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The MoA Week In Review – OT 2024-066
Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:
Palestine:
- February 26 – Aaron Burned Himself To Make Us Look At Gaza
- February 29 – Zionists Use Food-Baits To Attract And Kill Starving Civilians
- March 2 – Prediction: Israel Will Bomb Gazans At Drop Sites For U.S. Aid
Related:
– Burnt Offerings – Aaron Bushnell and the age of immolation – N+1, Feb 29 2024
– Aaron Bushnell’s Death Can’t Rightly Be Called An Act Of Suicide – Caitlin Johnstone, Mar 3 2024
– The Shoah after Gaza – Pankaj Mishra / LRB, Mar 7 2024
– Redemption through genocide – Barnett Rubin / Mondoweiss, Mar 2 2024
– Season 6, Episode 15: Devastation in Gaza with Craig Murray & Roger Waters (Audio) – Assange Count Down Of Freedom
– How Israel defied ICJ provisional measures, one month on – MEE, Mar 2 2024
– ‘Israeli violence is legitimized and Palestinian counter-violence is delegitimized’ – FAIR, Mar 1 2024
– First it was Corbyn. Now the whole British public is being smeared over Gaza – Jonathan Cook / MEE, Mar 1 2024
– Dropping aid from planes is expensive and inefficient. Why do it? – Washington Post, Mar 2 2024
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Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis – 2:42 UTC · Mar 3, 2024
So, the US has airdropped 0.02 meals per Gazan. Better than nothing? Maybe, if they were airdropped by an aid agency. But, a GROSS DISGRACE when airdropped by the same military that gives Israel the gigantic bombs that killed 30k of them.
Even Obama's butcher of Syria is miffed:
Robert Ford @fordrs58 – 19:36 UTC · Mar 1, 2024
i've seen Israel humiliate previous US administrations, but aside from murderous 1967 Israeli airstrike against US navy ship Liberty, now forcing USA to do airdrops of aid to Gaza as if USA is no better than Egypt & Jordan is Israel's worst humiliation of USA i've ever seen.
i should add that USA will do humanitarian aid airdrops to Gazans if the Israeli Air Force graciously agrees not to shoot down the American planes over Gaza.
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Ukraine:
Russia:
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Other issues:
"As if by chance" – A cotton story in three acts:
> EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton told reporters in Paris Friday that the bloc also faced challenges finding the raw materials for gunpowder.
"To make powder, you need a specific kind of cotton, which mostly comes from China," he said.
Nitrocellulose, also known as guncotton, is a key ingredient in gunpowder manufacture.
"Would you know it, deliveries of this cotton from China stopped as if by chance a few months ago," Breton added. <
Wokistan:
Allocation of peace, security, and stabilization funding
Gender-inclusive demining for sustainable futures in Ukraine
Funding: $4 million
This project from the HALO Trust aims to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians, including women and internally displaced persons, by addressing the threat of explosive ordnance present across vast areas of the country. Project activities include conducting non-technical surveys and subsequent manual clearance in targeted communities; providing capacity building to key national stakeholders; and establishing a gender and diversity working group to promote gender-transformative mine action in Ukraine.
Middle East:
Boeing:
- 21 years ago:
Boeing buzzes about 'source' of work – Seattle Times, Mar 9 2003
As Boeing quietly plans its next new airplane, executives have already made clear that the company will rely more than ever on external partners and suppliers to design, develop and produce it.
…
A controversial internal paper warns that excessive outsourcing could lead to the loss of the company's profits, its core intellectual assets and even its long-term viability.
- Now:
Boeing wants to buy back the company that builds the body of its troubled Max planes – CNN, Mar 2 2024
Boeing said it is in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier that was part of Boeing until a 2005 sale and one that was also involved in an Alaska Airlines mid-air door plug blowout.
…
Boeing sold Spirit in 2005, receiving $900 million in cash for the sale. Wichita, Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems makes major parts of several Boeing models, including the fuselages for the 737 Max. The parts are then shipped to Boeing’s factory in Washington state via rail.
Use as open (not related to Ukraine or Palestine) thread …
This is an excellent analysis of the true productive capacity of relative nations versus the GDP statistics which are so heavily skewed toward services in the West (and open to manipulation through the counting of financial service costs as output etc.).
