More articles, and comments as we dance and observe the world in transition. The united West (United States, the UK, and all the proxy nations) are in “free fall”, while the “global South”, the “East” are doing just fine. We will continue to report on this great period of historical change. Hopefully it should calm down and achieve stability within the next few years.

Check it out…

Chinese efforts to replenish reserves with Russian oil would not violate U.S. sanctions -White House

Imagine that.

The Drive: Russia “caught by surprise” US intelligence during an unprecedented operation

ByVT Editors

–April 25, 2022

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By Sergey Ignatiev

The United States organized an unprecedented reconnaissance operation with RC-135S aircraft off the Russian coast. This is reported by The Drive, an exclusive retelling of the publication of which is presented by PolitRussia.

Columnist Thomas Newdick notes that the US Air Force decided on a “highly unusual move” by arranging an “unprecedented espionage operation” off the eastern coast of Russia. We are talking about the flight in the Pacific Ocean of two strategic reconnaissance aircraft Boeing RC-135S Cobra Ball, specialized in tracking ballistic missiles.

The reason for such a mission was the test of the new RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, which, according to Newdick, is one of the six superweapons announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the message to the Federal Assembly in March 2018.

The launch of the complex was carried out at the Plesetsk cosmodrome (Arkhangelsk region) to confirm the calculated characteristics and hit the target at the Kura test site (Kamchatka Peninsula). Actually, it was the final destination that interested American intelligence.

Two RC-135S aircraft took off from the US Air Force Base in Alaska (Eielson) in the direction of the Far East coast of Russia.

“Flight tracking services have spotted [aircraft] near St. Matthew Island, a remote, uninhabited outpost of Alaska in the Bering Sea,” writes The Drive.

The aircraft, which have been known for their reconnaissance activities since the Cold War, are designed to collect information about missile systems. They are equipped with spectrometers, a camera system, antennas for intercepting telemetry data and other equipment. Newdick suggests that the planes were supposed to collect information about the flight of the Sarmat training warheads, however, apparently, something went wrong.

“Usually, Cobra Ball takes a position much closer to the Russian coast, with a focus on Klyuchi (the village in the vicinity of which the Kura test site is located – ed.). Therefore, most likely, two RC-135S aircraft were “caught by surprise”, since the arrival [of blocks in a given area] occurred before the aircraft reached their planned position, ”the publication notes.

It is noteworthy that the distance from the Keys to the island of St. Matthew is almost 1,500 kilometers. And the capabilities of the RC-135S to detect and track complexes are limited to 500-600 kilometers. It is entirely possible that the unprecedented air mission was wasted, even though the Pentagon says it was given advance notice of the Sarmat test.

Nevertheless, as noted by aviation historian Robert Hopkins III, who served in the Air Force for 17 years, the United States took the unprecedented step of organizing the flight of two strategic reconnaissance aircraft at once.

“The immediate takeaway from the flight seems to be that US intelligence was so desperate to collect data on this first-of-its-kind ICBM test that they sent two RC-135S aircraft to monitor it,” The Drive summarizes.

Earlier, PolitRussia told what signal the Russian Federation sent to NATO from Kaliningrad.

Red beans and rice | Southern U.S. style

The World Through Jack London’s Eyes

When most people hear the name Jack London, they think of one of the most widely read American writers who produced 50 books including Call of the Wild and The Sea Wolf; some may also know him as an adventurer or social activist.

But most don’t realize that Jack London was a prolific photographer producing nearly 12,000 photographs during his lifetime, ranging from the poignant images of the ragged homeless living in London’s East End; images of the Russo-Japanese War while he was on assignment for the Hearst Syndicate; sensitive images of the South Seas islanders during his voyage aboard the Snark to the 1906 San Francisco earth quake devastation.

In his photography, London showed his powers of perception and revealed his compassion, respect and love for humanity. Most of his photographs remained unpublished until 2010 when authors Jeanne Campbell Reesman, Sara S. Hodson and Philip Adam published Jack London Photographer with 200 images.

London lived during the first true mass-media era, when the use of photographic images ushered in a new way of covering the news. With his discerning eye, London recorded historical moments through the faces and bodies of the people who lived them, creating memorable portraits of individuals whose cultural differences pale beside their common humanity.

PeeWee Herman gets High with Phill Hartman

Seven Mary Three – My My

Some thoughts on SARS and SARS-COV-2 in regards to them being bioweapons

To begin with, SARS-CoV-2 did not first appear in China. It appeared in the US and France prior to China; China was just the first to report it to the WHO. The Wuhan market appears to have been a source of transmission, cold chain transmissions being documented numerous times by Chinese scientists. Different clades appeared rapidly on different continents (Chart B), something uncharacteristic of a natural virus but obvious for one spread from those continents.





To state unequivocally COVID "was not genetically engineered" seems quite naive, given geopolitics over the past decade and the exponential rise in BSL labs worldwide this century - along with the exponential rise in diseases and "pandemics" (Chart, p 44). Logic and probability simply must be applied:  How many times during the past 100 years has China attacked another country?  Used a biological or chemical weapons against any people?  How many times during the past 100 year has the US attacked (intentional destabilization is included as an attack) another country? How many times has the US used biological or chemical weapons against any people?  How about the AngloZionist Empire (US/UK/Israel)?

Qui bono?

Sellin presents no special credentials or research to uphold opinions on COVID. Working at Ft. Detrick alone is insufficient. In the past, his opinions have gotten him kicked out of military positions due at least in part to his presenting them as fact in mainstream media rather than as his opinions in a blog.  One of his published opinions states that the third of the US' three mistakes in Afghanistan was "Misstep No. 3: Our inability to manage, let alone solve, Afghanistan’s illicit narcotics trade.”  "Solve"?  For any student of geopolitics, this would appear as direct obfuscation, since it's widely assumed that Afghanistan's poppy trade was encouraged by the US, not the Taliban (who again banned immediately upon assuming leadership this year), and that the funds were used by the CIA for global psyops, including the addicting of US and UK publics.  While Sellin's words do not convince, neither, for me, do his bio or prior publications.  His opinions regarding SARS-CoV-2 require a great deal of substantiation prior to consideration.

Caren

US Regime Change in Pakistan

The West’s war against any and all competitors to its domination seems to be in full steam now

By Jim W. Dean, Managing Editor

–April 28, 2022

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Part 1

Brig. General Asif Haroon Raja

This is a longer editor’s note than usual, a result of the intensely changing times we find ourselves in now where we have to see and understand clearly what is going on to avoid becoming roadkill…JD

[ Editor’s Note: General Raja from Pakistan has been a long time geopolitical writer, one of a number of Pakistani military, Intel and civilian leaders that Gordon came to know during his trips to Pakistan. He spent an evening once with Imran Khan at his campaign headquarters when he was losing one of his political races for president.

There are no social promotions in the Pakistani military, government, and diplomatic orgs. Education levels are very high, based originally on the British model. Language ability begins at three, not 3 years of age, but being able to converse fluently in three languages.

Although VT has published several articles already on the US inspired and backed coup to remove Khan as Prime Minister, Raja has compiled the saga into one read, long yes, but easier to read and get a better handle on what is going on, versus reading a half dozen of the earlier articles.

The West’s war against any and all competitors to its domination seems to be in full steam now, despite China being the only peer competitor to US hegemony. John Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, has long lectured that the US should focus attention on China, with Russia being a diversion.

But it seems that the US and NATO have chosen to cull Russia from the Asian alliance, with Ukraine being the doorway to upsetting Russia’s more vulnerable economy due to the substantial trade it has with the EU in goods and services.

Before the decision to put the squeeze on Russia, due to the US wanting the EU gas market all to itself, the $100 billion in oil and gas sales to the EU balanced Russia’s imports from the EU, a flourishing level of trade that kept both sides happy.

The geopolitical gangsters have now stepped in, and those regions’ trade is now thrown to the wind just when we are all trying to come out of the Covid drain of resources, putting the future economic standing of all of us at risk; and mind you, no one asked our permission to do this.

Although it gets less publicity in the US, Biden is moving on China. Recent moves to stir up Taiwan issues are progressing to give the Navy something to do, while Hong Kong tries to emerge from a drawn out Covid debacle.

China has kept a low profile on the Ukraine-NATO-Russia war, despite highly public threats from Biden against China with his silly threats to not assist Moscow in avoiding sanctions, the modern form of Western pirate activities.

So here we are with the usual suspect ‘asset strippers’ having decided that it is time to go shopping, all paid for by more debt on the American people who were not really consulted on the new offensive plan, one being launched in the middle of an intense US political war.

I am not sure that America understands that we are being asset stripped ourselves. I hope I am wrong, but one clue that I am right is the total absence of any anti-war and anti-asset stripping factions emerging to challenge what is being rammed down our throats… Jim W. Dean ]

First published April 21, 2022

The US high-handed tactics

The US in its bid to keep the world under its hegemony, uses its military might, diplomatic clout and other coercive tools to terrify the third world countries and till now has been quite successful. It has managed to install puppet regimes in the developing countries and whichever ruler defied its dictates was either removed from power or assassinated.

Regimes have been changed by the US either through invasions, or fomenting insurgency or a political movement, or with the help of the military or the politicians in opposition.

Ups & downs in Pak-US relations

Pakistan has remained in the camp of the US since 1954 and had become its most allied ally. Pakistan first leaned towards China after seeing the discriminatory behavior of the US in the aftermath of Sino-India border clash in 1962, and then in the 1965 war. Pak-China friendship steadily grew stronger because the US preferred India over Pakistan.

The US tilt toward India became more pronounced after 1990 and both became strategic partners. Pakistan became the most sanctioned country due to which its robust economy dwindled and never stabilized. The US highly discriminatory policy compelled Pakistan to forge strategic relationship with China and to normalize relations with Russia.

It is in this backdrop that Pakistan under former PM Imran Khan (IK) started shedding off the magic spell of Washington by making its foreign policy independent. The change came from ‘do more to no more to absolutely not’ and refusal to give a military base to the imperious USA.

IK declined the invitation of Biden to attend the democracy summit, attended Olympics ceremony in Beijing and visited Moscow last February against the wishes of the US. Pakistan adopted a neutral policy over the issue of Ukraine and abstained from voting in the UN.

Pakistan is extending support to Afghanistan which is undergoing humanitarian crisis. All these acts coupled with IK’s inclination to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state displeased Joe Biden and in anger he never phoned him.

In keeping with its old tradition, the US launched a regime change operation in order to replace the IK regime with a compliant regime. The regime change is a prelude to the bigger game plan, the objectives of which were framed after 9/11. Before going for Pakistan’s nuclear program, the next objective would be to separate Baluchistan.

Pakistan’s inanities and dependence upon the USA

Ever since Pakistan got wedded with the USA, it has gone through painful experiences. It has paid a heavy price for its mistake to put all its eggs in the basket of double-dealing USA. The US has used it for achieving its short term objectives and then discarded it like a used tissue paper. It has been constantly meddling into the internal affairs of Pakistan to keep it in line.

It was easy for the US to treat Pakistan as its satellite state since all the military and political leaders of Pakistan pursued a policy of appeasement to keep the imperialist USA in good humor.

The politicians and the media in Pakistan sell their souls and make compromises on national interests cheaply. Our political leaders have been seeking American help whenever in distress, or blamed the military establishment for their misfortunes. Some even sought India’s help.

PTI-PDM tussle

The 9-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which later on morphed into a 13-party alliance built a narrative against the ruling PTI regime that it was a party selected by the military establishment and due to its incompetence, inflation and prices spiraled to record breaking levels in its 3 ½ years tenure, the economy slumped, and the lives of the people became wretched. The establishment was jeered over its poor selection.

Once the ruling regime failed to fulfil its tall promises and couldn’t provide any relief to the masses, the narrative of the PDM began to appeal to the senses of the disillusioned people. Their growing resentment galvanized the spirits of the PDM.

As long as the military was on one-page with the ruling party, the PDM remained weak and divided, but no sooner the military became neutral, the squabbling opposition rived in infighting parties got united.

Suspected financial support of the US to the PDM could be another reason of their boosted spirits. The two major parties PML-N and PPP used the dirty money generously on horse trading to win over the loyalties of PTI’s dissident MNAs and to entice the allies of the PTI — MQM-P, PML-Q and BAP as well as Jahangir Tareen-Aleem groups to their side.

The conspiratorial letter

Pakistan’s outgoing Ambassador in Washington Asad Majeed sent a telegraphic cable to the Foreign Office on March 7, giving details of his meeting with the US undersecretary of South Asian Affairs Donald Lu.

The latter expressed his discomfiture over IK’s visit to Moscow and Pakistan abstaining from voting in the UN to condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine. He stated that if he didn’t mend his ways, a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) would be brought against him.

He summed up by saying that any regime other than IK would be acceptable and forgivable. The threat was conveyed openly since never before any Pakistani civil or military leader had defied the dictates of Washington.

Battle for regime change

The battle for regime change started after the PDM moved a NCM on March 8. The PTI didn’t attach much importance to the ‘letter-gate’, since such threats had been a routine affair. Above all, it didn’t want to lose the support of some of its MNAs suspected of being part of the conspiracy.

Alarm bells sounded when ten dissidents of PTI took refuge in Sindh House (SH) Islamabad on March 18. The renegades were shifted to Marriott Hotel after the SH was stormed by the activists of PTI. The opposition claimed that as many as 25 PTI members had been taken on board.

The PTI after failing to win back the loyalties of the deserters, moved a case in the apex court to disqualify the floor crossers but couldn’t evoke a positive response since the accusation was based on conjectures. The other reason given was that the court didn’t want to meddle into the parliamentary affairs.

Foreign conspiracy card

Learning that loyalties of some of the PTI allies had become doubtful, it became obvious that the dice had upturned in favor of the opposition. IK and his core team decided to play the foreign conspiracy narrative as a rearguard action, which was not a concoction. This narrative was played since the military establishment and the ISI had decided to remain neutral and to stay out of politics.

IK assembled a huge crowd of his fans at Islamabad on March 27 and waved a letter stating that the US had hatched a conspiracy to remove him from power. Evidence of all the meetings of PDM leaders with the US officials in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi was collected. A campaign was launched against the floor crossers propagating that crores of Rupees had been doled out to them and the fence sitters.

Purpose was to establish a connection of the masterminds with the PDM leaders and the dissidents, to put the USA on the defensive, shame the conspirators, to put fear into the hearts of the dissidents, and build a narrative to win the sympathies of the public that he was being punished on account of pursuing an independent foreign policy.

IK didn’t explain as to why this important letter was not discussed in the right quarters from March 8 to March 29. One reason could be that he was hopeful of winning back the loyalties of his party dissidents.

The contents of the letter were eventually discussed in the National Security Council (NSC) on March 30. The participants agreed that the language of the letter was undiplomatic. Based on their inputs, the case was brought before the Parliamentary Security Committee on March 31. A demarche was given to the US charge d’ affairs in Islamabad, and also in Washington, which happened for the first time.

Foreign Minister Qureshi during his visit to Beijing brought the matter into the notice of his counterpart. China made an announcement that it will not accept another round of cold war in this region.

Last ditch effort to save the crown

Seeing the writing on the wall that the PDM had won the number game, instead of getting depressed or exercising one of the options of resigning, or dissolving the National Assembly (NA), or facing the NCM, IK remained in a fighting mood and asserted that he will fight till the last ball. He also talked of a big surprise.

No one could guess as to what surprise he could spring. Most thought that having lost the political battle, he was bluffing.

Vote of no-confidence – April 3

The session of the NA was held in the morning of April 3, but to the utter surprise of the opposition leaders who were 100% sure of victory in the voting, the deputy Speaker Qasim Suri after listening to the charge sheet of conspiracy and treason under Article 5 of the constitution by the newly appointed law minister Fawad Choudhry, read out the prepared script and rejected the NCM in a huff.

It left the 190 members of the opposition gaping in disbelief. The Speaker reconfirmed the ruling of his deputy.  Soon after, the PM dissolved the NA. The waiting President completed the last formality by issuing the dissolution notification. All this was preplanned and executed within minutes.

The opposition leaders had remained so engrossed in buying the loyalties of MNAs and in completing the numbers, and were so excited to have collected much more votes than was required that they never took into consideration this sort of a bombshell which would paralyze them.

What was intriguing was that instead of rejoicing the exit of the PTI which had become a nightmare for them, the whole lot of opposition members along with the turncoats got demoralized as if victory had been stolen from them. What was most disquieting for them was that the tag of ‘Ghadars’ (traitors) was added to the tag of ‘Thieves & Looters’. Master stroke played by IK left his opponents and their patrons aghast.

What worried the opposition was that things had gone against the script. IK had come out of the ‘do or die battle’ as a victor since he had built a strong narrative to win the empathies of his voters.

His theme of ‘victim of foreign conspiracy’, and his boldness to expose the conspirators would help him to sweep the next elections. His popularity graph had fallen considerably, shot up as was seen from the recent local body’s poll results.

Court battle

There was complete political breakdown compounded by a constitutional crisis. Finding themselves in a quandary, the legal wizards of the two mainstream opposition parties rushed to the Supreme Court (SC) and submitted petitions to declare the ruling of Qasim Suri illegal and to reincarnate the dead government.

The SC Bar Council insisted upon the SC to take suo-moto notice and take up the issue on Sunday. The 190 PDM legislators and defectors raved mad for being dubbed as traitors. They argued that if the matter was so sensitive, why such a belated action, and why only a demarche, and why not an apology was sought from the US?

The battle shifted from the parliament to the SC. It was quite strange that the SC which had rejected the petition of the PTI seeking decision over the defection clause saying that it was the internal matter of the parliament, this time agreed within an hour to assemble a bench on Sunday to discuss the verdict given by the deputy speaker duly authenticated by the speaker.

The chief justice Bandiyal called a meeting of senior judges at his house on holiday and held discussions with them. The five-member bench held sessions daily and gave the unanimous ruling on April 7.

It declared the ruling of the deputy speaker unconstitutional and against the law. It restored the NA and directed the Speaker to complete the process of voting on April 9, starting 10.30 am. It was now the turn of the opposition leaders to celebrate and for the PTI to feel dejected.

The ‘letter-gate’ bomb was not considered a serious matter by the SC. Washington denied the allegation. IK after losing the legal battle complained that the US-inspired conspiracy had been legitimized and the traitors let off the hook.

Day of high drama

April 9 was a day of high drama. The proceedings of NA started on time but the Speaker Qaiser instead of holding voting allowed the PTI legislators to resort to delaying tactics by playing up the conspiracy theory and further ratcheting the jangled nerves of the opposition and provoking them to create a ruckus.

The hide and seek play went on until near midnight. The purpose could be either to avoid the voting, which was not possible since the SC had given the date and cutout time of voting. The Speaker knew that if he didn’t comply with the court orders before 2400 hours, he would be proceeded against under the charge of contempt of court.

The only possible motive behind the inordinate delay could be to cause nervous breakdown to the dissidents, forcing them in sheer panic to revert to the treasury benches.

The jittery NCM movers contemplated approaching the apex court to arrest the obstinate Speaker. After 2300 hours, the doors of the SC and of the IHC opened up; additional security forces and prisoner buses arrived. At about 2330 hours, the COAS and the DG ISI landed in the PM House in a helicopter and held a meeting with the PM. These fast paced developments gave rise to many tantalizing rumors.

At that belated stage the Speaker after meeting the PM stated that the PM had handed him the US letter which can be read by any member in his chamber. He ended the proceedings melodramatically minutes before 2400 hours by resigning from his seat and inviting former Speaker of PML-N Ayaz Sadiq to complete the proceedings. The latter conducted the voting in which the opposition bagged 174 votes.

For the first time in Pakistan’s history an elected PM was voted out of power through NCM. IK’s premature ouster upheld the track record that no PM could complete five years tenure.

 

Regime change in Pakistan

Part 2

Asif Haroon Raja

Change of guards

On April 11, the opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif (SS) was elected as the new PM; he secured 174 votes. The PTI boycotted the voting. SS straightaway announced a relief package in the form of 10% increase in pensions and fixed Rs 25000 as minimum wage for the laborer effective from April, but soon the date was shifted from April to May.

When President Alvi regretted conducting the oath taking ceremony of the PM on April 12, the Chairman Senate Sanjrani performed this duty. Stock exchange became bullish and the Rupee value appreciated.

Oath taking ceremony of the new cabinet members numbering 34 from different coalition partners was again performed by the Senate Chairman.

People’s backlash

Responding to the call given by Imran Khan (IK), the people came out on the streets on the night of 10/11 April. Huge rallies were taken out all over the country and in western countries to record their protest against the decision of the Supreme Court (SC).

They glowed their mobile torches, carried placards and chanted slogans in favor of IK and against the army, the US and the incoming rulers. Social media launched a vicious propaganda campaign to smear the image of Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. The BBC issued a frivolous report giving manufactured details of the happenings in the PM House on the night of April 9.

An impression has been built as if the army’s top leadership was part of the plot of regime change. Concocted stories and fake audio tapes of senior generals circulated on social media to discredit the army. Letter-gate scandal is being drummed up fiercely.

Establishment’s response

The top brass of the army took a serious note of the anti-army vilification campaign and the circulating myths and notions by some quarters to malign the institution, aimed at driving a wedge between army and the society.

They expressed their concern in the annual formation commanders conference presided by Gen Bajwa on April 12 and pledged to uphold the constitution and rule of law at all costs and to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan against all external and external threats with full force.

DG ISPR’s Press Briefing

After the conference in GHQ, the DG ISPR Maj Gen Iftikhar Babar held a press briefing on April 14 and made an effort to put the record straight and to dispel the misperceptions. An impression has been built by the ousted PTI that Gen Bajwa was part of the conspiracy to make the vote of no confidence successful. The factor of ‘establishment’s neutrality’ has become a sour point.

He clarified that the US had never asked for a military base; there will be no martial law; Gen Bajwa didn’t seek extension in service; there is no division within the army; army stays out of politics.

Options were not given to the former PM by the army chief, but those were put forward by the government and the establishment was asked to resolve the political crisis; the PM visit to Moscow was in consultation with the GHQ; the word ‘conspiracy’ was not written in the cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington.

A demarche was sent to Washington on account of the undiplomatic language used by the US undersecretary, which was noted as interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs. Lastly, the nuclear program is in safe hands.

Veterans tilt towards Imran Khan

The briefing did help in deflecting the anti-army tirade but didn’t cool down the tempers of the PTI activists and fans inside and outside the country. A new debate over the subtle difference between the words ‘conspiracy’ and ‘interference’ has been generated. For many, it amounts to the same.

What is worrying for the army top brass is that never before the veterans openly expressed their affections for IK and their resentment against the establishment’s interference or neutrality. These feelings were discernible within a segment of serving officers as well.

Gen Bajwa’s speech at Islamabad Security Dialogue on April 17 favoring the US and condemning Russian invasion of Ukraine at a time when the alleged US conspiracy theory was the hottest topic was not well received.

Gen Bajwa’s address in Lahore

To cool down their emotions, Gen Bajwa had to address officers in Rawalpindi and Lahore garrisons. At Lahore the interaction went on for over four hours during which he had to answer hundreds of loaded questions.

The crux of his briefing was that IK had been helped in forming governments in Islamabad and in Punjab, he was guided at every step to improve his policies, and he stood committed to the one-page doctrine, ignoring the banter and accusations leveled by the opposition.

He shared his difficulties saying that IK never listened to the advice rendered, didn’t change the chief ministers of KP and Punjab, and wasted all his energies in chasing his political opponents instead of focusing on economics and governance. He candidly admitted that the tiff developed over the posting out of DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz in last August.

His concluding remarks that he will welcome IK if he gets elected in next elections which are not far and will extend full cooperation raised eyebrows. By the time the elections are held, either he would be attending farewell dinners in Oct/Nov or would have joined the retired club. The onus of cooperation or non-cooperation will be on the new chief and not him.

The PTI ex minister Fawad spilled the beans and laid to rest the conspiracy theory on April 20 by stating that his party’s ouster was the result of strained ties with the establishment which couldn’t be repaired despite concerted efforts.

Imran Khan’s backlash

Imran Khan in the meanwhile gave a call to his party activists, followers and fans to stage a protest over the ouster of his party on the night of 10/11 April. The response was overwhelming.

His narrative is that he had been punished for refusing to toe the US dictates, to meet the CIA Director and to give a base to the CIA, to condemn Russia and to make Pakistan’s foreign policy independent. He is lashing out at his political opponents and his party dissidents who had floored his party with the help of the USA. He has held public meetings in Peshawar, Karachi and Lahore in which the attendance was mammoth.

IK fiery speeches in the public meetings were emotive and provocative and amounted to incitement to violence. IK’s charisma that had peaked in Oct 2011 has once again catapulted with a big bang.

He will keep increasing the temperature and will restart politics of non-cooperation and agitation to fail the government. He is demanding early elections, or else he would block the whole country. True to his words, he is proving more dangerous to his opponents after being ousted from power.

While he abstained from ridiculing the army, he stated that neither the army nor any external power could safeguard the country and democracy but the people were the real defenders and saviors.

New Government’s challenges

For the new government, the plate is full to the brim with a plethora of compound problems. Each member has to remove the tag of ‘traitor’ for which a probe committee has been formed. Immediate challenges will be depleting foreign exchange reserves, soaring public debt, foreign debt, trade imbalance, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, and the new budget in May.

Managing the cabal of 12 political parties that were part of the PDM, each hungering for lucrative cabinet seats will be taxing for the new PM SS who took oath on April 12. He had to labor hard for a week to convince the coalition partners to accept the allotted ministries and take oaths of their offices. The PPP got the lion’s share and is still aspiring for the seats of President, Chairman Senate and at least two seats of governors.

Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir, the two leaders of PTM showed their intent by brazenly expressing their resentment over the air strikes carried out against the hideouts of the TTP in Khost and Kunar. Akhtar Mengal felt so bitter over the security forces operation against the terrorists in Chaghi that he didn’t attend the oath taking ceremony.

The BNP-M, and ANP didn’t accept any portfolios in the cabinet due to their reservations. Cooperation of BNP-M and PTM will be conditional to Pak Army’s disassociation from counter terrorism, and support of the MQM-P will be subject to meeting their 7-point demands, most important of which is reopening their offices in Karachi.

In other words, Akhtar Mengal would insist upon withdrawal of Frontier Corps and ISI/MI from interior Balochistan. The PTM would seek withdrawal of the army from former FATA, and the MQM would like the wings of Sindh Rangers to be clipped and influence of Altaf’s unit/sector commanders to return.

Both the PPP and the PML-N would be interested in defanging the NAB, and in civilianizing the ISI. The ANP is still tied to the agenda of Pashtunistan. The PTM and the ANP are likely to get close to the Taliban regime in Kabul, ignite Pakhtun nationalism, and foment misgivings between Pakistan and Afghanistan. They would thus facilitate the CIA’s job to do the rest.

While restoring the health of the sick economy is the biggest challenge, SS main worry would be how to keep the greedy allies appeased and united, and above all how to deal with the confrontational politics of PTI. The government is pinning hopes on the foreign funding case against the PTI pending in the ECP court since 2016 which is being concluded within a month. It is hoping that if the decision goes against the party, it could pave the way for its disbandment.

As a tit-for-tat, a series of corruption cases would be initiated against the PTI leaders. Unlike the last tenure of PML-N in which it was very soft towards the vandalism of the PTI, this time it would handle them more firmly. They will be dealt with the way the TLP activists were brutalized by the former regime.

The political situation in Punjab is still in choppy waters. After the physical brawl in the provincial assembly in which the Deputy Speaker and the Speaker Pervez Elahi were injured on the day of voting, the Governor Punjab Cheema belonging to PTI refused to give oath to the newly elected Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz son of SS.

He cancelled the resignation of former chief minister Buzdar on technical grounds. The PTI’s President Alvi has so far ignored the request of the PM to de-notify Cheema. It’s a complete muddle.

Points to ponder over

Would it not have been better if the PTI was allowed to complete its tenure? There would have been no conspiracy card, horse trading, upwelling of anti-army emotions and character assassination of the army chief, IK’s popularity wouldn’t have got a shot in the arm, and Pakistan would have been saved from a national regime comprising ill-reputed parliamentarians. Barring the newcomers, almost all other cabinet ministers are on bail and court cases are pending against them.

Interestingly, the IMF wants the entire federal cabinet to declare their assets, bank accounts, tax returns and business details. This is the biggest bombshell dropped upon the plunderers.

The big question is whether fresh elections would resolve the chronic problems? Whenever elections are held, the losers will not accept the results and the tug of war will recommence. With tainted institutions, and soiled politicians and bureaucrats, no progress is possible, whether the next regime will be of PML-N or the PTI.

It will suffer a similar fate with zero results. Pakistan will continue to lurch from one crisis to another and the foreign conspirators will continue to play the game of snake and ladders with our mini mind leaders.

The only way out is to carry out electoral, judicial, bureaucratic, police, economic and education reforms. These cannot be done by a single political party or a weak coalition. The incumbent regime comprising politicians from different parties, backgrounds and ideologies, with some branded as anti-Pakistan, looters, money launderers and criminals, not much can be expected. The case is akin to the adage, “too many cooks will spoil the broth”.

SS’s speed and efficiency would be hugely hindered by the selfish coalition partners, confrontational politics of the PTI, and the tainted reputation of the judiciary and the police.

Would the conciliatory comments of Gen Qamar Bajwa and change in regime ease tensions with the US and alter the interventionist and bossy policy of Washington? The answer is a big NO. The only possible change could be that the US, IMF and the EU become helpful and a bit more generous, the FATF removes Pakistan from the grey list.

Generosity of the US will of course not be cost free. Would Pakistan cede to the US demand for a military base or airspace, and if so, what impact will it have on Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and China?

What effects Gen Bajwa’s harsh comments will have upon Pakistan’s relations with Russia, which promised oil and grains at a cheap price, and resolving gas shortages? Vladimir Putin instead of reacting, showed grace by congratulating the new PM.

Would falling back into the magic spell of the US change the objectives of the Indo-US-Israel nexus against Pakistan? Do we still consider the trio harmless and friends of Pakistan?

So far the vibes from China are positive. Rejuvenation of CPEC at a faster pace is the only way to recover our economy and to make Pakistan self-reliant.

