Xi in the USA
From the official meeting there is limited interest
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202311/t20231116_11181442.html
But Xi’s speech on a latter event is interesting
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202311/t20231116_11181557.html
A certain warning about taiwan that the US bows to with the usual “one china” answer
Another about the containment/embargoes but no answer that I can see
Yet no serious warnings and globally a no, o not yet, to any confrontation

Posted by: newbie | Nov 16 2023 11:43 utc | 3

Biden.
A trained monkey with, but now with a damaged brain.
he just needs a little waistcoat and hat, and he can dance with a tin cup in hand at DNC fund raisers. But don’t forget the adult diapers!

Posted by: scepticalSOB | Nov 16 2023 11:54 utc | 5

British tabloids are infuriated that a foreign power Strasbourg, can interfere with Sunak’s Gaza option for asylum seekers to England, sending them to Rwanda.
If it’s notvillegal to send them, Sunak should have a first class one way ticket to stay there, with BoJo ,Cameron and Starmer.

Posted by: Giyane | Nov 16 2023 11:56 utc | 7

Why Orthodox churches have different colored domes and what their number means
The number of domes:
1 – is the unity of God,
2 – simultaneously human and divine essence of the Savior
3 – the Holy Trinity
5 – remind Orthodox believers of Jesus Christ and the four evangelists,
7 – the number of sacraments of the church
9 – number of angelic ranks
13 – denotes the Savior and the twelve apostles.
33 – is the number of years Jesus spent on earth
The color of the domes and outer walls is symbolic.
🤍 – serves as a sign that the temple was consecrated in honor of the Transfiguration or Ascension
💙 – in honor of the Mother of God.
❤️ – to the Great Martyrs
💚 – to the Reverend
💛 – Saint

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/74006

Posted by: Down South | Nov 16 2023 12:45 utc | 9

A little update from Hungary!
FM visits Morocco
“With the multitude of security challenges faced by Europe, Hungary greatly appreciates its partners that can contribute to improving the situation, rather than make it worse, Szijjártó told a joint press conference with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, according to a ministry statement.”
https://dailynewshungary.com/szijjarto-unlike-eu-morocco-an-ally-hungary-can-rely-on/
Orban — Hungary speaks for Europeans who aren’t heard in their own countries, Brussels serves the globalist elites’ agenda
https://x.com/PM_ViktorOrban/status/1725071028739543232
https://x.com/PM_ViktorOrban/status/1723736324643963278
(Note comment by Kim Dotcom below)

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Nov 16 2023 12:56 utc | 11

Just a reminder of how government works.
The BMJ (British Medical Journal) has published an article about the
government revolving door.
This article focuses on the (US) FDA and how individual regulators
approved the Covid vaccine for Moderna and then got their big
pay day by then leaving the FDA and going to work for Moderna,
or the reverse, leaving Moderna and regulating approval for Covid
vaccines.
https://www.bmj.com/content/383/bmj.p2486

