Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
December 24, 2023
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2023-315

Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:

Ukraine:

This flight from Moscow to DC and back stayed on the ground for some 54 hours. Those were looong negotiations.


bigger

It is likely not by chance that this somewhat positive New York Times piece appeared soon after the flight had left.

Palestine:


Other issues:

Empire:

Economy:

Brexit:

Germany:

Use as open (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza) thread …

Comments

Posted by: denk | Dec 27 2023 16:35 utc | 89
——————–
gringo rationalising why they dindunuthin about foreign scammers

We cant just send in the marines willy nilly to any sovereign country you know ?

Thats too funny …
265 interventions since 1991 !
btw why is brute force always your first choice ?
Just lean on Delhi a bit will do innit, you guys are buddies FFS
gringo

BUt our jurisdiction stop at the border donchaknow ?

Nice to know .
Tibet, Xinjiang, HK…..TW !
Here’s Vivek Subramaniam …

Why not invoke our 2nd amendment, ?
Give every TW household a M16 to defend themselves against the chicom !

cUT the crap !
aS always, Its a simple matter of assets vs liabilities.
Not worth pissing off Modi, a VIA, on behalf of some useless eaters at home. !
India is too big to lose, just like Indonesia.
The same reason why …
CONgress never heard of Kashmir’s Muslims.
Trudeau was left hung out to dry in his confrontation with Modi.
Modi the VIA outranks Trudeau the Frenchie !
And, reportedly

no one has yet been caught for the bombing of the 1985 Air India flight from Toronto to London, that murdered 329 people: ‘Wiretaps by Canada’s intelligence agency had been erased before they could be used as evidence and physical evidence was destroyed in the blast.’

Posted by: denk | Dec 28 2023 5:00 utc | 101

Another front opening against the empire?
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-koreas-kim-orders-military-accelerate-war-preparations-kcna-2023-12-27/
I keep repeating this point, but I just can’t help myself to believe that none of the conflicts should be viewed in isolation. US empire could handle each one easily, but all of them coming at the same time? That might exhaust the US war machine and the US printing press.

Posted by: Hamburger | Dec 28 2023 10:53 utc | 102

———————————
Hong Kong Watch patron Lord Alton of Liverpool to RFA…
“The key question now is whether we finally joins the U.S. and Europe’s Parliament in calling for Jimmy Lai’s immediate and unconditional release,” .
The U.K. Government needs to demonstrate that it stands up for its own citizens and puts as much effort into fighting their corner as it does trying to drum up business deals with the [Chinese Communist Party] regime.
Posted by: denk | Dec 26 2023 17:25 utc | 64
————————————
In Balibo,
Suharto the VIA trumped five anglo
useless eaters.
One of the victims was the Brit Brian Peters.
IN 1998, His sister Maureen Tolfree tried to initiate a new inquiry on Peter’s murder.
Far from being helpful, London was derisive …

a do-gooder with dubious Left-wing connections back in the colony,

Rings a bell ?
In El Salvador…
“The nuns were also political activists.”

Posted by: denk | Dec 28 2023 15:25 utc | 103

@ 49 waynorinnorway – that is beautiful. Thank you for sharing the beauty of the wintry landscape and the inspiration it gave you!
Speaking of wintry landscapes. Another bit of obscure, somewhat sensational Canadian news. A small plane, with ten on board, crashed in the Northwest Territories, near Diavik Diamond Mine. Not to worry, they were all rescued safely by the military, with the aid of NORAD. Some injuries, but it appears everyone will survive. The Arctic can certainly be a very inhospitable place.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ten-people-rescued-from-plane-crash-site-in-remote-n-w-t-1.6703206

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Dec 28 2023 21:41 utc | 104

Who are the PRC’s Red Princelings? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_7eXEN2gnU
The 2nd generation of CPC leaders has 78% in millionaire business, the 3rd gen 83%. This is what faux communist Xi is up against. Capitalism is best at its own making money, communism is best at spending other’s money.

Posted by: Antonym | Dec 29 2023 3:12 utc | 105

robinthehood | Dec 27 2023 9:04 utc | 78
Unusually crass even for you.
The background to the war of 1812 was a great deal more complex than your whitewash of Bonaparte suggests.
Similarly your characterisation of Stalin and Hitler as dividing Poland between them is standard issue Nazi apologetics. It is simply untrue as anyone who has read anything of the attempts of the Soviet Union to enlist support from the west in what it understood (and the world understood) to be the central item of Nazi Foreign Policy.
The Poles decided that German fascism, very much like their own, was preferable to the most minimal defensive arrangement with the USSR and were determined to hang onto the little empire-western Belarus and Ukraine- that they had won in 1925.
As western capitalism resolves itself into fascism it has become important for its ideologues and apologists that these “They are all the same, as wise men have always known” pop historical theories should be broadcast.
Robin the Hood was an outlaw but an honest man who appears to have sided with the poor against the Norman conquerors and thieves. It is shocking to see his name associated with this semi-fascistic guff.