If the incumbent regime tries to delay elections, the PTI is likely to again repeat its old tactics of long march after Ramadhan, and this time stage sit-in at Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta in an attempt to paralyze the state machinery. If so, will it be possible for the law enforcement agencies to block the sea of people from different directions?

Taking into consideration the exceptionally high emotions of the people, is the stage not getting set for chaos and anarchy? Will the establishment remain neutral in the face of building volcanoes?

The writer is retired Brig Gen, war veteran, defence, security & political analyst, international columnist, author of five books, Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Director Measac Research Centre, takes part in TV talk shows, and delivers talks. asifharoonraja@gmail.com  

How to Survive the First 90 Days After the Collapse

A tad gloomy, and fear-mongering. However, the content is valuable.

Have some fun, check this oldie out…

Dragnet 1967 – The Big Explosion

Hot Damn! It’s The Soggy Bottom Boys! | O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Reminds me how Morrison lost his election…

When Photos Looked Like Paintings: Dreamy Landscape Photographs Taken By Leonard Misonne

Belgian photographer Leonard Misonne (1870-1943) trained as an engineer before discovering photography. Raised in Gilly, Belgium, the photographer traveled throughout his homeland and beyond to capture the landscape and people of Europe in the Pictorialist style.

Photographs, characterized by soft, painterly scenes, were created through alternative printing processes that utilize materials such as oil and gum bichromate. The Pictorialist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries sought to elevate photography to the level of other fine arts such as painting and sculpture.

Misonne said, “The sky is the key to the landscape.”

This philosophy is clear in many of Misonne’s images, often filled with billowing clouds, early morning fog, or rays of sunlight. The artist excelled at capturing his subjects in dramatic, directional light, illuminating figures from behind, which resulted in a halo effect. Favoring stormy weather conditions, Misonne often found his subjects navigating the streets under umbrellas or braced against the gusts of a winter blizzard.

Survival Bugout – Survival Scenarios

EMP attack.

Why is China suddenly buying up so much Australian wheat?

New York-style pizza at home, v2.0

A MUST watch video.

Muslim Lolita Fashion Is A New Trend Inspired By Japan

In an awesome fashion mash-up that nobody could’ve foreseen, Muslim fans of the Japanese lolita fashion trend have begun pairing these sweet-as-candy outfits with their hijabs, creating a unique new style that Japanese lolita fans are falling in love with.

The lolita trend, at its most basic, involves wearing modernized Victorian- or Rococo-style dresses and outfits that are heavily accessorized and painstakingly coordinated into elaborate costumes. The trend’s fans (called ‘lolitas’) then meet up at various events to spend time together and appreciate each others’ outfits (or, as they call them, ‘coords’).

Two Muslim lolitas, Noor and Alyssa, have pioneered the combination of lolita costumes with their Muslim hijabs. While fittingly stylish and flamboyant, their costumes still fully adhere to their religious principles.

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We continue with the global geo-political changes. The world is changing, and we can see this. The entire Pacific energy balance has been or is in the process of reshaping with the loss of Morrison, but don’t hold your breath. The USA owns Australia. Never the less, depending on the new leadership, you will see a changing power alignment transform the Pracific rim.

First up…

Bye Bye Morrison

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded defeat in a national election Saturday, saying, while vote counting was incomplete, the opposition Labor party looked likely to form a government.

“Tonight I have spoken to the Leader of the Opposition and the incoming Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and I’ve congratulated him on his election victory this evening,” Morrison said at a televised speech in Sydney.

Morrison added he would stand down as leader of the Liberal party.

The capitulation ends eight years and nine months in power for Morrison’s conservative coalition. Morrison became prime minister in 2018 after several leadership changes.

World Hal Turner 21 May 2022

The country of Lithuania will be cut-off from all Russian oil, natural gas flows, and electricity, starting Sunday morning.

Developing . . . check back.

No global grain shortage, says India, defends curbs on export

China’s April imports of Australian wheat surge 525.72% despite hostility from Canberra – Global Times

Dragnet 1967 Season 3 Episode 12

Oh, what memories! You all are going to love this!

UTTER CARNAGE: The Stock Market Is Coming Apart Like A 20 Dollar Suit As Fear Sweeps Through Wall Street

The Dow shed 1,164.52 points, or 3.57%, to 31,490.07, or the average’s biggest decline since June 2020. The S&P 500 traded 4.04% lower to 3,923.68, also the worst drop since 2020. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 4.73% to 11,418.15, which is the largest fall in the tech-heavy index since May 5. The selling was broad and intense on Wall Street with just eight members of the S&P 500 in the green.

“Any company that relies on households and discretionary purchases will likely suffer this quarter because a lot of discretionary income has been funneled to food and energy prices,” said Jack Ablin, founding partner of Cresset Capital.

U.S. households are now spending the equivalent of $5,000 a year on gasoline, up from $2,800 a year ago, according to Yardeni Research.

Wednesday was the 9th straight day that gas prices hit an all-time record high!

9 DAYS IN A ROW–

The price at the pump is now $4.56 per a gallon of regular gas.

Diesel also hit a new record. The price of diesel is now at $5.57 per gallon.

The average price for gasoline in California hit $6 a gallon Tuesday for the first time — and analysts at JPMorgan are warning that price could be the national average before the end of the summer.

The startling forecast comes as US gas prices have surged to record highs in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, casting a shadow over the economy.

“There is a real risk the price could reach $6+ a gallon by August,” Natasha Kaneva, head of global oil and commodities research at JPMorgan, told CNN in an email on Tuesday.

Homebuyer demand for mortgages tumbled last week as the average interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan hovered near a 13-year high, a sign the red-hot housing market may be starting to cool off, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home dropped 12% on a weekly basis and are down 15% compared with the same week one year ago.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell told a Wall Street Journal conference that the U.S. central bank will “have to consider moving more aggressively” if inflation that is running at a four-decade high fails to ease after earlier rate hikes.

In This Place (2007 Remaster)

This song takes me back to when I was 16 years old.

Slow-Cooker Creamy Tomato and Tortellini Soup

As they say, opposites attract. That’s certainly the case with sweet, acidic tomatoes and creamy dairy—in all its many forms. After all, it’s this better-together combination that makes lasagna so luxurious, pizza so mouthwatering and grilled cheese and tomato soup so irresistible. So when we set out to make an extra-easy slow-cooker soup, we knew we wanted it to feature this combo. But hold on—dairy in the slow cooker? That’s usually a less-than-ideal combination (dairy can easily curdle in the slow cooker). That’s why the trick to this recipe is waiting until the end to add the cream and cheesy tortellini. That’s right, we decided a double-dose of dairy would be the perfect complement to the tomatoes in this soup, and the result is rich, velvety and very comforting! And that’s not all, the dollop of fresh pesto adds bright, anise-tinged notes and the sprinkle of shredded Parmesan adds nutty richness that take this simple soup to the next level!

Ingredients

• 2 cans (28 oz each) Muir Glen™ organic fire roasted crushed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 1/2 cups Progresso™ chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions, white parts only
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup refrigerated basil pesto
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (2 oz)

This is in accordance and in coordination with the Russian hacking group that warned that they would shut down Western financial systems. -MM

Dollar is dying there is no question about it

We are not idiots

Green Tambourine – The Lemon Pipers

Oh yeah. You just had to experience the 60’s to believe and understand what it was like.

Why were there patents on SARS and SARS-COV-2 before they were “discovered”?

Why were there patents on SARS and SARS-COV-2 before they were “discovered”?

From HERE

Ralph Baric got $46 million from Fauci & Co. to weaponize SARS-COV-2 and Wuhan got $3.7 million. It’s like saying the peanut gallery hit the grand slam. See the attached timeline.

China was happy to get its hands on the genome, to prepare for the expected US bio-attack, which they have suffered repeatedly since 1935, covered here… (Complete found HERE).

But, it cost them getting tarred with the Wuhan Virus/Kung Flu tag around the world, which Baric and Fauci started propagandizing in 2016. See the attached paper and its title. Baric is the paper’s principle author and he and Fauci thank Wuhan in the acknowledgements.

By getting their hands on SARS-COV-2 early on, the Chinese could get a jump on rapid vaccine development and were well-prepared for the 2019 Military World Games.

It possibly saved millions of Chinese lives.

12 Nightmarish Economic Trends That We Should Expect To See During The 2nd Half Of 2022

At the 76 Gas Station in Auburn, Washington located at 1725 Auburn Way North, gas pumps have been reprogrammed to make room for double-digit pricing. In March, they still had single-digit programming.

A spokesperson at 76 confirmed to The Post Millennial that the gas pumps were reprogrammed to allocate for double-digit pricing. Although not confirming that they are expecting prices to increase up to $10.00 or more, the current trend suggests the possibility.

About 100 million Americans face power blackouts this summer as roasting weather, overstretched powerplants and unreliable green energy sources combine to create a perfect storm of problems.

States stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean which are home to tens of millions of Americans could have a hard time producing enough power for their residents this summer.

The ‘MISO’ part of America’s power grid – whose full name is the Midcontinent Independent System Operator is at greatest risk of a large-scale outage.

Take the case of Jeff Good, who co-founded three restaurants in Jackson, Mississippi. Around 18 months ago, a 40-pound box of chicken wings cost him about $85. Now, it can go as high as roughly $150. Expenses for cooking oil and flour have nearly doubled in the past five months, he said. But it’s not just ingredient prices going up. He’s paying more for labor and services, too. Even the company that maintains his air conditioners has tacked on a $40 fuel charge per visit. To cope, he’s raised menu prices.

A 15-piece order of chicken wings, a signature dish at his Sal and Mookie’s pizzeria, went for $13.95 before Covid hit. Now, wing costs can vary so much they’re labeled at “market price,” like some restaurants do with lobster. At peaks, the menu price can be be about $27.95 — but that represents a barely-there margin — and Good estimates the “real cost” is closer to about $34. He’s trying to decide whether to keep raising prices or take wings off the menu.

Two children in Memphis have been hospitalized after needing IV fluids and nutritional support due to the baby formula shortage.

The preschooler and toddler, both from different families, were rushed to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital after their parents failed to secure formula as shelves across America go bare.

More than 23 million people are experiencing extreme hunger in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, according to a new report by Oxfam and Save the Children. That’s up from over 10 million last year.

The region’s worst drought in 40 years is being exacerbated by conflict and the pandemic. And the war in Ukraine has sent food prices soaring to record levels.

Protesters in Sri Lanka have burned down homes belonging to 38 politicians as the crisis-hit country plunged further into chaos, with the government ordering troops to “shoot on sight.”

Police in the island nation said Tuesday that in addition to the destroyed homes, 75 others have been damaged as angry Sri Lankans continue to defy a nationwide curfew to protest against what they say is the government’s mishandling of the country’s worst economic crisis since 1948.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned Tuesday the U.S. could feel “some pain” as the central bank raises interest rates to fight inflation, insisting the Fed would do whatever it takes to curb price growth.

During a live interview for The Wall Street Journal’s “Future of Everything” summit, Powell said the Fed will continue to raise interest rates until inflation starts to fall and the forces driving prices higher fade, even at the risk of a deeper economic slowdown.

Home sales fell for the third consecutive month in April as rising mortgage rates and affordability challenges pushed many would-be home buyers out of the market.

Consumers with low credit scores are falling behind on payments for car loans, personal loans and credit cards, a sign that the healthiest consumer lending environment on record in the U.S. is coming to an end.

The share of subprime credit cards and personal loans that are at least 60 days late is rising faster than normal, according to credit-reporting firm Equifax. In March, those delinquencies rose month over month for the eighth time in a row, nearing their prepandemic levels. Delinquencies on subprime car loans and leases hit an all-time high in February, based on Equifax’s tracking that goes back to 2007.

An overwhelming majority of Americans are expecting there to be a recession within the next year, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The poll found that 85 percent of Americans think it is likely for the country to go through an economic recession in the next year. Of those who responded, 45 percent said it is “very likely,” and 40 percent said “somewhat likely” for a recession.

Just want to vent. I am from middle Missouri, I am a single mom of 2 teens. My day job pays well and pays the bills well, a year ago my income would support us, bills, food, gas etc. i now have to work a second job just to feed us and put gas in my car. Eggs here went from .99 a carton to 1.99, ground beef went from 2.89 a pound to 4.99, and it goes on and on. Gas went from 1.90 to 4.29 a gallon. 

I am out of my mind scared it will only get worse. I have democrat friends that say “that’s how the economy works”. No it’s because Biden was giving out “covid” bucks to non working people taking advantage of the system, giving our money to Ukraine, shutting down gas lines in the US etc.

Northlandz: The World’s Biggest Model Railroad

The world’s biggest model railroad Northlandz in Flemington, New Jersey, was created by Bruce Williams Zaccagnino. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

It boasts more than eight miles of track and features more than 100 trains, as well as almost 400 bridges. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

The attraction, called Northlandz, in Flemington, New Jersey, contains more than 3,000 miniature buildings in cities and villages, 50,000 trees and 40-foot bridges spanning huge canyons, meaning it’s anything but small-scale. (Butterworth/SplashNew)

The owner and creator Bruce Williams Zaccagnino, not only built the 52,000 sq ft building it is housed in but also painstakingly designed and handcrafted almost all of the scenery. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

It has even attracted several celebrity visitors, including famed model railroad fan, rocker Rod Stewart, and rocker Neil Young, who went to the attraction in disguise. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

The path through the exhibit, spread across 16 acres, is almost one mile long. Visitors are told it will take at least two hours to make their way through the whole thing. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

These handcrafted soldiers highlight creator Bruce Williams Zaccagnino’s attention to detail. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

Aeroplanes line up for take off. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

Owner and creator Bruce Williams Zaccagnino’s vast control room. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

An intricate city scape. (Butterworth/SplashNews)

Good Charlotte – I Don’t Wanna Be In Love (Dance Floor Anthem) (Video)

I hope that you all appreciate this video…

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (3/10) Movie CLIP – The Hotel on Acid (1998) HD

A real classic.

Skillet Spinach Alfredo Chicken Pot Pie

With just a few ingredients and 50 minutes, you can serve up this creamy Italian riff on chicken pot pie for a skillet dinner that’s big on flavor and low on fuss.

Ingredients

• 1 jar (15 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 3 cups lightly packed fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1 crust from 1 box (14.1 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Pie Crusts (2 Count), softened as directed on box
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Shanghai Lockdown

An interesting point: In fact, the Shanghai Lockdown occurred in sync with Russian SMO; Feb. 24, Feb. 28! What a coinicidence!
[Go HERE]

Thus the Chinese in effect are sabotaging NATOstan’s efforts to ramp-up their production…

Smart move 😉 Comment on the Saker’s latest publication of Pepe Escobar today:

Found HERE.

More NATO brass caught in Azovstal

Is anyone really surprised?

From HERE.

6 x news from 2022 01 to 05: Monkey on loose in Pennsylvania after crash on way to laboratory

Police advise people not to approach cynomolgus monkey believed to be on the loose near Danville after Friday crash

Staff and agencies

Sat 22 Jan 2022 11.41 EST

Residents of a Pennsylvania county were warned on Saturday not to approach a monkey still missing after a crash involving a pickup towing a trailer taking about 100 of the animals to a research laboratory.

State troopers urged people not to look for or capture the cynomolgus monkey following the Friday afternoon crash on a state highway near an Interstate 80 exit in Montour county.

“Anyone who sees or locates the monkey is asked not to approach, attempt to catch, or come in contact with the monkey. Please call 911 immediately,” a tweet said.

LEGO Colosseum by Ryan McNaught

There’s nothing we love more than a finely crafted LEGO project, and that’s exactly what we have here from Ryan McNaught, one of the best certified LEGO builders in the game.

McNaught has built the world’s first Colosseum built entirely from LEGOs. The project took nearly 200,000 LEGO bricks to put together, and is currently on display at the Nicholson Museum in Melbourne, Australia until January 2013. The project is displayed in a half and half form, showcasing the Colosseum in its present day form on one side along with Rome’s original Colosseum circa 80 AD on the other half.

Sweet – Fox On The Run – 45 (OFFICIAL)

If you are old enough, you will appreciate this.

Creamy Feta, Bacon and Spinach Dip

Bacon and feta take spinach dip to a whole new level. Fair warning: Once your friends and family taste this addictive dip, you’ll be asked to make it for every get-together.

Ingredients

• 1 can (11 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Original French Bread
• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 bag (5 oz) baby spinach
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 6 oz crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup Progresso™ plain panko crispy bread crumbs

The leaders of the Azov Battalion* who surrendered in Mariupol are facing the death penalty

From HERE

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Readovka

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May 18 at 12:50

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The leaders of the Azov Battalion* who surrendered in Mariupol are facing the death penalty. At least if they are tried according to the laws of the DPR

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The laws of the DPR do not ratify the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. This means that if the trial takes place on the territory of the DPR and LPR, and the crimes of the Azov militants are confirmed, they will be shot.

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This is also confirmed by the statements of a number of Russian figures, including Senator Andrei Klishas, ​​who noted that all neo-Nazis from Azov should be tried for crimes committed in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The militants committed crimes on the territory of the DPR, which is why they must be tried in accordance with the laws of the Republic, said State Duma deputy Artyom Turov. The State Duma also announced the need to judge the Azovites – today a draft resolution prohibiting the exchange of “Nazi criminals” will be considered.

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* – banned in the Russian Federation

Will The First Public UFO Hearing In Congress In 50 Years Help Set The Stage For A Great Delusion Of Epic Proportions?

May 17, 2022 by Michael

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Why have they suddenly decided to reveal so much?  For decades, a very thick cloak of secrecy has surrounded what the government really knows about UFOs, but now our politicians are talking openly about such things.  In fact, Congress just held their very first public hearing about UFOs in 50 years.  So what has changed?  If anything happens in Washington, it is usually because someone has an underlying agenda.  Could it be possible that we are being prepared for some sort of a huge revelation?

To me, it is clear that something is up.

And I think that it says a lot that the power structures in our society are now treating this topic very seriously.  At this point, even CNN is admitting that UFOs are no longer being “relegated to the fringes of public policy”…

Key lawmakers warned at a House hearing on Tuesday that unidentified aerial phenomena — popularly known as UFOs — must be investigated and taken seriously as a potential threat to national security.

The event marked the first congressional public hearing on UFOs in decades, a high-profile moment for a controversial topic that has long been relegated to the fringes of public policy.

During the hearing on Tuesday, U.S. officials confessed that there have been at least 400 “unexplained sightings” by members of our military…

US SPY chiefs were grilled by lawmakers in a historic hearing on UFOs as dramatic videos of two sightings were shown.

Security officials were forced to admit there have been 400 unexplained sightings reported by the US military .

That number is very different from the number that we were given in 2021.

Late last year, the Pentagon told us that there were just 144 unexplained sightings.

But now we are being told that the real number is nearly triple the original number.

And on Tuesday we were also told that there have been “11 near misses” with U.S. military aircraft…

They also confessed there have been 11 near misses with unidentified objects and US military aircraft, and they are probing incidents where craft may have attempted “jam” US planes.

So let me get this straight.

11 different times our aircraft were almost hit by other aircraft that we simply cannot identify?

Why weren’t we told about this a long time ago?

Of course there is so much more that the Pentagon is choosing not to tell us.  According to Politico, one Defense Department official is freely admitting that there is a great deal that is not being publicly revealed…

“Without forcing peoples’ hand, it is going to be very difficult to uncover legacy ventures and programs that we know about based on oral interviews we dug up,” said a Defense Department official who is involved in the new effort but was not authorized to speak publicly. “There has to be a forcing mechanism.”

“There has to be something to hold people accountable but also give them a chance to come out clean for a period of time,” the official added, noting that in his experience the Pentagon oversight group has been “stonewalled.”

That same official went on to explain that the people that are refusing to come forward are protecting some “very interesting information”.

I would definitely like to know what that “very interesting information” is.

Wouldn’t you?

I think that most of the population would be completely floored if everything that the government knows was finally put on the table.

According to one member of Congress, our military has actually recovered physical wreckage from a UFO that crashed…

A CONGRESSMAN has claimed the US has wreckage recovered from a UFO as the phenomena takes centre stage today in Washington.

Rep. Tim Burchett – a long term advocate for disclosure – told The Sun Online he has been informed by reliable sources that “material” has been recovered from the objects or craft that have been reported in skies over the US.

So why can’t the American people know about this?

What are they trying to hide from us?

Burchett says that he can’t say more because this information was given to him in a “classified setting”…

The Tennessee Republican declined to elaborate further as he said the information had been passed to him in a “classified setting”.

“I’ve been told by multiple sources we have recovered something from these [crafts or objects],” Mr Burchett told The Sun Online.

It is so frustrating to hear about this and know that we will probably never be given the specific details.

The American people deserve the truth, but so much is being purposely hidden.

Lue Elizondo, a former senior staffer at the Pentagon, says that there has been much speculation in military circles about the true source of these unidentified craft…

‘People jump to speculation that it’s from the Pleiades or something like that, when in fact one of the hypothesis when I was in AATIP was this could be as natural to Earth as we are, but we are just at a point where technologically we aren’t advanced enough we can collect information on it and begin to try to figure out what it is,’ he said.

‘There’s been another hypothesis that these things are possibly from underwater and as outlandish as it may seem, there is some anecdotal evidence that supports all of these observations, so what we want to do is try to get as much data on the table as we can before we start eliminating,’ said Elizondo.

He said way too much right there, because he got way too close to details that we aren’t supposed to know about.

If he keeps talking like that, he could end up being killed.

Because even though our officials are now talking more openly about UFOs, there are still many things that they would very much prefer to keep secret.

These unidentified aircraft are very real, and every year they are spotted thousands upon thousands of times all over the globe.

Now this subject is being brought out into the spotlight, and that should make all of us very nervous.

The prisoner Episode 14

“Living in harmony.”

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings 4

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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• You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
• You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
• You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
• You can find out more about the author HERE.
• If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
• If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

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The collapse of Ukraine is not far away. Soon the full-on “pivot to Asia” will begin in force. That is not going to be so nice and polite as Putin did with Ukraine. It will be harsh and in-your-face. Already the USA is lining up it’s war “chess pieces”, and last week Anthony Blinkedin made a speech that was a declaration of War in every way except formally speaking the words out loud.

Welcome to the next phase of world war three. I hope you are all ready for it…

US stock plunge has Asia bracing for a fall – Asia Times

Asian governments and investors remember all too well the carnage wrought in 2008 by US market failure and excess

Full article HERE

Brigitte Bardot on set during filming of Lady and the Puppet.

ABC’s ‘brave and independent’ journalists seem to have vanished

It seems that those journalists who once championed the idea of brave public interest journalism have descended into a pack of fawning cheerleaders, gushing over the rule of their new leaders.

This entire sordid tale being explained away as “independent and brave reporting” would be much easier to swallow if it didn’t appear one side of politics was being targeted by such aggressive reporting.

Now that the Coalition has been turfed can we expect the same brave independence to flow through to their reporting on the actions of Anthony Albanese and his team?

If the first few days of his government are anything to go by, no.

Those journalists who enjoyed defending their activism as independent journalism are now in the process of transitioning to the role of government stenographers.

ABC’s 7.30 chief political correspondent Laura Tingle now spends her time retweeting, uncritically, messages from Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong who this week declared “we will listen because we care what the Pacific has to say”.

Favorite Potato Salad

Every home cook should have one go-to classic potato salad recipe on hand. It’s the perfect dish to bring to summer picnics, serve at grill-outs and take along to potluck suppers. But don’t just limit this simple potato salad to warm-weather months—this dish can be served year-round. The next time someone samples your delicious side dish and asks you how to make potato salad, just hand them this easy potato salad recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 medium boiling potatoes (2 pounds)
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 medium celery stalks, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 4 hard cooked eggs, chopped

A President Salutes Another Country’s Flag… What A Protocol Mistake Means – Kurdo

It not only appears that this new Korean "President" is a CIA plant, but also his loyalty is to the United States. Not to Korea. -MM

South Korea : an American puppet regime.

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From HERE

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A picture of President Yoon Seok-yeol appearing to be saluting the American flag at the Korea-US summit dinner on the 21st was posted on the US President’s Instagram.

The diplomatic protocol is established in the international community, and it is difficult for even the head of state to change and apply it at will. Because it is disrespectful to the other country. In order to make changes to the ceremony, it is necessary to consult with the other country in advance. However, as in this case, it is unlikely that the summit will be regarded as disrespectful for the leader to salute the flag of the other country.

But it can be disappointing to the people of the country. Most people want their president to act proudly without bowing his head no matter where he goes in the world. This applies to anyone who voted for president in an election or who didn’t. Because the president represents the country.

It is highly likely that President Yoon Seok-yeol, who cannot be unaware of this fact, saluted the American flag was a simple mistake caused by lack of experience rather than intentional.

However, this simple mistake symbolizes this summit between Korea and the United States. If the preparations were meticulous, there is a high possibility that the president’s diplomatic mistake would not have occurred. Here, it is clearly revealed that it has only been 12 days (at the time of the 21st) since President Yoon took office. It gives the impression to the other country that the new government is not yet ready. This is the reason why diplomatic protocols that seem insignificant are so important and require a lot of preparation.

Looking at the contents of the summit, from the point of view of US President Biden, there is much to be gained from this summit. He drew active participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and sanctions against Russia, and stipulated that cooperation with Japan as well as South Korea-US cooperation is important for North Korea. It also explicitly obtained South Korea’s commitment to investment in the US. President Yun achieved the success of making it easier for the US strategic forces to mobilize to the Korean Peninsula. However, US semiconductor technology companies’ investment in Korea and membership in the four unofficial security council quads of the US, India, Japan and Australia did not take place.

If the new government’s diplomatic and security strategy is ‘as the United States wants’, it can be said that the summit has achieved great results. If not, it is questionable whether the summit was held with a meticulous negotiating strategy in a state where a foreign and security strategy was established.

The new government emphasized that, contrary to the usual order of the US president’s East Asian tour, he visited Korea before Japan. The joint statement between the leaders of the Republic of Korea and the United States also added meaning, saying, “This summit was recorded as the earliest meeting held with the President of the United States during the term of the President of the Republic of Korea.” There was also an evaluation saying, “One president has changed, but the dignity of the Republic of Korea is rising” (Lee Jun-seok, representative of the People’s......

One Of About 50 Fiat 599 Ferves Rangers Still Around!

Manufactured between 1967 and 1971. Approximately ten of 50 survivors are in the United States. Made by Turin-based coachbuilder Ferves (acronym of Ferrari Veicoli Speciali), where mechanical components borrowed from various models – Fiat 500F, 600D, 850, Autobianchi Primula – were assembled. This charming 4-seater flaunted four-wheel drive and “Cargo” work versions; some have described it as a small-size SUV or mini jeep… and yet today it is one of some collectors’ biggest dreams.

China urges Indonesia to cut out ‘interference’ as host of G20 summit after calls to discuss Ukraine war

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells Indonesia’s Retno Marsudi the summit in November should discuss the economy, not politics.  Wang hails the arrival of the ‘Asian moment’ for global governance, suggesting Asian nations should form a tighter bond.

Roll with the Changes (REO Speedwagon) | Classic Rock Cover – Kelly and the Ding Dongs

What I really love about this is that everyone is in lock down, and through use of the internet they play the song together and sync it together. Actually really good. I cannot help but get a smile on my face.

And here they are jamming to Traffic’s Dear Mr. Fantasy…

Photographer Finds Charming Japanese Countryside Scenes that Look Right Out of an Anime

Really? Photographs? I find it difficult to believe…

It can sometimes sound silly to pass through a place in Japan and remark that “it looks like an anime”, because after all, many anime feature intricately researched and illustrated recreations of real locations in Japan.

Talented photographer Akine Coco proves that at just the right moment, the saying has a lot of truth in it. In what appear to be particularly countryside settings in Japan, Akine writes in their Twitter profile that they “show the anime-esque world through photographs”, and their latest beautiful photography certainly does that!

While many of Akine’s subjects are of everyday scenery and found around Japan, they seem to be able to capture them in a light and from angle that really do make them seem as if they were lifted from an anime directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, or perhaps a Makoto Shinkai work.

That’s why Akine posts them usually with the caption “Just like a scene from an anime,” here are a few of Akine’s standout shots!

Japan to enable fighter jet and missile exports to 12 nations – Nikkei Asia

The source is Nikkei (the mouthpiece of the CIA in the Pacific).

The Japanese government plans to allow exports of fighter jets, missiles and other arms to 12 countries, including India, Australia as well as some European and Southeast Asian nations, Nikkei has learned. Regulatory changes to allow for the exports could come by next March.

Actress Rita Hayworth looks stunning – wearing her trademark charming, nonchalant look – in a nightgown in 1941.

China-Australia relations: ex-Australian PM Kevin Rudd tells West to offer alternatives to Pacific islands, not ‘lectures’.

Duh!

Some Western nations have criticized the Solomon Islands-China pact, claiming the move will lead to Beijing bolstering its military presence in the region. Kevin Rudd said the West must offer better and more development-friendly proposals to Pacific Island nations, rather than a ‘stern moral lecture’

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Full article HERE.

RATS FLEEING THE SINKING SHIP: FORMER UKRAINE PRESIDENT CAUGHT AT BORDER TRYING TO FLEE UKRAINE

World Hal Turner 27 May 2022

Former President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, is at the Rava-Russkaya checkpoint of the Lvov customs and is trying to leave Ukraine for Poland in a Range Rover vehicle.

"Poroshenko is trying to escape from Ukraine!"

 - Customs Service.

MORE:

The Prosecutor General’s Office in Kiev has announced the issuance of an Arrest Warrant for the former Chairman of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, Oleksandr Tupytskiy, on charges of . . .  Fleeing Ukraine.

The former head of Ukraine’s highest court is said to have fled the country into Poland.

Gee, if Ukraine is actually winning the war, then why are all these top people FLEEING?

Oh, maybe this is why:

Cat Waited Her Whole Life to Be Indoors, is Now Living the Dream Life with Her Kitten

Amy Bojo

May 27 22

A cat who waited her whole life to be indoors, is now living the dream life with her kitten.

