The Automatic Earth

Paul Gauguin Harbour scene, Dieppe 1883

That got Elon on the list:

Kuleba

The Foreign Minister of Ukraine was pranked by a fake US Ambassador. He revealed that Ukraine was behind several terrorist attacks and that they have to force the EU because of “sanctions fatigue”. Ukraine leaders are not just unhinged, they are stupid. pic.twitter.com/oM97LqU918

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 14, 2022

George Webb Black Sea

Peace Plan ticking away like clockwork. Clockwork Rogue? Don’t think House of Roth doesn’t benefit if Gazprom and Rosneft get a chunk of the Black Sea gas fields. Are we sure Hunter’s Blackberrys aren’t a Burisma for a Rothschild Energy? pic.twitter.com/YqoX1SERcP

— George Webb – Investigative Journalist (@RealGeorgeWebb1) October 14, 2022

This got the cartoonist banned.

Dec 2016. Got everything right, except one detail.

Borrell must go. I can repeat that every day. He’s the EU equivalent of Lavrov, but can’t stand in his shadow . Embarrassing.

• Borrell: The EU Is A Garden, The Rest Of The World Is A Jungle (RT)

The European Union is a “garden” that has the best combination of “political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion” ever known to humankind – and must be protected from the outside “jungle.” That’s according to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who made the comparison while delivering a speech at the inauguration of a pilot university program designed to cultivate the next generation of European diplomats. Addressing a group of students at the College of Europe in Bruges on Thursday, Borrell said “The rest of the world… is not exactly a garden. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden. The gardeners should take care of it, but they will not protect the garden by building walls.”

He insisted that Europeans have to be “much more engaged” with the rest of the world and put their “privilege” to good use. The gardeners have to go to the jungle… Otherwise, the rest of the world will invade us, by different ways and means. Led by Borrell’s predecessor, Federica Mogherini, the European Diplomatic Academy is a brainchild of the European External Action Service (EEAS) launched this year with the stated goal of cultivating a “truly European diplomatic corps.” Some 42 students are taking part in the first year pilot, mostly candidates from various EU institutions, but also diplomats from the Western Balkans countries, Georgia, Moldova and Türkiye – as well as two candidates from Ukraine.

“You are the first generation. You are the trailblazers of a process, and I hope that many others will come,” Borrel told the group of future diplomats. “Keep the garden, be good gardeners. But your duty will not be to take care of the garden itself but [of] the jungle outside.” It’s not the first time Borrell has compared the EU to a beautiful and tidy garden surrounded by a chaotic, lawless jungle. Back in March he told El Mundo that “if we don’t want the jungle to eat our garden, we have to wake up.”

“Europe is a garden… It's the best combination (…) humankind has been able to build, the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden, and the gardeners should take care of it. <…> Europeans are the privileged people.” pic.twitter.com/RXFqTx2GdO

— Maria Dubovikova (@politblogme) October 14, 2022

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Not a day goes by without some westerner telling us Russia wants to use nukes. Problem is, they’ve made very clear that they don’t.

• Borrell: West Will ‘Annihilate’ Russian Army If Moscow Uses Nukes (Antiwar)

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issued a threat against Russia on Thursday, warning that Western powers would “annihilate” the Russian army if Moscow uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “Putin is saying he is not bluffing. Well, he cannot afford bluffing, and it has to be clear that the people supporting Ukraine and the European Union and the Member States, and the United States and NATO are not bluffing neither,” Borrel said at a European Diplomatic Academy event in Bruges, Belgium. “Any nuclear attack against Ukraine will create an answer, not a nuclear answer but such a powerful answer from the military side that the Russian Army will be annihilated,” he added. The warning from Borrel came as NATO defense ministers held the second day of talks in Brussels, which included a closed-door meeting of the alliance’s nuclear planning group, the body that sets and reviews NATO’s nuclear policies.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also warned Russia against using nuclear weapons, saying it would have “severe consequences.” But he said the chances of NATO using a nuclear weapon are “extremely remote.” When announcing a partial mobilization last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia could use all of the weapons at its disposal to defend its “territorial integrity.” Russian officials insist Putin’s comments were nothing new and fell within Russia’s long-established military doctrine, which says nuclear weapons could be used if the country faces an “existential threat.” But the warning was significant since Russia has extended its territory by annexing areas in Ukraine under its control, and other Russian officials have explicitly said they could defend the new territories with nuclear weapons.