Posted by: librul | Nov 16 2023 13:11 utc | 13

Ah an open topic thanks b, been holding back on this one, dedicated to the seekers of MONEY and TAX and Government SPEND, some who are very informative here, thanks.
My illusions disappeared a good half dozen years ago now.
I also looked at the Acts of Parliament which enabled the magik money tree in the U.K. they can hide it behind curtains but not completely vanish the truth of the puppetry in front.
The answer to anyone who believe Taxes fund Public Spending is to convince how government Spends regardless of how much it Taxes.
Or How The Magic Money Tree Was Grows Every Single Day.
Hands up who knows what the Consolidated Fund and National Loans Fund are. Anyone?
I have tried to have conversations with acquaintances and friends who work at the highest levels in Investment Banks, Top Accountancy Firms and even the HMRC and several other such departments as I thought they at least would know that Taxes don’t pay for Government Spending. Not only Don’t ,but Can’t, pay for Spending.
Not a single one of them understand why we always have a deficit and an ever increasing Public ‘Debt’ balance and that is OK and NATURAL!
It’s futile – their whole career and belief system relies on believing the unbelievable!
They were bashed by Maggies Housewife’s purse and retained severe brain injury from it ever since imprinted on their soft brains.
Orwell didn’t make up as some dystopian predictions, he just described the mechanism.
If such luminaries, can’t get the truth through to even the brightest, highest most successful apparatchiks in our society and economy, from their best friends even, what chance that the likes of most of the readership and commentariat here will?
I’ve tried for years at various forums and in person and am met with real and metaphorical blank looks, dead air, no response, dropped conversation, glazed eyes at best, derision and shutdown at worst.
Shall i try? Again?
I do regularly when it seems someone might be heading down the same path of scepticism and discovery that I was forced to. I Shout at them from my vantage and point them to the track from where they are!
Alas, most don’t see the path or even if they find it they don’t choose to follow it as it seems unused and discombobulating leading away from where they think they want to head. They turn around and head back the well trodden , well lit yellow brick road to happy fantasy and certitudes of the fairytales that ‘everyone knows that’.
But one must alway try and help to save the drowning if you can – So, here goes nothing again :
Look, move a bit to your right/left see that marker there’s a trail …
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Fund
Lead down the path to :
“The National Loans Fund is the government’s main borrowing and lending account.
It is closely linked to the Consolidated Fund, which maintains a daily balance of zero by means of a transfer to or from the National Loans Fund.”
Well done that’s the start – Don’t turn back ! You’re doing well. Keep going down to:
“This follows the constitutional principle that the Crown (government) demands money, the House of Commons grants it, and the House of Lords assents to the grant. Since the Glorious Revolution of 1688 only once, in 1784, has the Commons refused to grant access to funds.”
…
What do you mean you don’t like it? Don’t believe it! What do you mean it’s only Wikipedia so must be bollocks like most of it is?
Listen I agree, it is full of shit but It can’t lie about actual historical acts of parliament , even if it can about every other propaganda it does, can it?
Okay okay, I’ll give you proof, see that big structure there -right infront of you now, that thing that looks like a giant stone hill and cave with a safe door? See that old faded boiler plate covered in dust , what does it say?
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-central-funds
Now look at one ☝️ of these years accounts and it’s frontpieces
“This publication is available at http://www.gov.uk/official-documents.”
Convinced it’s bonafide now?
Read its opening page:
“Overview – Purpose and activities of the Consolidated Fund Account
The Consolidated Fund (CF) was first set up in 1787 as ‘one fund into which shall flow every stream of public revenue and from which shall come the supply for every service’. The basis of the financial mechanism by which the CF is operated is governed by the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866.
In order to separate government revenue and expenditure on the one hand and government borrowing and lending on the other, the National Loans Fund (NLF) was established on 1 April 1968 by the National Loans Act 1968 to account for government borrowing and lending which were until then accounted for within the CF.
The accounts for the CF and NLF are now published separately. Both the CF and NLF are administered by HM Treasury (the Treasury), with the bank accounts maintained at the Bank of England. The CF can therefore be regarded as central government’s current account, whereas the NLF can be regarded as central government’s main borrowing and lending account. By virtue of section 19(1) of the National Loans Act 1968, the net liabilities of the NLF are a liability of the CF.
The CF receives the proceeds of taxation and certain other government receipts, makes issues to finance Supply Services, meets the Standing Services directly charged by statute and reimburses the NLF for net interest costs. The finance needs of the CF are met by the NLF (via the proceeds of borrowing) to the extent that taxation and other receipts are insufficient to meet its outgoings.
The CF finishes every day with a nil balance on its bank account because any surpluses or deficits are offset by transfers to or from the NLF.”
Phew well done you got here wasn’t so dangerous was it?
HERE IT IS – that is the Magic MoneyTree in full daily bloom,
every single day “finishes EVERYDAY with a NIL BALANCE..”
SPEND and then tax. Got it? Now you are where I was at see these other paths leading from here? Many to explore go do it how about starting with that curious “Since the Glorious Revolution of 1688 only once, in 1784, has the Commons refused to grant access to funds.”
The paths go back to many ‘dots’ from which lead other trails coming forward to everything that we know as our Collective West current world and every war and every evil we see around us…The never ending dots of history…. 😉

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 16 2023 14:25 utc | 15

@ B:
I want to reply to this post:
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/06/and-then-biden-blew-it-.html
– China is NOT in the best of (financial, economic) shapes. It’s in deeper trouble than many people think or are willing to admit.
– But one also has to keep in mind that Biden’s US is also in much much deeper trouble than people think. E.g. the bubbles in the US housing and in the US car market are in the first stages of deflating. Prices went up in both markets since the year 2008 and are now in a bubble. These 2 bubbles are now LARGER than in 2008/2009.
US interest rates (10 year T-bind) have gone up from under (!!!) 1% in mid 2020 (a 40 year low) to over 5% today. This is a wrecking ball for the US housing market. Real estate sales and mortgage applications have sunk to the same level last seen in 2020 and in 1995 (!!!!). The mortgage costs (yearly repayments & interest) in the US have (about) doubled since the year 2021. In order to improve the affordability of an average house back to the level of 2021 and with the current interest rates US real estate prices have to go down by some 50%. That means that A LOT OF home owners will go “under water” with their mortgage.

Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 16 2023 15:27 utc | 17

@ B:
Here a video on the impeding disaster in the AIRBNB market:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYWfijtQPcI
REVENTURE has more videos in which the upcoming disaster in the US housing market is shown.
https://www.youtube.com/@ReventureConsulting

Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 16 2023 15:33 utc | 19

If Trump gets sent to prison in 2024 I wonder what will happen to military morale? Will the Catholics and Evangelicals in the US military still be willing to deploy to the Middle East?

Posted by: standard | Nov 16 2023 15:38 utc | 21

When Riel came to Fort Garry to talk about a truce and peace negotiations with the English, Louis took them at their word. They arrested, tried, and hung him.
He will soon be recognized as the First Honorary Premiere of Manitoba.
Wonder if that might get him pardoned.
Cheers M
…..oh, the moral of the story, never trust the fucking English and their bastard offspring no matter where they live.