A family who owns a remote farm near Montreal, Canada, started finding abandoned cats around their property, and the number increased over time. They took in those from the side of the road and tried their best to save them all.

Soon they found themselves unable to provide the care the cats needed, and sent out a plea for help. “Some of the cats were sick and others were injured due to fights,” Celine Crom of Chatons Orphelins Montréal shared with Love Meow.

Julie, an animal rescuer, sprang into action when she learned about the difficult situation. She noticed that one of the cats had a cloudy eye and was covered in mats.

Julie was able to rescue all the cats and kittens with the help of humane traps, and transferred them to Chatons Orphelins Montréal. As it turned out, several cats were pregnant, including the one with the cloudy eye. All of them received medical attention before they were taken into foster care.

“The cat with long hair and a cloudy eye was named Remille. She weighed barely 1.3 kg, and was just skin and bones.”

After removing all the mats and knots from her coat, Remille felt brand new and started purring up a storm. “She had an ulcer on her cornea and she could barely see out of that eye. She also tested positive for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus), but it didn’t stop her from seeking attention and love.”

Remille nearly doubled her weight after a few days, and her personality came out in full swing.

“She rested up and gained a lot of strength. She had a voracious appetite for food and pets,” Celine shared. “Her foster mom pampered her with all the attention she wanted, and Remille started to really enjoy life and have fun.”

The tabby girl went into labor one evening and gave birth to a litter of four. Three of them were extremely small. Despite their very best efforts to save them all, the biggest kitten, Hardy, became the sole survivor.

“The little boy has always been the one who put on the most weight and the strongest. At six weeks old now, he is still nursing and taking his bottle, and that’s okay.”

Watch Remille and her kitten in this cute video:

Remille, who just turned 10 months old, is so glad to have people step in to help raise her kitten, as she is still a young cat herself. She keeps Hardy clean and teaches him how to play.

She has been a ray of sunshine since she transitioned into indoor life. She is playful and affectionate, running after feather toys and following her kitten around the house.

Between play sessions, she will come up to her humans and get up-close and personal with them. “She likes to snuggle up to us for cuddles. She coos and chirps when she talks,” Celine told Love Meow.

“Hardy the solo kitten is getting very active and curious. He has figured out how to groom himself, and is learning to play by imitating his mom.”

Remille shows the tabby boy the ropes during the day and lets him comfort-nurse on her at night.

“After months of trying to survive the outdoors, Remille is so happy to be a kitten again in a safe home, and to be loved and spoiled.”

Albanese: China must remove its sanctions on Australian products to have any chance of improving relations between the two countries…

Twice Baked Potatoes

You don’t have to wait for dinner at a fancy steakhouse to enjoy cheesy, gooey twice baked potatoes. They’re surprisingly easy to make at home. Once assembled, the finished potatoes are super-easy to make ahead and store in the fridge or freezer.

Ingredients

• 4 large unpeeled Idaho or russet baking potatoes (8 to 10 oz each)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Singapore wholesaler allegedly exported Pokka drinks to N Korea

Singapore MUST obey America or else…!

Beautiful Photos Of The 1971 DeTomaso Pantera

The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1993. Italian for “Panther”, the Pantera was the automaker’s most popular model, with over 7,000 manufactured over its twenty-year production run.

The first 1971 Pantera models were powered by a 5.8 L (351 cu in) Ford Cleveland V8 engine having a power output of 335 PS (246 kW; 330 hp). The high torque provided by the Ford engine reduced the need for excessive gear changing at low speeds: this made the car much less demanding to drive in urban conditions than many of the locally built offerings.

The 1971 Pantera could accelerate to 97 km/h (60 mph) in 5.5 seconds according to Car and Driver.

‘International robbery’: Greece agrees to send Iranian oil from seized aframax to the US | TradeWinds

You see, Greece acts as a proxy, and then robs ships at will… sending the products to the United States.

From HERE.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are collapsing on the battlefield and the defeats are happening so fast, over such a wide area, that today, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told the country “Ukraine is not eager to talk to Russia’s Vladimir Putin but that it has to face the reality that this will likely be necessary to end the war.”

Quite a turnaround from just a week ago when Zelensky said Ukraine will never give up any territory, and would “win” against the Russian Army.

Over the past two weeks, the situation for Ukraine has gotten almost dire.   Its armed forces are being decimated on almost every battlefield.  Russian long range artillery is smashing thousands of Ukraine troops, and causing those still alive to surrender.

In fact, the number of Ukraine troops surrendering has gotten so enormous, the Ukraine legislature voted on a Bill allowing military officers to SHOOT SURRENDERING TROOPS to stop the mass-surrenders!

In the brief video below, Ukraine troops who SURRENDERED, report to the world that their commanding officers DID, in fact, SHOOT THEIR OWN TROOPS IN THE BACK to prevent the surrender!

The reality on the battlefield is so dire for Ukraine troops, many seasoned observers believe the Ukrainian Army cannot survive even another two weeks.

Moreover, the opinion of the general public is taking a very significant turn; in favor of Russia.

Citizens of almost all western nations, now becoming aware that Nazis are in the Ukraine government, police, and military, are no longer so quick to support Ukraine.

And when those same Western citizens see the video of Ukraine President Zelensky admitting on TV he uses cocaine because it gives him energy all day – they realize that Ukraine is being run by a drug-addled guy who may actually be so disconnected from reality (by drugs) that he’s perhaps a madman!

Even an Archbishop speaking from the Altar in the Church of England told Parishioners  “Putin is the only one standing-up against the New World Order” and that “Russia was provoked into this war! ”

Here, listen for yourselves:

Judging by the speed with which the Armed Forces of Ukraine are fleeing from the cities of the Donbass, specifically from the Donetsk area, a moral breakdown has occurred.

This is certainly not the final Russian victory, but it is clearly a very serious success.

In recent history, we have not yet seen such wars in dense urban areas, with the use of all types of weapons, excluding nuclear weapons, and in which so many personnel and equipment are involved.

Ukraine is now losing the war, losing fast, and losing badly.

Below, video shows dozens of dead Ukraine troops, some with giant pieces of shrapnel protruding from their cracked open skulls — VERY GRAPHIC:

Just this morning (Friday) Zelensky Advisor Alexey Arestovich reported on TV  “THE CITY OF LYMAN HAS BEEN LOST”
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He went on to say “According to reports, the city of Liman has been lost. The way the Russian army captured it shows that there have very talented commanders, and this shows the increased level of operational management and skills of the Russian army.”
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Residents of Krasny Liman report the retreat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the southern outskirts of the city and the railway station, in the area of which fierce battles had been going on since yesterday..

Another Ukrainian battalion had to Mutiny to save their own lives.  The brief video below shows them explaining why they fled:

BELOW, A UKRAINIAN POW SAYS HIS COMMANDER LEFT THEM “FOR A MEETING” AND NEVER CAME BACK!

Again and again, stories are repeated about how commanders leave their subordinates on the battlefield and leave “for a meeting.” And not a single bad word about being kept in a POW camp.

Overnight, a Ukraine military cargo plane was shot down near Odessa.   All of its western-supplied military weaponry was destroyed.   Here’s the crash site:

Meanwhile, it is quickly becoming clear that western military aid into Ukraine, is being stolen and re-routed to be sold in Serbia on the Black Market!!   Upwards of TWO-THIRDS of the ManPad surface-to-air, man-portable anti-aircraft weapons, are now in Serbia for sale.

This includes American STINGER missiles!

Worse, all manner of other weapons of war are also being offered on the Black market, including mortars, rocket propelled grenades, land mines, and armor-piercing ammunition in such vast quantities, the smugglers can’t even find place to store their ill-gotten goods.   It’s like a terrorist bazaar; where anyone can go buy any weapons they want!

The Ukrainians are literally STEALING the west-supplied weapons so they can sell them on the black market and put the cash in their own pockets.

So much for the forty billion in U.S. aid approved by Congress.  It is highly likely much of that aid is already stolen.

Perhaps the facts reported above are why President Zelensky today, told his countrymen “Ukraine is not eager to talk to Russia’s Vladimir Putin but that it has to face the reality that this will likely be necessary to end the war.”

Many people are starting to realize the only words Zelensky is going to soon be able to say to Putin are “Ukraine surrenders.”

UPDATE 3:55 PM EDT —

Ukraine Foreign Minister reveals he has NOW been told to negotiate with Russia to end the war .

KC and the Sunshine Band (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty DOLLY PARTON 1976 HQ

Now watching with though my older eyes of experience, I can see it’s true face. It’s a great stage show, though at the time, I wasn’t really fond of the song. Now, I see that as being such a cultural icon.

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Some real treats here. Please enjoy this nice stroll though the past, and a look at the present, as well as some great food to try and sample. i hope that all of you get something of benefit from this latest article. Have fun!

I’ll tell you what!

World Hal Turner 20 May 2022

Russia is cutting off its supply of natural gas to Finland as of Saturday as Helsinki moves forward with its effort to join NATO in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finnish energy company Gasum on Friday said it had been notified by the Russian energy giant Gazprom that it would shut off its supply of gas the next day.

The announcement comes as Russia demands that Finland pay for the natural gas in rubles, which Finland has refused to do.

It also adds a new layer to an escalating energy fight between Russia and much of Europe fueled by the war in Ukraine.

The European Union earlier this month proposed an oil ban on imports from Russia. This week, the EU unveiled additional details on its plan to reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas.

Russia has already cut off gas to Poland and Bulgaria.

President Biden has hailed the efforts of Finland and Sweden to join NATO after decades outside the bloc. Both countries took steps to join the military alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February. The leaders of Sweden and Finland met with Biden at the White House on Thursday.

Mafia boss Joe Masseria lays dead on a Brooklyn restaurant floor holding the ace of spades, 1931.

How to Make a Doner Kebab

Jennie MacGregor, arrested by Minneapolis police on April 10, 1924 for dispensing alcoholic beverages from life-preserver flasks .

The United States is no longer an accurate reflection of who and what we are

The Republican planets are beginning their alignment to leverage their political gravity to strangle our democracy

Vaccine study of 23 million shows risk of ‘heart problems’ from Moderna or Pfizer jab

Vaccine study of 23 million shows risk of ‘heart problems’ from Moderna or Pfizer jab – Google Search
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From HERE

The Mississippi Slugburger – How to Make America’s Strangest Hamburger – Food Wishes

Hungarian Jews being selected by Nazis to be sent to the gas chamber at Auschwitz concentration camp, Auschwitz Album May-June 1944.

Hall & Oates – Sara Smile

World Hal Turner 20 May 2022

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In March 2021, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) partnered with the Munich Security Conference to conduct a “tabletop exercise” simulating a global pandemic involving an unusual strain of monkeypox caused by a terrorist attack using a pathogen engineered in a laboratory.  In the “exercise” the terror Monkey pox attack took place in May, 2022.   Well, it is now May, 2022, and we now have . . .  an outbreak of actual Monkeypox.   These “exercises” aren’t exercises, they’re plans!

The exercise was allegedly designed to examine gaps in national and international biosecurity and pandemic preparedness architectures—exploring opportunities to improve prevention and response capabilities for high-consequence biological events. Participants included 19 senior leaders and experts from across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe with decades of combined experience in public health, biotechnology industry, international security, and philanthropy.

This report, Strengthening Global Systems to Prevent and Respond to High-Consequence Biological Threats: Results from the 2021 Tabletop Exercise Conducted in Partnership with the Munich Security Conference, written by Jaime M. Yassif, Ph.D., Kevin P. O’Prey, Ph.D., and Christopher R. Isaac, M.Sc., summarizes key findings from the exercise and offers actionable recommendations for the international community.

Developed in consultation with technical and policy experts, the fictional exercise scenario portrayed a deadly, global pandemic involving an unusual strain of monkeypox virus that first emerged in the fictional nation of Brinia and spread globally over 18 months. Ultimately, the exercise scenario revealed that the initial outbreak was caused by a terrorist attack using a pathogen engineered in a laboratory with inadequate biosafety and biosecurity provisions and weak oversight. By the end of the exercise, the fictional pandemic resulted in more than three billion cases and 270 million fatalities worldwide.

Discussions throughout the tabletop exercise generated a range of valuable insights and key findings. Most significantly, exercise participants agreed that, notwithstanding improvements following the global response to COVID-19, the international system of pandemic prevention, detection, analysis, warning, and response is woefully inadequate to address current and anticipated future challenges. Gaps in the international biosecurity and pandemic preparedness architecture are extensive and fundamental, undermining the ability of the international community to prevent and mount effective responses to future biological events—including those that could match the impacts of COVID-19 or cause damage that is significantly more severe.

Report Findings and Recommendations

Discussion among exercise participants led to the following key findings:

(The full findings are available on page 14 of the report.)

• Weak global detection, assessment, and warning of pandemic risks. The international community needs a more robust, transparent detection, evaluation, and early warning system that can rapidly communicate actionable information about pandemic risks.
• Gaps in national-level preparedness. National governments should improve preparedness by developing national-level pandemic response plans built upon a coherent system of “triggers” that prompt anticipatory action, despite uncertainty and near-term costs—in other words, on a “no-regrets” basis.
• Gaps in biological research governance. The international system for governing dual-use biological research is neither prepared to meet today’s security requirements, nor is it ready for significantly expanded challenges in the future. There are risk reduction needs throughout the bioscience research and development life cycle.
• Insufficient financing of international preparedness for pandemics. Many countries around the world lack financing to make the essential national investments in pandemic preparedness.

To address these findings, the report authors developed the following recommendations:

(The full recommendations are available on page 22 of the report.)

1. Bolster international systems for pandemic risk assessment, warning, and investigating outbreak origins
   • The WHO should establish a graded, transparent, international public health alert system.
   • The United Nations (UN) system should establish a new mechanism for investigating high-consequence biological events of unknown origin, which we refer to as a “Joint Assessment Mechanism.”
2. Develop and institute national-level triggers for early, proactive pandemic response
   • National governments must adopt a “no-regrets” approach to pandemic response, taking anticipatory action—as opposed to reacting to mounting case counts and fatalities, which are lagging indicators.
   • To facilitate anticipatory action on a no-regrets basis, national governments should develop national-level plans that define and incorporate “triggers” for responding to high-consequence biological events.
3. Establish an international entity dedicated to reducing emerging biological risks associated with rapid technology advances
   • The international community should establish an entity dedicated to reducing the risk of catastrophic events due to accidental misuse or deliberate abuse of bioscience and biotechnology.
   • To meaningfully reduce risk, the entity should support interventions throughout the bioscience and biotechnology research and development life cycle—from funding, through execution, and on to publication or commercialization.
4. Develop a catalytic global health security fund to accelerate pandemic preparedness capacity building in countries around the world
   • National leaders, development banks, philanthropic donors, and the private sector should establish and resource a new financing mechanism to bolster global health security and pandemic preparedness.
   • The design and operations of the fund should be catalytic—incentivizing national governments to invest in their own preparedness over the long term.
5. Establish a robust international process to tackle the challenge of supply chain resilience
   • The UN Secretary General should convene a high-level panel to develop recommendations for critical measures to bolster global supply chain resilience for medical and public health supplies.

Click here to learn more about the November 23, 2021 launch event for this report on the margins of the Biological Weapons Convention Meeting of States Parties.

To learn more about NTI’s previous tabletop exercises at the Munich Security Conference, see the 2019 report, “A Spreading Plague,” and our 2020 report,  “Preventing Global Catastrophic Biological Risks.”

HAL TURNER EDITORIAL OPINION

It seems to me personally that these “exercises” are not “exercises” at all.  I think they are actual PLANS.

Here.  Look at this page from their own  Monkeypox “Exercise” simulation:

So here we are, in May, 2022, and what are the headlines?

First Case of Monkeypox CONFIRMED in USA  (May 18 Story)

and:

ALERT: MONKEY POX IN MANHATTAN, NYC (May 19 Story)

Just like the “exercise” said would happen . . . right down to the precise month and even the precise WEEK!

This is not the first time some “exercise” turned out real.

The attacks of 9/11 took place during an “exercise” which simulated the hijacking of aircraft . . .  and became the real thing.

Now,   these other “exercises” are turning out to be the same real things.

Of course, the people doing these things would have us believe its all “coincidence.”

Coincidence my ass.  I say these people are intentionally attacking us, and now, they’ve escalated from airplanes-into-buildings, to bio-weapons attacks.

COVID-19 Was An ATTACK, TOO!

I believe there is actual proof that COVID-19 was planned.  I think it was a bio-attack.  Here’s why:

Richard A. Rothschild applied for a Patent on a Test for COVID-19 on 10-13-2015 when COVID-19 didn’t exist yet.

How do you apply, in 2015, for a Patent on a testing system for a disease, almost four years before the disease had even been named?  (Full Story HERE)

But wait . . . there’s more . . .

Boxes of COVID-19 Vaccine from AstraZeneca show a Manufacture Date of July 15, 2018 . . . But “COVID-19” wasn’t discovered until 2019 and wasn’t NAMED until February 11, 2020.

How Did Astra-Zeneca Manufacture “COVID-19 Vaccine” in July of 2018 Before the Disease Was Even Discovered or Named?  (Full Story HERE)

There’s even MORE. . . .

‘The world first started to hear about a novel coronavirus in early January 2020, with reports of an alleged new pneumonia-like illness spreading across Wuhan, China. However, the world did not actually know of Covid-19 until February 2020, because it was not until the 11th of that month that the World Health Organization officially named the novel coronavirus disease “Covid-19.”

So with this being the official truth, why does United States Government data show that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) awarded a contract on the 12th November 2019 to Labyrinth Global Health INC. for ‘COVID-19 Research’, at least one month before the alleged emergence of the novel coronavirus, and three months before it was officially dubbed Covid-19?  (Full Story HERE)

Moving farther along in this brief foray into inconvenient truth, I offer you this little gem:

Confidential documents surfaced in a Confidentiality Agreement between the U.S. National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Moderna showing they transferred “potential coronavirus vaccine candidates” to the University of North Carolina, on December 12, 2019

. . . which was nineteen (19) days BEFORE the outbreak of novel coronavirus in China!

How could they know they would need a Coronavirus Vaccine BEFORE the outbreak, unless they had knowledge the outbreak was going to happen?   (Full Story HERE)

Last but not least,

France Gov’t Printed “VACCINE PASSPORT” Signs 4 days BEFORE France Ever Had a Case of COVID-19. How did the French Government know there would need to be a “Vaccine Passport” for COVID four days before the disease ever hit France?

It seems to me personally that the only logical conclusion is that they knew, because they planned the whole thing.   (Full Story HERE)

So now, we have this “tabletop exercise” involving a terrorist attack using Monkeypox, and the exercise says the “attack” takes place on May 15, 2022. Lo and behold, by May 18, 2022, we have an ACTUAL outbreak of Monkeypox.

In my view, these “exercises” are, in fact, plans.

Bio-weapon attack plans.

And we . . .  you and me . . .  are the targets.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had quite enough of this shit.   I’ve had enough of the overt planning.  I’ve had enough of them actually carrying-out these attacks.  And I’ve had more than enough of law enforcement at every level, local, county, state and federal, doing absolutely nothing about any of it.

When will we collectively step-up and put and end to this shit?

Or do we sit idly-by and wait to get murdered by these psychopaths?

There’s an old axiom: “Turnabout is fair play”

And there’s another: “What’s good for the Goose, is good for the Gander.”

They attacked first.

Magical Slavic Photography From Russia Is So Impressive That It Looks Unreal

Russia culture is just one off spring branch of greater Slavic culture that is shared by 360 million Slavs worldwide. Vibrant images filled with electric series of Slavic folklore is a colorful photography mix that comes from Moscow artistic direction study of Yakovlev & Aleeva. These pieces show a interesting mixture of traditionalism, high fashion and certain degree of modernity. These stunning Russian women models are all dressed in what is know as traditional clothing plus they are adorned in bright colored jewelry and lipstick, which fits Russian culture as we know it today.

It’s beyond just fashion, it’s a blend of orthodoxy along with a classical love of opulence that together reveal an actual historically influenced images made for the contemporary world of ours. The eggs are also lavishly decked and share the spotlight with the gorgeous backdrops.

Boxing match aboard the U.S.S. New York, July 3, 1899.

Tsar Nicholas II allows his daughter, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, to smoke.

The Doobie Brothers – China Groove

Cool Photos of Teenage Girls in the 1970s

Teenage girls’ fashion in the 1970s continued the “do-your-own-thing” look of the late 1960s for the early years of the decade.

Girls’ clothing styles were dominated by the disco look during the latter half of the 1970s. Girls’ clothes transitioned from costume-like hippie garb to styles influenced by disco party dresses, evening wear and the preppie look.

Towards the end of the decade, the decadent punk look began to catch on. Take a look at these cool photos to see what fashion styles of teenage girls looked like in the 1970s.

Tubes – White Punks On Dope (1977 R0X M1X)

What a great show!

Gosh! I can smell the spilled bong water all the way through the years!

Bob Dylan with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at Jaggers 29th birthday party, July 1972.

An American evacuee punches a South Vietnamese man for a place on the last chopper out of the US embassy during the evacuation of Saigon in 1975.

Breakfast advertisement

My favorite television show in the early 1970’s.

The Statue of Liberty under construction in Paris in 1884.

How to Make Parmesan Cheese (Italian Hard Cheese) at Home

Crew of the Japanese carrier Zuikaku give one final banzai cheer before the ship sinks, 1944.

World Hal Turner 20 May 2022

The entire territory of the Azovstal steel mill and factory complex in Mariupol has been liberated, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday.

More than 2,400 people hiding inside for almost a month, including Ukrainian servicemen and members of the neo-Nazi Azov unit, have laid down their arms and surrendered.

“The last group of 531 militants surrendered today,” the Russian military spokesman, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said in a statement.

He added that a total of “2,439 Azov Nazis” and Ukrainian servicemen had laid down their arms since May 16, and that the entire Azovstal complex is now under control of Russian armed forces.

Richard Nixon’s last meal at the White House, in 1974.

On the day that he announced his resignation, Nixon ordered cottage cheese, pineapple slices and a glass of milk.

R-100 Airship: Inside a British “Flying Hotel”, 1929-1930

The R100 airship was built as part of a British government programme to develop airships to provide passenger and mail transport between Britain and the countries of the British Empire, including India, Australia and Canada. Originally, it was proposed that two airships be constructed: one, R101, to be designed and constructed under the direction of the Air Ministry, and the other, R100, to be built by a private company under a fixed price contract.

The R100, designed by Barnes Wallis, was the first to be finished in Howden, Yorkshire in 1929. The airframe was made of duralumin, an early aluminum alloy, and covered with a giant 5-acre fabric coating stitched together in pieces and stretched into place. Inside the cavernous 146,000 cubic metre shell, 17 gas bags made from oxen intestines provided the all-important buoyancy.

After the 7 successful trial flights and flights checking the outer cover ripple effect, the decision was made for a transatlantic flight or long distance proving flight by one of the two new airships. As the R101 had been put back in Shed Number 1 for further changes to the design to increase the disposable lift, the R100 was tasked with a trip to Canada, successfully crossing the Atlantic to Montreal to the newly erected mast. The ship slipped the moorings from the Cardington mast at 02.48am on the morning of 29th July 1930. The ship flew over the Atlantic and headed down the Newfoundland coast.

After R101 crashed and burned in France, en route to India on 5 October 1930, the Air Ministry ordered R100 grounded. It was deflated and hung up in its shed at Cardington for a year whilst three options were considered: a complete refit of R100 and continuation of tests for the eventual construction of R102; static testing of R100 and retention of about 300 staff to keep the programme “ticking over”; or retention of staff and the scrapping of the airship. In November 1931, it was decided to sell R100 for scrap. The entire framework of the ship was flattened by steamrollers and sold for less than £600.

A group of men posing in front of Lynch’s Slave Market, St. Louis, Missouri, 1852.

[ SCHOOL UNIFORM ] China, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam.

Great video. Learn something. It’s fun.

China, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam.”]

Scottish piper in a Kilt on the battlefield during World War One.

Three Dog Night – Eli’s Coming (1969)

It makes me want to put on my old leather vest with the long fringes…

The Prisoner S01E13 Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling

A great episode of the prisoner.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings 4

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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• You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
• You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
• You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
• You can find out more about the author HERE.
• If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
• If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

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Today we present some fun subjects and some delicious food. Oh, yes, and we also include some geopolitical stuff too. For you all who don’t want to read that “news”, you can go ahead and gloss or jump over it. There is no shame in skim reading if that is your want. I say, go for it! If it makes your boat float!

Have some fun here. Enjoy yourself.

Europe will need Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline one day, Kremlin says

A pair of kids from Ohio rest on their motorcycles after arriving at Daytona Beach in 1975.

Oklahoma Onion Burgers are SHOCKINGLY Good

Looks delicious! Doesn’t it?

Shrimpton: Russo-Ukrainian War (6)

ByMichael Shrimpton

May 15, 2022

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The war goes on, although it hasn’t quite yet reached the intensity of the libel battle between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney in the High Court in London. I still think that ‘Russo-Ukrainian War’ is the best title. At any rate the MSM haven’t come up with anything better. It’s turned into a war of attrition with moderate to heavy casualties on both sides. Assessing just how heavy the casualties have been is very far from straightforward, although it still seems safe to divide the Ukrainian figure for Russian casualties by ten. I think that the Ukrainians will do less well in the war than in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Russia is right to complain that they are effectively fighting the whole of NATO. Aside from the British and American ground troops (special forces) deployed, crazily, inside Ukraine, NATO countries are supplying Ukraine with enormous quantities of weapons. Indeed US stocks of precision guided munitions are reported to be running low.

I expect a formal Russian declaration of war on the Ukraine in the next few months, possibly weeks, followed by general mobilisation. As Ukrainian stocks of precision anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles run low Russia is likely to regain control of the battlefield and Ukrainian airspace.

The Azov battalion continues to hold out in the Azovstal steelworks, desperate to protect its dirty secrets. Conditions are now reported to be worse than on the Beltway at rush hour, with bodies piled up everywhere. They can’t hold out for much longer. I hold no more brief for the Azov battalion than I do for the Waffen-SS but they are brave men and should be treated as such when they finally surrender. There’s been nothing like it since World War II.

NATO strategy is to get as many Ukrainians killed as possible by prolonging the war for as long as possible. So far as I can tell NATO is not trying to start World War III, but they might want to think twice about accepting Finland and Sweden into membership. If the Russian Government goes public on the intelligence yield then support for Ukraine in the West will fall away.

At the moment we are close to what NASA might term ‘Max Q’. The venom and lies being directed at Russia have understandably angered her elected president and government. Western precision weapons have dramatically increased Russian casualties. Anglo-Russian relations haven’t been this bad since the Crimean War.

Russian troops are now being accused of carrying out mass rapes, in what is undoubtedly intended to be an echo of 1945. There is no doubt that Russian soldiers raped a great many German women, sadly, at the end of the last world war, but the rapes were sanctioned by the notorious German agent Josef Stalin, who was not of course Russian.

Stalin’s intent seems to have been to damage the reputation of the Red Army. I doubt that he was anxious to let the boys get their leg over, as it were, or desirous of getting back at the Germans for the mass rape of Russian women. Rape is wrong of course and never justified, either in peace or war.

However I sense increased scepticism about Ukrainian claims of Russian war crimes, which are starting to assume the proportions of a blood libel. Thankfully the Russophobes Boris Johnson and Simon Case aren’t likely to remain in power in London for much longer. Their resignations should pave the way for a UK climbdown on false claims about GRU officers poisoning the Skripals in 2018 in Salisbury and Lt-Colonel Litvinenko in 2006, and of Russian involvement in the murderous shoot-down of MH17 in 2014.

Revelation of the German GO2’s role in poisoning and probably murdering the Skripals would considerably ease tensions between London and Moscow. (Litvinenko poisoned himself of course, being killed by the antidote which he swallowed at the same time as the polonium.) It’s unlikely that the fanatically anti-Russian Liz Truss will continue to serve as Foreign Secretary, thankfully.

Will the Ukraine survive?

It’s now clear that when President Zelensky rejected President Putin’s fair peace terms back in March he bet the farm. There is now reporting that Poland is planning to participate in the dismemberment of the Ukraine, which would reflect the historical position, Western Ukraine being incorporated in the Polish/Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Poles of course participated in the break-up of Czechoslovakia after Munich.

I imagine that Russia will want to incorporate the whole of the Ukraine east of the Dneiper into Russia, along with a land bridge to Transnistria. Ethnic Ukrainian hatred for Russia and Russians is such that a negotiated solution is unlikely to work. Moscow will want a deep buffer zone around the Donbas.

Incorporating Western Ukraine into Poland is likely to prove more stable in the long run than having a rump Ukrainian republic endlessly plotting revenge against Russia. I fail to see how Russia could ever trust the Ukraine again.

American People In The 1950s

Here is a wonderful photograph collection of people in America taken by photographer Stevel in the 1950s.

Atomic clocks put China’s BeiDou satnav system ahead of the rest, study finds

Of course. They learn from the United States on what NOT to do.

From HERE.

The New Disguise of the Russian Armed Forces used in Ukraine

RF Armed Forces use new radio-thermal camouflage as part of a special operation in Ukraine

ByVT Editors

April 26, 2022

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MOSCOW, April 26 – RIA Novosti. The Russian Armed Forces, as part of a special military operation in Ukraine, are using a new type of camouflage that reduces the visibility of combat vehicles in the infrared and radar ranges, an informed source told RIA Novosti.

Camouflage is a synthetic material that is worn on top of equipment in the form of covers or coatings. The material reduces the level of thermal radiation, for example, from a tank by several times, so that it practically merges with the background surface. In the radar range, it is significantly reduced detection range of equipment,” the source said.

He explained that, first of all, this disguise is intended to reduce the visibility of equipment by enemy UAVs and reconnaissance aircraft.

According to the source, the coating can also be painted in camouflage colors, reducing the visibility of military equipment in the visible optical range.

“As part of the special operation, various types of such camouflage are used on the Iskander operational-tactical missile systems, as well as on the latest T-90M Proryv tanks,” the source said.

A pair of young women sunbathe at Coney Island in 1977.