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“What would have happened if, instead of [Joe] Biden, it would have been [Donald] Trump or someone like him in the White House? What would have been the answer of the United States to the war in Ukraine?”

• Borrell: ‘Propaganda Is Our Battlefield’ (ZH)

“This is a perfect storm,” exclaims European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell in his opening speech to EU Ambassadors this week. Having noted previously his warnings to The Fed that it is “bringing us to a world recession,” Borrell went considerably further in a surprisingly frank and plain-speaking address. He began by warning that “the world we are facing is a world of radical uncertainty.” The speed and scope of change is exceptional. We should not try to deny it. We should not try to resist it. It would be a futile effort. We have to accept it and to adapt [to] it, prioritising flexibility and resilience. But uncertainty is the rule. Events that one could imagine that they will never happen, they are happening one after the other. At this pace, the black swan will be the majority. It will not be white swans – all of them will be black – because one after the other, things have happened that had a very low probability of happening, nevertheless they happened, and they had a strong impact and certainly they happened.”

The EC VP then goes on to try and summarize the extent of the European crisis and how they got there, admitting that they were entirely dependent on China (trade), Russia (energy), and US (security)… “I think that we Europeans are facing a situation in which we suffer the consequences of a process that has been lasting for years in which we have decoupled the sources of our prosperity from the sources of our security. This is a sentence to provide the headline, and I am taking that from Olivier Schmitt, who has been developing this thesis – I think – quite well. Our prosperity has been based on cheap energy coming from Russia. Russian gas – cheap and supposedly affordable, secure, and stable. It has been proved not [to be] the case. And the access to the big China market, for exports and imports, for technological transfers, for investments, for having cheap goods.

I think that the Chinese workers with their low salaries have done much better and much more to contain inflation than all the Central Banks together. So, our prosperity was based on China and Russia – energy and market. Clearly, today, we have to find new ways for energy from inside the European Union, as much as we can, because we should not change one dependency for another. The best energy is the one that you produce at home. That will produce a strong restructuring of our economy – that is for sure. People are not aware of that but the fact that Russia and China are no longer the ones that [they] were for our economic development will require a strong restructuring of our economy.

The access to China is becoming more and more difficult. The adjustment will be tough, and this will create political problems. On the other hand, we delegated our security to the United States. While the cooperation with the Biden Administration is excellent, and the transatlantic relationship has never been as good as it is today – [including] our cooperation with the United States and my friend Tony [Anthony] Blinken [US Secretary of State]: we are in a fantastic relationship and cooperating a lot; who knows what will happen two years from now, or even in November? What would have happened if, instead of [Joe] Biden, it would have been [Donald] Trump or someone like him in the White House? What would have been the answer of the United States to the war in Ukraine? What would have been our answer in a different situation?

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And Von der Leyen should go too, of course. In a normal setting, her position would long have been untenable.

• EU Opens Probe Into Vaccine Deals (RT)

The European Union prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the bloc’s procurement of billions of Covid-19 vaccine doses, amid allegations of corruption and secret backroom dealings from several members of parliament. EU officials announced the probe in a brief statement on Friday, confirming an “ongoing investigation into the acquisition of Covid-19 vaccines in the European Union.” They added that the case follows “extremely high public interest” around the issue, though declined to share any other details. While prosecutors were tight-lipped about the exact nature of the probe, the announcement follows allegations from MEPs that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen conducted vaccine negotiations with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in secret.

Despite requests from journalists, lawmakers and an EU watchdog, von der Leyen’s office has failed to produce personal text messages sent to Bourla during talks for nearly 2 billion vaccine doses, prompting accusations of corruption. Croatian MEP Mislav Kolakusic noted the new investigation later on Friday, saying the decision was made thanks to pressure from lawmakers. Though he was unable to shed additional light on the probe, Kolakusic has been highly critical of the EU’s vaccine procurement process, claiming deals for billions of doses were marred by “corruption” and secrecy.

