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August 18, 2024
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2024-196

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

—
Other issues:

Palestine:

Sudan:

Aukus:

Hightech Fun:

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

Posted by b on August 18, 2024 at 13:05 UTC | Permalink
Comments

Got the back of Maggie’s hand…
When Brit’s worked for Germany…
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=mark+knopfler+why+aye+man&mid=5191201AE80A275B73795191201AE80A275B7379&FORM=VIRE

Posted by: kupkee | Aug 18 2024 13:13 utc | 1

@1
“Our intuition is that UK’s accession to the EEC signalled the pre-eminence of business groups that preferred to compete in the high-tech common European market over those that favoured the Commonwealth markets driven by comparative advantage….
The success of Mrs Thatcher’s reforms required EEC membership. These structural reforms were not implemented in a vacuum. They could not have existed without the powerful support of British entrepreneurs (Grossman and Helpman 2001), who benefited from a larger, deeper and more innovative market (contrast the EEC at the time with EFTA and the Commonwealth). These entrepreneurs also realised that to be competitive they would need access to deeper capital and labour markets supported by a set of common standards, rules and regulations (Baldwin 2016, Mulabdic et al. forthcoming). Without support from such powerful constituencies, Mrs Thatcher’s reforms would not have been implemented as they did, and certainly would not have been as successful.”
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/how-eec-membership-drove-margaret-thatchers-reforms
“As Powell’s account of the illustrious seminar at Chequers concluded, the best thing was to “be nice to the Germans.” ” 🙂
https://www.dw.com/en/new-files-shed-light-on-thatchers-anti-german-fears/a-36957838
UK joining EEC was contrived, manipulated, ‘unconstitutional’. Even the referendum was shifted to post accesion. Nothing wrong with just being “little England” .

Posted by: Ornot | Aug 18 2024 14:02 utc | 2

On ‘The geopolitics of the war in Sudan’
A depressing read. The country is destroyed. External actors with blood red hands.

Posted by: Don Firineach | Aug 18 2024 14:26 utc | 3

US Dollar Death, Banking Collapses & Endless Wars To Result In Hyperinflation | Lynette Zang

Today we sit with Lynette Zang and discuss why the US economy is in trouble and why the empire set-up will eventually end. The crazy deficit spending, disrespect for the US dollar and forever conflicts could push the world towards a hyperinflationary end. Listen to what Lynette has to say.
0:00 The Empire Is Ending, Economic Haywire
5:10 Gold Price Signals The End of Currencies
8:08 Dollar Sanctions Backfire
14:28 Insane US Deficits & Huge Debt Burden
18:53 What Is A Hyperinflationary Collapse?
24:31 China, BRICS, Gold Triggering Event
30:55 Government Spending Will Not Stop
35:44 Banking Collapses Won’t End Well
39:37 Forever Wars Will Doom Currencies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg7KpHiMME0

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 18 2024 14:40 utc | 4

In a 15 Aug article titled US has Ukraine’s back in Kursk incursion M.K. Bhadrakumar writes:
“The best spin that pro-Russian analysts could think of is that the Kremlin had set a trap actually so that Ukraine’s soldiers could once again be put into the meat grinder. It Is hogwash. It’s impossible to cover up the naked truth that Russian military has been caught with its pants down.”
Do “pro-Russian analysts” include b, who 3 days earlier in his “Ukraine SitRep: The Kursk Incursion Was Stopped” article, quoted The Economist in bold letters:
“The danger is we’ll fall into a trap, and Russia will grind our teeth down.”
and then agreed with the trap assessment by opining:
“It seems to me that this is exactly what has now happened. It was utterly foreseeable.”
Bhadrakumar added that “Ukrainian forces are creating a “security zone” inside Russia near the border with Ukraine” and “Ukraine is internationalising its operations in the Kursk Region, on a parallel track, it is also expanding the operations to include the oblasts adjacent to Kursk.” which contradicts b’s claim 3 days earlier that the Kursk incursion had already been stopped.
So which is it? As of today (18 Aug) has the Kursk incursion been stopped, or is it still expanding?

Posted by: Mark Mosby | Aug 18 2024 15:15 utc | 5

@ Mark Mosby | Aug 18 2024 15:15 utc | 5
b quote from ”this” thread – Use as open (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) thread …

Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 15:34 utc | 6

thanks b!
i will check out some of the links!
@ unimperator | Aug 18 2024 14:40 utc | 4
thanks.. that lady with the thing in her left hand spitting out paper bills is pretty funny…

Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 15:42 utc | 7

i might be wrong, but it seems to me the posters at moa have broken down into 3 categories – based largely on how b formats everything here… these are –
posters talking about ukraine
posters talking about palestine -israel
posters talking about everything else..
i find myself in the first and last category – mostly the last category, and rarely the middle category… not sure what to do with this, but it is interesting in some respects.. was it b’s thread approach that created it, or do posters gravitate to certain topics more then others? it appears they do.. i know i do..

Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 15:54 utc | 8

@ james | Aug 18 2024 15:54 utc | 8
Hi james,
I think a lot of it has to do with available information. No shortage of Telegram posts about the 404 SMO, so there’s more to talk about. Since we don’t have our own on-the-ground folks in places like Venezuela or Pakistan, we tend to hear about them only when something happens that’s big enough to hit the (grrrr) MSM.
Language barriers also play a role, and a lot of us just find certain parts of the world more interesting than others — which is understandable but often unfortunate.

Posted by: malenkov | Aug 18 2024 16:11 utc | 9

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240818/chinese-scientists-propose-magnetic-launcher-on-moon-to-send-resources-to-earth—reports-1119809091.html
Good Grief. Ever read The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress? China wants to do that stuff !

Posted by: Eighthman | Aug 18 2024 16:38 utc | 10

” A depressing read. The country is destroyed. External actors with blood red hands.
Posted by: Don Firineach | Aug 18 2024 14:26 utc | 3 ”
Ultimately, the blame is with its people, just like in Libya and Syria. They fell for the Zio lies now they pay the Zio price.

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 17:03 utc | 11

” US Dollar Death, Banking Collapses & Endless Wars To Result In Hyperinflation | Lynette Zang
Today we sit with Lynette Zang and discuss why the US economy is in trouble and why the empire set-up will eventually end.
Posted by: unimperator | Aug 18 2024 14:40 utc | 4 ”
People keep posting this kind of predictions but riddle me this.
What happens to all of China’s dollar holdings if the dollar collapses? Where will China and India sell their goods and services if the US consumer market collapses? What happens to all the nations currently propped up by US aid, I.E Egypt?

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 17:07 utc | 12

” Good Grief. Ever read The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress? China wants to do that stuff !
Posted by: Eighthman | Aug 18 2024 16:38 utc | 10 ”
This is not that good as it will ultimately lead to conflict. The moon should have the same status as Antartica.

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 17:10 utc | 13

Thanks to b once again for this important summary posting of the week’s important subjects. I offer here an article that I found when looking at one of b’s articles above: “Understanding what motivates ultra-orthodox Jewish attacks on West Bank Palestinians”.
http://www.acjna.org/acjna/articles_detail.aspx?id=3811
[I note that there is a link at the bottom of b’s offering which led me to this article. And yes, it is about American jewish attitudes, but it is not per se about ‘the war’ itself, so I think it belongs in this open thread. I will give an extract in my next post.]

