Hey there you with the sad face

Interesting comments from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

“President Putin cannot deny sovereign nations to make their own sovereign decisions that are not a threat to Russia,”

https://www.9news.com.au/world/nato-commits-to-ukraine-membership-after-russia-invasion/edb70442-27ad-45a1-ba86-97b36647ee7d?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=gnews&utm_campaign=CDAqEAgAKgcICjCks_MKMNHogwMwjo2GAQ&utm_content=rundown

Seems like a “Principle” that could (and should) be “universalised”. Nations that are sovereign should be allowed to make what decisions they choose provided such decisions are not threats to the sovereignty of others.

But is it realistic? Perhaps at the heart of the issue is – whether actions (real, imagined or proposed) of the generalised “other” are a threat or not? Should the decision maker (re threats or not) be the one taking the action OR the one which feels threatened by the resulting acts?

Looking back to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the United States decided that Russian missiles should not be allowed in Cuba (too close to the US mainland) because they were an unacceptable threat. In due course, they were removed (after a few trade-offs).

A case of a sovereign Nation making the decision that the presence of such missiles were a threat and it was unacceptable?

Moving forward 60 years, we see that Russia believes having Ukraine as a member of NATO translates to missiles being too close to the Russian mainland and therefore it’s an unacceptable threat. (First strike advantage.)

Yes Stoltenberg says NATO is NOT a threat but should he be the one making the decision OR should it be the Russians – the ones who feel threatened?

Going further, should Iran (a sovereign Nation) be allowed to develop nuclear weapons? Should North Korea (a sovereign Nation) be permitted to develop greater nuclear capacity? Should the Solomon Islands (a sovereign Nation) be permitted to offer a Naval Port to the People’s Republic of China?

And if the answer to all of the above is NO – then what PRINCIPLES should be cited as a rationale? Or is it the case that there’s no Principle(s) involved other than – might is right?

BHP (read Australia) is now accepting iron ore payment from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) using RMB (yuan) which is further confirmation that the days of a ‘unipolar’ world are now in the historical dustbin.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/chinas-secret-victory-against-australia-in-trade-war/news-story/3c9a1c37586043364ebe209e8d4f31fb

The rise of BRICS (plus) et al suggests that the declining American Empire’s almighty dollar is less powerful and their national debt of $31.3 trillion is looking somewhat ominous. So many Nations now unloading US bonds.

Where will it end?

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

“Slow learners” are-
* Those that support brutal autocratic regimes, and are unwilling to resist their expansion
* Those that think Kissinger was right. Was he? It are you just very selective with your approval of his views?

In the American provoked invasion of Ukraine…
Typical stupidity.
It’s the same defence men use for domestic violence.
* She wouldn’t do what she was told
* She was seeing someone else
* I told her I’d bear her if she continued to disobey me
As for losses, they are apparently about the same on each side, but Ukrainians know why they are fighting
MN becomes more pathetic with each comment

Russia’s war crimes even worse than United Nations previously thought…
https://bnn-news.com/un-russian-forces-killed-hundreds-of-civilians-at-the-beginning-of-the-war-240745

Yes SB, I think I’ve previously outlined my idea that having an unpredictable, narcissistic, easily offended weirdo in the Whitehouse might act as a restraint on expansionist murderous fascists.
Putin can plan for every response of a rational president. There is no ability to plan for the response of an unpredictable narcissist like Trump.
* Putin – “what would Trump do if we invaded Ukraine”
* Military planner- “it ranges from do nothing to nuke us. It depends on whether or not he perceives that he’s been personally slighted”

“Also things are bit quieter now that the master troll Tom R has quit these pages.”

I shall grab my violin

Some information for the Putin apologists
—-
One of the lies put out by the Kremlin is that there were 14,000 civilians killed by the Ukraine military during the civil war. This is completely untrue.
The figure of 14,000 comes from a United Nations report, but the breakdown is-
* 4500 were Ukrainian military
* 6500 were separatist militia
* 3000 were civilians, and were split between areas occupied by Ukraine and the Russian backed separatists. This also includes 300 civilians that died when the Russian backed separatists used a Russian missile to shoot down a civilian aircraft.

The American Empire is addicted to a belief in its exceptionalism, grounded in aggression both at home and abroad, For Australia, the greatest military risk is that we become a proxy for the US in its dispute with China in much the same way as Ukraine is in the USA’s dispute with Russia.

(Of course there were those who didn’t (perhaps still don’t) see it as a proxy war nor did they believe that there was a ‘coup’ way back in 2014). Oh how we laughed!

Over more than 200 years, the historical record shows that the US Empire has subverted and overthrown so many governments. Indeed, as an ex-President pointed out, it has a military industrial complex that relies on War.

As others have highlighted – it funds our War Memorial and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and many other fronts for US military and business interests. Try AALA for another outrageous example.

Australia has outsourced its foreign policy to another. But It’s what Vassals do!

Yes TB – so many citizens of the USA fervently believe that the “American way” is not only the best way but the “one and only true way”. Armed with that belief, they confront the world with a type of missionary zeal.

And while we might commend them for their good intentions (being generous), they seem unable to rise above their own cultural soup and acknowledge that while their their way might be best for them, others have different attitudes, values, beliefs and priorities.

In short, they are ethnocentric through and through.

(As an aside – journeyed through Turkey with a number of American fundamentalist, southern religious ‘zealots’ who were really put in their place by a local guide who really knew his theology, broadly defined.)

