The state of Colorado ruled Trump ineligible for the 2024 election. An account of something something insurrection democracy something.
As it stands, Trump will compete in only 49 states in the election.
It is likely, others will follow. If a few swing states do it, then result of the election is successfully altered.
If supreme court does not strike these down, the United States is officially no longer a democracy.
If supreme court strikes it down, the damage is still done. People will lose trust that their vote matters.
The country is headed into civil war.

Posted by: FieryButMostPeaceful | Dec 21 2023 16:26 utc | 3

Old Grandpa wishing everybody a Merry Christmas! https://folkpotpourri.com/the-great-and-abiding-noel/ Wish the warmongers would put everything on hold for a few days…

Posted by: Ozark Grandpa | Dec 21 2023 16:45 utc | 5

@ FieryButMostPeaceful | Dec 21 2023 16:26 utc | 3
re: People will lose trust that their vote matters.
Got news for you, most people know that already, which is why 40% don’t vote in the presidential (varies with the year).
Biden makes a big deal about (his) democracies vs. autocracies in the world, not admitting that he’s one of the most autocratic presidents ever. You name it — he’ll do it. Disconnect Europe’s energy source? check . . .more sanctions? check etc.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 21 2023 17:15 utc | 7

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231221/russia-has-information-us-helps-europe-change-laws-for-seizing-russian-assets—lavrov-1115725483.html
As I predicted, the US pushes to make the EU thieves and wreck the Eurozone. It’s tough being a vassal.

Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 21 2023 17:35 utc | 9

‘and an autocracy may attempt to legitimize itself in the eyes of the public through appeals to ideology, religion, birthright, or foreign hostility. Some autocracies establish legislatures, unfair elections, or show trials to further exercise control while presenting the appearance of democracy. The only limits to autocratic rule are practical considerations in preserving the regime’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocracy

Posted by: pheno | Dec 21 2023 17:45 utc | 11

Democracy is governance by the people, no connection to voting for “representatives” which we know is a lost cause, which is why I don’t vote. . .It only encourages them.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 21 2023 17:50 utc | 13

Yemen didn’t just now show up on the scene.
Just want to remind everyone that we have been attacking Yemen using Saudi as the proxy for 10 years or so. We have bombed the hell out of them killing many thousands outright. We have imposed crushing sanction that have killed over 300,000 in the worst way possible to kill, by slowly starving them to death in the arms of loved one who die shortly after. Not unlike the infamous 500,000 Iraq children 25 years or so ago.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/09/14/1196420876/theres-a-glimmer-of-hope-on-yemens-war-front-yet-children-are-still-dying-of-hun

Posted by: jef | Dec 21 2023 17:57 utc | 15

@Don Bacon | Dec 21 2023 17:50 utc | 13

Democracy is governance by the people, no connection to voting for “representatives” which we know is a lost cause, which is why I don’t vote. . .It only encourages them.

The purpose of voting is not to have ‘representatives’ forward the voters interests. Instead, it is a mechanism to transfer legitimacy from voters to politicians and make voters complicit in the crimes committed by the same politicians.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 21 2023 18:07 utc | 17

Incremental election subversion
This form of democratic backsliding entails the subversion of free and fair elections by, for example, blocking media access, disqualifying opposition candidates and voter suppression. This form of backsliding typically takes place before Election Day and now tends to be done in a slower and more incremental way that the changes may even seem not urgent to counter, making it tougher for watchdogs like the media to find and broadcast the cumulative threat of all the mostly small, but significant misconducts.While the accumulation of power is more likely to start with this slower linear progression, it can accelerate once voter power seems too divided or weakened to repair all the damage done to institutions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding

Posted by: phenon | Dec 21 2023 18:20 utc | 19

Mr. Giuliani filed papers in federal bankruptcy court in New York, listing debts including legal fees, unpaid taxes and the $148 million he was ordered to pay to two Georgia election workers.

Posted by: Jonathan W | Dec 21 2023 18:31 utc | 21

Expect to see a succession of smug halfwit EU politicians smirking and bragging shortly about how they have stolen Russian assets.
Hyundai has just sold its car factory in Russia for a few thousand roubles, the equivalent of £85, to a Russian investor. The factory was worth £173 million. I suspect that if you factor in PPP considerations, the figure would be 3 x that.
This is just a minor example. BP/ Macdonald’s/ Renault and countless others have taken far greater hits. BP wrote off an energy investment of £25 billion. Renault’s much bigger plant was sold for either a nominal one euro or one rouble. To add insult to injury, one of its Chinese competitors is turning out quality 4x4s there.
Western capital has taken a huge hit from sanctions, far greater than anything the EU kleptocrats can steal.
But we’re now in the 12th sanctions package. When you’re in a hole, just keep digging.
When you factor everything in, permanent loss of markets, loss of exports, loss of cheap and reliable energy and raw materials, disruption to supply chains, resulting inflation, scaring away foreign investment, bankrolling the Kiev kleptocrats, all the fancy, overpriced “wonder weapons”, the cost of the Ukraine Project is already well into the trillions, and will only multiply over time.

