Reading

Reuters — ECB can't go bankrupt even it suffers losses

http://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/2023/01/reuters-ecb-cant-go-bankrupt-ev…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 10:19
ECB President Christine Lagarde lets the cat out of the bag.
“As the sole issuer of euro-denominated central bank money, the Eurosystem will always be able to generate additional liquidity as needed,” Lagarde said in response to a question by an Italian member of the European Parliament.

“So, by the definition, it will neither go bankrupt nor run out of money. In addition to that, any financial losses, should they occur, would not impair our ability to seek and maintain price stability....
Alan Greenspan testified to a congressional committee about the Fed's ability to do this, adding that the issue was availability of real resources rather than affordability…

Some people still don't get it. They can't get beyond the idea of money being a"thing" and can't fathom the concept of money as entries on a spreadsheet, now a digital spreadsheet and created merely by stroking a keyboard.

Reuters

What Hungary’s Purge of Senior Military Officers Can Teach Us All

https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/niyBMplQItB6m94ioAxqCwp41t9tiERU
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 09:05
What Hungary’s Purge of Senior Military Officers Can Teach Us All

Victor Orban is not a stupid man even though I disagree with him on a great deal:

Hungarian military leadership is receiving a purge. Over 170 generals and high-ranking officers were fired in a matter of a couple days. A deNATOization is occurring in the Hungarian command purging those that were socialized in NATO and international partnerships.

Now, it’s easy to reflexively say this is bad, but imagine you were a left-wing South American leader.

The Always Trumpers

https://digbysblog.net/2023/01/31/the-always-trumpers/
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 09:00
The Bulwark did some polling specifically to look at how many Republicans are intractable Trump supporters. As it turns out, he’s pretty weak in the party as a whole but there is a strong minority who are still do or die. And that’s a problem: But, as Sarah notes, we need some historical context here. Even though most Republican voters want to move on from Trump, his solid core of support might be enough to win him early, winner-take-all-primaries. She reminds us what happened in 2016: Iowa 24.3 percent (Trump came in second)New Hampshire 35.3 percent (Trump came in first)South Carolina 32.5 percent (Trump came in first) Trump then went on to dominate the field in Nevada with 45.9 percent of the vote before catapulting into Super Tuesday with enough momentum to win 7 of the 11 states. And with the GOP’s “winner take all” or “winner take most” delegate apportionment rules, in a big field of candidates, devoted pluralities can be telling. The Always Trumpers Here’s the dilemma for the GOP. Despite clear evidence of Trump Fatigue, the “Always Trump” faction of the GOP will follow Trump to the gates of Hell.

China bans export of core solar panel technologies — Jeff Pao

http://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/2023/01/china-bans-export-of-core-solar…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 08:15
In a mirror image of what the United States has been doing with semiconductor lithography technology, China has recently amended its rules to ban the export of several core solar panel technologies in order to maintain its leading status and global market share in the sector.

A solar panel on a rooftop may include a hundred pieces of silicon and China has the lead now in machinery to manufacture those. Now Chinese manufacturers have been forbidden to use their large silicon, black silicon and cast-mono silicon technologies overseas, according to the newly-amended export guidelines published by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
 Asia Times
China bans export of core solar panel technologies
Jeff Pao

Also

Reuters
U.S. stops granting export licenses for China's Huawei - sources

Digital hoarding

https://crookedtimber.org/2023/01/31/digital-hoarding/
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 07:30
Yesterday, I dug into the deepest nest of folders on my MacBook Pro to find an article I wrote on a 512K Mac in 1987, for a magazine that no longer exists and isn’t (AFAICT) digitally archived. The file must have made transitions from “hard floppies” to removable 44Mb drives (remember them?) to hard drive […]

The Quintessential Trumper

https://digbysblog.net/2023/01/31/the-quintessential-trumper/
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 07:30
The son of Indian immigrants,convicted drug dealer, Bannon acolyte and George Santos staffer. You have to read this whole thing because it is literally unbelievable. These excerpts alone are enough to make you grab for the tequila bottle. I pick it up in the middle: During his college years, Burra built what he described to TPM as a drug dealing “empire.” It came crashing down in mid-2014 when he was busted with over two pounds of marijuana and a small amount of hallucinogens. Burra said he got into the business in pursuit of “respect.” “I wanted people to realize that I was the best in the room,” he explained.  Not long after Burra’s drug bust, Trump launched his first presidential campaign. Burra found himself increasingly pulled to the world of Republican politics. Trump’s contradictory brand of hypercapitalist anti-establishment populism spoke to Burra.  “I’ve had my own red pilling experiences slowly over time, but it all clicked with Trump,” Burra said, using an online right phrase for awakening.  Criminals do tend to be attracted to him.

