Lawrence Alma-Tadema Women of Amphissa 1887
Caviezel
Jim Caviezel gives EMOTIONAL Interview as 'Sound of Freedom' BEATS Indiana Jones: “We are not Disney’s film, We are the people’s film. Can we love God’s children more than we fear evil.. that’s the challenge here.. Americans are up to it. God’s children are no longer for sale” pic.twitter.com/ecVrSfjVrZ
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 6, 2023
The Truth will put 99% in the hospital
They do far more than “traffic”…@reallycaviezel pic.twitter.com/RMJQDiMcYb
— The Punisher (@PunishDem1776) July 6, 2023
Meloni
This is Italy’s new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
I’ve never heard any politician so perfectly explain what we’re up against and why we fight.
When you watch this video, you’ll quickly realize why the establishment is afraid of her.
pic.twitter.com/CswR8o3mjg— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 26, 2022
Hunter prosecutors
https://twitter.com/i/status/1676957766920077314
Ugly stripper
https://twitter.com/i/status/1676957919169089537
Rogan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1676977672465809410
Tucker
HUGE: Capitol Police Chief told Tucker that J6 crowd was loaded w/federal agents
Fox fired Tucker before he could air the interview
The Biden regime doesn’t want the country to know the truth about J6
It was a highly coordinated federal operation
pic.twitter.com/RAuj9MUjgJ— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) July 7, 2023
Russell Brand inquires about Tucker Carlson's dismissal from FOX, to which Tucker responds that the War in Ukraine is a red line for a lot of people in business and politics:
"They are now supporting sending cluster bombs to the Ukraine. Ukraine is losing the war, obviously. And… pic.twitter.com/i59DwpDCY0
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 7, 2023
https://twitter.com/i/status/1677381223784538114
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
– Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
If there were any evidence of Russia using cluster munitions, it would be on every frontpage today.
• Ukraine – Biden Again Escalates (MoA)
The Washington Post says that the U.S. will now give cluster munition to Ukraine.” President Biden has approved the provision of U.S. cluster munitions for Ukraine, with drawdown of the weapons from Defense Department stocks due to be announced Friday.” The munition will be 155mm grenades, Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM), that can be fired by ‘western’ provided artillery. The decision, likely illegal, was made because the U.S. and its allies have run out of other 155mm munitions: The move, which will bypass U.S. law prohibiting the production, use or transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1 percent, comes amid concerns about Kyiv’s lagging counteroffensive against entrenched Russian troops and dwindling Western stocks of conventional artillery.
]It is accompanied by false statements that Russia has used such ammunition in Ukraine: “It follows months of internal administration debate over whether to supply the controversial munitions, which are banned by most countries in the world. Cluster weapons explode in the air over a target, releasing dozens to hundreds of smaller submunitions across a wide area. More than 120 countries have joined a convention banning their use as inhumane and indiscriminate, in large part because of high failure rates that litter the landscape with unexploded submunitions that endanger both friendly troops and civilians, often for decades after the end of a conflict. The United States, Ukraine and Russia — which is alleged to have used them extensively in Ukraine — are not parties to the convention. Eight of NATO’s 31 members, including the United States, have not ratified the convention.
It is well documented, by Human Rights Watch and others, that the Ukrainian military has used cluster munitions. There is nothing to support a claim that Russia has done so. The Pentagon has rejected claimed evidence of Russian cluster munition attacks: “Commenting on videos depicting alleged Russian cluster munition use, DOD officials stated during a March 1, 2022 press conference that “we’ve seen the same video that you have but we have not assessed that it is definitive with respect to the use of cluster munitions. So we are not in a position to confirm the use of cluster munitions at this time.” In a similar manner, a DOD official stated during March 3, 2022, press conference that DOD was still unable to confirm Russia’s use of cluster munitions.”
Psaki cluster
Press Secretary Psaki, on February 28, 2022, said, 'The use of cluster munitions is a war crime.' One and a half years later, Jake Sullivan, an advisor to American President Biden on national security, announced during a briefing at the White House their intention to supply… pic.twitter.com/WQpiKkhwB5
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) July 7, 2023
We have left the civilized world behind.
