It’s messed up. The State of Montana banned Tiktok, but allows Facebook, Google, and all the rest to exist. Why? Well, it’s obvious, Tiktok is the platform of choice of American citizenry, and it bypasses (by design) all the “back-doors” the NSA has installed in American social media.
I feel bad about this. But, you know, it’s not my problem.
Youse guys voted these clowns in office, and it’s your problem. Not mine. I ran away from the sinking ship as fast as my feet could carry me.
Took them forever…
Top economist frets that US is getting ‘lonely’
Globalization and the American-led financial order are giving way to a more fragmented world economy in which other powers are aligning in trading blocs that diminish Washington’s global influence, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has claimed.
“There’s a growing acceptance of fragmentation, and – maybe even more troubling – I think there’s a growing sense that ours may not be the best fragment to be associated with,” Summers said on Friday in a Bloomberg News interview. He made his comments following a week of World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in which finance chiefs reportedly discussed efforts to “reshape supply chains away from China and other strategic competitors.”
Summers, a former World Bank chief economist who was an adviser to President Barack Obama and served as treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, suggested that US tactics have alienated some governments. “Somebody from a developing country said to me, ‘What we get from China is an airport. What we get from the United States is a lecture. We like your values better than we like theirs, but we like airports more than we like lectures.’”
The emergence of competing economic blocs has accelerated amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US-led sanctions campaign against Moscow. As financial officials of the US and its allies gathered in Washington, Brazilian President Lula da Silva was making a state visit to China and calling for developing nations to move away from the US dollar. China brokered last month’s normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, while Russia, the Saudis and OPEC announced a cut to their oil-production quotas, portending more inflation struggles in the West.
“We are on the right side of history – with our commitment to democracy, with our resistance to aggression in Russia,” Summers said. “But it’s looking a bit lonely on the right side of history, as those who seem much less on the right side of history are increasingly banding together in a whole range of structures.”
Policy makers face a bigger challenge than the normal World Bank-IMF issues like debt relief and promoting sustainable development, Summers said. What’s at stake, he added, is “what the broad structure of the system is going to be.”
The current system – born out of the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement that pegged other currencies to the US dollar, which was then linked to gold – is under threat, Summers said. “If the Bretton Woods system is not delivering strongly around the world, there are going to be serious challenges and proposed alternatives.”
Thai Kai Pad Prik Haeng
(Chicken with Chile and Nuts)
I recently had this at a Thai restaurant and just had to go out and find the recipe!
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken meat, finely sliced
- 1/2 cup tua fak yao (long beans), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup celery, sliced on a bias
- 1/4 cup prik haeng (dried red chiles), crumbled
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 1/4 cup mam sup (stock)
- 1 tablespoon kratiem (garlic), thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon nam pla (fish sauce)
- 1 tablespoon si iew khao (light soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon si iew dhum (dark soy sauce)
- 1/4 teaspoon nam tan paep (palm sugar – can substitute plain sugar)
Instructions
- Place a wok or skillet on medium heat and carefully toast the uncooked cashews until they begin to turn golden, and are just cooked through (test by biting one).
- In a mortar and pestle or food processor briefly pound the cashews to produce a broken consistency.
- Heat the wok or skillet over high heat, and add a little peanut oil, and when it is hot, sauté the garlic until it is golden brown and slightly crispy, then remove it and drain on a kitchen towel.
- Sauté the chiles briefly, then add the chicken and continue stirring until it begins to change color.
- Working quickly add the remaining ingredients in turn, stirring to mix, adding the soy sauces and fish sauce, then finally the stock after the dry ingredients, as this will cool the mixture to allow the cooking to finish.
- Return the garlic to the pan, and cover, leaving for about a minute to complete cooking. Check that the meat is cooked, and taste for seasoning balance.
- Serve with steamed/fried rice, and the usual table condiments.
Notes
One of the cookbooks I crosschecked this recipe with described it as “chile hot,” which seems a fair description, though their version was a little milder than this one. As always remember that you can reduce the chile if you wish. This dish offers an excellent example of texture contrast with the crunchy nuts and the softer meat.
CIA Larry Johnson: “What’s Coming IS WORSE THAN A WORLD WAR, THIS IS SERIOUS”
https://youtu.be/jEEUZcR7FNY
Putin meets Chinese defense minister on ties
Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2023-04-17 11:28:31
MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu here on Sunday.
