Jun 192024
 
 June 19, 2024  Posted by at 8:44 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,


Giuseppe Leone Ragusa Sicily 1953

 

The West Is Lighting the Fuse of War (Paul Craig Roberts)
Russian Ambassador To US Outlines ‘Thorny’ Path To Peace (RT)
Kiev Better Accept Russia’s Peace Proposal – Medvedev (TASS)
Hegemon Orders Europe: Bet On War And Steal Russia’s Money (Pepe Escobar)
Crossing Moscow’s Red Line ‘Permissible’ – Austria (RT)
West Won’t Host Next Ukraine ‘Peace Conference’ – Switzerland (RT)
Prisoners Drafted Into Ukrainian Military ‘Will Run Like Forrest Gump’ (RT)
Steve Bannon Predicts Left Will Sentence Trump To Multiple Years In Prison (MN)
Court Rejects Trump’s Gag Order Appeal (RT)
Confused Biden Clips Are ‘Deepfakes’ – White House (RT)
Mark Rutte: The Choice for NATO Secretary General? (Sp.)
The BRICS Weigh In On Palestine (Pepe Escobar)
US Cryptocurrency as an Offshore Banking Center (Michael Hudson)

 

 

 

 

Bannon June 17


https://twitter.com/i/status/1802823060564869567

 

 

Trump ad
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802824860328149122

 

 

Alex Tucker

 

 

Angels
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802749048639672441

 

 

Anti-corruption bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Putin has made one last effort to state conditions for ending the conflict.”

The West Is Lighting the Fuse of War (Paul Craig Roberts)

Putin’s intention after his deception by the West with the Minsk Agreement, was only to drive Ukrainian forces out of the Russian areas that have now been reincorporated into Russia. Apparently Putin did not realize the extent to which the West would involve itself and expand the war. Now that Putin faces an outbreak of a larger war, he clearly stated the conditions for ending the conflict. He said that Russian military action will cease when the remaining Ukrainian forces are withdrawn from the Russian populated areas that have been reunited with Russia and when Ukraine agrees that the country will not become a member of NATO or have foreign bases and missiles on its territory. These are reasonable and generous terms. If these terms are refused, Ukraine faces further conquest and harsher future conditions for ending the conflict.

When Ukraine was broken off from Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian provinces which Soviet leaders had attached to Ukraine should have been left in Russia. Whether or not this was a failure of foresight or malicious intent, it was a mistake that resulted in a conflict that has the potential of engulfing the world. The difference between the 20th century Cold War and the 21st century hot war is that in the Cold War era the US and Soviet leadership, understanding the fatal nature of nuclear weapons, were committed to reducing tensions and building trust, whereas in the 21st century only Russia has sought mutual understanding and mutual security. Washington has fomented conflict and raised an existential threat to Russia by expanding NATO to Russia’s borders and overthrowing governments of former Russian provinces. To avoid war Putin has accepted continuing provocations and insults.

But now faced with such reckless and irresponsible proposals as NATO troops in Ukraine and missiles hitting deep into Russia, Putin has made one last effort to state conditions for ending the conflict. The conditions are immensely better than the outbreak of conflict that would destroy Europe and the United States.The danger today is much worse than the Cuban Missile Crisis. In those days Washington recognized the danger. Today Washington does not. President John F. Kennedy realized that the US had provoked Soviet missiles in Cuba by placing US missiles in Turkey. Kennedy and Khrushchev made a mutual security agreement and both removed the missiles. Putin’s diplomatic effort during December 2021 and February 2022 for a mutual security agreement was cold-shouldered by Washington, NATO, and the EU. With the outbreak of major war looming,

Biden has still not met with Putin. Instead, Biden has provoked animosity by calling Putin the new Hitler. This is an unprecedented level or reckless irresponsibility.The question before us is: Will Putin continue to accept provocations in hope that a change in the Washington regime in the November election will permit the West to come to its senses, or is Serbian President Vucic correct that the train has left the station?As the Western world lacks a truthful media, the people might be indoctrinated with the “Russian threat.” Even if the people realize that the threat is Washington’s pressure on Russia, the people are impotent to affect government policy. Among the Western governments, public opinion is something to be manipulated, not something to which to listen. I believe the West has convinced Putin that the West intends war. Not even Putin has an endless amount of patience. Instead of recognizing the dangerous situation and sitting down with Putin to defuse the situation, the West is lighting the fuse.

Ursula
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802953077734940742

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“Putin’s clear and verifiable conditions stand in stark contrast to “idle talk and failed conferences” of the West, Antonov said.”

Russian Ambassador To US Outlines ‘Thorny’ Path To Peace (RT)

Moscow’s proposals for ending the Ukraine conflict are specific and realistic, unlike the “advertising campaign” coming from the West, Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has said. Newsweek published an interview with Antonov on Tuesday, in which the Russian envoy elaborated on President Vladimir Putin’s statements last week, outlining the conditions for starting peace talks with Kiev. “There is a path to peace, even if it is thorny,” Antonov said. It involves “withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from four regions of Russia; confirmation of the status of Crimea, Sevastopol, [Donetsk People’s Republic], [Lugansk People’s Republic], Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as subjects of the Russian Federation; Kiev’s refusal to join NATO; Ukraine’s status as neutral, nonaligned and nuclear-free state; its demilitarization and denazification; lifting of Western sanctions; [and] ensuring the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens of the republic,” the diplomat explained.

“Talks on the above-mentioned issues should be conducted without ‘imperial’ dictates and orders from the White House,” Antonov added. “It is high time the US recognized the futility of constant pursuit to enforce its will on all countries and realized that it will no longer be possible to deter the growing shift towards multipolarity.” Scary stories about Moscow plotting to attack NATO once Ukraine is defeated are simply “an embodiment of the US intentions to keep a tight rein on its satellites, primarily in Europe,” according to Antonov. “The aim is to finally turn the continent into the US ‘back yard’, which is not entitled to its own opinions nor its own history.” Such policies are actually undermining US leadership, though American policymakers “prefer not to notice” that, Antonov added.

The purpose of the peace conference in Switzerland this weekend was “purely opportunistic: to create an illusion of widespread support for the ‘peace formula’ in various capitals, but in reality, to hush up any doubts about the legitimacy of the Kiev regime, which has already been bankrupt for a long time, both politically and economically,” the ambassador said. Putin’s clear and verifiable conditions stand in stark contrast to “idle talk and failed conferences” of the West, Antonov said. The “advertising campaign” by the US and its allies intends not to stop, “but to prolong the bloody ‘project’ that the West has been implementing for more than 10 years,” since the 2014 coup in Kiev, he added.

Russia pursues dialogue and peace, and is “ready for a serious, thoughtful conversation” without any deadlines or rushed photo-ops, Antonov noted. What Moscow wants is “truly equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, based on mutual respect for one and all. ”In a new political architecture reflecting the transition to multipolarity, there would be “no place for aggressive political and economic dominance of individual nations,” or division into blocs, Antonov said. “If in response we continue to hear only Russophobic barking and calls to use more Western weapons and economic sanctions against us, global risks will only increase,” Antonov concluded. “I am sure this is not in the best interests of the citizens of the United States.”

Sachs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1802825807095853155

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“..all this will not work to the benefit of the current Ukrainian authorities. So they have to hurry while they still can..”

Kiev Better Accept Russia’s Peace Proposal – Medvedev (TASS)

Ukraine would be wise to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s peace proposal, otherwise Russian troops will press on and make life even more difficult for Kiev, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said. “Frankly speaking, I think that the president has said everything, I mean that the next peace proposal Russia makes will be worse for the Ukrainian authorities, no matter how we treat them. Now they have the opportunity to consider Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s peace proposal and at least try to make peace and end this part of the conflict,” he told reporters. Otherwise, according to Medvedev, the Russian offensive will continue. “And it will be difficult to say where the lines of the buffer zone that Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned will be. It’s very likely that all this will not work to the benefit of the current Ukrainian authorities. So they have to hurry while they still can,” he added.

However, according to the official, Kiev has already responded with a refusal at the conference in Switzerland, “rejecting any proposals from the outset, taking the discussion back to the very beginning.” “In vain. So it will be worse from now on,” he concluded. On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin made new peace proposals for resolving the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting with Russian diplomats. These include the recognition of the status of Crimea, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as part of Russia, the consolidation of Ukraine’s non-aligned and nuclear-free status, its demilitarization and denazification, and the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. The Ukrainian side rejected the initiative. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called Moscow’s proposal an ultimatum, while his adviser Mikhail Podolyak said that the new Russian initiative allegedly does not contain a “real peace proposal.”

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“Russia’s real target is to create a whole new security system for the Eurasian space..”

Hegemon Orders Europe: Bet On War And Steal Russia’s Money (Pepe Escobar)

The Swiss “peace” kabuki came and went – and the winner was Vladimir Putin. He didn’t even have to show up. None of the Big Players did. Or in case they sent their emissaries, there was significant refusal to sign the vacuous final declaration – as in BRICS members Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE and South Africa. Without BRICS, there’s absolutely nothing the collective West – as in The Hegemon and assorted vassals – can do to alter the proxy war chessboard in Ukraine. In his carefully calibrated speech to diplomats and the leadership of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Putin delineated an incredibly restrained and strategic approach to solve the Ukraine problem. In the context of the Hegemon’s escalatory green light – actually in practice for several months now – for Kiev to attack deeper into the Russian Federation, Putin’s offer was extremely generous. That is a direct offer to the Hegemon and the collective West – as the sweaty T-shirt actor in Kiev, apart from illegitimate, is beyond irrelevant.

Predictably, NATO – via that epileptic slab of Norwegian wood – already proclaimed its refusal to negotiate, even as some relatively awake members of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) started discussing the offer, according to Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin. Moscow sees the Verkhovna Rada as the only legitimate entity in Ukraine – and the only one with which would be possible to reach an agreement. Russian UN representative Vasily Nebenzya cut to the chase – diplomatically: if the generous proposal is refused, next time conditions for starting negotiations will be “different”. And “far more unfavorable”, according to Duma Defense Committee head Andrei Kartapolov. As Nebenzya stressed that in case of a refusal the collective West will bear full responsibility for further bloodshed, Kartapolov elaborated on the Big Picture: Russia’s real target is to create a whole new security system for the Eurasian space.

And that, of course, is anathema to the Hegemon’s elites. Putin’s security vision for Eurasia harks back to this legendary speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007. Now, with the steady advance of an irreversible multi-nodal (italics mine) and multi-centric new system of international relations, the Kremlin is pressing for an urgent solution – considering the extremely dangerous escalation of these past few months. Putin once again had to remind the deaf, dumb and blind of the obvious: “Calls to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, demonstrate the extreme adventurism of Western politicians. They either do not understand the scale of the threat they themselves create, or they are simply obsessed with the belief in their own immunity and their own exclusivity. Both can turn into a tragedy”. They remain deaf, dumb and blind.

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Austria is not in NATO.

Crossing Moscow’s Red Line ‘Permissible’ – Austria (RT)

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer does not perceive the decision by NATO nations to allow Kiev to use their weapons against Russia outside of what they consider Ukrainian territory as a cause for concern. Speaking with the NZZ media group, Neuhammer said he disagreed with Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, who said earlier this month that the US and its allies had crossed a “red line” by granting Ukraine such permission. The interview with Nehammer was published on Monday, after his liberal-conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) lost convincingly to the nationalist Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) in this month’s European Parliament election. The chancellor said the debate on use of Western arms had gone “in the wrong political direction” in a shameful way. His stance is that “under international law, such attacks on Russia are permissible.”

Moscow could withdraw troops and see Western military aid to Kiev “automatically reduced,” he said. The previous restriction on Ukraine’s use of US weapons was imposed by President Joe Biden to “prevent World War III.” According to the media, Washington relaxed it and allowed limited strikes on Russia’s Belgorod Region due to Russian advances in neighboring Kharkov Region. Multiple NATO nations have made similar policy changes regarding arms that they donate to Ukraine. The Austrian foreign minister said that while she perceived that as escalatory, “as a militarily neutral state, it is not our place to judge.” Tanner added that she was happy to hear assurances by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that members of the US-led bloc will not be required to send troops to Ukraine.