• US Giving Cluster Munitions To Ukraine In ‘Desperate Gesture’ – Envoy (TASS)
The US decided to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine out of despair, but the move won’t affect Russia’s determination to achieve the goals of its special military operation, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Friday. “Cluster munitions are a desperate gesture. This measure tells the story that the US and its satellites have realized they are powerless. However, they do not want to admit their own failures and the failure of the attempts of Ukrainian forces to conduct an offensive against Russian regions. Hence this latest madness on their part,” he said. The diplomat said he believes that by raising the stakes in the Ukrainian conflict, Washington is bringing humanity closer to a global conflict.
“The current level of American provocations is indeed off the charts, bringing humanity closer to a new world war. The United States is so obsessed with the idea of defeating Russia that it does not realize the gravity of its actions. They are only increasing the number of victims and prolonging the agony of the Kiev regime,” he went on to say. The ambassador stated that Washington turned a blind eye to civilian casualties, paid no regard to the concerns of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and shrugged of the objections from its allies.
“The cruelty and cynicism with which Washington has approached the issue of transferring lethal weapons to Kiev is astounding. The administration completely ignored experts, human rights activists, and lawmakers that voiced the theses that the move would be inhumane. It turned a blind eye to civilian casualties. Now there is a risk that the submunitions will be blowing up innocent civilians for many years ahead because of what the US is doing,” Antonov said. He said he believes that the funneling of Western weapons into Ukraine will not be able to affect Russia’s efforts to achieve the goals of its special military operation, “which aims to eradicate threats to the security of the Russian Federation, including Nazism that has been nurtured in Ukraine.”
Not even Baerbock wants to touch them.
Note: the article mentions 2 foreign ministers. There’s only 1: Baerbock. Pistorius is Defence Minister.
• Germany To Refrain From Sending Cluster Munitions To Ukraine (TASS)
Germany will continue to abide by the Convention on Cluster Munitions and refrain from sending the weapons to Kiev, Reuters quoted German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock as saying in Vienna on Friday. Her remark came a day after US officials said the Biden administration was planning to provide Ukraine with the munitions. “I have followed the media reports. For us, as a state party, the Oslo agreement applies,” Baerbock told reporters, when asked to comment on Washington’s plans regarding cluster munitions for Kiev. Germany’s top diplomat is taking part in the OSCE High-Level Conference on Climate Change being hosted by the OSCE secretary general in Vienna.
German Foreign Minister Boris Pistorius also opposed sending cluster munitions to Kiev at a news conference in Bern. “Germany has signed the convention, so it is no option for us. As for those countries that have not signed the convention – China, Russia, Ukraine and the US – it is not up to me to comment on their actions,” Reuters quoted Pistorius as saying. On Thursday, a number of Western media, including the New York Times, Reuters, and CNN, reported that a decision was made to send cluster munitions to Ukraine and that the announcement will be made on Friday, July 7. The Pentagon said later that the United States was poised to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions that pose the least threat to the civilian population.
When detonated, cluster munitions scatter dozens of small bomblets over a large area. If unexploded, these bomblets will present a threat to civilians for years to come. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed by 123 countries in the Norwegian capital in 2008 and took effect on August 1, 2010. By now, 110 countries have ratified it. In Europe, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine have not signed the document. According to Human Rights Watch, the real dud rate of cluster munitions is often way higher than formally declared by the military, potentially leading to numerous casualties among the civilian population.
“[They] can inflict immense damage to the civilian population years after a conflict..”
Uber weasel “Jens Stoltenberg said, however, that the military bloc does not have a specific position on the issue..”
• Austria Has ‘Clear Position’ On Cluster Munitions For Ukraine – FM (RT)
Vienna strongly opposes providing Kiev with cluster bombs, as they can cause suffering to civilians for many years after the fighting is over, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told journalists on Friday. Schallenberg’s comments come amid media reports about Washington’s alleged plans to greenlight such deliveries in the near future. “We have a clear position,” the minister said as he arrived at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Climate Conference. “These are the munition systems that are banned at an international level,” he added, comparing cluster munitions to anti-personnel mines. “Cluster bombs are still lying around for years [after a war has ended]. We have seen this in the Middle East. [They] can inflict immense damage to the civilian population years after a conflict,” Schallenberg said.
