Too interesting to not share:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/10/24/what-ideas-from-the-paleolithic-are-still-with-us-in-the-modern-world/
“Is the order of the modern alphabet connected to how our shared ancestors counted the phases of the moon and its effect on tides 50,000 years ago? Did the first stirrings of government and bureaucracy emerge from the efforts of early astronomers to reconcile solar and lunar calendars? These are the kinds of questions that have kept economic historian Michael Hudson up at night.”

Posted by: motorslug | Oct 24 2024 13:52 utc | 3

@ Outraged | Oct 24 2024 13:39 utc | 2
Classic. Thanks.
‘They don’t make ’em like that anymore’ is
a phrase that readily comes to mind.
Now they have that T Swift rag – all the evidence you’d
ever need to illustrate how far they’ve fallen.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Oct 24 2024 13:57 utc | 5

Posted by: b | Oct 24 2024 14:05 utc | 6
Her statement here is demeaning to everyone who hears it.

Posted by: a stone | Oct 24 2024 14:13 utc | 7

@ b | Oct 24 2024 14:05 utc | 6
WTF! Jeebus wept. Deranged. She has the emotional intelligence, actual empathy & compassion of a stone. Zero self-awarenes.
There is nothing, ‘there’.

Posted by: Outraged | Oct 24 2024 14:38 utc | 9

“She should not get any vote …” Voting against Harris for supporting the genocidal assault cannot be done by voting for Trump, who boasts of supporting the assault far more vigorously than Harris does. That’s just a vote for Trump not a vote against Harris’ policy. There is no voting against. The implicit claim a single-issue voter should only notice Harris’ wrongness is nonsense.
Her promise of bipartisanship is far more objectionable to me, though it’s true Trumpers seem all in for permanent minority rule by a single party. I suppose Trumpers find the mere existence of urban Democrats (we know who they are [sarcasm]) objectionable in itself. And I suppose the invocation of rights for women is also objectionable in itself too.

Posted by: steven t johnson | Oct 24 2024 15:10 utc | 11

Harris: “I don’t know anyone who has seen the images who would not have strong feelings…much less those who have relatives who’ve been killed.
I also do know that many people who care about this issue care about bringing down the price of groceries …”
She should not get any vote …
Posted by: b | Oct 24 2024 14:05 utc | 6
Unfortunately, that’s how you get votes in the US…
The vast majority of voters care more about the price of groceries than about genocide.
That is why both candidates are talking about groceries.
Most US voters do not want to contemplate the fact that US status, power and wealth is derived from theft and coercion.
Trump is one of the few politicians that has occasionally stated this out loud.
And now Harris is saying it too. She is saying ‘sure its terrible what’s happening in Gaza, but folks if you want affordable groceries you have to go along with the program’
And she is right. Without oil purchased by the point of the gun and the threat of violence, the price of oil would have gone sky high long ago and the price of groceries and most everything else would have soon followed.

Posted by: jinn | Oct 24 2024 15:17 utc | 13

@ b | Oct 24 2024 14:05 utc | 6 with the Harris word salad…..I live in America and am “represented” by this creepy puppet spouting Orwellian gibberish…..sigh
I have been thinking that Trump is the barbaric patriarch who needs to be in charge when the ship of empire goes all the way down. Humanity needs to deprecate the influence of inherited assholes like Trump and other exceptional types. Watching Trump perform the dance of empire death will provide the perfect view of the excesses of patriarchy and barbarism combined. Humanity will have a visceral reaction against that sort of energy having agency in our form of social organization going forward.
The shit show continues until it doesn’t

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 24 2024 15:20 utc | 15

Posted by: a stone | Oct 24 2024 14:13 utc | 7

Harris – “They want a president who cares about our fundamental freedoms; ake decisions about your own body…”

I guess that only counts if you want to get an abortion. Not so much with other intrusive medical procedures. mRNA
Unfortunately, the other side continues to boast of the warped Operation Warp speed.
Elections in the USA are a joke. I am going to vote if only to vote for Steve Garvey, a former first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is running for senate against the execrable Adam Schiff.
Carson Robison – Will Someone Please Tell Me Who to Vote for (1952)

