https://awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2023/08/27/ukraine-war-day-550-lusya-feigin-feud/
For a man with a genius level IQ Arestovich is impressively stupid.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 27 2023 14:01 utc | 3

If I may raise a deceptively stupid question for the bar: Exactly who or what is this ISIS we are hearing so much about? The very good pieces above about Syria lists ISIS as a main player. In Africa the US drone base there is supposedly (without much success) protecting the governments (both pro and anti Western) from ISIS. As I recall, the US/NATO fought them in Afganistan, the US/CIA/Brits funded them once in Syria, the US/Iran/Iraq fought them in Iraq. They were the Caliphate, they have morphed into who knows how many offshoots. Is it as Caitlin Johnstone would say, it is whoever the guys in the State Department don´t like at the moment? Seems to be an all-purpose boogey man.

Posted by: c | Aug 27 2023 15:03 utc | 5

@c 5 Bemilldred 6:
ISIS, with its cartoonish unhinged violence, is the perfect Hollywood villain. Somehow always being almost killed but they never find the body and it is always back for the sequel.
You’d almost think that it was a creation of the NATOstanis to provide a pretext for perpetual wars of aggression, but that can’t be, right?
…
…
…right?

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 27 2023 15:23 utc | 7

Re ISIS:
I have read all issues of ISIS magazines Rumiyah and Dabiq. I have watched every video of ISIS while they were still easily available. I have read every book that I could find on ISIS.
And my conclusion?
ISIS does not exist.
Oh, sure, there are plenty of young Sunni men who imagine they are part of ISIS and who are willing to give their lives for it. But the organisation that they claim to be a part of, that they kill themselves for, that does not exist. ISIS is a tool, a fiction, invented by particular people in the Imperialist States of Amerikastan and the zionist entity. Its purpose is twofold:
1. To create a pretext for perpetual wars of colonial invasion and occupation and
2. To delegitimise genuine resistance movements like the Taliban.
If ISIS had been a real thing, it could and would have taken Baghdad when it was on the outskirts in 2014. It could and would have attacked the zionist entity. It could and would have attacked Saudi Barbaria, whose royal reprobates it kept attacking in its magazines. It did none of those things (in baby it apologised when a couple of its men fired on a zionist checkpoint in the occupied Golan).
Remember the Joseph Kony hoax about ten years ago? The Internet was full of it. Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army was putatively enslaving children in Uganda and all over Central Africa, Angelina Jolie et al kept tweeting #StopKony, and the Imperialist States sent troops to “hunt Kony down”? Well, ten years later, have they “stopped” Kony? Have you heard of Kony in a decade? But you can be sure those troops are still there.
It is a Hollywood level fiction.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Aug 27 2023 15:38 utc | 9

Posted by: c | Aug 27 2023 15:03 utc | 5
Years ago remember reading how the CIA had a list of assets in the ME they nicknamed ‘The Database.’ When translated into Arabic this became ‘Al Qaeda’ which means literally ‘The base’. The article stated that nearly all in Al Qaeda were CIA assets. When this becomes too well known, they change the name, ISIS being one of the latest. Whether they are all CIA-coordinated or not I don’t know; and of course, in that region CIA for all practical purposes means Mossad.
This all seems to be a clandestine, aggressive form of both controlled opposition and also outright manipulation. It creates division, conflict and confusion – anything preventing peace and prosperity which for whatever reason the Hegemon wants to discourage.
The equivalents within the US seem to be drug cartels and Antifa (street unrest and low income dysfunction) plus the two main Political Parties which perpetuate unending division within the society whilst preventing any substantive reform which would reduce their level of power and influence. They don’t need too many outright terrorist actors yet, but if and when they do, no doubt the cartels will fit the bill. Something like 1,000 food and energy facilities have been destroyed in the last two years; unless you think it’s all just random vandalism, somebody is doing it, and for a reason. Probably the cartels, and probably for the same Bad Actors running the Hegemon in both the US and the Middle East region.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 27 2023 15:47 utc | 11

Whats the new southfront web address?

Posted by: osi | Aug 27 2023 15:59 utc | 13

as bemildred says – isis and friends are basically a useful tool of usa empire… as obama was on record saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’… that is usa foreign policy in a nutshell..
Posted by: james | Aug 27 2023 15:58 utc | 12
Well said. Transactional all the way. They pay you as long as you do what they say. They try to punish you if you stop. Sometimes they forget to pay you.

