An excellent discussion between Alexander Mercouris, Glenn Diesen and Michael Hudson on the global economy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQkwnczhObQ

Posted by: leaf | Nov 19 2023 14:04 utc | 1

The MoA Week In Review — in other words, a crime scene blotter.

Posted by: sln2002 | Nov 19 2023 14:26 utc | 2

Doctorow piece very enjoyable - European Greens have turned into a cult.

world cup cricket also enjoyable - if somewhat slow torture of over a Billion Indians .... and magnificent 130,000 stadium ... silent

Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 19 2023 15:01 utc | 3

The Nation article about international law vs. rules based order - Couldn't read past the third paragraph when they started comparing Israel war making tactics in Gaza to Russia and bot the countries we all know it's taken from: the USA and Britain.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Nov 19 2023 15:58 utc | 4

The God Shaped Hole & Sky Fairies. 


A condensed version of post from earlier today. Because I am wholly pissed off by charlatans citing religion still, as cover for imperialism and excuse for mass murder.

I believe that Human Evolution obviously favoured humans to be born with a ‘god shaped hole’ in our genetically selected minds. Evolution obviously proved that a advantage. So there must be a purpose to it that aided survival in changing environments through the eons of change.

Hence from the most populace nations of peoples in history to the deepest forests tribes that had no contact with others - a commonality of belief in the supernatural Spirits, God or Gods of some sort exists. Human species that didn’t have any such capacity become must have become extinct whilst we survived to become Modern Man, many tens of thousand years ago.

My dear departed dad told me when I went to college not to get into conversations about Religion and Politics with strangers as he knew how I always used to have my own opinions which I was never slow to expound - most here will know I haven’t got out that habit.

Well dear barflies , I ain’t a ingenue anymore, this isn’t a real bar and the only thing we do here is talk Politics , Geo-politics, Science and Technology and Religions - including economics , Money, Tax AND the God bothering Sky Fairy versions of it.

I don’t set out to offend as I say postulate an evolutionary purpose for spirituality that fills that God Shaped Hole that every human is born with.

I do not apologise for offending anyone, by attacking the beliefs of those who use the fairy tales, that are organised religions and it’s high priests and charlatans as a means of control, conquest and despotism ; it is not ok that organised religions set themselves up as the intermediaries and anoint Kings and Leaders above us as direct representatives of God/s.

They promise us a heaven or hell in the afterlife so that we behave in this one, that I KNOW for sure is the ONLY real life. I demand a heaven on Earth not a living hell for the powerless, I refuse to be a slave. I refuse being proselytised to and expect a reward in some after life as an excuse to accept ugly murder and suffering in this real life.

So folks, do we have agree to disagree and not talk God? 
Should we just stick to safe topics such as Genocide, Nazism?

I say Hell NO!! if it is brought up here, we are entitled our opinions as on any other subject raised. That does not mean I deny anyone the same right.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 19 2023 16:03 utc | 5

@DunGroanin | Nov 19 2023 16:03 utc | 5

Ongoing since the first Shamen in Siberia ~8,000 years ago ...

... and the Shamen and ... er.. Shawomen .. are still around.

Unavoidable to anyone who studies the history, and present, of the human condition.

How about a chat on the distilled wisdom of the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching? Or the existence of Fairies, The Little People, in Irish mythology? As for the 'peoples of The Book' ... very few of them even read the books! And even less follow their dictates. As you note, too often appropriated for local political and imperialist purposes. Witness the Amaleks ... or the native Americans and Canadians!

Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 19 2023 16:29 utc | 6

Germany

"The German debt brake, which the German government decided to honor,and write into their constitution has now become a big problem. Government spending will have to be cut by 60 billion. Germany already is in a recession, the Eurozone close to one. The macroeconomic mismanagement seen here (🇩🇪) is unprecedented."

This is the standard framing and narrative but don't be fooled by the smoke and mirrors. See link.

https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=43137

Which is an absolute disgrace really when a less important nation, in the overall EU mix, tries the same thing or just happens to need fiscal support, the rules become iron-clad and are enforced with a brutally that one can only guess is the work of sociopaths. See Greece and Italy for details.

Modern day EU run by a bunch of gangsters.

And the Remainers in Britain want to desperately be part of it so, presumably, they can be part of “Protecting our European Way of Life”, which is the new title given by incoming EC President Ursula von der Leyen. Total mugs each and everyone of them. While suffering from Stockholm syndrome combined with battered wife syndrome they will defend the EU to the day they die. They make ideologues and idiots look clever.

Who have convinced themselves by learning voodoo and tarot card reading, that they can change the EU from within. When the glaring reality is they can't even change the power structures in their own countries. Never mind all of the countries within this upper class table shit show.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 19 2023 16:30 utc | 7

Before: Student Protesters Walk Out of Hillary Clinton’s Class at Columbia.

After: The US Department of Education announced Thursday that it has launched investigations into six universities and one public school district for alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Five of the investigations are related to allegations of antisemitism and two are related to alleged incidences of Islamophobia.

The schools currently under investigation are Columbia University,...

Funny coincidence.

There's no democracy in the US. It's simply a gang of political elites and independent oligarchs that decide everything up to and including which students may speak and what they can say/think.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Nov 19 2023 16:39 utc | 8

Kudos, b, for a stellar week reporting, and as this is the place to comment on Iraq's status, I choose out of the many important offerings here, nakedcapitalism's link -- not for the article itself, but for Yves's intro and then comments at the site. The article can be skimmed for the valuable information that Iraq is steering its oil trade to China. Here's Yves's intro:

Yves here. It does not seem to be sufficiently well appreciated how we spent a lot of money and some lives on our Iraq adventures yet have not much to show for it, particularly securing oil supplies. At the time of the Gulf War, Iraq had the second largest proven oil reserves in the world. In 2020, Iraq voted to expel US troops, although there was no meaningful follow on. This followed the assassination in Iraq of Iran’s general Qasem Soleimani, who was en route to meeting Iraq prime minister Abdul-Mahdi and therefore operating in a diplomatic capacity. The UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings found the assassination to be illegal. Oh, and we managed to whack Iraq militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at the same time. [my bolds]

I bolded part of the above insert, so that any of us thinking to vote for Trump in the upcoming US election should think hard and fast what his stated objectives have been with respect to the acquisition of oil, and also that fateful decision described above. We may be between a rock and a hard place when the time arrives to vote; if we are the best choice may be to batten down the hatches, plug our ears, tie ourselves to the mast, and soldier on.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 19 2023 16:49 utc | 9

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 19 2023 16:03 utc | 5

Good rant.
Especially the "god-shaped hole."
I've had one all my life.
There's too much beauty in Life on this world for it to be mere happenstance. And you'll never convince me that DNA invented itself.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 19 2023 16:52 utc | 10

"There's no democracy in the US. It's simply a gang of political elites and independent oligarchs that decide everything up to and including which students may speak and what they can say/think."

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Nov 19 2023 16:39 utc | 8

The EU is exactly the same Ahenobarbus. Those That support the EU say they love Europe. They don't they are sexual deviants. They love nothing better than having a front row seat while other nations get severely punished. It turns them on. Those who believe in reincarnation want to come back as a pair of Ursula von der Leyen knickers.They are a very sick bunch who suffer from some very strange mental illness.

Those That don't support the EU are said to hate Europe. Nothing could be further from the truth. These people want to set nations free. Free from this madness and forge their own path in the world.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 19 2023 16:55 utc | 11

@5 DunGroanin
A long-winded comment to just say I respect your right to state your opinion.

The MAIN problem in this world IMHO is the deep-seated, DNA ingrained urge to out-compete and out-do the other guy! Is this "god's gift" to ensure man's ultimate survival and the future improvement of the human race??

From an intense observation of school yard bullies and narcissists as well as the predatory office environment, I've come to the conclusion that there are too many that feel you need to either adore, follow OR hate them when all some people want to be is left the fuck ALONE!

Posted by: bisfugged | Nov 19 2023 17:32 utc | 12

Fried bankman scam... this is the latest and greatest of "Reality TV©".

See? The System corrects itself.
You can trust The System.

Posted by: William Gruff | Nov 19 2023 17:38 utc | 13

"...evolutionary purpose for spirituality that fills that God Shaped Hole that every human is born with."

Sorry, it is well-established in behavioral genetics that religiosity is heritable. However, this just means that those who are genetically-disposed to be religious will tend to have children who are religious as well. It does not mean that every single person is genetically-programmed to be religious. Moreover, intelligence research has found that believers tend to be-- but are not necessarily -- less intelligent on average than atheists. It may be that atheistic societies still need to motivated by strongly-held shared beliefs in order to function successfully. On the other hand, it possible for strongly-held shared beliefs--whether religious or secular--to be terribly dysfunctional.