The Austrian minister also warned Western leaders about the message they would send to the world by supplying Kiev with such controversial armaments. “As the West, we must pay utmost attention to what signals we are sending,” he said. He added that support for Ukraine was necessary, but insisted it “must be correct support.” Western media reports have suggested in recent weeks that Washington is preparing to bolster the Ukrainian army’s firepower with cluster munitions from its vast Cold War-era arsenal. According to the various reports, some US officials believe it could help Kiev’s troops breach Russia’s defenses, as Ukraine’s much touted counteroffensive has so far failed to achieve any significant results. The Pentagon said on Friday that the US was considering providing Ukraine with bombs that have a lower dud rate – the proportion of bomblets that fail to initially explode. The potential decision was criticized by some Western human rights NGOs and even some of Washington’s allies.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) spoke against the possible delivery, warning that it would “inevitably cause long-term suffering for civilians.” On Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also expressed a negative attitude to the idea, saying that Germany is sticking to the Oslo agreements that banned cluster munitions. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, however, that the military bloc does not have a specific position on the issue precisely because its members have different opinions on the matter. Cluster bombs carry smaller explosive submunitions that are released in flight and scattered across a target area, and are typically used against personnel and lightly armored vehicles. They also tend to leave behind undetonated ‘duds’ that can remain in former conflict zones for decades. This prompted more than 110 nations, including many NATO members, to ban cluster bombs under a UN convention back in 2008.
They’ll just invent a narrative.
“..at least nominal success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive is so important for the US and NATO..”
• NATO Needs Ukraine Offensive To Succeed To Prove New Plans’ Viability (TASS)
NATO needs the Ukrainian offensive to succeed in order to confirm the viability of its new military plans, which will be presented to the alliance’s leaders during the July 11-12 summit in Vilnius and which will act as a basis for military spending planning, a representative of the Brussels military expert community told TASS Friday. “The Ukrainian counteroffensive uses the same equipment and tactics that the alliance’s military plans, prepared for the Vilnius summit, are based upon. For the first time since the Cold War, these plans prepare NATO for a large-scale military conflict in Europe instead of operations to extend power to remote regions via actions in limited theaters of war.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive, which started five weeks before the NATO summit, must tangibly prove the combat viability of the alliance’s military equipment and tactics in a real conflict with a most capable enemy,” the expert, who opted to remain anonymous, told TASS. “Should the offensive fail, the principles that lie in the foundation of the recently created military plans will be challenged.” The expert acknowledged that Kiev lacks “NATO’s main bargaining chip – powerful aviation and naval forces, which play a key role in the alliance’s military planning.” “However, in parallel to the Ukrainian offensive, Europe held the Air Defender 2023 exercise – the largest in the last 30 years – which involved up to 300 aircraft. They practiced large-scale air operations against a technologically developed enemy.
“Thus, NATO practiced the air component simultaneously with the Ukrainian counteroffensive, but in a training mode instead of a combat one,” the expert continued. According to the expert, a failure of the counteroffensive in Ukraine “will cause the participants of the NATO summit in Vilnius to understand that the recently developed military plans already require improvement, at least in their ground component.” Furthermore, “there are no guarantees that the air component, which was not tested in combat against an equal adversary, is just as far from being perfect.” According to the expert, this may lead to “a decline in NATO member states’ trust in the new ‘collective defense’ plans, developed by the alliance’s staffs.”
“That is why at least nominal success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive is so important for the US and NATO,” he underscored. “Of course, the [NATO] allies have no room to maneuver right now. Whatever doubts they may have, they are unable not to adopt the new military plans at the summit, because NATO currently has no alternative paths for development right now. Therefore, the consequences of a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive will be psychological rather than practical. It will create numerous small tension points during the negotiations about the specific parameters of military spending increases, the assortment and volumes of military procurement, the level of support to Kiev, and will escalate the competition between US and European military-industrial complexes for future defense orders,” the expert noted.
“Washington has reportedly been maneuvering for months “to lower Kiev’s expectations,” as it focused the conversation on “security guarantees, rather than a NATO expansion..”
• NATO Allies Still Discussing What To Offer Ukraine At Vilnius Summit – WaPo (TASS)
Members of the North Atlantic Alliance are still negotiating what exactly to offer Ukraine at their Vilnius summit on July 11-12, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing diplomats. According to the newspaper, officials in the United States and its NATO allies have described evolving proposals for bilateral or multilateral agreements as “mutual defense pacts or security memorandums.” Others at NATO question Ukraine’s readiness for membership, with Kiev still having a long way to tackle its “chronic problem with corruption.”
