Like Scott Ritter I am deeply skeptical that today’s talks between the U.S. and Russia in Geneva will have any results: If ever a critical diplomatic negotiation was doomed to fail from the start, the discussions between the U.S. and…
Author: MoonOfAlabama.org
This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings.
Some time ago, the commenting at Billmon's Whiskey Bar became a bit excessive. Billmon therefore closed the comments at his place on June 29, 2004. The community of commentators was left behind to search for a new place.
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community.
Bernhard started and still runs the site. Once a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators.
The name of the original Whiskey Bar was taken from Bertolt Brecht's Alabama Song where the first line goes:
"Show me the way to the next whiskey bar".
The name Moon of Alabama was taken from the first line of the chorus of that song:
"Oh, moon of Alabama ...".
The design of this site has been directly stolen or re-engineered from the Whiskey Bar site.
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2022-003
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Jan 3 – Shall We Drop Calls Or Airplanes? – Airlines And Wireless Companies Fight Over 5G Activation Related: – AT&T, Verizon Delay 5G Rollout in the Name of Airline Safety Newsweek -…
Mysteries Of The Failed Rebellion In Kazakhstan
It is still a mystery what forces exactly are behind the rebellion in Kazakhstan. While I had presumed that it was a CIA operation it may have been outsourced to Britain’s MI6. There are also still other possibilities. The action…
Remarks on Exceptionalism
Some comments to the previous thread on Kazakhstan mentioned U.S. exceptionalism. It started with Bemildred: It is amusing how these "thinkers" ideas about how to undermine Russia or China tend to look a lot getting them to do what Bush-Cheney…
The U.S. Directed Rebellion in Kazakhstan May Well Strengthen Russia
In early 2019 the Pentagon financed think tank RAND published an extensive plan for soft attacks on Russia. Extending Russia: Competing from Advantageous Ground. The 200 pages long report recommended certain steps to be taken by the U.S. to contain…
China’s Excellent, Very Good Year
2021 was China’s best year. Ever. by Godfree Roberts* Amidst global gloom, 2021 was the best year in modern Chinese history. Here’s what they accomplished: Eliminated extreme poverty. Reached 96% home ownership. Kept Covid death rate at 0.6% of America’s….
Slow News Day
I’ve got nothing …
Shall We Drop Calls Or Airplanes? – Airlines And Wireless Companies Fight Over 5G Activation
Over the weekend several thousand flights in the U.S. were canceled: The holiday travel nightmare worsened on New Year’s Day with more than 1,700 flights already cancelled for Sunday after more than 2,700 flights were cancelled Saturday due to poor…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2022-001
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Dec 27 – When China Does Great Question Its Cost Related: – Japan-US ‘island chain’ will roil China, Russia – Indian Punchline – China’s Soft-Power Advantage in Africa – Beijing Isn’t Just Building…
A Happy New Year To All Moonkind
To all commentators here a big "Thank You!" for giving me so much. My wish for the next year: May it be less pandemic and more peaceful than this one. A Happy New Year to all moonkind!
Talks Between Putin And Biden Continue
Later today U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will have another video call. The Russian side had requested the call. Putin obviously wants to keep the pressure on the U.S. to agree on the two draft treaties…
Open Thread 2021-102
News & views …
The Federal Government’s Covid Failure Becomes Even More Apparent
Today I was busy with medical issues. Nothing bad to report on my side. But I feel somewhat sad for the people in the U.S. who’s health get screwed by its ‘elite’ over and over again. Seven days ago the…
When China Does Great Question Its Cost
There seem to be general meme directives for ‘western’ outlets with regards to official enemies. Russia is said to weaponize everything. The position of China is not (yet) seen as in military terms. The emphasis is on economic competition. Any…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-101
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Dec 20 – New York Times Covers Up Its Debunked Lies About Peng Shuai By Adding New Ones Related: – Western media, anti-China forces use MeToo movement to incite gender antagonism: expert -…
Experts Warn …
bigger "Moscow likes to commit aggression when the world is not paying attention. It invaded Afghanistan during the Christmas season in 1979 and attacked Georgia during August vacation season," ambassador John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to…
Merry Christmas
In my corner of the earth Christmas celebration starts on the eve of the day before Christmas (Heiligabend = holy evening). With small kids the gifts that the Christkind (Christ child = Jesus) brought will usually appear between 4 pm…
Open Thread 2021-100
News & views …
U.S. Navy Acknowledges Russian Weapon Superiority
Adding to the tenor of yesterday’s piece What Russia Says About Its Not-An-Ultimatum Demands To The U.S. And NATO is a sign that the U.S. finally recognizes and acknowledges the overwhelming superiority of new Russian weapons like the hypersonic Tsirkon…
What Russia Says About Its Not-An-Ultimatum To The U.S. And NATO
Russia has detailed its security demands to the U.S. and NATO in form of two draft treaties. Besides yours truly many knowledgeable bloggers and publicists have also written about the issue: M. K. Bhadrakumar – Spectre of war is haunting…
Iran And The Houthi Split? No, A Reporter Fell For ‘Exclusive’ Spin.
