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Category Archives: china rising

Currency swaps weaken dollar hegemony

27 Nov

It’s not just Ukraine, Taiwan and Gaza. From tensions in the Horn of Africa to echoes of Baltic sabotage in the Black Sea – and from the Sahel through Bangladesh to bloody repression in Latin America – there is nothing inherently … Read More »

china rising, middle east, usa 2 Comments

Yes, it truly is the Empire of Chaos!

22 Nov

We always have to remember that it’s not just the conflict in Ukraine, it’s not just Gaza, it’s not just Taiwan or the Philippines; all of this is interconnected. Please look at a map. Look at how the US is … Read More »

china rising, europe, middle east, russia, ukraine war, usa 3 Comments

Another something for the weekend …

17 Nov

My sole recommend for this weekend is a podcast. Make a space in your busy life, settle into favourite armchair and, on your super-smart TV, surf to YouTube for sixty-eight minutes fifteen of Bangkok based Brian Berletic in dialogue with … Read More »

china rising, middle east, ukraine war, usa Leave a comment

Xi meets Biden – an economist’s take

16 Nov

To anyone observing the rise of China – and more of us should be – it has been evident for well over a decade that Western financial media have descended into self parody on the subject. The outlets best known … Read More »

china rising Leave a comment

Is there a way out of the dark?

5 Oct

Has the penny dropped? Has the abundance of irrefutable evidence showing the USA to be, by a colossal margin, the most dangerous power on earth finally prevailed over the propaganda – at once both childishly fact-defiant and the most sophisticatedly … Read More »

china rising, usa 2 Comments

Three weekend reads on amnesia

23 Sep

Of late I’ve done a slew of reading and want to share some of it, though I’m spoiled for choice. Fine pieces from Naked Capitalism, Caitlin Johnstone, Andrew Korybko, Simplicius the Thinker, Moon of Alabama and Michael Roberts to name … Read More »

china rising, general, media, middle east, ukraine war, usa 3 Comments

The global tyrant

25 Aug

A few snippets from Caitlin today: People tell me, “If you lived in Russia or China you’d be thrown in prison for talking the way you do.”  If I lived in Russia or China I’d still be focusing all my … Read More »

china rising, russia, usa 6 Comments

Russia’s banking system and the West’s

10 Aug

For some time I’ve been hammering away at the point that China’s capitalists are subordinate to the state, while in the West the reverse applies. My aim is not to counter mainstream media propaganda, predictably immense and ceaseless; upmarket no … Read More »

china rising, economics and money, russia, usa 8 Comments

The most effective propaganda is subtle

19 Jul

This morning I read two short pieces before I’d even had coffee. The first, in the Daily Express – Londoner speaks out after stunning Just Stop Oil zealot into silence with ingenious offer –  opened with this: A London commuter … Read More »

china rising, environment, media, ukraine war 4 Comments

On Russia leaving the neoliberal West

21 Apr

Earlier this week I promised: … three discussions which progressively widen the focus: from Alex Mercouris on Kiev’s much heralded spring counter-offensive, through Brian Berletic on strategic aspects of Washington’s war on Russia, to Michael Hudson and Radhika Desai on … Read More »

china rising, russia, usa 2 Comments

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tune for the day

It’s time we heard some Chopin, no? From the vaults of 1832, here’s Nocturne No 1

last 350 posts (most recent first)

