Gaddafi’s prophecy comes true as foreign powers battle for Libya’s oil

A showdown looms in the fight for control of the country – with Africa’s largest oilfields as the prize

I bet Hilary sleeps sweetly at night. 

In August 2011, as Libya’s rebels and Nato jets began an assault on Tripoli, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi delivered a speech calling on his supporters to defend the country from foreign invaders.

“There is a conspiracy to control Libyan oil and to control Libyan land, to colonise Libya once again. This is impossible, impossible. We will fight until the last man and last woman to defend Libya from east to west, north to south,” he said in a message broadcast by a pro-regime television station. Two months later, the dictator was dragged bleeding and confused from a storm drain in his hometown of Sirte, before being killed.

The Guardian 

Gaddafi’s prophecy comes true as foreign powers battle for Libya’s oil

Dilip Hiro — Donald Trump Is Losing His Tech War with Xi Jinping

Backgrounder on Chinese tech. China is way bigger than the US — the market numbers are astounding.  They are also a lot more focused, and they have a plan. Looks to be working. 

The US is getting worried that it may no longer be #1 — by many metrics this is the case already. The numbers suggest the US is losing its competitive lead.

And the US is (fill in the blank) because the Chinese government is providing venture capital, improving STEM education, building infrastructure, and, of course, building a state of the art military. 

TomDispatch
Tomgram: Dilip Hiro, Donald Trump Is Losing His Tech War with Xi Jinping

The Mathematical Model of Modern Monetary Theory: One Mathematical Model of Modern Monetary Operations — Steve Keen

Like it says. But a simplified model, as Steve Keen points out. 

Patreon
The Mathematical Model of Modern Monetary Theory: One Mathematical Model of Modern Monetary Operations
Steve Keen

Primer: Understanding The Money Multiplier Model — Brian Romanchuk

The standard MMT position is that the money multiplier is wrong (doesn't exist in the real world of banking). MMT explains this is in terms of the erroneous loanable funds assumption.

Brian looks at the assumptions of the model, on which the model is built. There are still quite a few people that believe in the money multiplier and it appear to be still prevalent in texts books. So it is worthwhile knowing the background, which Brian's post summarizes.

Bond Economics
Primer: Understanding The Money Multiplier Model
Brian Romanchuk

Jacob Bergdahl - Why jK8v!ge4D isn’t a good password

They say buying an password app that generates passwords and keeps them in an online vault is the best method, not I've never done it, I just have a book full of random passwords that I hope no one ever finds. When I go on holiday I hide it where I know no one will ever find it.

Take a look at these two passwords

jK8v!ge4D

greenelephantswithtophats

Which password do you think takes the longest for a computer to crack? And which password do you think is the easiest to remember? The answer to both of these questions is password number 2. Yet people are encouraged to create passwords that look like number 1. People have been taught to write passwords that are difficult for humans to remember, for no real reason.

Let’s talk about that.

Jacob Bergdahl - Why jK8v!ge4D isn’t a good password

Joshua Landis and Steven Simon - The Pointless Cruelty of Trump’s New Syria Sanctions

Assad Doesn’t Care if More of His People Starve

This article frames the US as the good guys, but says sanctions won't work. 

In the real world, “quagmire” is simply a misleading term for a failed state. And failed states leave their populations exposed to hunger, disease, poverty, and predatory warlords. The Trump administration skirts this grim reality by insisting that sanctions work. Yet there is little evidence that economic sanctions ever achieve their objectives. Even the best-designed sanctions can be self-defeating, strengthening the regimes they were designed to hurt and punishing the societies they were supposed to protect. The destruction of Iraq’s middle class in the 1990s is a case in point: U.S. sanctions killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Their effect was gendered, disproportionately punishing women and children. The notion that sanctions work is a pitiless illusion. The fact is those with guns eat first, and competing with Assad over who can hurt Syrian peasants more is a losing game for Washington. 

