Peter Stackpole Sophia Loren in a Manhattan Coffee, NYC 1958
This goes fast!
Twitter/X videos don’t embed properly. Hope that is temporary.
PA mail-in
⚠️ALERT⚠️
They are telegraphing their plan to steal PA!
60 Minutes takes us inside a Philadelphia voting center, where election officials claim it takes 4 days to count mail-in ballots, because they have to take them out the envelope… and unfold it…
They think we are stupid.… pic.twitter.com/tACfDmwCoO
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) October 14, 2024
O’Keefe
WATCH: Pedro Rodriguez, Executive Director at "La Jornada" in Queens, NY has a complete meltdown on camera when questioned by James O’Keefe about his operation that provides a residential address to illegal immigrants who pay him.
See the entire investigation and full encounter… pic.twitter.com/asKm34zw5L
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) October 14, 2024
Youngkin
“STUNNING” — Gov Glenn Youngkin schools Jake Tapper on DOJ attempts to stop Virginia from REMOVING NON-CITIZENS from its voter rolls.
Youngkin breaks it down very succinctly here:
"Do you think that non-citizens, when they've self-identified as a non-citizen, should stay on… pic.twitter.com/unv1e1Vw4U
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 14, 2024
“We’ll have a new position: secretary of cost-cutting. Elon wants to do that..”
• Trump Promises Government Position For Musk (RT)
Former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump has promised to create a new office specifically for SpaceX and Tesla boss Elon Musk should he win the November election. The presidential hopeful made the remarks as he appeared on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. Trump praised the billionaire as a “great business guy” and a “great cost-cutter,” floating a possible White House role for him. “You think of him for science and rockets and every time he’s telling me about a new screw that was developed. He’s developed a new screw. Screws are difficult and it’s made out of titanium and it’s so exciting,” Trump stated. “We’ll have a new position: secretary of cost-cutting. Elon wants to do that, and we have incredible people. He’s running a big business,” he added, claiming Musk has already shown interest in taking such a role.
Trump also spoke about Musk’s ambitious space plans, stating the latter had promised him to “get to Mars before the end of my administration, which will be long before, hopefully, China or Russia.” Musk has long been an open backer of Trump and has repeatedly made bold statements in support of the Republican. Earlier this month, he made a surprise appearance at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, calling the November vote “the most important election of our lifetime” and claiming the opposing side “wants to take away your freedom of speech.” Separately, Musk attacked those fellow billionaires who are backing Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, suggesting they were “terrified” of a potential Trump victory given that many of them were likely on the Jeffrey Epstein client list. Trump suggested that Epstein’s “black book” could be made public if he wins the election.
SpaceX is what Boeing and NASA once were.
• California Gov’t Blocks New Musk Rocket Launches, Citing Trump Support (JTN)
The California government denied an Air Force request to allow Elon Musk’s SpaceX to increase its California rocket launches, citing Musk’s politics. The Department of Defense and a large bipartisan coalition of lawmakers endorsed the launch expansion, with some center-left housing activists attacking the vote as no different than the California Coastal Commission’s consistent denial of housing. The Air Force and Space Force had requested that the California Coastal Commission allow SpaceX to increase its annual permitted launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara from 36 to 50. “Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” said Commissioner Gretchen Newsom at the meeting. “I really appreciate the work of the Space Force,” said Commission Chair Caryl Hart at the meeting.
“But here we’re dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race and he’s managed a company in a way that was just described by Commissioner Newsom that I find to be very disturbing.” The bipartisan Congressional coalition signing a letter of support included a wide range of members of Congress, from leading Democrats Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, and Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, to Republicans Michelle Steel, R-Fountain Valley, and Darrel Issa, R-San Diego. Creating a reason beyond political considerations, Commissioner Dayne Bocho said, “I do believe that the Space Force has failed to establish that SpaceX is a part of the federal government, part of our defense.” NASA currently does not have any of its own active vehicles for transporting goods or humans to space, and must rely either on Russia, or on American commercial partners such as SpaceX, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Boeing’s Starliner was sent to space in June for its first manned mission to the International Space Station. The eight day mission has now turned into an eight month mission due to the Starliner capsule being deemed unsafe to bring the astronauts home; soon thereafter, one Russian Soyuz capsule went to the station, after which NASA sent up a SpaceX Dragon capsule to carry back the stranded astronauts. Boeing, which has outsourced (and significantly offshored) 70% of its design, engineering, and manufacturing, has lost $33 billion over the past five years following reliability concerns and two fatal crashes of its new, best-selling 737 Max 8 plane due to design, maintenance, and training-related issues. As noted by conservative leaders, Musk cited the state’s policies — specifically its new rule banning parental notification for gender change requests from K-12 students — for his official relocation of X, formerly known as Twitter, and SpaceX to Texas.