How to Make Italian Sausage, Peppers, and Onions | Allrecipes.com

Must listen: a very powerful speech by a former Singapore UN diplomat

Crowds of beachgoers enjoy the sun at Deerfield Beach, Florida, 1976.

A group of friends take a break from roller-skating at Venice Beach, 1979.

After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion “rights” and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance. I have accordingly sent her a Notification to this effect, which I have now made public.

Therefore, in light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco to be ‘concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care” (Code of Canon Law, can. 383, §1), by means of this communication I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.

I have responded that conversion is always better than exclusion, and before any such action can be taken it must be preceded by sincere and diligent efforts at dialogue and persuasion.  With regard to Speaker Pelosi, I have striven to follow this wise route, as delineated by then-Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) in a letter to U.S. bishops regarding Holy Communion and Catholic politicians who cooperate in the grave evils of abortion and euthanasia.

Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s position on abortion has become only more extreme over the years, especially in the last few months.  Just earlier this month she once again, as she has many times before, explicitly cited her Catholic faith while justifying abortion as a “choice,” this time setting herself in direct opposition to Pope Francis: “The very idea that they would be telling women the size, timing or whatever of their family, the personal nature of this is so appalling, and I say that as a devout Catholic”; “They say to me, ‘Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope.’  Yes I do.  Are you stupid?

Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Official Music Video)

Luxury Villas For Your Hamster

A design studio based in South Korea, studio ZIT, just launched a new incredible product: a miniature series of luxury villas for your hamsters! A fascinating and minutious concept that will allows you to choose a more comfy house than a simple cage for your lovely pets.

Homemade Soft Pretzels!! How to Make Pretzels Recipe

Old Fashioned Love Song (1975) – Three Dog Night

First time I have heard this song in fifty years! LOL. Great presentation.

A woman (left) roller-skates, and a group of girls (right) get ready for a skate, at Venice Beach, California, 1979.

Israeli media confirming CIA trained Ukrainian Nazi Paramilitary

Like a muddied spring, a ruined fountain, Is a righteous man fallen before a wicked one. Proverbs 25:26 (The Israel BibleTM)

ByJim W. Dean, Managing Editor

May 13, 2022

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New evidence reveals CIA trained, armed Ukrainian Nazi paramilitary now leading the fight against Russia

…fom Israel 365 News

[ Editor’s Note: I surely couldn’t pass this up, coming from an Israeli source. No one in the US government or media would dare trash it, so here it is.

It’s a little late, but better than never. We have a long history of reporting on the neo-Nazis and Azov, going back to 2014. When this current fighting is over, there will be time to write a fuller history of it all.

The Cold War foreign intelligence agencies have always been wanting to keep a finger in the destabilization pies of countries by building ‘friendly forces’ with a combat capacity for when the big coup day comes.

When people don’t have money, but have low self esteem, it’s a big draw for them to become a player on the world stage. One just needs a suitable enemy to rage against. It took some time for NATO to grow this current Ukraine war, and here it is.

The only people who seen to be benefiting from it so far are the usual grifter types that always crawl out from under their rocks in times like these… Jim W. Dean ]

First published May 13, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s accusation that Ukraine advocated Nazism, the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion seemed proof of his claim. But further research seems to implicate the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in establishing and funding the white supremacist paramilitary.

Sputnik News, a Russian state-owned news agency that is now inaccessible in the US, reported last week that Putin’s claims of ties between the US government and the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Battalion were true.

Formed in 2014, the Azov Special Operations Detachment is a right-wing extremist, neo-Nazi, formerly paramilitary, unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, based in Mariupol, in the Azov Sea coastal region.

A 2016 report issued by the Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights details accusations against the Azov movement’s use of torture and other war crimes in the ensuing conflict after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The battalion’s sources of funding have always been unclear but the report cited the battalion’s online claims of receiving training from foreign military forces including those of Canada, Germany, the US, and the U.K.

10 Hammer into Anvil – Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner

Episode 10 of The Prisoner.

“Music begins where the words leave off…”

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings 4

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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• You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
• You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
• You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
• You can find out more about the author HERE.
• If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
• If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

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We continue on our stroll though the “news” as the West slowly enters it’s nose dive towards the enormous dark and damp black hole that it has created. In this installment, we enjoy the curious and the interesting as well as suggest some tasty food adventures that might well result in some fine and delicious food experiences. Experiences, mind you, that would be glorious to share with friends. Hint. Hint.

I hope you all have fun here today.

“My mother, Pat Clark, photographed by my father, Honolulu, 1965”

“The Real President Is Whoever Controls The Teleprompter”: Musk Delivers Scathing Criticism Of Biden

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

Tech billionaire Elon Musk this week warned that the United States must take steps to address inflation or it will end up like socialist Venezuela.

Musk, who is currently in the process of acquiring Twitter, told a virtual conference that he believes the government has printed too much money in recent years.

“I mean, the obvious reason for inflation is that the government printed a zillion amount of more money than it had, obviously,” Musk said, likely referring to COVID-19 relief stimulus packages worth trillions of dollars that were passed in recent years.

U.S. inflation rose by 8.3 percent in April, compared with the previous year. That’s slightly lower than the 8.5 percent spike in March, but it’s still near the 40-year high.

“So it’s like the government can’t … issue checks far in excess of revenue without there being inflation, you know, velocity of money held constant,” the Tesla CEO said. 

“If the federal government writes checks, they never bounce. So that is effectively creation of more dollars. And if there are more dollars created, then the increase in the goods and services across the economy, then you have inflation, again, velocity of money held constant.”

If governments could merely “issue massive amounts of money and deficits didn’t matter, then, well, why don’t we just make the deficit 100 times bigger,” Musk asked. “The answer is, you can’t because it will basically turn the dollar into something that is worthless.”

“Various countries have tried this experiment multiple times,” Musk said.

“Have you seen Venezuela? Like the poor, poor people of Venezuela are, you know, have been just run roughshod by their government.”

In 2018, Venezuela, a country with significant reserves of oil and gas, saw its inflation rise more than 65,000 percent amid an economic crash that included plummeting oil prices and government price controls. The regime of Nicolas Maduro then started printing money, thereby devaluing its currency, which caused prices to rapidly increase.

During the conference, Musk also said the Biden administration “doesn’t seem to get a lot done” and questioned who is actually in charge.

“The real president is whoever controls the teleprompter,” he said.

“The path to power is the path to the teleprompter.”

“The Trump administration, leaving Trump aside, there were a lot of people in the administration who were effective at getting things done,” he remarked.

And it appears that Musk has seen enough of Democratic Party politicking to know who he will vote for from now on…

Musk’s comment about the White House comes as Jeff Bezos, also one of the richest people in the world, has increasingly started to target the administration’s economic policies. Bezos, in a series of Twitter posts, said the rapid increase in federal spending is the reason why inflation is as high as it is.

“Remember the Administration tried their best to add another $3.5 TRILLION to federal spending,” Bezos wrote on Monday, drawing rebuke from several White House officials.

“They failed, but if they had succeeded, inflation would be even higher than it is today, and inflation today is at a 40-year high.”

An Artist Has Made This Badass Raven Costume Entirely By Hand

According to Rah-Bop, an illustrator and video game artist living in Seattle: “Since I get the impression it’s acceptable to dress up as an animal person at AC I took the opportunity to make a costume out of Rue, my D&D character, which I’ve been wanting to do for a while. If you see me, please feel free to say hi.”

Investigation Launched After ‘Mystery’ Surge In Deaths Of Newborn Babies

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

Health authorities in Scotland have launched an investigation after a mystery surge in deaths of newborn babies, the second time the phenomenon has been recorded in the space of six months.

A report by the Herald newspaper highlights the “very unusual” spike in deaths of babies, with the alarm being raised after 18 infants died within four weeks of birth in March.

That same control limit was also breached in September last year, when 21 neonatal deaths were reported, the first time this had occurred since records began.

“The neonatal mortality rate was 5.1 per 1,000 live births in September and 4.6 per 1,000 in March, against an average of 1.49 per 1000 in 2019,” reports the newspaper.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) said the deaths could not have been down to chance, while the cause behind the previous spike in September also “remained a mystery.”

The report notes that vaccination uptake has increased in expectant mothers and that COVID infections during pregnancy are associated with a higher chance of premature birth, but found no “direct link” between COVID surges and the deaths.

PHS Scotland says COVID infections “did not appear to have played a role” in the September spate of deaths.

Edinburgh University’s Dr. Sarah Stock said, “The numbers are really troubling,” but admitted she didn’t know the cause of the deaths.

Impossibly Easy Banana Bread Coffee Cake (With Make-Ahead Directions)

This banana bread coffee cake is a tasty new take on breakfast! It goes wonderfully with coffee. Sliced and mashed bananas make this cake extra moist and delicious.

Ingredients

“My mother, Ritva, 1960s”

McConnell Says Congress Hopes To Approve Sweden’s NATO Bid By August

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has promised that approval of Sweden’s application to join NATO will be fast-tracked by Congress and could be done within months.

McConnell made the comments to reporters in Stockholm on Monday after Sweden officially announced it will apply to NATO to provide better security for the country in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden shares a maritime border with Russia.

“We anticipate moving this rapid—in a more rapid fashion than past applications for NATO,” McConnell told reporters in Stockholm, where the Kentucky Republican was visiting with a delegation of GOP senators in a show of support amid the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict.

“We hope to approve it before August,” he said. “We are confident it will be approved.”

McConnell also shared a statement on Monday following his visit to both Sweden and Finland where he reiterated his support for both nations joining NATO, stating that both would “bring tremendous value as new NATO members and would strengthen the alliance significantly.”

“Sweden and Finland already have long track records as two of the United States and NATO’s most capable friends and partners, even from outside the alliance,” the Senate Republican leader said.

“Both countries have massive geographic importance, professional and well-equipped armed forces, strong military industrial bases, and significant interoperability with U.S. and NATO forces. Both nations’ robust commitments to defense funding mean that their accession would directly address longstanding concerns about burden-sharing and the financial contributions of our allies,” McConnell said.

He added that he would do “everything in my power to ensure that our part of their accession process moves smoothly and expeditiously.”

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told reporters in Stockholm on Monday that the decision to join NATO was driven in part by Finland’s recent move to join the alliance.

Finnish leaders, with backing from lawmakers in the country, announced plans to officially seek NATO membership over the weekend.

“Should Sweden be the only country in the Baltic Sea region that was not a member of NATO, we would be in a very vulnerable position. We can’t rule out that Russia would then increase pressure on Sweden,” Andersson said.

The vote to approve new membership into NATO must be unanimous among all members.

However, Turkey has threatened to block the bid by Sweden and Finland, citing their alleged willingness to support terrorist organizations, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and followers of Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of being behind the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey.

“Neither of these countries has a clear, open attitude toward terrorist organizations,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a joint news conference with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Monday. “How can we trust them?”

Erdogan also described Sweden as an “incubation center for terrorist organizations,” and claimed that some members of Sweden’s Parliament supported the PKK.

He also pointed to the fact that both Sweden and Finland imposed arms export embargoes on Turkey in 2019 after its incursion into Syria.

“First of all, we cannot say ‘yes’ to those who impose sanctions on Turkey, on joining NATO which is a security organization,” Erdogan also noted.

The Turkish president added that NATO would become “a place where representatives of terrorist organizations are concentrated” if both Sweden and Finland were to join.

Numerous other NATO members have signaled support for the two nations to join.

America the Feckless

There have been several particularly disturbing stories in the media over the past week even if one chooses to tune out the US Congress’s pending astonishing overwhelming approval of a grant of $39.8 billion to Ukraine to continue the war to “weaken” Russia. Even so-called progressives in the Democratic Party voted for the war. So now the United States will be at war with Russia through proxy, like it or not, and the consequences could be devastating, particularly if NATO member Poland intervenes directly, as it has been threatening, but few in Washington seem to be awake to that reality. And only Senator Rand Paul, who is asking for an inspector general to supervise the cash flow, is seriously wondering how much of the “aid” will be stolen by President Volodymyr Zelensky and his cronies. Ukraine has long been distinguished as the most corrupt country in Europe.

Another revolting story concerns the murder of a Palestinian Christian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who also happens to be an American citizen. She was shot dead by an Israeli sniper who hit her in the neck in the small gap between a protective helmet and vest. She was covering Israeli Army violence directed against protesting Palestinians in the West Bank town of Jenin for al-Jazeera and the vest was labelled “Press” in large letters. Israel initially sought to blame her death on Palestinian “gunmen” who allegedly were in the area, but that story would not wash when confronted with the eyewitness testimony of others who were on the scene and it was eventually conceded that an Israeli soldier “might have” fired the fatal shot. Last Friday, preceding Shireen’s funeral at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli police providing “security” were seen kicking and using batons to beat mourners seeking to carry the coffin from the hospital to the church. The police also hurled stun and smoke grenades into the crowd after several plastic water bottles were allegedly thrown in their direction. Abu Akleh’s home was also searched by police and it will no doubt be claimed that she was a “terrorist,” standard Israeli practice for many of those whom they murder.

Whenever an American citizen is killed under questionable circumstances overseas it is the responsibility of the local US Embassy to demand an investigation and explanation of what occurred. To be sure, the ardently Zionist US Ambassador Thomas Nides in Jerusalem has called for an inquiry, but let’s see what happens in this case as the mainstream media conspires to make the story disappear even though a number of Democratic congressmen (and no Republicans) have called for a response. Former Israeli army spokesman Avi Benayahu has already opined that “Let’s assume Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by IDF. No need to apologize for that.” Nevertheless, some form of inquiry acceptable to Israel will no doubt take place, but the Israeli government and the country’s courts have a history of exonerating soldiers and armed settlers when they kill Palestinians. Recently, a Palestinian was sentenced to nine months in prison for slapping an armed settler who was threatening his family while Israeli soldiers and settlers who have killed non-threatening Palestinians, including children, rarely receive any punishment at all.

And being an American citizen makes no difference. History tells us that Israel can kill Americans with impunity judging from the massacre of 34 American sailors on board the USS Liberty in 1967 and the Rachel Corrie murder-by-bulldozer in 2003. A Turkish-American boy Furkan Dogan who was on an aid ship to Gaza in 2010 was also murdered by Israeli soldiers who boarded the vessel, also killing eight others. No Israeli has been punished for any of the deaths.

This has to stop but the problem is in Washington, not in Jerusalem. Israel kills and kills because it knows it can get away with it due to American enabling of the process. It is an embarrassment that a series of US Ambassadors to Israel have been little more than apologists for the Jewish state. And we have House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declaring “I have said to people when they ask me if this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to our aid…and I don’t even call it aid…our cooperation with Israel. That’s fundamental to who we are.” Meanwhile President Joe Biden has self-declared as a “Zionist” while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls himself in Hebrew the “shomer yisroel” or defender of Israel in the Senate. And then there is House Intelligence Committee head Adam Schiff’s son sporting a Mossad t-shirt. And what about the regular mass “pilgrimages” by groups of Congressmen to Israel during recesses, an exercise in obtaining the approval of whichever unindicted felon is in charge of that rogue country that pretends to pass for a “democracy”?

As much as one would like to see all the traitors in Congress and the White House who give Israel a free pass on its monstrous behavior held accountable, such an outcome is unimaginable because enough of them have been bought or intimidated to such an extent that they remain silent or chant like a chorus in a Greek tragedy that “Israel has a right to defend itself.” And there is also the Jewish dominated mainstream media: the NY Times report on this latest murder had a headline reading that Shireen Abu Akleh had somehow “Died,” not that she was murdered by the Israelis, to whom the American taxpayer gives $10 million every single day! It is shameful and disgusting!

A related tale also concerns Israel and the United States. David Brog is running for Congress from Nevada. Brog is the former executive director of Pastor John Hagee’s Texas-based Christians United For Israel even though he is Jewish. Indeed, he has made Israel the focal point of his campaign based on his contention that “he brings a lifetime of dedication and a depth of knowledge to lead on pro-Israel causes.” He has said “I don’t just want to be a friend of Israel. I want to be a leader on Israel and a champion of Israel… We have to be very quick to reach out and broaden our coalition to all people of goodwill who love Israel and hate antisemitism.”

Brog, who is not from Nevada, has not surprisingly raised considerably more money than other GOP candidates vying for the position and he has also received the backing of former Trump administration Jewish officials, including David Friedman, the ex-US Ambassador to Israel, and Elan Carr, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. Friedman and Carr co-hosted a virtual fundraiser for Brog two weeks ago.

Brog is a one trick pony and his trick is to keep saying Israel over and over again to bring in the Shekels from the likes of Israel born Miriam Adelson, who inherited her husband’s casino fortune and lives in Las Vegas. It is disconcerting to see a politician running for national office in the United States so he can advance the interests of a foreign country, yet that is what Brog is doing openly. One would hope a lot of Nevada voters will see the issue in the same fashion, but Brog will have big bucks and the pro-Israel media supporting him. In any event, I have to wish the “malocchio” or evil eye on Brog and I hope he loses in his run and loses big. The United States does not need yet another ardent Israel booster in Congress or anywhere else in the public space!

Another tale that is developing surrounds the publication of the latest tell-all book by a survivor of the Donald Trump administration. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who was fired by Trump after the 2020 election, has described a series of catastrophic proposals by the president relating to national security and defense, including using missiles fired from the US to take on Mexican drug cartels. Another idea floated by Trump, if Esper is not lying, was to use soldiers to shoot protesters in Washington in the wake of the George Floyd death in Minneapolis in May 2020. Other former senior Trump officials have also been claiming that Trump often asked whether China had developed a top-secret hurricane gun that could be firing storms at the United States. And John Bolton, in his book, asserts that Trump asked if Finland were part of Russia.

But to my mind the most interesting revelation made by Esper is the back story, also set in the Middle East, relating to the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, which illustrates much that is wrong with the national security state that the United States has evolved into. According to Esper, Trump lied after the assassination was criticized by saying that Soleimani was actively preparing attacks on four American Embassies in the Mideast region. Esper confirms that there was no intelligence to back up that claim, but interestingly goes beyond that to make clear that there was no specific intelligence at all suggesting that such an attack was imminent or even being planned. There were only generic regional security threats that many embassies in the world respond to and make preparations to defend against.

One recalls the back story at the time, with the Iraqi government claiming that Soleimani, widely regarded as the second most powerful official in Iran after the Ayatollah, was in Baghdad to discuss peace arrangements and that the US Embassy had been informed of his planned trip and had raised no objection to it. Instead, the US used the opportunity to launch an armed drone to kill him and nine Iraqi militia members that were accompanying him from the airport. In other words, there was no imminent threat, nor even a plausible threat, and the US went ahead any way and killed a senior Iranian government official. That is unambiguously a war crime. Will anyone be held accountable? Of course not!

But finally there is also a bit of good news. The White House press secretary who is replacing Jen Psaki is Karine Jean-Pierre. She is a woman, black and lesbian, so clearly she passes the Democratic Party template for such a position but she lacks the mandatory Israel connection. It turns out that she once criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and even called for it to be boycotted. She is already being attacked by the usual groups and individuals, so let’s see how long she lasts!

Wooden Sculptures That Are So Realistic They’ll Leave Everyone With Goosebumps

“I saw the image in a piece of material, and then I just set it free.” This is how many famous sculptors describe their work. Sometimes their creations are so uncannily realistic that you might feel a little scared looking at them, yet you’re unable to drag your gaze away.

Fwd: Interview with US Col. Richard Black (ret.)

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Mike Billington with Executive Intelligence Review interviews Col. Richard Black (ret.).

BILLINGTON: Hi, this is this is Mike Billington with Executive Intelligence Review and the Schiller Institute. I am here today with Col. Richard Black, Sen. Richard Black, who, after serving 31 years in the Marines and in the Army, then served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1998 to 2006, and in the Virginia Senate from 2012 to 2020. I’ll also allow Colonel Black to describe his military service himself.

So, Colonel Black, welcome. With the with the U.S. and U.K. and NATO surrogate war with Russia, which is taking place in Ukraine, and the economic warfare being carried out directly against Russia, this has been accompanied by an information war which is intended to demonize Russia and especially President Vladimir Putin. One repeated theme is that the Russian military is carrying out ruthless campaigns of murder against civilians and destruction of residential areas, often referring to the Russian military operations in Syria, claiming that they had done the same thing in Syria, especially against Aleppo. These are supposedly examples of their war crimes and crimes against humanity.

You have been a leading spokesman internationally for many years, exposing the lies about what took place in Syria and the war on Syria. So first, let me ask: How and why did Russia get involved in Syria militarily? And how does that contrast with the U.S. and NATO supposed justification for their military intervention in Syria?

BLACK: Well, let me begin, if I could, by telling our listeners that I’m very patriotic: I volunteered to join the Marines and I volunteered to go to Vietnam. I fought in the bloodiest Marine campaign of the entire war. And I was a helicopter pilot who flew 269 combat missions. My aircraft was hit by ground fire on four missions. I, then, fought on the ground with the First Marine Division, and during one of the 70 combat patrols that I made, my radioman were both killed, and I was wounded while we were attacking and trying to rescue a surrounded Marine outpost.

So I’m very pro-American. I actually was a part of NATO and was prepared to die in Germany, to defend against an attack by the Soviet Union.

But Russia is not the Soviet Union at all. People don’t understand that because the media have not made it clear. But Russia is not a communist state; the Soviet Union was a communist state.

Now, one of the things that I’ve seen claimed, that has been particularly irritating to me because of my experience with Syria: I have I have been in Aleppo city. Aleppo city is the biggest city in Syria, or it was at least before the war began. And there was a tremendous battle. Some some call it the “Stalingrad of the Syrian war,” which is not a bad comparison. It was a terribly bitter battle that went on from 2012 until 2016. In the course of urban combat, any forces that are fighting are forced to destroy buildings. Buildings are blown down on a massive scale. And this happens any time that you have urban combat. So I have walked the streets of Aleppo, while combat was still in progress. I have looked across, through a slit in the sandbags at enemy controlled territory; I’ve stood on tanks that were blown out and this type of thing.

What I do know, and I can tell you about Aleppo is that Russia was extremely reluctant to get involved in combat in Syria. The war began in 2011, when the United States landed Central Intelligence operatives to begin coordinating with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. And we had been unwavering supporters of Al Qaeda, since before the war formally began. We are supporters of Al Qaeda today, where they’re bottled up in Idlib province. The CIA supplied them under secret Operation Timber Sycamore. We gave them all of their anti-tank weapons, all of their anti air- missiles. And Al Qaeda has always been our proxy force on the ground. They, together with ISIS, have carried out the mission of the United States, together with a great number of affiliates that really are kind of interchangeable. You have the Free Syrian Army soldiers move from ISIS to Al Qaeda to Free Syrian Army, rather fluidly. And so we started that war.

But the United States has a strategic policy of using proxies to engage in war. And our objective was to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria, and in order to do that, we employed proxy soldiers who were the most vile of all terrorists. Something very similar is happening right now in in Ukraine.

But going back to Aleppo, the Syrian army, together with Hezbollah, which was very effective; there were some troops that were organized by Iran also, but it was pretty much a Syrian show, certainly directed by Syrian generals. And they had fought this bitter urban combat, very brutal, very deadly. And they had fought it for four years, before Russia ever joined the battle. So after four years, the city of Aleppo had enormous destruction. And at that point, the Russians, at the invitation of the legitimate government of Syria, entered the war. But unlike many of the media reports, they did not enter the war as a ground force.  Now, they had some small ground forces. They had military police, they had a few artillery units, a few special operations people, and quite a number of advisers and that sort of thing. But they were not a significant ground force.

On the other hand, they were a significant and very effective air force, that supplemented the Syrian Air Force. But it really was just the last year of the war, the battle for Aleppo, just the last year, that they entered and their air power was very effective. And by this time, the Syrians had pretty well worn down the terrorist forces. And the Russian assistance was able to tip the balance, and Aleppo was the grand victory of the entire Syrian war.

But to blame the Russians for the massive destruction that took place within Aleppo, it’s bizarre: Because they were not there, they were not even present when this happened. So this is simply another part of the propaganda narrative, which is which hasbeen very effective for the West, demonizing Russia, and making claims that have no substance. But people don’t remember the history of these things—they’re rather complex. So, no: Russia was not in any respect responsible for the massive destruction of the city of Aleppo.

BILLINGTON: How would you contrast the methods of warfare followed by Russia, as opposed to the U.S. and allied forces in Syria?

BLACK: Well, first of all, the American involvement, the United States war against Syria is a war of aggression. We put a highly secretive CIA special activities center—these are kind of the James Bond guys of the Central Intelligence Agency, total Machiavellian; they will do anything, there’s no it’s no holds barred with these guys. We sent them in and we started the war in Syria. The war didn’t exist until we sent the CIA to coordinate with Al Qaeda elements. So we began the war and we were not invited into Syria.

In fact, the United States has seized, two significant parts of Syria. One is a very major part, the Euphrates River, carves off about a third of the northern part of Syria: The United States invaded that portion. We actually put troops on the ground, illegal—against any standard international law of war—it was it was a just a seizure. And this was this was something that was referred to by John Kerry, who was then the Secretary of State, and he was frustrated at the tremendous victory by the Syrian Armed Forces against Al Qaeda and ISIS. And he said, well, we probably need to move to Plan B. He didn’t announce what Plan B was, but it had it unfolded over time: Plan B was the American seizure of that northern portion of Syria. The importance of taking that part of Syria is, that it is the bread basket for all of the Syrian people. That is where the wheat—Syria actually had a significant wheat surplus and the people were very well fed in Syria, before the war. We wanted to take the wheat away, to cause famine among the Syrian people.

The other thing we were able to do, is to seize the major part of the oil and natural gas fields. Those also were produced in that northern portion beyond the Euphrates River. And the idea was that, by stealing the oil and then the gas, we would be able to shut down the transportation system, and at the same time, during the Syrian winters, we could freeze to death the Syrian civilian population, which in many cases were living in rubble, where these terrorist armies, with mechanized divisions had attacked and just totally destroyed these cities, and left people just living in little pockets of rubble.

We wanted to starve and we wanted to freeze to death the people of Syria, and that was Plan B.

Now, we became frustrated at a certain point that somehow these Syrians, these darned Syrians—it’s a tiny little country, and why are these people resilient? They’re fighting against two-thirds of the entire military and industrial force of the world. How can a nation of 23 million people possibly withstand this for over a decade? And so we decided we had to take action or we were going totally lose Syria. And so the U.S. Congress imposed the Caesar sanctions. The Caesar sanctions were the most brutal sanctions ever imposed on any nation. During the Second World War, sanctions were not nearly as strict as they were on Syria.

We weren’t at war with Syria! And yet we had a naval blockade around the country. We devalued their currency through the SWIFT system for international payments, making it impossible for them to purchase medications. So you had Syrian women who would contract breast cancer, just like we have here in this country. But instead, where in this country where breast cancer has become relatively treatable, we cut off the medical supplies so that the women in Syria would die of breast cancer because they could not get the medications, because we slam their dollars through the SWIFT system.

One of the last things that we did and the evidence is vague on it, but there was a mysterious explosion in the harbor in Lebanon, and it was a massive explosion of a shipload of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. It killed hundreds of Lebanese people. It wounded thousands and thousands, destroyed the economy of Lebanon. And, most importantly, it destroyed the banking system of Lebanon, which was one of the few lifelines remaining to Syria. I don’t think that explosion was accidental. I think it was orchestrated, and I suspect that the Central Intelligence Agency was aware of the nation that carried out that action to destroy Beirut Harbor.

But throughout you see this this Machiavellian approach, where we use unlimited force and violence. And at the same time, we control the global media, to where we erase all discussions of what’s truly happening. So, to the man or the woman in the street, they think things are fine. Everything is being done for altruistic reasons, but it’s not.

BILLINGTON: Part of your military service was as a JAG officer, and for a period of time, you were the Army’s head of the criminal law division at the Pentagon. And in that light, what do you see as of how these Caesar sanctions—how would you look at those from the perspective of international law and military law?

BLACK: Well, now, I was not the international law expert. I was the criminal law expert. But I would say that making war on a civilian population is a crime of grave significance in the law of war.

One of the things that we did as we as we allied ourselves with Al Qaeda, and on and off with ISIS; I mean, we fought ISIS in a very serious way, but at the same time, we often employed them to use against the Syrian government. So it’s kind of a love-hate. But we have always worked with the terrorists. They were the core.

One of the policies that was followed was that under this extreme version of Islam, this Wahhabism, there was this notion that you possess a woman that you seize with your strong right arm in battle. And this goes back to the seventh century. And so we facilitated the movement of Islamic terrorists from 100 countries, and they came and they joined ISIS, they joined Al Qaeda, they joined the Free Syrian Army, all of these different ones. And one of the things that they knew when they arrived is that they were lawfully entitled to murder the husbands—I’m not talking about military people, I’m talking about civilians—they could murder the husbands, they could kill them, and then they could possess and own their wives and their children.

And they did it in vast numbers.

And so there was there was a campaign of rape, it was an organized campaign of rape across the nation of Syria. And there actually were slave markets that that arose in certain of these rebel areas where they actually had price lists of the different women.

And interestingly, the highest prices went to the youngest children, because there were a great number of pedophiles. And the pedophiles wanted to possess small children, because under the laws that were applied, they were permitted to rape these children repeatedly. They were able to rape the widows of the slain soldiers or the slain civilians, and possess them and buy them and sell them among themselves. This went on.

I’m not saying that the CIA created this policy, but they understood that it was a widespread policy, and they condoned it. They never criticized it in any way.

This was so bad, that I spoke with President Assad, who shared with me that they were in the process—when I visited in 2016; I was in a number of battle zones, and in the capital. And I met with the President, and he said that at that time, they were working on legislation in the parliament, to change the law of citizenship. They had always followed the Islamic law, which was that that a child citizenship derived from the father. But there were so many tens, hundreds of thousands of Syrian women impregnated by these terrorists who were imported into Syria, that it was necessary to change the law, so that they would have Syrian citizenship and they wouldn’t have to be returned to their ISIS father in Saudi Arabia, or in Tunisia. They could be retained in Syria. And I checked later and that law was passed and was implemented.