Posted by: lex talionis | Oct 24 2024 15:27 utc | 17

Motorslug@1352
Alphabets and calendars will be highly focussed in the true new world order which is occurring mainly on a spiritual basis right at present.
As the current Western alphabet is purely abstract, it is absorbed by the left hemisphere of the brain ONLY. Abstractions engender obstructions. All 26 letters in the English version of the Phoenician/Roman alphabet have no intrinsic meaning outside of abstract construction. It is not holistic. Ancient Egypt in the Western world had a hieroglyphic formulation, while the Cuneiform iteration in the Tigris-Euphrates valley employed levels of meaning which expressed far more than any possible struggle with the abstraction of reality.
Secondly, the Western alphabet is ethnographically and culturally specific. It is not readily acceptable to peoples who are currently resisting colononialization on many levels.
An alphabet based upon the current Western one, but transmuted into highly graphic and pictorially engaging will ultimately become at least the template for an alphabet which would appeal to individuals across the planet.
CALENDAR: The one currently in use by the Western and westernized peoples is a Roman mess, celebrating the days of the week by honoring JULIUS Caesar (July) and his nephew successor Augustus with two months out of the Roman rather than Zodiacal calendar. Sheer imperialist imposition and actually quite stoopid. Days of the week are currently a compound of sun and moon worship (not bad, per se) followed by the Old Norse Tys Goddess (Tuesday); a Teutonized Nordic Wotan (actually Odin…Jupiter to the Romans) as Wednesday; back to the Norse for Thorsday (Mars to the Romans)…along with Freyas and/or Frigs as Friday.
THE YEAR: The underlying meaning of A.D. (Anno Domino) signifies the domination by Imperialist, colonialist Rome via the root meaning of after the domination of Rome, beginning with Caesar. Constintinian Crosstianity insists that this signifies (after Jesus). Nice cover story, quite appreciated by the Old Black Nobility, still centered in the “Eternal City”. So the foundation for our yearly calendar is “Before Caesar and After Caesar”.
Abstractions in both alphabet and calendar form an engineered template for perceived reality. Ultimately, the world will have a symbol-based alphabet and a calendar which is truly universal and NOT an imperialist, colonialist imposition upon the mindsets of a populace. As we graduate from the dictatorial and absolutist memes of the decaying Kali Yuga; human consciousness will not be grounded upon obsolete cultural foundations, whether patriarchy, alphabet or calendar.
Some will find the transition difficult as comfort zones are gradually erased from day to day life. However, we now live in an electronic psychosphere and thusly radical changes in our mindscapes are ultimately inevitable.

Posted by: aristodemos | Oct 24 2024 15:29 utc | 19

b @6, if you think she’s stupid, you should read the comments section of Daily Kos.

Posted by: Immaculate deception | Oct 24 2024 15:47 utc | 21

AI | Oct 24 2024 15:19 utc | 14–
It’s been announced that no new members will be admitted at this time, while all those interested are welcome to participate in the many appendages BRICS is building–many new agencies providing many varied opportunities. I was very impressed by the BRICS Women’s Business Council’s presentation at yesterday’s extended format portion. The denseness of activity reminds me of bees in a hive working for their common goal. That density is reflected in the Kazan Declaration and its 134 points.
financial matters | Oct 24 2024 15:25 utc | 16–
Thanks for your reply. IMO, many expected more to be announced at yesterday’s sessions, such as the new clearing system or new commodity exchange but were revealed they continue to be works in progress. One of the main reasons for no new members is the difficulty in accomplishing the already complex tasks with the five new members–remember, consensus rules.
Yes, it was good to read Xi’s words and those of others. But as I noted in comments at my substack, BRICS has no military to enforce anything. Thus, those who only react to raw power will do nothing to alter their behavior. And that’s the same problem those forming the peace group face, thus Blinken, Sullivan, etc., continue to sneer at BRICS and Global South as a whole. The BRICS cries demanding change to international structures are answered with what amounts to: Make us do that; until then, we’ll continue to rule over you. And that’s what the Global majority faces in its attempts at a more equitable world. Realistically, that’s not going to happen until the Might Makes Right paradigm is smashed. That can be accomplished via economic might, but it will take years while all too many are dying daily.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 24 2024 15:58 utc | 23

@Tom Pfotzer | Oct 24 2024 15:28 utc | 18,
Thanks a lot for the detailed comments. Since BRICS is getting more members along the way, it will get more challenging to balance the interests among members. Growing from 5 to 9(or 10) makes the complexity much much more. I may be wrong but my impression is that India seems not that enthusiastic about advancing BRICS common goals. To me, India is some sort of an extension of the anglo-sphere per its past history 300 years and how it behaves in recent years even though it thinks itself as a Global South leader.