“First Newsom drove SpaceX to move its headquarters out of California,” said Congressman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, on X. “Now, his Coastal Commission is denying their launch plan because the commissioners don’t like Elon’s political posts.” First Amendment advocates wondered how it was legal to consider Musk’s legally protected political speech in its regulatory actions. “While the commission can consider the nature of SpaceX’s activities and their environmental impact, the First Amendment forbids government agencies from leveraging regulatory power to stifle protected speech,” said the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a pro-First Amendment legal nonprofit, in a statement. “That was true when Florida’s government punished Disney for opposing Gov. Ron DeSantis’s education policies, it was true when a New York agency leaned on insurance companies to cut ties with the NRA because of its political advocacy, and it’s true here.”
“If I’m friendly with people, if I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing..”
• Staying In Touch With Putin Would Be ‘Smart’ – Trump (RT)
Former US President Donald Trump has refused to confirm or deny contacting Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office in 2021, but said that doing so would have been “a smart thing.” Trump has repeatedly vowed to use his “great relationship” with Putin to end the Ukraine conflict if he is elected next month. American journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book, ‘War’, which was published this week, claims that Trump secretly spoke to Putin seven times since leaving office in 2021, and sent Russia Covid-19 testing equipment in 2020, while he was still president. Trump’s campaign initially declared that “none of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true,” but in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on Tuesday, the former president struck a more ambiguous tone.
“I don’t comment on that, but I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing,” Trump told Mickelthwait. “If I’m friendly with people, if I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of a country…he’s got 2,000 nuclear weapons and so do we.” Trump maintains that the Ukraine conflict never would have begun if he had won the 2020 election, and that President Joe Biden’s “stupid words” antagonized Putin into launching his offensive in February 2022. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ promise of open-ended support for Ukraine risks dragging the US into “World War III,” he has repeatedly declared. After meeting Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last month, Trump boasted that he had a “very good relationship” with both Zelensky and Putin and promised to “get [the Ukraine conflict] resolved very quickly” if he wins November’s election.
According to his running mate, J.D. Vance, Trump would likely start talks with Russia, Ukraine, and European stakeholders to establish a demilitarized zone along the current front line, with Ukraine agreeing to stay out of NATO The Kremlin has cast doubt on Trump’s promises of peace, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggesting that he does not “think there is a magic wand” that can stop the fighting overnight. Peskov confirmed last week that Trump did indeed send Covid-19 tests to Russia in 2020.. “But about the phone calls – it’s not true,” he added.
“They already had great cooperation during Trump’s presidential term. Since then, they have maintained this relationship..”
• Hungary Publicly Backs Trump (RT)
A victory for Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election would be the best outcome for Hungary, the country’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday. Budapest will respect the choice of US voters regardless, he added. Szijjarto had previously said US-Hungarian relations were strongest when Trump was in the White House and that Trump’s reelection would improve the chances of securing peace in the world. “We are very proud of the fact that President Trump usually refers to his friendly relationship with [Hungarian] Prime Minister [Viktor] Orban,” Szijjarto said. “The two of them enjoy a great relationship both on a personal and professional basis. They already had great cooperation during Trump’s presidential term. Since then, they have maintained this relationship,” he revealed.
The Hungarian foreign minister went on to say: “If I look at the US elections from the Hungarian angle … it would be much better for us if Trump were elected by the Americans. “On the other hand, I would like to stress that, since we are not American citizens, we always respect the results of the elections in the United States, regardless of the outcome. We try to build the best relationship because this shows respect for the will of the American people,” Szijjarto concluded. Orban and Trump established close relations during the latter’s presidency, and the Hungarian leader has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Republican’s current campaign, saying earlier this month that he would “open several bottles of champagne” if Trump were elected. Both have also advocated for a swift diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, and Orban has said on more than one occasion that there would be a greater chance of reaching a peace deal if Trump were to win.
