The MoA Week In Review - (Not Ukraine) OT 2023-07
Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:
- Jan 2 - Are There Any U.S. Red Lines?
- Jan 3 - Critical Infrastructure Intercepts All Exploding Drones
- Jan 4 - Ukraine - The Big Push To End The War
- Jan 5 - Christmas Cease Fire
Related:
- Ukraine Humiliated Western Propagandists After Its Defense Minister Admitted It’s A NATO Proxy - Andrew Korybko
- Russia’s Rebound - How Moscow Has Partly Recovered From Its Military Setbacks - Barry R. Posen / Foreign Affairs
- Why History Matters: the Left and Ukraine - Rob Urie / Counterpunch
- What Have We Bargained for in Ukraine? - National Review(!)
- Jan 6 - Twitter Files Show How The Deep State Conquered Social Media
Related:
- Why the Twitter Files Are in Fact a Big Deal - Jacobin
- Elon Musk, eager tech salesman to the Deep State - Yasha Levine
- Under Musk, Twitter Continues to Promote US Propaganda Networks - FAIR
- Twitter Aided the Pentagon in Its Covert Online Propaganda Campaign - Intercept
---
Other issues:
Russia:
- The Plan to Carve Up Russia - M. Whitney / UNZ
- Ok, Doomer - William Schryver
Legendary Russian fatalism may be alive and well, but it will be ashamed of its doubts in the end. - The First US Onslaught to “Weaken” Post-Cold War Russia - UNZ
Even Before NATO Expansion, the West Sought to Strangle Russia Economically
Peter Schmidt (The 92ers) @The92ers - 12:40 UTC · Jan 6, 2023Clip of a 1997 Biden speech on NATO expansion. In it he says the Russians told him they were threatened by it and it might force them to ally w/ China. Biden laughs and says, 'Good luck - and try Iran too!'
This debacle is 30-years in the making.
CSPAN - User Clip: Biden Blunder
Economy:
- Dollar’s demise about to explode Asia’s 2023 - William Pesek / Asia Times
- US recession alarm bells ringing far and wide - William Pesek / Asia Times
U.S. Proxies:
- How Britain and America Backed Jihadists Throughout Kosovo War - Kit Klarenberg
Too big, too fast:
British Spies:
- Trojan Horses of HMG. Torchlight Group - Anonymous
Politics:
Use as open (not Ukraine related) thread ...
Posted by b on January 8, 2023 at 14:02 UTC | Permalink
next page »Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 8 2023 15:02 utc | 1
Only 2,000? San Francisco has over 7,200. This is because we have the best Welfare system in the state, maybe the country.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jan 8 2023 15:18 utc | 2
I'm very curious what people, and b, think of the Posen piece. He says that Russian strategy has been foolish and ineffective, that Russia was for es to retreat from Kiev, that Russia has lost more troops than Ukraine, and that it can't wage an offensive. In other words, he parrots the MSM and establishment line.
It runs against the interpretation of the war phases which, for example, B and Macgregor have offered.
Posted by: Wilbur | Jan 8 2023 15:37 utc | 3
Posted by: Wilbur | Jan 8 2023 15:37 utc | 3
of course he parrots the MSM and establishment line. Foreign Policy is the establishment organ.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jan 8 2023 15:40 utc | 4
Wilbur @ 3
Foreign Policy is the sophisticated innalekshul MSM outlet. They live in a fantasy world.
It would be nice if these clowns had their face rubbed in their own shit. Does not seem to be the Russian style. The innalekshuls won't understand their utter defeat until US completely collapse or for at least a decade, whichever comes first.
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 8 2023 15:46 utc | 5
The Duran. Can peace in Syria come about via Turkey and Russian agreements? And how will they get the US to move out?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waCk_Jhnz5c
Posted by: curtis | Jan 8 2023 15:47 utc | 6
thanks b and to the various posters here at moa who contribute so much...
that 1997 clip of biden is very telling...
richard steven hack left a link in the previous thread and 'the tragedy of ukraine' and another poster 'irish moses' recommended it.. i would also like to recommend it too.. it has helped me understand the dynamic in greater detail.. here is the link again.. thanks richard and irish..
Posted by: james | Jan 8 2023 16:10 utc | 7
The Twitter files do show that a line was crossed with governmental entities "illegally" encouraging/forcing Twitter (and presumably other social media sites) to censor political view the State did not like. I put "illegally" in quotes to make as clear as possible that we no longer live in a society based on the British tradition of law starting with the Magna Carta. This tradition of law exists only on paper and occasionally shows up in law courts out of a kind of habit that has little substance.
It is clear to many of us who make comments here that, just as our tradition is evaporating in the sunshine/heat of the totalitarian trend in the USA/UK, the whole construct of international law (that many Americans championed after WWII) is even less present and being replaced by a Nazi-like version or might-makes-right at least in the West. The Empire's refusal to even consider the rights of nations to exist and their security concerns has been dramatically exposed during 2022. The Russian dramatically experienced this reality after they made every diplomatic attempt to stabilize the situation in Eastern Europe. This situation in Ukraine finally totally overthrew international law in the letter and spirit of the post-WWII visionaries. It's over folks--agreements, treaties, the whole structure guiding interactions among nations and entities is gone. What remains is a structure of lies, deception, covert ops, military actions, greed, and the criminalization of the West.
The State Department in Washington is now a military/intel asset without any diplomatic mission--its only interest is to facilitate the conquest of ALL of planet Earth as part of a global super-Rome. This is why Europe is all about the same agenda--they like and desire order for its own sake. They, the leaders, and increasingly the citizens embrace our current drift towards totalitarianism. Why? Because modernism has proven to offer and empty life without meaning--hedonism/consumerism does not fulfill the human need for meaning (see Victor Frankel's work). The mentality of War(!) offers meaning for people. It clearly divides the world into two parts--the good guys and the bad guys and this is deeply satisfying when every structure around us crumbles whether it is family, community, sexual roles and differences, religion (particularly in Europe). Order in such a world is seductive. Those of us who want a more healthy way of living have to assert ourselves without descending into the good guys/bad guys mentality that our culture now encourages--things are never that simple. It starts with culture, i.e., the way we choose to live not "politics" since that door is closed and, it seems, closed for good.
Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Jan 8 2023 16:23 utc | 8
A snippet of eco-salesmanship, from the article on heavier electric vehicles (some of 'em four tons heavier!) in The Atlantic:
The electrification of America’s vehicle fleet will happen faster, one could argue, the more consumers view EVs as objects of desire, rather than as obligatory concessions to the greater good.
Razzamattazz! The manufactured consensual magic in this approach is striking: Somehow we'll trick USA uber-consumers into doing something right, by golly! If this keeps up, we could eventually see a reappearance of vanishing courtesies of the road -- such as using turn signals.
The trick is to make that turn-signal knob an object of desire. Proceed carefully.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jan 8 2023 16:30 utc | 9
@https://t.me/ZandVchannel/46468
🇫🇮 Finns are not in a hurry to join NATO before Sweden.