Last Friday, December 17, the Wall Street Journal published an ‘Exclusive’ that claimed a breach of relations between the Houthis in Yemen and their Iranian benefactors. It is an example for how official spin and the hunt for ‘exclusives’ outweigh…
New York Times Covers Up Its Debunked Lies About Peng Shuai By Adding New Ones
The Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai recently gave an interview in which she refuted various lies the New York Times and other media had made about her. Today the Times responded by creating and publishing more lies about her. To…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-099
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Dec 13 – The Fall Of Kabul Story Misses Some Damning Details Related: – Trump and Biden’s secret Afghanistan air campaigns revealed – Airwars Almost 800 previously secret US airstrikes in Afghanistan during…
Russia Details Security Demands To U.S. And NATO
On Tuesday the 14th I wrote about the serious security demands Russia is making towards the U.S. Russia fells the need to press the U.S. for new agreements because the current development of NATO sneaking into the Ukraine endangers Russia’s…
Omicron Update
Three weeks ago the world found out that there was a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which had lots of mutation. The variant, named Omicron by the World Health Organization, seemed to spread way faster than any previously known…
Turkey’s Inflation Is Erdogan’s Hail Mary Move To Save Himself From IMF Interference
Turkey is in for a wild ride. High inflation and negative interest rates are eating away people’s income and savings. The cause is a Hail Mary move by President Erdogan to save his political legacy. He is currently engineering a…
Open Thread 2021-98
News & views …
Ukraine – Russia Makes Serious Demands, Warns Of ‘Confrontation’
Following unfounded U.S. claims of an imminent Russian invasion of the Ukraine U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin have held a virtual summit. Little has been released about its real content but the Russian follow up shows…
The Fall Of Kabul Story Misses Some Damning Details
On August 26, during the chaotic U.S. evacuation from the airport in Kabul, a suicide bomber blew himself up at an entrance to the airport. As I wrote at that time: Thursday’s suicide bombing in Kabul and the following panic…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-097
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Dec 6 – Nuclear Talks – Israel Makes Funny Demands Related: – Israel pleased with US pivot to pressure in Iran nuclear talks – AL-Monitor [News from my health personal front: I’m getting…
Open Thread 2021-96
@all – I am back at home and relatively fine. The preplanned medical procedure that had kept me away this week turned out to be a bit more complicate, painful and exhausting than expected. Anyway, its done. In a few…
Open Thread 2021-95
@all – I will be offline for the next three days for a preplanned medical procedure (nothing serious) that requires a short hospital stay. Please behave. – b.
Nuclear Talks – Israel Makes Funny Demands
This, from Israel, is somewhat weird: Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Mossad chief David Barnea will push during their meetings this week in Washington with senior Biden administration officials for the United States to carry out a military strike on…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-094
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Nov 29 – How NGOs And Newspapers In Germany Propagandize Chinese ‘Querdenker’ Zhang Zhan Related: – Using Xinjiang to destabilize China has long been planned by U.S. govt – CGNT Nov 30 -…
U.S. Intelligence Has Found … Easy To Disprove Claims Of A Russian Attack On Ukraine
A few years back: In his State of the Union message in January, President Bush approvingly cited the report. “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,” said Bush. … On Thursday,…
Nuclear Talks – Western Negotiators Fail To Recognize Iran’s Position
This week new negotiations about a U.S. return to the nuclear deal with Iran took place. To set these into context and to understand the various positions it is helpful to look back at how this came to pass. bigger…
The ‘Missing’ Star Athlete Peng Shuai Is Not Missing At All
The New York Times has falsely claimed that the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai accused her former lover of sexual assault. She did not do that. In her post on the Chinese website Weibo (English translation) Peng Shuai only lamented…
Open Thread 2021-93
News & views …
With Vaccine Fairness China And Russia Are Beating The ‘West’
For a moment I thought that I had caught the Associated Press in reporting a wrong number. But in fact both headlines are right. Xinhua – Xi announces supplying Africa with additional 1 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses, pledges to jointly…
NGOs And Newspapers In Germany Propagandize Chinese ‘Querdenker’ Zhang Zhan
Today a number of U.S. aligned non government organizations launched an anti-China campaign in Germany. Reporters Without Boarders (RSF) led the campaign together with PEN, Amnesty International and a Germany journalist union. They called for an hour long tweet storm…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-092
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Nov 22 – The White House Needs An Off-ramp From War In Ukraine Related: – Reports on concentration of Russian troops at border with Ukraine are false — intelligence – TASS – Network…
The New Virus Variant Has Lots Of Mutations – That Does Not (Yet) Mean It’s ‘Very Bad’
Yesterday the chief of the World Health Organzation warned about a ‘false sense of security’ around Covid-19 vaccines: In a news briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many vaccinated people were wrongly thinking receiving the COVID shot…
‘Democracy’ Circus
The Biden administration has invited 110 ‘participants’ to its ‘Summit for Democracy’ which is to take place virtually on December 9 and 10. The use of ‘participants’ was necessary as not all ‘participants’ are recognized international states. Biden wanted to…
Open Thread 2021-91
News & views …
Biden’s Play In Today’s Oil Market Is A One-Time Trick That Will Backfire
The White House announced today that the U.S., together with a few other countries, will release crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve: Today, the President is announcing that the Department of Energy will make available releases of 50 million…
The White House Needs An Off-ramp From War In Ukraine
Ten days ago I wrote about the potential of war in the Ukraine: There is fear in Russia that the U.S. is egging the Ukraine into a renewed active conflict with its renegade eastern Donbass region and thereby into a…
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-090
Last week’s posts at Moon of Alabama: Nov 16 – Russian Anti-Satellite Test Highlights Arms Race In Space Related: – Can a space war be stopped? – Scott Ritter / RT – Crowded Skies and Turbulent Seas: Assessing the Full…
Kyle Rittenhouse Is Not Guilty
The jury in the contentious Rittenhouse trial has made its judgment. On the five counts Kyle Rittenhouse was accused of it found: Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. The decision was unanimous. Some here have repeated…
New York Times Invents ‘Sexual Assault’ #MeToo Case To Blame China
The ‘news’ over last years have again an…
Turkey – A Crazy Economic Theory Is Ruining The Country
The wannabe Sultan is in trouble. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes in an economic theory that few others support. He has argued over and over again that high central bank interest rates are causing inflation. The more accepted…