Posted by: bevin | Dec 29 2023 3:56 utc | 106

Xinhuanet has a posting up about a meeting by their Central Bank and the quote below is about their priorities with the housing market

The meeting stressed the importance of implementing differentiated housing credit policies precisely, meeting the people’s needs for basic housing and better conditions in an improved manner, satisfying the reasonable financing needs of real estate enterprises with various ownership structures without discrimination, and promoting the sound development of the real estate sector.

I continue to be impressed by the openness of the China form of government and they do what they say they are going to do in a non-aggressive manner…..and when something isn’t working they change and it seems they are building change into their processes which is positive, IMO

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 29 2023 7:40 utc | 107

Posted by: Hamburger | Dec 28 2023 10:53 utc | 102
“strategic default” & “empire under attack”.
The most important question is this: Is USA the true power in Earth or is the empire a privilege granted to an incorporated entity of a hypothetical cabal.
I believe the Cabal transcends Empire(s). If USA defaults on all its debts before losing its preeminence, then I am wrong. There is no Cabal.
If, however, USA is dethroned (and a now powerless “USAians” hold “debt that transcends history”) then they will be forced to make payments on “debt that can never be repaid”. Since as any old pleb in debtors prison knows, not all debts are equal and the critical matter of determining which is which and who is who was and remains Power. Should that happen, know that Cabal continues in power.
Situation is so far unclear so ambiguity remains.
We could read USA’s actions re Nato and EU as preparatory steps to defaulting on its debt.
We could also see the concerted effort on USA now as Cabal making sure it goes down before it defaults.
Which would make all the Land Khans running authoritarian personality cults — every single one of them wat do you know!! — actually working for the Cabal and not God or Marx or whatever.
TBD, as they say.

Posted by: robinthehood | Dec 29 2023 19:43 utc | 108

Interesting website: The German Marshall fund.
https://www.gmfus.org/
Check it out !!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Mr. Market | Dec 29 2023 21:03 utc | 109

Posted by: bevin | Dec 29 2023 3:56 utc | 106
Try this for “crass”: fuck you. Can’t have a discussion without dragging personas into it. Grow up.

Posted by: robinthehood | Dec 29 2023 21:33 utc | 110

Milei in Argentina going full 1990s Menem redux, centralizing power in the presidency so that he can rule without troublesome democracy. That way he can sell cheap state assets to his buddies, make sweet outsourcing deals to his buddies, cut anything serving the people and beat demonstrators as much as he likes for the next 4 years – this is what full on unlimited oligarchy looks like!
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Argentina's-Milei-submits-comprehensive-reform-bill-to-Congress/61200510
For those that don’t know the history, what happened under Menem (with some other background on Argentinian political economy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CzS6eHqtnQ&t=2s

Posted by: Roger | Dec 30 2023 2:26 utc | 111

@Posted by: bevin | Dec 29 2023 3:56 utc | 106
Yes, the Polish elite would have been very happy to ally with the Nazis to invade the Soviet Union but their own arrogance got the better of them and they would not provide the access to Danzig that the Germans requested. Not much seems to have changed given their current stance, allying with the US against both Russia and Germany.
The Soviet Union simply took back what Poland had taken in the Russo-Polish War, a war that Poland had started by invading the Soviet Union when it was weak, Exactly the same way that it had taken advantage of the Time of Troubles.

Posted by: Roger | Dec 30 2023 2:32 utc | 112

@Posted by: Hamburger | Dec 27 2023 11:47 utc | 83
The BRICS was and is never going to be a major agent of change in the world. Brazil is run by a “neoliberal with crumbs” president hemmed in by a right-wing congress, India is a two-faced oligarchic Hindutva crazy house, and South Africa is a neoliberal’s paradise. Argentina is out, Ethiopia was never going to be strong enough unless it rejected the odious debts of the previous regime, and Egypt is utterly bankrupt.
Only Russia and China are drivers of change, and will drive change with the real change agents – Iran, North Korea, the Stans, Syria and Iraq. That is the real bloc of change. With ASEAN acting as the allied fastest growing economic bloc integrating more and more with China (the idiot leader of the Philippines will not stop this).
Its is in the East that we see the real drivers of global change, parts of Africa may be aided in overcoming Western dominance, plus some small parts of South America (Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia) but they will not be the drivers of global change.
BRICS is irrelevant.