Foreign Affairs

The Pointless Cruelty of Trump’s New Syria Sanctions

Global firms expected to sue UK for coronavirus losses

Dispute settlement clauses in trade agreements open way for investors to demand compensation for lockdowns

Profits before the people!

Governments around the world – including the UK – face a wave of lawsuits from foreign companies who complain that their profits have been hit by the pandemic.

Webinars and presentations shared with clients reveal that leading global law firms anticipate governments around the world will soon face claims over their response to the Covid-19 crisis. The actions are being brought under investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses which are embedded in trade and investment agreements and allow foreign investors and firms to sue other countries’ governments.

The Guardian

Global firms expected to sue UK for coronavirus losses

Gorgeous Pictures of Damascus

Covid-19 Deaths Skew Younger Among Minorities

Coronavirus infections take a heavy toll on Latino people in their prime working years, data show

Covid-19 is known to be particularly risky for the elderly. For many minorities, the disease is killing them in the prime of their lives.

Among people in the U.S. who died between their mid-40s and mid-70s since the pandemic began, the virus is responsible for about 9% of deaths. For Latino people who died in that age range, the virus has killed nearly 25%, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of death-certificate data collected by federal authorities

WSJ

Covid-19 Deaths Skew Younger Among Minorities

Worried about debt? Not in a world running on MMT

‘Modern Monetary Theory gives us the power to imagine a new politics and a new economy’

Balancing budgets, reducing deficits and eliminating debt: these priorities have preoccupied the minds of many Canadian politicians, economists and voters, but a different theory of macroeconomics is having a moment, as the world weathers a pandemic.

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) proposes a shift in focus from a balanced budget to a balanced economy: one that offers full employment, a more equitable distribution of wealth and a social safety net for all who need one.

At the moment, there appears to be a rare consensus among economists, business leaders, and politicians of all stripes that governments have to spend whatever it takes to ease the pain for millions of Canadians suffering the aftershocks of the pandemic. That may be one of the reasons why MMT, which has been around for decades, is in the spotlight and challenging economic orthodoxy.

Worried about debt? Not in a world running on MMThe-government-can-print-money-say-some-economists

Economist: Facing Imminent Economic CRASH, Now Is The Time For A Federal Jobs Program

Economist, Pavlina Tcherneva, weighs in on the CARES Act and what lawmakers need to do to help strengthen the U.S. economy.

The Plan That Could Give Us Our Lives Back

The U.S. has never had enough coronavirus tests. Now a group of epidemiologists, economists, and dreamers is plotting a new strategy to defeat the virus, even before a vaccine is found.

Michael mina, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard, believes we could have covid-19 under control within weeks, but not all epidemiologists are convinced. His optimism, though, that it can work is inspiring.

The Atlantic 

The Plan That Could Give Us Our Lives Back

Podcast - Like It or Not, a Modern Monetary Theory Experiment Is Underway

Robert Hormats says the pandemic has forced the ‘involuntary utilization’ of MMT.

Robert Hormats, who has worked in senior economic and trade policy roles under five different U.S. presidents and spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., believes the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the government to embark on what could be considered an involuntary experiment with Modern Monetary Theory.

Now a managing director at wealth-advisor Tiedemann Advisors, Hormats joins this week’s “What Goes Up” podcast to discuss MMT, the U.S.-China relationship, prospects for a coronavirus vaccine – and how investors should think about all of it.

Bloomberg Podcast 

Podcast - Like It or Not, a Modern Monetary Theory Experiment Is Underway

If the above doesn't work try this link -

https://player.fm/series/what-goes-up-2502074/the-mmt-experiment-is-underway

New catalyst efficiently turns carbon dioxide into useful fuels and chemicals

As levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide continue to climb, scientists are looking for new ways of breaking down CO2 molecules to make useful carbon-based fuels, chemicals and other products. Now, a team of Brown University researchers has found a way to fine-tune a copper catalyst to produce complex hydrocarbons—known as C2-plus products—from CO2 with remarkable efficiency.