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Nov 16 2023 15:59 utc | 23

The Alberta Bill of Rights should go through a major makeover.  
The insistence of governments at all levels, with the compliance of most traditional media that there was only one acceptable narrative explaining and justifying the response to the COVID-19 crisis, thereby disregarding and censoring other narratives, violated freedom of thought, belief and expression in a variety of ways.” 
So says the report.
There should be changes to law especially to the Alberta Bill of Rights to “significantly strengthen the protection of the rights and freedoms of Albertans.”  
No doubt many measures imposed “severe limits” on “guaranteed rights and freedoms.”  
A right or freedom set out in this bill of rights “shall be presumed to be paramount and of superior importance” to other objectives of politicians.  
There should be the right to choose to receive or not receive treatment unless the person is demonstrated to be a danger to themselves or others.
There should be the right not to be coerced into submitting to medical care or treatment expect on proof of immediate danger of serious injury or loss of life to another.  
There should be a guarantee of freedom of expression as well as freedom of speech .
Then there’s the right to academic freedom without “institutional censorship.”  
The guarantee of freedom of regulated professionals from “institutional censorship.”  
Protection against discrimination “on the basis of opinion, disability and medical status and history.”  
Expanding the right to privacy.  
“The right of an individual not to be deprived of the means of earning a living, caring for their family or functioning in society.”  
That’s another.
School closings had “decisively negative impacts” in children and would be forbidden except in the most exceptional cases since schools would be deemed an essential service.
There’s strengthening the rights and freedoms of employees and health professionals.  
There’s disallowing permanent dismissal of employees not complying with temporary emergency measures.  
https://calgarysun.com/opinion/columnists/danielle-smiths-ucp-win-with-manning-covid-report

Posted by: 2+2=5 | Nov 16 2023 17:04 utc | 25

– Both the US and Canada have seen a housing bubble in the last say 15 years:
The US:
https://wolfstreet.com/2023/10/31/the-most-splendid-housing-bubbles-in-america-october-update-10-of-the-20-metros-down-from-their-peaks-last-year-6-metros-set-new-highs
Canada:
https://wolfstreet.com/2023/11/15/the-most-splendid-housing-bubbles-in-canada-prices-drop-to-where-theyd-been-2-years-ago-sales-swoon-supply-rises-further/

Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 16 2023 20:33 utc | 27

@ Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 16 2023 20:33 utc |
Anywhere in our world that had minimal mortgage rates has seen property asset price bubbles.
People could borrow a lot more than they were traditionally allowed because they could afford the repayments.
Traditionally over the long term mortgage interest rates have been 7% and a term of around 25-30 years as repayment mortgages with fixed monthly repayments and a starting deposit of at least 10% – that allowed the proportion of monthly/annual income to be predictable.
As mortgage rates go from 2% to 6% that TRIPLES young couples monthly payments – even as professionals working in Fintech or IT or City taking home £10k a month (most people earn not much more in a year) if they were spending 2-3k on their mortgage when they have to suddenly pay 6-9K that is crippling. Anyone paying more than a third of their net income is going to be bankrupt.
They will be offered repayment packages over 40-50 years to make them affordable at the higher rates of …. About 7%.
That will pretty much mean they will not pay off their mortgages until they are well into their 50’s and 60’s if they are lucky.
The rinse and repeat is about to happen again as it does every generation or so because we are stupid and all our politicians are bought.
It doesn’t have to be like that. We could choose government that could instantly change the equation in the favour of the many instead of the usual few. But they are not allowed. Of any politician and party offers it they are destroyed.
We bring it on ourselves by refusing to understand and believing the fairytale that we are the fairest of them all when actually we are just the Collective Wasterals.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 16 2023 23:31 utc | 29

This on Japanese news station broadcast on US PBS today.China only accepts to buy certain food products from Taiwan suppliers that support the Koumintang party. My how the worm turns in politics. Koumintang Party historically was opposition force to MAO and CP during Chinese Rev. Today it supports traditional connection Taiwan as part of China opposed to pro_US liberal party.

Posted by: Lavieja | Nov 17 2023 0:00 utc | 31

Posted by: 2+2=5 | Nov 16 2023 17:04 utc | 13
With the report..could of should of type recommendations. The damage is done and many (small businesses and the Kids) still suffering through it here in Alberta. Her latest dealings with AHS tell me different story, but I guess we’ll see what Smith’s action plan is.
(She’s too Wishy Washy for my liking but she’s the best we have atm.)
What is your opinion on the guarantee income for “All Canadians” the feds (liberal NDP) have been floating out there?

Posted by: heavymetal101 | Nov 17 2023 0:20 utc | 33

While China and the West are moving directionally in favor of decoupling, no one can fully understand what decoupling will look like, how far it will go, or what all the consequences will be. We are in uncharted waters. What we do know is that decoupling will be costly. A study by McKinsey indicated that full costs of decoupling would range between $22 trillion to $37 trillion of economic value, or between about 15 to 26 percent of global GDP.
The article is , as usual, quite biased, but some reflections are worth reading
https://thediplomat.com/2023/11/china-us-trade-and-decoupling-we-are-in-uncharted-waters/

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 17 2023 1:49 utc | 35

Spending budgets bullshit. It’s all about distraction from where the money is spent and how much they just have to cut social spending.
Look up Panama Papers.
Look up Pandora Papers.
Look up Paradise Papers.
The whistle blowers and researchers involved in these exposes claim that these examples barely scratch the surface. Hundreds of thousands of high net worth corporations and individuals representing trillions in taxes not paid.
No one goes after them because they are the them…does that make sense?