Posted by: LuRenJia | Oct 24 2024 16:08 utc | 25

@ Tom Pfotzer | Oct 24 2024 15:28 utc | 18
thanks tom.. i read karls articles and get the impression they are moving forward with ideas which sound like they are replacing the commodities index by making their own and etc. etc.. brics is a big project with a lot of ambitious goals to achieve, but i think the biggest one is replaced this world order as it presently stands and which has been used against many of these countries like a bludgeon.. it is no surprise they are collectively rebelling and i wish them much success..

Posted by: james | Oct 24 2024 16:23 utc | 27

We are being spied upon like never before.
“The woman arrested yesterday in the UK for her social media posts was first identified by a company called Logically, which has received huge contracts from the UK government to monitor alleged Covid-19 disinformation and whose main clients are the American and UK governments.
Logically vacuums up “all public posts on social media” and uses artificial intelligence to identify “problematic” posts. It’s also a member of the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) censorship cartel, whose members get preferential treatment by IFCN funders like Google and Meta and exclusive access to Facebook fact checking tools.”
https://nitter.poast.org/RealAlexRubi/status/1821902926270624255#m

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Oct 24 2024 16:33 utc | 29

Lets see how long it take Iran to get them off the ground – and if they make a difference.
“Russia has provided Iran with licenses to produce Su-35 and Su-30 fighter jets.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Oct 24 2024 16:44 utc | 31

@LuRenJia | Oct 24 2024 16:08 utc:
Yes, it’ll get more complex, and that’s a very good reason to stick to building tools that do common things, like making payments, making investments, building infrastructure, and building production systems like cement, re-bar, fertilizer plants and the like.
These are things all the BRICS and BRICS-wanna-bes need, and those things aren’t all that different, or differently-done from one country to the next.
I think the main reason to restrict membership (e.g. active members, not observers / next-in-line countries) isn’t so much the increase in complexity, it’s that the basic tools aren’t built yet, and they have to concentrate resources on building tools before they get more customers for tools that aren’t built yet. They also have to test and refine those tools before they get scaled up. Normal product development cycle stuff.
The very good reason to involve the next-tier members at the moment, even as observers, is that there’s a lot to learn about in-country economic development, there’s a lot of people to meet and work with and gain the trust of, etc. This stuff takes years, so .. might as well get started now. It’s perfectly reasonable to view the ongoing BRICS programs as a “build your country’s economy school” and “while you’re learning, meet your future trading partners why don’t-cha”

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 24 2024 17:01 utc | 33

It is essential to bear in mind that genuine farmers, husbanders of their land, are almost extinct in this ruptured republic. This degrading development has long been the product of policy on the part of the Department of Agriculture. Some fifty years ago, the then Secretary of Agriculture told farmers: “Get big or get out”. That policy succeeded as genuine old-style farmers gradually died off, while many of their offspring moved off to get “good jobs” in cities. The ones who stayed were “successful farmer” clones. They went big by buying up at low prices, generally supported by government grants, many neighboring farms.
Today, these agribizzies must not be considered as real farmers. They are heavy equipment operators and chemical warfare applicators. Innumerable early cancers are merely one of the results amongst consumers. If those people also ingest stannous fluoride in their city water, along with many soft drinks along with numerous beers…they are beclouding their pineal glands…their communication receiver from Source.
Americans are the most deliberately dumbed down; deracinated; mass-media mesmerized and prey for the biggest drug-dealers in the world…Big Pharma and HMO’s.

Posted by: aristodemos | Oct 24 2024 17:24 utc | 35

@james | Oct 24 2024 16:23 utc.
James: ya, BRICS is big and ambitious and so forth, but it’s important to keep in mind that the people behind this – the Russians and the Chinese … are really, really good at long-term planning and dogged-determination type implementation … and both countries have huge state-level project management expertise. They can do big stuff; neither complexity nor time-elapsed bugs them.
If you consider what Russia had to overcome and re-build post-USSR, and what China accomplished economically over the past 40 years … this is kinda easy by comparison.
=== and to LuRenJia | Oct 24 2024 16:08 utc, who said “To me, India is some sort of an extension of the anglo-sphere” (and is therefore kind of an iffy BRICS member) …
Yes, I’d say India has some deep thinking to do, and they, like Turkey and Saudi and a few others, have to figure out if and when and how to jump-ship to catch a better ride.
The decisive factor will be trading patterns and where the profits are. China and Russia’s main job is to make BRICS membership beneficial to the many, and profitable to the fewer, but more politically influential local poobahs (e.g. the emergent set of oligarchs).
When we wonder among ourselves “gee, I wonder what’s being negotiated at the BRICS meetings” … it’s the “who gets what and in what order” discussion (slicing the pie) and there’s the “who’s going to pay for all the new tools we need?” question.
This is great reality TV; too bad a good bit of happens behind closed doors.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 24 2024 17:32 utc | 37

