"- Is Lebanon part of Israel’s promised territory? - Jerusalem Post"

I have tried links to this piece in 3 places now and it seem to have been 404-ed.

David Petraeus thinks Israel could learn a lot from our experience in Iraq.

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 29 2024 13:39 utc | 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20240926233315/https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680">https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680">https://web.archive.org/web/20240926233315/https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680

Posted by: the other b. | Sep 29 2024 13:53 utc | 2

https://maratkhairullin.substack.com/p/the-hegemon-has-short-wings

Don’t remember seeing this linked, it’s not really Ukraine-related, so posting it here. It’s Marat Khairuollin’s continued discussion and analysis of the relative attributes and shortcomings of US and Russian air power. He gets quite sniffy about the F-35 (surprise!).

He also highlights something I hadn’t considered and that is the age profile of the US fleet of air-to-air refuelling tankers and their slow rate of renewal.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 29 2024 13:57 utc | 3

Today‘s Big Story is the Austrian Parliament election. Polls before the voting shows the Neutrality and Anti-War Party (FPÖ) slightly ahead.

A bellweather election for European antiwar sentiment coming on the heels of provincial German elections where anti-war parties gained 40+% of the votes.

Preliminary official results in an hour or so.

Posted by: Exile | Sep 29 2024 14:02 utc | 4

From the link posted by b
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/defense-security/20240929-214007/

Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba said “the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies” in an article he contributed to the Hudson Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

To deter the nuclear threat from Russia, North Korea and China, the envisioned body “must also specifically consider America’s sharing of nuclear weapons or the introduction of nuclear weapons into the region,” Ishiba wrote.

Titled “The Future of Japan’s Foreign Policy,” the article was posted on the think tank’s website on Friday, U.S. time. Regarding the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, Ishiba said, “It is my mission to raise the Japan-U.S. alliance to the level of the U.S.-U.K. alliance.”

“The conditions are ripe to revise the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty into a treaty between ‘ordinary countries,’” he wrote.

Trump talked about Japan nuking up. Its likely to be a done deal very soon.
Phillipines is now nuked up.
Australia under Trump was going to 'jointly develop missiles'. Australia will be nuked up by now.
AUKUS, the US nuke submarine base on the Indian Ocean. Haven't heard how that is progressing or when subs are expected to be based there.

Trump the most peaceful according to the clown will soon be back in. To be the face of the quickly approaching war on China.
Open Skies, JCPOA, Intermediate/restart intermediate production. Nukes bring peace I guess....
Moderna plants should be up and running now. China Virus....

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 14:19 utc | 5

Kazan. I believe that what happens in Kazan (Oct. 22-24) may change everything in the world, certainly Ukraine and Israel.

The change may not be immediate but if what I think will happen does happen, then historians will look back on that BRICS meeting as a key moment.

Until then none of this daily news moves me. It's a lot of noise that infuriates me because I am powerless to do anything about it. The burden of being an observer to evil.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Sep 29 2024 14:28 utc | 6

Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 29 2024 13:57 utc | 4

I used to watch a youtube channel a bit. Not sure what nationality he was, European, quite good on aircraft. Then he began dissing the newer Russian equipment as junk compared to the US and F35 ect. The SU 5th gen was largely dismissed as inferior to the F35 and the Russians couldn't get their act together because it wasn't in full scale production.

I see he has now done a complete turn around on that and is pointing how far advanced and how superior the Russian aircraft is. Quite good to watch again now that he has dumped the anti Russia rubbish.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 14:33 utc | 7

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 29 2024 13:57 utc | 4

########

I was going to do a meta post about all of Marat's air power analysis. 3 recent articles I believe. Great stuff.

Not just Marat's Russian triumphalist view but everything I read about the SU-57M leads me to believe it has no analogue in the West. It is so far ahead of Western planes, as Russian air defense is so far ahead, as Russian battlefield eWar is so far ahead.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Sep 29 2024 14:35 utc | 8

OFF-TOPIC: US ELECTION
(Sorry, I post this here for timely reasons, because today are elections in Austria, and as you will see, things may be strongly related to USA. I will post this again in a possible next thread.)

THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT
I will predict the outcome of an election of a Western country (first results in 7h),
an if I am right, you can tell that in Western countries elections are rigged, by a similar system,
and that European elections are somewhat a "test balloon" for the US election, and you can be 100% sure that US elections will be rigged.

Thesis: Already before elections the polls are rigged, to make the party that "shall" win look like it could win by itself. So the manipulation of the actual election is not conspicuous anymore. (If you don't manipulate the polls, then the gap between system and anti-system party in approval ratings is too big, and manipulation of atual election seems more likely.)

Trump and the Republicans oppose the system, like anti-war, anti-migration, etc. (the Democrats ARE the system), and therefore Trump is constantly bashed and attacked by all (system) media, Hollywood, and all systemic institutions.
In Europe there are similar anti-systemic parties (mostly right-wing) that are the only real opposition, and also are constantly attacked by media.

1st example: AfD in Germany (right wing) is the only opposition there (except newcomer BSW with Wagenknecht), bashed constantly by media
elections in Brandenburg 22.9.: AfD always lead the polls (30%), before elections system party SPD (social, left) gained in polls from 13% to 30%,
SPD won by narrow margin 30% against AfD (29%) with absentee ballots.

2nd example: FPÖ in Austria (right wing) is the only real oppositon, bashed constantly by media, lead in polls far ahead (28%)
elections today 29.9.: system party ÖVP (conservative) gained in polls from 20% to 28% in last weeks
I predict, that ÖVP (systemic) will win by very narrow margin (probably with absentee ballots) over FPÖ.

If this comes true, then you can conclude that ALL elections in the West are rigged today. (results 7 hours from now)

Posted by: cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 14:43 utc | 9

To post #10:

I posted exactly this some hours ago in old thread from yesterday, where it was deleted,
now I must hurry (I fell asleep) because 1st polls for results come in (no results yet).

But looks like, I was wrong and FPÖ will win this anyway.

Posted by: cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 14:49 utc | 10

cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 14:43 utc | 10

In the US, the minority globalist hold much of the media. The realists hold twitter but the numbers have moved to the realists.
If US was a single faction, they would be easier to predict, but they are not a single monolithic deep state/ power structure.

The Biden crowd have been the face of war on Russia which has failed. The US is not getting returns on investment in that direction and have nixed escalation.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 14:50 utc | 11

The realists hold twitter

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 14:50 utc | 12

---

Twitter is a poisoned asset that Musk's bankers can't unload. Its historic

Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter Inc. has emerged as the worst buyout since the global financial crisis for seven large financial institutions that provided debt for the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The deal has now run up about $13 billion in so-called hung debt, which is money owed to banks that has not been sold partly because the value of the underlying asset has dropped so sharply due to its weak performance.

Citing data from Pitchbook, the Journal said Twitter ranks as the biggest hung deal since the turmoil that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers some 16 years ago, and one of the largest hung deals of all time.

It’s also been sticking around on banks’ balance sheets longer than any other hung loan since the 2008-’09 financial crisis, at about 20 months and counting. By contrast, most of the troubled loans in the wake of the financial crisis were sold within about a year.

continues ==> https://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musks-44-billion-twitter-purchase-ranks-as-worst-deal-for-banks-since-the-financial-crisis-wsj-757c09b7

The realists that hold Twitter are actually broke-ass fabulists.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 15:01 utc | 12

too scents | Sep 29 2024 15:01 utc | 13

I doubt is was acquired as a commercial tool. Starlink is one third pentagon. Used in Syria but also an intended psychological operations tool. Space x. Much of it a continuance of NASA. How, Who, Why as in Musk acquiring so much in that direction.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 15:12 utc | 13

Yes, first projection/results 10min ago (2% margin) say:
FPÖ 29.1%
ÖVP 26.2%

Which is a sensation in itself. So I was wrong and you won't hear from me about this anymore, (if the result isn't turned around by absentee allot or anyth.)
Ofc they will try to keep this party out of government.