Posted by: anon | Dec 21 2023 18:35 utc | 23

You can tell the state of US’ diplomatic corps by their infantile dogmatic diplomatic discourse, and emphasis on coercion.
Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 21 2023 12:30 utc | 20
Here’s an old story. Centuries before European Americans constructed “Law of the Seas” or the Suez Canal …
Description of Hormuz, Polo:63-64

CHAPTER XVI
OF THE CITY OF ORMUS, SITUATED ON AN ISLAND NOT FAR FROM THE MAIN, IN THE SEA OF INDIA OF ITS COMMERCIAL IM PORTANCE AND OF THE HOT WIND THAT BLOWS THERE.
AT the extremity of the plain before mentioned as extending in a southern direction to the distance of five days journey, there is a descent for about twenty miles, by a road that is extremely dangerous, from the multitude of robbers, by whom travellers are continually assaulted and plundered. [1] This declivity conducts you to another plain, very beautiful in its appearance, two days journey in extent, which is called the plain of Ormus. Here you cross a number of fine streams, and see a country covered with date-palms, amongst which are found the francoline partridge, birds of the parrot kind, and a variety of others unknown to our climate. At length you reach the border of the ocean, where, upon an island, at no great distance from the shore, stands a city named Ormus, [2] …
—
[fn. 1] “In the mountains near Hormuz, it is said, there is much cultivated land, and cattle, and many strong places. On every mountain there is a chief, and they have an allowance from the sultan or sovereign; yet they infest the roads of Kirman, and as far as the borders of Fars and Sejestan. They commit their robberies on foot ; and it is said that their race is of Arabian origin, and that they have accumulated vast wealth.” Sir W. Ouseley’s transl. of Ibn Haukal, p. 140.
[fn. 2] The original city of Ormuz, or Hormuz, was situated on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Persia, in the province of Mogostan, and kingdom of Kirman. Ibn Haukal, about the latter part of the tenth century, speaks evidently of this city, on the main, when he says: " Hormuz is the emporium of the merchants in Kirman, and their chief sea-port: it has mosques and market-places, and the merchants reside in the suburbs.”; p. 142. It was destroyed by one of the princes who reigned in Kirman, of the Seljuk dynasty, according to some accounts, or the Moghul, according to others. The exact period is not satisfactorily ascertained. On this occasion, the inhabitants removed, with their most valuable effects, to the neighbouring island of Jerun, about thirteen geographical miles from the former situation, where the foundation of the new city of Hormuz, or Ormuz, destined to acquire still greater celebrity than the former, was laid, although under the disadvantages of wanting water, and of a soil impregnated with salt and sulphur. Abulfeda, who wrote in the early part of the fourteenth century, and was a contemporary of our author, describes the insular city. This island was taken from the native princes, in 1507, by the Portuguese, under the famous Alfonso Albuquerque. In their hands," says Robertson, " Ormuz soon be came the great mart from which the Persian empire, and all the pro vinces of Asia to the west of it, were supplied with the productions of India; and a city which they built on that barren island, destitute of water, was rendered one of the chief seats of opulence, splendour, and luxury in the eastern world." Historical Disquisition, p. 140. From them it was wrested, in 1622, by Shah Abbas, with the assistance of an English squadron. Its fortifications, and other public structures, were razed by that conqueror; and its commerce was transferred to a place on the neighbouring coast, called Gambrun, to which he gave the name of Bandar Abbassi. But in the meantime the discovery of the passage from Europe by the Cape of Good Hope operated to divert the general trade into a new channel, and that which was carried on by the medium of ports in the Gulf of Persia rapidly declined. In the year 1765, when Niebuhr visited these parts, the island on which Hormuz stood was possessed by a person who had been in the naval service of Nadir Shah, and the place was become quite insignificant.

(emphasis added)

Posted by: sln2002 | Dec 21 2023 18:55 utc | 25

@24Canuck. Hardly a Canadian thing to say, if u haven’t figured out what Echo believes that makes u stunned.

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Dec 21 2023 19:32 utc | 27

Posted by: Eoin Clancy | Dec 21 2023 19:11 utc |
Very true Eoin I completely agree with your thinking.
However, there is a big but,
Elvira Nabiullina is the biggest threat to Russia today. She has just raised interest rates to a whopping 16% in December. That is complete insanity.
Elvira Nabiullina actually believes she is controlling bank lending. Take a look for yourself she isn’t.
Russia Loans to Private Sector
https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/loans-to-private-sector
Why ?
1. The spot and forward price for a non perishable commodity imply all storage costs, including interest expense. Therefore, with a permanent zero-rate policy, and assuming no other storage costs, the spot price of a commodity and its price for delivery any time in the future is the same.
However, with rates at 16%, the price of those commodities for delivery in the future would be 16% (annualised) higher. That is, a 16% rate implies a 16% continuous increase in prices, which is the textbook definition of inflation!
It is the term structure of risk free rates itself that mirrors a term structure of prices which feeds into both the costs of production as well as the ability to pre-sell at higher prices, thereby establishing, by definition, inflation.
2. The cost of credit reflects the prices of all goods and services. So business just passes those costs to the Russian consumer via higher prices.
Elvira Nabiullina has learned absolutely nothing from Turkey and Argentina when they raised rates. She should be studying Japan who haven’t raised rates and have inflation of 3.3%.
Just Watch what happens when you graph Russian interest rates against Russian inflation rates. The inflation rate tracks the interest rate. Elvira Nabiullina has it backwards.
Solution :
Slash interest rates like Japan so your can actually see where the inflation is coming from and in what sector.
Then apply regulations on bank lending. Focusing on quality rather than quantity.
a) Quality of borrower regulations
Set a minimum standard of a borrower.
b) Quality of Sector regulations
Regulate loans to sectors where it will adverse effects in the future and ask if that sector is where you want loans happening right now.
c) Quality of activity regulations ,
Focus on what activities the loan is actually for and regulate accordingly to match your industrial and public policies.
Elvira Nabiullina believes in the Tolkien one rate to rule them all fantasy it is a huge problem. The BOE has missed its inflation target 107 times in the last 180 months. How much longer before we accept changing the base rate doesn’t work?
Elvira Nabiullina is going to cause more problems than she thinks she is fixing.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Dec 21 2023 19:46 utc | 29

