davecoggan
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MS, as a very new participant to this forum I would like to second and agree with Thomas More.
So that’s two votes you’ve got for starters.MS, that’s a theory that hasn’t shown up at all on my social media timeline. I’m familiar with the one about the Azov battalions and the thrall in which Stefan Bandera is held, although according to Wiki that would seem to be more in Western Ukraine than in the whole of the country.
Not a conspiracist but I can’t but help feel this whole thing is like an iceberg. No titanic reference intended. we only see what the media and states on both sides want us to see but there’s so much more hidden under the surface.
As this conflict/war has gone on I’ve pondered on why so much money, resources, effort has, and is, being directed at Russia.
Usual disclaimer of course. My conclusion, probably an erroneous one, is to apply Occam’s Razor. The western bloc of capitalist states see this as an ideal opportunity to eliminate a another global capitalist state with rich pickings at the end of it if successful.
A simplistic view to take so it’s back to the iceberg.
Whatever one thinks let’s not forget the awful human cost which has been, and which is being paid by thousands. Which is historically responsible for the most deaths and misery, religion or capitalism?Social media is full of conspiracies. For example, that the USA paid Wagner six billion dollars to stage a coup but it was a hoax on the part of Putin and the head of Wagner. Also, the ‘retreat’ means that the Wagner group has now ensconced itself in Belarus closer to Kiev. Also, the Russians have allegedly stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus when everyone’s attention was taken up with the ‘coup’.
Causes of war; we knew the following but I thought it was worth noting even if it does come from the International Committee of the Fourth International:
“The war in Ukraine is also a battle for raw materials. The country has large deposits of iron, titanium and lithium, some of which are now controlled by Russia.” That’s what the federally owned German foreign trade agency Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) reported on its website on January 16 under the title “Ukraine’s raw materials wealth at risk.”There are trillions at stake. According to the GTAI, “raw material deposits worth $12.4 trillion” remain beyond the control of the Ukrainian army, “including 41 coal mines, 27 gas deposits, 9 oil fields and 6 iron ore deposits.” Ukraine has not only coal, gas, oil and wheat but also rare earths and metals—especially lithium, which has been called the “white gold” of the transition to new energy and transportation technologies. The country accounts for around one-third of Europe’s explored lithium deposits.
Only the ignorant could believe that this is irrelevant to NATO’s war aims. It would be the first major war in over 100 years that is not about mineral resources, markets and geostrategic interests. The World Socialist Web Site has pointed out in previous articles that deposits of critical raw materials in Russia and China, which are essential to the transition to electric mobility and renewable energy, are an important factor in the war calculus of NATO states.”Totally agree, it is very worrying about Alan. It is getting on for quite a while now. I for one didn’t realise how much work he does in various capacities for the Party. It can only be hoped that we hear from him again soon.
For the record, I’m a wholehearted supported of the Voltaire principle. Lizzie45 I am not white knighting for Paula but might I point out to you Forum Rule 7? Isn’t there also a rule about taking up issues with the moderator privately? Not trying to shut anyone down, see my first sentence, but perhaps it’s time to give this a rest now? That applies to everyone on this thread including me.
MS, oh dear. I would not have questioned Lizzie45’s use of the term misogynist which she applied to you had I have seen your latest post beforehand.
If the moderator should decide to take action based on your latest post then she gets my full support.
However, that’s entirely her call.
I don’t want to come across as a Victorian aunt but even I find such intemperate language as you used unacceptable. And believe me I’m extremely broad minded. That’s my opinion and I’ve expressed it. End.Thank you for those links Lizzie45.I confess I’ve only very recently taken up reading the forum regularly and I certainly wasn’t aware of those previous comments. I based my question to you on the only one comment appearing on this moderator thread from MS that I was familiar with.
I’ll be a somewhat more circumspect in future and do a history search before I jump in with both feet.
There was no intention to stir up a hornets nest and having read the links I’m grateful for having escaped without getting stung too badly.Personally I’m not bothered by what people say about me but I’m puzzled as to why Lizzie45 should call movimiento socialista a misogynist.
