The Ruble is slowly climbing back up and is already treading at a much more reasonable rate (with probably more readjustment ahead). See for yourself:
But his happened at a great cost. See ZeroHedge about this: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-25/ruble-rallies-34-after-biggest-russian-intervention-5-years
Also, I would like to highly recommend the analysis of my favorite American economist, Michael Hudson who does a superb job explaining the Russian strategy for the Real News Network: http://michael-hudson.com/2014/12/russian-pivot/
Cheers,
The Saker
IMF suddenly sees maybe very developing nations needs a different scheme, perhaps less austerity.
IMF sees maybe developing countries should have a bigger say and more votes in IMF…specifically the BRICS countries.
BIS suddenly discovers multi-polar is the way to go.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
They are all trying to say “we can change, LOOK we heard you, we’ll make all these changes…..” just to fool everyone into not going to the new arrangement. The abusive man swearing to reform and behave…as soon as his wife and kids walk out the door.
Too late, China has already given a lot of money to Brazil, Venezuela, who knows who else, cuba?? looks like the ones US is against. Russia of course, to help out (and/or China made a nice profitable play on that ruble caper, too).
Longshot or not? now Russia seems stable again….will they send in troops to help Donbass? They want a united Ukraine, they keep saying so. Ukraine has to be united, because Donbass manages alone but the rest would be a dangerous basket case in a bad location for decades.
So, will they send in the troops? or do it the peaceful way, through MONEY? call in the magic insured loan, send Ukraine into default…and be the only one to afford bailing it back out, with their own receivers in place?
Putin likes to keep his friends close. His friends like Rex Tillerson, Nat Rothschild, Henry the K, Berlusconi, etc. But just because he is friends with these very interesting people doesn’t mean that he tells them what he’s really thinking.
The greatest hero in modern times is undoubtedly John F. Kennedy. Because of his severe health problems, he knew that his time on this earth was limited, so he took the bull by the horns to go to work for the American people and for world peace. He was very disobedient to the Powers That Be with his impressive and shocking laundry list of rebellious activity that rubbed the entire establishment in such a wrong way that it is astonishing that he survived as long as he did. Undermining Spelly’s War and the Federal Reserve were the last straws; that, and Bobby Kennedy dumping a hero of operation underworld, Carlos Marcello, unceremoniously into the Guatemalan jungle in his pajamas. Who the hell did these two Irish guys think they were? You don’t see that kind of nerve anymore. JFK did with Addison’s Disease what Walter White did with lung cancer, so the moral of the story is, never give a dying man any power.
the pug said…25 December, 2014 18:00
“There is a website named RussiaSlam…”
Anonymous said…26 December, 2014 06:16
“@the pug,
Check your recommendation and read Malaysia Airlines MH17 Article. It turns out “RussiaSlam” say it was The Separatists and Russian brought down the plane “evidences”: conversations and weblink that were faked evidences, debunked a few days after Malaysia Boeing went down.
Don’t be fools by so call “no political agenda.” Most likely funded by Americka’s CIA.
Kindest Regards”
JC”
Thanks for deconstructing that propaganda site.
Now my turn:
the pug said…27 December, 2014 00:38
“60 Prominent Germans Appeal Against Another War In Europe”
From the letter:
“Anders ist die für Russland bedrohlich wirkende Ausdehnung des Westens nach Osten ohne gleichzeitige Vertiefung der Zusammenarbeit mit Moskau, wie auch die völkerrechtswidrige Annexion der Krim durch Putin, nicht zu erklären.”
It refers to Crimea’s voluntary rejoining with Russia an an “illegal annexation of the Crimea by Putin”.
In other words: regime change Russia – cool, a hot war against Russia – not cool. Basically the difference between a “friendly” fascist and a not so friendly regular run of the mill fascist. For Russia, neither is a friend. I’m rather surprised Gerhard Schröder signed on to that PR scam.
вот так
In 1989, Nicaragua was one of the early victims of “color revolution”, where the ZPC/NWO subjected the country to a decade of terrorism first to prepare the ground. Now, it appears the “color revolutionaries” have returned. No doubt the terrorists will soon follow.
The battle of China with the US started: the first battle opponents of the Nicaraguan canal with the police
http://www.odnako.org/blogs/shvatka-kitaya-s-ssha-startovala-o-pervom-boe-protivnikov-nikaraguanskogo-kanala-s-policiey/
(Yandex trans)
“In Nicaragua, where on 22 December, began the construction of a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the local police had to disperse a sudden opponents of the construction of water mains.
The protest is furnished with all the signs of a “PR war”:
1) several hundred protesters presents Western agencies as “farmers fighting for their land, which may suffer;
2) after aggressive citizens dispersed, causing a number of injuries, the Agency announced the “ten killed”;
3) which was, incidentally, lies.
Details
According to the head of the national police Amyntas of Granera, special units Nicaraguan law enforcement agencies on Wednesday had to deal with hundreds of protesters on a highway near El-Thule 260 km from the capital Managua.
After peaceful protesters attacked by police using firearms, machetes, stones and sticks, and began to threaten to burn down the tank with fuel (and this is for the locals really dangerous) – police had to disperse 300 people. Law enforcement agencies have used rubber bullets and tear gas. 15 policemen and five civilians were wounded, thirty-three people were detained. “There were serious events, criminal”, – quotes Granero Agency Notimex. The head of the local police also denied previously common information about the four killed in clashes.