  • Designed to humiliate: IDF strip searches
  • If I were going to commit a genocide …
  • Have NYT and Russia – with a little help from Hamas – torpedoed Bibi and put a 2 state solution in the fast lane?
  • Sheffield Hallam University – staff send open letter critical of its response to Gaza genocide
  • Currency swaps weaken dollar hegemony
  • Voodoo economics on Threadneedle St.
  • Norman Finkelstein on Hamas
  • Yes, it truly is the Empire of Chaos!
  • The USA has played a losing hand badly
  • The collapse of Israel and the USA
  • Why you should not condemn Hamas
  • Lowkey on Gaza
  • Another something for the weekend …
  • Xi meets Biden – an economist’s take
  • Two more on Gaza and Ukraine
  • Caitlin on Gaza; Korybko on Ukraine
  • “Can’t believe I have to protest genocide!”
  • Taking stock – Gaza and Ukraine
  • A long read on Ukraine
  • The mad dog and its master
  • Can MAD bring a modicum of sanity?
  • The disingenuity of The Economist
  • Why didn’t Israel & USA isolate Hamas?
  • As the lights go out in Gaza
  • The disingenuity of Jonathan Freedland
  • A way forward for Palestine? Part 1
  • “Floating pointlessness” – warships in the Med; cluelessness in Washington
  • Gaza: how our governments launder lies
  • Gaza genocide – Sheffield protests!
  • Gaza to deepen Europe’s energy woes
  • Gaza, Ukraine, Taiwan – only connect!
  • “Gaza should be wiped clean with bombs”
  • Media coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza
  • “Why would Israel do this?”
  • My Israeli friends – this is why …
  • The public grief of Howard Jacobson
  • Our media are systemically corrupt, but not always blatantly
  • Gaza genocide: US as culpable as Israel
  • Al-Aqsa Mosque .. Israel’s all-seeing blindness .. criminalising Palestine’s defenders .. a (media) lens on propaganda .. meet the Bidens ..
  • Hamas attacks: eight new reads
  • Hamas attacks: another 9/11?
  • Palestine – lest we forget
  • Hamas attacks: top ten takeaways
  • Hamas unprovoked? Gimme a break!
  • 10 stupid things we’re asked to believe
  • So what did happen on 9/11?
  • Is there a way out of the dark?
  • What an utter Hunt!
  • Three takes on the denial of reality
  • Niger. With friends like Uncle Sam …
  • The parable of the sower
  • A year of lying about Nord Stream
  • Ukraine: a tale of two narratives
  • Is this how it all ends?
  • Three weekend reads on amnesia
  • The trial by media of Russell Brand
  • Media Lens on Climate Collapse – The Grim Silence Of Our Leaders
  • Damned by their own words
  • Catherine Bennett, Ben & Jerry – and the Moral Ratings Agency
  • Two short reads: Mary Mellor on ‘wellth’; Caitlin Johnstone on advertorial ‘journalism’
  • A course in Media Studies – Lesson #93
  • Zelensky’s patron arrested. Why now?
  • Scholz: “why isn’t Putin complaining about EU sanctions?”
  • Broken: the implicit contract between the rulers and the ruled. Part 2 of 2
  • Tell me again what ‘provoked’ means
  • More on who killed Prigozhyn
  • Who killed Prigozhin?
  • New York Times and Wall Street Journal come (sort of) clean on Ukraine’s unfolding nightmare
  • 30 signs of Chronic Thought Disorder
  • The global tyrant
  • The night the cops tried to break Thelonius Monk
  • UK – Starmer’s cowardice is the least of it
  • Is the rouble in trouble?
  • No censorship please: we’re Westerners
  • An American in the cradle of the civil war
  • Yves Smith on Ukraine’s unfolding defeat
  • Down to the last Ukrainian …
  • Wizwoz on the Niger coup
  • Yes, the West is losing its war on Russia!
  • Russia’s banking system and the West’s
  • Eritrea’s leader pays homage to Russia’s
  • A canary sings: make peace, you fools!
  • Calling Russia’s invasion “unprovoked” is proof of media corruption on matters vital to power
  • Sinéad O’Connor: artist and heroine
  • What the Oppenheimer film ignores
  • Steel city house gets new keyboard mat!
  • Broken: the implicit contract between the rulers and the ruled. Part 1 of 2.
  • Ruling class devilry and the Holy Bible
  • Ukraine: Latin America defies the West
  • Remembering Nordstream
  • The most effective propaganda is subtle
  • On Vilnius, and the NATO blame game
  • “Putin’s War” for Dummies
  • Now they done moved Ukraine to Iraq!
  • ‘Resilience’ – a sneaky neoliberal trope
  • A crisis created in Threadneedle Street
  • Yes, there is a magic money tree!
  • Excuse me – I just saw a golden eagle!
  • Is it stupid to believe media propaganda?
  • Two reads on media propaganda
  • British wildlife in May
  • Caitlin: “you can be happy and informed!”
  • Three perspectives on the UK today