Just ask both Argentina and Turkey what happens to your inflation rates when you keep increasing the cost of credit as you hike interest rates.
Rate hikes = price hikes.
Argentina :
https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfront.net/charts/argentina-interest-rate@2x.png?s=apdr1t&v=202312192030V20230410&w=850&h=400&url2=/argentina/inflation-cpi
Argentina has just cut interest rates and if they keep cutting them Watch what will happen. Inflation will fall.
Turkey:
https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfront.net/charts/turkey-interest-rate@2x.png?s=tuibon&v=202312211106V20230410&w=850&h=400&url2=/turkey/inflation-cpi
If they keep hiking they will be in trouble unless they regulate lending.
Turkey Loans to Private Sector
https://tradingeconomics.com/turkey/loans-to-private-sector
Interest rates at 45% lol and loans haven’t decreased lol, as the increased cost of lending just get passed onto the Turkish consumer via higher prices.
Eventually they’ll just break the economy like Volker did.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Dec 21 2023 20:18 utc | 31

U.S. DELUSIONS:
https://nitter.net/tiger_hype/status/1737653192673116527#m
Tiger TypeWriter 🐯
@tiger_hype
18h
US are completely paranoid about China overtaking them, their tactics to block them has simply backfired spectacularly, so the US resort to scaring every neighbour of China into thinking they are going to invade them, including us.
Arnaud Bertrand
@RnaudBertrand
19h
This is a good read on “why the American technological war against China could backfire” and “supercharge China’s creation of an independent computer chip industry”.
theconversation.com/why-the-…
It’s exactly what is happening and at the end of the day, as the article makes clear, it’s all about hubris.
It was always beyond delusional for the US to believe that it could stop the technological progress of a country that IS AHEAD OF THEM on all metrics that matter for it, as detailed in the article:
– “Chinese high schoolers score the highest in the world in reading, science and mathematics”
– “Chinese universities are outperforming institutions in the rest of the world in the vast majority of disciplines”. For instance, critically, China has 6 of the top 10 universities in the world in engineering whilst the US only has 2…
– China produces more than double the number of STEM PhDs every year than the U.S.
– “In 2022, China overtook the U.S. for the first time as the country or territory publishing the most research articles in prestigious natural science journals”
– “China published the highest number of scientific research papers annually between 2018 and 2020, and had 27.2 per cent of the world’s top one per cent of the most frequently cited papers, compared to 24.9 per cent for the U.S.”
– According to research done by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute “China is leading [the world] in 37 of 44 cutting-edge technologies, including nanoscale materials and synthetic biology”
– Etc.
Conclusion from the article: “When it comes to the use and production of knowledge-based industries, China has more advantages than any other country in the world. American actions will create a new generation of Chinese high-tech firms that will compete directly with the U.S. and western businesses from whom they used to buy their products. These firms will produce more affordable products than their western counterparts, and could dominate technological infrastructure in the Global South.”
In a nutshell the very notion that China is a country whose technological progress could be stopped is almost criminally deluded, and derives from both a deep misunderstanding of China by the US and a deep overestimation of American capabilities… Adopting this strategy is backfiring big time and will without a doubt yield a considerably worse result for the US than if they’d favored a “coexistence” collaborative approach 🤷‍♂️

Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 20:24 utc | 33

https://nitter.net/HanShanEH/status/1737093667687665908#m
Emmanuel Hemmerlé
@HanShanEH
I often disagree with Jonathan Cheng’s depictions of today’s China. But this time, I must commend him for promoting an article that gives credit to Xi Jingping’s outstanding economic accomplishments.
Xi’s critics claim that he has been shifting China’s priorities from the economy to politics, from development to central power, from the private sector to the state-owned enterprises. They accuse him of abandoning market reforms for the sake of reversing to hardline communism. The most outlandish ones even suggest he is heralding the return of Maoism. Of course, all these arguments are false and ludicrous: they are unfounded and motivated only by not-so-hidden agendas.
“In fact, guojin mintui has never been Xi’s policy [guo jin mintui, 国进民退, means “the state enterprises advance, the private sectors retreat”]. By 2011, one year ahead of Xi’s ascent to top leadership, the total asset value of China’s central SOEs had inflated four times compared to that in 2002. It was at that time that guojin mintui became a popular phrase.”
“And instead of “retreating,” the private business flourished tremendously in Xi’s era. According to a study by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, China’s private sector share only took up 8% of the economy in 2010, and it soared to 55.4% in mid-2021. Right before the Covid pandemic, Chinese business owners registered over 15,000 firms a day, three times the figure in 2010.”
“Also, a group of unicorn private companies with global impact emerged, taking the lead in lithium batteries, drone-making, and even social messaging apps. That was something inconceivable when Xi first took office. It was only made possible with improved intellectual property protection, more properly regulated financial system, and less administrative intervention over the past decade.”…

Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 20:37 utc | 35

MOSTLY AMERICAN-BRITSH CREATED PROPAGANDA ANTI-CHINA MYTHS WHICH LINGERING AROUND STILL:
https://nitter.net/CN_MFG/status/1736776006500065733#m
David J. Levy (黎帝杰)
@CN_MFG
For no good reason (no one asked me) I’ve decided to post a list of China-related hoaxes, and to debunk them.
The hoaxes I’ll be covering are:
1. Mao’s (or his policies) killed 50 million Chinese during the Great Leap Forward. (Spoiler Alert: no he didn’t).
2. The Chinese government forces killed tens of thousands of Chinese in Bejing on June 4, 1989 (Spoiler Alert: no they didn’t)
3. Uyghurs in Xinjiang are subject to genocide, cultural genocide, or enslavement. (Spoiler Alert: no, they aren’t)
4. China has implemented a scary, dystopian social credit system.
I’ll start with my debunk of hoax #1 above attached to this post…
EDUCATE YOURSELF AND FOLLOW THE LINK !!!

Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 21:02 utc | 37

by Echo Chamber | Dec 21 2023 20:32 utc | 34
Yes. Add that to a real consumer prices and a shopping power and a to value of both against each other.
It comes out as a current Euribor on 3.8%, probably very soon going over +4%.
For the same interest rate in Russia you have much more liquid cash power left, than in the West.
I think RF has somewhat different economy as we know it. There is also a state owned industrial megatrend going on there, too. Probably RF’s economic strategists know what they are doing.
From my personal experience, in RF one can buy groceries lot cheaper and of a better quality than in EU.
Living costs and food are negligible to the most of the people I know.
Hometech stuff as TV, fridges etc. range from 100 Euro, to 5000 Euro for a top-line of a prominent German brand. In both cases the choice and variety of quality offered is multiplied overshadowing the best, most expensive, European stores.
At a fraction of the price.
Also I might imagine the out-pour of the Ruble in a BRICS exchange volumes.