What it all really
A few words about the interests of the citizens of Nicaragua. According to the world Bank, Nicaragua is the penultimate place on the level of national income per capita. The government believes that a Large marokaanse channel will help the country out of poverty and become economically independent. By the way, said Vice-President of Nicaragua Omar Alsleben at the opening ceremony of construction. This ceremony was attended by the President of the Chinese company HKND Group, which is building, Wang Jing. The Russian Federation, by the way, will also take part in this “construction of the century”.
Part1
вот так
Part 2
“For reference. Work began on Monday, December 22. The project cost is estimated at $ 50 billion, the main investor is HKND. The length of the channel will be nearly 280 km, the depth is 30 meters, width from 226 to 530 meters. In a year it will be about 5 thousand ships, travel time will not exceed 30 hours. Start of operation of the channel is scheduled for 2019, and the full completion of the construction in 2029.
The new waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific is created as alternatives to existing being a hundred years old “veteran” is the Panama canal located at a distance of 600 kilometers.
Also for reference. Today, the canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific ocean there is one, and it’s called Panama. Until 1999 the U.S. it is owned directly, since 1999 through the blotting paper in the form of government of the Republic of Panama, fully grown and educated in order to serve the American channel. Using this channel USA quite manage the macro-region.
Therefore, the appearance near the American channel channel Chinese is comparable to the situation in which next to each American fleet sailed would be the Chinese fleet of similar power.
On this basis, there is reason to believe that the “peaceful protest by farmers against channel” is only the beginning. In the Arsenal of Americans against too self-Hispanic there are also intervention, military coups, fascist dictatorship and other tools.
Before, however, all this was used against romantic Pro-Soviet politicians, and not against multi-billion dollar Chinese business interests.
So the construction of the Nicaraguan canal remains dynamic.”
вот так
As shown by this map of the new pipeline proposal to replace South Stream, the route will have a few symbolically fitting detours along the way under the Black Sea.
http://ic1.static.km.ru/sites/default/files/imagecache/640×640/ima5646ge2.jpg
вот так
– О вас много говорят западные радиостанции, ругают Сталина и вас.
– Было бы хуже, если б хвалили
Вячеслав Молотов
Not much has changed with western media since then…
вот так
Greetings from France:
==> Andre Vltchek
A passionate but nice writing!
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/26/the-empire-is-crumbling-that-is-why-it-needs-war/
Rgds
Mario Medjeral
Obama has a new music video out:
В Сети набирает популярность клип, высмеивающий Обаму
http://lifenews.ru/news/147745
Yandex trans here:
https://z5h64q92x9.net/tr-url/ru-en.ru/lifenews.ru/news/147745
вот так
Some one talk about against S. Korea, very bad idea. I have never encounter a South Korean that is hostile to a Chinese, although I have encounter some south Vietnamese that were hostile. Korea and China are pretty much brothers with a tangled history stretch for a long time. Some of Korean will tell you their family originally from China as imperial soldiers, and laugh at it. They have a lot of factories in China and treated workers well. S, Korea has a very good relation with China right now.
Chinese will always have affinity for Korea no matter what, by same extended to Indochina countries, Mongolia as well no matter what happens to those country’s leadership.
America is preparing to fight (and win) a nuclear war against Russia.
From: “How the Obama Administration Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”
http://www.thenation.com/article/192633/how-obama-administration-learned-stop-worrying-and-love-bomb
“the Obama administration moving forward with an ambitious nuclear-weapons modernization program that could dramatically raise the threat of nuclear war? The program aims to overhaul the entire US nuclear-weapons arsenal, with a particular focus on improving the fusing systems and accuracy of long-range land- and sea-based ballistic-missile warheads and on increasing the killing power of other nuclear warheads. A recent federal study estimated the cost of this enterprise at $1 trillion.
The stated goal of the program is to increase the “reliability” of US nuclear forces. But a close analysis reveals a technically sophisticated effort to ready US nuclear forces for a direct confrontation with Russia.”
Seeming increasingly like Russia must give it everything it’s got in economic warfare (non-repayment of western loans, new currency with China, etc etc). Soon.
Recently spent a week in Ethiopia. Saw the 1000 year old churches cut from purple granite. A very orthodox country. Also didn’t hear a bad word spoken about the Derg, only comments like ‘Russia helped us before.’
Hi Not so fast
thanks for the reply. I don’t think ethics is going to work for all…otherwise we wouldn’t see ISIS and NAZI. I think Christianity will work if introduced in a sensitive humble way. the fact that education leaves it out(even just reading from the new testament. Old testament is just Hebrew folk religion)…and so do parents disable children from learning about it. they can’t choose if they don’t know about it.
Personally, I think this is a disaster.
Yes, I noticed after I copied it that it wasn’t your quote. about Toynbee I mean. Toynbee is a typical if brilliant Scholar… most devoted friend was Alfred Milner and he was behind all of Britain’s most hegemonic acts.
In chess you can only act sequentially on an open board.
