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It looks like 2008 all over again. Economic and financial mismanagement feature in scorching, consuming brilliance. The culpable, bungling banksters, have returned with their customary, venal incompetence. In the customary script, they habitually seek the role of the public purse to socialise their losses. Along the way, they will avoid richly deserved prison sentences, lie low, and return to repeat their sins.
A number of big ships in the banking industry have already sunk into oblivion, sold off and made footnotes in financial folklore. Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and most recently, First Republic Bank, have begotten their own tombstones. These big three held, in total, $532 billion. When adjusted for inflation, it edges out the total of $526 billion held by the 25 banks that collapsed in 2008.
First Republic Bank was particularly execrable in its practices, offering non-guaranteed mortgages at fixed rates for vast sums of money. When chills started running down the spines of depositors in the first quarter of this year, bleeding withdrawals totalling $102 billion made.
The US Federal Reserve’s review of SVB’s collapse picked up on a number of issues specific to the bank’s actions, while also offering a mea culpa for not only its own failings, but for those of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporate and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. After all, what were these supposedly eagle-eyed supervisors, the stewards tasked with overseeing the system, doing during all this time?
As the Reserve found, there had been a conspicuous failure on the part of the board of directors and management to manage the risks at SVB. There is also an admission by the Federal Reserve that they “did not fully appreciate the extent of the vulnerabilities as Silicon Valley Bank grew in size and complexity.” Even when these were identified, insufficient steps were taken to ensure that the defects were corrected “quickly enough.”
SVB, it turns out, was something of a poster boy of bad behaviour. It was cited for not complying with a number of requirements: the Bank Secrecy Act, Current Expected Credit Losses measurements, stringent data protection, having a sufficient internal auditing framework, and the Volcker Rule. The latter’s aim is to prevent banks from dabbling in that most risky of ventures: securities and derivatives. For the bankster, lessons are there to be unlearned.
Most telling of all was that great gremlin of the banking sector: deregulation. During the Trump administration, a number of checks and controls were wound back, notably regarding the middle ranking, smaller banks. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which set $50 billion and above as the line which would demand greater regulation on capital and mergers, came in for particular punishment. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 raised the asset threshold to $250 billion. Those below could engage in conduct becoming the most profligate wastrels.
As the Board found, the “tailoring approach in response to the Economic, Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act and a shift in the stance of supervisory policy impeded effective supervision by reducing standards, increasing complexity, and promoting a less assertive supervisory approach.”
The Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision, Michael Barr, drew a number of conclusions that looked awfully like those reached in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. “[W]e must strengthen the Federal Reserve’s supervision and regulation based on what we have learned.” The SVB review represented “the first step in that process – a self-assessment that takes an unflinching look at the conditions that led to the bank’s failure, including the role of Federal Reserve supervision and regulation.”
These are fine admissions, but they all seem to have come a bit late. The US banking system is teetering, notably those in the middle rung. And they tend to have banksters of such cheek as former Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker, who will be testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on May 16.
Becker, it should not be forgotten, was thrilled by the Trump administration’s policy adjustments, realising his own efforts in 2015 to convince the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to reduce safety standards. In his statement to the committee, Becker claimed that SVB did “not present systemic risks” and was adequately policed by an adequate number of “highly skilled risk professionals” and “a stand-alone, independent Risk Committee of our Board of Directors”. There were also a “range of different stress tests designed to measure and predict the risks associated” with the “business in different economic scenarios.” The proverbial pigs sought, at this point, to fly.
The sparring members of Congress are also not at one as to what brought on the rot. The Republicans, in characteristic fashion, refuse to accept deregulation as the culprit, preferring to focus on egregious human error and mismanagement. Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky offers another thesis: that a flush of funds and government overspending, fuelling inflation, coupled with low interest rates, were the causal factors. Democrats such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and US Rep. Katie Porter of California underlined the winding back of regulations as the problem, requiring muscular legislative correction.
The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, suggests that US banking directors should put their heads on the metaphorical chopping block. At the very least, they “should suffer” some form of retribution, though what form this takes is not entirely clear. Not making them do so “teaches the lesson that if you run a bank and screw it up, you’re still a rich guy, the world goes on … That is not a good lesson to teach the people who are holding the behaviour of the economy in their hands.”
Charlie Munger, who also serves as vice-chairman of Buffet’s investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, does not disagree. “I don’t think having a bunch of bankers, all of whom are trying to get rich, leads to good things. I think bankers should be more like an engineer, avoiding trouble rather than trying to get rich … It’s a contradiction in values.”
Such a contradiction continues to exist with vengeance, fed by an unspoken conspiracy between the banking sector and government officials who regard regulation as unbecoming to the buccaneering spirit. A certain form of thieving is always to be encouraged, and it might even be subsidised too.
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Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a regular contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research. Email: [email protected]
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***
“It doesn’t make much sense to investigate the guy who brings you the allegation rather than the allegation.” — Former Federal Prosecutor Bud Cummins
On October 4, 2018, Bud Cummins brought evidence to the attention of US Attorney Geoff Berman of criminal behavior by Vice President Joe Biden.Instead of investigating Biden, Berman investigated Cummins.This is the Department of Justice today.The DOJ is just as corrupt as the FBI, which is part of DOJ, the CIA, NSA, FDA, and all the rest.Try to find an honest federal agency or institution.
If you don’t believe the FBI is corrupt, consider the Hunter Biden laptop.The information on the laptop revealing clear criminal behavior has been known for years, and nothing has been done about it.The corrupt FBI even declared the laptop to be a Russian plant in an effort to influence a US election.Really.
The corrupt FBI refuses to release information, thus blocking the House Oversight Committee from oversight and revealing, yet again, the utter weakness of the legislature in holding the executive branch accountable. Basically, Congress is powerless.All the federal government needs to do is to utter the words “national security” and Congress collapses.
The FBI’s coverup of the Biden father-son crimes enables the corrupt Democrats and their media whores to allege that the reports of Biden family crimes are “anonymous innuendo.”But, of course, the information on the laptop is not anonymous and neither is former federal prosecutor Cummins.
To protect Democrats from real crimes federal officials commit perjury, and to falsely accuse President Trump they commit perjury again.One wonders if Republicans understand the fight they are in.
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Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
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***
When a mere subplot overnight assumes habitation and a name, it becomes more fascinating than the main plot itself. Syria’s return to the Arab League after its decade-long exclusion can be regarded as a sub-plot of the China-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. But then, China and Iran are not per se party to the process.
Syria’s return to the Arab League is seen as an Arab initiative, but it is quintessentially a project Riyadh steered through in close consultation and coordination with Damascus, ignoring some murmur by a clutch of Arab States and patently in defiance of Washington’s trenchant opposition.
Against the backdrop of the epochal struggle for a new world order characterised by multipolarity and resistance to Western hegemony, Russia and China quietly encouraged Riyadh to move in such a direction.
A riveting thing about the decision taken by the foreign ministers of the seven Arab League nations at the meeting in Cairo on Sunday is its sweet timing. For, this is the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Ba’ath Party in Damascus in 1943, which espoused an ideology of Arab nationalist and anti-imperialist interests that have lately re-appeared in the geopolitics of West Asia.
Syria has a tradition of strategic autonomy. Through the past decade, it was preoccupied with fighting off the US-sponsored regime change project, with help from Russia and Iran. As it turns the corner and is stabilising, Syria’s strategic autonomy will be increasingly in evidence. This is one thing.
However, the strategic relations with Russia and Iran will continue to remain special and there should be no misconceptions on that score. But Syria is capable of ingenuity and diplomatic acumen to create space for itself to manoeuvre, as geopolitics takes a back seat and Assad prioritises stabilisation and reconstruction of the economy, which requires regional cooperation.
The recent visit by Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi to Syria testifies to Tehran’s “soft diplomacy,” exuding pragmatism that on the one hand made it clear that despite the recent rapprochement between Damascus and Arab countries, Syrian-Iranian ties are still strongand even highlighted Syria’s role in the resistance to Israel — with Raisi holding a meeting in Damascus with senior Palestinian officials, including leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad — while on the other hand, the negotiations with the Syrian leadership was largely about economic cooperation.
Raisi said Iran is ready to take an active part in the post-war reconstruction of Syria. Iran faces competition from Gulf countries that have deep pockets. Meanwhile, the warming of relations between Syria and Turkey is also on the agenda, which is sure to lead to increased trade and spur investment flow.
To put matters in perspective, Iran’s exports to Syria currently amount to a paltry sum of $243 million. However, since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Iran has been a key sponsor of the Syrian authorities. In January 2013, Tehran opened the first credit line of $1 billion for Damascus, which was under international sanctions, thanks to which the government was able to pay for imported food. This was followed by a loan of $3.6 billion for the purchase of petroleum products. The third loan of $1 billion was extended in 2015. Tehran also allocated funds to Damascus to pay salaries to civil servants, which helped preserve state institutions. In 2012, a free trade agreement began to operate between the countries. Iran is also spending billions to finance Shiite militias in Syria and supply them with weapons. Naturally, Tehran would like to recoup some of these investments.
Syria is assessing, rightly so, that normalisation with the Arab neighbours and Turkey will be a game changer. But, while everyone is talking about Syria’s “readmission to the Arab family” as a concession, Damascus reacted to the Arab League decision in a measured way.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said on Sunday, “Syria has been following the positive trends and interactions that are currently taking place in the Arab region, and believes that these benefit all Arab countries and favour the stability, security and well-being of their peoples.
“Syria has received with interest the decision issued by the meeting of the Council of the League of Arab States.”The statement went on to stress the importance of dialogue and joint action to confront the challenges facing the Arab countries. It recalled that Syria is a founding member of the Arab League and always had a strong position in favour of strengthening joint Arab action.
Most important, the statement concluded by reaffirming that the next stage requires “an effective and constructive Arab approach on the bilateral and collective levels on the basis of dialogue, mutual respect, and the common interests of the Arab nation.”
From all appearance, the Arab League statement itself was a “consensus statement” drafted with great sensitivity by Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with Al-Mayadeen, Raisi said prior to his departure for Damascus that “Syria has always been on the axis of resistance… We unequivocally support all fronts of the axis of resistance, and my visit to Syria is within the framework of this support, and we are working to strengthen the resistance front, and we will not hesitate in this.” In fact, Raisi’s arrival in Syria coincided with increased Israeli attacks by Israel on Iranian military facilities, including on Aleppo airport.
Without doubt, Iran remains Syria’s main ally and Iranian influence in Damascus is still strong. Iran views Syria as its strategic territory through which Tehran can establish ties with Lebanon and confront Israel.
What works to Syria’s advantage here is that the Saudi-Iranian detente is based on a common view in Riyadh and Tehran that they have to coexist in one form or another, since their enmity and regional rivalry turned out to be a “lose-lose” proposition that didn’t improve their regional standing. Suffice to say, their national interest resulting from their rapprochement overrides past rivalries.Syria will be a testing ground where each other’s true intentions as well as conduct will come under close scrutiny.
The good part is that the Saudis have concluded that President Assad is firmly in the saddle, having weathered the most devastating war since World War 2, and mending relations with Damascus can be a “win-win” for Riyadh.
That said, Syria is a strategic hinge where Riyadh will need to balance its strategic ties with the US and its tacit ties with Israel. But then, Saudi Arabia’s new strategic calculus also includes China and Russia. When it comes to Syria, Russia is an anchor sheet for Assad, while China has been all along on the right side of history.
The Biden Administration is driven into frenzy by the winds of change sweeping the region — the conclusive death to the neocon agenda of Arab Spring in Syria; the groundswell of Arab nationalism and the growing resistance to western hegemony that create new requirements of pan-Arabism; the hidden charms of multipolarity; the rise of China; the existential crisis in Israel; the dialectics of tradition and modernity in the regional states amidst the aspirations of youthful societies and so on. Paradoxically, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Assad would have common interests today on many of these fronts.
Biden who is like a beached whale on West Asia’s political landscape, has deputed his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to rush to Saudi Arabia, holding the hands of his Indian and Emirati counterparts for company to save face and salvage the wreck of the US’ regional strategies!
Wisdom lies in Washington using Saudis (and Emiratis and Indians) to open a line to Damascus.However, Assad will set the very same non-negotiable condition to Washington for normalisation that he insisted with Turkey — vacation of US occupation. Beyond that lies, of course, Israel’s annexation of Golan Heights.
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Featured image: Emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers agreed to readmit Syria, Cairo, May 7, 2023 (Source: Indian Punchline)
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***
Photographs of the new US embassy compound under construction in Lebanon shared on Twitter on Friday have sparked questions, conspiracies, and some jeers as a result of its massive size.
As of Monday, the photographs, posted by the US embassy in Beirut with the caption, “things are progressing at our new compounds”, had gotten 2.1 million views by the time of publication.
The US embassy under construction in Beirut (Twitter/US embassy Lebanon)
The US announced plans to build the new embassy in 2017 and the compound has been under construction ever since.
Many have questioned why the US needs to build what will be the world’s second-largest embassy in the world after the American embassy in Baghdad, given that the Mediterranean country is home to only six million people and is currently facing a financial crisis.
“This is bigger than the Pentagon,” one Twitter user said. “ What’s planned for this compound other than issuing visas???”
“Room for hundreds of spies and infiltrators? A weapon factory too? another Twitter user asked.
“Any secret bio labs tucked away in that military complex-like building?” asked another.
The embassy is expected to cost $1bn and will occupy 43 acres once completed. The price tag has also raised eyebrows because it comes as Lebanon is facing an economic implosion.
— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) May 5, 2023
The US investment comes after Washington’s top Middle East diplomat warned last year that Lebanon faced the potential of a complete “unravelling” of the state and “disintegration”.
Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Former President Michel Aoun’s term ended in October without a replacement. The country’s squabbling politicians have shown little appetite to deal with what the World Bank says is one of the world’s worst economic crises in the past 150 years.
“Thanks for destroying all those trees for a massive military base no real Lebanese wants in their country. Hooray for the Yanks…” said a third.
The US is the largest donor of humanitarian and military assistance to Lebanon, but its sway in the country has been checked by Iran and its proxy Hezbollah.
Washington’s embassies in Lebanon were previously targeted by armed groups.
The US’s embassy in mainly Muslim West Beirut was decimated in a 1983 bombing that killed eight CIA agents. It then moved to predominantly Christian East Beirut, but that building was hit in 1984 by a truck bombing that killed 241 US Marines and 58 French soldiers.
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***
There is an old joke that goes something like this:
“Why do Baptists forbid fornication?”
“Because it might lead to dancing.”
It came to me after a conversation I had with an Australian colleague who has been studying psychoanalytic psychotherapy at an institution in the United States. She was appalled and deeply saddened by her experiences within this institution during the period of the Corona War, because her instructors – seasoned and long-experienced psychoanalysts – were so ‘captured’ by the pro-pandemic pro-jab pro-mask dictates that they brooked no disagreement.
Bear in mind that psychoanalysis, at its inception during findesiècle Vienna, when Freud dared to examine dreams in an entirely new way and also to introduce a talking therapy, was a revolutionary discipline. Its early adherents and practitioners and investigators – people like Ferenczi, Abraham, Pfister, Jones and others, preeminent among them being Freud of course – founded their efforts and energies on a quest to unearth what was hidden in the human psyche, to see beyond and below surface appearances, and to employ a method in their therapeutic practice that was as unique as it was breathtaking – and here I am referring to free association.
In essence, psychoanalysis had its foundation in freedom. It is scarcely imaginable even now how powerful the so-called fundamental rule of psychoanalytic technique had been: a person was instructed to say anything and everything that came to mind, regardless of how strange, repugnant, frightening or bizarre. There is not now, nor has there ever been, such an extraordinary situation wherein one human being has complete and utter freedom to speak, within the protected environment of the therapeutic setting.
Naturally, this fundamental rule prescribed an ideal. In practice analytic patients invariably, and consciously, hide ideas and images from their analysts out of embarrassment, anxiety, and mistrust. It takes quite a long while for a greater approximation of the ideal even after years of treatment. One may say, with ample justification, that it is virtually impossible for one person to express everything he or she thinks to another – or even to oneself. Allowing oneself to associate freely – to think whatever comes to mind – is not so very easy even in the privacy of one’s own solitary company. Try it sometime, and discover the roadblocks.
Without delving too technically into aspects of analytic practice and theory, and the large looming role of the unconscious, we may nonetheless rightly call attention to the notion of freedom as quintessential to psychoanalysis. And it is freedom of this kind – freedom to think, articulate, imagine, to play and to create within the mind – that is quintessential to humanity at its best.
That Baptist joke came to me because governments around the world are engulfing us with their plans to fight ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation’ as they make war upon freedom of speech. It’s really nothing new and nothing more than an attempt to censor voices they deem to be a threat to their own.
Why?
Because our thinking is itself dependent upon the sharing of ideas and opinions and the engagement with those whose opinions and ideas can differ. Freedom of speech leads to freedom of thought, and freedom of thought may lead to the kinds of actions that politicians and so-called elites find threatening to their monopoly on power.
My psychoanalytic colleague is saddened by the loss of friends who refuse not only to entertain a perspective that may differ from their views about covid, mandates, jab apartheid practices and the like, but even to allow a discussion or exchange of views with another.
The new normal is not to debate or discuss, but to disavow and disallow. When I recently asked a friend whether he would consider a peer-reviewed article in an established journal which gave evidence of jab shortcomings – mind you, to me this was a meek beginning – I was told ‘no’. Plainly and simply, no, there was nothing I could show hhim that could change his mind and, furthermore, I was told that I was crazy and forbidden to bring the topic up again. He was, it seems, working very hard to remain willfully blind and obtuse.
She knew about the dangers of the Pfizer inoculation from the beginning, yet she proceeded to insist upon its so-called safety and efficacy, despite the data she had received and the warnings that she had been given by Medsafe in early 2021.
This disgraced ex-Prime Minister now has a new role as a ‘misinformation’ czar whose duty is to protect the citizenry from the dangers posed by wrong-headed souls who assume free speech to be an unalienable right. I guess it’s the perfect gig for someone accustomed to being a ‘single source of truth’.
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Dr. Garcia is a Philadelphia-born psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who emigrated to New Zealand in 2006. He has authored articles ranging from explorations of psychoanalytic technique, the psychology of creativity in music (Mahler, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Delius), and politics. He is also a poet, novelist and theatrical director. He retired from psychiatric practice in 2021 after working in the public sector in New Zealand. Visit his substack at https://newzealanddoc.substack.com/
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***
Here is UK Media regulator Ofcom’s Orwellian announcement today, censuring Mark Steyn, GBNews and me, after its seven months’ long investigation into my comments on Mark Steyn’s show, in which I correctly presented harms to women and babies that are tabulated in Pfizer’s own internal documents. Ofcom’s conclusion is not that I was wrong — I was right — in warning women, via primary source evidence in Pfizer’s own documents, about damage to their babies, placentas and breast milk, but rather, Ofcom claims that my comments were “harmful” — even though I was telling the truth:
“OFCOM FINDS GB NEWS IN BREACH OF BROADCASTING RULES FOR A SECOND TIME” is the regulator’s headline.
“An Ofcom investigation has today found the Mark Steyn programme, which first aired on GB News on 4 October 2022, in breach of our broadcasting rules.
The programme included an interview between presenter, Mark Steyn, and a guest, Dr Naomi Wolf. During the interview, Naomi Wolf made serious claims about the Covid-19 vaccine, including that its rollout amounted to a pre-meditated crime – “mass murder” – and was comparable to the actions of “doctors in pre-Nazi Germany”. Ofcom received 422 complaints that alleged these comments were “dangerous” and included “misinformation” that went “unopposed”.
It is important to stress that in line with the right to freedom of expression – broadcasters are free to transmit programmes that include controversial and challenging views, including about Covid-19 vaccines or conspiracy theories. However, alongside this editorial freedom, the Broadcasting Code imposes a clear requirement that if such content has the potential to be harmful, the broadcaster must ensure that its audience is adequately protected.
Our investigation concluded that GB News fell short of this requirement by allowing Naomi Wolf to promote a serious conspiracy theory without challenge or context – for example through other contributions in the programme or by the presenter, who appeared to support many of her comments. There was also no scrutiny of the evidence she claimed to hold to support her claims.
We also took into account that the programme presented Naomi Wolf as a figure of authority, with particular knowledge and expertise in the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines. We consider this would have lent credibility to her unchallenged claims. Of particular concern was her significant and alarming claim that “mass murder” was taking place through the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccinations, which she repeated three times.
We found that the comments made by Naomi Wolf had the potential to impact viewers’ decisions about their health and were therefore potentially harmful. Given that GB News did not take adequate steps to protect viewers from this potentially harmful content, we have found the channel in breach of Rule 2.1 of the Broadcasting Code.
This is the second significant breach of the Code recorded against GB News. In light of this, we are requesting that GB News attends a meeting with Ofcom to discuss its approach to compliance.
Naomi Wolf also appeared on the Mark Steyn programme the following day, and made further claims about Covid-19 vaccines. Her comments were put into context by other views expressed during the programme, and a banner broadcast throughout the segment informed viewers that Naomi Wolf had “faced widespread criticism for Covid research”. Taking this into account, we will not be pursuing these complaints further.
COVID, compliance and freedom of expression
Since March 2020, Ofcom has received over 26,000 complaints about TV and radio coverage relating to the Covid-19 pandemic. Reflecting the weight we place on the right to freedom of expression, the vast majority of these complaints did not raise issues under our rules.
We have opened 11 formal investigations where the content raised serious concerns. Of these cases, we have found nine programmes in breach of our rules, one was found not in breach, while one investigation remains ongoing. Find out more about our broadcast standards work in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Complaints received about GB News to date total 4,560, representing 1.6% of all broadcast complaints made to us during this period. Of these 1,714 related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After careful assessment, the vast majority of complaints made against GB News have not been pursued.
We have launched four investigations into the channel, and this is the second breach of our broadcasting rules recorded against GB News since it launched in June 2021.
An earlier episode of the Mark Steyn programme broke our rules by presenting a materially misleading interpretation of official data without sufficient challenge or context, risking harm to viewers. Our investigation into Talking Pints with Nigel Farage (23 August 2021) – relating to offensive language – concluded that the programme was not in breach of our rules. We are currently investigating whether Saturday Morning with Esther and Philip broadcast on 11 March 2023 broke our rules requiring news and current affairs to be presented with due impartiality.” [See this]
Here is my statement in response:
“As a journalist, I am appalled that Ofcom censured me for primary source evidence directly from Pfizer’s own internal documents released under court order, presented in reports compiled by 3500 medical and scientific experts, including oncologists, radiologists, medical fraud investigators, RNs, biological scientists, and a range of other physicians and clinicians.
The documents contain 1223 fatalities in three months. In two of the reports compiled by our experts, using the Pfizer documents themselves, half of the adverse events, which included fatalities, occurred within 48 hours of the injection.
When it came to unborn babies, the deaths in Pfizer’s own documents include scores of fetuses, some of which Pfizer identified as suffering from ‘transplacental’ exposure to the vaccine.
A baby died after drinking its vaccinated mother’s breast milk; vaccinated mothers’ breast milk was found by Pfizer in its own review to be contaminated and injurious to babies.
Given that Pfizer knew by Feb 2021 the many ways in which its mrna vaccine was killing adults, babies and fetuses, with adverse events ranging from 3 to 1 to 8 to 1 ratios affecting women, and yet did not inform the public, but rather launched intensive campaigns to urge people, including pregnant women, to take this dangerous product, of course it is a mass murder event.
I speak as the granddaughter of a woman who lost nine siblings to the Holocaust.
We have an obligation to speak out against murder in our own communities.
Pfizer is under investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for deceptive practices and for possibly falsifying data. Both of these crimes are abundantly documented in the 500 pages of reports from the Pfizer documents compiled by our experts.
Ofcom should not penalize reporters or news platforms for presenting the truth, especially if that truth is of grave public significance. If Ofcom continues to censor primary source evidence of harms to women and babies from mrna injections, it too has blood on its hands and is an accessory to mass murder.
Of course I will consult my attorney to take action against this damaging censorship and this baseless reputational attack, which is the second one from a national government (the first was from our own White House and CDC) in relation to this important story.
Mark Steyn is a hero for not backing down in bringing facts about harms to pregnancy, fertility, breastfeeding and babies, to women and men in Britain and the rest of the world. These are facts that the UK Government, linked to Ofcom itself, sought and seeks to this day, to keep hidden.
The exposure of danger to the public which Ofcom todays assails, is exactly what real journalism is supposed to do. I will continue to speak out with lifesaving information to help protect women and babies.”
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A Rhodes Scholar, former advisor to Clinton and Gore campaigns, and author of eight NYT nonfiction bestsellers, Dr. Naomi Wolf has been creating globally influential opinion for 28 years. She is CEO of DailyClout.
The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity
by Michel Chossudovsky
Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.
“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”
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As the war in Ukraine drags on, the government is selling off state assets in a big privatization spree.
US fossil fuel corporations like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Halliburton are participating in discussions to take over the Eastern European nation’s oil and gas industry, as Kiev pushes to increase production to replace Russian energy exports.
This comes soon after Ukraine’s Western-backed leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, sent a friendly video message to a US corporate lobby group, thanking companies like BlackRock, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Starlink, and promising “big business” for others.
The Ukrainian government has used the war as an excuse to ram through some of the most aggressive anti-worker laws on Earth.
The director of the Kiev-based workers’ rights NGO Labor Initiatives warned of a “full-scale attack on Ukraine’s labour rights”, writing in a German government-funded journal that the “war cannot be used to justify stripping workers of their rights”.
In an attempt to bring an end to this war, China has taken the lead in advocating peace talks. Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has backed Beijing’s efforts.
The West, on the other hand, has vociferously opposed all attempts at diplomatic negotiations and instead pushed to escalate the NATO proxy war on Russia, sending fighter jets and tanks to Kiev.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, are treating their country as a for-profit company, frequently travelling to the United States in search of lucrative business opportunities.
Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz woos US corporations, like Iraq War profiteer Halliburton
The CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz, Oleksiy Chernyshov, flew to Washington, DC this April to meet with US political and corporate officials.
“The negotiations with big US fossil fuel players are part of a strategic push to increase natural gas production that Ukrainian officials believe could help replace Russian supply to Europe in the years ahead”, the newspaper wrote.
As the war drags on, Ukraine is selling off state assets in a big privatization spree. US fossil fuel corporations like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Halliburton are in discussions to run the country's energy industry.
Halliburton is notorious for its involvement in corruption schemes, involving fat government contracts. In 2017, it was fined $29.2 million by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act with highly profitable oilfield services contracts in Angola.
Responding to the Financial Times report, economist Yanis Varoufakis, who previously served as Greece’s minister of finance, tweeted: “And there you have it. EXXON, HALLIBURTON & CHEVRON, after Iraq, are now taking over the Ukrainian oil and gas fields. Planning to introduce large scale fracking – a clear and present threat to poison U’s agriculture”.
And there you have it. EXXON, HALLIBURTON & CHEVRON, after Iraq, are now taking over the Ukrainian oil and gas fields. Planning to introduce large scale fracking – a clear and present threat to poison U's agriculture pic.twitter.com/LlC0nv39qk
Chernyshov, the CEO of Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz, told the newspaper, “We want them [Halliburton] to expand [their presence] dramatically. We want them there seriously — boots on the ground”.
“We will welcome them”, he added. “We can do joint production on gas together, PSA agreement — production sharing agreement — they can have a licence and produce by themselves, we will welcome it”.
In November, the president of Halliburton in the eastern hemisphere, Joe Rainey, travelled to Ukraine to meet with Chernyshov.
“Your support and visit to Kyiv is a powerful signal for the entire market and the world”, Chernyshov said. “I am grateful to the US government, the American people and you personally for your comprehensive support of Ukraine. We really appreciate it. Our cooperation is extremely important and we are doing our best to improve and expand it”.
Halliburton was a household name in the United States in the 2000s, and was practically synonymous with corruption.
Vice President Dick Cheney, who served under former President George W. Bush, had worked for years as chairman and CEO of Halliburton.
Cheney, a hardline neoconservative, was a key architect of the illegal US invasion of Iraq in 2003. That same year, Halliburton was given what NPR described as a “‘sweetheart’ deal in Iraq”.
NPR wrote:
Oil services company Halliburton has come under intense scrutiny over its multi-billion-dollar contracts with the U.S. military in Iraq. Congressional critics want to know if the company is engaging in gold-plating contracts — inflating costs and pocketing the difference. Other critics charge that Halliburton has seemingly become another branch of the U.S. military, while the company’s former chief executive officer, Dick Cheney, is now the vice president.
In the first of a three-part series looking at the complex relationship between the defense contractor and the federal government, NPR’s John Burnett examines the scope of contracts in Iraq held by Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root, better known as KBR.
America’s war on terrorism has created a windfall for KBR. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the company has constructed base camps at more than 60 locations throughout the Middle East and South Asia. Under its deal with the Pentagon — known as a “Logcap” contract — KBR is the go-to company to provide troops in Iraq with everything from portable toilets to Internet cafes.
A decade later, the International Business Times reported that Halliburton subsidiary KBR had received more Iraq-related contracts than any other private firm in the 10 years of the war.
The media outlet reported:
The company [KBR] was given $39.5 billion in Iraq-related contracts over the past decade, with many of the deals given without any bidding from competing firms, such as a $568-million contract renewal in 2010 to provide housing, meals, water and bathroom services to soldiers, a deal that led to a Justice Department lawsuit over alleged kickbacks.
Ukraine eyes natural gas deposits off Crimea
The Financial Times reported that the Ukrainian government specifically hopes to drill for offshore natural gas in the Black Sea, off of Crimea. Kiev is unable to access that gas, however.
Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, following a referendum with 83% turnout in which 97% of participants said they wanted to join the Russian Federation. Western governments cast doubt on the vote, but polling by mainstream US firm Pew Research found that 91% of Crimeans said the referendum was free and fairand 88% wanted Ukraine to recognize the results.
Despite Crimeans’ overwhelming support for integration with Russia, Ukraine and its NATO sponsors have insisted that they will retake the region – not only because of its valuable offshore gas reserves, but also due its deep geostrategic importance for Russia.
Russia only has one warm water naval base, the Sevastopol base in Crimea. This is the main base used by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet – and, without it, the sea would effectively become controlled by NATO.
For Moscow, this is genuinely a security concern, not one motivated by ulterior economic interests.
Ukraine does indeed control Europe’s second-largest known reserves of natural gas, almost 80 percent of which are located east of the Dnipro River. However, these reserves amount to less than 3 percent of Russia’s total natural gas reserves.
And though Ukraine theoretically might have considerable shale gas reserves, they remain largely unproven, and Russia currently has no experience or technology for shale gas production.
Naftogaz CEO meets with US ambassador involved in 2014 coup
During his trip to Washington this April, Naftogaz CEO Chernyshov not only met with corporate executives; he also sat down with senior government officials, like former US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt.
Pyatt represented Washington in Kiev during a violent US-backed coup in 2014, which overthrew Ukraine’s democratically elected, geopolitically neutral government and installed a pro-Western regime.
A notorious leaked phone call from top State Department official Victoria Nuland showed US officials deciding who would run the Ukrainian government after the coup. Joining Nuland on the call was none other than Pyatt.
In a press release on Chernyshov’s meeting with Pyatt, Naftogaz wrote with pride that it “is working to attract American companies – their technologies, expertise and investments – to increase production in Ukraine”.
“We discussed a number of issues. From Ukraine’s new role in Europe’s energy security system to the implementation of corporate governance reform”, Chernyshov said.
Naftogaz participates in IMF structural adjustment program
On his trip to Washington, Naftogaz CEO Chernyshov also met with representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the US-dominated financial institution that is infamous for imposing neoliberal economic policies on indebted nations.
This March, the IMF made the unprecedented decision of approving a $15.6 billion loan for Ukraine.
The IMF had never before provided financing to a country that is at war. A reporter at US state media outlet NPR admitted that the IMF had to implement a “rule change”, which “was obviously, you know, politically motivated”.
Since it was created in 1944, the IMF refused to give loans to countries at war
But it is now giving $15.6 billion to Ukraine
US state media NPR admits the "rule change was obviously politically motivated"
Naftogaz declared in a press release that “successful and consistent cooperation with the IMF is crucial for Ukraine’s resilience during the war”.
Using racist rhetoric that implied that Russia is “uncivilized”, Chernyshov stated:
Cooperation with the IMF is crucial for the stability of our country in times of war. The fact that we have a program is a signal to the civilized world that the country is moving in the right direction. Ukraine has made its civilizational choice. Naftogaz has fulfilled its part of the conditions for our country to receive the IMF program. This demonstrates that we are a reliable partner. Naftogaz will not let the country down.
The Naftogaz statement did not clarify what these “conditions” were, but a February press release from the IMF made it clear that it includes neoliberal reforms.
The IMF reported that its discussions with Ukrainian authorities “covered the medium-term macroeconomic framework, fiscal policy, the financing mix, financial sector policies, and governance”.
The IMF’s conditions included, “In particular, reform initiatives to enhance productivity and competitiveness of the private sector need to be advanced to help lay the foundation for a robust post-war growth against a backdrop of progress toward EU accession”.
Reforms to “enhance productivity and competitiveness of the private sector” is a euphemistic way of saying that Ukraine must further privatize state-owned industries and sell off public assets.
In its statement, the IMF stressed, “The private sector is also expected to contribute to the reconstruction efforts”.
The Fund also wrote favorably of “draft tax laws aimed to increase revenues”, calling for “shoring up tax revenues” and “creating fiscal space for war-related repairs”.
“Efforts to expand issuance in the domestic bond market should continue to help ensure a stable financing mix and eliminate reliance on monetary financing”, it added.
In short, the IMF’s conditions for Ukraine are a typical reflection of the Washington Consensus: neoliberal austerity measures, which increase the burden on Ukrainian workers, whose living standards are declining and who have fewer and fewer rights, while US corporations are offered profitable opportunities to buy up public assets.
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Featured image: Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky meets with US President Joe Biden in Kiev on February 20, 2023
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It’s a lose-lose situation for Ukrainians. While they are dying to defend their land, financial institutions are insidiously supporting the consolidation of farmland by oligarchs and Western financial interests.
So says Frédéric Mousseau, Policy Director of the Oakland Institute, an independent think tank.
Depending on which sources to believe, between 100,000 and 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers (possibly more) have died during the conflict with Russia. That figure, of course, does not include civilian casualties.
The mainstream narrative in the West is that Russia grabbed Crimea and then invaded Ukraine. Russia is portrayed as the outright aggressor which wants to restore its control over large swathes of Europe.
However, this narrative is false and has been debunked by various commentators who explain in some depth how Ukraine has been used and manipulated as part of a geopolitical campaign formulated by neoconservatives in Washington to destabilise Russia.
The expansion of NATO towards the east, the US-backed coup in 2014 – followed by eight years of the shelling of the ethnic Russian eastern parts of the country by the regime in Kyiv resulting in around 14,000 deaths – led up to the military intervention by Russia, which regards the expansionism and militarism as an existential threat.
It is not the purpose of this article to explore these issues. Much has already been written on this elsewhere. But billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware has been sent to Ukraine by the NATO countries and hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainians have died.
They died in the belief that they were protecting their nation – their land. A land that is among the most fertile in the world.
Professor Olena Borodina of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine says:
“Today, thousands of rural boys and girls, farmers, are fighting and dying in the war. They have lost everything. The processes of free land sale and purchase are increasingly liberalised and advertised. This really threatens the rights of Ukrainians to their land, for which they give their lives.”
Borodina is quoted in the February 2023 report by the Oakland Institute War and Theft: The Takeover of Ukraine’s Agricultural Land, which reveals how oligarchs and financial interests are expanding control over Ukraine’s agricultural land with help and financing from Western financial institutions.
Aid provided to Ukraine in recent years has been tied to a drastic structural adjustment programme requiring the creation of a land market through a law that leads to greater concentration of land in the hands of powerful interests. The programme also includes austerity measures, cuts in social safety nets and the privatisation of key sectors of the economy.
Frédéric Mousseau, co-author of the report, says:
“Despite being at the centre of news cycle and international policy, little attention has gone to the core of the conflict — who controls the agricultural land in the country known as the breadbasket of Europe. [The] Answer to this question is paramount to understanding the major stakes in the war.”
The report shows the total amount of land controlled by oligarchs, corrupt individuals and large agribusinesses is over nine million hectares — exceeding 28% of Ukraine’s arable land (the rest is used by over eight million Ukrainian farmers).
The largest landholders are a mix of Ukrainian oligarchs and foreign interests — mostly European and North American as well as the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia. A number of large US pension funds, foundations and university endowments are also invested in Ukrainian land through NCH Capital – a US-based private equity fund, which is the fifth largest landholder in the country.
President Zelenskyy put the land reform into law in 2020 against the will of the vast majority of the population who feared it would exacerbate corruption and reinforce control by powerful interests in the agricultural sector.
The Oakland Institute notes that, while large landholders are securing massive financing from Western financial institutions, Ukrainian farmers — essential for ensuring domestic food supply — receive virtually no support. With the land market in place, amid high economic stress and war, this difference of treatment will lead to more land consolidation by large agribusinesses.
All but one of the ten largest landholding firms are registered overseas, mainly in tax havens such as Cyprus or Luxembourg. The report identifies many prominent investors, including Vanguard Group, Kopernik Global Investors, BNP Asset Management Holding, Goldman Sachs-owned NN Investment Partners Holdings, and Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
Most of the agribusiness firms are substantially indebted to Western financial institutions, in particular the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and the International Finance Corporation – the private sector arm of the World Bank.
Together, these institutions have been major lenders to Ukrainian agribusinesses, with close to US$1.7 billion lent to just six of Ukraine’s largest landholding firms in recent years. Other key lenders are a mix of mainly European and North American financial institutions, both public and private.
The report notes that this gives creditors financial stakes in the operation of the agribusinesses and confers significant leverage over them. Meanwhile, Ukrainian farmers have had to operate with limited amounts of land and financing, and many are now on the verge of poverty.
International financial institutions are in effect subsidising the concentration of land and a destructive industrial model of agriculture based on the intensive use of synthetic inputs, fossil fuels and large-scale monocropping.
Much of what is happening in Ukraine is part of a wider trend: private equity funds being injected into agriculture throughout the world and used to lease or buy up farms on the cheap and aggregate them into large-scale, industrial grain and soybean concerns. These funds use pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowment funds and investments from governments, banks, insurance companies and high net worth individuals (see the 2020 report ‘Barbarians at the Barn‘ by Grain.org).
Financialising agriculture this way shifts power to people with no connection to farming. In the words of BlackRock’s Larry Fink: “Go long agriculture and water and go to the beach.”
Funds tend to invest for between 10 and 15 years, resulting in good returns for investors but can leave a trail of long-term environmental and social devastation and serve to undermine local and regional food insecurity.
By contrast, according to the Oakland Institute, small-scale farmers in Ukraine demonstrate resilience and enormous potential for leading the expansion of a different production model based on agroecology and producing healthy food. Whereas large agribusinesses are geared towards export markets, it is Ukraine’s small and medium-sized farmers who guarantee the country’s food security.
This is underlined by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine in its report ‘Main agricultural characteristics of households in rural areas in 2011’, which showed that smallholder farmers in Ukraine operate 16% of agricultural land, but provide 55% of agricultural output, including 97% of potatoes, 97% of honey, 88% of vegetables, 83% of fruits and berries and 80% of milk.
In June 2020, the IMF approved an 18-month, strings-attached $5 billion loan programme with Ukraine. Also that year, the World Bank incorporated measures relating to the sale of public agricultural land as conditions in a $350 million Development Policy Loan (COVID ‘relief package’) to Ukraine. This included a required ‘prior action’ to “enable the sale of agricultural land and the use of land as collateral.”
According to the Oakland Institute:
“Ukraine is now the world’s third-largest debtor to the International Monetary Fund and its crippling debt burden will likely result in additional pressure from its creditors, bondholders and international financial institutions on how post-war reconstruction – estimated to cost US$750 billion – should happen.”
Financial institutions are leveraging Ukraine’s crippling debt to drive further privatisation and liberalisation – backing the country into a corner to make it an offer it can’t refuse.
Since the war began, the Ukrainian flag has been raised outside parliament buildings in the West and iconic landmarks have been lit up in its colours. An image bite used to conjure up feelings of solidarity and support for that nation while serving to distract from the harsh machinations of geopolitics and modern-day economic plunder that is unhindered by national borders and has scant regard for the plight of ordinary citizens.
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Renowned author Colin Todhunter specialises in development, food and agriculture. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) in Montreal.
Featured image is from OneWorld
Read Colin Todhunter’s e-Book entitled
Food, Dispossession and Dependency. Resisting the New World Order
We are currently seeing an acceleration of the corporate consolidation of the entire global agri-food chain. The high-tech/big data conglomerates, including Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and Google, have joined traditional agribusiness giants, such as Corteva, Bayer, Cargill and Syngenta, in a quest to impose their model of food and agriculture on the world.
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Many victims of traumatic events including domestic violence, not only cannot wear a face covering, but also get extremely distressed and invariably suffer an adverse medical event, if they cannot see the expressions of other peoples’ faces around them. In psychology, this is a recognised phenomenon called the polyvagal theory. Many lay people have no understanding of the psychological issues masks cause and it is impossible to explain when you are having a reaction. Read more about the polyvagal theory science here.
The psychological issues caused by masks can be found in the interview of Dr Gary Sidley, video below or click here (4 minutes into interview).
The reactions can be acute and last for hours after, due to release of fight or flight hormones.
If you browse the Smile.org website, here you will see that there are many different reasons why covering expressions causes further trauma.
Anyone with empathy can feel the distress of these victims through their emotional descriptions of their terrible experiences with masks.
Perhaps the most tragic phenomenon of the authoritarian, psychological manipulation by governments during Covid, has been the destruction of empathy. Those who are now part of the collective, obeying without question the dictates on masks, persist in wearing masks despite the requirements being relaxed for the public in most places. Inexplicably they become enraged when they see people in distress at their covered faces, screaming obscenities at them. You can read more about the psychological harms of face covering here.
It is very frustrating, when it is clear to anyone with critical thinking skills that the mask measure is not about health. The Government admitted on a Freedom of Information Act request
“Maintaining the requirement for face coverings on public transport in Alert Level 1 provides wider benefits that support the overall response to the pandemic. For example, face coverings are a constant reminder of the ongoing threat posed by COVID-19 and will help prompt people to be more vigilant about other important behaviours, such as physical distancing, scanning and using the New Zealand COVID Tracer App, hand hygiene and coughing and sneezing etiquette.”