Posted by: whirlX | Dec 21 2023 21:08 utc | 39

When I thought euroukrs can not surprise me more…
https://t.me/gleberve/2517
Whatch the video and listen to the genuine sincerely of the voice.
– I’m a journalist for “news from the war”. Would you please tell you opinion about this menora…
– …Khanukia, it’s Khanukia…
– …being installed in Kiev? Was it proper or not?
– I hold it was right thing…
– …right thing?
– …because Israel is on our side, and [TL Note: not sure if I understood correctly the next part] they take the same stand as ours is in this war, and they support us.
– Oh! And this so right! Thank you, thank you for your position.

Posted by: Arioch | Dec 21 2023 21:23 utc | 41

https://www.mintpressnews.com/enslaved-nonprofits-how-ngos-colonize-developing-countries/286444/
ENSLAVED BY NONPROFITS: HOW NGOS COLONIZE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DECEMBER 12TH, 2023
By KIT KLARENBERG

Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 21:44 utc | 43

MEANWHILE IN MODI-‘LA LA LAND’
Why Modi is facing a backlash over mass suspension of Indian opposition MPs
Two-thirds of the 142 opposition MPs in lower house are now suspended as Modi’s BJP is set to pass major criminal code reforms
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/parliament-mps-suspended-modi-why-b2466989.html

Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 21:54 utc | 45

https://gab.com/NEO_Journal
White Flags, Black Flags, Where’s the Flag of Peace?
I had intended to write about the Canadian government’s embarrassment over the revelation that the two “Michaels,” the two Canadians arrested in China several years ago for espionage, after Canada illegally detained Huawei chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on President Trump’s orders, were actually spies after all, despite Canada’s denials which are still maintained.
The revelation…
You can read the full version on our website:
https://journal-neo.su/2023/12/21/white-flags-black-flags-wheres-the-flag-of-peace/?feed_id=5987&_unique_id=65841425d8840

Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 22:03 utc | 47

Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 21:54 utc | 45
What a hoot! Modi, leader of “world’s largest democracy” morphing into Shehbaz Sharif. Idly wondering if state.gov will ignore this “back-sliding” or flip country of particular concern coin to Canada’s major crimes task force.

Posted by: sln2002 | Dec 21 2023 22:42 utc | 49

Bar Biden From The Ballot?
Posted by: MD | Dec 21 2023 21:12 utc | 40
That’s what happened to New Hampshire. The DNC is infested with idiots.

Posted by: sln2002 | Dec 21 2023 22:57 utc | 51

” Elvira Nabiullina has learned absolutely nothing from Turkey and Argentina when they raised rates. She should be studying Japan who haven’t raised rates and have inflation of 3.3%.
Posted by: Echo Chamber | Dec 21 2023 19:46 utc | 29 ”
Oh, I think she knows exactly what she is doing.

Posted by: Moonie | Dec 21 2023 23:28 utc | 53

Scorpion, in case you missed this at the end of the last open palestine thread, I shall repeat here:
I prefer the word ‘saga’ to ‘myth’, Scorpion. I think it answers Plato, who ends manh dialogues with a ‘myth’ he has obvioously devised from his own imagination. Homer still triumphs because that is saga, not myth. And so is the early Bible, according to Buber — Saga! The word rings more truly than myth because it has strength and spirit, which myth lacks. One can feel superior to myth; but not to saga. Dr. Zhivago, both movie and book: saga. Lawrence of Arabia, the movie (which ‘Dune’ copies shamelessly): SAGA
Saga is what we are woefully missing these days, and no, I don’t mean ninja turtles.

Posted by: juliania | Dec 21 2023 23:45 utc | 55

Leaking/exposing the cancerous tumor of corruption that is driving the $hit show should be a priority. Leaking is the duty of all true adults who know of things that should be leaked. Traitors & cowards help barbaric war criminals by sitting on their hands.
Who thinks endless wars drenched in Big Lies with serious global existential threats are ok? What about the honey trap/ black mail bribery operations that are still taking place? Threats to kill grandchildren? An operation of the centuries old ruling elite? & their servants ie: AIPAC, Mossad, CIA, MI6, & NATO? Are they behind the “deletion” of many huge game changing inventions that would have made war, environmental degradation, & poverty easier than ever to eradicate? Have they been keeping the people divided, dumbed down, doped up, & too afraid & confused to see what’s happening? Are they freaking out because the truth can no longer be hidden & that poses a deadly threat to their hold on power? Lights on Rats out!

Julian Assange said:
“The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere… any decision-making… based upon lies or ignorance can’t lead to a good conclusion.”
The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive “secrecy tax”) and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaption. Hence in a world where leaking is easy, secretive or unjust systems are nonlinearly hit relative to open, just systems. Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance….
We have come to the conclusion that fomenting a worldwide movement of mass leaking is the most [cost-]effective political intervention.”
===
===
Truth is coming & it can’t be stopped. Edward Snowden
===
===

It is essential that all thinking people should give time and thought to the consideration of the major world problems with which we are now faced… It must be recognized that the cause of all world unrest, of the world wars which have wrecked humanity, and the widespread misery upon our planet, can largely be attributed to a selfish group with materialistic purposes, who have for centuries exploited the masses and used the labour of mankind for their selfish ends… This group of capitalists has cornered and exploited the world’s resources and the staples required for civilised living; they have been able to do this because they have owned and controlled the world’s wealth through their interlocking directorates, and have retained it in their hands. They have made possible the vast differences existing between the very rich and the very poor; they love money and the power which money gives; they have stood behind governments and politicians; they have controlled the electorate; they have made possible the narrow nationalistic aims of selfish politics; they have financed the world businesses and controlled oil, coal, power, light and transportation; they control publicly or sub rosa the world’s banking accounts.
The responsibility for the widespread misery to be found today in every country in the world, lies predominantly at the door of certain major interrelated groups of businessmen, bankers, executives of international cartels, monopolies, trusts and organisations, and directors of huge corporations, who work for corporate or personal gain. p. 70/1
Alice Bailey, The Problems Of Humanity (1944)
====
====
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.
Albert Einstein