I thought the items MS posted here were very supportive of Paula taking over the role of moderator – and of women in general.“in this party we had never had a woman as a moderator,
“but during the war women played an important role in this party ) and in certain occasions women have more courage than men. like in Colombia where a bunch of women built their own city because most of their husbands are dead
Thank you Marcos for your support. I’m happy to join the revolutionary women of the world”.Am I mistaken in believing that the SPGB is gender blind?
“That as in the order of social evolution the working class is the last class to achieve its freedom, the emancipation of the working class will involve the emancipation of all mankind, without distinction of race or sex.” DofP
I’m sure MS is more than capable of speaking for themselves but I have to admit to being disconcerted at finding such unsubstantiated terms used on this forum. If it was supposed to be humorous I’m afraid the joke completely escapes me.
How do you contact a moderator, specifically this forum’s moderator, if you have a query, need clarification, or even, Marx forbid, have a complaint? I’m presuming that there are some things that necessarily wouldn’t want to be gone into on a public forum?
I haven’t much experience of forums really so I genuinely don’t know how to go about what I’ve outlined.
Enlightenment appreciated.I’ve just posted a piece to SOYMB about the bank rate increase.
It’s certainly not an occasion for levity but if you didn’t laugh you would weep. So in that vein, shouldn’t we give Andrew baily, Governor of the Bank of England, three months free subscription to the Socialist Standard?Paula, I very much hope you made your comment with your tongue firmly in your cheek. That’s the sort of comment a Reddit moderator would make. I’ve never been on Reddit btw but social media is always taking the michael (apologies to anyone named Michael) out of them for there abuse of their power. For the record, i’m a fan and advocate of completely free speech.
Given my initial caveat I wish you good luck in your new role.I’m sure there are lots of sci-fi examples of AI.
My favourites are E.M. Forster’s, The Machine Stops.
Brian W. Aldiss, Comic Inferno and HAL (IBM) the sentient computer in 2001 a space odyssey.
Do Asimov’s Robots fall into that category?
Would workers be classed as Luddite for resisting the implementation of technology which was rather more clever than the self service payment points in supermarkets?
If more and more workers are sacked and machines or AI replace them where does surplus value come from?
Has there been an article explaining all this?Re Burford- levellers Day
Will the SPGB stall be located in the town centre next to the church? Or will it be in a field at the very top of the town?Spotted this on a news site:
In response, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said it was willing to offer higher residual pay and address concerns about working conditions, but expressed opposition to a number of other proposals “that the Guild continues to insist upon.”
Among the WGA’s myriad requests is a guarantee from producers that scripts will not be generated using artificial intelligence (AI), and that writers will not be asked to edit or rewrite screenplays created using the technology.Almost half of the 4,800 banks in the US are nearly insolvent, as they have burned through their capital buffers, The Telegraph reported earlier this week, citing a group of banking experts.
According to Professor Amit Seru, a banking expert at Stanford University, around half of US lenders are underwater.
“Let’s not pretend that this is just about Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic,” he said. “A lot of the US banking system is potentially insolvent.”
Last week, First Republic was seized by US financial regulators and acquired by JPMorgan, the country’s biggest bank. The San Francisco-based lender had previously received a $30-billion rescue shot from a group of Wall Street banks in the form of deposits. The sale of First Republic Bank followed massive deposit runs in March, which caused two regional lenders, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, to fail within days.
On Thursday, shares of Los Angeles-based PacWest and Arizona’s Western Alliance were suspended after their prices fell dramatically. Earlier in the week, shares of several regional US lenders plunged by at least 15%, triggering investor concerns about the financial health of other mid-sized banks.
Around 2,315 banks across the US are currently sitting on assets worth less than their liabilities, according to a Hoover Institution report by Professor Seru and a group of banking experts, as cited by the media.
The market value of the loan portfolios of these lenders is reportedly $2 trillion lower than the stated book value.
Professor Seru raised questions over the steps taken by US financial watchdogs to tackle the problems faced by crisis-hit mid-sized lenders. The regulators can contain the immediate liquidity crisis by guaranteeing all deposits temporarily, according to Seru, who said, however, that this would not address the greater solvency crisis.
RT 6/5/23