Strangely, the link above has been removed from the Government website here.
It can still be seen on the above Dr Gary Sidley video at 5.50 together with the comments by the Chairman of the Tory 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady, who confirms mask mandates were, in fact, a fear based social control mechanism.
Did you not find the Government mask requirements absurd and contradictory and therefore clearly not about health and transmission? An example of the ludicrous contradictions in the rules can be found here.
Either Covid is very clever, or this measure is not about health. Have you actually found any evidence based data on the Government website? Could it be that the mask mandates were not about health, but a way of control to invoke fear via the unaccountable “One Ministry of Truth “propaganda?
“The One Source of Truth”: Absolute Power without Accountability
To maintain a vibrant creative society, it is essential to have free speech and open debate and a large degree of scepticism. This is required to be able to determine which ideas will be found to be wrong in the future. History teaches us that most of our ideas will be modified in some way. Open debate and challenging data are also fundamental principles of the scientific method.
The scientific method involves a hypothesis. Data is collected to test the hypothesis. The scientific method requires a great deal of scepticism and questioning, to see if the hypothesis stands up to rigorous open debate. The labelling of information as misinformation, disinformation is the antithesis of the scientific method and solipsistic.
How is objective truth to be uncovered when dissent is banned or labelled as “misinformation “without any supporting evidence as to why?
Censorship has never led to a good outcome in the regimes in which it operates. Open debate is the fundamental principle of a free society and the scientific method. If you have a good counter argument backed up by evidence, why would you need to censor?
The labelling of views from qualified health practitioners that does not adhere to the “Ministry of Truth” narrative as “misleading” and “misinformation” the use of ad hominem such as “conspiracy theorist” and gaslighting is a censorship tactic. It is an obfuscation technique to avoid discussing the questions raised.
Censorship and propaganda extinguish open debate and the quest for objective truth. In addition, censorship creates a non-accountable narrative.
The flagrant psychological fear propaganda during the last three years has resulted in a conviction in many, that only the Government narrative can be correct. They have succumbed to a “Mass Formation” a “group think,” engineered by governments globally.
Mass Formation, presents as, closed minds, the inability to understand the basics of critical thinking, not checking conflicts of interests in sources, ignoring the scientific method and more worryingly the manipulation of the masses into fanatical behaviour. Professor Mattias Desmet, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Ghent University explains Mass Formation here and here.
Mass Formation creates the fundamental environment for a totalitarian regime.
Totalitarian regimes are distinct from dictatorships in that they involve a diabolical pact between the Masses and their leaders. They result in monomaniacal, inhumane behaviour towards those who do not comply, previously considered unthinkable in a free society. A present day example involving masks is featured in the end of the Dr Gary Sidley interview here, where devotees of the mask ideology physically attack those not complying.
There have been numerous examples in history of Mass Formation and those challenging the science being persecuted.
In 1633, Galileo was found guilty by the inquisition for his conclusion that the earth rotated around the sun. He was kept under house arrest for the rest of his life. It took until 1992 for the Catholic Church to admit he was right all along! Yet here we are again in 2023.
However, in 2023 there is the added feature of the internet to add intensity to Mass Formation development. The nefarious, collusion between major technology companies with governments in censorship, as illustrated by the Twitter files in the USA and the New Zealand Government here has allowed the powerful forces of government and big technical companies, to command and control the creation of Mass Formation and deliver the conditions for totalitarianism in Western countries.
Anyone who has read George Orwell’s ‘1984’ will understand the tactics of double speak, two, and two making five. The explanations from the Government on Covid measures, including masks consist of double speak.
“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously and accepting both of them.”
“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”
“In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
— George Orwell
Those suffering from Mass Formation cannot see objective truth even if they are given legitimate evidence-based data. They just comply. They do not think for themselves. They would likely be very unaware of all the millions of people around the world protesting to save human rights and freedoms, or if they are aware, they tend to dehumanise and gaslight them, as instructed by the media.
The problem with the censorship by the Government silencing all scientists and Doctors who speak up about the propaganda is that it makes them utterly unaccountable and they can lie with impunity. Michel Baker is never challenged, as the media are now effectively state owned by the Labour party due to the journalism fund.
Only a few years ago, the public would have considered it ludicrous to not be allowed to ask questions in a free society and would be aghast at the new tactic of public servants, simply to ignore those asking questions. They would have demanded evidence and rebuttal evidence instead of censorship. Tragically, The Overton window has been effectively shifted by the use of fear. Once again, history repeats itself. Many of those vigorously and violently enforcing masks would have never contemplated their behaviour being akin to the masses in the witch trials, or the population of Germany in the early 1930’s with the Nuremburg laws here, or their dehumanisation of those not complying with the group think of vaccination coercion here, but here we are again.
The Mask Up Don’t Mask Up Seesaw
The Government and Michael Baker, spent months in 2020 telling us masks were useless.
Then an abrupt U-turn coincided with a change of heart at the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is notable that as discussed in the video below, the WHO admitted the change in mask policy was because of political lobbying.
It is evident that many New Zealanders are not aware that the WHO has private funding as we as funding from countries. Some of the largest funders include the Chinese Communist Party, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and GAVI the Vaccine Alliance, founded and co funded by Gates. Of course, no one elected these officials and they are unaccountable. They also are inextricably linked to to pharmaceutical industry interests and infiltration of the organisation by the use of staff within the WHO who come from these donors.
It is obvious that the Mass Formation strategy, implemented by governments, has been very effective with the public seemingly oblivious to the obvious fatal contradictions in the advice on masks.
Here is the timeline of the changing advice in a video titled “Masks Flip Flopping Official Advice,” here. As the advice, U-turn was 180 degrees it is unfathomable why the public did not demand the data to justify the paradoxical stances. Mass Formation is a formidable weapon.
Michael Baker in the video below is asked specifically; if he ever advocated masks do not work in respect of Covid 19 transmission. Despite the irrefutable video evidence, he continues to deny he ever said such a thing. This is clearly a blatant lie, however due to the censorship of dissenting scientific voices and the compliance of mainstream media he feels emboldened to engage in obvious doublespeak and gaslighting. Watch here.
The advice given by Michael Baker is contrasted against the actual evidence here.
Even schoolchildren featured; evaluate the actual evidence on mask efficiency and potential harms of wearing a mask, more proficiently than this so-called “expert” Michael Baker. The peer reviewed, randomised clinical trial study highlighted in the report published by the Journal of the Medical Association (JAMA) illustrates the dangerous levels of CO2 generated when wearing a mask, especially for younger children.
The tragic consequences of the nonsensical mask mandates are horrific, as highlighted by the harrowing stories, including the resultant suicide of a teenager, following the imposition of this inhumane treatment of children. Perhaps most tragic is that to date, there has been no accountability, nor apologies.
The hypocrisy and doublespeak of, Michael Baker as a so-called, “expert” is eloquently illustrated here.
The harms of wearing a mask are also detailed from 22 minutes in. Note the obfuscation and lack of specific studies from Michael Baker, when answering questions. The video also reiterates the psychological engineering of social control being the reason for the forced mask wearing as discussed in the Dr Gary Sidley video above.
See here why Jacinda Adern’s claims there is a 53% reduction in transmission, by wearing a mask, were not substantiated by the study she referred to as supporting her policies on masks.
Dr Paul Alexander explains why the Bangladesh study often cited by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the United States government health agency, is flawed here.
Analysis of the studies, heralded by Governments as evidence masks work, can be found here, illustrating not only the manipulation of the data, but also the ad hominem attacks and gaslighting of any scientist daring to question the official narrative promulgated by governments. See here, analysis of purported positive effects of mask studies are detailed here, showing that there were flaws in the studies and why the narrative was perpetuated despite the evidence here.
A specialised expert in Health and Safety Control Measures is Stephen Petty, P. E, CIH. Giving evidence to the Senate USA here. Critical viewing for an in-depth understanding of the mask issue in relation to health and safety. If only specialists such as Mr Petty had been consulted by governments at the beginning.
The Harms Caused By Masks
What are the individual risks, short term and long term of wearing a mask? Is there any peer-reviewed data to rebut the evidence-based data below?
There are numerous studies that detail the psychological, physical, and long term effects of mask wearing including, headaches, fatigue, hypoxia, confusion, disorientation, dizziness, impaired thinking, neurological diseases, triggering of epilepsy, breathing difficulties increased heart rate leading to long term heart problems, rashes, impaired field of vision, as well as psychological effects. See here, here and here. The pictures of the growing organisms inhabiting and multiplying on the face covering is difficult to unsee and not advisable viewing if you are eating. Also, see here concluding face masks should never be mandated by law and the dangers particularly for children, pregnant women and those who are already ill.
Quote from Smile Free.org “I got headaches after a two hour driving lesson every week. The mask was a serious irritant, so much so I feared for mine and other road users’ safety. Just a matter of time. “Anon.”
Don’t you find it incredulous, that in New Zealand, drivers were mandated to wear masks for their driving test? Bearing in mind the issues of dizziness, confusion and impaired thinking this was surely a dangerous mandate to both the drivers and other road users?
Masking children in school affects their health, their learning and their speech development. Causing such harm with no obvious justification could be perceived as evil. See here.
The Dangers of Unchallenged Unaccountable Experts
Michael Baker’s lies are blatant. The question arises are his actions potentially nefarious? He has terrified people into potentially harming themselves. He never provides any data based evidence to support his assertions. He has not treated a patient for years. He does not have expertise in masks as detailed by Stephen Petty above. If you research his influencers, it is easy to deduce his motivation.
Due to the New Zealand media now being effectively state funded and controlled, he receives blanket coverage. Yet, Michael Baker is never seriously challenged, or asked to provide evidence for his assertions.
If everyone turned off the New Zealand media and started asking questions and looking at applying the scientific method, and critical thinking principles to mask information the house of cards would fall in relation to what is evidently propaganda and control mechanisms.
Masks in the Future
Many readers may think that the mask issue has for the most part gone away.
However the WHO are, currently negotiating two complementary instruments of international law. These are International Health Regulations (2005) amendments and WHO pandemic treaty/accord. If passed, there will be a total loss of sovereignty of individual countries. Instead of being advisory, the WHO dictates would be mandatory. Potential measures include vaccine passports, quarantine, medical examinations, and control of all information-censorship and of course mask policy.
The deletion proposed in Article 3 would extinguish human rights, human dignity, and fundamental freedoms as guiding principles.
The WHO Chief Tedros Ghebreyseus would have ultimate power over the health of the world, whilst having no accountability. He would have a wide discretion to not only declare pandemics, but also wider powers in relation to health as detailed in the report here.
The WHO is an organisation that has demonstrated politically driven policies, corruption and a bias towards the Chinese communist approach to public health.
This is from an organisation with funders who have insurmountable conflicts of interests and have demonstrated over the last three years total incompetence and peddling what has proved to be, false information whilst silencing dissent.
The combining of corporate power with a one-world global government power in terms of health is the definition of economic fascism. See here.
History even as most recent as the last century with Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Ceausescu illustrate where a monopoly of power combined with censorship leads.
This, without any consultation with the New Zealand public. What could possibly go wrong?
Perhaps readers who value freedom may consider signing the petition here.
The contents of this document are provided for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal or medical advice.
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Michelle Ames, (LLB) Hons, grew up in Cheshire in the United Kingdom. She gained her law degree from Lancaster University and attended Chester Law School before becoming a solicitor. Much of her career in the UK was spent as a Crown Prosecutor. Within that role, she was a Trained Trainer. Michelle is also admitted as a lawyer in NSW Australia.
Immigrating to New Zealand in 2012 provided different opportunities, including tutoring at Waikato University and qualifying as a Personal Trainer.
As a freelance writer Michelle uses the critical thinking, evaluation of evidence, research analysis and trial experience including cross-examination skills acquired as a lawyer to highlight objective truth; standing up for freedom and the preservation of inalienable human rights.
All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.
To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.
Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.
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Introduction
In March 2022, South Koreans chose Yoon Suk-yeol as new president with a slim margin of 0.7% of the votes. It was their worst decision ever made.
Within one year, Yoon has destroyed the economy, paralysed foreign trade, demolished public welfare system and threatened public safety.
However, the worst thing he has done through his pathologic diplomacy with Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan and Joe Biden, President of the United States was the creation of grave danger of the shooting third world war, let alone total destruction of Korea as a sovereign nation.
It is obviously difficult to understand how come such a thing could happen. But, to understand Yoon’s stupid and destructive diplomacy, we have to know who and what he is. Then, we can discuss his diplomacy.
In this paper I am asking the following questions:
Who and what is Yoon Suk-yeol?
What has happened at the Yoon-Kishida summit?
What has happened at the Yoon-Biden summit?
What is the impact of Yoon’s diplomacy on regional and global security?
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Who and What Is Yoon Suk-yeol?
Before we introduce Yoon Suk-yeol, we should know the unique political situation in South Korea. Many think that there is only one South Korea, but there are, de facto, two groups making up South Korea.
The first group is the closely knit pro-Japan conservative group led by the descendent of colonial collaborators who betrayed the Korean people during the 35-year Japanese colonial rule in Korea. This group is identified as the pro-Japan traitors (PJT) and it has ruled South Korea for 60 years through police, military and prosecutor dictatorship regimes supported by Washington and Tokyo.
The traitors have formed a closely integrated corrupted community and oppressed the people, violated human rights, abused power and enriched themselves through the embezzlement of tax payers’ money.
The second group consists of the rest of South Koreans who represent perhaps 80% of the South Korean population and they have been the victims of the traitors’ corruption and their abuse of power.
But, they fought back and punished all the six presidents representing the interests of the PJT. They were kicked out of their presidential office by impeachment, assassination or imprisonment.
Yoon Suk-yeol has been prosecutor all his adult life and, as the leader of the PJT, he has distinguished himself as the champion of the game of arresting and eliminating leaders and leaders to be of the opposition forces.
Yoon is not trained for political leadership. He is illiterate in politics, economics, national security or diplomacy. To make the matter worse, according to the expert of political leaders psychology, Kim Tae Hyung, Yoon is psychopathic and socio-pathetic. He dislikes the people; he is afraid of the people. He is not interested in promoting well being of the people. He does not care about his approval rate which remains at the critical of 30%.
The worst aspect of Yoon’s personality is his cowardice and toadyism. He worships the strong and he is cruel with the weak. He worships Japan and the U.S. because they are strong. He looks down on Koreans, because he thinks that they are weak. In fact, the PJT led by Yoon, who are the elite group of South Korean society regard the rest of South Koreans as “pigs & dogs”.
Yoon’s diplomacy with Kishida and Biden reflects his perverse perception of ROK’s relations with Japan and the U.S. For him, Korea must side with Japan and the U.S. for they are strong and they can protect his government, his family and the PJT from South Koreans who are his enemies and North Koreans who are the most-anti-PJT.
Many may ask how come South Koreans voted for him and made him president. I have to write a book to explain why. But I may say that he was elected due to money, fear and ignorance.
Many voted for him, because they are paid to do so. Many selected him due to fear of losing illegal and immoral wealth which may be difficult to keep, if Lee Jae-myung is chosen. Lee represented the pro-People Democratic Party (DPK).
Many picked him, because they were made ignorant about Yoon’s lack of qualification of Yoon Suk-yeol as president due to the pro-Yoon propaganda put up by the PJT media, especially the Chosun-Ibo, Joong-ang Ilbo and Donga-Ilbo (Cho-Joong-Dong).
By the way, the Cho-Joong-Dong has played a crucial role for the defence of PJT’s dictatorship, the demonization of North Korea, the corruption of the PJT community and the vulnerability of the democracy in Korea.
As long as Cho-Jung-Dong flourish, it will be always difficult to have pro-People democracy and peaceful reunification of Korea.
What Happened at the Yoon-Kishida Summit?
The Korea-Japan dispute is a century-old dispute between two views of Japanese colonialism.
On the one hand, there are those who argue that the Korea’s annexation to Japan of 1910 was legal and beneficial to Korea which was inferior, too backward and incapable of modernizing Korea without Japan’s intervention. Therefore, there is no need for Japan to apologise for its wrong doings against Korea and Korean people.
This is the position taken by Japan and pro-Japan conservative groups in South Korea represented by the pro-Japan civic movement called, the “New Right Movement” and the conservative government of Yoon Suk-yeol representing the People Power Party (PPP).
On the other hand, the rest of the South Korean population have an opposite view of Japanese colonialism. For them, the Korea’s annexation was illegal and Korea could modernize by itself in time.
The intensity of the Japan-Korea dispute has been growing ever since 1945. Under the pro-Japan conservative government which has ruled South Korea for 60 years since 1948, the Japan-Korea relations have been rather peaceful. But, under the nationalist democratic government which has governed South Korea for 15 years, the bilateral relations have been less peaceful.
Now, the peaceful and cooperative Japan-Korea relations have strategic importance for the American global hegemony, because the combined military forces of ROK and Japan are of vital importance in Biden’s plan to destroy China.
Therefore, Biden would have put pressure on Yoon, as the condition for being invited as state visitor, to accept Japans view of Japanese colonialism. And, Yoon has accepted Biden’s demand, because he has the same view of Japanese colonialism.
If Kishida and Yoon have the same view of Japanese colonialism and if they cooperate for the global hegemony of Washington, it would be one of Biden’s successful diplomatic accomplishments, which will give an edge in the coming presidential election.
But, Yoon is surely aware of the violent reaction of the majority of the South Korean population who have nationalistic views of Japanese colonialism. This does not seem to bother him much, because he thinks that he can silence the dissidents with prosecutors’ force.
The results of Yoon’s summit with Kishida have turned out to be what was expected. It made it clear that the Japanese colonialism was beneficial to the inferior Koreans. Yoon gave away everything which is dear to Koreans.
Yoon knows well that South Koreans will fight back. But, he does not care, because he thinks that he will be protected by Kishida and Biden, because he is riding on the wagon of China killing.
Yoon’s Gift to Kishida
The following is the list of what Japan wanted and what Yoon gave:
The justification of Japanese colonialism in Korea
The compensation payment for the labour slavery
The Global Security of Military Information Agreement
Comfort women
Trade sanction
Dokto/Takeshima Island
Fukushima Sea Foods
Yoon met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan on 16 March 2023. (Licensed under CC BY 4.0)
Justification of Japanese Colonialism in Korea
Japan has been arguing that its colonialism in Korea was beneficial to Korea, because without Japanese colonialism, Korea could never modernize itself and develop its economy.
On August 15, 2022, at the annual commemoration day of Korea’s liberation from Japan, Yoon Suk-yeol justified, in his speech, Japan’s claim. This can be interpreted by Japan that Korea would welcome Japanese colonialism 2.0.
Compensation payment for labour slavery
During the 35-year of Japanese illegal occupation of Japan in Korea, Japan committed countless war crimes against humanity. One of these crimes was the conscription of almost one million Korean workers forced to work in Japanese mines and factories under sub-human living conditions.
The negotiation between the former slave masters (Japanese corporations) and the former slaves (Korean workers) for Japan’s sincere apology and compensation has lasted for decades.
At last, in 2018, the Supreme Court of Korea ordered two Japanese corporations- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Nippon Steel- to pay the compensations to the victims of the labour slavery. It was reported that these corporations were ready to pay the compensation, but the Japanese government told them not to do so.
You may not believe this. Since Japan refuses to pay the compensation to the victims, the Yoon’s government has decided to force the Korean corporation to pay the compensation. Then, Korea will ask the Japanese corporation to pay later. This is a ridiculous idea; the Japanese corporation will never pay.
Thus, the Korean corporations which have nothing to do with the labour slavery have to pay the victims of slavery imposed by Japanese corporations.
Moreover, Yoon violated the Korean constitution by disobeying the ruling of the country’s Supreme Court. This can be a reason for impeachment.
What is more shocking is this. A ranking Japanese cabinet minister says that the conscription of Korean workers never took place.
Yoon did not protest against such irresponsible declaration of a Japanese cabinet minister.
General Security of Military Information Agreement
Then, there was the issue of General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). It is an agreement on the exchange of security related information. Under the agreement, partner countries must share security-related information after proper analysis of information.
During the Korea-Japan trade war of 2019, under the government of Moon Jse-in, Korea withdrew from the agreement, but, the agreement was restored informally.
But, this time, Yoon agreed formalized GSMIA and Korea must provide Japan with information on North Korean military activities which may be a threat to Japan and South Korea.
The agreement is a lopsided agreement, which is more beneficial to Japan.
What worries Koreans is that this agreement is likely lead to Japan-Korea military alliance which will allow the return of the Japanese military to the Korea soil. This will be never accepted by Koreans.
Comfort Women
Yoon went to Japan hoping that Japan would show remorse and apologise for raping more than 250,000 Korean girls during several years by Japanese soldiers. True, in the past, handful Japanese political leaders showed remorse: Kono (1993), Murayama (1995), Obuchi-Kim joint declaration (1998), Koizumi (20005).
But in 2015, Shinzo Abe denied all these manifestation of apology or remorse.
Fumio Kishida, current prime minister of Japan, was asked if he would apologise for the sex slavery. He answer was that he would follow the position taken by his predecessors, but he did not say which predecessor. The predecessor was most likely Shinzo Abe. But Yoon did not protest.
So, the negotiation on the apology for sex slavery ended up with total victory of Japan. It is reported that even before the summit, Yoon sent someone to Kishida begging him to say a simple word of regret for the crime against the poor comfort girls. Kishida ignored such humiliating request.
In practical terms, Kishida was saying that the sex slavery never happened. Yoon did not protest.
Trade Sanctions
In 2019, Japan reacted violently against the Korean Supreme Court’s ruling ordering Japanese corporations who practiced labour slavery to pay the victims of labour slavery. And Japan imposed trade sanctions by restricting the exports to Korea of vital chemical product needed for the production of chips, smart phone and TVs.
Yoon announced before the summit that Japan would remove the trade sanction. But Japan said that it would consider the matter Yoon did not protest.
Dokto/Takeshima Island
There was the question of Dokto/Takeshima Island. The legal status of the Island has been the thorny issue ever since WWII. There are ample proofs that Tokto is a Korean territory. But Japan has been arguing that it is its territory usually before major elections.
For Koreans, Tokto Island is sacred. If Japan insists that it is its territory, Koreans are ready to go to war against Japan.
Thus, Tokto Island is a very delicate issue for Japan and Korea. In the past, when Japan mentions at bilateral meetings, Korean delegate reacted very strongly.
The Japanese media, including NHK reported that the issue of Dokto was discussed, but Yoon did not protest. The presidential office of Korea denies such discussion having taken place.
But, Koreans are nervous about the hidden agreement which might have been produced. When Japan put the Tokto issue on the table, the Korea delegation usually leave the meeting room. But Yoon was drinking whisky smiling with Kishida.
Japan went much further. Japan completely ignored the pride of Koreans by putting, in the school history text book, the statement that Dokto is a Japanese territory few days after the Yoon-Kishida summit. This episode is serious enough to impeach Yoon.
Fukushima Sea Foods
Japanese sources reported that Japan asked Yoon to remove the imports restriction of Fukushima’s contaminated (radioactive) marine products to Korea. Yoon is reported to have promised to consider the possibility.
In all the seven issues, Korea has gained nothing and gave everything to Japan. The summit was major victory to Japan and miserable defeat of Korea.
Kishida’s Gift to Yoo
Kishida gave nothing beneficial to Korea. What Kishida gave was the bilateral military alliance between Japan and Korea, although it was not declared.
It is by no means a gift beneficial to Korea. On the contrary, it means the possibility of forcing ROK armed forces to join the Japan-North Korea war and Sino-American war involving Taiwan.
It is not a gift given to Korea; it is a curse to Korea. Thus, Yoon got nothing form his summit with Kishida, but he gave everything to justify the Japanese colonialism and allowing Japan to consider re-colonizing Korea and Asia.
Yoon-Biden Summit
The Yoon-Kishida summit was the preparation session for the Yoon-Biden session. The outcome of this session was the undeclared Japan-ROK military alliance on the one hand, and, on the other, the integration of ROK into the Indo-Pacific Strategy of Tokyo-Washington.
This means, in more practical terms, the integration of ROK strategic high technology including chips, batteries, electric cars, and AI into the American value chain on the one hand and, on the other, the integration of ROK military forces in the U.S.-led military coalition deployed in the coming Sino-American war involving Taiwan.
In return, Yoon has asked Biden to protect his government and his family against angry South Korean people and the threat of North Korea.
The results of the Yoon-Biden summit may be measured in terms of Yoon’s gifts given to Biden on the one hand and, on the other, Biden’s gift given to Yoon.
US Secretary of State Blinken and Vice President Harris host a state dinner for Yoon, April 2023. (Licensed under the Public Domain)
Yoon’s Gift to Biden
The following is the list of Yoon’s gift to Biden:
Anti-Russia Behaviour
Anti China Statement
ROK Companies’ Investments in the U.S.
ROK Integration into Japan-U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS)
Japan-Korea-U.S. Military Alliance (JKUS)
Anti-Russia Behavior
Prior to Yoon’s departure, the U.S. CIA spied on the conversation among high-ranking presidential advisors of Yoon talking about the shipment of 330,000 155mm artillery munitions to Germany which will be eventually shipped to Ukraine leading to the prolongation of the war imposing heavy burden on Russia.
Vladimir Putin is quite upset, and he may take measure which will create several punitive measures taken by Russia including the violence against more than 100,000 Koreans living in Russia, expulsion of Korean firms, trade sanction against South Korea and even military threat by sending up-to date military arms to North Korea.
This decision of Yoon may please Biden, but it may cost a lot to ROK.
Anti-China Statements
Before he left for Washington, Yoon made two statements about Taiwan during the interview with the Reuters. These statements have greatly angered China.
Yoon said :”The issue of Taiwan is a global problem.” This statement implies that Yoon does not recognize the One-China policy, which the whole world including the U.S. recognizes.
He also made this statement:” The Status quo of Taiwan should not be changed by force.” This implies that China should not attack Taiwan, which is, in fact, the fixe aircraft carrier at the front door of China threatening China.
This surely pleased Biden, because China has one more enemy and the U.S. has one more anti-China friend. But, the cost which must be borne by ROK is terribly high. ROK has never had made deficit for decades. Now it has huge trade deficit mounting tens of billions of U.S. dollars due to undeclared Chinese trade sanctions against ROK.
Korean Companies’ Investments in the U.S.
Biden has adopted policies designed to promote strategic foreign investments in the territory of the U.S. These policies consist in preventing the inflow of these investments to China on the one hand, and on the other, encouraging or forcing the flow of these investments into the U.S.
Already, Korean firms have invested or will invest USD 100 billion including Hyundai’s investments in electric cars and Samsungs investments in semiconductors. American firms’ investments in Korea are no more than a few billions of USD invested by Netflix.
Despite such huge investments by Korean firms, to the dismay of Koreans, no Korean firms are qualified for tax incentives provided by virtue of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) or the CHIP & Science Act (CSA). Thus, as far as the strategic technology investments are concerned, the U.S. is a big winner and ROK is a poor loser.
Moreover, to the disappointment of Koreans, Washington forces the Koreans firms not to export semiconductors to China, while the American firms can. For instance, China forbids the U.S. firm, Micron Technology Inc. to sell their semiconductors in China, thus leading to the supply gap. Washington forbids Korean firms to fill the gap.
Here is what the Washington Declaration said about IAR and CSA:
“The two presidents committed to continue close consultation with a view to assuring these Acts (IRA and CSA) encouraging mutual beneficial corporate investments in the United States by creating predictable conditions for business activities.” (Washington Declaration)
The most amazing part of this bizarre statement is the fact that “mutual beneficial investments” are limited to the U.S., ROK is not mentioned. But, stupid Yoon signed it. Angry Koreans are asking if Yoon is really the president of South Korea.
ROK Integration into Japan-U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS)
Yoon and Biden signed a new international framework that strengthens U.S.-ROK development cooperation and “beyond.” I presume that the “beyond” means ROK’s eventual participation in Washington’s self-proclaimed mission of destroying China.
What Biden has in mind is to bring ROK into a trilateral military alliance among Japan, Korea and the U.S. (JKUS).
The JKUS can be established through the bilateral military alliance between Japan and ROK. The military ROK-U.S. relation is not military alliance, but military partnership. On the other hand, Japan-U.S. military relation is alliance. Therefore, in this way, the JKUS military alliance becomes possible.
Japan-Korea-U.S. Military Alliance (JKUS)
Although it is not included in the Washington Declaration (WD), the joining of ROK in the JKUS was Biden’s most rewarding fruit of the Yoon-Biden summit.
Biden knows that Quad or AUKUS forces are not strong enough for the destruction of China. ROK is 6th world military power so that the access to ROK forces is a valuable acquisition for Biden.
As for Japan, JKUS allows Japan to land on the Korean soil in case of conflict with North Korea and the imperialist Japanese conservatives may attempt to re-conquer Korea and realize its dream for the restoration of its second East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Thus, Kishida and Biden have well defined reasons for having the JKUS. But, it is tough to guess why Yoon wants to join the alliance.
Yoon should know that ROKs joining the trilateral alliance means Harakiri death of the unification of the Korea race, total destruction of its economy and, most likely the end of Korea as a nation.
Then, why? My answer is: “Because, the U.S. is God ” Yoon thinks that Whatever Washington does is good.
Biden’s Gift to Yoon
As we saw, Yoon has given a lot of goodies to Biden. These goodies are terribly expensive; indeed, it can destroy Korea as a nation. So, Biden should have given Yoon a nice and expensive gift which was asked by Yoon.
The gift asked by Yoon was JKUS which would protect his government, his family and his friends of pro-Japan corrupted conservatives from South Koreans and North Koreans.
Yoon has many reasons to be afraid of South Koreans. Since he became president, he applied the worst form of neo-liberalism giving billions of dollars worth of tax credits and grants to big corporations, deeply cutting budget for people’s welfare, killing 158 children in Itaewon, violating freedom of press, arresting innocent people and, above all, allowing his wife’s interference in governmental actions under the influence of “mudang” (fortune teller).
Imagine this. Now, people call Mrs. Yoon as president and Yoon as the president’s husband.
South Koreans have had enough with Yoon, his wife and his government. Several millions of South Koreans have been going down to the streets and shout “Impeach Traitor Yoon!” “Put Lee Gun-hee to prison!” Lee Gun-hee is Yoon’s wife.
Under such circumstance, it is normal that he is seeking the political and even physical protection from the angry South Korean people. But, I am not sure how Kishida or Biden can protect Yoon.
However, the worst enemy for Yoon is North Korea. It is possible that the world thinks that all South Koreas are afraid of North Korea. On the country, most of South Koreans do not consider North Koreans as their enemies, because they are their brothers and sisters.
As pointed out above Yoon is the leader of the corrupted pro-Japan traitors, while North Korea’s society is composed of the descendents of patriots who fought against the Japanese rulers.
Koreans in the North and the South think that the unification of Koreas is difficult to realize due to the objection by the PJT, who were supposed to be punished after the Pacific War, but they were not punished due to the American military government in Korea (1945-1948).
If Koreas are unified, the PJT led by Yoon will be first target of punishment. This is why Yoon is afraid of North Korea. This is why he asks the protection by Japan and the U.S. by joining the JKUS.
In order to protect himself and his government, Yoon even thought of developing nuclear arms in South Korea, but South Korea has signed the NPT. Since South Korea cannot develop its own nuclear arms, Yoon asked strengthened American nuclear umbrella.
Biden offered two things: the deployment of strategic assets to the Korean peninsula such as nuclear submarines in case of North Korean nuclear attack and the creation of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).
The NCG means that Seoul may be consulted for Washington’s nuclear programs. Korea being only a mere consultant will have no significant input to Washington’s nuclear war plan.
The deployment of the strategic assets will be done, if and when North Korea attacks South Korea with nuclear weapons. But, this has no practical value, because North Korea will not attack South Korea with nuclear weapons, unless provoked. Besides, if North Korea attacks, the half of South Korea will be destroyed before the arrival of the strategic assets.
Therefore, the best way of protecting Yoon’s government is to co-exist with North Korea through the peace process.
Indeed, in the Washington Declaration, Yoon and Biden point out the importance of the peace process, although they continued their demonization of North Korea. Every knows that what Yoon and Biden want is the regime change of North Korea.
To sum up, Yoon’s diplomacy with Kishida and Biden has ended up by giving everything and getting nothing. Yoon has given absolution to Japan for its crimes against Korea. Yoon did even worse. He admitted that Koreans are inferior to the Japanese so that Japan’s re-colonization of Korea is justified.
Yoon made Korean diplomacy dependent on Washington and accepted to become eventual proxy worrier for the power and the glory of Uncle Sam.
Yoon’s diplomacy has accelerated the destruction of the Korea economy by inviting angry reaction of China and Russia on the on hand and, on the other, by inducing foreign investments to leave Korea due to the uncertainty and the instability of investment market created by Yoon’s dismal diplomacy.
Moreover, Yoon’s diplomacy has made the security of ROK more vulnerable and the integration of ROK’s into the Eurasian economy has become more difficult.
The Impact of Yoon’s Diplomacy
Yoon and his misguided advisors may think that the reward for Yoon’s diplomacy is the Japan-Korea-US (JKUS) military alliance.
Is the JKUS really a reward? If it is, whose reward is it? Surely, it is a big gains for the U.S. because it can send the mighty Korean army to the Sino-China war.
It is strategic reward for Kishida, because the JKUS allows the Japanese army to land on the Korean peninsula and even contemplate the re-colonization of Korea with the help of pro-Japan Koreans.
Now as for Korea, the JKUS is not a reward, on the contrary, it is a curse. It can induce Washington to launch shooting a Sino-American war with proxy soldiers from Japan and Korea.
The Korean War 2.0 and the Sino-American war could potentially lead to a third world war and the utter destruction of Korea.
Yoon’s pathologic diplomacy can even lead to the end of the world. Therefore, he must be removed from his presidential office and his irresponsible advisors should be severely punished.
Fortunately, the candle-light demonstration is getting strength and it is hoped that Yoon and his government will be taken down soon.
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Dr. Joseph H. Chung is economic professor at Quebec University in Montreal (UQAM), member of the Research Center of Integration and Globalization (CEIM-UQAM) He is Research Associate at the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).
Featured image: Yoon takes the presidential oath of office outside the National Assembly, 10 May 2022 (Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
Recent developments in Washington relating to Ukraine and the Middle East remind me that there is a big difference between maintaining secrecy when a situation warrants it and lying over issues where there is no compelling reason to do so beyond political expediency.
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on the Canadian government to condemn Israel’s unprovoked acts of aggression in the occupied Gaza Strip. Overnight, Israel unilaterally broke its ceasefire with Islamic Jihad to conduct extrajudicial killings of three of its leaders, deliberately targeting units in residential buildings and killing them with their families as they slept.
The last three years and the forced bioweapon injections have been shocking and grotesque; but the perpetrators of these crimes and their meat puppets infesting governments and medical regulators are not new.
According to mainstream media, the Ukraine war is going well and Russia will be solidly defeated. We just have to give Ukraine the means they need to prevail. However, as reported by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies in an April 24, 2023, article in Salon magazine,1 based on an “enormous leak of secret documents,” “that now looks like disinformation.” Who is surprised?
These are cases where the time from COVID-19 vaccination to death was relatively short. What we are seeing now in 2023, as my previous substack article detailed, is a tsunami of sudden deaths in COVID-19 vaccinated young people who weren’t recently vaccinated.
Photographs of the building site of a new US embassy compound in Lebanon shared on Twitter on Friday have gone viral, prompting questions and hundreds of comments regarding the size of the complex.
Syria has been reinstated as a member of the Arab League, which will meet on May 19 in Riyadh. After a 12-year absence, Syria is in the midst of an Arab-led political path to normalization in the region. The regional powerhouse, Saudi Arabia, and the vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have taken center stage in diplomatic resolutions to persistent crises.
As the single major obstacle to peace, the Russians long ago declared that the US-sponsored NATO military presence on their border was an unacceptable Red Line just as the UK and US providing Ukraine with missiles or heavy weaponry would be equally intolerable.
In Britain, pageantry has always been a palliative and plaster for the dark and dismal. Be it in times of crisis, the chance to put on an extravagant show, usually at vast expense, is not something to forego. Central to this entertainment complex is the Royal family, that archaic vestige of an era that refuses to pass into history.
May 10th, 2023 by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
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Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on the Canadian government to condemn Israel’s unprovoked acts of aggression in the occupied Gaza Strip. Overnight, Israel unilaterally broke its ceasefire with Islamic Jihad to conduct extrajudicial killings of three of its leaders, deliberately targeting units in residential buildings and killing them with their families as they slept. 13 Palestinians were killed in the attack, including 4 children and 4 women, and another 18 were injured. Further casualties have been reported from renewed airstrikes today. In addition to a formal condemnation, CJPME urges Canada to immediately suspend all military trade with Israel, among other concrete measures to hold Israeli officials accountable for this massacre.
“Once again, Israel has recklessly and illegally assassinated several Palestinians in Gaza, deliberately targeting them alongside their families,” said Michael Bueckert, Vice President of CJPME. “These atrocities must be condemned by Canada in the strongest terms, and concrete action must be taken to discourage further Israeli aggression,” added Bueckert. CJPME notes that Israel’s extrajudicial killings and acts of violence targeting civilians blatantly violate international law.
Israel’s reckless attack on Gaza violates a week-old ceasefire and is likely to escalate into further violence against civilians. This echoes a similar chain of events in August of 2022 when Israel launched an unprovoked assault which lasted 3 days and killed 49 Palestinians, including 17 children. Israel has named the current assault “Operation Shield and Arrow,” and is evacuating hundreds of Israeli citizens away from the Gaza boundary in preparation for escalation. Meanwhile, Israel has closed all crossings to Gaza, in an act of collective punishment against the entire civilian population which is likely to have severe humanitarian consequences.
CJPME urges Canada to respond to Israeli aggression and violations of international law by implementing the following concrete solutions:
Canada should formally condemn Israel’s act of aggression to deter Israel from escalating violence against the people of Gaza;
Canada should suspend all military trade with Israel, and make sure that made-in-Canada weapons are not being used against civilians in Gaza;
Canada should demand an immediate and permanent end to Israel’s brutal and illegal 15-year blockade of Gaza;
Canada should fully support the investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, and urge the ICC to include Israel’s recent actions in its investigation.
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According to mainstream media, the Ukraine war is going well and Russia will be solidly defeated. We just need to give Ukraine the means they need to prevail. However, based on an enormous leak of secret documents, that’s false information
The documents reveal political leaders are lying about the state of Ukraine’s war effort and its potential for winning against Russia. It appears the two adversaries have reached a stalemate that neither side can break. As a result, the war is likely to become a protracted one
Documents also reveal NATO countries, including the U.K. and U.S., have sent 97 special forces to Ukraine. This is in addition to the CIA personnel, military trainers and Pentagon contractors sent previously, and the 20,000 troops from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Brigades already deployed to the border of Poland and Ukraine
In mid-April 2023, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a Privileged Resolution of Inquiry to force President Biden to disclose the number of U.S. military personnel in Ukraine and the full extent of the administration’s plans to assist Ukraine militarily
U.S. intelligence agencies are also reportedly confused about Biden’s plan. According to investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, U.S. intelligence sources claim a “total breakdown of trust” between the White House and elements of the U.S. intelligence community, as the administration continues to lie and withhold information about its plans. Sources also warn there’s “zero” leadership within the current administration
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According to mainstream media, the Ukraine war is going well and Russia will be solidly defeated. We just have to give Ukraine the means they need to prevail. However, as reported by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies in an April 24, 2023, article in Salon magazine,1 based on an “enormous leak of secret documents,” “that now looks like disinformation.” Who is surprised?
“President Biden dismissed the leaks as revealing nothing of ‘great consequence,’”Benjamin and Davies write.2
“What these documents reveal, however, is that the war is going worse for Ukraine than our political leaders have admitted to us, while going badly for Russia too, so that neither side is likely to break the stalemate this year and this will likely lead to ‘a protracted war beyond 2023,’ as one of the documents says.
The publication of these assessments should lead to renewed calls for our government to level with the public about what it realistically hopes to achieve by prolonging the bloodshed, and why it continues to reject the resumption of the promising peace negotiations it blocked in April 2022.
We believe that blocking those talks was a dreadful mistake … and that current U.S. policy is compounding that mistake at the cost of tens of thousands more Ukrainian lives and the destruction of even more of their country.”
False Accounting on Both Sides
According to the leaked documents — allegedly obtained and published on social media by a 21-year-old National Guard member in a foolish attempt to impress friends — both the Russians and the Ukrainians have systematically exaggerated enemy casualties while lowballing their own.
Not surprisingly, the U.S. has publicly promoted the idea that Russia has suffered greater casualties than Ukraine, “deliberately skewing public perceptions to support the notion that Ukraine can somehow win the war, as long as we just keep sending more weapons,” Salon reports.3
Some of the leaked war documents estimate the death toll on both sides of the conflict is upward of 100,000, and when you include the wounded, that number may be as high as 350,000.
The documents also predict Ukraine’s death toll may rise exponentially in May or June because, by then, Ukraine will have used up the air defense missiles provided by NATO, which make up 89% of its air defense. At that point, Ukraine will become vulnerable “to the full strength of the Russian air force,” Salon reports.
What’s more, according to one document,4 nine brigades that are being trained in Poland, Romania, and Slovenia for a “spring offensive” scheduled for July or August 2023 had only half the equipment needed and had received only 15% of the necessary battle training by the end of February.
A second document claimed the spring offensive was scheduled to begin at the end of April, which didn’t happen. Either way, if the offensive does get launched earlier rather than later, that would mean many of the troops might not be fully trained by the time they’re deployed. As reported by Benjamin and Davies:5
“The leaked documents conclude that ‘enduring Ukrainian deficiencies in training and munitions supplies probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive,’ and that the most likely outcome remains only modest territorial gains.”
That said, Russia still does not have 100% control over Bakhmut despite months of fighting, which suggests Russia is struggling with deficiencies of its own. Taken together, one of the leaked documents predicts the war is “likely heading toward a stalemate” as both sides are becoming locked into a “grinding campaign of attrition.”6
Are We Headed for World War?