The presser Putin held is now over. The opening Q&A follows:

Question: Anton Vernitsky, Channel One.
Vladimir Vladimirovich, please tell us more about financial cooperation of the BRICS countries. Did you discuss a common investment platform? And whether creation of an alternative payment system, was there any talk of an alternative to SWIFT?
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: As for SWIFT and some alternatives: we have not created and are not creating any alternatives to anyone. But nevertheless, the issue is very important today, and one of the key problems – this is the problem of calculations. Therefore, we are following the path of using national currencies, this is well known.
As for payment systems, we use the already created Russian system exchange of financial information, created by the Central Bank of Russia. Others BRICS countries also have their own systems, we will also use them. We are already using and will develop this interaction.
But we are not yet inventing a separate general system, what we have, in principle, is enough, we just need to adopt it in time, in a timely manner [with] appropriate decisions at the administrative level. We have also discussed this with our colleagues and will follow this path.

So there you have it–no rock-the-boat changes. We’ll continue on the path we’ve already begun.

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 24 2024 17:40 utc | 39

Jinn –
Iran is not “selling” 3-4 mbp … it is producing a little more than 3 mbpd. Most of its production is being used in Iran itself (more than 2 mbpd) for its own industry and populace. It could produce significantly more oil and sell much more crude and developed products if sanctions were removed. Iraq is similarly being controlled through other means, as are many other producers (Libya eg).
If there’s ever a question between more profits for international oil companies and western population welfare, which choice do you think US “leaders” would make?
Re food prices, etc. yes, politicians like getting elected and one occasional way to not be is through inflation pain. However, there are many tools to control the population including “are you going to vote for the fascists/crazy communists” as the case may be. Works almost every time. FYI, food prices have risen through the roof over the past few years but I don’t think anyone but Repubs or Dems are going to win congressional or executive seats, are they?
In other words, individual politicians may occasionally be sacrificed but the system continues and the “loser” pols get cushy jobs “earning” millions … the consent of the governed is HIGHLY overrated as a system of control in a huge republic like this. The people do largely as they are told by the MSM and their “betters”.

Posted by: Caliman | Oct 24 2024 18:02 utc | 41

@karlof1 | Oct 24 2024 17:48 utc | 40,
Thanks a lot for the info and continuous updates/comments about BRICS developments. I was trying to find out info about the partner members but has not much luck.
Do you get the info mostly from RU official web sites? I checked the summit web site but can’t find the related info such as the attendees and the new partner members.

Posted by: LuRenJia | Oct 24 2024 18:12 utc | 43

1. If BRICS succeeded at only one thing, reducing the “exorbitant privilege” of the U.S. buying other countries’ assets by counterfeiting more Federal Reserve Notes (there is no such thing as the U.S. dollar) then the world will be a better, more peaceful place, including in the United States of America.
2. Kamala Harris, sure she’s an empty vessel. If she had any thoughts of her own, they wouldn’t have installed her. Biden? Plenty of grubby thoughts, but so easy to control with all the criminal charges against him waiting for him to claim he is/was the real President. Do you think he agreed to leave because he succumbed to reasonable persuasion? Obama ? Another vacuous airhead, but an orator, teleprompter reader and a team member of the aggrieved Whiners of America. Trump? An ego bigger than his talents.
Thanks for everything you do b. Making the world a better place.

Posted by: kupkee | Oct 24 2024 18:19 utc | 45

Also, I found that it’s absolutely disgusting that Brazil blocked Venezuela/Nicaragua but they agreed to let fucking Saudi Arabia be a member (which we still don’t know if it will join BRICS) and Argentina (which is in worst position than Venezuela economically and largely irrelevant and also didn’t join).

Posted by: JamesBond | Oct 24 2024 18:44 utc | 47

Posted by: JamesBond | Oct 24 2024 18:44 utc | 47
It is clear you don’t understand what we have and don’t understand the changes. Not your fault of course, the monetary silencing propaganda thrust upon you from the age of 5 has been relentless. Non stop 24/7.
The future changes are massive. All in the right direction.
There’s only one thing that really bothers me. They all believe in “interest rate targeting” and they all have it backwards.

