Posted by: RB | Aug 30 2023 12:17 utc | 3
###########
Yes. If one doesn’t want “their” dead soldiers disrespected, then maybe they should stay at home (guarding the Southern border, as the US military traditionally did).
Occupying a foreign civilization isn’t the path to respect and friendship.
Americans 😂

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 30 2023 12:50 utc | 4

I just did some dogging. Shoigu’s father is from a minority and his mother is a Ukrainian born Russian. It all makes sense now. He’s doing the finest inside job.

Posted by: onotnahs | Aug 30 2023 13:43 utc | 6

Le Figaro says Ukies did the Nord Stream bombing.
The absolute cuckery of the Germans, for going with it, not calling them out and sending them weapons. Nobody could take that ass fucking until now. Bravo Deutschland

Posted by: warrenmax | Aug 30 2023 14:08 utc | 8

In its current state this nation is absolutely pathetic and it’s not just the fault of Germany’s political class – a large part of its citizenry is fully on board with this. In the long run, once deindustrialization starts to kick in, there might be an explicitly anti-american backlash. But because both centrist and left-wing parties are busy felating Washington this will go hand in hand with a dramatic right-wing shift.
Right now people are still in outright denial. According World Bank data, Russia’s economy has for the first time overtaken the German one. I posted the report and an article in which Baerbock herself voiced disappointment concerning the ineffectiveness of the sanctions – they started arguing that one shouldn’t trust World Bank data, that Baerbock doesn’t know what she’s talking about and that everything is fine. Completely delusional. But you can’t deny reality forever, it tends to eventually catch up with you.

Posted by: Schlachterhund | Aug 30 2023 14:12 utc | 10

I just did some dogging. Shoigu’s father is from a minority and his mother is a Ukrainian born Russian. It all makes sense now. He’s doing the finest inside job.
Posted by: onotnahs | Aug 30 2023 13:43 utc | 6
#####
A perfect post by self-admission.
1. Dogging is going out in public to be fucked by strangers in cars. That sounds just like your form.
2. Mispelling is often a sign of a moron.
3. If it “all makes sense now”, then you must have a miniscule sense of reasoning.
Now back to your dogging.

Posted by: SCCC | Aug 30 2023 14:41 utc | 12

There’s no shortage of Russian doomerism if things are actually going poorly on the battlefield (and seemingly often when it’s not).
Your line of thinking just seems like cope by Euros who are trying to ignore the increasingly apparent deindustrialization of Germany, which is kind of a problem given that its surpluses have/had pretty much funded the EU experiment.

Posted by: Runningflame | Aug 30 2023 14:58 utc | 14

Russia is beeing played like a headless chicken
Russia provides a miserable appearance
RoW losing faith and patience with Russia
Chinese already joking about her performance trf da
yurasumy 🇷🇺🇺🇦🇬🇧⚡️⚡️⚡️#Inside
Our source in the OP said that the GUR with MI-6 had been preparing a strike on the Pskov airport for several months. The launch of the UAV was carried out from the territories of third countries and neutral waters, the direction was not chosen by chance, because of the separation from the front, the enemy did not expect an attack and calmly kept the BC on the runway. Having received accurate intelligence on the day the planes were loaded, the decision was made to strike.
RYBAR :
According to the information ryber shared on his telegram channel: If the attack was from the territory of Estonia, then it will take some time for them to explain
Kremlins reactions?
Nothingburger!
Three monkeys:
see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing
Law of nature:
Weaklings getting punched like a punching ball

Posted by: SlowSoft | Aug 30 2023 15:29 utc | 16

Weaklings getting punched like a punching ball

is it really that bad on the battlefield for RU right now?

I take it as a measure of Ukrainian and Maerican impotence and their increasingly obviously desperate situation, that your frustration and leads you to weakly attempt to provoke like this. Shadowbanned was more sophisticated, this is just sad.
I was just watching videos of Ukraonian conscripts being turned into fertizilizer by fps drones. I feel sickened and sadness at this loss of life, unlike the fascists of NATO who happily will dishonorably hide behind Ukraine to the last Ukranian. Some allies. They won’t even let you into their little club.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Aug 30 2023 16:11 utc | 18

A lot of cope posting by Western supporters today.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 30 2023 16:22 utc | 20

It’s too incoherent to even reply to. Go home! You’re drunk.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Aug 30 2023 16:32 utc | 22

Toby C | Aug 30 2023 16:16 utc | 20–
Plus, Biden tells Japan it’s fine and dandy if it dumps nuke water into Pacific. Global Times sees it as this political cartoon sees it, although others haven’t been quite as nice. Biden’s proven he’s toxic.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 30 2023 16:34 utc | 24

Nov22,is the 60 year anniversary of top-secret occupation of USA by london controlled by state department

Posted by: Merlin | Aug 30 2023 16:43 utc | 26

A lot of cope posting by Western supporters today.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 30 2023 16:22 utc | 21
Coping about what? Russian forces retreating or yesterday’s strikes on six Russian regions?
Vladimir Putin lost the war. Let’s see how many Russians he would sacrifice before admitting his defeat. The consequences would be hellish for Russian people for generations (About a trillion dollars of war reparations, loss of Crimea, Ukraine in both of NATO and EU…).

