As the West collectively unwinds, the general opinion on the (true) alternative media websites is that the collective Western “leadership” are acting like psychopathic gambling / drug addicts that are high on “their own supply”, and are making grievous mistakes without care, concern or worry. The geopolitical situation is unwinding out of control, and NOT ONE leader in the West is trying to defuse the global situation. Indeed, the opposite is true…
From goading on Ukraine and a hot “military-technical action”, which could erupt into a full-scale hot global war at any minute… to goading China with alterations to the Untied States, state department website. No real leadership is occurring, and that bodes very bad for the rest of us.
Here, we consider the global changes with views of our collective pasts.
$40 Billion in Aid to Ukraine BLOCKED in U.S. Senate
Fiscal conservatives are praising Sen. Rand Paul for blocking a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine – a bill that not a single person on Capitol Hill has been able to read.
Paul objected to a deal offered by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that would have set up votes on Thursday afternoon on the funding and on an amendment from Paul, who wanted to include language in the bill to expand an Afghanistan inspector general role to include oversight of the Ukraine funds.
“Our total aid to Ukraine will almost equal the entire military budget of Russia,” Paul said. “The cost of this package we are voting on today is more than the U.S. spent during the first year of the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan. Congress authorized force and the president sent troops into the conflict. The same cannot be said of Ukraine.”
Kodachrome Stories
We love Kodachromes and we love found photos. Lee Shulman shares those loves, recognising what he calls “the emotional value of these slices of life”. Since 2017, Lee’s collected around 700,000 found photographs, and compiled them into his Anonymous Project.
These snapshots taken in the mid-20th Century show us people posing for the camera, smiling in readiness for whoever’s behind the thing to press the button and capture the moment. Others are relaxed, caught off guard, their eyes blinked closed or shut in asleep.
A boxing match on board the USS Oregon in 1897
We Found All the Baby Formula . . . Biden Admin Sent it all to Southern Border for Illegal Alien babies
For over a week, there have been widespread and growing reports of Baby Formula shortages all over the USA. Store shelves are bare of it in many places. Now, we know why: The Biden Administration has grabbed all the formula and sent it to the southern border to accommodate ILLEGAL ALIENS coming into the country with babies.
Here’s a small look at what shoppers in USA supermarkets find when they look for baby formula on store shelves:
And Here is what is piling-up at US Border Patrol facilities along the southern border:
According to Congresswoman Pat Cammack, pallets and pallets of baby formula are deluging the southern border.
So, under the Biden regime, American babies can go hungry, but ILLEGAL ALIEN babies must be fed at taxpayer expense, and the food is taken out of the mouths of American babies to achieve feeding the illegal aliens!
Stolen elections have consequences. THIS is just one more example of what illegitimate President Joe Biden is doing to wreck the country.
The Princely County of Tyrol in 1890
Nations come and nations go. And then, forgotten by all.
Kodachrome Stories
We love Kodachromes and we love found photos. Lee Shulman shares those loves, recognising what he calls “the emotional value of these slices of life”. Since 2017, Lee’s collected around 700,000 found photographs, and compiled them into his Anonymous Project.
These snapshots taken in the mid-20th Century show us people posing for the camera, smiling in readiness for whoever’s behind the thing to press the button and capture the moment. Others are relaxed, caught off guard, their eyes blinked closed or shut in asleep.
If the Empire of Lies and Chaos (United States) continues to escalate then nuclear war is inevitable.
How can America’s insistence on escalation be interrupted?
1) America runs out of ways to escalate. Since America has nukes that means nuclear war.
2) Uprising in the US… OK, you can stop laughing now.
3) Russia surrenders.
4) Russia does a significant but limited first strike to remind people in the Empire what the results of a real nuclear attack look like. My recommendation would be to take out NATO bases in Poland, Romania, and other Eastern European states, and perhaps Ramstein too just to drive the point home.
-William Gruff
Jungbauernkalender 2020
The new Jungbauernkalender 2020 is out and can be ordered now. This time 12 young men and 12 women come from Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Franconia, Swabia and Upper Palatinate. Six girls come from Austria. The calendar is a joint project of the Bavarian Young Farmers Association and the Austrian Young Farmers Association.
The calendar pictures the different side of farmer’s life: dressing for the wedding, feeding a newborn calf, working in the fields or swimming in the nearby lake. The pictures were taken by the photographer duo “Die Abbilderei” on the farm of the Wunderl family.
Lithuania Breaking Diplomatic Relations with Russia
Lithuania will recall its Ambassador to Russia Eitvydas Bajarunas from Moscow on June 1, 2022.