Another leaked document also reveals NATO countries, including the U.K. and U.S., have sent 97 special forces to Ukraine. This is in addition to the CIA personnel, military trainers and Pentagon contractors sent previously, and the 20,000 troops from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Brigades already deployed to the border of Poland and Ukraine.7,8
Some U.S. Congress members have expressed worry about the ramifications of continued U.S. involvement in the conflict. In mid-April 2023, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a Privileged Resolution of Inquiry9,10 to force President Biden to disclose the number of U.S. military personnel in Ukraine and the full extent of the administration’s plans to assist Ukraine militarily. As noted in a Congressional press release:11
“… the resolution directs Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to disclose the number of United States Armed Forces, including special operators, deployed to Ukraine without Congressional authority.
In order to comply with the resolution, the President and Secretary of Defense must send the requested documents to the House of Representatives within 14 days of its adoption …
‘The Biden Administration and other allied countries have been misleading the world on the state of the war in Ukraine. There must be total transparency from this administration to the American people when they are gambling war with a nuclear adversary by having special forces operating in Ukraine …
My Privileged Resolution of Inquiry will better inform the Congress and the country on the true state of our military’s involvement in the war,’ said Congressman Gaetz.”
Biden Displays Frighteningly Poor Leadership
Apparently, U.S. intelligence agencies are also confused about Biden’s plan, if there is one. According to a report by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, U.S. intelligence sources claim a “total breakdown of trust” between the White House and elements of the U.S. intelligence community:12
“The intelligence officials told me that ‘there is no evidence that any senior official in the White House really knows what’s going on in the 82nd and 101st. Are they there as part of a NATO exercise or to serve with NATO combat units if the West decides to engage Russians units inside Ukraine?
Are they there to train or to be a trigger? The rules of engagement say they can’t attack Russians unless our boys are getting attacked.’ ‘But the juniors are running the show here,’ the official added.
‘There’s no NSC coordination and the U.S. army is getting ready to go to war. There’s no idea whether the White House knows what’s going on. Has the president gone to the American people with an informative broadcast about what is going on? The only briefings the press and the public get today are from White House spokespeople. ‘This is not just bad leadership. There is none. Zero.’”
US Taxpayers Bled Dry in Money Laundering Operation
Biden also appears to be completely unconcerned about the fact that the Ukrainian government is stealing from U.S. taxpayers. As reported by Hersh, the U.S. is paying for the diesel the Ukrainian army needs.
But, members of the Ukrainian government are skimming millions of dollars in the process by purchasing discounted fuel from Russia via front companies set up in Poland and Czechia. In 2022, CIA analysts estimated the amount of embezzled funds had already reached $400 million, if not more. Hersh writes:13
“The issue of corruption was directly raised with Zelensky in a meeting last January in Kiev with CIA director William Burns. His message to the Ukrainian president, I was told by an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the meeting, was out of a 1950s mob movie.
The senior generals and government officials in Kiev were angry at what they saw as Zelensky’s greed … because ‘he was taking a larger share of the skim money than was going to the generals.’”
In short, the Ukraine war is looking more and more like a money laundering operation in which U.S. tax dollars are being intentionally stolen for private enrichment.
‘Breakdown of Trust’ Between White House and US Intelligence
Biden’s lack of leadership and his blatant acceptance of the corruption in Ukraine aren’t the only things undermining trust among members of the U.S. intelligence community. According to Hersh’s sources, the lack of political skill shown by Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is also causing serious problems.
Biden, Blinken and Sullivan “live in different worlds than the experienced diplomats and military and intelligence officers assigned to the White House,” Hersh writes.14 According to one intelligence official:
“They have no experience, judgment and moral integrity. They just tell lies, make up stories. Diplomatic deniability is something else.”
Biden’s decision to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines without conferring with the intelligence community is another sticking point. “Destroying the Nord Stream pipelines was never discussed, or even known in advance, by the [intelligence] community,” Hersh’s source told him.
Biden clearly has no strategy for ending the Ukraine war. At the same time, intelligence officers warn Hersh that the National Intelligence Estimate process has also seized up, so the U.S. has no plan for how to respond if China invades Taiwan, for example.
The Power of Leaks
In an April 25, 2023, Washington Post article,15 Daniel Ellsberg, responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers some 50 years ago, spoke to journalist Devlin Barrett about the latest disclosure of classified information.
Ellsberg, now 92 years old, is dying of pancreatic cancer. In 1971, while working at the Pentagon as a nuclear war planner,16 he leaked a large cache of secret government documents showing the U.S. administrations knew full well we were losing the Vietnam War and kept lying to the American public about the state of the war effort. He sees the same thing happening today. He told Barrett the war in Ukraine:
“… feels very similar to Vietnam. The war is stalemated, that seems so obvious now except for the fact that both sides totally deny it. What these new leaks show is what the Pentagon Papers showed, that the insiders all know that. They know that they are fighting a stalemate.”
A Conspiracy to Commit Omnicide
As reported by Counterpunch,17 in the five decades since Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, he’s been arrested more than 80 times for civil disobedience against war. In a recent podcast (video above), Ellsberg discussed how “nuclear war planners, of which I was one,” are conspiring to “commit omnicide, or near omnicide … the death of everyone.”
“When Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, Henry Kissinger (then President Nixon’s national security advisor) called him ‘the most dangerous man in America.’ But those closely held secrets of the war in Vietnam were less explosive than the nuclear secrets that Ellsberg held in his safe,” Counterpunch writes.18
“Then a top strategist for the Defense Department, he had been party to plans for a nuclear holocaust. After being buried for safekeeping, those documents disappeared in a hurricane that literally blew away his secrets, but that didn’t dampen Ellsberg’s desire to share what he knew.
At 92, with mind sharp as ever, Ellsberg remains an undisputed expert on ‘national security.’ In this unusual illustrated podcast,19 he shares his unvarnished thoughts about the threat of nuclear annihilation and how it might be defused.
Can we simply ignore the reality of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals on hair-trigger alert — amid escalation of a new cold war with heightened nuclear dangers?
Indeed, the U.S. just enacted its biggest military budget in history, with unprecedented investment in weapons of mass destruction and their deployment. We ignore this impending disaster and its impassioned opponent, Daniel Ellsberg, at our own peril.”
Lies, Lies and More Lies
As previously detailed in “Lies Surrounding the Ukraine War” and “How This US Lie Will Likely Lead to War,” government lies, and the media’s complicity, are now threatening the lives of people around the world. According to the official narrative, the Ukraine war is the result of an unprovoked and unjustified invasion by Russia, but that’s simply not true.
The real trigger was NATO’s decision to allow Ukraine to join. Russia has long been very clear about the fact that it will not allow Ukraine to join NATO, for the simple fact that it would place a NATO military presence right on its border. Russia wants Ukraine to remain an independent “buffer zone” between itself and NATO countries.
Would the U.S. allow Mexico to form a military alliance with China and install Chinese military at our southern border? That’s highly unlikely, yet that’s what NATO is pursuing in Ukraine.
Since Russia’s entry into Ukraine, the U.S. has done nothing but push for the escalation of conflict, to the point that we’re now hearing predictions about nuclear war. Why would we take such risks? To take a stand for Ukraine’s “right” to join NATO? What about the existential threat that poses to Russia? Any diplomatic solution will have to take the interests of both parties into account. Since NATO is refusing to do so, what choice does Russia have, really?
What’s more, the U.S. has poured billions of tax dollars into Ukraine, ostensibly to help Ukraine “fight for freedom and preserve democracy,” yet Ukraine has long been deemed one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and no one knows where all this money is going. It’s no surprise then to find that hundreds of millions of dollars have simply been embezzled. Yet the White House keeps insisting we send more. To what end, exactly?
The White House also denied responsibility for blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline — which is nothing short of an attack on NATO allies — even after evidence of its culpability came out.
According to Hersh, the “why” behind Biden’s decision to blow up the pipelines was threefold. First, it would massively impact Russia’s economy. Second, eliminating Germany’s and Western Europe’s ability to buy low-cost gas from Russia would force them to buy U.S. gas. And third, he feared Europe would be reluctant to supply Ukraine with money and weapons if they were reliant on Russian gas.
World War — Part 2 of The Great Reset Plan
All in all, the Biden administration appears hell-bent on escalating the conflict in Ukraine. The question is why, when escalation would likely turn into a nuclear world war? Is that what they want? And if so, why?
Russia’s perspective is that it’s fighting an existential threat in Ukraine. Meanwhile, evidence suggests the basis for the United States’ interest in, and defense of, Ukraine is related to it being a valuable money laundering hub and, potentially, a secret biological weapons manufacturing ally.
Moreover, let’s not forget that Biden’s decision to send U.S. Armed Forces, including special forces, to Ukraine took place without Congressional oversight or authority.
As Americans, we cannot be naïve about any of this, seeing how it’s our lives that will be destroyed were Russia to send nuclear missiles our way. Europeans also need to search their souls to determine whether protecting Deep State interests is really worth the price.
As reviewed in a previous article, world war appears to be Phase 2 of The Great Reset plan, which includes the destruction of supply chains, the energy sector, food supply and workforce, to create dependency on government, which in turn will be taken over by private interests and central banks through the collapse of the global economy.
Putting an end to the Ukraine war could go a long way toward thwarting that plan. At bare minimum, it would drastically delay the final implementation of The Great Reset, giving us time to work out other solutions.
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The last three years and the forced bioweapon injections have been shocking and grotesque; but the perpetrators of these crimes and their meat puppets infesting governments and medical regulators are not new.
The last three years have also revealed who will fight for our rights and our children’s future. Ted Kuntz is top tier in that group.
Ted Kuntz is the president of Vaccine Choice Canada.
More than thirty years ago, Ted’s beautiful happy healthy son, suffered severe damage following a vaccine, and became very handicapped for the rest of his very difficult life. Ted nursed and loved his son for many years until his death.
Ted remains at the forefront of the fight to ensure informed consent is a reality. The need for informed consent, implies the very necessary right of informed refusal.
As WEF pedophile infiltrated institutions make a mockery of human life , and profit while vandalizing our children, and virtually everything on Earth; Ted continues to stand his ground, and I, like many other admiring friends, stand with him.
Here is Ted’s testimony to the National Citizens Inquiry in Vancouver. His knowledge and wisdom are invaluable, especially at this time.
Vaccine Choice Canada’s Ted Kuntz: The lack of safety, efficacy, and informed consent for childhood vaccines. | Vancouver Day 3 | NCI
In his presentation, Ted Kuntz, President of Vaccine Choice Canada, discusses the lack of safety, efficacy, and informed consent for childhood vaccines dating back decades. Watch as he provides evidence and insights into this ongoing issue.
There are more National Citizens Inquiry hearings happening across Canada in the weeks ahead. To learn more, get involved, watch recordings, register to attend live hearings, watch on line, donate to support the NCI, sign our petition and more, go to www.nationalcitizensinquiry.ca
National Citizen Inquiry Hearings Locations and Dates:
Toronto, Ontario. March 30 @ 9:00 am – April 1 @ 5:00 pm
Winnipeg, Manitoba. April 13 @ 9:00 am – April 15 @ 5:00 pm
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. April 20 @ 9:00 am – April 22 @ 5:00 pm
Red Deer, Alberta. April 26 @ 9:00 am – April 28 @ 5:00 pm
Vancouver, British Columbia. May 2 @ 9:00 am – May 5 @ 5:00 pm
Quebec. May 11 @ 9:00 am – May 13 @ 5:00 p
Ottawa, Ontario. May 17 @ 9:00 am – May 19 @ 5:00 pm
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The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity
by Michel Chossudovsky
Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.
“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”
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Although it was widely believed that the U.S. continued to secretly deploy nuclear weapons in Korea, this move by the Biden administration is a blatant violation of the denuclearization treaty.
The deployment of nuclear-armed submarines is an escalation bringing the Korean peninsula to the “brink of a nuclear war,” the Korean Central News Agency reported on May 1.
“So far, the U.S. has staged large-scale combined military exercises and all sorts of war drills against the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea],” the Pyongyang daily Rodong Sinmun reported on May 1, referring to the mass flight of U.S. Air Force nuclear-capable B52 bombers over the Korean peninsula on April 5. Now, the U.S. is “deploying strategic nuclear bombers, nuclear carrier task forces and even strategic nuclear submarines near the territorial waters of the DPRK and makes it public.”
The U.S. has not attempted to conceal that the exercises were intended to simulate an attack on the DPRK.
Rodong Sinmun continues, “What is more serious is that U.S. President Biden dared to make frantic and reckless remarks about ‘the end of regime’ [of] the DPRK while becoming vociferous about a ‘swift, overwhelming and decisive response’ at a press conference after the talks.”
North Korean leader Kim Yo Jong said Biden’s threat should not be dismissed as simply a “nonsensical remark from the person in his dotage.”
She said, “When we consider that this expression was personally used by the president of the U.S., our most hostile adversary, it is threatening rhetoric for which he should be prepared for far too great an after-storm.”
The more the U.S. is “dead set on staging nuclear war exercises, and the more nuclear assets they deploy in the vicinity of the Korean peninsula, the stronger the exercise of our right to self-defense will become in direct proportion to them.”
Third-largest U.S. military occupation
According to data from the Pentagon, about 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, the third-largest military presence outside the country after Japan and Germany. In addition, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) operates about 90 combat planes, 40 attack helicopters, 50 tanks, and some 60 Patriot missile launchers.
The “Washington Declaration” was part of a summit between President Biden and South Korea’s far-right President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“According to the New England Korea Peace Campaign, Boston Candlelight Action Committee, and Massachusetts Peace Action, which are preparing to hold a protest on Friday, April 28, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during Yoon’s visit to Harvard, ‘Since entering office, Yoon’s right-wing administration has expanded costly and provocative U.S.-ROK military exercises, heightened tensions with North Korea, rolled back workers’ rights, threatened to abolish the ministry of gender equality, and has taken many other actions to undermine struggles for peace and justice in South Korea,’” Simone Chun reports.
“Yoon’s state visit comes at a time when South Korea is experiencing unprecedented crises on the political, economic, and national security fronts as a consequence of the Biden administration’s unrelenting pressure on South Korea to join the U.S. anti-China bloc,” Chun adds.
The joint statement issued by Biden and Yoon Suk Yeol did not explicitly mention China, but it did make several references to the “free and open Indo-Pacific,” which is seen by many as a code phrase for “containing” China.
The statement also declared, “The Presidents reiterated the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the region.”
Ending ‘One China’ policy
The U.S. is now targeting Taiwan, virtually ending the “One China” policy that recognizes that Taiwan is part of China. In recent years, the U.S. has increased arms sales to Taiwan, sent high-level officials and Congressional delegations, and conducted joint military exercises with Taiwan. In addition, the U.S. has quadrupled the number of U.S. troops on the island.
Washington is building a system of alliances throughout the Indo-Pacific as part of its war buildup against China. These alliances include the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) — Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S. — and the AUKUS pact made up of Australia, Britain, and the U.S.
On April 11, Al Jazeera reported that the U.S. and the Philippines began their largest-ever military drills, including a live-fire exercise on a ship in the South China Sea.
The drills, known as Balikatan, have about 12,200 U.S. troops, 5,400 Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) members, and representatives from other countries, including Australia. Balikatan means “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog.
The Philippines recently agreed to allow the U.S. access to more military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Nine EDCA bases are planned, with four directly facing Taiwan. The Philippines is also increasing military ties with Japan.
Biden has persisted in his aggressive rhetoric on Taiwan. He told CBS News last September that he would send U.S. troops to “defend” Taiwan. Then, in a significant break with the longstanding U.S. “One China” policy, he added: “Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence… That’s their decision.”
Of course, Taiwan is part of China and not “independent.” Any U.S. military invasion to “defend” Taiwan would be an act of war against China.
China is not an imperialist power
As Foreign Policy magazine noted recently, “China is not a superpower.” The report uses the term superpower to avoid the more direct and accurate phrase imperialist power, which the U.S. tries to deny.
“The United States is undoubtedly a superpower, with a worldwide network of alliance agreements and overseas bases enabling it to deploy and move forces rapidly between various theaters,” FP reports. “China, however, is only a regional power. It wields global economic power and influence, but the geographic reach of its military is largely limited to the Asian and Indo-Pacific theaters.”
The United States has direct and unhindered access to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans. China has limited access to the Pacific and is mostly hemmed in by major island chains it does not control.
Imperialist “gunboat diplomacy” requires boats, and airplanes need airfields to operate in far-flung regions. China has none of them, either.
China has only one overseas base — its naval facility in Djibouti, staffed with 400 Chinese marines.
While the U.S. Navy plows the world’s oceans daily, the Chinese navy conducts missions only in its own Indo-Pacific area.
A superpower means military and economic dominance over other countries, which China has never had. The U.S., in contrast, has hegemonic dominance over countries in every continent because no other state is in a position to challenge its dominance, FP concludes.
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Featured image: The U.S. is docking nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea for the first time since the 1980s. Photo: U.S. Navy
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The annual Victory Day remembrance was marred by an announcement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today that his country intended to change the day that it celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The Soviet Union commemorated May 9 as Victory in Europe Day because, with time zone differences, that was the date the Nazi surrender was signed.
Russia has continued the tradition since the fall of the Soviet Union while western Europe marks the surrender on May 8.
The Soviet Union lost about 27 million troops and civilians during the war, by far the largest number of casualties of any nation in the conflict.
The attack by the Nazis in 1941 was the largest invasion in history and involved millions of troops.
The Red Army bore the brunt of vicious fighting in Europe for the next four years. After suffering severe hardship to the population, including the loss of more than half a million people at the brutal siege of Stalingrad, it managed to drive the Nazis back.
But Mr Zelensky said:
“Today I am submitting a Bill to the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] of Ukraine proposing that May 8 be the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War of 1939-1945.”
Mr Zelensky said that Ukraine, like western European nations, would instead adopt May 9 as Europe Day, a celebration of “peace and unity in Europe.”
Russia’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attacked the move. Ms Zakharova said:
“What could be worse than an enemy? A traitor. This is Zelensky. The new incarnation of Judas in the 21st century.
She said:
“By cancelling Victory Day on May 9, he betrayed his ancestors once and for all.”
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Thomas Jefferson opined of the Rothschild-led Eight Families central banking cartel which came to control the United States, “Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of the day, but a series of oppressions begun at a distinguished period, unalterable through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing us to slavery”.
Two centuries and a few decades later this same cabal of trillionaire money changers – mysteriously immune from their own calls for “broad sacrifice” – utilizes the debt lever to ring concessions from the people of Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and now the United States.
In their never-ending quest to subjugate the planet, the bankers’ IMF enforcer – chronic harasser of Third World governments – has turned its sites on the developed world. To further advance their dizzying concentration of economic power, the whining banksters take a giant wrecking ball to the global middle class as they prepare to eat their young.
No one can argue that the US deficit is not a problem. Much of it accrues paying interest on the $14 trillion debt. Stooped-over Congressional cartel shills with names like Cantor and Boehner argue for slashing entire government departments to satiate the bloodthirsty bond-holders. Liberals argue for higher taxes on the rich and massive Pentagon cuts.
I agree with these latter proposals. The super-rich paid 90% under Eisenhower and 72% under Nixon. Both were Republicans. They now pay 33%. Most corporations and many elites utilize offshore tax havens and pay nothing.
The argument for progressive taxation is that those who benefit more from government should pay more. Cartel apologists propagate the fiction that the poor soak up middle-class tax dollars, sowing division between the poor and middle class. Meanwhile, the Eight Families financial octopus feeds mightily at the public trough be it the SEC (rich investors), the FCC (Gulfstream jet fliers), the USDA (the richest farmers get the biggest checks), Medicaid (insurance fraud, Big Pharma gouging) or the Pentagon (Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, Blackwater).
Still, $14 trillion is an insurmountable debt. Increasing taxes on the super-rich combined with a global American military withdrawal from its current role as Hessianized mercenary force for the City of London banksters, while welcome, will not be enough to deal with this monster debt, what Jefferson termed, this “deliberate, systematic plan of reducing us to slavery”.
The belt-way dialogue on the deficit remains locked in a tiny intellectual box created by the corporate media and their Federal Reserve cartel owners. But there is another way.
It is a myth that most of that $14 trillion debt is owed to the Chinese or other “governments”. The vast majority – around $10 trillion – is owed to the Eight Families Federal Reserve crowd.
In a June 9, 2011 article for Marketwatch, Unicredit’s Chief US Economist Harm Bandholz stated that the Federal Reserve is the largest holder of US debt with around 14% of the total. This does not include debt held by Rothschild-controlled central banks of other nations – including China, Japan and the GCC oil fiefdoms.
Through the recent QE2 program, the Fed purchased another $600 billion in Treasury bonds. They claimed it was a last ditch attempt to save the global economy from deflation. Instead, the banksters who got the interest free taxpayer-backed money pushed us further towards deflation by refusing to lend their welfare bonanza to potential homeowners or small business.
Conversely and inherent in the printing of zero-interest money, they created inflation – speculating in oil, food and gold futures and rolling this increased US debt on the roulette tables at their various wholly-owned global stock exchanges. Is it any wonder the financial parasite class is now clamoring for QE3?
What follows is a ten-step proposal which President Obama and the Congress could enact to lift the $14 trillion debt from the backs of future generations of Americans. These should be done concurrently as part of a single sweeping financial reform bill. Modeled after last week’s release of strategic petroleum reserves by twenty-seven nations, this measure should be enacted in tandem with as many willing nations as possible. The same Rothschild-led cabal controls the central banks of most every nation and there is power in numbers. If these measures are enacted separately or by only one nation, the Eight Families cartel will use their financial clout to target and destroy the US:
1) Introduce a Treasury Department-administered infrastructure investment fund, which workers should be strongly encouraged to opt into using accrued funds from their private 401K plans. This is important because the banker’s stock market casino will crash due to the next nine steps and workers must be shielded from this event. This fund can be used to rebuild America’s infrastructure, with American workers acting as lenders and receiving a fair rate of interest in return.
2) The US needs to withdraw from the Bank of International Settlements, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the IMF and all Eight Families-controlled multilateral lending facilities. We would save billions funding these banker welfare schemes while freeing ourselves from rules which prevent our financial emancipation.
3) De-link the dollar from all currency baskets and IMF special drawing rights. Ban trade in dollars on all global exchanges. This will create a demand for dollars and strengthen our badly devalued currency. Impose currency controls by fixing the dollar at 1:1 euro, Chinese yuan, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc; 100:1 Japanese yen. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fixed the nation’s currency – the ringit. It was the only currency in the region that did not crash when Rothschild front-man George Soros took aim at the region.
4) Nationalize the Federal Reserve. According to a London barrister I have been in contact with, under the Federal Reserve Act there is a provision that allows for the US government to buy back the Fed’s charter for $4 billion. We should pay this fee, revoke the Fed charter and launch a new US dollar issued by the Treasury Department. With the dollar fixed, the vampires cannot crash it.
5) Cancel the $10 trillion debt to the Illuminati bankers. Debt obligations to foreign governments and small bond-holders should be honored at par.
6) Arrest the perpetrators. Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all fraudulent transactions involving the Fed cartel. Send the FBI to the New York Fed. Seize all documents. Confiscate the world’s largest gold reserves which are stored there. These were stolen from various governments including from our own Ft. Knox reserves.
7) Forget just repealing the Bush tax cuts on the rich. The top tax rate on people who make more than $1 million/ year should be raised to 75%. People making more than $500,000/year should pay 50%. All tax brackets below $75,000/year should see tax cuts. If you get more from government you need to pay for it, instead of soaking the middle-class and blaming it on the poor.
8) Slash Pentagon spending. Shut down all US military bases on foreign soil, including those in Europe, Japan and South Korea. Withdraw ALL troops from Iraq and Afghanistan immediately. Use the savings to pay off government and small bond-holders.
9) Outlaw offshore banking by US citizens and corporations. Bring your money home and pay taxes on it or surrender your US passport/corporate charter. The dramatic increase in tax revenue would be enough to pay off the remaining debt to sovereign governments and small bond-holders, while keeping our obligations to the Social Security trust fund.
10) Introduce single-payer health care and price controls on prescription drugs. The current corporate for-profit health care bonanza depends upon sickness and ill health for its hefty profits. In 2006 Canada government spent $3,678 per person for free single-payer coverage for all its citizens. The US government spent $6,714 per person covering the insurance, pharmaceutical, hospital and AMA cartels. The savings attained from eliminating insurance/pharmaceutical/hospital chain/doctor-perpetrated Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security fraud will save the US Treasury billions. It is the only solution to skyrocketing and unsustainable health care costs.
Using this methodology the US could wipe out both its deficit and its debt within a year. These measures should be planned in secret and introduced swiftly and in rapid succession. Social security and Medicare will be saved. The middle class will see their tax rates go down, while their retirement fund finances the rebuilding of a 21st Century America. Manufacturing jobs will come home, since the Chinese yuan will have seen a dramatic appreciation. Our national security will be enhanced by withdrawing from the role of global policeman.
If we keep thinking inside the banker-manufactured beltway box, our children have no future. They will live in a Third World country which produces nothing, lorded over by debt-collector parasites known as the “financial services industry”.
The wealth-destroying Eight Families banker elite are the perpetrators of the US debt crime. Should a woman who is raped serve the sentence of her rapist? That’s absurd. Then why should Americans or any other nation pay a fraudulent debt foisted upon them by con-men? It is time for Obama and the Congress to get a backbone and force the criminal Federal Reserve cartel to make the “broad sacrifices”.
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Dean Henderson is the author of Big Oil & Their Bankers in the Persian Gulf: Four Horsemen, Eight Families & Their Global Intelligence, Narcotics & Terror Network and The Grateful Unrich: Revolution in 50 Countries. His Left Hook blog is at www.deanhenderson.wordpress.com
Featured image: Federal Reserve Board, 1917 (Licensed under the Public Domain)
Big Oil & Their Bankers In The Persian Gulf: Four Horsemen, Eight Families & Their Global Intelligence, Narcotics & Terror Network
Big Oil… pulls back the covers to expose a centuries-old cabal of global oligarchs, whose control over the global economy is based on hegemony over the planet’s three most valuable commodities: oil, guns and drugs- combined with ownership of the world’s central banks.Henderson implicates these oligarchs in the orchestration of a string of conspiracies from Pearl Harbor to the Kennedy Assassination to 911. He follows the trail of dirty money up the food chain to the interbred Eight Families who- from their City of London base- control the Four Horsemen of Oil, the global drug trade and the permanent war economy.”Big Oil… is an extraordinary expose of the powers and events that are exacting a heavy toll on us, the people”.- Nexus New Times Magazine. Australia.”Big Oil… is hair-raising and a masterpiece which deserves not less than the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. This book should be a requisite for every American to study.”- Dr. Carlos J. Canggiano, M.D., Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico.
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***
Broken Arrow, OK – 18 year old Trista Martin died suddenly on Nov. 9, 2022 after she took Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA jab in July and didn’t tell her parents (click here)
Dallas, TX – 18 year old Kayla Rose Lumpkins died suddenly in her sleep on Sep. 9, 2022, 7 months after her COVID-19 booster shot (click here)(click here)
Philippines (Quezon City) – 13 year old boy Biel Elioenai Cruz Tan had 2nd Pfizer dose on Jan. 26, 2022, died suddenly on June 20, 2022 (click here)
Chicago, IL – 17 year old Gwen Casten, daughter of Congressman Sean Casten, died suddenly in her sleep of sudden cardiac arrhythmia on June 13, 2022 (click here)
Brazil – 15 year old boy Danylo Zinneck Nombre had 2nd Pfizer on Oct. 19, 2021, 18 days later developed weakness in legs, blurred vision, diagnosed with Autoimmune Bickerstaff Brainstem Encephalitis (BBE) a rare neurological disease, was 2 months in ICU & died on March 3, 2022 (click here)
Brazil – 18 year old Isabelle Correia G. de Souza received 3rd COVID-19 vaccine dose on Jan.25, 2022, started feeling ill on Feb.2, 2022, was taken to ICU and died on Feb. 21, 2022 (click here)
Philippines – 17 year old boy Shan Costillas had 2nd Moderna dose on Jan.25, 2022, suffered seizures, stroke and died 4 days later on Jan. 29, 2022
Brazil – 16 year old Anite Vitoria Ribeiro Bentivoglio had 2nd Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA vaccine on Oct.20, 2021, became ill, fatigue, vomiting, died Jan. 20, 2022 (click here)
Ararangua, Brazil – 13 year old Vanessa Martins Figueiredo had Pfizer vaccine on Nov. 9, 2021, symptoms started 5 days later with vomiting, paralysis, she died on Jan. 10, 2022 (click here)(click here)
Brazil – 18 year old model Valentina Boscardin developed clots and died suddenly after 2 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA jab, on Jan. 9, 2022 (click here)
New Jersey – 13 year old boy had 2nd COVID-19 vaccine on June 6 2021, had a cardiac arrest on Dec. 31, 2021 and died on Jan. 4, 2022 (click here)
Japan – 19 year old had two Moderna jabs and Pfizer booster shot taken on July 29, 2022, found dead in bed 3 days later, cause of death: myocarditis
Uganda (Mpigi) – 14 year old boy Jonathan Luyinda was COVID-19 vaccinated with Pfizer without parent’s consent on Feb. 8, 2022, and he died in July 2022 from multiple organ failure, mother is suing govt (click here)
Publications
Japan (Author: Nushida) – 14 year old girl died 2 days after Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA jab, Dec. 2022 (click here)
USA (Author: Gill) – Two teenage boys died within week of 2nd Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA jab, both died of myocarditis (click here)
My take…
Parents of teenagers who were pressured into getting COVID-19 vaccinated should have this kind of documentation in their legal files.
Some of these cases are starting to disappear from the internet.
These are cases where the time from COVID-19 vaccination to death was relatively short. What we are seeing now in 2023, as my previous substack article detailed, is a tsunami of sudden deaths in COVID-19 vaccinated young people who weren’t recently vaccinated.
And that’s very troubling, because we are now seeing the longer term adverse effects of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination that were never studied.
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Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.
The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity
by Michel Chossudovsky
Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.
“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”
ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0, Year: 2022, PDF Ebook, Pages: 164, 15 Chapters
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***
The Arkansas Army National Guard 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Task Force Bowie) has assumed command of a training group upskilling Ukrainian warfighters to defend against Russia’s invasion.
The Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine is a rotational mobilization effort under the authority of the US European Command, US Army Europe and Africa, and the 7th Army Training Command.
Their duties include preparing the Ukrainian Armed Forces in combined arms, joint maneuvers, and other capabilities issued through the US Presidential Drawdown Authority.
Ukrainian Military Training in Germany
The training is being held at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, in partnership with other US defense units, allied militaries, and partner nations.
Task Force Bowie received the command from New York Army National Guard Task Force Orion, which has been in a leadership role since July 2022.
Task Force Orion trained Ukrainian soldiers in over 15 different systems and equipment over nine months.
The task force oversaw eight Ukrainian Armed Forces tactical groups for combined arms and joint maneuvers training.
Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine. Photo: Spc. Christian Carrillo/US National Guard
“The proof and the results are in the bravery and the actions of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are accomplishing them on the battlefield,” Task Force Orion Commander Col. William Murphysaid.
With Orion’s aid, the number of Ukrainian warfighters upskilled in Germany increased to more than 9,600.
“We are excited…to increase the [Armed Forces of Ukraine’s] lethality and capability,” Task Force Bowie Commander Col. Olen Bridges stated.
“We’re eager to continue the legacy of the Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine mission. We know that there is a lot to do, and we’re here to do it.”
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Featured image: UK instructors train Ukrainian marines as part of Operation Orbital in Odessa, Ukraine in January 2019. Image: Ukrainian Naval Forces
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***
Photographs of the building site of a new US embassy compound in Lebanon shared on Twitter on Friday have gone viral, prompting questions and hundreds of comments regarding the size of the complex.
The US embassy in Beirut said in a tweet that “things are progressing at our new compounds” [Twitter – US embassy in Beirut]
The photographs show a massive multi-building compound – expected to cover a huge 43-acre site, according to an announcement by the US embassy in Beirut.
In the tweet, the US embassy in Beirut announced that “things are progressing at our new compounds”.
— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) May 5, 2023
The tweet garnered hundreds of replies, with many questioning why such a huge complex was needed in one of the region’s smallest countries.
“Did the U.S. move to Lebanon??” one Twitter user asked.
“Is that an embassy or a military base?” another user wondered.
“The #USA is building the largest embassy in the Middle East in tiny #Lebanon. It’s a huge spy den used for information warfare & soft war,” a Twitter user said.
“We would like to know how many structures are there underneath the ground. Just out of curiosity. Also, how many trees were cut and replaced with all that cement,” another user said.
“Breaking ground today on our New Embassy Compound is a strong message to the Lebanese people that we are with you for the long term.”
This is not the first time the US invests in an expansive embassy compound in the Middle East.
The US owns a massive compound in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, which sits on a whopping 104 acres and is described as the largest embassy in the world – nearly as large as the Vatican City.
The US’ newly established consulate in Erbil also occupies a vast area of approximately 50 acres, while its embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul – constructed before the Taliban takeover – sits on 36 acres of land.
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***
Following Wednesday’s drone attack on the official residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US media sprang into action to promote the ridiculous claim that Russia staged the attacks.
Among the headlines that appeared Thursday were:
“Alleged Putin assassination is ‘false flag’ orchestrated to bolster Russia’s war effort, experts claim”—Fox News
“Kremlin Drone Attack ‘Likely’ Russia False Flag: US Think Tank”—Insider
“False flag? Analysts say Russia ‘likely staged’ Kremlin drone attack it blamed on Ukraine and the West”—CNBC
These articles appeared to be an effort on the part of the US media to walk back statements made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Wednesday, both of whom refused to distance themselves from the assassination attempt or even declare that the assassination of Putin would be illegitimate.
Asked what the position of the US was on “such attacks on leadership,” Blinken replied, “These are decisions for Ukraine to make about how it’s going to defend itself.”
The entire US media simply ignored these statements, rather promoting the claim that the attacks were not an assassination attempt, that Russia staged them, or both.
Many of the articles citing the claim of a “false flag” were based on declarations by the pro-war US think-tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which wrote Thursday that “Russia likely staged this attack in an attempt to bring the war home to a Russian domestic audience and set conditions for a wider societal mobilization.”
As evidence, the ISW cited the claim that Russia quickly asserted that drones carrying explosives over the residence of the Russian president were an assassination attempt, and that Russian air defenses would not have allowed the drones to fly so near the Kremlin.
It concluded, “The rapid and coherent presentation of an official Russian narrative around the strike suggests that Russia staged this incident in close proximity to the May 9th Victory Day holiday in order to frame the war as existential to its domestic audience.”
This amounts to the entire argument for the claim that Russia staged the attack.
By contrast, the reality that the attack on the Kremlin was carried out by Ukraine was bolstered by the fact that the Ukrainian Post Office issued a stamp depicting the burning Kremlin within hours after the operation.
Colonel Alexander Vindman, a leading figure in the run-up to the war, hailed the attack, declaring that it “demonstrates how vulnerable Russia really is.” He continued, “The most important thing about drone strikes on the Kremlin is the shear [sic] embarrassment for Putin. He looks terribly week [sic].”
The declarations that Russia was responsible for the attack on the Kremlin follow the pattern set after the September 26, 2022, bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines, after which the US media declared that Russia was responsible for an attack on its own pipelines.
Following the October 8, 2022, attack on the Kerch Bridge, the August 20, 2022, assassination of Darya Dugina and multiple bombings inside Russia, Ukrainian officials denied they were responsible, before accounts in the US press attributed responsibility to the Ukrainian secret service.
US officials were at pains Thursday to distance themselves from the attack on the Kremlin. Speaking to Morning Joe, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said: “There was no involvement by the United States in [the Kremlin attack]. Whatever it was did not involve us… We had nothing to do with this.”
Kirby’s claim that the United States had no involvement in the planning of the attack is undermined by the content of leaked Pentagon documents made public earlier this year, showing that the United States possesses both advanced knowledge of and veto power over Ukrainian attacks inside Russia.
In an article published April 24, titled “At U.S. behest, Ukraine held off anniversary attacks on Russia,” the Washington Post wrote, “In February, with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine days away, officials in Kyiv were busy making plans to attack Moscow.”
The article continued, “On Feb. 22, two days before the anniversary, the CIA circulated a new classified report: The HUR [Ukrainian intelligence directorate] ‘had agreed, at Washington’s request, to postpone strikes’ on Moscow.”
On Thursday, Russian officials made increasingly categorical declarations that the attack was directed by the United States.
“Attempts to disown this, both in Kyiv and in Washington, are, of course, absolutely ridiculous,” said Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. “We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv but in Washington.”
Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov added, “How would Americans react if a drone hit the White House, the Capitol or the Pentagon. The answer is obvious to every politician, as well as to the average citizen: the punishment will be harsh and inevitable.”
Ukrainan President Zelensky continued to travel in NATO territory on Thursday, meeting with officials from the Baltic countries. Zelensky also visited the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in the Netherlands, after which he gave a speech denouncing Putin.
Finland joined NATO last month, doubling the military alliance’s border with Russia overnight. NATO is surging troops to Russia’s borders alongside the escalation of the Ukraine war. Critically, the leaked Pentagon documents released earlier this year showed that NATO sees its operations both inside Ukraine and in NATO members states as interoperable, and there are over 150 NATO troops deployed inside Ukraine.
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***
I gave in, and watched Charlie’s coronation. And I was surprised.
I am republican: I believe that heads of state should be elected, and aristocracy abolished. Being Irish, I particularly despise the British monarchy, for all the centuries of horrors committed in its name. And I loathe Anglicanism’s camp fusion of church and state.
So I was going to ignore it. But rain killed my plans for the day, so I decided to amuse myself with Janey Godley’s voiceover. But this time the wonderful Janey didn’t work for me, so I switched to the BBC. Know your enemy.
I expected high pomp and pageantry, executed with precision by a vast horde of absurdly-dressed flunkeys, sonorously narrated by a sombre BBC voice. A vast production to wow the viewers, and to bolster the myth of an eternally strong and magnificent monarchy.
At first, that’s roughly what I saw. An “Enchanted Glass”, as Tom Nairn called it.
Penny’s Sword of Truth
Brit Royalty has been doing grand ceremonies for centuries, so all the men in silly clothes did their silly walks in unison, and the horses were flawlessly synchronised. Inside Westminster Abbey, everything was perfectly choreographed, and the extravagant robes were immaculate. Huw Edwards provided the reverential commentary, following the standard BBC-Royal formula of subdued voice complete with plentiful long pauses, as if he was whispering to a slow learner at a funeral. His co-presenter was a gushing woman whose two tasks seemed to be to waffle about the supposed “excitement” of the crowds and to provide forgettable potted bios of some of the personnel.
All the usual ingredients of royal pageant were there, but the more I watched, the less believable it became.
The allegedly excited crowds were actually thin and subdued. The lists of Sir This and Lord That and Captain T’Other sounded well beyond their use-by-date.
The Lords and Commons Speakers’ processions looked like failed comedy skits, as four people in silly clothes carried a stick through the rain. The queue of former Prime Ministers looked tawdry: grey man, war criminal, brooding bully, toff, robot, liar and halfwit. Minor royals wandered in, recognisable only to readers of Hello magazine. Large chunks of the music were modern compositions, and like most modern choral works they were dire: lots of notes, huge vocal range, but no discernible tune and no emotion. Even the return to stonking tunes like Handel’s Zadok couldn’t restore the broken spell.
This was a grave error. The Anglican liturgy has a massive back catalogue of greatest hits, works which have stirred emotions for generations. The coronation needed to connect with a young generation who don’t go to church and are unfamiliar with its ritual. But instead, royalty’s most important gig in seventy years had a soundtrack peppered with obscure experimental dirges which should have remained as MIDI files in university music labs. It’s hard to imagine the thought processes behind these choices, but baffling people with passionless obscurity was hubristic.
Such atonal diversions might have been tenable if the core proposition was strong. When Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, the British Empire had lost India and Ireland, but still ruled swathes of Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. The so-called “Old Commonwealth” — the white settler colonies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand — were solidly loyal to the imperial Crown, as was Britain itself. Elizabeth herself was an elegant young woman, a hugely popular celebrity with a well-managed backstory.
If Elizabeth had been crowned to the tune of Three Blind Mice, the magic would have been undimmed. That radiant young woman would have stolen any show.
But Charlie is not easy on the eye, and his backstory does him no favours. Opinion polls show little love for him, and he isn’t even hated. It’s worse than that: most Brits are apathetic.
So on his big day, Charlie needed to exceed expectations, to sparkle and exude stardom. But he didn’t. Instead, his glum face and flat voice sucked the remaining oxygen out of the proceedings. By the time he was handed the orb and sceptre, he looked miserable, and seemed to be holding back tears.
The cameras should have been showing a man filled with pride and confidence, a leader strengthened by an ancient ritual of anointment, inspiring faith in his followers. Instead they showed a broken old man who seemed to long to be anywhere else, and who was stonily unresponsive even to the ritualised kiss from his older son. I found myself thinking of The Crown’s portrayal of young Charles as a sensitive child abandoned by his mother as she toured the Commonwealth, and then consigned to misery in a macho boarding school.
Hardcore monarchists will find their faith undented. But this lavish ceremony needed to reach far beyond the faithful. Its strategic goal was to connect with the apathetic majority, and to wow them with magic. That was always a big ask, and it failed. The cameo roles for non-Anglican faiths has little meaning to Britain’s agnostic majority, and the belated inclusion of Celtic languages won’t dent the independence movements. The core production fell flat, and the Palace’s hope of ubiquitous coronation parties didn’t happen.
The Met and Pre-Crime
The Metropolitan Police’s ruthless crackdown on potential protesters went beyond heavy-handedness. Arresting peaceful protesters without giving a lawful reason was chilling, and arresting holders of rape alarms set a terrifying precedent, especially in the context of the Met’s appalling history of misogyny. But in the right-wing climate of England, concern is unlikely to extend beyond the marginalised left.
Similarly, the obscenity of the £250 million cost is unlikely to be a major controversy. No significant political or media voice objects, and in England there will be no major outrage at foodbanks losing funding while cash pours into regal ceremonies.
So the Saturday’s dramas leave no immediate fallout to trouble the Palace. But if there any wise heads remaining in the English establishment, they will recognise the coronation overreach, and choose their moment to propose scaling back future ceremonies, and the monarchy itself.
That planning should of course have happened decades ago, long before the Elizabeth’s reign began to fade. But there seems to be no political space in England to discuss this without being cancelled, so no mainstream politician will dare speak of it. The crown will continue to box beyond its weight, as Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland turn their backs.
