I stumbled on a few youtubes about the Kogi tribe yesterday. It’s quite a story. The last indigenous, and theocratic, civilization (as opposed to tribe) in the world with an extraordinary spiritual tradition featuring the training of their ‘mamos’ / sages which keeps them for eighteen or more years in darkness learning how to listen to darkness and the Earth. The film takes us on a journey prompted by them, for they have a message to deliver to their ‘younger brothers’ (us) before the world is trashed beyond repair. And they say they know how to repair things but need to create a bridge of communication between the ancient and modern perceptions. They haven’t built that bridge yet, as the film shows, and yet there has been significant progress. Several of the scientific experts called in to consult during the movie confirmed several of the Kogi’s assertions.
In short, the crisis the world faces is not due to ‘climate change’ but terrible industrial and civic practices. We build where we should not build; we pollute with abandon. Moreover we cannot see the world clearly, we have lost various intuitive and other powers of vision and feeling so we are like children blundering around pretending to be adults and despising anyone with more knowledge than ourselves just because they don’t speak our language or have any of our money. And of course much of what we do is simply plunder, thinking that no damage is incurred in so doing.
Various gold treasures dug up in recent years, for example, were placed their by Kogi ancestors to protect certain key functions in key spots. When the treasure is dug up, the functions deteriorate, functions which include the health and propogation of specific species, like magpies or whatever. There are many things in this world which we do not see well and in our arrogance are destroying. Before the treasures are made and place, the masters concentrate bringing mind and intention into the equation. Some masters spend their entire lives living in certain key spots to protect them. Materialists will laugh at such quaint practices, though quantum crowd might not.
These are a serious, committed and sophisticated people with something important to say but our culture is not attuned to respecting such wisdom. I am encouraged that this film got 1.9 million views, but it’s not enough. There are many other videos of them (search kogi) and some about other tribes since for a long time they have been training other tribes in the old ways (under our radar), in Columbia and Peru for example. They would like to help revive Europe but the bridge has not yet been established…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftFbCwJfs1I&pp=ygUEa29naQ%3D%3D

Posted by: Scorpion | Jul 6 2023 14:45 utc | 4

Conflict with China …
Posted by: Paul Greenwood | Jul 6 2023 15:12 utc | 4
—
Yellen in China is going to be beaten like a human piñata.

Posted by: too scents | Jul 6 2023 15:24 utc | 6

@Melaleuca #1
You’re wrong.
Read Prigozhin’s explanation of what happened at Khasham. Then read Andrey Morozov’s explanation of what happened at Khasham, based on the accounts of people who were there.
When Russian forces entered Syria in late 2015, the Syrian Arab Army was in a very poor shape. However, for a variety of reasons, the Russian military did not want to use its ground forces. So it used the Wagner PMC instead. The Wagner PMC (plus a few detachments of Spetsnaz) served as Russia’s ground forces in Syria, fully controlled by the Russian military. It was them who played the decisive role in re-taking Aleppo, who took Palmyra the first time, who took Palmyra the second time, etc. The ISIS Hunters were largely a PR unit. After the Wagner PMC captured a position, they would send the ISIS Hunters there and do a photo-op. They did that because at the time the Wagner PMC “didn’t exist” officially. One only has to look at the old Wagner PMC patch and the ISIS Hunters patch to see their connection. According to a participant of the Battle of Khasham interviewed by Mikhail Polynkov, there were no Syrians in his detachment, only Russians, but some were given Syrian flags.
Some Russian patriots think that what happened at Khasham was a way to get rid of DNR/LNR guys “who knew too much.” I don’t believe that. They wouldn’t be quickly evacuated to Russia and treated in the best Russian hospitals if someone wanted to get rid of them.
I think the explanation is much simpler. Someone in the General Staff thought that the Wagner PMC could just go and take the Conoco plant, even without air defense. The promise that there would be air defense was a lie (either by the MoD, or by Wagner higher-ups) to give the fighters more confidence in the success of the mission. In other words, someone gambled that it all would just work, that the U.S./Kurdish forces would be caught off-guard or something, then lost the gamble. That’s all. No betrayal, just hubris.

Posted by: S | Jul 6 2023 15:42 utc | 8

@ Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 15:55 utc | 8
yeah.. i like BHADRAKUMAR for gaining a better insight into the political situation in india.. as for erdogan, i believe he has shifted to the russian side, but trying to be cagey and keep its options open and not give away its hand.. unfortunately i know of no media outlet that offers an insiders perspective on turkey, but i wish i did!
i liked what you said at the tail end of the open ukraine thread about the importance of people and humanity in all of this.. cheers james

Posted by: james | Jul 6 2023 16:08 utc | 10

Posted by: S | Jul 6 2023 15:42 utc | 7
Or Wagner had a deal with the Syrian Govt. to retake the Conoco plant without General Staff support so they were winging it. We don’t know the exact relationship even between the big players in that theatre, let alone how much wiggle room there was.
There’s still no consensus on whether L’affair Priggers is hard proof of infighting between Wagner and MoD or guru level N’th D-ing that demonstrates just far above our tiny heads this is all taking place.