Meanwhile, Szijjarto had earlier denounced the US Democratic Party’s nominee Kamala Harris over her comments regarding the Hungarian prime minister. Last week, during an appearance with Stephen Collbert on CBS News, Harris was asked about Trump’s relationship with world leaders, including Orban, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In response, the US vice president described them as “dictators, autocrats, and people who could rightly be called killers.” Szijjarto said later: “This is outrageous. It’s unacceptable to speak about my prime minister in such a manner. It shows a complete lack of respect for him and the Hungarian people.” He also suggested that such words were “definitely not the best start” for any future relations. The latest polls show the Democratic and Republican nominees locked in a dead heat with less than a month to go. Election day is November 5, although early voting by mail has already started in some states.
He knows too much.
• Fani Willis Tries To Block Nathan Wade From Testifying To Congress (JTN)
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is seeking to block former special prosecutor Nathan Wade from testifying before Congress, arguing he might “improperly divulge confidential information.” In a letter released Monday to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., the Georgia attorney said that Wade’s testimony could violate protected privileges that are upheld by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office. “I am concerned that your demand for Mr. Wade’s testimony would force him to improperly divulge confidential information that is protected by privileges held by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and demands that Mr. Wade violates State Bar of Georgia rules that govern conduct of attorneys,” the letter reads. Republicans reacted angrily, suggesting a coverup. “What is she trying to hide,” the committee’s GOP majority asked on its official X account.
The letter was written on Oct. 11 and the House Judiciary Committee released it on the social media platform, X on Monday. A GOP-led U.S. House panel subpoenaed Wade as part of an investigation into his romantic relationship with Willis. Last year Willis indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants over their efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in Georgia. A Trump co-defendant tried to have Willis removed upon learning she and Wade, whom she appointed as special prosecutor in the case, had a romantic relationship. Among the arguments was that Willis financially benefited from the deal, considering, in part, Wade was paying for them to take romantic vacations together out of the funds he was paid in the case. Willis requested in the letter to Jordan that he retract his request for Wade to testify.
“..Now the public is being asked to vote for the most anti-free speech ticket in centuries..”
• Walzing Around Free Speech (Turley)
On Sunday, Walz’s dance partner was Fox News host Shannon Bream, who seemed to be fighting vertigo as the candidate tried to deflect his shocking prior statements on free speech. Bream asked Walz about his prior declaration that there is “no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech”— a statement that runs counter to decades of Supreme Court decisions. Walz notably did not deny or retract his statement. Instead, his interview ironically became itself a flagrant example of misinformation. First of all, misinformation and hate speech are not exceptions to the First Amendment: Whether it is the cross burnings of infamous figures like KKK leader Clarence Brandenburg or the Nazis who marched in Skokie, Ill., hate speech is protected. Yet both Harris and Walz are true believers in the righteousness of censorship for disinformation, misinformation and malinformation.
The Biden administration defines misinformation as “false, but not created or shared with the intention of causing harm” — meaning it would subject you to censorship even if you are not intending harm. It defines malinformation as “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.” So you can post “true facts,” but would still be subject to censorship if you are viewed as misleading others with your pesky truth-telling. Furthermore, “book bans” are not equivalent to the Harris-Walz censorship policies. After years of supporting censorship and blacklisting, Democrats are attempting to deflect questions by claiming that the GOP is the greater threat. “We’re seeing censorship coming in the form of book bannings in different places,” Walz told Bream. “We’re seeing attempts in schools.” First, a reality check: The Biden-Harris administration has helped fund and actively support the largest censorship system in our history, a system described by one federal court as “Orwellian.”
These are actual and unrelenting efforts to target individuals and groups for opposing views on subjects ranging from gender identity to climate change to COVID to election fraud. While Walz and others rarely specifically reference the book bans in question, Florida is one state whose laws concern age limits on access to graphic or sexual material in schools. School districts have always been given wide latitude in making such decisions on curriculum or library policies. Indeed, while rarely mentioned by the media, the left has demanded the banning or alteration of a number of classic books, including “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Of Mice and Men,” under diversity or equity rationales. I have long opposed actual book bans perpetrated by both the left and the right. However, school districts have always made such access and curriculum decisions. Finally, Walz and others often sell censorship by citing the dangers of child pornography or of threats made against individuals.
Walz on Sunday followed Hillary Clinton’s recent pro-censorship campaign as he employed such misdirection. “The issue on this was the hate speech and the protected hate speech — speech that’s aimed at creating violence, speech that’s aimed at threats to individuals,” he claimed. “That’s what we’re talking about in this.” First, he’d said there is no protected hate speech. Second, the law already provides ample protections against threats toward individuals. What’s most striking is that, after years of unapologetically embracing censorship (often under the Orwellian term “content moderation”), the left does not seem to want to discuss it in this election. Democrats in Congress opposed every major effort to investigate the role of the Biden administration in the social-media censorship system it constructed. Many denied any such connection. Elon Musk ended much of that debate with the release of the Twitter Files showing thousands of emails from the administration targeting individuals and groups with opposing views.