Posted by: juliania | Aug 18 2024 17:57 utc | 14

Moonie @12:
Once again I will respond to you as a human out of respect for james opinion, even though obviously you are a troll.
“China needs us corpulent American consumers to consume their goods!”
Um, no.
Explain to me why other countries could not make a deal with China to print their own currency to buy Chinese goods and have China stockpile that excess currency in their central banks to prevent inflation in that currency, like they do with the US$? Then China can use that stockpile of currency to purchase goods and resources from the originating country.
The only reason the US$ was so popular as reserve currency was because it was stable and the US had things to sell other than its currency. These things are no longer true. In fact, to maintain the stability of the US$, other countries have to impoverish themselves buying up slack American currency. The US$ is far past its “use by” date.
US$ are currently the hot potato that everyone is trying to unload before the music stops, with the snag that if anyone is seen unloading large numbers of US$, then the music ends pronto.
The reality is that US$ are already just toilet paper, but many players in the global economy keep trading with them while holding their breath hoping nobody does anything to dispel the illusion of value for a just little bit longer.

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 18 2024 18:00 utc | 15

Moonie @12:
Once again I will respond to you as a human out of respect for james opinion, even though obviously you are a troll.
“China needs us corpulent American consumers to consume their goods!”
Um, no.
Explain to me why other countries could not make a deal with China to print their own currency to buy Chinese goods and have China stockpile that excess currency in their central banks to prevent inflation in that currency, like they do with the US$? Then China can use that stockpile of currency to purchase goods and resources from the originating country.
The only reason the US$ was so popular as reserve currency was because it was stable and the US had things to sell other than its currency. These things are no longer true. In fact, to maintain the stability of the US$, other countries have to impoverish themselves buying up slack American currency. The US$ is far past its “use by” date.
US$ are currently the hot potato that everyone is trying to unload before the music stops, with the snag that if anyone is seen unloading large numbers of US$, then the music ends pronto.
The reality is that US$ are already just toilet paper, but many players in the global economy keep trading with them while holding their breath hoping nobody does anything to dispel the illusion of value for a just little bit longer.

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 18 2024 18:00 utc | 16

Here is a short excerpt from the linked review I posted at juliania | Aug 18 2024 17:57 utc | 14 above:

In “Our Palestine Question,” Geoffrey Levin, assistant professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish studies at Emory University, recovers the voices of those Jews who first called for an honest reckoning of the plight of Israel’s Palestinian
population.
In the Introduction, Levin cites the visit in 1953 of Rabbi Morris Lazaron, an
early leader of the American Council for Judaism, to the Shatila refugee camp.
There, he witnessed “firsthand the suffering of Palestinian families who had lost
their homes during the war that accompanied Israel’s creation in 1948. The
‘illimitable misery’ of the refugees, to use Lazaron’s words, had a decisive
impact on the former head rabbi of the prestigious Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.
After his trip, Rabbi Lazaron began calling on the Israeli government to
recognize the right of Palestine’s Arab refugees to return to their prewar homes
and urged the Jewish state to admit 100,000 of them into the country immediately.”

[Apologies for the formatting. I was unable to correct it in my preview edit]

Posted by: juliania | Aug 18 2024 18:15 utc | 17

What happens to all of China’s dollar holdings if the dollar collapses? Where will China and India sell their goods and services if the US consumer market collapses? What happens to all the nations currently propped up by US aid, I.E Egypt?
Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 17:07 utc | 12
##############
Perhaps you are unaware that BRICs have been building a parallel financial system based on trade outside of the USD, and it has increasingly been coming online since the SMO. That is how Russia has been able to thrive while under the most onerous sanctions in US and EU history. If you didn’t know, Russia’s growth is set to exceed the growth of every individual EU member state.
The dollar’s end is inevitable. We already have some idea of what comes next.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 18 2024 18:27 utc | 18

«Sudan: The geopolitics of the war in Sudan – Africanist Perspective»
I am astonished that our blogger mentions at least one massacre between third-world sides, but they deserve mention too, not just those between mediterranean or slavic whites.
It is admirable that there are people who care about third-worlders and protest and bring to the attention of the public the massacres in Yemem, Sudan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, because they are horrible situations, not because they want to do antisauditic, antiburmitic, antiethiopitic, or antisudanitic propaganda, for example:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/corbyn-rohingya-muslims-aung-san-suu-kyi-burma-labour-leader-call-end-violence-a7968916.html
“Jeremy Corbyn calls on Aung San Suu Kyi to end Burma’s violence against Rohingya Muslims”
https://jeremycorbyn.org.uk/ethiopia-sudan-and-tigray-humanitarian-situation-westminster-hall-debate-3-november-2021/
“Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind): I beg to move, That this House has considered the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia, Sudan and Tigray.”
https://jeremycorbyn.org.uk/the-ongoing-crisis-in-yemen-8-april-2021/
“I remain deeply concerned about the widely acknowledged humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Britain’s continued role in providing weapons and military support to Saudi Arabia while they are conducting military action against Yemen, including inflicting massive civilian casualties, is totally unacceptable.”

Posted by: Blissex | Aug 18 2024 18:30 utc | 19

Parallel to my comments about racial supremacism in the West, the belief that the world needs Americans to consume to have any economy is a weird kind of self-delusion.
If Americans stopped consuming, the rest of the planet would improve because their domestic industries would alter the structure of production away from buttplugs and dildos to needed local goods like baby strollers and air conditioners.
That was a lesson from the USSR. Because the economy was centrally planned, the wrong and least utility goods were overproduced. Feeding American consumerism which does nothing to benefit the economy, stability, or longevity of the species is a net negative for humanity and like the Soviet experiment, will meet its predictable end.
The collapse of the American (and European) ability to loot other nations via blackmail and colonialism will make the world a better place. Not perfect but less preyed upon. Less war, less color revolution, less stealing natural resources.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 18 2024 18:35 utc | 20

So as not to take up too much space with extracts from the review linked above, I will simply state an early question raised by the book’s author:

“…Is the core of Jewish identity remembering that ‘we were once strangers in the land of Egypt’? Or is it all about maintaining a restored Kingdom of David?…”

There is more than this in the article, but I find the quote an excellent point of distinction between spiritual jewish faith and the zionist attempt at maintaining a ‘religious’ state.
My apologies if this seems more relevantly discussed on the ‘war’ thread. To me the philosophical questions are better discussed here. (By philosophical I mean what the word says: ‘wisdom loving’.)

Posted by: juliania | Aug 18 2024 18:35 utc | 21

For those interested, an excellent, detailed overview of the Fourth Branch of Government in the US.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/08/18/why-did-barack-obama-and-eric-holder-select-kamala/

Washington DC created the modern national security apparatus immediately and hurriedly after 9/11/01. DHS came along in 2002, and within the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 the ODNI was formed. When Barack Obama and Eric Holder arrived a few years later, those newly formed institutions were viewed as opportunities to create a very specific national security apparatus that would focus almost exclusively against their political opposition.
The preexisting Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Dept of Justice (DOJ) were then repurposed to become two of the four pillars of the domestic national security apparatus. However, this new construct would have a targeting mechanism based on political ideology. The DHS, ODNI, DOJ and FBI became the four pillars of this new institution. Atop these pillars is where you will find the Fourth Branch of Government.
We were not sleeping when this happened, we were wide awake. However, we were stunningly distracted by the economic collapse that was taking place in 2006 and 2007 when the engineers behind Obama started to assemble the design. By the time Obama took office in 2009, we sensed something profound was shifting, but we can only see exactly what shifted in the aftermath. The four pillars were put into place, and a new Fourth Branch of Government was quietly created.
As time passed, and the system operators became familiar with their new tools, technology allowed the tentacles of the system to reach out and touch us. That is when we first started to notice that something very disconcerting was happening. Those four pillars are the root of it, and if we take the time to understand how the Fourth Branch originated, questions about this current state of perpetual angst will start to make sense.
Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, and take a walk with me as we outline how this was put together. You might find many of the questions about our current state of political affairs beginning to make a lot more sense.

Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 18 2024 18:38 utc | 22

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 18 2024 18:00 utc | 15
” Explain to me why other countries could not make a deal with China to print their own currency to buy Chinese goods and have China stockpile that excess currency in their central banks to prevent inflation in that currency, like they do with the US$? ”
Excellent question, why dont they? Why doesn’t Hungary, why don’t the Central American nations? Why does Russia need a central bank tied directly to the Rothschild banking system? Why do all of them have central banks that print money thats not debt free?
” The reality is that US$ are already just toilet paper, but many players in the global economy keep trading with them while holding their breath hoping nobody does anything to dispel the illusion of value for a just little bit longer. ”
I agree with you here, but all those nations still play the game hoping for the best, not an intelligent strategy at all. The collapse of the dollar was a definite thing as soon as the Federal Reserve was scammed onto to the US public, as it was just a matter of time before the debt would outpace the amount of money in circulation. Even a lowly peasant like me could figure that out. Yet, the BRICS nations cant even come up with an alternative to SWIFT and they supposedly have been at it for at least ten years. Seriously? With all the technology available, yet still nothing? Maybe they should consult the makers of the various crypto platforms.
Thanks for taking the time to converse with a Bonafide troll Mr. Gruff.

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 19:01 utc | 23

” Perhaps you are unaware that BRICs have been building a parallel financial system based on trade outside of the USD, and it has increasingly been coming online since the SMO.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 18 2024 18:27 utc | 17 ”
Like the on sided deal Russia got trading with India, Where Russia is stuck with Rupees that no one wants? Or the trade with China and its companies that are obedient to US sanction dictates?
Where is the alternative to SWIFT, its been at least a decade. What happened to the Chinese and Iranian gold bourses? They were supposed to be game changers.

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 19:07 utc | 24

” Parallel to my comments about racial supremacism in the West, the belief that the world needs Americans to consume to have any economy is a weird kind of self-delusion.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 18 2024 18:35 utc | 19 ”
Point taken, then why dont those nations just sanction the US and stop trading with it? China alone could collapse the US market. According to you the world doesnt need the US, so be it. Stop the trade.

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 19:11 utc | 25

What happens to all of China’s dollar holdings if the dollar collapses?
China has been slowly letting its Treasuries mature and not buying new.
Where will China and India sell their goods and services if the US consumer market collapses?
Pluz – your still think it’s 1970. The fastest growing markets and economies are in the BRICs+ world.
What happens to all the nations currently propped up by US aid, I.E Egypt?
Once Washington’s supposed aid ends, these nations will prosper.

Posted by: Exile | Aug 18 2024 19:12 utc | 26

Interesting read in Foreign Affairs of 1942:
Haushofer and the Pacific – The Future in Retrospect by Hans W. Weigert, July 1942
https://archive.is/Oi9z1

Posted by: Multipolar Panda | Aug 18 2024 19:14 utc | 27

Re: De-Dollarization
Unraveling long standing dollar based supply chain agreements takes time, but it’s happening at a surprisingly accelerated pace.
Expect first impacts of de-dollarization to be felt in higher “than expected” treasury interest in 2025. In 2025, ~35% of Federal Income will go towards paying interest of federal debt.
Expect serious negative impacts on Federal Gov’t to fund new debt in 2027., possibly even a insolvency crisis leading to a soft default similar to the 1980’s Plaza Accord which saw Federal Debt devalued by 50%.

Posted by: Exile | Aug 18 2024 19:20 utc | 28

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 18 2024 18:00 utc | 15
US$ are currently the hot potato that everyone is trying to unload before the music stops, with the snag that if anyone is seen unloading large numbers of US$, then the music ends pronto.
The reality is that US$ are already just toilet paper, but many players in the global economy keep trading with them while holding their breath hoping nobody does anything to dispel the illusion of value for a just little bit longer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2YldACOBJ8&lc=UgyPJQ6ypTm9oJG3VFt4AaABAg.A7Cork3XK4dA7CrrZ_IlBx
Mr. Gruff apparently you missed the USDT ? USD tether.. basically its a Chinese company’s digital coin that tracks and uses the global value of the USD to determine the value of its digital coin ( tether value is a derivative of the value of the USD).
It works for transactions outside of China, does not need or reference the Yuan or the Renmimbi or other Chinese government issued currencies (digital or paper based). It maintains reserves just like a government.
By derivation its value is backed by the value of the USD. It allows nearly total secrecy in international settlement transactions and denies western control, surveillance, or even awareness. It probably renders financial sanctions nearly pointless.
Also, before I learned about the tether, I came to a conclusion similar to that which Tether must have. THE USD is so well distributed, so well understood, exist in such large available quantities, and has existed for so long that its copyright, patents and claims to private or nation state ownership have by lapse of time expired (at least by and among nations). <-this is a conclusion, AFAIK it is not yet a fact. what is to stop, every national government from printing and using (internally AWA externally) the USD? Who would notice if the French quit printing Francs and instead printed and distributed dollars? The dollar has been so successful, it has become like water, air, and talk, free for the printing, so to speak. What the western backed banks have tried to do is to control and limit access to the dollar by the use of controlled access gateways like Swift, central bank surveillance and anti counterfeit laws, etc.. As I understand it, tether applauds that effort to control the USD, but USDT {tether, a digital coin} avoids those controls. Its value is a 1:1 derivative of the value the USD carries. For the above reasons, I think the USD is here to stay, even if the USA fails. The question government failure raises, will USD still be exclusively printed by one government or one bank? The only change may be that no country will ever again have a monopoly in a particular currency? Currency of exactly the same type will be universal.. this will mean that many middle men will be eliminated. A in country A sells X to b in country b. they don't need a central bank to make the transfer.. nor to value the exchange rate.. this idea will be repeated many times and IMO, it may break the back of many monopolies now enjoyed by many multi national corporations. I think the pending fall of the so called empire will not be the governments, but may instead the fall of the monopoly-powered multi national corporations. In August 2022, it was said that greater than 90% of the balance sheets of the multinational corporations were intangible assets. Intangible assets are assets governments create in order to privatise government monopoly powers (such as copyrights, patents, franchises, government contracts, and the like)

Posted by: snake | Aug 18 2024 19:41 utc | 29

” what is to stop, every national government from printing and using (internally AWA externally) the USD? Posted by: snake | Aug 18 2024 19:41 utc | 28 ”
Theres one major problem with this scheme. If every nation can just print USD at whim, how would you control inflation?