Posted by: jef | Nov 17 2023 1:53 utc | 37

Tyrants seem to be a bad thing but according to Michael Hudson in, “The Collapse of Antiquity”, (whom is an economist and a classicist being fluent in Latin and Greek-and in my opinion a genius) ‘tyrants’ in Greek means ,”the straightener.”
Tyrants would come to power in ancient 9,th 8th, 7th century to straighten out the economics because the Oligarchs had most of the wealth mostly through usury, rentier. A Tyrant would call a ‘Jubilee” where interest debt or debt itself would be cancelled and the public flourished including the pissed of Oligarchs..
But ,of course, the Elite/Oligarchs hated the tyrants so eventually, through literature the ‘straighteners became’ ‘evil’. Ths the idea in the ZH article below.
Most of you have heard of the Rosetta stone but how many people know what it proclaimed? I didn’t until recently- It was in Demotic (an Egyptian language) , hieroglyphs and Greek proclaiming a Debt Jubilee.
The historians don’t tells us hoi polloi about those events.
If you are interested Hudons book describes the phenomena much, much better than my brief blurb.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/why-we-are-sleepwalking-tyranny

Posted by: canuck | Nov 17 2023 2:01 utc | 39

How the Democrat nominee will be selected.
Something similar might happen to the GOP nominee too after a few guilty verdicts have been delivered.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1725204153742323762.html
“Rules adopted by the Democratic National Committee in 2022 leave the DNC as the sole authority to appoint a Presidential nominee where that nominee resigns after the August 2024 convention.
No vote or primary needed.”

Posted by: Scorpion | Nov 17 2023 3:36 utc | 41

Wall Street On Parade has a posting up showing that America has the best government money can buy
Last Year 12,000 Lobbyists Were Whispering in the Ear of Congress with a Bankroll of $4.1 Billion; Five Senators Are Demanding Transparency
What are the chances of lobbying transparency?…….maybe next week but not this week…

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 17 2023 4:54 utc | 43

It’s Friday here so that means it is art Friday and here is the latest offering from Bobby Fingers renaissance man extraordinaire.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Nov 17 2023 6:41 utc | 45

@DunGraonin :
– Interest rates have been falling in MANY countries in the past 30 and in a range of countries even in the past 40 (!!!!) years.
– A second reason why real estate has gone up so much is that over the course of the last 40, 50, 60 and even 70 years a growing amount, a growing % percentage of women have entered the workforce.

Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 17 2023 7:23 utc | 47

Lavieja ( Nov 17 2023 0:00 utc | 16 ):
They were allies once upon a time!
Allies in the First United Front and I (as a non-Chinese) for one would love it if they became allies again!
Cordial, friendly, pragmatic, and peaceful relations will suffice though 🙂
China and the communist party aren’t asking for much and are open to a “one country, two systems” deal.
I also dream of South Korea and Japan relaxing and improving relations with China (and North Korea also). Maybe I should include Viet Nam too among those who could benefit from letting history be history but maybe they’re already there; I don’t know enough.
It is perfectly possible to live peacefully with giants as long as one doesn’t go all crazy or corrupted as happened recently with Finland (and many others in Europe) in relation to Russia.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Nov 17 2023 13:20 utc | 49

@ Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 17 2023 7:23 utc | 24
Mr.Market – I don’t know how old you are I’m 60 odd , I was involved in the mortgage and insurance market from the mid 80’s for long enough to understand how it works from micro to macro and can give you a pretty exhaustive picture. But that would probably bore the shit out of all here.
The main reason property increased in value in some parts of the U.K. is that demand for it increased because people were forced to move to areas where the investments were made and more lenders and mortgage products were pushed out following the Big Bang and deregulations.
This was tied to destroying affordable social housing stock to move to a majority property owning from a minority and encouraging the buy-to-let market turning ordinary people into landlords !
The biggest winners were home builders and bankers and insurance salesmen and the bought politicians who they backed from the profits.
The biggest losers are the majority of people who can’t get any affordable social housing anymore and towns and cities where green spaces have been built on without amenities also being increased.
There are also slum towns which were deindustrialised and which have never recovered and have surplus housing stock as they were depopulated by the young moving to where the jobs were. Many such places haven’t seen anything like the increase in property values whilst some places have been crazy.
Already over the last 6 months the most expensive properties have dropped by about 20% including new builds in London. Big old houses in the depressed country towns are dropping too. Supply is ever increasing as demand is dropping , people who can’t already afford the 4-6% mortgage rates are ending up having to rent.
Rental rates are increasing and some places are now subject to bidding wars by renters above the asking rate ! It’s insane.
There is always an increasing population that means always need for more housing – which should not equate to more profits for the winners above – they are the aberration.
For hundreds of years , a lot longer , there have been lenders who lived on interest and rents as their income – never having to do any physical work ever. Some so rich that they can live on the interest upon the interest upon the interest of their holdings – while the rest of us get loaded with perpetual debt. A perennial problem as identified by poster above who tells you about the jubilee and why it was needed to restart the local economy’s through cancellation of such debts – we haven’t done that for centuries now. It is long overdue.
Those who live on interest are the aberration and many get that by locking in 5+ % returns from the State – which can never go bust.
Inflation was engineered by cartel so that interest rates could be increase to supposedly deal with that inflation- that is a lie, voodoo economics.
Many who took out the fixed rates for the 5-7 year terms which are going to end between this year and next will be the ones forced into the scenario in my previous post – once they are locked in with early repayment penalties the Lenders are laughing again.
They will have also got long term treasuries at high interest – such instruments are not open to small savers.
Then rates will be allowed to drop and the whole cycle will start again.
Ps – the value of your property is not based on how much you paid for it – it is based based only on how much someone is prepared to pay you for it!
That depends on how much they can afford.
That is why homes should not be about investments. They should be about homes.
There are going to be a lot of tears for these who have gone into property as an investment. Especially in the west – China has already dealt with their time bomb.
We are still talking about how much we can make from property!
It’s not just evil it’s dumb.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 17 2023 14:10 utc | 51