Posted by: cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 15:19 utc | 14

How, Who, Why as in Musk acquiring so much in that direction.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 15:12 utc | 14

---

Musk is a stalking horse. Its hard to tell who is hunting for what behind him. Certainly Archegos was and they were a front for family offices. SoftBank too, and they are mobbed up Japanese pensions.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 15:19 utc | 15

Re: Austrian Elections Early Results

Seems the anti-war neutralist parties secured around 33% of the vote. Consistent with other European elections recently

Posted by: Exile | Sep 29 2024 15:29 utc | 16

Russia and the 3 Sahel states have agreed that Russia provides satellites or access to satellites to those governments, and the US is mad about it.

France and the US have long maintained intelligence operations in Africa, usually under the auspices of "fighting terrorism". In my opinion, the West likely created the terrorists to justify their military and surveillance presence on the continent.

Everyone is looking at Ukraine and Palestine and yet the Axis is working all around the world, more often than not, in a non-military manner.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Sep 29 2024 15:53 utc | 17

Watching the conflicts in Ukraine and middle east. Ukraine is very dependent on the coming US election, Israel is not.

Although I had doubts early on, it is now clear Israel where aware of the Hamas plans for a strike/raid and deliberately triggered that. Casualties vastly increased by the Israelis themselves to give casus belli for what was to come.

Why trigger it then - What was the hurry? There was legal proceedings against Nutty but that is not enough for what has occurred with total US and UK support.

RFK in that interview some months ago spoke about Persian Gulf oil and not letting Russia and China gain control over that. For that reason US needs Israel as an unsinkable aircraft carrier.

US is pulling out of the war on Russia to launch some form of war against China. China is the worlds largest importer.
What is occurring in the middle east now is likely a preparatory step to the war on China.

Strengthening the US position there or something of that nature. It will become clearer down the track, but the scale of what is occurring is far to large for it to be soley about Israel

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 16:03 utc | 18

LoveDonbass | Sep 29 2024 15:53 utc | 17

It is good what Russia, and for that matter China are doing in Africa, but the Sahel does not look to be strategically important at the moment. I only possible is oil and cutting supplies to China, other than that....

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 16:12 utc | 19

"US is pulling out of the war on Russia to launch some form of war against China..."

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 16:03 utc | 18

I disagree.

If Trump is elected there won't be a war or a blockade of China.

There will be a policy of tariffing China exports to the USA to fatten the US Treasury and rebuild American industry.

IMO Trump will win if not assassinated,

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 16:16 utc | 20

I disagree.
Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 16:16 utc | 20

Fair enough. You disagree. You faith in Trump is admirable. Pulling out of the intermediate rage missile treaty and recommencing production is peace. Pulling out of open skies is peace. Reneging on the Iran nuke deal is peace. We should have taken the oil is peace.

A very admirable man is Trump.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 16:21 utc | 21

I forgot to mention Jerusalem and Golan heights. Very big heated of Trump to move the US embassy to Jerusalem recognizing that as the capital of Israel and also recognizing Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
As everyone in the region will now stop arguing about who owns those places, that also will bring peace.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 16:27 utc | 22

IMO Trump will win if not assassinated,

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 16:16 utc | 20

---

I think the funniest thing about a Trump presidency, if he is elected, will be the inevitable fight that occurs between Trump and Musk.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 16:34 utc | 23

@canuck | Sep 29 2024 16:16 utc | 20

IMO Trump will win if not assassinated,

The election results will be adjusted to provide the 'correct outcome' like the last time.

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 29 2024 16:38 utc | 24

The realists that hold Twitter are actually broke-ass fabulists.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 15:01 utc | 12

Your argument is fallacious. First, to the degree that 'the Realists' are a thing, Twitter has use-value. Why would they NOT spend other people's money to control the most powerful 'opposition' media outlet? Following on this, what is the 'value' in monetary terms (which we see everywhere are meaningless when it comes to use-value) of wresting control of the American state from its current owners? Even the banks that are getting short-changed now undoubtedly had other investments that will pay off big time from a change in US policy. The stock market is not a useful gauge of the value of an enterprise except to low-grade, low-IQ 'investors' whose tiny holdings ultimately only contribute to the power of others.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 16:47 utc | 25

A very admirable man is Trump.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 16:21 utc | 21

Of course not, yet Canuck is, for a change, correct- there will not be a war against China, because no matter who is president of the USA, the USA cannot win such a war and would be utterly devastated by it. If Chinese goods suddenly stop showing up at Walmart, what will happen to the US economy? It will flatline, is what. There will be riots everywhere, national unity will disintegrate, and the parts of the country that still make a few things, and the parts that grow stuff, will be at war with urbanite/suburbanite areas of the country that have been sucking them dry since forever.

Trump tried to push on-shoring of supply chains in his first term and failed miserably. Now it's an absolute necessity if continuity of the system is to be preserved. But it requires just the right amount of friction with China- enough to justify to Americans some 'belt tightening' and tax incentives to big capitalists for building factories, re-opening mines, and so on, in the US. Raising the conflict to the point where China simply stops shipping goods to the US, which is quite survivable for the Chinese command economy, leads to disaster. It takes time to make these changes, and it takes time to shift the imperialist focus to the Near Abroad of the Americas, where Russia and China cannot easily interfere. Trump is an advocate of Fortress America, but it can't be built overnight.

I am not, btw, advocating Trumpism. It will be a bloody, oppressive mess, especially for our neighbors to the south, but it's the only realistic approach to preserving capitalism, so, eventually, it will be US policy with or without Trumpl.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 16:59 utc | 26

Why would they NOT spend other people's money ...

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 16:47 utc | 26

---

You don't understand how investment banking works. The bankers are spending their own money if they can't repackage the deal and sell on the debt.

Investment banking is a pure money play. IBs don't give a damn about influence unless they need it to sell a deal. IBs are allergic to spending their own money. Yet with Twitter they have snookered themselves.

No amount of prevarication will sweeten the fact that Twitters "owners" are holding huge bags.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:02 utc | 27

The election results will be adjusted to provide the 'correct outcome' like the last time.
Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 29 2024 16:38 utc | 25

Trump has a large, energized mass of supporters who will be all over the polling system in states where it could make a difference. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's going to be a lot harder to steal this election than the last one, and there's a good chance that a Trump loss, legitimate or not, will lead to slow-burn insurrection. Half the country is solidly in opposition to the Democrats and GOP establishment, and it's the half with the greatest representation in the armed, military-trained, demographic of the country. It's questionable how much control the Federal government could assert over the military and national guards in the case of major domestic disturbances. The PTB controls the generals, but from Colonels on down, the majority is aligned much more with MAGA than 'leftism'. If there's any substance to the apparent trend of urban blacks to Trump, the military will be an unreliable support for the status quo.

If I were a banker, I'd be happy to accept some losses on the balance sheet rather than take the conflict to the streets. Much better for the long-term business outlook.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:08 utc | 28

No amount of prevarication will sweeten the fact that Twitters "owners" are holding huge bags.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:02 utc | 28

But so what? A handful of bankers take a loss. Many of them will survive on 'better' investments, none of them will if the whole system goes down in flames, as current policies make imminent. Musk and the Security State don't care about these investors, they care about taking and holding power for the long-term preservation of the system, which the neoliberal/neocon/zionazi greedheads are on the verge of destroying.