Posted by: greg | Nov 19 2023 17:45 utc | 14

i don't have a god shaped hole in my life, but i certainly don't want to dictate how people who feel that they do go about filling it. in my experience, such dictation is more apt to come from religious types in the U.S., particularly the fundamentalists.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 19 2023 17:57 utc | 15

The EU is exactly the same Ahenobarbus. Those That support the EU say they love Europe. They don't they are sexual deviants. They love nothing better than having a front row seat while other nations get severely punished. It turns them on. Those who believe in reincarnation want to come back as a pair of Ursula von der Leyen knickers.They are a very sick bunch who suffer from some very strange mental illness.

Those That don't support the EU are said to hate Europe. Nothing could be further from the truth. These people want to set nations free. Free from this madness and forge their own path in the world.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 19 2023 16:55 utc | 11

Good point, there is not a shred of democracy left in the west. Not even the window dressing of the last 20 years or so. It's gone. Whole new ball game.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Nov 19 2023 18:01 utc | 16

thanks b for keeping us informed in more educational and informed ways then the msm seems capable of doing.. thanks to others here as well..

@ juliania | Nov 19 2023 16:49 utc | 9

i had that quote from trump about taking the oil was his own way of taking a shot at those neo cons intent on making war everywhere.. it might sound like a rationalization, but the bluntness of his comment is one for the records and stands out in showing just how hypocritical usa foreign policy is... would people like politicians who lie regularly, or ones who state the bald truth? what has biden done in his time in office? unfortunately for americans - you are all stuck between a rock and a hard place - dems verses repubs... it ain't much different here in canada either... the whole concept of real democracy has essentially imploded in on itself... no one has much of any of it and the choices prove this.. until something radical changes - it seems we are stuck with horrible choices with no end in sight..

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 18:07 utc | 17

had - heard..

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 18:09 utc | 18

Hahahahahaha today was the so called cricket "World Cup" final match between India and Australia which India was supposed to win. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Modi watching Australia wipe the floor with India at...the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Nov 19 2023 18:12 utc | 19

Posted by: greg | Nov 19 2023 17:45 utc | 14

Broadening the definition of "society" to include species with common behavioral characteristics, brings us to carnivourous animal (and plant) species: which are 'designed' to kill in order to feed themselves.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 19 2023 18:19 utc | 20

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 19 2023 16:52 utc | 10

Beautifully put!

Posted by: Scorpion | Nov 19 2023 18:20 utc | 21

@greg #14

'... it is well-established in behavioral genetics that religiosity is heritable ..'

Got any links supporting this?

Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 19 2023 18:31 utc | 22

@bisfugged, #12:

Congrats! You are at the doorsteps of buddha-hood. Deep-seated DNA ingrained urge? No, it ain't come with ones DNA, it came with ones "desire" after awareness of ones existence. Siddhartha Gautama called it an illusion, the source of grief. Actually Siddhartha wasn't the only one. Lao Tse in China came to very similar observations.

Yours was a great post :-)

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Nov 19 2023 18:35 utc | 23

‘god shaped hole’

That hole is our need to know how everything works. I had an insurance policy once that would pay out for any time off work. It turned out that in the small print they had a clause about not paying out when an accident was an act of god. I have never had an insurance policy since apart from a life insurance policy that was offered after I become ill. It looked a pretty good deal and as I was on the downhill run, I thought what suckers and took it. Perhaps they will pay out when the time comes perhaps not. I wont be around to find out.

But that god shaped hole... spending time with aboriginal community, getting to understand their culture a little has proved invaluable as I look at the world today.
To them, everything that lived had a spirit. That is the best way they could understand this thing called life. Geological and climate in constant change so it they two must have life and therefore a spirit.

Today we have geological and climate/weather science which helps us understand these things. Many other thing we now understand and do not have to put down to spirits or gods.
In Genesis, it basically states off at the time of Noah. Obviously had a few domestic animals at that time and spiritual beliefs a little more advanced. But tracking those early beliefs through the old testament, those early spiritual beliefs can be seen developing in a more formalized religion as we know them today.

But that god shaped hole is I believe our thirst, our need to understand everything and perhaps it is that that sets us apart from other mammals.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 19 2023 18:35 utc | 24

behavioral genetics that religiosity is heritable.
Posted by: greg | Nov 19 2023 17:45 utc | 14

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA GAH GENES

Posted by: sln2002 | Nov 19 2023 18:38 utc | 25

Again, all three of Xi's APEC speeches and the APEC Leaders' Declaration can be read here. Also, Biden or someone writing in his name (most likely) had an op/ed published on Saturday that Medvedev subsequently commented upon that was picked up by RT, "‘Blood’ and ‘money’ – Medvedev outlines essence of US security," which completely undermines the APEC Spirit present within the Declaration Team Biden agreed to. IMO, that op/ed nullifies the Outlaw US Empire from being the leader of anything other than its own demise.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 18:45 utc | 26

rationalization, but the bluntness of his comment is one for the records and stands out in showing just how hypocritical usa foreign policy is... would people like politicians who lie regularly, or ones who state the bald truth? what has biden done in his time in office? unfortunately for americans - you are all stuck between a rock and a hard place - dems verses repubs... it ain't much different here

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 18:07 utc | 17

I would say we have gone past "hypocritical" to "hysterical" at this point, that OpEd by "Biden" yesterday was a perfect example, long winded hysteria with nothing actually to say.

Posted by: Bemildred | Nov 19 2023 18:55 utc | 27

Thanks very much, karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 18:45 utc | 26! I read the first speech Xi gave last night, and have to praise all commenters on that thread for their enjoyable commentary. My first introduction to the US as a teenager was sailing under the Golden Gate bridge on midsummer's day -- and I could sympathize with Xi: we both have fond memories of early times there that sustain us moving ahead. We need to be giving our youth better memories such as those, whenever possible and as soon as possible!!

I'm very glad they cleaned up San Francisco for him, but they need to do more for those they shunted out of sight as well. Then it will be a city to be truly proud of again.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 19 2023 18:57 utc | 28

Cue Dio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWAhd4KkVUU

Thanks again Bernhard, fantastic reporting...as usual!

Posted by: nathan in WA US | Nov 19 2023 19:05 utc | 29

greg | Nov 19 2023 17:45 utc | 14

The further you get from nature, the less meaning/reason there is for life.
Genetics...? Religion is a learned trait.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 19 2023 19:27 utc | 30

In Canada, official lamentations over the "two Michaels" was a ubiquitous feature of the long Meng Wanzhou extradition detention. Righteous tongue-clucking and condemnations of the Chinese government for "hostage diplomacy" ramped up at every stage of the legal hearings, no matter that Canada had detained their prominent citizen first, and on such a flimsy pretext. Information suggesting that China had reason to select these two men in response was relegated to marginalized independent media. On their release, and return to Canada televised live on the national broadcaster, there were a few whispers in the establishment media about certain photographs passed between the men and on to 5 Eyes, but this lawsuit is probably the first most Canadians have heard about the murkier elements of the story. Damage control is underway.

Posted by: jayc | Nov 19 2023 19:29 utc | 31

@ Bemildred | Nov 19 2023 18:55 utc | 27

thanks.. i will have to read the oped that karlof1 appears to have shared!

@ jayc | Nov 19 2023 19:29 utc | 31

thanks jayc.. our hard earned tax dollars at work paying for the csis to create more conflict and stupidity..

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 19:47 utc | 32

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 18:07 utc | 17

Thanks, james. Maybe I should cut Trump a little slack? I would if he'd apologize for the assassinations. That wasn't just talk. Plus I still see a huge contrast between the US policies and what the rest of the world is moving toward. In which case maybe allfuture candidates will have to become more human-oriented, not just pretend to be.

Wouldnt that be nice?

Posted by: juliania | Nov 19 2023 20:13 utc | 33

Posted by: leaf | Nov 19 2023 14:04 utc | 1

There were some interesting qualifications in the latter part of that discussion, with the comparison of China's 'boom' and early industrial progress in the US. China making its adjustments 'ad hoc' for instance, and Russia moving a bit slowly in some areas until it became obvious adjustments needed to be made. It was a really interesting conversation, interesting to the participants as well.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 19 2023 20:21 utc | 34

The UNZ piece of Michael Hudson is simply amazing. It's like a Jewish lawyer's takedown of the Israeli Government / parts of Israeli society.