Posted by: Toby C | Dec 22 2023 0:21 utc | 57

I will take the third of the Mirriam Webster definitionns (with my bolds) of the word saga as I mean it to be understood:
3:
a long detailed account
a saga of the Old South
also : a dramatic and often complicated story or series of events
“For many people, the process caps an already lengthy immigration saga ”
—Nora Caplan-Bricker
“A federal appeals court hears arguments Tuesday in the legal saga of two film producers fighting long prison terms and prosecutions ”
…

Posted by: juliania | Dec 22 2023 0:39 utc | 59

In my post at 59, those examples were the dictionaries.. My own example of a missing modern day saga would be:
“There is a non-existant saga of the US Congress resolving to redress the financial situation in the country by taxing the rich who are profiting from war, and have been doing so longer than we care to remember.
Instead, this is the ‘saga’: less wealthy citizens are left drowning in debt in order to attempt an education, or to pay for health concerns which a universal single payer system should be and could have addressed long ago.”
We get to talk about everything else but that.

Posted by: juliania | Dec 22 2023 1:13 utc | 61

Posted by karlof1 @ | Dec 22 2023 0:40 utc |60:
Thank you, karlof1 – that is most impressive indeed, and it stimulates the thought that both China and Russia are simply ‘coming into their own’ in ways that would have been impossible before the advances in technology that have been occurring, so that what we see as economies of scale for them are absolutely staggering.
For instance just one example, that of highspeed rail — a smaller country has no need for this. I am thinking of what happens for us in our little state of New Mexico. We think of ourselves as having vast distances to cover, but they fail in comparison — they are really teeny tiny! So what I love to do, spend a day doing my transportation trek in the midst of just a few surrounding communities, is so small by comparison that it is simply laughable. But at the same time, it fills my need for companionship in remarkable ways and I wouldn’t swap it for the world!
Today I was delighted to see pull up alongside my bus a trailer full of the most beautiful creatures- there must have been fifty young goats, cream and brown, some with magnificent curving horns, all standing with no room to move about on an open trailer. They looked so calm and happy, as though each had been lovingly scrubbed clean; and waiting at the traffic light we on the bus admired them and enjoyed their peaceful demeanor as if they knew how they needed to be, which was simplya enjoying one another’s company – and we enjoyed them.
I have no idea where they were heading; that didn’t matter. I’ve never seen so many goats in one place, so happy. It was a wonderful sight.
So I guess I am trying to say there is enormous scale being accomplished in larger nations, and good that it is, but also, the economy of scale where countries are smaller is also admirable, and much to be sought after. We ought not attempt to emulate large scale projects if those can only be accomplished for smaller countries through threats and intimidation. We are better off to choose our own path, according to the size of our own nations, with the goal always that of citizen involvement and happiness. It ought not to be a contest; there are advantages in being smaller.
Putin said:
“…I want to point out that we are not closing ourselves off from the American continent, North America – the United States and Canada, we are not closing ourselves off from European countries, and it’s time for them to stop fooling around and wait for us to collapse…. ”
Indeed. We should be about our own improvements, which are crying for attention! I really hope that can happen. Enjoy our beautiful goats, people!

Posted by: juliania | Dec 22 2023 2:25 utc | 63

juliania | Dec 22 2023 2:25 utc | 63–
Thanks for your reply. The difference as I said in that report is the US elites are pursuing a completely different path that produces nothing of material value which will be its demise.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 22 2023 2:35 utc | 65

@ juliania | Dec 22 2023 0:30 utc | 58
the difference as i understand it is one for me that has the idea of myth evoking a lot of imagination whereas the idea of saga seems more formal and conservative in nature.. maybe i am not articulating it very well, but that is what the words evoke in me.. why do you like the word saga more then myth? also – i saw something recently on homers odyssey using the word logos in it… so perhaps homer predates plato? not sure..

Posted by: james | Dec 22 2023 3:24 utc | 67

Norwegian | Dec 21 2023 18:07 utc | 17
“The purpose of voting is not to have ‘representatives’ forward the voters interests. It is a mechanism to transfer legitimacy from voters to politicians and make voters complicit in the crimes committed by the same politicians.”
That’s one of the better formulations I’ve heard. One of the greatest propaganda triumphs in history is how the institutions of Western civilization have fully brainwashed the vast majority of its inmates into the religious belief that Democracy = “Elections” and “Voting”, and most of all that any kind of meaningful democracy could ever subsist in a mass society.

Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Dec 22 2023 6:10 utc | 69

MD | Dec 21 2023 21:12 utc | 40
“This week’s decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to bar former President Trump from the presidential ballot has led to expected repercussions:
Republicans across the country are threatening revenge barring Biden from red state ballots. Where is voting in this country headed?”
Terminally along the trajectory it’s long been on.

Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Dec 22 2023 6:35 utc | 71

Another tiny penis. I mean tiny brain.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-67751449
Buried so deep on BBC website it was a struggle to find. Obviously there is no comment from any of the clown politicians who were pretending to be so outraged by perceived antisemitism a few years ago.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Dec 22 2023 8:49 utc | 73

Seems I am not blocked from commenting on my phone now but still the Preview and Post are faint on my laptop. Can anyone explain?
Is it ‘cos I am in China? MoA still not blocked here by the way, just as well because VPN has been down for six weeks,

Posted by: Walt | Dec 22 2023 10:19 utc | 75

I entered name, email and message but no go .
Am I banned? Nobody said.