Now the public is being asked to vote for the most anti-free speech ticket in centuries — but neither Harris nor Walz want to talk about it in any detail. The result may be the largest bait-and-switch in history.
“He called on Europeans to prevent their continent from “sliding into the darkness of neo-Nazism.”
• Zelensky Wants West To Fight Russia – Exiled Ukrainian Opposition Leader (RT)
Parts of Europe could be turned into “a concentration camp” as Kiev tries to provoke a war between the West and Russia, exiled Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk has warned. Writing in an article for the Other Ukraine news outlet on Monday, Medvedchuk suggested that the primary goal of Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called ‘victory plan’ – which he has been touting to Kiev’s foreign backers – is to push the collective West “into a war with Russia under the leadership of Ukraine and Zelensky personally.” Pointing to how some officials in Kiev have already hailed Ukraine as “the most democratic country in Europe,” claiming it would be “at the top of the EU member states” if it joins the bloc, Medvedchuk suggested that citizens in some European countries could soon be compelled into military service, similarly to how this is enforced in Ukraine.
“Why should men be caught on the streets for war with Russia only in Ukraine? Everything is moving towards the fact that such a ‘festival of democracy’ will be held throughout Europe, and the Ukrainian Territorial Recruitment Office (TCC) will teach this to their European subordinates,” Medvedchuk wrote. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already suggested that the EU should prepare for war with Russia, he added. Medvedchuk suggested that “Zelensky’s advanced methods” could be used to increase taxes on the population in some European countries in order to fund the military. EU officials could also follow Kiev in banning certain nationalities, religions, and cultures, he warned. “Some may think this is nonsense and an inappropriate joke, but we should remember history,” Medvedchuk said.
“Not long ago, people were burned alive in Europe for the ‘wrong’ nationality and ‘wrong’ political views,” he added, recalling that many Nazi death camps during World War II were guarded by ethnic Ukrainians, who had become “part of the punitive system in Europe.” “Today, it is not Russia, but Nazi Ukraine that dreams of being the gendarme of Europe. And this is a very real scenario, since the process of turning Europe into a concentration camp has been launched,” Medvedchuk claimed. He called on Europeans to prevent their continent from “sliding into the darkness of neo-Nazism.” Medvedchuk was leader of the Opposition Platform – For Life party, formerly the second-largest group in the Ukrainian parliament, until his arrest in April 2022. The party was banned three months later, and Medvedchuk was sent to Russia in exchange for several Ukrainian POWs in September. Since then, he has headed the Other Ukraine movement and acts as chairman of its council.
“..the units that they considered to be the most unassailable and elite, they are also beginning to slowly lean toward surrendering, as they want to stay alive..”
• ‘Elite’ Ukrainian Troops Surrender In Kursk Region – Chechen Commander (RT)
Many members of the ‘elite’ Ukrainian units that invaded Russia’s Kursk Region often surrender because they are no longer able to fight and want to stay alive, Major-General Apty Alaudinov, the commander of the Akhmat Special Forces from Russia’s Chechen Republic, has said. In an interview with Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov on Tuesday, Alaudinov rejected Kiev’s claims that Russian soldiers executed nine Ukrainian service members in Kursk Region, many of whom were drone operators. The general dismissed the claim as a psyop, arguing that Ukraine “needs to create fake news to discourage its military from surrendering,” as many of its soldiers “openly say they can fight no more.” Despite these efforts, he added, Ukrainian soldiers “often decide to surrender anyway.”
“What’s interesting is that the units that they considered to be the most unassailable and elite, they are also beginning to slowly lean toward surrendering, as they want to stay alive,” he said. According to Alaudinov, Russia is ready to spare even those who serve in the Aidar Battalion or Azov units, which have been accused of having neo-Nazi sympathies, if they lay down their arms. The general uploaded a video earlier in the day featuring a soldier claiming to be a Ukrainian serviceman who once served in the Aidar Battalion. Standing against a backdrop of Russian and Chechen flags, he said he surrendered voluntarily and asked Alaudinov for help in obtaining Russian citizenship and joining the Ahmat Special Forces.