“Finland is not eager to join NATO as soon as possible, so we can wait until Sweden receives the appropriate signal,” he said.
And Sweden depends on Erdogan.
Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 8 2023 16:58 utc | 10
Thanks for the articles from the "Let's hate Musk" crowd, b. But it sounds like Penis Envy, or more accurately, Success Envy, to me. Anyhow, I'm still a fan.
Someone on Strategic Culture a couple of weeks ago described the people in charge of USA FP as "evil and stupid."
I don't think Musk is evil and he's sure as hell clever enough to play the Swamp like a bunch of cheap fiddles.
I don't take Yasha Levine or Glen G as seriously as they take themselves, and FAIR.org carelessly conflated pre and post-Musk Twitter issues.
I could be persuaded that Musk is too good to be true. But so far so good.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 8 2023 17:37 utc | 11
I posted this in the previous open (not ukraine) thread not realizing it had already petered out...
https://strategic-culture.org/news/2023/01/07/bye-bye-1991-2022/
IMO one of Pepe's best in a while.
One of many small gems therein:
No one will obviously confirm it on the record. But all this could be part of an evolving, secret Russia-Germany deal in the making, leading to Germany restoring at least some of its sovereignty.
Another:
Few people – including CIA operatives – may know that New York City, for instance, may be destroyed with a single move: blowing up the George Washington bridge. The city can’t be supplied with food and most of its requirements without the bridge. The New York City electrical grid can be destroyed by knocking out the central controls; putting it back together could take a year.Even trespassed by infinite layers of fog of war, the current situation in Ukraine is still a skirmish. The real war has not even started yet. It might – soon.
Conclusion:
The NATO vs. Russia war in Ukraine is just a cog in the wheel of the New Great Game. For the Global South, what really matters is how Eurasia – and beyond – are coordinating their integration process, from BRI to the BRICS+ expansion, from the SCO to the INSTC, from Opec+ to the Greater Eurasia Partnership.We’re back to what the world looked like in 1914, or before 1939, only in a limited sense. There’s a plethora of nations struggling to expand their influence, but all of them are betting on multipolarity, or “peaceful modernization”, as Xi Jinping coined it, and not Forever Wars: China, Russia, India, Iran, Indonesia and others.
So bye bye 1991-2022. The hard work starts now. Welcome to the New Great Game on crack.
As to issue of RF 'should have done this in 2014:' the geopolitical ground had not yet been properly seeded, plus they needed a greater level of military capability (like hypersonics neutralizing NATO navies). The Ukraine operations are the hub of a large spinning wheel that is changing the entire world order for the foreseeable future. They had to be ready for those world wide ramifications, moreover be in a position to ensure they went their way, before turning that hub in Donbass.
The dynamic is multi-layered and complex and will play out over decades. But there are simple tell-tales, as there always are. One, for example, is how Putin is viewed world wide. Of late he has become a globally recognized Great Man figure. Are there any such figures in the West? Have there been in decades? I think not. That right there tells us a huge amount about current reality. It tells us that the world order has already changed, that the future is already here now. New financial and diplomatic arrangements are playing catch-up, that's all.
This period is going to be analysed by many for centuries to come. Anyway, it's a good article.
@ Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Jan 8 2023 16:23 utc | 8
A couple of points:
1. There was nothing "illegal" about what multiple government officials did in persuading Twitter staff to do what they were already inclined to do. Back in the day, we used to call activities such as this "extra-legal", meaning they were done outside the realm of law. They do it because they can.
2. I think you have it backwards. The State Department (Kagan/Nuland/Blinken) is the tail wagging the DoD dog. In the US, State and CIA are more aligned with the Democrats and the Military with the Republicans. Hence Obama's purge of the Generals promoted by Bush, something the military still resents. It also appears that they deliberately botched the rushed Afghanistan withdrawal to make the Biden Admin look bad.
3. The rush to totalitarianism is a consequence of War. It is impossible to fight an effective large scale war with large amounts internal dissent and potential sabotage.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jan 8 2023 17:47 utc | 13
Opport Knocks | Jan 8 2023 17:47 utc | 13
There is beginning of large demos in Europe, yesterday in Paris was a huge demonstration, which is under censorship of youtube..
Posted by: fanto | Jan 8 2023 18:02 utc | 14
Does the Jan. 3 post, “Critical Infrastructure Intercepts All Exploding Drones,” exist? It didn’t appear on the blog on Jan. 3, as far as I can see, and clicking headline above just goes to the MoA home page.
Posted by: David G | Jan 8 2023 18:11 utc | 15
that doesn’t mean the disclosures aren’t important, or that the accuracy of the information contained in the files is somehow undermined by the political slant of some of those reporting on it.
nice straw man argument...though i'm sure some people might think as much if they watch CNN/fox/etc as anything but corporate performance art and ignore most of the "alt-media". the files are "important" if you're on twitter and/or give a shit about it. unless it's a "revelation" that we live in a surveillance panopticon where "big tech" is a proxy for the "intelligence" agencies.
otherwise it's just "durrr i believe it now that elon musk says it". one of his few actual "talents" is "columbusing" other people's work. old wine in a new bottle.
Posted by: the pair | Jan 8 2023 18:15 utc | 16
Posted by: Scorpion | Jan 8 2023 17:39 utc | 12
"No one will obviously confirm it on the record. But all this could be part of an evolving, secret.."
great thing about secrets, if the prophet prognosticates enough about what might be, what's cooking in the secret kitchen, he's never wrong. even if what Germany is openly doing openly contradicts his open "knowledge" of what's supposedly in the secret sauce.
"Few people – including CIA operatives – may know that New York City, for instance, may be destroyed with a single move: blowing up the George Washington bridge. blah blah blah"
they made a batman movie about this...on planet earth, pepe is the clown. a whole planet can be destroyed in a single move. i wouldn't even ask pepito how many boroughs are in NYC, much less how many bridges.
"The NATO vs. Russia war in Ukraine is just a cog in the wheel of the New Great Game..."
unless it's not. not if a country that can't defeat the Taliban collapses. or a billion other things happen. it's not exactly happy land in the US Congress right now, but i'm glad they passed a budget before they start "fighting" again.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jan 8 2023 19:03 utc | 17
LOL!!
Just finished reading Wm Pesek's "...Recession alarm bells ringing far and wide" from Asia Times.
I know Sweet Fanny Adams about "economics" but I cannot understand how or why raising interest rates during a period of high inflation would/could/should avert a recession. It doesn't make any sense at all.
But thankfully Elon Musk must be as ignorant of "economics" as I am and thinks it's as insane as I do.
But I'm going further. The people of my grandparents era who grew up in the Great Depression were scarred by it and each of them had a ridiculously quirky economic foible. eg my favourite aunt wouldn't allow us kids to have butter AND cream on scones & jam.
Imo, the coming recession will be worse than the GD. And this one is almost deliberate. And certainly NOT accidental...