But it just shows the utter cruelty. When we fight these wars, we have no limits on the cruelty and the inhumanity that we’re prepared to impose on the people, making them suffer, so that somehow that will translate into overthrowing the government, and perhaps taking their oil, taking their resources.

BILLINGTON: Clearly, the policy against Russia today, by the current administration.

BLACK: Yes. Yes. You know, Russia is, perhaps more blessed with natural resources than any other nation on Earth. They are a major producer of grain, of oil, of aluminum, of fertilizers, of an immense number of things that tie into the whole global economy. And no doubt there are people who look at this and say, “if we could somehow break up Russia itself, there will be fortunes made, to where trillionaires will be made by the dozens.” And there’s some attraction to that. Certainly you’ve seen some of this taking place already, with foreign interests taking over Ukraine, and taking their vast resources.

But, we began a drive towards Russia, almost immediately after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. The Soviet Union dissolved, the Warsaw Pact dissolved. And unfortunately, one of the great tragedies of history is that we failed to dissolve NATO. The sole purpose of NATO was to defend against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union no longer existed. NATO went toe toe with the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact was gone; it no longer existed. There was no purpose in NATO’s continuing to exist. However, we retained it, and it could not exist unless it had an enemy. Russia was desperate to become part of the West.

I met with the head of Gazprom, the largest corporation in Russia, And this was shortly after the demise of the Soviet Union, and he described for me how they were struggling to have their media be as free as it was in the West. And they perceived us as being much more free and open than we were. And he said, you know, we’ve got this problem because we have this uprising in Chechnya, which is part of Russia. And he said the Chechnyan rebels send videos to Russian television and we play them on Russian television, because that’s the way freedom of speech works.

And I said, “Are you kidding me?” I said, “You’re publishing the enemy propaganda films?” He said, “Yeah.” He said, “Isn’t that the way you do it in the United States?” I said, “No.  In the Second World War, we took the head of the Associated Press and we put him in charge of wartime censorship, and it was very strict.”

So but this is just an example of how they were struggling. They went from being an officially atheist country, to where they became the most Christianized major nation in Europe, by far. Not only were the people, the most Christianized people in any major country in Europe, but the government itself was very supportive of the church, of the Christian faith.

They altered their Constitution to say that marriage was the union of one man and one woman.

They became very restrictive on the practice of abortion. They ended the practice of overseas adoptions, where some people were going to Russia and adopting little boys for immoral purposes. So they became a totally different culture and.

In any event, the United States has this long-standing strategy, this political-military strategy, of expanding the empire. We did it in the Middle East, where we attempted to create a massive neocolonial empire. It’s it became rather frayed. The people did not want it. And it seems to be doomed to extinction sometime—but it may go on for another 100 years. But in any event, we are trying to do something similar, as we roll to the East, right up virtually to the Russian border.

BILLINGTON:  So, the U.S. and U.K. position on the war in Ukraine, just over these last few weeks has now become not only supporting the war, but victory at all costs. This has been declared by Defense Secretary Austin and others. And they are pumping in huge quantities of not only defensive but offensive military weaponry to the Kyiv regime. What do you see as the consequence of this policy?

BLACK: I think one thing that it will do is it will ensure that a tremendous number of innocent Ukrainian soldiers will die needlessly. A lot of Russian soldiers will die needlessly. These are kids. You know, kids go off to war. I went off to war as a kid. You think your country, right or wrong, everything they’re doing is fine. It just it breaks my heart, when I look at the faces of young Russian boys, who have been who have been gunned down—in some cases very criminally by Ukrainian forces. And likewise, I see Ukrainian young men, who are being slaughtered on the battlefield.

We don’t care!

The United States and NATO, we do not care how many Ukrainians die.

Not civilians, not women, not children, not soldiers. We do not care. It’s become a great football game. You know, we’ve got our team. They’ve got their team, rah rah. We want to get the biggest score and run it up. And, you know, we don’t care how many how many of our players get crippled on the playing field, as long as we win.

Now, we are shipping fantastic quantities of weapons, and it’s caused the stock of Raytheon, which creates missiles, and Northrop Grumman, which creates aircraft and missiles, all of these defense industries have become tremendously bloated with tax dollars. I don’t think it’s ultimately going to change the outcome.

I think that Russia will prevail.

The Ukrainians are in a very awkward strategic position in the East.

But if you look at the way that this unfolded, President Putin made a desperate effort to stop the march towards war back in December of 2021. He went so far as to put specific written proposals on the table with NATO, peace proposals to defuse what was coming about.

Because at this point, Ukraine was massing troops to attack the Donbas. And so, he was trying to head this off.

He didn’t want war.

And NATO just blew it off, just dismissed it; never took it seriously, never went into serious negotiations.

At that point, Putin seeing that armed Ukrainians, with weapons to kill Russian troops were literally on their borders, decided he had to strike first.

Now, you could see, that this was not this was not some preplanned attack. This was not like Hitler’s attack into Poland, where the standard rule of thumb, is that you always have a 3-to-1 advantage when you are the attacker. You have to mass three times as many tanks and artillery and planes and men, as the other side has. In fact, when Russia went in, they went in with what they had, what they could cobble together on short notice.

And they were outnumbered by the Ukrainian forces.

The Ukrainian forces had about 250,000.

The Russians had perhaps 160,000. So instead of having three times as many, they actually had fewer troops than the Ukrainians. But they were forced to attack, to try to preempt the battle that was looming, where the Ukrainians had massed these forces against the Donbas.

Now, the Donbas is adjacent to Russia.

It is a portion of Ukraine that did not join with the revolutionary government that conducted the coup in 2014 and overthrew the government of Ukraine. They refused to become a part of the new revolutionary government of Ukraine. And so they declared their independence.

And Ukraine had massed this enormous army to attack against the Donbas.

And so Russia was forced to go in to preempt that planned attack by Ukraine.

And you could see that Russia very much hoped that they could conduct this special operation without unduly causing casualties for the Ukrainians, because they think of the Ukrainians, or at least they did think of the Ukrainians as brother Slavs; that they wanted to have good relations.

But there is a famous picture with a Russian tank, that had been stopped by a gathering of maybe 40 civilians who just walked out in the road and blocked the road and the tank stopped.

I can tell you, in Vietnam, if we had had a bunch of people who stood in the way of an American tank, going through, that tank would not have slowed down, in the slightest!

It wouldn’t honk the horn, it wouldn’t have done anything; wouldn’t have fired a warning shot. It would have just gone on. And I think that’s more typical—I’m not I’m not criticizing the Americans. I was there and I was fighting, and I probably would have would have driven the tank straight through myself.

But what I’m saying is that the rules of engagement for the Russians were very, very cautious.

They didn’t want to create a great deal of hatred and animosity.

The Russians did not go in—they did not bomb the electrical system, the media systems, the water systems, the bridges and so forth. They tried to retain the infrastructure of Ukraine in good shape because they wanted it to get back. They just wanted this to be over with and get back to normal. It didn’t work. The Ukrainians, the resistance was unexpectedly hard. The Ukrainian soldiers fought with great, great valor, great heroism. And. And so now the game has been upped and it’s become much more serious.

But it is amazing to look and to see that Russia dominates the air. They haven’t knocked out the train systems. They haven’t knocked out power plants. They haven’t knocked out so many things. They’ve never bombed the buildings in the center of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine; they haven’t bombed the buildings where the parliament meets. They’ve been incredibly reserved about these things, hoping against hope that peace could be achieved.

But I don’t think I don’t think Ukraine has anything to do with the decision about peace or war.

I think the decision about peace or war is made in Washington, D.C. As long as we want the war to continue, we will fight that war, using Ukrainians as proxies, and we will fight it to the last Ukrainian death.

BILLINGTON: How do you project the potential of a war breaking out directly between the United States and Russia? And what would that be like?

BLACK: You know, if you go back to the First World War in 1914, you had the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary. He and his wife were killed. As a result of those two people being killed, you had a domino effect of all of these alliances, and anger, and media hysteria. And before it was over, I think it was 14 million people had been killed. It’s always hard to get true numbers, but anyway, it was an enormous number of millions of people who died as a result of that.

We need to recognize the risk of playing these games of chicken. Where, for example, the Turkish media just published an article saying that at Mariupol, where there was a great siege, that the Russians ultimately won.

The one area they haven’t taken over is this tremendous steel plant.

There are a lot of Ukrainian soldiers who are holed up there. And now it has come to light that apparently there are 50 French senior officers, who are trapped in that steel plant along with the Ukrainians.

The French soldiers have been on the ground fighting, directing the battle. And this was kept under wraps, ultra-secret, because of the French elections that just occurred. Had the French people known that there were a large number of French officers trapped and probably going to die in that steel plant, the elections would have gone the other way: Marine Le Pen would have won. And so it was very important that for the entire deep state, that it not come to light that these French officers were there.

We know that there are NATO officers who are present on the ground in Ukraine as advisors and so forth. We run the risk. Now, my guess is—and this is this is a guess, I could be wrong—but the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva, was sunk as a result of being struck by anti-ship missiles.

My guess is that those missiles, I think there’s a good chance they were fired by the French. Now, I could be wrong, but those missiles are so ultra-sensitive and so dangerous to our ships, that I don’t think that NATO would trust the missiles to Ukrainians, or to anybody else. I think I think they have to be maintained under NATO control and operation.

So I think that it was probably NATO forces that actually sunk the Moskva.

And you can see we’re taking these very reckless actions, and each time we sort of up the ante—I happen to be a Republican—but we have two Republican U.S. senators who have said that, “well, we might just need to use nuclear weapons against Russia.”

That is insane.

I think it’s important that people begin to discuss what a thermonuclear war would mean.

Now, we need to understand, we think, “oh, we’re big, and we’re bad, and we have all this stuff.”

Russia is roughly comparable to the United States in nuclear power.

They have hypersonic missiles, that we do not have. They can absolutely evade any timely detection, and they can fire missiles from Russia and reach San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City.

And if you think about just Virginia, where I happen to live, if there were a nuclear war—and keep in mind, they also have a very large and effective fleet of nuclear submarines that lie off the coast of the United States.

They have a great number of nuclear-tipped missiles, and they can evade any defenses we have.

So just in Virginia, if you look at it, all of Northern Virginia would be essentially annihilated.

There would hardly be any human life remaining in Loudoun County, Prince William County, Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria. The Pentagon lies in in Arlington County:

The Pentagon would simply be a glowing mass of molten sand.

There would be no human life there.

And there would be no human life for many miles around it. Just across the Potomac, the nation’s capital, there would be no life remaining in the nation’s capital. The Capitol building would disappear forever.

All of the monuments, all of these glorious things—nothing would remain.

If you go to the coast of Virginia, you have the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, you have the Port of Norfolk. You have you have the greatest accumulation of naval power on the face of the Earth. This is where we park all of our aircraft carriers, our nuclear submarines, all of those things. There would be nothing remaining.

There would be nothing remaining of any of those shipping industries there.

And you can carry this on.

You talk about New York City, probably New York City itself, not only would everybody be killed, but it would probably be impossible for people to inhabit New York City for hundreds of years afterwards. But not only would it cease to be a place of vibrant human life, but probably going out for maybe half a millennium, it would not recover any sort of civilization.

We need to understand the gravity of what we’re doing.

Perhaps if it were a matter of life and death for the United States, what happens in Ukraine, that would be one thing. Certainly when the Soviet Union put missiles in Cuba, that targeted the United States, that was worth taking the risk, because it was right on our border and it threatened us. And it was it was a battle worth fighting for and a risk worth taking.

The Russians are in this in exactly the mirror image of that situation, because for them, the life of Russia depends on stopping NATO from advancing further right into Ukraine, right to their borders.

They cannot afford not to fight this war.

They cannot afford not to win this war.

So I think, toying with this constant escalation in a war that, really, in a place that has no significance to Americans—Ukraine is meaningless to Americans; it has no impact on our day-to-day lives. And yet we’re playing this reckless game that risks the lives of all people in the United States and Western Europe for nothing! Just absolutely for nothing!

BILLINGTON: Many flag grade officers certainly understand the consequences that you just described in a rather hair-raising way. Why is it that, while there are some generals speaking out in Italy, in France, in Germany, warning that we are pursuing a course that could lead to nuclear war, why are there not such voices from flag grade officers—retired, perhaps—saying what you’re saying here today?

BLACK: You know, there’s been a tremendous deterioration in the quality of flag officers, going back to, well, certainly the 1990s.

We had very, very fine flag officers, during the time I was on active duty—I left in ‘94—just superior quality people.

But what happened is, subsequently, we had President Clinton take over, later, we had Obama. We’ve got Biden now. And they apply a very strict political screen to their military officers.

And so, we now have “yes men.”

These are not people whose principal devotion is to the United States and its people. Their principal devotion is to their careers and their ability to network with other military officers upon retirement. There’s a very strong network that can place military generals into think tanks, where they promote war, into organizations like Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, and all of these defense operations, where they can get on boards and things like that.

So there’s quite a personal price that you pay for saying, “Hey, stop. War is not in the interests of the American people.” If we had a better quality of individual, we would have people with the courage who would say, “I don’t care what it costs me personally.”

But it is very difficult to get into the senior ranks, if you are an individual guided by principle, and patriotism, and devotion to the people of this nation. That’s just not how it works. And at some point, we need a President who will go in and shake the tree, and bring a lot of these people falling down from it, because they’re dangerous.

They’re very dangerous to America.

BILLINGTON: Helga Zepp-LaRouche and the Schiller Institute have a petition — and we held a conference on April 9th on the same theme — that the only way to really stop this descent into hell and into potential nuclear holocaust is for a new Peace of Westphalia. In this case, an international conference to secure a new security architecture and a new development architecture, the right to development for all countries. And like the Peace of Westphalia, one in which all sides sit down together, recognize their interests, their sovereign interests, as including the sovereign interests of the others, and forgiving all past crimes. Anything short of that is going to keep this division of the world into warring blocs. Just like I asked what’s keeping the generals from speaking out, why, and what will it take, to get Americans to recognize that we can and must sit down with Russians, and with Chinese, and with all other nations and establish a true, just world based on the dignity of man and the right to development and security?

BLACK: I think, unfortunately, there’s going to have to be enormous pain to drive that, just as there was with the Peace of Westphalia. A nuclear war would do it; an economic cataclysm of unprecedented proportions, resulting from the unbridled printing of money that we’ve engaged in over the last 20 years, there are things that could bring it about.

But at this point, the media have been so totally censored and so biased that the American people really don’t have a perception of the need for anything of that sort. It’s going to be difficult.

You know, here’s something that’s interesting that has happened. Here in this country, you would think the entire world is against Russia.

It’s not.

In fact, there are major countries of the world that lean towards Russia in this war, starting with China, but then Brazil, you’ve got South Africa, Saudi Arabia—a wide array of countries. India. India is tremendously supportive of Russia.

The idea that somehow we have this enormously just cause, it doesn’t strike a great deal of the world that it is just, and much of the world does not accept the latest propaganda about war crimes: this thing about Bucha. That’s probably the most prominent of all the war crimes discussions.

And what was Bucha?

There was a film taken of a vehicle driving down the road in Bucha, which had been recaptured from the Russians. And every hundred feet or so there was some person with his hands, zip tied behind his back, and he’d been killed. It was not announced until four days after the Ukrainians had retaken Bucha.

Now, we knew almost nothing about it. We actually didn’t even have proof that people had been killed. But assuming they had, we didn’t know where they had been killed. We did not know who they were. We did not know who killed them. We did not know why they were killed. No one could provide an adequate motive for the Russians to have killed them. The Russians held Bucha for a month. If they were going to kill them, why didn’t they kill them during that month? And if you’re going to slaughter a bunch of people, wouldn’t they all be in one place and wouldn’t you gun them all down there? Why would they be distributed along a roadside, a mile along the way? It makes no sense!

What we do know is that four days after the mayor of Bucha joyously announced that the city was liberated, four days after the Ukrainian army had moved in, and their special propaganda arm of the Ukrainian military were there, all of a sudden there were these dead people on the road. How come they weren’t there when the Russians were there? How come they only appeared after the Russians were gone?

If I were looking at it as simply a standard criminal case, and I was talking to Criminal Investigation Division or the FBI, or military police or something, I’d say, “OK, the first thing, let’s take a look at the Ukrainians.” My guess would be, and you start with a hunch when you’re investigating a crime—my hunch is that the Ukrainians killed off these people after they moved in, and after they looked around, and said, “OK, who was friendly towards the Russian troops while the Russians were here? We’re going to execute them.” That would be my guess. Because I don’t see any motive for the Russians to have just killed a few people on their way out of town.

And nobody questions this, because the corporate media are so monolithic. We know for a fact, from the mouth of the head of a Ukrainian hospital, the guy who ran the hospital, he boasted that he had given strict orders to all of his doctors, that when wounded Russian POWs, when casualties were brought in, they were to be castrated. Now, this is a horrific war crime, admitted from the mouth of the hospital administrator, and the Ukrainian government said, “we’ll kind of look into that,” Like it’s no big thing.

I can’t think of a more horrific, horrific war crime, ever.

Where did you hear about it, on ABC and MSNBC and CNN and FOX News? Not a whisper. And yet the proof is undeniable. We had another clip where there was a POW gathering point, where the Ukrainians would bring POWs to a central point for processing—and this is about a seven-minute video—and the Ukrainian soldiers simply gunned them all down. And they had probably 30 of these wounded Russian soldiers lying on the ground, some of them clearly dying from their wounds. Some of them, they put plastic bags over their heads.

Now, these are these are guys who are laying there, sometimes fatally wounded with their hands zip-tied behind their backs, and they’ve got plastic bags over their heads, making it difficult to breathe. And because they can’t raise their hands, they can’t take the bags off, so that they can breathe. At the end of the video, the Ukrainians bring in a van, and there are three unwounded Russian POWs.

Without the slightest thought or hesitation, as the three come off, and their hands are bound behind their backs, they gunned down two of them, right on camera and they fall over. And the third one gets on his knees, and begs that they won’t hurt him. And then they gun him down!

These are crimes.

And these were not refuted by the Ukrainian government. But you’d never even know that they occurred! So far, I will tell you that the only proven—I’m not saying that there aren’t war crimes happening on both sides. I’m just telling you, that the only ones where I have seen, fairly irrefutable proof of war crimes, have been on the Ukrainian side.

Now, often you hear it said, well, the Russians have destroyed this or destroyed that. Well, I’ve got to tell you, you go back to the wars that we fought when we invaded Iraq, the “Shock and Awe,” we destroyed virtually everything in Iraq, everything of significance. We bombed military and civilian targets without much discrimination.

The coalition flew 100,000 sorties in 42 days. You compare that to the Russians, who have only flown 8,000 sorties in about the same period of time. 100,000 American sorties versus 8,000, in about the same time.  I think the Russians have tended to be more selective.

Whereas we went out — the philosophy of Shock and Awe is that you destroy everything that is needed to sustain human life and for a city to function. You knock out the water supply, the electrical supply, the heat, the oil, the gasoline; so that you knock out all of the major bridges. And then you just continue to destroy everything.

So it’s really ironic. And keep in mind, Iraq is a relatively small country. Ukraine is a huge country. 100,000 sorties in 42 days, 8,000 sorties in about the same time. A tremendous difference in violence between what we did in Iraq, and what they have done in Ukraine. So there’s simply no credibility when you actually get down to the facts and you look at the way that the war has been conducted.

BILLINGTON: Well. Senator Black, Colonel Black.  I think the way you have described the horror that’s already taking place, and considering that we can’t wait for a nuclear war to provoke a new a Peace of Westphalia, I would suggest that what you have described is already horrific enough. And when combined with the hyperinflationary breakdown now sweeping the Western world, with everybody being affected, we believe that we have to take that as the adequate horror, and a recognition of a descent into a dark age, to motivate citizens in Europe, in the United States.

We are finding that there is a waking up of people who have not wanted to look at their responsibility to the human race as a whole in the past, but who now are forced to consider that, which is the basis on which we’ve called for this, in this petition, for an international conference of all nations, with the U.S., Russia, China, India and so forth, sitting down to end this horror; but to also bring about a true peace for mankind and an era of peace through development.

And we thank you for giving this breath of ugly truth to a population which needs to hear it. If you have any final thoughts, I ask you to give your final greetings.

BLACK:  I’ll just add one thing, and I thank the Schiller Institute for the tremendous effort that you’ve made towards achieving world peace. It is one of the most important efforts ever made, and I certainly applaud that.

If you look at Russia, the Russian troops that went into battle in Ukraine, for the most part had never experienced combat. This is a peacetime army. Russia doesn’t fight overseas wars. Syria is the only significant overseas engagement that they have had. You compare that with the United States, where literally speaking, if a soldier retires today after a 30-year career in the military, he will not have served a single day when the United States was at peace. Kind of an amazing thing. And you contrast that with the Russian military, where, with few exceptions, the country has been at peace.

So we really need to start thinking about peace and about the limits of warfare, this idea that somehow we need a zero sum game where we take from you and that enhances us. We’re in a world where everyone can gain and prosper by peace. But I’m concerned that the hyperinflation may be the wake-up call that jolts the world into a recognition that we must have a new paradigm for the future, and I think the Peace of Westphalia at that point might become a possibility.

So thank you again for the opportunity to be here. There’s always hope and I think there’ll be good things in the future, with the blessings of God.

BILLINGTON: And thank you very much from Schiller Institute, The LaRouche Organization, and EIR.  We’ll get this posted as quickly as we possibly can, because it’s going to have a tremendous impact. Thank you.

BLACK: Thank you very much.

1981 SAAB 906 Turbo, Sweden’s 6-Wheeled Colossal With Full Variety of Gadgets

There aren’t a lot of six-wheeled cars out there and often they’re one-of-a-kind mods like this Saab 906 Turbo. It was built by designer Leif Mellberg and it’s the biggest Saab that was ever built.

The car started its life as a 1981 900 GLS, which he then extended by nearly two feet, giving the car a total length of 209 inches. Mellberg wasn’t content to only make his creation longer. He also made it wider, so this 906 Turbo was a beast.

A car this impressive in size needed to have an equally impressive interior, so it’s loaded up with all sorts of features that were very high-end when the car was built back in 1984. It had a video screen, a 16-speaker stereo system, fridge/freezer/heater cabinets, a police radio, and radar detector. Probably, at the time, most well-equipped car in Sweden.

The car did not serve as a transport vehicle such as Leif originally planned, and became a rolling advertisement for his company Mellbergs custom. Unfortunately, the car was 20 years ago ended up at the junkyard in Varberg.

Bacon-Wrapped Barbecue Pork Tenderloin

This sure-to-please roast is quick and simple to prepare, but guaranteed to impress. Pork tenderloin is wrapped in bacon and glazed with a smoky, slightly spicy, slightly sweet barbecue sauce.

Ingredients

• 8 slices bacon
• 2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb each)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup Annie’s™ Naturals organic sweet & spicy BBQ sauce
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Steps

• 1
  Heat oven to 425°F. Line 15x10x1-inch pan with heavy-duty foil; spray foil with cooking spray.
• 2
  Microwave bacon between layers of microwavable paper towels on microwavable plate 3 to 4 minutes or just until edges begin to brown but are still soft and pliable. Cut each piece in half crosswise.
• 3
  Season tenderloins with salt and pepper; place in pan. Arrange bacon pieces diagonally over top of pork, pressing bacon over sides.
• 4
  In small bowl, mix barbecue sauce, chipotle chile and cumin. Brush tops of each tenderloin with glaze. Bake tenderloins 30 to 35 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted in center of pork reads 145°F. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Will The First Public UFO Hearing In Congress In 50 Years Help Set The Stage For A Great Delusion Of Epic Proportions?

MM, comment: do not hold your breath. -MM

Why have they suddenly decided to reveal so much?  For decades, a very thick cloak of secrecy has surrounded what the government really knows about UFOs, but now our politicians are talking openly about such things.  In fact, Congress just held their very first public hearing about UFOs in 50 years.  So what has changed?  If anything happens in Washington, it is usually because someone has an underlying agenda.  Could it be possible that we are being prepared for some sort of a huge revelation?

To me, it is clear that something is up.

And I think that it says a lot that the power structures in our society are now treating this topic very seriously.  At this point, even CNN is admitting that UFOs are no longer being “relegated to the fringes of public policy”…

Key lawmakers warned at a House hearing on Tuesday that unidentified aerial phenomena — popularly known as UFOs — must be investigated and taken seriously as a potential threat to national security.

The event marked the first congressional public hearing on UFOs in decades, a high-profile moment for a controversial topic that has long been relegated to the fringes of public policy.

During the hearing on Tuesday, U.S. officials confessed that there have been at least 400 “unexplained sightings” by members of our military…

US SPY chiefs were grilled by lawmakers in a historic hearing on UFOs as dramatic videos of two sightings were shown.

Security officials were forced to admit there have been 400 unexplained sightings reported by the US military .

That number is very different from the number that we were given in 2021.

Late last year, the Pentagon told us that there were just 144 unexplained sightings.

But now we are being told that the real number is nearly triple the original number.

And on Tuesday we were also told that there have been “11 near misses” with U.S. military aircraft…

They also confessed there have been 11 near misses with unidentified objects and US military aircraft, and they are probing incidents where craft may have attempted “jam” US planes.

So let me get this straight.

11 different times our aircraft were almost hit by other aircraft that we simply cannot identify?

Why weren’t we told about this a long time ago?

Of course there is so much more that the Pentagon is choosing not to tell us.  According to Politico, one Defense Department official is freely admitting that there is a great deal that is not being publicly revealed…

“Without forcing peoples’ hand, it is going to be very difficult to uncover legacy ventures and programs that we know about based on oral interviews we dug up,” said a Defense Department official who is involved in the new effort but was not authorized to speak publicly. “There has to be a forcing mechanism.”

“There has to be something to hold people accountable but also give them a chance to come out clean for a period of time,” the official added, noting that in his experience the Pentagon oversight group has been “stonewalled.”

That same official went on to explain that the people that are refusing to come forward are protecting some “very interesting information”.

I would definitely like to know what that “very interesting information” is.

Wouldn’t you?

I think that most of the population would be completely floored if everything that the government knows was finally put on the table.

According to one member of Congress, our military has actually recovered physical wreckage from a UFO that crashed…

A CONGRESSMAN has claimed the US has wreckage recovered from a UFO as the phenomena takes centre stage today in Washington.

Rep. Tim Burchett – a long term advocate for disclosure – told The Sun Online he has been informed by reliable sources that “material” has been recovered from the objects or craft that have been reported in skies over the US.

So why can’t the American people know about this?

What are they trying to hide from us?

Burchett says that he can’t say more because this information was given to him in a “classified setting”…

The Tennessee Republican declined to elaborate further as he said the information had been passed to him in a “classified setting”.

“I’ve been told by multiple sources we have recovered something from these [crafts or objects],” Mr Burchett told The Sun Online.

It is so frustrating to hear about this and know that we will probably never be given the specific details.

The American people deserve the truth, but so much is being purposely hidden.

Lue Elizondo, a former senior staffer at the Pentagon, says that there has been much speculation in military circles about the true source of these unidentified craft…

‘People jump to speculation that it’s from the Pleiades or something like that, when in fact one of the hypothesis when I was in AATIP was this could be as natural to Earth as we are, but we are just at a point where technologically we aren’t advanced enough we can collect information on it and begin to try to figure out what it is,’ he said.

‘There’s been another hypothesis that these things are possibly from underwater and as outlandish as it may seem, there is some anecdotal evidence that supports all of these observations, so what we want to do is try to get as much data on the table as we can before we start eliminating,’ said Elizondo.

He said way too much right there, because he got way too close to details that we aren’t supposed to know about.

If he keeps talking like that, he could end up being killed.

Because even though our officials are now talking more openly about UFOs, there are still many things that they would very much prefer to keep secret.

In my latest book, I talk extensively about the great deception that I believe is coming.

These unidentified aircraft are very real, and every year they are spotted thousands upon thousands of times all over the globe.

Now this subject is being brought out into the spotlight, and that should make all of us very nervous.

Mother Creates An Amazing Cardboard Kitchen For Her Daughter

Rodessa Villanueva-Reyes went above and beyond to create a play kitchen for her young daughter. It may look like a store-bought kitchen, but it was crafted almost entirely from cardboard boxes! It’s a beautiful DIY project that every kid would love to have, and Rodessa was kind enough to share the instructions with anyone interested in making something like this for their own child.

The first step was determining a shape and organizing the boxes accordingly.

Then draw the outlines each box where you want to place the doors.

A combination of vinyl stickers and paper cover the cardboard.

Just add your children’s kitchen toys.

Add your child’s name and they’ll have their own little restaurant!

To install a sink, cut a circle in the cardboard and fill it with a pot. The “faucet” is just an old soap dispenser.

Jar caps can be used for the dials on the stove.

How cool is this?

“Smiling mom sitting on the grass, 1960s”

Scott Ritter’s Switcheroo: “Why I Radically Changed My Overall Assessment”

From HERE

On Sunday, the foreign policy blogs were abuzz with the news that Scott Ritter had done “an about-face in his assessment of the war”. It appears that the ex-Marine had examined recent developments in Ukraine and concluded that it’s going to be much harder for Russia to win than he had originally thought..

Naturally, the news of Ritter’s reversal sent shockwaves across the internet, especially among the people who follow events in Ukraine closely and who greatly admire his even-handed analysis. Some of these people clearly felt betrayed by Ritter’s comments and blasted him as a “concern troll” which refers to a person who feigns sympathy while actually feeling the opposite. This is a terrible way to treat a guy who’s devoted so much of his time to informing people about an issue of which they might know very little without his research. Besides, Ritter is no hypocrite. Quite the contrary.

It’s fair to say, however, that Ritter has probably been the most outspoken proponent of the “Russia is winning” theory, a hypothesis that runs counter to everything we read in the legacy media or see on the cable news channels. Unfortunately, Ritter’s views on the matter have changed dramatically, and that’s due almost entirely to developments on the ground. As Ritter candidly admits, “The military aid the west is providing to Ukraine is changing the dynamic and if Russia doesn’t find a way to address this meaningfully… the conflict will never end.”

That’s quite a turnaround from a statement he made just weeks earlier that, “Russia is winning the war, and winning it decisively.”