Physics Org

New catalyst efficiently turns carbon dioxide into useful fuels and chemicals

Video: WHO: Avoid routine dental appointments amid COVID-19

I bought a WaterPick last year, which now looks like a good investment.


Video: WHO: Avoid routine dental appointments amid COVID-19

KV Tweet - Our Family Run Criminal Enterprise

I came from a council estate in South London. We were very poor as my dad had multiple sclerosis and eventually became too ill to work, so we were put on benefit. My mum was very house-proud, and to get a bit more money so we could have "nice things", my mum worked long hours sowing key-rings for the "Key-ring Man". We had to pull the curtains three quarters closed because she said if the neighbours saw us they report us to the police and would put her and my dad in prison. I couldn't understand why they would report us, because I didn't think we were doing anything wrong, but she said people get jealous. 

At one point my whole family was making key-rings: My dad, my brother, and myself were all gluing them for my mum to sow. We weren't allowed to tell anyone, not even our friends. I felt shame! 

Our whole house had become a factory, with leather fobs, industrial sized cotton reels, medallions, and latex glue all over the place, with my mum all day on the sowing machine, and with the rest us all gluing the fobs together, along with their medalians.

I only did it for a few months, because I would put in loads of hours but only ever get paid about a fiver (£5.00) for a week's work, and even though I had no money, I didn't think it was worth it in the end. But my mum slogged away sowing them for years, though, with my dad gluing them together for her. But we were able to afford a colour TV set, and have fitted carpets downstairs, although my mum had to fit them herself. 

I ended up becoming a lifelong socialist, but nowadays I understand how life was tough for the Key-ring Man as well. A very competitive world. 

Our council estate was not as bad as some in London, and we were on the outskirts, by the countryside, which was nice. Children were allowed out to play without adult supervision in those days, so we had a fabulously time getting up to all sorts of mischief.

This photo was taken at about the time we were making the keyrings. This is my dad, Bill, with me. 

My mum, Dawn, with me and our dog, Peppy 

Peppy: A bit of a rough diamond, this one. 

My brother, Mark, with our grandparents. 

Xinjiang Local Tour

I can't understand what the women are saying, but it's a video about China by the Chinese themselves.

I converted the YouTube commentary into English and it said it was an official Xinjiang channel. Yes, I know, it might not represent the real situation at all, but still, it's interesting. I'm checking more out.

Why the West Needs to Stop its Moralising against China, Kerry Brown

After the American led wars in the ME, which may have over half a million people dead, and the financial collapse in 2008, where it bailed out the bankers only, the US is hardly in a position to take the moral high ground, says Kerry Brown.

 The Great Financial Crisis of 2008 only reinforced the message that the capitalist world was not even able to supply answers to the very things it still maintained the strongest claims to leadership on. As historian Adam Tooze has shown in clinical detail in his 2017 book `Crashed’, mismanagement in the first place was more than supplemented by greed, protection of vested interest, and immorality. Even more devastating, it was the Chinese and their growth after 2009 that stabilised much of the global situation. Unlike with the Gulf War debacles, however, almost none were held to account for the loss of livelihood and wealth that flowed from the collapse of markets and growth around 2008. On top of the moral collapse in geopolitics, there was an even more damaging one in the world of finance and the economy.

In all of these issues, China in particular, despite many accusations levelled at it, is not guilty. It did not remotely have a role in the reasons for the US and others getting sucked into the War on Terror – and nor did it want to see 2008, despite some economists blaming its own economy for bringing about the distortions that led to the whole event. China’s main issue, as has become clear since, is that, in both these historic areas, it was largely able to move through without any detrimental effect to itself. In fact, by accident rather than design, as the US and other powers harmed themselves, China simply carried on economically, growing stronger.  


Why the West Needs to Stop its Moralising against China, Kerry Brown

Unmasked Chinese fake quits HK - but keeps phony persona

An American who posed as a Hong Kong, Chinese man - who wrote anti-China articles - has been outed by Grayzone. 