Posted by: Lyche | Aug 30 2023 16:53 utc | 28

Gabon officers declare military coup, President Ali Bongo detained
Military officers in oil-producing Gabon said they had seized power on Wednesday and put President Ali Bongo under house arrest, stepping in minutes after the Central African state’s election body announced he had won a third term.
The officers, who said they represented the armed forces, declared on television that the election results were cancelled, borders closed and state institutions dissolved, after a tense vote that was set to extend the Bongo family’s more than half century in power.
One of the officers, Brice Oligui Nguema, who in a video appeared to be hailed as their leader, told French newspaper Le Monde that he and other generals would meet on Wednesday to select someone to head the transitional government.
Hundreds of people in the streets of the Gabonese capital Libreville celebrated the military’s intervention, while the African Union and France, Gabon’s former colonial ruler which has troops stationed there, condemned the coup.
If successful, the Gabon coup would be the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020. The latest one, in Niger, was in July. Military officers have also seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad, erasing democratic gains since the 1990s and raising fear among foreign powers that have strategic interests in the region.
“I am marching today because I am joyful. After almost 60 years, the Bongos are out of power,” said Jules Lebigui, a jobless 27-year-old who joined crowds in Libreville.
Bongo took over in 2009 on the death of his father Omar, who had ruled since 1967. Opponents say the family has done little to share the state’s oil and mining wealth with its 2.3 million people.
Violent unrest broke out after Bongo’s disputed 2016 election victory and there was a foiled coup attempt in 2019.
The Gabon officers, calling themselves The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, said the country faced “a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis”, and that the Aug. 26 vote was not credible.
They also said they had arrested the president’s son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and others for corruption and treason.
Republican Guard chief Nguema told Le Monde a leader had not been chosen but a meeting would be held on Wednesday to decide.
“Everyone will put forward ideas and the best ones will be chosen, as well as the name of the person who will lead the transition,” he said.
Television images showed a man who appeared to be Nguema held aloft by soldiers shouting “Oligui president”, using one of his names.
There was no immediate comment from Gabon’s government, and Bongo’s whereabouts could not be confirmed.
COUP ‘CONTAGION’
Bongo, 64, was last seen in public casting his vote on Saturday. Before the vote, he had been seen looking healthier than his more frail television appearances after his 2018 stroke.
Unlike Niger and other Sahel countries, Gabon, which lies further south on the Atlantic coast, has not had to battle destabilising Islamist insurgencies. But the coup is a further sign of democratic backsliding in the volatile region.
A “contagion of autocracy” is spreading across the continent, said Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, the current chair of West African bloc ECOWAS. He said he was working closely with other African leaders on how to respond in Gabon.
The African Union condemned the events and called on the military to ensure the safety of Bongo and his family, while China and Russia said they hoped for a swift return to stability.
“We condemn the military coup and recall our commitment to free and transparent elections,” French government spokesman Olivier Veran said.
The coup creates more uncertainty for France’s presence in the region. France has about 350 troops in Gabon. Its forces have been kicked out of Mali and Burkina Faso after coups there in the last two years.
French miner Eramet (ERMT.PA), which has large manganese operations in Gabon, said it had halted operations.
Gabon produces about 200,000 barrels of oil a day, mainly from depleting fields. International companies include France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Anglo-French producer Perenco.
Concerns about the weekend election’s transparency were raised by a lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts and a decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew after the vote. Bongo’s team rejected allegations of fraud.
On Wednesday, internet access appeared to be restored for the first time since the vote.
Shortly before the coup announcement, the election authority declared Bongo the election winner with 64.27% of the vote and said his main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had secured 30.77%.
Gabon’s dollar-denominated bonds fell as much as 14 cents on Wednesday before recovering to trade down 9.5 cents on the dollar.

Posted by: Shmoody | Aug 30 2023 17:12 utc | 30

I don’t want to jump the gun, but a pattern is emerging here. An entire class of US trained officers in Africa, who see what’s going on in their countries, are becoming radicalized against French colonialism. That’s what is leading to this string of coups in recent years.
Should always be hesitant about military coups, but remember, Sankara came to power from a coup. The outcomes are more important than process.

Posted by: What People Do ? | Aug 30 2023 17:20 utc | 32

@ Lyche | Aug 30 2023 16:53 utc | 29
Lyche = Louche.