“Today, 10 of us MEPs asked [von der Leyen] the following question: when will she present to us… the communication she had with Pfizer during the procurement of 4.5 billion doses of vaccines at a time when there was absolutely no proof of the effectiveness, and especially not of the harmfulness, of that product?” he said in a tweet earlier this week, calling the issue the “biggest corruption scandal in the history of mankind.” Last month, the European Court of Auditors said that it has asked the commission to provide information on “preliminary negotiations” for the EU’s largest Pfizer purchase – including “scientific experts consulted and advice received, timing of the talks, records of the discussions, and details of the agreed terms and conditions” – but added that “none was forthcoming.” The European Commission still has yet to make the information public, fueling corruption allegations from MEPs.

Ursula @vonderleyen must resign her job since the @EU_Commission is under investigation by @EUProsecutor. She cannot lecture states on the rule of law while she destroyed docs and text messages between herself and the Pfizer CEO over multi €billion vaccine procurement contracts. pic.twitter.com/yazE723KV0

— Cristian Terhes MEP (@CristianTerhes) October 14, 2022

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“Those agreements were almost initialled. But as soon as the troops were pulled back from Kiev, the leadership in Kiev lost all desire to have talks..”

“[Boris] Johnson arrived in Kiev, “almost without warning” on April 9. He allegedly told the Ukrainian leader that Western nations would refuse to sign up to the security guarantees that Kiev wanted to receive under the proposed peace treaty.”

• Putin Explains Why There Are No Peace Talks With Ukraine (RT)

Ukraine is refusing to engage in peace talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists on Friday, when asked about possible negotiations to end the conflict between the two countries. The Kiev government “had been saying that they wanted talks and ostensibly asked for them, but now they issued a formal decision that prohibits them,” he said during a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan. Earlier this month, Zelensky signed a decree forbidding any negotiations with Putin, saying Ukraine will only talk to Russia when it has a different president. Speaking to journalists on Friday, Putin remarked that mediation by nations including Türkey between Moscow and Kiev may be required, if Ukraine’s position changes. Putin recalled that Russia and Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement which could have the halted hostilities, during Turkey-mediated talks in late March.

“Those agreements were almost initialled. But as soon as the troops were pulled back from Kiev, the leadership in Kiev lost all desire to have talks,” he remarked. The Russian Defense Ministry announced a withdrawal of troops from the Ukrainian capital after news broke that the negotiators in Istanbul had agreed on a draft treaty. Under its terms, Ukraine would have pledged to maintain a neutral status and not allow foreign troops and military installations on its soil, in exchange for security guarantees from foreign nations, including Russia. Days later, President Vladimir Zelensky accused Russian troops of committing war crimes, claiming that evidence was discovered in Bucha, one of the towns near Kiev that the Russian army had left. He declared that the Ukrainian people would not allow him to negotiate with Russia after the discovery.

Moscow claimed that the evidence was fabricated to justify breaking off the talks. According to Russian diplomats, Moscow wrote up a formal peace agreement based on Ukrainian proposals and sent it to Kiev, but never heard anything back. According to Ukrainian media reports in May, Zelensky was pressured into breaking off negotiations with Russia by Boris Johnson, then-prime minister of Britain. Johnson arrived in Kiev, “almost without warning” on April 9. He allegedly told the Ukrainian leader that Western nations would refuse to sign up to the security guarantees that Kiev wanted to receive under the proposed peace treaty. President Zelensky has repeatedly stated that his only goal in the conflict is to defeat Russia on the battlefield and retake control of all territories that Kiev claims to be under its sovereignty.

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Go east, young man.

• Russia Courts Muslim Countries As Strategic Eurasian Partners (Escobar)

Everything that matters in the complex process of Eurasia integration was once again at play in Astana, as the – renamed – Kazakh capital hosted the 6th Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The roll call was a Eurasian thing of beauty – featuring the leaders of Russia and Belarus (EAEU), West Asia (Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Palestine) and Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan). China and Vietnam (East and Southeast Asia) attended at the level of vice presidents. CICA is a multinational forum focused on cooperation toward peace, security, and stability across Asia.,Kazakh President Tokayev revealed that CICA has just adopted a declaration to turn the forum into an international organization.