“During wartime, services lose their importance relative to agriculture, industry and construction. It then becomes necessary to calculate the share of the goods-producing sectors across different economies in order to have an accurate understanding of how they really compare,” says Sapir.
Russia is between China, where services represent only 49% of GDP, and countries like the United States, France and Italy, where services represent at least 75% of GDP. Germany occupies an intermediate position, with 69% of its GDP coming from services.
Looking at the share of productive industry then Germany is only 90% of Russia’s in terms of productive industry, while France is a mere 44% of Russia’s industrial power.
China is even further ahead, with Germany equivalent to only 11% of China’s productive industry, and even the US is only 34% of China’s productive power, according to Sapir.
Russia is backed by the industrial power of China and Iran, while having more then enough raw materials on and under its home soil (something that cannot be said for raw material import dependent Europe). When looking at productive power, the West is now significantly below that of China let alone China+Russia+Iran. And those nations have much less extractive oligarch controlled MICs, meaning that they can produce weapons designed for warfare at reasonable prices rather than weapons designed for outsize profits. Also, the RIC don’t have the costs that the US has in maintaining and defending its global network of bases.
And Russian industrial power is no idle boast; the Kremlin has been putting all those factories to good use, which has caused a military Keynesianism economic boom.
Russia’s industrial production has been running hot all of last year and, after a dip in December, expanded by 4.6% in January, RosStat reported on February 29. (chart), Russia’s manufacturing PMI has done even better, surging in February to post 54.7, up from 52.4 in January, putting in its biggest gains in 13 years, S&P Global reported on March 1, driven by massive state fixed investment into military production. PMIs in the rest of Europe remain deeply in the red, with Germany doing worst of all, although analysts say the bulk of the slowdown may be already over. Russia is on course to spend a whopping 8% of GDP on defence this year, far outstripping most of Europe, which has yet to reach the 2% of GDP mandated by Nato membership.
“When it comes to gross production, China’s share is three times the US’ share, six times Japan’s, and nine times Germany’s. Taiwan, Mexico, Russia and Brazil now have higher gross output than the UK. Canada is further down the ranking, in 15th place,” says Baldwin.
https://www.intellinews.com/long-read-china-and-russia-the-industrial-production-superpowers-that-could-win-a-war-314926/?source=ukraine
And Germany’s industries are about to be gutted as they lose the Chinese market and face increasing competition among the Other 7 Billion (mostly from China) and in Europe itself (again China). In addition, at any sign of European nations getting directly involved in Ukraine I would expect Russia to immediately stop all LNG and oil exports (even the indirect ones) to Europe, creating a new fossil fuel price shock there. Plus of course any other Russian-exported goods that Europe relies upon.
Posted by: Roger | Mar 3 2024 16:55 utc | 16
The domination of Zionists over American and wider Western policies toward Israel was rising gradually. The roots were indeed in colonial attitudes inherited from the time of colonialism, but the tree did not grow in one day. Consider what USA did during Suez war. During 6 Day war, Israel was clearly on “our side”, while Syria and Egypt on “Soviet side”, but for some decades USA did hamper the growth of settlements (not too effectively, but it had slowing effect). Before the fall of Soviet Union, the competition between the blocks had tempering effect, even absolute monarchs in the Persian Gulf had the will to resist when pressed to far, and some type of popular revolution or a revolt of younger officers was plausible.
Bill Clinton played a dirty game during his peace process, but not overtly.
Perhaps “unipolar moment” was when hinges started to wobble more and more, until US support to Israel became totally unhinged in early years of Obama administration. Constrains of block competition were removed, there was no further need to accomodate “lower classes”, lest they get attracted to Communism, or to accomomdate leftists or nationalists around the globe. It was time to reap. What to reap? Lobby groups were quick with suggestions, and since there was no obvious limit on what was possible, we got a feeback loop: more funding to the lobby groups, more successes of lobbying, more funding etc. Gradually, intra-party politics in USA degenerated to “money primaries”, with few exceptions that were odd balls in Congress. Perhaps the same happened in other countries. And AIPAC became mother of all lobby groups.