Posted by: majoab | Aug 30 2023 17:42 utc | 34

I’m consistently surprised by the apparently imbecility of your average Slava Ukraine NAFO types.
They post drivel which seeks to reassure their troubled minds that those doubts which are creeping up on them in the wee hours.. that not all is as being reported by the West on the Ukraine war..that maybe they are being lied to by the powers that be…that maybe, just maybe, something is rotten in the state of Ukraine. All such doubts need to be pushed aside and denied with ferocity. Anything else would be after all ‘Russian propaganda’. Can’t have that can we?
That the West is being humiliated pn the global stage while ripping their polite mask off and revealing to the entire world not only a bloodthirsty tyrant, but a stupid one, entirely escapes the notice of these clowns, caught as they are in what they appaear to think is a sports match.
People will forgive alot of things, but not stupidity. At least I won’t. Get a better class of troll, by all that remains holy.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Aug 30 2023 17:55 utc | 36

I do have to say that the fleas on this site would be better off sticking to writing comments on the likes of the Daily Mail; they are so outclassed by the regular commentators here that it is just embarrassing.

Posted by: Paul_Zed | Aug 30 2023 18:15 utc | 38

Le Figaro says Ukies did the Nord Stream bombing.
The absolute cuckery of the Germans
Posted by: warrenmax | Aug 30 2023 14:08 utc | 8
Yes, multiple msm are back to “Ukr did it” story these days. It’s for the EU public to read, winter is getting closer. EU gets LNG from RU at record levels now, (still much less than from US) so the peasants are prepared to blame Zeli, not Biden, if this winter isn’t very warm again. Combined with a lockdown which already seems to be a plan in US, the ruined EU industry state will be hidden for another year + pfuzer/ursula team will make more billions. This game is only starting. Borel wants $5bn each year for Ukr weapons. All will go to US

Posted by: rk | Aug 30 2023 18:41 utc | 40

Breaking news from BB:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s trial on charges of election interference has set a trial date that will line up perfectly to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.
“This certainly is the most appropriate date,” said U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in her announcement. “Mr. Trump is not above the law, and holding this trial to determine if he is guilty of interfering in the 2020 election gives the federal government its best chance of interfering in the 2024 election.”
The trial start date, March 4, falls just one day before the “Super Tuesday” primaries, which a spokesperson for the Department of Justice insists is only a coincidence. “Total happenstance,” said the source on the condition of anonymity. “This was not, in any way, done to affect Donald Trump’s ability to campaign during the crucial period of state primary voting. There is also no truth to the rumors that we did an extensive investigation into what date would be most ideal to harm Trump’s campaign or cast him in a questionable light in the eyes of voters. Nope. Not at all. That would be election interference, and we do not do that. That’s illegal.”
President Trump did not accept the DOJ’s claims of impartiality. “BOGUS TRIAL DATE!” he said in a post to his Truth Social account. “Another move by our CORRUPT Justice Department to try to hurt me in the primaries. Even if I’m sitting in a courtroom, I will SWEEP the primaries, something nobody ever thought possible, but it is with me. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
At publishing time, The DOJ was reportedly hard at work scheduling all court dates to coincide with important election dates while claiming the coincidence was purely coincidental.

History:
https://twitter.com/PU28453638/status/1696308683330789602
Rudy loses:
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/08/30/judge-orders-default-judgment-sanctions-against-rudy-giuliani-in-election-workers-lawsuit.html
Noose tightening…. or?

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 30 2023 19:09 utc | 42

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 30 2023 18:54 utc | 42
Nothing will happen!
Expect soon another whining speach
Putin is a weak whining poser
Nato & Baltics know this
Shitholes like Baltics re not taking Putins Russia seriouse
Zero Respekt

Posted by: tesla | Aug 30 2023 19:56 utc | 44

Both of Estonia and Lithuania are developed countries, not ‘shitholes’. ‘Shitholes’ would be countries like Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Niger…
That said, yes, Moscow’s retaliations were striking some random supermarket in Kiev and Dmitry Medvedev angrily tweeting about this. Nobody would fear or respect Russia anymore. Russian people could curse Vladimir Putin and his clique about turning Russia into Eurasia’s laughing stock.

Posted by: Joke on U | Aug 30 2023 20:44 utc | 46

The scum who seem to have invaded last night (my time) have one thing in common, that is even the few which appear to be responses to pushback at the delusional claims which the blow ins are spouting reply with come-backs so unspecific & generalised that they indicate two things: (i) they are trying to bail out a sinking ship with a sieve (ii)they are almost certainly low grade bots whose selection of claims are limited so as to appear to be able to ‘cover’ anything when it is obvious to blind Freddie even, that they cover nothing of of substance but are some silly attempt to generate pressure on the Russian Federation to act stupidly by acknowledging a handful of pin-pricks and in doing so escalate the conflict. RF is doing well without escalation and no amount of poorly thought through gp chat generated tosh will cause a shift in Russia warcraft or, of thinking humans’ support for that measured warcraft.
We know what you want amerikan warmongers, most of us remember the horror of the ‘shock & awe’ you inflicted on Iraq, how you used a mixture of high explosive shells and white phosphorus shells on the civilian population of Fallujah slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocents. Russia is not you scum of the earth and they will never succumb to amerika’s nazi tactics.
For us how about we just ignore them all and then when the time comes for b to clean the mess up it won’t be complicated by seeming conversations between a well meaning simpleton and a particularly lame-arse bot attack.
Now I’m off to do something useful to move the pushback at the foundering empire along a little more.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Aug 30 2023 21:17 utc | 48