Washington has been maneuvering for months “to lower Kiev’s expectations,” as it focused the conversation on “security guarantees, rather than a NATO expansion, WaPo said. The Biden administration sought “to shift the debate toward long-term security pact” as an alternative to membership, with no NATO ally apparently being “willing to send its soldiers to fight in Ukraine,” the newspaper explained. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on June 7 that there is a process for the admission of any member, including Ukraine, to NATO and that the United States is not going to get ahead of that. The alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg has said that Ukraine joining NATO “in the midst of a war” is not on the agenda.
If “we” don’t do it, Russia will.
• Keep Ukraine Out Of NATO, US Experts Argue (RT)
Welcoming Ukraine into NATO would force the US to choose between nuclear war with Russia or abandoning its security commitments to Kiev, two American analysts claimed on Friday. “The security benefits to the United States of Ukrainian accession pale in comparison with the risks of bringing it into the alliance,” Justin Logan and Joshua Shifrinson of the libertarian Cato Institute wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine. If Ukraine were to join the alliance amid the ongoing hostilities, Logan and Shifrinson argued, the US and all of NATO’s European members would immediately be pulled into open war with Russia, with the potential for a nuclear exchange. However, even if the conflict were to be resolved, Ukraine and Russia will still have competing territorial claims, and a membership offer would risk reigniting the conflict, this time with NATO as a direct participant, they added.
“Under these circumstances, an American commitment to fight for Ukraine would be open to question,” they continued. If Ukraine were a NATO member and US policymakers chose not to intervene on its behalf, the bloc’s entire collective defense principle would be undermined, resulting in “a true credibility crisis for NATO.” Furthermore, with the US protected by its nuclear arsenal and the vast Atlantic Ocean, the two analysts argued that America faces no direct threat from Russia, while Ukraine – due to its geography – forms “a bulwark” between Western Europe and Russia “irrespective of NATO membership.” “American time, attention, and resources are needed elsewhere,” Logan and Shifrinson wrote, concluding that “the United States should accept that it is high time to close NATO’s door to Ukraine.” Since the 2008 Bucharest Declaration, NATO’s official policy is that Ukraine will become a member of the bloc at an unspecified future date.
Kiev, however, is unhappy with this non-commitment, with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reportedly threatening not to attend NATO’s upcoming summit in Lithuania unless the US-led bloc offers “concrete” security guarantees or a roadmap to full membership. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has already ruled out a membership offer at the Vilnius summit. French President Emmanuel Macron, however, has called on the alliance’s leaders to offer Kiev bilateral or multilateral security guarantees, as well as a “path” to full-fledged membership. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace and a number of Eastern European leaders have called for Ukraine to be fast-tracked into the bloc without the usual “membership action plan” that prospective members must complete. The White House, meanwhile, maintains that Ukraine “would have to make reforms to meet the same standards as any NATO country before they join.”
There is a bridge in Brooklyn.
• G7 Justice Ministers Agree To Help Fight Corruption In Ukraine (Az.)
Justice ministers from the Group of Seven nations have agreed to support anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine to push forward reconstruction work in the country, Report informs referring to NHK World-Japan. They met in Tokyo on July 7. This is the first stand-alone gathering of the G7 justice ministers in Japan. They condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the strongest terms. They agreed to work closely with Ukraine to hold Russia accountable for alleged war crimes, by supporting investigations and prosecution. The participants also discussed corruption in Ukraine. Cases include senior government officials being dismissed after they were accused of graft. Observers are afraid that the corruption could hamper rebuilding efforts in the country. The justice ministers decided to set up a Japan-led working group to analyze and propose what kind of anti-corruption measures would be effective.
“..cooperation between Moscow and Minsk undermines the security of the region and the entire Euro-Atlantic area..”
• Baltic, Polish Leaders Warn NATO Of Threats From Belarus (Az.)
Presidents Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania, Andrzej Duda of Poland and Egils Levits of Latvia have sent a joint letter to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and member states’ leaders to warn them of the threats posed by the developments in Belarus, Report informs via LRT. The three leaders say that cooperation between Moscow and Minsk undermines the security of the region and the entire Euro-Atlantic area, Nauseda’s office said in a press release on Friday. The presidents note that Russia has been using Belarus’ territory and its resources for its illegal and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, which shows increasingly closer military integration between the two countries.= “Its recent manifestation has been the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus. It presents an escalatory move in the context of the war in Ukraine and a direct threat to the security of our community,” the letter reads.