Out of ignorance I always found those "Torah Jews" in the US weird, those supposedly antisemitic Jews advocating Israel's demise (or at least it's government's demise). Well I guess I've been fooled by propaganda. Hudson succinctly points out how anathema the acts of Israel are now even to their own supposed creed. Damn what an idiot I've been to not realize that.

David Graeber once stated something similar to what Hudson said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6oOj7BzciA

If there is hope for Judaism it is with those who now hold up signs declaring "not in my name!".

Posted by: Roland | Nov 19 2023 20:26 utc | 35

@ juliania | Nov 19 2023 20:13 utc | 33

i don't know if trump authored soleimanis assassination.. the problem with us presidents for some time now is the authorization of drones taking out families in somali and etc. etc... when does the madness stop? it seems to me the intel agencies are driving much of this too - cia and etc. etc.. all of this on intel info which is supposed to be solid and yet kills/murders innocent people.. colin powells testimony at the un as the reason for the war on iraq is another case in point...

how does society move away from bombing, assassinating, droning and etc. etc. - to something else?? does it all have to be driven by this war on terror? it seems the war on terror is driving this and most of it seems manufactured by the intel agencies and those industries that profit from it... at what point does a real leader present themselves who challenges this madness? i wouldn't just blame trump.. that's all i am saying here... there is plenty of blame to go around... and the idea of democracy and voting once every blue moon is very flimsy at best, and at worst - it is a load of b.s. especially when corps are calling so many of the shots and lobbying is still legal..

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 20:31 utc | 36

I didn't link to the Biden op/ed but it's here behind the WaPost subscription wall. Pravda has an interesting critique of the op/ed, "Destroy Hamas and stop Putin — Biden's birthday dreams". There are other publications that have published their own assessments to "Biden's" op/ed, and from what I've seen, Biden wasn't the author. I'm somewhat surprised b didn't include it in his weekly review.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 20:37 utc | 37

thanks karl.. i saw that later... still reading the link you did share, lol.. long read!

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 20:39 utc | 38

@ karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 20:37 utc | 37

here is an archived link to the oped of bidens.. what a load of sanctimonious bs.. https://archive.is/DBzDB one would have to be really stupid to believe a word of it.. i am curious to read the pravda critique of it now..

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 20:50 utc | 39

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 20:37 utc | 37

Let me help you.
Opinion | Joe Biden: The U.S. won't back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamas, 18 Nov
by comparison,
Remarks by President Biden and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia Before Bilateral Meeting, 13 Nov

PRESIDENT WIDODO:... For Indonesia, economic cooperation is priority, including on supply chains issues. Indonesia also wishes our partnership contribute to regional and global peace and prosperity. So, Indonesia appeals to the U.S. to do more to stop the atrocities in Gaza. Ceasefire is a must for the sake of humanity.

Once again, thank you for your invitation, President Biden.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: Thank you. And as we met outside as you got out of your automobile, we had a very important discussion on climate. The President said, “I’m cold.” (Laughter.) I told him I could take care of that immediately. (Laughter.)

Posted by: sln2002 | Nov 19 2023 21:07 utc | 40

Jocko Widodo?
I'm sorry but this made me laff
what a moniker

Posted by: ld | Nov 19 2023 21:27 utc | 41

I am not blaming Trump, james | Nov 19 2023 20:31 utc | 36. I can't know what is going on inside even with respect to somebody standing next to me, or that I've known all my life. My observations come from what was said at the time by the military, that they asked if they should do it and Trump said yes. Then, I believe after the fact, he said he was okay with that decision. These are both things that I wish he hadn't done.

President Kennedy gained respect in my eyes as he admitted the Bay of Pigs invasion was a mistake. We all make mistakes; it's human. I voted for Obama first time around; that was my big mistake. I didn't vet him carefully enough. I guess I was trying to rectify that mistake with my post, but people can take it or leave it as I am not an expert on how politics ought to be followed - or practised for that matter. I always remember Jack Nickelson saying "You can't handle the truth!" He was wrong because it was a movie, but there's a halftruth hidden there somewhere. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the people who can't handle that kind of truth. You too, I think!

Posted by: juliania | Nov 19 2023 21:34 utc | 42

james | Nov 19 2023 20:50 utc | 39--

Thanks for trying--all I get is a neverending captcha page.

sln2002 | Nov 19 2023 21:07 utc | 40--

Thanks, but similar problem with Eurotrib securitywise.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 22:00 utc | 43

@ 5 dungroan

"Hell is other people." -Sartre

"Hell is yourself." -Wittgenstein

You get to choose. That's the beauty of life.

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Nov 19 2023 22:36 utc | 44

@ juliania | Nov 19 2023 21:34 utc | 42

good observations, especially at the end, lol!

@ karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 22:00 utc | 43

try putting the wapo link or any link you can't access into this website.. it should give you a version you can read.. check it out..

https://archive.is/

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 23:04 utc | 45

james | Nov 19 2023 23:04 utc | 45--

james, all I get is a captcha page that goes nowhere except to another captcha page; it's the same for both links you supplied @39 and @45. I found the Pravda response very well done and with enough context to inform me of what "Biden" wrote. IMO, the actual author is Jake Sullivan. As usual, the op/ed is an attempt to mollify the US public as well as global opinion. This paragraph anyone of us here at MoA could've written:

What does it mean that Ukraine and Israel are not democracies? How is it that Israel has been pursuing an apartheid policy against the Palestinians for three quarters of a century, taking away more and more lands from them, and the Kiev authorities want to transform Russians into anti-Russian Ukrainians? Biden says that Putin and Hamas want to destroy neighboring democracies — and this is exactly the challenge for America. Which she accepts because "the world expects us to solve the problems of our time, this is the duty of leadership and America will fulfill it." It doesn't matter that the world considers both of these conflicts to be the result of American hegemonism and claims to world domination (NATO's expansion to the East and an attempt to tear Ukraine away from Russia — in the first case, and the indulgence of Israel's apartheid and expansionist policies — in the second), Biden promises to "solve the problems." I wonder exactly how he's going to do it?

Meanwhile, there's a critical election happening in Argentina. I expect trouble as Telesur reports:

These elections unfold in an atmosphere of tension fueled by the Argentine far-right. On Saturday, the CNE dismissed allegations of potential fraud in the elections made by Milei's party, Freedom Advances.

Sebastian Schimmel, the Electoral Performance Secretary of the CNE, stated that these accusations are "completely unfounded, as they are not even supported by arguments. Nevertheless, they create an atmosphere that aims to instill mistrust."

Typical CIA-like ploy. A Milei victory will be a disaster for Argentina. His goal belies his party's name as one might imagine; it leads to chains not freedom.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 23:55 utc | 46

In response to karlof1 at #46

ZH has a posting up wth the title

Anti-Woke Central Bank Nemesis Javier Milei Wins Argentina's Presidential Election

The quote

Milei, who two months ago was interviewed by Tucker Carlson, has promised to fix Argentina’s perennial economic problems by making drastic budget cuts, replacing the battered peso with the US dollar and shutting down the central bank. He will take office on Dec. 10.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 20 2023 0:07 utc | 47

psychohistorian | Nov 20 2023 0:07 utc | 47

I had read about him some weeks earlier and was expecting that. I assume this is due to Argentina and Brazil agreeing to trade with each other in their national currencies.

Escobar was of the opinion the US moving into the middle east in a big way was a US pivot onto BRICS. Argentina I believe is part of that.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 20 2023 0:14 utc | 48

US President Jippy Bidden:

"I like my wet farts more than I like the poor."

"Life is all about the scam of the art. No. The art of the scam."

"Who are these people who keep telling me what to say? I want to go home. Jill? JILL!"

"She smells so nice when I sniff her. Better than ice cream tastes!"

"I wish these Palestinos - is that what you call them, those brown Coloureds who keep pestering my white friends in Israel? - would just go away. C'mon, man! You know, like running a vacuum to suck up the dust. Gotta dust regularly. Whoosh. We all like it clean."

"We need to abort Putin. Tell his mother to just cut it out. That way he's not born. Sorry, no that's right, I'm Catholic. We just need to prevail at Midway."

Posted by: Matthew | Nov 20 2023 1:25 utc | 49

Strategic Culture published a very curious Infographic I worked into an article, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise--Golly Gee Whiz!!". As for Argentina, the great question mark related to its being made a BRICS member must again be asked. But we must also note Argentina is very much a victim of its own elites over a span of many decades. I suspect Milei will make it easy and reject BRICS membership thus absolving the organization from having to bar a nation it just nominated.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 20 2023 1:53 utc | 50

Posted by: nathan in WA US | Nov 19 2023 19:05 utc | 29
"Cue Dio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWAhd4KkVUU "

On and on and on it goes...this song is surely due for a comeback..
Megadeth - Holy Wars...The Punishment Due

Posted by: nathan in WA US | Nov 20 2023 1:59 utc | 51

@karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 23:55 utc | 46

A Milei victory will be a disaster for Argentina. His goal belies his party's name as one might imagine; it leads to chains not freedom.