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***
As Charles accedes to the throne, his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment for 46 years is not forgotten in Northern Ireland where Paras have committed a shocking number of killings, some still being revealed in court.
As some people across Britain celebrate the accession of King Charles III – complete with a carefully-crafted image – his status as Colonel-in-Chief of the British army’s Parachute Regiment is not forgotten in Northern Ireland, despite the presence of Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill at the coronation.
O’Neill has made it clear she is attending Westminster Abbey in her role as First Minister designate of the suspended Stormont power-sharing executive – rather than as the deputy leader of her republican party.
Many of Sinn Fein’s followers, however, while understanding her rationale – that she must represent both communities in Northern Ireland – must be scratching their heads. A recent poll found 0% of her party’s supporters favour the monarchy.
It will not have passed them by that Charles continues to personify the Parachute Regiment whose record in Ireland includes an eye-watering number of criminal actions, some of which are still being revealed in court.
This is, after all, the regiment behind the shooting of 14 people in January 1972 on Bloody Sunday in Derry, labelled as “unjustified and unjustifiable” by former British prime minister David Cameron in his response to the findings of the Saville Tribunal.
It is also the regiment behind the shootings of a further 11 people in the “Ballymurphy massacre”, five months before Bloody Sunday.
An inquest verdict in May 2021 found all the dead were innocent. Victims included a priest trying to help the wounded and a mother of eight who bled to death where she lay for hours, unattended.
The Coroner, Mrs Justice Keegan (now the Lady Chief Justice for Northern Ireland) concluded: “What is very clear, is that all of the deceased in the series of inquests were entirely innocent of any wrongdoing on the day in question”.
There have been no successful prosecutions in either case, despite the Parachute Regiment wrongfully killing at least 25 civilians in these two tragedies alone.
Colonel-in-Chief
The regiment’s ever-growing record of carrying out particularly vicious attacks on members on both communities in Northern Ireland has not, it seems, instigated any sudden crisis of conscience in the royal breast.
Charles was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment in 1977, just five years after Bloody Sunday. He went through their parachute jump course in 1978, so he could “look them in the eye” when wearing the infamous red beret.
Over the last 25 years, he held at least 75 meetings with the regiment, including trips to see them in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Court Circular – the monarchy’s official diary.
In July 2010, a few weeks after the Saville Report into Bloody Sunday was published, Charles received eight senior Parachute Regiment commanders at Clarence House, with prime minister David Cameron calling in later that day.
Since Lord Saville’s inquiry concluded, more damning evidence about the regiment has come to light.
Just a month ago, the High Court in Belfast awarded a further £350,000 against the state for the waterboarding of a Belfast man, Liam Holden, at the hands of the Paras in a requisitioned school in the Shankill Road district of Belfast.
‘An enjoyable experience’
It was in the Shankill area, a strongly-protestant part of the city, that regiment members shot dead Ritchie McKinnie, a protestant father of five, and Robert Johnston, another protestant, in September 1972 – killings that made loyalist leader Ian Paisley so angry he withdrew from political talks with London demanding an inquiry.
One soldier described the two murders later, in evidence presented to the Saville Tribunal, as “an enjoyable experience and one which greatly enhanced my standing within the battalion”.
What is particularly galling for its victims, and their supporters, in Northern Ireland is this unabashed pleasure that members of the Parachute Regiment appeared to take in their actions.
“We had as much beer as we could take and we had all the women we could handle. It was absolutely brilliant. A soldier’s dream”, one Para boasted in a book written by BBC journalist, Peter Taylor.
Innocent
Particularly horrific is the way the regiment’s members handled the body of trainee teacher, Patrick Magee, who was shot alongside a friend, Frank McGuinness, by members of the Royal Anglians as they sheltered in the grounds of a Belfast school in April 1972.
An ambulance driver has given witness evidence to the inquest, of how: “We were stopped at the front of the school and a casualty was dragged, feet first, by a member of the (Parachute) regiment from the side of the school, along the front, and down the steps, with his face banging on each step”.
This is corroborated by a second ambulance driver who told the inquest, “I saw soldiers drag the body of Mr. Patrick Magee down the steps of the school by the legs, his arms were outstretched, and his head bounced off each step.”
Both ambulance drivers told an inquest of how they were ordered, by a Para, to drive through a nearby strongly-loyalist area where hostile crowds gathered.
Ambulance driver 2 told the inquest how a Para had held up two fingers to the crowd, indicating they were carrying two patients causing some “glee” in the crowd.
The Northern Ireland Office later admitted that both men were innocent and had been shot in error. It accepted “without reservation” that the two men were walking towards McGuinness’s home and had taken “shelter” when firing broke out.
‘Got a kill’
Sergeant Alan McVittie, a Para, shot and killed South Armagh man Harry Thornton (28) in August 1971, mistaking a van backfire for a gun-shot.
Members of the Parachute Regiment subsequently used the dead man’s skull as an ash-tray, according to fellow Para Henry Gow (who, under the alias Harry McCallion wrote about his exploits in a 1995 book, Killing Zone).
During questioning at the inquest into the Ballymurphy massacre, Gow said the Paras in his unit would run a sweepstake to reward soldiers who “got a kill”. The winner, he told the inquest “got the pot” and would use the money to “go for a piss-up”.
Oisin McConville, a Gaelic football sporting star from the South Armagh village of Crossmaglen, summed up the nationalist experience of the Paras: “If they were in town you were afraid to go outside the door because they were the worst. They would literally batter you if they got you on your own. It was just constant to be honest”.
Yet another Para killing that lives long in the memory is that of 12-year-old Majella O’Hare, shot in the back on 14 August 1976 as she walked with other children in a South Armagh country lane.
A neighbour and nurse, Alice Devlin, said Majella was thrown “like a piece of meat” into a helicopter, head first, and died on the way to hospital.
The ‘shot list’
The role of General Sir Michael Jackson in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday deserves special mention. At the time he was adjutant, with the rank of captain, of the Paras 1st Battalion.
Not satisfied with the men under his command killing 13 civilians (a 14th died later), Jackson personally drew up in his own handwriting, on the night after the massacre, what has since become known as the “shot list”.
This was a list, entirely untrue, attempting to justify the shooting of all the victims by labelling the dead as “nail-bombers”, pistol-firers” or “carrying rifles”.
Jackson went on to become the highest ranking officer in the British Army, and would be photographed with Charles on numerous occasions.
Asked about the errors in the “shot list”, Jackson said he could not “provide an explanation. But I am sure that any errors or omissions are the result of oversight or some other proper and innocent reason.”
He added: “If it is to be suggested that there was attempt [sic] by anyone to sanitise … a true version of events, for whatever reason, I would emphatically reject such a suggestion.”
Either King Charles is not aware of the views of a significant number of those he claims as his subjects on the actions of the Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland – in which case he is negligent.
Or he is aware and has decided that, despite the ignominy in which the regiment is held, that he will retain the “honour” of being its Colonel-in-Chief – in which case he dishonours himself.
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Anne Cadwallader has been a journalist in Ireland, North and South, for the last 40 years, working for the BBC, RTE, The Irish Press, and Reuters. She is an advocacy case worker at the Pat Finucane Centre, a non-party political, anti-sectarian human rights group advocating a non-violent resolution of the conflict in Ireland.
Featured image: Victims of the Parachute Regiment. (Photos: Declassified UK)
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***
NATO’s post-Cold War history is that of an organization far past its “sell-by” date. Desperate for a mission after the end of the Warsaw Pact, NATO in the late 1990s decided that it would become the muscle behind the militarization of “human rights” under the Clinton Administration.
Gone was the “threat of global communism” which was used to justify NATO’s 40-year run, so NATO re-imagined itself as a band of armed Atlanticist superheroes. Wherever there was an “injustice” (as defined by Washington’s neocons), NATO was ready with guns and bombs.
The US military-industrial complex could not have been happier. All the Beltway think tanks they lavishly fund finally hit on a sure winner to keep the money pipeline flowing. It was always about money, not security.
The test run for NATO as human rights superheroes was Yugoslavia in 1999. To everybody but NATO and its neocon handlers in DC and many European capitals, it was a horrific, unjustified disaster. Seventy-eight days of bombing a country that did not threaten NATO left many hundreds of civilians dead, the infrastructure destroyed, and a legacy of uranium-tipped ammunition to poison the landscape for generations to come.
Just last week tennis legend Novak Djokovic recalled what it felt like to flee his grandfather’s home in the middle of the night as NATO bombs fell and destroyed it. What a horror!
Then NATO got behind the overthrow of the Gaddafi government in Libya. The corporate press regurgitated the neocon lies that bombing the country, killing its people, and overthrowing its government would solve all of Libya’s human rights problems. As could be predicted, NATO bombs did not solve Libya’s problems but made everything worse. Chaos, civil war, terrorism, slave markets, crushing poverty – no wonder Hillary Clinton, Obama, and the neocons don’t want to talk about Libya these days.
After a series of failures longer than we have space for here, DC-controlled NATO in 2014 decided to go all-in and target Russia itself for “regime change.” First step was overthrowing the democratically elected Ukrainian government, which Victoria Nuland and the rest of the neocons took care of. Next was the eight years of massive NATO military assistance to Ukraine’s coup government with the intent of fighting Russia. Finally, it was the 2022 rejection of Russia’s request to negotiate a European security agreement that would prevent NATO armies circling its border.
Despite the mainstream media and US government propaganda, NATO has been about as successful in Ukraine as it was in Libya. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been flushed away, with massive corruption documented by journalists like Seymour Hersh and others.
The only difference this time is that NATO’s target – Russia – has nuclear weapons and views this proxy war as vital to its very existence.
So now despite its legacy of failure, NATO has decided to start a conflict with China, perhaps to take attention off its disaster in Ukraine. Last week NATO announced that it will open its first-ever Asia office in Japan. What next, NATO membership for Taiwan? Will Taiwan willingly serve as NATO’s newest “Ukraine” – sacrificing itself to China in the name of blundering NATO’s seemingly endless appetite for conflict?
We can only hope that America will elect a president in 2024 who will finally end NATO’s deadly world tour.
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***
Recent developments in Washington relating to Ukraine and the Middle East remind me that there is a big difference between maintaining secrecy when a situation warrants it and lying over issues where there is no compelling reason to do so beyond political expediency. Having spent more than twenty years in American intelligence agencies where secrecy was the operative norm, I would illustrate that difference as follows: a legitimate secret would be something like not revealing information that would place people or vital national interests in jeopardy, while a lie would be committing a crime and fabricating a narrative that would deny or obfuscate that anything dire had actually taken place. When it comes to lying, I am, of course, referring to the bizarre behavior by the United States government, most particularly ever since 9/11, to commit war crimes and then come up with reasons for its foreign and national security policies to have taken a singular aggressive and coercive turn not justified by reality or by any real threat. That shift in behavior has had a profoundly negative consequence, with much of the world now inclined to identify the United States as the most dangerous country globally speaking in terms of being the greatest threat to peace among nations.
One might reasonably award the gold medal for creative destruction in that light to the Administration of George W. Bush, which elevated lying to a level hitherto hardly imagined in Washington. Bush had a neocon dominated foreign policy team, concentrated in the Pentagon with Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Doug Feith and with Scooter Libby in the Vice President’s office, which did not hesitate to stovepipe fabricated information through the system to justify a totally fraudulent war against Iraq. The conspirators, most of whom were Jews who had close ties to the Israeli government, were supportive of the Jewish state’s desire to have the US attack Baghdad. They were joined in their drive to war by a hapless Secretary of State Colin Powell, a woefully ignorant National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and a ruthlessly ambitious George Tenet at CIA to go along for the ride. Within that context, what the president of the United States actually thought, if he was thinking at all, remains unknowable. The result was the catastrophe of Iraq, with hundreds of thousands of dead civilians over a totally invented threat of “weapons of mass destruction” in the hands of Saddam Hussein. Currently, twenty years after the event, Washington still has soldiers in Iraq even though the Iraqi parliament has repeatedly asked them to leave.
Interestingly, however, what played out under George Bush was child’s play compared to the contemporary political environment where the media has joined the Joe Biden Administration in lying about nearly everything. This has included an act of war committed against both a nuclear armed adversary and an ally in the form of the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, which was clearly carried out by the United States against Russia and Germany after Biden even incoherently warned publicly that he would do it. Since investigative journalist Seymour Hersh blew the lid off the story, the US and its captive media have responded by helping to float a completely implausible alternative tale of how it may have been accomplished by a handful of rogue Ukrainians operating off a fishing boat. Russian attempts to get the incident investigated by the United Nations and/or the International Criminal Court (ICC) have been successfully blocked by the US, which has in response supported a British jurist’s successful attempt to get the Russians themselves investigated for war crimes by the ICC.
In the latest edition of lies and more lies, the US is hanging out to dry a twenty-one year old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira whom it is charging with stealing and making public on an internet chat room highly classified national security related information. The airman might indeed be guilty of having done just that though his motive continues to be elusive and his actual ability to access some of the material he obtained is questionable. More to the point, however, is the back story, which is that the documents reveal that the Ukrainians are clearly losing the war against Russia, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to seek both NATO membership and newer longer-range weapons so he can hit Russia directly and hard enough to bring the US and NATO directly and fully into the conflict. The recent possible attempt to kill Vladimir Putinusing a drone may be part of such planning and, if it had come closer to being successful, the Russian overwhelming response would likely have escalated the conflict to produce a disaster of possibly global proportions.
The leaked intelligence suggests that Ukraine will not be able to defend its airspace at all after this month and will also soon be running out of ammunition. These “facts” were known to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin when he testified several weeks ago that the Kiev was winning its war against Moscow. Biden, for his part re the conduct of the war, has continued to deny that US soldiers are “boots on the ground” engaged in Ukraine. The leaked documents demonstrate that he is also either lying or poorly informed about that. The only intelligence item that seems to reflect some measure of acknowledgeable truth is the information indicating that there is no intention on the part of Washington to take steps to initiate peace talks to put an end to the fighting in 2023. That is clearly what the White House wants going into the 2024 elections, where Joe Biden or whoever succeeds him will want to look like a “war president,” a vigilant defender of the United States to appeal to voters.
From the viewpoint of a tax paying American citizen, the fact that the US Treasury has given or promised well in excess of $100 billion to a hopelessly corrupt Ukrainian government to oppose a nuclear-armed Russia that did not threaten the United States in any way prior to the fighting breaking out last February should be significant. And what happened to the so-called War Powers Act requiring Congress to make a declaration of war? So where is the upside of all of this for the American people?
And there’s more. There is also the recent revelation, also from Sy Hersh, that Volodymyr Zelensky and his gang of crooks have stolen $400 million from the cash provided by the Biden Administration to buy diesel fuel for the Ukrainian Army. The fraud was discovered by the CIA, whose Director William Burns actually personally confronted Zelensky with the numbers and names of those involved in January. Zelensky and his profiteers carried out their project by obtaining the money from the United States Treasury at the US petrodollar rate per gallon plus shipping costs before turning around and buying the fuel from cheaper suppliers located regionally, including the Lukoil Neftohim Burgas refinery located in Bulgaria. The difference then disappeared into the pockets of Zelensky and his generals. And where did the less expensive fuel come from? Mostly from Russia and also from Iran!
To be sure there has been some pushback from a small group of mostly Republican congressmen. Matt Gaetz has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives requiring the White House to provide full information, to include “copies of any and all documents outlining plans for military assistance to Ukraine. Additionally, the resolution directs Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to disclose the number of United States Armed Forces, including special operators, deployed to Ukraine without Congressional authority. The Biden Administration and other allied countries have been misleading the world on the state of the war in Ukraine. There must be total transparency from this administration to the American people when they are gambling war with a nuclear adversary by having special forces operating in Ukraine.”
Maverick GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also got into it with her GOP colleagues after she praised the alleged leaker of the Pentagon documents due to his exposure of the lies surrounding the Ukraine war. She said “Jack Teixeira is white, male, Christian, and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime. And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more. Ask yourself who is the real enemy?” Senator Lindsey Graham as well as the Republican Party leadership immediately jumped on Greene, denouncing her for being against the war. Graham, who recently advocated invading Mexico to solve America’s drug problem, in particular dubbed her response “one of the most irresponsible statements she could make,” adding that it would “destroy America’s ability to defend itself.”
Former CIA Director John Brennan also denounced Greene’s comments, declaring that “From my perspective, I think Marjorie Taylor Greene has demonstrated time and time again that she’s not fit to hold public office…” Recall for a moment that Brennan was himself one of the most disastrous CIA Directors to ever hold office. He advocated torture of “terrorists” by the Agency as well as “signature” drone strikes to kill suspects on the ground in the Middle East and Asia. He collaborated with efforts to derail the Donald Trump campaign and signed on to a letter in October 2020 claiming that Trump’s re-election campaign might well be benefitting from a Russian disinformation operation, an initiative that may have influenced the election outcome. On one occasion, after a Trump meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, Brennan observed that “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of ‘treasonous.’ Not only were Trump’s comments ‘imbecilic,’ he is wholly in the pocket of Putin.”
The exchanges with the GOP as well as from nearly all Democrats serve as one more indication that the problem with the United States government is systemic: going to war while also denigrating critics and then lying about it all to avoid a perceived problem is always the preferred option for both the White House and Congress. No matter who wins in 2024, with the possible exceptions of Robert Kennedy Jr. or Tulsi Gabbard, the outcome in terms of a fractured and incoherent foreign policy that actually itself threatens the United States at every level will be roughly the same.
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This article was originally published on The Unz Review.
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected].
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***
This week, the world was exposed to a disturbing, archaic and bizarre bit of pageantry not seen in over 70 years with the coronation of King Charles III as head of the Global British Commonwealth, head of the Anglican Church, and spokesman for a program dubbed Global Britain that was brought online as the official mandate of the Conservative party in 2021.
From managing a global empire of economic enslavement and having invaded nearly every nation on Earth at one time or another[2], Britain continues to exert vast control over the mining concessions of Africa with over $1 trillion of direct mining interests controlled by British and/or British Commonwealth-based corporations. According to the 2016 report produced by War on Want[3]: “101 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) — most of them British — have mining operations in 37 sub-Saharan African countries. They collectively control over $1 trillion worth of Africa’s most valuable resources. The UK government has used its power and influence to ensure that British mining companies have access to Africa’s raw materials. This was the case during the colonial period and is still the case today.”
The City
As outlined in my new book The Anglo Venetian Roots of the Deep State, the “square mile” dubbed The City of London (a separate legal entity from London itself) is the nerve center of world finance, with the Bank of England and Commonwealth offshore tax havens directing trillions of dollars of drug money laundering, terrorist financing and other corrupt practices globally. The City’s sovereignty beyond all national jurisdiction was enshrined in the oligarchist ‘Magna Carta’ of 1214 which established the financial hub as a supranational corporation capable of running its own police force and judicial system… which it continues maintain 800 years later.
During the 183 years between 1763 to 1946 which saw the greatest direct influence of British unipolar supremacy over the world, the impoverished nations of the world found themselves more impoverished, less capable of acquiring means of industrial production and more at war with themselves and their neighbors via divide-to-conquer tactics. Since this empire took the form of the Anglo-American “special relationship” after 1945, this trend was only exacerbated.
While nurturing global terrorism and radical Islam, British intelligence also lost no time cultivating the most rabid variants of political zionism, and crafted the state of Israel itself out of the Roundtable/Fabian program that came to be called ‘The Balfour Accords’. The story of Britain’s creation of political zionism and rapturist Christianity too is outlined in a 2021 episode of The Great Game here:
While China has provided large scale loans for transport corridors, new industrial zones, and coal, oil, natural gas, hydro and nuclear power investments to countries desperately in need of real development, Global Britain and her American/EU cohorts have spent decades only providing conditionality-laced loans with strings attached and “appropriate” green technologies that will forever prevent Africa or other poor nations from ever standing on their own two feet.
The idea of Global Britain has always had at its heart the concept of an integrated British Commonwealth with the Five Eyes at the head of intelligence, City of London at the head of finance and the hereditary structures of power centered around the Crown as the titular fount of all honors through which all branches of the international deep state derive their powers.
Crown Agents
Since 1833, Global Britain has been managed by a pseudo private system of Crown Agents today named Crown Agents for Overseas Government and Administration. This vast body exists as a semi-official status and describes itself as “an emanation of the crown” and is extremely active in Central and Eastern Europe with its greatest focus on Ukraine’s economic, energy and health management system. The agency is partnered with the World Bank, UN and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and acts as a giant holding company with one shareholder called the Crown Agents Foundation based in Southwark London.
Having been set up in the 1930s as the new face of the British Empire, today’s British Commonwealth occupies 12.2 million square miles of territory, holds 2.4 billion people and represents 21% of the world’s land area. For those who still believe in the myth that the British Empire disappeared after WW2, it is worth contrasting both Commonwealth and Empire maps.
The fact is that the British Empire continues to exert a vast top-down influence over world affairs. Despite having nominally disappeared after WWII, giving way for an “American Empire”, Global Britain is simply an attempt to make explicit what has always been true. Today’s strategists managing the Global Britain agenda “coming out party” are in a desperate attempt to position the Commonwealth as the center of a new post-reset age.
Being an institution organized entirely around hereditary institutions, the centrepiece for the continuity of this reform is hinged upon a ruling family occupying the position of official Prima inter pares around which the entire structure of controls can exert its influence.
In today’s age, this role has fallen onto a certain inbred creature by the name of Charles.
“Long Live the King”
“London Bridge is Down” were the code words delivered by the Queen’s Private Secretary Edward Young to high-ranking officials upon the death of Queen Elisabeth II.
This code was selected as part of a larger protocol dubbed strangely enough “operation Unicorn” for reasons beyond the wildest imagination of this author and which sets into motion a set of actions culminating in the anointing of Prince Charles as the new King of Britain and the Commonwealth.
For Canadians who had thought they would no longer be forced to endure watching their Prime Minister slavishly declare his oaths of fealty (and oaths of secrecy) to an inbred monarch sitting on the other side of the ocean as had occurred in 2017 they will be very disappointed.
Canada’s Parliamentary Oaths Act of 1866 demands that both houses of Parliament are required to take pledges of allegiance after the deaths of all sitting monarchs. That’s right, every single member of the supposedly “elected and democratic” government of Canada must declare their oaths of fealty not to the people or non-existent constitution, but to some inbred family bloodline on the other side of the world.
Similar oaths were read by elected officials across every other Commonwealth Five Eyes member state.
It is thus worth asking, is this institution of hereditary powers which Charles has inherited just a ceremonial gig with no real substance or influence behind it?
Although the majority of citizens including British subjects believe this to be the case, the facts point to a very different reality.
Prince Charles: World’s Largest Property Owner
This may surprise you, but the British Crown happens to be the world’s largest property owner clocking in possessions amounting to 6.6 billion acres across Australia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Canada, Great Britain and the Falkland Islands[6].
On top of the “Crown Lands” and “Crown Corporations” which are legally owned by the monarch of Britain, an organization called ‘The Crown Estate’ is one of the world’s largest property groups. Describing the institution which sends 25% of its earnings directly into the Monarch’s purse every year, Die Welt Business had this to say[7]:
“The Crown Estate owns property all across the UK, from castles and cottages to agricultural land and forests plus retail parks and shopping centers. It owns more than half the UK’s entire seashore, giving it hugely valuable auction rights for offshore commercial activity, such as wind farms.”
The Crown controls nearly the entire seabed (and half the seashore) around the UK with any business wishing to build offshore windmills as part of the Green New Deal forced to rent their sea beds from the Crown Estate. It was noted by Byline Times that the Crown will stand to become “the biggest beneficiary of UK’s Green Agenda” which recently unveiled a 10 point plan for a “green revolution” and full decarbonization by 2050. For anyone confused about the exploding prices of inefficient energy sources across England, they wouldn’t get far without appreciating the tax-payer subsidized boondoggle of windmill farms.
Prince Charles himself has demonstrated that he certainly doesn’t see the Crown as a symbolic entity and was accused of “incontinent lobbying” in 2013 when dozens of personal letters (dubbed the “Black Spider Memos”) to MPs and the Prime Minister were made public after an intense legal fight to keep them secret. Charles’ official biographer Jonathan Dimbleby even wrote in 2013 that upon Charles’ succession to the Crown that things would become much more hands on, and “that a quiet constitutional revolution is afoot.”[8]
Prerogative Powers Are Real
Although much effort goes into portraying the Crown’s prerogative powers as merely symbolic, they cover nearly every branch of governance and have occasionally been used… although those British spheres of influence where they most apply are usually so self-regulating that they require very little input from such external influence to keep them in line.
These powers were first revealed publicly in 2003 and in an article titled ‘Mystery Lifted on the Prerogative Powers’[9], the London Guardian noted that these powers include (but are not limited to):
“Domestic Affair, the appointment and dismissal of ministers, the summoning, prorogation and dissolution of Parliament, Royal assent to bills, the appointment and regulation of the civil service, the commissioning of officers in the armed forces, directing the disposition of the armed forces in the UK (and other Commonwealth nations), appointment of Queen’s Counsel, Issue and withdrawal of passports, Prerogative of mercy. (Used to apply in capital punishment cases. Still used, eg to remedy errors in sentence calculation), granting honours, creation of corporations by Charter, foreign Affairs, the making of treaties, declaration of war, deployment of armed forces overseas, recognition of foreign states, and accreditation and reception of diplomats.”
When a 2009 bill was introduced into parliament proposing that these powers be limited, a Privy Council-led Justice Ministry review concluded that such limitations would ‘”dangerously weaken” the state’s ability to respond to a crisis’ and the bill was promptly killed[10].
Acting on Provincial levels, we find Lieutenant Governors who (in Canada) happen to be members of the Freemasonic Knights of St John of Jerusalem.
King Charles and the Great Reset
Charles demonstrated this “more hands on” approach to governance on June 3, 2020 when he became the official patron of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset and even officially launched the project Tweeting out #TheGreatReset.
On his official website, the Prince launched the project saying “Today, through HRH’s Sustainable Markets Initiative and the World Economic Forum, The Prince of Wales launched a new global initiative, The Great Reset”.
“The environmentalism that the Prince has decided to occupy himself with while he awaits to ascend the throne is not a harmless sort of apolitical tree-planting or rainforest-saving activity. He’s not hugging pandas or funding wildlife sanctuaries. Instead, he has engaged himself in a hybrid business and political uprising that threatens the survival of the political system which he is meant to oversee. In addition to being a betrayal of the ordinary citizen, his actions represent a failure to his sole duty as future king – to protect the constitutional monarchy from rising climate fascism and globalism.”
Nazi Roots of House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
The role of the Crown in leading a revival of practices of global totalitarianism, population control and fascism is not unprecedented. An uncomfortable fact which has recently unveiled by the documentary Edward VIII: Britain’s traitor King on Britain’s Channel 4, this fascist heart of the Crown was alive during the darkest years before and during World War 2.
This film, based upon a soon-to-be released book by historian Andrew Lownie, uses recently declassified reports from the Royal Archives to tell the story of Britain’s Nazi King Edward VIII who not only desired a Nazi victory in WWII, but actively worked towards said goal from the moment he was forced to abdicate the throne in 1936 (allegedly to marry an American divorcée Wallis Simpson) throughout the darkest days of the war itself.
As this documentary proves, teaching his young niece Elizabeth II how to do a proper ‘sieg heil’ wasn’t his only dance with Nazism.
While in exile in Portugal where the royal hob knobbed with Germany’s elite, the documentary cites diplomatic cables sent by Edward to German officials demanding that the Nazis relentlessly bomb England into submission in 1940 encouraging the deaths of millions of innocent civilians.
The film also cites a little-known speech where Edward called for Britain’s surrender to the Nazis in 1939 which the BBC refused to air. Even after being sent to the Bahamas by imperial officials who had decided it more expedient to put down their Frankenstein monster than continue with their earlier plans for a fascist New World Order, the Nazi would-be king had cabled Hitler’s officials indicating his willingness to return to Europe when needed and retake his rightful seat on the throne as an Aryan king.
Beyond the case of Edward VIII, there are many other embarrassing Nazi connections to the house of Windsor (formerly Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) which the film failed to mention, some of which implicate the late Prince Consort Philip Mountbatten (aka: Duke of Edinburgh) directly.
Philip himself maintained the family tradition, when founding the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) with fellow one-time Nazi Party member Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, a lifelong eugenicist and Bilderberg Group founder, in 1961. Philip and Bernhard were joined by Sir Julian Huxley (then president of the Eugenics Society of Britain) as WWF co-founder.
In an August 1988 interview with Deutsche Press Agentur, Prince Philip proclaimed his desire to return in the next life as a deadly virus to help “solve overpopulation”.
Prince Philip exuded cold misanthropic “musings” throughout his life as he contemplated the human zoo asserting:
“You cannot keep a bigger flock of sheep than you are capable of feeding. In other words conservation may involve culling in order to keep a balance between the relative numbers in each species within any particular habitat. I realize this is a very touchy subject, but the fact remains that mankind is part of the living world. Every new acre brought into cultivation means another acre denied to wild species.”
The Nazi pedigree of the royal family and its loyal managers raises the question: Why has their continuation of Nazi eugenics doctrine in the form of the euthanasia and zero-growth movements not become more widely known? What type of world do we live in, that such startling facts could not be general knowledge?
The true Empire has always been a financial oligarchy which is used by a vast network of power structures to advance the interests of the aristocracy of Europe; The current epicenter of power is the Anglo-Dutch monarchies.
It is this power that controls the Bilderberg Group, its junior appendage the World Economic Forum, and steers American policy through the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations (the American version of Chatham House).
It was to leading Chatham House member Lord Lothian in 1937 that Hitler laid out his concept for the Anglo-German New World Order saying:
“Germany, England, France, Italy, America and Scandinavia… should arrive at some agreement whereby they would prevent their nationals from assisting in the industrializing of countries such as China, and India. It is suicidal to promote the establishment in the agricultural countries of Asia of manufacturing industries.”
Any number of technocrats pushing a “Build Back Better for the World” scheme or “Global Green New Deal” could have said the same thing.
A key pillar in the control over colonies of Anglo-Dutch influence remains the Privy Council system, which is centered in Britain, but has secondary branches in select Commonwealth countries. It is under the Privy Council’s influence that lower-level operatives are instituted in the form of deputy ministers, the Treasury Board, Select Committees, and other appointed officials in the Civil Service. Other key nodes in the public and private sector manage the interests of the Crown. All cabinet members of government are made Privy Councillors and all Privy Councillors are sworn to an oath of secrecy and allegiance to the Queen including oaths to keep secret those things spoken of in privy council meetings.
The Crown as the Key to the Continuity of Empire
Of course, it would be silly to believe that Charles (or any previously reigning monarch) were their own person, while ignoring the armada of handlers, courtiers and deeper Byzantine grand strategists who revolve around the Crown as an institution sometimes dubbed “the Fount of All Honors”. The Fount of All Honors is an official term which denotes the legal idea that all authority for the public and private affairs emanates from the single source of the Crown and its unbroken bloodline.
Continuity is everything for empire, and the importance of maintaining institutions that transcend individual lifetimes has always been a point of high concern.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the past 250 years has been shaped by the clash of these two opposing paradigms of organizing society. Where one paradigm assumes as self-evident the existence of inalienable rights of all people, the other system presumes that the only inalienable rights are those held by an oligarchical master class who wish to rule over subjects (aka: useless eaters) whose population levels must be periodically culled for easier management.
The supposition that rights cannot be granted or withheld by a superior bloodline is truly anathema to any system of oligarchism even if it masquerades behind the costume of a species of democracy designed to placate plebs but not allow them or their representatives the means of influencing anything truly meaningful about their reality.
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In his new two volume series The Clash of the Two Americas, Matthew Ehret introduces a new analysis of American history from the vantage point that the globally-extended supranational shadow government that managed the British Empire was never fully defeated and has acted within the USA itself since 1776 as a continuous multi-generational fifth column managing every significant event and assassination of American presidents for the next 250 years.
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Syria has been reinstated as a member of the Arab League, which will meet on May 19 in Riyadh. After a 12-year absence, Syria is in the midst of an Arab-led political path to normalization in the region. The regional powerhouse, Saudi Arabia, and the vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have taken center stage in diplomatic resolutions to persistent crises.
Foreign ministers from Arab League member states voted in Cairo on Sunday to return Syria to the brotherly diplomatic league.
Damascus has been the site of normalization efforts recently. Jordan has put forth an initiative to reach a peaceful political settlement to the conflict in Syria. Western-backed uprisings and conflicts have plagued the Middle East and continue. However, there are winds of change blowing across the desert sands, and the regional actors are rejecting the status quo.
The US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change involved Arab and Western nations as participants, but the plan failed. The armed conflict planned and executed by President Obama, and Vice President Biden killed thousands and displaced millions.
Following the February 6 earthquake in Syria and Turkey, restoration ties with Damascus began with a huge Arab humanitarian response, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which set up an air bridge for much-needed help for victims of the quake.
The Chinese-brokered re-establishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran was a political earthquake in the region and gave the indication that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was looking to establish peace and prosperity in the region, and was veering away from Western interference which has been the source of unrest.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud visited Damascus on April 18 for the first time in more than a decade, with the two countries also restoring embassies and flights between them.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad visited the Kingdom just days before Prince Faisal visited Damascus, on the first such trip since 2011.
Foreign Embassies in Damascus
Damascus hosts 44 embassies, and in addition, there are 51 consulates. Many had closed during the conflict as Western nations and their Arab allies aligned themselves against Syria in their failed effort to remove the secular government, and instead place a Muslim Brotherhood member as the US ally in Damascus.
Some European countries never closed their embassy doors in Damascus, such as Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Holy See, Romania, Serbia, and Sweden.
Several Arab embassies also are open in Damascus, such as UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Yemen, and Oman. Saudi Arabia and Tunisia have said they will open their embassies soon in Damascus.
Experts expect more embassies will dust off their desks and reopen as Damascus springs back to life after more than a decade of isolation.
Syria and Saudi Arabia support the Palestinian cause
Restoring the rights, and land to the Palestinian people has long been a pillar of the Syrian position. Saudi Arabia also has stressed the rights of the Palestinians and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited on April 18 and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss recent developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Saudi Arabia denounced the Israeli storming of the al-Aqsa mosque compound on April 5, and rejected actions “that undermine peace efforts and contradict international principles in respect of religious sanctities.”
Saudi-China relations
King Salman bin Abdulaziz approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that granted Saudi Arabia the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on March 28.
The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, international security, and defense organization. Members include India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, with Iran set to join soon.
Saudi Arabia has depended solely on the US for decades but now is opening their horizon to other partners as the Kingdom marches toward fulling its Vision 2030.
Saudi OPEC decisions
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers announced voluntary cuts to their production on April 2. Riyadh said it would cut output by 500,000 barrels per day from May until the end of 2023.
When US President Joe Biden visited Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman he asked him to increase oil output, to drop the price of gasoline to American consumers. Instead, the decision was made to remain at the level decided upon previously by OPEC. This decision disappointed Biden, but after Biden had made seriously false accusations against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the past, it came as no surprise.
In the last two months, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and top diplomats held high-level meetings with officials from the US, Iran, Netherlands, Egypt, and China. These meetings helped to mark the Kingdom’s diplomatic position in the Arab world and cement Riyadh’s position internationally as a powerhouse in the Middle East.
Looking forward while looking back at the Syrian conflict
In December 2012, the fourth conference for the “Friends of the Syrian People” opened in Morocco, with participation by more than a hundred government delegates, including from the US, France, Britain, and the Gulf countries.
The US-NATO attack on Syria beginning in March 2011 for regime change, created the “Syrian National Coalition” (SNC) which over the years has been hosted by Turkey, and Qatar at the direction of the US. The Syrian government in Damascus was deemed illegitimate, and the SNC was given full political recognition at the 2012 meeting in Morocco, as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
The SNC had an armed wing, also created by the US through their CIA program, Timber Sycamore, which trained, funded, and armed men following the Muslim Brotherhood ideology, to establish an Islamic State in Damascus, similar to the US project in Egypt which successfully installed Mohammed Mursi, before he was rejected by the Egyptian people.
The Free Syrian Army
In 2012, Daniel Wagner wrote from Washington on HuffPost about the dark and evil side of the US-backed FSA. He explained how the US and Western media were glorifying the FSA as ‘freedom fighters’ while turning a blind eye to war crimes and atrocities they committed. The Western mainstream media played a huge role in brainwashing the American and European public.
Aleppo, the industrial capital of Syria, was finally turned into a war zone, and as Wagner explains, “The primary reason Aleppo was attacked by the FSA is that it was and remains supportive of the government. In response, the FSA has been acting more like a force opposed to the citizens of Syria than a force intended to secure their freedom. For example, it has in the recent past stolen wheat reserves intended for the residents of Aleppo and sold them to private Turkish grain traders, expropriated stocks of pharmaceuticals and forcibly resold them back to their owners, and ransacked schools. These are hardly the actions of a ‘liberation force.’”
Over the years, the FSA became extinct, and their partner Al Qaeda finally morphed into ISIS. The US and NATO were left supporting outlawed terrorists, who they claimed they were fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not in Syria.
Idlib remains the last terrorist-controlled province held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly called Jibhat al-Nusra, formerly called Al Qaeda, led by Mohammad al-Julani, formerly of ISIS. This is the man the US continues to support.
The US sidelined in the Middle East
Bill Burns, the head of the CIA, arrived in Saudi Arabia in April amid developments placing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the driver’s seat of political developments in the Middle East. No longer willing to be a passive actor taking cues from Washington, but instead sitting in the director’s chair.
The US has condemned the Arab League vote to reinstate Syria and has said they remain opposed to any rebuilding of homes in Syria and opposed to the Syrian people abroad returning to their own homes.
The US and NATO successfully removed Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi. He will be forever remembered while sitting at the Arab League round table, denouncing the directives each participant received from Washington, DC., and issuing a prophetic warning that one day the US would be attempting to remove each leader sitting at the table. His speech was reacted to by laughter, but no one is laughing now.
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As the single major obstacle to peace, the Russians long ago declared that the US-sponsored NATO military presence on their border was an unacceptable Red Line just as the UK and US providing Ukraine with missiles or heavy weaponry would be equally intolerable. There is nothing new with either position as Russia identified certain Anglo Saxon“decision maker’ centres to be held responsible for providing those weapons; clearly the Russians regard the UK and US as its Anglo Saxon adversaries.
There is no question, in the Russian experience, that NATO is considered an essential indirect accomplice to keeping Ukraine supplied with ‘lethal’ armaments while Biden officials altered their position to provide (MLRS) long range missiles as well as HIMARS (high mobility artillery rocket systems) with sufficient range to reach Russia despite Ukraine “assurances” that “it will not launch US weapons into Russia” according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
As perhaps an opening salvo for Ukraine’s much awaited spring offensive, the German news agency Bild reported that a recent western-made explosive-laden drone detonated in the vicinity of the Rudnevo Industrial park prior to an upcoming visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bild described the drone as ’30 C4 explosive blocks with a total weight of 17 kilograms [more than 37 pounds] on board,” adding that M112 type explosives are commonly used by the U.S.
A week later, WW III tensions escalated with an early morning attack of two drones aimed at the Kremlin and presumably President Vladimir Putin’s official place of work who is known to spend late night-early morning hours in his office. A World Heritage Site, the Kremlin is a massive fortified complex dominating the heart of Moscow since the Thirteenth Century including the Russian Orthodox monument of St. Basil’s Basilica. An attack on the Kremlin is considered an attack on the seat of power within Russia as the White House or the US Capitol are not comparable in any way to its religious, historic or political significance.
Questions remain whether the drone attack was a failed mission of minimal proportions with faulty intelligence or with the intent of a casus belli to encourage an uncharacteristic Russian overreaction with the onus of starting WW III on the Russians.
In any case, Russia has reserved the right to a ‘retaliatory response” when and where they see fit. Former Russian President and Deputy of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedevelaborated that there would be ‘no choice’ but to strike outside of Ukraine as Medvedev pointed out that the US mistakenly claim they are not in full control of ‘use only’ decisions which are allegedly “applied and adopted” only by Ukrainian authorities. Medvedev further indicated that “After today’s terrorist attack, there were no options left except for the physical elimination of Zelensky and his cabal” although one need not speculate about who qualifies as Zelensky’s ‘cabal’.
After accusing Ukraine of orchestrating the attack ‘under the dictate of Washington,” Ria Novosti transmitted Dmitry Peskov’s statement that Russian intelligence services received information about the participation of the United States in the attack on the Kremlin strike but have not yet disclosed the details. In a not-so-subtle warning, Peskov said that “Washington should clearly understand that Moscow is aware that they are behind the actions of Ukraine” as attempts by the US and Ukraine to “disown this is ridiculous.” The Russians appear certain they have solid proof that the US continues to call the military shots; including this latest drone attack on the Kremlin.
To digress briefly – here is the burning Million Dollar Question: IF Russia activates a retaliatory response against a predetermined ‘decision maker” centre which presumably includes NATO as a major participant in escalating the war, will the Joint Force Command -Norfolk, once known as the US Norfolk Naval Station, be in Russia’s crosshairs? It is within the context of Russia identifying those ‘decision makers’ when what might be an insignificant drone attack on Moscow becomes more of a gravely precarious matter that will not simply diminish over time as the Russians have reached the end of their patience.
At the same time, why would the innocence of Ukraine issue a commemorative postage stamp celebrating the drone Kremlin attack almost immediately before the smoke had cleared?
Meanwhile, Peskov stressed Moscow knows that Kyiv’s goals are determined by Washington and that Washington gives Kyiv the order with the understanding it will be accomplished. The US chooses the target and delivery method, as ”the decisive vote belongs to the US in the choice of means for the strike.” Peskov continued that Russia identified the attack on the Presidential residence as a ‘terrorist’ attack and that we “know full well that decisions to carry out such terrorist actions are made not in Kiev, but in Washington”
Sergei Rybakov, Russian Deputy Foreign Policy Minister pointed out that “The anger and hatred towards Russia with which Washington acts in a situation in which it frankly should think of their own safety is inexplicable.” Rybakov added that Russia and the US are on the “verge of open, armed conflict” after the Kremlin attack.
Russian Duma Chair, Vyacheslav Volodin endorsed the use of any weapons necessary to remove the “Nazi regime” in Kiev and that Western nations pumping Zelensky’s government with weapons are now “direct accomplices” to terrorist activities. Russia has repeatedly warned those ‘decision maker’ nations who provided the necessary weapons, funding and support network that allowed the war to escalate within Russia’s borders, would be held responsible.
