The Chinese will be respectful, of course. And so should we be on this forum. Kissinger, for all his faults, does not advocate a self-defeating war between the great powers, and the Chinese know him.
Wasn’t there once a Star Trek episode about a Jack the Ripper evil spirit? Take your spleen elsewhere.

Posted by: juliania | Jul 20 2023 14:45 utc | 4

Posted by: leaf | Jul 20 2023 14:27 utc | 3
I’m not optimistic on any meaningful changes.
<= Americans and Europeans need their industries back.. China should be respected, left alone, but not made into a partner of the corrupt crime based, monopoly powered, unconscionably wealthy global corporations that rule today's world. Arrangements with China will keep citizens of the Western world nations dependent on China and that dependency will drain what's left of those who are governed by the governments of the NATO nations to the last drop. China may be all too willing to assist.

Posted by: snake | Jul 20 2023 15:14 utc | 6

Pepe Escobar has announced the 10th South-South Forum on Sustainability will occur tomorrow at his Telegram, here where he’ll join Michael Hudson and Radhika Desai in discussing “Geopolitics and Political Economy: Looming War Against China” from 12:00-13:00 GMT. Link to forum’s page. Paper Hudson presented last year. I’ll likely listen to the recording and most likely read the transcript.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 20 2023 15:43 utc | 8

Another Zakharova briefing today. The link to the transcript is here, but it’s not complete yet. Give it another four hours or so and return to it, although the portio about Ukraine is ready.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 20 2023 15:56 utc | 10

speaking now before an audience of 18 people, seven of which are wearing black masks on their heads that cover their face, I wish not only to explain why I continue to fight the unscrupulous evil, that calls itself “the state authorities of the Russian Federation,” but also to urge you to do so along with me.
Alexey Navalny’s statement to the latest kangaroo court in full
— begin —
Everyone in Russia knows that he who seeks justice in court is completely defenseless. Such a person should abandon all hope. After all, if their case has reached the courts, then there is no power behind that person. Because in a country ruled by a criminal, disputes are resolved by bargaining, authority, bribery, deceit, betrayal, and other real-life mechanisms, not by some kind of law.
This was brilliantly illustrated the other day when those who were declared turncoats and traitors to the Motherland killed several officers of the Russian army right before the astonished eyes of the whole of Russia in the morning, and by lunchtime agreed on something with someone and went home, dividing suitcases full of money amongst themselves. No, not metal briefcases, but actual suitcases. They even showed them on television.
Law and justice was once again reminded of its place in Russia. And this place is not honorable at all. You definitely won’t find it in court.
In general, the courts have long been transformed into a place where citizens can merely make a speech without (and this phrase is repeated hundreds of times in my indictment) “obtaining the consent of the state authorities.” However, for the especially cunning, who abuse the opportunities for court debate and speech, they first invented a closed trial, and then a closed trial on the prison grounds.
Nevertheless, I must take every opportunity to speak out, and speaking now before an audience of 18 people, seven of which are wearing black masks on their heads that cover their face, I wish not only to explain why I continue to fight the unscrupulous evil, that calls itself “the state authorities of the Russian Federation,” but also to urge you to do so along with me.
I mean, why not? Maybe you put on these masks because you are afraid of something human, something you have inside you that might reflect on your face if it’s not covered by a balaclava? For example, the prison guard standing behind me right now should by virtue of his position know what kind of trials I have ahead of me. So I tell him about another criminal case against me and the upcoming trial, about the new term that I am facing. Every time he nods his head, closes his eyes, and says, “I don’t understand you, and I never will,” I have to at least try to explain it to him.
The question of how to act is the central question of humanity. After all, everything around us is so complicated and incomprehensible. People have searched high and low for the formula of doing the right thing, for something to base the right decisions on.
I really like the wording of our compatriot, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor Yuri Lotman. Speaking to students, he once said: “A man always finds himself in an unforeseeable situation. And then he has two legs to rest on: conscience and intellect.”
This is a very wise thought, as it seems to me. Any person should rest on both of these legs.
To rely only on one’s conscience is intuitively correct. But an abstract morality that does not take into account human nature and the real world will degenerate either into stupidity or atrocity, as it has happened more than once before.
But the reliance on intellect without conscience is precisely what now lies at the core of the Russian state. Initially, this idea seemed logical to the elites. Using oil, gas and other resources, we will build an unscrupulous, but cunning, modern, rational, ruthless state. We will become richer than the tsars of the past. We have so much oil that even the common folk will get something from it. By exploiting this world of contradictions and the vulnerability of democracy, we will become leaders, and everyone will respect us. And if not respect, then at least fear.
And yet the same thing happens as everywhere else. The intellect, unconstrained by conscience, whispers: snatch, steal. If you are stronger, your interests are always more important than the rights of others.
Unwilling to rest on the foot of conscience, my Russia took a few big leaps, pushing everyone around, but then slipped and collapsed with a crash, destroying everything around it. And now it is floundering in a pool of either mud or blood, with broken bones and the poor, robbed population, surrounded by the tens of thousands of victims of the most stupid and senseless war of the XXI century.
Of course, sooner or later, it will rise again. And it is up to us to determine what it will rest on in the future.
In my opinion, I am acting in a consistent manner, without any drama.
I love Russia. My intellect tells me that living in a free and prosperous country is better than living in a corrupt and destitute one. And as I stand here looking at this court, my conscience tells me that there will be no justice in such a court for me or anyone else. A country without fair courts will never be prosperous. So my intellect raises its voice again and says it would be wise and right for me to fight for an independent court, for fair elections, and against corruption, because then I would reach my goal and be able to live in my free, prosperous Russia.
It may seem to you now that I am crazy, but you are all normal — after all, one cannot swim against the current. But in my opinion, it’s you who are crazy. You have one, God-given life, and this is what you choose to spend it on? Putting robes on your shoulders and black masks on your heads to protect those who rob you? To help someone who already has ten palaces to build an eleventh?
In order for a new person to come into the world, two people must agree in advance that they will make some sacrifices. This new person will have to be born in agony, and then they will have to spend sleepless nights with him. Then they will have to get a dog for that new person. Then walk that dog.
Likewise, in order for a new, free, rich country to be born, it has to have parents. Those who want it. Those who expect it and are willing to make some sacrifices for its birth, knowing that it will be worth it. This doesn’t mean that everyone has to go to prison. It’s more of a lottery, and that ticket was drawn by me. But everyone has to make some kind of sacrifice, make some kind of effort.
I am accused of inciting hatred against representatives of the government and security services, judges, and members of the United Russia party. But no, I am not inciting hatred. I merely remember that every person has two legs: conscience and intellect. And when you’re tired of slipping under this regime, splitting your forehead and your future, when you finally realize that the rejection of conscience will eventually lead to the disappearance of intellect, then maybe you will stand on both of the legs on which every man should stand, and we will be able to bring the beautiful Russia of the future closer together.
— end —

