@ Ton_Q_collins (post #51):
Currently A LOT OF countries fear the US (in the unipolar world). But in a “multi polar” world there will be more “poles” that each have their own interests. And those interests will (inevitable) lead to more “conflicts”/wars. Should be obvious IMO.

Posted by: Mr. Market | Oct 30 2023 14:43 utc | 103

@ Refinnejenna | Oct 30 2023 5:21 utc | 49
thanks! i think the past is too dark and hard to fathom with any degree of certainty… but it is ripe for imposing an ideology on it and i think that is what people do regularly.. they cultivate myths to live by… some believe them and some don’t… i think the situation with israel is so loaded with biblical overtones, it is impossible to unravel.. and unfortunately there are christians and jewish orthodox folks too who take it all very literally… logos is different then mythos… words can be taken literally, as opposed to figuratively… sorry for the little diversion here, lol… people who are looking to confirm their bias off historical data may be doing this for any number of reasons, whether its a belief in something or for real interest in what exactly happened in the past… we will never know.. that is my take..

Posted by: james | Oct 30 2023 16:26 utc | 105

For the philosophically inclined, and those who enjoy stretching their vocabulary (part 4 in an ongoing series about the nature of life beyond the materialist-mechanical paradigm):
https://davidbentleyhart.substack.com/p/reflections-on-life-and-mind-part-70a

For those not already acquainted with him, David Bentley Hart of the University of Notre Dame is widely regarded as one of the two most influential academic theologians in the English-speaking world today (along with John Milbank of Nottingham University). Hart’s output is prodigious, and his range of intellectual interests—in the literature of various languages—is staggering. His published PhD dissertation, The Beauty of the Infinite (2004), caused reviewers to regard him, young as he was, as a leading Christian theologian.
Though Hart no longer has possession of his personal library of some 20,000 volumes, he seems to have read most of it and not to have forgotten much. Had he been born earlier, he’s the sort of scholar who might have sat beside C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the other Inklings at The Eagle and Child pub in Oxford, and not only have grasped their exchanges on English literature, Western history, world mythology, and Christian theology, but also have taught them a thing or two. Those who think this must be hyperbole should examine the essays contained in three recent collections: A Splendid Wickedness and Other Essays (2016), The Hidden and the Manifest (2017), and The Dream-Child’s Progress (2017). These and other volumes by Hart I gladly commend.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/shall-saved-universal-christian-universalism-david-bentley-hart/
(Also read by Simplicius)

Posted by: Scorpion | Oct 30 2023 19:51 utc | 107

Below is a Reuters headline showing empire cutting off its nose to spite its face
US to evict Gabon, Niger, Uganda and Central African Republic from trade program

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 31 2023 1:59 utc | 109

Election time in Pakistan soon??
“The army and Rangers will be deployed in Punjab for the upcoming polls. As many as 147,000 army and paramilitary personnel will perform election security duties.”
The Punjabi plebs have to vote correctly…
https://www.dawn.com/news/1785162/troops-to-be-deployed-for-elections-in-punjab

Posted by: Antonym | Oct 31 2023 5:43 utc | 111

– Current economic events in the US are a danger for the PETRODOLLAR. I.e. the Trade Deficit is shrinking while at the same time the US (federal) budget deficit is growing. For those who have knowledge how international money flows works and the implications of that, know that this is a very dangerous development for the US and the Petrodollar.

Posted by: Mr. Market | Oct 31 2023 8:10 utc | 113

Californians CCP love finally understood: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4T7dWEXm-3Y
Xi Jinping thinks that Californian governor Gavin Newsom will be the Democratic party’s “saving” candidate for stand-in Biden next US presidential elections. Will Apple, Amazon, Meta, NVidia and even Tesla be on the next Wall street – Bund ferry again? It paid out very well last time – for the stockholders only that is.

Posted by: Antonym | Oct 31 2023 8:34 utc | 115

Thanks to b for the Week in Review, which I have yet to dive into, and to the bar, for all the thoughtful comments. Just two pieces of news to add:
Strike’s over on the St. Lawrence Seaway.
“The strike by Canadian workers that led to the closure of the St. Lawrence Seaway is over. Full operation of the binational Seaway system, including at Eisenhower and Snell Locks, is expected to resume tomorrow, October 30.”
https://x.com/SeawayUSDOT/status/1718823333624476072
Brazilian landless workers send two tons of food to Gaza (since the subject of left-wing parties came up, up thread).
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Brazilian-Landless-Workers-Send-Two-Tons-of-Food-to-Gaza-20231030-0006.html
“The new shipment of humanitarian aid consists of corn and powdered milk donated by the Landless Movement (MST), a left-wing peasant organization that has historically expressed its solidarity with Palestine.”