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jan 8 2023 19:03 utc | 18
the pair | Jan 8 2023 18:15 utc | 16
but he's leading our journey into space! i can't wait till i get shot in the head in battle, fall off my steel horse, look up into "the sky, the infinite sky", and see...Musk's satellites and the US Space Farce, ICE drones mixed with Amazon drones.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jan 8 2023 19:09 utc | 19
Fanto | 8 2023 18:02 utc | 14
Demonstration in the post 2001 world do not matter at all no matter how effective. The State which includes all their organs, (i.e., media (news and entertainment), police, social media, and so on) is all powerful. It's power and control is too broad. Change can only come from the top in the West in this historical moment.
Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Jan 8 2023 19:10 utc | 20
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jan 8 2023 17:47 utc | 13
Totalitarianism is certainly aided by war but, at this time, it is fueled largely by the need for meaning, for direction for the end of the moral ambiguity that is at the center of life in the West. The oligarch class is happy to oblige and give the public what it wants (sort of).
Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Jan 8 2023 19:16 utc | 21
Brazil
Lula Da Silva has been evacuated to Sao Paulo. The Government building has been taken over by "protestors".
The police claim they are not enough to keep the calm.
I don't think Bolsonaro is still in Brazil.
Situation to watch closely for US "regime change" activities.
It's all kicking off in Brazil. This has been brewing for weeks now.
"Bolsonaro supporters have stormed the National Congress in Brazil. There are reports that protesters have also broken into the Presidential residence, Planalto Palace, and the Supreme Federal Court."
[VIDEO]
https://twitter.com/alx/status/1612163704023392256
Posted by: Gt Stroller | Jan 8 2023 20:24 utc | 24
@Stonebird, Lula was not "evacuated" to São Paulo, he was already there visiting victims of the heavy rains.
Bolsonaro fled to Florida two days before becoming ex-president.
Some 100 buses arrived in the capital Brasilia coming from all over the country. The capital's Governor (a bolsonarist) is in the US and left the city unprepared to an obvious violent mob. There are federal authorities asking for an intervention over the city's government.
Basically, there's nobody of importance in town (judges, senators, president), so it will be just lots of noise, trashing, rubber bullets and pepper spray.
Posted by: Ricardo Ramirez | Jan 8 2023 20:27 utc | 25
Why do I get the feeling that Lula was set up exactly like Morsi in Egypt? USA initially pretended to support Morsi only to set him up for a failed government under constant attack and an eventual coup by the old pro USA military right wing. Seems exactly what is happening here only with less patience than they had in Egypt, Lula didn't even have time to unpack his toilet kit in the Presidential palace.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jan 8 2023 20:31 utc | 26
My guess is Bolsonaro fled to Florida so as to make the revolution/coup look grass roots rather than orchestrated by him.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jan 8 2023 20:35 utc | 27
Why would Bolsonaro and his governor flee to Florida unless they were backed by the USA to begin with? Perhaps the USA backs both sides in Brazil in order to control whoever wins.
Posted by: Rhinoskerous | Jan 8 2023 20:46 utc | 28
Ricardo Ramirez | Jan 8 2023 20:27 utc | 25
Agreed. Lula was already out of town, I used early reports that were incorrect.
***
Fats Waller
Lulu's back in town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rgtt_8DbKE
Nearly right.
Playing both sides is probably the best guess. Bolsonaro visited the CIA headquarters right after being elected (!!!) and by the end of his government CIA director was saying in the msm that he better accept the election's results. All very bizarre.
I think Bolsonaro's unending support for Trump, even saying publicly that Biden stole the election, made him no friends of The Swamp.
Assumption here is that he is very afraid of being jailed. Even his minions say that he is a coward compared to Lula "that knew he was going to be arrested and didn't scape to Cuba/Venezuela/Russia, went to jail, got out and won the election".
Posted by: Ricardo Ramirez | Jan 8 2023 21:01 utc | 30
CIA is not backing Bolsonaro. CIA is backing trouble, turmoil, strife.
Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 8 2023 21:16 utc | 31
@ Chris Cosmos | Jan 8 2023 19:16 utc | 21
i thought your post @ 8 was bang on... thanks for saying all that.. it seems to me the diplomatic mission, is not really a diplomatic mission, but one where they need to keep the us$ printing machine running without any interference so that war can continue as they see fit... i guess it has always been this way, but now with more and more questioning the need for war and all the financial sanctions that everyone is supposed to go along with, there is some uncertainty.. good... if europe can't see how they are holding the gun to their foot by supporting these 'diplomats' at the washington state dept, or their goons in the cia - well, they deserve everything they get..
-----------
the parallels with bolsanaro and trump is interesting.. both want to support an insurrection,lol, although i suppose bolsanaro can still post on twitter..
nice @ stonebird! lulas or lulus back in town.. great song!
@ oldhippie.. exactly.. all for the purposes of control..
Posted by: james | Jan 8 2023 21:29 utc | 32
james | Jan 8 2023 16:10 utc | 7
I only watched the start Much missing on Ukraine history and reasons/causes of current conflict in the brief summary of Ukraine diversity. They are all part of the Rus people. The cause of the conflict is not cultural/religious diversity but anglo promotion of OUN-b and its military wing as basis for national identity. He does mention that Austria used Galicia to try and foment a Ukraine national identity within the Russian empire so this has been ongoing for a long time. Putin said in a speech, Stalin adding Galicia to Ukraine was a big mistake.
To me, Ukrainians are the Kievan Rus that came under Polish rule for some centuries. Galicia spent the most time under foreign rule, the last 150 years or so under Austria. I don't think they can be called Ukrainians but the official Ukraine language is the dialect of Galicia and its artificial national culture is based on the beliefs of the peasants of Galicia.
Austria took Galicia from Poland. Poland retook it in WWI, then Stalin added it, part of Kievan Rus to Ukraine in WWII. Galicia I think is key to what is occurring in Ukraine. The sooner Poland retakes it the better. The Ukraine nationalists will soon turn their attention on Poland and Poland wont go easy on them as the Massacre of Poles is still strong in Polish memory.
Central Ukrainians and the ethnic Russian seemed to have got on well prior to 2014, all simply considering themselves Ukrainians. Zelensky signed an agreement with Poland some time ago to do away with the border and for Poland to take over policing and administration in western Ukraine. It will be a Ukraine Idlib where nationalists can be sent but I think that will end up in hostilities between the Nationalists/Galicians and the Poles.
That may well be what ends the war in Ukraine.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 8 2023 21:50 utc | 33
Brazil - Official buildings stormed while president out of town. Reminds me of Ukraine. In the Ukraine case, the president signs an agreement for early elections and heads out to his voter base.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 8 2023 21:57 utc | 34
"The official narrative of the Kosovo War states Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, President of Yugoslavia, intended to create a ‘Greater Serbia' via the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Kosovo’s lbanian and Muslim population. Such was the genocidal terror and violence unleashed against civilians, NATO had no choice but to intervene militarily to avert the bloody eradication of hundreds of thousands of people."
From Kit's Newsletter 04/24/22.
-------
The official US/NATO narrative for the 1999 bombing of Serbia /Kosovo, which was in fact a lie, sounds eerily similar to the true narrative of what Ukraine was doing to the people of the Donbass in 2014 through 2022.