IMHO, one way or another, it is Argentina people's choice even if it is NOT to their interest at all. So the people more or less bear the responsibility for the consequence of their choice. It is similar to people in Taiwan elect DPP into power and consequently people in Taiwan bear the responsibility for choosing war or peace. I wonder what the impact to the expanded BRICS will be since my impression is that Argentina is among the 6 expanded nations upon Brazil's push. Did China and Russia access the risk if this happens? I admit that I know little about Argentina but my impression about Milei is that he does not look like one who is capable of governing. So not even to mention good governance.

If we look deeper into this, my question is why Argentina can't get out the mess that it is in for such a long time?! Where are real Argentina's patriots? If I recalled correctly, Lula mentioned when he visited China earlier this year that he had visited China once long time ago and Brazil was in better shape than China at that time. Now, it is a total different scenes between China and Brazil. It seems similar to Argentina. Once upon a time, Argentina was also in a better shape than a lot of developing countries. What happened to Argentina since the old good times? I don't remember that Argentina experienced any major war or disaster. (Does the one against UK count?) Is today's Argentina in a worse shape than China in the last 70 years of Qing Dynasty? In the last 70 years since the first Opium War against China, there were countless Chinese who devoted themselves to pull China out of the abyss. Dr. Sun's KMT (well, it didn't start with KMT but easier to go with it) and CPC decades later shared the same goal to make China stand independently and strong again. Is there any similar effort in Argentina? Or it is controlled so tightly by its military or various interested groups of compradors?

Seeing what happens in Argentina makes me feel very strongly about what Xi said 我将无我、不负人民 in his speech at the welcome dinner by Friendly Organizations in the United States in San Francisco, US on Nov 15, 2023. ("我将无我、不负人民" in English is "Serving the people selflessly and living up to their expectations" at the link that karlof1 provided @"Nov 19 2023 18:45 utc | 26".) Although the translation is basically OK, it seems to me not exactly conveying the spirit of the words in Chinese. In any case, the two sentences put the people first and center. This is the same from those 1800+ CPC members who took their ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty to work hard for the people to get them better lives. Xi also stressed "不忘初心、牢记使命" ("staying true to our original aspiration and never forget our founding mission") to the whole CPC in Oct 2022 to remind them where they came from.

It is sad that China is promoting peach and development. But there is never lack of of politicians and compradors in a lot of places that put their people behind.

PS: If I misspoke anything about Argentina, corrections are welcome and appreciated.

Posted by: LuRenJia | Nov 20 2023 2:20 utc | 52

Correction to my post @Nov 20 2023 2:20 utc | 52

The correct one should be:
China is promoting peace and development

Sorry about the typo.

Posted by: LuRenJia | Nov 20 2023 2:26 utc | 53

Posted by: james | Nov 19 2023 23:04 utc | 45

try putting the wapo link or any link you can't access into this website.. it should give you a version you can read.. check it out..

https://archive.is/

Unfortunately James, I cannot bring up that site here in USA.

Posted by: Alchemist | Nov 20 2023 2:33 utc | 54

juliania @ 9

There is so much more to resource domination than simply acquiring it. Way more important is destroying demand, making sure that the resource rich countries do not profit and grow their economies off the revenues of their own resources, increasing domestic demand until there is none left to export, or at the very least bidding up the price to make it the "real price". This is why 2/3rds of the population of the planet have nothing and suffer.

This is a critical element that of all of those who do geopolitical analysis simply leave out rendering their analysis weak or useless.

Posted by: jef | Nov 20 2023 2:45 utc | 55

“Hell is yourself." -Wittgenstein

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Nov 19 2023 22:36 utc | 44

____

It’s nice to know that that poor twisted man wasn’t entirely bereft of self-reflection.

Posted by: malenkov | Nov 20 2023 2:54 utc | 56

For many visitors at Moon of Alabama, b's Whiskey Bar means more than merely a somewhat sobering board to gather critical information of a kind that sometimes feels rather exotic than just being nerdy and obscure. Being a regular visitor over many years does something to you; for myself I'd say it helped me develop a certain conscience, one that I was truly seeking for ever since I began trying to make sense of "the news" as a child, reading Der Spiegel around the time of the first Iraq war in 1991. It was a long way, and like many others here I am relieved, as well as amazed to have found this very venue where I'm now posting to share my thoughts with you.

We here often barflies speaking about the gift of companionship they find here, being among peers of various persuasions, united in a willingness to argue certain things in a rare light. We all know, however, this sort of topical indulgence comes with a flip side: most people - let's call them ordinary for now, though I despise the judgemental aspect of the term - are hard to reach with the kind of arguments regularly developed here, all centered lastly on study of violent failures of living together, among others Hienieden in our shared Gaia.

I feel that we may rely on a good hope with our c(o)urse. For some this may be a rational case of ethics, while others are on a personal journey of sorts that drives them to and from here, and others still gain certitude from a relation with the spiritual (whatever concept applies). Some call it god, and I only hesitate insomuch as I prefer to address Him as my boss. We're joking, of course. In truth, we are companions.

- This writing was meant as an introduction to a really concrete topic I would like to bring up here, as it came with a book given to me by my girlfriend of two years now. It's about controversial radio astronomy, and she had found it on the streets of Köln. Two years may be enough to know that I want to be with her, but not enough to bring up all of the dissident political history and ethics which I've developed just like so many others here on the Moon. Neither of us two are astronomers, though I have some background to make sense of the book, and let me tell you, it's a thriller. I have no idea how she knew, but as it stands, the whole story is yet another tale of an establishment stricken with egomania and pleonexia, as Karlof1 likes to say, leading to ignorance, and then, catastrophe. It thus makes for a great case in point in my task to tell her who I am, what I believe in, and how I try to decide what to do.

I hope that, perhaps, the little tale serves to encourage others here, many of whom are probably way more lonely than me. Trust in the good, I'd say; not only because there is no real alternative, but also because IT seems to answer.

Also, forgive me the cliffhanger, please. I'll dedicate another post to my original intention soon. Meanwhile, here's the thing.

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 20 2023 3:04 utc | 57

56 malenkov on Wittgenstein: ROFL, and so true. --

He was certainly obnoxiuous, though I sympathize with some of his features a lot, probably because I share them with him (like being bad at teaching a Volksschule). But I don't quite believe he was evil. If any sinister intentions are at play with Wittgenstein and his career, I'd suspect it is Russell who is behind them. - No tin foil required to make the case; just look at what anglo ("analytical") philosophy has since become. In the words of Erwin Sonderegger, they appear about to be engaging a debate that was held to a conclusive end almost 2,500 years ago ...

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 20 2023 3:21 utc | 58

LuRenJia | Nov 20 2023 2:20 utc | 52--

The translation I used for all three speeches was by Qiushi Journal, the CPC Central Committee Bi-Monthly, which is where I get all my Xi speech translations. I believe they're official. But translations are always difficult particularly when the languages are so different. Wiki's history of Argentina provides a decent review showing the basic longstanding class divisions and antagonisms. As I wrote above, the Argentinian elite are the root of Argentina's problems which is one reason why the Peronists lost. We can only watch and see how Argentinians respond.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 20 2023 3:35 utc | 59

persiflo | Nov 20 2023 3:04 utc | 57--

Interesting hypothesis. Can an investigation a la science be conducted with human relations--Will we work out? Can we find Bliss together? Can we be honest with each other? If both parties are eager to test these and other core hypothesis for a successful relationship, then they ought to make the attempt; and since they agreed to these specific aspects as key components to the overall test, IMO it's likely the answers will be affirmative. However, if there's trepidation, insecurity, discomfort from either party, then the hypothesis will end in the negative.

Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 20 2023 4:24 utc | 60

@ karlof1 | Nov 19 2023 23:55 utc | 46 // Alchemist | Nov 20 2023 2:33 utc | 54

hi guys.. sorry it doesn't work for you two.. perhaps because i am in canada and you two are in the usa? i have no idea, but i can take the url of the oped from biden in the wapo and get an archived version easily.. this is a trick a few folks taught me here at moa a week or two back!