Perhaps you haven't noticed, but the history of capitalism is the history of capitalists devouring other capitalists in times of crisis. Sacrificing a few bankers has never been a problem for those doing the throat-cutting. What they want to avoid is being laid on the altar themselves, and being first with the knife is one way to do that.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:14 utc | 29

there will not be a war against China,
Honzo | Sep 29 2024 16:59 utc | 27

There has been no war with Russia either. There has however been devastating conflict in the region. Ukraine largely destroyed, European economies in parts largely destroyed.

Similar is likely to occurred in this region. It was under trump the move began to nuke up the region. There will be some armed conflict in the region. Destroying China's economy which is the main target will destroy the economies of the region. And always, China will be ringed with nukes in a game of nuclear bluff or chicken.

Trump himself - I see the types he appointed. But apart from Trump himself - the US presidency has no agency. It is the intentions of the faction behind that count. Where Trumps intentions are in line with that factions policy, he will be allowed to run with it. If he strays off the behind the scenes policy he will be blocked and set back on the path already laid.

This thinking one man can change anything is, I believe, foolish. That is why I frame it as "Trump will be the face of the war on China". Not the brains behind it. The face.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:14 utc | 30

But so what?

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:14 utc | 30

---

The Twitter fiasco is $44B. Russia's frozen assets is $300B.

Horses for courses.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:18 utc | 31

The Twitter fiasco is $44B. Russia's frozen assets is $300B.

Posted by: too scents | September 29, 2024 at 17:18

---

Adding: let's see which party is made whole.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:20 utc | 32

As to the power, the agency of a US president, the Carlson Putin interview is a good reference point.

The so called intel community also have the power to create 'evidence' and delete evidence. For instance the Steel dossier was created, the Hunter Biden laptop deleted. That is just a couple of things we know about.

A president, a government make foreign policy decisions based to a large part on intelligence reports. And so those reports used to create foreign policy, to make decisions in that area can easily be manipulated by 'adjusting' the intelligence.

It is the so called intelligence community that hold far more power than any elected government.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:38 utc | 33

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:14 utc | 31

The point you don't seem to grasp is that 'destroying China's economy' will destroy the economy of the US as long as Fortress America has yet to be constructed. It won't be done in Trump's term under the most optimistic projections. Also, please explain how not being able to sell goods to the US destroys the Chinese economy. Are you operating under the delusion that China is a capitalist economy like the US?

As for 'Trump himself,' of course that doesn't matter, but he is the point man for a change in policy. Fortress America is the only way to extend the life span of finance capitalism, and while it will fail eventually, the bankers prefer later than sooner. The faction behind Trump is far from having complete power over events, and probably won't be able to choose all of Trump's cabinet any more than they were last time around, but if they can get a couple of key positions, some of the Fortress America plan can begin implementation, and I believe the odds are that that will garner enough popular enthusiasm to force change in congress and make Trump's successor's cabinet more in line with the new normal.

This stuff isn't happening in a vacuum, it's happening in the context of BRICS blooming, a solid Russo-Chinese alliance, the gradual expulsion of the colonial powers from Africa, and the diminishing ability of the US to project power abroad, including in the middle east. The current frenzy of violence is not achieving its aims, and everyone can see that eventually Israel will cease to exist and the US will have no influence in the area, so many realignments are already underway.

In context, Fortress America is capitalism's best opportunity to retain any kind of power. More and more of the capitalists themselves are seeing this.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:40 utc | 34

the so called intelligence community that hold far more power than any elected government.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:38 utc | 34

---

Can the intelligence community levy taxes?

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:41 utc | 35

The Twitter fiasco is $44B. Russia's frozen assets is $300B.

Horses for courses.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:18 utc | 32

Random factoids. The US national debt is 35 trillion plus.

Adding: let's see which party is made whole.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:20 utc | 33

It doesn't matter.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:43 utc | 36

It doesn't matter.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:43 utc | 37

---

Posts like yours reinforce my apprehension about the depth of the approaching economic depression.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:48 utc | 37

Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:40 utc | 35

"Also, please explain how not being able to sell goods to the US destroys the Chinese economy. Are you operating under the delusion that China is a capitalist economy like the US?"

As you have not read my comments, I have no interest in debating anything with you.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:48 utc | 38

Re trade. Throughout the war on Russia, US has continued to trade with Russia. The very little change made was simply changed to indirect supply.

Europe, although a tiny bit of direct trade continued, largely destroyed itself by cutting a huge amount of direct trade. Indirect trade at much greater expense only makes up some of what it lost.

I have been assuming the US will try and do the same with China.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 18:02 utc | 39

Note - The United States is most definitely not Capitalist. ~40% of GDP is Gov’t and another 25-35% of the economy is essentially state controlled. That’s not Capitalism by any definition.

Don’t get bogged down in the false left vs. right paradigm. It leads to faulty analysis.

Posted by: Exile | Sep 29 2024 18:06 utc | 40

Re: which party is made whole ?

Too Scents has asked the most profound question not being asked in the U.S.

Posted by: Exile | Sep 29 2024 18:07 utc | 41

"Note - The United States is most definitely not Capitalist. ~40% of GDP is Gov’t and another 25-35% of the economy is essentially state controlled. That’s not Capitalism by any definition.

Don’t get bogged down in the false left vs. right paradigm. It leads to faulty analysis."

Posted by: Exile | Sep 29 2024 18:06 utc | 41

Not correct.

U.S. government has spent $6.29 trillion in fiscal year 2024 to ensure the well-being of the people of the United States. (1)

The US GDP in 2023 was 23.76 Trillion so US spending as a % of GDP is not around 40% but rather around 27% of the economy -a big difference!!!

1.https://www.bea.gov/news/2024/gross-domestic-product-fourth-quarter-and-year-2023-second-estimate#:~:text=Imports%20decreased%20(table%202).,(tables%201%20and%203).

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 18:21 utc | 42

"No amount of prevarication will sweeten the fact that Twitters "owners" are holding huge bags."

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 17:02 utc | 28

No that is not correct.

Elon owns 'X'; the stupid bankers own the discounted debt as they lent at too low a rate on too risky a venture--so the bonds are now severely discounted- please read the below to understand the 'hung deal':

1. "Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter Inc. has emerged as the worst buyout since the global financial crisis for seven large financial institutions that provided debt for the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The deal has now run up about $13 billion in so-called hung debt, which is money owed to banks that has not been sold partly because the value of the underlying asset has dropped so sharply due to its weak performance.

Citing data from Pitchbook, the Journal said Twitter ranks as the biggest hung deal since the turmoil that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers some 16 years ago, and one of the largest hung deals of all time.

It’s also been sticking around on banks’ balance sheets longer than any other hung loan since the 2008-’09 financial crisis, at about 20 months and counting. By contrast, most of the troubled loans in the wake of the financial crisis were sold within about a year.

The seven major banks that lent the money for Twitter (which has since been renamed X) are Bank of America Corp.
BAC"

-0.30%
, Morgan Stanley
MS

-0.47%
, Barclays
BCS

-0.40%
, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
MUFG

-2.69%
, BNP Paribas
BNP

0.09%
, Société Générale
GLE

0.79%
and Mizuho
8411

-0.67%
.

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 18:27 utc | 43

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 14:33 utc | 7
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Sep 29 2024 14:35 utc | 8

A mate of mine is heavily into military aviation, going all the way back to WWI and he generally knows his stuff. Mentioning the Su-57 to him though and it is like a red rag to a bull; “blah-blah prototype... blah doesn’t work properly... blah new engine... blah blah”. I gently point out that there are a couple of squadrons known to be in service, plus the engine upgrade is in hand and he goes quiet. To be fair, he does agree that the F-35 is a pile of junk that will never work properly.