"Such was the genocidal terror and violence unleashed against civilians [of the Russian speaking people of the Donbass, that Russia] had no choice but to intervene militarily to avert the bloody eradication of hundreds of thousands of people."
Isn't it amazing that the people of the western empire can't see the similar justifications?
Posted by: Ed | Jan 8 2023 22:09 utc | 35
Impressive history lesson from Scott Ritter about failed attempts to shoot missile systems from V1 to Himars via scuds in Iraq. I hadn’t realised not a single scud launcher was ever hit! And how shit patriot systems are.
The linked video interview is a tour de force by the big chesty fellow who entertains whilst informing for two hours straight with Jeff Norman. First episode I’ve seen! Is good except for Jeff showing ignorance of what € symbol means and how many $ it’s worth. 😆 though he does a great job on getter by a tweet trending to ask Musk why Scott is still banned - for these who subscribed to it , lend a hand.
https://www.scottritterextra.com/p/why-the-himars-is-so-difficult-to
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OBseRAPi-Rw
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jan 8 2023 23:30 utc | 37
Hmm, my comment @ 36 failed to get past a filter. It was about Roger's link to the "Culturcide" documentary by Vasily Prozorov in the comments forum over at the Ukraine Open Thread 2023-08 post. The documentary is very detailed and worth watching. What is most significant is that the school textbooks and school library books are part of a systematic effort by the Kiev regime to divorce Ukrainians, and especially Russian-speaking Ukrainians, from their cultural heritage and to encourage their psychological dependency on NATO and NATO membership. None of the glossily printed and published textbooks and comics (for kindergarten children!) in the documentary appear to say anything about Ukrainian self-reliance and Ukrainians determining their own destiny - instead they stress how Ukrainian peace, security and prosperity depend on Ukraine being part of NATO.
Posted by: Jen | Jan 8 2023 23:31 utc | 38
Let's not forget the fact that while Mr. Free Speech Activist Melon Husk reactivated numerous right and far-right leaning accounts at Twitter, he has also overseen the banning of numerous left-leaning journalist and pro-Palestinian, not to mention anti-empire accounts.
On the general topic of Mr. Husk, when you actually study his history, it makes some of the fanbois' fawning over him look very silly. Most of them probably own or aspire to own a Tesla.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2023 23:32 utc | 39
I'm reading that the situation in Brazil is mostly under control and that there have been hundreds of arrests.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2023 23:33 utc | 40
Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2023 23:32 utc | 39
The interesting thing about Musk, at least when it comes to powers like China and Russia, he believes in business not war.
There was the tweet a few years back on the coup in Bolivia for the lithium. Just business, nothing personal type thing. Not ideal but far better than the current crop of nutters running the empire of lies deep state.
Musk nis certainly not dumb. That tweet on Bolivia - I sometimes wonder if that was not written as a wake up call.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 8 2023 23:47 utc | 41
I'm reading that the situation in Brazil is mostly under control and that there have been hundreds of arrests.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 8 2023 23:33 utc | 40
Rumours of the protest's demise may be premature...
"Police and Military have retreated from attempting to stop protestors who have overtaken the Supreme Court, the Congress building and surrounded the presidential palace in Brazil. Protest numbers are now growing into the tens of thousands."
https://twitter.com/canindependent/status/1612180486759251968
Posted by: Gt Stroller | Jan 8 2023 23:58 utc | 42
Jacobin whiterightwash
Read this trash barflies and weep. This is nothing other than a craven apologia from the Democratic Socialists of America and Jacobin team that promoted and installed the AOC+ squad in the Congress under the flag of the Democrats. This team sure aren’t socialists, they are Democrats in drag. That is to say they have appropriated ‘left thought’ and dis-empowered it. The Squad - silent wimp democrats who couldn’t assert their power even when the USA left had set out a pathway to advance and possibly achieve the huge aspirations of the American citizens that had been elevated by two successive Bernie Sanders campaigns plus their individual election campaigns.
It was a formidable vanguard for achievement. Yet these newly elected ‘squad’ instead of taking their constituent unity forward, immediately turned on the left media promoting #Forcethevote and abused and denigrated and applied all the cancel culture tools at hand to silence the legitimate strategy advice of the left but more importantly the legitimate expectations of the millions of US citizens who had dared to HOPE. BETRAYED.
This ‘journalism’ is a predictable Jacobin and Democratic Socialist of America con job. It is whitewash laid on thick so that you cannot even detect the fissures of betrayal by the squad. It headlines “The Right Played Hardball in Congress. The Left Should Take Notes.“ then plays red herring distraction listing all the evil that will come of the changes. It fails to revise tactics and lost opportunities of the squad. It barely touches on the numbers strategy applying to McCarthy and the identical numbers opportunity for the squad around Pelosi those TWO years ago.
This ‘journalism’ is a barometer of the extent to which USA ‘left thought’ is the subject of deep colonisation and imprisonment in an ideological solitary confinement. Have no doubt, this project of containing the left in a thought/inaction prison has been underway since the late 1800’s and there is no better chronicler of its persistent application than Howard Zinn.
Here is a paragraph that pretends to set out how the DSA squad could play. Beware, it is an extraordinary deceit as it describes a righteous path to ‘get power’ on committees etc., a path of perpetual effort and distraction from the exercise of power when available. After the squad failed to force Pelosi to the vote and do some hard headed haggling a few years back what did Pelosi do? She sacked progressives from all committees. Spat in their face so to speak, cowed them into abject submission. Here is the paragraph of perpetual struggle but no disturbance please:
To achieve very different ends, we should be prepared to go to war against Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and others who otherwise have no sympathy for or interest in advancing our agenda. And we need to win powerful bully pulpits from which to propagandize for democratic socialist politics. To date, centrist Democrats have worked hard to keep the Left off of important committees. For example, Democratic leaders denied key committee assignments to progressive left congressmembers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib in 2019 and again going into 2021. By playing hardball, we could change that.
This is the DSA that organises furiously to get its candidates elected and enjoy the spoils of office while the people of the USA suffer the poverty and decline of this system of perpetual dis-empowerment and warmongering. And then the same DSA use cancel culture assault to marginalise the voice of the LEFT.
Remember the stenographer who did this whitewash: Neal Meyer - is a member of New York City Democratic Socialists of America.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 0:07 utc | 43
Quite frankly, I’m amazed that Lula has lasted this long. I thought he would have suffered some “unfortunate accident” during the campaign, or would’ve “lost” the election because of manipulation of what were, after all, the Bolsonaro government’s voting machines.
Now we get to wait and see how many uniformed and armed Brazilians choose to support the elected government. I’m not optimistic but hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 0:09 utc | 44
oldhippie #31
CIA is not backing Bolsonaro. CIA is backing trouble, turmoil, strife.
Exactly. A coup. And then strike the B out of BRICS.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 0:11 utc | 45
Lulu's not happy, says he's going to have all the (tens of thousands) protestors arrested. Presumably by the security services he's just criticised... Good luck with that.