Posted by: Bemildred | Aug 27 2023 16:12 utc | 15

c@5….it’s a racket, protection money, if you don’t want ISIS shooting up the place, pay me my protection money. The US does not pay for those bases the host country does, it’s amazing how much people will pay you to keep them safe from ……ISIS. And if you need to overthrow any government in the ME, who ya gonna call…….oh, and so wrong of Ms Johnstone to say they are not liked by the State Dept ……they work for the State Dept.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Aug 27 2023 16:26 utc | 17

canucks
that trans canada article is fairly disturbing for anyone who has the stomach to read it… canada is nuts on this level..
if you’re more interested watch the documentary adult human female on youtube…

Posted by: james | Aug 27 2023 16:29 utc | 19

A Draft Of TikTok’s Plan To Avoid A Ban Gives The U.S. Government Unprecedented Oversight Power, w/e 26 Aug
IF you’ve never listened to the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee, “Extremist Content and Russian Disinformation Online” hearing, 31 October 2017 (feat. Colin Stretch, Facebook VP & General Counsel, Sean Edgett, Twitter Acting General Counsel, and Richard Salgado, Al Dir. of Law Enforcement and Information Security), now would be as good a time as any. IF you’re confused by EU Digital Services Act infographics.

Posted by: sln2002 | Aug 27 2023 16:43 utc | 21

The Strategic Culture Foundation’s online journal was this week hit by a massive cyberattack. The assault resulted in the forum being shut down on its regular internet site. Readers who normally access the journal were informed that the site was no longer available.
The online journal has safely migrated to strategic-culture.su

——-
On August 23, 2024 it was announced that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to join as full members from January 1 next year.
The news of the expansion of BRICS coming out of the BRICS summit in South Africa reminds progressives of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
Horace Campbell is Professor of African American Studies and Political Science, Syracuse University.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/08/25/brics-expansion-remember-the-molotov-ribbentrop-pact/
WOW

Posted by: Wilikins | Aug 27 2023 16:59 utc | 23

Since words are too difficult for some people, this triptych perfectly explains the most important aspects of where ISIS came from and its geopolitical function in the world.

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 27 2023 17:01 utc | 25

Posted by: c | Aug 27 2023 15:03 utc | 5
No, I can assure you that ISIS/Da’ish did and does exist. I was nearly personally captured by them in 2017, just a locked door between us, but they didn’t want to make a noise by breaking down the door. And my Syrian associate actually was captured by them some time before that, but persuaded them to let him go.
It is certainly true that the US could have been involved in the creation and/or in their expansion and survival. After all, both the US and Israel have supported lots of jihadi groups, and still do in Idlib today, with the well-known aim of destroying any vaguely independent Arab state. There’s no reason they should act differently over Da’ish.
However since the destruction of Mosul, ISIS/Da’ish has become more a diffuse extreme Sunni identity, which anybody can attach to, rather than a real power. The reason they didn’t succeed in taking Baghdad was that since the US occupation in the post Samarra bombing period, Baghdad has become almost entirely a Shi’a city, 80% or so. They would never have been able to win over the population. But I’ve got a lovely video of the fight where they failed.

Posted by: Laguerre | Aug 27 2023 17:19 utc | 27

oh, warlord gangs like ISIS exist. As do los carteles in Mexico. But they exist at the behest of TPTB. But was there a central command center for ISIS? Probably not. Was they really a different belligerent along the lines of the SAA, the USA, Israel, the FSA, and the Kurds in the Syrian Civil War?
Trying to understand the Middle East is an incredibly daunting task. You must begin with the western-centric term the “Middle East” to begin with and keep up with the shifting alliances all the live-long day.
For an American, it is best to leave the Middle East pronto and re-focus our nationalist efforts on completely stopping the distribution and production of opioids near and in the U.S.A.. That would be the sensible, nationalist mission if our military was really in the control of the nationalists and being utilized for nationalist aims.
Instead, los carteles are allowed to exist as a means to control the situation in the western hemisphere and to keep the governments in central and South America on a leash.
The path to multipolarity in the western hemisphere will eventually involve the rooting out completely of the opioid business and the return of whatever the hell sovereignty those in the other America can muster. Until then, it’s all theater, kabuki, warlords, and death. American cities are festering in the dirty business of empire.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Aug 27 2023 17:44 utc | 29