Perhaps fancifully, I’m hopeful that somewhere in the lower ranks of NATO there are remnants of capable technical analysts who “crunch the numbers” on F-35 versus Su-57 and really don’t like what they see.

I’ve thought about giving my mate a link to Smoothies; I always enjoy Andrei’s presentations on the topic of Russian military developments. There was a post he did some time ago referring to the single engine Su-75 and its future prospects, as well as discussing the design of a proposed MiG-35.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 29 2024 18:40 utc | 44

Elon owns 'X'.

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 18:27 utc | 44

---

I put "owners" in scare quotes for a reason.

Also, I'm looking forward to the Musk .vs. Trump title fight for the World's Biggest Deadbeat Narcissist. Trump can blow up Deutsche Bank and Musk can blow up Morgan Stanley. That will be fun.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 18:41 utc | 45

Posted by: cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 14:43 utc | 9

I find your theories very probable,we have had the same situations in a number of countries, France, State elections in Germany. In Norway we have something similar, but with joker's, small parties that has their incompetent cacling leaders that can change the outcome of any parliment majority for a place at the king's table. We have not had a finance minister in Norway with proper education for the last 22 years. The last finance- minister with a economic education was Stoltenberg. He sold norway gold, tied up all norways oil revenues in a state pension fund, investing in City and Wall street, and here we are- waiting for the crash.

Posted by: Paul from Norway | Sep 29 2024 18:51 utc | 46

Seems the anti-war neutralist parties secured around 33% of the vote. Consistent with other European elections recently

Posted by: Exile | Sep 29 2024 15:29 utc | 16

Constistancy is important in a democracy:-)

Posted by: Paul from Norway | Sep 29 2024 18:59 utc | 47

Canuck,

As of 2022 - 38,5% of GDP

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_spending_as_percentage_of_GDP

Posted by: Exile | Sep 29 2024 19:01 utc | 48

Elon owns 'X'.

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 18:27 utc | 44

---

I put "owners" in scare quotes for a reason.

Also, I'm looking forward to the Musk .vs. Trump title fight for the World's Biggest Deadbeat Narcissist. Trump can blow up Deutsche Bank and Musk can blow up Morgan Stanley. That will be fun.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 18:41 utc | 46

Bond holders are not owners- putting them in quotations doesn't make any sense. The bonds are cheap now but when they come due/mature Tesla will pay them off so the bondholders will never become owners.

You are also mistaken about Musk-the Deep State in Deleware (Du Pont family runs the State and Joe Biden has been their puppet since he got elected to Congress in 1971in 1973) is attempting to sue Musk over a $50 billion bonus Tesla shareholders approved 10 years before.

Your idea that every Western Oligarch or wealthy person is evil is simplistic , inaccurate and myopic.

Musk is on our side.

Your paranoia clouds your reason is such matters.

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 19:02 utc | 49

Musk is on our side.

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 19:02 utc | 50

---

Musk is on your side. Not mine. I don't share your Narcissist's envy.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 29 2024 19:07 utc | 50

The most interesting fact in the news nowadays is the "dog that didn't bark", or actually the news that wasn't, also called the thread that didn't show up on MoA...

Is it part of The Plan, is it part of anybody's plan?

How come that the main contender to the Empire of lies remains completely out of news cycle?
How come that we feel no need to talk or read about CHINA?
If you got a hunch please share!

Posted by: Greg Galloway | Sep 29 2024 19:10 utc | 51

cortomaltese@9 wrote "Trump and the Republicans oppose the system, like anti-war, anti-migration, etc. (the Democrats ARE the system), and therefore Trump is constantly bashed and attacked by all (system) media, Hollywood, and all systemic institutions." The Republicans are part of the system. This is outrageously false. The system include rivalries and policy conflicts within the ruling class and Trump is merely an expression of a faction that wants more brutal economic policies even at the expense of previous bourgeois democratic norms, forms and laws. Fox News, Sinclair, etc. are all mainstream media thus the claim that all the media attacked Trump is also outrageously false. "Hollywood" includes religious broadcasting/cable and Christian media and Christian movies and they are not promoting anti-Trumpery. They are mostly promoting right idpol, where "the people" are apparently imagined to be "people like me. I don't know is cortomaltese is any more correct about Austrian politics but this suggests cortomaltese operates with an worldview centered on falsehoods.

By the way, some polls are indeed "rigged," partly because they are aimed at donors, who are being invited to invest in the winner. Other polls mean to create a bandwagon effect in news coverage for their preferred candidate. Others aim to tag their enemies as losers, also aiming to affect news coverage, which is designed to emphasize the so-called horse race. Some local polls may even be interventions, paying political professionals and consultants on the ground, making them de facto recruits. Finally, there is the fact that all polls are exercises in statistics, thus hard. And the best polls are expensive. Who wants accurate information out among the public? That's why so many campaigns keep their polls secret. Releasing the results is a political act too.

Honzo@26 is being using "fallacious" there, those banks could have made more money elsewhere. It's called opportunity cost and they no doubt think they have lost money, or will at least. The cautious hypothesis is that it's Musk who wanted a more right-wing X as part of his personal political use value and he got the banks to give him the money for it, which is the correct part of the comment. The principle of billionaires with political hobbies is widespread, from Koch and the Heritage Foundation, to Bezos and the Washington Post. Musk and X is the same so far as I can see. The thing is, it is fallacious to conclude the banks losing billions don't matter. How much I don't know either, but too scents was right on that point, not fallacious. The "realists" holding the bag are "broke-ass fabulists." In my view just as much as "realists" who think election campaigns can be engineered like marketing campaigns while ignoring that marketing is quite fallible. Or also in my view, just as much as "realists" who believe in Fortress America.

Honzo@27 is worse than silly. Apparently the most reason for the decision to go to war on a particular day is the prospect of an easy victory (often delusional, but even so.) That's why Hitler went to war with the USSR. But another is desperation, seeing no other way out for the rulers, who are not experienced with losing. That's why Japan went to war with the US. The assumption that Americans are incapable of national unity in wartime seems to stem from contempt for the people in general. It's certainly not supported by any historical experience. Americans are against losing wars but that takes generally takes a long time to sink in. Lastly, the notion that Fortress America is a realistic path to preserve capitalism is highly dubious in itself. The notion the American ruling class, which includes Wall Street (!) can be satisfied with an imaginary "Near Abroad" which would require serious intervention (aka wars) in much of Latin America is something of a counterfactual unsupported by anything. The political survivability of the CPC which has seriously damaged its bureaucracy that would run its "command economy" in the event of a blockade like that waged on the DPRK is an issue too. That's doubly so given the existence of a large petty bourgoisie and a Chinese bourgeoisie, both in the PRC but also in Taiwan. Such a blockade would mean "reform and opening up" had failed spectacularly, and it would involve a major theoretical/practical rearming of the CPC.

Honzo@29 continues the silly (illness? or hungover?) From what I remember, commenting on a Norwegian post is a waste of time, for a start. The last election was not stolen in the sense of vote falsification. Trump like all conservatives, Republican and Democratic, have benefited as well as suffered from the multitude of hardball/shady political tricks that are depressingly familiar in actually existing democracies. So much for ludicrous notions of election "interference," a meaningless charge. In practice, Trump's army of supporters being all over the polls is a call for a nationalized voter fraud, aimed against poll workers and voters of the wrong sort. Even nuttier is the notion that half the nation supports Trump. There's a reason he lost the vote in two elections.