Posted by: 4_Alexey_Navalny | Jul 20 2023 16:53 utc | 12

Piotr Berman, @13. I also agree with you. The cost of labor alone will make them uncompetitive. And this is one of the reasons that the US will never re-industrialize.

Posted by: Immaculate deception | Jul 20 2023 18:12 utc | 14

Piotr Berman, @13. I also agree with you. The cost of labor alone will make them uncompetitive. And this is one of the reasons that the US will never re-industrialize.
Posted by: Immaculate deception | Jul 20 2023 18:12 utc | 14
Yup. Most people in other countries see how much Americans make and dream what they would do with that money. They have no idea how much it costs to live here… Anywhere, even in the middle of nowhere, rent/property taxes are high. A studio apartment in rural America is at least $1000 a month, usually more like $1400. In areas with high paying jobs, $2200.
Then there is federal taxes at that bracket, 30% gone, and state taxes, which can be another 10%. There are fees for everything, food is at least $300 a month, and that is on the lesser side.
A one bedroom house, anywhere, with any kind of decent jobs in the area, starts at $250,000. A condo also has $400 a month upkeep fees, and property taxes are usually 1 – 2% a year, which for a common $500,000 house means $500 – $800 a month alone.
$90,000 ain’t much anymore.

Posted by: UWDude | Jul 20 2023 18:40 utc | 16

Posted by: Tervid | Jul 20 2023 15:15 utc | 7

I found your description of Kissinger justified by his having orchestrated the 1973 Yom Kippur War and having characterized the bulk of the world’s population as “useless eaters.”

Posted by: David Levin | Jul 20 2023 18:54 utc | 18

@7 No worries! You called it like you saw it, and there are better ways to illustrate my dislike of Kissinger . . .
@18 . . . like your comment,for example
I guess the question I should have asked, and am asking now, is to what end did he go? Lessening tensions is a good thing, no doubt. But IMO the deterioration of US-China relations over the past five years or so has been pretty heavily US initiated. To my knowledge, the Chinese powers-that-be have been pretty clear and consistent in their messaging; coexistence, cooperation, and healthy competition. Oh, and stay out of China’s internal affairs. Maybe the CCP would be worse than the US if they were unipolar hegemon . . . but man, I really don’t know. And that’s not what they want.
But the US has done little other than berate and denigrate China diplomatically, let alone tariffs, posturing in Taiwan, etc. I am convinced (but open to correction) that the PTB in the US/UK Cultural Hegemony/whatever you want to call it want a hot/shooting war with China (probably with Taiwan as the flashpoint) no later than the end of 2025, perhaps as early as the middle of next year. I think America is running on borrowed time right now; the maniacs in charge, I think, understand they’ve got one shot at this, and it will be increasingly difficult to achieve the dominance of the ‘Rules-Based Order’ the more time passes. China is the crown jewel here. No one will happier than myself if I’m wrong. I don’t want to see Americans or Chinese die over this, just like I don’t want to see Ukrainians or Russians die.
From that possibly misguided perspective, I don’t see how this benefits the US aside from buying time. Which maybe is the point. But the Chinese PTB see right through American duplicity, and I think know exactly what’s up. So what was the visit supposed to do?