Posted by: Walt | Dec 22 2023 11:30 utc | 77

https://t.me/milinfolive/112957

Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan confirmed his participation in the meeting of the heads of the national security councils of the Council of Europe countries scheduled for January 14, 2024, taking place in Davos.
It is interesting that before this, Grigoryan refused to participate in the meeting of the Secretaries of the CIS Security Councils in Moscow, but at the same time agreed to go to Davos, where it is planned to discuss Zelensky’s “peace formula” for Ukraine and provide assistance to it, from which Russia will not participate, for obvious reasons. , refused. Also in October, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia already met with the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Ermak in Malta, where they discussed “strengthening cooperation between the countries.”
It is important to understand that Armenia is still a member of the CSTO and is part of the unified air defense system of the CIS, and the head of its Security Council obviously has extensive classified information about such things. At the same time, the EU is also increasing its mission in Armenia under the pretext of resolving the conflict with Azerbaijan, when it has practically ceased.
Thus, Armenia, still formally a military ally of Russia, in the person of Grigoryan, openly attends European events where opposition to Russia is discussed, meets with the head of the Office of the President of Russia’s current military enemy, and also intensifies purchases of weapons from the NATO country France, which supplies weapons to Ukraine for the war with Russia.
In fact, Armenia’s separation from Russia is developing by leaps and bounds.

Kissinger’s remarks on this subject are instructive, Empire’s got nothing more edifying in store for these punks than it did for Gaddafi.

Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 22 2023 11:56 utc | 79

Posted by: Walt | Dec 22 2023 10:19 utc | 75
after you have entered the comment hit Return. That will remove the greyed over “Post”.

Posted by: Surferket | Dec 22 2023 12:11 utc | 81

Posted by: DunGroanin | Dec 21 2023 20:43 utc | 36
Very thoughtful response and very interesting.
I think about that kind of stuff all the time. So you are not alone in thinking that way because they are important. I tried to explain what interest rate targeting doesn’t do and via their training and education what they think they are doing. They don’t match up.
The central bankers apart from Japan has it all backwards. You know the reason why by now. It is entrenched in gold standard, fixed exchange rate type thinking.
You touched on an important one demand leakage’s. Saving being one of them.
Demand leakages are unspent income. For a given currency, if any agent doesn’t spend their income, some other agent has to spend more than their income, or the output of the economy doesn’t get sold.
So if the non government sectors collectively don’t spend all of their income, it’s up to government to make sure its tax collection is less than its spending, or the output doesn’t get sold. This translates into what’s commonly called the ‘output gap,’ which is largely a sanitised way of saying unemployment.
When you have the external sector trying to net save, households and businesses trying to net save. Is why government runs deficits most of the time. They have to accommodate and allow the non government sectors to net save their income.
Looking at Russian private sector savings in cash and bonds this doesn’t look like a problem. They are really low.
Inflation is always an issue all spending from government to bank loans can be inflationary. If there are not enough skills and real resources and the productive capacity can’t absorb the increased demand.
So why deliberately increase inflation like the Russian central bank is doing when the Russian economy is getting hotter ? Makes absolutely no sense.
It makes sense to them though as they think they are reigning in bank lending. As I’ve shown she isn’t.
A 16% interest rate is absurd. If she wants to reign in bank lending then do it properly. Use other tools that will actually work.
While using government spending to strategically target the output gap to strengthen the supply side. Free up bottle necks and look out for price pressures in different sectors and expand your productive capacity. Thus moving the threat of inflation way out into the future and away from the danger zone.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Dec 22 2023 12:30 utc | 83

“The west would like to believe that Russia and China are inherently hostile to one another and only come together when misguided western leaders ‘push’ them together. This is a legacy fantasy of national-capitalist thinking, that everyone is either a resource or a competitor, or at best a temporary ally against a more immediate threat. US foreign policy has always been driven by this perspective, but this isn’t necessarily true in other parts of the world. Xi is very big on ‘win-win’ solutions, and this is not just rhetoric, it’s a very Chinese attitude that this is necessary for long term stability.”
Posted by: Honzo | Dec 21 2023 19:41 utc | 28
Very perceptive analysis-thanks.
That’s why China has been a powerful culture for 4,000 years whereas America after 200 and some years is already fading as a power.

Posted by: canuck | Dec 22 2023 12:36 utc | 85

https://www.newsweek.com/erasing-american-global-military-footprint-wont-make-better-world-opinion-1853556
The latest in warmonger thinking. Fairly, if guys are from a “war” college, I don’t think diplomacy is their primary concern. The US has made mistakes but had good intentions (as with ‘the road to hell’?).Without the US, dictatorships would be everywhere and Russia/China would run loose (gasp!)
The BS here is that if China/Russia became number 1, they must negotiate because China in particular is far too alien to do otherwise. They would offer a railroad or a port or cash or a mine. Russia isn’t much different and doesn’t have the population to do much otherwise. So, yes, the world could get better, mostly.

Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 22 2023 12:55 utc | 87

“When you have the external sector trying to net save, households and businesses trying to net save. Is why government runs deficits most of the time. They have to accommodate and allow the non government sectors to net save their income.”
Posted by: Echo Chamber | Dec 22 2023 12:30 utc | 83
I disagree.
Lord Keynes proposed that government saves in good times and when a recession occurs the government ‘runs a deficit’ as they stimulate the economy through deficit spending.
Unfortunately, many economists, and yourself as well, use Neo-Keynesian theory-an abomination of Lord Keynes’ original policy ideas- where governments run deficits in good times and bad times.
This engorged deficit spending is unsustainable.
City understands this chronic structural problem that is why the West is now pushing for war-it is only way the West ‘saves’ itself from economic destruction and remains the Hegemon.
In ancient times a ruler would call for a Debt Jubilee to reset the damaged economy; prosperity then emerged once more-the City does not desire that -they want perpetual debt enslavement for the Serfs.
It’s too bad you are inadvertently supporting their dastardly human exploitation.
A pity..

