Salvador Dali Madrid. Drunk man 1922
Channel 13
Israel’s Channel 13 details the testimonies of those held captive by Hamas.
They were treated fairly, given good food, given medication, and allowed to stay close to family & friends.
They also issue an extensive apology to the elder woman Yocheved Lifshitz who was accused of… pic.twitter.com/gH9N5SnmqG
— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) November 27, 2023
Peace to prosperity
FLASHBACK: The Trump Administration created the Israel-Palestine ‘Peace to Prosperity Plan,’ which would have secured Israel’s borders while also creating economic opportunities and better lives for the Palestinians without having American taxpayers borne the cost.… pic.twitter.com/i6oWERmZhA
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) November 27, 2023
Soros
There is a growing body of evidence showing #Biden corruption in Ukraine. But much of this would not be possible without softening that country up first. You can thank #Soros for that. These two go hand in hand. From the horse’s mouth…
“I set up a foundation in Ukraine before… pic.twitter.com/SUbf00HC8b
— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) November 27, 2023
Ritter
Nap/Crooke
McGovern
Tucker Bannon
Ep. 41 Dublin in flames. What’s happening in Ireland will happen here, at scale. Steve Bannon explains. pic.twitter.com/KzrRUJq0ZL
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 27, 2023
“After initially questioning the death toll in Gaza, the Biden administration now concedes that the true figures for civilian casualties may be even worse..”
• Gaza Civilians ‘Are Being Killed at Historic Pace’ – NYT (Jones)
The New York Times reported on Saturday that “experts say that even a conservative reading of the casualty figures reported from Gaza shows that the pace of death during Israel’s campaign has few precedents in this century.” ScheerPost publisher Robert Scheer commented on the importance of the piece, stating, “The so-called paper of record finally acknowledges the unprecedented degree of violence visited upon civilians in Gaza by the Israeli government.” Using U.S.-made bombs that weigh 2,000 pounds “that can flatten [apartment towers],” Israel has killed “roughly 10,000 women and children” according to the Times. Women and children make up almost 70 percent of all deaths reported in Gaza. According to Rick Brennan, the regional emergency director for the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean office, the opposite is typically expected. “In past clashes between Israel and Hamas, for example, about 60 percent of the reported deaths in Gaza were men,” according to the Times.
Further, “U.S. military officials often believed that the most common American aerial bomb — a 500-pound weapon — was far too large for most targets when battling the Islamic State in urban areas like Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria,” according to the Times. As the Times reported: “‘It’s beyond anything that I’ve seen in my career,’ said Marc Garlasco, a military adviser for the Dutch organization PAX and a former senior intelligence analyst at the Pentagon. To find a historical comparison for so many large bombs in such a small area, he said, we may ‘have to go back to Vietnam, or the Second World War.’” The paper also reported that “People are being killed in Gaza more quickly…than in even the deadliest moments of U.S.-led attacks in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, which were themselves widely criticized by human rights groups.”
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, the Israeli military spokesperson, claims that civilian casualties are inevitable because of Hamas’s strategy of deliberately embedding itself within the civilian population of Gaza. There is no evidence that Hamas intentionally hides among the residents of Gaza as a military strategy. Gaza is, however, one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, standing 25 miles long and 5 miles wide. The Israeli military claims that the numbers of dead Palestinians reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry cannot be trusted because the Ministry operates under Hamas. Conricus claims “We do a lot in order to prevent and, where possible, minimize the killing or wounding of civilians.” As the Times reported, international experts do not share the same skepticism of the Palestinian Health Ministry’s numbers that the Israeli government does:
“[Brian Castner, a weapons investigator for Amnesty International and a former explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Air Force,] said Israel appeared to be moving too quickly to reduce harm to civilians…” “After initially questioning the death toll in Gaza, the Biden administration now concedes that the true figures for civilian casualties may be even worse. Barbara Leaf, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, told a House committee this month that American officials thought the civilian casualties were ‘very high, frankly, and it could be that they’re even higher than are being cited.’” s“While the experts urged caution around public statements about the specific number of people killed in a particular strike — especially in the immediate aftermath of a blast — they said the aggregate death tolls reported by the Gaza Health Ministry have typically proved to be accurate.”