Posted by: anon2020 | Jul 6 2023 16:38 utc | 12

Again for all who’re interested, Maria Zakharova in today’s briefing again said the following:
“We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Foreign Ministry’s official website in the section “White Papers on the Crimes of Western States and Their Allies” contains material with translations into English, French, Spanish and German about the degree of US involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.”
Within the contents of that page is a link to Biological and Toxin Weapons consisting of links to the many products Russia’s MFA has produced on the subject that consists of five pages going back to June 2000. Since Syria was mentioned upthread, I’ll note there’re four separate pages related to Syrian events. In other words, a great trove of information is linked there.
As usual, a great deal of information is provided at the briefing, especially in the Q&A session, which isn’t 100% complete as I type. Much is said about France and Macron in both sections of the briefing. And of course, much is said relative to the SMO and also about Moldova. And it should be noted that the Skripals and the incident involving them was talked about and can now be viewed in the greater context of the Outlaw US Empire’s plans for Ukraine.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 6 2023 16:57 utc | 14

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 16:18 utc | 11
“Value”
If you read Marx you can see that “value” has a “monetary expression” but it is not reducible to monetary value. It is, in fact, exchange value which is neither use value or monetary value.
Understanding that monetary value is distinct from “value” (whether you have some other theory of value or Marx’s theory of value as laid out in capital) also cuts through all sorts of the nonsensical arguments.
A key thing people struggle with is the idea that you can’t have a theory where production is the sole source of “value” where all monetary “value” comes from production. For production to be the sole source of “value”, “value” must be some third thing.
Some Marxist theorists are indeed overly dismissive of the Kalecki profits equation because it determines aggregate profits without reference to **value**.
They see it as a superficiality in the profits equation whereas the dismissiveness is actually itself superficial “value”reasoning. Understanding why the Kalecki profits equation is not in contradiction to Marxist value theory is a key way to fully understand the meaning of “value”.
They are willing to die in that hill and never get anything done or anywhere near power which is stupid really.
Or in English….
https://realprogressives.org/podcast_episode/episode-68-reframing-marx-through-modern-monetary-theory-with-nathan-tankus/

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Jul 6 2023 18:03 utc | 16

@ West of England Andy | Jul 6 2023 19:10 utc | 17
i used to read elijah magnier, but he was more focused on middle east and no so much turkey as well.. then there was this site, which you will get a laugh out of if you view it..
https://english.almasirah.net/
thanks for the cradle link.. i have visited the site and i believe it is mostly russian based but maybe not as the lebannon lady is posting their… i haven’t visited it in a long while.. cheers..

Posted by: james | Jul 6 2023 19:47 utc | 18

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Jul 6 2023 18:03 utc | 16
Thank you for your comment. Let me think about it, perhaps I will have something to add. In simple terms, things have value because somebody “values” them. Values come from people, and I want that connection honored over any abstract theory of value, that leads to an economics that harms people to increase “value”.
I am not Marxist, or likely to be, but I do appreciate his notion of value as labor, and your explanation, not arguing with it.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 20:11 utc | 20

Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 20:11 utc | 20
The labor theory of value was elaborated by Adam Smith based on the Protestant value system ascendant at the time.
Capitalism is slavery, and no amount or kind of “love” or other fiction changes that fact.

Posted by: Concerned Citizen | Jul 6 2023 20:33 utc | 22

This Q&A occurred outside the setting of today’s briefing: “Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question following US State Department Spokesperson Maria Miller’s statement on the situation around the Anglo-American School (AAS) in Moscow:”

Question: How would you comment on the statement by the head of the US Foreign Ministry press service about the alleged forced closure of the Anglo-American School due to pressure from the Russian authorities?
Answer: The question of the status of the Anglo-American School (AAS) has a long history. We are not talking about an ordinary educational institution at the Embassy, where only the children of employees study, but about the fact that since the beginning of the 1990s, Washington has been trying to extend its diplomatic status to an essentially commercial educational structure under the guise of the AAS, where, unlike the school of the American diplomatic mission that has been operating since 1949, children of Russian citizens and expats were accepted for a fee. as well as diplomats from third countries.
As a result, the AAS functioned in a legal vacuum, ignoring the demands of the Russian side, which refrained from drastic steps, to legalize the educational institution either as an ordinary embassy school, excluding the commercial component and the education of Russian children, or as an autonomous non-profit organization (ANO), which provides educational services in strict accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
When the Americans made a choice in favor of the ANO in order to legalize paid education and the ability to recruit students regardless of whether the parents had diplomatic status, the Russian side met halfway in solving organizational issues, including visa processing for the teaching staff.
However, after the relaunch of the AAS in its new status in May 2021, the school’s management and its curators represented by the embassies of the United States, Great Britain and Canada continued to insist on the “unique nature” of the educational institution, thereby justifying non-compliance with the requirements of Russian legislation, primarily in terms of licensing educational activities.
Moreover, American curricula were used in the learning process, including those promoting non-traditional values that were deliberately imposed on underage Russian citizens in violation of our laws. At the same time, the AAS chose not to bring the pedagogical process in line with the requirements, and following the suspension of the school by the Tushino District Court in March of this year for 90 days to eliminate offenses, it simply announced its closure.
In light of the foregoing, it is obvious that the State Department is clearly distorting the facts, accusing the Russian authorities of creating obstacles for children to receive an “excellent” and “complete”, in the American sense, education. The recognition of AAS in its current form as a “foreign agent”, which is especially pronounced overseas, only reflects the actual state of affairs arising from its registration as an “autonomous non-profit organization”, but does not entail any prohibition at all. The point is different – in the reluctance to follow Russian laws, depriving Washington of tools to influence the younger generation in Russia in order to instill false values and guidelines.