Posted by: canuck | Dec 22 2023 13:01 utc | 89

Some Russian positions are disappointing and are diminishing its standing.
Iran now openly critical of Russia:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/12/22/716810/Tehran-slams-Arab-Russia-statement-on-Iranian-trio-islands
https://mid.ru/en/press_service/vizity-ministra/1922267/
Joint Declaration of the Sixth Session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum at the Ministerial Level, Marrakesh, Kingdom of Morocco, 20 December 2023
https://mid.ru/en/press_service/vizity-ministra/1922267/

Posted by: JB | Dec 22 2023 13:12 utc | 91

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Dec 21 2023 19:56 utc | 30
You criticising Nabiulina is like the street musician begging for coins criticing Luciano Pavarotti’s performance in La Scala when singing La bohème.
How do you explain the fact that Russia grew exponentially from 2000 to 2014 as Nabiulina took ever more important roles in the economy of Russia since her start as economy advisor to Putin in 2000?
The economic development of Russia during Nabiulina’s terms as advisor, minister and head of central bank is one of the most successful periods of economic development of any country. Did all that happen DESPITE Nabiulina? 😀

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Dec 22 2023 13:38 utc | 93

In the late 13th century Marco Polo (1280?)the Venetian was in Kublai Khan’s court. The Mongol period is called the Yuan dynasty-rather appropriate I think. Anyways, Marco Polo was amazed, dumbfounded that the Emperor was exchanging Chinese paper money in return for the merchant’s gold and silver.
That ‘magic alchemy ‘ didn’t last long :
“In 1352, the last Khan, Toghon Temür, issued the fourth as well as the last version of Yuan’s paper money, the zhizhengchao [至正钞] (r. 1333–68). With the fall of the empire, the new currency depreciated heavily. After 1356, paper money was rejected by the people and driven out of circulation.”
I believe we are in the same situation now with our ‘fiat’ money.
Gold is today at all time highs.
Time will tell.