“Students at our most elite universities have been threatened with permanent employment blacklisting if they supported the Palestinian cause, and a long list of Jewish billionaires have mounted similar attacks against the academic institutions themselves..”
• American Pravda: Gaza and the Anti-Semitism Hoax (Ron Unz)
Back in 2015, the widely broadcast image of a single, accidentally-drowned Syrian toddler led European governments to open their borders to millions of migrants, both from Syria and from everywhere else in the world, mostly young men in the prime of health. Greater Syria had traditionally encompassed Palestinian Gaza, so if a single accidental victim from the former had such enormous, nation-transforming political impact throughout Europe, surely the images of the many thousands deliberately killed in the latter must at least be raising a few personal concerns, though since some of these countries have prohibited expressions of pro-Palestinian sentiment, it’s difficult to be sure. Many European Jews have wholeheartedly backed the Jewish State even as it commits this gigantic public massacre, and this has naturally provoked a certain amount of popular criticism.
Deeply concerned by this latter situation, the New York Times last week ran yet another major article on the desperate need to combat such “anti-Semitic” sentiments in Europe, obviously one of the world’s most dreadful problems. A few days ago, I’d asked an American academic friend of mine how his colleagues were reacting to this astonishing situation and he replied: People are too scared to broadcast their views, I think…But I think a good fraction of even normie academics realize there is something monstrous going on. This sounds plausible to me, and another senior academic I know reported a roughly similar situation. Fear stalks the land.
Students at our most elite universities have been threatened with permanent employment blacklisting if they supported the Palestinian cause, and a long list of Jewish billionaires have mounted similar attacks against the academic institutions themselves, something I cannot recall ever happening in the past. As a result, a legal analysis article commissioned and approved for publication in the prestigious Harvard Law Review was scrapped at the last moment. From its earliest roots in the terroristic Irgun, Israel’s ruling Likud party has always endorsed the creation of a Greater Israel—“From the River to the Sea”—proclaiming that territory must be placed under Jewish rule, with all non-Jews subjugated, expelled, or killed.
But in recent decades, progressive anti-Zionists have co-opted that same ambiguous slogan, using it to symbolize their goal of a unified country of Palestine, a secular democratic state providing equal rights for both Jews and non-Jews, two populations of similar size. This would naturally involve the dissolution of the existing Jewish state, absolute anathema to committed Zionists. Propelled by the horrific images of dead babies in Gaza, this controversial phrase soon began trending among anti-Zionists on Twitter along with talk of “decolonizing” the Israeli settler-state. Wilting under intense Zionist attacks, owner Elon Musk—the world’s wealthiest man—declared that these rather vague and innocuous progressive slogans constituted incitement to “genocide,” with their use being grounds for an immediate ban from his platform. By contrast, I haven’t heard that Musk has banned any of the Israeli politicians or activists publicly calling for the total annihilation of all Palestinians.
“Even by decapitating Hamas and even by drowning the Gaza Strip in blood, it will hardly be possible to ensure Israel’s security..”
• ‘Drowning Gaza In Blood’ Will Not Achieve Israel’s Goals: Russia (Cradle)
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said on 27 November that Israel will not achieve its security goals by “drowning the Gaza Strip in blood.” “Even by decapitating Hamas and even by drowning the Gaza Strip in blood, it will hardly be possible to ensure Israel’s security. After some time, the tide of hatred and terrorism may rise again with renewed force. This cannot be ruled out,” the aide said in comments quoted by Russian news agency TASS. Ushakov added that “the Palestinian problem is unrivaled in terms of its ability to spread to the global level.” His comments come 52 days into the Gaza-Israel war and on the final day of a four-day truce mediated by Qatar and Egypt, which has seen a daily exchange of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners.