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 20:46 utc | 30

@ malenkov | Aug 18 2024 16:11 utc | 9
thanks… in your first sentence, it says much of it – “I think a lot of it has to do with available information.” a friend who is polish sent me a link to a story on the increase in the numbers of poles buying guns… it was behind a paywall, so i could only read 20% of it, but yes – it is hard to stay informed without access to information.. one nice feature of this brave browser i am using is it will automatically translate a page into english for me, so there is that.. i was reading an substack article that karlof1 shared which mostly focused on moldova.. it was quite interesting and apparently they are having elections october 20th..
b is generally very good at covering world events and doesn’t resist focusing on different areas of the world, but i take it he is still in recovery mode… a big dynamic recently has been the change – basically a colour revolution – in bangladesh where the new leader is essentially an usa installed puppet by the sounds of it.. this has relevance to india… what i get from these dynamics is the usa is working hard to derail the BRICS development… from an economic point of view, i can see how they, or those under the usa umbrella are keen to do this… again – as psychohistorian as so prone to emphasize – this is as much about a financial war to change the ”world order”.. or you could see it as an attempt to alter the unipolar world to a multipolar world with the unipolar adherents working to destroy any attempt at multipolarity…
thanks for your input malenkov! i went out for a visit with a young friend – he is 27 and has been living in new orleans the past 10 years – a fairly courageous thing to do, in his aspirations to continue to make a living playing music… he is doing fairly well.. i think he is very adventourous!!
@ William Gruff | Aug 18 2024 18:00 utc | 15
yes to this – “US$ are currently the hot potato that everyone is trying to unload before the music stops.” and indeed they have all been fleeing it with greater intensity the past few years too… the link @ unimperator | Aug 18 2024 14:40 utc | 4 – covers it fairly well.. thanks for your input william as always..
@ LoveDonbass | Aug 18 2024 18:35 utc | 19
i agree with your last paragraph.. thanks..

Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 20:50 utc | 31

Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 15:54 utc | 8
To me the philosophical questions are better discussed here. (By philosophical I mean what the word says: ‘wisdom loving’.)
Posted by: juliania | Aug 18 2024 18:35 utc | 20
I always start with the open threads! Less arguing about wars that occurred before I did. Sometimes juicy links to sate a hungry spirit. And I’m pretty sure I’ve got a crush on Juliania’s vibe.
Like mining for gold, you’ve gotta swirl a LOT of muck to find a nugget.
AND hope you’re feeling better Scorpion.

Posted by: zendeviant | Aug 18 2024 20:55 utc | 32

@ Moonie | Aug 18 2024 20:46 utc | 29
i encourage you to actually watch the video @ 4.. she shares a graft showing the actual spending power of the us$ over the course of time, that is on the federal reserves website…. you would realize the idea of the us containing inflation is a very big joke on anyone who believes this..

Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 20:56 utc | 33

@ zendeviant | Aug 18 2024 20:55 utc | 31
thanks – yes, i agree with you…

Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 20:57 utc | 34

Biden is still president until the end of the year.
The world is in a precarious state to put it mildly.
Yet not a mention of Joe.
???

Posted by: jpc | Aug 18 2024 21:00 utc | 35

” you would realize the idea of the us containing inflation is a very big joke on anyone who believes this..
Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 20:56 utc | 32 ”
I was writing in regard to Scorpion’s scheme though. Not solely about the US.

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 21:24 utc | 36

Posted by: William Gruff | Aug 18 2024 18:00 utc | 15
The US still has loads of state and consumer debt to sell, though. Which makes me wonder: Subtract consumer (student, medical, auto, home, credit card) debt from the so-called “Gross Domestic Product” and what does the US have to offer? Probably nada, like you said.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 18 2024 21:25 utc | 37

Kamala Harris reportedly promised to give $25k to all new homebuyers in the US. Wouldn’t that be like, hyperinflationary?
The USD would work just fine like any other currency, except for the fact like someone said, they don’t really manufacture physical products that are really needed by anyone (of course vassals will buy and pay anything Washington tells them).
The other issue is the Washington fiscal practices are simply so massive black hole deficits that even USD in a ‘normal’ world 20 years ago would have problems in keeping the US system afloat. Let alone now with competing, and gaining alternative currencies/bilateral/multipolar trade systems while at same time domestic fiscal blow-up.

Posted by: unimperator | Aug 18 2024 21:25 utc | 38

Correction: Snake’s scheme.

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 21:26 utc | 39

I’ll just post this here and scurry away without further comment (except to say CHINA IS INTERFERING IN THE US ELECTIONS!!!).
https://x.com/dominictsz/status/1825018415108821011

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 18 2024 21:47 utc | 40

Starmer’s Labour, not just Tory, fingerprints all over the recent anti-immigration riots in England.
https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/starmers-fingerprints-not-just-the

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 18 2024 22:00 utc | 41

Some academic reading I’ve come across in the past few month.
Russia/Crimea:
https://www.academia.edu/89690225/The_Annexation_of_Crimea_in_Russian_Literature_of_the_18th_and_21st_Centuries_?
https://www.academia.edu/49850769/The_Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation_Before_behind_and_beyond_the_Conflict?
https://www.academia.edu/76928260/Slaves_Money_Lenders_and_Prisoner_Guards_The_Jews_and_the_Trade_in_Slaves_and_Captives_in_the_Crimean_Khanate?
https://www.academia.edu/7302622/CRIMEA_A_Gateway_to_Understanding_the_Ukrainian_Conundrum?
https://www.academia.edu/5081004/The_Crimea_Conundrum_The_Tug_of_War_Between_Russia_and_Ukraine_on_the_Questions_of_Autonomy_and_Self_Determination?
The Philippines:
https://www.academia.edu/26635069/Brutality_of_Occupation_American_and_Japans_Occupation_of_the_Philippines?

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 18 2024 22:11 utc | 42

So war it is.
Posted by: Upsidedown | Aug 18 2024 22:18 utc | 43
Yep. Years ago I read a book titled “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” and it rung true. Just recently I was pointed to an article at Countercurrents.org that I am unable to find. But it was a good summary of the situation, similar to your own. I think it was MoA user ‘menz’ who posted it in another thread.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 18 2024 22:30 utc | 43

A laugh at the DNC in Chicago https://tinyurl.com/yc379ah8
Found this interesting also:
The strange death of the German authoritarian liberal political class http://www.defenddemocracy.press/mathew-d-rose-the-strange-death-of-the-german-authoritarian-liberal-political-class/

Posted by: Dogon Priest | Aug 18 2024 23:52 utc | 44

moa poster roger (boyd) has an excellent substack article up some might like to read..
The 2019 Western Attempt To Destroy Hong Kong & Stigmatize China

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 0:49 utc | 45

for anyone familiar with richard werner – he answers and explains why BRICS came about… read it is you are interested and interested more generally in the financial world we live in at present.. it is a relatively short read…
Washington’s “development economics” is actually designed to prevent development

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 1:33 utc | 46

is – if..

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 1:34 utc | 47

James @ 8:
Hate to tell you but my guess is that each topic attracts its own swarm of trolls.
Moreover some trolls may have different monickers depending on the topic they’re instructed to troll on, so as to avoid being traced or identified from one comments forum to the next.