So, what changed? What are the so-called developments that led to Ritter’s volte-face?

Here are a few excerpts from the interview that triggered the fracas. Ritter was joined by Ray McGovern and host Garland Nixon on Saturday Morning Live. (The quotes are copied from video. I accept blame for any mistakes.)

 Scott Ritter (start at 47:50 minute mark) — “The thing that frustrates me… is that, it was my assessment that it would be very hard for Ukraine to absorb this new equipment and material (Material– the additional lethal weapons that have recently been shipped to Ukraine) but the howitzers are already operating against Russia. (And) They are having an effect in the Kharkov region. Not all 90 of them, but they have several batteries in place that are being used.

How did this happen?

And this is why I have radically changed my overall assessment, because I had been operating on the assumption that Russia would be able to interdict the vast majority of this equipment, but Russia has shown itself unable or unwilling to do this and– as a result– the Ukrainians are having meaningful impact on the battlefield. Not in the areas of main contention, like the Donbass, but on the periphery. This is why Russia has carried out tactical withdrawals north of Kharkov, because in order to match Ukraine’s best capabilities, Russia would have to divert resources from its main effort which Russia has decided not to do. So, they are re-configuring the battlefield. (trading land in different areas)…(“Saturday Morning Live with Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern, You Tube) 

So, while Ritter’s sympathies have not changed in the slightest, it’s clear that his analysis has. At first, he didn’t think that the deluge of lethal weaponry would affect the outcome of the war. Now he’s not so sure. It’s a honest mistake but, still, he needed to ‘come clean’ and explain the factors that contributed to his U-turn. Here’s more from the same interview:

 Scott Ritter– This is a transformative moment in the war, because what it means is that demilitarization is not taking place. For all the forces Russia is destroying in the east, Ukraine is rebuilding significant capability (in the west) I liken this to Moscow in December 1941, when the Germans were moving towards Moscow and the Russians just started throwing things at them., sacrificing everything to slow the German offensive. until General Winter and the combination of Siberian divisions gave them the ability to counterattack. The Germans were bled white and they were stopped and turned back. If Russia doesn’t change the calculation, then that is the trajectory we are heading on., because 200,000 troops–however capable they may be, are only capable of doing so much. And the fighting that’s taking place right now –even though it is slaughtering Ukrainians– it isn’t cost free to the Russians. They’re losing equipment, they’re losing men, they’re losing material, and unless Putin mobilizes or transfers forces in, those aren’t being replaced. So, instead of having 200,000 online, Russia might have 180,000 men. And if you don’t think removing 20,000 men doesn’t change the options available to the Russian leadership, then you don’t know anything about war.”

So, I believe Russia is going to win in the east, they are grinding them down as we speak, they are slaughtering them; the amount of death and destruction that is being dealt to the Ukrainians is unimaginable, but I believe the Ukrainians are willing to take these losses in order to buy time to reconstitute a military that will challenge Russia Because unless Russia is willing to jump across the Dnieper River and head into western Ukraine where it can eliminate the strategic depth that the Ukrainians are being gifted by the Russians, then demilitarization of Ukraine is not going to take place. It can’t take place when tens of billions of dollars of equipment is pouring in and Russia is not able to interdict it. The fact that these advanced howitzers are operating on the front lines right now, shows there’s something wrong with the Russian methodology. And–unless they alter that methodology– I think we’re in for a very long summer.” (“Saturday Morning Live with Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern, You Tube) 

It’s hard to grasp what Ritter is saying here. Is he actually suggesting that Putin expand the current “special operation” into a full-blown World War? At one point, he casually opines that Russia will have to mobilize 1 and a half million men (Note: Russia currently only has 200,000 in Ukraine) if they want to prevail in Ukraine and then move on to Finland. It’s impossible to tell by Ritter’s tone whether he is simply making an objective observation of ‘what is needed’ to succeed or if he is making an explicit recommendation that he thinks Russia’s High Command should consider. I can’t answer that. Here’s more from the interview:

 Scott Ritter(5:20 mark)– “The idea that the Ukrainian military has been eliminated as an effective fighting force is a flawed concept, and unless Russia broadens its special military operation– probably to the point of changing it form a special military operation to a war which includes the totality of Ukrainian battle-space–(then) this is a conflict that is dangerously close to becoming unwinnable by Russia which means that while they can complete their objectives in the east with 200,000 troops, they aren’t able to prevent Ukraine from rearming and reequipping when Ukraine is being provided with tens of billions of dollars of equipment by NATO —Whenever you provide your enemy with “safe space” to rebuild military capability, you’re never going to win. …

Yes, Russia is winning in the east which is what they said their objective was all along. And they are accomplishing that. That is the special Military Operation. But now we’re talking about “war”, and I don’t think Russia has made that transition yet. This is a defacto proxy war between the west and Russia using Ukrainian forces as NATO’s sword. The object of this is to “bleed Russia dry”. And if Russia doesn’t change the dynamic, Russia will be bled dry.” Zelensky has indicated that he’s willing to mobilize a million people, at a time when the west is ready to provide the funding and equipment to turn those million men into a real military threat. 

So, I see what has been happening in the last few weeks as being decisive. 

The military aid the west is providing is changing the dynamic and if Russia doesn’t find a way to address this meaningfully, and to eliminate it as a military capability… then the conflict will never end.” (“Saturday Morning Live with Scott Ritter and Ray McGovern, You Tube)  

There it is from the horse’s mouth. Readers will have to draw their own conclusions.

IMHO, Scott Ritter is gradually adjusting to the idea that the conflict in Ukraine is not a just regional skirmish between two quarrelsome neighbors, nor is it a proxy-war between NATO and Russia.

No.

Ukraine is the first phase of a broader plan for crushing Russia, collapsing its economy, removing its leaders, seizing its natural resources, splintering its territory, and projecting US power across Central Asia to the Pacific Rim.

Ukraine is about hegemony, empire, and pure, unalloyed power.

Most important, Ukraine is the first battle in a Third World War, a war that was concocted and launched by Washington to ensure another unchallenged century of American primacy.

Miyu Kojima Creates Miniature Replicas Of Lonely Deaths

Twenty six-year old Miyu Kojima works for a company that cleans up after kodokushi (孤独死) or lonely deaths: a Japanese phenomenon of people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for a long period of time.

The instances first began to be reported around 2000, and are thought to be a product of increased social isolation coupled with a greying population.

Part art therapy and part public service campaign, Kojima spends a large portion of her free time recreating detailed miniature replicas of the rooms she has cleaned. A word of caution: although recreated without the corpses, some of the replicas can be quite disturbing.

“I mainly clean up these flats, apartments, houses where lonely death had happened and also organise their mementos,” says Miyu. On average, those whose homes she cleans, she says, may have been lying undiscovered for a month or two; the longest, eight months.

Sometimes, they clean the homes of people who died in hospital, were murdered or committed suicide.

At first, Miyu found the work tough. The scenes could be grotesque. Even after the body has been removed, hair and seepage from the corpse sometimes remain. The work can be physically demanding. But “what I find most difficult,” she explains, “is to talk to the family. I don’t know how much I can really ask or talk.”

To preserve and document the scene, the company always takes photographs of the rooms in case relatives want to see them. However, Kojima noticed that the photographs really don’t capture the sadness of the incident. And while she had no formal art training, she decided to go to her local craft store and buy supplies, which she used to create her replicas.

She sometimes uses color-copies of the photographs, which she then sculpts into miniature objects.

Kojima says that she spends about 1 month on each replica.

“This is my mother before the prom. I think she looks like Jackie O in this picture, 1960s”

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The governor of the Bank of England has warned of “apocalyptic” food prices, saying he is “helpless” to thwart soaring inflation.

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Enjoy this article and be careful with the USA/Ukie propaganda. It is everywhere.

…

Well, today is 24MAY22 and the Chinese understands, and we all know, what the direction and the revised thinking of the United States is (Geopolitically speaking). That is crystal clear after the Biden meetings with South Korea, Japan, and Australia. We now fully understand the pans for global dominance out of the USA.

This is the manifestation and implementation of the “unipolar” (rules-based order) world.

The original plan is out. It is obsolete. It is not possible.

The original plan; to first [1] destroy Russia, and then [2] destroy China is “off the table”. That plan is not feasible.

So the plan has become to one of isolation; to isolate Russia from the rest of the world, and to isolate China from the rest of the world. Both of them together. The way to accomplish this is simple.

First by cutting off and interrupting the systems of communication, trade, and interaction… and if that fails, to place harsh embargoes on Asia and punish all those that dare disobey the Untied States.

Russia

The American plan to [1] suppress Russia, [2] invade (parts of it) and [3] topple Russian leadership though domestic discord and [4] to isolate Russia have all failed.

Ukraine

Discussions and manipulations on how to carve up Ukraine into something other than a nation is in the works. We can see this with Poland’s involvement at this time.

Iron Curtain

The USA intends to put up another “Iron Curtain” to isolate Asia (Russia and China together). One half of this curtain is already up and complete. That is the part around Russia. And, you know,  nations such as Sweden and Finland don’t want to be on the Asian side of that curtain.

All of Asia

This curtain will surround all of Asia, and that was the purpose of the Biden meeting; to set up work-around systems so that no one trades or interacts with China, Russia or any of their friends.

China

But China is trying to be peaceful. How to justify putting it behind a curtain? Certainly, of course there will need to be a “reason” to enact “Sanctions from Hell”.

Which of course, are just the first stages of a full-on military embargo. And that will involve the crossing of one or more “red lines” regarding Taiwan.

The USA will scream, and holler.  The MSM propaganda machine will be working overtime (again), but you know, the USA will start sailing up and down the Chinese coast, but will refrain from getting involved in a “Hot war”. The “Sanctions from Hell” will appear, and that will lead up to the Pacific Rim nations choosing sides.

The “Wet Dream” of the United States

If the USA gets their way, Russia and China will become isolated and alone, and will eventually collapse domestically, as the USA will continue to wage bio-warfare carpet bombing, engage in “color revolutions”, and do everything in their ability to crush Russia and China simultaneously. Eventually, within a year, a “NEW Iron Curtain” will be up and policed by the nations of the world.

Judging from past historical precedents, I do not believe that this will turn out as planned.

What probably will happen…

We do not know what will happen.

Certainly the concerns of a full-scale thermonuclear war is still possible, but I personally believe that something different, something easier, but scarier, will emerge. I don’t know what it is.

But I do know, that war or no war, isolation of no isolation, the following points will factor into the way the future will unfold…

• The vast remaining manufacturing in the USA is in the defense industry. This requires a war, a constant and steady war to do battle with.
• The value of the USD is going towards absolute zero.
• The American population are corrupt, ignorant, manipulated, and armed. As the government raises the intensity level on them in regards to lies and propaganda, there will be consequences.
• Japan’s and Korea’s manufacturing has all been off-shored to China. If isolation does occur, a great deal of discomfort will manifest in these nations.
• Russia and China are led by merit, and they have certainly planned for this sequence of events. Do not be under the impression that they are not ready to deal with them, and retaliate.
• Retaliation to the USA and it’s allies, whether through military or other means, will be painful for the West. I argue and suspect that the pain “dial” will be pinging red.
• Domestic American politics will play a large role in the Geopolitical situation.

And that’s where we are today. Let’s see what unfolds.

In the meantime, let’s continue our daily mix…

World Hal Turner 23 May 2022

Gasoline has hit a record high of $7.29 per gallon in Los Angeles, CA as of May 23, 2022.

This is what Democrats did when they stole the US Presidency in November 2020, through rampant and brazen election fraud, aided and abetted by weak-minded Republicans in states like Georgia and Arizona, who were more concerned with President Trump’s “mean tweets” than public policy.

Once the Democrats and Republicans-In-Name-Only (RINOS) ousted Trump through a stolen election, the Democrats imposed their Green Agenda to wage war against fossil fuels under the fraudulent guise of “Climate Change.”

They know that earth’s climate is changing because earth’s magnetic field is moving west, and is now farther west than it has been in about ten thousand years.

Instead, they blame Fossil fuel emissions, which is total fraud.

The war against fossil fuels resulted in canceled oil pipelines, closed oil drilling leases, and enormous regulation of existing oil-production.  Those changes reduced gasoline supplies and as such, the prices are skyrocketing.

(Hal Turner Remark: This is what politicians who are supposed to SERVE us, have done TO us. If you keep voting the way you've voted, you'll keep getting what you're now getting.  Wise-up.)

Zelensky “nationalizes” the Polish army to send it to fight under the flag of Ukraine

This is an extremely serious danger for the entire Russian, Russian-speaking population of Ukraine. Not only representatives of the business elite, not only opposition politicians like Medvedchuk, but also ordinary citizens, and representatives of various public organizations, representatives of the church, representatives of various local communities will fall under this norm. A significant part of the population of Ukraine will be declared enemies of the people.

Mr. Zelensky can form a new military unit from Polish citizens and appoint Poles as commanders there. It turns out that, on the one hand, this is a Ukrainian military unit, but it will be completely Polish. Of course, they will import NATO weapons, which they know how to use, unlike Ukrainian soldiers. On the territory where they will be placed, it will be such a hidden occupation.

The Poles, if it is hard, of course, will try to start talking with NATO member countries, - says Bashirov. - But large countries such as Germany and France, of course, will rest against the horn. If they agreed, now in Ukraine such a garden would not be fenced. And this design bypasses just the resistance of Germany and France.

"All of this is extremely dangerous, and the Chinese are reacting very dangerously to this. They see this as a challenge, and one that they MUST face."

...

"What a freaking disaster if this happens. What a freaking disaster..."

This is the situation right NOW.

CEO of an insurance group , indicted for trafficking in minor human beings, rape of minors, and participation in a criminal activity

Who’s this guy ?

From HERE

INFO RTL – The CEO of an insurance group imprisoned for exploitation and rape of minors.

One of the largest fortunes in France has been placed in pre-trial detention since Saturday, indicted for trafficking in minor human beings, rape of minors, and participation in a criminal association with a view to committing kidnapping or kidnapping. organized.

He is 75 years old and is one of the 500 largest French fortunes.

This entrepreneur in the insurance field has been placed in pre-trial detention since Saturday May 21, indicted – among other things – for trafficking in minor human beings, rape of minors, and participation in a criminal association with a view to commit kidnapping or organized forcible confinement.

After a meticulous investigation which mobilized a good part of the staff of the Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) of the Parisian PJ, a whole system was discovered by the police.

According to information from RTL, a 22-year-old woman presented herself to the Parisian police last March.

She explained to them that for 5 years, she had been “captive” of a very wealthy man, who lodged her in one of his apartments and raped her on several occasions.

Worse still, while according to her, she was becoming “too old for him”, the young woman would have been forced to find a “substitute” to take over.

This is how a 14-year-old girl was then housed in this apartment.

The complainant managed to film the CEO and the 14-year-old girl together in bed. This video was turned over to investigators.

Relatives also incarcerated.

The story does not end there.

While the CEO is aware of the existence of this video, he will try to silence the complainant.

Justice suspects him of having wanted to set up a team to kidnap the young woman, seize the video, and force her to leave France.

For this, the septuagenarian would have asked his wife, two employees of his company, a young woman close to the complainant, as well as a former gendarme member of the GIGN.

All five were arrested last week, and indicted on Saturday for “failure to report sexual assault on a minor, and participation in a criminal association to commit kidnapping or kidnapping in an organized gang”.

They were also placed in pre-trial detention, confirmed the Paris prosecutor’s office to RTL.

Their respective roles and objectives have yet to be determined at this stage.

A system that had been repeated for many years.

According to our information, the investigators also traced the past of this man.

They discovered the existence of at least 7 young women, minors or young adults, who succeeded each other in this apartment.

The investigation determined that they were young girls with similar profiles: unemployed or runaways, at odds with their family or society.

Always the same mechanism in place, once they reached their twenties, the CEO said he was not interested in them and asked them to find a younger girl to take their place in the apartment.

RTL has tried to reach the lawyer for the main respondent who has not yet responded to our requests.

“My mom was Homecoming Queen, 1965”

White House Rejects President’s Foreign Policy

From MoA

U.S. President Joe Biden apparently pursues different foreign policies than the White House.

October 23 2021:

‘Strategic Ambiguity’ on Taiwan Apparent as White House Walks Back Biden Comments

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday appeared to walk back President Joe Biden's statement on Thursday that the United States was committed to defending Taiwan should it come under Chinese attack.

"The president was not announcing any change in our policy, nor has he made a decision to change our policy," Psaki said during a White House news briefing. "Our defense relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act."

The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act states that the U.S. will provide arms for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability. It does not say the U.S. would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

Psaki's statement stands in contradiction to Biden's comment at a CNN town hall Thursday night. When asked if the U.S. would come to the defense of Taiwan, Biden said, "Yes, we have a commitment to do that."

November 17 2021:

Biden Struggles to Stick to the Script on Taiwan

Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is habit—or so the saying goes.

Amid escalating tensions with China, U.S. President Joe Biden has misspoken about U.S. policy toward the self-governed island of Taiwan at least four times since August, fueling speculation as to whether the president is subtly trying to signal an evolving U.S. policy toward Taiwan or just fumbling the details.

March 27 2022:

Biden’s Putin remark, White House walk-back faces scrutiny

President Biden’s remark that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” reverberated throughout Washington on Sunday, with some current and former officials and lawmakers scrutinizing the reported ad-lib while others slammed the White House for its subsequent walk-back.

Biden turned heads on Saturday when, at the end of a speech in Warsaw, Poland, he said, “for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”

The White House quickly tried to walk back the comment, claiming that Biden was referring to Putin exercising power outside of Russia, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed that the U.S. has no plans for regime change in Moscow.

May 23 2022:

US would defend Taiwan if attacked by China, says Joe Biden

Joe Biden has said the US would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if it came under attack from China – a statement that is likely to enrage Beijing as concern grows over Chinese military activity in the region.

Speaking in Tokyo on the second day of his visit to Japan, Biden said the US’s responsibility to protect the self-ruled island – which China considers a renegade province – was “even stronger” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in one of the most forceful statements in support of Taiwan in decades.

Amichai Stein @AmichaiStein1 - 6:32 UTC · May 23, 2022
White House official: Biden’s statement that the US would get involved militarily to defend Taiwan is NOT a departure from long-standing US policy of strategic ambiguity

Quoted Tweet 
Amichai Stein @AmichaiStein1 - 6:01 UTC · May 23, 2022
#BREAKING: President Biden says would be willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan from China aggression

They urgently need to shut up that warmongering idiot.

A candid moment of school girls in 1953.

The United States and Taiwan

The reason Biden is coming out the way he has is because the US Dept. of State apparently carte blanche issued this declaration, which is essentially a declaration of war against China:

US state department updates fact sheet on Taiwan ties
A bilateral relations fact sheet on Taiwan-US relations published on the US Department of State Web site ...

...was recently updated...

...to remove statements saying that it [1] acknowledged Beijing’s “one China” position, and that [2] the US does not support Taiwanese independence.

The fact sheet is produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
My guess is that this is a pre-emptive salvo issued by the John Bolton (always the dumbest) part of the Dept of State staff.

-Pacifica Advocate

“My mother, 1967”

Not my mom, but a great picture anyways…

Banana Bread French Toast

Turn banana bread into your favorite breakfast with this dish. The tangy Buttermilk Syrup is a perfect make-ahead touch. It goes wonderfully with a fine morning cup of coffee.

Ingredients

“My mother in Florida while early in her Nursing career, 1967”

Not my mom. But I can well imagine the moment.

May 19, 2022

Some NATO experts call these missiles Russia’s most terrifying weapon, apart from nuclear weapons. Although, “Iskander” can be equipped with a nuclear warhead, and then it really becomes a “sentence” for Europe.

Let’s start with the fact that “Iskander” is not a missile in itself (like “Kinzhal” or “Kalibr“) – it is a whole missile system. That is, in addition to the launcher, it also includes a bunch of other equipment: a loading vehicle, a command post, a repair vehicle, a life support vehicle (barracks on wheels), a reconnaissance vehicle, etc.

At the same time, this missile system is operational and tactical. What does it mean?

Traditionally, missile weapons are divided into three types.

• First: strategic missiles. They fly directly into enemy territory thousands of kilometres from the front line. This includes, for example, the famous “Sarmat” or “Bulava”.
• Second: tactical missiles. They are used directly at the frontline. That is, their range is small. This includes, for example, MLRS “Grad” or the same “Katyusha”, during the Great Patriotic War.
• Third: operational-tactical missiles (OTM). They occupy an intermediate position between strategic and tactical ones. Their task is to hit behind the front line (up to about 500 km) at the rear of the enemy group’s support: railway junctions, air defence systems, warehouses, headquarters, airfields, etc.

• 

One of the first OTMs was, for example, the Soviet “Luna” and “Temp-S”.

They were replaced by the “Tochka” missile system, followed by a more advanced one “Tochka-U“. We often hear about this “U” now, but it is already outdated and is not in service with the Russian Federation.

It was just replaced by “Iskander” – as a new generation of operational-tactical missile systems.

“Restricted Access Zone”

This term was coined by NATO and it refers to the territory on which, in the event of a war with Russia, NATO troops will not be able to stay without receiving unacceptable damage.

Well, that is, in the event of a war with the Bedouin in the desert, the United States can afford to fly and drive anywhere. With Russia, this trick will not work, because our country is able to create not just threats, but to cause catastrophic damage if the enemy is in the “Access Ban Zone”.

This zone is ensured, for example, by the most advanced S-400 air defence system in the world (as well as the latest S-500 and the promising S-550) – it covers us from the air.

From the sea, the “Bastion” coastal complex provides cover. But the “Iskander” is designed to work on enemy ground targets. In total, this trio creates extremely uncomfortable conditions for the enemy on our territory.

READ:  Poroshenko Inadvertently Helped the Modernisation of the Russian Navy

At the same time, “Iskander”, in fact, has two varieties that are absolutely opposite to each other. These are “Iskander-M” and “Iskander-K”.

Iskander-M

It fires a rocket that flies at a high altitude (up to 100 km, that is, touches space) and manoeuvres very strongly.

The maneuverability of the rocket is such that overloads of up to 30 G are created during flight! Let me remind you that:

• when riding a roller coaster, a person experiences an overload of up to 4 G;
• Formula 1 drivers experience up to 6 G when braking sharply;
• cosmonauts experience up to 8 G at rocket launch;
• in fighter planes, up to 12 G is generated during the sharpest manoeuvres.

30 G is deadly not only for humans, but also for almost any equipment. Thus, at 30 G a fighter jet can simply fall apart.

The “Iskander-M” missile can withstand such overloads. This is despite the fact that at 30 G body weight increases by 30 times. That is, for example, if you weigh 60 kg, but at 30 G your body will start to weigh 1800 kg. Naturally, even the bones can’t withstand such an overload.

The super-maneuverability of the “Iskander-M” missile is necessary so that it is not shot down. In addition, the missile has stealth technologies, throws out false targets in flight, and also conducts radio-electronic warfare with enemy air defence systems.

That is why it is considered that it is almost impossible to shoot down this missile.

Iskander-K

But this type of missile, on the contrary, flies very low – at an altitude of 6-10 meters from the earth’s surface. Naturally, skirting the terrain.

An important advantage of “Iskander” is that both types of missiles can be launched from the same launcher. That is, “Iskander” can fire two types of missiles at a target at once: one will fly high and unpredictably, and the second will fly low and extremely imperceptibly.

All this together makes the probability of hitting the target close to 100%.

The stated range of both missiles is up to 500 km. However, many experts (including those in NATO) believe that this figure is greatly underestimated. The Russian military simply declares it, so as not to fall under the terms of the treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and short-range missiles.

The actual flight range of “Iskander” can be up to 5000 km. However, it will be possible to check this only in the conditions of a real war.

What is the difference between “Kalibr” and “Kinzhal”?

You may have noticed that the “Iskander-M” behaves roughly like “Kinzhal”, and the “Iskander-K” behaves roughly like “Kalibr”.

READ:  What Has Moscow Achieved…and Did It Fail After Imposing Two Ceasefires?

And there is not just some truth in this, but a very large amount. The fact is that the hypersonic “Kinzhal”, in fact, is an improved “Iskander-M”.

Just “Iskander-M” starts from the ground and spends a huge part of its energy on acceleration and climb. But “Kinzhal” is raised to a height in advance and accelerated by a fighter jet, so it spends most of its energy on gaining hypersonic speed.

As for the similarity of the second version of “Iskander” (“K”) with “Kalibr”, this is exactly the similarity. There is no direct relationship between the missiles, although both of them are cruise missiles.

What is “Iskander” capable of?

Flying 500 km beyond the horizon, “Iskander” is able to hit the target with an accuracy of up to 5 meters.

At the same time, the mass of the missile’s warhead is 500 kg. That is, it’s possible to cram either half a ton of explosives or a fairly decent nuclear bomb into it, and then a deviation from the target of even 50 meters will not matter much.

The speed of the high-altitude missile is 2100 m/s (over Mach 6). That is, it is hypersonic (like “Kinzhal”, whose speed is 2 times higher, up to 4000 m/s).

In the non-nuclear version, “Iskander” is capable of carrying one of three types of warheads:

• High-explosive shrapnel. This is the most popular type for hitting most targets, from warehouses to airfields. It can be described simply as a “large grenade” (under 500 kg), which creates a powerful shock wave and scatters fragments
• Concrete cutting. This is for breaking through underground bunkers
• Cluster. This is for hitting large areas with shrapnel. One Iskander cluster missile covers approximately 15,000 m2 of ground with a cloud of shrapnel, which means two football fields.

In the nuclear version, “Iskander” is capable of carrying a warhead of up to 50 kilotons. This is 3 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Given that the range of “Iskander” can really reach 2-3 thousand kilometres, this weapon is not just a nightmare for Europe. This is its verdict if it comes to a large-scale conflict.

They understand this and therefore they are now acting with someone else’s hands, pushing forward naive guys who have hung their ears in front of a “bright European future”. A future in which they will not be taken in any case.

Let me remind you that “Iskander” is not called the most formidable by me, but by NATO experts. Now I want to mix military affairs with geography a little, that is, show on the map where these very Iskanders are located at all.

And so. Just as soldiers are organised into platoons, companies, battalions, and regiments, “Iskanders” have a certain organisational structure.

Much more can be found HERE.

A Photo Set of The 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix D-500, a Reflection of The Jet-Age Styling of The Late 1950s

The 1960s opened with great promise. The Dodge Dart was a new model that year, based on a mid-sized 118-inch wheelbase unibody design adopted from Plymouth, and the Phoenix was the premium trim package for it. This special Phoenix was further equipped with the performance-oriented D500 package; indeed, this amazing motorcar features not only its original drivetrain and sheet-metal, but nearly every available option that could be added to this vehicle platform in 1960.

Dodge created 586 Phoenix D500-optioned Darts in 1960, but few were as spectacular as this one. The car is equipped with the 383/330 HP V-8 engine with Chrysler’s special long-tube D500 ram induction, which featured dual 4-barrel carburetors mounted on sonically tuned cast manifolds that looped across each opposing valve cover. It is backed by the pushbutton-activated TorqueFlite automatic transmission.

The car, featuring its Ghia-inspired finned-and-piped panels as executed by designer Virgil Exner, is painted red and augmented by front bumper guards, backup lights, door-edge moldings and dual side mirrors; lower-body stone shields and deluxe wheel covers complete the picture of Dodge luxury.

Inside are red interior components, complete with rare power-swivel front seats, power windows, factory electric clock, foam-cushioned rear seat and an Astrophonic AM Radio with rear-seat speaker. Driving ease was accomplished with power steering and power brakes.

Here is a photo set of the 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix D-500, a reflection of the jet-age styling of the late 1950s and the cataclysms that brought about the legendary Chrysler products of the 1960s.

Chris Hedges: No Way Out but War

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY (Scheerpost) — The United States, as the near unanimous vote to provide nearly $40 billion in aid to Ukraine illustrates, is trapped in the death spiral of unchecked militarism. No high speed trains. No universal health care. No viable Covid relief program. No respite from 8.3 percent inflation. No infrastructure programs to repair decaying roads and bridges, which require $41.8 billion to fix the 43,586 structurally deficient bridges, on average 68 years old. No forgiveness of $1.7 trillion in student debt. No addressing income inequality. No program to feed the 17 million children who go to bed each night hungry. No rational gun control or curbing of the epidemic of nihilistic violence and mass shootings. No help for the 100,000 Americans who die each year of drug overdoses. No minimum wage of $15 an hour to counter 44 years of wage stagnation. No respite from gas prices that are projected to hit $6 a gallon.

The permanent war economy, implanted since the end of World War II, has destroyed the private economy, bankrupted the nation, and squandered trillions of dollars of taxpayer money. The monopolization of capital by the military has driven the US debt to $30 trillion, $ 6 trillion more than the US GDP of $ 24 trillion. Servicing this debt costs $300 billion a year. We spent more on the military, $ 813 billion for fiscal year 2023, than the next nine countries, including China and Russia, combined.

We are paying a heavy social, political, and economic cost for our militarism. Washington watches passively as the U.S. rots, morally, politically, economically, and physically, while China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, and other countries extract themselves from the tyranny of the U.S. dollar and the international Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a messaging network banks and other financial institutions use to send and receive information, such as money transfer instructions. Once the U.S. dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency, once there is an alternative to SWIFT, it will precipitate an internal economic collapse. It will force the immediate contraction of the U.S. empire shuttering most of its nearly 800 overseas military installations. It will signal the death of Pax Americana.

Democrat or Republican. It does not matter. War is the raison d’état of the state. Extravagant military expenditures are justified in the name of “national security.” The nearly $40 billion allocated for Ukraine, most of it going into the hands of weapons manufacturers such as Raytheon Technologies, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, is only the beginning. Military strategists, who say the war will be long and protracted, are talking about infusions of $4 or $5 billion in military aid a month to Ukraine. We face existential threats. But these do not count. The proposed budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in fiscal year 2023 is $10.675 billion. The proposed budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is $11.881 billion. Ukraine alone gets more than double that amount. Pandemics and the climate emergency are afterthoughts. War is all that matters. This is a recipe for collective suicide.