Chess is a linear game, whilst life is lateral.
http://orientalreview.org/2014/12/27/russia-and-turkeys-gas-deal-can-save-europe-and-the-world-i/
http://orientalreview.org/2014/12/26/the-multipolar-network-centric-policy-of-the-eurasian-union/
Here’s a devious thought. Russia begins INCREASING pumping oil and natural gas to drop the price even more. If the oil derivatives and (oil and gas) shale drilling are as financially leveraged as people say, this might be a bigger problem for the Western financial system than for Russia. Plus the increased volume could make up for the lower price if they can find a buyer.
But Putin does not seem to do anything provocative, rather he seems to try to defuse conflict. Rather than retaliating directly he simply puts his efforts elsewhere. Well, they did boycott European Agriculture, so it’s not entirely true, but perhaps that was strategic to get Russians farmers to fill in the gap?
Yeah. The food ban from Europe was specifically designed so that Russian agriculture could prosper. It will take time though. At least two to three years.
There is no reason for Russia to undermine the global oil market further. Marginal producers in North America and elsewhere are already bleeding. There is no doubt about it.
As for the gas market, there is no global market in that case. The gas that Russia sells to Europe is indexed to the price of oil. It has not fallen by as much, but it has fallen by a certain percentage. Natural gas markets are local. In the US, natural gas prices are dirt cheap due to the overproduction from the shale Ponzi scheme. But already, four of the seven major shale gas plays are in decline. Moreover, lots of the gas produced in the United States, is a byproduct of shale oil extraction. It will come crushing down to earth, along with the production of shale oil.
All that Russia has to do now is some belt tightening, some patience and some defensive vigilance for yet more NATO provocations.
The global oil market will soon reverse to Russian advantage. Hence the desperate and virulent attacks by the West against Russia. Time is ticking against them and they are fully aware of it.
Maybe said above but too long to read all comments…
Hudson was a prime advisor to Iceland when they told the UK/EU to fuck off over the failed Icelandic banks. They said the pp of Iceland would NOT pay back banking debts. And Iceland is the ONLY country to have jailed criminal Banksters.
Hudson understands the Western banksters cartel well enough…
I dont think 15B is “at great price, it not even 5% of reserves. and there’s hell to pay for Soros and other cunts.
You were laughing at Putin when he said we will attack speculators. Well they did.
You were constantly spitting at CB’s head face for past month, well their politics payed!
Why not before? cause doing that end of december squeezes all those traders who lost their skirts on the short ruble off their Bonuses! And that ll be a good reminder for years to come! Dont mess with the ruble.
So do we hear an apology?
I need to mention that I know little on Economics in a formal sense, but Perhaps Sometimes, I know as much as others on some aspects.
The Only reason I would even suggest that is definitely not for any Academic Qualifications, but it Could be more because of my opinions regarding some aspects of Human Behavior on Economics.
This is because Total Capitalism is Exploitation and a Failure for a Country and Total Communism is Exploitation and a Failure for a Country.
I heard that Interest Rate Charges on Loans contributes to 50 % of the cost of business activity, and I do not know the true amount, but I know that Bank Interest Rate does affect Business and Employment to some extent, and Unbiased Experts can calculated that quantity.
People would think that any Country which is serving their People would not want to hinder Business and Employment.
We know that the Cost of Housing and Rental Housing to Workers are Really part of the Cost to Business, because the Wages of the Worker must cover this Essential Costs.
If these Costs to Workers can be Reduced, then the Cost to Business in the form of Workers Wages can be Reduced, and Businesses will be more Competitive in a Global Economy.
The way to do that is to have 0 % Interest Rate on buying the first home, and where the Banks can charge Interest Rate on other Loans, and where there is ample Public Housing at cheap rents.
The Government can Lend Money from the Central Bank at 0 % Interest Rate, and then charge rent.
The Government would buy existing Houses that want to Voluntarily sell their Houses to the Government and then pay rent to the Government.
These People would be allowed to rent their former Houses for as long as they want to, or they could trade it for another Public House in another Suburb or another City, and those who Voluntarily sold their Houses to the Government will always be given Public Housing if they want it, or they may decide to buy a bigger House with 0 % Interest Rate.
Those People who buy bigger Houses with 0 % Interest Rate will provide Employment for Companies (either Public or Private) that manufacture Building Materials and to Companies (either Public or Private) who manufacture Household Products, and this will help create Full Employment.
The other thing to do in my opinion is to provide 0 % Interest Rate for Businesses, and for Business Buildings, and these 2 measures are in my guess, a good way to stimulate the Economy, and create Full Employment.
Interest can be charged on All other Loans, and this will encourage People to save Money, and I heard that Savings are necessary for Investment.
The Banks would be Publically Owned and have a Responsibility as regards Housing and Businesses, but it would also provide Loans for other Items, and it will try to make a Profit, but Employment would be its main function, and Farms should be considered to be Businesses.
This means that they would use Old Technology like Passbook Accounts as it was in the old days, and this would employ more People at the Bank.
The lower the Costs to the Workers and to Businesses means that Companies are more Competitive, and we know that this helps both Businesses and Employment.
To help this, I think that Russia should provide Free Land to All new Houses being built, and I think that having one seventh of the World’s Landmass, means that a few Real Estate Speculators, who may or may not have Political Connections (may be bribing), should not benefit more than what is Fair and Just, but that the People should benefit from their Own Property, which is their Own Country.