Posted by: Refinnejenna | Aug 19 2024 2:00 utc | 48

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 18 2024 22:11 utc | 42 on Japanese and US colonisation of the Philippines.
A strange article which jumps about all over the place. At one point it refers to the three major powers that have colonised the Philippines, but I can’t figure what the third was and it wasn’t mentioned. But all else said undoubtedly true. Of course the strangest thing is that people have such short memories and the USA having been ejected 30 years ago has now been invited back in force (nine bases) setting the Philippines up as the next Ukraine.
A little known side effect of the recolonisation is that the Chinese now find it virtually impossible to get tourist visas (an interview at a consulate is needed and appointments are severely limited) and as they pre-Covid constituted the major part of Philippine tourism, that industry is wrecked. Meanwhile they can now get visas on arrival for Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Privately a lot of Filipinos will tell you that they are not happy with Marcos, he campaigned in 2022 on continuing Duterte’s policy of equalising relations with China and USA but as soon as he was elected he was off to Washington. The Philippine economy has floundered for fifty years (the peso in 1960 was 2 to the dollar, now 58) and the rural poverty has to be seen to be believed. They are charming people and they deserve better.
………………………………………….
Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 0:49 utc | 46 on the Hong Kong riots
A very good account by Roger. Hong Kong has settled down now but is in danger of becoming a backwater. It has been overtaken by Singapore as the Asian financial centre and its economy is struggling: house prices have stalled! Time was when the Chinese flocked over the border at weekends but the flow is now reversed, Hong Kongers find Shenzhen a far more attractive (and much cheaper!) prospect for shopping and entertainment. Singapore we visited a few weeks ago, an extraordinarily vibrant multicultural community.
Regarding the discussion above about the imminent collapse (or not) of the US dollar, I wonder how much longer the authorities will maintain the fixed link of the Hong Kong dollar ( matter of some importance to me as I keep most of my spare cash in HKD). It has however been riding a ten year high to the RMB so I hang on in there hoping for the best.

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 2:36 utc | 49

I am reading The Register about layoffs in the techie world with leadership talking pivot to AI and had to laugh at this one comment
Blockchain finally got found out so all the blockchain grifters pivoted to being AI grifters.
Yep. Not just in the techie world. Grifters abound everywhere.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 19 2024 2:37 utc | 50

@ Refinnejenna | Aug 19 2024 2:00 utc | 49
thanks.. my take is people are attracted to different topics.. that applies to everyone regardless of whether they are a troll or not.. i suppose the troll part ties into the idea of some folks being paid to push an agenda which doesn’t make sense to many following the ukraine or palestine issues closely… i get that… i have noticed less troll like behaviour on the open and non ukraine or palestine threads fwiw… i suppose this makes sense too…
@ Walt | Aug 19 2024 2:36 utc | 50
yes, well hong kong was bound to lose it’s special status and that probably has hurt the moneyed interests in hong kong too.. such is life.. i get that it would foment some unhappiness as a consequence too.. being obsessed about money has it’s own built in set of problems.. there are alternatives like buddhism, lol… give unto god what is gods and unto ceaser what is ceasers… if i had a quote off the top of my head from lao tzu, i would have offered that instead..

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 2:57 utc | 51

/cheep
🙂
I do hate to remind people, but the largest holders of US$ is the USA itself through internal plans such as Social Security, by a very large margin. That and all systems eventually reset, writing off bad loans — so the catch is not to be the last one holding the bag but instead of ‘stores of value’ assets. Money is being hit by inflation of dollars coming back internally, yes, but it is the war printing machine and big hedge funds chasing safe ‘store of value’ assets (homes, gold, etc.) that’s heating things up.
Since war is not a tangible asset nor with directly profitable returns to the state, but a means for industrial speculation and tie up global resources, it is always a money sink to the US public body. So our USA annual military budget, as a hole in the pocket, tends to eclipse held value of most outside national holdings. That and the FIRE sector rentier-ism is the bigger threat to national stability. But if you believe you can fly away from a nation after you hollowed it out, like typical private finance, then what do you care that you maxed out a nation’s credit to onerous responsibilities?
😀
Ooh, a peanut!
/hop, hop
/eats peanut

Posted by: titmouse | Aug 19 2024 3:11 utc | 52

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 19:07 utc | 23
######
Friend, it is very easy to do currency swaps in 2024 if the trade block is big enough. And BRICs is big enough. The USD is on borrowed time. The number of countries that want to “sanction proof” themselves by joining is so great that BRICs has ended expansion after the last round. Turkey among others will have to wait.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 19 2024 3:32 utc | 53

I miss the comments of English Outsider.
He is overdue.

Posted by: fanto | Aug 19 2024 3:42 utc | 54

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 2:36 utc | 50
Yeah, I actually didn’t get a chance to finish the one on the Philippines but it was in my “read” (as in having read) list so I posted it as a change of pace from the Russia/Crimea stuff.
And a confession: I was just in Philippines two weeks ago on a US Navy sponsored visit where they are planning to build a ‘command and control’ center on the cheap. I’m an engineer on assignment with a bonding (construction insurance) company at the moment and it was a nice trip all-in-all. Also interesting: I bumped elbows with Blinken and Austin’s security detachment in the lobby of our hotel. Wish I had known they were staying there in advance and I’d have booked a room far away. But the Filipino people are incredibly nice for the most part and it’s extremely cheap (due in part to the conditions you mentioned) so it’s on our list of (very unlikely but possible) retirement spots.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 3:50 utc | 55

.. And I’m pretty sure I’ve got a crush on Juliania’s vibe…
Posted by: zendeviant | Aug 18 2024 20:55 utc | 31
.
I read her comments and consider them, however my usual reaction is “too much jewluvery!” – juliania | Aug 18 2024 18:15 utc | 16 being another example. I now tend read her name as jewliania!
Over the years my default position with regard to any jew opinions has become – “so fucking what?” – they have proven themselves to be such loathsome groupings of people.

Posted by: Ново З | Aug 19 2024 3:53 utc | 56

Posted by: zendeviant | Aug 18 2024 20:55 utc | 31
You are aware that “juliania” could very easily mean “Julian In Australia” (or Alaska or Alabama), yes?
Not discouraging vibe crushes or anything, but TMK juliania has never said they’re a woman. Then again, they very well could have and I missed it. 😉

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 4:01 utc | 57

Let me start by saying I wish there were real journalists in the financial world like Pepe Escobar. I think multiple articles if not a book could be written about the manipulation of the price of gold since 1971 and especially in the last decade or two.
Let me add to the discussion about alternatives to the God Of Mammon Cult with the US dollar, the BIS, SWIFT, the FED, The City Of London Corp, IMF and World Bank. The alternatives unfortunately have to be built and initially operated in a US Dollar world. The plumbing like SWIFT and FOREX basics are easy but how to co-exist in current world is hard but happening.
One important thing to understand about BRICS+ is that they do not want another country (China) to become the Reserve Currency nation so some solution(s) need to be developed to manage world development and debt “equitably”…..this is not an easy nut to crack and will require ongoing management and understanding that economics does not exist separate from politics.
The coming crash will be a lack of faith in the existing system. The financial fig leafs will fall, debt that can’t be paid won’t and the derivative folks will be lucky to escape with their lives. Highly manipulated precious metals will go crazy trying to re-establish new pricing because not enough metal exists in the world at current prices…..in dollars.
enough for now

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 19 2024 4:06 utc | 58

What happens to all of China’s dollar holdings if the dollar collapses? Where will China and India sell their goods and services if the US consumer market collapses? What happens to all the nations currently propped up by US aid, I.E Egypt?
Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 17:07 utc | 12
The Chinese economy, despite western propaganda, is fundamentally socialist. It is not wedded to private profit. If the US market collapses, so what? China just stops making that amount of export goods and focuses on other areas of their domestic economy, and raising the rest of the population out of poverty. The only question is, where do they get the energy and other natural resources to do this? First, if they stop making consumer goods for the US, they obviously don’t need as much raw materials. They can get them from other countries (what they don’t have themselves) and trade with those countries. There is also a lot of work still to be done in China to raise living standards and increase leisure time, and most of these don’t require much in the way of material inputs. Constructing parks, reforesting the Gobi, improving waterways and flood controls, and instituting a thirty hour work week don’t require much in the way of raw materials be comparison to the constant stream of consumer goods to the west. It’s the west that will suffer when they are unable to purchase those goods.