CICA has already established a partnership with the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). So in practice, it will soon be working together side-by-side with the SCO, the EAEU and certainly BRICS+. The Russia-Iran strategic partnership was prominently featured at CICA, especially after Iran being welcomed to the SCO as a full member. President Raeisi, addressing the forum, stressed the crucial notion of an emerging “new Asia”, where “convergence and security” are “not compatible with the interests of hegemonic countries and any attempt to destabilize independent nations has goals and consequences beyond national geographies, and in fact, aims to target the stability and prosperity of regional countries.”

For Tehran, being a partner in the integration of CICA, within a maze of pan-Asia institutions, is essential after all these decades of”maximum pressure” unleashed by the Hegemon. Moreover, it opens an opportunity, as Raeisi noted, for Iran to profit from “Asia’s economic infrastructure.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, predictably, was the star of the show in Astana. It’s essential to note that Putin is supported by “all”nations represented at CICA. High-level bilaterals with Putin included the Emir of Qatar: everyone that matters in West Asia wants to talk to “isolated” Russia. Putin called for “compensation for the damage caused to the Afghans during the years of occupation” (we all know the Empire of Chaos, Lies and Plunder will refuse it), and emphasized the key role of the SCO to develop Afghanistan.

He stated that Asia, “where new centers of power are growing stronger, plays a big role in the transition to a multipolar world order”. sHe warned, “there is a real threat of famine and large-scale shocks against the backdrop of volatility in energy and food prices in the world.” He further called for the end of a financial system that benefits the “Golden billion” – who “live at the expense of others” (there’s nothing “golden” about this “billion”: at best such definition of wealth applies to 10 million.) And he stressed that Russia is doing everything to “form a system of equal and indivisible security”. Exactly what drives the hegemonic imperial elites completely berserk.

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“..Russia should simply forget about the West (at least for a decade or so)..”

• The EU Courageously Denounces Terrorism (Saker)

In the meantime, the FSB has pretty much figured out how the explosives which were used by the Ukrainian GUR were brought into Russia: by using the Istanbul grain deal of course! [..] This would all be truly hilarious if it was not so evil, hypocritical and dishonorable. This is also very dangerous as the countries which participate in this farce are all showing either 1) their true allegiance to the AngloZionist Empire or 2) their total lack of courage. Which means that they are not only removing themselves from any real negotiations, they are also painting themselves into a political corner from which they won’t be able to get out again. To put it differently, the EU nations want to regime change Russia, which means that Russia will have to regime change them.

That is also what “denazification” and “demilitarization” means! Of course, the example of Serbia, which voted against Russia, shows that a comprador regime never represents the interests of the people it rules over. Besides, votes and declarations by non-sovereign states mean absolutely nothing. The only vote which counts is the vote of countries with actual agency and sovereignty. In conclusion, I will just repeat here what I have been writing for years and which I still believe to be true: Russia should simply forget about the West (at least for a decade or so). I mean, of course, Russia needs to be fully cognisant that the West will continue its total war against Russia in every conceivable manner short of a direct and overt military attack (and some hyenas and former empires are even capable of that!).

And if the West wants to buy something from Russia – by all means! Russia did not create these idiotic sanctions and she sure has no obligation or reason to enforce them against herself. But the future of Russia is in the South (Mediterranean, Middle-East, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, etc.) the East (China) and the North (the Arctic, the Northern Route, the Russian Northeast). Russia is also making major inroads with various Muslim countries who, each for their own reasons, are really getting fed up with the infinite arrogance and incompetence of Uncle Shmuel and seek to collaborate with Russia. As for the West, it is turning itself into a pile of compost without any need for Russian assistance. Why interrupt it?

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“This is a turning point, and of course the new government has to deal with it. And that is what it is doing,” she said of the Scholz leadership.”