@30 laguerre
Do you think they had their own agency? Or were they purely at the behest of bigger fish? That is more or less what I meant.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Aug 27 2023 17:57 utc | 31

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Aug 27 2023 17:57 utc | 31
I don’t think they would have done what they did if they were simply under US control. After all they posed a lot of problems for the US. The US wanted independent Kurds in Syria, and (earlier) an independent Sunni Arab state in NW Iraq, and these haven’t really happened, much because of Da’ish.
US may have stimulated or helped them, and ultimately had to work on destroying them. The role of Saudi should not be forgotten. They funded and supported a lot of the Sunni jihadis, but more recently the princes have lost their enthusiasm, as it’s leading to the destruction of Arab interests. One thing the Saudi princes are not going to do is to surrender Arab interests to Israel; they’re too close to the conflict (Biden et al are foolish in thinking Saudi is going to sign; it’s not MbS, it’s the views of 5000 princes that count.)

Posted by: laguerre | Aug 27 2023 18:15 utc | 33

Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 27 2023 13:46 utc | 2:
Thanks for the blues!!!

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Aug 27 2023 18:26 utc | 35

Posted by: c | Aug 27 2023 15:03 utc | 5:
c, I don’t know much myself, but it appears to me that ISIS are some middle east people with no souls, just cannon fodders for hire.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Aug 27 2023 18:41 utc | 37

Posted by: laguerre | Aug 27 2023 18:18 utc | 34
I understand. Cool.

Posted by: Wondrous | Aug 27 2023 18:57 utc | 39

Am surprised b did not feature more articles about BRIX+ last week. I thought they took things to a new level. But I guess they’ve been doing that for a while now, especially since the SMO so…
Am still a little suspicious of the whole business. I was an early anti-Empire fan but was taken aback by the response to covid, the world wide coordination of quasi-totalitarianism. That said, of late the multipolarists have the bit between their teeth; currently easing into a nice trot, maybe even a canter, having been at a slow, steady walk for quite a while.
Also, it seems the rise of the Global South has a see-saw correlation with weakening of the West, internally and externally. Hard not to posit a common fulcrum principle….
Meanwhile, put my own take on the Brix meeting into a substack post that only a ‘select few’ (!) will read.
https://tinyurl.com/2799qvsc

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 27 2023 19:19 utc | 41

Too many pieces of evidence show that Sauds and US and other vassals were definitely behind most of the jihadis that we heard about in those days.
Posted by: Wondrous | Aug 27 2023 19:08 utc | 40
Yeah but don’t be too simplistic about it. I suspect a lot of what US did was exploiting and developing existing movements. That’s how the Syrian war started. The US/Israel aim being to weaken Arab powers, any weapon being exploited. The Saudis had a different aim: the princes are ideological Sunnis and will support any Sunni movement to do down the hated Shi’a (in Syria). But it’s evident now that they’re changing gear. The Arab relatives are better than Israel. (Saudi isn’t an absolute autocracy, unlike the Gulf States, who have signed with Israel (and regretted it). The princes have their say).

Posted by: laguerre | Aug 27 2023 19:38 utc | 43

@wagelaborer, #44:

I think we can all figure it out.

I think you got them figured out.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Aug 27 2023 19:58 utc | 45

laguerre is partially correct. America’s CIA controlled headchoppers are not the same as America’s Pentagon controlled headchoppers. I am sure everyone remembers those two different terrorist gangs fighting each other in Syria. The fact is the US military likes to maintain the illusion they act honorably, while the CIA psycho killers think such sentimentality is a sign of weakness. It is easy to tell which murderous thugs work for the CIA because they take pride in being as shockingly vicious as possible. The CIA likes for their goons to define the outer limits of subhuman brutality.