The truce was reached on 22 November and went into effect the following morning. US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators are reportedly discussing a possible extension of the truce. Israel has said it would be willing to extend the truce by one day for every 10 additional captives released by Hamas. The Russian presidential aide also condemned “the monopolization of the mediator’s mission by the United States.” His comments come just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the international community to join forces to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
“Russia’s position is consistent and does not change with the situation. We urge the international community to join forces in order to ease tensions, ensure a ceasefire, and find a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said while addressing a summit of BRICS countries. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 20,000 people, nearly half of whom are children, according to an updated count of victims released by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euromed). On 1 November, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, blasted “the hypocrisy of the US and its allies, who in other, completely different situations call for compliance with humanitarian law, establish investigative commissions, [and] impose sanctions.” Nebenzya also said that Israel has “no right to self-defense” as an occupying power.
“..the Department of State said the United States had sent a “very clear message” to Israel that settler violence in the West Bank was unacceptable..”
• Biden Administration Split Over Gaza Conflict (Sp.)
Earlier in November, some 20 White House staffers requested a meeting with the president’s top advisers to discuss the current administration’s plans to reduce the civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip, the newspaper reported. Commenting on a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Senior Advisor Anita Dunn and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, one of the officials was cited as saying that the aides resorted to familiar talking points despite listening to the staff. The administration reportedly had to be careful not to openly criticize Israeli operations. US officials were pushing Israel to minimize civilian casualties, while Biden and his advisors advocated a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict, the report said.
The previously unreported meeting underscored that Biden’s handling of perhaps the biggest foreign policy crisis of his presidency has divided the White House that prides itself on running a disciplined and united operation, media said. Earlier this month, the Department of State said the United States had sent a “very clear message” to Israel that settler violence in the West Bank was unacceptable and that those responsible would be held accountable. In late October, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a congressional hearing that they were closely monitoring Israeli settler violence in the West Bank and had raised the issue in talks with their Israeli counterparts.
“The protest chant ‘From the river to the sea’ rejects not Israelis or Jews but the apartheid nature of Israel. This is why pro-Israel western politicians and media want to criminalise it..”
• How A Slogan Became Bigger News Than The Murder Of Babies In Gaza (Cook)
The lead foreign story for the BBC on 13 November should have been a no-brainer. As Israeli soldiers surrounded al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, preparing to storm it, dozens of premature babies inside the facility had been removed from their incubators. The hospital no longer had any power to run the machines. Distressing footage showed the babies huddled together in a makeshift, foil-lined pen, shivering from cold. Several had already died. The symbolism was hard to miss. Gaza’s civilians were huddled together, too, after Israel had bombed their homes to rubble and ordered them to move south. They were exposed and vulnerable against Israel’s wrath. And growing numbers were dying.
The babies story was both heart-wrenching and infuriating. Israel had been repeatedly warned by the United Nations that this would be one of the terrible consequences of its collective punishment of Gaza’s population, denying the fuel needed to generate electricity. Israel simply ignored the warnings. But editors at the BBC’s News at Six decided to lead the foreign coverage not with the babies being killed by Israel’s withholding of fuel but with a story from the other side of the divide. It must have been one of the most perverse news judgments on record. Instead, the BBC led with the brother of a British-Israeli man who had been killed during Hamas’ attack on 7 October. The attack itself was by then more than a month old, which even the BBC seemed to understand could not justify demoting the dying babies from the top foreign news slot.
A better angle was needed. And it was this: the BBC reported that the brother was increasingly wondering whether it was safe for him to remain in Britain. This was a sentiment shared by many other Jews, according to the report. Paradoxically, the implication was that for British Jews it might be a safer alternative to move to Israel, despite weeks of western coverage highlighting Israelis’ fears about their vulnerability following Hamas’s attack. Did this British man really think he would be more secure in the same state in which his brother had just been killed in a mass atrocity? The BBC’s reporter did not pose the question.
While trying to shake the “anti-semitic” label, Musk puts his foot knee-deep in the doo-doo. This will hurt him badly.
• Musk Touring Ravaged Kibbutz With Netanyahu (ZH)
Elon Musk showed up in southern Israel on Monday at the personal invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he was given a tour of an Israeli kibbutz left desolate by the Oct.7 Hamas terror raids. Musk while on a tour of Kfar Aza heard details from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops of the massacres in the kibbutz. Israeli media has described it as a scene of “horrors”—one among more than 20 communities ravaged, where in some cases entire families were butchered. Musk later in the day said it was “it was jarring to see the scene of the massacre.” Musk heard briefings and personal stories both of tragedy and heroism, including the story of kidnapped Israeli-American toddler Avigail Idan, who turned 4 in captivity but was released Sunday as part of the third round hostage swap between Hamas and Israel.