The Lithuanian government also intends to shut down the consulate general in St. Petersburg on June 7.
(HT REMARK: When Diplomacy ends, wars usually begin. Lithuania is just right next door to Ukraine.)
MORE: Russia is now openly opposed to Ukraine’s accession not only to NATO but also to the EU. The Kremlin also does not currently see a diplomatic way to end the war.
Kodachrome Stories
We love Kodachromes and we love found photos. Lee Shulman shares those loves, recognising what he calls “the emotional value of these slices of life”. Since 2017, Lee’s collected around 700,000 found photographs, and compiled them into his Anonymous Project.
These snapshots taken in the mid-20th Century show us people posing for the camera, smiling in readiness for whoever’s behind the thing to press the button and capture the moment. Others are relaxed, caught off guard, their eyes blinked closed or shut in asleep.
Samurai warriors taken between 1860 and 1880
Diplomat: Negotiations for new Iran Nuclear Deal are “dead”
French diplomat: The negotiations on the nuclear agreement with Iran have reached a dead end.
There is little chance of the United States agreeing to remove Iran’s elite security force from its list of foreign terrorist organizations any time soon, a French diplomatic source said on Thursday, casting a further pall over nuclear negotiations.
Talks to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have been on hold since March, chiefly over Tehran’s insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list.
“The negotiations are at a dead end,” the source told reporters. “I am pessimistic on the possibility of resolving this subject quickly.”
Dominican Fried Cheese | Mangu Series Ep. 3 | Dominican Recipes | Made To Order | Chef Zee Cooks
Jungbauernkalender 2020
The new Jungbauernkalender 2020 is out and can be ordered now. This time 12 young men and 12 women come from Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Franconia, Swabia and Upper Palatinate. Six girls come from Austria. The calendar is a joint project of the Bavarian Young Farmers Association and the Austrian Young Farmers Association.
The calendar pictures the different side of farmer’s life: dressing for the wedding, feeding a newborn calf, working in the fields or swimming in the nearby lake. The pictures were taken by the photographer duo “Die Abbilderei” on the farm of the Wunderl family.
The Princely County of Tyrol in 1890
Nations come and nations go. And then, forgotten by all.
Biden told officials media reports about U.S. intel sharing with Ukraine are counterproductive
Nagasaki, 20 minutes after the atomic bombing in 1945
Biden says White House could drop Trump China tariffs to lower consumer prices
- President Joe Biden said that cooling prices are his top domestic priority, even as Wall Street braces for another inflation report north of 8%.
- The president also said that the White House is in the middle of a review of tariffs imposed against China during former President Donald Trump’s tenure and could opt to drop them.
- Wall Street is eager to read the Labor Department’s upcoming report on April inflation , which the government will publish Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET.
From HERE
Steamboats on the Mississippi River in 1907
Finland to Breach 1947 Paris Peace Treaty by Joining NATO – Russia says Military Action Results
The joint statement issued by the Finnish leaders said that NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. According to the head of government and the president, Finland’s incorporation into NATO will increase the defense capability and strengthen the alliance. They also said that Finland should apply to NATO as a matter of priority.
"We hope that the national steps that are still needed to reach this decision will be taken quickly in the coming days," the joint statement said.
At the same time, Finland will be able to officially apply to NATO after this step is approved at a meeting of the ruling Social Democratic Party, which is to be held on May 15, Ilta-Sanomat publication said.
It was earlier reported that Finland and Sweden wanted to submit their applications to NATO at the same time to thus express solidarity between the new applicants.
Russia responds to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO plans
"Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of military and other nature, in order to curtail the threats that arise to its national security in this regard,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement commenting on the possible accession of Finland to NATO.
If Finland joins NATO, Russia will view such a move as a violation of international legal obligations, a message posted on the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Moscow has always assured Helsinki that Russia’s aggressive actions against Finland would never take place. However, Finland’s desire to join NATO comes in violation of the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, according to which the parties undertook not to enter into alliances and coalitions directed against one of them.
Styles of Teenagers in the 1950s
Jungbauernkalender 2020
The new Jungbauernkalender 2020 is out and can be ordered now. This time 12 young men and 12 women come from Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Franconia, Swabia and Upper Palatinate. Six girls come from Austria. The calendar is a joint project of the Bavarian Young Farmers Association and the Austrian Young Farmers Association.
The calendar pictures the different side of farmer’s life: dressing for the wedding, feeding a newborn calf, working in the fields or swimming in the nearby lake. The pictures were taken by the photographer duo “Die Abbilderei” on the farm of the Wunderl family.