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 27 2023 20:24 utc | 47

Wondrous@40
According to this article in The Cradle, ISIS had an alliance with Barzani’s Kurds who, of course, are linked with both the CIA and MOSSAD.
“After the brutal August 2014 ISIS attack on the Yazidi community in northern Iraq, a narrative quickly emerged blaming Sinjar’s Sunni Arabs for supporting the genocide.
“Yet a deeper delve into this harrowing episode uncovers a much darker reality — one that implicates Iraqi Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani and the leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in a sinister collaboration with ISIS….
“…the misperception that Sinjar’s Sunni Arabs were responsible for the ISIS genocide still goes largely unchallenged, although it is a view that is propagated not by the broader Yazidi community, but rather by the political maneuverings of the KDP led by Masoud Barzani. Furthermore, allegations have emerged that the KDP paid select Yazidis to amplify these claims in the media, casting the shadow of blame on Sunni Arabs….
“For example, Yazidi MP Vian Dakhil who blamed Sunni Arabs from Sinjar for the genocide, is a KDP member. The influential Kurdish political party often seeks to coopt politicians from Iraqi minority communities, hoping to control them and ensure these communities act in favor of KDP interests.
“Shifting culpability onto Sinjar’s Sunni Arabs serves as a calculated diversion from the core culprits — namely, the KDP, whose Peshmerga forces had undertaken the solemn duty to safeguard the Yazidis in Sinjar.
“On 3 August, 2014, the Peshmerga betrayed this trust by abruptly abandoning their posts in the early hours of the morning, leaving the Yazidis defenseless against the ISIS onslaught. This was confirmed by journalist Christine Van Den Toorn writing for the Daily Beast.
“Van Den Toorn writes that a local KDP official told her that “higher-ups in the party told representatives to keep people calm, and that if people in their areas of coverage left, their salaries would be cut.”
“Kurdish security officials also confiscated weapons from Christian communities in the Nineveh Plain, before abandoning these communities as ISIS invaded in using tactics similar to those in Sinjar….”
https://new.thecradle.co/category/investigations

Posted by: bevin | Aug 27 2023 20:50 utc | 49

the john pilger article is very good.. thanks..

Posted by: james | Aug 27 2023 21:24 utc | 51

“Kurdish security officials also confiscated weapons from Christian communities in the Nineveh Plain, before abandoning these communities as ISIS invaded in using tactics similar to those in Sinjar….”
https://new.thecradle.co/category/investigations
Posted by: bevin | Aug 27 2023 20:50 utc | 49
That’s OK. Christians are seen in the West as puritanical fascists who don’t like LGBT people.

Posted by: dh | Aug 27 2023 22:02 utc | 53

Sooo, DNA analysis confirms Prigozhin died in the crash of his aging Embraer Legacy 600 business jet near Moscow. Whatever the cause TBD, the captured video portrays a very violent and agonizingly long descent before the aircraft finally impacted with the ground. Mercifully, the souls on board were likely unconscious if not deceased after the initial explosion and did not have to endure it. Cockpit recordings may be revealing.

Posted by: UBAH | Aug 27 2023 22:47 utc | 55

Interesting article that I’ll just leave without further comments for now.
https://russiapost.info/society/perestroika

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 27 2023 23:46 utc | 57

From Doctorow, https://gilbertdoctorow.com/:
« Secondly, the list of “victims” of Putin’s imagined revenge for crossing him does not take into account the fate of the many highly visible and active Putin-haters whom he has not touched in any way, because of the word of honor he gave to Boris Yeltsin when he was named as successor not to do any harm to the Yeltsin entourage. By way of example, I can name Yeltsin’s widow Naina and the viciously anti-Putin Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg, which she heads. Then there are the viciously anti-Putin daughter of former Petersburg mayor Sobchak and Sobchak’s widow, Lyudmila Narusova; both have been accused of criminal activities for which they should properly be serving prison terms, but neither has suffered in any way thanks to Putin’s protection. There are many other conspicuous wreckers, like the now self-exiled Anatoly Chubais, who were spared only thanks to Putin’s honoring his promises to his former boss. »
First time I seen this so explained, and first time the justification seems to fit with all the other elements in Putin’s track record from my perspective – I have no knowledge about the inner dynamics and history of Russia’s leadership since the fall of CCCP. I suppose if this is correct, it puts a dent in the Putin-globalist/traitor camp.