Digital hoarding

https://johnquiggin.com/2023/02/01/digital-hoarding/
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 07:29
Yesterday, I dug into the deepest nest of folders on my MacBook Pro to find a paper I wrote on a 512K Mac in 1987, for a magazine that no longer exists and isn’t (AFAICT) digitally archived. The file must have made transitions from “hard floppies” to removable 44Mb drives (remember them?) to hard drive […]

Serious Vote Fraud in Florida

https://digbysblog.net/2023/01/31/serious-vote-fraud-in-florida/
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 06:00
Will DeSantis hold a press conference surrounded by his election police force? Nope, sorry: All four residents of The Villages charged with voting twice in the 2020 election have now admitted to the crime, court records show. John Rider, 62, recently entered into a pre-trial intervention program that will allow him to avoid potential prison time if he successfully completes court-ordered requirements and refrains from violating the law. Rider acknowledged his guilt as part of the agreement with prosecutors. “The Parties agree that the first step in rehabilitation is to the admission of his wrongdoing,” the contract states. Rider indicated in court papers that he plans to “buy out” his requirement of completing 50 hours of community service at a cost of $10 per hour. Three other residents of The Villages accused of voting twice signed similar pretrial intervention contracts last year. All four were facing a maximum of five years in prison if a jury convicted them of a third-degree felony.

Russia’s “Sanction-Proof” Trade Corridor to India Frustrates the Neocons — Conor Gallagher

http://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/2023/01/russias-sanction-proof-trade-co…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 05:24
This is a huge deal not because of avoiding sanctions but because of its impact on world trade, the global economy, the Global South and East, and the shifting world order in the direction of multipolarism. It is also a signal that India is taking its place on the world stage as a principal player. This is a huge deal for the world system and it represents a concrete reconfiguration of this system taking place at present. 

The Global North and West will likely work at disrupting this transformation since it threatens Western dominance. Any disruption will be temporary, since the direction of development is toward that East now that the West is already developed. Subjugation of the East to the West is no longer possible in the longer run. Globalization will happen, just not linearly and not always in line with the Western agenda, especially as the level of development equalizes.

Naked Capitalism
Russia’s “Sanction-Proof” Trade Corridor to India Frustrates the Neocons
Conor Gallagher

see also

Am I Smiling Correctly?

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/am-i-smiling-correctly
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 05:00

Smile? Of course I know how to smile. Smiling is a basic facial expression that normal human beings make dozens of times a day without even thinking about it. And I’m definitely a normal human being who smiles on a regular basis.

Oh, you mean smile right now? For the camera? Uh, sure, no problem! Just give me a minute to get into the right pose. What kind of smile are we going for here? Like, did someone tell a joke that’s kind of dumb, but I’m trying to be polite? Or am I a minimum-wage worker who’s really excited to welcome the next person in line to this Subway sandwich bar? Or is this a gesture of peace, where I’m a fifth-century Saxon warrior approaching a rival Frankish tribe, and I want to show that I’m not hiding weapons between my teeth? A little direction on this whole smiling thing would help. I don’t want to overdo it and look like a serial killer. Or underdo it and look like a serial killer.

Why are you looking at me like that? Is it because I’m thinking about serial killers? Oh god, can you tell from my face that I’m thinking about serial killers? I’ll stop thinking about serial killers.

The US is preparing Australia to fight its war against China

https://johnmenadue.com/committee-for-the-republic-salon-18-january-2023-anzus-…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 04:58
The United States is not preparing to go to war against China. The United States is preparing Australia to go to war against China. Thank you for inviting me to address the Salon. I am greatly honoured and somewhat daunted, given the long list of eminent scholars, analysts and writers who have preceded me. I Continue reading »

Explaining Israel’s oppression: cruelty, evil, apartheid and colonisation

https://johnmenadue.com/explaining-israels-oppression-cruelty-evil-apartheid-an…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 04:57
On January 27, Israeli forces kill 10 Palestinians in Jenin, including two youths and an elderly woman. The following day a lone Palestinian gunman shoots dead seven Israelis as they leave a synagogue in a settlement in East Jerusalem. In response to the murdered Israelis, the US ambassador to Israel refers to the synagogue attack Continue reading »

Legacy boat arrivals: Is a decade of policy paralysis about to be addressed?

https://johnmenadue.com/legacy-boat-arrivals-is-a-decade-of-policy-paralysis-ab…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 04:55
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the Government will shortly announce a ‘humane resolution’ to the situation of 31,000 legacy boat arrivals who have been living in Australia for over a decade. Like night follows day, Peter Dutton will immediately react with hysteria about re-starting the boats, as he does whenever there is discussion of this. The Continue reading »

Legal but not in reach: The state of abortion in Australia

https://johnmenadue.com/legal-but-not-in-reach-the-state-of-abortion-in-austral…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 04:54
Australia’s position as America-lite, a little sibling stumbling along the line between voracious neoliberalism and violent abnegation of its own history, comes into distinct relief every so often. One such recent occasion is the overturning of Roe v Wade, and what would’ve otherwise been the 50th anniversary of the right for folk in the United States Continue reading »

The other America (Or the Three Missed Chances to avoid World War III)

https://johnmenadue.com/the-other-america-or-the-three-missed-chances-to-avoid-…
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 04:52
Something worse than anything seen even amidst the dark years of the Cold War has awoken, Matthew Ehret writes. It feels like today’s world is spinning quickly out of control. Fear of nuclear confrontation between Russia and NATO has increased to a fever pitch and something worse than anything seen even amidst the dark years Continue reading »

Leak confirms U.S. agents created massive ‘Kremlin web-bots’ scam

https://johnmenadue.com/u-s-agents-created-tool-for-massive-fake-news-scam-leak/
Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 04:50
A group of top US agents, mostly Democrats, pumped hundreds of fake news stories into the mainstream media, it was revealed at the weekend. From 2017, they falsely told major news outlets to print that support for the people they didn’t like (which included Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard) came from Russian propaganda operatives working Continue reading »