@ persiflo | Nov 20 2023 3:04 utc | 57

thanks for sharing an interesting perspective and to karlof1 for giving you an interesting response too @ 60... i am not sure if i can say anything about this other then that i really like karlof1's response to you and that his response jives with me..

Posted by: james | Nov 20 2023 4:51 utc | 61

Russian historian Aleksandr Dyukov on the role of Lenin’s policy of nationalities in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

November 7:

Was it possible to save the USSR as a state?

Yes, of course.

For a long time—if in the 40s – early 60s (at the latest), as a result of the successful construction of socialism, at the request of the workers, national republics would have been liquidated (and the “nationality” field in passports would have been crossed out, too). Without the institutional resistance of the national republics, the formation of the new historical community (aka the big Russian nation) would have proceeded much further in 30–40 years, and by the beginning of Perestroyka there would have been no legitimate republics demanding to follow the Constitution and grant sovereignty.

In the short term—if, instead of Gorbachyov, Lukyanov and other young indoctrinated Leninists, there would have been old men, cautious due to their age and experience, who would not have been changing anything radically. The USSR would definitely have lasted twenty or thirty years, stagnating, but without the economic catastrophe of Perestroyka.

Ideally, a combination of both scenarios, in that case, there would have been 50–70 years, two or even three generations, to create a single state nation instead of a mosaic of socialist nations.

And then it wouldn’t have mattered whether socialism remained or not. The main thing would have been that a single country would have remained.

But in both cases, in order to save the USSR, it was necessary to violate the foundations of ideology and quietly deemphasize Lenin’s genius [meaning, his policy on nationalities — S].

November 7:

Stalin to Lenin on the first results of kowtowing to the ethnocrats (in a letter dated September 22, 1922):

“During the four years of the Civil War, when, due to the intervention, we were forced to demonstrate Moscow’s liberalism on the national question, we have created among the communists, beyond our will, true and consistent social independents, demanding real independence in every sense and regarding the intervention of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party as a deception and hypocrisy on Moscow’s part.

We are experiencing a period of development when the form, the law, the constitution cannot be ignored, when the young generation of communists on the outskirts refuses to accept the game of independence as a game, stubbornly recognizing the words about independence at face value and also just as stubbornly demanding that we implement the letter of the constitutions of the independent republics.

If we do not try now to adapt the form of relations between the center and the outskirts to the actual relationships, due to which the outskirts in all fundamental respects, of course, must obey the center, i.e., if we do not replace now the formal (fictitious) independence with just as formal (and, at the same time, real) autonomy, then in a year it will be incomparably more difficult to defend the actual unity of the Soviet Republics.”

Lenin answers in December 1922 with a philippic:

“I think that for the Bolsheviks, for the communists, there is no need to explain this further and in detail. And I think that in this case, in relation to the Georgian nation, we have a typical example of how extreme caution, consideration and willingness to compromise are required on our side by a truly proletarian attitude to the matter. The Georgian who disdains this side of the matter, disdainfully hurls accusations of “social-nationalism” (while he himself is a real and true not only “social-nationalist,” but also crude Great Russian derzhimorda*), that Georgian, in essence, violates the interests of proletarian class solidarity… That is why in this case it is better to overshoot in the direction of willingness to compromise and soft attitude towards national minorities than to undershoot. That is why in this case the fundamental interest of proletarian solidarity, and consequently of the proletarian class struggle, demands that we never treat the national question as a formality, but always take into account the unavoidable difference in the attitude of the proletarian of the oppressed (or small) nation towards the oppressive (or large) nation.”

———
* A person who is rude, dumb and cruel to those below him, who uses his power to suppress freedom, initiative and so on. The word comes from the name of a character from Nikolay Gogol’s The Government Inspector. — S

November 8 (1, 2):

Once again I will try to focus attention on one simple fact that is studiously ignored (for obvious reasons).

The so-called “Leninist policy on nationalities” did not introduce equality between representatives of different ethnic groups, but consolidated the inequality of “titular” ones and “non-titular” ones in ethno-territorial entities. Inequality based on ethnic origin.

And I‘m not only talking about the fate of Russians who in the national republics were forced to either register as “Ukrainians” in order to move up the party ladder or come to terms with their second-class status (in the Transcaucasian and Central Asian republics)—I’m talking about all “non-titular” ones.

Armenians in Georgia, Tatars in Bashkiriya, Uzbeks in Tajikistan—just like Russians, they had to come to terms with the dominance of the “titular” ones. Who, by the way, often constituted a minority of the population.

Such a political system is called ethnocracy, and if the “non-titular” ones begin to fight for equality, an ethnocracy, defending the exclusive rights of the “titular” ones, turns into fascism, which, in fact, happened in a number of former Soviet republics in post-Soviet times.

The only alternative to ethnocracy is a big civil nation, in which everyone, regardless of ethnic origin, has equal rights and opportunities. The only two post-Soviet countries that came close to this ideal are Russia and Belarus.

—

To be an anti-fascist means to fight against ethnocracies, for equal rights and opportunities for people, regardless of their ethnic origin. But, of course, defenders of ethnocracies will also cry about “great power chauvinism” and “fascism.”

Posted by: S | Nov 20 2023 4:59 utc | 62

David Stockman goes through the simple math of Washington’s interest rate cliff;

currently $8.2 trillion of Federal debt will need to be refinanced in the next 12 months, and that number will just keep getting bigger thereafter. Moreover, the sheer math of this massive impending roll-over is literally staggering.

To wit, as recently as 19-months ago the weighted average yield on the total public debt was 1.80%. But the weighted average current market yield clocked in today at 4.80%

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/11/david-stockman/speaker-johnsons-first-and-last-hurrah/

Posted by: Exile | Nov 20 2023 5:32 utc | 63

Thanks jef | Nov 20 2023 2:45 utc | 55. I think I understand what you are getting at, but it seems to me hugely beyond practical reach at present. It's certainly a problem for a sophisticated world to address, and maybe a large country like China will do so - they are on the way in having genuine care for their own population, but what you are saying goes beyond that.

I'll never say never, but I don't think I will be around to see it happen. I'll agree its a worthy goal, and maybe we are on the right path to that kind of a future, being considerate of the entire world population instead of just our own immediate society. Maybe the one will follow on as the first becomes the acceptable norm. China seems to be saying it will.

Posted by: juliania | Nov 20 2023 5:33 utc | 64

Thanks, Karl and james, for your sincere words in response. - As you said something jives, I am compelled to share another little anecdote with you here, which makes for an interesting apercu as well. The words are not mine, as I found them on an effin fortune cookie of all places (actually a tea bag) earlier today, served to me by the wonderful wife of my trusted friend and dealer. It read:

I do not know what the spirit of a philosopher might wish more than to be a good dancer.

It's startingly true in my case. Even in the golden pudel club I was known to sit on a bar stool aside from the floor for hours, and feared for jumping up at 4am yelling "is a computer scientist present?!?" or whatever idea struck me a worthy of a chat then. I never quite knew why I sat, rather than move, and settled (not perfectly comfortable) with the notion that I do not like to be disturbed in my thinking.

I do dance, however. At least sometimes. And it grows in me, too. Cue discussions on playing bass guitar here, but not right now :)

Posted by: persiflo | Nov 20 2023 5:46 utc | 65

Well thank you all for indulging me and your responses , good, bad and ugly.
I’ll try and respond.

@Posted by: Don Firineach | Nov 19 2023 16:29 utc | 6
A lot older than 8000 years in my ‘book’ 😆 given that even the south of France Lascaux cave art is about 30k years old! We don’t have any idea of what lies deep beneath the sands and seas and before the Books there was the ‘Word’ !
British fairy folklore also supposedly also has Scottish origin the Seely and Unseely Fairies. As in happy and unhappy. As in the root of the word silliness. Perhaps Scilly islanders. Perhaps Faroe islanders. Who knows? There were the Druids and their stone circles etc. many such traditions which arose independently historically in many parts of the world … the anthropology could take many text books.

@ Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 19 2023 16:52 utc | 10
Thanks
Beauty and other such emotional responses must also have ‘survival’ characteristics. Such as exhibited by male peacocks magnificent plumage to attract the drab female. We don’t have any definitive scientific proof of the origin of DNA. We have only been studying it for less than a century so far! It may have floated in on space debris, as has been speculated about water too! We all know that the Earth itself is formed from dead stars - the only furnaces capable of creating heavy elements.. life on Earth - first dna/rna is speculated to be over 3 billion years so far. Deep sea vents have ‘life’ formed far from the sunlight.
The primordial soup that would have been needed to form the various complex molecules and the basic chemicals of the dna bases ..there is plenty to study and discount before assuming a ‘sky fairy’ that decided to create single cell life left to get more complexity over the billions of years before something crawled out of the Seas to populate the lands with green life and ultimately all sentient life on earth- again an immense subject not best suited for this geopolitical forum.