Posted by: Tervid | Jul 20 2023 19:58 utc | 20

Posted by: 4_Alexey_Navalny | Jul 20 2023 16:53 utc | 12
Well, since you seem to be closely-connected, could you please ask Mr. Navalny for his opinion on the status of Julian Assange or Gonzalo Lira please?
Thank you in advance…

Posted by: West of England Andy | Jul 20 2023 21:10 utc | 22

Posted by: 4_Alexey_Navalny | Jul 20 2023 16:53 utc | 12
speaking now before an audience of 18 people, seven of which are wearing black masks on their heads that cover their face, I wish not only to explain why I continue to fight the unscrupulous evil, that calls itself “the state authorities of the Russian Federation,” but also to urge you to do so along with me.
Alexey Navalny’s statement to the latest kangaroo court in full….
=========================================
That’s quite a speech. Thank you for posting it. Why are those people/judges wearing black bags over their heads?
Many Russophiles here tend to paint Russia in only angelic pastels whereas of course all large nations have no end of heavens and hells and all in between, good networks, bad networks, successful dynamics, corrupt dynamics and so on. And so also within the military. Even if the SMO was entered into correctly, soberly and wisely, that does not guarantee that two years later it will still be so. Or conversely it could have been entered into unwisely but then enjoys nimble course correction as lessons are learned. Things are dynamic, fluid, ever-shifting as do the circumstances around them which gave them birth but which may now demand different solutions altogether.
No doubt it’s the same in China as well. A country with 1.3 billion cannot possibly be all uniform nor can a bureaucracy for a polity that large, no matter how well run and how well cleansed of corruption, be pure as driven snow, blameless, completely efficient. There will be both strong and weak areas. There always are and it’s no big deal to acknowledge it. The problem is that most of our information sources either sing praises or lay blame in hyperbolic, over-simplistic fashion.
But that is quite a speech.
Is he a crazy loner loser? Or is his a voice that more Russians need to hear?

Posted by: Scorpion | Jul 20 2023 23:44 utc | 24

Immaculate deception @ 14

And this is one of the reasons that the US will never re-industrialize.

Neoliberalism is why the USA won’t reindustrialize, they are incompatible unless of course you just want a war economy with no consumer spending, which they might want, not sure what TSMC wants but it’s not going to find it in the USA.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 20 2023 23:50 utc | 26

Posted by: Cabe | Jul 20 2023 20:50 utc | 21
I suspect that Kissinger is the World-Wide Ambassador-at-Large for the City of London grandees whose interests he represented in helping China kick-start into a great modern industrial nation. Those Big Finance roots have penetrated deep into the Chinese State which therefore is not as powerful and independent as it appears. Throughout history leaders and States who grow up under the tutelage of such Dark Lord style networks have not fared well when they try to shake off their master’s shackles. However, there has never been a polity as large and dynamic as China’s in that situation so all bets are off.
In any case, most likely something is up. Let’s hope the West is suing for a face-saving compromise having totally miscalculated the Ukraine-Russia-sanctions mess along with a way to keep their toxin-laced tentacles omnipresent in whatever global CBDC system is coming down…

Posted by: Scorpion | Jul 20 2023 23:55 utc | 28

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 20 2023 23:54 utc | 27
The USA has been quietly sending more and more ships to the Strait of Hormuz over the summer, but it’s done that on and off over the years, but landing ships? Something seems up.
LHD’s like the Bataan are small aircraft carriers. They can carry a combination of vertical take off and landing fighters (Harriers or F-35B’s), attack helicopters, Ospreys, and other helos. For boarding (or defending) ships or attacking oil platforms they work quite well. Between Bataan and Carter Hall there are enough Marines to make some waves but not enough to do any kind of invasion. Lacking a full size carrier (closest appears to be in the eastern Med), that task force is significant force projection.

Posted by: mtw | Jul 21 2023 0:25 utc | 30

@ Cabe | Jul 20 2023 20:50 utc | 21
I think yours is the conjecture most likely.
Kissinger is everything we know him to be but he is also a living icon with very little time left. How best to use his iconic status? What symbols to create, what messages to send?
And China understands symbols, and messages.
~~
I don’t have the direct link, because this is lifted straight from Global South, but Danny Haiphong explained it in this way:

Henry Kissinger meets officials in China, including top diplomat Wang Yi and President Xi Jinping.
Xi reiterated Kissinger’s role in facilitating normalized ties between the U.S. and China more than 50 years ago.
Kissinger remarked that peace between the two countries was essential to each of their future success.
Kissinger’s visit once again had a “secret” character similar to the July 1972 secret meeting. The meeting was held at the invitation of Beijing in the same location as where normalization talks took place.
The message is clear: China demands the US fulfill its obligations to act as a normal country and is willing to provide a history lesson in real time to reinforce this demand.
That Kissinger met with Xi Jinping in Beijing before Joe Biden is a signal to the US that China understands where the two countries are and the responsibility resides at the feet of the current US administration.

These seem the messages.
And it could perhaps even be wondered if Kissinger lent himself to this messaging willingly, from his strong disagreement – very public and very obvious recently – with the brinkmanship and adventurism of the current neocon administration that takes exactly the wrong stance toward China.