The WH response has been a curiously twisted disavowal “we are unable to independently verify Ukraine’s denial of involvement in the bombing” as if they were completely unaware of what had occurred while US National Security Advisor John Kirby puzzled “we don’t know what happened.”
Not surprisingly, the Uniparty and its establishment media gathered the media wagons around as they piled on for a different response: it must have been a false flag attack according to former Trump National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien; Obviously it was Russia bombing its own capitol, right? Who cannot see that? It has all the ‘hallmarks’ of Russian disinformation or perhaps it was the country who most predominately uses drones to attack other countries – who might that be? Former CIA Director Leon Panetta agreed ‘it smells like a false flag operation, Putin is not out walking around and there is no rose garden at the Kremlin.” None of these denials qualify as anything more than a clever ruse to deny any accusation and avoid international condemnation.
Meanwhile, the civilized world contemplates a potential Russian attack on the US at the now-NATO Naval Station, thereby hitting two birds with one stone.
It remains a puzzlement exactly who had the constitutional authority to acquiesce on American sovereignty or how a transfer of US military authority at the US Naval Station in Norfolk morphed into the Joint Force Command- Norfolk in 2018 with no formal public approval or verification process; exactly how and why did the United States relinquish its historic claim on the Norfolk Naval Station.? Did any Congressional Committee with appropriate jurisdiction ever debate the matter or hold a hearing? If so, the American public would be interested in reading Committee minutes of those meetings. Was President Trump ever informed or approved of NATO’s incorporation?
Chronologically speaking, in January, 2018, seemingly out of the blue, the city of Norfolk adopted an ordinance to accept a ‘donation’ of three traffic signs that acknowledged Norfolk as Home to the North American NATO Headquarters as city documents revealed that Norfolk has been the unofficial ‘home’ to North Atlantic NATO since 1953. By early 2018, NATO sought to ‘formalize’ the details with the sign donation and a letter of acceptance.
In May, 2018, prior to recognition of Ukraine as a military flash point, Navy officials announced that “amid heightened tensionswith Russia, the US Navy announced re-establishment of the US Second Fleet (after having been disestablished in 2011) which will be responsible for Naval forces along the East Coast and in the northern Atlantic Ocean” as the “Defense Department also announced that the US has offered to host and lead NATO’s newly proposed Joint Force Command.” Who gave the Navy permission to ‘host’ NATO at Norfolk?
In June, 2018 NATO’s North Atlantic Defense Ministers formally established a new Atlantic Command in Norfolk that would report directly to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe under the command of NATO.
On September 17, 2020, six weeks before the 2020 Presidential election, a ribbon cutting occurred to mark the Initial Operational Capability ceremony at NATO’s New Norfolk Command Center. Neither President Trump nor any representative from his Administration appeared to be in attendance.
On October 16, 2020, seventeen days before the 2020 election, the City of Norfolk unveiled a new sign at its arrival airport terminal which read “Welcome to Norfolk – NATO’s Home in North America”. By that date, the US Navy’s base in Norfolk formally became home to both NATO-Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and the Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFC). Hundreds of civilian and military personnel representing over 30 Member NATO countries had already relocated to Norfolk area.
On May 28, 2021, the North Atlantic Council approved the nomination of General Phillippe Lavigne, French Air and Space Force, as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation at the Norfolk base.
On June 4, 2021, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg called for more investment from members of the Alliance and adherence to NATO’s 2030 (UN) agenda issued in 2020 “making sure [that] NATO remains strong militarily, becomes even stronger politically and takes a ‘more global approach.” On July, 2021, the Allied Joint Force Command at Norfolk declared ‘full operational capability’ with Gen. Mark Milley, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff addressing the assembled dignitaries.
In other words, at what point might the Russians deliver on its pledge to hold Anglo Saxon “decision makers’ responsible for the expanded conflict; thereby enacting Articles 4 or 5 of the NATO Treaty which identifies ‘territorial integrity’ and guarantees a ‘collective defense’ in response to a heightened conflict in Ukraine.
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Renee Parsons served on the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and as president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, staff in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC.
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In Britain, pageantry has always been a palliative and plaster for the dark and dismal. Be it in times of crisis, the chance to put on an extravagant show, usually at vast expense, is not something to forego. Central to this entertainment complex is the Royal family, that archaic vestige of an era that refuses to pass into history.
The Coronation of King Charles III was yet another instance of that complex in action. It was a spectacle, redolent of ancient ceremony, aged ritual, punctuated by the monarch’s statements of “I do”.
While this delighted a goodly number of punters, the whole affair also presented Republic and others of like mind to avail themselves of the chance to protest. Republic is one of the key groups attempting to stir the waters of change, running petitions, arranging protests and selling merchandise for the cause. On this occasion, the group was promising some of the biggest protests against the monarchy, with demonstrators sporting “Not my King” placards.
Unfortunately for the protesters, and for the right to assemble in general, the UK Parliament made sure to pass laws for that precise eventuality. Nothing would be left to chance. Security Minister, Tom Tugendhat, explained away the coincidental nature of the Public Order Act 2023 and it coming into effect just days before the Coronation. “We’re not just thinking of our own security but the security of heads of states, and we’re dealing with protest groups who have nothing to do with the UK but to do with foreign leaders visiting the UK.”
The 2023 statute builds on measures that were already used against anti-monarchy protests following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. As human rights legal academic David Mead noted at the time, the right to protest peacefully is protected in domestic law, while free expression is also protected by the European Convention on Human Rights via the Human Rights Act. But this did not prevent the police from making adventurous use of various countering provisions, though it was not clear what they were. Attention was paid to the possible use of section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, public nuisance, or arrest to prevent a breach of the peace.
Evidently, the Tory government did not feel these measures adequate in their severity. The 2023 Act specifically outlines such offences as “locking on” and “being equipped for locking on”, in addition to expanding stop and search powers. Police making use of such powers may, provided they are of or above the rank of inspector, authorise stop and search without the need for suspicion.
The locking on offence covers instances where a people “attach themselves to another person, to an object or to land”, do the same with other people, and “attach an object to another object or to land”. Such acts must also cause, or be capable of causing, serious disruption to two or more individuals or an organisation in a place other than a dwelling, and be accompanied with the requisite intent.
As for the offence of being equipped for locking on, a person is in breach “if they have an object with them in a place other than a dwelling with an intention that it may be used in the course of or in connection with the commission by any person of an offence under section 1(1) (offence of locking on).”
The government would have also delighted in the High Court’s decision to reverse a District Judge’s ruling to acquit a protester for allegedly breaching a police direction made under the Public Order Act 1986. In 2020, the protester in question sat down in Parliament Street, adjacent to Parliament Square. According to the police, the protest had stay within the confines of Parliament Square
The decision, handed down the same week the new Public Order Act received Royal assent, held that the judge applied the wrong test in assuming that a defendant’s conviction had to be proportionate relative with their rights to free expression and assembly. It was a remarkable decision, and abysmal in the context of assembly and free expression.
In a statement from Commander Karen Findlay of the London Metropolitan Police, a fat finger of accusation was pointed at the Coronation protestors. There had “been a significant police operation after we received information protestors were determined to disrupt the Coronation procession.” It was “targeted at those we believed were intent on taking this action. It was not our intention to prevent protest”.
All in all, 64 arrests were made on May 6. Of these, 52 “related to concerns people were going to disrupt the event, and arrests included to prevent a breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.” Eight arrests were also “made for other offences, including possession of an offensive weapon, drugs offences, and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.”
In the arrest count were six demonstrators from the Republic campaign group, suspected of having items among their placards that “could be used as lock on devices.” The Met investigation that followed proved otherwise. “Those arrested stated the items would be used to secure their placards, and the investigation has been unable to prove intent to use them to lock on and disrupt the event.” There was “regret that those six people arrested were unable to join the wider group of protesters in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere on the procession route.”
One of the arrestees, Republic head Graham Smith, subsequently revealed that three embarrassed officers, one with the rank of chief inspector, personally apologised to him and handed “the straps [for the placards] back to me.”
Such actions did little to douse the fire. “This,” fumed Smith, “has been a disgraceful episode and we will be speaking to lawyers about taking legal action. I also expect a full inquiry into why they repeatedly lied to us and who authorised the arrests.” The newly crowned King will be hoping that interest in the matter will die down quickly. But even the attractive glossiness of pageantry won’t last.
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Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. He is a regular contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research. Email: [email protected]
The Coronation of King Charles III will be remembered, if indeed it is remembered, for the pronouncement by the Archbishop of Canterbury a few days before the event, that people watching on television and on the streets should pay homage to the new King by shouting their pledge of support at the moment the King makes his Coronation Oath.
There are many complicated aspects of what we are recognising as an ultra-anti-imperial logic, that twist quite quickly into pro-Putin propaganda, because after all as the ultra slogan has it, “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”! As in everything in life, we have to separate wheat from chaff. So for those who don’t like so-called “Campist” – or “Tankie” – reading material, do not continue reading.
For decades, people have been accusing the government of hiding advanced technology. Here we have a serious clue. Something in the record and on the record. It is only a very small piece of the puzzle, but it’s a potent piece, if you’ll stop and think about it.
On the basis of attacks on other people (amoktats) in the USA, Germany and Serbia, I will provide answers from the perspective of personal psychology to important questions that have not been thought through by society as a whole in the past.
In this essay I address Russia’s current round of self-defence against the hostile incursions advanced by most of NATO’s 32 countries. The newest NATO country is Finland on the western boundary of Russia. Some would like to see Ukraine become the 33rd NATO country.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is on a three-day trip to Africa, first stop Ethiopia, where he spoke to African Union (AU) chairperson Moussa Faki, in Addis Ababa, that integrating African nations into the G20 will ensure that they “can participate and have a say,” presumably meaning in world affairs.
A former Iranian official and dual British-Iranian citizen who was hanged in Tehran in January was a spy for the UK’s Foreign Intelligence Service, intelligence officials have revealed.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) hasn’t investigated any link between the COVID vaccines and death. That’s a violation of California law to look the other way. Peter Baldridge, former Assistant Chief Counsel of the CDPH, expressly brought this violation to the attention of the head of the department. As you might expect, the CDPH ignored him and did absolutely nothing.
Died in their sleep, cardiac arrest at school, 6 cardiac arrests, cardiac arrest while cycling, cardiac arrest in the shower, short illness, sudden illness, unknown cause, myocarditis, pulmonary embolism, turbo cancer. Sound familiar? This is our new post COVID-19 mRNA vaccine era normal.
Next Saturday, May 13 2023, thousands will gather in London to attend a march organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign and partners, supported by 10 national trade unions. They will march to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, not as an historical moment of collective national trauma but as an ongoing process of colonisation, dispossession, and occupation.
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Fats are the primary building block of your cell membranes. This is one of the reasons why eating the right types of fat is so important for your health and longevity.
While most nutritional experts blame the epidemic of chronic disease on the increase in sugar consumption, the role of sugar is relatively minor when compared to the impact of seed oils.
There are two basic types of fatty acids, based on how many of their carbon bonds are paired with hydrogen: saturated fats and unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats are further subdivided into monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), depending on how many pairs of hydrogen atoms they are missing.
Because your tissues are made up mostly of saturated and monounsaturated fats, your body requires more of them than PUFAs.
The main dietary PUFAs are omega-3 and omega-6 fats, and while your body does need these, it needs them in relatively small quantities. The most pernicious toxin in the modern diet, and the fat you need to minimize consumption of, is the omega-6 fat linoleic acid (LA). LA makes up 60% to 80% of omega-6 fats and is the primary contributor to chronic disease.
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Fats — which are water-insoluble biological molecules also known as lipids1 — are the primary building block of your cell membranes. This is one of the reasons why eating the right types of fat is so important for your health and longevity.
What distinguishes one fat from another is the specific combination of fatty acids it’s composed of, and the properties of fats and fatty acids depend on their hydrogen saturation and the length of their molecules, also referred to as “chain length.”
Fatty Acid Basics
There are two basic types of fatty acids, based on how many of their carbon bonds are paired with hydrogen:2
Saturated fats are fully loaded with hydrogen atoms forming straight chains, and are typically solid at room temperature (examples include butter and coconut oil)
Unsaturated fats have lost at least one of the pairs of hydrogen atoms from their carbon chain and come in two varieties:
Monounsaturated fats, which are missing one pair of hydrogen atoms
Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFAs), which are missing more than one pair of hydrogen atoms, hence the name “poly”
The loss of hydrogen results in molecules that kink or bend at each double bond. The more hydrogen pairs that are missing, the more bent the molecules, which causes the molecules to occupy more space. This is what makes the fat a liquid oil at room temperature.
In addition to varying levels of hydrogen saturation, fats also vary in the length of their carbon chains, leading to another classification scheme based on their number of carbon atoms:3
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) — Two to four carbon atoms
Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) — Six to 10 carbon atoms
Long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) — 12 to 26 carbon atoms
Very-long-chain fatty acids4(VLCFAs) — 26 to 30 carbon atoms
The chain length and hydrogen saturation level control a fat’s melting point. As chain length increases, melting point increases. Likewise, fats that are solid at room temperature (butter, coconut oil) have longer chain lengths than fats that are liquid at room temperature (fish oil, olive oil). With chain lengths being equal, the polyunsaturated fats found in seeds oils have lower melting points than saturated fats.
Omega-3 and Omega-6 Basics
PUFAs can also be subdivided into omega-3 and omega-6 fats. The end of the fatty acid chain that is opposite the acid end is the “omega end.” The location of the first double bond from the omega end dictates whether a fatty acid is an omega-3, omega-6, omega-9 (oleic acid) or another member of the omega family.
The most pernicious toxin in the modern diet, and the fat you need to minimize consumption of, is the omega-6 fat linoleic acid (LA). LA makes up 60% to 80% of omega-6 fats and is the primary contributor to chronic disease.
To be clear, it’s only toxic when consumed in excessive quantities, but the vast majority of people nowadays consuming far more than the ideal amounts. The history of how seed oils ended up replacing far healthier animal fats is detailed in the video above.
Many still believe that if you have a distorted omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, the solution is simply to consume more omega-3, but that’s a serious mistake. While you certainly need a certain amount of omega-3s for good health, adding excessive omega-3s is a prescription for disaster, as omega-3 is also a PUFA.
So, when consumed in excessive quantities, omega-3 will cause metabolic damage similar to that of LA, as it breaks down into dangerous metabolites known as ALEs (advanced lipoxidation end products).
Commonly Confused Fats
It is also important to highlight a primarily plant-based omega-3 fat called alpha linolenic acid (ALA). ALA should not be confused with LA, as they are quite different from a biological standpoint. LA is an omega-6 fat and ALA is an omega-3 fat.
Also, do not confuse LA with CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). Although CLA is an omega-6 fat and most think CLA and LA are interchangeable, they’re not. CLA has many potent health benefits and will not cause the problems that LA does.
The Problem With PUFAs
As a general rule, vegetable and seed oils are high in PUFAs and low in saturated fats while animal fats are the converse. Saturated and monounsaturated fats are more easily used by your body than PUFAs, hence animal fats are generally healthier than seed oils.
Because your tissues are made up mostly of saturated and monounsaturated fats, your body also requires more of them than PUFAs. The main dietary PUFAs are omega-3 and omega-6 fats, and while your body does need these, it needs them in relatively small quantities.
One significant problem with PUFAs is that they are chemically unstable, which makes them highly susceptible to being damaged by oxygen species generated from the energy production in your cells. This damage causes them to form ALEs, which in turn generate dangerous free radicals that damage your cell membranes, mitochondria, proteins and DNA.
What’s worse, PUFAs are integrated into your cell membranes and can remain so for five to seven years. The missing hydrogen atoms also make PUFAs highly susceptible to oxidation, which causes the fat to break down into harmful metabolites such as OXLAMs (oxidized LA metabolites), which have a profoundly negative impact on your health.
LA Is Not an ‘Essential’ Fat
“Essential fatty acids” (EFAs) is a term referring to the PUFAs that scientists believe are crucial for health and that your body cannot produce. Hence, you have to get them from your diet. Currently only two types of fats are considered “essential”:
Omega-3 (EPA, DHA, and ALA)
Omega-6 fat (LA)
The inclusion of LA is unfortunate, as excessive amounts of LA actually wreck your cellular and mitochondrial function. The reality is you need very small amounts of LA, and because it’s found in most foods, it’s virtually impossible to become deficient. Moreover, modern research has shown that up to 10 generations of animals can be raised without any LA in their diet whatsoever and remain perfectly healthy.
Research has also shown that when you have a large amount of LA in your diet, an enzyme called delta-desaturase — which converts the plant-based omega-3 fat, ALA, to the long-chain fats DHA and EPA — is inhibited. So, consuming high amounts of LA increases your dependence on sea food as a source of preformed EPA and DHA.
This is important, as DHA and EPA are indeed essential and provide a wide range of health benefits. One of the most important benefits of DHA is lowering inflammation, which is a factor in most chronic and degenerative diseases. EPA, meanwhile, is important for heart and cardiovascular health.5,6
The Evidence Why LA Is Not an ‘Essential’ Fat
However, the first demonstration of essential requirement for LA in animal diets was in 1929-30. Rats receiving the nearly unachievable outside of a lab, 0.5% of their total dietary calories as LA were 30% higher in body weight compared to total fat deficient rats and did not develop skin lesions and tail necrosis.7,8
This led to the establishment of the requirement of 1% of total daily calories being omega-6 fat which was later extended to 2% of the total daily calorie intake in humans to ensure sufficiency. This was confirmed by two studies where the physiological symptoms of omega-6 deficiency in human infants, as established by scaling of the skin, were abolished.9,10
But careful review of the data used to establish LA being essential to the diet finds that this conclusion was established using control diets that were not only deficient in omega-6 fatty acids, but also omega-3 fatty acids. This dual deficiency in the control diets seems to invalidate the establishment of an omega-6 fatty acid requirement.11
Subsequent studies have demonstrated that the dietary omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is able to diminish the symptoms of LA deficiency.12 This strongly suggests that the absence of ALA in the original studies have probably heightened the significance of the physiological symptoms caused by LA deficiency.
It seems that at least for the rat model, the nutritional requirement for LA has probably been seriously overestimated. A more precise estimation of the LA requirement is likely closer to a 75% reduction or, 0.5% of the dietary energy rather than 2%.13
This calls into question how “essential” LA really is in the human diet, especially since, outside of a research lab or parenteral nutrition, it is virtually impossible to avoid getting enough LA to meet physiological needs. Currently, most adults are consuming far more than recommended amounts of LA.
According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the dietary guidelines for LA intake recommend an upper limit of 10%,14 which is much higher than the optimal level of 1-2%.15 Despite, the less-than-ideal IOM dietary guidelines, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that most adults are still consuming far above that limit.16
Seed Oils Are the Root of All Chronic Diseases
The video above reviews the health risks associated with vegetable oils and seed oils, which are found in most processed foods. It shows how chronic diseases such as heart disease began to skyrocket after the introduction of these oils to the market.
Before 1866, the Western world for the most part only consumed animal fats. Tallow, suet, lard and butter are examples of these fats. Eastern societies used cold-pressed fats like coconut and palm oil. Vegetable oils like we know them today simply did not exist.
The single-greatest change to the human diet in all of history was the introduction of industrially processed seed oils around 1866.17 At that time Procter & Gamble used a newly invented hydrogenation process to convert surplus unusable cotton seeds into a synthetic seed oil, sold to this day under the name Crisco.
Shortly after that, margarine, which is made from seed oils, was introduced. In recent years the company has largely converted to using palm, soy and canola oil for its Crisco, but cottonseed oil is still very much in use for cooking, especially in restaurants for their fryers.18
Historically, we can see that seed oil use increased from approximately 2 grams per day in 1865, to 5 grams per day in 1909, to 18 grams a day in 1999. As of 2008, the average consumption was 29 grams a day. In terms of percentages, seed oils accounted for approximately 1/100th of total calories in 1865 and increased to more than 1/4th of total calories by 2010 — a 25-fold increase!
Seed Oils Are Far Worse Than Sugar
While most nutritional experts blame the epidemic of chronic disease on the increase in sugar consumption, the role of sugar is relatively minor when compared to the impact of seed oils.
In 1822 the average U.S. sugar consumption was 6 pounds per person per year. This rose to a high of 108 pounds per person per year by 1999.19 This is a 17-fold increase, but seed oils went up 25-fold during that same time period.
In the 1960s and ’70s,20 cardiologist Dr. Robert Atkins was largely responsible for creating the interest in low-carb (low-sugar) diets that seemed to work for many. However, eliminating foods like french fries, potato chips, breads, pasta, pizza and donuts not only eliminates sugar-based carbs, but also seed oils. It is not intuitively obvious, but the carb-loaded foods his diet eliminated are also loaded with dangerous refined seed oils.
Processed foods typically contain about 21% sugar. However, up to 50% or more of the overall calories contained in most processed foods come from seed oils.21,22 The connection is further confirmed by looking at the U.S. carb consumption. It’s been declining since 1997, yet obesity and Type 2 diabetes have steadily increased. Interestingly, this continued rise coincides with the surge of seed oil consumption.
Another major reason why seed oils are exponentially more pernicious to your health than sugar is that they last much longer in your body. The half-life of LA is around 600 to 680 days, or approximately two years. This means it will take you about six years to replace 95% of the LA in your body with healthy fats. This is the primary reason for keeping your LA intake low as possible.
Meanwhile, your glycogen stores will be exhausted in about one to two days. So if you go on a sugar binge, that sugar doesn’t stick around for years destroying your health like the LA in seed oils does.
How Excess LA Consumption Can Wreck Your Health
The main reason why excess LA causes disease is that it prevents your mitochondria from working well. Mitochondria are subcellular organelles responsible for producing most of your cellular energy in the form of ATP, and without ATP, your cells cannot function and repair themselves normally.
As mentioned earlier, PUFAs such as LA are easily damaged by oxygen in a process called oxidation,23 which triggers the creation damaging free radicals.24 These, in turn, give rise to ALEs25and in the case of omega-6 fats, OXLAMs.26,27
These ALEs and OXLAMs then go on to cause mitochondrial dysfunction, which is a hallmark of most all chronic disease. In addition to oxidation, inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, processed seed oils can also:
The Importance of Cardiolipin
The inhibition of cardiolipin in the inner membrane of your mitochondria explains much of the damage caused by LA. You have about 40 quadrillion to 100 quadrillion mitochondria throughout the cells of your body. The cristae of the inner membrane of the mitochondria contains a fat called cardiolipin,28 and its function is dependent on the type of fat you get from your diet.
Cardiolipin is important because it influences the structure of the cristae inside your mitochondria, which is the area where energy production occurs. If cardiolipin is damaged, then the complexes will not be close enough together to form supercomplexes and thus the mitochondrial energy production will be impaired.
Cardiolipin also works like a cellular alarm system that triggers apoptosis (cell death) by signaling caspase-3 when something goes wrong with the cell. If the cardiolipin is damaged from oxidative stress due to having too much LA, it cannot signal caspase-3, and hence apoptosis does not occur.
As a result, dysfunctional cells are allowed to continue to grow, which can turn into a cancerous cell. The type of dietary fat that promotes healthy cardiolipin is omega-3 fat, and the type that destroys it is omega-6, especially LA.
The image below illustrates a typical mitochondria on the left. Figure C shows how the folds cause cardiolipin to provide the curve in the mitochondrial cristae. The folding causes the super complexes in the electron transport chain to get closer together and more efficiently transfer electrons to produce ATP.
The good news is that dietary changes can improve the composition of fats in your cardiolipin in a matter of weeks, or even days. So, even though it will take years to lower your total body burden of LA, you will likely notice improvements well before then.
LA Contributes to Heart Disease and Cancer
Heart disease and cancer are two of the primary killers in the Western world, and LA is a significant contributor to both of these lethal conditions. One of the first things that happens in atherosclerosis, which is the precursor to heart disease, is that your macrophages (a type of white blood cell) turn into foam cells — essentially a macrophage stuffed with fat and cholesterol.
Atherosclerotic plaque is basically dead macrophages and other types of cells loaded with cholesterol and fat. This is why heart disease is blamed on saturated fat and cholesterol. However, researchers have found that for foam cells to form, the LDL (low density lipoprotein cholesterol) must be oxidized, and that is precisely what seed oils do.
Seed oils cause the LDL to oxidize, thereby forming foam cells. So, LDL in and of itself does not initiate atherosclerosis. LDL’s susceptibility to this oxidative process is controlled by the LA content of your diet. Excess PUFAs also make cell membranes more fragile, allowing them to be easily damaged by oxidation.29,30
Seed oils are also a major contributor to cancer. In fact, a surefire way to induce cancer in many animal models is to feed them seed oils. Animals typically develop cancer once the LA in their diet reaches 4% to 10% of their energy intake.
And, as mentioned, most Americans get approximately 25% of their total daily calories from seed oils, so we’re far over the safety threshold for these fats — at least based on the laboratory work in animals. Remember our ancestors typically got less than 2% of their calories in the form of omega-6.
There’s even evidence showing that eliminating seed oils from your diet will dramatically reduce your risk of sunburn and lower your risk of skin cancer,31,32,33 as susceptibility to UV radiation damage is controlled by how much LA is in your diet.34,35
What Foods to Avoid, and How
Primary sources of LA include seed oils used in cooking, processed foods and restaurant foods made with seed oils, condiments, seeds and nuts, most olive oils and avocado oils (due to the high prevalence of adulteration with cheaper seed oils), and animal foods raised on grains such as conventional chicken and pork.
Ideally, consider cutting LA down to below 7 grams per day, which is close to what our ancestors used to get. If you’re not sure how much you’re eating, enter your food intake into Cronometer — a free online nutrition tracker — and it will provide you with your total LA intake.
Cronometer will tell you how much omega-6 you’re getting from your food down to the 10th of a gram, and you can assume 90% of that is LA. Anything over 10 grams of LA is likely to cause problems. Healthy fat replacements include tallow, butter or ghee, all of which are excellent for cooking.
The table below provides a fairly comprehensive list of the most commonly consumed oils and their approximate LA content.36,37,38 In general, the lowest LA-containing fats — butter and beef tallow — would be the fats of choice. These excellent cooking fats would not only be the lowest in LA, but will also provide the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, and K2. Coconut oil is also very low in LA but doesn’t provide the important fat-soluble vitamins that tallow and butter contain.
Vast Majority of Olive Oil and Avocado Oil Are Adulterated
Most people introduced to the topic of omega-6 toxicity have questions about olive oil and avocado oil. Consumption of olive oil has increased more than 10-fold in the U.S. over the past 35 years.39Olives and olive oil are well-known for their many health benefits, especially for your heart, but using adulterated olive oil will not do your health any favors.
Tests have revealed that anywhere from 60% to 90% of the olive oils sold in American grocery stores and restaurants are adulterated with cheap, oxidized, omega-6 vegetable oils, such as sunflower oil or peanut oil, or nonhuman-grade olive oils, which are harmful to health in a number of ways.40
This is even true for “extra virgin” olive oil Cheap seed oils are added and will not be listed on the label, nor will most people be able to discern that their olive oil is not 100% pure. Chances are, you’ve been eating poor-quality olive oil so long — or you’ve never tasted a pure, high-quality olive oil to begin with — you don’t even realize there’s something wrong with it.
The same applies to avocado oil. Many believe avocado oil is as healthy as olive oil, but this is simply not the case. A 2020 study showed that 82% of avocado oil is adulterated, mislabeled or of poor quality.41
In general, people believe the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is policing and regulating food fraud, but that’s not the case. Its primary focuses are making sure the ingredient label is accurate and tracking food-related disease outbreaks.
The FDA does little in terms of preventing illegally adulterated foods from being sold. This makes discerning quality a difficult task, and unless you can somehow ensure you’re getting 100% pure, unadulterated olive oil and/or avocado oil, you’re better off avoiding them altogether.
Go Easy on the Nuts and Seeds
Most people who are interested in health believe that nuts and seeds are “heart healthy” staples.42However, as you can see in the table below, most nuts and seeds are exceedingly high in LA. For example, 50% of the fat in pecans is LA.43 The only exception is macadamia nuts.
So, while nuts and seeds are often unprocessed and are the best type of omega-6 fats to eat, they will still contribute to the LA content of your diet, and once you hit 5 grams of LA per day, the perishable double bonds will begin to oxidize and generate dangerous free radicals that lead to health problems.
So, nuts and seeds need to be significantly minimized or even eliminated if you want to lower your LA. As mentioned, the exception to this rule is macadamia. Since only 2% of their fat is LA, you can have 10 to 30 a day without significantly raising your LA level.
LA in Animal Foods
While seed oils are a primary source of LA, a number of animal foods you might not suspect are also loaded with this harmful fat. Ruminant animals such as cows, buffalo, sheep, lamb, goats, deer, elk and many other game animals have low LA content in their milk and meat, no matter what they eat, thanks to the fact that they have multiple stomachs with bacteria that can convert the high LA fat they eat into saturated and monounsaturated fats.
Animals with a single stomach, however, like chickens and pigs, cannot make this conversion. So, when they’re fed corn and soy, which are high in LA, their meat and eggs will also be high in LA.44Most chicken and pork have over 25% LA. Chicken eggs are acceptable, though, as each egg has less than 1 gram of LA, and that is assuming they are fed commercial feeds that are loaded with high LA.
Interestingly, the difference in LA in ruminants that are 100% grass-fed and those that are fed corn and soy is only about 0.5%, which is why, from an LA perspective, there isn’t much difference between conventional beef and grass fed-only beef. That said, grass fed beef is still preferred as it typically has less glyphosate and hormones.
So, in summary, your best option is to get most of your animal protein from ruminants and avoid or limit all chicken and pork. My favorite meats are bison and lamb, but any of the ones listed above will work. Ideally it should be organic and the animals should not be fed any food that is contaminated with glyphosate or other pesticides.
LA in Seafood
Ideally, you’d get your omega-3s from healthy seafood. However, not all seafoods contain omega-3s. Only fatty, cold-water fish do. Examples include wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies, mackerel and herring.
Farmed fish, especially farmed salmon, is best avoided altogether due to the exaggerated potential for contamination. At first glance, farmed fish may seem like a good idea to help protect wild seafood populations from overfishing, but in reality, the industry is plagued with many of the same problems surrounding land-based concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), including pollution, disease, toxicity and inferior nutritional quality.
Most farmed fish are fed genetically engineered (GE) corn and soy, which are a completely unnatural diet for marine life and are loaded with hazardous omega-6 fats. Others are fed fishmeal, which is known to accumulate industrial chemicals like PCBs and dioxins.
From a nutritional perspective, farmed salmon also have the drawbacks of containing only half the omega-3 of wild salmon,45,46,47 and one-fourth the vitamin D,48 while having more than 5.5 times the amount of omega-6.49,50 Farmed salmon are also routinely exposed to antibiotics and pesticides.
Carnosine Can Help Reduce LA-Induced Oxidative Damage
While your body will slowly eliminate stored LA over time, provided you reduce your intake, a peptide supplement called carnosine can help reduce the oxidative damage caused by LA while your body is cleaning itself out.
Carnosine is a dipeptide your body makes and it consists of two amino acids, beta-alanine and histidine. It serves as a sacrificial sink for reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ALEs, meaning it lets these very damaging molecules destroy it rather than your mitochondria, DNA or proteins, as depicted in the image below.
Carnosine is found in meats, and eating animal protein is known to efficiently raise carnosine levels.51 It’s not found in any plant foods. Alternatively, you could use a supplement. In this case, beta-alanine is a superior choice, as it’s the rate limiting amino acid in the formation of carnosine and raises carnosine levels more efficiently. It’s also far less expensive than carnosine.
Summary
Do yourself and your family a favor and embark on a journey of eliminating all seed oils from your diet today to ward off virtually all chronic degenerative diseases. This means avoiding all seed oils, and even fruit oils like olive oil and avocado oils as they are frequently adulterated with cheap seed oils.
Cook with ghee, butter or beef tallow, and avoid all processed foods, as they are typically loaded with seed oils. Also avoid eating in restaurants, as nearly all use massive amounts of seed oils to cook with and put it in their sauces and dressings. Lastly, avoid chicken and pork, and stick to bison and lamb as your primary meat sources.
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The RESTRICT Act (Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act) has recently been making the rounds in the media, and rightfully so. The act is truly terrifying, but more than the open tyranny that it would further, the act illustrates a very clear problem from the perspective of the state.
In previous eras, either formally or informally, the state exercised a great deal of control over the information available to the wider population. This is no longer the case in the present day. With the advent of the internet and the resulting decentralization of media and other channels of information, the state has had increasingly fewer options at its disposal to control information. It is very obviously afraid of losing its position as the controller of information, and the RESTRICT Act is a desperate attempt to reassert itself as such.
What’s in the Act?
At this point, most people who have been paying attention should recoil upon seeing a large acronym under the consideration of Congress. After the USA PATRIOT Act, normal people recognized that these bills of massive overreach were, to put it lightly, misnamed. But in a move of honesty, the RESTRICT Act does exactly what it says it will do should it be enacted and enforced. The Senate’s website is remarkably up-front, saying:
Vendors from the U.S. and allied countries have supplied the world’s information communications and technology (ICT) for decades. In recent years, the global ICT supply chain has changed dramatically; a number of prominent foreign vendors—many subject to the control of autocratic and illiberal governments—have gained significant market share in a variety of internet infrastructure, online communications, and networked software markets. . . . The RESTRICT Act comprehensively addresses the ongoing threat posed by technology from foreign adversaries by better empowering the Department of Commerce to review, prevent, and mitigate ICT transactions that pose undue risk, protecting the US supply chain now and into the future.
Thankfully, the state is going to defend us from information and communications technology from “autocratic and illiberal governments,” as if our own states, which locked us in our own homes, were democratic and liberal. What specifically is being targeted in the broad category of information and communications technology?
As the act has been publicly marketed, this is a move against the popular social media platform TikTok. The US government’s reasoning is simple: TikTok, and similar platforms, are owned by foreign states, and these foreign states can distribute or facilitate information that is contrary to the narratives pushed by our state.
This is an existential threat to the US government. Seeing as the goal of a state is to maintain control, as articulated by Murray Rothbard in his bookAnatomy of the State, having rival states present alternative narratives to the population harms your legitimacy. This legitimacy is necessary for the state to exist. As Rothbard says of people supporting the state:
This support, it must be noted, need not be active enthusiasm; it may well be passive resignation as if to an inevitable law of nature. But support in the sense of acceptance of some sort it must be; else the minority of state rulers would eventually be outweighed by the active resistance of the majority of the public.
The state, therefore, must maintain its legitimacy to survive, and the US government is attempting just that by trying to retake control over the country’s media. As mentioned earlier, the internet rendered most of the state’s old methods of control obsolete, which is why for the last few years the US government has been on the defensive, using covert means to influence channels of information (as can be seen with the Twitter Files).
The fact that the state has had to openly announce its direct censorship and control signals the state’s weakness. If it were stronger and bolder, as it was in most of the last century, it would have just acted already and passed the action off as a mundane matter of governance. If it were on surer footing, it would have just continued its policy of covert influence. The state is threatened. It’s afraid!
In the media and wider US society, a false debate has arisen. One side is in support, and the other side rejects the RESTRICT Act as terrifyingly evil because it is consolidating power in parts of the executive branch. According to the act, the executive branch will now have the authority to
address any risk arising from any covered transaction arising from any covered transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States that the Secretary determines . . . poses an undue or unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.
The popular opposition is claiming that this is tyrannical because the secretary of commerce is appointed only by the president and reports only to the president, making the secretary unelected and subject to no congressional oversight. This objection is approaching the truth, but it’s not quite there. This act is not bad because the person who gets to determine what is an “undue or unacceptable risk” is unaccountable and undemocratic.
The act is far worse because the state should not be deciding what is an “undue or unacceptable risk.” Should this go through, the United States will have its own censor under whom no ray of light, from wherever it may come, shall in future go unnoticed and unrecognized by the state or be divested of its possible useful effect, and it will be called the secretary of commerce.
Implications of the Act
As with everything pushed by the state, what will actually happen goes far beyond the written intentions. Just as the act nominally passed to defend our freedoms from terrorism is used to spy on millions of normal Americans, this act will control and censor far more than TikTok (which is obviously not the only foreign-owned media in this country). And this is written into the act itself, which provides, “The Secretary may undertake any other action as necessary to carry out the responsibilities under this Act that is not otherwise prohibited by law.”
Worse than just the focus on “foreign adversaries,” how long until this is applied to any media deemed adversarial? How long until this act, after being passed, is amended to crack down on “domestic adversaries” like conspiracy theorists and spreaders of “disinformation,” all of which, of course, will be determined by the state? We have every reason to believe the state will grab this power, being as these categories, deemed so by the state, threaten its legitimacy. As Rothbard wrote, “A ‘conspiracy theory’ can unsettle the system by causing the public to doubt the state’s ideological propaganda.”
Even though the advances of tyranny are now commonplace, and the continual infringement of our liberties is the norm, this blatant aggression in the form of the RESTRICT Act should not go unnoticed. Moreover, this fight should not happen on the state’s terms. The rhetoric surrounding the act focuses on TikTok and “foreign adversaries,” two subjects that are unpopular and, frankly, difficult to defend. However, defending them, or focusing on them at all, is missing the point. The state was not content with merely spying on you, restricting your commerce and production, drafting you, and forcing your children into state schools and subjecting them to who knows what.
No, the state also needs to control your information, for if the information is free, and people can research and discuss freely, the state’s legitimacy, and therefore its very existence, is threatened. As it has shown us by so openly and disgustingly lashing out, anyone who engages in the spreading of ideas outside the purview of the state, especially of ideas that correctly dismantle the legitimacy of the state, is contributing to the state’s peril. As the US government has just proven by its ugly reaction, the spreading of ideas is how we are to proceed ever more boldly against this evil.
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Ryan Turnipseed is an undergraduate in economics and entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University.
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The Coronation of King Charles III will be remembered, if indeed it is remembered, for the pronouncement by the Archbishop of Canterbury a few days before the event, that people watching on television and on the streets should pay homage to the new King by shouting their pledge of support at the moment the King makes his Coronation Oath.
The Archbishop’s recommendation, as published in the mainstream press, states:
‘All who so desire, in the Abbey, and elsewhere, say together: ‘I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.’
The extraordinary irony of this call is based on the fact that the Coronation Oath is the moment when the King is supposed to pledge his unstinting commitment to protecting the liberties and traditions of his people and nation. Particularly relevant under the current vicious attacks on civil liberties.
The Archbishop thus deftly reversed the roles. By placing the emphasis on the people pledging their support to the monarch, rather than the monarch pledging his support to the people, he gave Charles’s highly controversial leadership role with the World Economic Forum, a significant boost.
The WEF’s ‘Great Reset’, as we well know by now, is not about supporting human liberties and national values, but about totally destroying them and dismantling the Nation State in favour of a technocratic and robotic New World Order.
The head of the Church of England thus publicly introduced a treasonous element into the royal ceremony which seemed to perfectly fit the actuality of the sinister power game in which royalty, the church, corporations and government are so deeply engrossed.
The ritualistic Coronation ceremony which took place on May 6th, exhibited all the usual well rehearsed promotional paraphernalia that one expects from this showpiece of British military discipline.
As the entourage of royal celebrities and foreign dignitaries made its way down The Mall, the crowds lining the route celebrated their slavery to the globalist agenda via mindless, almost hysterical adoration of many of its chief proponents. Coupled with an unhealthy and perhaps subconscious homage to the British class system.
Royalty’s wealth is built on the exploitation of ‘the working people’. Yet, Charles is held to be a ‘people’s king’ because, in carefully choreographed publicity exercises he can go to the pub and enjoy a pint with the locals.
‘The firm’ that manages royalty knows a great show is a welcome diversion from the ever increasing strictures of the surveillance state; the sliding economy; the crumbling National Health Service; the political sleaze and endless rhetoric of lies that come from Westminster – all of which are anaesthetized by a grand spectacle.
Not to mention the tragic increase in ‘sudden deaths’ amongst the 80% of the British population who decided to take the weaponised ‘vaccine’ and the overall sense that Britain is sinking into oblivion – and more literally – into the Atlantic Ocean.
A great ‘outer show’ nearly always disguises an equally great inner lack. A loss of direction and meaning and a beguiling deception perpetrated on those who actually see royal figureheads as ‘great people’ serving the nation and upholding its honourable traditions.
Oh dear, how much further from reality can things go?
British royalty has a way of richly endorsing crimes against humanity, provided they serve ‘the cause’. Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth, bestowed a knighthood on Klaus Schwab at Davos in 2006, via attendee Jack Straw, a British parliamentarian.
‘Arise Sir Klaus, and do thy deadly deeds with the blessings of Her Majesty.’
Just as was done earlier for George Bush, General Norman Schwarzkopf and most recently (by King Charles), Pascal Soriot, director of AstraZeneca. All individuals at the very forefront of large scale adventures in mass murder.
There is a low vibrational, primitive and insidious darkness that underlies the fake regal demeanour of modern royals. They are all in service to the court of Mammon, while outwardly displaying the facade of ‘good Christians’.
It is this dark hypocrisy that was being celebrated at the Coronation ceremony on May 6th. Exactly the same ‘shape shifting’ artfulness which is being practised by all members of the ‘elite club’ which presently controls this planet.
The adoring crowds waving their plastic red, white and blue flags along the ceremonial route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Cathedral could only see the superficial splendour and not the deception.
How long will it be before the greater part of humanity learns to recognise the difference between the seductive play of the “Satanic” and the true expression of responsible statesmanship?
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Julian Rose is an early pioneer of UK organic farming, a writer and international activist. He is President of the International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside and author of ‘Overcoming the Robotic Mind’ See www.julianrose.info
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed frustration at the United States’s continuing efforts to extradite WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange who has been in a high-security United Kingdom prison for the past four years as he fights the case.
Albanese, who is in the UK for King Charles III’s coronation, said he was frustrated there had not yet been a diplomatic resolution to the issue and concerned about the mental health of the now 51-year-old.
“There is nothing to be served by his ongoing incarceration,” Albanese told the ABC in an interview on Friday.
Albanese said Assange’s case had to be examined in terms of whether the time he had “effectively served” was more than a “reasonable” sentence if the allegations against him were proved.
“I just say that enough is enough,” Albanese said.
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Featured image: Julian Assange court sketch, October 21, 2019, supplied by Julia Quenzler.