Then TB, you’re welcome to explain how the world would be healthier, more prosperous etc. if spheres of influence were left to the CCP and the Putin regime

RE – “… why the world would be healthier, happier, safer, more prosperous …”

Reveals much as to how a particular individual, located in a particular class, in a particular society, rooted in a particular culture might ‘construct’ a particular idealised world.

But, make no mistake, those ‘values’ should not be universalised or extrapolated – IF one wants to understand what motivates the vast bulk of others in the wider world.

It’s (again) ethnocentric! (And yes it’s very, very difficult not to be ethnocentric.)

You’ve (typically) ducked the issue MN.
At least I admit my position – I’d prefer that there were not superpowers, but since we have them, I’m glad one is an (imperfect) western democracy.
You just can’t bring yourself to admit that the world would be even more oppressed and dismal if it was just left to the CCP and the Putin regime to divide up their spheres of influence

Re – “… ducked the issue ..”

Perhaps – but maybe I duck the way the “issue” is defined (by you).

(As an aside of sorts). Just listening to Tim Dunlop on (Big Ideas RN) speak about the rise of the Teals and before them the ‘Voices for’ etc. Both have their roots in ‘kitchen table’ (political) get togethers. Crucially, they advanced via ‘discussion’. With minutes (records) provided at the end.

Yesterday, listened to Marcia Langton speak about the meetings re “Voice to Parliament” and how Aboriginal groups DON”T proceed by voting but by arriving at a ‘consensus’. Yes it takes time but everyone gets to have a say. Just as it was in the Greek City States (albeit by only male citizens.)

IN our ‘democracy’ one often hears about the need to “have a conversation with the electorate” BUT there’s no mechanism (structure) that enables that. People aren’t interested in politics because they have no discernable influence. It’s irrelevant to daily life – especially for younger people.

A couple of weeks ago Media Watch reported that Putin’s popularity was at 79%. (Yes it’s a nation at war BUT.) In China, governments have incredible high levels of popularity as well. In Australia and the USA, popularity of governments is usually ‘line ball’.

Perhaps we put far too much emphasis on the ‘process’ (voting) which is essentially a contest – with consensus (outcomes) being in retrospect.

Look at the USA. Enormous spending and yet the contest is between two effing incompetents. Not that it matters (perhaps).

Foreign Policy is outsourced to the Military Industrial Complex (doesn’t matter who the President is with the origin(s) of the Ukraine conflict, for example, having its roots in the early 1990s). Health Policy in the hands of giant Corporations. Economic/financial Policy outsourced to wall Street. etc etc.

Enough for now.

You should try thinking a little more MN.
* It is Russia that is in serious decline, the invasion of Ukraine is a last gasp for international relevance.
* Russia’s economy has contracted by about a third in the past decade. It’s loss is equivalent to the economies of Malaysia and South Africa combined.
* Western democracies continue to hold over 50% of the world’s trade.
* The EU economy is about the same size as China’s, and that’s without the UK
* The west is acting with more cohesion and unity that at any time in half a century.
* BRICS is likely to fall apart, with military clashes currently between India and China, Modi refusing to attend his annual meeting with Putin, Xi expressing reservations about Putin’s war
Don’t back the the success autocratic regimes

As Bernie Sanders points out – “At a time when we spend more than the next 11 nations combined on defense, we should invest in healthcare, jobs, housing, and education—not more weapons of destruction,”

(BTW – doesn’t include the billions of military aid given to Ukraine.)

Why not just tell some truth and rename the Department of Defense as the Department of ATTACK.

And there’s more: – “The $858 billion budget amounts to a roughly 10% increase from the previous year and $45 billion more than the historic sum President Joe Biden requested, and it was approved even after the Pentagon failed yet another audit, unable to account for more than 60% of its assets.”

What it doesn’t mention is the spending from its Vassals. It goes to great lengths to coerce NATO (read North American Treaty Organistion) to spend 2% of GDP on this Attack capability – 95% of which transfers to the USA’s military industrial complex.

Not to mention Australia’s regular tributes that are demanded. And paid!

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/12/16/moral-and-political-disgrace-just-11-senators-vote-no-858-billion-military-budget

Re BRICS and the laughable claim that – (just wishin’ and hopin’?) – “it’s likely to fall apart”

Did you know that:

“Algeria, Argentina, and Iran have all applied, while it is already known that Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Egypt and Afghanistan are also interested, along with Indonesia, ”

No links equates to no credibility.

As for BRICS + + – just watch this space. Lol.

Yes Modi and Putin hate each other. Lol. They are almost at war. BRICS + is falling apart.

It’s in ToM’s (unreferenced) News. But it’s not in everyone’s news. Other sources provide evidence that both Nations (Russia and India) proceed on the basis of their interests. It’s an approach Australia could pursue.

By the way, there’s at least a dozen references that could be provided that offer like evidence.

ToM do yourself a favor and read some works by Antonio Gramsci (or commentators) on how “common sense” is produced/manufactured. But beware, Gramsci was a jailbird – a prisoner. But with Notebooks.

PM Modi will not go to Moscow for annual meeting with Putin
So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last summit was held on December 6, 2021 in New Delhi.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/no-modi-putin-summit-this-year-after-they-met-in-september-report-8315950/

Your comprehension isn’t too good.
1. China and India are currently engaged in military conflict. They are the 2 biggest economies in BRICS.
2. Modi has repeatedly expressed concerns about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and refused to attend his annual meeting with Putin.
You seem to deny those facts.

How good is it that Putin has shown the world that is is able to make a quick transition from fossil fuels