Posted by: Grieved | Jul 21 2023 1:00 utc | 32

@juliania, #4, #11:
Juliania, what puzzles me is the rationale behind Kissinger’s incentive to visit China at his advanced age of 100 years old. China pays him the courtesy and honor of lodging him at Diaoyutai Guest House, which is the venue for receiving Big Power heads of states, rather almost exclusively, let alone an ordinary citizen on a private visit. The question remains: what exactly is Kissinger’s volition in going nearly 7,000 miles to lecture China on the needs of giving in to Washington, so as to maintain world peace???
Owing to his experiences and privileges of information he should know: all the contentions between China-USA are the makings of the USA–sanctioning of over 1,300 Chinese enterprises; Kangaloo court verdicts on South China Sea; sanctioning of Chinese government officials and space/military agencies; trade war tariffs; Taiwan/Hong Kong/SCS military threats/bombing of Chinese embassies/shutting down Confucian Institutes/media insults of Chinese leaderships……, I can go on, but over the past 25 years the animosities commenced in the US to denigrate/insult/demonize China are simply too numerous to list. Now, in return, what exactly has China done to the US to deserve such venom? Stealing USA technologies? Constricting USA freedoms? Threatening USA militarily? Kissinger should know, at his position and length of services in US government. He can put evidence of any of these accusation on the table and demand China to make the right changes, or he can STFU……………….
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jul 20 2023 19:39 utc | 19
Thank you, Oriental Voice, and apologies that I’ve shortened your reply to me. I will just say that hearing of the visit and then reading the account psychohistorian presents at 15 above, I don’t know that Kissinger made as you assert any demands upon Xi though he could have made a request. I might be completely wrong, but I cannot help thinking of the final chapter of the Iliad, where Priam, the king of Troy, goes to Achilles’ tent to plead for the return of the body of his son.
This was, to my mind, a gift that Kissinger was making to Xi, whose reverence for history would appreciate it – no matter their differences, all that has come between, for China the visit of Nixon, however inadvertantly, did precipitate change. And for Kissinger in his extreme age to take on this visit is a moment like that of Priam to Achilles, as the war between the Trojans and the Greeks is still underway.
So ends The Iliad

Posted by: juliania | Jul 21 2023 1:09 utc | 34

Posted by: Cabe | Jul 20 2023 20:50 utc | 21:

Highly honored by China: Didn’t he do good for China overall?

Thanks for your response. You asked a good question! Did he? Did anyone do good for China to help them achieve today’s level of modernity and development? Does contact with The Empire a pre-requisite for developing nations to rise? There are subconconcious notions in the west assuming whitemen help is indispensible for any nations’ rise in development. But look at Iran, North Korea, Cuba, etc. etc., there are plenty 3rd world nations devloping just fine without The Empire lending a helping hand. No! In fact, all these nations I mentioned were/are under debilatating sanctions of The Empire.
China accorded Kissinger courtesy and honor because that’s the way of etiquitte in Chinese culture: heap honor and niceties upon your OLD FRIENDS! Kissinger earned himself the title of China’s OLD FRIEND. These are people revered in China for having played a role in China’s history of development. There are probably a couple hundred of them scattered around the world today. A surprise to many westerners is the fact that the nationality that boasts the highest number of such OLD FREINDS are actually Japanese, although Japan is viewed as the MOST hostile nation towards China. By the way, China considers Jimmy Carter a GOOD FRIEND.
China’s present state of economic development is not the only miracle China has shown the world. Under extreme poverty and scarcity, Chinese peasants defeated western/USA backed and armed KMT army between 1945-1949! Under total trade sanctions and using no more than hand grenades and rifles, China defeated The Empire (under a UN banner!) and the stooge MacArthur between 1951-1953! Without so-called heavy industry China developed atomic/hydrogen bombs on its own! Without heavy industry China sent satellite into orbit on its own in 1970! Etc., etc. There are miracles abound! They even eliminated poverty nationwide, a feat no other nation has or will duplicate. No, Kissinger nor Nixon nor Stalin nor anyone in the exalted west has done ANY GOOD in these respects!
So, in other words, I resent the notion that China’s recent successes are the gifts and graces of some famous personalities from the West.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jul 21 2023 1:35 utc | 36

I’ve been playing this online pinball game today, and when I saw the itinerary for Canada’s Trudeau tomorrow, it reminded me of that. Messenger? Water boy? See for yourself:
Peterborough, Ontario
7:30 a.m. The Prime Minister will depart for New York City, United States of America.
Closed to media
New York City, United States of America
8:35 a.m. The Prime Minister will arrive in New York City, United States of America.
Closed to media
10:00 a.m. The Prime Minister will deliver remarks at the closing ceremony of the World Law Congress New York 2023.
Note for media:
Open coverage and host broadcaster
11:05 a.m. The Prime Minister will meet with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Note for media:
Pooled photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting
12:30 p.m. The Prime Minister will attend a luncheon given by the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Jamie Dimon.
Closed to media
2:30 p.m. The Prime Minister will meet with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
Note for media:
Open coverage at the beginning of the meeting
4:10 p.m. The Prime Minister will depart for Toronto, Canada.
Closed to media
Toronto, Ontario
5:20 p.m. The Prime Minister will arrive in Toronto, Canada.
Closed to media
Like Canada’s not that important, eh?

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jul 21 2023 1:45 utc | 38

So why did the US MICIMATT attack Russia, as it made no rational sense? My working theory: because there was NO green light to attack the PRC. Too many business ties with the CCP, and no oil competitor. Russia on the other hand has loads of oil and other minerals and less business shark opportunities.
The US totally disregarding the old MAD meme and becoming power mad, a mental case. The greed from the stomach overwhelmed the brain. Joe Biden actually being a good show case of this stupidity. A different way of digging your own grave, quite detrimental for America but a relief for the sane world.