It is? You sure? Do we think NS2 would ever have been shut under Merkel, who initialled it?

• Merkel Defends ‘Very Rational’ Russian Gas Deals (RT)

Germany’s former chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said she does not regret her decision to sign natural gas deals with Russia during her 16 years in power, arguing that Moscow has long been a “reliable energy supplier” and offers lower prices than its competitors. Speaking to reporters at an event in Lisbon, Merkel explained that Germany has long sought to move away from coal as an energy source, and that Russian natural gas was the best available option as Berlin aimed to eventually “arrive at CO2-free forms of energy.” “From the perspective of that time, it was very rational and understandable to obtain pipeline-bound gas from Russia, which was cheaper than LNG [liquefied natural gas] from other parts of the world,” she said on Thursday, adding that “Even during the Cold War, Russia was a reliable energy supplier.”

After taking office in 2005, Merkel presided over two major gas deals with Moscow, both intended to funnel energy directly into Germany from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 and later Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which bypassed transit states such as Ukraine and Poland.[..] After taking office in 2005, Merkel presided over two major gas deals with Moscow, both intended to funnel energy directly into Germany from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 and later Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which bypassed transit states such as Ukraine and Poland. However, Nord Stream 2 never became operational, as Merkel’s successor, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, paused the project’s certification just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine in late February.

American LNG exports to Europe have ramped up significantly in recent months as much of the continent seeks to distance itself from Russian energy supplies, nearly doubling sales recorded in 2021. Given that Russia previously covered about 40% of the EU’s gas imports, however, prices have seen a sharp rise, stoking fears that some Europeans will be unable to heat their homes come winter. Merkel, who has faced criticism for maintaining Germany’s dependence on Russia, went on to say that it was “right to accelerate the fight against climate change at the end of my term,” referring to the Russian gas purchases and efforts to end the use of coal, but added that Moscow’s “brutal invasion” of Ukraine had changed Germany’s calculus. “This is a turning point, and of course the new government has to deal with it. And that is what it is doing,” she said of the Scholz leadership.

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“I believe that it’s a mistake, and business, the economy, and the citizens of the Federal Republic [of Germany] are paying for this mistake..”

• German Leaders Care More About NATO Than Their Own People – Putin (RT)

Berlin made a mistake by placing its obligations to NATO above the interests of the German people, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Now business, the country’s economy and its citizens are paying for this mistake, he told journalists on Friday. “Apparently, some kind of allied obligations have been placed to the forefront” by Germany “within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance,” Putin said at a press conference after the Central Asia-Russia summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. “Is it right or wrong? I believe that it’s a mistake, and business, the economy, and the citizens of the Federal Republic [of Germany] are paying for this mistake, because it has negative economic consequences for the eurozone in general and for the Federal Republic in particular,” Putin pointed out.

He was answering a question about Berlin’s role in the Ukraine conflict, where it has been among key backers of Kiev. According to the Russian leader, German authorities “should decide for themselves what is more important: the fulfilment of some allied obligations as they see them, or ensuring the interests of their own people, their national interests.” Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov announced that Kiev received the first unit of the German cutting-edge IRIS-T air defense system. His German counterpart Christine Lambrecht called the shipment an important contribution to the Eastern European nation’s ability to defend itself from “missile shelling.” That’s while the German military has so far not received a single unit of the ground-based IRIS-T system variant, which led to concerns being voiced by some politicians and media outlets, who believe that the country is depleting its own weapons stockpile by sending the arms to Kiev.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said earlier that Berlin will keep up its support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” After Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February, many Western states imposed unprecedented sanctions against the country. This has led to a significant drop in Russian natural gas shipments to Western Europe, including Germany, and resulted in soaring energy prices and accelerating inflation. Berlin has introduced a series of measures meant to reduce winter energy consumption. Meanwhile, prices for firewood and wood pellets rose by over 85% in August compared to the same month last year, according to a recent report by Destatis, the Federal Statistics Office.

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No hurry, security first.