Several Western media outlets have reported that the Ukrainian military is struggling with exhaustion, low morale, and desertion, with many of the reinforcements arriving at the front suffering from inadequate training, a factor which only exacerbates the above-mentioned issues. Ukraine launched a large-scale incursion into Kursk Region in early August, reportedly committing some of its best troops to the offensive. While they initially made some progress, the incursion forces were halted and later pushed back, according to Moscow. Ukraine has lost more than 23,000 troops since the start of the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported.
“The Democrats don’t want the US fighting in behalf of Greater Israel prior to the November election, and Putin doesn’t want war prior to the BRICS meeting.”
• The Road to War (Paul Craig Roberts)
The Third Reich is universally demonized, but it was nevertheless far more representative of the German people than the present German government. The present day German government represents the immigrant-invaders. Hitler represented the German people. He rescued them from the unfair burden of the Versailles reparations. He cured inflation and put Germans back to work. He gave them transportation–“the peoples car” — Volkswagen. As David Irving has documented in his histories, Churchill’s War and Hitler’s War, Hitler was forced into war by the British and French. The British gave an unenforceable “guarantee” to the Polish military dictatorship that resulted in Poland refusing to return to Germany the German populations torn from Germany by the Versailles Treaty. Blocked from rescuing Germans via diplomacy from Polish persecution, Germany made an agreement with the Soviet Union to divide Poland in half. Hitler struck first and the Soviet Union soon followed, but the British and French only declared war on Germany.
That is how WWII started. It started when the British and French governments declared war on Germany. Hitler had made it perfectly clear that he did not intend or want war with England and France. Once the British and French governments started the war, it only took Hitler a few weeks to destroy their military forces. Hitler offered England amazing peace terms, including the protection of the British Empire by German forces. Churchill hid the peace terms from his cabinet and ordered the fire-bombing of German cities, a war crime. We are experiencing the same thing in Ukraine today. Washington engineered a coup and overthrew the Ukrainian government and installed a puppet. The puppet began oppressing the Russian areas in Eastern and Southern Ukraine that were attached to Ukraine by Soviet leaders for administrative and political reasons. Ukraine would not stop the persecution and artillery bombardment of the Russian populations and forced Russia to intervene.
Washington and its NATO puppets quickly widened the war, which was headed into WW III until, apparently, Washington backed away from the threat of sending long range missiles into Russia herself. We don’t know for sure, but that seems to be the case. No sooner than we are, hopefully, spared this avenue into war than we find ourselves on another road to war: an Israeli/US attack on Iran. Washington keeps sending more forces allegedly to “protect Israel,” but realistically to support an attack on Iran. Iran is the target, because Iran is in the way of Greater Israel. Not long ago Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, held up a map of Greater Israel–from the Nile to the Euphrates. Just the other day the Zionist Israeli Finance Minister enlarged Greater Israel. It now includes Saudi Arabia.
The purpose of neoconservative Washington’s “wars against terrorism” in the Middle east–Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria until Russia blocked Obama’s attack on Syria–was to end the flow of arms and money to the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon. Israel coveting the water resources, the Litani River, twice invaded Lebanon intending to occupy the area. Twice a third world militia–Hezbollah–drove the vaunted Israeli Army out. Ever since the Israeli’s have been scheming to have Americans do the job for them by attacking Iran. If Iran can be destroyed, Hezbollah will be without arms and money, and Zionist Israel can expand. This is what the Middle East situation is about. Christian gentiles and Muslims have to die so that Israel can expand. The Muslims will die, because they are disunited and have been for many centuries, thus pissing away their power. The gentiles will die because they have been made guilty by the Holocaust narrative.
“Christian” evangelicals, who are not Christian in any sense, think that it is God’s will for Americans to die for Israel. This is the level of intelligence in the Western world. Putin’s lack of force is one reason we are facing the risk of nuclear Armageddon. Putin let the conflict in Ukraine widen to the point that his back was to the wall, and he had to say “missiles sent into Mother Russia means the US and NATO are at war with Russia.” Both the outgoing and incoming NATO Secretary Generals said, “There is no reason to believe Putin. He never does anything.” Obviously, these statements reveal that the West is not convinced that Russia will fight, no matter what insults and provocations are heaped upon Putin and Russia.
