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Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – March 19, 2023

by Tony Wikrent

 

Global power shift

China Leads A Successful Middle East Summit

Ian Welsh, March 16, 2023

Something which has slipped past most people’s radar is that China recently acted as the intermediary for peace talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The two countries have been at each other’s throats for decades, funding and running operations and proxies against each other….

Just saying.

The warmongers in the Anglophone countries of Britain, the USA and Australia today cause great concern with their AUKUS treaty and the not very subtle stirring of frenzy against China. It was similar in 2003 except that Iraq was the country being demonised. In 2003 rallies against the invasion of Iraq were held around Australia. Continue reading »

20 years ago, on 20 March 2003, the US, the UK, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq in an illegal act of aggression. As with all wars, we were told this one would be quick. The pretext for the invasion was – despite authoritative doubts raised at the time – claims about the Iraqi leader Saddam Continue reading »

The relentless drive to war against China goes on. There is no longer any pretence that China is in the US sights and so Australia is prepared to spend whatever it takes to prove its fealty to Washington. No military outlay is too much, no threat to our economic future too risky for the Australian Continue reading »

Humanity has reached a tipping point. It is time for governments, international institutions and people everywhere to take stock and act with renewed urgency. RESTORE HOPE: AN APPEAL to all who care about Humanity’s and the Planet‘s future Much depends on how well we support this appeal. Professor Richard Falk, Dr Chandra Muzaffar and I Continue reading »

Under the Aukus military accord, Australia and Britain are committing serious self-harm to defend the American empire in the Indo-Pacific. The symbolism and timing could not be more striking. After Beijing brokered a deal to help Iran and Saudi Arabia resume diplomatic relations, Washington hosted the leaders of Britain and Australia at the Point Loma Continue reading »

March 19th marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq. This seminal event in the short history of the 21st century not only continues to plague Iraqi society to this day, but it also looms large over the current crisis in Ukraine, making it impossible for most of the Global South to see the war Continue reading »

A speedpainting inspired by Devin Townsend's 2022 music album. I'll go to his concert tomorrow in Toulouse! Lightwork Tour. I listen to his music since 2000. I can't wait!

Update after the concert:

🤩🤩🤩 The concert was G R E A T!

He really played a lot of song from my youth around the Infinity period: Bad Devil, Truth... or from the start of 2000s, like The Fluke, Deadhead, Kingdom, it was so cool!

A total of 55 40-foot containers were loaded on the new China-Europe train. The route chosen is to exit China at the Manzhouli border crossing to enter Russia, and then go west all the way to Moscow. The goods transported are auto parts, building materials, home appliances, fabrics, clothing, home furnishing, etc. The entire route of this operation is about 9,000 kilometers, and the estimated transit time is about 18 days.

Linking Moscow and Beijing is of symbolic value, but the symbolism says a lot. The big news is that Sino-Russia trade is increasing and it is not just energy that formerly went to Europe heading East. China as "the factory of the world" is now supplying Russia directly with its output, further eroding the effect of sanctions. And the trade is being settled in RIB and CYN. Time to keep an eye on the CYN/RUB rate?

Rail Freight
China and Russia capitals connected on New Silk Road for first time

Honduras’ leftist President Xiomara Castro announced her government will recognize China. Now only 12 UN member states have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan separatists. They have a combined population of less than 39 million, or 0.49% of the planet.

The post Taiwan Separatists Lose Key Ally, Honduras Recognizes China—Just 12 Small Countries Remain appeared first on scheerpost.com.

Again, I have to ask, if the GOP base wants someone who owns the libs, nobody does it better than Donald Trump. And if they want more moderate policies, Ron DeSantis certainly isn’t offering any. So what’s DeSantis doing by trying to out Trump Trump? Politico: Gov. Ron DeSantis is often called “Trump 2.0” for his embrace of conservative policies and his take-no-prisoners style of politics. And ahead of the 2024 presidential election — as both Florida men vie to lead the party and ultimately the nation — they have openly feuded over Covid-19 and vaccines and whether DeSantis is truly loyal to the former president, whose 2018 endorsement helped the Florida governor win election. But the men are also very similar in their approach to issues like critical race theory, China and especially their criticism of Democrats and President Joe Biden. How similar? POLITICO collected some of Trump’s and DeSantis’ quotes. See if you can tell who said it. 1.(On fellow Republicans) “Some of these Republicans, they just sit back like potted plants, and they let the media define the terms of the debate.

Ramzy Baroud sheds light on the ongoing protests in Israel and their limited impact on the country’s inherently racist institutions and ongoing military occupation and apartheid in Palestine.

The post Israel Protests Should Not Be Confused With the Palestinian Struggle for Equality appeared first on scheerpost.com.

The clip from the 2007 documentary "War Made Easy" displays the media's attempt at manufacturing consent for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The post War Made Easy: Will US Media Finally Admit Its Craven Complicity in Iraq War? appeared first on scheerpost.com.

“Party of law and order, my ass” Will MAGA stick its fingers in an electrical outlet a second time? What’s the betting line in London on violence erupting if Trump is indicted this week? Gonna drop a missive about it from Heather Cox Richardson right here: Rumors that he is about to be indicted in New York in connection with the $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels have prompted former president Donald Trump to pepper his alternative social media site with requests for money and to double down on the idea that any attack on him is an attack on the United States. The picture of America in his posts reflects the extreme version of the virtual reality the Republicans have created since the 1980s. The United States is “THIRD WORLD & DYING,” he wrote.

Every Sunday, I blog about the geek-friendly radio shows the BBC are putting out in the forthcoming week! All of the following can be either listened to live or downloaded afterwards for free on the BBC Sounds app, no matter where you are in the world. Please note: I don’t include later episodes of most […]

So it looks like "Doom's Day" awaits us all this Monday (let me check my schedule), but what exactly does it mean for Doctor Who?

Silicon Valley Bank shows how rules are instantly changed to protect the rich and powerful.

What they say about assuming Change may indeed make fools of us all, as Ezra Klein writes in reference to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Was SVB a “bank run by idiots” or a “bank-run by idiots,” posed financial journalist Matt Klein. Perhaps both, the former Klein poses back. History, too, makes fools of us all by keeping a record. Conservatives who once believed they “defend the unchanging ground of our changing experience” now twist democracy into a pretzel to justify minority rule as long as they’re the minority — “Hehehe” — to borrow from an amateur painter in Texas. The Federalist Society faces the uncomfortable realization that “most conservatives couldn’t care less about their high-minded principles, and, even worse, that many of their allies view their attachment to those principles as a quaint — and slightly embarrassing — relic of the bygone era when conservatives still had to be coy about what they actually believed.” That era is not entirely gone.

“Environmental, social, and governance” investors ditch the make-believe, but it was fun while it lasted.

String of union recommendations and called-off strikes linked to pressure from Labour right and TUC, say union insiders The string of unions calling off industrial action on nothing but an offer of talks or appalling pay offers – with many strings attached by the government – and in some cases even recommending those offers to […]

As higher interest rates and inflation hit developing countries, the IMF is trying to use bailout terms to sideline Beijing. 

The officially sanctioned conspiracy theory that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 set a dangerous precedent.

The post Bush’s Iraq War Lies Created a Blueprint for Donald Trump appeared first on The Intercept.