Posted by: Antonym | Jul 21 2023 2:08 utc | 40

First off, Deb is right that the bar is
invaded by ‘newbies’ who turn it into their private chatroom, ever since the resident prof of philosophistry made his
debut in 2022
———————————-
bLINKEN,. Yehlen, KIssinger….
The ptb seem to use Jews for salesman, then whites must be their fav muscle men, [ in Gen BUtler’s parlance]
Cue Gen Younghusband who invaded Tibet in 1903 and cheekily claimed expense from Beijing , cuz even then he recognised China’s sovereignty in Tibet.
Gen Michael Seymour who led the expedition army in the Opium wars
Captain Butler who burned the Yuan ming Yuen
Commodore Josiah Tattnall who assisted the Brits to attack Chinese fortress in OPium war II, in spite of US supposed neutrality
cuz….

‘BLood is thicker than water’

Gen Butler, who in his own words, was the muscle man in China to enforce US national oligarchs interest.
Gen Macarthur in Korea, who almost nuked China after the entire coalition forces were pushed right back by PLA TO the 38 line
Gen Westmoreland of VN ,
Gen Schwarzkopf of Desert Storm,
Also the aptly named Gen Looney,

If they turn on their radars we’re going to blow up their goddamn SAMs
They know we own their country. We own their airspace…We dictate the way they live and talk. And that’s what’s great about America right now. It’s a good thing, especially when there’s a lot of oil out there we need

Gen Michael Short who bombed Ex Yugo back to stone age in 1999
Admiral Dennis Blair who green lighted Indon invasion of E Timor, ignited the Hainan spy plane confrontation,
Gen James mad dog Matty, Gen Mcmaster of Fullujah infamy

Dont fight with one arm behind our back, [sic]
Go big or go home,.

Pacom commander Harry Harris who almost started WW3 in SCS, 2016
Kurt Campbell, Biden’s IndoPac Czar.
Off hand these are just some who cross my mind now,
tip of an iceberg

Posted by: denk | Jul 21 2023 3:47 utc | 42

Here is Bobby Kennedy talking about this thing called democracy.
I will say that I’m not sure the word has any meaning anymore. I’m not sure it ever did have a meaning in absolute terms, except for the freedoms it guaranteed.
For example, if you take away core freedoms, do you have any democracy left? In other words, is it a system or is it rather a guarantee of certain freedoms?
Kennedy knows the answer to this, and nails it absolutely in just over one minute. He says how free speech came to be a dynamic of the mechanism of democracy, and what it brings to the package, and why it is the crucial lynch pin of a non-authoritarian society:
RFK Jr. Leaves Jim Jordan in Awe With a World-Class Lesson on the Importance of Free Speech
One minute. In one minute he gives us the reason why the First Amendment is the heart and soul – and muscle – of the entire US Constitution.
~~
Censorship is the contract killer, the end of democracy, the leap across the chasm to the neighboring country of authoritarianism.
There is no gradual ground of evolving or devolving from the freedoms guaranteed by democracy into the freedoms constrained by authoritarianism or the freedoms curtailed by totalitarianism. There is only the chasm between those states.
And censorship is the killer, the murderer, the force that pushes us over the edge, off the cliff, into the chasm from which the only rescue is the other side, the end of freedom, by whatever name.

Posted by: Grieved | Jul 21 2023 3:51 utc | 44

Posted by: Grieved | Jul 21 2023 3:51 utc | 44
I happened to be at the computer and watched it live. Quite a drama. I don’t see how Bobby is going to win the Democrat nomination the way his own Party treated him like a holocaust-denying pariah and kicked off the proceedings trying to take the entire meeting into closed session out of public view. What a ghastly nasty bunch!
I don’t know US politics all that well having only lived there a decade or so but I think he’s nuts running as a Democrat. Third Party time. Join with Trump and Vivek and Tulsi and MacGregor and McCoullogh and Rogan and Carlson and Rand Paul and Kanye West and Dennis K and Mel Gibson and Sound of Freedom and ……. and sweep the country in a truly grand gesture. And follow Vivek’s plan to shut down many key agencies including FBI, Dept Ed and more.
Staying within the Parties when they are so sclerotically corrupt seems almost willfully dysfunction. But, yes, he says good things, he really does.
That said: maybe Biden is going to implode in spectacular fashion soon. And what then? Kennedy might be the one to clear out the moneychangers from the Temple and create a clean new Party. Stranger things have happened – though am not yet convinced he has what it takes to do what is needed, which is substantive, sweeping reform, not tinkering.
Jordan isn’t running the Committee well. But then they are trying to make it run poorly. It’s what they do… horrible people.