Posted by: Sun Of Alabama | Oct 24 2024 18:53 utc | 49

@49,
Not sure if you replied to my previous comment or the second one but if it’s related to @49, I will say it again .. not inviting Venezuela (a country that has a lot of oil, a government that strongly supports BRICS and multipolar world, a country that is also under immense pressure from US time and time again) is plain stupid.
Brazil is doing this because of the animosity between Lula and Maduro without thinking about the consequences for the country. Last year, they tried to bring in Argentine .. a country which is largely bankrupt, immense inflation who basically elected a clown as president which even damaged relations between Argentina and Brazil.
Anyway, overall the list of partners is fairly good considering the circumstances even though there are some random countries there like Nigeria, Uganda(??) but I am happy that the major players from ASEAN are there (Indonesia,Malaysia,Vietnam,Thailand) and also very happy that Cuba finally gets some love from the rest of the world.

Posted by: JamesBond | Oct 24 2024 19:15 utc | 51

@aristodemos | Oct 24 2024 17:24 utc re: No real farmers; instead we’ve got big machine operators and pesticide sprayers.
Aristodemos: sadly, you’re mainly right.
I am noticing, however, the merest whisper (deliberate understatement) of interest in soil building and bio-diversity @ moderate-farm-size level (not the really big guys yet). I see a lot of chatter about regenerative ag these days, and there’s starting to be some capital allocated to that endeavor, altho just baby steps, really.
But it’s getting some play on the airwaves, and that’s a step in the right direction. It’s getting talked about at the land grant colleges, and that is indicative. Land grant ag schools are where the next crop of farmers comes from, and it’s where a lot of the research is getting done (paid for, of course, mostly by the Bigs).
Here’s a link to Michigan State’s Regen Ag Department (as you’ll see, it’s more aspirational than “accomplished”, but it’s there, and its started. That counts for at least some points)
So the wheel is a-turning. Veeeerrry slowly, but it’s budged out of the ice.

Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 24 2024 19:31 utc | 53

Iran is not “selling” 3-4 mbp ..
Posted by: Caliman | Oct 24 2024 18:02 utc | 41
Well I don’t think they are giving it away for free, but I’m not going to chase your goal posts all over the field.
Your contention that TPTB don’t care about people and their groceries and your suggestion they are artificially maintaining the price of oil high are claims that tell me you haven’t been paying attention.
Stability in the price of crude and food is crucial to maintaining power.
The recent high food prices is why Harris won’t get the votes – she gets the blame not Trump.
What happened in 2008 was an object lesson to TPTB. The price of oil rose steadily for 5 years until in the summer of 2008 it was 600% higher than it had been in 2003 and then the whole system seized up and collapsed. Capitalism can’t function without stable energy.
_____________________________________________________________________________
In other words, individual politicians may occasionally be sacrificed but the system continues and the “loser” pols get cushy jobs “earning” millions ..
_____________________________________________________________________________
Yes Kamala will make millions as did Hillary when Trump beat her.
______________________________________________________________________________
. the consent of the governed is HIGHLY overrated as a system of control in a huge republic like this. The people do largely as they are told by the MSM and their “betters”.
______________________________________________________________________________
When Trump wins you will be one of those people doing as you are told and TPTB will have the consent of the govern.

Posted by: jinn | Oct 24 2024 19:44 utc | 55

Would it be helpful if every post had a button that skips to the next post?

Posted by: Passerby | Oct 24 2024 20:15 utc | 57

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5xRVytO-Ug
Just a short closing statement from the always excellent Indian FM on eve of BRICS summit.
Some comments:
Nigeria is an excellent partnership (and future member) candidate. It is one if the most populous nations in the world and most in Africa. With a huge diaspora in USA it must be a big surprise to DC that they are going this route, but also showing the degree of frustrations in Afrika with the USA.
As far as economy goes, Nigeria has one of the largest disparities in the world between PPP and nominal GDP with a factor above 7 (!!). This indicates it would soon be doing very well within a BRICS-system of National payments backed by commodities; which seems the essense of how payment system will be set up.
With respect to Venezuela, I am somewhat surprised they were not invited as partners when Cuba was, but maybe Maduro has hos hands full with checking US clandestine incursions before economy gets more in order. As above mentioned, Brazil may also have held back a little. Pakistan will have to win India over and Venezuela Brazil. I see both things happening in time.
Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam as partners now means the the region from Ethiopia to Bering Strait is now going to be entirely dominated by BRICS trade and soft power. This will also undermine US attempts at building up much more trouble in the region. I still see Taiwan PEACEFULLY AND HAPPILY reuniting with China within the next years.
I didn’t see Uganda becoming a partner, but it shows that BRICS is open to large, medium and smaller powers. They also have had huge problems with dollar dependency, while having potential with both gold and oil development.
Overall, a very good summit and the measured, steady and calm growth of BRICS is a massive gain for the multipolar world.