Moscow has described the Ukraine conflict as part of a proxy war on Russia, in which Ukrainians serve as “cannon fodder.” Western nations are de facto participating parties due to the level of their involvement and the influence they have on Ukrainian actions, according to Russian officials. President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia could send weapon systems similar to those provided to Ukraine to enemies of the US and its allies to be used against Western military assets. This path of escalation leads to an outcome that neither side will like, he warned. He accused his opponents of spreading “Russian narratives” about Ukraine and declared that unlike centrists, “radicals have no answers and are offering pseudo-solutions,” referring to populist forces surging across the EU.

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Saudi?

West Won’t Host Next Ukraine ‘Peace Conference’ – Switzerland (RT)

The next conference on the Ukraine conflict will not take place in the West, Swiss Ambassador Gabriel Luechinger has stated. The senior diplomat, who helped organize last weekend’s gathering at Switzerland’s Burgenstock Resort, indicated that discussions with potential hosts are already underway. In the run-up to the event, a number of nations declined to attend, with China announcing that it would not be sending representatives to Switzerland. Beijing argued that the absence of Russia at the conference would make any attempts at peace futile – an assertion echoed by several countries. Moscow stated in March that it would not attend even if invited, as it would likely be based on Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’, which Russia considers to be unrealistic and an ultimatum.

In an interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF on Monday, Luechinger said: “What is clear is that the next peace summit will not be in Europe, and will not take place in the West.” The senior diplomat revealed that several nations had been approached at the conference regarding a potential role in organizing the next summit. “It is now up to them to decide,” he added. “In the next weeks, I think, things will start moving.” Asked whether Saudi Arabia could host a meeting, Luechinger hinted that it could be an option, without going into detail. He also stressed that “Russia should be integrated in the peace process in some way.” While Ukraine has touted the conference at the Burgenstock Resort as a success, around a dozen countries that took part in the talks did not sign the final communique, including India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the UAE, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, and Iraq.

The document did not include many of the key points of Kiev’s ‘peace formula’. It called for the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant to be transferred under Ukrainian control, as well as unrestricted access to ports in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, and the release of all prisoners of war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday that Moscow “wants to get together next time at a more substantive and promising event.” Last Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined the conditions for a ceasefire, which include the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from all territories claimed by Moscow, as well as the renunciation of Kiev’s NATO aspirations. The Ukrainian government and its Western backers have dismissed the proposal, calling it an ultimatum.

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Run away.

Prisoners Drafted Into Ukrainian Military ‘Will Run Like Forrest Gump’ (RT)

More than 2,750 convicts have been released from prison to join the Ukrainian military and help ease manpower shortages, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. Some service members, however, have voiced concerns about the reliability of former inmates. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last month approved a bill that allows certain categories of convicts to be paroled if they agree to enlist in the military and fight Russia. Former inmates will be assigned to special high-risk assault units, although anyone convicted of crimes such as murdering more than two people, rape, terrorism, corruption, or undermining Ukraine’s national security, is ineligible for the program. According to the Washington Post, many of the convicts joining the fight were “jailed for dealing drugs, stealing phones, and committing armed assaults and murders.”

Ukrainian Justice Minister Denis Malyuska insisted to the newspaper that “the motivation of our inmates is stronger than our ordinary soldiers,” arguing that they are enlisting not only to be released, but also because they “want to protect their country and they want to turn the page.” The minister also claimed there is “competition between military commanders” to recruit from prisons as they want to address manpower shortages. Some disagree, however, and one unnamed official expressed concern about possible desertion by former inmates. “They’re all going to run like Forrest Gump,” he stated, adding that despite these misgivings, the measure is still necessary. The official noted that he would prefer to see Ukraine lower the draft age to 18, which he said would allow Kiev to fill the ranks with young and fit soldiers, rather than convicts. He admitted, however, that this measure is unlikely anytime soon.

Malyuska said he expects at least 4,000 men to join the military in the first stage of recruitment. In May, he estimated the total number of convicts ready to enlist at between 10,000 to 20,000. However, the Strana.ua outlet cast doubt on those figures, pointing out that there are a total of 28,000 inmates in Ukraine, including women and those unfit for service. The outlet also claimed, citing its own poll, that very few are actually willing to volunteer. Kiev has tried to address acute manpower shortages by passing two bills this spring, one of which lowered the draft age from 27 to 25, while the other significantly tightened mobilization rules. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated Ukraine’s monthly combat losses at 50,000 soldiers.

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“They don’t care about this election, they don’t care how many votes we get. They’re gonna fight us every step of the way..”

Steve Bannon Predicts Left Will Sentence Trump To Multiple Years In Prison (MN)

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has warned that the left will stop at nothing to prevent Trump from regaining the White House and that they plan to sentence him to “multiple years in prison” next month. Speaking at Turning Point Action’s “The People’s Convention” in Detroit, Bannon warned “You know on the 11th of July, they’re gonna sentence him for multiple years in prison. You understand that, right?” “They don’t care about this election, they don’t care how many votes we get. They’re gonna fight us every step of the way,” Bannon further proclaimed. He added, “Winning in November is just the first step. From November fifth to the sixth, Jamie Raskin is going to try to steal the election on January 6th. They’re already talking about it right now.” “They’re already going to say, ‘President Trump’s an insurrectionist and we will never certify an election of an insurrectionist,” Bannon further predicted.

Elsewhere during the speech, Bannon stated that Trump’s inner circle is planning to go after those who are currently weaponising the justice system against him. “We’re going to get every single receipt. And to the fullest extension of the law, you’re going to be investigated, prosecuted, and incarcerated,” Bannon vowed, adding “This has nothing to do with retribution. It has nothing to do with revenge… this has to do with justice.” Bannon’s comments come in the wake of a Rasmussen poll last week that found a whopping two-thirds of Americans believe the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election will be affected by cheating. The survey found that of those two thirds, 40 percent are ‘very concerned,’ and only thirty-one percent aren’t concerned, including just 14 percent who said they are ‘not at all concerned’ about cheating in the election.

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“..The appeals court has ruled that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved..”

“.. Joe Biden is making Trump’s conviction a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign and will most likely bring it up at the first presidential debate, scheduled for later this month – while his Republican rival won’t be able to respond.”

Court Rejects Trump’s Gag Order Appeal (RT)

Former US President Donald Trump remains banned from speaking about his criminal case in Manhattan, even after the jury’s verdict, the New York Court of Appeals said on Tuesday. Judge Juan Merchan imposed the gag order on Trump during his trial on 34 counts of “falsifying business records,” which District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged had somehow violated campaign finance laws and improperly influenced the 2016 election. The jury found the former president guilty on all counts at the end of May. Trump’s lawyers have protested the gag order from the start, pointing out that it directly impacts his 2024 presidential campaign. The appeals court has ruled that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved,” so the order can stay in place.

“The Gag Order wrongfully silences the leading candidate for President of the United States, President Trump, at the height of his campaign,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said on Tuesday, adding that the president’s attorneys will “continue to fight” against the “unconstitutional” measure. According to the campaign, the gag order “violates the First Amendment rights of President Trump and all American voters, who have a fundamental right to hear his message.” The First Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits the government from censoring speech and the press. Trump has called his prosecution politically motivated and a “witch hunt” by Biden and his administration.

The former president’s lawyers have pointed out that President Joe Biden is making Trump’s conviction a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign and will most likely bring it up at the first presidential debate, scheduled for later this month – while his Republican rival won’t be able to respond. Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential ticket, which will be formally announced at the national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin next month. However, Merchan has scheduled the sentencing hearing for July 11, just days before the convention is scheduled to start.

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Anything we don’t like is now deepfake.

Confused Biden Clips Are ‘Deepfakes’ – White House (RT)

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has claimed that recent videos showing US President Joe Biden looking confused at public events have been manipulated, describing them as “cheap fakes.” Jean-Pierre’s comments come after several videos of Biden have gone viral on social media in recent weeks. In one clip, the president could be seen having trouble sitting down during a D-Day memorial event in France. A number of commenters suggested that the US leader was “completely lost” or having “some kind of episode.” Another video showed Biden standing together with G7 leaders in Italy watching a skydiving demonstration. At one point, the US president turned away and wandered off from the group, before Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took him by the hand to guide him back to the other members.

In another clip from an LA fundraising event with former President Barack Obama and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Biden appeared to freeze up as he was waving goodbye to the crowd. Obama could then be seen taking Biden by the hand and patting him on the back while leading him off stage. A clip from a White House Juneteenth concert also appeared to show the 81-year-old president awkwardly frozen as everyone around him danced to the music.
Speaking to reporters during a White House Press event on Monday, Jean-Pierre stated that “we are seeing these deepfakes, these manipulated videos, and it is again, done in bad faith.” The press secretary claimed that reports on these incidents are “attacks” on Biden that demonstrate the “desperation” of Republicans who refuse to acknowledge the president’s achievements.

Asked to comment specifically on the incidents with Meloni and Obama, who appeared to give Biden “stage directions,” Jean-Pierre insisted that these were “cheap fakes” and that “this did not happen, in the sense of what people were saying they were seeing or what was being falsely reported.” She also dismissed claims that Biden had frozen during the Juneteenth concert, suggesting the president simply didn’t want to dance. “Excuse me, I did not know that not dancing was a mental health issue. That is a weird thing to flag,” Jean-Pierre said. According to multiple recent polls, Biden’s mental health has been a longstanding concern among American voters, many of whom believe he is mentally and physically unfit for office. A recent Wall Street Journal report also claimed that aside from his frequent public mental gaffes, Biden has shown “signs of slipping” in closed-door meetings with US lawmakers.

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Only good NATO boss is someone who doesn’t want the job.

Mark Rutte: The Choice for NATO Secretary General? (Sp.)

As NATO stands on the brink of appointing a new Secretary General, the spotlight falls on Dutch PM Mark Rutte. Recent developments suggest that Rutte, who has served as the Netherlands’ PM since 2010, is now the frontrunner to succeed Jens Stoltenberg, following the removal of Hungary’s veto and the anticipated withdrawal of Romania’s opposition. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, praised Rutte as a “strong candidate” and hinted at an imminent decision on his successor. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s endorsement, conditioned on Rutte’s commitment to Hungary’s non-involvement in NATO operations in Ukraine, has been pivotal in removing the last significant obstacle to his appointment.

Rutte’s potential ascension to NATO’s top post has elicited varied reactions, with some expressing cautious optimism while others remain deeply skeptical. Mikael Valtersson, a former officer of Swedish Armed Forces/Air Defence, former defence politician and chief of staff with Sweden Democrats, provides a perspective on Rutte’s suitability for the role. Valtersson argues that Rutte’s tenure as Prime Minister has been marked by a rigid stance on military support to Ukraine, trait that does not bode well for a role that requires diplomatic finesse and a balanced approach to global security challenges. Rutte’s critics contend that his leadership could exacerbate existing tensions rather than foster dialogue and de-escalation. Rutte’s track record reflects a staunchly pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian stance. Under his leadership, the Netherlands has committed substantial financial aid to Ukraine, including €3 billion annually for 2024 and 2025. The Netherlands has also been at the forefront of supplying Ukraine with military hardware, notably the F-16 fighter jets, reinforcing Rutte’s hawkish posture.

In March 2024, Rutte signed a significant security treaty with Ukraine, a move that underscores his commitment to Ukraine’s defense but also raises questions about the appropriateness of such actions by a caretaker government. This treaty, signed despite the electoral victory of right-wing Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, highlights Rutte’s prioritization of support for Ukraine over the potential policy shifts anticipated from the new government. Critics argue that Rutte’s actions indicate a preference for military solutions over diplomatic engagement. His strong backing for Ukraine and consistent alignment with NATO’s hardline stance against Russia suggest that his leadership would likely continue Stoltenberg’s pro-Ukraine policies without exploring avenues for peace or compromise.

Valtersson and other critics suggest that Rutte’s appointment represents a missed opportunity for NATO to choose a leader who could steer the alliance towards a more nuanced and peaceful approach to the Ukraine conflict and broader global tensions. “All this shows that Mark Rutte will not be someone who will try to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine… It’s a pity that NATO didn’t take the opportunity to choose a more peaceful new General secretary,” stated Valtersson. The concern is that Rutte’s leadership will perpetuate a cycle of military escalation rather than fostering diplomatic resolutions. As NATO prepares to finalize its decision, it must take into consideration, that, while Rutte’s candidacy has garnered support from key NATO members, his track record and recent commitments raise legitimate concerns about his capacity to lead the alliance towards a more balanced and peaceful global strategy.

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“..never underestimate the power of a genocide committed in broad daylight, on video..”