Posted by: Scorpion | Jul 21 2023 4:02 utc | 46

So, in other words, I resent the notion that China’s recent successes are the gifts and graces of some famous personalities from the West.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jul 21 2023 1:35 utc | 36
As a Norwegian I can’t resent that notion but I agree wholeheartedly with you there and reject that notion, absolutely. Your penultimate paragraph is powerful and irrefuteable. Anyone who looks honestly at the rejection of the old order, rooted in Sun Yat Sen’s efforts and continuing with the defeat of both the Japanese imperialists and the KMT, will see that the foundation laid down before Mao and his team passed on is what has enabled China’s resurgence as a leading civilization example for the world.
Nor is China’s success due to this kind of rubbish from the poster @Jul 20 2023 23:55 utc | 28: “…City of London grandees whose interests he represented in helping China kick-start into a great modern industrial nation. Those Big Finance roots have penetrated deep into the Chinese State which therefore is not as powerful and independent as it appears.”
Rather, China’s choice to use western capital is simply analogous to a principle common in martial arts of using an oppoonents strength/force against him.
Thank you Oriental Voice for your voice here.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Jul 21 2023 4:30 utc | 48

@juliania, #34; #37:
Thank you dearly for your reply at #34, and the verses of Iliad @37 :-).
You have an interesting point that I hadn’t thought of, which is that Kissinger’s trip was actually a pleading for some mercy. It just never occurred to me that mighty as the Empire’s messenger would resort to something so humble. But, in a way, the Empire is in somewhat of a bind and China is one, if not the only, that might be able to help.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jul 21 2023 5:24 utc | 50

Oriental Voice @ 36 / Antonym @ 35 / juliania @ 34
The Nixon-Kissinger opening of China was trap, it was exactly the same ploy played on Russia in 1991, the opening of China was calculated to destroy labor power in the USA but also destroy the CCP from withing, the corruption and lure of lucre was supposed to create an oligarch class that would undermine, buy, and corrupt the CCP eventually take power and be beholden to the USA. In a nutshell Nixon-Kissinger was supposed to recolonize China. When it didn’t happen fast enough there was Tiananmen Square, the first orange revolution.
Michel Hudson said that when he wrote Super Imperialism only two people bought the book, the Pentagon and Chinese CCP economists, both invited him to explain it better to them, the Pentagon to figure out how to improve Super Imperialism, the Chinese to protect against it. Hudson also said that Nixon-Kissinger was a trap laid for China and they were much too smart for fall for it, I’ve said before Marxists economists make the best capitalist economists.
Henry gets a fine show of respect but the Chinese know who they are dealing with and well know the score. And, Henry gets a nice luxo junket and his vainglorious ego stroked one last time before going off into the dark night.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 21 2023 9:33 utc | 52

Exile @ 53

Kissinger was likely paid to travel ; his usual and customary consulting fees.

He can spend it all on a very fine coffin and mausoleum.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 21 2023 9:47 utc | 54

Hmm, interesting, I just figured it was a state affair but he could have been sent as envoy from some GOP or USA oligarchs opposed to Biden policies, or at least Biden mismanagement of USA policies.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 21 2023 9:52 utc | 55
—
I just read an interesting line of thinking.

Taiwan ownership is a matter of principle for China. This is the basis of all disagreements. Let me share a scandalous thought: if the United States went for a complete break in relations with Taiwan, this would solve many of the Sino-American problems. I am afraid that China, for the sake of such a result, would be ready to give up even relations with Russia if the United States put forward such a condition. But Washington does not offer anything of the kind, fearing the loss of control over the region, which means there is nothing to assume.

https://svpressa-ru.translate.goog/world/article/380615/?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp
This is of course purely speculative. But still…

Posted by: Nobody | Jul 21 2023 10:44 utc | 56

@Scorpion | Jul 20 2023 23:44 utc | 24
Cocerning the speech attributed to Navalny
Sounds like Navalny’s western fantasist ghostwriters have had an inspired moment.
Evil people are sometimes said to be more charming than the regular people. So a manuscript intended for such a performer might be more stimulating for the writers imagination.

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jul 21 2023 11:13 utc | 58

How about a little ditty in honor of our glorious president? “JoJo”, Boz Scaggs.

Posted by: Immaculate deception | Jul 21 2023 13:09 utc | 60

Well, well, well. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani are showing their true colors.
https://www.ft.com/content/df07e213-c6d1-4cca-85c4-7f178952bb01

Posted by: Morene Lagneau | Jul 21 2023 13:42 utc | 62

juliania | Jul 21 2023 4:23 utc | 47
Use a Yandex Browser

Posted by: DoesItReallyMatter | Jul 21 2023 14:01 utc | 64

TAM massacre
Tibet genocide
Xinjiang genocide
Police brutality in HK
Chinese virus
China gate
Chinese cyber attacks
The imminent Chinese attack on the garden

Lies most vile .
Just when you think they cant get any lower..

Covid is a Chinese bio weapon that targets whites, Blacks but spare Chinese and Jews.

Been saying somebody wanna make Hans the pariah of 21C, fact is, they want Hans to be the Jew of 21C.
Surely this must be the pit ?
Dont bet on it,
No pit is too low for the garden rats.
They will prolly outdo themselves by tomorrow.
PS
Chinese Americans , be prepared for another wave of hate crimes targeting ‘Asians’

Posted by: denk | Jul 21 2023 14:38 utc | 66

“… if the United States went for a complete break in relations with Taiwan, this would solve many of the Sino-American problems…”
No it would not- the US simply will not tolerate any other country becoming a potential challenge to its insane dream of full spectrum dominance, which is the latest and probably final re-iteration of that anti-communist ideology which has prevailed for the past century. Nothing China could do, short of surrender, will appease US hosility.
“… I am afraid that China, for the sake of such a result, would be ready to give up even relations with Russia if the United States put forward such a condition…”
Not at all. The only doubt that Taiwan will be reclaimed by the Chinese People’s Republic exists in the minds of the US ruling class (see above) and its fans/satellites/satraps and slaves around the world.
Far more likely than China abandoning Russia is the opposite-a Russia which seems transfixed by its inability to shake off the most extreme capitalist ideology returning to the warm embrace of Wall St and The City where its ruling class feels most comfortable.