Posted by: htyul | Aug 28 2023 0:29 utc | 59

A Lavrov quip:
Question: Do you remember when BRICS was called an association that does not affect anything? Today we see that dozens of countries are ready to join. What does it say?
Sergey Lavrov: This shows that they are working with their tongues, and we are working with our heads and concrete deeds.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 28 2023 0:44 utc | 61

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kiBvdYO4yw
Interview with filmaker put on the CIA hitlist after he investigated the first trip to the moon. Has footage from a whistleblower showing the shots were faked.
As with all these stories there are two levels, one mundane one somewhat interesting:
1. Mundane: is the official story true or false (moon landing, 9/11 etc.)
2. If it is faked, how is it that such stories not only get made but can still be maintained for so long even once they have been discredited. What sort of world do we live in that the truth really doesn’t seem to matter all that much, at least to those above us?

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 28 2023 1:27 utc | 63

karlof1 | Aug 28 2023 0:18 utc | 58
Thanks Karl.
Do value your substack.
Sorry I don’t sign up for things, otherwise your efforts would be among the first.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Aug 28 2023 1:43 utc | 65

As I remarked on the previous open thread, tonight is the eve of the last feast of the Orthodox Christian cycle as celebrated according to the old calendar rather than the new, Gregorian one. Russia and other eastern nations adhere to this calendar, as did my small church in Santa Fe whose own ‘name day’ is dedicated to this feast.
As in Genesis, there is evening and there is morning to such observances, so our feast is beginning as the sun sets in Santa Fe, New Mexico, east of my home here now. More than thirty years ago, at this moment of the sun setting and beginning of the feast, our priest, who was Russian, himself passed away. So, it is meaningful to me on several levels. This feast is the Falling Asleep (Dormition) of the most holy Lady Theotokos (Birth-giver of God in flesh as we knew and know her).
Here is the exapostilarian evening hymn for the feast:

O ye apostles, assembled here from the ends of the earth, bury my body in Gethsemane: and Thou,O my Son and God, receive my soul.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 28 2023 2:37 utc | 67

I posted the above: juliania | Aug 28 2023 2:37 utc | 66, as a preliminary answer to some of the questions posed by Scorpion in his linked article at: Scorpion | Aug 27 2023 19:19 utc | 41. In his essay, Scorpion raises questions concerning valuable priniciples nations should incorporate to supplement the materialism he fears that in China for instance may ultimately become predominant. I think the answer lies in China’s understanding of the importance of the term ‘multipolarity.’
In other words, the particular faith of each distinct spiritual path has roots which run deep, extremely deep, and on some levels there is no way to extract valuable principles, not for the practitioners of each spiritual path at least. One is in one’s faith, and proceeds from there to encounter others inclined towards gentleness and compassion and nonviolence – the angels of our common human nature – through their own beliefs, that is all. All being free to come there as best they may without being forced, even gently, into the ideology of the other. Here’s what the Dalai Llama says in a book I have, “The Good Heart”:
“…I feel there is tremendous convergence and a potential for mutual enrichment through dialogue between the Buddhist and Christian traditions, especially in the areas of ethics and spiritual practice … But when it comes to a philosophical or metaphysical dialogue I feel that we must part company…”
So, Scorpion, I do not think that ‘multipolarity’ means uniformity can be applied to the ‘valuable principles’ that thrive in the very differences between faiths, but that each should be free to express the principles they believe in, which strengthen their common humanity. I had been going to reference karlof1’s expansive and important links to the BRICS meetings, but of course I don’t agree with his characterization, or that of Michael Hudson, of the teachings of Jesus, so I was at a loss to do so.
I apologize if there is anything in all I have tried to express that may discomfort you or others. There is something we have in common, a desire for fullness of the human experience. I am trying to say that we can – we do – each have honest and honorable beliefs that differ – mine is in a Creator with all that follows from that belief. Our beliefs strengthen our spirits. It is good to be comfortable in expressing them.
So, I did.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 28 2023 3:40 utc | 69

re karlof1 | Aug 28 2023 1:29 utc | 63
The guardian a fishwrap where I have had a number of heated debates with englander fuckwits who claim to be ‘of the left’ but who also claim in a 100% ethnocentric fashion that the only safe place for treasured (by their distant culture) artifacts is in england, ran a story today conceeding that the British Museum is missing more than 2000 pieces from its collection.
So even the neolib graun is forced to admit that england is not the ‘safest’ place to store other peoples treasures.
Not that they will ever run a campaign to push for repatriation of course. It is only englanders publically campaigning that can remedy these thefts and all the associated cultural misappropriations as all politicians in england see it s a vote loser.
Otherwise it will mean waiting for england to do its inevitable crash & burn which may not be fruitful if amerika is still standing cos the englander bosses could sell them to their bosses in amerika.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Aug 28 2023 4:41 utc | 71