Russia should be really careful about China’s intentions, IMHO.
” new map of China’s national borders has sparked protests from governments in Asia after its boundaries drew in the territories of its neighbors—including a small chunk of Russia.
The map, published on Monday by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, lays claim to disputed land on its southern border with India and encompasses all of Taiwan. Off its southern coast, Beijing’s so-called “dashed line” captures huge tracts of the South China Sea, where islands, reefs and maritime zones are contested by half a dozen countries. ”
https://www.newsweek.com/china-map-borders-territory-dispute-claims-1823439

Posted by: Shocked | Aug 30 2023 22:34 utc | 50

https://www.rbc.ru/politics/29/08/2023/64edffd29a794770db9f07e6 is Russian source for people who wouldn’t believe Nexta and Newsweek.

Posted by: Morene | Aug 30 2023 23:13 utc | 52

Mitch McConnell froze up again, people are wondering what’s up. He’s fine, it’s a glitch in the Matrix.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 30 2023 23:31 utc | 54

…Baerbock herself voiced disappointment concerning the ineffectiveness of the sanctions – they started arguing that one shouldn’t trust World Bank data, that Baerbock doesn’t know what she’s talking about and that everything is fine. Completely delusional. But you can’t deny reality forever, it tends to eventually catch up with you.
Posted by: Schlachterhund | Aug 30 2023 14:12 utc | 10
Seems that Baerbock will have to be replaced as insufficiently delusional.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Aug 30 2023 23:42 utc | 56

Yes, it’s long, but there’s no way around that, “Russia Leveraging Development and Educational Aspects of National Projects” as historical context is required since few are aware of it. Complexities abound in our world and simplifying them is often the wrong tack. And in this case a lot of material needed to be introduced. And yes, a lot was cut, otherwise it would be twice as long.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 30 2023 23:54 utc | 58

NATO sources report that British intelligence MI6, together with the SBU and the GUR, are planning new attacks on Russia from Poland, the Baltic countries, Finland and Japan.
Ships and facilities of the Pacific, Northern and Baltic fleets, as well as some nearby air bases, which are planned to be hit with the help of exploding boats and loitering ammunition, can be hit.
Thus, the organizers of the attacks want to provoke a major crisis that could pit Russia against NATO or Japan. If Russia does not respond, they want to continue their provocative attacks in order to ensure the propaganda victories that Ukrainian and Western public opinion awaits.
https://t.me/vicktop55/16739
Japan already got nuked twice, third time is the charm?

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 0:17 utc | 60

Bongo is the perfect name for a villainous family in a Rambo movie.
“John, put down that big knife for a minute, we need to you to go to Gabon and rescue one of our operatives from the clutches of the Bongo clan.”
“Ace Ventura will be joining you.”
“Bumblebee tuna.”

Posted by: Jacq | Aug 31 2023 1:11 utc | 62

@ Biswapriya
I really enjoy your cartoons Bro. They are succinct storytelling.
I urge other folks to check it too !
https://ragheadthefiendlyterrorist.wordpress.com/

Posted by: Featherless | Aug 31 2023 2:36 utc | 64

The map, published on Monday by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, lays claim to disputed land on its southern border with India and encompasses all of Taiwan. Off its southern coast, Beijing’s so-called “dashed line” captures huge tracts of the South China Sea, where islands, reefs and maritime zones are contested by half a dozen countries. ”
https://www.newsweek.com/china-map-borders-territory-dispute-claims-1823439
Posted by: Shocked | Aug 30 2023 22:34 utc | 51
——————-
Some people are natural born shit stirrers,
During the 1962 border war, the entire [five liars] led garden immediately screamed ‘Chinese invasion’
Aussie diplomat Gregory Clark noted the clash occured very much north of the disputed Macmahon line imposed by the limeys, ie, well inside Chinese controlled territory.
He queried Canberra , who consulted LOndon/Washington, who have the final say on Oz policies. !
The reply
So what ?

Its in the west best interest that the Indians/chinaman going at each others throat !

If Indians are smart, they should know,

‘Its dangerous to be USAss ‘foe’, but fatal to be its ‘ally’

?
PS
many ‘wn’ shitheads accused me of ‘anti White’., what bloody crock !
I’ve huge respect for man like Gregory Clark, the very first man to debunk TAM.