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The president of Thomas Jefferson University may lose his job for liking tweets from Alex Berenson on his personal account. The episode marks a warning against those in mainstream institutions that any deviation from prevailing orthodoxy – no matter how minor – will not be tolerated.
Mark Tykocinski, a Yale trained molecular immunologist, became president of the university in 2022. Last week, a reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer went through his personal Twitter account which had under 300 followers.
The Inquirer reported that Dr. Tykocinski had liked tweets from Berenson that criticized transgender surgeries for children and the efficacy of mRNA Covd vaccines.
“Two years after their introduction, the mRNAs Covid vaccines have proven to be what we all should have expected,” one tweet from Berenson argued. “Another in a long line of overhyped, rushed, profit-driven Big Pharma flops with weak long-term efficacy and a lousy side effect profile.”
This constituted a media and academic scandal. The reporter demanded an explanation, and Tykocinski’s colleagues rebuked his transgression. Thomas Jefferson University CEO Joseph G. Cacchione wrote to faculty, employees, and students that Tykocinski “should have known better” than to like those tweets.
Even self-professed defenders of free speech joined the chorus of reprimands. Jonathan Zimmerman is a professor at the Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and the author of Free Speech: And Why You Should Give a Damn. In 2021, he defended Georgetown Law adjunct professor Sandra Sellers after she was fired for noticing that black students underperformed in her class.
“Georgetown’s official policy on speech says it is ‘committed to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate in all matters.’ It has now carved out an exception for matters of race, which are essentially closed,” he wrote. “The lesson [from Georgetown] is clear and unequivocal: Keep your big mouth shut, if you know what’s good for you.”
Now, Zimmerman has discovered his own carve-out – wrongthink related to Covid and juvenile transgender procedures.
“If he liked those tweets because he agrees with Alex Berenson, that is a dagger at the heart of the scientific enterprise,” Zimmerman told the Inquirer. “There’s no other way to describe it.”
“I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man,” then-Vice President Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1800. Now, the university that bears his name has declared hostility against its president for social media wrongthink.
But the attack is not directed at Dr. Tykocinski. It is a warning against anyone in institutions that they must conform to prevailing orthodoxy or risk their professional reputations. They must keep their big mouths shut, in the words of Professor Zimmerman. In this system, career advancement relies on obedience rather than ingenuity. It is no wonder that our ruling class is so banal.
By silencing critics, the powerful aim to achieve authority without accountability. Submission is central to their quest for power, and threatening the livelihoods of freethinkers is a powerful ploy.
Berenson’s reporting and support from public figures like Jay Bhattacharya and Elon Musk may save Dr. Tyconski’s job for now; but going forward, he’ll know the price that he will bear if he deviates from groupthink. He didn’t have to say anything to learn this reality. He didn’t make a post or deliver a speech. All it took was liking a tweet from a journalist.
Free speech is more than a slogan. It must be an operational reality for everyone. It can be closed down by forces other than edicts from government. It can be suppressed also by arbitrary private actions that reflect regime priorities. Ever more workers and especially intellectuals today work in an environment of fear that leads to self-censorship.
There are many ways to skin a cat and many paths toward despotism. Canceling the capacity of competent professionals to dissent against the state-subsidized orthodoxy is one.
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In an interview for Yahoo News, conducted last month but only published earlier this week, General Kirill Budanov, the Ukrainian intelligence chief, admitted that the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) has coordinated and will continue its campaign targeting and murdering Russians “anywhere on the face of this world.”
It is worth noting that Budanov was charged by a Moscow court with terrorism after he was linked to a series of attacks against Russia, including sabotage and terrorism. Most peculiarly, Budanov’s GUR was found responsible for a foiled attempt to assassinate top Russian officials in Crimea.
At some point in the interview, Budanov announced that what Russia called “terrorism, we call liberation,” only to go on to explain that the GUR has targeted Russian individuals anywhere across the globe.
When asked about the GUR’s involvement in the assassination of Russian journalist Darya Dugina, Budanov said, “Don’t continue with that topic,” adding, “All I will comment on is that we’ve been killing Russians, and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.”
To that statement, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel, that Budanov’s statements are a “direct blow to the White House.” Given that Budanov, the intelligence chief of a US ally, boldly declared taking part and ordering acts of terrorism, “the Kiev regime has declared that the Biden administration is sponsoring terrorism.”
On Wednesday, the Kremlin said Kiev attempted to strike the Kremlin residence of the Russian President with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Tuesday night — a charge which Kiev has denied.
“Decisions on such attacks are not made in Kiev, but in Washington,” Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a briefing, adding that “Kiev only does what it is told to do.”
“Washington should understand clearly that we know this,” he stressed.
Peskov slammed the attempts by Kiev and Washington to disown the attempted drone attack on the Kremlin as ridiculous.
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There are many complicated aspects of what we are recognising as an ultra-anti-imperial logic, that twist quite quickly into pro-Putin propaganda, because after all as the ultra slogan has it, “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”! As in everything in life, we have to separate wheat from chaff. So for those who don’t like so-called “Campist” – or “Tankie” – reading material, do not continue reading.
But if you are still reading, consider the fascinating evolution of analysis that now suggests Putin is on the defensive, even after the recent Russian victory at the most awful battleground of the 21st century, Bakhmut – a small eastern Ukrainian city that a year ago hosted 80,000 residents, but now, instead, many tens of thousands of corpses of soldiers, about two thirds of whom are of apparently Russian origin. Thousands of the dead were prison convicts recruited to the battleground with Putin’s promises of doing 6-month duty and then getting a pardon. Another 4000+ are civilians, say the Ukrainians.
Also what must be of utmost concern to Moscow is the Reuters report below – which is not yet truly confirmed as 100% accurate – that on Saturday,
“Ukrainian air defences shot down a Russian hypersonic missile for the first time during an attack on the capital, Kyiv… The Kinzhal, which means “dagger” in Russian, is one of six “next generation” weapons unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in 2018 when the Russian leader boasted that it cannot be shot down by any of the world’s air defence systems.”
No matter the significance of Patriot-versus-Kinzhal weaponry, what strikes me is how confusion reigns in the pro-Putin ultra-anti-impi ‘left’, what with the volume rapidly decreasing on one of the central talking points – i.e., that even in a ‘proxy war’ (their phrase) between Russia and NATO, the capacity of Moscow to mobilise vast numbers of occupying (or in their framing, ‘liberating’) troops will outweigh all the weaponry the West provides Kyiv’s army, leading to Russia’s imminent consolidation of around 20% of the Ukrainian landgrab (I mean liberation).
But that stance has softened. The most regular English-language proponent of Moscow’s invincibility, former U.S. soldier Scott Ritter, has been exceptionally confident, largely because of Putin’s potential to draft more troops to the front, aided by monetary compensation to the families of the dead. But now Ritter seems to be backtracking rapidly, even in the course of his current Russian speaking tour:
And much more importantly, within the military itself, the St Petersburg mercenary firm Wagner’s notorious leader Yevgeny Prighozin, is even more pessimistic, according to the leading ultra-anti-imperial journalist Pepe Escobar:
Prigozhin is confident in his knowledge of where all the necessary military supplies are kept, enough to fight for another six months. Wagner needs a least 80,000 shells a day. Why they are not getting it amounts to “political sabotage”. Because of Russian bureaucracy – from the MoD to the FSB, no one is spared – the Russian army “has been transformed from the world’s second-best army into one of the worst – Russia cannot even deal with Ukraine. Russia’s defenses won’t hold if supplies are not released to the soldiers.” Prighozin ominously states in the interview that Wagner might have to retreat unless they get their supplies. He foresaw the Ukrainian counter-offensive as inevitable, setting a possible May 9 – Victory Day – as a starting point. This Wednesday he doubled down: it has already started, in Artyomovsk, with “unlimited manpower and ammunition” and it’s threatening to overwhelm his undersupplied troops… “I don’t have the right to lie to the people who will have to live in this country in the future. Kill me if you want, that would be better than lying. I refuse to lie about this. Russia is on the brink of a catastrophe. If we don’t immediately tighten these loose bolts, this airplane will disintegrate in mid-air.” And he makes a quite decent geoeconomic point as well: why should Russia continue to sell oil to the West through India? He says this is “treachery. The elites in Russia are in secret negotiations with the Western elite.” That happens to be a key argument of Igor Strelkov. There’s no question: if Prighozin is essentially telling the truth, this is – literally – nuclear. Either Prighozin knows everything nearly everyone doesn’t, or this is a spectacular maskirovka. Yet facts on the ground since February 2002 seem to support his main accusation: the Russian army can’t properly fight because of a completely corrupt bureaucratic gang right at the very top of the MoD, all the way to Shoigu, all of them only interested in making a financial killing. And it gets worse: under a rigidly bureaucratized environment, commanders at the frontlines have no autonomy to take decisionsand quickly adapt, and need to wait for orders from far away. That should be the main reason for the Kiev counter-offensive standing a chance of imposing dramatic upsets.
As you see below in The Guardian article, Prigozhin’s petulance paid off yesterday. He won’t retreat, and will get more ammo – even as Ukrainian snipers still holed up in Bakhmut make it hard for Wagner to take more ground. And don’t forget that Prigozhin’s mercenaries have been defeated before, in Mozambique in late 2019 when Al Shabaab beheaded more than a dozen, forcing the Russians to retreat… instead of finishing their mission, i.e. wiping out Islamic community-based opposition, and thus defending the $20 billion+ in gas-extraction investments there on behalf of TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, ENI and China National Petroleum Corporation.
Also, as you see below, the ultra-anti-imperialists are increasingly bothered by left critics of both Washington and Moscow, especially those of the Trotskyist persuasion. So at a leading Campist website, Defend Democracy, the writer cleverly invokes Trotsky himself: “The character of war is determined not by the initial episode taken by itself (‘violation of neutrality,’ ‘enemy invasion,’ etc.) but by the main moving forces of war, by its whole development and by the consequences to which it finally leads.” And any socialist analysis of the “main moving forces of war” would, naturally, entail a tough critique of NATO’s military maneuvres, as well as Western political-economic and geopolitical fingers on all those corpses.
Who can dispute the need for a wider-framed analysis, aside from the centrist/liberal media in South Africa – especially at Daily Maverick, where the Brenthurst Foundation and Peter Fabricius are prolific analysts from the pro-West standpoint? More on their bias and how to counteract it – and how not to, as is being taught by the “Pan African Institute for Socialism” – in the next post on Campist confusion.
So what would Trotsky probably say, about Putin’s invasion? In his May 1938 “Learn to Think: A Friendly Suggestion to Certain Ultra-Leftists,” he put it like this:
In ninety cases out of a hundred the workers actually place a minus sign where the bourgeoisie places a plus sign. In ten cases however they are forced to fix the same sign as the bourgeoisie but with their own seal, in which is expressed their mistrust of the bourgeoisie. The policy of the proletariat is not at all automatically derived from the policy of the bourgeoisie, bearing only the opposite sign – this would make every sectarian a master strategist; no, the revolutionary party must each time orient itself independently in the internal as well as the external situation, arriving at those decisions which correspond best to the interests of the proletariat. This rule applies just as much to the war period as to the period of peace.
Read the full essay below or here, and let’s take that spirit of Trotsky on board, not the Campist distortion. But the question remains, even with a left critique of Western imperialism, and in my case as well,of the fairly consistently pro-corporate BRICS subimperialismwe can readily observe, aside from the occasionally-rogue Russians, what kind of solidaristic support should be given to beleaguered Ukrainian and anti-war Russian working-class people and movements?
Regardless of the answer, all these debates do affect those of us in South Africa concerned not to let our historic and ongoing disgust for Pentagon militarism and broader Western imperialism cloud out the unforgivable invasion of Ukraine 54 weeks ago. Especially as BRICS+ approaches in late August, no doubt giving Campist and especially pro-Putin forces a Durban frisson, even as their man in Moscow squirms in discomfort.
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Patrick Bond, Professor, University of the Western Cape School of Government. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
In the past, Germany let itself be dragged in the First World War and has inflicted immeasurable suffering on the Russian people during the Second World War.
We will not allow such a crime to happen again!
If the German vassal government, in complicity with the warmongers in Britain and France under the leadership of the US and NATO, is planning a new war of aggression against Russia, then they will not do it in our name!
On war and peace, we, the citizens, have the last word!
We say NO to war and violence in international relations and condemn continued warmongering, rearmament and militarization!
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Judgment of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg 1946:
“To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from the other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
Pope John Paul II on January 13, 2003:
“War is never an inevitable fate. War always means defeat for humanity.”
Nikolaj Desjatnitschenko, Russian student in his speech on people’s day of mourning before the German Bundestag on November 22, 2017:
“I sincerely hope that once in the world common sense will prevail and the world will never again see wars.”
Signatories:
Dr. Rudolf Hänsel Milica Radojkovic-Hänsel Ullrich Mies Annette van Gessel Siegfried Wilhelm Rule B. Ph. von Bismarck Anneliese Fikentscher Andreas Neumann Dr. Daniele Ganser Prof. Dr. Heinrich Wohlmeyer Willy Wimmer Prof. Dr. Mohssen Massarrat Klaus von Raussendorff Prof. Dr. Kees van der Pijl Jochen Scholz Dr. Ansgar Klein Helene Klein Dr. Matthias Burchardt Elias Davidsson Veronika Thomas-Ohst Ernst Wolff Jens Wernicke Peter Vonnahme Hans Bauer Klaus Hartmann Hermann Ploppa Stefanie Seide Dr. Wolfgang Bittner Lisa Fitz Prof. Dr. Norman Paech Gina Pietsch Dr. Amir Mortasawi Brigitte Kabbeck Dr. Daniela Dahn Bernhard Trautwetter Prof. Dr. med. Klaus-Dieter Kolenda Gordana Beljkas Prof. Dr. Velimir Nedeljkovic Dr. Ludger Beyerle Viktor Braun Anke Kern Dr. med. Mechthild Klingenburg-Vogel Dr. med. Barbara Saul-Krause Prof. Dr. med. Dr. med. habil. Karl Hecht
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Arab League foreign ministers on Sunday adopted a decision to readmit Syria after more than a decade of suspension, a league spokesperson said, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad.
The decision said Syria could resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately, while calling for a resolution of the crisis resulting from Syria’s civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighbouring countries and drug smuggling across the region.
It was taken at a closed meeting of foreign ministers at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo.
However, Qatar, an outspoken opponent of Assad, said on Sunday it would not normalise relations with the Syrian government despite its readmission to the league.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that Assad could attend an Arab League summit scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia later this month “if he wishes to”.
Responding to a question over whether Assad could participate at the summit, due to be held in Riyadh on 19 May, Aboul Gheit told a news conference in Cairo: “If he wishes, because Syria, starting from this evening, is a full member of the Arab League, and from tomorrow morning they have the right to occupy any seat.
“When the invitation is sent by the hosting country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and if he wishes to participate, he will participate,” he added.
Some have been keen to set conditions for Syria’s return, with Jordan’s foreign minister saying last week that the Arab League’s reacceptance of Syria would only be the start of “a very long and difficult and challenging process”.
Sunday’s decision said Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and the Arab League’s secretary-general would form a ministerial contact group to liaise with the Syrian government and seek “step-by-step” solutions to the crisis.
Practical steps included continuing efforts to facilitate the delivery of aid in Syria, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters.
Syria on Sunday called for Arab states to show “mutual respect”, after the Arab League vote.
Arab states should pursue “an effective approach based on mutual respect”, the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement that also stressed the “importance of joint work and dialogue to undertake the challenges facing Arab countries”.
Syria’s membership of the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after a crackdown on street protests against Assad that led to a devastating civil war, and many Arab states pulled their envoys out of Damascus.
Saudi Arabia long resisted restoring relations with Assad but said after its recent rapprochement with Iran – Syria’s key regional ally – that a new approach was needed with Damascus.
Qatar and Assad
The United States criticised Syria’s readmission into the league, saying Damascus did not merit being brought back into the group, while raising questions about the willingness of Assad to resolve the crisis resulting from Syria’s civil war.
The US believed, however, that Arab partners intend to use the direct engagement with Assad to push to solve the country’s long-standing crisis and that Washington was aligned with its allies on the “ultimate objectives”, a State Department spokesperson said.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, told the state Qatar News Agency that his government would not be “an obstacle” to the Arab move but any individual normalisation would be linked to political progress that “fulfils the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people”.
Assad’s government must “address the roots of the crisis that led to its boycott, and to take positive steps towards addressing the issues of the Syrian people,” the spokesman added.
Qatar has given significant support to Syrian opposition groups that have taken over the Syrian embassy in Doha.
Ansari condemned to the Qatari media what he called “crimes” by the Damascus government and added that: “We need a real price to be paid to the Syrian people.”
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A former Iranian official and dual British-Iranian citizen who was hanged in Tehran in January was a spy for the UK’s Foreign Intelligence Service, intelligence officials have revealed.
According to a report by the New York Times – which cited information obtained through interviews with former and current American, British, German and Iranian intelligence officials – Alireza Akbari provided nuclear secrets to the UK’s Foreign Intelligence Agency, MI6, for 15 years, before he was arrested and then executed by the Iranian government in January this year.
As Iran’s former deputy Defence Minister, Akbari reportedly began giving confidential information to the UK in 2004, when Iranian authorities trusted him enough to meet with ambassadors from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in order to allay their concerns of Tehran’s potential plans to produce nuclear weapons.
It was then, according to Tehran, that MI6 recruited Akbari that year during a function at the British Embassy, offering to his family visas to the UK – where they later moved to – and starting assignments that would pay him a total of £2 million. He also reportedly set up companies in the UK, Austria and Spain as a cover to meet his handlers.
According to the NYT report, he was the source which informed British intelligence of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, revealing that Tehran had been enriching uranium at a secret underground site at Fordow, 20 miles north-east of the city of Qom. That resulted in a senior British intelligence official visiting Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv, in 2008 and passing on the information to Israeli officials regarding the nuclear secrets and MI6’s possession of a mole deep within the Iranian State.
At the G20 summit in Pittsburgh the following year, former western leaders made the intelligence public, with US President Barack Obama stating that Iran was operating a “covert uranium enrichment facility” and subsequently “endangering the global non-proliferation regime”.
British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, also said that the secret nuclear base should “shock and anger” the international community, and that it had “no choice today but to draw a line in the sand”.
Akbari also reportedly revealed the identities and activities of over 100 Iranian officials involved in the nuclear programme, including Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the chief Nuclear Scientist or the “father of the Iranian bomb” who was to later be assassinated by Israel in 2020.
Despite being arrested and interrogated by Iranian authorities soon afterwards, Akbari was released and moved to London with his family, where he gained British citizenship. He continued to have deep ties with Iranian officials and visited the country three times, before Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) discovered – through Russian intelligence – his role in providing intelligence to MI6.
A decade after the public revelations of Tehran’s apparent nuclear aims, he was arrested and detained upon his trip to Iran in 2019, where he was reportedly brutally interrogated and then executed on 14 January this year.
Despite Iran having charged Akbari with being an MI6 agent, the British government has never acknowledged it. The NYT report and intelligence officials’ revelation of his role for the agency now seems to confirm that, although London has not yet commented on the report.
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I wrote and posted this article in 2018. I recently revisited it and confirmed how important this information, gathered by Steve Aftergood, is.
For decades, people have been accusing the government of hiding advanced technology. Here we have a serious clue. Something in the record and on the record. It is only a very small piece of the puzzle, but it’s a potent piece, if you’ll stop and think about it.
The world is waking up to censorship of information by the press, by corporations, and by government. Here we have what amounts to a US government POLICY of censoring certain inventions, groundbreaking inventions.
Here is my brief 2018 piece:
How many of these patents, if granted, would be game changers for planet Earth? Who knows?
“There were 5,135 inventions that were under secrecy orders at the end of Fiscal Year 2010, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told Secrecy News last week. It’s a 1% rise over the year before, and the highest total in more than a decade.”
“Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, patent applications on new inventions can be subject to secrecy orders restricting their publication if government agencies believe that disclosure would be ‘detrimental to the national security’.”
“The current list of technology areas that is used to screen patent applications for possible restriction under the Invention Secrecy Act is not publicly available and has been denied under the Freedom of Information Act. (An appeal is pending.)…”
“Most of the listed technology areas are closely related to military applications. But some of them range more widely.”
“Thus, the 1971 list indicates that patents for solar photovoltaic generators were subject to review and possible restriction IF THE PHOTOVOLTAICS WERE MORE THAN 20% EFFICIENT. Energy conversion systems were likewise subject to review and possible restriction IF THEY OFFERED CONVERSION EFFICIENCIES ‘IN EXCESS OF 70-80%’.” (Emphasis is mine.)
“One may fairly ask if disclosure of such technologies could really have been ‘detrimental to the national security,’ or whether the opposite would be closer to the truth. One may further ask what comparable advances in technology may be subject to restriction and non-disclosure today. But no answers are forthcoming, and the invention secrecy system persists with no discernible external review.”
If you’re one of those people who maintains that advanced technology is being held away from the public, here is an overall smoking gun that validates your stance.
And you can see that breakthrough energy tech, which would radically lessen the need for oil, would be on the secrecy-do-not-release list.
What else is on the list? Old Tesla patents, for example?
The US Patent Office is an official chokepoint for the “planned society”—or should we say the “restricted society.”
But this is not to say advanced technology is always shelved or scuttled. The patent applications, in suspended animation at the US Patent Office, can be quietly disclosed, for example, to government researchers engaged in black-budget projects, where the data and the research are turned to “other uses.”
Innovative inventors, who can revolutionize society for the good, incur risks if they submit their patent applications to the State. Getting trapped in limbo, while outright theft of their research occurs, is one of those risks.
On the other hand, if a giant corporation has an invention that deploys the genetic engineering of food crops, and adds millions of tons of toxic pesticides to the environment, its patent application sails through review at the Patent Office…
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The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.
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Introduction
On the basis of attacks on other people (amoktats) in the USA, Germany and Serbia, I will provide answers from the perspective of personal psychology to important questions that have not been thought through by society as a whole in the past.
In doing so, I will include a contribution to the discussion that I already wrote 21 years ago as head of the “State School Counselling Office for the Bavarian capital Munich” on the occasion of a rampage in Germany and which I still consider to be timely.
The article was entitled “For a conscious ethical-moral values education” (1).
For the time being, I will only answer the question: Should educators set limits for adolescents?
Important questions to think through!
1. Should values be taught to adolescents and if so, which ones and by whom? Or do children and adolescents have to find out for themselves what is good for them?
2. Are decency, consideration, reliability, motivation, diligence, a sense of responsibility and community still worthwhile virtues that we should teach young people? Or do they contradict the goal of “self-realisation” and only lead to blind subordination to authoritarian structures?
3. Should we set limits for children and young people? Or should they reach their limits themselves by trying things out? Should educators intervene when children and youths want to “solve” their conflicts with violence? Or should we trust in “self-regulation”?
4. Is it good for young people to watch all kinds of violence on all channels all day long? Or does this influence have a harmful effect on their development and should therefore be stopped?
Should educators set limits for adolescents?
It is of course part of the educator’s task to set limits for the adolescent. Through the findings of research on the developmental conditions of positive social behaviour – especially the results of parenting style research – we now know which parenting style can produce a high degree of cooperativeness, helpfulness, friendliness and security in the child.
The US developmental psychologist and leading researcher in the field of child rearing Diana Baumrind (1927-2018) calls this parenting style “authoritative” (2). This refers to parenting practices that are characterised by warmth and affection, but also by effective control mechanisms that refrain from harshness and corporal punishment, but consistently use argumentative enforcement strategies, monitor compliance with agreed rules, intervene in cases of misbehaviour, and guide the child by example and involvement in positive social activities.
To the surprise of some supporters of so-called anti-authoritarian parenting, it has been found that the permissive, allow-it style of parenting resulted in the same uncompanionable, uncooperative and aggressive behaviour in children as the neglectful and authoritarian style of parenting.
The adult who witnesses a child’s or young person’s violent behaviour must therefore take a stand against it under all circumstances and demand redress, because the lack of a stand and a refraining from taking action will be interpreted by the young person as approval of his or her act.
An educator who permits violence disregards a fundamental human right. Also, the victim of a violent act must experience through the decisive intervention of the educator that the act is condemned, that he himself is protected and that he receives satisfaction.
A perpetrator of violence who gets away “scot-free”, i.e. who has successfully used violence, also learns through this reinforcement that violence is worthwhile and will use it again. If, on the other hand, he has to come to terms with his crime, develop a genuine way to make amends, he empathises with his victim and builds up an inhibition threshold against using violence again.
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Dr Rudolf Lothar Hänsel is a school rector, educational scientist and qualified psychologist. After his university studies, he became an academic teacher in adult education. As a retiree, he worked as a psychotherapist in his own practice. In his books and professional articles, he calls for a conscious ethical-moral education in values as well as an education for public spirit and peace. For his services to Serbia, he was awarded the Republic Prize “Captain Misa Anastasijevic” by the Universities of Belgrade and Novi Sad in 2021.
He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
Notes
1) Dr. Hänsel Rudolf (2002). For a conscious ethical-moral teaching of values. A contribution to the discussion on Erfurt. Central pedagogical-psychological counselling centre for schools in the state capital and the district of Munich.
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In this essay I address Russia’s current round of self-defence against the hostile incursions advanced by most of NATO’s 32 countries. The newest NATO country is Finland on the western boundary of Russia. Some would like to see Ukraine become the 33rd NATO country.
NATO’s incursions have grown and proliferated ever since the Cold War ended in 1991. I write as a Canadian who wants to see my country engage in friendly and constructive bilateral relations with Russia, a polity much like ours in many respects.
In seeking to move beyond the ugly impasse that currently casts Canada and Russia as warring protagonists, I shall explain the rise of an international movement whose enthusiasts seek to counter the antagonisms of the horrific military cataclysms already well underway. The aim of this movement is to help lay the groundwork of peace by studying and emphasizing the deep and vibrant contributions of Russia, a country whose cultural and artistic contributions are inestimable.
Russia and Canada are no. 1 and no. 2 in the world in terms of territorial size. Both polities are enormous in scale. Both have important cities as well as very large expanses of sparsely settled land. Our land base includes long oceanic coastlines that, in Canada’s case especially, are adjacent to massive archipelagoes.
Canada and Russia have neighbouring circumpolar claims to arctic sovereignty at the very top of the world. Not only do we share similar geographies, but Canadians and Russians are both blessed with many rich and diverse natural resources. The people and government of Canada could learn much from Russia by studying how its people, government and corporations are developing its resources to the great advantage of the Eurasian country both domestically and internationally.
Canada is a founding member of the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization established in 1949 to counter militarily what would become the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The US-led military entity, NATO, has wandered very far from its original mission. The Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact are no more. The Canadian government would be well advised to disentangle itself from the vile US preoccupation with destroying the Russian Federation as if this mission constitutes some sort of left over business from the Cold War.
Put plainly, Russia and Canada share many attributes in common, a phenomenon that can and should form the basis of friendship and close collaboration across many fields of endeavour. For starters, the governments of Russia and Canada share the imperative of finding ways of helping their citizens to live fairly comfortably with some of the most severe winter climates on Earth. The imperative of both surviving and enjoying winter in Canada and Russia is epitomized by our shared prowess and preoccupation with hockey.
The Decline of Canada Under the Drag Queen Obsessions of Justin Trudeau
Canada is becoming a decrepit society in rapid economic and cultural decline. This rapid fall in virtually every measure of economic well being is because of the catastrophically bad and corrupt government of the regime headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Trudeau Liberals are backed up by a few feckless MP’s like the NDP followers of Jagmeet Singh. Singh’s group continues to bolster the Liberal Party’s longtime minority status in Parliament.
Part of Trudeau’s style of woke subservience to the climate change fraudsters presently dominating the West is manifest in his obsessive punishment of the oil and gas industry centred in Alberta. The citizens of Alberta, the main instigators of the Truckers’ Convoy movement, have consistently withheld giving electoral support to the minority government of the federal Liberals.
Russia’s rapid ascent as the current capital of an economically dynamic multipolar world order, stands in stark contrast to the Trudeau government’s stupor as much of the world passes Canada by. Under Trudeau’s Drag Queen-obsessed guidance, Canada is becoming a totally subservient colony to the imperial cabal that has made Ukraine a primary site for the most rank forms of underground crime.
As is well documented by the prolific West Point graduate, Joachim Hogopian, the criminal activities that thrive in the underground realm of the Ukrainian hotspot include prolific trafficking in child sex slaves and the marketing of their organs once they are used up by predators. The underground finances of the Ukraine crime capital buttress the wealth and power of many Western elites including of the notorious family that embody much of the corruption swirling around the current US President.
I offer my support to the Congress of the International Movement of Russophiles. This organization recently brought together in Moscow people from 40 countries. These self-declared Russophiles sought to counter the pervasive campaign of Russophobia currently being avidly promoted throughout the West. At the founding event at the Pushkin State Museum, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained, “We were ready for sanctions. But we did not expect that athletes, representatives of culture, actors, and journalists would fall under the [censorious] actions.”
The efforts to eliminate the classic literature of the likes of Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Chekhov from library shelves and from translation activities has been short sighted and xenophobic at best. At its worst this application of woke cancel culture to some of the great monuments of human literary achievement constitutes artistic vandalism on opioids.
Similar treatment is being meted out to cancel some of the travels and performances of the Bolshoi Ballet. Similarly censorious treatment is being directed at great Russian music compositions and their composers, both living or dead. The targets include the works and the memories of Pytro Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Pyotor Tchaikovsky. Segei Rachmaninoff, and Dmitri Shostavovich, All Targets of Dumbfounding Western Cancel Culture
The wanton censorship of the performances of Russian works of art in many theatres and Philharmonic Orchestra sites across the West is providing a fitting symbol of the arrogance and hubris of the top power brokers aligned in ruthless schemes of war for the self-aggrandizement of a tiny elite of over-entitled kleptocrats. Especially noteworthy is the aggressive cancel culture pointed in Milan, Paris and New York against the great Russian conductor Valery Gergiev. Designated by UNESCO in 2003 as an Artist for Peace, Maestro Gergiev was found to be guilty for refusing to condemn the policies and leadership of Vladimir Putin.
Archbishop Vigano enthusiastically supported the first session in Moscow on 14 March, 2023 of the International Movement of Russophiles. In introducing the subject, the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America asserted,
We cannot be surprised that, after de-Christianizing the Western world, this elite considers Russia an enemy to be overthrown. The Russian Federation undeniably stands as the last bastion of civilization against barbarism, and gathers around it all those nations that do not intend to submit to the colonization of NATO, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and that heap of foundations that have as their purpose the indoctrination of the masses, the manipulation of information, the creation of “colored springs” to destabilize governments legitimately elected and sow chaos, wars and misery as instrumentum regni. The recent pandemic farce – conducted with criminal methods that I have not hesitated to denounce since the beginning of 2020 – has been followed by new emergencies – including the Ukrainian crisis – deliberately provoked with the aim of destroying the social and economic fabric of nations, decimating the world population, concentrating control in the hands of an oligarchy that no one has elected and that has perpetrated a real world coup d’état, for which sooner or later it will be called to answer before the world.
The theorists of this coup have names and faces, starting with George Soros, Klaus Schwab, and Bill Gates. Those who today declare that Russia is an enemy consider Europeans, Americans, Australians and Canadians as enemies and treat them as such, persecuting and impoverishing them. But while World Economic Forum emissaries in Western governments can legislate against the good of their own citizens and hold world leaders in the palm of their hands, regime change that has been successful in other nations has stopped at Russia’s borders.
The founding members of the International Movement of Russophiles include Sergey Lavrov, Hollywood Actor Steven Seagall, Charles De Gaulle’s son, Pierre, Russian scholar and philosopher Alexander Dugin, Bulgarian Russophile Nikolai Malinov, Brazilian journalist Pepe Escobar, and Italian Princess Vittoria Alliata de Villafranca.
I count myself fortunate to have spent time with several of these distinguished figures most recently at the New Horizon Conference that took place in Beirut in September of 2019.
The Leningrad Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich
My understanding of the intent of the International Movement of Russophiles is to encourage the friends of Russia throughout the world to oppose the machinations of Russia’s enemies. It is becoming increasingly clear that these machinations extend to the goal of destroying and replacing the Russian government as we have known it. The scheme goes beyond the scope of regime change. It extends to the objective of sabotaging and breaking up Russia into many smaller states that can be more easily controlled by those neoconservatives willing to flirt with provoking a nuclear holocaust in order to achieve their vile objectives.
Seen in this light, the Ukrainian role in the current debacle is being organized under the auspices of President Volodymyr Zelensky [who is of Russian Jewish descent]. Zelensky is a comedic actor brought to power by the show biz antics of his billionaire handler, Igor Kolomoisky. The Zelensky operation involves the ruthless human sacrifice of Ukrainians on an enormous scale. The real aim of the murderous enterprise is not to protect Ukraine but to provide the pretext for the invasion and destruction of Russia as we have known it.
One means of defending Russia at this stage can be as simple as setting aside some time and energy to deepen one’s knowledge and understanding of the role played by gifted Russian artists, scholars and authors in the edification of humanity’s civilizational heritage. For my initial step along these lines, I have chosen to listen to and observe the making of music by the composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Shostakovich lived most of his life as a Russian citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, otherwise known as the USSR or the Soviet Union for short.
I have devoted most of my study so far to Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony. This musical composition is deeply bound up with the German Armed Forces 900-day siege of Leningrad, a military action thought to have killed millions between 1941 and 1944. Initiated by the Army Group North, this siege was the first dramatic offensive in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union by the National Socialist government led by Adolph Hitler.
Siege of Leningrad, 1941 to 1943
I listened to Shostakovich’s inspired Seventh Symphony playing close attention to an incredible variety of musical renditions which seemed almost jazz-like in one instance. Shostakovich moved smoothly between symphonic amalgams of all the orchestra’s instruments into solo interludes by, for instance, a gifted flute player as well as two maestros of the harp. The Russian orchestra was conducted by none other than Valery Gergiev, an embodiment of the effort to extend the war on Russia to the demonization and cancellation of the country’s most accomplished artists.
Shostakovich began in 1941 the composition of his Seventh Symphony in his hometown of Leningrad, the site of the former and current St. Petersburg. The Leningrad symphony was famously performed in Leningrad on 9 August, 1942 during the height of the siege. With Shostakovich’s friend, Karl Eliasberg, conducting, the symphony was performed however minimally by fifteen surviving local musicians. In June and July of 1942 the Symphony had already been performed by 100-person orchestras in New York and London. Both performances aroused thundering applause and fantastic reviews that lauded Shostakovich’s masterpiece as a stirring response to fascism.
In the eyes of many Soviet citizens the composition and performance of the Seventh Symphony immediately became a call to defiance; an instigation to mobilize in order to halt and push back against the armed invasion of National Socialism. Moreover, German soldiers who listened to the performance on a city-wide PA system throughout Leningrad are said to have been deeply touched even as they lost heart to continue the conquest. With tears in their eyes, many German soldiers realized the intensity of resistance among a captive population capable, nevertheless, of mounting such a bold musical response even in the face of such a murderous assault on Russia’s westernmost metropolis.
IS NATO Carrying the Legacy of Fascist Tendencies Inherited from World War II?
Is Russia being called upon to face down fascism militarily for the second time in its history? This question deserves serious discussion. The question resonates with particularly strange echoes here in Canada.
Canada’s equivalent to martial law was invoked between 14 Feb. and 23 Feb. 2022. During this period, police violence was unleashed against consistently peaceful protestors on Parliament Hill. This police assault was combined with the actions of financial institutions that, under federal direction, seized many of the Truckers’ bank accounts without any judicial oversight whatsoever. Then on 24 Feb., the day after the termination of Canada’s Emergency Act, Russian Armed Forces entered Ukraine to achieve the stated objectives of “demilitarization” and “denazification.” The Russian government was responding to Ukraine’s steady military assault on the Russian-speaking majority in the Donbas region together with its encirclement in the West by hostile NATO members.
The Russian emphasis on denazifying Ukraine unfolded after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau together with those employed in his propaganda apparatus discovered a couple of oddly placed Nazi flags at the Truckers’ parking protest in Ottawa. Some asserted they had reason to believe that the flags were maliciously planted. Often such icons are planted with the goal of preventing peaceful protestors with attractive messages from gaining positive responses from the public. The Prime Minister took the smear campaign further, basically accusing in Parliament all members of the opposition Conservative Party of being in league with Nazi operatives and sympathizers.
Like other Western leaders, Trudeau and especially his Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, were by that time already deeply enmeshed as friends and supporters of neo-Nazi elements in the Ukrainian government. In the course of the engineered Maiden protests of 2013-14, this new government was dubiously ushered into power by US power brokers. The prominence of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi faction is a legacy of the Second World War, when many Ukrainians sided with the National Socialist Waffen SS against the Godless communists of Stalin’s Soviet Union.
Many post-1945 Ukrainian immigrants to Canada as well as some of their descendants continue to share Hitlerian sympathies. These Canadian citizens of Ukrainian ancestry are regularly courted by all parties for votes in swing ridings. Many like Chyrstia Freeland continue to channel their fascist heritage and sensibilities by identifying themselves as Ukrainian nationalists in the traditions established by Stepan Bandera.
Trudeau apparently thought nothing of smearing all the Conservative Party MPs as people who stand with the swastika and then jetting off to Ukraine to continue his close relations with many government officials whose National Socialist proclivities are well known. These officials include Svbode leader, Andriy Parubiy. They also are well represented among the leadership of the Right Sector as well as the Azov Battalion.
The insignia on uniforms inherited from Heinrich Himmler’s Galatian SS tell much of the story.
Trudeau and his entourage revisited Ukraine in May of 2022. The cost to Canadian tax payers of helping to train and equip the partly fascist elements of the Ukrainian police and Armed Forces must by now must have significantly surpassed $ 1 billion.
Of course any effort to definitively distinguish guilt from innocence, virtue from opportunism, among the various antagonists in World War II is a very tall order indeed. That complex process is well beyond the scope of this essay although a recent development merits some attention in these times of rapid disclosure. Surely the sanctity of lessons from the Holocaust has been cast in new light given the recent revelation that the Nuremberg Code, a product of the Doctors’ Trial, was completely disregarded during the WHO-declared pandemic.
The Nuremberg Code of 1947 is very insistent that medical experiments on human subjects cannot go forward without their well-informed consent and without subjecting them to coercion. Quite clearly neither of these conditions were applied in the insertion of 15 billion jabs injected into well over half of the world’s entire human population.
This failure by virtually all authorities, including those in Israel, to honour the legacy of the apprehended medical atrocity during the Second World War cannot help but introduce a host new question marks. These questions inevitably touch upon the authenticity of a narrative should have been put front and centre as a result of the Russian government’s intention to denazify Ukraine.
Is it not a classic display of fascistic muscle flexing to deploy NATO in a scheme to destroy Russia and appropriate its resources by the forces seeking to maintain and extend the dominant international status of the US dollar? How widespread in the West is the hypocrisy of Justin Trudeau who thinks nothing of deploying the swastika to discredit his political opponents even as he simultaneously embraces the legacy of National Socialism in Ukraine as a weapon to eliminate Russia, one of the world’s great civilizational bastions of artistic, economic, philosophic and political creativity.
A Return to Hockey Games and Ping Pong Matches as We Adapt to the Multipolar World
I do not recall a single instance where the question of war or peace between Canada and Russia has been put before my fellow citizens as a legitimate issue for widespread public discourse. Canadians, rather, were simply informed by public authorities of all kinds that Canada was suddenly at war with Russia and that this conflict is fair, wise and appropriate. I have yet to hear a single voice raised in Parliament demanding answers to the question of what Canadians stand to gain by making Russia our enemy.
Indeed, I see almost nothing happening in the Parliament of Canada from any of the lockstep political parties presenting the stuff or vigorous debate on most of the big global issues we are facing in these unprecedented times. By and large Canada’s Parliament in a woke desert of timid conformity while most of the big decisions are largely imported from, for instance, Davos and Geneva.
The legacy media is apparently in charge of inflicting uniformity on politicians of all stripes wishing to be elected or re-elected to serve in our increasingly useless legislatures all over the world. The legacy media prescribes what can and can’t be talked about thus rendering most of our politicians as glorified actors confined to reading scripts written for them by functionaries serving well-resourced lobbies. The Russian Federation’s Vladimir Putin is one of the major exceptions to this sad rule of political conduct.
Whether one likes or dislikes his positions, Putin serves to remind us that it is still possible for a prominent world leader to leave the teleprompter and speak extemporaneously with clarity, insight and erudition about many important subjects often simultaneously. Putin serves to remind us what we don’t get from most of our own highly-scripted politicians who mostly confine their communication efforts to delivering the goods that come from the highest bidders for government favours.
I end with a plea to my fellow Canadians that we should seriously discuss leaving NATO, an organization that has long since left behind its task of defending the North Atlantic region. Indeed, the North Atlantic region is being put at peril as a result of NATO’s Eurasian adventures.
Why should the citizens of Canada and the other NATO countries agree to go along with facilitating the US domination of Eurasia and Asia? Why buck the inevitability of adapting to the emergence of a multipolar world of peaceful interactions not subject to the horrors of nuclear war with the capacity to multiply worldwide the present suffering of Ukrainians by a million times over? As we move in this direction let’s consider revisiting those gripping hockey matches between our best hockey players, professional or not, in Russia and in Canada. And what about a return to the ping pong matches between the USA and China that proved so exciting in 1971?
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Dr. Anthony Hallis currently Professor of Globalization Studies at University of Lethbridge in Alberta Canada. He has been a teacher in the Canadian university system since 1982. Dr. Hall, has recently finished a big two-volume publishing project at McGill-Queen’s University Press entitled “The Bowl with One Spoon”.
He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is on a three-day trip to Africa, first stop Ethiopia, where he spoke to African Union (AU) chairperson Moussa Faki, in Addis Ababa, that integrating African nations into the G20 will ensure that they “can participate and have a say,” presumably meaning in world affairs.
Scholz highlighted such topics of common interest, as fighting for security (always a non-descript bla-bla item) and “Climate Change” – what else! – the fakeness of it must be well known to Ethiopia and other East African countries, who suffer regularly from drought and famine.
Manmade, drought and famine. They know about the science of ENMOD – Environmental Modification technologies – that are sold as climate change. Simply because most people, even highly educated intellectuals cannot grasp and will not understand the level of evil western politicians have reached to attempt dominating the world without scruples and without shame. Remorseless killing is the name of the game.