New Cities should be built to drive down the Price of Houses and Land in existing Cities, and Large House Blocks should be given for Free in these New Cities.
Furthermore, it is the Security of the Country which is Greatly Enhanced, and that is another Reason for this Economic Policy.
I think that Every Country needs a Proper Combination of Regulated Free Enterprise, and Public Ownership of Essential Industries.
The European Union is a Puppet of America, and that America is the Puppet Master of the European Union, and other Countries of the World.
The Journalist did not mention that the European Union won (purchased) a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, some People who say that Wikipedia is not reliable at times.
Wikipedia says: “The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the European Union “for over six decades having contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe” by a unanimous decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.”
An Honest News Article by Anglo-American Independent Journalists shows how Anglo-America and its Puppets Lie, Slander, and Murder in Cold Blood, and the Article is Titled: The Demonization of Slobodan Milosevic at http://www.michaelparenti.org/Milosevic.html , the News Article Titled: Milosevic: true or false at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/mar/21/tenquestionsonslobodanmilo , and the News Article Titled: The Milosevic trial is a travesty at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/feb/12/warcrimes.comment .
That Honest Article says: “How much do you know about Slobodan Milosevic, the recently deceased former president of Yugoslavia? Here’s 10 statements that we’ve all heard many times in the western media these last seven days. But which of them are true and which are false? 1) Milosevic was a dictator. 2) He was a Serb nationalist. 3) He was responsible for the break-up of Yugoslavia. 4) His 1989 speech at Kosovo Polje was a nationalist rant that inflamed ancient ethnic hatreds. 5) He started four wars. 6) He was responsible for the massacre at Srebrenica 7) He ordered a systematic programme of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. 8) He was toppled by a “democratic revolution” in 2000. 9) The trial at The Hague had produced evidence of his guilt. 10) He will be mourned by “only a few”. How many do you think are true? Seven, eight- all of them? The answer is zero. Every single statement is untrue.”
The European Union was instrumental in the breakup of Yugoslavia over 20 years ago as Puppets of Anglo-America.
The American led NATO Illegally and Immorally attacked Serbia to steal its Province of Kosovo, to build an Enormous Military Base in Kosovo called Camp Bondsteel for WW 3, which will kill All Humans at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Bondsteel .
Anglo-America promised President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not go to Central Europe or to the Balkans to begin WW 3.
However, we have seen the Many Malicious Lies and the Many Evil Schemes from Anglo-America and its Puppet of the European Union since the end of the Cold War, and how Anglo-America Cannot be trusted, and Must Not be trusted.
This is why Many People think that Anglo-America needs to keep their Promise, which not made only to President Mikhail Gorbachev, but to All of the World, and leave Central Europe and the Balkans, because Anglo-America has no legitimate business being there, and Anglo-America has clearly demonstrated that they have no good intentions for Continental Europe, and Continental Europeans can provide Security where it is needed in the Balkans.
The reason that Continental Europe was divided after the end of WW 2 was to Prevent WW 3.
If Russia wanted to occupy Eastern Europe, then it would never have left those Countries in the first place.
The other Honest Articles on the former Yugoslavia are at http://www.globalresearch.ca/search?q=Yugoslavia , and at http://www.globalresearch.ca/search?q=Bosnia-Herzegovina , and at http://www.globalresearch.ca/search?q=Serbia , and at http://www.globalresearch.ca/search?q=Croatia , and at http://www.globalresearch.ca/search?q=Kosovo .
That was before the European Union purchased their Nobel Peace Prize, which happened before the Coup in Ukraine at http://www.globalresearch.ca/search?q=Ukraine , and the following News Article is on the European Union Candidate Country of Serbia at http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=11&nav_id=92537 .
This one is good one. In russian language
http://www.newsbalt.ru/detail/?ID=46350
For Strelkov admirers, an extensive article of his background.
Strelkov
Interesting analysis / summary by Mikel itulaín:
“The US economic war against Russia”:
http://miguel-esposiblelapaz.blogspot.com.es/2014/12/la-guerra-economica-de-estados-unidos.html
How many people know this?
“The war itself was based on a false pretense because the FBI admitted in 2007 that there was no credible evidence linking Osama bin Laden to the 9/11 attacks,” Kenneth O’Keefe told Press TV on Saturday.
On Thursday, one week before the US combat mission in Afghanistan draws to a close, President Barack Obama announced the official ending of America’s fighting role in Afghanistan.
The announcement came on a Christmas Day visit to a Marine base in Kanoehe Bay, Hawaii
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/12/27/392055/us-invaded-afghanistan-on-false-pretense/
Daylight is starting to pierce the fog over at HuffPo: Non-Dollar Trading Is Killing the Petrodollar — And the Foundation of U.S.-Saudi Policy in the Middle East.
I encourage Saker and everyone to read this article…2014 The Year Propoganda Came OF Age
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-27/2014-year-propaganda-came-age
Santa dropping off a sack in iraq–by helicopter.
Volunteer forces fighting against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists say US military aircraft have dropped weapons in areas held by the terrorist group in Iraq.