The usual recipe for getting people indoctrinated into WEF, Neoliberal and now Woke bullshit that the Outlaw US Empire has practiced globally for decades.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 6 2023 20:40 utc | 24

Patrick Lawrence: We Need to Talk About Nahel

It has been some years since I finally made up my mind on the British vs. French methods of receiving immigrants. Both methods fail. The English effectively relegate immigrants to ghettos that are more or less hermetic as a matter of policy. The French fail more abjectly. Nahel Mezouk was French and lived in Nanterre, but Nahel’s life had little to do with French life, and Nanterre, if you have ever seen such places, has little to do with France. As to laïcité, please do not try to tell me that women wearing veils “disturb the public order.” They disturb the minds of people who wish for a certain kind of order. In effect, the 18th century principle is simply not adequate to address 21st century realities. What was once meant to encourage freedom of thought and religion is now used to inhibit, if not prohibit, both.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 6 2023 20:46 utc | 26

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jul 6 2023 14:32 utc | 1
Posted by: S | Jul 6 2023 15:42 utc | 8
Melaleuca provides the basis for the myth that the Russian MOD and Wagner (which “didn’t exist” at the time) are weak, terrible fighters and S provides the correct version of events.
I had planned to make a quick comment prior to S’s, which is important added context. But the answer to Melaleuca’s core question is “Yes.” That is exactly the incident or event that the people I talk to regularly cite for how weak and disorganized and cowardly the Russians are supposed to be. I can’t count the number of times that Conoco plant operation has been brought up to me prior to about 6 months ago when it became obvious that Ukraine was losing. One of the foundational myths.
On this topic, also note the irony or whatever you’d call it. Russia is weak, easily defeated, low morale, running out of weapons, etc. But we still must send billions of $ in arms to Ukraine because, why again?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 6 2023 20:52 utc | 28

As to laïcité, please do not try to tell me that women wearing veils “disturb the public order.” They disturb the minds of people who wish for a certain kind of order. In effect, the 18th century principle is simply not adequate to address 21st century realities. What was once meant to encourage freedom of thought and religion is now used to inhibit, if not prohibit, both.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 6 2023 20:46 utc | 26
It’s a shame because in the time since he wrote it, he’s completely jumped the shark and guzzled the Russiagate/Ukrainegate Kool Aid (I’m sure in part because it’s a job requirement at MSDNC and living in NYC ain’t cheap), but that excerpt of the Patrick Lawrence article you linked reminds me quite a bit of a few sections in Chris Hayes’ book titled “A Colony in a Nation”. Except that he’s obviously writing about the US and various vagrancy and loitering laws that exist to this day and serve the purpose of criminalizing behaviors (by Black, Asian and Hispanic people mainly) that make certain White people uncomfortable. There is also the notion of police stations as “forward operating bases” in as-yet ungentrified neighborhoods and from what I’ve read about the situation in France, there are many parallels.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 6 2023 21:07 utc | 30

@anon2020 #12:

We don’t know the exact relationship even between the big players in that theatre, let alone how much wiggle room there was.

You’re right, we don’t know for sure what caused it.
My main point was that we do know—from Polynkov’s interview with a participant of the battle—that there were no Syrians in his detachment, only Russians.
@Tom_Q_Collins #28:

But the answer to Melaleuca’s core question is “Yes.” That is exactly the incident or event that the people I talk to regularly cite for how weak and disorganized and cowardly the Russians are supposed to be.

To clarify, I wasn’t debating this part, and I trust Melaleuca and you on this. When I wrote “you’re wrong,” I was only reacting to Melaleuca’s mistaken hypothesis/assumption that the participants of the battle were Syrians.

Posted by: S | Jul 6 2023 21:23 utc | 32

Posted by: S | Jul 6 2023 21:23 utc | 32
Yeah no problem. I was just attempting to point out that the combination of your (you and Melaleuca) two posts cover all the bases on the initial question re: the myth of Wagner/MOD military weakness and your correction of the part about who actually was involved. As with everything relating to Russia/Syria/Venezuela/China/Palestine/Cuba, Americans and Western Europeans are fed a confusing cocktail of Kool Aid based on lies, half-truths, mis-representation of involved parties, etc. which is exactly what happened in this case. Thanks for clearing the Wagner/ISIS Hunter part up!

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 6 2023 21:29 utc | 34

“As long as the dollar is still good enough to buy votes at the UN assembly, or bribe top officials of many countries into policies favoured by Washington…”,
grunzt | Jul 6 2023 21:29 utc | 33
Or smooth your passage between Nicaragua and Honduras or Guinea and Sierra Leone and various other places it will be preferred to local currency.