Further, a huge fraction of his supporters profess to believe that Trump won't do what he has said he'll do (for good reason,) and another large fractions pretends he can't do anything but Harris can, so it's essential to elect Trump anyway...regardless of the vote, though that part doesn't said out loud very often, except by proclaiming "the people" are Trumpists without any evidence. The assertion these people support Trump is BS. The offhanded dismissal of the humanity of urban areas (we know who they are to a lot of people) ignores that rural areas---usually ruled in my judgment by a corrupt system of local bigwigs, not "the Peopel!"---is accompanied by a disdain for mere suburbanites. Too much college education? I am baffled at how the PMC/Deep State/cultural Marxist crowd can manage to convince themselves midlevel bureaucrats and college professor run the country and there is no bourgeois ruling class. Well, motivated reasoning.

As to the notion that PTB control the Generals neglects that the Generals are PTB, especially in a militaristic country like the US. They would be card-carrying members of the Deep State, if the phrase "Deep State" wasn't contrived to pretend that a conspiracy magically runs/ruins the country. Also, the armed forces are an organized hierarchy. That's why it is indeed the colonels who are most likely to overthrow the government. See the depressing history of military dictatorship world wide for decades. Calling for a military dictatorship is not a good look. Another also, the fascist influence in the police forces and security services is matched by a fascist influence in the officer corps. When they train fascists in Ukraine, they also train themselves in fascist politics. Again, calling for fascists to defy a popular is not a good look. Lastly, despite the officer corps and the rank-and-file are two different creatures. There seem to be nearly systematic efforts to cultivate both a Christian army and a mercenary force (yes, incompatible goals but who said imperialists are rational...that's Honzo, not me.) I say what Made A Great America was the Revolution, the Civil war and yes even the New Deal and the civil rights revolution. It means nothing to say MAGA if you don't say when America stopped being Great. I don't think, despite Honzo's wishes, to assume the black soldiers and Latino soldiers and the women soldiers and even the confused gay soldiers who didn't get they're on the list too, to sign on to MAGA when it comes to storming "urban" areas.

Peter AU1@31 is too categorical. Of course, the president has tremendous agency. The system was designed that way, back in 1787 and the role of commander-in-chief of the empire has gotten even more important. That's why the bourgeoisie spends billions on presidential election campaigns. If who was president didn't matter, they wouldn't waste the money. It is true that no president does all the work himself. That's usually done by lower level people, the kind of ass kissers who actually read stuff like Project 2025, to get ahead. But it is simply absurd to insist that whenever lower level people tell you something is impossible, it just means the boss is being "blocked." When the boss of a firm is told by IT or the engineers something is impossible, are they just "blocking" the boss? No this is too simplistic, in a bad way.

Peter AU1@34 doesn't realize the Hunter Biden laptop's computer could have had exculpatory evidence deleted, clearing the senior Biden of legally actionable charges. This is even more true given how long it was in the hands of private parties with unknown motivations. Everybody realizes Hunter was trying to peddle influence, but that's not even illegal, given the pervasive corruption of the legal system here. The true corruption is what's legal. The official nonsense is the notion that unwelcome intelligence cannot be simply dismissed until the upper levels cough up a suitable justification for the desired policy. The intelligence community dutifully offers up evidence of atrocities or nukes or whatever, as needed for justification. Saying they directly control policy is simply wrong. The CIA and others feeding stories about Biden's dementia being incapacitating is a much better example or the New York FBI office promoting another emails server. The Steele dossier was for the FISA court, but such shoddy work is, as far as I can tell, pretty typical for everything but before FISA, which is mostly a rubber stamp. The implication government officials shouldn't ever be the targets of criminal investigation is a shoddy principle to uphold. The fundamental problem there is the use of gossip in mass media. That is to be laid to the owners of the mass media (rich people) and their customers who buy advertising (also rich.)

Honzo@35 continues the losing streak, managing to claim finance capitalism has a rational interest in Fortress America. Finance capital has an interest in the entire planet. Building Fortress America requires destroying finance as it is. That's not Trump's policy, never was, and never will be. "Fortress America" is an idiosyncratic excuse for Trumpery, so far as I can see.

Posted by: steven t johnson | Sep 29 2024 19:10 utc | 52

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:38 utc | 34

"The so called intel community also have the power to create 'evidence' and delete evidence. For instance the Steel dossier was created, the Hunter Biden laptop deleted. That is just a couple of things we know about.

A president, a government make foreign policy decisions based to a large part on intelligence reports. And so those reports used to create foreign policy, to make decisions in that area can easily be manipulated by 'adjusting' the intelligence."

Beautifully observation Peter.

The Hunter PC-story was deleted by the 50 generals/CIA bosses and the report debunking Russiagate was deleted. The Trump shootings are also deleted.

Looks like they are deleting more that they are creating.

Posted by: Paul from Norway | Sep 29 2024 19:14 utc | 53

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 17:43 utc | 37

#######

I enjoy very much that you do not get bogged down in the minutiae and navel gazing that characterizes so much of discourse on these topics.

Given the volumes of "facts" and opinions we're bombarded with, I believe that one must ruthlessly discard noise in pursuit of the essential signal.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Sep 29 2024 19:20 utc | 54

Jesus treaw out the Money-Changers- in USA they choose who you are to elect. Moneycracy.

Oct 5. is soon here, the great Zionist march on Al-Aqsa. What will the Devil do this time.

Buckle up

Posted by: Paul from Norway | Sep 29 2024 19:26 utc | 55

@cortomaltese #9
Your attempt to link European election games with American election games is a poor one.
The European system is completely different - there are many parties but most of these parties are more or less the same even in their external messaging. What has been happening in Europe is that the mainstream parties are cooperating to keep out the "far right" upstarts, but this effort will eventually fail because the ongoing economic, social and political failures keep piling up. The entire point of having many different parties is that the blame game can be continued forever.
The US, in contrast, has 2 parties - one of which has now coalesced populist left along with its existing populist right standing ex-President.
A few dinosaur neocon wankers endorsing the Democrat nominee is utterly irrelevant because these endorsements don't actually change any votes - the Never Trumpers would vote for a shaved monkey so long as it is not Trump...ironically similar to the strong minority that supports the Democrat party.
As such - the election gaming is fundamentally different in the US vs Europe; the playbook in 2024 is identical with 2020: say nothing, do nothing, do all sorts of lawfare and election rule monkeying to minimize actual voters and maximize core Democrat audience voting.
The problem is that times have changed. The Democrats used to be the party that depended on turnout because it used to be supported by the young fools and the working class - now these are more emblematic of the populists now united under Trump. And Trump in turn has demonstrated the ability to make people turn out to vote.
This is why the incessant lawfare, the Russia-gate and converse lack of Hunter Laptop-gate, etc etc and not impossibly the 2 assassination attempts.

Posted by: c1ue | Sep 29 2024 19:45 utc | 56

As you have not read my comments, I have no interest in debating anything with you.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:48 utc | 39

Have I missed your comment in which you explain how the Chinese economy depends on selling consumer goods to the US? Just tell me where it is, I'd love to read it.

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 19:52 utc | 57

@ Honzo #35 who wrote
"
Are you operating under the delusion that China is a capitalist economy like the US?"
"

I posit that China has more private enterprise than the US but the key you and others seem to not get is that in China finance is a public utility and in the US it is privately owed and manipulated for profit for a few.