Posted by: denk | Aug 31 2023 3:12 utc | 66

BBC – Stephen Sackur – interviewed Peter Boehringer, AfD politician on 8/30/2023 – it is worth watching, how democratic election results in Germany do not amount to anything; Sackur was totally outmatched. I sense a beginning feeling of panic in the BBC.

Posted by: fanto | Aug 31 2023 4:00 utc | 68

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Aug 30 2023 16:11 utc | 19
Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 30 2023 16:39 utc | 26
I am so glad you brought up the harvesting of bodies for fertiliser etc. The worst case as far as I know was of Greek and Armenian bones off the ground of Turkey after the early 1920s. I mention it as you both seem the persons who appreciate such details.
Guess who was involved? The Allies themselves ,with their big companies like Lever preeminent. There are newspaper scans on the internet showing port-workers striking so as to not unload this macabre freight onto docks in France etc. When there is a dollar to be made, the fatcats are always to be seen. No doubt once the war is over in the Ukraine , some entrepreneurial fiend will likely do similar .
This is also what awaits the American people once the elite starts eating its own ,after a total loss of US power and influence overseas of course.

Posted by: Wondrous | Aug 31 2023 4:20 utc | 70

There is no free will in Japan. Everything is decided by the US and its decision makers

Posted by: sam | Aug 31 2023 5:04 utc | 72

I just did some dogging.
Posted by: onotnahs | Aug 30 2023 13:43 utc | 6
Thanks for over sharing, but this is not the place for that kind of carry on.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The absolute cuckery of the Germans
Posted by: warrenmax | Aug 30 2023 14:08 utc | 8
Watch Orban’s interview with Tucker. Orban says if the South Stream gas line is attacked, Hungary will treat it as a declaration of War. Tucker asks if the comment was directed at Russia. Orban smiled and replied that it was not.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Macron wants to be included in BRICS+ because, they are an “Amazonian power” by way of French Guiana. What a fucktard!
There’s a whole lot of data pointing to a repeat of the Sept 2008 GFC.
https://unherd.com/thepost/the-coming-european-recession-may-be-worse-than-2008/

Posted by: Suresh | Aug 31 2023 6:47 utc | 74

National Security Archive:
CHILE’S COUP at 50
…as we approach the 50th anniversary of September 11 1973.
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/chile/2023-08-08/chiles-coup-50-kissinger-briefed-nixon-failed-1970-cia-plot-block

Posted by: Gene Poole | Aug 31 2023 10:25 utc | 76

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/61004

We didn’t forget. Happy Birthday Batka! May you continue healthy and lead a free, independent and peaceful Belarus!
Lukashenko was key to stopping the cycle of poverty imposed by neoliberalism in the 90’s early. Despite little natural resources, being a small, landlocked country, Belarus punches considerably above its weight, being a world leader in production of heavy machines, trucks and buses, and performs well even in other sectors such as agriculture and IT. Belarus is a country where oligarchs and parasites have no say and the state has firm control over strategical sectors.
It is not a paradise, for sure. But one can only wonder what would it be if Ukraine had a Batka. Perhaps their GDP per capita wouldn’t half of what Belarus has.

Posted by: anon2020 | Aug 31 2023 10:31 utc | 78

Hans23 @ 76

What to think about the new prigozin video?

Maskirovka meets the surreal apocalypse, in Clown World everything is possible.
Read Oryx & Crake, Atwood got it dead on, humanity will go out in surreal comic madness. Best get yourself a little garden and some bees to tend to and worry about little else.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Aug 31 2023 12:19 utc | 80

The rest of the world is watching.

Posted by: jpc | Aug 31 2023 13:23 utc | 82

There is no free will in Japan. Everything is decided by the US and its decision makers
Posted by: sam | Aug 31 2023 5:04 utc | 73
As a japanese I am.
I can admit this critic.
Sadly fact, Poliatician of my country always think of “how not to make USA angry”.

Posted by: Nokaz | Aug 31 2023 21:10 utc | 84

Extensive, detailed plan for first 2 years in Office including dismantling much of the ‘Managerial State’ by Vivek R.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Obr5HIKK4Y&t=4s