Posted by: juliania | Aug 28 2023 3:40 utc | 68
I mentioned materialism viz. China both because Xi’s speech was quoted and also because of her current world leadership role; since most polities world wide share the same (materialist) ‘modernization’ mindset, she is hardly different in this regard.
My main concern is that since ‘modernization’ and ‘development’ are Xi’s stated priorities, and since they align so well with the West’s earlier industrial revolution which China more recently has embraced, and since such modernization is principally rooted in secular materialism, and seeing how it has turned out in the West, I fear the multipolar initiative will not fare as well as its proponents now hope. That’s the concern.
I then suggested some way of enjoying a world wide Unity on the non-materialist level by incorporating primarily Chinese approaches which combine Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism both because of their long track record and also because all three being non-theistic they fit better in today’s broadly secular (again because materialist) gestalt – though of course any major traditions excluded might understandably object to the above suggestion.
The intention behind the idea though is to foster Unity from a shared view not rooted in reductionist materialism whose mentality by its very nature is always splitting things into parts, creating endless divisions, and so probably not conducive to a harmonious World Order that can last centuries.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 28 2023 6:03 utc | 73

via rt
PFAS are known to wreak medical havoc on human and animal bodies, with links to decreased fertility, developmental problems in children, cancer, high cholesterol, liver and kidney disease, and endocrine (hormone) disruption. Because they do not break down, they bio-accumulate, meaning each successive generation carries more of them in their tissues. The vast majority of Americans’ bloodstreams are contaminated by forever chemicals.

Posted by: Jo | Aug 28 2023 8:46 utc | 75

b, I thought for sure, if Canada got it’s own feature link from you this week, it’d be about the removal of Kleenex brand tissues from the country.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/kleenex-canada-1.6947410
https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/2023-08-25/la-fin-de-kleenex-au-canada.php
https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/economie/200901/06/01-673557-quebec-reclame-41-m-au-fabricant-de-kleenex.php
On the other hand. News of Canada’s remarkable medal-winning performances at the World Athletics championships perhaps could rival the Kleenex thing. I’ll let Ian Hanomamsing from CBC’s the National walk us through it in less than 4 mins:
https://youtu.be/TswjBo6ktTU

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Aug 28 2023 12:21 utc | 77

@ Malaleuca, post no2, re Peter from Australia
Thank you for mentioning and prolonging the memory of the lovely angry man, I have been reading his posts on the different platforms for years, I have agreed about nearly everything.
Hard to edit but I add something for him, he would understand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pIsx9DeAeY
I think he is dead, or dying…

Posted by: stranger | Aug 28 2023 12:44 utc | 79

Have yet to get to karlof1’s latest piece on BRICS but here’s one by Ehret which ruminates about similar issues that I stumbled over less skillfully. He describes what is happening as a new renaissance period in which cultural cross-fertilization generates a new, uplifting cultural and political paradigm and he goes back in history to describe other periods where cross-cultural fusions have provoked positive, renaissance dynamics.
https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/brics-defends-traditional-culture

The Reality of Universal Progress
The annoying fact which such thinkers as Huntington and his followers choose to ignore is that the greatest renaissances and rates of progress recorded in the human experience never occurred by distinct cultural groups simply transforming themselves at random, or doing what ones’ ancestors did, but rather all periods of progress were shaped by the cross pollinating of the best ideas of various cultures, never just replacing one set of ideas FOR another, or adding one set of ideas TO another, but rather creating new wholes that are more than the sum of their parts and containing ever greater degrees of power to creatively discover and communicate truths of those universal principles guiding mankind and nature. This is the proper definition and purpose of “science” and “art” and their effects as technological progress as expressed across ALL cultures.