Asking Li to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin recalled Xi’s recent fruitful Russia visit, during which they charted the course for the development of Russia-China relations in the new era, and agreed to further strengthen the strategic coordination between the two countries and deepen practical cooperation in such fields as economy, culture and education, among others.
Military cooperation plays an important role in Russia-China relations, he said, voicing hope that the two militaries will strengthen cooperation in joint training, professional exchanges and other fields, and that the strategic mutual trust between the two countries will continue to be deepened.
Conveying Xi’s cordial greetings and best wishes to Putin, Li said that the two heads of state steer the development of China-Russia relations and the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has been continuously deepened. The military mutual trust between the two countries has been increasingly consolidated with substantial progress in cooperation.
China is willing to work with Russia to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, further strengthen the strategic communication between the two militaries and bolster multilateral coordination and cooperation so as to make new contributions to safeguarding global and regional security and stability, said the Chinese defense minister.
This Sexy Piece Of Clothing Is Becoming Increasingly Popular In Japan
This knitted sleeveless sweater with a large cut-back is all the rage in Japan right now, and it’s not hard to see why.
When the barbarians openly acknowledge the Boomerang costs of their looting policy , that mean the situation is very bad.
Economic sanctions imposed on Russia and other countries by the United States put the dollar's dominance at risk as targeted nations seek out an alternative, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday (Apr 16). "There is a risk when we use financial sanctions that are linked to the role of the dollar that over time it could undermine the hegemony of the dollar," Yellen said on CNN.
All Roads Lead to Beijing
.
This is the tale of two pilgrims following the road that really matters in the young 21st century.
This is the tale of two pilgrims following the road that really matters in the young 21st century; one coming from NATOstan and another one from BRICS+.
Let’s start with Le Petit Roi, Emmanuel Macron. Picture him with a plastic grin in his face strolling alongside Xi Jinping in Guangzhou. Following the – long and gentle – sound of classic “High Mountain and Flowing Water”, they enter the Baiyun Hall to listen to it played by the 1000-year-old Guqin (a beautiful instrument). They taste the fragrance of 1000-year-old tea – and muse on the rise and fall of great powers in the new millennium.
And what does Xi tell Le Petit Roi?
He explains that when you hear this eternal music played by this eternal instrument, you expect to be in the company of a bosom friend; you are in synch as much as the high mountain and the flowing water. That’s the deeper meaning of the ancient tale of musicians Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi, 25 centuries ago in the Kingdom of Chu: bosom friendship.
Only bosom friends can understand the music.
And with that, as Chinese scholars explained, Xi brought up the concept of Zhiyin.
After Zhong Ziqi died, Yu Boya broke his Guqin: he thought that no one else could understand his music. Their story imprinted the term “Zhiyin”: someone who understands music, with the added meaning of close friends that can completely understand each other.
All bets are off on whether a narcissist puppet like Macron would ever be cultured enough to understand Xi’s subtle, sophisticated message: those that get it are true soul mates.
Moreover, Macron was not dispatched to Beijing and Guangzhou by his masters to do soul mating, but to try to bend Xi towards NATO on Russia/Ukraine.
His body language is a dead giveaway – complete with crossing his arms demonstrating boredom. He may at first have been impervious to the notion that true friendship requires mutual understanding and appreciation.
But then something extraordinary happened.
Xi’s message may have touched a key spot in the tortured inner depths of the narcissist Petit Roi. What if, in international relations, mutual understanding and appreciation is the key for nations to find common ground and work together towards common goals?
What a revolutionary notion; not exactly the Hegemon-imposed “rules-based international order”.
Are you a true Sovereign?
By inviting Le Petit Roi to China, and personally spending no less than 6 hours with his guest, Xi enacted millenniums-old diplomacy at its best. He reminded his guest of the turbulent history between France and the Anglo-Saxon powers; and he talked about sovereignty.
The key subtle sub-plot: “Europe” better think hard about being subservient to the Hegemon and minimize as best as possible the massive economic turbulence when Confrontation Day with the U.S. arrives.
Implied is Beijing’s priority of breaking up growing U.S. attempts to encircle China.
So Xi treated France as a potential true Sovereign even under the EU; or somewhat splitting from EU dogma.
Of course another key message was implied under this Confucian invitation to epistemological growth. For those not willing to be friendly to China because of complex geopolitical layers, it will never be too late for Beijing to show the less “friendly” side of the Chinese state – if the situation arises.