In the Middle East, after showing proactive leadership and preventing Obama’s Invasion of Syria, Putin again became reactive, leaving all initiative in the hands of Israel and Washington. Consequently, the lack of Russian, Chinese, and Iranian leadership has resulted in the same war conditions arising in the Middle East. For reasons difficult to understand, Russia, China, and Iran have not announced a mutual defense treaty. Such a treaty would immediately end the conflict in the Middle East. Both Israel and Washington are insane, but they still realize that they have zero chance of surviving a conflict with Russia, China, and Iran. So, where is this treaty than can stop World War III? The Democrats don’t want the US fighting in behalf of Greater Israel prior to the November election, and Putin doesn’t want war prior to the BRICS meeting. Therefore, the can will be kicked down the road. But the issue is far from resolved.
“The BRICS currency is very far along in establishing itself as a viable payment currency.”
• This Will Destroy the Dollar (Jim Rickards)
The subject of a BRICS currency is confusing to most observers and is a fraught topic even for many experts. We’ll call the potential currency a BRIC for convenience although no formal name has been announced. The starting point is to distinguish between a payment currency and a reserve currency. A payment currency is used to settle purchases and sales of tradable goods and services. A reserve currency is the denomination of the currency in which national savings are invested, typically in U.S. Treasury securities or gold. Some currencies perform both functions as reserve and payment currencies especially U.S. dollars and euros. A finance minister or central banker can move from one to the other; currencies earned can be invested as reserves or reserves can be sold to finance purchases. Still, it’s important to bear the distinction in mind when evaluating the use case for each currency, especially BRICs. Put differently, a flaw or deficiency in one usage does not preclude the other.
The BRICS currency is very far along in establishing itself as a viable payment currency. The prerequisites are: agreed-upon value (which can be fixed to another currency, floating or pegged to a weight of gold), secure payments channels (basically high-speed, encrypted digital pipes for authenticated message traffic), digital ledgers and an agreed issuer (the NDB based in Shanghai may be suitable for this purpose but another institution could be created). The single most important element is a sufficiently large membership in the BRICS currency union such that a recipient of BRICS payments can use them for purchases in many jurisdictions for many goods and services. This last point is where most alternative currency payments arrangements fall down. Russia can sell oil to China for yuan (which they are currently doing) but they are constrained in terms of where they can spend the yuan (basically limited to Chinese manufactured goods and semiconductors).
The same issue arises when Russia sells oil to India (for rupees) or weapons to Iran (for rials). The seller is limited in terms of what they can buy with the trading partner’s currency. This constraint goes away in a currency union with 15 or 20 members or more. If Russia earns BRICs from China, they can buy Embraer aircraft from Brazil or semiconductors from Malaysia. For that matter, use of a payment currency in a multimember currency union is not limited to members. With access to the payment channels, non-members can nevertheless agree to receive the BRICS currency in payment confident in their ability to spend it among the other BRICS members who are trading partners. The proof of this is the eurozone, which is currently a 20-member currency union with a single central bank and worldwide acceptance of the euro. Moving from a payment currency to a reserve currency is more difficult. The prerequisite here is a large, liquid bond market.
That bond market has to be surrounded by extensive transactional and legal infrastructure including: securities at all maturities (30 days to 30 years), an underwriting system (primary dealers in the U.S.), an auction system for sales of new issues, a repo market to finance inventories, futures, options, other derivatives (swaps), settlement channels, custodians (DTCC, others), etc. Above all, holders need a good rule of law regime on which to rely in the case of disputes or defaults. All of these elements exist in the reserve currency bond market nonpareil — the U.S. Treasury securities market. None of it exists in the form of a putative BRICS bond market. It would likely take 10 years or longer to create reserve currency infrastructure with the biggest single impediment being the rule of law. That said, there are several interesting developments taking place. The first is that the U.S. is squandering its rule of law advantage with sanctions on Russia, the freezing of the assets of the Central Bank of Russia and efforts to actually steal those assets and convert them into a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using structured finance.
“..has had to make significant and highly expensive amendments to our fleet programs as a result of Boeing’s multiple contractual shortfalls..”
• Emirates Flags ‘Serious Talks’ With Boeing (RT)
The president of Emirates, one of the world’s largest international airlines, has said the carrier will have “serious conversations” with Boeing after the US manufacturing giant announced that its 777X model will be further delayed. Boeing confirmed last week that the first delivery of its widebody aircraft will be postponed to 2026, nearly six years after the 777X aircraft was due to reach customers. Commenting on the delay, Emirates president Tim Clark stated on Monday that the airline “has had to make significant and highly expensive amendments to our fleet programs as a result of Boeing’s multiple contractual shortfalls, and we will be having a serious conversation with them over the next couple of months.” The United Arab Emirates flagship carrier is also one of Boeing’s largest widebody customers, with an outstanding order for 150 aircraft.