Methinks Zelensky’s been told off.
• IAEA Experts Find No Indications Of Mines At Zaporozhye NPP – Grossi (TASS)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts have checked a wider section of the perimeter of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant’s (ZNPP) cooling pond, finding no indications of mines and explosives, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Friday. “International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts have received additional access at the site of Ukraine’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), without – so far – observing any visible indications of mines or explosives,” the statement reads. According to Grossi, the experts were able “to check a wider section of the perimeter of the ZNPP’s large cooling pond than previously.” They also “visited the isolation gate separating the cooling pond from what remains of the Kakhovka reservoir.” In addition, the IAEA experts “went to the gate separating the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporozhye Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) from the reservoir.”
“So far, they have not seen any mines or explosives. But they still need more access, including to the rooftops of reactor units 3 and 4 and parts of the turbine halls. I remain hopeful that this access will be granted soon,” Grossi said.On July 5, IAEA experts requested additional access to the power plant’s facilities, which is necessary to confirm the absence of mines and explosives at the Zaporozhye NPP. Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky accused Russia of allegedly plotting a terrorist attack on the Zaporozhye NPP. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed Zelensky’s allegation as yet another lie. Renat Karchaa, advisor to the CEO of Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosenergoatom, said that the Ukrainian leader’s statement might be an indication that Kiev is preparing to attack the ZNPP in order to drag NATO further into the Ukrainian conflict.
“Rolling Stone’s coverage took the cakes..”
• How To Create a Fake News Cycle (Pierre Kory)
The report quoted a doctor claiming that patients overdosing on ivermectin were backing up rural hospitals. Supposedly people coming to the ER with serious injuries – even gunshot wounds – could not access care. The story was laundered through countless media outlets and blue checks, who were already skeptical of ivermectin because of its association with Trump and his supporters. In their eyes, a bunch of MAGA lunatics overdosing on “horse de-wormer” were killing grandma. Six days later, the hospital where the doctor worked confirmed that the story was a total fabrication. There were no ivermectin overdoses – none – and the doctor hadn’t worked at the hospital in more than two months.
This was easily the sloppiest and most brazen hit job the media pulled during the pandemic. But Rolling Stone’s coverage took the cakes. The outlet used a photo portraying people lined up outside wearing winter clothes – wrong season. As the saying goes, “A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on.” To this day, Rolling Stone still hasn’t taken the story down. It simply changed the headline and slapped on a disclaimer. The whole debacle presents a neat lesson in how to create a fake news cycle. It goes like this.
Step one: Identify a public tool, such as poison control centers, that are easy to manipulate. These organizations have a public hotline and email address that anyone can use to report a problem. The reports are logged as “adverse events,” but they are not easily confirmed and typically will be tabulated for public records whether or not they have been verified. This is exactly what happened with the Oklahoma story. The local poison control center was deluged with fake calls from people claiming they overdosed on ivermectin.
Step two: Deploy “independent,” seemingly credible voices to validate and embellish the false claims. Doctors are among the most trusted professionals, but having a medical degree doesn’t make you an honest broker. Many doctors struggle to earn a living practicing medicine, and sadly some – like the Oklahoma ER doc – will stoop to industry or political hit jobs if it pays the bills. And doctors willing to go on the record expressing concern about a health scare – ivermectin overdoses – are all a reporter needs for a juicy scoop.
Step three: Coordinate with institutional allies to add legitimacy – FDA, American Medical Association, and GAVI (The Vaccine Alliance) – to add credibility and fan the flames with outraged public statements and targeted ad buys. Reporters can pose questions to their representatives at televised briefings, which carried more significance during the pandemic.
Finally, step four: Activate the echo chamber in mainstream and social media. Twitter influencers who live and play in the Acela corridor can talk to each other in the green rooms of cable news studios and glitzy Beltway gatherings. They can pat each other on the back for exposing the crazies and conspiracy theorists.
“Joe Biden,” the personification of a failed state.”