Translation: if the West goes for Total Machiavelli, China will apply Total Sun Tzu. Even if Beijing would rather go for international relations under the aegis of Beauty, Goodness and Truth rather than “you’re with us or against us”, war of terror and sanctions dementia.
So did Petit Roi have a “road to Damascus” moment?
The verdict is open. He literally freaked the Hegemon out with his outburst that Europe must resist pressure to become “America’s followers”. That’s pretty much in synch with the 51 points agreed upon by Beijing and Paris, with emphasis on “legitimate security concerns of all parties”.
The Americans got even more spooked when Macron asserted that Europe should become an independent “third superpower”. Le Petit Roi even advanced some baby steps in favor of de-dollarization (certainly under supervision of his financial masters) and not in favor of Forever Wars.
So the Americans, in panic, had to send German 5th column Annalena “360 Degrees” Bearbock in a hurry to Beijing to try to undo Le Petit Roi’s outbursts – and reaffirm the Washington Dictates Brussels official script.
No one, anywhere, paid the slightest attention.
That came on top of the most glaring subplot of the whole tale: how European Commission dominatrix Ursula von der Leyen was treated by Beijing as worse than irrelevant.
A Chinese scholar scathingly described her as “just the mouthpiece of a canine organization with no teeth. Even her bark sounds like whimpering from a terminally ill dog that is about to be euthanized.”
The “terminally ill dog” had to go through passport control and customs (“Anything to declare”?) No diplomatic status. No official invitation. No sovereignty. And no, you cannot take the special high-speed train alongside Macron to go to Guangzhou. So here’s another message – this one quite graphic: Don’t mess with the 3,000-old Middle Kingdom ethos.
Lula and “Zhiyin”
Top Chinese scholars were absolutely riveted by Xi applying diplomatic stratagems that had been so useful 25 centuries ago, now re-enacted on the road-to-multipolarity global stage.
Some are calling for a new “Strategies for the Warring States” rewritten for the 21st century. The massive round table set up by Chinese protocol with the “jungle” in the middle and Macron and von der Leyen positioned as if for a job interview was a monster hit on Weibo and We Chat. That led to endless discussions on how China is now finally able to “drive a wedge among the barbarians”.
Compared to all this hoopla, the tale of Brazilian President Lula coming to Shanghai and Beijing reads like a graphic illustration of Zhiyin.
Lula went for the jugular right from the start, during the inauguration of former President Dilma Rousseff as the new president of the NDB, the BRICS bank.
In simple, direct language that anyone from Sahara to Siberia can understand, Lula said, “Every night I ask myself why should every country need to be tied to the dollar for trade? Why can’t we trade in our own currencies? And why don’t we have the commitment to innovate?”
Directly implied is the fact that the expanding BRICS+ should design and promote its own currency (the long, complex process has already started), on top of allowing trade in national currencies.
Lula’s powerful message was addressed to the whole Global South. A Brazilian example is China’s ICBC setting up a clearing house in Brazil allowing direct yuan-real exchange.
It’s no wonder that the CIA official rag, the Washington Post, foaming at the mouth, immediately issued the Deep State verdict: Lula is not obeying the “rules-based international order” diktat.
That means the Deep State will come after Lula and his government – all over again, and will go no holds barred to destabilize it. Because what Lula said is exactly what Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gadaffi said – and tried to implement – in the past.
So Lula will need all the help he can get. Enter, once again, “Zhiyin”.
This is how Xi officially welcomed Lula in Beijing. Very few people around the world, non-Chinese, understand that when someone of Xi’s stature tells you, right in front of you, that you are “an old friend of China”, this is it.
All doors are open. They trust you, embrace you, protect you, listen to you, help you in times of need and will always do their best to keep the friendship close to their hearts.
And that ends, for now, our tale of “bosom friends” taking the road to Beijing.
The BRICS friend certainly understood all there is to know. As for the NATOstan Little King dreaming of becoming a true sovereign leader, the moment of truth is knocking at his door.
Movies dance scene mashup 2022
What will happen to the dollar?
It’s already worth zero.
The only reason why it is still being used is that those nations that wanted to stop using it ended up being assaulted by the American Military.
Remember Gaddiffi?
Ah. The rest of the world “shut their traps” and continued to endure. No one wanted to be gifted with “American Democratic wars”, and Lord help the people if a few “freedom bombs” and “American Exceptionalism” color-revolutionized the surrounding cities. Those stealth democracy bombers, and elite democracy warriors often blow-up first, and ask questions later.