On day 2, Chancellor Scholz moved on to Kenya, where he was discussing “green energy” – other climate change related nonsense, especially to an African country, where green for jungle or brown for desert is of the order. But they have no money or human resources to waste on green energy… inefficient and a sheer farce.
The AU has 55 member states – all of Africa. Quite a block of countries to be added to the G20! One wonders why? The only AU country, so far, as a member of the G20, is South Africa.
The attempt to pull Africa into the western camp, was wrapped in sweet talk, like having a seat at the G20 as a sign of “respect for the continent and its many states.” And making the AU a “central partner” of the G20, or “The African Union is an important peacemaker and our central partner in Africa. We are united in the fight for security, against climate change and hunger,” Scholz tweeted on Thursday, emphasizing the need for the AU to be “more involved” in the G20 group of nations.
And the beat of lies goes on. The fight for security and especially against hunger, knowing that much of the famine in Africa is caused by manmade weather modifications. This is not even a secret anymore.
Africa is still by far the resources-richest continent – other than Russia which is not “quite” a continent, but is being attacked for the same reason: her riches in natural resources!
The fewer people on a continent, like Africa, the easier it can be dominated and the resources exploited with little or no resistance, for a pittance.
It fits perfectly into the Great Reset which wants a future world – at completion of Agenda 2030 – of a drastically reduced population, run on a “rules-based” One World Order, by a small elite that plans to live in luxury almost endlessly with the world’s finite resources.
That’s their dream.
It is a major reason to get the AU – all 55 states – into the G20, the non-legal, non-elected and by most people of this globe not respected, association of elite interests, hammering their rules onto the rest of the world. AU membership is supposed to bolster the faltering G20 and at the same time, make western-favorable policy changes easier throughout Africa.
Another major reason is that the west recognizes with deep chagrin that Africa and the Global South is tending to become a part of the East led by China and Russia.
In fact, most of Africa, of the AU, is already integrated or in the process of being integrated into eastern, Russia-China led organizations and associations, such as the BRICS-plus (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, plus Iran) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This is practically an irreversible trend.
Earlier, Washington’s Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron called for the AU to join the club of the G20s.
Representing the European Union and the west in general, Olaf Scholz is the executioner of this plan. His agenda is crystal clear. In addition to boost the weakening G20, he wants to pull African away from China and Russia. If he hopes duping the Africans, he is a fool, as much as when he demonstrated with a smiling nod towards Biden, in early February 2022, that they are “in this” together, referring to the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines.
Africa has a 500-year-old history of shameless colonization by Europe – a colonial power, although officially ending in the early 1960s, neo-colonialism continues in disguise as lawless criminal monetary and financial exploitation. Africa is well-aware and happy having found an avenue to stay away from the west and to join the peaceful and constructive east.
Given this African reality, Scholz’s trip looks rather like a last-ditch effort to save the G20 from total collapse. Good riddens!
What’s next, Mr. Scholz, Madame Von der Leyen and Mr. Stoltenberg? Admitting, or rather attempting to buy the African Union into the European Union and NATO?
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Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for online journals and is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).
Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.
All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.
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Executive summary
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) hasn’t investigated any link between the COVID vaccines and death. That’s a violation of California law to look the other way.
Peter Baldridge, former Assistant Chief Counsel of the CDPH, expressly brought this violation to the attention of the head of the department. As you might expect, the CDPH ignored him and did absolutely nothing.
We have proof of this.
Since the California government is not doing its job in following the law, I will be filing a writ of mandamus to compel the CDPH to do their job. The California court should also award me attorney fees. Also, the investigation should be under the supervision of the court and they should be required to:
do the requisite histopathology tests to assess causality
produce the death-vax records.
In addition, Mr. Baldridge and I have both made a FOIA request to see the death-vax records; something that no state or world government has ever produced.
One way or another, the truth will be exposed soon for all to see.
Peter Baldridge’s requests
By letter dated December 17, 2022, Mr. Baldridge requested under the Public Records Act (Govt. Code, §§6250, et seq.) all records pertaining to any and all special investigations conducted or being conducted by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) into the COVID vaccine adverse events.
On January 10, 2023, he received CDPH’s response: CDPH provided no records of any special investigation in Covid-19 vaccine adverse events after January, 2021, and had no records of any other investigation for periods later than June, 2021.
So in a letter dated April 17, 2023, Mr. Baldridge requested, under the California Public Records Act (Govt. Code, §§7920, et seq.), any and all records pertaining to special investigations into Covid-19 vaccine adverse events commenced after January 10, 2023, the date of the Department’s first response in order to see if anything happened.
On April 27, 2023 the Department responded that it had no responsive records to his request:
In other words, they were informed of what the law required them to do and they chose to do nothing.
Peter Baldrige’s letters to CDPH
Here is the full text of the letters Mr. Baldridge sent to the CDPH:
December 17, 2022: Peter requests to produce the records of the investigations that were required by law
Jan 29, 2023: Peter points out that the response to his previous request was inadequate and the department has not done its duty under the law. He reminds them again what is required.
April 17, 2023: Peter asks for the records of the investigation that the department should have commenced after receiving his previous letter.
May 5, 2023: Peter recounts what has happened to date and points out that there was again nothing done in response to his request to comply with the law. Peter shifts gears and makes a FOIA request for the correlated death and vaccination records
My FOIA request filed today, May 5, 2023
I also decided to make a FOIA request using the official CDPH portal:
It appears that the Department has little interest in or intention to investigate the reports of deaths in California related to Covid-19 vaccinations as required by law. I believe it is in the public’s interest that the correlation of vaccination and subsequent deaths be explored, particularly since, as of April 27, 2023, the Department continued to promote the Covid-19 vaccines as both safe and effective.
The Department has in its possession records related to deaths in California commencing January, 2021, when the vaccine rollout began. The Department also has in its possession vaccination records for Californians. The Department also possesses the ability to correlate this data using personally identifying information including, but not limited to: Social Security Number, street address, zip code, date of birth, name, and gender.
Accordingly, I hereby request under the California Public Records Act (Govt. Code, §§7920, et seq.) that the Department correlate these data sets and provide for each individual who has died since January1, 202l the following data fields for each individual as follows:
Date(s) of COVID-19 vaccination(s): <if any>
Five year age range of the individual who died (e.g. 50-54)
Date of death
In lieu of personally identifying information, I request that the Department create a random identification number for each individual so that the identity of the individual remains confidential.
You may contact me at xxxxxx if you have any questions.
Note: the JOIN of the databases cannot be done through the CAIR because they do not have the death records. CDPH controls both databases, so if this is not the proper request portal, please let me know which is the correct place to submit the database JOIN request.
Here is the receipt from my FOIA request: P018493-050523
Who wants to see the data?
As Ryan Cole is fond of saying, “You will never find what you don’t look for.”
Let’s be clear. California is not looking into any injuries or deaths caused by the vaccines. They are looking out for the interests of the drug companies, not your health. They don’t care how many people in California have been injured or died. Your injuries and deaths are immaterial. They don’t care. They don’t even want to look.
The medical community in California is not better. They don’t want an investigation either. Have you heard of a single doctor, Dean of Medicine, or medical association in California calling for an investigation? Of course not!
Does Governor Newsom want an investigation? No way. Newsom himself is vaccine injured so he knows the vaccines cause harm. That’s why he dropped out of sight for weeks after his booster shot. A proper investigation would show that the vaccines killed people which means that Newsom instituted policies that likely lead to the untimely demise of tens of thousands of innocent residents of California and the injury of many times that number.
The only person who called for an investigation, as required by law, is the former Assistant Chief Counsel of the California Department of Public Health. He worked there for 27 years and is appalled by what is happening there now. They can’t take away his medical license because he’s not a doctor. They could try to take away his license to practice law, but he’s retired. This is a problem for them. They ran into someone they couldn’t intimidate.
Interested in bringing my writ of mandamus in California?
If you are a lawyer interested in bringing my writ of mandamus action, please use the Contact Me link and select the “writ of mandamus” option on the form.
The vaccination rollout data
The vax-death data is good, but you also need the vaccination data by age pictured below. This allows me to normalize the deaths of the unvaccinated since people move from unvaccinated to vaccinated over time so without an upward adjustment, it will look like the unvaccinated are not dying at an even rate. With the normalization, I can compare death curves for people who got the shot with the death curves of people who didn’t. I can also compute the death rate of people in the vaxxed group with the death rate of people in the unvaxxed group.
Summary
It is clear at this point that neither the CDPH, the governor, the California legislature, the medical community, or the mainstream media have any interest or intention to investigate the reports of injuries and deaths in California related to the COVID vaccinations.
This is why I’ll be bringing a writ of mandamus action against the CDPH for not investigating the injuries and deaths.
In addition, I have sent a FOIA to the CDPH for the death-vax records. If the CDPH does not comply with my FOIA request, I will bring another writ of mandamus request action against them.
If you like where this is going and you would like to help support my work and be part of the solution, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. These legal actions can be very expensive (running into hundreds of thousands of dollars) and my primary income is now from my Substack subscribers.
As always, please share this article to let people know that the government of California simply is not interested in looking into whether the COVID vaccines have caused any injuries or deaths in California.
Peter Baldridge is a hero for speaking out.
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Featured image is from Children’s Health Defense
The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity
by Michel Chossudovsky
Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.
“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”
ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0, Year: 2022, PDF Ebook, Pages: 164, 15 Chapters
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Alexandria, VA – 16 year old Alexandria City High School student Yonatan Vazquez Mendez died in his sleep on May 2, 2023 (click here)
Norton Shores, MI – 15 year old Alia Zuidema, grade 9 student at Western Michigan Christian High died suddenly of pulmonary embolism on April 30, 2023 (click here)
UK – 19 year old Durham University first year student Rhea Hourigan was visiting her aunt in Paris whe she died suddenly in the shower from a “mystery cardiac arrest” on April 29, 2023 (click here)
Apore, Brazil – 16 year old soccer player Victor Eduardo died after suffering a “sudden illness” on April 28, 2023 (click here)
Brazil – 15 year old High School student Maria Eduarda da Silva Paz, student at Pedro Stelmachuk State College suffered a cardiac arrest at school and died on April 28, 2023 (click here)
UK – 14 year old soccer talent Teddy Disson-Meade died suddenly on April 25, 2023 of unknown causes (click here)
Record-breaking 18 year old powerlifter Laura Delava died from myocarditis on April 24, 2023 (click here)
Australia – 15 year old Balin Menzies died suddenly in his sleep on April 21, 2023 (click here)
Bogota, Colombia – 17 year old cyclist Juan Jose Ortega died 3km from race finish after suffering a “cardiac event” on April 19, 2023 (click here)
Philadelphia, PA – 16 year old Kensington High School student Kyle W.Limper died suddenly a day after Turbo cancer Leukemia diagnosis, on April 13, 2023 (click here)
Shrewsbury, UK – 18 year old Aimee Singleton died suddenly from blood clots on April 2, 2023, after waking up with leg pain, then had 6 cardiac arrests (click here)
Wallaceburg, ON – 14 year old Rhyann Kassandra Van Damme died unexpectedly on April 1, 2023 (click here)
Rawtenstall, UK – 16 year old All Staints’ Roman Catholic High School student Isabel Kate Connolly-Wellock died suddenly after “short illness on March 31, 2023 (click here)
School and family say the 16-year-old was ‘an extremely popular and well liked pupil’. The statement reads: “Isabel Kate Connolly-Wellock died after a short period of illness on Friday, March 31 in the Royal Blackburn hospital, aged 16 years.
My Take…
Died in their sleep, cardiac arrest at school, 6 cardiac arrests, cardiac arrest while cycling, cardiac arrest in the shower, short illness, sudden illness, unknown cause, myocarditis, pulmonary embolism, turbo cancer.
Sound familiar? This is our new post COVID-19 mRNA vaccine era normal.
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Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.
The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity
by Michel Chossudovsky
Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.
“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”
ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0, Year: 2022, PDF Ebook, Pages: 164, 15 Chapters
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***
Next Saturday, May 13 2023, thousands will gather in London to attend a march organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign and partners, supported by 10 national trade unions.
They will march to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, not as an historical moment of collective national trauma but as an ongoing process of colonisation, dispossession, and occupation.
This annual act of solidarity is needed now more urgently than ever.
In December, Israel’s newly elected far-right government, the most ultra-nationalist in its history with members who are self-declared fascists and proud racists, launched its formal platform.
In article one it unashamedly reasserted that only Jewish people had the right to settlement in “the Land of Israel” — a term that has no meaning in international law but is used to describe all of historic Palestine including the West Bank, alongside parts of other countries including Jordan.
The programme included renewed plans to move forward with the illegal annexation of the West Bank and expansion of illegal settlements.
Alongside taking steps to implement these policies, Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist regime has ramped up its repression of Palestinian resistance, killing, since the beginning of January, more than 100 Palestinians, at the rate of roughly one a day.
In February, with the approval of the Netanyahu government, Israeli settlers descended on the village of Huwara setting fire to homes and cars, attacking villagers and killing one, as Israeli soldiers watched on.
Even an Israeli military commander described this as a pogrom. Some days after, government minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that “the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out.”
The election and actions of the Netanyahu government have provoked unprecedented demonstrations of protest on the streets of Israel, mirrored by demonstrations here in Britain by ex-pat Israelis and liberal zionists.
However, what is fuelling these protests is not the ultra-nationalist agenda and its consequences for Palestinians, but rather the government’s assault on the democratic rights of Jewish citizens.
The reality for Palestinians is that Israel has never been a democracy. The Nakba anniversary is a moment for us to remember the real facts of history.
The state established by Israel in 1948 acquired a Jewish majority via a process of driving into exile over 750,000 Palestinians including my grandparents and extended family.
Palestinians who remained as minority citizens of the state were placed under military rule for nearly two decades and denied equal citizenship with Israeli Jews, an unequal status that continues to the present day.
Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have lived under military occupation since 1967, subject to ongoing blockade, repeated military assaults, loss of freedom of movement, illegal theft and settlement of their land, destruction of their homes and illegitimate detention, imprisonment, and torture.
Palestinians across historic Palestine and those in exile are denied the right of return and deprived of their rights under a system of oppression that meets the definition of apartheid – a crime against humanity.
The judiciary whose independence liberal zionists are so desperate to preserve in the name of democratic freedom is the same court which has consistently given approval to these processes.
Those voices who seek to celebrate Israel’s democracy and rail against the threats to it posed by Netanyahu can only do so by erasing from history and from their own consciousness the existence of the Palestinian people.
We saw this process of erasure in grotesque form in the statement issued last week by Ursula von de Leyen, president of the European Commission, when she congratulated Israel on 75 years of “vibrant democracy” — reiterating the anti-Palestinian racist trope that Israel had succeeded in making an empty desert bloom.
We see this erasure manifesting in the British government’s rolling out of the red carpet and issuing of a new trade deal with Netanyahu and his ultra-nationalist zealots, all while asserting a deep concern for “democratic freedom” as the underpinning for its sanctions-led response to Russia’s illegal invasion of the Ukraine.
We see it at play when Labour leader Keir Starmer slaps down one of his MPs for the temerity of using the word “apartheid” to describe Palestinian oppression, no matter the decades old testimony of Palestinian civil society, and the more recent confirmatory reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
The union members, students and citizens of conscience marching with us on May 13 know the truths of Palestinian history and the realities of the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people and refuse to be silent in the face of them.
They understand that there is no coherent anti-racist position that does not have at its heart resistance and opposition to Israel’s system of apartheid.
They understand the responsibilities owed by British citizens in the context of more than 100 years of British complicity in Palestinian oppression, stretching all the way back to Balfour in 1917.
That is why they march, and that is why as they march, they will again take up the cry, “in our thousands and our millions, we are all Palestinians.” Join us!
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Ben Jamal is director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Featured image: ETHNIC CLEANSING: Palestinian refugees in 1948Photo: Public Domain
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***
To His Majesty King Charles III,
On the coronation of my liege, I thought it only fitting to extend a heartfelt invitation to you to commemorate this momentous occasion by visiting your very own kingdom within a kingdom: His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh.
You will no doubt recall the wise words of a renowned playwright: “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath.”
Ah, but what would that bard know of mercy faced with the reckoning at the dawn of your historic reign? After all, one can truly know the measure of a society by how it treats its prisoners, and your kingdom has surely excelled in that regard.
Your Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh is located at the prestigious address of One Western Way, London, just a short foxhunt from the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. How delightful it must be to have such an esteemed establishment bear your name.
It is here that 687 of your loyal subjects are held, supporting the United Kingdom’s record as the nation with the largest prison population in Western Europe. As your noble government has recently declared, your kingdom is currently undergoing “the biggest expansion of prison places in over a century”, with its ambitious projections showing an increase of the prison population from 82,000 to 106,000 within the next four years. Quite the legacy, indeed.
As a political prisoner, held at Your Majesty’s pleasure on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign, I am honoured to reside within the walls of this world class institution. Truly, your kingdom knows no bounds.
During your visit, you will have the opportunity to feast upon the culinary delights prepared for your loyal subjects on a generous budget of two pounds per day. Savour the blended tuna heads and the ubiquitous reconstituted forms that are purportedly made from chicken. And worry not, for unlike lesser institutions such as Alcatraz or San Quentin, there is no communal dining in a mess hall. At Belmarsh, prisoners dine alone in their cells, ensuring the utmost intimacy with their meal.
Beyond the gustatory pleasures, I can assure you that Belmarsh provides ample educational opportunities for your subjects. As Proverbs 22:6 has it: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Observe the shuffling queues at the medicine hatch, where inmates gather their prescriptions, not for daily use, but for the horizon-expanding experience of a “big day out”—all at once.
You will also have the opportunity to pay your respects to my late friend Manoel Santos, a gay man facing deportation to Bolsonaro’s Brazil, who took his own life just eight yards from my cell using a crude rope fashioned from his bedsheets. His exquisite tenor voice now silenced forever.
Venture further into the depths of Belmarsh and you will find the most isolated place within its walls: Healthcare, or “Hellcare” as its inhabitants lovingly call it. Here, you will marvel at sensible rules designed for everyone’s safety, such as the prohibition of chess, whilst permitting the far less dangerous game of checkers.
Deep within Hellcare lies the most gloriously uplifting place in all of Belmarsh, nay, the whole of the United Kingdom: the sublimely named Belmarsh End of Life Suite. Listen closely, and you may hear the prisoners’ cries of “Brother, I’m going to die in here”, a testament to the quality of both life and death within your prison.
But fear not, for there is beauty to be found within these walls. Feast your eyes upon the picturesque crows nesting in the razor wire and the hundreds of hungry rats that call Belmarsh home. And if you come in the spring, you may even catch a glimpse of the ducklings laid by wayward mallards within the prison grounds. But don’t delay, for the ravenous rats ensure their lives are fleeting.
I implore you, King Charles, to visit His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh, for it is an honour befitting a king. As you embark upon your reign, may you always remember the words of the King James Bible: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). And may mercy be the guiding light of your kingdom, both within and without the walls of Belmarsh.
Your most devoted subject,
Julian Assange
A9379AY
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Featured image: Julian Assange in Belmarsh Prison in 2019 (Source: WSWS)
This is an URGENT message from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Team about the World Health Organization’s (WHO) impending Power Grab. If we do not intervene and stop it NOW, WHO will take over power and dominion on all matters of health over and above the sovereignty of WHO member states, and over our right to decide over our own body.
Last April, Pakistan’s Imran Khan was ousted as Prime Minister, which he blamed on an American-backed coup due to his non-aligned foreign policy. His removal has been followed by political instability that continues to roil the country with some of the largest protests in Pakistan’s history, both in support of him but also in opposition to the traditional ruling elites.
Since Sudan’s crisis erupted last month, concerns about state collapse and civil war have been valid. Unfortunately, with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of Sudan’s national army and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (a.k.a. Hemedti) of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) viewing this conflict as existential, it is not easy to imagine a de-escalation at any point soon.
The West’s cryptic or mocking remarks doubting the Kremlin statement on the failed Ukrainian attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin do not detract from the fact that Moscow has no reason on earth to fabricate such a grave allegation that has prompted the scaling down of its Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which is a triumphal moment in all of Russian history, especially now when it is fighting off the recrudescence of Nazi ideology on Europe’s political landscape single-handedly all over again.
In August 1939, as he was finalizing plans for the invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler was also engaged in negotiations with Pope Pius XII so delicate that not even the German ambassador to the Holy See knew about them. The existence of these talks was a secret the Vatican was eager to maintain long after Pius XII’s death—as it did for eight decades.
Selected days for commemoration serve one fundamental purpose. Centrally, they acknowledge the forgotten or neglected, while proposing to do nothing about it. It’s the priest’s confession, the chance for absolution before the next round of soiling.
Among high profile defections from the “international community,” due to its geopolitical stature Mexico stands out. But it is by no means the only notable recent defector.
The International Movement for a Just World (JUST) is shocked and saddened by the news of the desecration of yet another Ahmadi mosque in the Milpur Khas District of Pakistan on 4th May 2023.
Here are 25 children ages 5-12 who died after a Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. One child death from these products is one death too many. There are 0 healthy children ages 5-12 who died from COVID-19 infection in USA or Canada.
The puny double drone attack – a combined Anglo-Saxon neocon provocation – has offered Moscow the perfect gift: an unmistakable casus belli. Yevgeny Prighozin, the maestro of private military company Wagner, is never shy of also performing as a master communicator / troller / psyop specialist.
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***
Last April, Pakistan’s Imran Khan was ousted as Prime Minister, which he blamed on an American-backed coup due to his non-aligned foreign policy. His removal has been followed by political instability that continues to roil the country with some of the largest protests in Pakistan’s history, both in support of him but also in opposition to the traditional ruling elites. The current government has responded by cracking down on Khan and his supporters, and preventing new elections.
To help us understand what happened and what we can expect, Rania Khalek was joined by Junaid Ahmad – Professor of Religion, Law, and Global Politics and Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Decoloniality in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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An assessment released today by the Environmental Protection Agency found that three popular neonicotinoid insecticides are likely to jeopardize the continued existence of more than 200 plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act. This includes 25 insect species and more than 160 plants dependent on insect pollination.
The new finding on clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam comes one year after the agency completed biological evaluations on the pesticides. Those assessments found that the vast majority of endangered species — 1,225 (67% of all endangered species) for clothianidin, 1,445 (79%) for imidacloprid, and 1,396 (77%) for thiamethoxam — were likely harmed by these three insecticides.
Today’s finding focuses on which species are likely to be driven extinct by these three insecticides. These imperiled species include Attwater’s greater prairie-chicken, rusty patched bumblebee, Karner blue butterfly, American burying beetle, Western prairie fringed orchid, vernal pool fairy shrimp and the spring pygmy sunfish.
“The EPA’s analysis shows we’ve got a five-alarm fire on our hands, and there’s now no question that neonicotinoids play an outsized role in our heartbreaking extinction crisis,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The EPA has to use the authority it has to take fast action to ban these pesticides so future generations don’t live in a world without bees and butterflies and the plants that depend on them.”
Neonicotinoids, which are banned in the European Union, are the most popular insecticides in the United States. Hundreds of studies have shown they play a major role in population-level declines of bees, birds, butterflies and freshwater invertebrates. More recent studies found they cause significant harm to mammals as well.
The analysis released today found that 166, or 9% of all endangered species, are likely to be jeopardized by clothianidin.
For imidacloprid, 199 species, or 11% of all endangered plants and animals, are likely to be jeopardized.
Thiamethoxam was found to likely jeopardize the continued existence of 204, or 11% of all endangered species.
“Given the Fish and Wildlife Service’s refusal to lift a finger to protect endangered species from pesticides, we commend the EPA for completing this analysis and revealing the disturbing reality of the massive threat these pesticides pose,” said Burd. “The Biden administration will have the stain of extinction on its hands if it doesn’t muster the courage to stand up to Big Ag and ban these chemicals.”
Pollinator populations are declining nationwide. The American bumblebee, once the most common bumblebee species in the United States, has declined by an estimated 89% in just the past 20 years. The Center has petitioned for Endangered Species Act protection for the American bumblebee.
Neonicotinoids are used on hundreds of millions of acres of agricultural lands across the country. They can be directly sprayed or injected and are commonly used as coatings on seeds such as corn and soy, which are planted on hundreds of millions of acres each year.
The insecticides are systemic, meaning they are absorbed by plants, making the entire plant deadly toxic, including its nectar, pollen and fruit. Neonicotinoids are also highly persistent and can linger in soil for years, causing long-term harm.
Imidacloprid is one of the two active ingredients in Seresto flea collars, which have been linked to the deaths of nearly 2,700 family pets. A scathing report released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy chastised the EPA for ignoring evidence of the collar’s harm. The report called for the agency to ban the pesticide-impregnated collar.
The EPA has yet to take action on a Center petition to ban the collar, despite soliciting public input on the matter nearly two years ago.
Authors of a major scientific review of the catastrophic decline of insects have said a “serious reduction in pesticide usage” is key to preventing the extinction of up to 41% of the world’s insects in the next few decades.
For decades the EPA has refused to comply with its Endangered Species Act obligations to assess pesticides’ harms to protected species. The agency was finally forced to do the biological evaluations by legal agreements with the Center for Food Safety and the Natural Resources Defense Council. After losing many lawsuits on this matter, the EPA has committed to work toward complying with the Act.
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Since Sudan’s crisis erupted last month, concerns about state collapse and civil war have been valid.
Unfortunately, with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of Sudan’s national army and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (a.k.a. Hemedti) of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) viewing this conflict as existential, it is not easy to imagine a de-escalation at any point soon.
There is also much to say about the role of outside actors seeking to influence Sudan’s crisis and fears of this violence quickly regionalising.
One country which is not necessarily playing a central role in the conflict but has its own vested interests and agendas in Sudan is Israel.
Following in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain’s footsteps, Sudan announced its decision to, at least partly, join the Abraham Accords in October 2020.
Now Tel Aviv wants to see Khartoum’s entry into the normalisation camp solidify. Ultimately, Israel is committed to trying to ensure that whoever comes out on top in Sudan’s ongoing power struggle will be sympathetic to Tel Aviv and the Israeli government’s way of looking at the Arab world.
The majority of Sudanese citizens are against normalisation of relations with Israel, which is a major factor. This gives Israel vested interests in a military regime governing Sudan.
“Israel is deeply committed to ensuring that the military, whether its Hemedti or Burhan or some combination of the two – dominate the politics of Sudan,” Dr Nader Hashemi, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, told The New Arab.
Why Israel would like to prevent democratic development in Sudan and other Arab countries is not difficult to understand.
“Israel wants to have diplomatic relations with as many Arab states as possible. It cannot have diplomatic relations with democracies in the Arab world because democracies in the Arab world will demand that Israel make concessions to the Palestinians as a condition for diplomatic relations. That’s something that Israel refuses to do,” explained Dr Hashemi.
“Thus, Israel is deeply committed to preserving the authoritarian political order in the Arab world and that applies to Sudan as well.”
But some experts argue that Sudan’s military leadership will have a challenging time solidifying Khartoum in the Abraham Accords camp.
“Even the generals are not confident in their ability to deliver this to Israel, as large factions of their own supporters staunchly oppose making peace with Israel,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), in an interview with TNA.
“Given that Burhan and Hemedti lack domestic legitimacy, their relationship with Israel could be used against them,” Dr Aziz Alghashian, a fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told TNA.
“Both military generals and Sudan’s newly official relations with Israel are not overly popular with the Sudan public. Therefore, Israel understands that its relations with Sudan in its current form is very precarious.”
A mediation role?
Since Sudan’s conflict erupted last month, Israel has offered to mediate between Burhan and Hemedti. Although doubtful that Tel Aviv would play this role, Israel trying to present itself as a credible and legitimate mediator in Sudan’s conflict is indicative of its relationships with both Sudanese warlords.
Ultimately, Israel seems willing to work with either Burhan or Hemedti should either emerge triumphant in this ongoing crisis.
“I think Israel is not backing one side or the other,” Dr Hashemi told TNA. “It has investments in both of these military gangsters, and it wants to ensure that, whoever prevails, Israel will have good relationships with General Burhan of the Sudanese army or Hemedti.”
Israel’s security establishment is not united on the conflict in Sudan. The country’s foreign ministry joined Egypt in being more in favour of Burhan while the Mossad, like the UAE and Libya’s Khalifa Haftar, has deep ties with Hemedti.
Cairo and Abu Dhabi supporting opposing sides in Sudan’s conflict makes Israel less likely to fully back either Burhan or Hemedti, which helps explain why Tel Aviv is trying to present itself as a potential mediator.
The Israelis offering to mediate in Sudan’s conflict also speaks to Tel Aviv’s wider interests in other parts of Africa near Sudan, even if the idea of Israel playing this diplomatic role can’t be taken seriously.
“Israel has offered itself up as a mediator for the conflict between the Sudanese generals, boasting about its ties to both men, but no one takes this rather laughable proposal seriously,” Whitson said in a TNAinterview.
“It is suggestive, however, of Israel’s goals to expand its political, economic, and military presence in East Africa. That’s why it has also offered to mediate between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt about the Great Dam and conflicts over water, but again, no one takes this seriously.”
US foreign policy
Analysing Israeli-Sudanese relations and Khartoum’s place in the Abraham Accords requires taking stock of Washington’s foreign policy.
Throughout the Trump and Biden presidencies, US policies vis-à-vis Sudan have not been oriented around promoting any successful democratic transition. Instead, they have been geared toward ensuring that the military can maintain stability at home and bring Khartoum into the normalisation camp.
“The political turbulence of the military junta in Sudan, and, in particular, its desperation to stay in power was an opportunity for the US to use its leverage in order for Sudan to join the Abraham Accords,” explained Dr Alghashian.
“We see how the focus of US foreign policy in Sudan was not the suffering and the socio-economic and political concerns of 45 million Sudanese. It was very much preserving the authoritarian order in the Arab world. A lot of energy coming from the US with respect to Sudan policy was geared toward getting Sudan to establish diplomatic relations with Israel,” explained Dr Hashemi.
“What’s more disturbing is the extent to which the US government aided and abetted military control in Sudan and literally bribed Sudan with removal from the US terrorism list for the sole and exclusive purpose of securing the initial sign-off on the Abraham Accords in 2020, serving Israel’s interest, but not America’s or Sudan’s,” Whitson told TNA.
Washington achieving this goal of pushing Sudan toward formalised relations with Israel required US support for the Sudanese military playing a central role in the country’s transition amid the post-Bashir era.
In terms of US interests in Sudan in this current period, “the objective was much more regional and supporting the relationship between Israel and Arab authoritarian regimes,” according to Dr Hashemi.
“That was the dominant entry point. That is an important point that has been lost in the debate on Sudan recently, and the failure of national policy that has contributed to the crisis that is unfolding before us.”
The Western mainstream media has been heavily focusing on Russia’s ties to Sudanese actors. But there has been hardly any serious discussion about how Israel and the US’s desire to consolidate Khartoum’s position in the Abraham Accords have emboldened militaristic authoritarianism in the country.
This point must be considered when assessing the various factors and events that led to Sudan’s ongoing crisis.
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The 1619 Project, launched in 2019 by the New York Times, sought to rewrite American history in the service of contemporary domestic identity politics. While it was promoted as a supposedly “anti-racist” endeavor and part of a “national reckoning” with race, it was subjected to rigorous criticism on the World Socialist Web Site in collaboration with leading historians of American history, both in terms of the project’s factual inaccuracies as well as its racialist method. As the controversy attracted national attention, project author Nikole Hannah-Jones responded on social media by implying that these criticisms were motivated by “anti-black” racism.
It is worth revisiting this controversy in light of the New York Times’ subsequent coverage of the war in Ukraine. This coverage has been marked by repeated efforts to legitimize the racialist ideology of the US-backed Ukrainian nationalists, who are playing a central role in the escalating proxy war that is now well into its second year.
Last month, the Times reached a new low with the publication of an article that can only be described as the opposite of “anti-racist.” The April 18 article by London-based reporter Emma Bubola, “When Freezing Sperm Makes a Patriotic Statement,” celebrates Ukrainian men who are “preserving Ukrainian bloodlines” by freezing their sperm, which the Times hails as “patriotic” and an act of “defiance” against Russia.
“For many Ukrainians,” Bubola writes, “the idea of saving soldiers’ sperm is at once personal and patriotic … It leaves open the possibility, at least, of preserving Ukrainian bloodlines even as the Kremlin insists that Ukrainian statehood—and by extension Ukrainians as a separate people—is a fiction.”
The phrase “preserving Ukrainian bloodlines” appears in the article without irony, qualification or quotation marks. Indeed, the whole thrust of the passage in context is that Ukrainians, in fact, are “a separate people,” contrary to the claims of “the Kremlin.”
Behind this talk of “Ukrainian bloodlines” and Ukrainians as “a separate people” is an utterly toxic racialist ideology that was developed by the Ukrainian fascists parallel to German and other European fascist movements in the period leading up to the Second World War. The idea, which the Times does not dare to say out loud, is that “pure” Ukrainian blood will be corrupted if it is “mixed” with the blood of “impure” or “subhuman” people, including Russians, Jews or Roma people who are not part of the Ukrainian “national identity” being extolled by the Times.
The editors of the Times know very well that the government-backed “bloodline-preserving” endeavor they are celebrating is tainted by precisely that brand of poison. In the service of war propaganda, the Times not only conceals the hateful subtext but actively glorifies these conceptions, which have their American counterpart in the racist “great replacement” theory promoted by figures such as former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. The Times passes this filth on to American readers with an approving quote from a Ukrainian politician who claims that it represents “a continuation of our gene pool.”
The Times’ glorification of efforts at “preserving Ukrainian bloodlines” is not an isolated incident. Throughout its propaganda campaign in support of the escalating US intervention in the war, the Times has relentlessly promoted the efforts of far-right forces in control of Ukraine’s government to codify anti-Russian xenophobia into law. This includes a massive ongoing effort to erase Russian words and names from cities, streets and schools—an effort on such a scale that, if it had been undertaken by a US adversary like China, the Times would not have hesitated to label it as “genocide.”
On April 22, for example, the Times reported with approval the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had “signed two laws” that “strictly reinforce his country’s national identity, banning Russian place names and making knowledge of Ukrainian language and history a requirement for citizenship.”
In the course of the article, the Times reported the renaming of Leo Tolstoy street in Kiev. The Ukrainian authorities renamed the street in March to Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi Street, after a reactionary tsarist general who seized power in Ukraine in 1918 with the assistance of German imperialism.
Born in the Russian Empire (of which Ukraine was then a part) in 1828, Tolstoy was a pacifist, humanist and sharp critic of tsarist society who was excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church. He is known as the author of one of the masterpieces of Russian and world literature, the novel War and Peace.
Skoropadskyi, an anti-Bolshevik aristocrat, was a pathological anti-Semite. He publicly denounced the “parasitical tendencies of Jewry,” and his regime, backed by German imperialism, encouraged the distribution of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He later fled to Germany, where he lived comfortably throughout the Nazi era before being killed in an Allied air strike in 1945.
Reporting that Tolstoy street had been renamed to Skoropadskyi street, the Times deliberately concealed from its readers the fact that Tolstoy’s replacement was a vicious racist. Instead, the newspaper dishonestly attempted to sidestep this history by presenting Skoropadskyi parenthetically as “a Ukrainian leader from the early 20th century.”
Imagine if the US government passed a law requiring all streets, cities and institutions in America with “Spanish” names to be renamed, beginning with the cities of El Paso and Los Angeles—and they were renamed instead after racist Confederate generals. In Ukraine, no less reactionary policies have the full-throated support of the New York Times.
This conscious effort to normalize the Ukrainian far-right has characterized all of the Times coverage of the conflict. The Times has repeatedly hailed Ukraine’s Azov Battalion as heroes at the forefront of Ukraine’s war effort, frequently featuring Azov soldiers in photos on its front pages. The Times conceals the battalion’s fascist origins from readers. (The founder of the battalion, Andriy Biletsky, for example, claimed in 2010 that the Ukrainian nation’s mission is to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade … against Semite-led Untermenschen [subhumans].”)
In the same vein, the Times has repeatedly quoted without criticism or qualification the use of the slur “orcs” by Ukrainian military figures. This slur is an overt invocation of the Nazi trope of Russians as “subhuman,” but the Times attempts to normalize it, embracing it in August of last year as “a derogatory term many Ukrainians reserve for Russian soldiers.”
The linguistic style employed by the Times is fundamentally dishonest, designed to convey a false sense of lofty journalistic neutrality. If El Paso was renamed after Jefferson Davis, would the Times describe the president of the Confederate States of America in parentheses as “an American leader from the 19th century?” Would the Times describe a racial slur used by a government official in the US as merely “a derogatory term many Americans reserve for minorities?”
It should be recalled that the 1619 Project provided the ideological justification for a wave of lynch-mob style attacks on monuments to progressive American historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. In the wake of the publication of the 1619 Project, statues were vandalized and in many cases removed by local authorities.
American revolutionaries and abolitionists had to be “canceled” as the Times fanned the flames of historical ignorance and racial resentment, seeking to create favorable conditions for the Democratic Party to make an appeal based on identity politics. One memorable column in July 2020 by the Times’ Charles Blow shouted that statues to George Washington should “abso-fricking-lutely” come down.
But on the subject of canceling historical figures, the Times raised no objection to renaming Tolstoy street to Skoropadskyi street, and has likewise raised no objection to the construction of public statues in Ukraine to Stepan Bandera, a Nazi collaborator, war criminal and Holocaust perpetrator.
A large statue to Bandera currently stands in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, for example, where one of the prominent streets has also been renamed in his honor. The Times is evidently in no hurry for that statue to come down, or for Ukraine to have any kind of “national reckoning” with that history.
If one puts the Times’ “1619 Project” of 2019 side-by-side with its “Ukraine Project” of 2022-2023, one is confronted with: “Down with statues of Jefferson and Lincoln—and up with statues of Skoropadskyi and Bandera! Down with monuments to revolutionaries and abolitionists! Up with monuments to Nazi collaborators and anti-Semites!”
So much for the “anti-racism” of the New York Times! After all of the fanfare and self-congratulation around the 1619 Project, the Times’ “anti-racism” turns out to be upside-down, superficial and arbitrary—to be turned on or off like a faucet, and to be invoked or ignored when it is politically expedient.
Lincoln was portrayed by the 1619 Project as a hopeless bigot, regardless of the fact that he signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed four million people from slavery and transformed the Civil War into a social revolution. Jefferson, too, was “canceled,” notwithstanding his famous universal declaration of human equality—that “all men are created equal.” But when the Times turns its attention to Ukraine, fascists and racists like Skoropadskyi and Bandera are given a free pass.
Despite all of the contradictions on the surface, at a more profound level there is more to these positions than mere hypocrisy. The ease with which the Times has aligned itself with the Ukrainian far-right is a reflection of deeper issues involved in the controversy over the 1619 Project—and confirms the assessment of the project made by the World Socialist Web Site.
Notwithstanding the “left” pretensions of many who endorsed the 1619 Project within and around the Democratic Party, the World Socialist Web Siteinsisted throughout the controversy that the politics of racial division are inevitably right-wing, inherently anti-democratic and inescapably serve reactionary ends.
The very first essay published by the World Socialist Web Site regarding the 1619 Project by David North, Niles Niemuth and Tom Mackaman took up the claim by Hannah-Jones in the series’ introduction that all of American history is rooted in uncontrollable race hatred of “black people” by “white people.” Specifically, according to Hannah-Jones, “anti-black racism runs in the very DNA of this country.”
“This is a false and dangerous conception,” the essay explained. Not only is the analogy to biology inappropriate in this context, it amounts to an idealist and irrationalist approach to history, deriving a historical narrative “from the existence of a supra-historical emotional impulse,” namely intrinsic racial hatred.
The essay continued, “This irrational and scientifically absurd claim serves to legitimize the reactionary view—entirely compatible with the political perspective of fascism—that blacks and whites are hostile and incompatible species” (emphasis added).
In his lecture to the 2021 Socialist Equality Party Summer School regarding the 1619 Project controversy, Tom Mackaman insisted that “the position that human beings are pitted in never-ending struggle based on the mythological category of race has, in the past century, provided the ideological justification for the murder of tens of millions all over the world.”
Indeed, when Hannah-Jones turned her attention to historical events that took place outside the US, the results of the application of her racialist method were highly offensive and downright horrific.
At a lecture at New York University following the publication of the 1619 Project, Hannah-Jones claimed that because substantially all of the Jews in Germany perished in the Holocaust, it eliminated the source of the underlying racial conflict. As a result, she asserted, anti-Semitism has allegedly disappeared in Germany. Hannah-Jones contrasted Germany with the United States, where, she implied, racial resentment still exists because white people and black people still have to interact with each other.
It goes without saying that these are sentiments with which the foulest Ukrainian neo-Nazi would enthusiastically agree. In this sense, it is no accident that the newspaper that attempted to place race “at the very center of our national narrative” in 2019 would go on in the next breath to align itself with Ukrainian nationalists who valorize the Nazi SS.
Last year, the Times published findings that Tucker Carlson had invoked the racist “great replacement theory” in more than 400 episodes of his Fox News show. The Times would do well to count the number of times that attempts to normalize the Ukrainian far-right have appeared in its own pages.
The alignment between the New York Times and the Ukrainian far-right is a confirmation of everything the World Socialist Web Site has published on the subject of the 1619 Project. These criticisms involved more than just pointing out factual errors in the project—although there were certainly many. On a more fundamental level, the racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.” It was this essentially reactionary historical and political content of the 1619 Project to which the World Socialist Web Sitecorrectly objected in 2019.
A categorical break from that reactionary premise is necessary for any genuine struggle to confront and eliminate racism—as well as for the defense of historical truth, and for building a united global movement to reverse the descent towards another world war.
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The West’s cryptic or mocking remarks doubting the Kremlin statement on the failed Ukrainian attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin do not detract from the fact that Moscow has no reason on earth to fabricate such a grave allegation that has prompted the scaling down of its Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which is a triumphal moment in all of Russian history, especially now when it is fighting off the recrudescence of Nazi ideology on Europe’s political landscape single-handedly all over again.
The alacrity with which the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken debunked the Kremlin allegation, perhaps, gives the game away. It is in the neocon DNA to duck in such defining moments. That said, predictably, Blinken also distanced the Biden administration from the Kremlin attack.
Earlier, the chairman of Joints Chiefs of Staff General Marks Milley also did a similar thing in an interview with the Foreign Affairs magazine disowning in advance any responsibility for the upcoming Ukrainian “counteroffensive”. This is the Biden Administration’s new refrain — hear no evil, speak no evil. No more talk, either, of backing Kiev all the way “no matter what it takes” — as Biden used to say ad nauseam.