The BRICS Weigh In On Palestine (Pepe Escobar)

Something of extraordinary magnitude happened in Moscow on 23 May. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa personally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help organize a peace conference on Palestine, at which Russia would be the first non-Arab nation invited. Al-Khalifa and Putin had two rounds of discussions – one of them closed – during which the main focus was always Palestine. The Bahraini monarch noted that in a rare show of unity, the Arab world had finally come together in agreement to end the war in Gaza. It was implied that Russia was subsequently chosen as the most reliable mediator to end the brutal conflict. Bahrain – and the Arab League – recognize that the Russian position centers around what Putin had previously defined as the “UN formula”: an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. That happens to be the position of the BRICS-10 nations and virtually the whole Global Majority.

Crucially, it is also the common position of China and the Arab world, reaffirmed in Beijing only one week after the Russia-Bahrain meeting. The problem is how to implement the “formula” when the US hegemon, Israel’s unconditional ally, has a virtual stranglehold on the United Nations. By 2020, as Tel Aviv was openly announcing the inevitable annexation of the West Bank, the Abraham Accords were smashing a major Arab taboo on openly supporting Israel, via the normalization agreements signed in Washington DC by Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco, and Sudan. Nine months ago, Palestine was virtually isolated, and destined to extinction via quiet Israeli policies to incrementally force expulsion. But never underestimate the power of a genocide committed in broad daylight, on video. Today, the Russia-China strategic partnership, BRICS, and the Global Majority have been mobilized to enshrine Palestine as a sovereign state – faithful to the recent super-majority UN General Assembly vote to accept Palestine as a UN member.

It will be a long, winding, and thorny road that has the potential to split the world in two. The St. Petersburg forum last week offered three crucial messages to the Global Majority, focused around BRICS. The crux of the sessions may have been geoeconomics, but a now-unavoidable message of support to Palestine crept into the sidelines. After a panel ostensibly debating the supply and demand of oil and gas, and which touched upon the principled role of Yemen in the Red Sea directed against the Gaza genocide, support for Palestine, amidst friendly smiles (but off the record), was emphatic from everyone – from OPEC secretary-general Haitham al-Ghais to the UAE’s Minister of Energy Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei. Same on a Russia-Oman panel, coming from Minister of Commerce Qais bin Mohammed bin Moosa al-Yousef.

Earlier this week, the Palestine tragedy was addressed in detail – on points 34 and 35 – in the joint statement of the BRICS 10 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, who sat at the same table for the first time in Nizhny Novgorod, preparing for the extremely important annual BRICS summit next October in Kazan, under the Russian presidency. Three very important points were made there: First, the Ministers “reaffirmed their rejection of any attempt aiming at forcefully displacing, expelling or transferring the Palestinian people from their land.” Second, they collectively “expressed serious concern at Israel’s continued blatant disregard of international law, the UN Charter, UN resolutions and Court orders.” And third, the ten foreign ministers:

“Reaffirmed their support for Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and reiterated their unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution based on international law including relevant UNSC and UNGA resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative that includes the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine in line with internationally recognized borders of June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital living side by side in peace and security with Israel.” This is BRICS speaking with one voice – including, crucially, representatives of major Muslim-majority states: Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE. and Egypt.

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“If the stablecoin fund was a country, it would be in “the top ten of countries holding Treasuries..”

US Cryptocurrency as an Offshore Banking Center (Michael Hudson)

The Wall Street Journal ran a revealing op-ed today (June 14, 2024) by Paul D. Ryan, “Crypto Could Stave off a U.S. Debt Crisis.” Mr. Ryan, libertarian Republican House Speaker 2015-2019 and now at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, writes that: “Stablecoins backed by dollars provide demand for U.S. public debt and a way to keep up with China.” He reports that “According to the Treasury Department and DeFi Llama, a cryptocurrency analytics site, dollar-based stablecoins are becoming an important net purchaser of U.S. government debt.” If the stablecoin fund was a country, it would be in “the top ten of countries holding Treasuries – smaller than Hong Kong but larger than Saudi Arabia.” So the result of officially promoting them “would be an immediate, durable increase in demand for U.S. debt.”Ryan says that “bipartisan support in Congress … would help dramatically expand the use of digital dollars at a given critical time.”

Here’s the real logic. I’ve written before about how c. 1966 or ’67, I was Chase Manhattan’s balance-of-payments economist, and a bank officer, apparently having joined from the State Dept., asked me to review a memo proposing to make the United States “the new Switzerland,” that is, a haven for the world’s drug money and other criminal money laundering, for kleptocrats and tax evaders in order to help stem the U.S. balance-of-payments deficit that resulted entirely from foreign military spending in Southeast Asia and elsewhere around the world. Today, as foreign countries de-dollarize their trade – for instance, when Russia and China trade for oil and industrial products in each others’ currencies – U.S. financial strategists worry about what this will mean for the dollar’s exchange rate. Actually, transacting such foreign trade in non-dollar currencies has no effect on the U.S. balance of payments. It does not appear in the trade balance or even in foreign investment, although de-dollarization may deprive U.S. banks of currency-trading commissions to handle such transactions

What does affect the demand for dollars is conversion of assets denominated in foreign currency into the dollar. This king of confidential banking is what pressed up the Swiss franc so much in the 1970s and ‘80s that it priced Swiss manufactures out of foreign markets. Companies like Ciba-Geigy had to move their production across the border to Germany to prevent the rising franc’s valuation from making them uncompetitive. (When that company brought me over in 1976, I found that the price of a coke was over $10, and a regular meal cost $100.) The U.S. is seeking to protect the dollar’s high value, not lower it, so it sees acting as the destination for world’s tax avoiders, criminals and others as a positive national strategy. (“Kleptocracy is us.”) The plan is not to condemn tax crime and more violent criminal activities, but seeking to profit for being the banker for these functions. The logic is, “As the world’s leading free-market democracy, we’re providing a secure for the world’s capital, however it may be ‘earned’ or otherwise obtained.”

I should have added the real kicker. Stablecoins don’t pay interest. So buyers will get the equivalent of a US Treasury security — but NOT the interest (now in the high 4% range). The Stablecoin company will get that. This is a HUGE bonanza for them — and a correspondingly huge foregone income by Stablecoin holders. Why don’t they simply buy US Treasury bills, notes or bonds themselves? The answer must be ideology (imagining Stablecoins to be anti-government when the money is lent to governments), ignorance, and SECRECY. They pay a huge opportunity cost for hiding their identity and the source of their money.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Reflex

 

 

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https://twitter.com/i/status/1803038703184728401

 

 

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https://twitter.com/i/status/1803224285646835847

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle June 19 2024

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 52 total)
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  • #161488

    Giuseppe Leone Ragusa Sicily 1953   • The West Is Lighting the Fuse of War (Paul Craig Roberts) • Russian Ambassador To US Outlines ‘Thorny’ Path
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle June 19 2024]

    #161490
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Australian Premier Creates Ministry In Charge Of ‘Changing Men’s Behavior’

    Because women are prefect, ‘natch. Like Madeliene Albright and Jacinda Aldern. The world will be prefect when all men act like women. …While all women act like … men…? Girl-boss, billionare, man-punching, physicist assassins. Nothing more feminine than that! Except saying “It ain’t yo babay ‘cause you only carried it.”

    THAT. Is the true apex of modern femininity. Thanks Disney.

    Speaking of though, Andor is a very good, smart show. Amazing side by side. “Wonka” was also the very first of the “Woke”-playing movies that was actually pretty good. I kept bracing myself from the signaling but it worked.

    Making one go white knuckle all the time is not a great way to help the audience relax and be drawn into your story though. My fear is really that they’ll figure out how to do what they’ve been utterly failing at for 30 years. That would be dangerous.

    Anyway, “Womens iz Perfect”, yo? So the logical solution is far more direct and less trouble: simply murder all the men. In the cradle of course, maybe in the womb. Before the little rapists can escape and like, say, stop tyrannical governments. Kidding? I think it was three years ago now some Facebook thing got coverage about some Journalist, Activist, Feminist, Communist (they’re all interchangeable) having a life crisis when the ultrasound showed her baby was male. She was like, “Oh no. Can I kill it? What will I do?”Crying. ON CAMERA.

    …Actually, I don’t know what the problem was, it was a baby, you kill them all, both male and female and march and burn thing in the streets to make sure. That’s what women do.

    How did I get on this subject? Ah yes, the problem in Oz is no doubt that they can’t get the men-folk there to kill ENOUGH babies, or tell women in the streets they ain’t mothers but just a soulless-incubator-slave the way Disney says they should, get in yo red bonnet. So long as men are out loving and protecting women, they must be stopped. Full weight of government on this project.

    Good thing you gave up your guns or somebody might get shot ‘about now.

    Speaking of a good time to brush up:

    30,000 people at a pop, maybe per week, trying to register to vote with no ID and no SS#. I’m sure that’s just a paperwork error somewhere.

    But that’s not like a story or nothin’. No reporting. So how’s that working out? Refusing to report anything?

    “”We’re Currently Watching The Collapse” Of The Daily Beast As 70% Of Unionized Staffers ‘Gutted’”

    Daily Beast following all other Left outlets Buzzfeed, HuffPo, CNN, etc into collapse while “Right” outlets (Being “normal” stuff) rise ever higher. …Even as they’re purged from the NY Times Bestseller list, etc. What “Far Right” values, platform, etc do they cling to that makes them so extreme? Bill Clinton’s border rules, a social state that would make FDR blush, and support for gay marriage. That’s the “Far Right” today. Their core headliners are pothead comedians, Orthodox Jews, Black women, gay college graduates, and Liberal NYC Billionaires. Yup!

    Speaking of missing everything, Styx, “Stop Pigeonholing Rural Voters”

    Pointing out his home state of Vermont – and all of rural New England – stark far left, comparatively on most issues. Then misses it by claiming – against his own claim – that there ARE Baptist Bible Belt, swaths, well somewhere. Iowa, Alabama, like heaven or hell nobody’s seen this place but they’re religiously sure they exist. Really, really sure.

    He’s pointing out that is also true of the city, very true. What part of the city, definitely, but also which city. No hegemon. They just act like this is true when it isn’t. And Fox walks into their offices in NYC and CNN into their ultra-far-left HQ in Atlanta and continue not to notice all day.

    “The Music Just Stopped: Japan Banking Giant Norinchukin To Liquidate $63 Billion In Treasuries & European Bonds To Plug Massive Unrealized Losses

    I heard this about Japan but couldn’t understand it. Still don’t, there must be several moving parts.

    SittinInTree
    https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_desktop_2x/public/2024-06/blinkenandbibifile.jpeg?itok=7TavuO_4

    Do these guys look like they’re going to tongue kiss or what?

    “Poland Was Just As Much To Blame As Britain For Sabotaging Spring 2022’s Peace Talks

    Here’s a good point but you may not realize Poland is a British colony. Like the U.S. is. We are not obedient, perhaps, but so completely intertwined that Britain is “running things”, we both see things from England’s point of view. …Bad? That’s also true of half the world’s secret service. MI6, CIA, NZ, OZ, Singapore, Saudi and even Iran perhaps, all see themselves as one agenda, and the people as the problem. So I’m not picking on UK-Poland, which goes back to WWII hardcore and probably before, I’m pointing out this happens and no one reports or has a word for it. Of course Poland is. Didn’t know I needed to mention it. Polish government would, and presently is, killing every Polish citizen in service of Britain and feeling kind of salty about it. It’s an occupation government, just like us.

    “Ethereum Spikes After SEC Drops Investigation

    They’ll just bring another one later when they need to rig the price all their friends have front-run.

    Bannon bring us back to Biden: No one cares about the vote, Steve. We’re not a democracy ans we’re not going to have an election. We didn’t have one already. They already registered, I forget, like 100,000 in two or three swing states from people with no SS and no ID. They’re already doing sub-millions in Alien amnesty and have mail-in voter ballots mailed to every house, which is every illegal house, all 10Million.

    So we’re going to stop this election, at a minimum. That keeps the DNC in there for “Backsies” and another 6 months to start WWIII. Or else what? We have a military government? I mean that’s good in that we can finally point to it and pop the bubble, “THIS. IS. NOT. NORMAL.” But how does that work and do we have to shoot our way out of it?

    In any case, Biden doesn’t matter since he was never elected anyway. Nor was a lot of Congress. Ask the States, who were not allowed to register their official protest to Pelosi and the VP in Congress. So we didn’t look.