He has a nice excerpt of Xi’s speech too:

Today, a new paradigm has arisen through the multi-cultural BRICS process, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and New Silk Road. This new paradigm is not based on a passive co-existence of parts as they are managed by a Hobbesian Leviathan, but rather on the commitment to common goals and principles of progress which all participating cultures aspire to. The Chinese President laid out these concepts clearly in his August 22, 2023 address at the 15th annual BRICS Summit in South Africa:
As an ancient Chinese philosopher observes, “Change is the nature of the universe.” … Whatever resistance there may be, BRICS, a positive and stable force for good, will continue to grow. We will forge stronger BRICS strategic partnership, expand the “BRICS Plus” model, actively advance membership expansion, deepen solidarity and cooperation with other EMDCs, promote global multipolarity and greater democracy in international relations, and help make the international order more just and equitable. The gathering between BRICS countries and more than 50 other countries in South Africa today is not an exercise of asking countries to take sides, nor an exercise of creating bloc confrontation. Rather, it is an endeavor to expand the architecture of peace and development… China stays committed to an independent foreign policy of peace and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. As a developing country and a member of the Global South, China breathes the same breath with other developing countries and pursues a shared future with them. China has resolutely upheld the common interests of developing countries… Hegemonism is not in China’s DNA; nor does China have any motivation to engage in major-power competition. China stands firmly on the right side of history, and believes that a just cause should be pursued for the common good.

My piece also discussed Wholes and Parts as an over-arching context both as a universal principle and as a vital issue in terms of New World Order emerging multipolarity, also wondering what would be the best shared values that can make us feel part of the same Whole in a way not driven by reductionist materialism which has been driving the Old World Order the past couple of centuries, if not longer.
Many people seem to believe that the drivers are racial or national, that certain nations always do X (plunder) etc. But I think it has more to do with over-arching cultural ethos that captures the mentality of a people, or ‘the times’, and all flows from there. If the mentality is wise and compassionate, good cultures result. If it is materialist, unwise and uncompassionate, bad cultures result.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 28 2023 14:50 utc | 81

Scorpion@63….media runs with CT stories, throw enough of them in, and a couple of spoons of ETs being chased by F16s, and a new field of discovery is birthed. Complete and total confusion and the more unrealistic it is (2 bowling ball planes knocked three high rises buildings into their footprint) nothing difficult about it.
Most if not all of those competing stories are pre written and ready to go, as soon as someone begins to apply logic and asking those awkward question, those stories get released. Utter confusion, by design.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Aug 28 2023 16:54 utc | 83

Debsisdead | Aug 28 2023 4:41 utc | 71–
Thanks for your reply and its somewhat surprising content. What the article shows is the pressure is having an effect. If UK refuses, its already swamp-like credibility with RoW will sink even lower into that morass to the point where it faces a worse snubbing than the USSR ever felt during the Cold War; and that can go for the other thieves.
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Crooke weighs-in on BRICS-11, “A Second Geo-Strategic Shoe (Other Than Ukraine) Is Dropping”, wherein his analysis doesn’t differ much from that of others who’ve been watching and unseduced by the Establishment Narrative. Crooke does err in his conclusion where he links to TASS‘s recap of Lavrov’s BRICS speech as that recap doesn’t support the citation he provides, although Putin did make allusions of that sort.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 28 2023 19:22 utc | 85

Scorpion | Aug 28 2023 19:21 utc | 84–
I suggested to Escobar while he was in Samarkand that there’s likely cross-cultural influences between the Chinese and Arabic/Islamic world as both philosophies seem to seek harmony and an inclusive bottom->up political-economy, that also values wisdom and virtue. That would all make sense given the many years of back-and-forth along the Silk Road and scholarly interaction between Bagdad and Beijing and other points along the route during Europe’s Dark Ages.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 28 2023 19:31 utc | 87