“Is this "god's gift" to ensure man's ultimate survival”
@ Posted by: bisfugged | Nov 19 2023 17:32 utc | 12
Excellent question! I’ll resort to the chicken/egg riddle method. Even troupes of chimps and other creatures exhibit tribal rivalry! But for robust dna variety to exist intermixing is best. Even as we all share almost exactly the same genomes to the nth degree, no two actual humans, unless they came from a single egg twins/triplets, have exactly the same genes. That’s the basis of having variety that ‘fits’ better or worse in a slow changing environment.
Hence sci-fi clones are doomed if they are ever created.

"...behavioral genetics ..”
@ Posted by: greg | Nov 19 2023 17:45 utc | 14
Hmm yes the hijacked nature/nurture conundrum. I’m sorry right back at you greg, but I stick to scientific method myself not wishful thinking pseudo science.

@ Posted by: pretzelattack | Nov 19 2023 17:57 utc | 15
Such fundamentalism has been around a lot longer , tribal conformity mutated into religion that could cover the ever bigger tribes that had strong chieftains and his army and the witchdoctors turned into high priests - heresy and disbelief in their god meant punishment, exile or death! Motifs in all religions right upto today ! I can lay a lot of fault at the feet of the self declared Indispensable Country of the current mongrel USA-ians but not the fundamentalism that they arrived with as settlers of various religions. I do blame the US states Owners of perpetuating it. Those owners only feign such eschatological beliefs. As imperialists they have done for centuries.

@ Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 19 2023 18:35 utc | 24
Peter the oldest know continuously preserved aboriginal peoples and culture, aside from some in the middle of Indian oceans, their history and culture wholly preserved through an oral tradition that goes back some 70 plus thousand years, the rock arts the dances the Song Lines, heck even the Big Wave ancient flood stories! Much of what you and others who have engaged in a non racist manner with these ancient Australians - shame that invaders decided to wipe them out instead of living as grateful refugees - but they were only there to fulfil the imperial masters plans, ( an ongoing project of the European Empires going back to the Romans as I keep trying to simplify) many sent against their wills to the furthest reaches.
( The Zionists being another and hopefully final iteration of that with the apartheid Israel project to take The Levant under cover of a religion of some god)
——————
Anyway thanks to all I’ll leave it with the following paradigm of why I think such a evolutionary selection exists.

I’m glad that some tribes who lived near volcanoes decided that there was a ‘god’ that lived there that gave them fertile soils and fresh water streams etc but it could get angry - that it demanded daily appeasement and sometimes was pretty pissed off enough to wipe every one out.

We eventually learnt there isn’t a god or dragon or spirit there, just volcanic forces , plate tectonics and fault lines, so its best to make a run for it till it calmed down.
It’s the ability to get back to carrying on living after great disaster that is the evolutionary root of that God Shaped Hole in our Brains - the species wouldn’t survive if it got depressed after repeat natural disasters. As in the ‘what’s the point of trying to carry on living’ way, unless there was a great entity that caused such suffering because ‘we must have deserved it for making it unhappy’. So we end up deciding what makes it happy - how abuot a daily sacrifice? Human even , first born even etc superstition comes first, ahead of scientific understanding.

Such a survival ability has been hijacked by the chieftains , soldiers and priests over Millenia into control mechanisms with the chains of organised religions - the Heavens and Hells of ‘After life’s’ that keep us subservient in THIS life that we are born in.

I’m happy to risk their fictional damnation by totally resisting their fairytales and fighting them to the death to stop them using it as a means of slavery of the majority and power and wealth for them few.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 20 2023 6:20 utc | 66

A pro US neoliberal just became the new Argentina president.

Posted by: Surferket | Nov 20 2023 6:55 utc | 67

regarding from Bs list under "empire" - The post-America war has begun - Unherd article
Biden's delusions are finally being exposed BY Aris Roussinos
[ Aris Roussinos is an UnHerd columnist and a former war reporter.}
https://unherd.com/2023/11/israel-could-collapse-the-american-empire/

the article concludes with [my emphasis]:

For countries such as Britain, helpless chicks under America’s wing, the primary lesson is that we should either increase our ability to defend ourselves alone, or limit our self-insertion into the affairs of stronger rival states. For countries such as Israel or Ukraine, fated by geography to exist at the sabre’s edge, the approach of wisdom will be more painful. Israel has no choice but to destroy Hamas, and Ukraine no option but to continue defending itself: if peace talks with Russia were ever viable, there is no reason for Moscow to pursue them now.

In both cases, the likelihood is that the wars will grind on to grim and morally unsatisfactory conclusions. In each case, given the constraints on American political will and capability, perhaps a frozen conflict with the ever-present risk of escalation is the best that can now be achieved.

There is no anti-imperialist glee to be found in the situation we are in. For all its faults, the world that follows American hegemony will hardly be more peaceful or humane than that we have come to know: if anything, the withering of America’s reach is already shaping up to be bloodier than the fall of the Soviet Union. Faced with such a prospect, the task that remains is to help America manage its own decline in as painless a way possible, preventing the conflicts nibbling at the edge of its empire from coalescing into a single war that will consume us all.

Given the above, and the article as whole, I think this chap is incoherent and off with the faeries and very confused. So how do people like this get to be "noted / regular journalists or commentators"? It blows my mind. And skimming thee 'comments' I shudder.

I've noted what is imo spin/untrue, self-serving or ridiculous (which goes nowhere useful nor insightful / helpful) and so I don't think it needs an explanation as I thought it would be obvious. Isn't it? I hope it is. Maybe something went right over my head for I cannot see why it was recommended - except as an example of how not to see things clearly.

My problem here is pointing out something I think is 'rubbish/illogical/unsound' and frankly 'False' and by doing so it will only get more exposure -- an unsatisfactory Catch 22 situation. It's like saying: "Hey look at this. Don't read it!"

Kind of a self-defeating (dumb) thing to say, yeah? :-) Maybe all I am saying is in this day and age it's more important than ever to be apply rational skepticism to what we're reading and being told. Incl by me of course. Be cautious; and yet be cheerful; there is a lot of weird stuff out there but of each to their own and trust your own instincts. :-)

fwiw a ref https://theethicalskeptic.com/2020/01/04/the-distinction-between-bias-and-agency/

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | Nov 20 2023 7:19 utc | 68

Milei's win is a "back to the future" moment for Argentina, back to the corrupt and disastrous 1990's of Menem which ended in the 1998-2002 depression and debt default. My longer take:
Argentina’s New President Milei Sticks A Fork In BRICS Plus

Posted by: Roger | Nov 20 2023 9:04 utc | 69

David Stockman goes through the simple math of Washington’s interest rate cliff;

currently $8.2 trillion of Federal debt will need to be refinanced in the next 12 months, and that number will just keep getting bigger thereafter. Moreover, the sheer math of this massive impending roll-over is literally staggering.
To wit, as recently as 19-months ago the weighted average yield on the total public debt was 1.80%. But the weighted average current market yield clocked in today at 4.80%

Posted by: Exile | Nov 20 2023 5:32 utc | 63

Simple arithmetic it may be, but it is not the correct way of looking at it.

I think I have said this before go to the official government website the daily treasury statement.

https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/daily-treasury-statement/public-debt-transactions

What you look at are "public debt transactions" there is a table for ISSUES and REDEEMED. Take a look over the last fiscal year over $100 trillion are refinanced. $8.2 trillion is roughly a months worth. It is nothing.

If you go to Mike Norman's Twitter feed and look at the graphs and tables he puts up. He normally does an end of fiscal year tables taken from the daily treasury statement that shows how many have been ISSUED and REDEEMED over that 12 month period.

It's not public debt you should be worried about it is private sector debt and when mortgages need to be refinanced. If people were in at a lower lending rate and now have to move to a bigger one.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 20 2023 9:09 utc | 70

Let's say, the FED decided to buy up the 8.2 trillion itself over the next 12 months. The government Paid interest to itself instead of that interest income flowing into the economy ?

That's just another way of letting them mature and roll off. Once they bought them if they wanted to they could just write them off. Remove them from the spreadsheet using the delete key on a computer keyboard.

Which brings us back full circle and what I have been shouting about for years now. No need to issue debt at all it is a left over from the gold standard that no longer applies.
Why issue it in the first place if all you do is buy it yourself.

The voluntary decision to issue debt $-for-$ to match net spending is a political choice not a funding operation.