American helicopters dropped boxes of weapons in Yathrib and Balad districts in Iraq’s Salahuddin Province, according to the fighters.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/12/27/392011/us-drops-weapons-in-areas-held-by-isil/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-26/60-prominent-germans-appeal-against-another-war-europe-it-not-about-putin-what-stake
60 Prominent Germans Appeal Against Another War In Europe: “It Is Not About Putin. What Is At Stake Is Europe”
Can someone explain to me the issue of international law and Crimea. It always seemed reasonable to me that the people of Crimea had the right to hold a referendum and, of course, the right to be free from Nazi violence and ethnic cleansing. Yet even in this open letter by prominent Germans it is claimed that Russia violated international law by annexing Crimea. What I would like to know is this: was international law actually violated? Do governments have the right as part of national sovereignty to commit genocide within their own borders, as so many modern people seem to insist vis-a-vis Ukraine?
Just wondering if someone can clarify the legal issues for me. Thanks. pcz
If you notice an increase in anti-Russian rhetoric in the Western Media comments page, please remember that Kiev installed the Ministry of Truth into the Government. They appear to be working well, just as they did in Orwell’s Oceania.
Everything mirror transposition overload and I have just spent the past couple of hours trying to argue the Novorussia point of view with them on The Guardian site.
Cannot believe it, they can starve their people, they can use all types of missiles on their people and they can afford a very expensive PR campaign and yet there is no money. Who benefits and what is it all for?
AM
Anonymous said…26 December, 2014 15:08
Thanks for the recommendation.
—————
Looks like the USA is already beginning to feel the results of ZPC/NWO oil price manipulation.
Crude price drop triggers major layoffs in US oil industry
http://rt.com/usa/217959-us-oil-industry-prices/
вот так
Listen starting at 10:00 mark for 4-5 min. he covers the “pre-charge bail” laws put in in uk preventing legal protests from leaders they identify! also,check out at 12min mark what the french are doing to imagine away the homeless–there’s even a pic of the “cage” around the bench :
dec 26 edition
Current Economic Collapse News Brief – Episode 551
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsmHn5FSBFg
AM 27 December, 2014 19:54
“Everything mirror transposition overload and I have just spent the past couple of hours trying to argue the Novorussia point of view with them on The Guardian site.”
Those are not Ukrainians, they are “Israelis”. The guardian is web sayan central, especially their highly censored comment sections.
вот так
Grieved said…
@Serendipity — I looked at the link you supplied to the “Buddhocratic Conquest of the West.” See here.
It’s a very weird spin on Buddhism …
Actually it’s not about Buddhism in general, but about Tibetan Buddhism (a.k.a. the Vajrayana) and in particular about the importance attributed to the Kalacakra Tantra (‘initiations’ for which have been given often in the West by the Dalai Lama).
I can see clearly that the authors of the book do not have experience of the meditation techniques they discuss.
How so? “I can see clearly that the authors” are quite well informed concerning these techniques. And their book is not especially about them but rather about what they see as a calculated program by the Tibetan lamas to delude Westerners into unknowingly supporting their intention of instituting a global politico-religious hegemony (something also desired, of course, within Roman Catholicism and Islam). Fortunately, although they may have founded a lot of ‘dharma centers’ in the West, their program has zero chance of success, so we have no need to worry.
But the way the authors are completely wrong in understanding the essence of Buddhism makes me think they may also be seeing things through too dark a lens in all of their assumptions.
I believe that a reading of their book will show that it is based on facts rather than assumptions. And it is not about “the essence of Buddhism” but rather about the use of Buddhism to promote a covert political program — covert because it is concealed from those people who find themselves attracted by the vapid inanities regularly uttered by the Dalai Lama. They describe his deceptive modus operandi in their Conclusion.
But for some real spirituality, however, you could read their Postscript: Creative polarity beyond tantrism.
@Ann
” I don’t think ethics is going to work for all”
Yes – you have touched the basic sore point there: whether ethics are defined from the outside (religion) or from the inside (personal ethics) you always seem to end up with two sorts of religions or individuals – those who are tolerant and ready to collaborate with others and those who always want to fight and to be on top.
For some obscure reason I’ve always preferred the personal approach (maybe I’m an awkward customer who knows :-) ) but so far I’ve found two completely different sources who (to my surprise) both consider that (normal) humans have a builtin social sense and that we simply have to discover it. These 2 sources are:
1. An Indian book “I am that”(1973) by N. Maharaj. The author – who had a very humble shop in the slums of Bombay – was apparently considered a spiritual authority by many Indians and Westerners and the book contains the texts of 100+ interviews with people from different countries and different walks of life.I found his interviews fascinating.The author states that the human mind contains a strong social layer and that everybody can verify this by personal experience. No links with religion.
2. The book “Political Ponerology” (1998) by Lobaczewski which is a psychological/psychiatric analysis of sociopaths and psychopaths, especially when they work their way into governments. It’s one of the most interesting and relevant books that I’ve ever come across and to my surprise the author also believes that the normal human mind includes a strong social layer which we have to discover – but he considers religion as important too.
Stavros H,
Thanks, yes of course you are right, Gas is regional. The point about “associated gas” (with shale oil) is also a good one.