There were three restraints to the avarice and bloodlust of the permanent war economy that no longer exist. The first was the old liberal wing of the Democratic Party, led by politicians such as Senator George McGovern, Senator Eugene McCarthy, and Senator J. William Fulbright, who wrote The Pentagon Propaganda Machine. The self-identified progressives, a pitiful minority, in Congress today, from Barbara Lee, who was the single vote in the House and the Senate opposing a broad, open-ended authorization allowing the president to wage war in Afghanistan or anywhere else, to Ilhan Omar now dutifully line up to fund the latest proxy war. The second restraint was an independent media and academia, including journalists such as I.F Stone and Neil Sheehan along with scholars such as Seymour Melman, author of The Permanent War Economy and Pentagon Capitalism: The Political Economy of War. Third, and perhaps most important, was an organized anti-war movement, led by religious leaders such as Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr. and Phil and Dan Berrigan as well as groups such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). They understood that unchecked militarism was a fatal disease.

None of these opposition forces, which did not reverse the permanent war economy but curbed its excesses, now exist. The two ruling parties have been bought by corporations, especially military contractors. The press is anemic and obsequious to the war industry. Propagandists for permanent war, largely from right-wing think tanks lavishly funded by the war industry, along with former military and intelligence officials, are exclusively quoted or interviewed as military experts. NBC’s “Meet the Press” aired a segment May 13 where officials from Center for a New American Security (CNAS) simulated what a war with China over Taiwan might look like. The co-founder of CNAS, Michèle Flournoy, who appeared in the “Meet the Press” war games segment and was considered by Biden to run the Pentagon, wrote in 2020 in Foreign Affairs that the U.S. needs to develop “the capability to credibly threaten to sink all of China’s military vessels, submarines and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours.”

The handful of anti-militarists and critics of empire from the left, such as Noam Chomsky, and the right, such as Ron Paul, have been declared persona non grata by a compliant media. The liberal class has retreated into boutique activism where issues of class, capitalism and militarism are jettisoned for “cancel culture,” multiculturalism and identity politics. Liberals are cheerleading the war in Ukraine. At least the inception of the war with Iraq saw them join significant street protests. Ukraine is embraced as the latest crusade for freedom and democracy against the new Hitler. There is little hope, I fear, of rolling back or restraining the disasters being orchestrated on a national and global level.  The neoconservatives and liberal interventionists chant in unison for war. Biden has appointed these war mongers, whose attitude to nuclear war is terrifyingly cavalier, to run the Pentagon, the National Security Council, and the State Department.

Since all we do is war, all proposed solutions are military. This military adventurism accelerates the decline, as the defeat in Vietnam and the squandering of $8 trillion in the futile wars in the Middle East illustrate. War and sanctions, it is believed, will cripple Russia, rich in gas and natural resources. War, or the threat of war, will curb the growing economic and military clout of China.

These are demented and dangerous fantasies, perpetrated by a ruling class that has severed itself from reality. No longer able to salvage their own society and economy, they seek to destroy those of their global competitors, especially Russia and China. Once the militarists cripple Russia, the plan goes, they will focus military aggression on the Indo-Pacific, dominating what Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, referring to the Pacific, called “the American Sea.”

You cannot talk about war without talking about markets. The U.S., whose growth rate has fallen to below 2 percent, while China’s growth rate is 8.1 percent, has turned to military aggression to bolster its sagging economy. If the U.S. can sever Russian gas supplies to Europe, it will force Europeans to buy from the United States. U.S. firms, at the same time, would be happy to replace the Chinese Communist Party, even if they must do it through the threat of war, to open unfettered access to Chinese markets. War, if it did break out with China, would devastate the Chinese, American, and global economies, destroying free trade between countries as in World War I. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Washington is desperately trying to build military and economic alliances to ward off a rising China, whose economy is expected by 2028 to overtake that of the United States, according to the UK’s Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The White House has said Biden’s current visit to Asia is about sending a “powerful message” to Beijing and others about what the world could look like if democracies “stand together to shape the rules of the road.” The Biden administration has invited South Korea and Japan to attend the NATO summit in Madrid.

But fewer and fewer nations, even among European allies, are willing to be dominated by the United States. Washington’s veneer of democracy and supposed respect for human rights and civil liberties is so badly tarnished as to be irrecoverable. Its economic decline, with China’s manufacturing 70 percent higher than that of the U.S., is irreversible. War is a desperate Hail Mary, one employed by dying empires throughout history with catastrophic consequences. “It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable,” Thucydides noted in the History of the Peloponnesian War.

A key component to the sustenance of the permanent war state was the creation of the All-Volunteer Force. Without conscripts, the burden of fighting wars falls to the poor, the working class, and military families. This All-Volunteer Force allows the children of the middle class, who led the Vietnam anti-war movement, to avoid service. It protects the military from internal revolts, carried out by troops during the Vietnam War, which jeopardized the cohesion of the armed forces.

The All-Volunteer Force, by limiting the pool of available troops, also makes the global ambitions of the militarists impossible. Desperate to maintain or increase troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military instituted the stop-loss policy that arbitrarily extended active-duty contracts. Its slang term was the backdoor draft. The effort to bolster the number of troops by hiring private military contractors, as well, had a negligible effect. Increased troop levels would not have won the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but the tiny percentage of those willing to serve in the military (only 7 percent of the U.S. population are veterans) is an unacknowledged Achilles heel for the militarists.

“As a consequence, the problem of too much war and too few soldiers eludes serious scrutiny,” writes historian and retired Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich in After the Apocalypse: America’s Role in a World Transformed. “Expectations of technology bridging that gap provide an excuse to avoid asking the most fundamental questions: Does the United States possess the military wherewithal to oblige adversaries to endorse its claim of being history’s indispensable nation? And if the answer is no, as the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq suggest, wouldn’t it make sense for Washington to temper its ambitions accordingly?”

This question, as Bacevich points out, is “anathema.” The military strategists work from the supposition that the coming wars won’t look anything like past wars. They invest in imaginary theories of future wars that ignore the lessons of the past, ensuring more fiascos.

The political class is as self-deluded as the generals. It refuses to accept the emergence of a multi-polar world and the palpable decline of American power. It speaks in the outdated language of American exceptionalism and triumphalism, believing it has the right to impose its will as the leader of the “free world.” In his 1992 Defense Planning Guidance memorandum, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz argued that the U.S. must ensure no rival superpower again arises. The U.S. should project its military strength to dominate a unipolar world in perpetuity. On February 19, 1998, on NBC’s “Today Show”, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gave the Democratic version of this doctrine of unipolarity. “If we have to use force it is because we are Americans; we are the indispensable nation,” she said. “We stand tall, and we see further than other countries into the future.”

This demented vision of unrivaled U.S. global supremacy, not to mention unrivaled goodness and virtue, blinds the establishment Republicans and Democrats. The military strikes they casually used to assert the doctrine of unipolarity, especially in the Middle East, swiftly spawned jihadist terror and prolonged warfare. None of them saw it coming until the hijacked jets slammed into the World Trade Center twin towers. That they cling to this absurd hallucination is the triumph of hope over experience.

There is a deep loathing among the public for these elitist Ivy League architects of American imperialism. Imperialism was tolerated when it was able to project power abroad and produce rising living standards at home. It was tolerated when it restrained itself to covert interventions in countries such as Iran, Guatemala, and Indonesia. It went off the rails in Vietnam. The military defeats that followed accompanied a steady decline in living standards, wage stagnation, a crumbling infrastructure and eventually a series of economic policies and trade deals, orchestrated by the same ruling class, which deindustrialized and impoverished the country.

The establishment oligarchs, now united in the Democratic Party, distrust Donald Trump. He commits the heresy of questioning the sanctity of the American empire. Trump derided the invasion of Iraq as a “big, fat mistake.” He promised “to keep us out of endless war.” Trump was repeatedly questioned about his relationship with Vladimir Putin. Putin was “a killer,” one interviewer told him. “There are a lot of killers,” Trump retorted. “You think our country’s so innocent?” Trump dared to speak a truth that was to be forever unspoken, the militarists had sold out the American people.

Noam Chomsky took some heat for pointing out, correctly, that Trump is the “one statesman” who has laid out a “sensible” proposition to resolve the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The proposed solution included “facilitating negotiations instead of undermining them and moving toward establishing some kind of accommodation in Europe…in which there are no military alliances but just mutual accommodation.”

Trump is too unfocused and mercurial to offer serious policy solutions. He did set a timetable to withdraw from Afghanistan, but he also ratcheted up the economic war against Venezuela and reinstituted crushing sanctions against Cuba and Iran, which the Obama administration had ended. He increased the military budget. He apparently flirted with carrying out a missile strike on Mexico to “destroy the drug labs.” But he acknowledges a distaste for imperial mismanagement that resonates with the public, one that has every right to loath the smug mandarins that plunge us into one war after another. Trump lies like he breathes. But so do they.

The 57 Republicans who refused to support the $40 billion aid package to Ukraine, along with many of the 19 bills that included an earlier $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine, come out of the kooky conspiratorial world of Trump. They, like Trump, repeat this heresy. They too are attacked and censored. But the longer Biden and the ruling class continue to pour resources into war at our expense, the more these proto fascists, already set to wipe out Democratic gains in the House and the Senate this fall, will be ascendant. Marjorie Taylor Greene, during the debate on the aid package to Ukraine, which most members were not given time to closely examine, said: “$40 billion dollars but there’s no baby formula for American mothers and babies.”

“An unknown amount of money to the CIA and Ukraine supplemental bill but there’s no formula for American babies,” she added. “Stop funding regime change and money laundering scams. A US politician covers up their crimes in countries like Ukraine.”

Democrat Jamie Raskin immediately attacked Greene for parroting the propaganda of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Greene, like Trump, spoke a truth that resonates with a beleaguered public. The opposition to permanent war should have come from the tiny progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which unfortunately sold out to the craven Democratic Party leadership to save their political careers. Greene is demented, but Raskin and the Democrats peddle their own brand of lunacy. We are going to pay a very steep price for this burlesque.

World Hal Turner 23 May 2022

China’s No.2 surprises Anthony Albanese with congratulations before PM’s first big test

China has ended a block on communicating officially with Australia after Premier Li Keqiang – second to President Xi Jinping – congratulated Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hours after he took office, state media reported.

The olive branch came as Mr Albanese was flying to his first major foreign policy engagement, a regional security summit formed to be a counterweight to China’s influence in the region.

State news agency Xinhua quoted Premier Li as saying he hoped that this year’s 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties would be an occasion to review relations between the two countries.

Amazing Colorized Photos Show What Kitchens Looked Like In The First Half Of The 20th Century

An amazing set of colorized photographs from Color Me Six Ways to Sunday that show what kitchens looked like from the first half of the 20th century.

World Hal Turner 23 May 2022

For over a month, the Russian Army surrounded NAZIS from Ukraine at the Azovstal Steel Mill in Mariupol. The NAZIS finally surrendered last week. Now, the Russians have found a Satellite Phone from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in EUROPE (OSCE) inside the NAZI Lair. Why was OSCE facilitating the NAZIS in Ukraine?

Here’s a full image of the Satellite Phone found by the Russian Army in the catacombs of the Azovstal Steel Mill:

This phone made it possible for an actual Army Unit from Ukraine, composed of actual NAZIS who perpetrated barbaric war crimes upon innocent civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk, to maintain contact with their bosses in Kiev for further instructions and supplies.

Why would the OSCE have provided such a communications device to actual NAZIS?

OSCE cannot claim it was “lost” or “stolen” — the phone still works. The account is still active.

So again, why was OSCE facilitating actual NAZIS?

No comment has been received back to our inquiring email from OSCE.

Asian countries have good ties with US, China and other major powers, don’t need Nato-equivalent, Singapore’s PM Lee says

“My mom, looking gorgeous as usual, Fremont, CA, mid-1960s”

Sitrep 180 Hot Potato : Ritter, Lira, Johnson and Martyanov

By Amarynth for the Saker Blog

Let me first give the links to the debate in question (and this is a sitrep, so it is more freewheeling than a serious article for the Saker blog).

We’ve been talking about Ritter’s 180 swing in his coverage on both the SMO-404 and the Russian capabilities.

This article, titled “Ukraine War Has No End in Sight” gives the Ritter view post his 180: HERE and there were three prior videos where this view developed.  But this written form is good enough.

Andrei Martynov weighed in and Larry Johnson weighed in on various occasions and on a professional basis.  Gonzalo Lira weighed in his casual style.  On the Saker Blog, I weighed in during discussions and even analyzed a few paragraphs of Ritter’s article.

Even Pepe Escobar had to retract a quasi ‘Ritter sentence’ that he used.  This was his short and creative retraction.  “Martyanov is right on Western Ukraine. I should have emphasized the conditionalities – as it stands a 404 “New Model Army” is American wishful thinking.”

All of these people (including myself) were 180 opposite to Ritter’s view and I for one asked for evidence of this New Scary NATO army because clearly, Wunderwaffe came to mind.

Yet, there is no discussion and Ritter did it again.  This time in an interview with Sputnik here:

Article HERE

Both Andrei Martyanov as well as Larry Johnson weighed in again.

Before I quote from their work, let’s try to answer the question of Why?  Why are we responding to Ritter in this manner?  I will give you only my personal perception.  I view Ritter’s 180 as pushing NATO talking points and even spreading Ukrainian manure.   He assumes a static position from Russia.  After his 180, his tone changed and he presents NATO as the All Powerful and backed by the US Money Machine and Weapons Machine, as Invincible.  He creates new armies out of thin air, and professes knowledge of the Russian thinking and possible future actions which he cannot possibly know.  We can then discuss whether this is pure deception of his mainly western audience, or purely disingenuous, or a project based on a think-tank or something.  I hope it is none of those, and that he will enter into discussion and debate with his peers.  (Note Johnson’s article quoted later in this report).  If not, we have to question his whole basis for pumping American Wishful Thinking, as well as the substance of his presentation.

I’ll go back to an older quote from Martyanov:  “That is why when I hear that some piece of metal and a pile of increasingly diminishing US Dollars are going to make any real tactical, operational, let alone strategic difference in 404, other than being blown up or taken as trophies, I smile. Even LDNR people today complain (in Russian) that most of the US equipment when even not-expired and up to date, often doesn’t work and breaks down.

I know, for true American patriot such as Scott it is difficult to accept this fact but in the last 20 years it goes without saying that institutional rot completely engulfed America’s strategic and operational thought and, and I wrote three books on that, US increasingly produced weapons which like Javelins or Littoral Combat Ships, or F-35 or Patriot PAC 3s are not really suited for a serious war against competent enemy who, in addition, like Russia, has all means to see the enemy and destroy it.”  Article HERE

Let’s go to Larry Johnson’s latest titled:  Debating Scott Ritter.

He deals with the new funding, western weapons supply, training and intelligence sharing.  And he posts a video of Gonzalo Lira, who in his casual format understands these matters.  Here are some points but read the whole article:

• Money may make the world go around but it does not magically produce trained, enthusiastic troops willing and capable of using such weapons.
• Ukraine’s problem right now is not a lack of equipment. They had combat aircraft, helicopters, tanks, artillery and drones. Russia destroyed a significant amount of that materiel and killed the soldiers and pilots who were trained to operate those systems.
• Scott Ritter sees the training of Ukrainian troops in Poland and Germany as a critical variable that could really hurt the Russians. Training reinforcements on new technology might be a potential game-changer if the situation on the ground in Ukraine was static. It is not.
• Scott also asserts that intelligence sharing gives the Ukrainians an edge. When you provide intelligence on Russian troop movements, locations or plans, there is an assumption that the recipients of that intelligence will be able to do something to hurt the Russians. How did that work out in Mariupol? How about fending off the Russian missile attack in Desna. In my view, sharing intelligence with Ukraine is an effort in futility. Am empty gesture that will not change anything on the ground.

How to actually understand this Hot Potato?, and it is an important one.  The Ukraine SMO is only but a small representation of what Russia means by stopping the growth of NATO, indivisibility of security, the security balance in Europe, and most important, military-technical measures.   And then, one has to bring into the calculus that China is solid behind Russia in the thinking, and further, that the US pre-amble to actual kinetic action in the Ukraine, is now being duplicated around China.  The dead give-away is that SHOULD in Biden’s sentence.  Remember the many ‘ifs’ and ‘shoulds’ that we saw in the runup to Russia entering the Ukraine.  “President Joe Biden said Washington could be directly involved in conflict should China try to take the island by force.”  They are again trying to project and create a condition that is not necessarily there.

And this is the tone change in Ritter’s work.  He is projecting a condition that is not necessarily existent and presents it as fact. 

We have to understand that NATO is now being presented as the ultimate force projection by the small collective west.  Those familiar with Martyanov’s work understand that this is but a paper tiger and the boogyman (although with destructive ability) under the bed.  This is a projection and the small collective west only has a boogyman left to threaten the world.

Here is another such projection, this time with a clown:  Klaus Schwab has just introduced President Zelensky of Ukraine to the World Economic Forum in Davos with a glowing tribute saying that all of Europe and the international order stands with him.

Lira’s view is important here, albeit not professional.  He asks the question, Why is it Absurd that the Ukraine is standing up a million man new army?  (Short, 7 minutes or so).

For comments, I remind you, that this is not a personality contest.  As Johnson says – it is a substantive matter.  So commentators, please be reasonable and kind, and don’t tell us who you like most.  At least present knowledge of the substance of this matter.  From the commentariat, let’s keep this one closely focused on the topic.

There is a bigger picture here.  From here and there in Europe, we see that everyone is now desperately scrambling for a peace plan.  A contributor sent me this one from Italy titled Now, Italy begins backtracking on its promises and extending an olive branch toward Russia.  HERE

I smiled, on two accounts.  This peace plan is Minsk redux!

And secondly, why this reach for a peace plan now?  Besides worrying about economics and gas and oil, it is another containment of Russia.  They all know Russia will win in the Ukraine, the way Russia perceives it, handsomely.   So, everyone desperately wants to devise new conditions, because the fear is that Russia will not stop.  So, they want to devise peace now, and send Russia back to Russia.  The news is that we are in a world-changing epoch, and Russia will not stop but take her full part in this world-changing epoch, preferably peacefully, but if not, military-technical.

What’s Behind Biden’s Resolve to Defend Taiwan Against Beijing?

Jeff J. Brown on Sputnik News. China Rising Radio Sinoland 220524  . It’s an audio track. Interesting stuff. Jeff’s stuff always is.

From HERE

This 19th-Century Tool Box Is Meticulously Designed To Hold 300 Tools

The look of tool chests can tell us much about workers and workplaces. While their purpose is to organize, carry, and protect tools, this chest also suggests what a worker thinks of himself and how society measures the value of his work.

If the workmanship in a tool chest is any indication of the maker’s talent, then the craftsmanship of Master carpenter and Freemason H. O. Studley must have been awe-inspiring. Brother Henry O. Studley (1838-1925) built this magnificent wall-hung chest while employed by the Poole Piano Company of Quincy, Massachusetts.

In an oak clamshell box adorned with rosewood, ebony, pearl and ivory, Studley kept both tools he made and a collection of the finest hand tools made prior to 1900, including a complete set of woodworking tools as well as machinist and stonemasonry tools. To pack the 300-plus tools into a case only 19 1/2 inches wide, 39 inches long and 9 1/2 inches deep, Studley devised a jigsaw puzzle arrangement of flip-up trays, fold-out layers and hidden compartments. Maine native Pete Hardwick originally owned the chest, which had been in his family since it was bequeathed to his grandfather by Studley.

Hardwick acquired the chest from his brother by trading a 1934 Ford sedan for it. A good trade? It would seem so: just one tool – the Stanley No. 1 plane housed in the ebony archway in the upper-left part of the chest – was appraised at $700.00 in 1993.

This tool chest was carefully restored to its original splendor and glory, loaned to the Smithsonian Institution, then displayed in the National Museum of American History as the centerpiece of woodworking and other tradesman tool chests. Studley’s chest then changed hands again (for an undisclosed $$$ amount) to another private collector.

The Prisoner Episode 3

Enjoy this episode. I will continue to add these episodes in the future articles.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

New Beginnings 4

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Articles & Links

Master Index

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• You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
• You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
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The US Air Force has the F35, a fighter plane that is invisible to radar. The F35 is so invisible no-one in Ukraine has seen it.

-Passerby

We interrupt the normal flow of opinion, articles and news on MM for this breaking and concerning alert. But first, some background. Watch the video that I made on Saturday morning…

MM Warning on Saturday 21MAY22

This is the video that I made on Saturday morning. Watch it.

China DEFCON moves from Orange to Red Status

Update: This is FAKE NEWS. Sorry for presenting it. Sources inside of the Chiense govnerment has confirmed that the high state of readiness has not decreased since 2019. I am ashamed for being so taken in by the bullshit. Apologies all around. -MM

Hal Turner Comments…

From HERE.

The China Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee has issued a “National Mobilization Order” to switch China from peacetime to Wartime economy. This is now formal preparation to seize Taiwan and fight-off U.S. protection of that island.

Audio from a Provincial government meeting in the Province of Guangdong was recorded, making explicitly clear they have been ordered to immediately switch to a wartime operating status.

Support of frontline troops, through coordination of industrial production, is now being implemented.

…

We now return back to our regular programming…

Elegant Photos That Defined Edwardian Fashion Styles Of Young Women

One of the primary changes of the Edwardian Era included the change in clothes of the women.

A typical Edwardian Woman was very fashion conscious and this era hence brought about remarkable new trends in women’s attire. Curvy hips and fuller low chests were the unique characteristics of this era because they emphasised slim and trim fits.

In short, Edwardian women’s fashion is actually a simplification from Victorian era, but pretty more creativity and innovation. These elegant photos below that defined Edwardian fashion styles of young women.

Pepe Escobar, in “Russia Rewrites The Art of Hybrid War” at SCF:

So why would weapons peddler retrofitted as Pentagon head Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin literally beg since late February to have his phone calls answered by Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, only to have his wish finally granted?

It’s now confirmed by one of my top intel sources. The call was a direct consequence of panic. The United States Government (USG) by all means wants to scotch the detailed Russian investigation – and accumulation of evidence – on the US bioweapon labs in Ukraine, as I outlined in a previous column.

This phone call happened exactly after an official Russian statement to the UN Security Council on May 13: we will use articles 5 and 6 of the Convention on the Prohibition of Bioweapons to investigate the Pentagon’s biological “experiments” in Ukraine.

...

Shoigu cold see the call coming eons away. Reuters, merely quoting the proverbial “ Pentagon official”, spun that the allegedly one-hour-long call led to nothing. Nonsense. Austin, according to the Americans, demanded a “ ceasefire” – which must have originated a Siberian cat smirk on Shoigu’s face.

So, according to Escobar, it’s not primarily the disastrous surrender of 2,000 Azov prisoners at Avostal or the possible NATO remainders there that so terrifies the deep state, but the fact that Russia has irrefutable documentation of US war crimes against Humanity in its bioweapons labs — the 30 or so in Ukraine plus ~300 worldwide. The origin of Covid-19 as possible biowarfare against China and Iran also risks exposure.

Scandinavian Airlines Pulled Out Vintage Images Of Old Menu Cards And In-Flight Meals

Scandinavian Airlines, usually known as SAS, is the flag carrier of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, which together form Scandinavia. SAS is an abbreviation of the company’s full name, Scandinavian Airlines System. Founded on August 1, 1946. A few years ago for their seventieth anniversary they pulled out some old menu cards and and pictures of in-flight meals. Times have changed…

It all looks glorious. Of course it does. These pictures were taken to advertise the marvel of flying with SAS. What we do see are the chefs, who with flourishes of impressive blades carve slices of meat from the grinning hostesses’ well-stocked trolley. The sommelier stands by, ready to suggest the best vintage to accompany the smogasbord of mile-high delights.

Expert says Putin’s demand for rubles is the “most serious blow” to American interests in Ukraine

From HERE

An expert has said that the demand by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s for rubles if “unfriendly countries” want gas is the “most serious blow” to American interests in Ukraine.

European countries were stunned by Russia’s demand that gas be paid in rubles as they seemingly expected the Eurasian country to be sanctioned and locked out of Western financial mechanisms without retaliation. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 31 that he had signed a decree forcing buyers from “unfriendly countries” to pay for Russian gas in rubles from April 1, warning that contracts would be halted if these payments were not made.

Although the companies and governments of “unfriendly countries” have rejected the move as a breach of existing contracts, which are set in euros or dollars, French economy minister Bruno Le Maire said his country and Germany were preparing for a possible scenario that Russian gas flows are halted – something that would plunge Europe into a full-blown energy and economic crisis.

Although the halt of gas supplies to Europe could see Gazprom lose about half of its profits and reduce investment, it will have an even greater negative consequence on the European energy sector. Europe will not be able to quickly replace Russian gas with LNG supplies from the United States and Qatar, and as a result, European gas prices could rise to $5,000 per 1,000 cubic meters or even higher, which will force a consumption reduction and hit the economy.

Charles Michel, head of the Council of Europe, presented the EU Programme on ensuring energy security. He stressed that eliminating dependence on Russian energy sources is at the heart of the program as, according to him, it is necessary to quickly get rid of Russian carbon hydrogen and then fossil fuels in general.

However, it is clear that even without the current global energy crisis caused by the lack of gas supplies, it would still be impossible to find a short to medium term solution to replace Russian sources. In this way, EU states, the UK, the US and other listed unfriendly countries will have no choice but to engage in rubles trade if they want to continue receiving Russian energy and not let their economic situations worsen.

Speaking about changes in the global economic system following sanctions and Russia’s responses to the financial hostilities, Serbian geopolitical analyst Borislav Korkodelovic said: “IMF and World Bank data also show that it is becoming increasingly easy for the rest of the world to reject the demands of the West because it is no longer as economically omnipotent as it once was.”

“Even when it comes to nominal GDP, the difference between the BRICS countries on the one hand, and the EU and the US on the other, is narrower (24% to 30% before the pandemic and now it is even smaller). When the GDP is calculated relative to the parity of purchasing power, the stakes have already been replaced: 45% to 44.1% in favor of BRICS.”

For his part, Serbian lawyer Branko Pavlović said that Russia, China and India had a key part in building a new global economic system that is more equitable, as it should have been after the Second World War.

“This is a fight for a whole new international relationship and a return to multilateralism with respect to the sovereignty and equality of states, as envisioned after World War II, but now with incredible economic momentum to the general benefit. Everyone around the world understands that America and the West have been exploitative so far. We are now witnessing a new internationalism of liberation,” said Pavlović.

This sentiment was shared by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov who said that BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will be at the center of a new world order and stressed that the demand for rubles “is not a change in the terms of [energy] contracts,” but rather “a protection of Russian interests.”

It is this very drive to protect Russian interests that has forced Putin’s hand to demand rubles for energy. In fact, sanctions against Russia have only forced an accelerated change to the global economic system as de-Dollarization is being explored by nearly every major non-Western country.

Alfredo Jalife-Rahme, a Mexican political scientist, said that London, Washington and Beijing agree that there is a weakening of globalization. He stressed that “Moscow’s demand that your gas is paid in rubles” is an example of “the dismantling of the globalized model in the energy framework.”

Jalife-Rahme also explained that “the financial globalization with the predominance of the dollar generated annual profits of 1 trillion dollars for the United States, about 10% of the global GDP. The change of this paradigm may be one of the most serious blows of the Ukrainian situation to American interests.”

The West thought that it could economically collapse Russia, ignoring that sanctions failed to topple Saddam Hussein, Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s Ayatollah’s, Kim Jong-Un and Nicolás Maduro. Rather, sanctions have only forced an acceleration of the de-Dollarization of the global economy. In effect, the demand for rubles for gas is pushing forward a multipolar and more equitable global economic system.

THE WARS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

I would now like to offer you some thoughts that do not commit you to this or that conflict, and even less to this or that side. I will just lift a veil and invite you to look at what it hides. What I am about to say may shock you, but we can only find peace by accepting reality.

Wars are changing. I am not talking about weapons and military strategies, but about the reasons for conflicts, about their human dimension. Just as the transition from industrial capitalism to financial globalization is transforming our societies and pulverizing the principles that organized them, so this evolution is changing wars. The problem is that we are already incapable of adapting our societies to this structural change and therefore even less capable of thinking about the evolution of war.

War always seeks to solve the problems that politics has failed to solve. It does not happen when we are ready for it, but when we have eliminated all other solutions.

This is exactly what is happening today. The US Straussians have inexorably cornered Russia in Ukraine, leaving it no option but to go to war. If the Allies insist on pushing her back, they will provoke a World War.

Thierry is always good:

From HERE

Ukraine update & Wheat for Rubles has collective west in panic mode

A Big Lie

The NY Times publishes a Big Lie,

"In the end, it is the Ukrainians who must make the hard decisions."

No, the opposite is true–all decisions are made in DC and have since 2014.

The phone calls are pathetic since they’re being made by those who lack the power to initiate negotiation. Blinken, Sullivan and Nuland are the ones killing Ukrainians since they refuse to allow any attempts at peace. And those three believe their own swill.

–karlof1

Placebo – English Summer Rain [Soulmates Never Die HD]

Takes me back…

May Ukraine SitRep – Russians Break Through U.S. Bolsterism

From MoA.

On May 14 I noted that the U.S. had asked Russia for a ceasefire in Ukraine:

The U.S. readout of the call says:

On May 13, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu for the first time since February 18. Secretary Austin urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication.

Austin initiated the call and the U.S. is seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine!!!

Yesterday the top officers of the U.S. and Russia had a call which, again, the U.S. side had initiated:

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, held a conversation that the Pentagon declined to further detail beyond acknowledging it had happened.

Thinks must be bad in Ukraine for this to have happened. Indeed if one trusts the daily ‘clobber list’ the Russian Ministry of Defense puts out all positions of the Ukrainian army are under heavy artillery fire and it is losing about 500 men per day. There are additional Russian effective strikes on training camps, weapon storage sites and transport hubs all over the country.

On top of that the tactical situation at the eastern frontline has changed after Russian forces broke through the heavily fortified frontline.