    Biden is The Cooler? So was Obama. In the biggest possible way. Does that mean Obama wasn’t elected either? I guess we’ll never know.

    “Freezing up in public when you’ve got shooting wars all over the place.”

    Bannon is so adorable: The president doesn’t run things and hasn’t since Nixon. That’s why they put in the executive class and the 7th floor. The Permanent State is running the permanent state FOR the permanent state, and at this point, each Department of the Derp State – Ag, Transport, war, economy — all disagree and work against each other without meaning to, because no coordination in decades, which is the “President’s” or rather the “policy’s/Platform’s” job. That’s why they need to fire people and give them orders, which as per Comey, they no longer take. At all. “I order you to pull our expensive soldiers out of Syria, FStan, Africa” TO the Generals as direct order. NOPE! I refuse direct orders now. To the Victor does NOT belong the spoils. Winning means you get NOTHING. Nothing you want done will be done, nothing the people want will be considered. That’s Democracy!

    …This is why you have to have SMALL, de-centralized governments. So you can get at them and spank them over a barrel. Shut off the money. Unf as our own founding fathers knew, you still have to have SOME government, and some CENTRAL government, and they were afraid of the century-drift inexorably in this direction. But that’s OUR job, the PEOPLE. We’re the only thing large enough to stop it, and using our allies the States.

    “• The West Is Lighting the Fuse of War (Paul Craig Roberts)

    Again, WHO? Oh yeah, every western country just voted AGAINST lighting that fuse, starting with all Europe this week. So it’s every government against every human. As Non-Lord Acton said: “The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.” Government is trying to use war as a new tool to kill every citizen, who are their sworn enemy. Thus conscription, suddenly, everywhere.

    Er, no folks the war will be over in 2 hours as Tom Leher said in 1962. No need for all that training. So I’ll insert this here:

    #161491
    Dr. D
    Participant

    All the links came through for a change.

    Is this me? “men are deeply disinterested in putting on a uniform, picking up an assault rifle, and joining the crusade for Human Rights Values against Russian Orthodox Space Fascism or Borgapitalommunism with Confucian Characteristics or whatever it is we’re supposed to be fighting against. This is true almost independently of one’s politics. Leftists will literally burn themselves alive rather than put their bodies on the line for Zionism. Rightists – meaning, in general, young white men with their shit together – have simply been abused too often by the contemptuous political class.” Barsoom https://substack.com/home/post/p-145680400

    They were supposed to rise up and join a racist, fascist “Controlled Opposition” Goldberg who would lead them to utter destruction and increased power of the oligarchic class (like Kashoggi of the Muslim Brotherhood shop does) but since they ORDERED us all to do this in 1994, they can’t get anyone to take the bait. Even when they pay $5,000 to a ‘homeless’ guy in Michigan, prodded by 13 FBI informants. This is The Plan, so like Charlie Manson, they had to show “Darkie” how to rise up by doing it themselves. At J6. No resistance? No violence? No movement exists at all? No Problem!!! We just “Make S—t Up” like every other CIA color op worldwide.

    Anyway, like the hit job from last week: Kill all the “Nice Guys”. Just ordinary people who go about their day NOT banning, punching everyone they meet (that might be on the wrong side, but I don’t know who they are and only met them a minute ago). No! You must most emphatically HATE, hate everybody!!!. Tolerance for none!! The Siren’s call. …To psychos, I have no idea who thinks like this.

    Article actually is very good, with a long section on the utter destruction of “Brown Ministers”, UK. They are running a “Zero seats” campaign. Zero Seats conservative, which we can all get behind, as long as you don’t vote Labour. https://barsoom.substack.com/p/the-brief-and-unlamented-rule-of

    “The Tories have been patriots in the streets and Blairites in the sheets throughout the last two decades of their uninterrupted rule, and the bill has finally come due. Of course, they could always just stop being a nest of vicious little traitors, but this seems unlikely.

    They will die first. That can be arranged.

    “Britain is not the only country to call a snap election. After getting thoroughly humiliated by the “far” right Rassemblement Nationale during the European parliamentary elections, the scheming little turd in the Élysée Palace announced a snap election in France” That is a much better and more accurate name than “Jupiter” or “Little Napoleon.” Macron is “Le Petis Merde”

    “Get the imprimatur of an electoral mandate from the people before sending them off to die. This is especially true if “far” right parties can be brought to power. “Yes, we hear you! You’re tired of immigration. You’re exhausted by all the gay stuff. We agree, it’s terrible! Now go be good little peasants and [die] in the name of your country or whatever nonsense it is you little people believe in…”

    As above, they are supposed to be whooshing “Far Right” fascists into power. REAL fascists, not the “Right” worldwide that wants no government and no war. That’s literally the #Opposite of fascism, which is a Socialist-Progressive Utopian movement.

    “the Western military and security apparatus can clear the decks and prepare for whatever new wars and turmoil are coming.” Consistent with this hypothesis, Sunak then suggested that it was time to bring back conscription.”

    Yup. Worldwide, including Germany, good luck.

    “As Marcellino D’Ambrosio describes, the American military’s brand has been irreparably damaged, to the degree that reviving the old Be All You Can Be ads was met with howls of incredulity and a chorus of ‘go fight your own wars with your rainbow coalition of neurodivergent genderqueer pronouns of colour’. This is something I pointed out several months ago, myself.
    The Bud Light Military (link)

    “Hence a draft. If no one wants to volunteer to die for Israel, or open borders, or gay marriage, or girlbossery, or whatever it is that the West is supposed to fight for, well then…” [We’ll just MAKE them.]

    “Hilariously, they’re apparently considering extending selective service to women, too.
    This is funny not just because the thought of Yass Queens being forcibly confronted with the gulf between their Black Widow power fantasies and the ugly reality of industrial warfare in the age of AI brings a black glow to my cynical heart, but because this is literally a meme from the 2016 American election.”

    Ynot
    https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4d4d636a-c0a8-4fde-8bd6-bf2c5368a375_843x489.png
    (this is of course, 4Chan. Point taken)

    “The current social reality is that the young men who would make the best soldiers – already fit, motivated, and self-controlled – are precisely the cohort that most loathes the regime, for the regime has for their entire lives taken every opportunity to tell them how much it loathes them. Forcing them to fight on its behalf is not going to endear it to them. Putting weapons in the hands of people who despise you and then teaching them to use those weapons at a professional level might be … not the best idea.
    Kulak thinks that a draft would probably result in civil war.”

    Problem solved. This is The Plan.

    What was that about “Three World Wars” and everyone fighting everyone for no bloody reason at all to complete exhaustion? Until they adopt Lucifer himself, sun of Light, just to make to stop? Boy sure glad THAT was just another crazy idea.

    Anyway, this recruiting problem leads me to another soft realization: Not just that, since they hate us and want us all dead, maybe we shouldn’t help. They’re talking about reversing W.O.K.E. juuuuuuuust enough, as little as they have to, to recruit and kill any remaining American Men in upcoming war-to-be-named against somebody-to-be-named. No.

    The point was really, THAT’S A THING YOU GET OUT OF YOUNG MEN. That’s what you get as a kid growing, up want to be a hero, a soldier, shoot bears n’ stuff, get women, do things. That raw, fresh, and it’s really pure love and adventure. They love women. Their families. Their country. Action. They are lusty for life.

    And now? Sorry folks, even men 12, 15, 17, they’re already IN the war. They already act like Rick Blaine in Casablanca. That is to say, they are NOT NOT NOT the Rick Blaine of Paris. They’re already shot at, sold out, and jaded. Careful. Calculating. Suspicious. Believing nothing. And how much more even up to the oldest cohort, GenX? Now 50 or something?

    You can get, recruit, convince YOUNG men to do this, fight in your stupid wars. But men who have ALREADY been in the war – as everyone, down to GenZ have already now – don’t act like that. They MIGHT go to war, but you have to give them very good reasons, with incredible assurances, and get no special favors and no latitude, although you MIGHT get good, clever, deadly, conniving service out of them for BEING so jaded.

    But like BudLite, just go “Oops, my bad?” Hahahahaha. No. BudLite is NEVER coming back. EVER. Neither is the U.S. Military in its present form. Nor should it. Now American men may FIGHT, that’s sure, but it will be like Cincinnatus, FOR getting back to the garden at home. FOR something. No “country”, no “nation”, no “Congress”, no “oath”. Not even no “pay” since you’ll double-cross them anyway. Don’t care, like the Russians, there’s nothing you can ever say to make them believe you. That sort of credulity is for YOUNG men. That you raped out of us when I was 13. BY the State/Authority. Now you pay.

    So I’m not sure they know, and I’m not sure they care – that’s why they imported 10 million violent drug offenders who are raping and killing citizens nationwide right now — But I think it will come back to bite their “Plans” pretty hard anyway. They like to re-define words on us and laugh, but they plugged “American population” into the computer and kept it as one word, one definition, one thing. I don’t think these guys – Woke or Based – are at all what the computer model was established on and are going to slip away from predictions. Sooner. Or later. Either way you lose.

    “Macron’s Idiotic Ukraine Policies Have Paved Way For Triumph Of The French Right

    Need them to fight for “Viva la France” Only way to do that is stuff LePen in. Will it work? Is the Right that completely retarded? Stay tuned.

    #161492
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Giuseppe Leone Ragusa Sicily 1953

    Forget words; they don’t work….just embrace the image…

    #161493
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “[Putin] only to drive Ukrainian forces out of the Russian areas that have now been reincorporated into Russia. Apparently Putin did not realize the extent to which the West would involve itself and expand the war.”

    Don’t be a child. Russia HOPED this would be true and merely kept the door open. That had costs. But they game-planned, logic-treed out down to this point. Unlike you, Russia – as per 1,000 years of history – has now got time to fully mobilize and produce, and the West has full time to be sapped and collapsed. They fight long, we fight short. “Slow to saddle, quick to ride”. You using Putin-Telepathy to say what he did or didn’t know or think, would it matter now that BY doing this BY thinking this, he’s in a better position now than if he’d done it the “Smart” PCR-way? C’mon, try to keep up.

    At this point, note, Putin should NOT stop the war. Ever. GDP is rising. Internal production. Cohesive people, brought together. Rising financial independence. More gas and oil sold than ever at far higher prices. Purging corruption they couldn’t get at. There is no downside. So bless your stars he still WANTS to stop the war ever because most psychos wouldn’t. He did suggest perhaps 100K Russian soldiers lost by now. Very serious but it’s better than Stalin and 20M. For fighting all NATO combined.

    “As the Western world lacks a truthful media, the people might be indoctrinated with the “Russian threat.” Even if the people realize that the threat is Washington’s pressure on Russia, the people are impotent to affect government policy. “

    Yes, and Putin also knows this, even in England the most-bizarre indoctrinated countries on earth, surpassing N Norea. But what can he do? They’re locked in the nuclear control booth.

    “The purpose of the peace conference in Switzerland this weekend was “purely opportunistic: to create an illusion of widespread support for the ‘peace formula’ in various capitals, but in reality, to hush up any doubts about the legitimacy of the Kiev regime, which has already been bankrupt for a long time, both politically and economically,” the ambassador said.

    It turned out the opposite. It was a humiliating public failure, demonstrating the West is unwanted, and the BRIICS now run the show. We deny this, but we deny everything and they ignore us. The people, I mean, ignore their leaders.

    “Prof. Jeffrey Sachs: “What we’re seeing is exactly Ukraine becoming the Afghanistan of Europe.”

    Ritter pointed out, nothing from Putin, no tactics, no dates. As well he should. Until this one: Putin says the U.S. will remove Zelensky in Spring ‘25. That says there will still be a war on. And he’s not going to bother with doing it, to show the Americans will always double-cross you. They are Anglos after all.

    “• Kiev Better Accept Russia’s Peace Proposal – Medvedev (TASS)

    Or the country ceases to exist. No, again from Ritter, they are doing something else. WE game-theory that IF we get to this point of striking Belgorod, they will have to nuke us, which is OUR plan. Escalation ladder ends here. Russia instead – and as they’ve done everywhere, like choosing the speed – instead goes, “Really? Okay, we won’t open the escalation in Kharkiv, we’ll open it in Saana and Cuba”. Escalation ladder now has 10 more rungs, all won by Russia. What does it cost to take a Navy vacation to the Caribbean compared to us having to respond to it? $10:1 dollars? Bleed the U.S. everywhere if we’re going to be fecking idjits. Our firing solution is easy: we’d have to stop being fecking idjits. They can’t. Then we’d be “Normal” and not start the world war the Religious Death Cult requires for their god. They’d have to do what the PEOPLE want instead: Peace and re-homing manufacturing for well-paying jobs, and they’d rather die.

