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The MoA Week In Review – OT 2024-044
Last week’s post on Moon of Alabama:
Middle East:
- February 5 – In The Middle East The U.S. Has Reached The End Of Its Abilities
- February 6 – This Picture Shows One Man And A Zionist Goon
- February 7 – MBS Says John Kirby Needs Some Mouth Wash
- February 7 – New York Times Defames Iraq’s Militia As ‘Foreign Elements’
- February 8 – U.S. Escalates War – Strikes Group Which Had Followed Orders To Stand Down
- February 10 – A Move On Rafah Might Be The Spark That Ignites A Bigger Explosion
Related:
– ‘The destruction is massive … It’s a disaster area’: Israeli soldiers speak about fighting in Gaza – Guardian, Feb 8 2024
–“Israel is heading towards street battles between the far right and families of hostages” – Seth Ackerman / Informer
– Chris Hedges: Let Them Eat Dirt – Scheerpost, Feb 8 2024
– Israel’s Self-Destruction – Aluf Benn / Foreign Affairs, Feb 7 2024
Netanyahu, the Palestinians, and the Price of Neglect
– How Gaza Reunited the Middle East – Foreign Affairs, Feb 9 2024
– Why is the US in Jordan and Syria? – LRB, Feb 1 2024
– Why Iran is hard to intimidate – Economist, Feb 6 2024
– Iran’s Proxies Aren’t Really Proxies – Amal Saad / Time, Feb 7 2024
A New Pan-Islamic Front May Be America’s Biggest Challenge
– “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” – US Stuck in the Middle East, Devoid of Deterrence Power – Naked Capitalism, Feb 10 2024
– US Blocks Yemen-Saudi Peace Deal – Antiwar – Feb 6 2024
– Chinese Ships Get Insurance Edge Navigating Red Sea – GCaptain, Feb 6 2024
– Study Finds Media Giants New York Times, CNN, and Fox News Pushing for US War in Yemen – Mintpressnews, Feb 6 2024
Ukraine:
—
Other issues:
Putin Interview:
Empire:
Nordstream:
Pakistan:
China:
> Russia is said to weaponize everything. The position of China is not (yet) seen in military terms. The emphasis is on economic competition. Any undeniable Chinese achievement must be declared to have been a bad investment. The directive thus reads:
“When writing about China’s achievements – question their purported cost.”
The (40+) results:
… <
The Web:
Use as open (not Ukraine or Palestine related) thread …
Economic Solutions: How To Go from Financialized Neoliberalism to a Productive, Sustainable Economy – Radhika Desai, Michael Hudson / Naked Capitalism
Tall order of business:
“”However, to get there from here, from our very highly financialized economies, transformations are necessary in a number of spheres. So today we want to focus on some of the main elements of this transformation, and one way to summarize what these elements would be is we’ve tried to divide our conversation into the following topics: Who should create money? What should monetary policy aim for? How do we redesign the taxation system? What about land, rent and so on? Should we nationalize the land and eliminate rent? How should the financial system be regulated? What should replace debt? Obviously, income rather than credit. And finally, how should international money be reorganized? So that’s what we want to discuss today.””
A few snippets from the body of the post:
1) ‘ And so the key here in terms of the creation of money is to take away the power that has been given by governments to the private sector to create money as credit and essentially create instead money as cash on the part of the government, minimizing the role of credit and therefore also minimizing the kind of indebtedness that has been so problematic for economies.’
2) ‘’as you pointed out, these days, bank credit is designed to inflate the value of already existing assets. And in fact, in doing so, it tends to strangulate the production of new goods and services, which people need.’
3) ‘ You want to tax economic rent, not value. Value is created by labor. You don’t want to tax labor’
4) ‘ And a rational land policy, which would be possible if you had nationalized land, would actually enable people to live near where they work and not suffer from this kind of long commutes and all the distortions of life that that brings, and of course, distortions of productivity that that brings. So it would also be a solution that you’d have a rational location policy, rational location of workplaces, housing, and of course, a rational transportation policy, as a consequence as well.’
5) ‘ A final point I want to make, you know, we’ve always emphasized that the problem with the financial system is predatory lending and speculation’
6) ‘ The government creates the kind of conditions in which you are able to make a contribution and make a good income, the kind of income you need for a decent standard of living.’
7). ‘ Keynes basically said that, look, if you’re in a stronger position, you should be able to help your partner who is in a weaker position to become productively stronger.’