Well funded and increasingly successful, AIPAC alumni were coveted by other lobbies, foreign governments seeking favors in Washington were hiring them. Participation in “money primaries” was particularly popular among Jewish businessmen. Perhaps there was some competition, like the most impressive tchotchke to display to envious guests. “This is my congressman, my Senator, my very own prime minister of Israel” — the latest being tchotchke of all tchotchkes, the owner, Adelson, raised to incredible heights, interviewing presidential candidates begging for approval. In 2016, things were SERIOUSLY out of whack. In primary Republican debates, the standard answer to the question “what would you do in a case of a crisis in the Middle East” was “I would call Netanyahu first”. This brazenness was a bit smaller among Democrats, e.g. Schumer would know what to do without a phone call. Some differences were amusing, because Republicans, while uber-supportive of Israel, were often totally ignorant, hence the promise of making phone calls.
A parallel process was the rise of ideological dominance of think tanks across the collective West. Think tanks are lobby instruments, so the mechanism is the same, funding, success, more funding … although with additional sinister element, namely think tanks connected to military-industrial complex are also connected to intelligence agencies and deep state in general. So the funding, success cycle was embedded in strategic planning on the principle that everything is possible, any reward, any punishment. And, until now, no collective plan is too insane.
As everyone was busy lobbying, getting lobby funding etc., Israel was left to her own devices, namely, there was no detriment on growing more extremist except for internal politics. However, what passes for Israeli liberals, was based on the conviction that Israel cannot go to far without loosing external support. As they were proven wrong again and again, they got thoroughly discredited. As above, nothing was too insane.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 4 2024 0:29 utc | 41
MYths
1] We’r fighting Jews/Israel’s wars
uncle sham was born a bandit…
A Taste for EMPIRE
by Valdas Anelauskas
The capitalist logic of expansionism led U.S. elites to seek not just a continental but a global empire. Hence, even before the smoke had cleared at places like Wounded Knee, greedy eyes were being cast across the waters of the world as the country’s business and governmental leaders contemplated the acquisition of colonies in a variety of strategic locales. Given the climate, it was no overstatement when in 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American war, the editors of the Washington Post opined that, “We are face-to-face with a strange destiny. The taste of Empire is in the mouth.” Or, as Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge more accurately framed the matter about three years earlier, “We have a record of conquest, colonization and expansion unequaled by any people in the Nineteenth century. We are not about to be curbed now.”
https://tinyurl.com/4jrvks2u
2]
Washington takes orders from Tel Aviv
Washington sanctioned Tel Aviv for arms sales to China !
3]
Jew control USA is going after China
War on China has been a FUKUS led campaign since ENA
4]
Jews control the world
How come the only people indicted by ICJ have been black and…..Jews. ?
**
Not a single gardenist had to face the music at ICJ ??
Speak volumes about who’s the real controller.
5]
This is not the xtian’s way, its the jews way
forchrissake !
The international xtian brohood has been the most rapacious colonisers EVER since they fanned out from England to colonise the ROW.
tHEIR gringo cousins took over that white man burden mantra, without missing a beat…
William McKinley clothing the robbery in the following words:
“…there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all (all of Spain’s possessions) and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow men for whom Christ also died.”
Sen. Albert Beveridge in the U.S. Senate,
“We will not renounce our part in the mission of our race, trustee, under God, of the civilization of the world,” “Where shall we turn for consumers of our surplus? Georgraphy answers the question. China is our natural customer….The Philippines give us a base at the door of all the East.”
6]
MOA’S resident pop
white man dindunuthin, its the Jews fault
white man dragged screaming and kicking by the joos to the killing fields…
JIm ‘mad dog’ Mattis of Fallujah’s fame
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
Fallujah’s mass graves are silent witness to the diligent obedience to Mattis’s orders.
“Actually, it’s a lot of fun to fight … It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right upfront with you …”,
7]
Trump is different from all the previous ones, he’s for the people !
FFS
Trump announce upfront he’s a MIC appointee, just like every one before him.
From the horse mouth…
We’re also put nothing a massive budget request for our beloved military.
(APPLAUSE)
And we will be substantially upgrading all of our military, all of our military, offensive, defensive, everything, bigger and better and stronger than ever before. And hopefully, we’ll never have to use it, but nobody’s gonna mess with us, folks, nobody.
(APPLAUSE)
It will be one of the greatest military build-ups in American history. No one will dare question as they have been because we’re very depleted, very, very depleted. Sequester. Sequester. Nobody will dare question our military might again. We believe in peace through strength and that’s what we will have.
(APPLAUSE)
Posted by: denk | Mar 4 2024 17:11 utc | 85
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