    Now that goes for Ukraine. I’m sure they have 5 levels pre-planned between leaving now and absorbing Ukraine into Russia proper. They’ll stop at whichever one they get to.

    Don’t be a cartoon: yes Medvedev is trying to put in your mind this is possible, complete surrender and vanish. He’s trying to make you take it seriously as no one is. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know the 5 off-ramps before then. We won’t take any, which he also knows, so we will completely lose and completely capitulate, as Ursula said. “Capit” is to “Kuput” the Head, to cut the head off something. WE, Europe, America will be just fine. I’ll send them a medal for cutting the head off our fascist Vichy occupation government that is counter to the will of all people. That is illegal and I can point to the 200,000 felonies involved, but if they won’t enforce, what is our choice but Civil War to make them? If Russia causes their collapse and “Capitulation” it will save many million lives here in the West.

    “• Mark Rutte: The Choice for NATO Secretary General? (Sp.)

    Rotate the same reliable Death Cult members around from job to job. Draghi, who was installed and not elected as the EU toppled democratic elections in Italy. Never Forget. Legarde, etc. What was it from Canada who was Bank of England? Captain Stupidpants? I thought they were separate countries, all a conspiracy Theory, but only on even-numbered days then they’re not.

    ““If the stablecoin fund was a country, it would be in “the top ten of countries holding Treasuries..”
    • US Cryptocurrency as an Offshore Banking Center (Michael Hudson)

    Worse, it’s all fabricated and leveraged because Crypto bois like fraud as much as everyone else. Maybe more. The. End.

    Right now, Alt-coins down (not bad in crypto terms, but it hurts) and BTC/Eth holding fast. Like BTC 60-70k? That’s a TOP, not a correction. It continues to range around the 70k breakout, very normal. Wager is the run isn’t over yet, 100k minimum, 200k possible. Take it as it comes, there are a lot of moving parts, esp US$ value. It’s boring but the greatest net gain of any asset ever. Why not try?

    #161494
    Dr. D
    Participant

    EscapePlan

    #161495
    Celticbiker
    Participant

    Designated Savior Trump is owned by the same people who own Biden, or Putin for that matter. It’s theatre, for manipulation and control. It always was, since the invention of $, long ago The one thing they all have in common is complete contempt for the audience and desire to dominate every little aspect of our lives.

    #161496
    Celticbiker
    Participant

    Designated Savior Trump is owned by the same people who own Biden, or Putin for that matter. It’s theatre, for manipulation and control. It always was, since the invention of $, long ago The one thing they all have in common is complete contempt for the audience and desire to dominate every little aspect of our lives.

    #161497
    tboc
    Participant

    DBS it is interesting that the sneer “Thats metaphysics” so popular as secular materialism advanced during the last quarter of the twentieth century is giving way to acceptance of an expanding cosmology.
    The Bannon clips today with a view to spirituality would have been taboo and lumped together with the sneer “That’s Intelligent Design” eight years ago.
    Not sure how cynical to be about this but there is evidence of movement away from rigid secular materialism.

    enjoyed your perspective yesterday

    #161499
    zerosum
    Participant

    Who will decide to keep or replace Biden.
    In all, 4,532 delegates will be assembling at the Democratic convention, including 744 “automatic” delegates, famously known as “superdelegates” who will get a vote should there be a second nominee ballot.

    Those host of party leaders − former and current − plus elected officials will want to have a say as well.

    And that doesn’t include behind-the-scenes maneuvering and input from grassroots organizations and major donors.

    Whatever unfolds about Biden’s age in the coming weeks and months, any attempt at crowning a new Democratic nominee would be a messy affair.

    Can they decide before the debate with Trump CNN on June 27?

    ————
    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/19/putin-flies-into-pyongyang-to-waiting-kim-and-red-carpet-welcome
    Kim vows ‘full support’ for Russia in Ukraine as Putin visits Pyongyang

    “It has all culminated in the signing of a new agreement between the two, which according to Putin forms the basis of relations for years to come.”

    The Kremlin did not give details on the contents of the new comprehensive strategic partnership treaty on Wednesday, but it said on Monday that it would replace previous bilateral documents and declarations signed in 1961, 2000 and 2001.

    Speaking after his meeting with Kim, Putin said the new agreement is defensive in nature and includes a promise of “mutual assistance” if either is attacked, Russian news agencies reported, as he described it as a “breakthrough” pact that will take ties to a “new level”.
    ———–
    https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/topic/heat
    https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152914/heat-scorches-us-southwest
    Heat Scorches U.S. Southwest
    An early summer heat wave broke temperature records in Nevada, Arizona, and California in June 2024.

    Image of the Day for June 11, 2024
    ———-

    #161500
    John Day
    Participant

    Thanks DBS for the “name stealers” information on the comments-late-show last night.

    #161510
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Apparently Dylan Mulvaney’s hair stylist was invited to the WH by Kamala Harris

    He has a press conference

    Happy Juneteenth, better known as Forest Gumpteenth Day!

    #161511
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Pulling Out ALL the Stops

    Scenes of grandeur and celebration in Pyongyang

    #161513
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Ukrainian commander gives update on the war

    Not lookin’ good for the UkroNazis, even by their own admission.

    I’m surprised the censors let this one rip.

    #161514
    Oroboros
    Participant

    The Commercial Pilots Have Taken “balls” Off the Pre-flight Check List

    Might needs some of them in a clutch situation!

    .

    #161515
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Mediation of the Day

    .

    #161516
    Oroboros
    Participant

    for John Day

    .

    #161517
    Oroboros
    Participant

    for DBS in the Spirit of Neighborliness

    .

    #161518
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Secret Service admits to deleting footage showing Biden’s dog attacking an agent.

    There are now a total of 24 reported instances of Biden’s dogs attacking people.

    Woof, woof

    .

    #161519
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

    Mockery Snarkary

    .

    #161520
    Oroboros
    Participant

    He will hold up anything you give him

    Put a “Kick Me” sign on his back!

    #161521
    Oroboros
    Participant

    It’s probably a ‘deep fake’

    Proably

    .

    #161522
    Oroboros
    Participant

    .

    #161523
    Oroboros
    Participant

    @Stonedelta

    There is an interesting take on why he kept biting the agents.

    Dogs have a natural instinct to tell when their master is sick. When this happens, they go into protection mode.

    The dog sees the agents doing their job and it knows that his owner is sick but the agents are not helping him.

    When they get close to Biden, the dog attacks them.

    Even the dog knows that Joe is very sick and not mentally there.

    A dog has more intuitive control ability than the whole liberal media combined.

    #161524
    Oroboros
    Participant

    In an attempt to boost sagging Latino support, President Biden adopts a Chihuahua for the White House and names it Taco

    That’s so cute!

    PR is EVERYTHING!

    .

    #161525
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Dementia as ‘deep fake’

    .

    #161526
    Oroboros
    Participant

    This story has legs!

    (I mean hands)

    .

    #161527
    Oroboros
    Participant

    Just one more, I have chores to do, places to go……

    .

    #161529

    This post I found over at Rintrah is grand. The real jewels are two videos of “Nobody Special”, a “rando” investment investigator. View the second video first (12 minutes), concerning “Coreweave”. The top video is about NVIDI*, sorta. If you only watch one, watch this one. Then, if you’re as enchanted as I was, you’ll probably want to visit Nobody Special’s website.

    #161530
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    [Apologia: All references to gods and demons in this essay are strictly allegoric and used solely for rhetorically literary purposes.]

    Giving the Devil his due

    The Devil is forced to fight with one hand tied behind his back, so it is legitimately fair to say it’s no wonder that he lies cheats and steals. How else is a Devil going to survive, given that he must always and only lie and deceive without the alternative of doing good things for true reasons? We all know that lies eventually catch up with the liar, leading to defeat, and yet lies are all that the Devil is permitted as a means of survival, BECAUSE if the TRUTH ever came out about what those Devils are actually up to then they would be goners in the first nanosecond afterward. A devil cannot use the truth in a truthful way for good purposes and go on surviving as a devil for very long, now can he?

    He can USE truth for nefarious purposes, of course, but only when it is intended, ultimately, to deceive the recipient into BELIEVING that the BAD things they believe or do are actually a GOOD things, when it is indeed a very very NOT good thing. The same trick works in reverse, too,of course. It’s easily possible to deceitfully convince people to NOT do a truly good thing by making them mistakenly believe that it’s bad.

    [At this point I would like to digress into an important and pertinent side note about “belief”. The action of making someone else BELIEVE something to be true when the thing in question IS PATENTLY NOT TRUE is called hypnosis. Indeed, belief IS hypnosis. Any and all “Beliefs” that are presumed BEFORE presently real-time inspection are hypnotic in their very nature. In other words, to BELIEVE something without personally looking at the actual thing, thoroughly and in the present moment, IS the state of being hypnotized.

    That may sound like a really bad state to be in , and you might be right, but on the other hand it is ALSO an absolutely indispensable necessity for maintaining organic life, so there’s that. You can not function nor live at all unless you BELIEVE certain things without any preceding personal inspection done by yourself. You cannot, for example, drink a glass of water unless you PRESUME that the glass contains the water that you desire rather than some other crystal clear liquid like paint thinner or bleach. You cannot breathe without subconscious faith that there is air, nor commit to taking a single step without firm belief that there will be a sufficiently firm something for your foot to land on.

    In other words, and note this well, we are all (including at this very moment) in a state of chronic hypnosis. We ARE hypnotized to greater or less extent, at all times. EVERYTHING that you presumptively believe is a debilitating illusion which PREVENTS you from seeing what is REALLY there in front of you, BUT (and note THIS well, too] which also enables you to DO something (anything) with confidence that the result you desire will be brought about as you intended. Without that belief you could not act and without that act (drinking water for example) your future as an organically living viable human being would be a short one.

    Let’s get back to apologizing for the Devil. Ya gotta admit that he got dealt a bummer of a hand. It included free will, sure, which seems like a good thing, but it ALSO included the possibility of being WRONG. You know what I mean, the ability to make “bad choices” based on wrong information coming from other liars who find themselves in the same boat as the devil (and for the same reasons, namely that they lied, cheated or stole something). It’s a seriously self-perpetuating daisy chain of mistakes that may have seemed no big deal back when the mistakes were made (Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time!) , but are now threatening the perpetrators very LIFE and existence they don’t keep evading the inevitable fall of the ax..

    In short, the Devil knows in advance that he is going to lose because his modus operandi is limited to only those things that always lose because they are WRONG. No wonder he thinks that lying about lying is a virtue. It’s the only thing that keeps him on the playing field instead of in the graveyard.

    The Devil could, of course, change his mind about lying, cheating, stealing and killing being good ideas, but as soon as he accepts that truth ( namely, that lying, cheating stealing and killing are definitely BAD ideas) then he is immediately confronted with the REALITY of the consequences of that BAD idea leading to bad action and bad consequences.

    Such delay tactics nevertheless play out to the same INEVITABLE conclusion: doom.

    It renders down to a single line: When Truth reigns supreme then the Devil will be no more.

    R.I.P. I guess.

    His epitaph should read, “For all of his faults he sure did put up a good fight.”

    Given that the Universe seems to be going along fairly strong in most places, I do not foresee that final curtain coming down anytime soon. Which is not to say that such a conclusive Ending is not possible. It’s just that Earth ain’t all that big or all that important in the scheme of things as I visualize them. Big potatoes to Earthlings, I suppose, but still pretty small potatoes overall.