Maybe that’s why we never seem to get answers…
To quote Donald Trump. “Sad. So very sad”.
Then came Russia and China.
They said “no more”.
Russia didn’t have much choice in the matter. American “freedom” came a knocking in Ukraine, and when Russia demanded that the USA obey their treaties, they were carpet-bombed with “freedom” Sanctions. One after the other. Democracy stealing this, Freedom sanctioning that, and let’s not forget the delicious “I make the rules and you obey them orders” out of Washington DC.
The rest of the world… jumped up holding their butts. Yikes! they thought. I don’t want any of those democracy-battle carriers being rammed up my backyard. Oh no!
And this has created the massive tidal wave of Geo-political changes that we are all now watching. Everyone is running. Heck.. sprinting as fast as they can away, far, far away from the smunching monster called “Dollar exceptionalism”.
I mean, if Beelzebub ever was a banker, he would make the USD exactly like what the United States uses. It is that evil incarnate.
So now, most of the rest of the world joined with the Asian block. And they are all trading among themselves using a “basket of currencies”. You know; stuff you can touch and feel.
- Gold
- Silver
- Lithium
- Manufactured goods
- Solar panels
You know, stuff that everyone can feel and use.
Not the “slight of hand” and “emperor wears no clothes” IOU-dollar.
This means that the US Congressional spending spree will generate MUCH LARGER inflation increases than what we have seen so far.
Yikes!
Oh, to be certain, the OIU-USD will still be used. Just not as much.
Like really, REALLY not so much.
Perhaps to buy a few freedom nuclear submarines. But pretty much useless if you wanted a Starbucks Latte.
What is different is the International cause-and-effect mechanism will no longer be mitigated by dilution.
…
This is going to seem to the end-user as organic change.
But it is not, really. It will not be sudden, but it will be constant, and terrible. Over time, over months, and years, less and less will become the norm for Americans.
Those that wanna-be-Americans, like Australians, and Germans, and South Koreans, and Japanese will also feel the back-door of American influence. Don’t you know. Yikes.
Like I said. Slowly, and gradually. But never ending…
And those nations that hold US Treasure Bills (Like China) are taking steps to mitigate a backlash with the American house of cards comes a crashing down…
Yi Says China Largely Ended Currency Intervention in Market Tilt People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang said that Beijing has largely ended regular foreign-exchange intervention, and pursues a policy aimed at enhancing the ease of use of the yuan for Chinese households.
So China is going to allow the “USA House of Cards” to come a crashing down.
No “brakes”. No “fail safes”.
Those bridges are BURNED.
…
How bad will it get?
As an American, well I just cannot picture it. But as a history buff, I can see some serious parallels with other nations that fucked up financially. Not as bad as the United States today, but they can serve as a “tell tail”.
It will get to be really bad. REALLY bad.
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The 90s: Tonight Tonight – A Pop Culture Tribute
How China Is Breaking The Colonial Effects Of Western Lending
In their latest Geo Economical Report economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss Russia’s move away from the ‘West’.
The points on Russia are certainly interesting. But they also remark on the tussle between China and ‘multilateral’ international lenders about debt forgiveness. This is a theme that played out in Washington DC last week during a high-level sovereign debt roundtable on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring meetings in Washington.
In their talk Radhika Desai explains the basic problem with international debt:
RADHIKA DESAI: Well I think that the whole issue of debt, world debt in particular, has become a really important issue at this point, and it’s become an important issue because precisely now China is such a large part of the scene.I remember going back to the earliest days of the pandemic when Third World debt had also figured as a major issue. Already at that point, the key reason why the debt issues were not going to be settled is because the West could not come to terms with the fact that it had to deal with China, and that it had to deal equitably with China.
Because what the West wants to do is precisely to get China to refinance the debt owed to it so that Third World debt repayments go to private lenders.
And China is basically questioning the terms of all of this, because for example China is saying, “Why should the IMF and the World Bank have priority? Why should its debt not be canceled?”
And the West is saying, “But this has always been so.”
And China is saying, “Well, if you don’t want to reform the IMF and the World Bank, then we are not going to accept their priority. If we have to take a haircut, they will also have to take a haircut.”
They simply do not accept that these institutions, the Bretton Woods institutions, have any sort of priority.