Posted by: canuck | Dec 22 2023 14:06 utc | 95

“I disagree.
Lord Keynes proposed that government saves in good times and when a recession occurs the government ‘runs a deficit’ as they stimulate the economy through deficit spending.
Unfortunately, many economists, and yourself as well, use Neo-Keynesian theory-an abomination of Lord Keynes’ original policy ideas- where governments run deficits in good times and bad times.
This engorged deficit spending is unsustainable.
City understands this chronic structural problem that is why the West is now pushing for war-it is only way the West ‘saves’ itself from economic destruction and remains the Hegemon.
In ancient times a ruler would call for a Debt Jubilee to reset the damaged economy; prosperity then emerged once more-the City does not desire that -they want perpetual debt enslavement for the Serfs.
It’s too bad you are inadvertently supporting their dastardly human exploitation.
A pity..”
Posted by: canuck | Dec 22 2023 13:01 utc | 89
So much mixed up thinking it is difficult to know where to start Canuck you have everything upside down and back for front. So just the norm then.
a) A government doesn’t save why would it- it ” issues” the Damn thing. It is not a household or business it is the monopoly issuer of the currency and monopoly rules apply.
It’s the equivalent of saying running a budget surplus gives the government more money to spend – quite simply absurd Canuck.
b) The debt jubilee was to get rid of private sector debt not public debt which is just people’s savings.
It is the City that creates the private debt that the debt jubilee is screaming to have removed. Not government that only creates saving assets for the private sector in the form of bonds or cash.
The budget deficit = the private sector surplus which keeps the private sector out of debt. As it provides ” savings” to the private sector.
c) Did your not see with your “own eyes” how household and business savings rates EXPLODED as the deficit moved higher and higher as the government spent more than they taxed out of the economy.
They matched each other to the penny and always do. It is an accounting fact. When you run a trade deficit.
Here by the man who wrote the book about debt :
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LxJW7hl8oqM&pp=ygUUVVMgc2VjdG9yYWwgYmFsYW5jZXM%3D
UK sectoral balances:
https://new-wayland.com/blog/uk-sectoral-balances/
US sectoral balances:
https://stephaniekelton.substack.com/p/bidens-sotu-mentioned-the-deficit?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2FSectoral%2520balances&utm_medium=reader2
Type in the name of any country and you will find their sectoral balances. What you don’t believe your own eyes?
d) So what did households do with all those savings during the pandemic ? Look at the stats – they paid off some credit card loans, normal loans, to free themselves from some of the debt the city created upon their shoulders as deficits had been too small for 50 years.
The large deficits provided HUGE spending power as the economy opened back up again that kept many employed. Would you rather have unemployment raging through communities or employment with a little bit of inflation Canuck ?
Now the bit an ideologue conveniently ignores – the most important bit :
We say run deficits nearly all of the time because The private sector is incapable of engaging all the resources of the economy on its own. It’s just too productive and doesn’t need everybody. Hence why we have persistent unemployment. Do you once again not believe your own eyes again Canuck ? Or are we simply stating a truth.
The size of the deficit should be whatever it takes to create full employment. What is wrong with it ? It might be 3% depending on private sector activity or 10% it they are not hiring.
The paradox of productivity is that firms must be allowed to succeed individually in eliminating jobs if we are to drive productivity forward, but cannot be allowed to succeed in aggregate if there is to be anybody with any money to buy the output.
The Job guarentee squares that circle and thereby drives the private sector to its most efficient output. Is to ensure the private sector can drop labour and replace it with machinery without affecting the demand side of the economy.
What on earth is wrong with that ?
You It seems prefer to see unemployment Canuck and lost output. Because you believe the free market tooth fairy will provide jobs for all. With banks and businesses Moving people around like ignots of steel = Deluded and ideological drivel.
The JG wage is a fixed living income wage. It never competes on price.
Because there are people on the JG, working and turning up every day, that is a greater threat to the living wage worker in the private sector – since they can be more easily replaced if they ask for more money.
However, the worker doesn’t have to put up with sweat shop wages and can move to the JG at will. So Uber et al have to pay a wage that reflects the risk and reward of the job or they won’t get any labour.
Similarly if a firm tries to raise its prices because they now can’t pay sweat shop wages, then that negates the “non-competitive” protection in the JG and JG labour can be used by social enterprises/local democracy to replace the operation trying to raise its prices.
The result is that firms that drive quantity expansion by automation are favoured. Firms can shed labour as automation proceeds, safe in the knowledge that the JG will catch those people and make sure they have a job and an income in the area they want to live in.
Demand stays up and productivity is driven forward, and that is where the higher level wage increases can come from.
What on earth is wrong with that ?
YOU prefer unemployment and all the problems within society it causes. Want dead wood in The economy that hold low wage workers captive and refuse to automate.
When you move from the JG to the private sector, government spending reduces as the private sector spending increases. This is because your wage is now paid by the private sector, not the government.
When a private sector firm goes bust, you lose your private sector wage and get a job guarantee wage – which may be lower. That increases government spending as the private sector spending is withdrawn, and nips back any boom wages that may not have been justified since the bust operation failed to push forward productivity.
Those payments and reductions are spatially targeted precisely where they are required. So you can have an area where private sector employment is increasing. Government spending on JG jobs will reduce in that area. While at the same time, the JG is increasing spending in a weak area elsewhere in the country.
What on earth is wrong with that ?
YOU prefer rural communities to be hollowed out by the brain drain as everybody moved to the cities to find work.
JG is a credible threat to both workers and firms. The only degree of freedom left is to do more with less.Both the financial half and the expectations half work together to anchor wages and prices.
Either you have an unemployment buffer doing the stabilisation (as we have now) or you have an employed buffer. The employed buffer is superior, to the extent that it can replace the interest rate targeting mechanism we have now and base rates can be left at 0% permanently.
Which ensures mortgages remain low.
What on earth is wrong with that ?
Lord Keynes proposed pump priming. Priming the pump which ultimately led to Labour’s famous roads to nowhere. A deficit dove.
An accounting fact – see the government balance sheets for details :
Arguments in favour of “fiscal responsibility” miss this fundamental point completely and, in so doing, end up supporting the kinds of policies that will worsen (rather than improve) the private sector’s financial well-being.
Austerity, more bank lending.
Taxes are a “leakage.” They remove money from the private sector. Government spending, in contrast, is an “injection.” It adds money to private sector balances.
When the government spends (injects) more than it taxes (withdraws), the resulting deficit ADDS to the private sector’s holding of net financial assets.
Should the government run a surplus by collecting (withdrawing) more than it spends (injects), the private sector will end up with FEWER financial assets.
So any deficit, provided it does not push the economy beyond productive capacity, improves the private sector’s (real) financial position.
You can believe what you like but the above is an accounting fact.
So Canuck why do you think people saving is unsustainable? Would you rather banks lent to households put them in debt so that households screamed for a debt jubilee like in 2008?
Why do you think the deficits should be whatever it takes to reach full employment is a bad idea ?
If you don’t like the idea then Get the private sector to hire them all lol. Instead of leaving humans long term unemployed in their communities.
Rather than priming the pump and leaving roads to nowhere.
We recognise the huge problem of Keynes pump priming. The Job Guarantee is an advanced auto-stabiliser which implements ‘Spatial Keynesianism’. ‘Spatial Keynesianism’ is just a fancy way of saying that spending happens in the locations that need it. More in some areas and less in others depending upon the level of other activity at the time.
Means that it is withdrawn progressively and spatially as private economic activity increases. People hired away from the Job Guarantee start being paid with private funds, not public funds, so you get a swap of spending power, rather than an increases.
The deficit decreases yes you read that right decreases as people in the job guarentee move into the private sector.
Compare that to your thinking Canuck. Leave the unemployed rotting in their communities and the automatic stabilisers INCREASE the deficit automatically. As a private sector wage is lost and replaced by welfare payments.
You have it all backwards.
In summary:
So you can disagree all you like Canuck, as you don’t understand money your are 100% at odds with the assets and liabilities of a government balance sheet.
Quite amazing you confused the debt jubilee as public debt ( people’s savings ) rather than what it was private debt which is a real debt that has to be paid back. Is really quite extraordinary.
Saying we just want deficits without any context or without even mentioning the automatic stabiliser and superior price anchor the job guarentee. Either shows you just to be an ideologue, stupid, or way to lazy to read the 35 year body of work.
And to use pump Priming as an attack shows you fail to reflect on Even a tiny little bit of economic history. Which we fix with the job guarentee.
You want to drown government and promote bank lending which led to the Minsky moment in 2008. You completely ignore it and then have the utter cheek to call deficits unsustainable lol. When all deficits are is people’s savings held as cash pmsl.
My advice is go back to the drawing board. At least learn the difference between public and private debt. That would be a good start. Stop misrepresenting government balance sheets at least until you learn them.
At least you are debating at least, but just saying you disagree at least have some clear facts to back it up.

Posted by: Echo Chamber | Dec 22 2023 15:11 utc | 97

Norwegian | Dec 21 2023 18:07 utc | 17
“The purpose of voting is not to have ‘representatives’ forward the voters interests. It is a mechanism to transfer legitimacy from voters to politicians and make voters complicit in the crimes committed by the same politicians.”
That’s one of the better formulations I’ve heard. One of the greatest propaganda triumphs in history is how the institutions of Western civilization have fully brainwashed the vast majority of its inmates into the religious belief that Democracy = “Elections” and “Voting”, and most of all that any kind of meaningful democracy could ever subsist in a mass society.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Dec 22 2023 6:10 utc | 69
“If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.”
Mark Twain

Posted by: canuck | Dec 22 2023 15:42 utc | 99