I encourage you to think and communicate in other than mythical terms like capitalism.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 29 2024 20:01 utc | 58

@Jeremy Rhymings-Lang #3
All the armchair warrior, aircraft nerd argumentation over F35 vs Su57 is pointless because the 2 aircraft have fundamentally different roles.
Among the more egregious differences:
The F35 is the primary instrument of Western battlefield power; the Su57 is not.
So while the West might want the F35 to dogfight Su57s - Russia would not.
The Su57s role is sneaking in to nail radar sites and what not - and that's it.
The contest is therefore not between the Su57 and the F35 - it is between the Russian air defenses and airfield/logistics suppression missiles and the F35 plus its support tail.
In particular - Millenium 7 recently looked at the F35s 'tooth to tail' ratio in the form of how many hours of maintenance vs. hours of flight time - the F35 appears to have the worst uptime ratio of any US aircraft in living memory.
Millenium 7 also noted that the F35 is an incredibly complex machine for all its wonderful capabilities - when it does work. In particular, he noted that there are apparently only supposed to be 2 sites in the entire world that hold the millions of parts needed to keep what F35 update does exist. Sound familiar in comparison to other Western military gear?
In a true near-peer combat that somehow magically does not go nuclear - it will be obvious in the first week just how superior the F35 is, or is not. And whatever the outcome, the F35 will basically have to win the fight in that first week or three - because after that, the planes just start falling apart in the sense that maintenance is not going to be able to keep even peacetime flight readiness rates.
Russia in turn does not rely on the Su57 for anything - there are now hypersonic missiles that can be used against historically "hard" targets. Why even bother trying to intercept F35 missions when Russian ground to air and air to air missiles are far longer ranged than the F35 kit? Between Kinzhals and Zircon hypersonic missiles; Burevestnik infinite range nuclear cruise missiles coming from any direction at any time; the panoply of Russian drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles - it is difficult to envision how a US logistics tail and aircraft support teams and airfields/supply depots are going to function well. And that makes the enormous assumption that US gear and logistics is going to be able to bridge the Atlantic.
The most likely outcome is: the few F35s do some heroic Twitter war things, then wear out or get shot down as the sky and space reconnaissance on both sides is devastated, at which point the Russian military rolls over everything.

Posted by: c1ue | Sep 29 2024 20:03 utc | 59

Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Sep 29 2024 18:40 utc | 45

Quite some time ago I watched a doco on the development of the SU-24 ground attack aircraft. I think about two squadrons were built then sent to Afghanistan for testing. They put in seven years there in combat before they were approved for full scale production.

A few announcements were made on production of both the SU-57 and also the Amarta tank, but both these seem to have been canceled in favour of a much longer testing and development phase. The SU-57 from what I see will go into full production with its loyal wingman, the large drones that will fly alongside it.

My other thought is, If a need for them does not arise, they may never go into full production, rather be a step in development toward the sixth gen aircraft.

Similar with the Amarta tank, if a need for them does not arise, they may end up being a step in development toward something better in the future. From what I have been able to make out, a number of developments for the Amarta have been used in modernizing the t-90 which is a cheaper tank to build and also lighter which I think would have significance for bridge crossings. That crew capsule for the amarta though is something that I don't think can be incorporated into the previous tanks.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 20:04 utc | 60

Thank you b, for the Thomas Fazi two part Q and A concerning the European Union. That was a fascinating read, well explained to non-Europeans as well as those who live there. I very much recommend it.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 29 2024 20:06 utc | 61

Have I missed your comment in which you explain how the Chinese economy depends on selling consumer goods to the US? Just tell me where it is, I'd love to read it.
Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 19:52 utc | 58

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 20:06 utc | 62

Why do you beat your wife Honzo?
I am sure you would have explained the reason but I'm afraid I missed your comment on your wife beating skills.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 20:15 utc | 63

"Peter AU1@34 doesn't realize the Hunter Biden laptop's computer could have had exculpatory evidence deleted, clearing the senior Biden of legally actionable charges."

Posted by: steven t johnson | Sep 29 2024 19:10 utc | 53

That is the Most Retarded Statement Today (MRST) I have read today ; and that's a big hurdle considering you beat out vargas.

Posted by: canuck | Sep 29 2024 20:16 utc | 64

Posted by: cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 15:19 utc | 14

Thank you for posting, cortomaltese. I just recommended the Thomas Fazi link by b above. The Duran guys have been in Malaysia. I hope they will give an analysis of European votes in general and your area in particular when they return to their bases. It is no dishonor to have predicted a different result. These are hopeful trends but we all have a long way to go.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 29 2024 20:35 utc | 65

John Kerry, surrounded by sympathetic ruling class stooges at the WEF, tells of the "anguish" our rulers are feeling at the audacity of the uppity peasants, reading unapproved facts and spreading unauthorized ideas, and the stumbling block of the First Amendment, which makes it difficult to hammer down dissenters.

When Kamala Harris is elected, they will institute a big change, he says. They are going to "break the fever".

https://x.com/PhilHollowayEsq/status/1840235678610735305

Posted by: wagelaborer | Sep 29 2024 20:50 utc | 66

As the saying goes - In China, you cannot change the party but yuo can change the policy. In the west, you can change the party but you cannot change the policy.

Obama first announced the pivot on China in 2011 or earlier. Gillard I think 2013 anouced the US was setting up camp here but not a lot happened until Trump when the pivot on China became turbocharged. Very noticeable here in Australia. Since Biden, it has largely flown under the radar but continued never the less.
Regardless of what Trump may or no may not be, regardless Trump's intentions toward China, that long running policy that is out of the hands of any president will continue regardless.

Rand corp 2014 envisaged a naval blockade but too late for that. The war on Russia may be a better template for how it will develop, US leading from behind, hardly affected, Ukraine destroyed, European economies destroyed.

TThe pentagon rare earths program began under Trump has been procceding, mines being devolped in Australia and I think Canada and US. I haven't heard much about the refinery but assume that is well on the way to being built.

Oil is the big one, Trump and Musk have their eyes on Venezuelan oil. If that can be secured, then global oil prices can be driven up which would be a setback for China and increased production costs around the world where the higher prices had to be paid for imported oil.

As for war with China, its not a matter of if, it is how. A big part of the how is how US avoids destroying its own economy in the process and there are certainly ways and means of possibly avoiding that. Though as we saw with Russia, the attack on Russia only strengthened rather than weakened it. I don't expect US to succeed in its endeavors against China, but they will certainly cause some destruction in the region both economic and physical.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 21:29 utc | 67

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 16:21 utc | 21

I'm taking that as irony, Peter. I'm also chewing over the two posts I was looking at above whilst watching a bit of the golf in Canada. Two of my favorite players to watch, one still playing and one done, are Aussies, but the stars to my mind have been the Oriental players, as far as charisma goes. Who wins right now is not a big deal for me. For me, it is spirit, and the internationals are the winners there, hands down. I take that as a good sign. And watching Adam Scott on the 17th hole right now, deep shadows on the green and he misses the put so it's over, that is class.

Don't forget, as A. A. Milne told us as kids, Tiggers can become un-bounced, and Trumps maybe as well. Remember also the types who've all come out for Kamala.

Ugh.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 29 2024 21:30 utc | 68

juliania | Sep 29 2024 21:30 utc | 69

I just watched a short of Kerry at the WEF. He was complaining the with social media, consensus cannot be formed. He is part of the faction behind the Biden Harris crowd, so I assume under them, there would be a major crackdown on social media and only the narrative would be allowed.

Re my above. I had already wrote in an earlier comment that loss of trade with the US would not affect China greatly so I am not sure why Honzo chose that line. I probably should check and see if I made a major typo or something.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 21:42 utc | 69

". . . and you can be 100% sure that US elections will be rigged."

Posted by: cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 14:43 utc | 9

Yes. Short Days Journey into Night as the winner has been already been pre-selected. You will get to choose the color, blue or red, but other than that bupkis.