• Father of Our Country (Jim Kunstler)
Consider for a moment, and be grateful for, how perfect “Joe Biden” is as president of this foundering republic. He and his family project the rectified essence of every depravity now driving the life of our nation to some murky bottom, where it may be forced to assess its sorry state, repent, and perhaps recover (or just give up and die). There he stands, without ambiguity or conscience: “Joe Biden,” the personification of a failed state. As a criminal enterprise, for instance, the Biden family influence-peddling operation among foreign powers reflects exactly the racketeering character of corporate America today — which is to say, making money dishonestly, and often for doing nothing. In America’s biggest industry, finance, this is absolutely the case.
You may have forgotten what finance is, and what it’s supposed to do: namely, to lend money for activities intended to produce things of value, useful things that people need and want, sometimes even public works that benefit everyone in society. American Finance now is in the business of receiving free money (loans at minimal interest) from government-chartered central banks (issuing “credit” from nowhere), that banks, hedge funds, private equity outfits, and sundry freebooters can roll into instruments such as interest-yielding bonds (loans back to government) and derivatives (algorithmic bets derived, abstracted from, and tuned to market movements) magically multiplying money that finally produces nothing of value — though it may translate into yacht purchases, alimony payments, luxury suites at ballparks, private Caribbean islands, and traffic in humans for use as sex toys.
The Biden business model also applies nicely to medicine and higher education, two endeavors saturated in prestige and pomp, like the doings in the White House, but which, similarly to that hotbed of policy and action, in the case of medicine, produces shocking amounts of unnecessary death (est. 251,000 a year from iatrogenic treatment errors), and in the case of higher ed, the production of specious and harmful Big Ideas — while both endeavors expand like turbo-tumors within the dying body of an expiring manufacturing economy.
As in the Biden model, dishonesty is now the keystone in both “Meds” and “Eds.” Our public health officialdom hasn’t stopped lying about the Covid-19 episode since it began, and in every aspect from the origin of the disease (if that’s even what it was), to the deaths statistically attributed to it, to everything about the “vaccines” cooked up to stop it. In turn, those officials coerced America’s doctors into withholding the best treatments (ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine) while applying deadly protocols (remdesivir plus intubation) guaranteed to kill hospital patients — which the government then rewarded with gargantuan bonus payments.
“Lukashenko proposed total integration of the SCO and BRICS ..”
The currency’s almost there.
• The SCO Welcomes A New ‘Global Globe’ (Pepe Escobar)
The 23rd summit of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), held virtually in New Delhi, represented History in the making: three BRICS (Russia, India, China), plus Pakistan and four Central Asian “stans” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan), finally and formally, welcomed the Islamic Republic of Iran as a permanent member. And next year will be Belarus’ turn, as confirmed by India’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Vinay Kvatra. Belarus and Mongolia took part in the 2023 summit as observers, and fiercely independent Turkmenistan, as a guest. After years of US “maximum pressure,” Tehran may now finally get rid of the sanctions dementia and solidify its leading role in the ongoing process of Eurasia integration.
Arguably, the star of the show in New Delhi was Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led his country since 1994. Old Man Luka, unbeatable in the headline-stealing department, especially after his mediator role in the Prighozin saga, may have coined the definitive slogan of multipolarity. Forget the western-termed “golden billion” which in fact barely reaches 100 million; embrace now the “Global Globe” – with a firm focus on the Global South. As the clincher, Lukashenko proposed total integration of the SCO and BRICS – which in their upcoming summit in South Africa will be heading the BRICS+ way. And it goes without saying, this integration also applies to the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). The next step for the “Global Globe” – what the collective west dismissively qualifies as “the rest” – is to work on the complex coordination of several development banks and then the process to issue bonds linked to a new trading currency.
The main ideas and the basic template already exist. The new bonds will be a real safe heaven compared to the US dollar and US Treasuries, and will imply accelerated de-dollarization. Capital used to purchase those bonds should be used to finance trade and sustainable development, in what will be a certified, Chinese-style “win-win.” The SCO declaration made it clear that the expanding multilateral body is “not directed against other states and international organizations.” On the contrary, it is “open to broad cooperation with them in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the SCO Charter and international law, based on consideration of mutual interests.” The heart of the matter is of course the drive towards a fair multipolar world order – the polar opposite of the Hegemon-imposed “rules-based international order.” And the three key nodes are mutual security; trade in local currencies, and eventually, de-dollarization.