"@LulaOficial
addressing nation, begins by denouncing "fascists," "vandals," "nazis, stalinists...no, not stalinists, fascists" and criticizing security shortcomings. Everyone involved, he says, will be tracked down and arrested."
Posted by: Gt Stroller | Jan 9 2023 0:13 utc | 46
As anticipated, Escobar has a third article now available, "How General Soleimani kick-started the multipolar world". My two favorite excerpts:
"Trump, blissfully ignorant of international relations and foreign policy matters, could not possibly understand The Big Picture and its dire ramifications when he had only Israeli-firsters of the Jared 'of Arabia' Kushner kind whispering in his ear....
"There was a regime change at the Hegemon – with Trumpism being replaced by a toxic neoliberal-con cabal, infiltrated by Straussian neo-cons, remote-controlling a senile warmongering entity barely qualified to read a teleprompter.
"This cabal’s foreign policy turned out to be supremely paranoid, antagonizing not only the Islamic Republic but also the Russia-China strategic partnership.
"These three actors happen to be the three top vectors in the ongoing process of Eurasia integration."
Pepe does mention the latest dealings between Syria and Turkey. Will the Outlaw US Empire attempt to regime change Erdogan again if he's reelected?
The Big Picture is changing from an initial tracing in pencil to a fully colored montage.
telesur reports calm restored
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rygQb4pvwg0\
Treachery by the security service in Brasilia and the head of that security has fled to... Florida
Wouldn't ya know.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 0:21 utc | 48
Quite frankly, I’m amazed that Lula has lasted this long. I thought he would have suffered some “unfortunate accident” during the campaign, or would’ve “lost” the election because of manipulation of what were, after all, the Bolsonaro government’s voting machines.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 0:09 utc | 44
Quite frankly, I'm amazed after 2020 that any government still uses electronic voting machines. They are wide open to malicious iterference by bad actors.
Posted by: Gt Stroller | Jan 9 2023 0:23 utc | 49
@ uncle tungsten
How fortunate we are that Senator Sanders has the given name Bernard, because he’s the Saint Bernard who herds otherwise right (as in humane)- thinking people into the Democratic Party’s war-corporate fold.
As for the “Democratic Socialists of America,” would someone wake me when it proposes something even vaguely socialistic?
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 0:28 utc | 50
The oddities of Brazil. Bolsonaro jumped on the first plane to moscow to esure fertilizer supplies. Lula condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Lula reminds me of sheepdog Sanders. Perhaps he will turn out to be different but certainly comes across as someone too weak to fight the american empire. Passive resistance to US biolabs nazism and nato weapons? what world does he live in.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 9 2023 0:29 utc | 51
@Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 0:21 utc | 48
Great link thanks. Now we will see if the US will extradite the police chief and possibly Bolsonaro to stand trial. If not, I can see a lot of US diplomats leaving Brazil. If the Ukrainian President had acted so swiftly in 2014 the demonstrations would never have been able to grow into a coup.
Lula practised neoliberalism with crumbs, quite a lot like Blair without the war of aggression against Iraq. China and Russia don't care about the domestic politics of their partners, they practise old style diplomacy rather than "liberal interventionism". Lula has already stated that he wants a strategic relationship with Russia, and will be visiting China as well as the US early in his term.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 0:33 utc | 52
Where are the huge counter-demonstrations by all the Lulu supporters?
Where were the huge crowds of Biden supporters in 2020?
I smell a rat.
Posted by: Gt Stroller | Jan 9 2023 0:44 utc | 54
Brazil coup update 6:35pm central U.S time
Bolivia's Kawsachun News has this.
"President Lula has decreed federal intervention in the Federal District until January 31. The president, who was sworn in just one week ago, is in Araraquara, São Paulo and will now return to the capital to assess the situation and warns that those responsible for invading government buildings will be located and punished as well as those who financed these acts.
In a tweet from Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) national leader, João Paulo Rodrigues, called the situation in Brasilia “serious” and said that popular movements and unions will meet Monday to make an assessment and “take political directions on the crisis caused by the coup d’état.”
https://kawsachunnews.com/lula-vows-to-punish-perpetrators-of-brasilia-attacks
Posted by: migueljose | Jan 9 2023 0:46 utc | 55
1997 Biden chuckles with the Atlantic Council about silly Russia, China, Iran converging around NATO expansion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1uLrDNy_VU
Posted by: daffyDuct | Jan 9 2023 0:50 utc | 56
Roger | Jan 9 2023 0:43 utc | 53
Lula has already stated that he wants a strategic relationship with Russia, and will be visiting China as well as the US early in his term.
As bush said, you are either for or against. That is unchanged. The war against US global wannabe dominance cannot be fought with peace and diplomacy flags. The only thing the US understands is many US boots in bodybags.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 9 2023 0:54 utc | 57
@ Gt Stroller | Jan 9 2023 0:44 utc
No idea. What’s your point?
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 1:04 utc | 58
@51 - I agree with you about your questions about Lula. Here is a link to his speech where he denounced Russia's SMO in Ukraine. I thought it strange coming from a member of BRIC SA. It was on stage at a celebration for the anniversary of the Brazilian Communist Party.
He makes the comments at 1:55.
I don't know. It is just such the Trump Biden script being re-run in Brazil. It's a bit more real there, but it's the same manipulative garbage. Brazilians are much different and tougher than USA people. In 1964 when the military dictatorship started, Lula was 17. A whole generation grew up both under it, avoiding it, and enforcing it. That kind of stuff doesn't just go away.
I think things could go sour really, really quickly.
Posted by: lex talionis | Jan 9 2023 1:07 utc | 59
Below is a link to a Xinhuanet posting I read a few days ago that says that China is strongly behind the Lula camp in Brazil
Stronger ties, cooperation with China expected as Brazil's Lula returns to presidency
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 9 2023 1:09 utc | 60
not sure why Spriter0000 was banned from twitter - anyone know the telegram url for Spriter?
Spriter0000 on twitter
btw this is a good one Archangel of Special Forces
All the best
Posted by: nathan in WA US | Jan 9 2023 1:12 utc | 61
karlof1 #47
"The Big Picture is changing from an initial tracing in pencil to a fully colored montage."
Thank you and a fine text from Pepe. Undoubtedly Soleimani was followed by an equally distinguished Iranian scholar. Thankfully they have no shortage of them.
It is disconcerting that Trump hovers stupidly in the ether right now simultaneous with Netanyahu and his gang of thugs, criminals and extremists. With any luck and big dose of US mendacity Trump could be eliminated from the presidential race by corrupt Congressional shenanigans. I would like to see that.
Should Trump be reelected it would undoubtedly continue the grim times we experience right now. Where is an asteroid when you need one?
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 1:16 utc | 62
Gt Stroller #54
Where are the huge counter-demonstrations by all the Lulu supporters?
Where were the huge crowds of Biden supporters in 2020?I smell a rat.