Posted by: Elmagnostic | Sep 29 2024 21:53 utc | 70

juliania | Sep 29 2024 21:30 utc | 69

I was thinking of the wrong post. 21 was irony, 64 similar.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 21:55 utc | 71

A proper prosopographical and historical study of Von der Leyen (neé Albrecht) is needed. Her Albrecht family background is seriously connected and one wonders what she was doing (and with whom) in the USA during the 90s. Nominally they were based at Stanford which is suggestive. What looked like a career in medicine before this sojourn became a political career in the family's (hübsche) base of Hanover immediately after (post hoc ergo propter hoc?); within a few years she was in the German cabinet. The pivot is important and US State Dept grooming (plus daddy's connections) are probably a factor. Her husband is nouveau-nobility (part of the northern bourgeoisie ennobled by Napoleon) and his family were significantly embedded in the administration of the Third Reich, like most Prussian aristocrats eventually. Her wikipedia page makes for interesting reading (for example, her doctorate was plagiarised) and given that her only drive is power had she been born half a century earlier she probably would have been executed at Nuremburg.

Posted by: Patroklos | Sep 29 2024 22:55 utc | 72

c1ue | Sep 29 2024 19:45 utc | 57

Of course there are major differences between American and European political systems, and to many things you say I would agree (and some I don't know about),
but what is it that you are saying actually, I mean, to the polls that all favor Harris? Are they correct, will Harris be next president?

(btw: "The Democrats USED to be the party that depended on turnout"
as far as I know, Biden had the most voters ever in history, I think 70 mill. ... but then we all know, how he got them, with fraud)

Posted by: cortomaltese | Sep 29 2024 23:09 utc | 73

I encourage you to think and communicate in other than mythical terms like capitalism.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 29 2024 20:01 utc | 59

Mythical terms, eh? I like your comments generally, but this is one of the stupider things I've read here in awhile. Close second: Kamala the Marxist.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Sep 29 2024 23:22 utc | 74

"- Is Lebanon part of Israel’s promised territory? - Jerusalem Post"

I have tried links to this piece in 3 places now and it seem to have been 404-ed.

David Petraeus thinks Israel could learn a lot from our experience in Iraq.

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 29 2024 13:39 utc | 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20240925120359/https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680">https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680">https://web.archive.org/web/20240925120359/https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680

Posted by: paul | Sep 29 2024 23:37 utc | 75

Gone the moment I posted it. Reliable, hopefully, link below.

https://web.archive.org/web/20240925120359/https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680">https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680">https://web.archive.org/web/20240925120359/https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-821680

Posted by: paul | Sep 29 2024 23:40 utc | 76

Oh, ffs.

https://archive.ph/kFmFP

Posted by: paul | Sep 29 2024 23:41 utc | 77

@ Ahenobarbus | Sep 29 2024 23:22 utc | 75 who writes that my claim of capitalism being a myth is stupid of me.

Please show me this capitalism thing in reality and not in words and/or in people's minds.

We have public and private forms of finance in our world and the associated forms of social organization based on control of that aspect of social interaction and everything under it.....the private jackboot or public utility. I wish folks would talk about the implications of those realities on society instead of "ism" terms that cloud the issues.

We have been over and over the "ism" class of things at the bar before. Its like how religions give humans a sense of knowing something unknowable as an anchor in this world we know so little about....just have faith. I prefer to operate with total awe of the cosmos and my place in it with daily hubris checks.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 29 2024 23:44 utc | 78

Similar is likely to occurred in this region. It was under trump the move began to nuke up the region. There will be some armed conflict in the region. Destroying China's economy which is the main target will destroy the economies of the region. And always, China will be ringed with nukes in a game of nuclear bluff or chicken.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 17:14 utc | 31

I take it as a given that if the US attacks China militarily or in any other effective manner, the Chinese will stop selling the US cheap consumer goods. This would destroy the US economy and massively undermine the political structure, but it would not have a great impact on the Chinese economy. So, what is the method by which the US is going to destroy the Chinese economy?

Posted by: Honzo | Sep 29 2024 23:45 utc | 79

thanks b!

i second julianias recommendation of the thomas fazi article.. the frst one in compact is mostly behind a paywall, but the second one goes directly to his substack where i read three of his articles.. i have now subscribed to his substack..

@ 73 patroklos

ditto.. we need to find more on her and quickly..i recommend you read thomas fazi link, if you haven’t already.

——|————

i like honzos posts. i think he brings a lot of value to moa conversations…. my 2cs..

was there any follow up on my take on dugins. commentary on a previous thread on israels way of moving forward in war? i was surprised to read his commentary and not in a favourable way either..

Posted by: james | Sep 29 2024 23:47 utc | 80

james | Sep 29 2024 23:47 utc | 81

Dugin is generally a bit reactionary. What was his take on where Israel is headed.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 23:55 utc | 81

Honzo | Sep 29 2024 23:45 utc | 80

If I'm still around mid to late 2025, we can take another look at the situation then.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 29 2024 23:57 utc | 82

@ 82. peter

dugin was offering military analysis of israels superior approach…. i think he is really out of his element when doing military analysis.. he essentially thinks knocking off leaders is the way to go.. maybe he watches too much hollywood.. he needs to read more doysovsky, lol..

Posted by: james | Sep 30 2024 0:14 utc | 83

james | Sep 30 2024 0:14 utc | 84

I have found that sort of thing with him some years ago when I read a bit of his stuff. He is pretty well known, but I not sure how importance is put on his views by the likes of the Russian leadership if any.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 0:34 utc | 84

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 29 2024 23:44 utc | 79

Well, yes, wage labor and private property ARE mental illnesses, and we would do better to stop pretending as if they are necessary.

Posted by: Concerned Citizen | Sep 30 2024 0:34 utc | 85

Well, yes, wage labor and private property ARE mental illnesses, and we would do better to stop pretending as if they are necessary.
Posted by: Concerned Citizen | Sep 30 2024 0:34 utc | 86

What happens when people are not paid wages? Will they continue working? How does that work?

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 0:41 utc | 86

Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 0:41 utc | 87--

Humans worked for many thousands of years without wages, known as a subsistence economy that doesn't need to be modern and usually isn't. There are other forms of societal organization where there are no wages that were very productive and harmonious. A few still exist, mostly in Amazonia. A few experiments with cashless communities have also been conducted.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 30 2024 0:53 utc | 87

karlof1 | Sep 30 2024 0:53 utc | 88

Hunter gatherer. Subsistence farming and so forth. Payments in goods has been around a long time, perhaps since man began building things. Slaves of course only needed feeding and I guess some sort of shelter if required. I don't know of anything besides hunter gathering and subsistence farming that can operate without wages.

For the modern world - ?

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 1:18 utc | 88

@89 Peter

For the modern world there is "pretending to get paid for pretending to work".

Posted by: Ornot | Sep 30 2024 1:54 utc | 89

Patroklos @ 73:

On her paternal great-grandmother's side, Ursula von der Leyen is descended from the Ladson family in South Carolina state. The Ladsons were one of the wealthiest slave-owning families in the Confederate Deep South and were reputed to have owned the largest number of slaves on their properties. Their fortune originally came from Joseph Wragg who made his money in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

In the mid to late 1970s, von der Leyen lived in the UK under a pseudonym (to avoid being kidnapped by activist guerrilla groups like the Baader-Meinhof gang in her native Germany) and studied at the well-known spook-recruitment kindergarten the London School of Economics. The name she chose for herself? Rose Ladson.