Posted by: bevin | Jul 21 2023 14:58 utc | 68

The South African government has officially applied to the court for an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he arrives in the country.
South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, says the move is a concession to its demand, after the party had previously filed a lawsuit to oblige the government to execute a warrant for Putin’s arrest issued in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
South Africa is formally obliged to comply with the requirements of the ICC, and Putin was invited to the BRICS summit to be held in August in Johannesburg, but the country’s leadership did not hide the fact that he had no desire to arrest the Russian president.
However, they did not find any legal way not to execute the order of the South African government. In recent days, South African leaders have said bluntly that they asked Putin not to come, and the day before yesterday he actually decided not to go.
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/74161

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Jul 21 2023 17:08 utc | 70

Over at heresy financial, they claim that about half of the entire US national debt ($16 T) matures within 2 years. That’s rather daunting. I think the wonderment would be could anything derail selling 16 trillion debt over the next 24 months?

Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 21 2023 20:13 utc | 72

Re my @ 38. Just took a quick look at Trudeau’s Twitter account. His most recent post is of him greeting Von der Leyen
“In this time of uncertainty, @vonderLeyen’s leadership has been, and continues to be, important – and her partnership is invaluable. Today, we spoke about working together to support Ukraine, build resilient supply chains, uphold the rule of law, tackle climate change, and more.” I notice in that list of abstract abstractions, there is the very precise “build resilient supply chains”. While I doubt that means one thing only, I’m wondering if the EU has noticed the strike on Canada’s West coast?

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Jul 21 2023 20:37 utc | 74

@ bevin | Jul 21 2023 14:58 utc | 68
“Far more likely than China abandoning Russia is the opposite-a Russia which seems transfixed by its inability to shake off the most extreme capitalist ideology returning to the warm embrace of Wall St and The City where its ruling class feels most comfortable.”
What makes that scenario unlikely is that the “West” is scraping the bottom of the barrel of its own resources and will never offer an attractive deal to the potential Russian compradors. The US is on the warpath and cannot easily restrain its own extremists. Also, its candidates to control Russia are the likes of Bill Browder, who will all want to exact maximal revenge on Russia.
The real underlying issue is Russia’s possession of nuclear parity or more with the US, the other reason for the continuous hatred of Russia among the US elite. This nuclear parity completely blocks, vitiates, and checkmates their desire for “full spectrum dominance,” so they would like to destroy Russia, but there is no way to that whatever.
For its part, Russia feels as well, as even implied by Putin, that Russia deserves equal treatment because it has that nuclear parity, and that is impossible to refute. Russia would have liked a real partnership, but cannot accept being colonized. The US elite will never offer a partnership, so Russia will remain independent.

Posted by: Cabe | Jul 21 2023 21:42 utc | 76

This Global Time editorial is worth a read. It states China’s take on this Kissinger visit very plainly:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202307/1294854.shtml

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jul 21 2023 22:53 utc | 78

Posted by: denk | Jul 21 2023 3:47 utc | 42
———–
On the ptb’s muscle man, how could I miss out Wesley Clark, of the ‘7 countries in 5 years’ fame.
Here lies the difference bet China and USAss..
China had 5 years plans to enhance life,
USAss had its own 5 year plan, to ‘do 7 countries’

Posted by: denk | Jul 22 2023 4:31 utc | 80

@ denk | Jul 22 2023 4:34 utc | 82
You quote RFK, a prominent anti-establishment guy, running for US President. Members of his own Democrat party want to shut him up publicly. Are you with them?
He didn’t say ‘Chinese and Jew concocted covid 19 to target Blacks and whites’, no, he noticed that CCP’s Wuhan lab lost a DNA strain tuned to attach easier to Caucasian and Afro cells. We all know that Fauci & co were partly subsidizing risky experiments with a bit US tax money, BUT the CCP is not dumb or in the blind like US congress.
Sorry to break it to you, but the CCP top consists of ordinary humans, and they are also prone to general power, money and sex lures. Haven’t seen (m)any saints, poor, simple guys there similar to US Senate or Congress.

Posted by: Antonym | Jul 22 2023 5:53 utc | 82

Dash from Trash: https://t.me/llordofwar/177261

$78B Out of US Banking System as JPMorgan CEO Issues Deposit Flight Warning.