Posted by: Honzo | Aug 19 2024 4:20 utc | 59

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 3:50 utc | 57
Which part of the Philippines were you in?
If you are looking for a retirement visa the Philippine SRRV (Special Retirement Residence Visa) is one of the best options. My wife and I have one. As she is Chinese it gets around the visa problem. It costs from a one-off payment of $10,000 if you have an adequate pension, it is for life, there is just a small annual renewal charge.
The cheapness is interesting. As I said the peso is 58 to the dollar but in PPP terms it is 19, so your money for most things is worth three times more than you expected. Quite a bonus for the retired!

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 4:36 utc | 60

Moonie,
The rest of the world will be fine without the dead hand of the West on it.
From Carl Zha about how China has developed since he moved abroad.
That is Chongqing Metro Line 10 crossing the Nanjimen Bridge over the Yangtze River in front of the Yuzhong CBD (Central Business District). Nanjimen Bridge is the world’s longest metro-only cable-stayed bridge by main span (480m).
One day when pigs can fly, I am sure California will build high-speed rail as China has been building all over Asia (28,000 miles inside of China alone) for the last 20 years.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 19 2024 4:43 utc | 61

Posted by: Honzo | Aug 19 2024 4:20 utc | 61
“Raising (the Chinese) out of poverty..”
We are currently on holiday around Hengyang in Hunan province visiting my wife’s family. The housing owned (or being bought) there by not particularly well-off locals is staggering. An aunt has a three storey palace built in the countryside for about $100,000 (most houses around there are similar). In the city we are staying in a 240 square metre 28th floor apartment in a beautiful landscaped setting which cost $150,000. There is a sizeable pool and playground outside. On the other hand we live in comparative poverty(!) in Shenzhen with a mere 88 square metres which cost an absolute fortune, we bought at the peak price a few years ago, prices got out of control in the cities, they are declining now after years of monstrous price growth, Xi sorted that out a couple of years ago.

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 4:56 utc | 62

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 4:36 utc | 62
Gamu. Delacruz is where they’re building this thing that would normally cost $15M for what the USG has budgeted at $1-3M(!!!).
Philippines wasn’t even on my radar prior to this impromptu trip. My lineage in the US traces back to the late 1500s and early 1600s, documented. So I’m f*cked with regard to some of the citizenship programs in the EU. My wife’s Italian decedents are much more recent so we’re about 75% of the way to Italian citizenship which offers full EU Shenzen visa access for me, and full Italian citizenship if I learn and pass a test in Italian fluently. Thus the more likely route is Latin America or southern Europe.
I’d be interested in learning more from informed people like you on SE or “Indo-Pac” (USN’s term) Asia were we to meet in person, but that’s not an option and I don’t want to corrupt any privacy concerns here at MoA, so maybe we can continue this conversation in veiled terms over the coming years or months. A good HS friend of mine was the chief engineer for a large American clothing conglomerate in Thailand and he’s now living in Yucatan, but I have no appetite for Mexico despite being fluent in conversational Spanish.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 5:28 utc | 63

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 4:36 utc | 62
Sorry didn’t answer you comprehensively. What we Americans call puddle jumpers from Manila to Isabela and the road trip across “primitive” jungle terrain took up the most time. Only had time for a few street food meals in Manila. The hotel was pretty fancy. I’ve rarely had better in the “west.” You needn’t look hard online to see which it was. The US contingent was holed up there.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 5:36 utc | 64

My more specific reply to Walt was eaten. Wonder why.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 5:37 utc | 65

Manila to Gamu/Melchor Delacruz via puddle jumpers and vehicle caravans with escorts.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 5:40 utc | 66

In case you’re interested.
https://sam.gov/opp/3fa531370dde4e6f8ce9c3b8ceef95f7/view
Bunch of cheap construction projects to “contain China” – whole thing is nonsense.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 5:51 utc | 67

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 5:28 utc | 65
Sure, I’d be happy to.
Melchor Delacruz. Up in Luzon, thought so, that’s where most of the US base action is, nearest point to Taiwan of course. On Googlemaps interestingly says it is permanently closed so I guess it is being revived for the war effort.
I just hang around on this thread, commenting mainly on China and the Philippines, but I turned MoA off couple of months ago while we went travelling, hiking up from Singapore through Malaysia to Bangkok, and now a sojourn in south central China. On the way home today so I was curious to see how the thread was progressing. Most of the old guard still here, plus a few odd newcomers.
I first came to China on business in 2007, made about 50 visits up to 2020 then didn’t go back to the UK which no longer exists as far as I am concerned, divorced, and remarried. As for the Philippines I keep a small boat there and have travelled the length and breadth since 2017. Now based in Cebu but planning to go down to Balabac island in October at the foot of Palawan where another US base is promised. Curious choice: 60 km from Malaysia. Hmm.

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 6:01 utc | 68

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 6:01 utc | 69
… it is being revived for the war effort.
In a major way. I’m disgusted by it but it is putting food on the table, so to speak. It’s only one of maybe 6 current initiatives or MILCON funding efforts in the Pacific. And construction precedes action. Was also involved in “Trump’s” border wall (more accurately bollard fences with gates) efforts that began under Obama and it’s all complete graft/racket. As a surety we can’t really turn the business down though, especially with the lax bonding requirements in “backwater” places like the South Pacific (when such laws exist at all).

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 6:11 utc | 69

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Aug 19 2024 5:51 utc | 68
That is very revealing. Thank you.

…It is anticipated that this MACC may include projects in Caroline Islands, Philippines, Northern Territory Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Maldives and other areas under NAVFAC Pacific cognizance.

There’s a few arms there remaining to be twisted. Malaysia and Indonesia are not onside with the China containment project as far as I am aware (hence Balabac?). Nepal, that would be a shocker, it has a border up there in the Himalayas with China. I think that is wishful thinking: it has good relations with China and has a communist government!

All work under the MACC will be initiated by task orders that will be competed amongst only the MACC holders (firms awarded one of the potential contracts).  Contractors will be expected to accomplish a wide variety of individual construction tasks. This MACC will encompass a wide range of design-build projects that may include new facilities, repair/renovation, and upgrades to a variety of facility types including, but not limited to, building facilities, warehouses, bridges, wharves/piers, dredging, airfield runways, fuel storage, roads, hangars, and other base infrastructure facilities produced in accordance with nationally recognized industry, international, federal, and/or military standards.  The selected contractors will be responsible for all labor, supervision, engineering, design, materials, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, and transportation to perform all of the services described in the drawings and specifications provided for each individual project.

There are a few jobs in the USA too that need attention, I am told.

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 6:16 utc | 70

…. Palawan where another US base is promised. Curious choice: 60 km from Malaysia……
The Genociders have a manic hatred of Malaysia. Exhibit A – MH17
Exhibit B – MH370
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370

Posted by: Exile | Aug 19 2024 7:06 utc | 71

Exile 7.06
Cuts both ways
Malaysia won’t give Israelis visas
A truly admirable nation.