  • Musings on an osprey
  • Richard Murphy on Keir Starmer
  • Cromarty at April’s end
  • The bluebells at Strelley
  • Alex Mercouris on the battle for Bakhmut
  • Empire of hypocrisy
  • USA: “jump!” Denmark: “how high?”
  • On Russia leaving the neoliberal West
  • Trivialising capitalism’s rape of nature
  • Ukraine and the talented Mr Berletic
  • The Emerging New World Economy
  • Ukraine leaks? Immolate the leaker!
  • War over Taiwan? A gorgeous stupidity!
  • Julian: US Democrats cry “enough!”
  • WW3? A matter of chips freedom!
  • Speaking of paedophiles …
  • His Creepiness the 14th
  • Debt forgiveness: a lesson in our time
  • Is Beijing paranoid?
  • Is Mr Putin paranoid?
  • The Greatest Journalist Of All Time
  • Indicting Donald
  • Three Sunday reads
  • What if journalists did their (putative) job?
  • Endless war, and media complicity
  • The whataboutery of Simon Tisdall
  • Mr President removes his watch
  • That ICC arrest warrant: an Indian view
  • The ICC: a kangaroo court, yes. A joke, no
  • ICC weaponised? Putinbot poppycock!
  • Speaking of self-serving credulity …
  • SVB/Credit Suisse: 3 pieces on the panic
  • “Because I’ve got a brain!”
  • Richard Murphy on Silicon Valley Bank
  • Sergey Lavrov speaks out on the WTO
  • More on the Iran-Saudi deal
  • They say the darkest hour …
  • Telling a Martian what hospitals do
  • China brokers Iran-Saudi rapprochement
  • Gary Lineker? Or H.M. Loyal Opposition?
  • Only connect …
  • A brief stroll from farming to WW3
  • Nordstrom: the comedy continues
  • The hazard of Oz revisited
  • China on “US Hegemony And Its Perils”
  • Richard Murphy on UK capital flight
  • All we are saying is give peace a chance!
  • A Ukrainian socialist speaks
  • Starmer and the victory of dark politics
  • Anti-war demo in London, February 25
  • On Worcestershire Beacon
  • Titanic in 3D
  • Are anti-war protests useless?
  • The etymology of ‘tad’
  • Reimburse the Bottlecap Balloon Brigade!
  • Did the crazies capture the USA? How?
  • Stop the War NOW!
  • The hazard of Oz: Canberra’s US nukes
  • Labour won’t save Britain’s public sector
  • Ukraine take 6 – Seymour Hersh
  • A rubber tramp in Cambridge
  • Ukraine take 5 – Gilbert Doctorow
  • Who pays for the US war machine?
  • A rubber tramp in Hartlepool
  • A rubber tramp in Redcar
  • I’m a fan of Sean Penn but …
  • Ukraine Take 4 – The Guardian
  • Carole and Aretha trans-slated!
  • More trans lunacy
  • Redress and the presumption of guilt
  • Ukraine Take 3 – Caitlin Johnstone
  • Oxfam, WSWS and survival of the richest
  • US and NATO send tanks to Ukraine
  • We are stardust …
  • Ukraine Take 2 – Stephen Gowans
  • Ukraine take 1 – Richard Murphy
  • Caitlin is with Ghandi on Western values
  • Mayflies – the Swiss option
  • Scramble for Africa – Version Two
  • Thank God Trump lost!
  • Film Review: Lady Chatterley’s Lover
  • Is Vladimir Putin too soft?
  • I’m no fan of Scottish Tories but …
  • Iran: we’re being played. Again.
  • Biden’s role in the US war in Ukraine
  • Conspiracism and the late David Griffin
  • Russian oil cap? No EU-turn in Brussels!
  • Dress code for a night at the Mariinsky
  • Jonathan Cook on a myopic Monbiot
  • Europe cannot win this economic war
  • Ukraine: Europe’s anger at Washington
  • Guardian to Julian: may I help you?
  • Ukraine – a wintry endgame?
  • Why does the West hate Putin?
  • Cheerleading for WW3
  • The staggering hypocrisy of Julian’s jailers
  • Ukraine: training the West’s far right
  • The lies that triggered WW3
  • UK responses to Hunt’s budget
  • Missile strikes on Poland: cui bono?
  • Ukraine: more dangerous Guardian drivel
  • Straight talking on Cop27
  • The propaganda blitz on Bucha
  • Shills for empire: a matter of intent?
  • Cook on Monbiot on Ukraine (again)
  • Objective journalism is an oxymoron
  • Ukraine and the official narrative
  • Austerity? Britain can’t afford that!
  • Ukraine and the Democrat ‘progressives’
  • Magic Money Tree? Part Two
  • Keir Starmer on “hate crime”
  • Magic Money Tree? Part One
  • Labour’s love of voodoo economics
  • Two ways Hunt can “balance the books”
  • Britain’s new chancellor of the Exchequer!
  • Zugzwang for TrussTweng?
  • With Ukraine ablaze, is Taiwan next?
  • How sanctions on Russia boomeranged
  • Caitlin on Ukraine opinion manufacture
  • So Truss and Starmer want growth …
  • Stellar! Mrs Assange v John Bolton
  • UK in turmoil: a Quaker speaks
  • It’s only a conspiracy theory if anti-USA
  • “The economic illiteracy is staggering”
  • Rupa Huq: Kwarteng “superficially” black