President of Switzerland: “We are also preparing for an escalation with nuclear bombs”
Switzerland supports the EU sanctions against Russia. Federal President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis answered questions on Tuesday and explained why he is behind the sanctions and why he thinks Switzerland remains neutral.
The Ukraine war keeps Federal President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis busy. Are the sanctions fair and is Switzerland still neutral? What threats exist if the war escalates further?
On May 9, Russia celebrated “Victory Day” against Nazi Germany. How does Federal President Ignazio Cassis interpret the speech? “The most important information was that there were no surprises. There aren’t many positives today, but it’s good that nothing bad happened that day,” says Cassis.
When asked why Switzerland doesn’t remain really neutral? Cassis replied “We remain really neutral.” There are discussions about Switzerland’s neutrality in every war. “This time, however, Russia’s breach of the UN Charter was so great that we could not remain silent. We had to condemn it very loudly and strongly, otherwise the world would not be in order, »says Cassis.
Asked what escalations might occur in the ongoing conflict, Cassis replied “With an escalation of this war there is the possibility of atomic bombs. The Federal Council is also preparing for this case.”
British Add Nuclear Warheads to Submarines
On May 8, the “Express” newspaper in London reported BRITAIN has increased the number of warheads each Trident nuclear missile carries as part of a precautionary measure in the face of growing threats from Russia.
Britain’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent uses four Vanguard-class submarines, of which two are always on patrol, while a third is at operational readiness and the fourth undergoes maintenance.
Each armed boat is allowed to carry a maximum of 40 warheads to be distributed unevenly among eight D5 missiles. However, while details are classified, it is believed the V-boats have been carrying considerably fewer of both. Not anymore.
As of this week, British submarines are now fully loaded with at least forty (40) nuclear warheads each. Most of the warheads, which are manufactured in Britain, have a yield of 80-100 kilotons – the equivalent of TNT –five or six times greater than the “Little Boy” atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
France Puts THREE Nuclear-Armed subs to sea
Tuesday, France put all three of its nuclear-armed submarines to sea. For the first time in around 30 years, France has put three of its four ballistic missile submarines, or SSBNs, to sea at the same time, according to reports in the local media.
Normally, just one of the Triomphant class SSBNs, each of which can be armed with up to 16 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), with multiple warheads, is on patrol at any given time. The significant uptick in French nuclear deterrence activity seems to be intended as a signal to Russia
US Media M.I.A.
Of course, Americans are not hearing about any of this in their mass-media, which appears to be “Missing In Action (M.I.A.)” about the severe and dangerous developments taking place in the world. Americans have no idea at all that WHEN this conflict “goes nuclear” that WE IN THE UNITED STATES will be struck by nuclear bombs.
The reason Russia will very likely attack the US is the amount of interference we have done with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Pentagon issued a report today outlining how extensive our interference has actually been. Here’s the list:
Given that ALL of this gear is being used to KILL RUSSIANS, how much longer do Americans think it will be before Russia puts an end to U.S. meddling by dropping nukes on our east coast port cities to disable such shipments?
We are very likely to be hit and yet the American people are left blissfully unaware by the US media.
Americans have no clue at all they’re about to be vaporized in a nuclear holocaust because the media is simply not reporting the facts.
No one is making plans to evacuate, no one is “prepping” with supplies to survive after such an attack.
When the bright, white flash hits, Americans will be killed en masse because the government interfered in something that was none of our business and had no national security implications for us, and the media covered it all up.
Nice folks, government and the mass media!
Document Orders Ukraine Border Guards to Allow Entry of 10,000 Polish Troops on May 22-24
A document allegedly sent by the defense department of Ukraine to the head of the state border service of the country, orders Border Guards to ensure the passage of the joint Lithuanian-Polish “peacekeeping contingent” from Poland.
The document says that from May 22 to 24, four (4) battalions, including 9,500 military personnel and 279 units of military equipment, must cross the border.
Given the level of intense propaganda coming out of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, we CANNOT RULE OUT the published document could be a fake, but such an order fits perfectly into the plan allegedly adopted by Western countries to enter the war.
People in Ukraine are theorizing that this is an effort to seize and plunder Ukraine. But keen observers in the west say it fits perfectly into the West effort to enter the war, get attacked by Russia, then go to direct war with Russia.
Rumors of a joint Polish-Lithuanian military entry into Ukraine have been circulating for over a week. The Hal Turner Radio Show has not previously published those claims because they could not be verified.