The ECHR issues a racist decision on Russian private schools in Latvia (EurAsia Daily, November 16, 2023 — in Russian)

The European Court of Human Rights has denied the right to education in the native Russian language in private schools in Latvia.
Our compatriot from the Baltics, Yuliya Sokhina, reported about the racist attack.
“The scandalous decision of the European Court of Human Rights is unprecedented,” she said in a video commentary. “We will definitely appeal this decision! But it is already clear that litigation alone will not allow us to restore our rights. We need broad representation of the Russian national minority in all government bodies, as well as a return to direct action.”
EADaily reminds that the Ministry of Education of Latvia has decided that from the 2026/2027 academic year in all schools in the country—not only public, but also private—it will not be possible to choose Russian as a “second foreign language” for study. It will be possible to study only EU languages.

Posted by: S | Nov 17 2023 16:16 utc | 53

SUDAN:
Anybody knows what’s really going on, i.e. what’s behind the civil war?
Obviously it’s more than “two rival leaders competing for power”.
Seems the RSF is on the winning street, but that may not last:

Last week, the RSF defeated the army in South, West and Central Darfur and is now preparing to take the north, where hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people have sought refuge.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/8/sudans-rsf-closes-in-on-capturing-all-of-darfur
Does it have to do with Russian plans to build a naval base?
https://jamestown.org/program/russia-in-the-red-sea-converging-wars-obstruct-russian-plans-for-naval-port-in-sudan-part-three/

Posted by: smuks | Nov 17 2023 16:52 utc | 55

https://nitter.net/HanShanEH
A Shanghai-based view on China… and the world! Economics, geopolitics, social affairs and culture.
Emmanuel Hemmerlé retweeted
Cyrus Janssen
@thecyrusjanssen
Nov 16
Poor Yang, he missed the entire purpose of the tweet 🤦🏻‍♂️it’s US students who lack an understanding of China, not Chinese students 😂 the average Chinese citizen knows significantly more about USA than the average US citizen knows about China. The better question you should be asking is how do we get Western social media platforms to stop showing so much disinformation and biased reports about China? Ian Bremer gave a brilliant Ted Talk about these dangers, here is a link so you can educate yourself comrade
piped.video/uiUPD-z9DTg?si=839D…
Emmanuel Hemmerlé retweeted
The Sirius Report
@thesiriusreport
Nov 16
It is amusing watching those in the West who have no idea how the West even operates talking about China and Russia with the same faux authority based on the kind of propaganda a 10 year old could see through.
You can also smell the fear they have with respect to China and Russia in the way they project this mindless propaganda!

Posted by: MD | Nov 17 2023 19:01 utc | 57

https://nitter.net/MoronVerbose/status/1725162690325237833#m
#USA looks like the anti #China clan are working overtime for this:
Congress Proposes $500 Million For Negative News Coverage Of China.
LoL

Posted by: MD | Nov 17 2023 19:09 utc | 59

https://nitter.net/HanShanEH
Emmanuel Hemmerlé
Nov 11
Janet Yellen just came to China recently… she will soon come again.
She needs to sell her T-bonds! The last auction from the Treasury didn’t go well. Buyers are not queueing up lately.
J. Yellen has let the US debt balloon to USD 33 trillion… So, her country is now paying USD 1 trillion just to service it.
It wouldn’t be so bad if 1) she had tightened the purse strings and 2) she had refinanced the debt when interest rates were extremely low. As renown billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller said recently, Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen made “the biggest blunder in the history of the Treasury”.
But so, does she expect to entice China into buying US T-bonds by “quietly arming Taiwan to the teeth” (BBC)?
https://nitter.net/WallStreetSilv/status/1722960100569104862#m
Emmanuel Hemmerlé
@HanShanEH
Nov 10
“China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Russia … none of them are buying our debt. In fact, most are selling what they already have. With few buying, the US government is borrowing more than ever.”
Wall Street Silver
@WallStreetSilv
Nov 10
Yesterday, the US government tried to borrow $24 billion by selling a bunch of 30 year debt.
It was a huge disaster. In order to get enough people to buy, the rate had to dramatically increase. Even then, then primary dealers had to buy 25% of the debt. The primary dealer are the buyers of last resort who have to buy.
China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Russia … none of them are buying our debt. In fact, most are selling what they already have.
With few buying, the US government is borrowing more than ever. $1.5 trillion in the past 4 months and they announced another $1.5 trillion in the next 6 months. The US government will have to offer higher and higher rates to attracted lenders.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/How-China-s-BYD-went-from-bargain-battery-maker-to-Tesla-s-biggest-rival
How China’s BYD went from bargain battery maker to Tesla’s biggest rival
In-house cost cutting, tech innovation and state industrial policy drove recent export surge.
https://nitter.net/HanShanEH/status/1725137992933589009#m
Nov 16
What ‘CERTAIN EXPERTS’ needs to realize is that this is a good thing. The Chinese economy’s dependence on real estate is diminishing. It peaked at 24.2% of GDP back in 2015. Chairman Xi’s government has shrunk it down to 19.4% nowadays (Bloomberg). Beijing has been popping the property bubble to channel funding into higher value-added industries (such as EVs, AI, Microchips, Pharma, Avionics, etc.). It’s succeeding. Contrary to what the usual ignorant and/or malevolent doomsters claim, this is not a crisis but a paradigm shift. History will remember Xi Jingping as an effective and visionary reformer. In fact.