In these times a rat smells bad and looks like a General with a tank. Brazilians are experienced in such circumstances and it might be wise and out of range rather than targeted and in range. If push comes to shove the militarists will kill the left and unionists long before they slay the coupists and pentecostal nutter. See USA experience in the past century.
It is very possible that the Brazilian Generals have no appetite or solidarity to take the streets and levers of power. Time will tell.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 1:25 utc | 63
@48 uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 0:21 utc
Thanks for that link - and subsequent Brazil comments from others.
Worth watching that news report, it's only 5 minutes. After Lula decreed that local security was under federal control, the protests evaporated in 20 minutes.
Excellent to see this get hammered down by Lula.
Telesur link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rygQb4pvwg0\
Posted by: Grieved | Jan 9 2023 1:28 utc | 64
Escobar is valuable for his BRI reports but spews nonsense when he supposes Germany will side with Russia on anything. Tens of thousands of US occupation troops and an entire political class trained by the CIA would beg to differ.
Germans are nothing if not obedient to authority, and that authority resides in the DC suburbs.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 1:28 utc | 65
So I suppose the two burning questions of the first month of 2023 become:
1. Will Bolsonaro be extradited to Brazil?
2. Will Trump be extradited to Iran? /s
Sorry, just had to laugh at the thought.
Posted by: Grieved | Jan 9 2023 1:33 utc | 66
@ Grieved
Thing is, the Brazilian nomenklatura, including the military, despise Lula but also have learned to have no confidence in the Bolsonaro clan either. Does the military have a “savior” of its own? That’s the question.
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 1:40 utc | 67
Any comments on the Biden like Lula´s slip calling the Bolsonarists "fanatic Stalinists"?
I am finding this Lula who came out of prison quite strange, and moreover way too Davos prone...
And I am finding this remake of Asault on Congress in the US quite fishy too...
If it is clear that the military would not be involved in the coup intend, who called the people through social media?
With what purpose?
The people were cooked slowly through the aftermath of the past elections so that they would respond to this call.
In the end, as happened in the US, it will be the common people who will be in jail for long years, while the bipartisan system prevails.
It was a blessing nobody ended ebing killed, like in the US case.
People is being manipulated continuously so that they can not know where the wind blows from...even where their right hand is...
IMO, the goal is getting rid of the people who are willing to resist any asault on their rights and democracies on both sides of the ideological espectre through all this well organized events by the secret services.
Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | Jan 9 2023 1:46 utc | 68
... just as our tradition is evaporating in the sunshine/heat of the totalitarian trend in the USA/UK@ ... Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Jan 8 2023 16:23 utc
... The rush to totalitarianism is a consequence of War. It is impossible to fight an effective large scale war with large amounts internal dissent and potential sabotage ... Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jan 8 2023 17:47 utc
Alternatively, it was an anticipated and desired outcome of the "War" that was prepared for decades.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jan 9 2023 1:46 utc | 69
Posted by: nathan in WA US | Jan 9 2023 1:12 utc | 61
Spriter has been playing cat & mouse with the twitter censors for quite a while now. Lately he seems to have pissed someone off, he gets deleted again right away.
Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 9 2023 1:50 utc | 70
Older CCP leaders with transplanted organs have one vital problem now: the immunosuppressor medicines they had to take opened the front door to all Covid variants. Result: CCP leaders died statistically much more than laborers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67CoSdZv3rI
Posted by: Antonym | Jan 9 2023 1:51 utc | 71
Brazil update 7:32pm central U.S
This is in Spanish but there's not too much on the ground I can find so I'll summarize it and Spanish speakers can listen to the 20+ minute report. It's from a Mexico paper, mainstream but I think better than CNN, Wapo, etc. Granted, a low bar...
The young reporter describes Bolsonaro supporters similar to Trump loyalists on Jan 6 but more widespread, more intense, more support from big money people, more police and military support. Regarding police and military, they kind of looked the other way and then didn't push back hard, apparently. Lula is pointing fingers along with his staff and supporters, promising to go after the elites who backed the insurrection.
Bottom line-- the military and local police. It's obvious that enough high ranking officers tacitly supported the insurrection. Step 1 was likely to "burn it down", create chaos and see if the chaos would ignite more violence and turn Brazil into an ungovernable country. Step 2 would be when the police and military would say "We're taking over for the good of the patria" and basically push Lula aside while they put out the fires their friends started and set up a right wing iron fisted government. I don't know how much support Lula has in the military. I'm taking a wild guess that he thinks he has enough to purge the bad ones. Lula is saavy and courageous but he's on a razor's edge. He has huge support among the working class and poor and they are way more organized than in most countries. They also have balls... they will fight... men and women. This is far from over. Bolsonaro is just one crime family among a big network of crime families, all of whom are interconnected with the Cargills, the JP Morgans, Deutzchebanks, Caterpillars, etc. Biden and Trump's crime families are dweebs compared to these guys.
Posted by: migueljose | Jan 9 2023 1:53 utc | 72
“ Older CCP leaders with transplanted organs”
—yeah, what a control group.
Back to the drawing board, dalit!
Posted by: malenkov | Jan 9 2023 1:56 utc | 73
On Brazil, IMO it's quite clear to Brazil's elite which power offers them the best opportunity for the future and that was made clear while Bolsonaro was in office--China. All one need do is review Bolsonaro's behavior during his tenure, particularly his refusal to join the Outlaw US Empire's project for Venezuela. The key for Brazil is to kill the roots of Neoliberalism that're growing before that weed takes over the garden. For decades, Brazil's biggest problem is poverty. The only way it can overcome that huge handicap is to adopt People Centered Development. And politically, Brazil has a lot of maturing to do so it can take the correct pathway to the future. And that goes for all of Latin America's Criollos regardless their origination.
There is some fine analysis of the PAC funding of each Speaker and the way grifters in Congress suck on the graft nipple.
17 minutes.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 2:00 utc | 75
@Posted by: Grieved | Jan 9 2023 1:33 utc | 66
Will Bush and Cheney be extradited to Iraq?
Will Obama and Clinton be extradited to Libya and Syria?
Will Mr. Clinton be extradited to Serbia?
Will the body of Reagan and Oliver North be extradited to Nicaragua?
Every US President has been a war criminal and human rights abuser.
Just a quick post to 1/ try & crank up the news on something more interesting and 2/ to attempt to point out some Lula realities.
Not for nothing did the amerikan neolib media campaign for Lula to get released from prison. The same fishwraps who assert clinton/obama etc are the best thing since sliced bread obviously had approval from on high to agitate for Lula's release, for one reason that is simple:
BRICS
Bolsonaro had consistently rebuffed amerikan pressure to get Brazil outta BRICS - most likely because as a fascist he wants to keep himself & his mates on the pigs back and leaving BRICS would be economic suicide for Brazil.
Now Lula was a major instigator of the creation of BRICS back before China & Russia were quite so on the nose with the west, which was one of the reasons amerika had campaigned for Lula's imprisonment, yet those same forces then agitated for his release once it became apparent Bolsonaro wasn't going to play ball and take Brazil outta BRICS.