Posted by: NorwegianPawn | Oct 24 2024 21:10 utc | 59

JamesBond
When it comes to Turkey, I just think Erdogan is playing evetywhere, as usial, but it is still beneficial have him in the camp, no matter what he decides.
I use to tell my US friends that if Trump is a “king” troll, then Erdogan definitely is an emperor. However, Turkey may very well end up being the scene of closing negotiations between Russia&USA (over Ukraine), so I am actually starting to see the Turkish leader as something more now. FWIW, I think his relationship is good with both Putin and Trump. It is not difficult to imagine an Istanbul 2.0 in January.

Posted by: NorwegianPawn | Oct 24 2024 21:19 utc | 61

Putin “BRICKS a New World Order” ?
If the summary below of Putin’s remarks at BRICKS is correct; he made a major strategic mis-step.
He took BRICKS out of the realm of finance and economics. He has revived the agrument that BRICKS is international communism under a different name. This will kill BRICKS or greatly limit its effectiveness.
Putin will mow be looked on as the new Trotsky.
Bad choice of words.
A new world order is how Vladimir Putin has referred to BRICS by its English acronym. We know it stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, but now even economic powers such as the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt have joined, and more nations are pointing in that direction.
https://gatewayhispanic.com/video/new-world-order-is-what-putin-calls-brics-at-the-latest-summit/
or
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BS8W5esjJ2Q

Posted by: Jerr | Oct 24 2024 21:36 utc | 63

…. Why on earth would the PKK care if Turkey joins BRICs?
Posted by: Turk 152 | Oct 24 2024 19:23 utc | 52
AFAIK, the PKK have not claimed this one.
Something fishy about it at this time …

Posted by: Don Firineach | Oct 24 2024 22:56 utc | 65

BRICS Kazan 2024 is now over and I have two last articles to share: “Plenary Session of the XVI BRICS Summit,” https://karlof1.substack.com/p/plenary-session-of-the-xvi-brics
And “Russia’s BRICS 2024 Press Conference,” https://karlof1.substack.com/p/russias-brics-2024-press-conference
LuRenJia | Oct 24 2024 18:12 utc | 43–
Thanks for your reply and Q. I get my info from the Kremlin and Ministry of Foreign Affairs websites, both in Russian as not everything gets translated into English and posted to those website versions. I’ll need to discuss the Summit and read some other assessments before I make my own closing assessment. My current take is the outcome didn’t match the initial hype, although the Summit’s essence was successful.
Jerr | Oct 24 2024 21:36 utc | 63–
I just searched all the documents I translated form the Summit and only one person said the phrase “new world order” and it wasn’t Putin. It was Iranian President Pezeshkian who said during the Expanded format session: “We strive for a new world order that is fairer and more secure.”
So, what to make of the source you cited? I provide the official documents, you provide a secondary at best source. Which is believable?

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 24 2024 22:58 utc | 67

Some will find the transition difficult as comfort zones are gradually erased from day to day life. However, we now live in an electronic psychosphere and thusly radical changes in our mindscapes are ultimately inevitable.
Posted by: aristodemos | Oct 24 2024 15:29 utc | 19
That sounds awfully unipolar, aristodemos. One alphabet? Even the sun and the moon didn’t agree for the Paleoliths. Thanks, motorslug | Oct 24 2024 13:52 utc | 3 — I enjoyed that!
I think that the theorists are leaving out a few other important aspects, though. There is, as Plato would put it, the music of the spheres, (and of lots of folk at MoA as well.) Counting and math isn’t just about trading and banking and such. People like (and liked) to sing and dance back in the day and there are interesting mathematical concepts that go along with that, length of strings for chords and suchlike. Maybe those came later than the Paleolithic, but I bet they also did some singing and dancing as they hoed their rows under sun or moon.
But Michael Hudson made me want to go back to Chaco Canyon – it’s a whole lot more recent as a civilization, but it did make me wonder if something similar to not cancelling out the debts helped cause it to collapse. The people just up and left, and it didn’t seem climate change was really the problem. Fortunately, they did have somewhere else to go… they came where I am now. I’ve visited Chaco — the landscape there is still very beautiful. And the intricate astronomy the people knew to follow for their planting and building has been explained in fascinating videos that can be viewed online.
That’s just one of my mindscapes, aristodemos — I have lots of them. The more the merrier, which goes for alphabets as well!