    #161531
    John Day
    Participant

    Putin’s Pyongyang Partnership https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/putins-pyongyang-partnership

    Please watch this 3 minute video of Russian President Putin’s (arrived late) pre-dawn arrival in Pyongyang for the body-language of all of the participants. Kim Jong Un has been standing alone out on the red carpet. An unnamed Korean lady in traditional dress has waited anxiously with a bouquet of flowers to present to President Putin. The honor guard stands at attention.
    Vladimir Putin pops out of the door of his plane at the top of the steps, thanks the stewardess and shakes her hand, looking her in the eyes. He then pivots briskly and buttons his jacket as he touches the handrail, removes his hand, and jogs quickly down the stairs, presenting an image of vigor and fitness. He smiles broadly, as if truly happy to be there, embraces Kim twice, once spontaneously with a big smile after Kim’s greeting is conveyed by the Korean translator. The lady with the flowers approaches Putin formally, bows deeply and stands to see him gazing directly into her eyes, smiling warmly and holding her gaze for an extended moment, putting her at ease.
    Putin makes and holds eye contact with every Korean, and smiles engagingly every time. He is urged to enter the limo first, and does so, but not until he removes his jacket, signifying his comfort and feeling-at-home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpzddl9shK0

    Gilbert Doctorow sets the stage: What may we expect from Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea?
    Tonight, it was Iran’s Press TV who knocked, asking for my commentary and for that of a panelist in Seoul on the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea that begins in an hour or two, in the middle of the night Korean time.
    The world has gotten a glimpse of what the meetings in Pyongyang will achieve by reading the 4-page article that Putin published in today’s issue of the North Korean daily Nodon Sinmun available on the site kremlin.ru In that he gives a brief overview of the history of bilateral relations from the time of the liberation of Korea from Japanese occupation at the end of WWII to recent days. He speaks of the seventy-years of friendship and collaboration. He particularly thanks North Korea for its assistance to Russia in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
    There is nothing specific in the article regarding what may be achieved during the visit other than to consolidate the strategic partnership of the countries, though he does mention developing ‘alternative, mechanisms of trade and settling mutual accounts that are outside the control of the West.’ https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2024/06/18/what-may-we-expect-from-vladimir-putins-visit-to-north-korea/

    That (8:30 min) video with Press TV is valuable for Doctorow’s insights, and also for the opening statement from a South Korean correspondent who speaks with alarm of the sudden increase in nuclear threat to the continental US, which is about to be posed by Russian and North Korean military-technical and mutual-defense agreements. https://odysee.com/PressTV-2024-06-18-Panel-on-Russia-N.Korea-Chang,-Doctorow:3

    Dr. Doctorow’s morning update: Russia will consider dispatch of F16s to Ukraine aggression that activates its mutual defense agreement with North Korea
    There are many elements in the agreements signed today by the Russian and North Korean leaders following their 5 hours of one-on-one talks and 90 minutes of talks with the participation of their government delegations…
    ..Allow me to cut to the quick, and set out here the most surprising development which emerged in Vladimir Putin’s speech following the signing ceremonies as stated in the title above that I give to this essay.
    Vladimir Putin remarked that the Partnership has a military component which affirms that each side will come to the aid of the other if it is under attack. Then, gratuitously, one might say, he mentioned the impending dispatch of F-16s by NATO countries that are to use Ukrainian territory to strike deep into the Russian Federation heartland. The juxtaposition of these two points in his speech leaves little doubt to those of us trained as Sovietologists that Putin considers what NATO is about to do at its Western borders as the very act of aggression that will trigger Russia’s Strategic Partnership with North Korea and present the United States with a live threat to its military bases in Korea, in Japan and in the broader region.
    Whether we choose to consider this scenario as ‘symmetric’ or ‘asymmetric’ response is beside the point. The net result will surely be as effective in waking up the dullards in Washington, D.C., in Brussels, London and Berlin to the fact that Russia means business, is not bluffing, and can wreak massive destruction on U.S. and Western military assets at any moment of its choosing if there is further escalation in the Ukraine war…
    ..It would appear that with the stroke of a pen today, Vladimir Vladimirovich has accomplished the same with no loss of life and without opening the Pandora’s box of nuclear arms.
    Mr. Putin’s travels in East Asia do not end today. On the contrary, he is headed next for Vietnam, where we may expect additional agreements that amount to check-mate to the AUKUS and So.Korea-Japan gambit of Messrs. Biden, Sullivan and Blinken. They thought they had done so well to ‘contain’ China and Russia during their first term in office.​ https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2024/06/19/russia-will-consider-dispatch-of-f16s-to-ukraine-as-aggression-that-activates-its-mutual-defense-agreement-with-north-korea/

    #161532
    John Day
    Participant

    Putin’s state visit to North Korea: As it happened
    14:02 GMT
    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow “provides for maintaining peace and stability in the region.” It also promotes “the common interests of our two countries, Korea and Russia, and [places] a more reliable foundation for the security situation for the two nations,” he stressed.
    The signing of “the strongest and most comprehensive interstate agreement in the history of Russian-Korean friendship” earlier on Wednesday is a “great event,” Kim said during a gala reception in honor of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    13:20 GMT
    A video from Pyongyang has captured thousands of residents of the North Korean capital taking to the streets to greet Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motorcade.
    13:14 GMT
    The Russian authorities understand that the US and its allies “will try to hamper and create additional difficulties” in Moscow’s ties with North Korea, but no actions by the West will affect the choice to develop “special” relations with Pyongyang, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has insisted.
    12:48 GMT
    Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has said that following his trip to Pyongyang, he expects North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to make a return visit to Moscow. Putin also thanked the residents of Pyongyang for the warm welcome he received in the North Korean capital.
    12:07 GMT
    The newly signed Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership underlines the desire of Russia and North Korea to boost relations in all areas, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.
    “This is a framework document, a conceptual one, that sets the tone for bilateral relations, and is probably a very concentrated demonstration of the political will to develop all vectors of bilateral ties,” Peskov told Izvestia newspaper.
    11:45 GMT
    Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have laid flowers at a monument to Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Korea from Japan during World War II. https://www.rt.com/russia/599519-putin-state-visit-north-korea/
    Respects

    Andrew Korybko, The US’ Sharp Rebuke Of Vietnam For Hosting Putin Later This Week Was Ridiculous (“Impotent”?)
    Vietnam will still keep the US close since it considers it to be the only realistic counterweight to China in the latter’s namesake Southern Sea that Hanoi calls its East Sea, all while arming itself to the teeth with Russian weaponry just in case a conflict breaks out by miscalculation.
    The US Embassy in Hanoi reacted angrily to the news that President Putin will visit Vietnam later this week. One of their spokespeople told Reuters that “No country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalise his atrocities. If he is able to travel freely, it could normalize Russia’s blatant violations of international law.” This sharp rebuke was ridiculous since it’s not the US’ place to tell its partners which foreign leaders they’re allowed to host.
    It’s also hypocritical too since neither the US nor Vietnam are signatories to the Rome Statute that created the “International Criminal Court”, whose ”warrant” for the Russian leader’s arrest last year was what the spokesperson was referencing with regard to their displeasure at him traveling freely. https://korybko.substack.com/p/the-us-sharp-rebuke-of-vietnam-for

    Moscow’s envoy to US outlines ‘thorny’ path to peace, Anatoly Antonov has elaborated on Russia’s proposal for ending the Ukraine conflict
    “There is a path to peace, even if it is thorny,” Antonov said. It involves “withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from four regions of Russia; confirmation of the status of Crimea, Sevastopol, [Donetsk People’s Republic], [Lugansk People’s Republic], Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as subjects of the Russian Federation; Kiev’s refusal to join NATO; Ukraine’s status as neutral, nonaligned and nuclear-free state; its demilitarization and denazification; lifting of Western sanctions; [and] ensuring the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens of the republic,” the diplomat explained. https://swentr.site/russia/599516-russia-thorny-path-peace-ukraine/

    Pepe Escobar, Stealing Russian Money is Legal:
    G7 “will not confiscate frozen assets of the Russian Federation”; “we are talking about the interest that they accumulate over time”.
    As financial scams go, this one is a thing of beauty.
    Essentially, the main customer (the Hegemon) and its instrument (the EU) are trying to mask the actual theft of those “frozen” Russian sovereign assets as if this was a legal transaction.
    The EU will transfer the “frozen” assets – something around $260 billion – to the status of collateral for the American loan. That’s the whole thing – because only the income deriving from the assets would not be enough as collateral to secure the loan.
    It gets even dicier. These funds will not leave Washington for Kiev; they will remain in town to the benefit of the industrial-military complex churning out more weapons.
    So the EU steals the assets, under a flimsy legalese pretext (Janet Yellen already said it’s OK) and transfers them to the U.S. Washington is immune if everything goes wrong – as it will.
    Only a fool would believe that the Americans would give a sizable loan to a de facto country 404 with a sovereign debt rating in the abyss. The dirty job is assigned to the Europeans: it’s up to the EU to change the status of Russia’s stolen/”frozen” assets to collateral.
    And wait for the ultimate dicey gambit. The whole scheme concerns Euroclear, in Belgium – where the largest amount of Russian funds is parked. Yet the decision on this money-laundering scam was not taken by Belgium, and not even by the EUrocrats.
    This was a Hegemon-imposed G7 decision. Belgium is not even part of the G7. Yet in the end, it will be the EU’s “credibility” as a whole that will go down the drain across the whole Global Majority. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/06/18/hegemon-orders-europe-bet-on-war-and-steal-russia-money/

    #161533
    John Day
    Participant

    Pepe Escobar, The BRICS weigh in on Palestine
    The gravity around the newly-enlarged BRICS constellation is drawing in Arab, Muslim, and Global South adherents to the influential group’s message on international law, Palestine, and halting forever wars.
    Something of extraordinary magnitude happened in Moscow on 23 May. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa personally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help organize a peace conference on Palestine, at which Russia would be the first non-Arab nation invited.
    Al-Khalifa and Putin had two rounds of discussions – one of them closed – during which the main focus was always Palestine. The Bahraini monarch noted that in a rare show of unity, the Arab world had finally come together in agreement to end the war in Gaza. It was implied that Russia was subsequently chosen as the most reliable mediator to end the brutal conflict.
    Bahrain – and the Arab League – recognize that the Russian position centers around what Putin had previously defined as the “UN formula”: an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem…
    ..Earlier this week, the Palestine tragedy was addressed in detail – on points 34 and 35 – in the joint statement of the BRICS 10 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, who sat at the same table for the first time in Nizhny Novgorod, preparing for the extremely important annual BRICS summit next October in Kazan, under the Russian presidency. Three very important points were made there:
    First, the Ministers “reaffirmed their rejection of any attempt aiming at forcefully displacing, expelling or transferring the Palestinian people from their land.” Second, they collectively “expressed serious concern at Israel’s continued blatant disregard of international law, the UN Charter, UN resolutions and Court orders.” And third, the ten foreign ministers:
    “Reaffirmed their support for Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and reiterated their unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution based on international law including relevant UNSC and UNGA resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative that includes the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine in line with internationally recognized borders of June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital living side by side in peace and security with Israel.”
    This is BRICS speaking with one voice – including, crucially, representatives of major Muslim-majority states: Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE. and Egypt…
    ..Riyadh’s official position on Palestine is tied up with BRICS; end of the war/genocide in Gaza, and the establishment of a Palestinian state. And every grain of sand in the lands of Islam is fully aware that a Tel Aviv ruled by an ethnocentric mob of extremists won’t accept a two-state solution.
    Moreover, a Saudi-US military alliance is totally incompatible with Riyadh becoming an influential member of BRICS. Chessboard moves are instead pointing to sooner or later a possible Global Majority military alliance to counterpunch the escalating US/NATO war – Hybrid and otherwise – against the dawning of a multinodal, polycentric, and in Putin’s terminology in St. Peterburg, “harmonic” multipolar world.
    Add to it the expiration earlier this week of the US-Saudi agreement signed 50 years ago to establish the petrodollar, essentially in exchange for US military protection.
    Already last year Riyadh made it clear the agreement would not be renewed when it clinched a deal with China based on energy trade using the petroyuan…
    ..And now for the ultimate complicating factor.
    On Monday, military officers from Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan – which includes three BRICS members and Russia-friendly Bahrain – met with Herzi Halevi, the IDF’s Chief of General Staff to discuss…defense cooperation.
    The meeting was facilitated by none other than the US CENTCOM. Although as low-profile as it gets, the meeting still leaked, given the juxtaposition of the Gaza genocide alongside a meeting of top Arab leaders sitting with the Arab world’s worst enemies.
    A post-modern epigone of the cynics dwelling in the Agora in Ancient Greece would remark that with CENTCOM Arab “friends” like these – three of them BRICS members – Palestine does not need enemies.
    Meanwhile, the tragedy persists on so many levels. As Chinese high school students all across the civilization-state show their support for Palestine after taking their university entrance exams, the US-Israel axis homogenizes terrorism, linked to the debacle of Project Ukraine, coupled with the non-stop killing of Palestinians.
    https://thecradle.co/articles/the-brics-weigh-in-on-palestine