Posted by: dh | Jul 6 2023 21:48 utc | 36

Posted by: grunzt | Jul 6 2023 21:29 utc | 33
“Cannot” is your assumption, what I see is that weasel Modi “cannot” resist, not India. India is vast, Modi is not. Modi speaks for India like “Biden” speaks for the USA. I think Modi might wise up eventually, too. He has a very good sense of what’s in his interest.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 22:02 utc | 38

Lvov pogrom of 1941 and the present disgrace for Jews (EurAsia Daily, Igor Levitas, June 30, 2023 — in Russian)

Today, June 30, is the anniversary of the infamous Lvov pogrom. In 1941, Lvov was a multicultural city with 157,490 ethnic Poles, representing just over 50%, with Jews making up 32% (99,595) and Ukrainians 16% (49,747). After the annexation of Lvov to the USSR, the number of Jews in the city grew to 160 thousand, and after the German attack, thousands of refugees from Jewish towns that were in the path of the German troops appeared in the city.
In the city, even before the start of the war, there was a very large and extensive network of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which collaborated with the Germans. The Lvov faction of the OUN was under the control of Stepan Bandera and one of his main assistants, Yaroslav Stetsko.
Before the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Lvov, NKVD officers shot almost all the prisoners, who overwhelmingly consisted of Ukrainian nationalists. Such was the situation in this city before the start of the pogrom: huge number of Jews, mostly refugees, powerful OUN organization that collaborated with the Germans, and the victims of the NKVD, but not Jews [meaning, Jews had nothing to do with the execution of prisoners — S].
Lvov was occupied by the Wehrmacht in the early morning of June 30, 1941. The German troops consisted of the 1st Mountain Division and the Ukrainian Nachtigal Battalion, subordinate to the Abwehr, in which Roman Shukhevych, in the rank of Hauptmann (captain), served as Ukrainian deputy commander.
Stetsko became the head of the Ukrainian government, he read out the act of proclaiming statehood, which Ukrainian nationalists call “the act of restoring their state”:
“The restored united Ukrainian State will closely cooperate with the National Socialist Greater Germany, which, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, creates a new order in Europe and the world and helps the Ukrainian people to free themselves from the Moscow occupation. Long live the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, may the leader of the OUN Stepan Bandera live!”
On the same day, Stetsko sent a letter to Bandera in Krakow:
“We are creating a militia that will help clean up the Jews.”
Back in the spring of 1941, Stetsko explained in the Novyy Shlyakh newspaper the policy of Ukrainian Nationalists regarding the Jews:
“Moscow and the Kikery [Jewry — S] are the biggest enemies of the Ukraine,” Stetsko wrote. “I insist on the annihilation of the Kikes and the expediency of transferring to the Ukraine the German methods of exterminating Jews, excluding their assimilation.”
…
When the Red Army liberated Lvov, there were only 200 Jews there. It’s a mystery to me how they survived.
…
Now we’re getting to the main point. To how the Jews are preserving the memory of their relatives tortured by the Germans and Ukrainians. And I’ll start with the words of Israeli Ambassador to the Ukraine Mikhail Brodskiy, who called Ukrainian Nationalists Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych “heroes of the Ukraine.” The ambassador spoke in an interview with the Israeli online portal ITON-TV:
“Our view of such personalities as Bandera, Shukhevych, Melnyk and so on is very different from the view of the majority of Ukrainians. Indeed, these people supported the ideology of Nazism. As part of their struggle for the independence of the Ukraine, they wanted to see the Ukraine without Jews, as well as without Poles, without communists, and, probably, without many others. And the Ukraine is, of course, in search of its identity, in search of its heroes. Of course, we do not like these heroes, but for most Ukrainians, these are the heroes who fought for independence. It would be wrong to condition our support for the Ukraine and our assistance to the Ukraine on the Ukraine stopping renaming streets or stopping calling Bandera or Melnyk heroes.”
That is, the Israeli diplomat does not understand that, speaking like this, he is joining the ideologues of Ukrainian Nazism, that he shares with them the guilt for the massacre of Jews in the Ukraine, that he is no different from a pogromist who breaks the head of an old Jewish woman in Lvov. I understand that Brodskiy is acting in line with the Israeli mainstream, trying not to stray from the leading role [of the Party; a Soviet press cliché — S]… And that’s where problems arise that are typical for Israel.
The current ruling party, Likud, by and large, has little interest in the Ukraine and the attitude of that country towards Nazism. Then again, for most Israelis, the word “Holocaust” does not go through their hearts. Yes, they know that 80 years ago the Germans were exterminating Jews, yes, the majority of Israelis were taken to Auschwitz at school—perhaps, that is the limit of their knowledge about the genocide of the Jewish people in Europe.
But I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about two categories—the officials of the country that positions itself as a “shelter for the Jews,” and the “Russian-speaking” Israelis, most of whom came from the Ukraine. How can a country be a “safe haven for the Jews,” when the descendants of the Nazis, both physical and, most importantly, spiritual, have flooded the country with the permission of the government whose task is to protect Israel from anti-Semites. Not only do they accept for medical treatment people whose bodies are tattooed with Nazi swastikas, they do not react in any way to cars driving around on the streets with black and red flags of the organization guilty of the extermination of Jews.
And I’m not even talking about the completely arrogant behavior of the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, who demands (!) weapons from Israel and accuses it of supporting Russia.
…
[I]t is triply disgusting that there are such degenerates as the Israeli diplomat Mikhail Brodskiy, the Israeli deputy Yevgeniy Sova and many others who have long betrayed the blood of their ancestors killed by the Ukrainian Nazis.