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 7:38 utc | 72

Travel Bans will increasingly be a thing for members of the Joint Criminal that is the IDF and Likud. The international community has formally ruled that:
1) A (plausible) genocide is taking place
2) the Likud runs a Apartheid state
3) reparations are due
4) Israelis must immediately vacate all territories occupied pre-1949
BTW – Walt it’s illuminating that you and other Likudniks state it’s the Likud’s formal policy to blow up civilian airliners because a country make it difficult to get a visa. Really ?

Posted by: Exile | Aug 19 2024 9:04 utc | 73

Joint Criminal ENTERPRISE

Posted by: Exile | Aug 19 2024 9:06 utc | 74

Exile 9.04
How dare you call me a Likudnik.
I said nothing to give that impression.
Perhaps English is not your first language.
What I said was that Malaysia won’t give Israelis visas, which is admirable.

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 9:12 utc | 75

Re: Pre-1949 lines ?
Fred, you are correct , up until very recently, the talk was always returning to the pre-1967 lines or similar.
However, the Hague’s latest Advisory Opinion stated in the harshest terms possible that Israelis must vacate the territories occupied pre-1949. I think this sea change slipped under the radar for most people.,
The Chinese even went further when it approved the Peking Declaration some weeks ago. The Peking Declaration says UNR 181 borders.
These are very significant changes.

Posted by: Exile | Aug 19 2024 9:34 utc | 76

Exile 9.04
Still waiting for your apology.

Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 10:04 utc | 77

Next time write with more clarity.
😀

Posted by: Exile | Aug 19 2024 10:14 utc | 78

Posted by: Moonie | Aug 18 2024 20:46 utc | 29
If every nation can just print USD at whim, how would you control inflation?
Producers and users exchange purchasing power.
USD makes purchasing power portable.
Nations (or their banks) create portable purchasing power (USD) by
debiting cash (or granting consumer credit as cash equivalent) and crediting national debt (dr cash cr national debt). They then charge whoever uses the cash ..interest on the cash and they use the interest income (interest received for the use of cash) to retire the national debt.
But the USD interest is paid to private bankers, not used to reduce the national debts. This is the country component to inflation and the other component is the risk that the currency will not still be the currency in use or will not be as respected as a currency as it was at the time the currency holder desires to use the currency to exercise its purchasing power. I call that component= psychological component.
The USDT (USD Tether) has shown the world that a digital coin can incorporate both risk by using the price determined value at currency acquisition time and the price determined value at the time the value in the portable purchasing power (USD) is spent.
A sells a widget to B. B exchanges $100 USD to A for 1 widget.
A is a holder of a piece of paper that says the holder has 100 units worth of purchase power. A waits one year to use its 100 units and at the time, the 100 units has lost 20% of its purchasing power so A has only 80 units of purchasing power. Obviously over time something happened, either the banks raised/lowered interest rates or the people who use the USD lost a lot of faith (psychological component) in the USD.
Because of the universal distribution of the USD, the psychological part is no longer a significant variable in the portability of the purchasing power represented in the USD; the only variable is the rising cost of paying the private bankers their interest on the ever expanding national debt.
If the interest collected in USD were used to retire the national debts and thereafter removed from circulation; higher interest rates would retire the national debt faster.. and the money in circulation would be reduced until the national debt is increased. So each issuer nation (group of issuer nations) could control its [their] inflation by using the interest income earned from renting the USD to retire its national debt (and removing from circulation the USD received for interest), just as the private bankers do today. So interest rate would control the money in circulation. The difference is who gets paid the interest income charged for the use of the USD?
thank you for the question?

Posted by: snake | Aug 19 2024 10:19 utc | 79

Posted by: Honzo | Aug 19 2024 4:20 utc | 61
“Raising (the Chinese) out of poverty..”
Posted by: Walt | Aug 19 2024 4:56 utc | 62
It’s bad practice to put your own words into other people’s posts. I said ‘raising the rest of the population out of poverty.’ You could easily have copy/pasted that, but you chose to change the meaning of my words substantially. I’m perfectly well aware of the hundreds of millions of Chinese raised above the poverty level in recent years, but the job is not complete and I’m sure that Xi would be perfectly happy directing more resources at improving the lives of his people and less at feeding the consumerist obsessions of westerners.
Avoid, if you can, misrepresenting my posts.

Posted by: Honzo | Aug 19 2024 14:22 utc | 80

@ Honzo | Aug 19 2024 14:22 utc | 80
here is your quote from what is now @ 59 –
“China just stops making that amount of export goods and focuses on other areas of their domestic economy, and raising the rest of the population out of poverty.”
you have to admit, walt interpreted your words fairly accurately… ”raising the rest of the population” is preceded by “focused on other areas of their domestic economy’… i can see how he would interpret your words in the way he did…

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 14:59 utc | 81

Biden is still president until the end of the year.
The world is in a precarious state to put it mildly.
Yet not a mention of Joe.
???
Posted by: jpc | Aug 18 2024 21:00 utc | 35
He’s still in a persistent vegetative state.
Here’s my salute to the Dems “convention”. I just hope it’s brickbats instead of pillows and pretty girls!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hamKl-su8PE

Posted by: KMRIA | Aug 19 2024 15:17 utc | 82

@ KMRIA | Aug 19 2024 15:17 utc | 82
here is my salute to the dem convention..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxqKPN6Hfg

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 15:25 utc | 83

here is my salute to the dem convention..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxqKPN6Hfg
Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 15:25 utc | 83
LOL, much better than mine!

Posted by: KMRIA | Aug 19 2024 15:28 utc | 84

kind of sums it up for me, lol.. thanks..

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 15:29 utc | 85

Posted by: KMRIA | Aug 19 2024 15:17 utc | 82
Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 15:25 utc | 83
Maybe I can get a bronze medal…
Some times we cry

Posted by: waynorinorway | Aug 19 2024 15:49 utc | 86

Maybe I can get a bronze medal…
Some times we cry
Posted by: waynorinorway | Aug 19 2024 15:49 utc | 86
Bringing out the heavy hitters! That’s cheating waynor! Thanks for that though.

Posted by: KMRIA | Aug 19 2024 16:51 utc | 87

@ waynorinorway | Aug 19 2024 15:49 utc | 86
lol.. thanks for sharing that.. i didn’t know that they did something together..

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 17:29 utc | 88

…i didn’t know that they did something together..
Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 17:29 utc | 88
Yeah they did some good stuff. Here they jam with Jeff Beck:
TJ & VM
(If I’m ever in a pub fight I want Van Morrison on my side.)

Posted by: waynorinorway | Aug 19 2024 18:06 utc | 89

From YT vid on UK riots…
sample comment

Wherever they [Muslims] go, trouble follow

I wonder why ?
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/britain-s-collusion-with-radical-islam-interview-with-mark-curtis/

Posted by: denk | Aug 19 2024 18:10 utc | 90

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 0:49 utc | 45
Thank you, james. Always it is helpful to have reminders of past history. MoA has been an excellent teacher in this regard.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 19 2024 18:35 utc | 91

@ waynorinorway | Aug 19 2024 18:06 utc | 89
interesting video.. it has john cleary ( brit ) on piano, who has been living in new orleans for a very long time.. i wonder where and when this video was taken?? it doesn’t say..
@ juliania | Aug 19 2024 18:35 utc | 91
thanks… roger hasn’t been around for a few days or more here..
here is quite a good overview regarding israel from foreign affairs no less..
The Undoing of Israel
i read alastair crookes article today on israel which is quite good and was interested in a few offshoots from it.. this link was provided off a haaretz opionion piece which i was unable to fully access – Opinion | Shut Down the Country: How Israelis and Their Leaders Can Avert Netanyahu’s Dictatorship from ehud barak…. from that i got this link i am sharing above from the comment section, but didn’t actually get to read the haaretz opinion piece..