US oil is likely a “Seneca cliff”. This means decline is more rapid than growth. Soon we’ll see.
http://cassandralegacy.blogspot.it/2011/08/seneca-effect-origins-of-collapse.html
NotSoFast said…
@Ann
” I don’t think ethics is going to work for all”
Yes – you have touched the basic sore point there: whether ethics are defined from the outside (religion) or from the inside (personal ethics …
I believe NotSoFast alludes to whether people act according to how their religion (if they follow one) tells them they should act, or act according to their conscience (if they have one). But I suggest that this is a false dichotomy. The true dichotomy is the possession or non-possession of a conscience.
The book “Political Ponerology” (1998) by Lobaczewski which is a psychological/psychiatric analysis of sociopaths and psychopaths, especially when they work their way into governments …
There’s really no difference between “sociopaths” and “psychopaths”, so the former term is redundant.
What characterizes a psychopath is lack of a conscience. Conscience is an innate ability to know right from wrong (in an ethical, moral, sense).
This innate ability is placed in our souls when they are created. Those people who apparently lack a conscience (and thus are, by definition, psychopaths) have chosen to deny this moral awareness, or at least, to be ignorant of it, which amounts to turning away from whoever or whatever created them.
The “normal” human mind is a mind that possesses a conscience, though it’s true that some “normal” people have to discover it. Some children like to pull the wings off flies, but as they grow older they usually become aware that such cruelty is immoral. But some people never attain such moral awareness. As a young man, George W. Bush liked to shove burning firecrackers up the arses of frogs, toss them in the air and watch them explode. His psychopathy became apparent to the whole world when he became U.S. President.
For more on that particular psychopath see the article Bush isn’t a Moron, He’s a Cunning Sociopath (and follow the links for more about psychopaths).
Map of Syria.. 50% of population centers are now controlled by the SAA! Large areas of sand controlled by the FSA and a ton of villages controlled by the liver eating head chopping israeli mercenaries.
https://pietervanostaeyen.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/2000px-syria1.png
How Bashar al-Assad’s Regime Came Back in the Syrian Civil War in 2014
Juan Cole is a rather good middle eart analyist. At least he is not one of the retards living in some make believe fantasy land. Although what the $%#^@ is a secular fundamentalist and ‘moderate’ fundamentalist and just what ever makes anyone think ANY fundamentalist is good for many of the people. Because sooner or later, you can easily lose our head for something.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/how_bashar_al-assads_regime_came_back_in_the_syrian_civil_war_in_2014_20141
Yarmouk is a special unit backed and trained for two years by US officers, mostly CIA experts, in Jordan, and supported by the Israeli army (Tsahal). The brigade has heavy armor vehicles in its inventory. It was supposed to be a forward deployed ground force advancing to Damascus from the south during a general offensive. The unit was known to be the most pro-Western force among the ranks of Syrian opposition. Now who can the Western coalition rely on in its «strange war» with the Islamic State? For almost two weeks Mousab Ali Qarfan, the commander of Yarmouk, was in direct talks with ISIS chief Abu Baqr Al-Baghdadi, who has recently relocated from Iraq to his northern Syrian headquarters at al-Raqqa. American special services failed to respond in another notable setback for the United States.
It may entail consequences of different kinds.
The turn of events puts an end to the myth about the United States support for some «democratic opposition» in Syria. Evidently one more step is taken by the forces aided by Washington on the way to joining the camp of those who are hostile to the United States.
The situation near the Syrian borders with Jordan and Israel has abruptly aggravated. The Islamic state becomes a predominant force there. Instead of moving to Damascus the Islamic State forces may move to the Golan Heights and Amman, the Jordanian capital.
The Americans prepared the Islamic State for the fight against Syria. Now Jordan, the country looking stable from outside, may be the most vulnerable state on the way of Islamic State offensive. Its stability is misleading. 55% of Jordan’s population are Palestinians deprived of full rights. They can easily follow those who promise them to change their plight.
Mecca and Medina, the holy sites located in Saudi Arabia, remain to be the main targets for the new caliphate. Will the Saudi dynasty be able to repel the attack without the support of US military?
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/12/27/will-world-oil-prices-be-affected-by-major-us-set-back-in-middle-east.html
@ Serendipity
“There’s really no difference between “sociopaths” and “psychopaths”, so the former term is redundant.”
The author of “Political Ponerology” was a practising psychiatrist and the last surviving member of a group of psychologists/psychiatrists in Soviet-occupied Poland who, with the added help of international contacts studied sociopathy/psychopathy. According to his definition – which is apparently supported by other psychiatrists – psychopathy is often correlated with some specific forms of (frontal) brain damage, while sociopathy is less severe. My personal understandinging of this text is that psychopaths suffer from damage in the instinctive brain areas that are responsible for what we call “conscience”.
“I believe NotSoFast alludes to whether people act according to how their religion (if they follow one) tells them they should act, or act according to their conscience (if they have one). But I suggest that this is a false dichotomy. The true dichotomy is the possession or non-possession of a conscience.”
According to N. Maharaj every normal human being feels 2 contradictory motivations:
– The social part of him that says in essence “I am not this-body but I am all-of-us and I must look after the well-being of all-of-us”.
– the body which says “I am this-body only and I must look after the well-being of this-body”
And Maharaj’s overarching theme is that the social part is our “true self” which we need to discover by inward-looking techniques. NB: these are not Maharaj’s exact words but my personal interpretation of his answers.