Posted by: Roger | Dec 30 2023 2:43 utc | 113

George Carlin

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups

Democrazy at work…
Milei, Baerbock, Von Yehlen, Trump, BIden, obama, Clinton, Sunak, Boris, Morison, Albanese, ………
tip of an iceberg

Posted by: denk | Dec 30 2023 3:07 utc | 114

I mean von Der Leyen….

Posted by: denk | Dec 30 2023 3:12 utc | 115

ZH has a posting up with the title
Jamie Dimon, Who “Hates” Bitcoin, Will Be Broker-Dealer On The Bitcoin ETF Of The World’s Biggest Asset Manager
The ZH tweet

So… Jamie Dimon, who has called bitcoin a “hyped up fraud”, “worse than tulips”, etc, is going to be the Authorized Participant for the biggest bitcoin ETF soon to be approved by @GaryGensler, and run by the Fed’s shadow money manager
Couldn’t make this up

The Roaring 20’s of last century are going to pale in comparison to the Raging 20’s of this century.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 30 2023 3:25 utc | 116

The kind of !@#$% they keep ‘voting’ into power…
Throwing gringo under the bus is as American as apple pie !

2002
murder of two American teachers and an Indonesian colleague near the huge Freeport McMoRan gold and copper mine in West Papua
Australian intelligence intercepted phone calls from Indonesia’s then Commander-in-Chief, Endriartono Sutarto, discussing carrying out the ambush as a way to discredit the OPM and get the U.S. to declare it a “terrorist” organization.
A police report argued that the OPM “never attacks white people,” and found that the teachers were killed with an M-16, the TNI’s basic weapon. The OPM is generally armed with bows and arrows. Based on the investigation of the incident, then Police Chief of West Papua concluded that the TNI was behind the ambush.
GUess what ?
Washington’s long arm jurisdiction overrode
Indon police, FBI helped arrest Wamang, an POM cadre and 11 other civilians, including a priest, a teenager and several farmers, for the murders
The arrests allowed the Bush administration to exonerate the TNI, declare Indonesia a “strategic partner” against China and waive congressional restrictions on military aid [Lockheed Martin drooling…]

[Courtesy Conn Hallinan]

Posted by: denk | Dec 30 2023 3:45 utc | 117

“Biden said to be increasingly frustrated by dismal poll numbers – Washington Post”
Biden should retire, let Kamala Harris take the blame. If R’s nomincate Ramaswamy, their campaign would be craptasticall funny. But whoever won,homelessness would grow, and a new unwinnable war would be provoked.

Posted by: lester | Dec 30 2023 18:18 utc | 118

ZH has a posting up with the title
‘Experts’ Say New COVID Strain Will Cause Global “Heart Failure Pandemic”
the quote

Does this have ANYTHING to do with
Pfizer acquiring Arena Pharmaceuticals, for 6.7 billion.
Ask yourself- What do they make? inflammatory medications….
You know,
so they can continue causing side effects with product #1,
then turn around and “cure you” with product #2.…

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 30 2023 19:52 utc | 119

I’ve been following MoA daily now for about 7 years, principally as a lurker, rarely posting. MoA is my main source for geopolitical info.
I often see 3 and 4 letter abbreviations/acronyms that I’m unfamiliar with and am obliged to look them up. I have collected a list of nearly 100 of these and have posted this list on the internet for anyone interested to consult this collection for any abbreviation/acronym that you might come across and not know. Click the link below to access this list.
http://www.jugglerpress.com/acronyms.pdf

Posted by: Alchemist | Dec 30 2023 20:01 utc | 120

ZH has a posting up with the title
‘Fiat Alternatives’ Fly In 2023 As Powell Pivot Sparks $20 Trillion Surge In Global Stocks/Bonds
It is a fairly comprehensive summary of the US and global economy gyrations in 2023 and looking at the last 6 months, everything has gone extra crazy.
One wonders when the rubber band won’t take any more windings and break.
2024 is likely to see that rubber band break somewhere and sheer the rest into pieces as all the dominoes start falling…..who gets the movie rights?….grin

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 30 2023 20:13 utc | 121

Alchemist | Dec 30 2023 20:01 utc | 120
re acronyms/abbrevs list
Warms me heart. Thank you most helpful spirit.