Posted by: juliania | Oct 24 2024 23:33 utc | 69

karlof1 | 67
I don’t know the answers to your question.
However, I took the liberty to post the following on the article comment section. I will post sny references that are provided.
Hopefully this is acceptable to you.
“On another blog, a colleague just searched all the documents he translated form the BRICS Summit and found only one person said the phrase “new world order” and it wasn’t Putin. It was Iranian President Pezeshkian who said during the Expanded format session: “We strive for a new world order that is fairer and more secure.”
So in what primary source did you find the statement you attributed to Putin?

Posted by: Jerr | Oct 24 2024 23:39 utc | 71

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 24 2024 22:58 utc | 67
Thanks very much for all your hard work, karlof1. Did you see the conversation between Pepe Escobar and Alexander Dugin that was on a youtube video posted here a couple of days ago? I found it extremely helpful and was very impressed with Prof. Dugin’s comments about the BRICS potential. He is someone whom I would have expected would be pessimistic; he was not.
It was a good combination between the two, they each seemed to benefit from the other’s different approach. Both were careful with their expectations of the meetings as yet not underway, and they emphasized that very small steps were to be the way they would go. Also, Alexander Mercouris has been giving his assessment at the Duran. All three have been very upbeat, if cautiously so.
Not having seen the events transpiring, I would characterize the occasion as something similar (but opposite!) to the calvalcade of royals which took place (at a royal funeral?) before WW1. Just to know who and how many leaders from very different countries were meeting and greeting is to me mindboggling, but that’s just me.
I will go find that link to the Escobar/Dugin conversation. It was worth a revisit.

Posted by: juliania | Oct 25 2024 0:11 utc | 73

sorry —“F” capital, Don!

Posted by: juliania | Oct 25 2024 0:20 utc | 75

But Jinn, the US has been forcing the price of oil up;
Posted by: Samu | Oct 24 2024 22:58 utc | 66
_____________________________________________________________________________
What you say makes no sense given that most of the worlds oil is not in the US.
The US is said to have about 2% of the worlds crude oil.
_______________________________________________________________________________
The US also fights to keep the price of US produced foods high and adds tariffs to imported foods. They only reduce food costs to other countries, in order to kill their production and force them to buy US ag products; i.e. dumping corn on Mexico to destroy their farmers.
_______________________________________________________________________________
US food prices in the last 50 years have been lower than most developed countries. Grains in particular.
In the past US has dumped grains on third world countries at the same price as they sell to US consumers. The price of basic grains like corn and wheat in the US was below most third world countries. You don’t see the US dumping grains and destroying the livelihood of 3rd world farmers much anymore since so much corn is used for ethanol fuel.

Posted by: jinn | Oct 25 2024 0:36 utc | 77

RFK Jr’s recent ad — maybe worth a look — in which he says:

If you want to avoid nuclear war, I strongly urge you to vote for Donald Trump. In fact, I would go so far as to say that a vote for Kamala Harris is a vote for nuclear war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vw9g59kJSQ
My humble opinion: What he says about Kamala taking USA down the drain is true enough, but RFK Jr looks like a perfect fool promoting Trump (Soleimani’s assassin, I recall) as our peace candidate.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Oct 25 2024 0:43 utc | 79

karlof1 77
I haven’t seen the Hudson video yet, but I will try to find the time.
However, I do want to bring your attention that Russian news organizations such as Sputnik Globe are framing BRICS in the context of a new World Order (lower case “n”). However, they call it out as the “Multipolar World Order”.
I’m not sure how the semantics play out; but the Multipolar World Order is being hyped as a “new” “World Order” (upper case), replacing the existing Western (New) World Order for its members and partners.
Also, it’s major players are Marxist in orientation. Thus, BRICS is the New World Order for the Multipolar World, and it has the flavor of an Internationalist Communist Agenda.
Bottom line BRICS wants to be the New World Order.
BRICS Summit Highlights ‘Twilight of US Hegemony’, Marks ‘Official Launch of Multipolar World Order’
https://sputnikglobe.com/20241024/brics-summit-highlights-twilight-of-us-hegemony-marks-official-launch-of-multipolar-world-order-1120670011.html

Posted by: Jerr | Oct 25 2024 0:59 utc | 81

Posted by: Jerr | Oct 25 2024 0:59 utc | 82
More or less yes. But it is not “global world order” only a partial one. It is simply a ramped up new version of a Global Cold War. It splits the world into two major Blocs, again.
We have been on this trajectory for some time now already driven by US Imperial Core actions against China and Russia etc ramped up post the 2008 GFC when reality hit home big time.
Beware of Karl he is extremely biased, an activist cheerleader, and therefore is no longer objective on critical issues as much as in the past. As such he misses many things now.