Thanks for your interest in these matters and season’s greetings to you.
I am pretty sure these “guys” in their meetings have flow chart and talking points based on modeling on what they will do and the expected results. After the meeting they go out and order their underlings to the agenda and then it gets passed on to the editors for the MSM on what their reporters are supposed to write about.
Looking at the MSM, they are giddy with arrogance and their expectations. This alone shows that nothing is spontaneous but all part of the plan.
Like this article from bloomberg. Supposedly an insider look at hoe to fleece the sheep if you only follow the crows and heed their wisdom. After all they are gods chosen people. And for them fiat money is all that matters because that represents the blood and sweet of the hardworking gentiles. It is their pain and death that gave it value and it is golden. Ofcourse when the game theory is not working, someone has to inform the ones following the given orders which it seems now still move at the same speed as 50 years ago. They just blindly do what they were told to do no matter what with minor variations. Russia spending 100 bil in foreign exchange, is supposedly causing panic among the russian public. There will be trouble if more sanctions come into play..
Putin views reserves as a proxy for Russian strength and adjusts foreign policy accordingly, said Tony Brenton, Britain’s ambassador to Russia from 2004 to 2008. For instance, Russia would have reacted more strongly to the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia, an ally, had it not been so dependent on Western aid at the time, Brenton said.
If sanctions persist, Russia could lose its investment-grade credit rating, Deutsche Bank AG has warned. Such a development would represent a personal embarrassment for Putin, as would a further decline in reserves, said Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin adviser.
“The level of reserves is a sacred figure for Putin,” Pavlovsky said.
“For Putin, just one thing matters: is there money?” said Sergei Aleksashenko, a former first deputy chairman of the central bank. “Yes. So, goodbye!”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-17/putin-s-secret-gamble-bet-on-ukraine-backfires-in-ruble-crisis.html
The only thing that rally counts about FX inervention is that you make money – that is sell high and buy low (or at least lower).
And the best bit about that is that the speculators then lose money in taking your CB on.
So far it looks great for the Russian CB.
Another example..
Obama conceitedly deprecates «a dictator somewhere cannot impose censorship» and thought-control «here in the United States». «That’s not who we are. That’s not what America is about».
Obama and his ilk in Washington and the American mainstream media are so deluded with their own self-righteous sense of freedom and «exceptionalism». Thought-control is exactly what America is about, as is all too plain to see from the hysteria over the Sony hack and the demonisation of North Korea.
Witness the ongoing US media assault on Syria, or Russia over the Ukraine crisis. Without a shred of evidence, Russia is accused of expansionism, aggression, and of threatening the international order. Russian President Vladimir Putin is denigrated as the «new Hitler». Tragically, and stupendously, many Americans believe this propaganda trash churned out day-in, day-out by supposedly «free, independent media».
A crime story at Sony carried out by hackers for extortion or just kicks is transformed into a major national security threat posed by North Korea purely on the basis of innuendo and baseless assertion. Is that not the most audacious manifestation of thought-control and manufacturing of perception?
Accusations of brainwashing and authoritarian state control levelled at North Korea can just as easily apply to the American public given the massive orchestration of popular perception by US news media, Washington and its closely aligned Hollywood infotainment industry.
US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere are typically sold to the American public based on fraudulent claims of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and human rights – when these wars are simply criminal imperialist adventurism. America’s permanent state of so-called War on Terror has also primed the US public to live in a constant siege mentality and fear of foreign enemies, no matter how outlandish.
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/12/28/us-thought-control-goes-into-loop-over-sony-hollywood-hack.html
The Purge is Coming. Evgeny Fedorov
A psychological shift has begun in Russia, where the visible catalyst has been the war in Donbass, explains Evgeny Fedorov, a Deputy in the Russian Parliament and the coordinator of the National Liberation Movement for restoring sovereignty of Russia.
Within the ruling political and business elite a split has appeared, where some, by their basic survival instinct, have chosen to support Putin’s path of national sovereignty, while the others are expected to either join them or be purged.
While the technology of Orange Revolution against Russia is stuttering, Fedorov warns of the consequences of visible NATO troops in Ukraine, even if ostensibly only for ‘exercises’: the point of no return is passed and increasingly visible pressure upon Russia to surrender and be subordinated is now having the opposite effect – strengthening support for sovereignty.
If I had to pick one story out of today’s column that’s not to be missed—this is the one. It is head and shoulder above everything else. This youtube.com video clip is from back in September, but it matters not. It runs for 44:56 minutes—and that matters not, either. It’s an absolute must watch-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qLMG0KD3rI
VICTOR GERASHCHENKO TO ELVIRA NABIULLINA – SHOOT YOURSELF
The last head of Gosbank and twice the Governor of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), Victor Gerashchenko, is now 76 years old, and in his second retirement. He was driven into the first following the rouble crash of 1994, under the attack of US Government economic advisors, Jeffrey Sachs and David Lipton. They called him “the worst central banker in the world”. Gerashchenko was returned to the CBR after the 1998 crash and the appointment of Yevgeny Primakov as prime minister. Primakov was criticized by US Government officials as a proto-communist and a KGB spy. He was removed from office after eight months, when he prepared to take Russia into the war for Yugoslavia, on the Serbian side. Gerashchenko lasted until 2002.
http://johnhelmer.net/?p=12426
RE: Buddhism
Niels Bohr had a theory that we can not predict. Which is quite interesting.. It has to do with the way quantum mechanics works. Einstein did not like it since it would throw his theories into doubt. So he came up with spooky action at a distance which says essentially that if you take a picture, it is a mirror of the other. So It is predictable..