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 31 2023 23:09 utc | 86

Sorry for the length
—
The US Problem With China: Beijing Is Better at Capitalism
August 31, 2023
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/08/31/the-us-problem-with-china-beijing-is-better-at-capitalism/
As it provokes a new Cold War, the U.S. is warning that its corporate and financial interests, which came first after the 1980s Dengist reforms, no longer take precedence, writes Patrick Lawrence.
By Patrick Lawrence
ScheerPost
The Biden regime’s robotic procession to Beijing proceeds apace. Following Antony Blinken’s fruitless visit in mid–June, U.S. taxpayers have paid Janet Yellen’s airfare for another fruitless visit, and following Yellen it was the same for John Kerry. This week it is Gina Raimondo’s turn. The secretary of state, the treasury secretary, the chief climate envoy, and the commerce secretary: What is the point of this parade?
I cannot but wonder whether these officials are dispatched across the Pacific in descending order of competence. Raimondo, who previously flopped as governor of Rhode Island — except for her plan to cut civil service pensions, an unfortunate success — is mediocrity made flesh. The Chinese must be wondering, with chagrin or amusement or both, who the Biden regime will next send their way.
The assignment in all these cases is the same: It comes down to “two seemingly contradictory responsibilities,” as The New York Times’s Ana Swanson put it in a curtain-raiser last week. She described “a mandate to strengthen U.S. business relations with Beijing while also imposing some of the toughest Chinese trade restrictions in years.”
This is succinct, although we can live without the “seemingly.” Proposing to conduct routine business while sabotaging China’s competitive position in advanced technologies is prima facie a ridiculous idea. But the Times must have its “seemingly,” because it is imperative we pretend the Biden regime thinks sensibly and means well in its relations with the People’s Republic.
Sticking by the Neoliberal Catechism
Blinken got nothing done, Yellen got nothing done, Kerry got nothing done, and in Raimondo’s case it is hopeless. The final item on her itinerary is a visit to Disneyland in Shanghai, and you have to credit the secretary’s scheduler for the parting reference to dreams and fantasy.
An English friend observes that Americans are doing a lot of blinkin’ and yellin’ across the Pacific these days. Fair enough, but I think it is more of the former than the latter for the time being. This administration simply has no idea what a sound China policy would look like.
What is this all about? For a long time now I have concluded that Biden’s foreign policy people match the definition of insanity commonly but mistakenly attributed to Einstein. These people seem to be doing the same thing again and again while expecting a different outcome. But with Raimondo’s visit to Beijing this week I have to revise this assessment.
Those running Biden’s national security policies are unimaginative ideologues petrified of diverging from the neoliberal catechism, yes, but they are not insane. I start to see in their dealings with Beijing a diabolical design to which the Chinese are very right to object.
The Biden administration’s China strategy comes down to parrying, in a word. All the pointless talk is intended to obscure a concerted effort to undermine China’s economy because the U.S. cannot compete with it in various strategic sectors, while — part two — buying time to move maximum U.S. military hardware as close to the mainland as possible under the program the Defense Department named a few years ago the Pacific Defense Initiative, the PDI.
At the horizon, we are likely to see Washington’s trans–Pacific military ambitions trump longstanding trade and investment relationships. This is what “decoupling” and now “delinking” are all about. They are warnings to the corporate and financial sectors that their interests, which came first in the decades after the Dengist reforms of the 1980s, will no longer take precedence as the new Cold War Biden constantly denies provoking destroys relations with the mainland.
Raimondo, on right, as Blinken addresses a Senate budget committee meeting focused on the U.S.-China Relationship, on May 16. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on left. (State Department/Chuck Kennedy/Public domain)
Two years ago Raimondo gave an interview to CNBC, the financial news network, that more or less announced the Biden regime’s intention to subvert key sectors of China’s economy. She was about to address something called the U.S.–E.U. Trade and Technology Council and told her interlocutor, “If we really want to slow down China’s rate of innovation, we need to work with Europe.”
It is useful once in a while to have dumbheads such as Raimondo in high positions, because, without meaning to do so, they can tell you so much more than you are supposed to know.
Slowing down China’s impressive advances in high-technology sectors was precisely Washington’s intent by the time Raimondo spoke. The Commerce Department under her direction has since imposed a wide variety of restrictions on U.S. exports to China of semiconductor chips, software systems, and the machinery used to produce both.
As Ana Swanson reports, Raimondo is likely to pile on more of these as soon as she returns from Beijing.
Sullivan Set the Tone
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan aboard Air Force One with President Joe Biden on a domestic flight on March 13. (White House/ Adam Schultz)