    ‘My blood will go in vain’: Egyptian soldiers say their country has failed Gaza
    Conscripts at the Sinai-Gaza border decry the Sisi government’s silence on the killing of own soldiers and inaction towards Israeli atrocities https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-soldiers-critical-sisi-gaza-israel-stance

    (Strange, but apparently “true”. Could it be an “Arkancide” by Netanyahu’s enemies?) Psychiatrist of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Commits Suicide
    Anguished Suicide Note Cites ‘Deluge of Doublethink’ In Driving Kind-Hearted Shrink to Despair
    Moshe Yatom, a prominent Israeli psychiatrist who successfully cured the most extreme forms of mental illness throughout a distinguished career, was found dead at his home in Tel Aviv yesterday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A suicide note at his side explained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been his patient for the last nine years, had “sucked the life right out of me.”
    “I can’t take it anymore,” wrote Yatom.
    “Robbery is redemption, apartheid is freedom, peace activists are terrorists, murder is self-defense, piracy is legality, Palestinians are Jordanians, annexation is liberation, there’s no end to his contradictions. Freud promised rationality would reign in the instinctual passions, but he never met Bibi Netanyahu. This guy would say Gandhi invented brass knuckles.” https://www.globalresearch.ca/psychiatrist-benjamin-netanyahu-commits-suicide/5859368

    Netanyahu decries ‘unacceptable’ Gaza pause – media
    The Israeli military earlier announced plans to halt fighting in parts of the enclave to allow aid in to the territory
    The IDF announced the 11-hour ‘tactical pauses’ in the area on Sunday. When Netanyahu heard the military’s initial announcement, he contacted his military secretary and “made it clear that this was unacceptable to him,” an unnamed Israeli official said, as quoted by Reuters.
    The decision will allow trucks carrying aid to enter the enclave through a key border crossing and along a major road northward. https://www.rt.com/news/599414-netanyuahu-criticises-gaza-pauses-aid/

    Netanyahu Rips Biden: ‘Inconceivable’ That US Weapons Were Ever Halted
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Biden administration of withholding weapons transfers to Israel, in violation of stated promises that Washington would remove all restrictions on arms deliveries. Netanyahu revealed this during a video address discussing meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken days ago during his trip to Israel. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/inconceivable-us-weapons-were-ever-halted-netanyahu-says

    #161534
    John Day
    Participant

    Israeli-Lebanese Border Crisis Serious, Gone on ‘Long Enough’, Says Biden Advisor
    The situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon is serious and is lasting “long enough,” so the US administration seeks to avoid further escalation into a “greater war,” Biden’s Senior Adviser for Energy and Investment, Amos Hochstein, said on Tuesday.
    On Tuesday, Hochstein, who serves as a mediator between Israel and Lebanon, arrived in Beirut and held a meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. On Monday, the US official visited Jerusalem, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
    ..”We have seen an escalation over the last few weeks. And what president Biden wants to do is to avoid a further escalation to a greater war,” Hochstein told reporters following his talks with Lebanese authorities. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240618/situation-on-israeli-lebanese-border-serious-lasting-long-enough—bidens-advisor-1119009794.html

    Riyadh taking part in BRICS, still undecided on full membership — senior diplomat
    Sergey Ryabkov drew attention to the fact that Saudi representatives sometimes “do not participate in the entire range of events, but are involved in those cases and in those formats that are most comfortable for them”. Saudi Arabia has not yet made a final decision on whether or not to become a full member of BRICS, though the kingdom is now fully participating in the work of the association, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said at a press conference.
    “There is no doubt that Riyadh participates in BRICS. This is an indisputable fact. Moreover, for almost half a year now, since the chairmanship passed to Russia, we have repeatedly welcomed representatives of the kingdom at our events, and they have participated in relevant meetings and worked alongside everyone else. Having said that, I will also say that we once again received a signal from our Saudi colleagues in Nizhny Novgorod that their internal processes related to the assessment of their formal, official invitation to join BRICS have not been completed yet,” the senior diplomat said. https://tass.com/politics/1805457

    Rachel Marsden, Macron just threw a live grenade at his own feet
    The French president could be on the verge of regime-changing himself, with his establishment party’s support below that of the opposition
    It finally looks like enough French voters aren’t scared into denying Le Pen’s party the opportunity. The far-right label just doesn’t act as the kind of knee-jerk deterrent that it once did. And why should it? “France is on the brink of all-out civil conflict,” headlined Britain’s Telegraph. That has happened under Macron, not Le Pen, as he rammed through his establishment agenda piece by piece with his designated prime minister invoking Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to ram through legislation without a vote at least 23 times, totally overriding the democratic process – the second most since the Fifth Republic began in 1958. Its use to move the goalposts on retirees and make them work longer when France is a global taxation champion that robs them of hard earned cash their entire working lives, under the pretext of getting it back when they retire, would explain why the majority of retirees who voted massively for Macron no longer tell pollsters that they will. His support has dropped to just 28%, according to the latest Ifop poll.
    According to Le Monde, Macron said of his snap election call: “I’ve been preparing this for weeks, and I’m thrilled. I threw my unpinned grenade at their legs. Now we’ll see how they manage.” https://www.rt.com/news/599494-france-macron-regime-change/

    ​ From my October 28, 2021 Targeted Exterminations blog post:
    ​ Ugo Bardi’s “Age of Exterminations” series gives useful perspective on how societies have exterminated members, or classes within a society, for the profit of others, or sometimes because there was not enough food from a bad crop year.
    Let me start with the base case of human society killing some members of an extended family/clan as “witches” when heavy rains or drought have drastically reduced the supply of food. In the area of Tanzania studied, fed by rain-supplied agriculture, there are twice as many witch-killings in years of excessive rainfall, when crops are damaged, as in years of normal rainfall. The victims are typically elderly women, killed by family-members.
    ​ Poverty and Witch Killing, Edward Miguel, U. Cal. Berkeley, 2005
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/3700704

    I would take the above as mostly a case of famine killing poor people. Western witch killings in Europe and North America did come in hard times, bad winters, the Little Ice Age, but also befell those with some property, and little protection. there was profit to be made.
    Killing an elderly great-aunt, when everybody is hungry, seems like a variation on the theme of people starving to death in famine.

    ​ The Age of Exterminations VI: “The Great Famine To Come”, looks at the Irish Potato Famine as a historical example.
    The Irish people were subsisting on potatoes, brought from the new world, and much of the land was owned by others, who produced grain and livestock for export and to feed the troops of the British Empire.
    The Irish peasant farmers had been saddled with all of the risk, and they died when potato blight destroyed their food.
    The crown was “reluctant” to interfere in the economic markets…
    The Irish peasants had “owned nothing and were happy”, until they had no food, having unknowingly assumed all of the economic risk of the system by having no other recourse but to eat potatoes they grew, or to die.
    The lesson here is that having no options, which is to be poor, and not to “own the means of food production” makes one a ready target for extermination through widespread famine. Universal Basic Income would be a chute into this outcome, as would any form of government handout that became an only-means-of-eating.
    So, to kill large numbers of poor people, cut off the food supply. It can look like anything made it happen. It happens periodically.
    Professor Bardi looks at The Limits To Growth graphs and the revision to that. We can expect industrialized food production and delivery to have major problems as industrial economy contracts. (Mr. Gates seems to be well invested in farmland.)
    One might find ways to assure one’s food, water and fuel through a hard spell, but one would not be able to do so in a social vacuum.
    Consider helping feed your community, or being a member of a community that largely feeds itself, if that is possible.
    https://thesenecaeffect.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-age-of-exterminations-vi-great.html

    #161535
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ The Age Of Exterminations IV: “How To Kill The Rich”, looks at the opposite end of the wealth spectrum. Wealth is sustained through force, through threat of violence. The rich who are inadequately protected by private armies, or a government army, are subject to ambush, sudden and overwhelming ambush.
    It’s typically rich and powerful sociopaths that can conspire to do this.
    That could include the king, the pope, the CIA, the FBI, the Mob, or the army, but it has to be people with trained killers who can keep a secret.
    https://thesenecaeffect.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-age-of-exterminations-iv-how-to.html

    The next two essays seem to share the common thread of killing those who are somewhat gullible, susceptible to propaganda, and crowd mania.

    ​ The Age Of Exterminations III: “How to Exterminate The Young”, is really about exterminating a lot of the young men in a society in WW-1.
    Propagandized young Italian men got whipped into a mass rage and went off to take back pieces of Italy from Austrians who were offering to give it back if Italy remained neutral. Half of them died. People became much more wary after that.
    In the US, it was the Civil War that made Americans wary.
    Mechanized warfare is mass slaughter. The survivors will subsequently understand that.
    It has mostly been wiped from the American memory by having smaller wars in places nobody knows, starting with Grenada.
    Americans could be susceptible again. Vietnam is almost forgotten now, almost…
    https://thesenecaeffect.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-age-of-exterminations-ii-how-to.html

    ​ The Age Of Exterminations V: “Suicide As A Weapon Of Mass Destruction”, is really about tricking people into taking poison, but they will do it best, if they do not know they are taking poison. They could just be doing something “good for their health”, or “going to a hospital”, or “taking a shower”.
    Poisoners throughout history have been a devious and cunning lot.
    Sometimes the people who do not take the poison with everybody else get shot. Sometimes they get away.
    Sometimes people do kill themselves and their families, rather than be taken by enemy soldiers.
    I think that is different from being tricked into taking poison…
    https://thesenecaeffect.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-age-of-exterminations-v-killing.html

    ​ New from Professor Bardi: WW2: A Story of Ordinary Exterminations
    ..Dystopic, indeed. But if there is one constant in history, it is that elites tend to be corrupted by the power they yield. They become weak, they lose control, and they are toppled by their underlings. Eventually, the Slavic Untermenschen would have risen and destroyed the herrenvolk who had occupied their lands. History never ends, and people are carried by it like leaves in the wind. We only know we’ll land somewhere, but not where.​ https://senecaeffect.substack.com/p/ww2-a-story-of-ordinary-exterminations

    ​DBS brought up this book he read about a topic I have heard referred to my whole life, and briefly described here: 1666 Redemption Through Sin
    Product Information
    ​ Most people have heard of Jesus Christ, considered the Messiah by Christians, and who lived 2000 years ago. But very few have ever heard of Sabbatai Zevi, who declared himself the Messiah in 1666. By proclaiming redemption was available through acts of sin, he amassed a following of over one million passionate believers, about half the world’s Jewish population during the 17th century.Although many Rabbis at the time considered him a heretic, his fame extended far and wide. Sabbatai’s adherents planned to abolish many ritualistic observances, because, according to the Talmud, holy obligations would no longer apply in the Messianic time. Fasting days became days of feasting and rejoicing. Sabbateans encouraged and practiced sexual promiscuity, adultery, incest and religious orgies.After Sabbati Zevi’s death in 1676, his Kabbalist successor, Jacob Frank, expanded upon and continued his occult philosophy. Frankism, a religious movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, centered on his leadership, and his claim to be the reincarnation of the Messiah Sabbatai Zevi. He, like Zevi, would perform “strange acts” that violated traditional religious taboos, such as eating fats forbidden by Jewish dietary laws, ritual sacrifice, and promoting orgies and sexual immorality. He often slept with his followers, as well as his own daughter, while preaching a doctrine that the best way to imitate God was to cross every boundary, transgress every taboo, and mix the sacred with the profane. Hebrew University of Jerusalem Professor Gershom Scholem called Jacob Frank, “one of the most frightening phenomena in the whole of Jewish history”.Jacob Frank would eventually enter into an alliance formed by Adam Weishaupt and Meyer Amshel Rothschild called the Order of the Illuminati. The objectives of this organization was to undermine the world’s religions and power structures, in an effort to usher in a utopian era of global communism, which they would covertly rule by their hidden hand: the New World Order. Using secret societies, such as the Freemasons, their agenda has played itself out over the centuries, staying true to the script. The Illuminati handle opposition by a near total control of the world’s media, academic opinion leaders, politicians and financiers. Still considered nothing more than theory to many, more and more people wake up each day to the possibility that this is not just a theory, but a terrifying Satanic conspiracy.​ https://www.ebay.com/itm/395421811658?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