  • Shock therapy for Britain?
  • From Black Hole to Bucha
  • Footnotes: top tactics for top tacticians
  • Why read Michael Hudson? Part 3
  • Ukraine: what does Russia want?
  • Wear the fox hat!
  • Jacques Baud: a vital voice on Ukraine
  • Drinkable water please …
  • On the death of a Queen
  • Democracy is so not coming to the USA
  • Where have all the flowers gone?
  • The tragedy of Mikhail Gorbachev
  • When State & Capital conspire to censor
  • Persecuting Professor Hayward
  • Who killed Daria Dugina?
  • Attacks on Crimea up the nuclear ante
  • Down with Covid!
  • Why read Michael Hudson? Part 2
  • It ain’t half hot mum!
  • Pretending the US Empire doesn’t exist
  • Who wants a nuclear disaster in Ukraine?
  • Why read Michael Hudson? Part 1
  • Who fact-checks the fact-checkers?
  • There are no adults in the room
  • Dementia patient tries to start WW3
  • Three cheers for amazing Audrey White!
  • Dress code for an execution
  • US diplomacy as Greek Tragedy
  • Ukraine: Europe’s very own Bangladesh
  • Nancy playing with fire over Taiwan
  • Will the real Zelensky please stand up?
  • Caitlin on Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan
  • Covid in the age of crisis capitalism
  • Big pharma, and people with penises
  • Meanwhile back in Norfolk …
  • Meanwhile back in Taiwan …
  • Ukraine and the fall of the US Empire
  • What makes America so dangerous?
  • After Boris Johnson, what next?
  • Ukraine: graveyard of the US Empire?
  • Socialism or barbarism?
  • Two big errors about Russia
  • Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
  • Anyone (not Russian) for tennis?
  • Getting real about Ukraine
  • The invisibility of empire
  • Priti Patel and the power of lies
  • What price US nukes? $80k a minute!
  • The barbarism of dying empires
  • Understanding empire, from “i.e.” to “e.g.”
  • On war crimes in Ukraine
  • Who am I? (And why write?)
  • Who beat the drums for Dear Prudence?
  • On media manufactured monsters
  • Let’s give Ukraine’s fascists a makeover!
  • Rye v Hastings? Dickens v Tressell?
  • Meditation for the politico
  • A little more on the US war machine
  • “The wrong direction at maximum speed”
  • The USA: “no way out but war”
  • Power is at war with truth
  • On and on and on …
  • Why the times they are a-changing
  • “Left” Democrats vote to prolong war!
  • Ukraine: “the global south must act”
  • Starmer, Nato and the death of truth
  • As we hydroplane towards WW3 …
  • Is Team Biden the worst ever?
  • Tucker Carlson on ‘disinformation’
  • Oh my giddy AUMF!
  • “Zelensky good … Putin baad …”
  • Red-lines real … red lines reductive
  • What about those too tired to have sex?
  • We need to talk about pacificism
  • Ukraine and the death-logic of escalation
  • Ukraine in La La Land
  • Easter offerings
  • Caitlin’s love letter to draft dodgers
  • India in the dock for empire disobedience
  • Ursula weeps for Ukraine
  • Red Star Belgrade v Media Amnesia
  • Ukraine: “turning brains to soup”
  • Ukraine: a military assessment
  • Sakwa: “Paul Mason wrong on Ukraine”
  • Peace in Ukraine? Zelensky has zero say
  • Is Russia losing the information war?
  • The day John Pilger met the CIA Boss
  • Britain is a crime scene
  • The US wants this war to go on and on
  • No matter what the risks to us all …
  • Yes, we are being lied to. Massively.
  • Defending democracy in Ukraine?!?
  • Ukraine: the Far Left is almost right
  • Observations on the week so far …
  • Yesterday in and around Lathkill Dale
  • This ain’t Putin’s price hike
  • No, I’m not telling you what to think!
  • Dark Side of the Mood Music
  • Pentagon bioweapons in Ukraine
  • Carbon dating …
  • Ukraine: why bomb a hospital?
  • Ukraine on fire
  • Yes, Ukraine is in the grip of Nazis!
  • Sanctions: America’s Greek Tragedy
  • US Colonel McGregor: “Zelensky no hero”
  • The real purpose of sanctions on Russia?
  • Cook on Monbiot on Ukraine
  • Media double standards over Ukraine
  • Is this Russian propaganda?
  • A calmer panorama in the English Lakes
  • The most important question in the world
  • Ukraine through the eye of a UK diplomat
  • Ukraine: what does Mr Putin have to say?
  • Diana Johnstone on Russia bear baiting
  • Ukraine: the elephants in the room
  • Russia Today
  • Kiev shelled: Zelensky calls martial law
  • Media Lens on Guardian on Ukraine
  • Russia’s recognition of the LDNR
  • Vladimir Putin on what’s bothering Russia
  • “Why Russia wants Ukraine”
  • The royaling boil of Martin’s kettle
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