Source: liveuamap.com – bigger A few days ago the Russian army went forward along the H-32 road, broke through the line in the direction of Propasna and took the town. It has since extended the bulge by taking several villages to the north, west and south.

biggerThis breakthrough gives the chance to roll up the Ukrainian fortifications along the frontline through flank attacks or from behind. By cutting the supply lines of the Ukrainian troops to the north and south envelopes can be created which will eventual lead to cauldrons with no way out for the Ukrainian troops.

This is especially dangerous for the several thousand soldiers north of the bulge which currently defend the cities of Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk in the north eastern part of the upper bubble.

biggerThe Russian plan was to have another breakthrough from the north pushing to Siversk to then close the upper envelope. But after several failed attempts to cross the forest area and the Seversky Donets river that breakthrough has still to happen.

Russia is now likely to push fresh troops into the Propasna bulge to extend its reach into all directions. Reports of current actions show that the heavy fighting and bombing on the frontline continues and that bombing also continues to target traffic nodes.

biggerOther fronts in Ukraine are currently relatively quiet with little direct fire. Still daily Russian artillery attacks hits all Ukrainian front lines and will cost daily casualties.

Some 2,000 Azov militia and Ukrainian army troops have left the catacombs of Azovstal in Mariupol. Another thousand may still be down there. The Russian army is filtering these prisoners. Members of Azov and other militia will be put to court. Ukrainian army soldiers will become prisoners of war.

The gasoline and diesel scarcity in Ukraine is currently having severe impacts. Even the Ukrainian military is now rationing its fuel. Since about six weeks ago Russia has systematically attacked refineries and fuel storage sites in Ukraine. It also disabled railroad bridges along the lines that brought fuel from Moldova and Romania.

At the same time the Ukrainian government had held up price regulations for fuel. The consumer sale prices for diesel and gasoline were fixed. The cost of fuel brought in by private trucks from Poland exceeded the price gas station owners could ask for. In consequence gas stations ran dry as their owners refrained from purchasing new fuel.

Three days ago the Zelensky regime in Kiev finally ended the fuel price control:

According to [economy minister] Svyrydenko, the government expects that the maximum prices for diesel will not exceed UAH 58 ($1.97), for gasoline — UAH 52 ($1.76) per liter, once controls are lifted.

“As soon as we feel that market operators are abusing their position, we will impose sanctions on them,” she added.

“We will monitor the situation on a daily basis”.

The expected prices are lower than what is currently asked for in Germany and that is without trucking the fuel the 600 kilometer from Poland to Kiev. The threat of sanctions also means that local wholesalers will have little incentives to actually deal in fuel. With the average wages in Ukraine being about $480 per months the real fuel prices will soon become another economic shock.

The Ukrainian government also continues its attacks on unions and labor laws:

In March, the Ukrainian parliament passed wartime legislation that severely curtailed the ability of trade unions to represent their members, introduced ‘suspension of employment’ (meaning employees are not fired, but their work and wages are suspended) and gave employers the right to unilaterally suspend collective agreements.
...
But beyond this temporary measure, a group of Ukrainian MPs and officials are now aiming to further ‘liberalise’ and ‘de-Sovietise’ the country’s labour laws. Under a draft law, people who work in small and medium-sized firms – those which have up to 250 employees – would, in effect, be removed from the country’s existing labour laws and covered by individual contracts negotiated with their employer. More than 70% of the Ukrainian workforce would be affected by this change.

Against a background of concerns that Ukrainian officials are using Russia’s invasion to push through a long-awaited radical deregulation of labour laws, one expert has warned that the introduction of civil law into labour relations risks opening a “Pandora’s box” for workers.

In total the social-economic situation for Ukraine is catastrophic. The military situation is even worse. Mariupol has fallen and Russian troops working there will soon be able to go elsewhere. The Propasna bulge is threatening to envelope the whole northern frontline together with the core of the Ukrainian army.

There is no more talk of the Ukrainian army ‘winning’ like in Kiev or Karkov where the Russian troops retreated in good order after finishing their task of holding Ukrainian forces in place.

The Ukrainian command has sent several territorial brigades to the front lines. These units were supposed to defend their home towns. They consist of middle age men drafted into service. They have little fighting experience and lack heavy weapons. Several of these units have published videos saying they were giving up. They are lamenting that their commanders left them when their situation became critical.

That the Ukrainian army is now using such units as cannon fodder shows that it has only few reserves left.

Weapons that come in from the ‘west’ have difficulties reaching the front lines and had so far very little effect. They amount to drops of water on a hot plate.

All the above are the reasons why Austin and Milley have phoned up their Russian equivalents. They are also the reasons why the New York Times editors call on the Biden administration to end its bluster and to take a more realistic position:

Recent bellicose statements from Washington — President Biden’s assertion that Mr. Putin “cannot remain in power,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comment that Russia must be “weakened” and the pledge by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, that the United States would support Ukraine “until victory is won” — may be rousing proclamations of support, but they do not bring negotiations any closer.

In the end, it is the Ukrainians who must make the hard decisions: They are the ones fighting, dying and losing their homes to Russian aggression, and it is they who must decide what an end to the war might look like. If the conflict does lead to real negotiations, it will be Ukrainian leaders who will have to make the painful territorial decisions that any compromise will demand.
...
[A]s the war continues, Mr. Biden should also make clear to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his people that there is a limit to how far the United States and NATO will go to confront Russia, and limits to the arms, money and political support they can muster. It is imperative that the Ukrainian government’s decisions be based on a realistic assessment of its means and how much more destruction Ukraine can sustain.

Confronting this reality may be painful, but it is not appeasement. This is what governments are duty bound to do, not chase after an illusory “win.” Russia will be feeling the pain of isolation and debilitating economic sanctions for years to come, and Mr. Putin will go down in history as a butcher. The challenge now is to shake off the euphoria, stop the taunting and focus on defining and completing the mission. America’s support for Ukraine is a test of its place in the world in the 21st century, and Mr. Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to help define what that will be.

Posted by b on May 20, 2022 at 16:49 UTC | Permalink

The Gregg Allman Band 1982 – Queen of Hearts – Saenger Theatre New Orleans

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I’ve been spending more time than I would like on the Metallicman you-tube channel. However, it’s a venue that seems to fit me personally. I just need to work on my learning curve and improve on my presentation skills, my video editing skills, and my Marketing skills. That will come. It’s all a matter of time.

This installment concentrates on the crazy “news” that is flowing through the airwaves today, and mixed with my anti-troll, and anti-‘bot articles that really zeroes out the effectiveness of the government, and corporate entities that wish to confuse and control the narratives that MM produces. I hope you enjoy this article.

The bold and brazen truth is exposed

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov:

“Ukraine… No one wants Ukraine. They are an expendable country in this hybrid war against Russian Federation. No one has doubts anymore”.

The language from Russian sources has changed and they now say clearly that Ukraine is a tool and the fight is against Russia by the West.

How Europe Was Pushed Towards Economic Suicide

A decent piece from MoA

With the active help from Europe’s ‘leadership’ the U.S. is succeeding in ruining Europe.

As Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City, wrote in early February, before Russia’s intervention in Ukraine:

America no longer has the monetary power and seemingly chronic trade and balance-of-payments surplus that enabled it to draw up the world’s trade and investment rules in 1944-45. The threat to U.S. dominance is that China, Russia and Mackinder’s Eurasian World Island heartland are offering better trade and investment opportunities than are available from the United States with its increasingly desperate demand for sacrifices from its NATO and other allies.

The most glaring example is the U.S. drive to block Germany from authorizing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to obtain Russian gas for the coming cold weather. Angela Merkel agreed with Donald Trump to spend $1 billion building a new LNG port to become more dependent on highly priced U.S. LNG. (The plan was cancelled after the U.S. and German elections changed both leaders.) But Germany has no other way of heating many of its houses and office buildings (or supplying its fertilizer companies) than with Russian gas.

The only way left for U.S. diplomats to block European purchases is to goad Russia into a military response and then claim that avenging this response outweighs any purely national economic interest. As hawkish Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, explained in a State Department press briefing on January 27: “If Russia invades Ukraine one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” The problem is to create a suitably offensive incident and depict Russia as the aggressor.

In mid February OSCE observer noted that the artillery bombardment of Donbas by the Ukrainians increased from a handful to over 2,000 explosions per day. Russia reacted to these attack preparations by recognizing the Donbas republics, signing defense agreements with them and by finally coming to their help.

Shortly after the launch of the Russian military operation Professor Hudson further developed his earlier thoughts:

The recent prodding of Russia by expanding Ukrainian anti-Russian ethnic violence by Ukraine’s neo-Nazi post-2014 Maiden regime aims at forcing a showdown. It comes in response to the fear by U.S. interests that they are losing their economic and political hold on their NATO allies and other Dollar Area satellites as these countries have seen their major opportunities for gain to lie in increasing trade and investment with China and Russia. 
...
As President Biden explained, the current military escalation (“Prodding the Bear”) is not really about Ukraine. Biden promised at the outset that no U.S. troops would be involved. But he has been demanding for over a year that Germany prevent the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from supplying its industry and housing with low-priced gas and turn to the much higher-priced U.S. suppliers. 
...
[T]he most pressing U.S. strategic aim of NATO confrontation with Russia is soaring oil and gas prices. In addition to creating profits and stock-market gains for U.S. companies, higher energy prices will take much of the steam out of the German economy.

In early April Professor Hudson took another look at the situation:

It is now clear that the New Cold War was planned over a year ago, with serious strategy associated with America’s perceived to block Nord Stream 2 as part of its aim of barring Western Europe (“NATO”) from seeking prosperity by mutual trade and investment with China and Russia. 
...
So the Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions were shelled with increasing intensity, and when Russia still refrained from responding, plans reportedly were drawn up for a great showdown last February – a heavy Western Ukrainian attack organized by U.S. advisors and armed by NATO.
...
European trade and investment prior to the War to Create Sanctions had promised a rising mutual prosperity among Germany, France and other NATO countries vis-à-vis Russia and China. Russia was providing abundant energy at a competitive price, and this energy supply was to make a quantum leap with Nord Stream 2. Europe was to earn the foreign exchange to pay for this rising import trade by a combination of exporting more industrial manufactures to Russia and capital investment in rebuilding the Russian economy, e.g. by German auto companies, aircraft and financial investment. This bilateral trade and investment is now stopped – for many, many years, given NATO’s confiscation of Russia’s foreign reserves kept in euros and British sterling.

The European response to the U.S. proxy war against Russia was based on media driven hysteric moralizing or maybe moralizing hysteria. It was and is neither rational nor realistic.

The European ‘leadership’ decided that nothing but the economic suicide of Europe was sufficient to show Russia that Brussels was seriously miffed. Dimwit national governments, including the German one, followed that program. Should they stay on their course the result will be a complete de-industrialization of western Europe.

In the words of one serious observer:

Today, we see that for purely political reasons, driven by their own ambitions, and under pressure from their US overlord, the European countries are imposing more sanctions on the oil and gas markets which will lead to more inflation. Instead of admitting their mistakes, they are looking for a guilty party elsewhere. 
...
One gets the impression that Western politicians and economists simply forget basic economic laws or just choose to ignore them. 
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[S]aying no to Russian energy means that Europe will systemically and for the long term become the world’s most costly region for energy resources. Yes, prices will rise, and resources will go to counter these price hikes, but this will not change the situation significantly. Some analysts are saying that it will seriously or even irrevocably undermine the competitiveness of a significant portion of European industry, which is already losing ground to companies from other parts of the world. Now, these processes will certainly pick up pace. Clearly, the opportunities for economic activity, with its improvements, will leave Europe for other regions, as will Russia’s energy resources.

This economic auto-da-fe… suicide is, of course, the internal affair of the European countries. 
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Now our partners’ erratic actions – this is what they are – have resulted in a de facto growth in revenue in the Russian oil-and-gas sector in addition to the damage to the European economy. 
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Understanding what steps the West will take in the near future, we must reach conclusions in advance and be proactive, turning the thoughtless chaotic steps of some of our partners to our advantage for the benefit of our country. Naturally, we should not hope for their endless mistakes. We should simply, practically proceed from current realities, as I said.

Vladimir Putin, Meeting on oil industry development, May 17 2020, Kremlin, Moscow

Posted by b on May 18, 2022 at 14:01 UTC | Permalink

Weapons arrive in Ukraine

Incoming weapons.  On the Polish-Ukrainian border, seven South African-made Mamba Mk2 EE armored vehicles transferred to Ukraine by Estonia as military assistance were seen. These vehicles were specifically produced for the Estonian army.

We have to conclude if we can see these armored vehicles via telegram channel on the Polish border, then the Russian forces can see them too.  And ditto for all other incoming weapons.

The crash occured within two days of Mr. Blinkedin, and President Biden WARNED China that "serious consequences" would occur unless China sanctioned Russia.

 

“Data from a black box recovered in the crash suggests inputs to the controls pushed the plane into the fatal dive,”

The paper is quoting people familiar with US officials’ preliminary assessment of what led to the accident.

Chinese authorities, who are leading the investigation, also have not flagged any mechanical or flight control problems with the plane involved in the March 21 crash.

What is not clear is whether it was one of the pilots or a passenger.

China Eastern Flight MU 5735 crashed on March 21, 2022.

Flight MU 5735 a Boeing 737-800, of China Eastern Airlines, took off from Kunming Changshui Airport at 13:16 Beijing time and climbed to an altitude of 8900m.

At 14:20:55 Guangzhou area control radar showed a “deviation” warning, as the aircraft left the cruise altitude.

ATC called the crew but received no reply.

Haiti

A Haitian walks by a murdered man on the sidewalk near the Catholic Cathedral, Sunday, September 18, 1994 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. An American invasion of Haiti was averted Sunday night in the most dramatic fashion as President Clinton’s negotiators reached an 11th-hour compromise with Army commander Raoul Cedras. Clinton said Haiti’s military rulers would leave power by October 15. (Photo by Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo)

Don’t ignore what’s happening in Sri Lanka, it’s coming for all of us | Redacted

Take notice of Sri Lanka.

Coming to the collective West.

No Knead Crusty Rolls – Easier Than You Think!

Mariupol Liberated… Western Media Silence Amid Their Big Lie Exposure

From HERE

For anyone who has been seriously following the conflict in Ukraine it is obvious that Western governments and media have been a total travesty in what they are claiming about that country.

The Western news media were made to look like laughing stocks this week with the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the Black Sea port city in southern Ukraine.

Not just laughing stocks, but actually proponents of deceitful war propaganda. This should be a matter of excruciatingly deep shame for the Western media and indeed the basis for future prosecution over war crimes complicity.

Up to 100 civilians were released from the sprawling industrial factory and taken into care by Russian forces in conjunction with United Nations rescue officials and the International Red Cross. Their testimonies flatly contradict the claims that were being blared by Western news media for several weeks.

Amplifying the narrative of the NATO-backed Kiev regime, the Western media had been making out that the civilians were voluntarily in the Azovstal plant to help defend it along with Ukrainian soldiers. The Russian military surrounding the factory was said to be besieging the site and threatening the safety of civilians.

However, it turns out, based on their own testimonies, that the civilians were being held hostage as human shields by the Ukrainian combatants. While the Western media had been extolling the “heroic” defenders of the Azovstal factory, it has now become apparent that these “heroes” were grossly violating laws of war by systematically using non-combatants as human sandbags to deter a Russian assault.

We should not be surprised by the criminal and degenerate conduct. For the “brave defenders” at the Azovstal plant that the Western media have been eulogizing are none other than the Nazi-affiliated Azov battalion. These militants are the frontline troops of the Ukrainian armed forces. They have been trained and armed by NATO powers, including the United States, Britain, Canada, and Poland. There is speculation that there may even be NATO special forces still holed up in the steel plant along with their Azov battalion charges.

It remains to be seen what the residual 1,000 militants in the factory will do now that their siege is finally doomed. One of the fighters even put out a bizarre appeal this week to SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk to help mediate their escape. How appropriate for the weird times we live in!

Contrary to Western media claims, the Ukrainian forces have been routinely using schools, hospitals, residential apartments, and other civilian centers as cover for fighting against Russian troops.

The sudden fall-off in Western media coverage this week is in stark contrast to the near-hysterical saturation reporting in previous weeks when it was being claimed that the Ukrainian port city was cruelly besieged by Russian forces. Consumers of Western media were led to believe that Russia’s military was about to perpetrate a heinous crime of mass murder. The hysteria being generated is part of the manufacturing of consent from the public for Western governments to funnel taxpayer money and military aid to prop up the Kiev regime. This week, the Biden administration is set to send a $40 billion military aid package to the Kiev regime; this largesse is while one million Americans have died from the Covid-19 pandemic.

For anyone who has been seriously following the conflict in Ukraine it is obvious that Western governments and media have been a total travesty in what they are claiming about that country. The regime in Kiev that seized power in 2014 through a CIA-backed coup against an elected president has actually been an international disgrace only given cover by the Western media and fawning Western governments. The regime may currently have a Jewish president as a figurehead, but for eight years it has been infested with Nazis, fascists and other anti-Russian radicals. This regime and its foot soldiers in the Azov battalion and other such formations openly glorify the memory of Second World War collaborators with the Third Reich in the prosecution of its Final Solution genocide.

The Western media had previously acknowledged the “Nazi problem” in Ukraine. But since the US-led NATO bloc ramped up its war agenda against Russia over the past six months, all such pejorative mention of the Kiev regime has been expunged. The Western public is inculcated to believe that Washington and its European allies are defending democracy in Ukraine. The conflict has been completely shorn of any factual context, from the origins of the Kiev coup to the past eight years of relentless deadly aggression against the Russian-speaking people in the breakaway Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

A major reason why Moscow ordered the military intervention into Ukraine on February 24 was to defend the Russian people of the southeast Donbass region from the ravages of the NATO-backed Kiev regime forces and their Nazi hatred.

Nearly three months on, the Donbass provinces have been largely liberated by the Russian military. The Azov Nazis have been pushed back. The southern port city of Mariupol is a key strategic gain to link up the Donbass territory under the control of Russian forces in alliance with the armies of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

The Western media tell their consumers that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has been a failure; that it has involved massive war crimes; that the “brave defenders” are holding out.

The facts are that the Kiev regime has callously and cynically used its own population as cannon fodder to cling on to power and as emotive pawns to facilitate the NATO weaponizing of the country as a catspaw against Russia. That is exactly what the NATO powers want. The United States and its NATO accomplices – the ultimate architects of this conflict – are funneling tens of billions of dollars into the Ukraine, supplying covert forces and military intelligence that is recklessly risking a direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.

One can be bamboozled by the cornucopia of narratives and propaganda. The Bucha (false-flag) massacre that allegedly happened in March was a classic example of media gaslighting psyops, as was the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol – all covertly perpetrated by NATO-backed Nazis but blamed on Russia by the Western media.

But perhaps the clearest test case of lies from facts surely is the liberation of Mariupol by Russia. The city is returning to normal after weeks of heavy fighting. Humanitarian aid is being provided by Russian forces in coordination with the UN and Red Cross. As with other parts of liberated Donbass, civilians are expressing relief and gratitude for having gotten rid of militants who had been holding them under siege with their hateful Nazi ideology.

There is a vivid parallel with Syria’s northern city of Aleppo when it was liberated by Russian forces in late 2016 from jihadist militants. Recall how for weeks before Aleppo was retaken, the Western media were declaring that a bloodbath was imminent against innocent civilians and “brave rebels”.

Just like Mariupol and the rest of the Donbass, the civilian population has been liberated from a siege of terror that Western-backed proxies had imposed. In the case of Aleppo, Western media conspicuously did not follow up on their tall stories and wild claims. When did they ever visit Aleppo to find out what became of the civilians under siege?

It is therefore fitting – albeit damning – that Western media have suddenly dropped their coverage of Ukraine this week. It is truly astounding how such Western media have reacted. There is a mass denial of reality because otherwise, they are exposing themselves as the liars and purveyors of propaganda that they shamelessly are. Why aren’t the BBC and CNN and so on in Mariupol, Donetsk and Lugansk to enquire about people’s conditions and views? That’s because the Western media would be exposing themselves as witting conduits of war propaganda. It is more prudent for them to simply just shut up and pretend nothing has happened.

The dogs bark and the Western media caravan trundles on… to some other dutiful destination.

Is it any wonder that Western governments are massively censoring all critical, independent media? Searching the internet now just brings up approved Western media sources. Hardly any Russian media views are permitted and neither are critical, independent Western perspectives. This draconian suppression of free speech and information by the West is part of their war propaganda campaign aimed at giving the warmongering media free rein to spout their preposterous and pernicious lies unchecked. The implications are shocking. Western states are devolving into totalitarian regimes that at the same time have the audacity to pontificate about democracy and freedom. They largely get away with this absurd audacity because the profiteering corporate media are bought and paid for to be dutifully dumb and obsequious. There is an increasingly vicious circle of toxic Western militarism aided and abetted by so-called media that more accurately should be referred to as the “ministry of truth”.

There are many nails going into the coffin of Western corporate-controlled media as far as their public credibility and respect are concerned. Another nail just slammed in this week from the exposure of their Big Lie about Mariupol.

Vietnam

A medic gives blood transfusion to unidentified 101st airborne brigade soldier in futile effort to save his life at An Ninh, South Viet Nam on September 18, 1965. Victim was wounded when helicopters bringing in his unit for battle against Viet Cong were hit by heavy fire. The Americans were pinned down for 24 hours, preventing evacuation of casualties. This soldier died three hours after he was wounded. (Photo by AP Photo)

The American Biolabs

Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy gives key takeaways from the last UN Security Council meeting on US biolabs in Ukraine:

1. The US refuses to explain its engagement in military bio activities in Ukraine. Keeps shrugging off several hundred pages of evidence. “These are all lies and Russia’s propaganda, and we are good guys because it can’t be otherwise”. Not a word on the point of discussion.
2. Western delegations are praising the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and calling on us to make use of its mechanisms. They fail to mention however that it is the US who is blocking the elaboration of BWC verification mechanism. Such a hypocricy!
3. The US refuses to explain why it doesn’t want an effective international verification mechanism for bio weapons. Why act like this unless you are trying to conceal something? Why does Washington position itself above the international law? American exceptionalism at its best.

Main conclusion: we have definitely hit their soft spot. It’s clear for any unbiased observer that they are obscuring the issue and trying to divert attention from this uncomfortable topic trying to discourage us to raise it by repeating mantras on “Russian aggression” etc.

So stay tuned, there’s more evidence on US military biological programs to follow!

Top level headline in China’s Global Times today:  “‘Neo-Nazism’ poisons Ukraine, Europe under US, West’s connivance”.

Amazing Photographs Of Trees Growing Through Classic Cars

For unknown reasons trees seem to like the apocalypse-style of growing through abandoned vehicles. Why? Good protection for seedlings?

The Astonishing Cinematic Autochrome Photography From The 1890s By Heinrich Kühn

The rise of photography in the mid-late 19th-century began the move away from an oral and literary tradition towards one based on image. A photograph can describe a moment in time more viscerally than the written word.

Technology dictates form. When cameras were big box brutes – heavy, unwieldy things that took an age to process an image -photography was best served by landscape, as little moved other than the trees under the breath of the wind.

As cameras slowly changed during the 1890s, becoming lighter, more manoeuvrable, there grew a desire among photographs to create more artistic images. pictures that rivalled painting for their impressionistic beauty. One pioneer of this trend was Heinrich Kühn, a German-born amateur photographer. Back then, most photographers were amateurs. It was an expensive hobby. Only those who could afford to pay for the technology, the processing, the darkroom, and the time necessary indulge their hobby.

Kühn was the son of successful merchants. He was born in Dresden and studied medicine and science. He gave up his studies to focus on photography. He was able to do this because of an allowance he inherited from his father. He moved to Vienna and became part of the Vienna Camera Club, where he was influenced by the city’s Secession artists who believed in creating Getsumkunstwerk or a total work of art.

From 1890 onwards, Kühn started working on creating his “total art” photographs. His pictures were described as “painterly” and “impressionistic” but to our modern eye look more like movie stills from some great, unreleased film.

Dressed in his linen suit, Panama hat, gold-rimmed spectacles and luxuriant moustache, Kühn directed his wife and children to perform for his camera.

You Don’t Know Whether to Laugh or to Cry. The EU Now Has a Masterplan to Hit Putin Where It Hurts

From HERE

The Luxury Apartment On Wheels: Camping In Style In A 1930s Jungle Yacht

The Jungle Yacht was created for and used by Italian explorer Commander Attilio Gatti and his wife, who both traveled extensively to the African Congo as a deluxe apartment “for his 1937-1940 (his 10th) and 1947 (his 11th) expeditions” and “equipped them quite lavishly.”

The expedition used two streamlined trailers designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky and using 1937 International Harvester D-35 chassis, and were 44 feet long and weighed 9 tons. The vehicles were built by the International Harvester company, who was evidently one of the sponsors of the expedition.

The trailers were pretty luxurious accommodations for camping out in the boonies of British East Africa. They were joined together in camp as a deluxe 5-room apartment on wheels, and served as headquarters while the expedition’s personnel sought out the secrets of the dim heart of Africa.

The camps were equipped with electricity and air conditioning and had a workshop, a photographic lab, and a ham radio station (Gatti was an enthusiastic ham radio operator). Electricity was supplied by a 110 volt generator mounted behind the cabs of the trucks. Each night a single wire 4500 volt electric fence was put up to dissuade the large specimens of the local wildlife from approaching the camp.

One of the vehicles in transit from the International Harvester factory to New York.

Cocktails in the deepest heart of Africa.

The living room.

The Commander’s desk in the living room.

The bedroom.

An International Trucks brochure heralds the first journey of the five-room convoy.

Killer Rabbits Terrorized the Pages of Medieval Manuscripts

Entering the Medieval Magical Inverse World

Fans of Monty Python and the Holy Grail will recall the vicious killer bunny that attacked King Arthur and his valiant knights, however, only a few will know that this farcical scene has its origins in real-world medieval manuscripts. Hand-written animal skin books were first created by monks in 11th century monasteries and those with illustrations in gold and silver decorations are known as ‘Illuminated.’ A research article in a 2016 ‘ Daily Art Magazine’ explains that the ‘marginalia’ or margins of some illuminated texts feature a range of mythological creatures known as ‘the drolleries,’ the painting of which peaked between 1250 AD to the 15th century.

While rabbits began their symbolic journey in this world as markers of purity and helplessness the mythological dimension of drolleries was inverted, therefore, in illuminated texts rabbits were often depicted as armor-wearing sadistic, cruel, and unpredictably violent creatures which murdered animals and people in the most awful ways.

According to art historian Margaret Rickert’s 1954 book ‘ Painting in Britain: The Middle Ages ,’ medieval scribes painted ‘cocks with human heads, dogs carrying human masks, archers winding out of a fish’s mouth and bird-like dragons with an elephant’s head on the back.’ Dr. Jorn Gunther says the idea of an inverse world in which everything is upside down ‘reaches back to antiquity’ when people ritually fought the perceived evils of winter.

A more recent 2022 article in ‘ Art Magazine Daily’ suggests that in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance ‘the culture of laughter was trying to make the regular world full of mysticism, dogmatism, and seriousness more bearable.’ Furthermore, carnival celebrations and jokes ‘dramatized the comic and relative side of absolute truths and supreme authorities highlighted the ambivalence of reality, coming to represent the power of both absolute liberty and farce.’ This would suggest killer rabbits were simply medieval jokes and mirrors of culture at that time, but they are much, much more.

Rabbit Courts and Beheaded Human Hunters

An entry on ‘ Mediaeval Manuscripts Blog ‘ says that during the Harley Cataloguing Project , while re-cataloguing the ‘ Arnstein Passional ’ that was made at Arnstein Abbey in Germany around the 1170s, researchers spotted a particularly early killer bunny. Regarded as the earliest killer rabbit ever discovered, a decorated letter ‘T’ doubles as a gallows on which two rabbits have hung a human hunter. The killers in this instance are standing on their hindlegs pointing and jeering with their front paws at the murdered man.

To interpret this apparently awful scene we must think in reverse, so as to better suit the topsy-turvy environment of the magical inverse world. Rabbits in this world are fluffy and innocent prey animals so it makes perfect sense that they would become violent administrators of justice, punishing human hunters who killed rabbits, in the upside-down world.

This is certainly the case in the ‘ Smithfield Decretals’ that were illuminated in London in the 1340s AD and are currently kept at the British Library in London.

• • • Beautiful, Decorative, and Sometimes Crude: Illuminated Manuscripts and Marginalia
    • Drolleries of the Middle Ages Included Comical Yet Sinister Killer Rabbits and Erotic Art
    • The Truth Behind the Jackalope and Those Who Hunt the Elusive Warrior Rabbit

The marginal scenes in these illuminated texts depict a group of giant overweight rabbits waging hyper-violence on a human hunter and his hound. The first rabbit is an archer and it shoots the hunter in his spine before the other rabbits tie him up and haul him before a rabbit judge. After an inevitable guilty verdict, the gang of rabbits haul the hunter away and joyously behead him.

But this was only the beginning of the rabbit’s bloodlust, which after murdering the hunter set about catching his dog which was the number one enemy of rabbits in this world and a perfect motif for the violence of rabbits in the upside down world. The dog met a similar fate to its master and was beheaded after being found guilty in a rigged rabbit court.

All That is Impossible Here, Happens There

It can be concluded that the killer rabbit motif has many possible interpretations, but they all unite in that they reflect a reversal of morals in the medieval upside down world. But what exactly did ‘upside down’ and ‘inverted’ mean in the sixteenth century?

According to Vincent Robert-Nicoud ’s 2018 book ‘ Introduction The Sixteenth-Century World Upside Down’ the words ‘upside down’ and ‘inverse’ were used in the same way we might use the words ‘weird’ or ‘freaky,’ most often to describe abnormal or unnatural objects or occurrences. ‘The topos of the world upside down,’ wrote Robert-Nicoud, ‘brings to mind a world returned to its initial state of primaeval chaos, in which everything is inside-out, topsy-turvy and out of bounds.’

Now that you are aware of it, keep an eye out for this medieval ‘world upside down’ rhetorical device for it appears in hundreds of texts, poems, paintings, and adages which collectively describe a place where natural impossibilities in this world, or dimension, are everyday occurrences.

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