    #161536
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ A follow on to that “Illuminati New World Order” narrative is here, also the kind of thing I have heard and seen in print for decades: The Anglo-Saxon Mission
    The plan to use a biological weapon, create chaos/food shortages/mass starvation/diseases, start a nuclear war/World War III, establish totalitarianism – all leading to the magnetic poles shift event.​ https://ehden.substack.com/p/the-anglo-saxon-mission

    ​ There is finally a limited banquet of USS Eisenhower video reassurances: U.S. aircraft carrier captain playfully counters Houthi’s false online claims of hitting his ship
    ABOARD THE USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER IN THE RED SEA (AP) — The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower may be one of the oldest aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy, but it’s still fighting — despite repeated false claims by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
    ​ For now, the Eisenhower continues its patrol along with the USS Philippine Sea, a cruiser, and two destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Mason. It’s been extended twice already and there’s always the chance it could happen again. But Hill said his sailors remained ready to fight and he remained ready to continue to captain in his style.
    ​ “I came to a revelation at some point in my career that, one of the things that all humans require is to be loved and valued,” Hill said. “So I shouldn’t be afraid, as a leader, to try to love and value everybody, and also to expect other leaders that I’m responsible for to love and value their sailors.”​ https://www.thestar.com/news/world/u-s-aircraft-carrier-captain-playfully-counters-houthis-false-online-claims-of-hitting-his-ship/article_79281354-4f80-5fcd-93e9-34717d7ec685.html

    ​ US Cryptocurrency as an Offshore Banking Center​, BY MICHAEL HUDSON
    ​The Wall Street Journal ran a revealing op-ed today (June 14, 2024) by Paul D. Ryan, “Crypto Could Stave off a U.S. Debt Crisis.”
    ​ Mr. Ryan, libertarian Republican House Speaker 2015-2019 and now at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, writes that: “Stablecoins backed by dollars provide demand for U.S. public debt and a way to keep up with China.”
    ​ He reports that “According to the Treasury Department and DeFi Llama, a cryptocurrency analytics site, dollar-based stablecoins are becoming an important net purchaser of U.S. government debt.” If the stablecoin fund was a country, it would be in “the top ten of countries holding Treasuries – smaller than Hong Kong but larger than Saudi Arabia.” So the result of officially promoting them “would be an immediate, durable increase in demand for U.S. debt.”​…
    ..Here’s the real logic. I’ve written before about how c. 1966 or ’67, I was Chase Manhattan’s balance-of-payments economist, and a bank officer, apparently having joined from the State Dept., asked me to review a memo proposing to make the United States “the new Switzerland,” that is, a haven for the world’s drug money and other criminal money laundering, for kleptocrats and tax evaders in order to help stem the U.S. balance-of-payments deficit that resulted entirely from foreign military spending in Southeast Asia and elsewhere around the world.
    ​ Today, as foreign countries de-dollarize their trade – for instance, when Russia and China trade for oil and industrial products in each others’ currencies – U.S. financial strategists worry about what this will mean for the dollar’s exchange rate.
    ​ Actually, transacting such foreign trade in non-dollar currencies has no effect on the U.S. balance of payments. It does not appear in the trade balance or even in foreign investment, although de-dollarization may deprive U.S. banks of currency-trading commissions to handle such transactions
    ​ What does affect the demand for dollars is conversion of assets denominated in foreign currency into the dollar.​..
    ​..The U.S. is seeking to protect the dollar’s high value, not lower it, so it sees acting as the destination for world’s tax avoiders, criminals and others as a positive national strategy. (“Kleptocracy is us.”) The plan is not to condemn tax crime and more violent criminal activities, but seeking to profit for being the banker for these functions. The logic is, “As the world’s leading free-market democracy, we’re providing a secure for the world’s capital, however it may be ‘earned’ or otherwise obtained.”
    ​ I should have added the real kicker. Stablecoins don’t pay interest. So buyers will get the equivalent of a US Treasury security — but NOT the interest (now in the high 4% range). The Stablecoin company will get that. This is a HUGE bonanza for them — and a correspondingly huge foregone income by Stablecoin holders.​ https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/06/17/us-cryptocurrency-as-an-offshore-banking-center/

    ERCOT Says Texas Power Demand to Double by 2030, With Bitcoin to Blame​, Gas demand also increasing with electrification​ https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2024-06-18/ercot-says-texas-power-demand-to-double-by-2030-with-bitcoin-to-blame/

    ​A Midwestern Doctor (The New Spinach? Take strategic sunlight exposure seriously, please.) Natural Light is An Essential Nutrient
    Decades of Forgotten Research Show How Much Modern Lighting Has Harmed Human Health​
    ​ Story at a Glance:
    •Sunlight is one of the most important things for our health (e.g., it halves our risk of dying or getting cancer), yet all we ever hear is how important it is to avoid it.
    •While the importance of vitamin D is generally recognized, many of the other critical functions of light within plants, animals and human beings remain almost completely unknown (and hence will be the focus of this article.
    •One of the defining characteristics of modern life is the continual exposure to unnatural light. While this is viewed as being relatively benign, in reality, forgotten research demonstrated that it is a root cause of a myriad of inexplicable modern physical and behavioral illnesses.
    •One of the keys functions of blood is to conduct light throughout the body. In turn, when this process is disrupted (e.g., by wearing glasses with lenses which eliminate critical parts of the electromagnetic spectrum) a variety of significant illnesses can develop.​ https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/why-light-is-an-essential-nutrient

    #161537
    John Day
    Participant

    ​Jessica Rose PhD: Spike binds estrogen receptor and could alter collagenase gene expression, An investigation of a recent publication https://jessicar.substack.com/p/spike-binds-estrogen-receptor-and

    Meryl Nass MD, Criminal college poizine mandates, and what to do going forward, Info that people with high school kids will need
    ​ What bothered me the most about the COVID poison shots was the extreme interest in giving them to children. And while most parents of controllable children said no, over 50% of impressionable high schoolers wound up getting them, often with rewards and almost always with peer pressure. (The usefulness of providing rewards to induce acceptance had been tested in this age group with the HPV vaccine.)
    ​ But it was almost impossible to get to college without a shot. It turned out that college administrators were worse than drill sergeants when it came to requiring the shots. How much were they paid? We don’t know yet. We do know that both Pfizer and the CDC had given substantial grants to the American college health organization before COVID shots had even rolled out, which pushed out propaganda about the shots to all college health providers. Many medical providers in colleges are paraprofessionals, who are used to taking orders.​ https://merylnass.substack.com/p/criminal-college-poizine-mandates

    ​ US state sues Pfizer over ‘misleading’ Covid-19 vaccine claims
    The company hid evidence linking its shots to heart inflammation conditions, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has claimed​ https://www.rt.com/news/599490-kansas-lawsuit-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine/

    ​Kit Knightly, How (and why) Bird Flu is About to Enter the “Mass Testing” Phase
    ​ I spend a good portion of my time reading very similar articles in very similar papers all about the danger of a pandemic they’re about to pretend is happening.​ Not a dream of mine growing up, but life’s like that.​..
    ​..In our last bird flu update, we pointed out that the “bird flu death” in Mexico was very likely no such thing, and that reporting it as such was right out of the Covid playbook.
    Since then the head of Mexico’s Health Ministry has criticized the WHO for calling it a bird flu death at all.
    But the big bird flu news is that former head of the US CDC Robert Redfield has gone hysterical, telling NewsNation:
    ​”I really do think it’s very likely that we will, at some time, it’s not a question of if, it’s more of a question of when we will have a bird flu pandemic.”​…
    ​..Apparently a new study has found something scary – Americans “have little to no pre-existing immunity to the H5N1 avian flu”. Frightening stuff.
    Just a few hours ago the Daily Mail reported on yet another doctor doling out yet another dire warning. This time Dr Rick Bright, who told PBS that:
    ​ “We’re being blindfolded in this battle right now, and I’m really concerned that the virus is winning the game and getting ahead of us.​”…
    ​..All of these stories talk about “gathering data”, “flying blind”, and the need for “prevention”. And all of that is really code for “testing”. Almost every article talks up the need to increase testing – both of humans and animals.
    ​ But anyone who’s been paying attention since 2020 knows PCR tests don’t gather data, they create data. They are machines for generating “cases”. Far from preventing a pandemic, they can be used to manufacture one.​..
    ​..Translation: They want to pay farmers to test their cows, then “financially compensate” them when they have to be destroyed. This is just like the UK’s “Environmental Land Management” schemes or the US “Conservation Reserve Program”, both of which pay farmers not to farm. The goal will be to make it more profitable for farmers to kill their cows than milk them.
    ​ Incentivizing testing, rewarding positive results. That’s how you make a pandemic out of nothing, and sabotage the food system in the process.
    But there’s good news, after all the the EU is already procuring 40 million doses of vaccines, just in case. And the Moderna stock price keeps going up too. So there’s that.​ https://off-guardian.org/2024/06/18/how-and-why-bird-flu-is-about-to-enter-the-mass-testing-phase/

    How Did New Bird Flu Variant Get to U.S.?​ Still no plausible natural explanation for new clade’s detection in Newfoundland and in South Carolina in December 2021.
    ​ There remains a paucity of evidence to support the hypothesis that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4b was borne across the North Atlantic by migratory birds in 2021.
    ​ The new clade was first detected in the Netherlands in October 2020, not far from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, where the prominent virologist Ron Fouchier—who happens to be a co-author of the “Transatlantic Spread” paper—is known to have conducted dangerous Gain-of-Function experiments on H5N1 bird flu in recent years.
    ​ This same clade was subsequently detected in ducks in Colleton County, South Carolina—200 miles east of Athens, Georgia—location of the USDA’s Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL), which began performing serial passage experiments with H5Nx viruses on mallard ducks in the spring of 2021.
    ​ It’s notable that the Erasmus Medical Center, headed by Ron Fouchier, previously collaborated closely with the SEPRL to develop vaccines against H9 avian influenza viruses, indicating the two laboratories likely share virus samples. This raises the suspicion that the Erasmus lab shared a sample of the new clade with the USDA poultry lab in Athens sometime in 2021, and that it somehow got out of the lab and spread to waterfowl on the Atlantic flyway.​ https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/how-did-new-bird-flu-variant-get

    #161538
    John Day
    Participant

    @Oroboros: I never voted for Biden, and he seems not to actually have been elected, but here’s to “Vegetables”, anyway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDropFVIIZ0

    #161539
    zerosum
    Participant

    Trudeau is not making friends with Iran.
    Putin just made friends with North Korea.
    Putin is in Vietnam to make more friends.

    https://tass.com/politics/1804607
    Around 20 documents expected to be signed during Putin’s visit to Vietnam
    Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to Vietnam on June 19-20, the Kremlin press service said earlier
    MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. The Russian and Vietnamese delegations will sign about 20 documents during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hanoi, Aide to the President of Russia for Foreign Policy Yury Ushakov told reporters.

    “A bilateral joint statement will be adopted, which will confirm the principles of a comprehensive strategic partnership between our countries. Several documents on cooperation in various fields will also be signed. Around 20 documents are currently in the works,” he said.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to Vietnam on June 19-20, the Kremlin press service said earlier. “At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on June 19-20, 2024,” the Kremlin said

    The talks are expected to focus on developing relations between Moscow and Hanoi. “Hanoi will host meetings with General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, President To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man,” the press service informed. According to its data, plans are “to discuss the current state and prospects for further development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Vietnam in trade and economic, scientific, technological and humanitarian areas, as well as to exchange views on key issues on the international and regional agenda.”

    “Following the talks, a joint statement will be adopted and a number of bilateral documents will be signed,” the Kremlin went on to say. The Russian leader will arrive in Hanoi from North Korea, where he “will pay a friendly state visit” on June 18-19, it added. Also on Monday, the Russian president’s press service announced that Putin will be in the city of Yakutsk (Yakutia) on June 18, where he is scheduled to hold several meetings to discuss regional issues.

    Putin has been to Vietnam several times. In 2017 he took part in the Vietnam-hosted APEC summit, while in 2013 he paid an official visit to the country.

    The status of a state visit is the highest in diplomatic protocol. After assuming office as President of the Russian Federation for another term on May 7, Putin has already paid state visits to China and Uzbekistan.

    ————–

    #161540
    zerosum
    Participant

    Israel is not making friends

    Israeli army approves operative plans for offensive in Lebanon
    According to the IDF, the plans were approved by the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, MG Ori Gordin, and the Head of the Operations Directorate (J3), MG Oded Basiuk.
    —————-

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