Her parents were murdered directly before her eyes, with accounts saying her dad was holding her when he was shot. After also being shown a short film of the Hamas attacks, Musk commented that it was “troubling” to see the “to see the joy experienced by people that were killing innocent civilians.” As part of Musk’s visit, he and PM Netanyahu held a live talk via X Spaces (recently known as Twitter Spaces) wherein the prime minister repeated his call for Hamas to be destroyed. Musk responded, “There’s no choice,” and said after touring ravaged kibbutzes: “I’d like to help as well.” The full section of that exchange is below:
Netanyahu laid out that his main priority is to neutralize Hamas, after which he will turn to rebuilding Gaza: “You first have to get rid of this poisonous regime.” Musk agreed and offered to be involved in the post-war recovery. “I think that makes perfect sense that those who are intent on murder must be neutralized, then the propaganda must stop … and then making Gaza prosperous,” Musk said. “Well, I hope you’ll be involved,” Netanyahu responded. “I’d love to help,” Musk said. I n statements which are likely to prove controversial, particularly to the pro-Palestinian side, Musk also voiced that civilian casualties are “unavoidable” and generally appeared to back Israel’s position that it is trying hard to avoid them while seeking to target only terrorists.
“..Biden’s people fret about what the slaughter of Palestinians will look like once it resumes — appearances being not quite all but nearly..”
• Media’s Fatal Compromises (Patrick Lawrence)
Last week Politico published a lengthy piece on the Biden regime’s argument that the current “pause” in Israel’s merciless murder spree in Gaza and the exchange of hostages proves the policy cliques in Washington have done the right thing. It does not take much for these dangerously unqualified people to fool themselves. But the White House remains “‘deeply, deeply worried’ about Israel’s longer-term strategy and what the next phase of the war may look like,” Politico reported. Then this: “And there was some concern in the administration about an unintended consequence of the pause: that it would allow journalists broader access to Gaza and the opportunity to further illuminate the devastation there and turn public opinion on Israel.”
In plain English, Biden’s people fret about what the slaughter of Palestinians will look like once it resumes — appearances being not quite all but nearly. But if there was no one there to see and report the savagery, there would be no appearances to worry about. Trita Parsi at the Quincy Institute brought this quotation to my attention, and I cannot do better than his comment on it: “I’m speechless.” It is interesting that at least some people in the Biden regime seem to consider relations between power and the media to be adversarial in the old-fashioned way. And how fine it would be were the corporate press and broadcasters to get their correspondents into Gaza on their own and report what they see as they see it. This seems to me perfectly possible. The BBC, Al Jazeera, and various wire services — Reuters, The Associated Press, Agence France–Presse — are among the news organizations with bureaus in Gaza City.
But the record to date indicates that cowardice and supine compliance will prevail over the aforementioned bravery and principle. This is how embedding journalists got started in the post–1975 years. The defeat in Vietnam spooked the Pentagon and the political leadership, which blamed the media for turning Americans against the war. By the Gulf War, August 1990 to February 1991, embeddedness was s.o.p. among American media. A reporter named Brett Wilkins published a well-reported piece in Common Dreams a month into the Israel Defense Forces’ war crimes in Gaza. In “U.S. Corporate Media Outlets Allow IDF to Vet ‘All Materials’ from Embedded Reporters in Gaza,” Wilkins laid out the whole disgusting nine. His lead: “U.S. corporate media outlets have granted Israeli military commanders pre-publication review rights for ‘all materials and footage’ recorded by their correspondents embedded with the Israel Defense Forces during the invasion of Gaza, a precondition condemned by press freedom advocates.”
Wilkins goes on to name a few of the names — among them CNN and NBC — who indulge their spinelessness in this manner. And he quotes the feckless Fareed Zakaria offering the boilerplate excuse for this gross breach of professional ethics. “CNN has agreed to these terms in order to provide a limited window into Israel’s operations in Gaza,” Zakaria deadpans. Speechless a second time. A photojournalist named Zach D. Roberts gets my award for the pithiest summation of this daily travesty. “What CNN is doing here is creating ad b-roll [supplementary video footage] for the IDF,” Roberts said. “It’s nothing resembling news and the CNN employees that participated in it aren’t anything resembling journalists.”