Posted by: MD | Nov 17 2023 19:28 utc | 61

https://nitter.net/RnaudBertrand/status/1724585238654066693#m
Arnaud Bertrand
@RnaudBertrand
Nov 15
The masks fall off! The Prime Minister of Washington-DC based “East Turkistan Government-in-Exile”, one of the figureheads of Uyghur separatists abroad, not only publicly announces that he stands with Israel at this moment in time but lambasts Palestine and other Muslim nations.
Which tells you pretty much everything you ought to know about how authentic the whole narrative of “China at war against Uyghurs just because they’re Muslims” actually is…
And why all Muslim states – without a single exception – have steadfastly supported China against these separatists… And conversely why the West had strangely decided to care about them, despite their own – and this time all too real – wars against Muslims.

Posted by: MD | Nov 17 2023 19:47 utc | 63

https://nitter.net/RnaudBertrand/status/1724078914921025734#m
Arnaud Bertrand
@RnaudBertrand
Nov 13
I hate to disappoint but he definitely isn’t “one of the most veteran lawyers in France”.
From what I can read online he’s a former nurse who changed profession and studied law. He’s an independent lawyer in Lyon and, as far as I can see, works alone. He specializes in healthcare law, teaches part time and seems to have been quite active for a few years in the defense of the Palestinian cause.
The most press he’s ever seemed to have is in the past 24 hours with this news 👇
Gilles Devers is one of the most veteran lawyers in France, who in just 10 days gathered an army of lawyers from all the continents of the world to prosecute Israel for its war crimes against the Palestinians.
Lawyer Giles Devers is promising the Israeli occupation with a dark fate and says to the Palestinians: “You did not have anyone to defend you, but now you have an army to defend you in international and national courts.
SORRY. I POSTED THAT TWEET. JUST WISHFUL THINKING !

Posted by: MD | Nov 17 2023 19:55 utc | 65

@MD
Please use <blockquote> </blockquote> tags for quotes (tweets), so we can differentiate between your own comments and quotes.

Posted by: S | Nov 17 2023 20:13 utc | 67

“deep state” is only a gaseous metaphor. Define it concretely and give the world a real wake-up. Name names, no fig leaves.

Posted by: Elmagnostic | Nov 17 2023 20:46 utc | 69

fyi
we don’t hear much these days about anything going on in Africa or related to Africa, so I decided to visit the African intel site over at Telegram, and found this nugget.
It took Russia awhile since Putin promised this in July, but here it is
https://t.me/africaintel/7258
Russia says first free grain shipments to Africa are on their way
Russia’s agriculture minister said on Friday that Moscow had begun free shipments of grain totalling up to 200,000 tonnes to six African countries, as promised by President Vladimir Putin in July.
Dmitry Patrushev said that ships headed for Burkina Faso and Somalia had already left Russian ports, and that additional shipments to Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Mali and the Central African Republic would soon follow.
Putin had promised to deliver free grain to the six countries at a summit with African leaders in July, soon after Moscow withdrew from a grain deal.
Last year, Russia exported around 60 million tonnes of grain, according to Putin.
#Russia #Africa