This is the book you need.

https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781802208092/book-part-9781802208092-8.xml

Chapter 1

https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781802208092/book-part-9781802208092-9.xml

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 20 2023 9:23 utc | 71

fated by geography to exist at the sabre’s edge

Posted by: Lavrov's Dog | Nov 20 2023 7:19 utc | 68

---

LOL

Posted by: too scents | Nov 20 2023 9:57 utc | 72

Did the new Argentine Prez convert to Judaism last year ?
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/argentina-jewish-trump-javier-milei

Any barflies confirm this bizarre story in the Jewish Tablet magazine ?

Posted by: Exile | Nov 20 2023 10:40 utc | 73

S @62:

Yeah, "Multilateralism in One Country" was a bad idea. A nation where the Soviet Union was would certainly have held together much longer if instead of throwing the baby and the bathwater out together, they had kept the bathwater and just thrown out the baby. Toss out the ideals of socialism, but keep the totalitarian aspects of Stalinism to hold people down while force-feeding capitalist neoliberalism to them. The then misnamed "Soviet Union" could have developed into another capitalist utopia like the US and the EU, right? That, apparently, is what some portion of the Russian middle class pines for.

Posted by: William Gruff | Nov 20 2023 11:42 utc | 74

Is this the part where we cry for Argentina? ;)

Yeah, I was hoping to visit Buenos Aires one day in happier times. But I think perhaps not anytime soon. It is looking like USUKIS has defeated Argentina's future prosperity for the third time in thirty years.

Posted by: titmouse | Nov 20 2023 11:57 utc | 75

Did the new Argentine Prez convert to Judaism last year ?
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/argentina-jewish-trump-javier-milei

Any barflies confirm this bizarre story in the Jewish Tablet magazine ?

well there is this...

https://www.timesofisrael.com/argetinas-far-right-presidential-frontrunner-wants-to-become-jewish/

and this

https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/2023-08-14/ty-article/.premium/an-argentinian-presidential-candidate-studies-torah-and-supports-jerusalem-embassy-move/00000189-f446-d8b0-a1bd-fcd663eb0000

If he did indeed convert would be the only doubt

Posted by: newbie | Nov 20 2023 12:11 utc | 76

and in case anyone doubts because of the country of the news

https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-07-25/javier-milei-presidential-candidate-its-super-easy-to-dollarize-argentinas-economy.html

Posted by: newbie | Nov 20 2023 12:13 utc | 77

Milei's presidential win must be attributed to the Argentine population. Unless the elections were rigged by the CIA at a huge scale of course. I assume China and the other BRICS member have thought about a plan B in case a retard enters the playing field.

When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.

Posted by: xor | Nov 20 2023 12:39 utc | 78

well the new Argentian guy looks a real psycho to me. Probably as he says he wants to dollarise economy.. likes Israel and wants to leave BRICS....that organisation is far better off without him. He really is a nut case.. how come people voted for him??????

Posted by: Jo | Nov 20 2023 12:48 utc | 79

@Posted by: Exile | Nov 20 2023 10:40 utc | 73

Any barflies confirm this bizarre story in the Jewish Tablet magazine ?

A Milei quote from the article:

Our most natural allies are the United States and Israel. I want nothing to do with the communists of Cuba, China, North Korea. What does that mean? Trade with whoever you want, but I am not going to foment those relationships.

That's all we need to know, bye bye BRICS Plus, who cares if he is Jewish or not? Also, India has now made it obvious that it is leaning toward the US and full on with support for the other Moslem-hating leadership of Israel. Together with the right-wing oligarch hemmed in leadership of Brazil, BRICS is useless as a force for change. Russia, Iran and China are the true core of the force for change.

India’s New Middle East Strategy Takes Shape and India, US are on pathway to contain China

The venal, corrupt Indian elite are once again failing their nation, as they have done ever since independence and before that as they worked hand in glove with the British.

Posted by: Roger | Nov 20 2023 15:07 utc | 80

Posted by: Jo | Nov 20 2023 12:48 utc | 79

well the new Argentian guy looks a real psycho to me.

Everyone is nuts down there.

They walk upside down like it's perfectly normal!

Posted by: Scorpion | Nov 20 2023 15:09 utc | 81

If there is one episode on the inter web that all of us should watch without fail - it is this one. Not only does S L resemble me and articulate much better than my amateur grasping of issues, he slam dunks every single issue in a simple manner , from the Twitter/face book algorithms that shut down such broadcasts as soon as they have published.
Yes it’s censorship at the speed of the internet, demonetising such great voices of reason.
Syriana Analysis - Kevork Almassian - talks with S L Kanthan.
@SyrianaAnalysis, syriana-analysis.com , facebook.com/SyrianaAnalysis

The Collective Wastes model of never ending Wars and as many sick people as possible as their oligarchs National Interests business models against China’s model of maximum peace and healthy humans so they can purchase all the goods and services that makes a better life for themselves.

Every second is a joy - not a single wasted breath. Thanks to Kevork and SL Kanthan. Superb Intro with Julian Assange speaking showing why he has been thrown into a deep dungeon without trial by the brutal Wasters.
https://twitter.com/Kanthan2030
https://slkanthan.substack.com/

‘Will China overtake the US as the world’s leading power? Anyone with a brain knows that China is the future, says S.L. Kanthan.’
https://rumble.com/v3w433j-can-china-surpass-the-united-states-as-the-next-world-superpower.html

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 20 2023 15:16 utc | 82

@Posted by: xor | Nov 20 2023 12:39 utc | 78

Milei's presidential win must be attributed to the Argentine population. Unless the elections were rigged by the CIA at a huge scale of course. I assume China and the other BRICS member have thought about a plan B in case a retard enters the playing field.

When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.

His election was a repeat of the Obama and Zelensky operations. A man deeply embedded with the oligarchs (for Milei he worked for international financial organizations and corporations, and then taken under-wing by an Argentinian oligarch) is "suddenly" discovered (i.e. created as an outsider by the media, a chunk of which was owned by said oligarch) and then sold as a "hopey/changey" guy against the corrupt elites!

With Obama it was to cool the flames of discontent to protect the gains of neoliberalism and the new foreign policy put in place by Bush/Cheney. For Zelensky it was to capture the move for peace by the majority of the Ukraine population, and then U-turn. For Milei it is to destroy the gains of the people in the last 15 years (after the destruction of Menem and the 1998-2002 depression), and embed oligarch and foreign domination. Macri started the process as a pure hooligan, with the removal of exchange controls that facilitated a crisis (mass elite capital flight) that he then "fixed" with a massive and fraudulent IMF loan. The Fernandist government that followed should have immediately defaulted and jailed those involved but they were milk-toast revolutionaries (Peronists), so they just set things up for the elite to get their destroyer in.

The electorate were played like a fiddle.

Posted by: Roger | Nov 20 2023 15:20 utc | 83

Argentina was one of the places considered for the New Zion at one time along with Uganda.

Looks like plans A(apartheid illegal state from river to river) and B (the Russian borderlands)having failed, they are panicked and heading for Plan D. Plan C can’t possibly be contemplated in this century - there will be No Escape TO Entebbe. 😆

The concept of settling another Apartheid white tribe in the Equatorial East Africa, of which Uganda is the Pearl of that part of the continent, the source of one of the two Niles! Is null and void now. Ah well it seems the installation of Idi Amin and expulsion of the Asians there didn’t work out!

They thought they had the Levant dream under control and Ukraine and Crimea were inevitably going to fall in place after the USSR dissolved - so all other plans were shelved or put in the cupboard. In panic whatever skeletal remains of them are being dragged out and hey it’s time for the Argentinian pantomime. I give it six months before it falls flat on its face and the new Guido is crooked off the stage.
Or the Europeans go all in with the 5+1 eyes as the last hold of the conquistadors in the South Americas!
Collective Wastes boots on the ground in these genocided lands again?

I doubt the Brazilian, Colombian and Bolivian Peoples will let them - certainly not with mighty Venezuela and it’s SCO big boys China, Russia and Iran as the multilateral magnificent 7’s stand up to the conquistador bandidos!
Cue theme song.

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 20 2023 15:48 utc | 84

So the new Argentina President is going to turn Argentina into a Eurozone country. With absolutely no control over fiscal or monetary policy and loaded up with foreign debt.

In the end our western elites want every country on the planet to be like a Eurozone country and under their complete control.

Got elected by being anti woke and anti WEF and probably anti net zero. As voters move recklessly from one con trick to another. Right wing voters across the globe are Qing up to vote for someone exactly like him who uses the correct buzz words implanted in voters minds who visit right wing blogs.