The Grayzone said that Twitter user Kong Tsung-gan first emerged in 2015, with commentaries about the Occupy Movement. Until late last year, a black-and-white mugshot of an unknown Asian person was used as the account's avatar.

In one blog post, he claimed he attended a Band 1 government school - which led readers to believe he was a Hong Kong native.

"Kong," the author of Liberate Hong Kong: Stories From The Freedom Struggle, was popular with Western media who often referred to him as a Hong Kong writer and activist.

But Blumenthal questioned if people were aware that it was in fact a Chinese persona adopted by an American man.

The Standard 

Unmasked Chinese fake quits HK - but keeps phony persona

Eric Campbell and Hagar Cohen - The power of Falun Gong

They’re a familiar sight exercising and meditating in suburban parks. A joint Foreign Correspondent-Background Briefing investigation delves into the world of Falun Gong and its mysterious leader.

ABC looks into the Falun Gong, a group that disproves of both interrace marriage and homosexuality. Anna was brought up as a mixed race child in the Falun Gong, who later discovered that she was gay. She says her experience in the organisation caused her to suffer long lasting mental problems.

The leader of Falun Gong claims that race mixing in humans is part of an alien plot to drive humanity further from the gods,” says Anna. “He says that when a child is born from an interracial marriage, that child does not have a heavenly kingdom to go to. 

Shani, another young woman, believed that Falun Gong was indirectly responsible for the death of her mother, as they discourage the use of medication, which her mother needed. Shani worries that thousands of other people are having their lives ruined by this organisation.

ABC also looks into Falun Gong's links to right-wing organisations and the American Republican Party.


Australian Broadcasting Corporation


The power of Falun Gong




o
reign Correspondent-Background Briefing investigation delves into the world of Falun Gong and its mysterious leader.

Someone Replaced All The Wands In The First ‘Harry Potter’ Film With Guns And It’s Very Funny

But, in a world of magic where there’s talking snakes, floating brooms, jumping chocolate frogs, horcruxes and all that other fun stuff, guns probably are the least of any wizard’s worries.

Someone Replaced All The Wands In The First ‘Harry Potter’ Film With Guns And It’s Very Funny

Is Sweden's coronavirus strategy a cautionary tale or a success story?

What about the economy? “This has never been done to save the economy. It’s been done to save public health,” says Tegnell. And that means public health in a broad sense, he adds, not just the coronavirus.

That said, Sheridan’s spending comparison suggest that the economic impact was only slightly reduced by not imposing a more effective compulsory lockdown. “It’s very little in economic costs for saving a larger number of lives,” he says.

New Scientist


Is Sweden's coronavirus strategy a cautionary tale or a success story?

Now This News - Here's What Goes on Inside America's Wet Markets

Here's what really goes on inside America's wet markets, where live animals are sold on the spot (warning: graphic imagery).

Xinjiang: From the eyes of an Australian British who cycled across China

Ex British policeman cycles across Xinjiang and finds no evidence of Uighur oppression at all. He was never restricted from going anywhere he wanted. Uighurs seem happy, he says.

As home to 47 ethnic minority groups, Xinjiang is a colorful land boasting diverse cultures and landscapes. It was once plagued by terrorist attacks, killing innocent people. But what is it like now? What's the life of local people like? British-Australian Jerry Grey, who has traveled to Xinjiang five times and bicycled across several provinces of China, shares his journey and observations of Xinjiang with CGTN

China’s Uighur terrorist problem

Tyler Cohen - Not Even Herd Immunity Can Fully Protect Us

If some areas get immunity against Covid-19 sooner than expected, the world still faces huge challenges.

Opinion by Tyler Cohen, professor of economics at George Mason University,

Herd immunity relies on the superspreaders becoming immune, but new superspreaders are likely to arise.