• Russia ‘To Repair Crimea Bridge Damage By July 2023’ (RT)

: Russia’s government has ordered contractors to finish repairs to a key bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia by July 2023. The bridge was damaged by a blast last Saturday which officials say left at least three people dead. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack but Kyiv has not said it was behind it. The 19km (12-mile) bridge, Europe’s longest, is a key supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine, but heavy goods vehicles are unable to use it. The explosion caused midway sections of two of the four carriageways of the bridge to collapse into the sea and also damaged the railway line. Currently, lorries are forced to queue for a ferry, in a process which is thought to take several days.

A document on the Russian government’s website said it had appointed the company Nizhneangarsktransstroy to be the sole contractor, tasked with the “design and restoration of destroyed elements of the transport and engineering infrastructure of the Crimean Bridge”. It sets “a deadline by which state contracts for the work are to be completed… of 1 July 2023”. The bridge was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, four years after Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

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“..if it turns out that humanitarian corridors [used] for grain shipments to the poorest nations… are used for terrorist attacks, it would put the very existence of these corridors in question.”

• Putin Reveals Threat To Istanbul Grain Deal (RT)

Ukraine apparently transported the explosives used in last week’s attack on the Crimean Bridge by sea, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists on Friday, citing a report by the Federal Security Service (FSB). If it is proven that grain carriers operating in the Black Sea under the Istanbul grain deal were involved, it would have dire consequences for the agreement, he warned. Earlier this week, the FSB revealed that explosives disguised as a 22-ton shipment of plastic construction sheeting arrived at the Bulgarian Danube port of Ruse from Ukraine’s port of Odessa by sea. “It is not yet clear if grain carriers were involved,” Putin said at a press conference in the Kazakh capital of Astana. If it turns out that humanitarian corridors [used] for grain shipments to the poorest nations… are used for terrorist attacks, it would put the very existence of these corridors in question.

The president admitted that Russia still does not have any solid evidence confirming that Ukraine may be using grain exports for such activities. However, he warned that the response would be swift and tough if this is the case. “There will be a simple answer: We will shut down [the grain export corridors] and there is an end to it,”Putin warned, adding that Moscow would look for rock-solid proof first. The breakthrough grain deal between Moscow and Kiev was reached in Istanbul in July with mediation by the UN and Türkiye. It aimed to unlock exports of Ukrainian and Russian grain. The two countries are among the world’s leading grain exporters, but trade had come to a halt due to the protracted conflict between the two neighbors.

On Friday, Russia also warned that it may still quit the deal if obstacles to its own food and fertilizer exports are not removed. Moscow has been complaining for months that restrictions on its food and fertilizer exports linked to international sanctions have not been lifted, months after it provided conditions for the Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea. The developments also come in the wake of an attack on the Crimean Bridge linking the peninsula to mainland Russia. A truck explosion on the bridge killed at least four people and led to a partial collapse of the highway bridge section. Russia then declared the attack a terrorist act and blamed the Ukrainian security services. The Russian security services also detained a total of eight suspects, including Russians, Armenians and Ukrainians, in connection with the attack.

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“Jo Red is “lucky enough to be born in Italy: studied a lot, knows nothing”

• The Western Empire Attacks Russia: The World Strikes Back (Red)

At this point, even Biden must be realizing that there were deeper reasons behind the Saudi prince’s decline of his phone call already in March, besides inflicting him and the American government the umpteenth humiliation on the world stage. Not only the US are finally given the brush-off in one of the most important regions of the world: the latter is actively being reshaped by the hatred of them. The Middle East connects three continents, including the two largest, not to mention oceans and seas, and by controlling its straits the Anglo-American have been able to choke the world economy for well over a century. Add the infamously rich resources of the region.

It is no coincidence that the same Raymond Geuss considers the British loss of control of the Suez strait in 1956 as the end of their empire, more than the independence of India. Let’s not forget this was “facilitated” by Khrushchev’s threat at the UN to resort to missiles in case the colonial powers did not withdraw from Egypt. The region continued to be torn apart by the West’s skillful exploitation of its ideological, social, national, and especially religious diversity: first of all, the conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims. These are behind the most dramatic – and almost completely ignored – humanitarian crisis of our time: the devastation of Yemen.