“”So here we are, we’ve dealt with actually all our seven questions, and I hope that we’ve given you something to think about, about the kind of economic system we could have, we could easily have. The most important difficulty is not intellectual, it is political, and as the political legitimacy and power of those who are running the system, particularly in the United States, is visibly declining, cracking, etc., now is the time to strike, now is the time to raise demands for an alternative system, much as, by the way, Jill Stein is doing in her campaign, and I should add that Michael and I are both part of her advisory team, and so please look out for it. We hope to have her on one of our shows very soon, as soon as she is able to find some time, so that we will discuss the kind of economy that the U.S. needs, and I would say if the U.S. turned around, boy, so many other problems would be solved.””
Posted by: financial matters | Feb 11 2024 16:44 utc | 11
I was also falling asleep during Putin’s ~30 min history lesson. Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Feb 11 2024 15:53 utc | 5
<= my summary of the important part.
@ time when the Russian Leadership collapsed the leadership in the Soviet Union believed:
1. Ukraine was an integral [territorial] part of Russia,
2. the collapse erased the ideology which prevented Russia US cooperation and association.
3. No barriers to normalization of relations between Russia and the US existed.
but since those times,
1. NATO opposition to Russia expanded Eastward 5 times [the Baltic States, the whole of Eastern Europe, and so on}
1. Russia has transition ed from a communist entity to a true market economy,
2, Communist Party power in Russia has completely disappeared ... so
1. why is there No negotiation between the Russian Federation and the United States?
2. why did the United States attempt to develop Ukraine into a NATO eligible entity?
3. why did not the opponents of Viktor Yanukovich not recognize his election victory?
4. why did the treaty of association TOA (EU with Ukraine) deny Russia its free trade & close ties with Ukraine?
5. Why did Ukraine prosecute those who refused to accept the 2014 election coup?
6. Why immediately after Yanukovic refused to sign the TOA, did the CIA backed Maidan Coup happen?
7. Why was Yeltsin immediately dragged through the mud, accused of alcoholism, of understanding nothing, of knowing nothing because according to Putin explained Yeltsin understood everything?
Now President(2000) Putin, thought: now that the Yugoslav issue is over can Russia restore relations (with US and its allies):
1. Putin said he asked Bill Clinton, do you think if Russia asked to join NATO, do you think it would happen?“
2. Putin claims Clinton said: ”You know, it's interesting, I think so.“
3. But in the evening, after dinner, Clinton said [to Putin], I've talked to my team, no-no, it's not possible now [for Russia to join NATO].“
4. Putin said, if he (Clinton) had said yes, the process of rapprochement would have commenced
Tucker Carlson asked Putin,
1. Why.. the hostility?
2. Why did the end of the Cold War not fix the [broken] relationship?
3. What motivates this [refusal to cooperate] from your point of view?
Vladimir Putin responded:
1. Russia realised it was not welcome (in NATO)
2. nonetheless Russia sought common ground elsewhere.
3. Putin told Carlson for answers to why the negative response (about Russia joining NATO), TC should ask his leader.
Putin advanced another example (2008) where US leadership exerts pressure on its allies. In Ukraine in 2008, in Iraq, we were building relations with the United States in a very soft, prudent, cautious manner.
1. [Russia pleaded] .. the United States should not support separatism or terrorism in the North Caucasus.
2. Putin said the US President denied its was providing political support, information support, financial support, even military support in the Middle East. Putin said he presented proof and got an apology.
3. after some time, Putin said he received a reply, now in the Russian archives, from the CIA to the conversation (in 2)
”We have been working with the opposition in Russia. We believe that this is the right thing to do and we will keep on doing it.“ Again, Russia realized [cooperation with the US ].. was out of the question because the bureaucrats say so ].
Tucker Carlson asked: Do you think the CIA is trying to overthrow your government?
In A third example.. Putin said the United States officially said it justified its Missile defense to defend against missile threats from Iran. Putin said he suggested working together – Russia, the United States, and Europe. They said it (Putin's proposal) was very interesting. They asked me(Putin), ”Are you serious?“ I [Putin] said, “Absolutely”.
Putin said he said, ”Just imagine if we could tackle such a global, strategic security challenge together...we could drastically change the situation in the world.“
Putin said, the then Secretary of Defense R.Gates, former Director of the CIA, and Secretary of State C.Rice ...said to me(Putin), ”Yes, we have thought about it, ”But with some exceptions.“
Tucker Carlson: So, twice you've described US presidents making decisions and then being undercut by their agency heads. So, it sounds like you're describing a system that is not run by the people who are elected?
In 2008 at the summit in Bucharest they declared that the doors for Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO were open.
<==IMO, Carlson's interview with Putin, documents that Putin believes bureaucrats control the US, its allies and NATO politics. The come and go elected politicians have no final say; agency bureaucrats control in accord to the policies and influence of corporations, think tanks, and Oligarchs..
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73411
Posted by: snake | Feb 11 2024 20:15 utc | 37
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