Candidate to take Zelensky’s place?!
• West ‘Screwed Over’ Ukraine – Arestovich (RT)
The West has essentially thrown Ukraine under the bus in its conflict with Russia by failing to provide Kiev with the necessary amount of military aid, Aleksey Arestovich, a former aide to President Vladimir Zelensky, has claimed. Writing on Telegram on Sunday, Arestovich weighed in on the differing views of Ukrainian officials as to why Kiev’s conflict with Moscow is still in full swing despite several major attempts at peace. According to the former presidential aide, the West bears most of the blame for the situation. The real responsibility lies with those who promised Ukraine real support for waging a real, big war and did not provide it. In other words, they screwed us over. Arestovich claimed that Ukraine “had won its war” by managing to survive in the first few months of the conflict.
“This war of ours could have well ended with the Istanbul Agreements,” he suggested, referring to the talks in the Turkish city in the spring of 2022, which initially made some progress but stalled after then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kiev. The negotiations collapsed but Russia maintains it is open to diplomatic engagement with Kiev. After the Istanbul talks, the conflict entered another phase in which Ukraine had no chance of winning without securing massive Western arms supplies, including warplanes and long-range missiles, the former official continued. “But nothing came. We paid a huge price for that.” Arestovich suggested that the West would now try to force Ukraine to accept the loss of several regions, which overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in a series of public referenda last autumn.
He also suggested that, while Kiev found itself in a tough spot mostly due to the West’s inaction, the Ukrainian leadership’s “stupidity and corruption has given them many formal and informal reasons to screw us over.” Arestovich’s remarks came amid Ukraine’s faltering counteroffensive, which has been underway since early summer but has failed to gain any significant ground. Last month, Moscow said Kiev had lost more than 90,000 troops since the start of the push, with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claiming that Ukrainian casualties had reached more than 13,000 soldiers in November alone. Earlier this month, Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top general, admitted that hostilities had reached a stalemate, an assessment rejected by Zelensky. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Mariana Bezuglaya, a senior Ukrainian MP, blasted Zaluzhny over the lack of a strategic plan for 2024 and called on the military leadership to step down.
“Zelensky’s ambitions are understandable because he’s a mercenary. They were hired to fight with Russia, to fight for a long time, but it doesn’t work..”
• Who is Responsible for Kiev’s Looming Defeat? (Sp.)
The Ukrainian leadership is coming face-to-face with not only the failure of its counteroffensive but also seemingly imminent defeat in the more than 20-month-long conflict with Russia – despite months of triumphalist rhetoric from Kiev. While Western leaders appear to be seeking a face-saving exit from their proxy war, past and present Ukrainian officials are busy finding someone to blame. How come Ukraine is losing? Wasn’t it clear from the outset that Ukraine had considerably less troops, military equipment and resources to prevail? So who is to blame? According to Sergey Kryvonos, a retired general of the Ukraine Armed Forces and former deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, it’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s fault that Ukraine is losing.
The president’s promises of victory to Ukrainians have never turned into reality, Kryvonos said on air at the “Pryamoy” News Channel. “Last year and in the first half of this year, we were told about victory, that the Russians were already exhausted, that they no longer had missiles, that their economy had fallen. Did they say that? Yes, they did. (…) But did all this really happen? No”, the retired general said, adding that the Kiev regime’s words about a “powerful counteroffensive” were also just hot air. Kyvonos argued that Zelensky “must think not only about himself but also about training the population [in security],” which is not happening. He recommended that the Ukrainian president hire professionals instead of mere speechwriters who “write speeches for him to read.”