And this is part of the undermining, as you were saying. This is one of the biggest changes since the First World War. And part of these changes is that the world made at the end of the Second World War by the imperialist powers, who are still very powerful, is now increasingly disappearing.
On Wednesday a Reuters report claimed that China was changing its stand on the issue:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China is expected to drop its demand for multilateral development banks to share losses alongside other creditors in sovereign debt restructurings for poor nations, removing a major roadblock to debt relief, a source familiar with the plans said.The development is expected at a high-level sovereign debt roundtable on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring meetings in Washington.
Beijing would no longer insist multilateral lenders take “haircuts” on loans to poor countries, the source said on Tuesday, while the IMF and World Bank agreed to ensure their debt sustainability analyses of countries undergoing debt restructurings would be made available to Chinese authorities earlier in the process.
The rumor that China would change its principle position turned out to be wrong. Reuters being abused by anonymous sources to make politics is not unusual. But in this case the piece came with a picture of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen so its likely that she was the “source familiar with the plans” which pushed this false rumor.
As the New York Times reported yesterday in way too many misleading words the issue was not resolved:
WASHINGTON — China, under growing pressure from top international policymakers, appeared to indicate this week that it is ready to make concessions that would unlock a global effort to restructure hundreds of billions of dollars of debt owed by poor countries.China has lent more than $500 billion to developing countries through its lending program, making it one of the world’s largest creditors.
…
The United States, along with other Western nations, has been pressing China to allow some of those countries to restructure their debt and reduce the amount that they owe. But for more than two years, China has insisted that other creditors and multilateral lenders absorb financial losses as part of any restructuring, bogging down a critical loan relief process and threatening to push millions of people in developing countries deeper into poverty.
…
Ghana appealed to the Group of 20 nations this year for debt relief through a fledgling program known as the Common Framework after securing preliminary approval for a $3 billion loan from the I.M.F. That money is contingent on Ghana’s receiving assurances that it can restructure the approximately $30 billion that it owes to foreign lenders. Officials from Ghana have been meeting with their Chinese counterparts about restructuring the $2 billion that it owes China.
…
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Friday that China had put forward a three-point proposal that included calling for the I.M.F. to more quickly share its debt sustainability assessments for countries that need relief, and for creditors to detail how they will carry out the restructurings on “comparable terms.”
The three point proposal is not a change but simply a repeat of China’s long standing position:
Spokesperson发言人办公室 @MFA_China – 15:09 UTC · Apr 14, 2023To effectively resolve the debt issue, the key lies in joint participation of multilateral, bilateral and commercial creditors under the principles of joint actions and fair burden-sharing.
The case of Ghana shows that the IMF, over which the U.S. has a veto, will only lend fresh money if bilateral lenders like China, but not the ‘multilateral’ IMF or World Bank, nor private ‘western’ lenders, take haircuts.
A long People’s Dispatch piece about the IMF and Ghana’s debt crisis describes how the debt spiral is hitting the poor but resource rich countries again and again. The debt is a continuation of colonialism and China has little to do with that:
Based on the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics, 64% of Ghana’s scheduled foreign currency external debt service, which includes principal and interest amounts, between 2023 and 2029 is to private lenders. 20% of the debt is to multilateral institutions and 6% to other governments. Notably, while mainstream reporting on Ghana’s debt scenario tends to emphasize China as the country’s “biggest bilateral creditor,” only 10% of Accra’s external debt service is owed to Beijing.Approximately $13 billion of Ghana’s external debt is held in the form of Eurobonds by major asset management corporations including BlackRock, Abrdn, and Amundi (UK) Limited. “Ghana’s lenders, particularly private lenders, lent at high-interest rates because of the supposed risk of lending to Ghana,” the open letter read.
“The interest rate on Ghana’s Eurobonds is between 7% and 11%. That risk has materialized… Given that they lent seeking high returns, it is only right that following these economic shocks, private lenders willingly accept losses and swiftly agree to significant debt cancellation for Ghana.”
In 2020 the G20 promised to implement a Common Framework for debt relief:
[T]he Common Framework had the opportunity to provide a broader debt cancellation, involving private creditors alongside bilateral lenders in the process to ensure that countries’ debts became sustainable.“But very little was done to outline the details of how that would work. While the G20 stated that government and private lenders would be included in the scheme, however, multilateral lenders were excluded,” [Tim Jones, the head of policy at Debt Justice,] said.“They did not give any new mechanisms to countries to negotiate a reduction in their debt owed to private creditors, leaving it to the debtor governments to say ‘If you want debt cancellation from governments, you have to negotiate the same deal from private creditors.’ But they did not offer any tools to help indebted countries to do that.”