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 18:55 utc | 92

here is crookes article.
Revisionist Zionists dare the U.S. to pull the plug on their Nakba agenda
speaking of roger, karlof1 has been missing in action here too…

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 18:59 utc | 93

“…IMO, it may break the back of many monopolies now enjoyed by many multi national corporations. I think the pending fall of the so called empire will not be the governments, but may instead the fall of the monopoly-powered multi national corporations…”
Posted by: snake | Aug 18 2024 19:41 utc | 29
Without in any way endorsing this cooncept because I really really don’t understand the mechanics of economical power plays, I am vaguely aware that this would be a Good Thing in the long run. Personal experience as a native born kiwi was that a quite possibly inconsequential on the world scene country in my own youth had a basically honest government as far as looking after its own people is measured. But then, world communications becoming slicker, faster, and more connected, something happened that made that bottom of the world country become important to the big players. Not because of resources but because of location.
As far as colour revolutions go, Jacinda Adern, the previous Labour party PM, is a case in point. She was trained in, as I remember, a program acceptable to the ptb, and for a time it seemed New Zealand was having it both ways, successful in many respects. But then she unexpectedly resigned, and five eyes was back on course.
The downhill slide has continued, but perhaps colour revolutions aren’t what they used to be.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 19 2024 19:30 utc | 94

Judge Nap’s podcasts available on his website
https://judgenap.com/podcast-2/

Posted by: Tom | Aug 19 2024 20:01 utc | 95

“China just stops making that amount of export goods and focuses on other areas of their domestic economy, and raising the rest of the population out of poverty.”
you have to admit, walt interpreted your words fairly accurately… ”raising the rest of the population” is preceded by “focused on other areas of their domestic economy’… i can see how he would interpret your words in the way he did…
Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 14:59 utc | 81
I don’t. How is that a suggestion that China has not been, and does not continue, raising ‘the rest of the population out of poverty’ (which in English means, the part of the population not yet raised out of poverty.)? It certainly does not mean the same thing as ‘raising the Chinese out of poverty.’ Walt’s version clearly implies that the Chinese are still wallowing in mass poverty, which of course they are not. There are still poor people, though, and a lot of people whose quality of life could still be improved further- as with, for instance, a shorter work week. The west would simply lay off workers and close factories to balance the loads, but China can keep people employed and give them the same pay for less work, because the system does not depend on exchanging goods for cash at a profit.

Posted by: Honzo | Aug 19 2024 20:12 utc | 96

@ Honzo | Aug 19 2024 20:12 utc | 96
okay… we see your wording and how it could confuse someone differently then..
regarding the general thrust towards walt specifically, leaving that aside – i agree with your perspective on china and the west and what is happening here..

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 20:41 utc | 97

posters talking about ukraine
posters talking about palestine -israel
posters talking about everything else..
i find myself in the first and last category – mostly the last category, and rarely the middle category… not sure what to do with this, but it is interesting in some respects.. was it b’s thread approach that created it, or do posters gravitate to certain topics more then others? it appears they do.. i know i do..
Posted by: james | Aug 18 2024 15:54 utc | 8
james, it may be important to open all the threads. I opened one late and realized somebody bad-mouthing me. I asked for an apology, which has yet to come from the poster “All Under Heaven.”
btw, where is NemesisCalling?
wisco posted this

So are you saying its up to us to save the Palestinians, and the Arabs get a free pass for completely ignoring their plight?
Posted by: Wisco | Aug 6 2024 4:06 utc | 194

To which this was a reply:

Ah, I see that you belong to the same breed as @NemesisCalling, @Sakineh Bagoom, and their ilk.
Posted by: All Under Heaven | Aug 6 2024 4:49 utc | 196

And my request:

All Under Heaven,
I request that you produce whatever it is that I’ve said that makes my moniker/handle included in this “ilk,” or promplty appologize.
Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | Aug 7 2024 1:17 utc | 289

Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | Aug 19 2024 20:52 utc | 98

I wanna wake up in that city, that doesn’t sleep
And find your king of the hill, top of the heap
Your small town blues, they’re melting away
I’m gonna make a brand-new start of it, in old New York

*link*
Sh–hole country indeed.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Aug 19 2024 20:59 utc | 99

Posted by: james | Aug 19 2024 18:59 utc | 93
Thank you, james for linking to Alistair Crooke’s latest article.
I will just say that in bringing up Leo Strauss, Alistair is finally getting to antecedents we’ve already discussed at length on MoA. Without going into previous discussions at length, I will post a short excerpt from his article that I agree with in part:

“… If the paradigmatic Athenian is Socrates, the paradigmatic biblical figure is Abraham and the Akedah (the binding of Isaac), who is prepared to sacrifice his son for an unintelligible divine command…” My bold

There were a couple of University of Chicago philosophers who founded my own alma mater back in the day, and Leo Strauss was a contentious figure there – because of his strong views that many of us students disagreed with. So I know whereof Alistair speaks, from my own student days. And I am sure many oldies like myself remember Richard Perle. [If I were Jewish, which I am not, I would say “Oy vey!”]
I won’t go into how Strauss’s understanding of Socrates is wrong – Plato is the best source for illumination there, (not Aristotle.) I’ll just go back to the boldened segment of my quote from Crooke’s essay. The term ‘paradigmatic’ he gives to Abraham I would agree with, but not the bolded description of Isaac’s preparation for sacrifice. That reading of the text (which even I think Kierkegaarde held) is not and cannot be a faithful interpretation.
What Abraham tells Isaac is that God will provide. His faith is certain that this will happen, which is the whole point of the story. This is not said to be ‘an unintelligible command from God’. This is a command from God which Abraham, in faith, follows, right down to holding the knife above his son, whom he loves. We aren’t told explicitly what Abraham understands or does not understand. We know that he trusts that God will do what he in essence always does do, as the supreme being that he is.
In that statement to Isaac from Abraham knowledge has been expressed: God is, for Abraham, an intelligible being. Not entirely of course – God is, if you like, supraintelligent. We understand, but only as far as we are able.
See, there are no negatives in this story, and only as that sort of paradigm can the example of Abraham as Scripture tells itbe understood. Not as a potential child killer!
It’s helpful that Alistair points out this antecedent to the promise. I had to go back and reread where it comes in Scripture. And it’s a tricky doctrine. It can be misread. But even misread, it isn’t the one that Netanyahu uses to persuade Israelis – that one is the inheritance doctrine that comes directly afterward — the one that says that since Abraham has showed his faith, his offspring now have a promise. But zionists go no further than that – never mind what the offspring are doing or thinking; a promise is a promise!
Zionist thinking is not Scriptural – it emphasizes a negative interpretation of the message, and that is what one gets. Snake oil. We’re all entitled. Okay, but then comes the leap to “it’s okay to force people out of their homes; it’s okay to kill them; it’s okay to kill children.”
And that is intelligible. Wrong, but intelligibly so.

Posted by: juliania | Aug 19 2024 21:51 utc | 100

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