I dunno what undertakings if any Lula gave the amerikans but it is likely he at least intimated he would "look" at Brazil's membership, of course the events of 2022 where USuk illegally grabbed Russia's sovereign wealth would have caused him to lose any doubts he may have had concerning BRICS and like his opponent, Lula now sees amerika is the biggest enemy which must be resisted.
Doubtless the agitators in Brasilia funded by amerika and encouraged by the corrupt amerikan puppet Ibaneis Rocha who is governor of the federal state of Brasilia, are there to pressure Lula into giving way. I imagine that already Bolsonaro is under pressure and is regretting his choice of Florida rather than Madrid. Tough shit arsehole.
Take a look at Lula's economic policies and you won't see a Chavez or a Maduro, you'll see a neoliberal economy with a special heaping of environmentalism on the side.
It is the protection of the Amazon which is why the neolibs claim they wanted Lula back, something which appears estimable until one asks oneself "Hang on all the westerners agitating for the 'protection' of the amazon rainforest are doing so solely because they and their forebears happily raped their own forests for profit".
If Brazil does prevent further 'development' of its bushlands, that must be a decision made by Brazilians alone -that is something which is not certain. We know that many Brazilians mainly indigenous Brazilians, want to stop the rape of Brazil's bush but the invaders have to agree as well otherwise yet another fascist will get elected, genocide/ethnic cleansing will re-commence and the bush will be lost. That is thing I learnt about trying to save bushlands, we have to win all day, every day but the greedies only need win once - then its gone, never to be seen again.
That is why Lula could be so dangerous, say he agrees to pull outta BRICS in return for stopping further development along the amazon. The greedies in the west will agree to that in a flash as they know that taking one win at a time, first BRICS, will allow them to force for the other win, raping Brazil's bushlands later.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 2:06 utc | 77
Interesting video on the Battle of the Somme. Ww1. Approx 600,000 Allied casualties in 4 months to move the front by 6 miles. https://youtu.be/2c6ez9gKIzU
All the while the politicians and the media were misleading the public about the conditions, the progress and the events.
Posted by: jared | Jan 9 2023 2:06 utc | 78
Oops Just a quick post to 1/ try & crank up the news on something more interesting and 2/ to attempt to point out some Lula realities.
should read
Just a quick post to 1/ try & crank up the Muse on something more interesting and 2/ to attempt to point out some Lula realities.
This Brazil stuff is obvious, truisms really there are other more interesting, well more immediately vital issues happening.
Posted by: Debsis dead | Jan 9 2023 2:09 utc | 79
Grieved, Uncle Tungsten, melenkov,
I read your comments after posting the above link: you guys appear to be more accurate. Grieved linked to Brian Mier who is very credible. He says the outbreaks were handled by police/military and that the "insurrection" is over. Mier also said that even many right wingers in Brazil are turning against the demonstrator/rioters.
Telesur link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rygQb4pvwg0\
Posted by: Grieved | Jan 9 2023 1:28 utc | 64
Best links for updates in English:
https://www.brasilwire.com/
https://kawsachunnews.com/
telesurenglish.net/
https://orinocotribune.com/
Posted by: migueljose | Jan 9 2023 2:09 utc | 80
Ghost of Mozgovoy #68
If it is clear that the military would not be involved in the coup intend, who called the people through social media?With what purpose?
Bolsonaro does not enjoy unilateral approval from the oligarchy that comprises the Brazil elite and ruling class. However he was/is their front man. I suspect the throng on the streets are transported and kitted by a small group comprising oligarchs and gangsters - a mafia of sorts. Brazil is wracked by this structure of organised crime on a city/region basis afaik. maybe the US embassy is up to its neck in this particular incident. I would not be surprised as it looked like a Soros gig to me.
I am sure much is written describing the organised crime/oligarch structure of Brazil and it wont be too far out of reach if you burrow hard. The Amazon logging companies have an enormous interest and they are usually very violent in all parts of the world. Maybe Ben Norton will run something analytical in a day or so. Check out the Cuban and Venezuelan press too as it is likely to convey some deeper analysis of the leadership team embedded in that throng.
For me it looked much like a flash mob as in the January 6 tradition and every other color revolution trigger team.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 2:15 utc | 82
unless it's not. not if a country that can't defeat the Taliban collapses. or a billion other things happen. it's not exactly happy land in the US Congress right now, but i'm glad they passed a budget before they start "fighting" again.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jan 8 2023 19:03 utc | 17
Good points all. But I do think one of his main thrusts in that article is correct, namely that 'we ain't seen nuttin' yet!'
We can't rule Washington out of creating a speed bump for a BRICS member, about to be rejuvenated by Lula. India Punchline thinks Brazil's Lula is a big deal here.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 9 2023 2:24 utc | 84
@ Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 2:06 utc | 77
Maybe already said but am I correct in understanding that this was another example of unarmed insurection?
Posted by: jared | Jan 9 2023 2:27 utc | 85
@Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 2:06 utc | 77
Yeah, sounds quite plausible that CIA has used the Bolsonarists, without their knowledge, to warn Lula, giving him a sudden and early nasty surprise, what could happen if he does not pledge to the Davos agenda....
Loses the people of Brazil.....
Posted by: Ghost of Mozgovoy | Jan 9 2023 2:29 utc | 86
I think everything will be okay eventually. Here is Victoria Nuland telling us to trust the Brazilian electronic voting system! The election was the will of 50.84% of the population!
Posted by: lex talionis | Jan 9 2023 2:33 utc | 87
This short report ought to raise some eyebrows, "Large majority in Arab States reject recognition of Israel: Poll". The reluctance of Saudis to respond IMO is quite understandable. The closing remark notes the sea-change:
"When people were asked about non-Arab nations – specifically which ones they perceive to be an ally for their country – a staggering 78 percent chose China, followed closely by Turkey and Russia."
@ migueljose | Jan 9 2023 1:53 utc | 72 and 80 with the Brazil updates...thanks
More needs to be known about the differences between the oligarchs in Brazil and the rest of the West.
I think that the military in Brazil is watching what is happening in the world like everyone else.
I keep saying we have a civilization war going on and all countries are in play.....including Rome
Fascinating to watch from the comfort of my stand-up desk
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 9 2023 2:37 utc | 89
Brazil
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 2:06 utc | 77
Debs you covered lots of issues, history along with speculation on Brazil. I appreciate your post and hope we can get more info on all of those areas. Please give us some links.
From my point of view Lula had a major positive impact on Brazil during his time in power. I see him as similar to Mexico's AMLO (Lopez Obrador). Both tend to be polite, even schmoozie/flirty in Lula's case with many world leaders that I couldn't stand: Obama/Biden (both helped orchestrate Dilma and Lula's demise), Trump (AMLO seemed to like him). Both Lula and AMLO have a neoliberal dimension or veneer. As did Putin. They incorporated some into their cabinets, negotiated with oligarchs, cartel gangsters and banksters. But at their core I believe them to be nationalists who are committed to their sovereignty and to empowering their fellow citizens by infusing public sector programs and institutions along with creating multipolar networks such as BRI, BRICS and moving away from the rotting U.S. unipolar empire.