The first 777Xs were originally scheduled for delivery in 2021, but the company has repeatedly pushed back the launch date. In August, the manufacturer suspended 777X flight tests after discovering cracks in a critical component connecting engines to wings. The delivery delay comes as the company grapples with certification hurdles and labor strikes involving nearly 33,000 of its US workers. The ongoing strikes have undercut the production of Boeing’s best-selling planes such as the 737 MAX, 777 and 767, and halted its 777X test program. Last week, Boeing also announced plans to cut 17,000 jobs over the coming months, representing nearly 10% of its workforce, as the aerospace giant’s losses continue to mount.
Clark expressed frustration over revised timelines for 777X deliveries, which have been shared by other airline executives awaiting supplies amid strong travel demand. “Given the Type Inspection Authorization halt on the 777X with no clear timeline for the restart, coupled with strikes entering a fourth week, I fail to see how Boeing can make any meaningful forecasts of delivery dates,” he stated. Emirates has had to launch a $3 billion retrofit program to include 191 aircraft to accommodate the postponement. The program involves upgrading the carrier’s existing fleet of Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft, installing next-generation seating and overhauling the interiors to extend their operations. With extended delays, the airline has been forced to extend the lifespans of existing jets, increasing aircraft maintenance costs.
“A large gap remains between Republicans and Democrats, with only 12% of the former expressing trust in media reporting against 54% of the latter.”
• Trust in US News Media Hits Record Low – Gallup (RT)
Less than a third of Americans trust US news media, a record low figure, according to a new Gallup poll published Monday. This year’s poll showed a 1 percentage point drop of Americans who believe the media reports the news fully and accurately from last year. The trend has been on a downward trajectory since 2018. For the third consecutive year, the number of Americans who claim to completely distrust the media remained higher than those who trust it. The new poll, however, demonstrated a slight drop, with 36% of respondents expressing complete distrust versus 39% in 2023. Meanwhile, those having “not very much” confidence in the media grew to reach 33% this year. A large gap remains between Republicans and Democrats, with only 12% of the former expressing trust in media reporting against 54% of the latter.
However, the partisan gap has actually been narrowing in the last couple of years. According to data aggregated by Gallup, in 2022, for instance, some 70% of Democrats expressed confidence in the media. The pollster sampled 1,007 adult Americans living across the country. The survey was conducted over the first two weeks of September via phone interviews. Respondents were picked randomly for the survey. Gallup first asked Americans the question back in 1972 and has conducted the media trust poll on an almost yearly basis since 1997. While in the 1970s, the trust rate hovered around the 70% mark, it had deteriorated to around 55% by the late 1990s, and has continued to drop over the past two decades.
Sounds barely serious.
• British Government’s Novichok Trial Reveals A Toxic Shock (Helmer)
In the first day of public hearings directed by retired judge Anthony Hughes – titled Lord Hughes of Ombersley (lead image) – the evidence compiled over six years by the police, secret services, CCTV records, and witnesses is that Novichok, identified as one of the world’s fastest acting nerve poisons, was sprayed on the front door-handle of Sergei Skripal’s house in order to kill him by direct contact. “As each of them touched the front door-handle on the way out of the house, that they were poisoned with Novichok,” reported the judge’s chief counsel, Andrew O’Connor KC. “It was this door handle that was the source or, in their [police] term, the ground zero of the Novichok contamination”, (O’Connor page 19, line 13, page 24, line 6). In the official narrative, it then took at least two and a half hours to act on the alleged Russian assassination targets, Sergei and Yulia Skripal, as they sat on a bench in the centre of Salisbury town after drinking at a local pub and then eating at a restaurant.
That was between 1:30 pm and 4 pm on March 4, 2018. Between the prosecution’s alleged murder weapon and the attempted murder, 120 to 150 minutes had elapsed. This contrasts with the official narrative of the Novichok poisoning of Dawn Sturgess on June 30, 2018, that between contact with the poison and her fatal heart attack the elapsed interval was “between about 9.30 and 10 o’clock that morning” — less than 30 minutes. The evidence of the two assassins – Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov — charged with attempted murder of the Skripals includes “plentiful evidence of their movements and actions and we will review it in detail during the coming hearings. The evidence is complex and of course the detail matters. For today’s purposes, I propose simply to outline the effect of the CCTV evidence regarding Petrov and Boshirov’s movements in the course of their two visits to Salisbury.”