But there are caveats. First, many herd immunity hypotheses invoke the idea of “superspreaders” — that a relatively small number of people account for a disproportionate amount of the contagion. Perhaps it is the bartenders, church choir singers and bus drivers who spread the virus to so many others early on in the pandemic. Now that those groups have been exposed to a high degree and have acquired immunity, it might be much harder to distribute the virus.

That logic makes some sense except for one issue: namely, that the identities of potential superspreaders can change over time. For instance, perhaps choir singers were superspreaders earlier in the winter, but with most choral singing shut down, maybe TSA security guards are the new superspreaders. After all, air travel has been rising steadily. Or the onset of winter and colder weather might make waiters a new set of superspreaders, as more people dine inside.

In other words, herd immunity might be a temporary state of affairs. The very economic and social changes brought by the virus may induce a rotation of potential superspreaders, thereby undoing some of the acquired protection.

Bloomberg 

Tyler Cohen - Not Even Herd Immunity Can Fully Protect Us

Stop Trying To Make ‘Herd Immunity’ Happen: Sweden’s Attempt At Covid-19 Herd Immunity Failed, by Misha GajewskiC

.                 

They went for herd immunity in Sweden, but one problem, no one wants to be part of the herd.

It will be a few years before we know if whether Sweden’s approach was the right one or not.

While most countries went into lockdown as Covid-19 spread rapidly across the world, Sweden took a different approach and allowed the controlled spread of coronavirus among the population in attempts to achieve herd immunity.

They relied on individuals to responsibly social distance and slow the spread of the disease, but, according to a new study published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, this decision has been a failure.

"It is clear that not only are the rates of viral infection, hospitalisation and mortality (per million population) much higher than those seen in neighbouring Scandinavian countries, but also that the time-course of the epidemic in Sweden is different, with continued persistence of higher infection and mortality well beyond the few critical weeks period seen in Denmark, Finland and Norway," said, lead author Professor David Goldsmith.

Forbes 

Stop Trying To Make ‘Herd Immunity’ Happen: Sweden’s Attempt At Covid-19 Herd Immunity Failed

KV - Fashion in China

Western fashion has led the world and people from different ethnic backgrounds have sometimes even had plastic surgery to get that Western look, but I've always wondered how much of it was actually driven by the attraction to the wealth, power, and status which can make people look important and cool.

Chinese people were once having plastic surgery to get more European looking eyes, but could the trend ever reverse?

The bassball cap became fashionable in Europe, even though we did not play much bassball, but people thought they looked really cool. Good looking, confident, dashing stars wore them in Holywood films making them look great.

During the Roman Empire the toga became all the rage in Europe, and elsewhere, and wearing one could make you look very important and cool during that period.

But now China is rising and finding its own identity, so could it also become a leading trend setter in the World of fashion? I think so.

My new podcast episode is out. Payroll taxes and Social Security. How Biden, Bernie and the Dems are blowing it. Plus, Covid and media ignorance.

MoA - 'Western' Media Falsely Claim That Russia's Covid-19 Vaccine Is Ready To Go

More anti-Russian fake news in the Western media. Putin's daughter has tried the new vaccine, and Duterte says he will try it to show Indonesians it's safe.


After President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia's Covid-19 vaccine candidate had gained an approval from its regulator, 'western' media went into a anti-Russian frenzy to sow fear and doubt about it.

MoA 

MoA - 'Western' Media Falsely Claim That Russia's Covid-19 Vaccine Is Ready To Go

Greyzone - US gov regime-change plot in Nicaragua exposed

A superb discussion about the US foreign policy in Latin America. The US claims to support human rights and democracy but its actions are the complete opposite.


Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Ben Norton of The Grayzone about his latest report "Document exposes new US plot to overthrow Nicaragua’s elected socialist gov’t". The leaked document from the US embassy in Managua reveals how Washington seeks to bring a free market to Nicaragua as well as purge Sandinistas from public life. Ben discusses the disturbing details as well as the document's frightening implications for working people in Nicaragua.