The heart of the matter is that Kiev’s much touted “counteroffensive” is struggling amidst widespread western prognosis that it is destined to be a damp squib. Actually, the salience of the Foreign Affairs podcast this week with Gen. Milley was also his diffidence about the outcome. Milley refused to be categorical that Kiev would even launch its “counteroffensive”!
There is a huge dilemma today as the entire western narrative of a Russian defeat stands exposed as a pack of lies, and alongside, the myth of Kiev’s military prowess to take on the far superior military might of a superpower has evaporated. The Ukrainian military is being ground to the dust systematically. In reality, Ukraine has become an open wound that is fast turning gangrene, and little time is left to cauterise the wound.
However, Kiev regime is ridden with factionalism. There are powerful cliques who are averse to peace talks with Russia short of capitulation by Moscow and instead want an escalation so that the Western powers remain committed. And even after Boris Johnson’s exit, they have supporters in the West.
The militant clique ensconced in the power structure in Kiev could well have been the perpetrators of this dangerous act of provocation directed against the Kremlin with an ulterior agenda to trigger a Russian retaliation.
From Blinken’s vacuous remark, it seems the neocons in the Biden Administration led by Victoria Nuland are in no mood to rein in the mavericks in Kiev, either. As for Europe, it has lost its voice too.
This will probably show up in history books as a historic failure of European leadership and at its core lies the paradox that it is not France but the German government that has aligned itself closer with the US in the Ukraine war and risking an intra-European “epoch of confrontation.”
Even otherwise, these are fateful times, with the political middle ground already shrinking in France and Italy and is much weakened in Germany itself in the wake of the pandemic, the war, and inflation. Importantly, this is only partly an economic story, as the decline of the centre and the de-industrialisation in Europe are closely related and the social fabric that supported the centre has come unstuck.
Germany, the powerhouse of Europe, has been relatively lucky so far. It benefited from cheap labour from east Europe and cheap gas from Russia. But that is over now and the decline of German industry is foreseeable. When society fragments, the political system also fragments and it will take progressively greater effort to govern such countries. Germany and Italy have a three-party coalitions; the Netherlands has four parties; Belgium has a seven-party coalition.
For the present, the hardliners in the Kiev regime have set the pace of events and Europeans will meekly follow. But there’s a ‘chill in the room’ — to borrow the words of Judie Foster in the horror film Silence of the Lambs when Anthony Hopkins transformed in a flash into Hannibal Lecter.
Make no mistake, this is a tipping point; the clumsy attempt on Putin’s life jolts the kaleidoscope beyond recognition. The only comforting thought is that the Kremlin leadership is not going to be driven by emotion. The considered Kremlin reaction is available from the remarks by the Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov:
“How would Americans react if a drone hit the White House, the Capitol or the Pentagon? The answer is obvious for any politician as well as for an average citizen: the punishment will be harsh and inevitable.”
The ambassador went on to draw the bottom line: “Russia will respond to this insolent and presumptuous terrorist attack. We will answer when we consider it necessary. We will answer in accordance with the assessments of the threat that Kiev posed to the leadership of our country.”
No knee-jerk reactions are to be expected. Nonetheless, the scaling down of the Victory Day celebrations on the Red Square itself must have been a difficult decision. The Victory Day on May 9 is the most important holiday in Russia when the public and the state come together in a patriotic celebration during which people remember their family members who sacrificed their lives to defeat Nazism.
Many of the day’s features—parades, songs and commemorative practices—date back to the Soviet era. Victory Day is the only major public holiday that made the transition to post-Soviet Russia. In a country that lost many of its idols and heroic achievements with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, triumph over Nazism remained a source of enormous collective and personal pride.
But Putin’s hands are tied beyond a point when the country is in rage and demanding retribution, as evident from the comments by former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev: “After today’s terrorist attack, there are no options left except for the physical elimination of Zelensky and his clique.”
As for Zelensky, he simply left Kiev for Helsinki — and to the Hague thereafter, and arrive in Berlin by May 13 on a state visit — sensing danger, perhaps. Indeed, the fate of the Zelensky regime seems sealed.
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Featured image: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers an address in Kiev, Ukraine, April 15, 2022. (Credit: Ukrainian Presidency)
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Despite western sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict, some Asian and specifically West Asian economies are importing significant amounts of Russian gasoline at discounted prices, and reselling it with windfall profits to the EU under their brand names.
Western sanctions have forced Moscow to actively diversify its energy exports – oil and gas exports accounted for 45 percent of the Russian government’s 2022 budget – and it has rapidly filled the gap left by its diminished oil exports to Europe with new customers in China, India, and the Persian Gulf nations.
Despite the EU’s prohibition on seaborne exports, during the initial quarter of the current year, Russian seaborne crude oil exports amounted to 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd), surpassing the 3.35 million bpd recorded at the onset of the Ukrainian conflict a year ago.
According to industry analysts and oil executives, this has transpired despite western sanctions that led to the severance of several active trading partnerships for Russian oil in the EU markets.
Finding ways around sanctions
Dubai-based oil tycoon Hakam Valliani tells The Cradle that, in general, sanctions did not significantly impact the Russian gasoline supply line as new buyers filled the gap left by the EU market. Washington, he says, had enforced these limitations to force the EU to buy expensive US gasoline rather than cheaper Russian oil.
When compared to Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), the price of US LNG is nearly $1,000 per ton more expensive, so “the European Union is paying a disproportionately huge amount for the US stuff,” Valliani explains.
“Sanctions or no sanctions, individuals will find a way around by devising cunning strategies to bypass restrictions,” he says, adding:
“This is scary to see that the entire American-based price benchmark and the SWIFT system are collapsing, and a new benchmark will be needed within the next five years. Russia now accepts a variety of currencies when transacting fuel sales, including Indian rupees, Chinese renminbi, and other regional currencies.”
Valliani predicts that with the expansion of BRICS ( to BRICS+), there will be a decline in the value of the dollar and the collapse of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): “The world’s future source of gold and oil will come from BRICS+.”
This has allowed countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, India, and Iran to import the majority of Russian oil, not for domestic consumption, but to transport it to third parties in energy-deficient markets in Europe and Asia.
Saudi import of Russian crude
According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia has been importing unprecedented quantities of Russian fuel to circumvent US sanctions. Traders have also taken advantage of lower prices to build up fuel reserves at the Fujairah hub, located in the UAE.
Today, West Asia is playing an increasingly important role as a supplier of industrial fuel to Europe and Africa, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Russia contributing to the fuel reserves in Asia.
As the largest producer within OPEC and the top global oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has had to step up its global energy supply – while keeping its own production down, per OPEC+ decisions – due to US-imposed restrictions on direct imports of Russian crude oil and oil products.
In March and early April of this year, Saudi Arabia imported a record high 261,000 metric tons of Russian diesel. Three of the containers were unloaded in Jeddah, while one was delivered to Ras Tanura. The free-on-board price range for Russian diesel cargoes scheduled to load in March ranged from $60 to $70 per barrel.
This price is nearly $20 per barrel lower than the “Middle East benchmark,” which falls below the price ceiling of $100 per barrel set by the G7 consortium, thereby allowing traders to utilize western vessels and insurance services to transport Russian fuel.
West Asia wins
Recent findings from the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University have alerted the European Commission that oil-exporting nations in West Asia have largely benefited from the conflict in Ukraine.
The study examines the implications of increased imports of Russian petroleum by West Asian countries, which has manifested itself predominantly through price increases and created an opportunity for the refining, storage, and distribution of Russian petroleum.
According to analysts, the primary exporters from the Persian Gulf region, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will become “balancers-in-chief in Europe,” providing a supply of petroleum to the continent.
Perturbed by Saudi Arabia’s imports of Russian diesel and its subsequent re-export to Europe, the EU parliament has been compelled to start a discussion about the new phenomenon and investigate “what evidence the Commission has to support its claim that diesel fuel imported from Saudi Arabia to the European Union is not simply rebranded Russian crude oil?”
The group is also investigating the price gap between Saudi Arabia’s discounted petroleum imports from Russia and the EU’s imports of petroleum from the kingdom. It aims to determine whether Saudi Arabia and other market influencers are currently playing a significant role in meeting Europe’s import needs and preventing market contraction due to the ban on Russian oil.
Hakam Valliani believes that oil from Russia is a necessity for both Europe and the US, and while everyone is aware that this is a sanctioned product, they do end up purchasing this item. He says that nearly 40 percent of US oil imports come from Russia, and that traders in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkiye, and the rest of West Asia rebrand Russian gasoline in their respective countries.
Valliani claims that even the banks are aware of these transactions but choose to disregard them, adding that:
“There may not be a lot of Russian aviation gasoline available, but the profit margin on it is 25 percent higher than that of US-produced fuel. The profit margin on Euro 5 diesel is far bigger than that of diesel produced in the Middle East or the United States. The margin on diesel per metric ton is about $100.”
China and India’s impact
Recent reports also suggest that China and India are playing a crucial role in Russia’s ability to avoid western sanctions and increase its oil shipments to pre-Ukraine war levels.
India, in particular, has emerged as a significant player in the global oil markets by importing cheap Russian crude and converting it into fuel for Europe and the US. In the fiscal year 2022–2023, India imported a large quantity of crude oil from Russia, which allowed it to increase shipments of diesel and jet fuel to Europe.
In January, India imported a record amount of Russian oil, tripling in quantity from the previous year. After Moscow lowered its oil prices for India – following the onset of the Ukraine war – Russia became India’s primary oil supplier, surpassing both Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Russia’s market share in India’s energy imports increased to 1.62 million barrels per day in February, rising from a less than 1 percent share before the 2022 Ukraine war to a whopping 35 percent stake today.
More than a quarter of the 4.5-4.6 million bpd of Russian oil imported in 2022-2023 went to Indian refineries, and a long-term agreement between the largest oil producer in Russia, Rosneft, and the largest Indian refiner, Indian Oil Corp, can greatly increase and diversify the types of oil transported to India.
Russia-Iran fuel trade
It was recently reported that Russia has begun exporting gasoline and diesel to Iran by rail earlier this year, with Moscow allowing Tehran to access up to 30,000 tons of gasoline and diesel in February and March.
Although Russian officials announced in 2017 that oil products would be traded with Iran, it appears that actual shipments did not start until 2023. The oil consignments were transported to Iran by rail from Russia, via Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
While Iran needs natural gas and diesel to run its power plants and refineries, a top oil refiner based in Saudi Arabia who asked to remain anonymous tells The Cradle that there is a possibility that Iran may use the Russian consignment for export to other countries.
The source claims that Pakistan – in addition to Afghanistan – is a multi-billion dollar informal marketfor Iranian oil, and the evidence of some gasoline shipments from Iran being transported by truck to neighboring countries such as Iraq supports the notion that Tehran is making money from gasoline trades.
Once again, western sanctions have demonstrated their tendency to backfire. Russian oil sales are booming, and Asia is reaping the economic benefits by reselling cheaper Russian fuel at marked up prices to Europe – which is clearly the biggest loser in this proxy conflict with Russia.
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Valentina Lisitsa, la “Regina di Rachmaninov”, pianista classica di fama internazionale, della “regina” non ha solo la presenza scenica, ma anche un magnetismo capace di catalizzare l’ascoltatore, di catturarlo tra le corde del pianoforte e di portarlo ad un livello di ascoltoche vaoltre la conoscenza della musica, la cultura, l’età, la nazionalità.
Le sue esecuzioni sono più di una rappresentazione, sono un linguaggio. Un canale di comunicazione vivo, che arriva, che turba certo ma che non divide, perché nessuna comunicazione può dividere se non strumentalizzata e distorta per fini che con essa non hanno nulla a che vedere.
È quanto avvenuto dopo l’esibizione di Valentina Lisitsa nella città di Mariupol, riconquistata dopo violentissimi scontri. La coltre della censura è calata sulla sua musica e il suo messaggio. Il Teatro la Fenice di Venezia, tempio della musica in una città internazionale per vocazione, ha annullato il concerto in cartellone lo scorso 5 aprile per la “posizione filo russa della pianista”. Una congiura in nome di una prona aderenza alla propaganda, che avrebbe privato il nostro Paese di uno spettacolo imperdibile che continua invece nel resto del mondo.
Avrebbe. Il condizionale è d’obbligo perché è a questo punto che è intervenuta BYOBLU, insieme a Pangea Grandangolo organizzando un concerto – evento che costituisce un vero e proprio manifesto contro ogni forma di censura dell’arte.
Un evento che BYOBLU trasmette sul 262 del digitale terrestre, sul 462 di TìvuSat e 816 di Sky.
Un momento in cui la luce dell’arte illumina l’oscurantismo della propaganda e compie la propria missione universale: superare le divisioni.
Valentina Lisitsa esegue per la TV dei Cittadini i 24 Preludi di Sergej Rachmaninov, compositore e musicista russo di cui ricorrono i 150 anni dalla nascita.
Significativa la scelta dell’artista di eseguire insieme i 24 preludi, composti da Rachmaninov tra il 1903 ed il 1910. Lisitsa, che attribuisce ai compositori una visione profetica del futuro, ha colto nei preludi tutta l’ansia di una generazione prebellica capace di parlare anche a noi ed alle nostre incertezze. “Rachmaninov esprime proprio questo con una sorta di previsione di quello che succederà nella guerra mondiale. Lo sento nella sua musica” ha detto nell’intervista rilasciata in esclusiva a Virginia Camerieri.
“In questa musica Rachmaninov vede qualcosa e ci fa vedere qualcosa. È davvero incredibile. È difficile mettere delle parole a questa musica, non deve essere parlata ma soltanto sentita”.
Parole che valgono un invito all’ascolto.
Il concerto di Valentina Lisitsa è una esclusiva Byoblu. Quando guardalo in Tv:
Domenica 7 maggio ore 14.00
Sabato 13 maggio alle 14.30
Martedì 16 maggio alle 21.30
Mercoledì 24 maggio alle 18.00
Domenica 4 giugno alle 21.30
Special Byo sostiene questo evento “Il concerto di Valentina Lisitsa”
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Valentina Lisitsa suonerà per Byoblu i 24 Preludi di Rachmaninov, tra i maggiori compositori e pianisti russi di sempre, di cui è diventata la più grande interprete.https://t.co/564ZocziPc
La scorsa settimana il Segretario ai Trasporti degli Stati Uniti Pete Buttigieg ha annunciato l’assegnazione di 94 milioni di dollari in sovvenzioni per finanziare 59 progetti tecnologici di smart city (o città intelligenti) in tutto il Paese.
Nonostante la diffusa e crescente opposizione contro i sistemi di controllo e sorveglianza biometrica associati alle tecnologie delle smart city e al fallimento del precedente tentativo del Dipartimento dei Trasporti degli Stati Uniti (DOT, acronimo di Department of Transportation) di finanziare la trasformazione in smart city la città di Columbus, in Ohio, Buttigieg ha dichiarato a The Verge che “le tecnologie per le città intelligenti sono più importanti che mai”.
Le città devono solo adottare un approccio diverso, sperimentando e testando prima diverse tecnologie, piuttosto che implementare un “grande sistema unificato” tutto in una volta, ha detto Buttigieg.
Le nuove sovvenzioni, che fanno parte del programma di finaziamenti Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART, Rafforzare la mobilità e rivoluzionare il trasporto), sono la prima tranche di finanziamenti per 500 milioni di dollari che saranno assegnati a piccoli progetti di mobilità intelligente nei prossimi cinque anni, autorizzati dalla legge bipartisan sulle infrastrutturedel 2021.
In questa tornata di finanziamenti, il DOT ha assegnato sovvenzioni intelligenti per una serie di progetti, tra cui la sorveglianza o la consegna con i droni, i segnali stradali intelligenti, i veicoli connessi, i veicoli autonomi, lo sviluppo di reti intelligenti, i sensori intelligenti e altre infrastrutture dell’Internet delle cose (IoT, acronimo di Internet of Things). Alcune città, tra cui Los Angeles (LA), hanno ricevuto più di una sovvenzione.
Whitney Webb, giornalista d’inchiesta con un atteggiamento critico verso le città intelligenti, ha dichiarato che l’ infrastruttura della smart city è destinata a facilitare lo sviluppo di città “microgestite da tecnocrati attraverso un sistema onnicomprensivo di sorveglianza di massa e una vasta gamma di dispositivi ‘internet delle cose’ che forniscono un flusso costante e massiccio di dati che vengono analizzati dall’intelligenza artificiale (IA)”.
“Il concetto di un sensore in ogni casa non sembra più così brillante come un tempo”
I progetti di smart city hanno iniziato a prendere piede negli Stati Uniti nel 2015, grazie a un programma lanciato dall’allora segretario ai trasporti Anthony Foxx. Foxx, che è poi diventato chief policy officer di Lyft, lavora ora presso Tulco, una società di venture capital nel campo della scienza dei dati. Foxx ha creato la “Smart City Challenge” (Sfida delle città intelligenti), che ha offerto una sovvenzione di 50 milioni di dollari alla città di medie dimensioni con la migliore proposta di trasformazione in “città intelligente”.
La sovvenzione federale è stata finanziata in parte da Vulcan LLC, un’organizzazione filantropica e di investimento, dedita a concretizzare la visione del cofondatore di Microsoft Paul Allen, e i cui servizi a scopo di lucro si concentrano sullo sviluppo immobiliare.
Columbus (Ohio) ha battuto altre 77 città con la sua proposta “rivoluzionaria”, ma il progetto si è rivelato in gran parte un fallimento: i costosi chioschi per la pianificazione dei viaggi eretti in centro non sono mai stati utilizzati, le navette autonome hanno avuto incidenti, la piattaforma per il trasporto pubblico è stata scaricata raramente e i camion collegati ai sensori non si sono concretizzati.
Poi, nel maggio 2020, un altro progetto paradigmatico di modello di smart city è fallito quando la controllata di Google Sidewalk Labs ha abbandonato i piani per la costruzione di un prototipo di smart city a Toronto in seguito alle proteste dell’opinione pubblica contro la sorveglianza e la ricerca del profitto ad ogni costo.
Secondo The Globe and Mail, Eric Schmidt, ex capo della società madre di Google, Alphabet, ha descritto il progetto in questi termini:
“La genesi del pensiero di Sidewalk Labs è nata dal fatto che i fondatori di Google si sono entusiasmati pensando a ‘tutte le cose che si potrebbero fare se qualcuno ci desse una città e ci mettesse al comando’”.
Visioni come queste hanno sollevato molte preoccupazioni sia tra gli esperti che tra il pubblico in generale.
Anche uno dei maggiori promotori del concetto di smart city, Wired Magazine, ha ammesso che lo scetticismo nei confronti delle città intelligenti è cresciuto:
“Oggi, mentre i cittadini pensano con maggiore attenzione alla sorveglianza abilitata dalla tecnologia, il concetto di un sensore in ogni casa non sembra più così brillante come un tempo”.
New York è una delle numerose città che hanno approvato leggi biometriche. Anche diversi Stati, tra cui il Texas, lo stato di Washington e l’Illinois, hanno approvato leggi simili, come riporta Nick Corbishly su Naked Capitalism.
Il mercato globale delle città intelligenti dovrebbe raggiungere i 696 miliardi di dollari entro il 2028
Ma le resistenze non hanno impedito ai visionari della tecnologia e agli Stati di andare avanti con progetti di sviluppo smart. Secondo una ricerca di mercato pubblicata lunedì, il mercato globale delle città intelligenti dovrebbe raggiungere i 696 miliardi di dollari entro il 2028, rispetto ai 467 miliardi di dollari del 2022.
Webb ha riferito che poco dopo che Schmidt aveva commentato la visione della smart city di Toronto, l’allora governatore di New York Andrew Cuomo lo aveva incaricato di guidare uno sforzo per reimmaginare la vita post-pandemia nello Stato, costruendo infrastrutture da smart city attraverso delle partnership con il governo israeliano.
I progetti pilota di smart city continuano a proliferare. In Giappone, Toyota sta costruendo Woven City (Città tessuta), un prototipo di 175 acri, dove persone e cose sono completamente connesse attraverso dati e sensori. Il progetto testerà nuove tecnologie, come la guida automatizzata, la robotica e l’intelligenza artificiale in un “ambiente reale”.
Dei ricercatori stanno studiando i residenti dei quartieri di Helsinki e Amsterdam che hanno aggiunto tecnologie smart alle loro case e utilizzano le informazioni per contribuire allo sviluppo di “piattaforme di innovazione sperimentale”.
Anche piccole città come Cary, nella Carolina del Nord, si sono trasformate in città intelligenti grazie all’installazione di sensori IoT che “raccolgono dati e consentono analisi per fornire informazioni utili” in tutta la città.
A Busan, in Corea del Sud, come ha riportato il New York Times martedì, 54 famiglie stanno sottoponendo ogni aspetto della loro vita alla raccolta di dati, in modo che gli sviluppatori possano usare il loro comportamento come base per costruire una città intelligente “dalle fondamenta”.
Big Tech sta trasformando Los Angeles in una “data farm”
Il Dipartimento dei Trasporti ha assegnato diverse sovvenzioni Smart a Los Angeles: 2 milioni di dollari per la gestione dei marciapiedi, 2 milioni di dollari per l’emissione di biglietti di trasporto integrati con gli eventi e la Contea di Orange ha ricevuto 1,6 milioni di dollari per un sistema di segnali di transito basato sul cloud.
Il concetto apparentemente banale di “gestione dei marciapiedi“, riporta Bloomberg, “è diventato oggetto di seria attenzione da parte di alcune delle principali aziende tecnologiche del mondo”.
Si tratta di un sito di sviluppo molto promettente per le startup che operano nel settore delle smart city, come Coord, un prodotto di Sidewalk Labs, in quanto le città cercano di digitalizzare, tracciare e regolamentare lo spazio ai lati delle strade richiesto dalla rete di trasporto privato della smart city – monopattini, biciclette, autisti di consegne, autisti di Uber, ecc.
Gli altri progetti sono direttamente collegati al piano di Los Angeles per ospitare le Olimpiadi estive del 2028. In effetti, questi progetti rientrano nel piano urbano SmartLA 2028 di Los Angeles, sviluppato dall’Agenzia per le Tecnologie dell’Informazione della città e reso noto per la prima volta dall’ex sindaco Eric Garcetti, il primo “sindaco high tech” di Los Angeles, nel dicembre 2020, come piano per “sfruttare la tecnologia per affrontare le sfide urbane”.
Secondo Spencer Rascoff, fondatore di Zillow e promotore della smart city, il piano per “portare Los Angeles dalla dipendenza dai combustibili fossili e dalle automobili allo stato di città connessa, guidata dai dati” sembrava uno scenario lontano quando è stato presentato.
Ma, ha scritto sul suo sito web, “c’è voluta quella pandemia per proiettare tutti in un futuro pronto per il digitale prima di quanto (tutti) si aspettassero”. Ma eccoci qui”.
Il documento strategico di 54 pagine, pubblicato nel 2020, è stato rivisitato questo mese in occasione della conferenza Smart Cities for a Better Future (Città intelligenti per un futuro migliore) tenutasi a Los Angeles.
L’avvocato Ray Flores, che ha partecipato alla conferenza, ha affermato che il piano è a dir poco irrealistico:
“Questa città intelligente viene presentata come una panacea per tutto ciò che affligge, o forse dovrei dire rende invivibile, Los Angeles, con la semplice pressione di un interruttore. Questo non accadrà mai”.
Peggio ancora, ha detto Flores, la città sta usando le Olimpiadi per giustificare l’implementazione di tecnologie draconiane:
“Come sede dei Giochi Olimpici del 2028, LA28 si sta posizionando per un’ulteriore tirannia, alzando l’asticella dell’obbedienza su una scala ancora più vasta, comprendente tutta la città, perché il mondo la veda”.
SmartLA 2028 delinea a grandi linee un progetto per la città che i consumatori delle Olimpiadi visiteranno: una città intelligente per Los Angeles, in grado di competere in un’economia digitale.
“In questo documento si suggerisce che la tecnologia delle smart city è necessaria perché i residenti di Los Angeles sono vittime, vittime della COVID e vittime dell’ingiustizia razziale. L’idea è che si debba spingere questa città intelligente per competere in un’economia digitale e perché i residenti di Los Angeles sono vittime.
“Il risultato pratico è quello di reindirizzare i dollari dei residenti di Los Angeles per finanziare le aziende Big Tech, le quali monitoreranno i residenti di Los Angeles 24 ore su 24, 7 giorni su 7, in modi sempre più distopici, e il documento strategico lo specifica indicando una tempistica.
“Ogni anno la tecnologia diventa più avanzata, più integrata e Los Angeles raccoglie più dati su questi residenti, trasformando di fatto Los Angeles in una data farm [fattoria di dati]”.
Secondo il piano, SmartLA sarà costruita su un’infrastruttura 5G a livello di tutta la città – la prima negli Stati Uniti – con una connettività 5G ad altissima velocità onnipresente nella città.
La città utilizzerà l’infrastruttura 5G per creare un “L.A. City Data Lake” (Lago di dati della città di Los Angeles) per far parlare tra loro i dipartimenti e le macchine e per riunire tutti i dati dei sensori IoT di tutta la città.
Questa infrastruttura consentirà, tra l’altro, ai residenti di utilizzare “un’unica piattaforma di pagamento digitale” per le opzioni di transito pubblico e “micro”.
La città utilizzerà una “tecnologia etica e proattiva” che identificherà crisi come incendi, violenze “o altri rischi per la salute e la sicurezza dei residenti di Los Angeles”, “anche prima” che questi debbano chiamare il 911.
Le case saranno dotate di un software proprietario, come Amazon Echo, Google Home o Apple Siri, che verrà utilizzato per accedere ai servizi pubblici cittadini, compresi i contenuti della biblioteca. Le persone potranno inoltre utilizzare questi strumenti per parlare con chatbotmultilingue, che utilizzeranno l’intelligenza artificiale per rispondere a tutte le loro domande.
Ci saranno controlli automatici del traffico, spazzatrici stradali abilitate al GPS e lampioni intelligenti, che a San Diego sono dotati di telecamere che trasmettono dati ai dipartimenti di polizia, telecamere e sensori IoT in tutta la città per rilevare e prendere decisioni su “traffico, criminalità, inquinamento, buche e graffiti”.
La città utilizzerà la Robotic Process Automation per elaborare i documenti comunali e la tecnologia blockchain per gli “smart contracting”.
Secondo il piano, la città sarà l’epicentro economico di un nuovo ecosistema di startup.
La COVID-19, secondo il piano urbano SmartLA 2028 ha dimostrato che “gli strumenti digitali sono emersi come un’ancora di salvezza cruciale per la nostra società – rendendo possibili servizi essenziali senza contatto, soluzioni mediche accelerate, decisioni politiche assistite dall’intelligenza artificiale, coordinamento delle proteste attraverso i social media, impegno della comunità in tempo reale e una scala e un ritmo di innovazione precedentemente impensabili”.
Per affrontare la privacy e altre preoccupazioni, Los Angeles adotterà un codice etico digitale per garantire che non vi sia un uso non etico della tecnologia digitale, come il riconoscimento facciale, e per assicurare un accesso equo a tutti questi servizi.
Il documento strategico guiderà “la trasformazione digitale della città di Los Angeles per accelerare la nostra ripresa nel breve termine, migliorare la qualità della vita di tutti gli abitanti di Los Angeles nel lungo termine e creare l’infrastruttura Smart City necessaria per ospitare efficacemente le Olimpiadi e le Paraolimpiadi dell’estate 2028”.
Una rete di infrastrutture di sorveglianza
Anche il presidente francese Emmanuel Macron ha spinto per l’introduzione di sistemi di sorveglianza basati sull’IA per le Olimpiadi di Parigi del 2024. All’inizio di quest’anno, quando il Senato francese ha approvato nuovi poteri di sorveglianza di massa in vista delle Olimpiadi, la commissione giuridica del Senato ha respinto una proposta di emendamento che avrebbe consentito il riconoscimento facciale.
Ma Amnesty International avverte che qualsiasi sorveglianza digitale alimentata dall’IA violerà i diritti alla privacy ed espanderà i poteri della polizia “ampliando l’arsenale di apparecchiature di sorveglianza del governo, in modo permanente”.
“Riassortire gli apparati di sicurezza con la sorveglianza di massa basata sull’intelligenza artificialeè un progetto politico pericoloso che potrebbe portare ad ampie violazioni dei diritti umani”, ha dichiarato Agnes Callamard, segretario generale di Amnesty International.
“Ogni azione in uno spazio pubblico verrà risucchiata in una rete di infrastrutture di sorveglianza, minando le libertà civiche fondamentali”, ha aggiunto.
Amnesty International ha riferito che le nuove misure di sorveglianza di massa basate sull’IA, come la Closed Caption Television, le telecamere e i droni presenti ai giochi, cattureranno i dati di chiunque si trovi sui mezzi di trasporto pubblico o negli stadi. Permetterà ai funzionari di identificare attività “anomale” o “sospette”.
Callamard ha detto:
“Queste definizioni troppo ampie stabilite dai funzionari per classificare le attività ‘sospette’ e ‘anormali’ in una folla sono molto preoccupanti. Dobbiamo porci alcune domande urgenti: Chi stabilisce la norma di ciò che è “normale”?
“I funzionari che controllano la designazione di attività ‘anormali o sospette’ nelle società hanno anche il potere di esacerbare un effetto raggelante sul dissenso.
O secretário de Transportes dos EUA, Pete Buttigieg, anunciou na semana passada US$ 94 milhões em concessões para financiar 59 projetos de tecnologia de cidades inteligentes em todo o país.
Apesar da resistência generalizada e crescente contra os sistemas biométricos de vigilância e controle associados às tecnologias de cidades inteligentes e do fracasso da tentativa anterior do Departamento de Transporte dos EUA (DOT) de conceder fundos para a transformação de cidades inteligentes em Columbus, Ohio, Buttigieg disse ao The Verge que acha “inteligente as tecnologias da cidade são mais importantes do que nunca.”
As cidades só precisam adotar uma abordagem diferente – experimentar e testar diferentes tecnologias primeiro, em vez de implementar um “grande sistema unificado” de uma só vez, disse Buttigieg.
As novas doações, parte do Programa de Doações para Fortalecer a Mobilidade e Revolucionar o Transporte (SMART), são a primeira rodada de US$ 500 milhões em financiamento que serão concedidos para projetos menores de mobilidade inteligente nos próximos cinco anos, autorizados pela Lei de Infraestrutura Bipartidária de 2021.
Nesta rodada de financiamento, o DOT concedeu subsídios inteligentes para uma série de projetos, incluindo vigilância ou entrega de drones, sinais de trânsito inteligentes, veículos conectados, veículos autônomos, desenvolvimento de redes inteligentes, sensores inteligentes e outras infraestruturas de Internet das Coisas (IoT). Algumas cidades, incluindo Los Angeles (LA), receberam vários subsídios.
Whitney Webb, jornalista investigativa e crítica de cidades inteligentes, disse que a infraestrutura da cidade inteligente visa facilitar o desenvolvimento de cidades “microgerenciadas por tecnocratas por meio de um sistema abrangente de vigilância em massa e uma vasta gama de dispositivos de ‘internet das coisas’ que fornecem um fluxo constante e massivo de dados que é analisado pela inteligência artificial (IA).”
‘O conceito de um sensor em cada casa não parece tão brilhante quanto antes’
Os projetos de cidades inteligentes começaram a ganhar força nos EUA em 2015, impulsionados por um programa lançado pelo então secretário do DOT, Anthony Foxx. Foxx, que se tornou diretor de políticas da Lyft , agora trabalha na Tulco, uma empresa de capital de risco de ciência de dados. A Foxx criou o “Smart City Challenge”, que ofereceu uma doação de US$ 50 milhões para a cidade de médio porte com a melhor proposta para transformar sua cidade em uma “cidade inteligente”.
A Vulcan LLC, uma organização filantrópica e de investimento dedicada a materializar a visão do cofundador da Microsoft, Paul Allen, e cujos serviços lucrativos se concentram no desenvolvimento imobiliário, financiou parcialmente a subvenção federal.
Columbus, Ohio, superou 77 outras cidades com sua proposta “revolucionária”, mas o projeto foi, segundo a maioria das contas, um fracasso – quiosques caros de planejamento de viagens erguidos no centro da cidade nunca foram usados, ônibus autônomos sofreram acidentes, a plataforma de transporte público raramente foi baixada e caminhões conectados ao censor não se materializaram.
Então, em maio de 2020, outro projeto paradigmático de modelo de cidade inteligente falhou quando a Sidewalk Labs, subsidiária de cidade inteligente do Google, descartou os planos de construir um protótipo de cidade inteligente em Toronto em meio a protestos públicos sobre vigilância e especulação.
De acordo com o The Globe and Mail, Eric Schmidt, ex-chefe da empresa controladora do Google, Alphabet, descreveu o projeto nos seguintes termos:
“A gênese do pensamento do Sidewalk Labs veio dos fundadores do Google, que ficaram entusiasmados pensando em ‘todas as coisas que você poderia fazer se alguém apenas nos desse uma cidade e nos colocasse no comando’.”
Mesmo um dos maiores promotores do conceito de cidade inteligente, a Wired Magazine, admitiu que o ceticismo sobre cidades inteligentes havia crescido:
“Hoje, como os cidadãos pensam com mais cuidado sobre a vigilância habilitada pela tecnologia, o conceito de um sensor em cada casa não parece tão brilhante quanto antes.”
Nova York é uma das várias cidades que aprovaram leis biométricas. Vários estados, incluindo Texas, Washington e Illinois também aprovaram leis semelhantes , relatou Nick Corbishly em Naked Capitalism.
Mercado global de cidades inteligentes projetado para atingir US$ 696 bilhões até 2028
Mas a resistência não impediu que visionários e estados da tecnologia avançassem com projetos de desenvolvimento inteligentes. O mercado global de cidades inteligentes está projetado para crescer para US$ 696 bilhões até 2028, crescendo de US$ 467 bilhões em 2022, de acordo com um relatório de pesquisa de mercado publicado na segunda-feira.
Webb relatou que logo depois que Schmidt comentou sobre a visão por trás da cidade inteligente de Toronto, o então governador de Nova York, Andrew Cuomo, o convocou para liderar um esforço para reimaginar a vida pós-pandemia no estado, construindo infraestrutura de cidade inteligente por meio de parcerias com o governo israelense.
Projetos-piloto de cidades inteligentes continuam a proliferar. No Japão, a Toyota está construindo Woven City, um protótipo de 175 acres, onde pessoas e coisas estão completamente conectadas por meio de dados e censores. O projeto testará novas tecnologias, como direção automatizada, robótica e IA em um “ambiente do mundo real”.
Os pesquisadores estão estudando moradores de bairros de Helsinque e Amsterdã que adicionaram tecnologia inteligente a suas casas e usaram as informações para ajudar no desenvolvimento de “plataformas de inovação experimental”.
Mesmo cidades pequenas como Cary, na Carolina do Norte, transformaram-se em cidades inteligentes ao implantar sensores de IoT que “coletam dados e permitem análises para fornecer insights acionáveis” em toda a cidade.
Em Busan, Coreia do Sul, o New York Times informou na terça-feira, 54 famílias estão submetendo todos os aspectos de suas vidas à coleta de dados para que os desenvolvedores possam usar seu comportamento como base para construir uma cidade inteligente “do zero”.
Big Tech transformando LA em uma ‘fazenda de dados’
O DOT concedeu vários subsídios inteligentes para LA – $ 2 milhões para gerenciamento de meio-fio, $ 2 milhões para emissão de bilhetes de transporte integrados ao evento e Orange County recebeu $ 1,6 milhão para um sistema de sinalização de trânsito baseado em nuvem.
O conceito aparentemente banal de “controle do freio”, informou a Bloomberg, “tornou-se um foco de atenção séria de algumas das principais empresas de tecnologia do mundo”.
É um local de desenvolvimento quente para startups de cidades inteligentes como Coord, um spin-off do Sidewalk Labs, à medida que as cidades buscam digitalizar, rastrear e regular o espaço do meio-fio procurado pela rede de transporte privado da cidade inteligente – patinetes, bicicletas, motoristas de entrega, Uber motoristas etc.
O plano de “transformar LA da dependência de combustíveis fósseis e carros em uma cidade conectada orientada por dados” parecia um cenário distante quando lançado pela primeira vez, de acordo com o fundador da Zillow e promotor de cidades inteligentes, Spencer Rascoff.
Mas, ele escreveu em seu site, “foi necessária essa pandemia para lançar todos em um futuro digital pronto antes do que (todos) esperavam. Mas aqui estamos nós.”
O advogado Ray Flores, que participou da conferência, disse que o plano era irreal, para dizer o mínimo:
“Esta cidade inteligente está sendo anunciada como uma panaceia para todos os males, ou devo dizer pragas, Los Angeles, com o apertar de um botão. Isso nunca acontecerá.”
Pior, disse Flores, a cidade está usando as Olimpíadas para justificar a implementação de tecnologias draconianas:
“Como anfitriã dos Jogos Olímpicos de 2028, a LA28 está se posicionando para mais tirania, movendo a bola da conformidade para frente em uma escala ainda maior em toda a cidade para o mundo ver.”
O SmartLA 2028 descreve em linhas gerais uma visão para a cidade que os consumidores das Olimpíadas visitarão – uma cidade inteligente para LA competir em uma economia digital.
“Eles sugerem neste documento que a tecnologia de cidade inteligente é necessária porque os residentes de LA são vítimas, vítimas do COVID e vítimas da injustiça racial. A ideia é que eles precisam impulsionar esta cidade inteligente para competir em uma economia digital e porque os residentes de LA são vítimas.”
“O resultado prático é redirecionar os dólares dos residentes de LA para financiar a Big Tech, e a Big Tech monitorará os residentes de LA 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana, de maneiras cada vez mais distópicas, e o documento de estratégia especifica isso em um cronograma.”
“A cada ano, a tecnologia se torna mais avançada, mais integrada e LA está coletando mais dados sobre esses residentes, transformando efetivamente LA em uma fazenda de dados.”
De acordo com o plano, o SmartLA será construído em uma infraestrutura 5G em toda a cidade – a primeira nos EUA – com conectividade 5G de alta velocidade onipresente em toda a cidade.
A cidade usará a infraestrutura 5G para criar um “LA City Data Lake” para que departamentos e máquinas conversem entre si e reúnam todos os dados do sensor IoT de toda a cidade.
Essa infraestrutura possibilitará, entre outras coisas, que os residentes usem “uma única plataforma de pagamento digital” para opções de transporte público e “micro”.
A cidade usará “tecnologia ética e proativa” que identificará crises como incêndio, violência “ou outros riscos à saúde e segurança dos residentes de LA”, o que será feito “mesmo antes” de eles precisarem ligar para o 9-1-1 .
As residências serão equipadas com software proprietário, como Amazon Echo, Google Home ou Apple Siri, que usarão para acessar os serviços públicos da cidade, incluindo o conteúdo da biblioteca. As pessoas também poderão usar essas ferramentas para conversar com chatbots multilíngues , que usarão IA para responder a todas as suas perguntas.
Haverá controle automático de tráfego, varredores de rua habilitados para GPS e lâmpadas de rua inteligentes, que em San Diego são equipadas com câmeras que fornecem dados para departamentos de polícia, câmeras e sensores IoT em toda a cidade para detectar e tomar decisões sobre “trânsito, crime, poluição, buracos e pichações”.
A cidade usará automação robótica de processos para processar documentos da cidade e tecnologia blockchain para “contratação inteligente”.
E a cidade será o epicentro econômico de um novo ecossistema de startups, segundo o plano.
O COVID-19, de acordo com o plano da cidade SmartLA 2028, mostrou que “as ferramentas digitais surgiram como uma linha de vida crítica para nossa sociedade – permitindo serviços essenciais sem contato, soluções médicas aceleradas, formulação de políticas assistida por Inteligência Artificial (IA), coordenação de protestos por meio de mídias sociais, envolvimento da comunidade em tempo real e uma escala e ritmo de inovação anteriormente impensáveis”.
Para abordar a privacidade e outras preocupações, LA adotará um código de ética digital para garantir que não haja uso antiético da tecnologia digital, como reconhecimento facial, e para garantir que haja acesso igualitário a todos esses serviços.
O documento de estratégia guiará “essa transformação digital para a cidade de Los Angeles para acelerar nossa recuperação no curto prazo, melhorar a qualidade de vida de todos os angelenos no longo prazo e estabelecer a infraestrutura de cidade inteligente necessária para sediar efetivamente as Olimpíadas de verão de 2028 e Paralímpicos”.
‘Uma rede de infraestrutura de vigilância’
O presidente francês, Emmanuel Macron, também pressionou pela introdução de sistemas de vigilância com inteligência artificial para as Olimpíadas de Paris em 2024. No início deste ano, quando o Senado francês aprovou novos poderes de vigilância em massa antes das Olimpíadas, o comitê jurídico do Senado rejeitou uma proposta de emenda que permitiria o reconhecimento facial.
Mas a Anistia Internacional adverte que qualquer vigilância digital com IA violará os direitos de privacidade e expandirá os poderes da polícia ao “ampliar permanentemente o arsenal de equipamentos de vigilância do governo”.
“Reabastecer o aparato de segurança com vigilância em massa orientada por IA é um projeto político perigoso que pode levar a amplas violações dos direitos humanos”, disse Agnes Callamard, secretária-geral da Anistia Internacional.
“Toda ação em um espaço público será sugada por uma rede de infraestrutura de vigilância, minando as liberdades cívicas fundamentais”, acrescentou ela.
A Anistia Internacional informou que, sob as novas medidas de vigilância em massa com IA, como Closed Caption Television, câmeras e drones nos jogos, capturarão dados de todos nos transportes públicos ou nos estádios. Isso permitirá que os funcionários identifiquem atividades “anormais” ou “suspeitas”.
Callamard disse:
“Essas definições excessivamente amplas definidas pelas autoridades para categorizar atividades ‘suspeitas’ e ‘anormais’ em multidões são altamente preocupantes. Devemos nos fazer algumas perguntas urgentes: Quem estabelece a norma para o que é ‘normal’?”
“Os funcionários que controlam as designações de atividades ‘anormais ou suspeitas’ nas sociedades também têm o poder de exacerbar um efeito inibidor sobre a dissidência e o protesto e sobrecarregar a discriminação contra as comunidades já visadas.”
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