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 28 2023 19:31 utc | 87
Scorpion | Aug 28 2023 19:21 utc | 84–
I suggested to Escobar while he was in Samarkand that there’s likely cross-cultural influences between the Chinese and Arabic/Islamic world as both philosophies seem to seek harmony and an inclusive bottom->up political-economy, that also values wisdom and virtue. That would all make sense given the many years of back-and-forth along the Silk Road and scholarly interaction between Bagdad and Beijing and other points along the route during Europe’s Dark Ages.
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Well, there is so much and for so long. No matter what you think about where Admiral He got to, he was an Arab Chinaman, like so many of their sailors. On board, at least, they were almost one people and for centuries. The Mongols took over Persia and I read that for 300 years the Great Khan’s Law basically ruled – not out of submission but because it was so effective. When the Chinese broke free from it in the 1400s, they instituted the isolationist Maritime Ban which may vary well have caused their subsequent decline which they are now finally coming out of, as well as giving an opportunity for Westerners to exploit.
Whether or not Menzies is right about He’s 1434 diplomatic mission to Venice, his description of the trading routes between China, India, Arabia and Cairo seem accurate. He says that for at least 600 years before the 1430 period there was constant, substantial maritime trade. Of course as you say, there was steady overland commerce as well, but I suspect that maritime freight far exceeded overland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haijin gives a muddled account of the Maritime Ban, but piracy became a HUGE issue after their pullback; this was not instigated by Westerners, although the latter did join in the feeding frenzy once they had sufficient connections (Jesuits et alia).
Values? They valued stability with vibrant culture. There is no stability without values aligned with bedrock natural Reality, including basic goodness.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 28 2023 19:51 utc | 89

Given PeterAU1’s distaste for all things gender-bending and his Australian heritage I would like to submit “Papa Won’t Leave You Henry” by Nick Cave as the song I will always remember him by.
“I awoke so drunk and full of rage
That I could hardly speak…”
I miss you too Peter.
* * *
I believe the British MP Robin Cook first used the term “the database” in relation to Al Qaeda in an article for the Guardian.

Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally “the database”, was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians.

The struggle against terrorism cannot be won by military means by Robin Cook
Don’t ask any questions about what happened to Robin Cook, though.

Posted by: JuliaHin1984 | Aug 28 2023 20:21 utc | 91

Idalia due for a midweek visit to Tampa Bay, on the west coast of Florida…

The National Hurricane Center predicted at 11 a.m. EDT Monday that Idalia would become a hurricane by Monday night and steadily intensify, peaking at category 3 strength (115 mph sustained winds) near landfall around 8 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The 6Z Monday runs of the high-resolution hurricane models… predicted a peak intensity Tuesday night or Wednesday morning ranging from 115 to 135 mph (category 3 or 4).

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/08/hurricane-and-storm-surge-warnings-for-florida-as-idalia-heads-north/
Lately, in reading professional forecasts like this one, I expect the big storm to cross the ocean more slowly than expected, building to the high end of predicted wind-strengths (cat 4 in this case).

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Aug 28 2023 21:55 utc | 93

re ISIS
Is there any substantive difference between ISIS and the Azov gang (ethnoreligious affiliations notwithstanding)? They seem pretty much the same to me.

Posted by: farm ecologist | Aug 29 2023 0:02 utc | 95

Thank you, karlof1 | Aug 28 2023 19:31 utc | 87, for your connections and for the analysis you give. Just the word ‘Samarkand’ reminds us that these are very ancient civilizations compared to those of the west – even Europe was a very different place when the trade routes were forming.
It is all very fascinating and hopeful for us newcomers on the scene that still those nations have kept alive their positive traditions which somehow we in the west have diminished with the ‘melting pot’ concept. I am not talking about fanatical adherence to outmoded customs but really about points of view we should all respect and discuss. It just cannot be McDonalds and Coke ad infinitum all around the world any longer (much as at this time of year, I really enjoy green chile doubles with fresh green chile our local McD’s is providing!)

Posted by: juliania | Aug 29 2023 0:17 utc | 97

Empire watch rule 1

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

Exhibit A
There’s a discussion about China’s ban on jap seafoods going viral in SK.

‘China do a better job in protecting its citizens, where’s our gawd damned prez ?’

This reminds me of a jap netizen comment on China’s counter sanction against USAss in the gringo instigated trade war…

If only our leader have that cojone, Toshiba wouldnt be in its current state.

Thus we have corollary 1

The human rights index of a country is inversely proportional to its coziness with the great satan.

Exhibit B
Compare the UIgurs of China to MUslims in India.
Its like day and night
BUt of course the G7 white supremacists manage to turn it upside down in their // universe.
[NO doubt dragged kicking and screaming by the jews in doing so as per the ‘wn’ ;-)]
https://covertactionmagazine.com/2023/06/28/hypocrisy-seen-in-bidens-embrace-of-indian-prime-minister-narendra-modi-and-denunciation-of-chinese-premier-xi-jinping/.

Posted by: denk | Aug 29 2023 3:17 utc | 99