I think that you are right. The Vivaldi brothers, sailed into the Atlantic and were never heard of again as early as 1291- the year that the Crusaders lost Acre to the Saracens. The way east was not blocked by muslims. There are many other reasons why Europeans refocused their attention on western routes to the cornucopia of Ming China in the latter half of the fifteenth century, one being that they had ships armed with cannon to use.
It is also true that Columbus did not have to sail west to find India, Vasco da Gama had already sailed south and east and established an Atlantic/Indian Ocean route. .

Posted by: bevin | Dec 9 2022 16:41 utc | 94

@ Peter AU1 | Dec 9 2022 10:05 utc | 82
Peter, thank you for your very correct assessment of the ancient Silk Road. The route was established maybe 2,000 years ago as the overland connection between the Chinese and the Graeco-Roman worlds. It was used primarily for the transport of luxury goods, including silk; however, the East Roman Empire obtained silkworms from China in I believe the 6th century and could then produce its own silk, albeit of lesser quality. But trade on the route continued, and the Muslims did not interrupt it, but rather enhanced it. At the same time, the Muslims further developed maritime trade over the Indian Ocean, which had already been starting up, and Europe continuously imported luxuries, including spices from Southeast Asia, through the Muslim world. This is how the trading republics of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa became wealthy, helping to finance the Renaissance.
The trouble was that the costs went up with too many middlemen, so when the Portuguese were able to sail around Africa finally in 1498-1499 and then seize control of the Indian Ocean, it really ruined the middlemen, so Italy and Egypt both declined and the Silk Route practically came to an end, just because of the Portuguese action, followed up subsequently by the Dutch, British, and French. Indeed, the Portuguese seizure of the Indian Ocean was a major factor in the downfall of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria to the Ottomans in 1517.
This was because maritime transport has always been cheaper than land transport, that remains to this day, as can be seen comparing the huge size of container ships to the size of trucks and trains. A big advantage of the US has been its control of the oceans, but that has its limitations, as the rule of international law requires free passage, so there is nothing the US can do to block other people’s commerce easily. Also, technology has made the pipeline of oceanic delivery very fragile and potentially vulnerable to interruption by anybody, and the US doesn’t want to encourage such action, as it would be the biggest loser.
So Xi’s Belt-and-Road Initiative to revive the Silk Road actually makes sense, because land transportation costs may become more competitive with sea transport costs, especially over routes where the land distance is much shorter, and such land routes will be much less vulnerable to potential US interference and interdiction. It’s win-win for the Central Asian countries, so they are all more or less on board with it, and the Taliban’s Afghanistan will be too.

Posted by: Cabe | Dec 9 2022 16:54 utc | 96

@ bevin | Dec 9 2022 16:41 utc | 93
The innovation of Columbus was his erroneous and, even for the science of the time, scientifically ridiculous theory that the earth’s diameter is actually much smaller than it is in reality, so that he would reach East Asia by sailing only as far as America. Evidently, this seemed worth a gamble to the Spanish monarchs, although it is also possible that secret, previous explorations by the Portuguese had shown that there was an unknown continent out there, and that Ferdinand and Isabella were aware of this. But Columbus himself seemed long convinced that he had actually reached East or Southeast Asia.

Posted by: Cabe | Dec 9 2022 17:04 utc | 98

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 8 2022 17:06 utc | 4
Tomas Piketty is an idiot. The inherited wealth pushes wealth owners to do long-term planning and invest into their family businesses in a way which maximizes the value in the long term. In the inherited wealth managers of capital and family business are also owners.
Posted by: averros | Dec 8 2022 22:27 utc | 25

Obviously any wealth redistribution scheme to new entrepreneurs would not apply to true owner/operator family enterprises and would not be 100% of total family assets.
The target would be the spawn of Soros, Gates etc., where the wealth is almost 100% financialized assets held in trusts, etc.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 9 2022 17:34 utc | 100