It won’t be easy, but if the interests of such opposite countries as Saudi Arabia and Iran were to align, with a little help by American hostile resentment against the independence of both, and perhaps a friendly nudge by Russia (and China), this would be a massive blow to Western hegemony. Much more than the temporary occupation of I don’t know how many soccer fields in rural Ukraine.

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“..Constitutional Rights, such as they are, attach at birth as being born is the delineating point for the purpose of the Constitution at a federal level.”

• The Supremes Get It Right – Again (Denninger)

Oct 11 (Reuters) – “The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to decide whether fetuses are entitled to constitutional rights in light of its June ruling overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide, steering clear for now of another front in America’s culture wars. The justices turned away an appeal by a Catholic group and two women of a lower court’s ruling holding that fetuses lacked the proper legal standing to challenge a 2019 state law codifying the right to abortion in line with the Roe precedent. The two women, pregnant at the time when the case was first filed, sued on behalf of their fetuses and later gave birth.”

This is a correct decision; the Constitution is clear. This doesn’t mean a state cannot go further. It can; that which is not under the view of the Federal Constitution can still be addressed under a State Constitution. It cannot be argued that at the time of the drafting of the Constitution or that of the 14th Amendment there was any question as to the significance of gamete fusion and creation of a zygote. That event was known to the drafters of both along with its significance; there is no reasonable argument possible otherwise. Therefore there is no “controversy” nor anything to be “clarified” as to the meaning of the words in the Constitution: The words are clear on their face; Constitutional Rights, such as they are, attach at birth as being born is the delineating point for the purpose of the Constitution at a federal level.

If someone wants to change this (and clearly plenty of people do) the proper way to do it is through a Constitutional Amendment, not running to a court and demanding that the court rewrite that which is there, or simply ignore what’s written and make something up. Going through that process is difficult, it requires large super-majorities and thus it requires overwhelming consensus and careful consideration by everyone involved including input from the citizens in each of the respective 50 States and their Legislatures. It should require exactly that and people on both sides who are trying to short-cut that process are wrong and should be slapped down because the only reason to short-cut the process is that you do not believe you can carry the debate when it is held in full.

In other words you insist on short-cutting the process because it is your expressed intent to cheat! I don’t care which side of a given argument one may be on for a given issue; either the Constitution is contained within the four corners of the page and the words are as-written or it is toilet paper and of no force and effect whatsoever. In the latter case all law flowing from same is of no force and effect and nobody has an obligation to adhere to any of it, whether at a state, local or individual level. Think long and hard about the implication of that before you advocate for what these jackasses tried to do — and which was properly rebuffed by the Justices.

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“The lamp-posts in the WalMart parking lots could be decorated with dangling local election officials..”

• We’re Coming For You (Jim Kunstler)

Have you noticed, as the election looms, the Party of Chaos trips deeper into its own self-created chaos? Turns out that the effort to make Ukraine the fifty-first state is not going over so well with the voters. Nor is the campaign to convince children to switch sexes. Or the crusade to sell ever more mRNA “vaccines” that the CDC knows good-and-goshdarn-well is killing and maiming credulous citizens by the millions. Or the program for importing limitless alien “vibrance” across the open border with Mexico…. As the venerable Rolling Stones sang more than a half century ago: “Rape… murder… it’s just a shot away!” This is the kind of country that the Party of Chaos has been grooming you up for.

It’s not working. We are coming for you: leaders, mesmerized minions, and obliging tools of this Satanic faction that seized the levers of power in America and turned them into wrecking bars. After the nervous hiatus from November to January, we’re coming for you in 2023. You are going to answer for the decisions you took and the rules you made that drove our country to its knees and half out of it’s mind. We are storming you in your Kafka’s Castle of lies and malice, and we are going to drag you out of there kicking and screaming. Preserving your decorum will not be our first consideration, Rochelle Walensky, Tony Fauci, Alejandro Mayorkas, Merrick Garland, Christopher Wray, and the people who work for you.