There should of course be a mechanism by which countries can restructure their debt and in which all lenders make similar concessions. However the IMF and others offer no such thing. They are only willing to give more money when a country makes political concessions over IMF prescribed austerity measures and uses the fresh money to pay private ‘western’ lenders.
China is now determined to end that scheme. China insists that the IMF, the World Bank and private lenders take a similar share of debt losses as it is willing to take:
China is willing to implement the common framework for debt disposal with other countries, China’s central bank governor Yi Gang said during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings, according to a statement released by the People’s Bank of China on Friday.
Echoing Yi’s remark, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Friday that China attaches great importance to the sovereign debt issue of developing countries and called for multilateral creditors, bilateral creditors and commercial creditors to participate in debt handling in accordance with joint action and fair manner.
…
“China has contributed more than anyone else to implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). Besides, we have played a constructive part in the treatment of individual cases under the G20 Common Framework,” Wang said.
…
In contrast, Western creditors claim they need to maintain their credit rating and have thus refused to be part of the debt relief and service suspension effort, Wang said, noting that unprecedented massive interest rate hikes have led to tightening of financial conditions worldwide, making the severe debt problems of certain countries even worse.
China continues to press for its new scheme of international debt relief under equal terms for all lender. I am not ware of any pressure point the ‘West’ could use to change that position.
The IMF and its abusive role in global debt was likely a subject matter in the hours long talks Presidents Xi and Putin had in Moscow last month. Lets remember what was said at the end of that visit:
“Right now there are changes – the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years – and we are the ones driving these changes together,” Xi told Putin as he stood at the door of the Kremlin to bid him farewell.The Russian president responded: “I agree.”
As Radhika Desai, quoted above, said about China’s debt relief standpoint:
This is one of the biggest changes since the First World War.
Michael Hudson summarizes the consequences:
Well obviously, the one thing the characterizes the new global World Majority order is a mixed economy where other countries will do what China has done. They will make money and land, meaning housing, and employment into public rights and public utilities instead of commodifying them and privatizing them and financializing them as has occurred in the West.So we’re really talking about, in order to move away from the dollar-NATO-sphere, we’re not really talking about just one national currency or another.
It’s not going to be a question of the Chinese yen and the Russian ruble and other currencies replacing the dollar. It’s a whole different economic system.
That’s the one thing that is not permitted in the mainstream media to discuss. They’re still on the “There Is No Alternative” Margaret Thatcher slogan, instead of talking about: What is the alternative going to be?
Because obviously things cannot last the way they are now.
Posted by b on April 15, 2023 at 17:30 UTC | Permalink
Thai Chicken Bundles
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 8 Rhodes Texas Rolls or 12 Dinner Rolls, thawed
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup grated hot pepper Monterey jack cheese
- Mango chutney, if desired
Instructions
- Combine 2 Texas rolls or 3 dinner rolls together and flatten into a 6 to 7 inch square. Repeat with remaining rolls.
- In a large bowl, combine sour cream, peanut butter, curry powder, ginger, garlic salt and soy sauce. Mix well.
- Add chicken, carrots and cheese and toss until well combined.
- Divide chicken mixture evenly between dough squares. Bring 4 corners of each dough square up over filling, to meet in the middle, overlapping slightly. Secure with a toothpick.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve with mango chutney, if desired.
Did American weaponization of the dollar and assault on global trade networks greatly accelerate the demise of U.S. former hegemony?
The way things have been going, I believe so.
The actions and words from the US seems toxic and desperate. From stealing oil from Syria to generating conflicts whether ’hot’ or ‘cold’ with Ukraine and China, it is obvious they have chosen confrontation instead of diplomacy. My take on the Nordstream sabotage bears signs of US bullying footmarks. (With the EU response in dragging their feet on the issue only indicates that their leaders have been forewarned not to tread on it.)
Their indiscriminate issuance of their currency foretell their financial shortfall in their attempt to maintain that do-or-die hegemonic privileges that they’ve enjoyed at the expense of others, EU and allies included.