But Einstein was proved wrong a couple of years ago. Nothing is predictable.. Ofcourse we can predict something once it is created.. But like ink in a cartridge, it is not predictable what that ink is going to depict after it has been used.
So we can consider that the universe as that ink cartridge and god just printed up the universe as he saw fit. God can just be a conscience that thought it was a good idea to give substance rather than protoplasm.. The show voyager had an episode of this where a planet with black oil when coming in contact with a life form takes on the shape and memories of that life form. Becoming a duplicate.. What if that black oil could become life as we know it with just consciousness directing it. This is also related to many other things like being able to have out of body experiences because the consciousness is not the body, it only gave that body life. It also means sometimes we can make contact with others who have already left their body behind. We cant really say everyones soul is eternal, but the soul as a whole is.. It is the consciousness that give birth to the universe. It also means all consciousness is part of the whole just like all the blood cells in a body are not individuals but they make up the whole body.
Many of the problems we have seen in science can be explained using this. Because we exist only in our own imagination. But on a level we exist everywhere. We come into being because we focus on being there. Since our consciousness is part of the code to make the universe we do have some control over it. Like the kid tells neo, it is not the spoon that bends but the space around it. Being able to change our perceptions also allows us to change out surroundings. In a way Hitler became so successful because of his willpower. He made things happen no one thought possible. But the people under him did not have that kind of power. He even said on many occasions that the German people will defeat the soviets by sheer willpower. And he was probably right except the Soviets also had the will power to say no you wont.
The stronger your will power the more your consciousness can affect your surroundings. Being able to direct your environment gives you the power to make it to your liking. But it is not so simple because you are just one in many who may have other ideas. In medical terms we have many words to describe mass hysteria, psychosis, mind control and other things where groups of people all follow the same thing. But it could just be their consciousness interlink and decided what they wanted..
Because if god made you in his image.. Even if you are just a bloat on paper, you still have a part and you too can affect that paper. Because the ink never dries. Wiggle hard enough and that ink might smudge the other way..
US is Losing its Economic War Against Russia
Those who genuinely believe that the US and the West have unleashed a full scale economic war against Russia because of its position on Ukraine have no idea how much mistaken they are. In fact, it was planned much earlier, precisely a year ago, when a closed meeting between senior authorities of the US and Saudi Arabia was held. This meeting was so secret that even Prince Bandar, the Saudi intelligence services chief and the head National Security Council at the time wasn’t allowed in.
This can partially explain why the key Western political leaders, including German’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, were not present at the opening ceremony of the Winter Sochi Olympics. Apparently, those people still have some conscience, since they knew what conspiracy was going to be launched against Moscow by the West.
So the White House representatives proposed the Saudi authorities to drop the oil prices drastically, to the level of 50 dollars a barrel, which would have supposedly undermined Iran’s influence and forced it into making serious concessions on its nuclear program, and that was just what Riyadh wanted. “Russian aspect” was not explicitly stressed, although once the crisis in Ukraine began, President Obama did mention it during his visit to the kingdom. The Saudis have shown rigidity, since the decline in oil prices must have affected the social programs of the KSA. In these circumstances, Washington had to blackmail Saudi Arabia since it had accumulated enough evidence against most members of the Saudi royal family, including facts on gross violations of human rights, immoral behavior, which could have potentially led to the prosecution of Al Saud dynasty. Additionally, the United States have provided their Saudi friends with intelligence reports on the presence of thousands of Hezbollah supporters in the Shiite-populated Eastern Province of the Kingdom, which could start armed struggle against the Wahhabi regime at any given moment. And it worked miraculously well, although the starting date of this operation was yet to be determined.
Washington had to wait for the Ukrainian crisis to begin in order to drop oil prices in time with the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions. Therefore, in January 2014 the US started taking numerous efforts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, that ended up with a brute force scenario that was facilitated by local oligarchs. One must admit that the overthrow of Victor Yanukovych and the coup d’etat that took place in Kiev went according to Washington’s plan, but few expected that Moscow will take a tough stance on Crimea, and that the south-eastern Ukraine will be transformed in a center of tough resistance to Kiev, which took power in the country illegally due to both open and hidden support of the West.
But in August, when the Islamic State was stabilized, the White House officials started to apply pressure on Saudi Arabia yet again, which resulted in the sharp decline in oil prices. The dirty game began when the Saudis started selling oil at a price lower than the market’s, which resulted in a daily price collapse. At the same time Washington announced its readiness to flood the markets with its shale oil, although these claims were false, since the actual shale reserves of the US are half as big as it was announced. Riyadh sang in tune with the US, by claiming that the increase in oil exports, has nothing to do with Russia.
http://journal-neo.org/2014/12/24/rus-ssha-proigry-vayut-neftyanuyu-vojnu-protiv-rossii/