Posted by: michaelj72 | Nov 17 2023 22:10 utc | 71

Geez guys great posts but many are on the wrong threads ! Are you doing it on purpose? Or just can’t be bothered?
Any chance we could try better?
Thanks.
Ps @ Posted by: MD | Nov 17 2023 19:28 utc | 31
Yes! And…no…I’ll try a quick and simple bedtime fairytale (it is where I am) so don’t expect it to answer all the questions or be the totally accurate b
Once upon a time in America…
The US treasury can issue as much money as it likes as long as it is $. without having to borrow it from ANYONE.
You understand that, right?
Yellen and the Fed are NOT the US Treasury, they just are some middlemen who can also print money as long as it’s $ too, but that’s on the Feds books not the US Treasuries.
If the Fed has to pay interest to some savers , they can’t print it to do so.
All they can do is to ask the Treasury to buy from the Fed at some arbitrary interest rate , Then the Fed can pay out its savers and any fool who has been forced to buy from the Fed at a lower interest rate – and the Fed keeps the difference!
That difference is the Feds profit, It goes to its shareholders.
And you know the Treasury is not a shareholder of the Fed, right?
You know who the Feds shareholders are, right? I
Sounds like a scam doesn’t it ?
Well that’s what it always has been ever since it was set up over a century ago and a lot more since the end of the Gold Standard.
The only savers who hold the Feds ‘T Bills’ are the commercial banks, pension funds and major corporates who need a safe home for their cash – a safe deposit box which can never be broken into, or burn down and they really don’t care how much interest they get or not as long as they get the cash they deposited when they have planned to – to pay pensions, do interbank settlements etc.
The only external non US entities who need a safe deposit for the $ they hold are countries or foreign companies that have earned more $ than they have spent and they also don’t care how much interest they earn. They could ask to have it all in cash and keep it in their own countries in some building or cave but it wouldn’t be guaranteed if it burnt up or something. It would be container ship loads crossing the oceans every day or fleets of jets to settle payments in $.
That’s why it’s called a Reserve Currency. And it does need the Fed to do it through , The Treasury could just issue a note saying that is how much any such country or foreign company owns and they promise to transfer the amount on demand to wherever that saver wants.
But the savers would need to believe and trust the US government to hold to their word.
All good , until they don’t, breaking their promise. Then all bets are off and nobody trusts them any more and rather than holding some useless piece of paper guaranteeing payment they convert it into some commodity which they can physically ship out of the US.
That’s where we are at. The end of the $ as a Reserve Currency, self inflicted by stealing other countries deposits. By being a dishonest broker. Suddenly the Fed ends up with no more foreign buyers that they can rip off and their graft comes to an end.
The End.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 17 2023 23:05 utc | 73

@Dun Groanin:
A LOT OF people buy their house with a mortgage. Then it matters how large a mortgage people can afford. And then we’re also talking about interest rates. And those interest rates have sharply risen in the last say 24 months.
Let’s assume that a bank is willing to lend 4 times household income. Then it matters whether that household has one income (only husband working) or two incomes (husband & wife working). Because in the second case the household has a larger income and can afford a larger mortgage. Therefore the household with 2 incomes can make a higher bid for a house, pushing the price of that house (much) higher. that’s why it matters that in the last 40, 50, 60 and even 70 years a larger and growing % has entered the workforce. And this applies to A LOT OF countries, like the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, ……………….

Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 18 2023 2:50 utc | 75

MD | Nov 17 2023 19:28 utc | 31
Thanks for pointing this out – I had missed the disastrous 30Y bond sale.
Again confirms what I wrote about Xi’s visit to the US: He agreed to keep buying US debt, after BJ had shown its teeth by boycotting this one auction. But it comes at a hefty price for Washington…
One point, though:
It’s nonsense to blame this on Yellen, she’s just a convenient scapegoat.
What should she do, other than try to make ends meet?
The US refuses to tax its oligarchs, or to do anything to reduce its import surplus.
Under these conditions, it’s impossible to reduce the budget deficit.

Posted by: smuks | Nov 18 2023 8:33 utc | 77

@MD (#31):
There is a very worrying development going on: 1) the US budget deficit is rising while at the same time 2) the US trade deficit is shrinking.
But to understand why this so devastating one has to understand the intracacies of Balance Of Payments issues.

Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 18 2023 9:01 utc | 79

A petition:
https://worldbeyondwar.org/scandimerica/
”No to U.S. military agreements in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden
Target: Members of Parliament in Denmark, Finland and Sweden
We, concerned citizens from many different parts of the world, wish to bring the following observations and recommendation to your attention.
After the Second World War peoples on all continents welcomed and appreciated the constructive, non-confrontational and bridge-building role, that the Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden — often played in international affairs.
In recent decades the distinct world political identity of the Nordic countries has gradually eroded. Finland’s and Sweden’s decisions, in 2022, to apply for membership in NATO, in which Denmark, Iceland and Norway have long been members, is yet another step in a process whereby the Nordic coutries integrate ever more deeply into a security policy and military alliance with the European Union and the United States of America. In June 2022 Norway signed a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the United States of America. In Denmark, Finland and Sweden similar DCAs may be ratified in the upcoming months.
The Defense Cooperation Agreements will lead to increased military activity in the Nordic area and the Baltic Sea. The costs to the environment are likely to be high and the rights of the indigenous Sami people of north Norway, Sweden and Finland are at risk.
These Nordic Defense Cooperation Agreements with the USA are also of major global concern. They bring a number of new American military bases to the immediate neighbourhood of Russia’s second largest city, St Petersburg and to military installations in North West Russia. They inevitably increase the tension between Russia and NATO and thereby contribute to further destabilisation of the world order and heightened risk of nuclear war.
We appeal to all members of parliament in Denmark, Finland and Sweden to vote against ratification of the Defense Cooperation Agreement of their respective country with the United States of America.”