The Biden regime dresses up this profoundly undignified conduct as “narrowly targeted” to technologies that could be of use to the Chinese military. Jake Sullivan set the tone for all of these visitors to Beijing in a speech at the Brookings Institution last April.
“We are imposing necessary restrictions on specific technology exports,” the national security adviser explained, “while seeking to avoid an outright technological blockade. … The administration intends to maintain a substantial trade relationship with China.”
This is what Raimondo and all of those who preceded her to China say when explaining their intent: Washington’s sole concern, as Raimondo imposes her regime of restrictions, is national security, and all else can proceed rosily. It is hard to think of a flimsier dodge.
By this standard, she would have to restrict sales of Juicy Fruit gum to the Chinese. What the Biden administration is doing comes down to securitizing the economic relationship. If you have ever doubted that the United States is a failing imperium unwilling to accept 21st century realities, I offer this as proof of the proposition.
The Chinese know this and have said so many times. I no longer think Blinken, Yellen, et al. have any thought of persuading them otherwise on these journeys. That only looks like their intent.
Their true purpose is in the way of theatrical, and Americans are their true audience: They must make sure Americans do not understand Gina Raimondo’s efforts to punch the Chinese, well below their belts, for what they are: an uncompetitive nation’s attempts to hold back a rising economic power.
I found that speech Sullivan delivered last spring interesting for what he left out, as much as for what was in it. There was not a single mention of the U.S. military buildup at the western end of the Pacific.
Talk about elephants in the living room. The Pentagon is developing the Australian–British–U.S. alliance known as AUKUS; there is the Quad group, comprising the U.S., Australia, India, and Japan; there are these recently and assiduously fortified alliances with Seoul, Tokyo, Manila and Canberra, and none of this, we hear again and again, has anything to do with surrounding China or providing for the movement of U.S. military capabilities westward toward the mainland. This is only “seemingly” the case, as the Times would put it.
It is the same as with Raimondo’s projects on the technology side: Neither the Chinese nor anyone else in Asia believes these silly explanations, and no one expects them to do so. Beijing knows very well there is a point to all these apparently pointless visits U.S. officials insist on making.
The Biden regime is buying time as it remilitarizes the western end of the Pacific.
The only people who are supposed to understand otherwise are Americans, who are not supposed to watch as Washington provokes and prosecutes Cold War II. Americans are supposed to watch as U.S. officials — reasonable, constructive, well-intended —make all efforts to talk to the Chinese in the face of their stubborn reluctance to cooperate.
This is my revised take on the Blinken–Yellen–Kerry–Raimondo cavalcade across the Pacific. These people are not clods. They are purposefully malicious and, it should go without saying, are making the world even more dangerous than it already is.
There are two things to think about here. One, the Biden regime’s efforts to obscure what it is up to at the other end of the Pacific is a straight reprise of the first Cold War, which now resides in all but the most important history books as the responsibility of the Soviets. We have a responsibility to render and defend an accurate record so that this does not happen again.
Two, there is this administration’s immense betrayal of Americans as it aggresses in the Pacific, along with the numerous lost opportunities of which American are deprived.
You will find in that Jake Sullivan speech grand and plentiful references to the revival of the American middle class, bipartisan unity and other such elevated thoughts. Read the speech and then ask: What is this nation’s leadership doing in the cause of a competitive America?
Is it redoubling efforts to educate the people or is it, diabolically, shutting down access — see the University of West Virginia — to liberal arts education?
What is it doing to produce the doctors and scientists who are needed to guide the way in the 21st century?
What is it doing to bring the dispossessed into the economy, address drug addiction and all the other debilitating social ills?
What is it doing — seriously doing, I mean — to repair and build out the infrastructure Americans need? Nothing or not enough are my answers.
The Chinese challenge could and should be understood as a chance to reinvent America by way of a Great Mobilization, cap “G,” cap “M,” of New Deal magnitude. There is, of course, no more than lip service to any such idea.
We are instead sacrificing this historic opportunity to the military-industrial complex, the greed of corporations, and the ambitions of political leaders who lack all principle or any thought for the commonweal.
Maybe you think, as I do, that none of the Biden officials flying off to Beijing is serious about the true work to be done in U.S. relations with China, or is competent to do it.
We must consider, bitterly, that they are perfectly representative of our circumstances as defined by a leadership that is more or less across the board unserious and incompetent to meet the great challenges of our time — China merely one among many.