Posted by: Complicity | Oct 25 2024 1:14 utc | 83

Xi and Modi – Who knows what was discussed, resolved, etc. that we did not hear about?
Posted by: NH | Oct 24 2024 23:28 utc | 68
Nothing. After 3 long years of intense difficult negotiations on the LAC on the border dispute, and violence between military posted there, they had worked out a new arrangement which was concluded several months ago now — what happened in Kazan was only a matter of the first opportunity for Modi and Xi to meet face to face and shake hands on what had already been agreed – Govt to Govt via negotiators primarily Military.
and so they could now smile, and chill after such a long stressful period of being on the brink of military clashes again.
They were both relieved. They said Hello. That’s about it. Improve relations will follow from this point on. BRICS and Putin had nothing to do with it. It was 100% a Bilateral agreement.

Posted by: Complicity | Oct 25 2024 1:33 utc | 85

trying to prevent Russia from selling it, demanding they not charge less than $60/bbl (IIRC), preventing Venezuela from selling more, keeping the world petroleum supply low so it costs more.
Samu | Oct 24 2024 22:58 utc | 66
Completely back to front, 180 degrees wrong.

What to know about the $60 price cap, the plan to limit Russia’s oil revenues
The cap went into effect Monday, along with an EU ban on seaborne Russian oil.
G7 etc – have agreed to a maximum of $60 per barrel on Russian seaborne oil, which means anyone who still wants to buy Russian oil has to pay that price or less,
https://www.vox.com/world/2022/12/6/23490654/price-cap-60-russian-oil-european-union-ban-group-of-seven-united-states

Google ChatGPT and al the other new AI gadgets may as well not exist. Hardly anyone uses them. A total waste of $ and energy.

Posted by: Complicity | Oct 25 2024 1:46 utc | 87

“Elections in the USA are a joke. I am going to vote if only to vote for Steve Garvey, a former first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is running for senate against the execrable Adam Schiff.
Carson Robison – Will Someone Please Tell Me Who to Vote for (1952)
Posted by: lex talionis | Oct 24 2024 ”
ditto precisely.

Posted by: Not Ewe | Oct 25 2024 2:19 utc | 89

Reserves are irrelevant to the current Oil price. What matters is Production vs Demand. And the US is largest producer of Oil than everyone else today.
Posted by: Complicity | Oct 25 2024 1:06 utc | 83
Yes that all sounds correct. So given that the US has so little (because the US has burned thru so much already), how does it make sense to say the US is trying to keep the price of oil high?
If the US oil companies wanted prices high all they need to do is back off on domestic production.

Posted by: jinn | Oct 25 2024 2:39 utc | 91

Posted by: jinn | Oct 25 2024 0:36 utc
There is a difference between the size of a country’s oil reserves and who controls world production. The ability of the US government to control world petroleum distribution and pricing has declined. Agricultural interests will assure their profitability regardless of promises made during a presidential campaign. The next president will likely do everything possible to assist those sectors of the economy that determine the US position relative to the rest of the world. I hope the general population benefits.

Posted by: Samu | Oct 25 2024 3:14 utc | 93

Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 25 2024 0:23 utc | 77
Thanks for responding, karlof1. I just read through your article on Putin’s presser, and was going to comment that the two of you are very much alike. So I have to further comment that he also is far to busy to attend to the situation in the Middle East, much as he might want to do so. He just can’t, and is wise to take the default route. We are all only human, even though some of us seem not to be so. Ukraine is enough; save one country at a time, and a big one at that. We can see how trying to do more leads to terrible results. I can’t believe Biden is a happy man. It’s a good lesson for us all I think.
Thanks for your further link here. I look forward to following that discussion when I myself have time to do so.

Posted by: juliania | Oct 25 2024 3:47 utc | 95

Posted by: aristodemos | Oct 25 2024 3:21 utc | 95
You sound happy, aristodemos, even if I can’t follow you. I am glad you mention the Annunciation in that stream of thought, but why are there four angels? There is no mystery to my name here – it is the one I was given when becoming Orthodox. There is a Russian saint of that name; she had a large family as do I. Neither of us royal, though she had married well. I was and am happy to have been named for her. Yours is a good name – true aristocracy is only found in the demos.

Posted by: juliania | Oct 25 2024 4:16 utc | 97

Re: Oil ?
70% of oil consumption is transportation.
Price-supply elasticity in the short term is something like 20:1. (Meaning tiny changes in supply have huge impacts on price since demand doesn’t change in short term)
However, in the medium term, the ratio is 1:1.
These relationships are well known by Big Oil.

Posted by: Exile | Oct 25 2024 5:24 utc | 99