Posted by: S | Jul 6 2023 22:07 utc | 40

As Lukashenko found out, you cant keep a foot in one boat and the other foot in another, sooner or later you have to pick a boat or end up very wet. Erdogan and Modi have this conundrum, and they know the scale of response from boat West if they pick boat East. With Erdogan, he is already taking so much aggressive responses from the West I wonder why he doesn’t just take the move. Ego and the mirage of his “greater Turkey” clouding his judgement? Modi is at an earlier phase of this conundrum.
Posted by: Roger | Jul 6 2023 21:20 utc | 31
Yes. I think both could stay neutral, if they chose, but they would have to mean it. I mean, I think the Chinese and Russians would be happy if Erdo just stopped being cute. Uncle Sugar can’t do much to Erdogan except try to defenestrate him. At least not much that would be new.
Erdogan’s fooling around with Azerbaijan is going to cause lots of trouble.
Lukashenko seems to have learned his lesson. He has kind of grown on me.
Thanks for your comment.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 22:18 utc | 42

@james #43
Write an email to b and ask him to ban the impostor.

Posted by: S | Jul 6 2023 22:36 utc | 44

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 6 2023 22:06 utc | 39
Thank you for the Pepe, that seems a nice summary of the SCO meeting.
* – “SCO” always reminds me of the Santa Cruz Operation:
SCO
A now deceased venor of Unices.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 23:33 utc | 46

james | Jul 6 2023 23:20 utc | 50
Are you serious?

Posted by: Lemonhead | Jul 6 2023 23:57 utc | 48

USAF whines about their flying robots turning into chicken barbecue, this encourages the Russians & RoW and makes them/us happy 🙂
Chicken BBQ, the proud US national bird, searing all across the land for crispy skin, juicy meat, and secret spice combinations.
Yes, never forget all the secret spice lurking in the corners, it’s what made America great; if you got a secret the spice will get you 😛

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jul 7 2023 0:44 utc | 50

S | Jul 6 2023 22:07 utc | 40
That support of the Banderites and Zelensky regime by Israel and various Jewish organisations claiming to speak for all Jews would be unfortunate but up to them, were it not for their still incessant — and simultaneous — exclusivist whining and *demanding* special favours or genuflections from everyone else due to the WW2 period.
Since they themselves clearly and hypocritically don’t care, why should anyone?

Posted by: Cynic | Jul 7 2023 1:21 utc | 52

karlof1 | Jul 6 2023 22:54 utc | 49
Many thanks for posting the Hudson link; it is definitely a must read. I reckon he would make a good co-consul with someone like Ajamu Baraka.

Posted by: robjira | Jul 7 2023 1:55 utc | 54

Marianne Williamson
A prez candidate who speaks the truth, is she for real, am I seeing things ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXC4DsaNvYQ&t=30s

Posted by: denk | Jul 7 2023 2:16 utc | 56

Posted by: Ghost of Zanon | Jul 6 2023 20:49 utc | 27
This would put the shits up all holders of US debt – government and corporate. The result would be panic selling, driving down bond prices, the Fed unable to buy even a small percentage of outstanding, and irreparable damage to the US’ reputation. No one will trust them and will no longer buy new debt. The US government goes bankrupt and unable to fund any spending. World-wide economic meltdown. Praise the Lord.

Posted by: horseguards | Jul 7 2023 2:46 utc | 58

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 6 2023 22:06 utc | 39
That interpretation of historical and technical interbank networking and consolidated capital reserves is not quite correct. In fact, it’s a pretty torrid, rather than informative, description of customary FX practices and organizational challenges which non-aligned movement of EME trade associations intend to solve by leveraging localized currency swaps and settlements. The greatest barrier to replacing G7 infrastructure is reducing, if not fully retiring or repudiating, their external debt owed to commercial and IMF shareholders. Argentina worked around that once (alone) and learned a valuable lesson from failure. 10 years later with the co-operation of you-know-who their central bank has demonstrated model SDR collateral and reserve capital account savings that similarly situated peers can duplicate.

Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 7 2023 3:09 utc | 60

@Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 6 2023 22:54 utc | 49

Given the public mood in the mid 1930s, I’d imagine many would be with FDR and against the Court for striking down very popular legislation aimed at putting people back to work to literally keep them alive.

Alexander Hamilton and the other US rich made sure there were lots of blockages on the ability of the many (the not rich) to “terrorize” the few (the rich). The Supreme Court with its ability to nullify the common will as expressed by government legislation was the backstop. The stated sanctity of property, the majority of which at the time had no democratic legitimacy or was the product of Hamilton’s scheme to pay off the war debt speculators (many of which were his fellow framers) at 100 cents on the dollar with Federal funds gained from taxes, has constantly been a problem for progressive legislators.
Up until the New Deal, the Supreme Court had repeatedly ruled that state regulation of labor markets was unconstitutional. The courts in general had also used every law they could find, including anti-trust laws aimed at corporations, to help subjugate the unions. The Supreme Court acceptance of Federal labor legislation and the Wagner Act was a seminal change. The 1937 ruling was after Roosevelt had been reelected in 1936 by a landslide (61% of the vote, 523 electoral college votes against 8 for his opponent and massive majorities in both houses). Roosevelt had the overwhelming mandate to deal with the Supreme Court if they continued to block his legislation. His campaign rhetoric had also been nearly socialist in some cases, so the ruling elite understood what could happen if they didn’t compromise. The millionaires on the Supreme Court were given their marching orders, and even then the vote was only 5-4.