In the summary presented to Hughes’ courtroom for the first time of CCTV imagery, there is no evidence at all that the assassins came close to the Skripal house, neither on their first walking tour of the town on March 3, nor on the following fateful day, March 4. “Of course the detail matters” – but there is no fresh evidence of how close or how far the alleged assassins came to the Skripal house. All that is now alleged in the photographic and map displays presented during the hearing is that “both Petrov and Boshirov and the Skripals are in very much the same area at very much the same time. One has to aim off course because two of them are on foot and then there’s the car. But it does seem at least possible that Boshirov and Petrov may even have been in the vicinity of Sergei Skripal’s house at the time that the Skripals were leaving.”
For the inquiry team and its police and government sources, O’Connor admitted the CCTV evidence for the allegation that Boshirov and Petrov sprayed their poison on the Skripal door-handle is missing. “They were then lost from the view of CCTV cameras for 31 minutes before they re-emerged at the junction of the High Street and Bridge Street — that’s the blue marking to the right that you can see there – and walked back towards the station. You will hear evidence, sir, as to where they might have been and what they might have done during that 31-minute period.”
“Druzhba is also one of the most technically-sophisticated manmade engineering projects in history.”
• Druzhba: Oil Mega-Pipeline That Evaded US Sabotage (Sp.)
Tuesday is the anniversary of the creation of Druzbha – the world’s longest oil pipeline, and one of the most technically sophisticated pieces of man-made engineering every created. Here’s what’s important to know about the project, why it was conceived, and why the US and its allies tried, but failed, to stop it. October 15 marks the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of the Druzhba (‘Friendship’) oil pipeline. Conceived in 1958 at a meeting of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance – the Soviet-led analogue to Western European integration, Druzhba helped forge closer economic links between the USSR and its Eastern European allies, and eventually, between Russia and the whole of Europe. Drawn up to aid an economic boom being experienced by Eastern Europe, Druzhba was built to replace more costly and infrastructure-intensive rail-based oil deliveries.
Sourcing oil from the Volga-Ural oil and gas basin and starting off in Almetyevsk, modern-day Tatarstan, Druzhba runs west to Mozyr in Belarus, where it splits into two routes – one to eastern Germany via Poland, and another through Ukraine toward Bratislava in Slovakia, Prague in the Czech Republic and Budapest in Hungary. Members of the Soviet-led economic alliance, namely Albania, Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, contributed equipment and know-how, with the USSR and Poland delivering 730,000 tons of 420-1,220 mm pipes, East Germany pumps for pumping stations, Hungary automation equipment and communications gear, and Czechoslovakia valves and fittings. The US sought to sanction the project into submission, slapping restrictions on Western European sales of large-diameter pipes to the Eastern Bloc after the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. Russian Chelyabinsk’s industrialists saved the day, creating pipes of the necessary diameter.
The success of the project led to the construction of a second line – known as Druzhba-2 and running along the same route, in 1974. With Moscow selling oil to allies via long-term contracts, Eastern Europe was largely insulated from the oil shocks suffered by the West in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1971 and 1980, Hungary’s material national income rose by 62%, East Germany’s by 59%, Poland’s by 73%, Czechoslovakia’s by 57%, and capital construction in these countries grew 1.9, 1.7, 2.2, and 1.8 times, respectively. This allowed the region to build tens of millions of new apartments, industrial goods and finished products ranging from cars and electronics to household goods. After the USSR’s collapse, Germany’s reunification and the European Union’s expansion, Druzhba became a key source of fuel for Europe’s economic prosperity, helping Eastern Europe with its difficult transition to the market, and Germany in its effort to build on its status as an industrial powerhouse.
Accounting for expansions (including extensions to deliver oil to southern Germany and Austria), Druzhba holds the record as the longest oil pipeline network in the world, consisting of a whopping 8,900 km of pipe, 46 pumping stations, 38 intermediate pumping stations, and reservoirs that can hold up to 1.5 million cubic meters of oil. Druzhba is also one of the most technically-sophisticated manmade engineering projects in history, crossing the Volga, Oka, Don, Dnepr, Dniestr, Vistula and Dunabe rivers and hundreds of smaller waterways, thousands of roads and railways, the Pinsk Marshes and the mountains of Carpathia. The pipeline has an estimated capacity to pump up to 2 million barrels per day, or nearly a fifth of Russia’s total oil output. Until recently, it accounted for up to half of all Russian oil exports.
Service dog
https://twitter.com/i/status/1846066185760084188
Yak
https://twitter.com/i/status/1846100084473168016
Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.