Now it looks like they’ve trampled on more grounds than they can possibly handle, they turn to allies to do their dirty work by proxy.
Their hegemony is rotting so badly that one can’t avoid but ‘smells’ it daily.
Is there a worldwide run on the Bank of the United States of America?
“It’s not just from within. There is a run on the United States from certain nations and business interests around the world. Just like there was a run on banks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, many nations are either thinking about — or actually proceeding with — transferring at least a portion of their allegiance, assets and commitments from the ‘Bank of the U.S.’ to the ‘Bank of China’ or elsewhere.”
This was not just some person sitting on a porch casually talking about current events while whittling a stick waiting for his Social Security or pension check to hit the mailbox.
This was a former high-level U.S. government official, now a CEO, someone who sits on the boards of directors for multiple companies. He has massive real-world and business experience and believes the United State may be on the verge of collapse.
He is far from the only one to think that.
Some fear the Biden administration is losing control of our southern border; losing control of our decaying, crime-infested big cities; creating a recession; vilifying and needlessly destroying the fossil fuel industry while pushing suspect and subsidized “green” energy alternatives; leaving tens of billions of dollars in military equipment in Afghanistan while withdrawing our troops and abandoning an ally; stepping closer to a trip-wire in the Ukraine war, which could trigger a nuclear strike; turning on Israel over ideological issues as Turkey and others call on Arab and Muslim nations to unite and crush the Jewish State; weakening our military with one “woke” edict after another; focusing on “trans” issues at the expense of failing transportation infrastructure; cheerleading the social justice warrior takeover of our colleges and universities; and weakening the dollar (the currency much of the world depends upon).
Is it any wonder, then, that nations such as France, India, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and others are suddenly hedging their bets by looking beyond the United States of America for partnerships and stability?
On top of those problems, our allies and certain foreign corporations now have the legitimate concern of wondering what between them and the United States will be kept private and secure, in light of the massive and reportedly deliberate leak of classified Pentagon documents.
Who is an ally or foreign business partner to trust? More importantly, in the eyes of some of these nations and foreign business interests, who will prove to be the more stable and dependable partner in the coming years and decades?
In an example of a world leader hedging his bets, French President Emmanuel Macron recently traveled to Beijing to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping. Macron did not travel alone. He brought along Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. Some saw this as Macron advertising that much of the European Union was with him in spirit as he met with Xi.
On his way back to France after the meeting, Macron emphasized that Europeans should not be “just America’s followers” and “get caught up in crises that are not ours.” Even though the French leader seemed to be spelling it out in 100-font, one could read between the lines and assume he meant not getting dragged too deeply into the Ukraine war or defending Taiwan, should China invade. The last part was music to the ears of China’s strongman, Xi.
Next, we have Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador openly criticizing — and challenging — the leadership of the United States for months, by calling the U.S. an “oligarchy, not a real democracy.” He threatened to sabotage calls for U.S. military action against Mexican cartels, and has made it clear that he is not afraid to pick a fight with what he may see as a United States in decline.
Or, last month’s news that Saudi Arabia was inching closer to joining a China-led Asian security and economic bloc, after having been granted the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Aside from China and Russia, the bloc also includes India, Pakistan and some ex-Soviet states. It’s an organization one might view as not always having the best interests of the United States in mind.
As Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst and writer, made clear during an interview: “The traditional monogamous relationship with the US is now over. And we have gone into a more open relationship, strong with the U.S. but equally strong with China, India, [the] UK, France and others.”
Finally, we have Brazil — China’s most important trading partner in South America — announcing a new agreement to conduct bilateral commerce in their respective currencies, rather than the U.S. dollar. The move not only shocked many in the U.S. government but opened the eyes of others around the world to the possibility of decoupling from the dollar.
Some believe these things are happening because a growing number of political and business leaders around the world now lack confidence in the United States, believing our country truly is in disarray, decline and increasingly polarized and politicized. Will such concerns accelerate a “run on the Bank of the United States” with assets being transferred to China or even Russia?
Only time will tell. But as with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the signs are out there, should the analysts care to pay attention.
Technically speaking, I have joined a cult.
From the outside, this place comes off as a Cult,
But inside, we realize that the cumulative West is the real cult, and we just want to get out of the Prison Planet by changing up our sentience to decontaminate all the Vault 7, Hegemonic, Old Empire shit grafted into our IsBe’s and templates.
And like many big cults, the cumulative West is having its Jonestown moment right now.