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Oct 31 2023 10:25 utc | 117

S #43:

Russia and Russians are largely on Palestine’s side

I was wrong.
Russian pollster FOM provides the following data:

Which side do you personally sympathize with
in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict? (%)

Date               Israel  Palestine  Neither  Don't know

October 17, 2004     13        9        60         18
2005*                11        7        64         18
2006*                11        7        66         16
November 25, 2012    13        5        66         16
October 15, 2023      9       10        73          9

* Average of two polls.

Posted by: S | Nov 1 2023 0:51 utc | 119

McCarthyism is coming to Australia. Any body like me who do not believe the narrative will now be foreign agents.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-01/criticial-infrastructure-review-finds-insider-espionage-threat/103048752

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 1 2023 5:53 utc | 121

Xinhuanet has a posting up with the link below about a financial meeting that Xi chaired. Lots of interesting information….too much to quote
Key meeting sets tone on China’s financial development
China is actively managing their public finance system and evolving it to continue to serve their citizens…..yes, they admit they have corruption also.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 1 2023 6:15 utc | 123

Below is a Xinhuanet posting with both link and quote
Xi stresses organizing, motivating women to contribute to Chinese modernization
The quote

Xi called on the women’s federations to translate the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee into specific tasks and encourage women to leverage their advantages.
The advancement of women’s cause not only facilitates individual development of women, but also promotes family and social harmony as well as the development of the country and the Chinese nation, he said.
It is necessary to strengthen guidance on young people’s perspectives on marriage, childbearing and family, he said, urging women’s federations to fine-tune and implement supportive birth policies, enhance the quality of population development and respond to population aging.
Noting that protecting the legitimate rights and interests of women and children, promoting gender equality and the all-round development of women and children are important components of Chinese modernization, Xi called on women’s federations at all levels to intensify efforts to solve the prominent problems that affect and infringe on the rights and interests of women and children.
Women’s federations serve as the bond connecting the Party and the government with women, Xi stressed, urging continued efforts to deepen the reform of women’s federations.
He asked women’s federations to conduct in-depth investigations to gain insight into the thoughts and aspirations of women at the grassroots level and understand the urgent needs of the cause of women’s development.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 1 2023 6:20 utc | 125

China’s economy is growing at more than 5% and still we get BS from Reuters like below
Asia’s factories squeezed as China’s nascent recovery teeters

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 1 2023 6:45 utc | 127

“Geopolitics with Balaji Srinivasan: Decline of USA, Rise of India/China & More”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDlXPSKPtUo
Has many interesting new angles.

Posted by: Antonym | Nov 1 2023 8:31 utc | 129

I agree with a psychohistorian view on “materialism” (in all of its forms) as being a part of the Overton Window management in the West. – meme. – source.

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 1 2023 16:30 utc | 131

@ persiflo | Nov 1 2023 16:30 utc | 66 with the Chomsky links and thoughts…thanks
At the end of the interview the guy said we need checks and balances in society but I think more important is the core incentives to either do good or evil need to change.
Given our global private finance Western form of social organization, the incentives of that are not so much evil, I would say, as anti-humanistic….for a few instead of the many.
Replacing global private finance with sovereign public finance with a nation owned/managed BIS is the structural need and there will always be the need for checks and balances that evolve with our species but once the evil incentives of private finance are removed there will be less aggression/competition built into our interactions, IMO.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 1 2023 19:54 utc | 133

@sln2002 | Oct 29 2023 19:04 utc | 15
Yep, the Hittites were there long before the damn Jews invented themselves. The Hittites featured prominently before the Bronze Age collapse (approx. 1200BC), and the Jews only seem to have arisen after that period. Furthermore, its increasingly looking like some of the oldest man made structures are to be found in modern day Turkey, the old Hittite homeland, which was somehow built before man even supposedly learnt agriculture.
https://artincontext.org/oldest-buildings-in-the-world/
Furthermore, “Hittite is the oldest Indo-European language known—older than Greek, Latin, or Sanskrit.”
https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/projects/hit/why-study-hittites
Since Europe is now mostly Indo-European, people used to joke that the Hittites were the first Europeans, that they moved into Europe after the Bronze Age collapse and then Europe became Europe. This looks increasingly likely as can be seen above that Hittite is the oldest known Indo-European language. I always thought that Sanskrit was the oldest.

Posted by: gT | Nov 2 2023 6:08 utc | 135