There’s a lot of loose talk about some as-yet-unknown Party of Chaos’s ploy to stave off the November 8th reckoning — say, drag out the vote count for weeks and confabulate the results… declare some emergency to shut down in-person voting… or somehow postpone the vote altogether. Nothing like that will go over successfully this time around. The lamp-posts in the WalMart parking lots could be decorated with dangling local election officials who get caught churning phony ballots, tweaking Dominion machines, and taping-up the polling places’ windows with cardboard. You’re getting no help, meantime, from the folks who run the maundering flunkey you installed as president. They just flipped-off Sergey Lavrov’s invitation to negotiate some reasonable end to your $60-plus billion orchestrated fiasco in Ukraine. These are the people that party apostate Tulsi Gabbard identified lately as “an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness.” She got that exactly right, and at exactly the right moment in history, too.

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Nancy Pelosi had her daughter lead an entire film crew on Jan 6. Who happened to catch it “all”. Doesn’t smell right.

• Trump ‘Loves The Idea Of Testifying’ Before Jan. 6 Committee (Fox)

Former President Donald Trump “loves the idea of testifying” before the House select committee investigating January 6th, a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital just after the panel unanimously voted to subpoena him. The source said that if Trump complied with the subpoena and testified, he would “talk about how corrupt the election was, how corrupt the committee was, and how Nancy Pelosi did not call up the National Guard that Trump strongly recommended for her to do three days earlier on January 3, 2021.” The source told Fox News Digital that it is unclear at this point if Trump actually will testify before the committee, but stressed that Trump “loves the idea.” The committee — which consists of seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans — voted Thursday to compel Trump to testify about his conduct leading up to and during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, Trump slammed the committee and its investigation as a “witch hunt.” “The committee is a hoax, a sham, a partisan witch hunt which is a continuation of the witch hunt that has gone on since the great day for our country that I came down the golden escalator with our future first lady,” Trump said. “They have no case, they have no ratings, so they have to try to do this to get publicity.” Trump told Fox News Digital that the investigation has been “a partisan witch hunt, together with two Republicans that have been thrown out of the party — one not wanting to run because he couldn’t win; and another losing by a record number of more than 40 points.” sTrump was referring to Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who lost her primary earlier this year, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who decided not to run for re-election.

Trump told Fox News Digital that the committee “never covered the important subject of election fraud, or why Pelosi and the mayor of D.C. did not call up the National Guard — which I strongly recommended.” “They didn’t cover the reason for January 6 — the largest crowd — it wasn’t set up by me,” Trump said. “The committee didn’t cover election fraud, which was massive, and they didn’t cover why Pelosi didn’t call the National Guard.” Trump said that he had recommended that Pelosi and the mayor of Washington call up the National Guard on Jan. 6 because he “felt the crowd was going to be far bigger than anyone understood.” “They didn’t do their job. I believed the crowd was going to be bigger — just my instinct — and they had the chance to call up the National Guard three days before Jan. 6, and if they did, Jan. 6 would have been a very different day,” Trump said. “But they didn’t do it.”

Epps Pelosi

"Oh my god, how did that guy get up there?"

January 6 'mystery man' Ray Epps guest stars in Pelosi's CNN propaganda film.

Check out what he's doing. Not suspect. At all. pic.twitter.com/u374EjmI9C

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) October 14, 2022

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Misinformation. Maddow

I’m not a lawyer, so @Barnes_Law please correct me if I’m wrong here— but did the Alex Jones case just open the door for the people to now sue Rachel Maddow for billions of dollars since she pushed a conspiracy theory that lead to injury and death in some cases? pic.twitter.com/LXwcrcTjzc

— Kate (@KateTalksTruth) October 12, 2022

Winston Churchill and prohibition.

Where are we on the graph?

Smart dog
https://twitter.com/i/status/1580540061245853699

Nosey

Elephants help each other in distress, grieve for their dead, feel emotions like us. This is Nosey making her first new friend at her sanctuary after working in a circus for 29 years

[story: https://t.co/YJgqUYVdsZ]
[read more: https://t.co/lShG4Hwo6P]pic.twitter.com/ekpXX3pLUm

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 14, 2022

The Emerald tree boa is a non-venomous boa species found in the rainforests of South America

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