One last comment-- the leaders I admire most-- Cesar Chavez, Fidel Castro, Miguel Diaz-Canel, Daniel Ortega, Evo Morales and Pepe Mujica (Uruguay,ex pres) all had/have very high regard for Lula and AMLO. That means something to me. I'm hopeful...
Posted by: migueljose | Jan 9 2023 2:41 utc | 90
re jared | Jan 9 2023 2:06 utc | 78
Somewhere on YouTube is the complete original doco 'The Battle of the Somme" made in 1916 by two cameramen/photographers Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell.
Last time I searched the complete documentary rather than cut-ups with narration by present day revisionists was able to be found. I think I still have a copy I got off a torrent group years ago, if enough people want to see that and cannot find it on YT any longer I'll whack it up somewhere.
The release in england back in 1916 caused a heap of problems for the government and field marshal Haig who was the englander OIC during the great war. The original englander expeditionary force had been wiped out during the battle of the marne and it was kitchener's efforts to recruit and form 'Friends Regiments' that proved such a disaster at the battle of the Somme.
Whole regiments of brothers, fathers and sons, co-workers all coming from the same town had been formed and 40,000 of these humans were killed outright on the first day! Local newspapers throughout england & scotland were filled with nothing but pages and pages listing most of the men from the town who hd been made casualties of Haig's blind stupidity.
People wanted answers and when the film came out shown in picture theatres all over the world people began agitating against the evil madness which was trench warfare.
I know it greatly affected my grandfather who had encouraged his two eldest to enlist. Once he realised that the tales of bayoneting belgian babies was nothing but propaganda lies and that the englander army was treating all the millions of men entrusted to it as disposable pawns, he began stashing young draftees who wanted to avoid becoming cannon-fodder in shepherds huts all over his property.
What he didn't know was that the furore created by the film had made his own sons' lives much more dangerous. After the Somme, the generals in charge who were all englanders or frenchmen, began using colonial troops for all the most dangerous roles.
Canadians, Algerians, Australians, Indian, Kiwi and Tunisian troops copped all the hard jobs - needless to say neither of my uncles made it home, just like so many others sucked into the lie of a grand adventure.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 2:41 utc | 91
And this development deserves mention, "US on alert as UAE seeks to join Turkish-Syrian reconciliation talks". The Syrian gambit and most of the entire Southwest Asian ploy is now kaput.
As a person who has carefully avoided knowledge of history all my life, I am starting to realise that the Ukraine is a perfect example of the result of ignorance of history - not only regarding those in the Ukraine but in the west as well.
Of course history is often written as suits those in power, but I think over time the truth finds its way to the surface.
My impression is that this situation is not entirely new nor exceptional.
Posted by: jared | Jan 9 2023 2:50 utc | 93
Debsisdead #77
Well said. Not only did Lula spot the USA sovereign wealth heist from Russia but also the UK do same thieving heist from Venezuela.
Your comments on stealing bushlands are absolutely spot on. The first thing the invaders and capitalists will steal are the trees and just as they are about to depart they will log out the last of the forests :/
Vigilance every day and indefatigable resistance to the loggers permanently.
If humans absolutely protected each mature tree as enough air to breath for every year of their lives, we would live in the garden of Eden. It should be taught in every school every day.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 2:53 utc | 94
@ Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 2:41 utc | 91
Well there is a certain karma that awaits people who choose to travel to a remote even foreign region to kill bad guys.
Sadly recruitment becomes easier when the economy is challenging.
But there is a tendency recognized in psychology that when we see others around us accepting of behavior we are inclined to accept it ourselves - to do otherwise would be antisocial, abnormal.
Posted by: jared | Jan 9 2023 3:06 utc | 95
Don Bacon #84
We can't rule Washington out of creating a speed bump for a BRICS member, about to be rejuvenated by Lula. India Punchline thinks Brazil's Lula is a big deal here.
India likely is finding the contradictions in its society will be aggravated by the example of Brazil with President Lula da Silva. The deep populism of Lula contrasts sharply with the elite Hindu caste nationalism of Narendra Modi and India.
I guess Modi is really vulnerable to the concept of 'the people, united, will never be defeated", should that take hold in India.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 3:40 utc | 96
re migueljose | Jan 9 2023 2:41 utc | 90
I'm sure you will remember that the issue of seemingly odd amerikan support for Lula was raised by b and discussed by many of us here at MoA about 18 months or so ago when it became apparent that he was gonna get outta prison and be able to run again. That is probably the best place to find links.
My concern about Lula's fallibility arise from the fact that he is a long term politician used to making deals to achieve a particular outcome and that he is not a young man, so prison would have been exceedingly uncomfortable for him personally as well as casting a huge shadow over his legacy.
I reckon that knowing what we now know without doubt thanks to the twitter files about amerikan intelligence's control of amerikan media the change from supporting Lula's imprisonment to agitating for his release, must have, at least in part come from intelligence sources who are unlikely to make such a 180 on a whim. We don't know what Lula or his supporters said to the amerikan state department but something must have been intimated for them to come across. Maybe it was an attempt to scare Bolsonaro, but if that was all surely they woulda been a little less strident in overt support for Lula?
The riots being called an insurrection appear to me to indicate that the ptb/borg/whatever is no longer sure Lula will pull Brazil outta BRICS or maybe they want to scare the
Posted by: Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 3:49 utc | 97
Debsisdead | Jan 9 2023 2:41 utc | 91
At the start my grandfather was a avid enlistee. One year in and he wrote in his diary - Never again will we leave these sunny shores to fight another foreign war. I have his trophies, the belt buckles buttons and lighters. He fulfilled his contract to fight for the duration but one year in he came to understand we were nothing but cannon fodder for the greater powers of the so called west.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 9 2023 4:01 utc | 98
@51 peterau1
Thx, Peter. I am not so sure about Lula, for the reasons you mentioned. I am wary of any leader appealing to supranational understandings of what constitutes sovereignty.
Brasilia is an ugly, utopian city that is massive, flat, and impossible to secure and protect by police. Iow, Lula probably encouraged this in the same way that January 6ers with good intentions were egged-on by Fed-operatives.
Doesn't mean I am in love with Bolsonaro, though I did read that crime dropped under his tenure along with some other positives for which I am too lazy to investigate.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jan 9 2023 4:09 utc | 99
The Mercers and Bannon messing in Brazil?
Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro break through security barriers and storm Brazil's Congress, refuse to accept the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. With more information our correspondent Brian Miers reported that pro-Bolsonaro supporters have invaded different public institutions: The Congress, The Supreme Court, and the Planalto Place, seat of the Brazilian government. teleSUR
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 9 2023 4:10 utc | 100
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re: US recession alarm bells ringing far and wide
Yes, and in San Diego, the number of homeless downtown reaches record high for fifth straight month. Monthly count finds nearly 2,000 people living without shelter and more people to be evicted as the cost of living, especially rent, increases.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 8 2023 15:02 utc | 1