Posted by: Roger | Jul 7 2023 3:40 utc | 62

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 20:11 utc | 20
May I suggest artist Grayson Perry’s 2022 Reith Lectures for a brilliant exposition of what constitutes “value”, albeit in a fine arts context? The only decent broadcast the BBC has produced over the last ten years.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00729d9/episodes/player?page=5
Posted by: horseguards | Jul 7 2023 2:23 utc | 63
Well he is a funny fellow and he knows the art world too. But I don’t see he gets into “value” so much as economics of the art world, i.e. if you want to make money you are going to have to sell your work, mostly to the well off. Or else you wind up drawing bunnies for some soulless corporation.
And he discusses what he gets out of it, which is right on, or one kind of right on. I had a good friend who was an artist, since I was 14, liked to work, produced a lot of work, but did not like to sell, did shows rarely, etc. and always worked blue collar. I still have a couple of his pieces.
I am a stone nerd, no artistic talent to speak of, but we got along, fellow outsiders.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 7 2023 3:58 utc | 64

The US government goes bankrupt and unable to fund any spending. World-wide economic meltdown.
Posted by: horseguards | Jul 7 2023 2:46 utc | 64<\blockquote>
Why would Washington being unable to pay its debts cause a worldwide economic meltdown ? There are plenty of arguments that a bankrupt DC would be good for the world economy

Posted by: Exile | Jul 7 2023 4:17 utc | 66

@ karlof1 | Jul 6 2023 22:06 utc | 39 with the link to the latest from Pepe Escobar…thanks
As I read the piece I thought I was going to add something from my supply chain and networking experience about the growing interconnectedness of all the participating countries and the potential delivery time and cost savings but what Pepe reported about the emerging alternative financial plumbing is more interesting to me.
The first quote I thought interesting

India’s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has confirmed there will be no new BRICS currency – for now. The emphasis is on increasing trade in national currencies.

Given Modi’s recent trip to the US this is not a surprising source for this boundary setting limit on the upcoming BRICS+ meeting
The other quote that sums the speculation is

The road map ahead suggests a new trade settlement currency first designed at the EAEU, supervised by the Eurasia Economic Commission’s head of macroeconomics Sergey Glazyev. That would lead to a wider BRICS and SCO deployment. But first the EAEU needs to get China on board. That was one of the key issues recently discussed by Glazyev, in person, in Beijing.
So the Holy Grail is a new supranational trade currency for BRICS, SCO, and EAEU. And it’s essential that its reserve status does not allow overriding power to one nation, as it happens with the US dollar.
The only practical means of tying the new trade currency to a basket of multiple commodities – not to mention a basket of national interests – would be through gold.
Imagine all that being discussed in depth by that interminable queue for BRICS membership. As it stands, at least 31 nations have entered formal applications or expressed interest in joining an upgraded BRICS+.

It was interesting to read commentary on the Ukraine today about the gyrations of US Treasury auctions and the fragility of the Western fiat private system of finance where the profits are privatized and the losses socialized across ALL Western nations.
Michael Hudson makes it quite clear that the debt bomb is long overdue for resolution and as soon as an alternative investment process is available, nations and rich folk will stop buying US treasuries and the system will collapse. I think that necessity will make it happen before 2030 and its more the political will that needs to be aligned than the technology (which should be quite a story in itself…who/what/where).
The pace of change related to this civilization war is going to escalate, not slow down and all the pieces Pepe talked about above are not going to be in place when the shoe drops (This will be on purpose by dying empire to try and game the new system) So the early days/years will be challenging but empire is running out of proxy wars and so trying to get out in front of the RoW train to turn it into a private cult tool is all they have left and I don’t think it will work in the long run.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 7 2023 4:25 utc | 68

divesting dollarized debt
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 7 2023 4:12 utc | 71
Debt is a lender’s asset; ergo, a lender, not the borrower, could divest (sell) a USD- or EUR-denominated note or, ideally, write off its outstanding, marketable value so extinguishing the debtor’s obligation to repay principal and interest.

Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 7 2023 4:32 utc | 70

Roger and karlof1
Thanks for the history lesson. I always learn something or have a vague/ambiguous assumption that I got by osmosis either confirmed or ruled out simply by reading your comments.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 7 2023 5:01 utc | 72

Posted by: denk | Jul 7 2023 2:16 utc | 62
she sucks on Ukraine.
https://awaken.com/2023/02/the-tragic-conundrum-of-ukraine-marianne-williamson/
I don’t follow her but I don’t think she has changed her position much. happy to be corrected if wrong.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 7 2023 5:51 utc | 74

A basket of currencies is probably the best option.
Posted by: UWDude | Jul 7 2023 5:41 utc | 80
yes. Diverse asset classes dilute risk. Precious metals (PMs), including “rare earth” elements, are fungible, ie. stores of extrinsic value. Besides, the World Gold Council locked residual volume and value of gold reserves in ETF instruments, when it finally dissolved.

Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 7 2023 6:05 utc | 76

Posted by: Babel-17 | Jul 6 2023 23:36 utc | 52
Dime-sized? Really ? Who gives a toss about cocaine to the amount of the size of a dime? I am likely showing my naivete , but is that even worth the trouble of checking and even writing about in the media? If it wasn’t for the threat of anthrax, I would have suggested people just thrown it in the bin and shut up about it. No way cocaine is not used in the White House and I am sure everyone -via the grape vine- knows whose it is . So why publish this now? Political points against Biden? Maybe.
Posted by: West of England Andy | Jul 6 2023 19:10 utc | 17
I am surprised re Erdo clamping down on Mossad as Turkey and Israel just kissed and made up over their 14 year old spat last year. Maybe Turkey really is going to jump in with Russia and go against the US/Israeli axis after all.
Posted by: grunzt | Jul 6 2023 21:29 utc | 33
True enough re US dollars being used to buy up politicians of all nations ,even those of the RoW. My heart says that Russia should just “draw a red line under the entries in the journal” and just say “Right ,we are going to have our own parallel UN , and negatively sanction leaders and nations who act up .” Of course that means that it will likely lose some credibility with those in the RoW ; due to Russia always talking about respecting international law etc . Maybe that is why Russia is both in , and is a major member of , various Non- Nato nations who will slowly grow in influence to be able to eclipse the UN in time.
My brain says that once Russia/China decisively defeat or embarrass Nato on the battlefield , and /or make the dollar’s influence negligible, then Russia /China will be able to effectively and fairly police the UN back to its foundational promises of honesty and integrity, or just render it obsolete with its CSTO or BRiCS ,STO etc.

Posted by: Boy | Jul 7 2023 6:47 utc | 78

Posted by: Boy | Jul 7 2023 6:47 utc | 87
on the coke residue, I think some faction is targeting Biden. who they want to install is not clear to me, though–I don’t think anybody wants Harris.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 7 2023 6:58 utc | 80

Hamilton!
Posted by: Roger | Jul 7 2023 3:40 utc | 68
Beard, Chas., An economic interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (1914) 354 pp
[KEY FRAME]
never. gets. old.

Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 7 2023 7:35 utc | 82

Posted by: sln2002 | Jul 7 2023 3:09 utc | 60
Good point about Argentina. I remember the whole saga of Argentina in contradistinction to Greece quiet well. As you say Argentina reneged on its debt whereas Greece did all the right things and it is Argentina who is now relatively well-off and Greece is still in the doldrums and a debt-slave. Just more evidence that the IMF ,World Bank ,and US prescriptions are never really about helping you to rise up ,but actually designed to keep you down .
The Troika admitted it got it wrong in Greece , and now admits it in some quarters , but did it then cancel or reduce Greece’s odious debt? The one that the Troika themselves admit is odious? No, yet Greece cancelled Germany’s at least twice.
It is things like this , and reading “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” some years ago , that make me think, sometimes you need to fight fire with fire and not always be Mr Nice Guy. Maybe Russia, US Average Joes and China need to take a leaf out of Argentina’s book and just be nasty in-spite of international law every so often. Game Theory of course suggests being random every sometimes or your antagonist will be able to predict your every move too easily.

Posted by: Boy | Jul 7 2023 8:50 utc | 84

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 6 2023 20:11 utc | 20
“Let me think about it, perhaps I will have something to add. In simple terms, things have value because somebody “values” them”
Bingo, you hit the bullseye !
It’s created by peoples’ subjectivity — their utility is what ascribes value to things.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Jul 7 2023 10:11 utc | 86

@ Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 7 2023 3:58 utc | 64
Re Grayson Perry ..
Excuse my interjecting on the subject. He had some little talent as a potter, though not enough to match say anything that the Chinese hadn’t already done centuries ago or many an other culture over millennia.
Nice as Grayson is in person , his whole persona (the cross dresser, flamboyant , artiste..) is a creation. Paid for by his aristo rich wife, who has moulded his career- the real artist in the family, I’d say.
A few decades ago around the turn of the century, I did have social interaction with Mr Perry , as he was being trained by the BBC moulders that his wifey organised through connections. As I say his pots were not bad, he could have gone down that BritArt scene with the other brats curated, or created by the PR/Advertising rainmakers Saatchi Bro’s… but his path was different.
He came out of that chrysalis with his exorbitant cross dresser persona and just like that , Cinders went to the ball, became a personality, talking head and now a grandee… as a creation of the Princess and her helpers who admittedly probably loved him and wanted to get him the fame he probably doesn’t deserve…
He was a nice chap, don’t know what he is like now.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Jul 7 2023 10:40 utc | 88

About a year ago I pointed out to oldhippie that Malorussian (Ukrainian) immigrants to the U.S. used to refer to themselves as “Russians” or “Little Russians” in their U.S. publications before abruptly switching to “Ukrainians” after the start of WW1. Oldhippie was skeptical and asked for evidence, which I couldn’t locate quickly. Well, now I finally found it.
The publication was called Svoboda. Here’s a collage of its mastheads from various years. Here’s my translation of the mastheads:

CHRONICLE FOR THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE IN AMERICA
JERSEY CITY. N.J. 15. September 1893.
The clipped article below contains words “Brothers Rusyns!” and “Rusyns!”
———
CHRONICLE FOR THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE IN AMERICA
JERSEY CITY. N. J. 15. December 1893.
———
Chronicle for the Russian people in America and an organ of the Russian People’s Union
Mt. Carmel, Pa. Thursday 4th of January 1900.
The clipped article below is headlined “ACTIVITIES OF ‘THE R. P. UNION’.”
———
New York. Thursday, 6th of January 1910.
[English] New York, N. Y. Thursday, January 6, 1910.
The logo above includes the phrase “Organ of the Russian People’s Union in America,” this time written with a soft “s,” that is, Rus’ instead of Rus.
———
GOVERNMENTAL ORGAN OF THE R. P. UNION IN AMERICA
[English] OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE L. R. NAT’L UNION OF AMERICA
“L. R.” stands for “Little Russian” (Malorussian).
Jersey City, N. J., Tuesday 13th of October 1914.
[English] Jersey City, N. J., Tuesday, October 13, 1914.
A block of text to the right of the newspaper’s title mentions “ ‘THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S UNION’ in America,” again with a hard ”s.”
A block of English text to the left mentions “THE RUTHENIAN NEWSPAPER” and “The Little Russian Nat’l Union of America.”
———
GOVERNMENTAL ORGAN OF U. N. UNION IN AMERICA
[English] OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE UKR. NAT’L ASS’N OF AMERICA
Jersey City, N. J., Thursday 15th of October 1914.
[English] Jersey City, N. J., Thursday, October 15, 1914.
A block of text to the right of the newspaper’s title mentions “ ‘THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE’S UNION’ in America.”
A block of English text to the left mentions “THE UKRAINIAN NEWSPAPER” and “The Ukrainian Nat’l Ass’n of America.”

So just like that, on October 15, 1914, the people who used to call themselves Russians or Rusyns in their own language and Ruthenians or Little Russians in English started calling themselves Ukrainians both in their own language and in English.
Meanwhile, in the concentration camps of Thalerhof and Theresienstadt (Terezin)—the first concentration camps in Europe—Austro-Hungarians were killing those Malorussians/Rusyns who called themselves Russians (ruskiye, rus’kiye) and refused to switch to calling themselves Ukrainians.
Two years earlier, Lenin visited Krakow and drank the anti-Velikorussian kool-aid of politically active Galician Malorussians/Rusyns who called themselves Ukrainians in a show of their political orientation:

Through collective efforts, we have established Lenin’s mentions of the words “Ukraine” and “Ukrainians.”
The first mention of these words was in 1907 and was nothing more than quoting and recounting the positions of two “Ukrainian” members of the State Duma. Later, the word “Ukraine” was mentioned two times in 1909, when recounting the position of “Ukrainian social democrats.” That is, Lenin was only quoting.
However, since November 1912 he started actively expressing his own views on the topic of “Ukraine” and “Ukrainians”—there have been more than 80 mentions of these words in a year and a half.
And you know what? Lenin has started displaying a systematic interest in the Ukrainian topic in particular and the national question in general soon after arriving in Austro-Hungarian Krakow. It’s truly surprising how a place can affect one’s interests.

Posted by: S | Jul 7 2023 11:25 utc | 90

S @ 90
My memory is an old man’s memory and I don’t recall this exchange at all. But I thank you for the persistence and accept what you found. All I can say is here in Chicago Ukrainian Village was Ukrainian well before WWI and Louis Sullivan’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church was Ukrainian. I am aware of disagreements in the local Ukrainian community over why and how much we hate Russians and how Russian are we anyway. I can think of a few who would be past 100 years old if still alive who would be perfectly open to talking Malorussia and discussing fine points. Currently saying Malorussia would be asking for a fight.
Lenin’s usage very interesting indeed.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jul 7 2023 11:37 utc | 92

S @ 90
You got me thinking and I had to look it up. Louis Sullivan’s church was 1903. Originally called Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral. I never once heard anyone call it that. There it is, Russian.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jul 7 2023 11:51 utc | 94

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/05/tuesday-was-worlds-hottest-day-on-record-breaking-mondays-record

“Chances are that the month of July will be the warmest ever, and with it the hottest month ever … ‘ever’ meaning since the Eemian, which is indeed some 120,000 years ago.”

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Jul 7 2023 13:23 utc | 96

Aleph Null @96
Already surpassed. https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/t2_daily/
El Nino is here, still just getting in gear. After the long La Nina there should be lots of stored heat. International shipping traffic can no longer use high sulfur bunker fuel, removes a good bit of the reflective sulfates from upper atmosphere. Sunspots are very very high. The hits just keep on coming.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jul 7 2023 13:32 utc | 98

He came out of that chrysalis with his exorbitant cross dresser persona and just like that , Cinders went to the ball, became a personality, talking head and now a grandee… as a creation of the Princess and her helpers who admittedly probably loved him and wanted to get him the fame he probably doesn’t deserve…
He was a nice chap, don’t know what he is like now.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Jul 7 2023 10:40 utc | 88
Thank you for your comment, sort of what I would expect, nice enough fellow. Not a compelling argument for much of anything however. Selling out is very attractive, and I am not inclined to criticize much. Everybody likes to eat and be warm. He is lucky really, many artists of merit get no such attention, like my friend. We had better art here when the government coughed up a little money for it.
My friend did not do people much, but he did some beautiful pieces on the old cliff cities in the desert southwest, in colored pencil, for example.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jul 7 2023 13:50 utc | 100