The Future is Already Here, it’s Just Not Very Evenly Distributed: https://t.me/llordofwar/177253

French Mayotte has a drinking water crisis:
💦Drinking water is cut off for 16 hours a day in major cities
💦 24 hours three days a week on the rest of the island
💦 tap water is undrinkable 50% of the time
💦 bottled water is four times more expensive than in mainland France and costs 5 euros

Posted by: anon2020 | Jul 22 2023 11:23 utc | 84

Hi Team MoA,
I found this interesting bit of history. It’s JFK addressing the 2506 Cuban Invasion Brigade at the Orange Bowl on December 29, 1962.
I’m putting this up because a few days ago debsisdead was commenting on the hagiography of JFK and RFK, and also i find it interesting. This bit of filmed history is something of which I wasn’t aware. I was born in 1967, so JFK and Malcolm X long gone. RFK and MLK dead before I could walk. Politrix.
Cuba is of interest to me because my mother was from there.
b, I can barely afford my internet. I will send you some money when I get back to work. Things aren’t great in the workers’ paradise of California.

Posted by: lex talionis | Jul 22 2023 14:58 utc | 86

Forgive me if this has already been shared as I have yet to read the thread.
~~
“Leaked files suggest hidden British hand in latest Kerch Bridge strike”
KIT KLARENBERG·JULY 19, 2023
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/07/19/leaked-files-british-kerch-bridge-strike/

Posted by: suzan | Jul 22 2023 15:46 utc | 88

Howdy barflies,
Does anyone enjoy a nice whisky sour? I’m looking for recommendations for the ultimate sour.
Can someone suggest a potion to get me through this heat spell?
The thirsy one.

Posted by: Ronnie James | Jul 22 2023 16:38 utc | 90

RFK,
It gets better…
Lance Welton, perfidious albion personified

Races are genetic clusters, so you could easily make a racially targeted bioweapon. These clusters cross-over to some extent, so you’d kill many of your own group as well—but the Chinese are notoriously amoral and cruel even to their own people. They are also extremely ethnocentric, compared to most other races: they are extremely hostile to outsiders.
So what were they doing playing around with a deadly disease in a lab—a deadly disease which just happens to be particularly lethal to races other than their own and especially to their great rival, the South Asians, specifically in India?
What did this secretive, highly ambitious, expansionist, authoritarian society have in mind?
Is it really a crazy “conspiracy theory” to think that they were developing a bioweapon? So is it just a lucky coincidence, for the Chinese, that this bioweapon discriminated by race?

Everything this rat accuse China of are unverified or downright BS, BUT IT FITS THE ‘GARDEN’ DOWN TO A T.
IS THERE NO SHAME IN THE ANGLO DICTIONARY ?

Posted by: denk | Jul 22 2023 17:20 utc | 92

To illustrate further what nonsense the Jewish claim to Hebrew ancestry is I’d like to put forward the example of the Kuki-zomi people of Manipur, whom are believed by some to be a lost tribe of Judah:

Since the late 20th century, some of these peoples have begun following Messianic Judaism. The Bnei Menashe (Hebrew: בני מנשה, “Sons of Menasseh”) are a small group within the of India’s North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram; since the late 20th century, they claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel and have adopted the practice of Judaism.[34] The Bnei Menashe are made up of Mizo, Kuki and Chin peoples, who all speak Tibeto-Burman languages, and whose ancestors migrated into northeast India from Burma mostly in the 17th and 18th centuries.[35] They are called Chin in Burma. In the late 20th century, an Israeli rabbi investigating their claims named them Bnei Menashe, based on their account of descent from Menasseh. Of the 3.7 million people living in these two northeast states only about 9,000 belong to the Bnei Menashe, several thousands have emigrated to Israel. Some have supported other movements to separate from India.

There’s something seriously wrong with a world that would accept a native Burmese as holding hereditary rights to Jerusalem over a native Arab Palestinian …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Jul 22 2023 18:07 utc | 94

Russia increases pressure on the US in Syria.
The “drama” with the Russian general Popov seems to slowly make sense. Popov was sent Syria to confront the US. Previously he was commanding the Russian units that repelled the counteroffensive and produced the famous “Leopard and Bradley” pile.
So they’re basically sending their best man to Syria. While there are constant News popping up of some kind if encounters between Russian and US aircraft.
Now it is clear, that the Russian retaliation towards the US is carried out in Syria.
The steps:
1) Russia has put a big effort to reestablishing Syria and Assad internationally.
2) Syria/Assad joined the Arab league
3) The Arab state are uniting now behind Assad
4) Iran has for a long time supported rebels that oppose the US in Syria and recently there were attacks on US personnel in Syria.
5) For the first time Russia stopped avoiding a direct confrontation with the US in Syria.
-> Russia with its allies in the region seem to increase the military pressure on the small occupying force of the US.

Posted by: Lord Bebo | Jul 22 2023 20:27 utc | 96

This is a pretty fascinating conversation between Seymour Hersh and Tom Frank of The Baffler Magazine.
https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/21/seymour-hersh-ordinary-people-by-the-millions/
I think it does a good job of explaining – perhaps especially to those among MoA’s non-American audience – the current political climate in the USSA and why it keeps going like it is. The short answer? Both “sides” among the political and economic elites are happy with where they’re at.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 22 2023 22:43 utc | 98

Posted by: denk | Jul 22 2023 17:20 utc | 92
OK, sorry I missed the attribution to Lance whats-his-name from Vdare. Yeah I agree with you. He’s a rotten SOB. But RFK Jr. didn’t say the things that Welton did. Not that I’m necessarily DEFENDING RFK here, just want to cut through the BS that’s being spread around in order to drum him out of the primaries.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jul 22 2023 22:55 utc | 100