“When it comes to the complaints against Zelensky, he promised victory, access to the borders of 1991 and the liberation of Crimea, if the equipment, money and all other equipment he needed were delivered,” Andrey Suzdaltsev, an assistant professor and deputy dean at the School of the World Economy and International Affairs at Russia’s State University–Higher School of Economics, told Sputnik. “Let me remind you that in June of this year, Washington claimed that Zelensky had received everything he needed for a successful offensive. The army was mobilized, and it launched a counteroffensive in early June and stalled. That’s the problem. This is a general miscalculation. Zelensky’s ambitions are understandable because he’s a mercenary. They were hired to fight with Russia, to fight for a long time, but it doesn’t work. This is where the grievances of both the West and [Zelensky] originate from,” he continued.
“..constant purges of relatively high ranking military officers during war would seem to perhaps have a negative effect on your war effort.”
• Political Dysfunction in Ukraine May Cost Zelensky His Job (Sp.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on thin ice. That’s the conclusion of international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda, who joined Sputnik’s Political Misfits crew Monday to discuss the ongoing political drama in the country in the wake of the country’s failed counteroffensive this year. “He fears another Maidan… he fears a coup,” said Sleboda, referring to the 2014 protests that saw far-right mobs drive elected president Viktor Yanukovych out of Ukraine. The unrest, openly backed by Western powers, was supported by only a minority of the Ukrainian population but succeeded in firmly shifting the politics of the country towards a Russophobic stance.
Sleboda believes the primary challenger to Zelensky’s power is Valerii Zaluzhny, the current commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military.Political forces inside and outside the country may be coalescing around Zaluzhny as an alternative to Zelensky’s leadership, according to Sleboda. Aware of the threat, Zelensky “has replaced several of Zaluzhny’s generals in the past weeks – fired them – without any consultations with him,” said Sleboda. The analyst also noted the recent death of Major Gennadiy Chastyakov, a top aide to Zaluzhny, who was killed earlier this month when a grenade given to him as a birthday gift exploded. Sleboda speculates that the strange incident may have been a “political hit by Zelensky’s administration.” “Most of the Ukrainian social media channels believe it was a political hit, a warning to Zaluzhny,” said Sleboda.
Sleboda discounted a story that has recently re-emerged chiefly blaming former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for Ukraine’s unwillingness to seek peace with Russia in early 2022, calling it a “salvo in the quite opaque political infighting that is now going on in Kiev.” “I don’t think they [the Ukrainian government] were ever more serious about this than they were about the Minsk accords,” said Sleboda, noting the “ideological nature” of the country’s firmly anti-Russian leadership since 2014. [..] Host Michelle Witte noted the damage to morale in the Ukrainian armed forces caused by the chronic political dysfunction, saying “constant purges of relatively high ranking military officers during war would seem to perhaps have a negative effect on your war effort.”
Sleboda agreed, claiming President Zelensky’s western backers are looking for a way to replace the Ukrainian leader. “It seems quite obvious to me that the US and in general the West has lost confidence in Zelensky and they’re trying to find a way to replace him with Zaluzhny without another blatantly obvious US-backed coup in the country so soon after the last one,” said Sleboda, referring to widely-reported evidence of US involvement in the 2014 ouster of Yanukovych.
“Such fundamental legal foundations of world economic relations as free competition and the immunity of property have been destroyed..”
• US Weaponizing The Dollar – Lavrov (RT)
The US is using the dollar to unleash trade wars worldwide, while international economic cooperation is also being weaponized, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. The US and its allies in the EU are using a wide range of “geopolitical engineering” tools, which include, among other things “unleashing trade and economic wars,” Lavrov stated, speaking at the Primakov Readings International Forum. “The activities of the World Trade Organization, primarily for settling disputes, have been blocked by Western countries. Such fundamental legal foundations of world economic relations as free competition and the immunity of property have been destroyed,” the Russian diplomat noted. Lavrov went on to assert that the American currency has long been used as a weapon, adding that “destructive actions” by Western nations have resulted in producing the opposite effect to the intended one.
The diplomat argued that US-led sanctions aimed at isolating Russia and crippling its economy in reality have stimulated the “strengthening of multipolarity in international affairs.” According to Lavrov, there is a growing awareness in the world that “no one is immune” in the face of the “aggressive actions of Washington and Brussels.” He noted that not only Russia but many other countries are now “consistently” reducing their dependence on Western currencies by switching to alternatives for foreign-trade settlements. The global trend towards using national currencies in trade instead of the US dollar began to gain momentum last year after Ukraine-related sanctions saw Russia cut off from the Western financial system and also saw its foreign reserves frozen. As multipolarity takes shape, more nations are working on creating new transport corridors and supply chains. Meanwhile, an “unfair” and “unbalanced” model of globalization has become outdated, Lavrov said.