Posted by: chu teh | Dec 30 2023 20:36 utc | 122

@Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 30 2023 20:13 utc | 121
Yep, feels awfully like a 2008 redux is coming. There were blowups in mortgage lenders and a couple of MBS/CMO (mortgage backed security / collateralized mortgage obligation) funds blew up in 2007, mirroring the regional bank blow up in 2023 but the market continued onwards in 2008. Even after the market hiccup with the March 2008 Bear Sterns rescue the market still kept slowly rising into September, as the underlying financial system was becoming unglued, when the shit finally hit the fan. A very good stock market chart in the attached shows the ability of the market to ignore reality for quite a while:
https://invezz.com/definitions/financial-crisis/
We now have a massive issue brewing with defaulting car loans, to add to mortgage issues. We also have massively more debt today than we had in 2008, and governments already running large deficits (massively in the case of the US). Plus huge amounts of liabilities taken out at near zero interest rates. Also, the technology sector feels more like the dot com bubble days than 2008. Whist the Fed hides the massive deposit run on the low/no interest bank deposit accounts.
The Fed may cut, but it will be in a panic reflecting rapidly deteriorating conditions. The interest rate cuts of 2007 and 2008 just put off judgement day for a little longer – same as we are currently seeing with all the Fed bailouts and hidden supports while the Democrats spend like there is no tomorrow. 2024 may very well be the SHTF year, but just like in 2008 the denouement may delayed until later in the year.

Posted by: Roger | Dec 30 2023 21:27 utc | 123

@Posted by: Roger | Dec 30 2023 21:27 utc | 123
Damn, read that chart wrong. The market did start going down from late 2007, with quite a few interim rallies (like the one after the Bear Sterns bailout) then fell apart in September. The market is currently at quite extreme overbought and bullish sentiment levels, so perhaps a New Year correction? We will see.

Posted by: Roger | Dec 30 2023 21:30 utc | 124

Hey everyone, 2023 (and 2020-2022) was a major drag. I’m presuming 2024 will exceed its predecessor.
Does anyone have an opinion on the Deagel Corporation. I ran across this on the message board on ZH, so I take it with a large grain of ethically sourced pink Himalayan salt, but nonetheless, it concerns me.
Deagel Depopulation Report
I will post my favorite New Years song by the Russian Village Boys!
с Новым Годом
I found another one from a more innocent time.
с Новым Годом – 2015

Posted by: lex talionis | Dec 30 2023 23:36 utc | 125

ooops!
The illegal occupation of some 1/3 of Syria by the USA, and its theft of many billions $$ worth of its natural resources, mainly the oil and the grain, is now costing the USA occupation forces dearly.
I don’t expect these attacks to let up, and I believe that the US doesn’t really know what to do about them either. the resistance is becoming more and more active, and for good reason as the slaughter of innocents in Gaza continues unabated
Cut and run would be a good idea for the uSA, but Biden/Sullivan/Blinken/Austin are loath to ‘lose’ another country…..
https://t.me/ResistanceTrench/22627
ResistanceTrench
Details of attack on the American military base in Syria
A Source within Resistance Axis: American military base in the Omar oil field in Deir Ezzor, Syria was targeted with seven missiles in the first two waves of attacks and five missiles in the third wave of attacks. During tonight’s attack, Al-Khadra village, which is the deployment area of ​​American soldiers in the Omar oil field base was targeted. In the attack on Koniko base, twelve missiles were fired towards this base, and despite the activation of the base’s defense system, the missiles hit their targets inside the base.
And
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iraqi-resistance-strike-us-harir-base-for-second-time-in-les
US bases in Harir, Conoco, Al-Omar targeted with drones, rockets
Al Mayadeen’s sources revealed that in Syria, the US occupation base in the Conoco oil field was targeted with five rockets, while the one in Al-Omar oil field was targeted with seven rockets.
“The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced on Saturday that it had targeted using drones the Harir US occupation base in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Erbil in response to the ongoing massacres committed by the Israeli entity against the people in Gaza.
In a statement, the group emphasized that this operation is part of its ongoing strategy to Resist the US occupation forces in Iraq and the region, vowing to continue “strikes against the enemy’s strongholds.”…..

Posted by: michaelj72 | Dec 31 2023 7:27 utc | 126

“BREAKING: Israel DEMANDS US Attack Iran”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoSnEZBeLYE
With the usual warmonger featuring in the video: Lyndsey Graham, John Bolton.

Posted by: Mr. Market | Dec 31 2023 8:59 utc | 127

“BREAKING: Israel DEMANDS US Attack Iran”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoSnEZBeLYE
With the usual warmonger featuring in the video: Lyndsey Graham, John Bolton.
Posted by: Mr. Market | Dec 31 2023 8:59 utc | 127

Featuring the usual line-up of warmongers: Naftali Bennett, Lindsey Graham, John Bolton.

Posted by: Mr. Market | Dec 31 2023 9:38 utc | 128