BRICS currency
https://twitter.com/i/status/1677477551579492352
“This comes one day after the DOJ asked a final time to block Mr. Trump from being deposed..”
• Judge Says Trump Can Be Deposed in Former FBI Agent Peter Strzok Lawsuit (ET)
Former President Donald Trump can be deposed in a lawsuit filed by former FBI agent Peter Strzok against the Department of Justice (DOJ), a federal judge ordered on Friday. Mr. Strzok’s lawsuit alleges wrongful termination following the debunked Russia collusion investigation and claims that he was fired at Mr. Trump’s direction. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, agreed with the request to depose Mr. Trump in a brief order on July 6. This comes one day after the DOJ asked a final time to block Mr. Trump from being deposed.
“Given the limited nature of the deposition that has been ordered, and the fact that the former President’s schedule appears to be able to accommodate other civil litigation that he has initiated, the outcome of the balancing required by the apex doctrine remains the same for all of the reasons previously stated,” Ms. Jackson wrote in her brief order. Under the “apex doctrine” in U.S. law, high-ranking government officials, such as the president, enjoy a degree of immunity from being compelled to provide testimony or evidence in legal proceedings. In May, Ms. Jackson ordered a stay on the deposition of Mr. Trump until FBI Director Christopher Wray was deposed in the lawsuit. DOJ lawyers previously argued that Mr. Wray, a lower-ranked official, should be deposed first as any evidence that he provided could mean that Mr. Trump would not have to testify.
Mr. Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who is also suing the DOJ and FBI, played key roles in the FBI Crossfire Hurricane investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Mr. Strzok also played a role in the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to send classified information. Mr. Strzok reportedly changed key language in the conclusion of the Clinton email investigation from “grossly negligent,” which would have been a crime, to “extremely careless,” which may have exonerated Ms. Clinton. Special counsel Robert Mueller fired Mr. Strzok in 2018 after around 10,000 text messages between Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page were discovered.
The messages sent between 2015 and 2016 revealed the pair expressed strong anti-Trump bias in critical comments about Mr. Trump and his supporters as the two were working on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The messages also exposed an alleged affair between the two. The FBI special counsel probe ultimately concluded that the Trump campaign did not collude with the Russian government to get elected. However, corporate media outlets aired several unfounded claims about Mr. Trump that came from what appeared to be anonymous sources within the FBI and DOJ. The DOJ had argued that there was no evidence Mr. Strzok was fired at Mr. Trump’s direction, contending that his deposition “is not appropriate.”
“Twitter will seek “both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta..”
• Musk’s Twitter Tells Zuckerberg’s Threads To ‘Cease And Desist’ (SN)
Twitter has sent a cease and desist letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg warning that legal action will be taken in light of theft of protected intellectual property and trade secrets by Meta’s new Twitter clone Threads. Elon Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro delivered the letter which accuses Meta of “systematic, willful and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.” “Over the past year, Meta has hired dozens of former Twitter employees,” the letter continued, adding “Twitter knows that these employees previously worked at Twitter; that these employees had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information; that these employees owe ongoing obligations to Twitter; and that many of these employees have improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices.”
“With that knowledge, Meta deliberately assigned these employees to develop, in a matter of months, Meta’s copycat ‘Threads’ app with the specific intent that they use Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property in order to accelerate the development of Meta’s competing app, in violation of both state and federal law as well as those employees’ ongoing obligations to Twitter,” the letter further asserts. Twitter “intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information.” Twitter will seek “both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta,” the letter futher notes.
“Please consider this letter a formal notice that Meta must preserve any documents that could be relevant to a dispute between Twitter, Meta, and/or former Twitter employees who now work for Meta,” the letter also states, adding “That includes, but is not limited to, all documents related to the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding of these former Twitter employees, the development of Meta’s competing Threads app, and any communications between these former Twitter employees and any agent, representative, or employee or Meta.” Musk tweeted that “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”
Swimmer
https://twitter.com/i/status/1676969690864943107
Big Elephant
This is the biggest elephant I've seen in my life. Imagine drinking a bucket of water in only 4 seconds! pic.twitter.com/j0aJ3iJ0eH
— B&S (@_B___S) July 7, 2023
Friendship
https://twitter.com/i/status/1677140775115554822
Support the Automatic Earth in virustime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.