It's ALL been tried before and won't work. They'll be a hell of a mess to try and fix it when it is all over.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 20 2023 17:02 utc | 85

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 20 2023 6:20 utc | 66

Thanks for your response to my response to your God-shaped hole hypothesis. I note in your comment that you're familiar with the theory that everything in the Universe originated inside stars (and is therefore sterile, having been exposed to temperatures of 2000+ degrees C) - not forgetting those life-forms inhabiting the hot water near deep sea volcanic vents.

I find the Darwinian musings of Sir David Attenborough informative and engaging but his explanation of First Life on Earth is no more convincing than any theory of Divine Intervention.

Maybe when every element of DNA has been verified and catalogued, one will fulfil the role of constant improvement?

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 20 2023 17:39 utc | 86

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 20 2023 15:48 utc | 84
"Cue theme song."

Taste - What’s Going On - Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970

Posted by: nathan in WA US | Nov 20 2023 17:41 utc | 87

Further to Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 20 2023 17:39 utc | 86

Oops, almost forgot.
Sir David asserts that Plant Life preceded the appearance of Animal Life based on the premise that animals need something to eat whereas plants can grow by absorbing mineral compounds.

The implication of this factoid is that besides being directly descended from apes We are, ultimately, descended from some kind of pre-Animal Life vegetable...

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 20 2023 18:06 utc | 88

in Argentina it will end up like it always does the state will end up bailing Javier Milei and his ideology out.

The Austrians will have to go back to the drawing board again for the 1000th time in human history.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 20 2023 18:12 utc | 89

Derek Henry,

What value does the state create ?

Why should the state consume more than 3% or 6% of the productive sectors ?

Posted by: Exile | Nov 20 2023 18:42 utc | 90

Posted by: Roger | Nov 20 2023 15:20 utc | 83

Yes, good, if depressing, analysis. A glance at Australian politics would lead you to the same conclusion about our current PM. He has one hand pointing 'over there' (Indigenous voice referendum, various woke gestures, Israel virtue signalling) while he sells Australia down the river by—and I kid you not—implementing US Fed Reserve advice about the economy. The current rollercoaster of mortgage hikes (13 increases since May '22) will annihilate the middle class and concentrate property ownership in fewer hands. The social democratic experiment in Australia, from 1935-1985, which was a considerable success in creating one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, will be seen to have been unraveled across 1985-2035. This to my mind is the great neoliberal dream: to withdraw all the panicked concessions (New Deals, etc) granted to the working classes out of fear of revolution and return to a 19th century order. Everything we have experienced since 1989 seems to be managed toward that end.

Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 20 2023 19:28 utc | 91

@Posted by: Echo Chamber | Nov 20 2023 17:02 utc | 85

Yep, the draw of the fake alternative - just like Obama, Zelensky and Trump. Just another member of the elite or a servant of the elite, but one that can nullify the drive for change by the general population.

Posted by: Roger | Nov 20 2023 19:31 utc | 92

Patroklos | Nov 20 2023 19:28 utc | 91 "The social democratic experiment in Australia, from 1935-1985, which was a considerable success in creating one of the most egalitarian societies in the world,..."

That is the Australia I miss and would like to see it go back to. This "...will be seen to have been unraveled across 1985-2035" is the world in which my children will be raising their families in. They have all gone off into that world following the pied piper.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 20 2023 19:38 utc | 93

Don Firineach 6

The Little People, leprechauns, are real.
There is clear evidence of this.
In Ireland, there are road signs saying, "CAUTION - LEPRECHAUNS CROSSING."
Why would people go to the time and expense of putting these signs up if leprechauns don't exist?

Posted by: anon | Nov 20 2023 19:49 utc | 94

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Nov 20 2023 19:38 utc | 93

Yes, I'm 53 so I caught the end of the Aussie New Deal: I went to an excellent public school (my folks paid $70/year), taught by committed teachers (when one could build a comfortable life on a teacher's salary), obtained two degrees for free (!), and won a generous commonwealth scholarship for the third. I never paid for heatlhcare until 10-15 years ago; now one is screwed without private insurance for anything serious. My parents bought the family home in 1972 for ~3.5x my father's annual salary ($8000/a). We had a string of modest cars, no one cared about status (Fords, Holdens, VWs). The 70s and 80s were a golden era in Sydney, and the 90s, while it lasted was glorious as a student: cheap inner city housing (in 1991 $35/wk for three of us in a terrace in Surry Hills!) and friends on the dole could pay rent, bills and eat well.

My daughter doesn't believe any of it.

Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 20 2023 19:50 utc | 95

@Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 20 2023 19:28 utc | 91

Yep, it started in Australia with a "nice little coup" by the Queen's servant that removed the PM Gough Whitlam who had the strange idea that Australia should be a sovereign state.

Noel Pearson channels Monty Python at Whitlam memorial

Gough Whitlam: The Truth

The CBC predicted what would happen to a Canadian PM trying to be so independent in the drama H2O, it was only shown once and is pretty hard to get even on DVD (which I have!). A very well written and acted drama, but a little too close to the truth for the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

In the 1980s the BBC made A Very British Coup about a truly left-wing activist Labour leader (Tony Benn?) driving Britain away from its Imperialism, elite domination, and US-dependency. Of course, he was forced out. You watch that and think, what could have been? A bit like the Corbyn government that was never allowed to be.

Posted by: Roger | Nov 20 2023 19:51 utc | 96

@ Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 20 2023 18:06 utc | 88

Well it ain’t called The Tree of Life for no reason! 😉

Heavy elements are formed by fusion - hydrogen to helium to lithium, beryllium, boron
CARBON, NITROGEN, OXYGEN…all the way up. Would you be surprised to know that the Oxygen molecules we breathe daily have been exactly the same atoms as say the breathed? Or all animal life including us. Heck we have all probably shared the same oxygen as the first man , every great king and Queen and every despot including say Hitler Clinton Bush and Blair ! The oxygen atoms may eventually self destruct because even the Protons and Neutrons of the Universe have a period of time before they theoretically and observably spontaneously break down into their subatomic particles.
That takes us to the edge of current knowledge
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Particles/proton.html

Whoa - I better stop - I’m heading down tracks I haven’t been down for decades and am probably not right about anymore. Please don’t hold me to any misrepresentation.

Anyway all compounds need the ingredients and the heat or energy of sunshine or volcanic temperatures. Whilst the ocean and land life forms are carbon based the sea vents are silicon based. They couldn’t exist on the surface or away from their hot sea vents. They don’t have DNA like other life on Earth.

There is enough proof and more to come from the exploration of planets and asteroids and the moons surface that will prove or disprove the theories which have here on Earth. That is how science works. Comets are already being intercepted and analysed. The most powerful particles on Earth are not at CERN, they don’t even come from the Sun but are Cosmic Rays that have been heading our direction for millions, billions of light years before smashing into some thing well above our heads - we only know they exist when we see some of their leftovers after such interactions- most just zip straight through the whole earth without touching a thing!
We must understand physics before we can understand life and the gap in that knowledge gets lesser by the generation.

Anyway Mycelium is probably the oldest land based ‘Life’
https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/nature-unlocked-fungi
No other life would probably exist without being in symbiosis with it.
And we’d have No Bar as there’d be no Wine or Bread. Or cheese for that matter.

Thanks again for an opportunity to talk about something else except our daily horrors- which are also probably wholly caused by some particular mycelium products.

Start here for these interested in pursuing further knowledge on fungi.
https://www.britannica.com/science/fungus/Form-and-function-of-fungi

Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 20 2023 19:59 utc | 97

@Posted by: Patroklos | Nov 20 2023 19:50 utc | 95

My daughter doesn't believe any of it.

Amazing how our economies were so much poorer (as measured by GDP) in those days but could afford all these things that we are told we can't afford these days! My nephews can't believe that I got free tuition, a grant to live on, and even a travel grant as my home was a long way from my university - in the "bad old days" of 1980s Britain.

I sadly joked with one of my friends that Milei will end the same way as Menem, incredibly low US$ Buenos Aires property prices for foreigners and the oligarchs who were able to move so much money abroad due to the IMF Loan funding of the capital flight. Rinse and repeat ... the story of Argentina. Oh, and of course a huge depression and immiseration for the many.

Posted by: Roger | Nov 20 2023 19:59 utc | 98

This selected overview is superb.

Thanks, b.

Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Nov 20 2023 20:44 utc | 99

@William Gruff #74

Good job coming up with strawman arguments, as you so often do!

Posted by: S | Nov 20 2023 21:13 utc | 100