Posted by: Die Niemands… | Nov 18 2023 9:32 utc | 81

https://nitter.net/thesiriusreport/status/1725286141446758641#m
The Sirius Report
@thesiriusreport
Nov 16
Clown show on steroids:
The US Defence Department has failed its 6th annual independent audit like every previous one since 2018 when they were required to start such audits.
They were not even able to provide auditors with sufficient financial data to complete their evaluation.
The best part was when the Pentagon actually claimed that the department was making progress toward the goal of a clean audit.

Posted by: MD | Nov 18 2023 11:00 utc | 83

https://dissidentvoice.org/2023/11/the-politics-of-indefinite-detention-in-australia/
The Politics of Indefinite Detention in Australia
by Binoy Kampmark / November 15th, 2023
The High Court of Australia is not known for its zealotry in protecting human rights, and certainly not when considering the persuasive pull of international law and conventions. The Australian Parliament is usually given a generous hand in making policies that tend to outrage such conventions, a freedom made that much easier by an absence of any bill of rights.
…Accordingly, they might receive a visa, though not if they were those undesirables marooned in the offshore concentration camps of Nauru and Manus Island. Since 2013, Australian governments have proclaimed that those undocumented souls seeking refuge in Australia by boat would never be given the chance to settle in the country.

Posted by: MD | Nov 18 2023 12:15 utc | 85

https://consortiumnews.com/2023/11/17/left-with-no-defense-mcbride-pleads-guilty/
LEFT WITH NO DEFENSE, McBRIDE PLEADS GUILTY
November 17, 2023
After a bid for a public interest defense and classified documents needed for his defense were both denied him, whistleblower David McBride pled guilty to three reduced charges on Friday. Joe Lauria reports.
…McBride, a former military lawyer, was charged with stealing government documents and giving them to journalists to reveal covered-up war crimes of unarmed civilians by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Posted by: MD | Nov 18 2023 12:21 utc | 87

It’s a bs world, and if you have money you own the bs.
Every day we discover a new layer of bs that was laid down a while ago.
But the world moves on and the bs owners just keep adding new layers.
History from just the other day :
https://archive.li/uItAX
CDC Claims on Vaccination and Natural Immunity Made Without Seeing Underlying Data: FOIA Document

In a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) now admits that it recommended COVID-19 vaccines for people who recovered from COVID-19 despite the fact that CDC subject matter experts did not have access to the underlying data.
The stunning disclosure came in reply to a FOIA request for information on the CDC’s claim, first made on Oct. 29, 2021, that unvaccinated people with previous infection were five times more likely to get COVID-19 than vaccinated people.
The CDC’s claim was based on a CDC study published in the Nov. 9, 2021, edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The conflicts-of-interest section of the study had noted that a number of the study’s authors were being sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, Sanofi, and GlaxoSmithKline. At least four of the listed pharmaceutical companies were involved in the manufacturing and sale of COVID-19 vaccines.

Posted by: librul | Nov 18 2023 12:37 utc | 89

There is a very worrying development going on: 1) the US budget deficit is rising while at the same time 2) the US trade deficit is shrinking.
But to understand why this so devastating one has to understand the intracacies of Balance Of Payments issues.
Posted by: Mr. Market | Nov 18 2023 9:01 utc | 40
——————-
When the dollar was valued the US could print money and buy what it wanted and trade deficits didn’t matter. The US was getting ‘free’ imports.
By using this power of the USD as a weapon and using it to prop up real estate and stocks it is losing its value (de-dollarization).
It now has to join the real world and produce real products and pay its workers fairly to reduce inequality.
This would allow it to trade with other countries in a multipolar world.

Posted by: financial matters | Nov 18 2023 13:33 utc | 91

https://halfreeman.wordpress.com/2023/11/16/personal-update-the-blessings-battles-of-life-in-russia/
PERSONAL UPDATE: THE BLESSINGS & BATTLES OF LIFE IN RUSSIA
Most of my recent blogs have focused more on politics than personal issues. Of course, living in Russia makes most international political conflicts personal to some degree.
For example, the sanctions on Russia as a result of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine had few consequences for most Russians, but there were some very negative ones for us Americans living here…

Posted by: MD | Nov 18 2023 14:22 utc | 93

FREEDOM IN THE EU…
https://m.rusmir.media/2023/11/10/latvia
On November 6, 2023, the Riga City Court, under the chairmanship of Judge S. Dolniece, issued a guilty verdict to Alexander Filey, a teacher of Russian language and literature, a civil activist. He was charged under Article 74 of the Latvian Criminal Code for publishing a post on a social network about Latvia’s accession to the Soviet Union.
In fact, for expressing a different view of the history of Latvia from the official one.
The court sentenced Alexander Filey to 10 months of probation, banned him from leaving Latvia and ordered him to undergo probation. They will re-educate the freethinker. So that others don’t feel bad either.

Posted by: MD | Nov 18 2023 14:44 utc | 95

Restructuring the Global Economy — The Duran at YouTube with Michael Hudson, Glen Diesen

Posted by: Pundita | Nov 18 2023 19:46 utc | 97

Blinken seemed terrified during the Biden-Xi thing in SF, I suspect because he wasn’t at his regular station on the other end of Biden’s earpiece, leaving it to Sullivan or worse.

Posted by: John Kennard | Nov 18 2023 21:25 utc | 99