One would have thought our Uschi should have been embarrassed, in the age of civil rights in the 1970s, to choose a name like Rose Ladson, with all the historical baggage attached. But this is part of the nature of the woman, doing things off the bat with no thought for the consequences and without consulting anyone as to whether the choice is a good one.

PS Yes, yes, I know, studying Economics at the LSE and then switching to medicine / gynaecology? Again, that's part of the nature of Uschi, doing things and dropping them to take up something else, yet somehow always landing surely and squarely on two feet.

Posted by: Refinnejenna | Sep 30 2024 2:06 utc | 90

Peter AU 1 @ 89:

Community volunteer work, domestic work, caring for your own children, DIY work and factories employing prisoners as full-time labourers come to mind as work in the modern world operating without wages.

Posted by: Refinnejenna | Sep 30 2024 2:09 utc | 91

Refinnejenna | Sep 30 2024 2:09 utc | 92

Its no how a country can function though. I think even if we go back to cottage industry, a potter might employ somebody to place the pots in the sun to dry each day then hlp load and fire the kiln. A blacksmith might employ a striker and so forth.

I have always worked for myself apart from my first few years of working life. I have realized maqny though prfer the security of employment. Soon as they knock off work they can forget about it then only have start thinking of work when preparing to go to work.

I don't think wages as such are and issue. Barter is an issue as the other person may not want what you have as surplus and wish to use in trade.

When Putin was sorting out the oligarchs, He said pay your workers bey the laws and pay your taxes. The issue is more the people than the object.

The american constitution is quite good but unless its upheld, it is just a worthless piece of parchment. Same with the UN charter. Its the people that are the problem not the object.

Both China and Russia are I think heading in the right direction for a modern society. Business is kept at arms length from the Government, yet the government knows that business conditions must be such that they can employ people and pay wages that are enough for moderate prosperity for the wage earner.

When I began an apprenticeship at sixteen, virtually all the tradesmen had been with that one company for life. Wages were sufficient that they could purchase or build a house without hardship and without the wife having to work. Now, with a similar job, both husband and wife would have to work and likely be stressing about making house payments.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 2:35 utc | 92

Remembrance Day is approaching. I have the opportunity to “say something” for 2-3 minutes. No more. It’ll be hot, and people have attention spans measured in nanoseconds now.
I was thinking that WW1 “didn’t just start”. There were years of building tanks and prepping.
Have the historians @bar any idea how much earlier than 1914 the war preps began?
How many tanks Britain had in, say 1900, and how many Germany had?
What about machine guns?
Troops?
Yes. I could Wikipedia. But I think it’d be much more interesting and informative to ask the @bar.
I want to conclude my “2mins” with the point that, just like the early 1900s, right now countries are arming, manufacturing and prepping their populations for War.
Unlike 1914, many countries are nuclear armed. And Russia, as probably the largest nuclear armed power has just reviewed and revised its nuclear response doctrine.
We’re taught “appeasement” didn’t work with Hitler, therefore we are unable to appease Russia regarding Ukraine.
But Kennedy knew “brinkmanship” against Russia was MAD.
We are being “nudged”* toward the “inevitability” of WW3.
Shouldn’t we allowed ourselves to question if a nuclear exchange is really what we want, and the only way to solve the Ukraine conflict?
[i’m not touching Palestine Israel …. Even if WW1 allowed the Balfour Agreement which allowed the occupation of “British” Palestine…….]
* Samantha Powers husband, Cass Sustein is attributed with the Nudge Theory, which is less theoretically and increasingly used in public policy decision making… gaining “consent” for programs and issues that are actually not in the interests of people “consenting”.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Sep 30 2024 2:42 utc | 93

Wages? Not necessary. Obey the old sales dictum -- find a need and fill it. I ran a bus tour business on the east coast, did it all myself and made lots of money. Plumbers, electricians, people say welders can get a job anywhere and do it on his own.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 30 2024 2:43 utc | 94

@86

So you are saying if someone toils ploughing and sowing and watering a field for a year just to have enough to eat, he cannot claim the produce as his and anyone can walk up and help themselves ?

Or if he has to treck all day just to collect a meager ration then when he meets another they can just take it ?

This is capitalism and property rights. At its simplest you own the means to production , your self.

Co-operation and communal effort is also a normal reality, we find it in our day to day in many ways. Even accepting property rights is a communal endeavour.

In economic communism , the produce is collected and is shared evenly. There is still a property right , the claim to a share of produce.

Mises is good reading for trying to understand capitalism (and money) as a format of human interaction.

The fact that people are competitive (try to get the most for least) is common to capitalism and communism.

Capitalism allows the possibility of monopoly, but it is known also that rejection of that is possible, given that recognition of ownership is only a social construct as far as accepted by others .

In economic communism monopoly is accepted as standard because others (the collective) monopolise your contribution, but guaranteeing you that at least a tiny fraction will be returned.

In communal living the rules are not strict or calculated so much, but instead just go by common sense, or sometimes tradition.

These are just some of the differences and similarities. Idealy we would not have to consider any of them, because we would both respect others and find all that we needed at hand without having to exert ourselves at all.

Until then.

Posted by: Ornot | Sep 30 2024 2:47 utc | 95

Another brick in the wall is in the process of crumbling. For the first time in recent Austrian history, a populist and anti-war party has achieved the highest level of votes of all the parties involved in their parliamentary system. Not only is this party anti-war, it is also closely in league with Orban's Hungary in many aspects...including a very strong stance against that nation taking in migrants from Third World and generally previously colonized countries. As a land without a history of overseas colonization, even during Habsburg days, Austria has no ethically moral reason to repent...a situation which several European "powers" during various centuries have been guilty.

The populist party is not only close to Hungary in its populist/sovereigntist perspectives...but significant changes have been won by the people of Slovakia...and to a lesser degree, the Netherlands. The European "Axis of Resistance" as it develops will need to mend fences with Serbia...a land which has been continually abused by imperialist schemers.

Russia Today, the now much sanctioned R.T. published this news on their website earlier today.

Posted by: aristodemos | Sep 30 2024 2:54 utc | 96

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 0:41 utc | 87

According to Dmitry Orlov, in the immediate post-USSR period, Russia workers kept the heat and lights on out of sheer routine. "Growth" is the ideology of the cancer cell.

Posted by: Concerned Citizen | Sep 30 2024 2:55 utc | 97

Concerned Citizen | Sep 30 2024 2:55 utc | 98

The Soviet Union collapsed. I guess that answer is a bit short, but it only requires a short answer.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 3:01 utc | 98

Melaleuca | Sep 30 2024 2:42 utc | 94

If I remebe correctly, the british invented the tank durinbg WWII. I think the germans seeing that tried something of their own a bit later but were behind the British. WWII, a different story though there, the Soviets although very low in numbers had the best tanks at the start in the T-34 and the heavy tank, I keep forgetting its name. The later ones were called Stalin tanks.
I assume the invention of the tank was due to the machine gun - the ability to advance into machine gun fire.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 3:07 utc | 99

Something I should have done at some point was to read Marx and I assume Engels.

Early communism just didn't function. I don't know if it comes from Marx or where but far too idealistic. he idea that people in general would work industriously for the good of the whole whilst putting in maximum effort for no extra reward.
People strived to get into the closed cities as wages and conditions were better plus much wider range of goods in the shops.
In many areas, a noticeable difference to quality of what was produced in the closed cities and what was manufactured for civilian use.

After the collapse of the soviet union, regardless of a few perhaps trying for a bit, the Russian 90's was no place to be.

China took a different path after the death of Mao, the path that led them to where they are now.

Private enterprise, individual ingenuity is I thinking a requirement for the human character (Traits regardless of era) in the modern world.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Sep 30 2024 3:25 utc | 100