“..in about a year and a half.”
• Deripaska Expects EU To Cave In On Gas Purchases From Moscow (RT)
EU nations will have to return to Russian natural gas supplies within a year and a half, Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska predicted on his Telegram channel on Monday. According to the billionaire, the lack of gas deliveries from Russia is currently forcing the bloc’s lawmakers to make “the only correct decision and change the main focus from the green transition to nuclear energy.” “However, this is not a quick process, meaning that it’s necessary to end the Ukraine conflict and agree on gas supplies with Gazprom,” according to Deripaska. The tycoon highlighted that the terms of a potential agreement with Moscow will not be favorable to the EU, as the bloc will have to return frozen assets to the Bank of Russia, compensate for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, and cover sanctions-related losses for Russian businesses.
“It’s serious compensation [the bloc will have] to pay for American adventures, but it’s still cheaper and more profitable than buying unnecessary weapons worth trillions of euros, and, in addition, losing such a sweet Russian market,” he argued. Deripaska, the founder of the world’s second-largest aluminum company, Rusal, also said the about-turn would not happen immediately, but that “cold winters will make the ‘Eastern Compromise’ acceptable” to the EU much faster, “in about a year and a half.” “Nuclear energy has returned after almost 20 years of useless debate with the so-called greens,” he concluded, adding that the return to reliable sources of fuel is inevitable.
“Did I manage to pardon my family? And myself? “Uh, well, sir, you were in a coma. Anyway, your attorneys wish to see you now. . . .”
• An Alt Christmas Carol (Kunstler)
“Joe Biden” awakens yet again as more cold wind bearing the fetid odor of swamp blows through the still-opened window. He is yet muttering “yu-yuh-yuh-yessir, yessir,” when a shrouded, hooded figure materializes in the gloom. “You are… Cuh-Cuh-Christmas Future,” “Joe Biden” says. “You’re catching on,” says the ghost, holding out his fleshless, bony hand. “Come!” They are transported to the hearing room of a House committee. Hunter Biden sits at the witness table, tears streaking his face, apparently in mid testimony. “. . . and then my dad says to Mr. Zlochevsky, ‘one-million? C’mon man, I’ve got a beach house to renovate’. . . and Mister Z says, ‘okay I give you one-point-five-mil’. . . and my dad cracks up laughing. . . . ‘that won’t even cover the area rugs I ordered from Iran’ he says. . . .”
Suddenly the room vaporizes and “Joe Biden” stands next to the inaugural dias on the US Capitol’s west-facing front. Tucker Carlson has just stepped away after being sworn in as vice president and the massive, gold-headed, once-and-future president lumbers up to the Chief Justice, placing his hand on a Bible. “Oh, n-n-n-no-o-o-o-o. . .” “JB” wails and wakes up in the presidential bed, panting and sweating. “Are you all right sir? A marine standing at his bedside says. “I had a terrible dream. Trump got back in.”n “That was no dream, sir. You’ve been in a coma since just before Christmas last year when you stroked out on ice cream. It’s Wednesday, November 6, 2024. Welcome back to reality, sir.”
“Reality?” “Joe Biden” says. “We make our own reality.” “Not anymore, sir,” the lance corporal says. “Tell me, son, please! Did I manage to pardon my family? And myself? “Uh, well, sir, you were in a coma. Anyway, your attorneys wish to see you now. . . .”
“.. just unbelievable how much he’s degenerated just during his time in office.”
• Ex-WH Doctor: Biden Can’t Do the Job, Cognitive Decline Happening Quickly (Sp.)