Posted by: daffyDuct | Sep 1 2023 0:55 utc | 88

China..
Another one bites the dust ?
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Pakistan-US sign 15-year strategic relationship agreement
By Minute Mirror -August 26, 2023
Minute Mirror – Subscribe
After two and a half years of cold ness between Pakistan and the United States, great progress has been made in terms of strategic relations.
A 15-year strategic relationship agreement with the United States was signed; the strategic relations agreement in 2005 ended in October 2020 on the completion of 15 years, the strategic agreement with the United States was formally approved by the PDM government.
Under the agreement, Pakistan and the United States will be able to conduct joint operations exercises and basing, after the agreement, Pakistan will be able to buy security and other defense equipment from the United States, the agreement also paved the way for Pakistan’s communication with NATO forces around the world.

Posted by: denk | Sep 1 2023 2:58 utc | 90

It has been quite some time since I have offered anything up to my fellow clientele of the bar for download. Not something I frequently do because I respect that this is b.’s site so only if something is suitably unobtainable and of sufficient interest.
It is true that what I offer on this Friday is available through streaming at the horrible YT but one of the greatest strengths of this documentary series is the amazing Foley work that the BBC did back in 1964 to make the vast collection of 1914 – 1918 newsreel footage come to life. This was made at exactly the correct time for the now terrible BBC to be reasonably objective although from time to time englander jingoism does creep in.
The music performed in the main by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra is immaculate and it takes me back to a time in Aotearoa when the NZBC had a full symphony orchestra in each of what were called ‘our four main centres’ so that as well as owning every radio station and TV channel, it dominated professional music.
I remember the time well. My mother always said we had to get used to not having a TV as we simply couldn’t afford it. Then in 1964 our father turned up on one of his infrequent and erratically timed visits to our country, hanging off his shoulder was a leather case holding a large battery and in his hand was a case marked SONY containing a 4″ portable TV. He had dropped in to show off the latest thing he had picked up in Japan on the way through and unbeknownst to him the SONY wasn’t leaving again. All four of us kids insisted that he had to give it to us until he sent us a ‘proper television’ ie a 20″+ job. He didn’t do that for 5 years and when he did no one spoke of the SONY that had brilliant audio and visual and which we had all hunched around in the intervening 5 years. Admittedly the eldest 2 siblings had fled the nest by then although this show “The Great War” had kept the entire family (sans Dad) watching it during the winter of 1964.
Maybe that is why it made such an impression on me although I believe it was blokes such as Lt Speirs (who had become a general by the end of WW2) who was a englander army officer who was liaison between englander chief General ‘Johnny’ French and French officer General Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre. He continued in that liaison gig right through the war and his empathy for the plight of France was most likely what kept the improbable alliance together.
This lies at the core of what makes the series so great the talking heads most in their 50’s to 60’s talk of their own first hand experiences.
From a Jewish German who fought for the axis in ww1 then split germany when nazism was on the rise, to grunts from the englander, french, OZ, canuck, kiwi, Indian and amerikan armies.
The series in old school TV format is narrated by Michael Redgrave with assorted roles by virtually every famous englander actor of the 60’s.
When I began watching an episode and evening last week, I was also struck by the way that the amerikan propaganda about the Ukraine conflict is virtually word for word the same as the tosh england spoke during ww1.
This becomes much more apparent as the war ‘progresses’. The footage taken in the main by army cameramen working for england, france, germany, russian & austrian armies is always relevant to the history being covered.
The program has been edited so dutifully it really shows up the techniques of populist documentarians such as Ken Burns especially with the Foley work,
Anyway grab this first of three tranches BBC The great War Pts 1-10 and see what you reckon.
The other two packs will follow, the next within 24 hours.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 1 2023 6:18 utc | 92

Certains étaient visiblement admirateurs des interventions de Prigogine avec ses 4 chargeurs de mitraillette sur le plastron et en veulent à Choïgou. Le cinoche, les complots et le manque de réalisme pour la maintenance de son avion l’ont tué, telle est la réalité.
Ce conflit n’est pas une guerre de prise de position, c’est une guerre d’usure sur tous les plans. Lorsque la phalange d’Alexandre le Grand percute l’armée de Darius, c’est du quasi sur place mais, au final, c’est 500 tués et 3 000 blessés côté macédoniens et 50 000 tués ou blessés coté Perse or ça suffit pour faire tomber Babylone.
Si, pour conquérir Bakhmout, Prigojine a fait un rapport de pertes qu’on ignore trop important coté Russe, son intervention est un échec. Ce qui compte est le rapport des pertes humaines car la société civile bannira le perdant adorateur de Baal. Seul l’acceptation du vainqueur par la société civile permettra au vainqueur de s’imposer dans la paix car nous avons affaire à une guerre civile et il faut impérativement une victoire morale.
Si la Russie prenait la stratégie du Vietnam avec des bombardements aveugles, elle gagnerait rapidement mais serait indigne de sa victoire donc elle perdrait dans la durée.
C’est V. Poutine qui fait un sans faute dans la durée et les pro-Prigojine sont dignes des sionistes et de Zelensky.

Posted by: Christophe Nicolas | Sep 1 2023 9:22 utc | 94

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt2AuVQKpq0
I mainly left Canada for health-related climate reasons but partly because I could see this sort of thing building….
Canada’s Woke Nightmare: A warning to the West Documentary.

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 1 2023 14:54 utc | 96

Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 1 2023 6:18 utc | 93
Thank you for the links. And, yeah, screw YT. We used to listen to long blocks of baroque music on YT, but now they have crammed commercials into them unless you are a subscriber.
I don’t think I have room on my hard drive for 5 hours x 3 worth of video. Will the links be valid permanently or for some limited time?

Posted by: john brewster | Sep 1 2023 14:59 utc | 98

Type in Xinjiang on youtube and you soon realize the genocide stuff is true. The amount of stupid dancing uyghurs videos is funny. Like why even try with all this propaganda if u got nothing to hide

Posted by: Accidentshappy | Sep 1 2023 15:20 utc | 100