US President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline is “happening quickly,” Texas GOP Congressman Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, told a US broadcaster. “I’ve taken care of three presidents… so I know firsthand what it takes to be the commander-in-chief and the head of state. It’s a grueling job, both mentally and physically. This man can’t do the job. He’s proven to us every single day that he can’t do the job, but this is going to get worse,” Jackson said. Referring to the 46th US president, the ex-White House physician added that it’s “just unbelievable how much he’s degenerated just during his time in office.” “We cannot afford to have this man in office for the remainder of this term and then [for] another four years after that. He’s already putting us at great risk right now,” Jackson pointed out.
The GOP Congressman also singled out a series of concerns he has regarding his country, pointing to the crisis at the US southern border, international tensions and the economic issues that have arisen under Biden. “[Look at] the wars that we’re getting drawn into. Things that wouldn’t happen if Donald Trump were there because our enemies don’t fear us anymore. They have no respect for us anymore and our adversaries don’t trust us anymore, and it’s because we don’t have the leadership in the White House that we need,” Jackson added. He insisted that Biden, “even if he wanted to, cannot provide that leadership.” According to the former White House physician, POTUS is “not physically and cognitively fit for office anymore, and somebody in his inner circle needs to step up to the plate and make him aware of this, and he needs to move on for the safety and security of this country.”
The remarks come a week after Jackson told a US news network that Biden does not have “cognitive ability” to serve another term. “He’s got these people that surround him that are inappropriately encouraging him to continue to run because it builds up who they are and what they do. […] And it’s just on display every day that he’s not capable of doing this job anymore,” Jackson stressed.
It’s like Israel selling off Palestinian art.
• Greek PM Fumes After UK Abruptly Scraps Talks (RT)
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has criticized his British counterpart after Downing Street axed a planned meeting in London, where the leader was expected to request the return of Greek antiquities held in UK museums. Mitsotakis addressed the canceled talks while visiting the UK on Monday, lamenting the missed chance for dialogue, while noting his country’s “well known” desire to reclaim ancient Parthenon sculptures kept by Britain. “I [want to] express my annoyance at the fact that the British prime minister canceled our scheduled meeting a few hours before it was due to take place,” he said. “Whoever believes in the correctness and justice of his views is never afraid of opposing arguments.” The Greek prime minister was set to speak with his UK counterpart, Rishi Sunak, following a meeting with Labour Party leaders on Monday, though the talks were scrapped with little notice.
Mitsotakis’ aides called the move “wrong and undignified.” The Greek prime minister rejected an alternative meeting with the deputy prime minister, according to the BBC. Officials traveling with Mitsotakis argued that the decision to cancel the meeting was linked to recent comments from the Greek leader to the BBC, in which he restated Athens’ longstanding demands for the return of the ancient artifacts. He added that the sculptures should be “reunited” with the Greek temples they were originally taken from, saying the division of the artwork between Greece and the UK was like “cutting the Mona Lisa in half.” The 5th century BC marble antiques were removed from the Greek Parthenon temple in the early 1800s by British diplomat Lord Elgin, who served as the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over Greece at the time. They have remained in UK possession since, with most of the sculptures kept at the British Museum in London.
While unnamed sources at 10 Downing Street initially told The Guardian that a scheduling conflict was to blame, the outlet reported that Mitsotakis’ remarks “seem to have irritated Sunak to the point that he had felt there was no reason to hold the talks.” Publicly, a spokesperson for Sunak said the UK-Greece relationship is “hugely important,” but did not address the row over the 2,500-year-old antiquities. Though Mitsotakis has repeatedly stressed the importance of returning the treasures since taking office, Sunak has said he would never support changes to 1963 legislation that bars the British Museum from ever handing over the ancient carvings. The Greek government first requested their return in 1983, but the UK has repeatedly declined, even rejecting an offer by the United Nations to mediate the dispute.
Cow hill
https://twitter.com/i/status/1729179274374971579
..most people perceive this as a gate leading to a three-dimensional gated passageway. But actually, it’s just a gate (Gymnasium Theresianum, a high school in Vienna)
At the point on Earth’s surface at 0° latitude and 0° longitude (0°N 0°E, or in the Gulf of Guinea) is a location called “Null Island”, but there’s no actual island. It is marked by a permanently-moored weather buoy.
Rabbit
This smart rabbit realizes the dog is tracking its scent and decides to double backpic.twitter.com/jHCtdbZhpP
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) November 27, 2023
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