Now, however, with what appears to be an official document to Ukraine’s Border Guards ordering them to allow such entry, and the providing of specific dates, the issue needs to be reported.
This is where things can get really dicey.
Russia has flatly and repeatedly warned that anyone interfering with what Russia is doing in Ukraine, will suffer consequences like they have never seen before. Would the entry of such “peacekeepers” be viewed by Russia as “interfering?”
Mark your calendars: May 22, 2022 seems to be THE date.
UPDATE 3:41 PM EDT —
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashencko stated publicly today “Belarus will enter the war if Polish troops enter Ukraine.”
Ferdinand Porsche (yeah, that Porsche) showing a model of the Volkswagen Beetle to Adolf Hitler in 1935
Kodachrome Stories
We love Kodachromes and we love found photos. Lee Shulman shares those loves, recognising what he calls “the emotional value of these slices of life”. Since 2017, Lee’s collected around 700,000 found photographs, and compiled them into his Anonymous Project.
These snapshots taken in the mid-20th Century show us people posing for the camera, smiling in readiness for whoever’s behind the thing to press the button and capture the moment. Others are relaxed, caught off guard, their eyes blinked closed or shut in asleep.
Florence de Changy shows that the official Western story of the missing MH370 airplane is a colossal lie
Always great information. Nothing can be found in the “mainstream media” of course.
Styles of Teenagers in the 1950s
American democrats and bioweapons
Dem Party Leaders, Pfizer, Moderna Involved in US Biological Activities in Ukraine: Russian MoD – 11.05.2022, Sputnik International
Medvedev: NATO Supplying Weapons to Ukraine Risks OPEN CONFLICT with Russia; Maybe Nuclear”
One of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies warned the West on Thursday that the increasing military support given to Ukraine by the United States and its allies risked triggering a conflict between Russia and the NATO military alliance.
Former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, said such a conflict with NATO always carried the risk of turning into a full blown nuclear war.
Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, laid waste to swathes of its former Soviet neighbour and raised fears of the gravest confrontation between Russia and the United States since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
“NATO countries pumping weapons into Ukraine, training troops to use Western equipment, sending in mercenaries and the exercises of Alliance countries near our borders increase the likelihood of a direct and open conflict between NATO and Russia,” Medvedev said in a Telegram post.
“Such a conflict always has the risk of turning into a full-fledged nuclear war,” Medvedev said. “This will be a disastrous scenario for everyone.”
Russia and the United States are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers: Russia has some 6,257 nuclear warheads while NATO’s three nuclear powers – the United States, United Kingdom and France – have about 6,065 warheads combined, according to the Washington-based Arms Control Association.
Putin says the “special military operation” in Ukraine is necessary because the United States was using Ukraine to threaten Russia and Moscow had to defend against the persecution of Russian-speaking people.
Putin, who says Ukraine and Russia are essentially one people, casts the war as an inevitable confrontation with the United States, which he accuses of threatening Russia by meddling in its backyard through NATO eastward enlargement.
Ukraine says it is fighting an imperial-style land grab and that Putin’s claims of genocide are nonsense. Kyiv says Putin’s invasion has only strengthened the Ukrainian people’s wish to turn westwards out of Russia’s orbit.
House Majority Leader Admits it . . .
Steny Hoyer, the House Majority Leader, said Biden wanted the $40 billion funding bill to “provide Ukraine with the type of arms it needs to shift from defensive to offensive operations.”
Hal Turner Editorial Opinion
They’re now openly admitting that the US is orchestrating an “offensive” war against Russia. How much longer do you think Russia will sit back and do nothing, while WE in the USA are orchestrating the killing Russian troops?
How long until Russia has finally “had it” with the United States, and begins bomb us directly?
I suspect, not long at all.
Americans would do well to prepare for being directly BOMBED by the Russian Federation, in response to the offensive war the USA is organizing and supplying, against Russia, in Ukraine.
If you do not prepare, then you are planning to fail.
Your family may not survive without YOU having a “bug-out” plan, to evacuate inland once hostilities start. Contact friends or relatives and arrange for your family to stay with them for awhile once hostilities commence.
Those of you already inland, must have emergency water, food, medicines, a generator for electric, fuel for that generator, communications gear (CB or HAM radio) flashlights, batteries, portable radios for news, a way to cook without electric, and a large first aid kit.
Without these things, you have no chance of surviving once the SHTF.
There is likely very little time left. Precious little time.
Plan now. Prepare now. Your life depends on it.
Jungbauernkalender 2020
The new Jungbauernkalender 2020 is out and can be ordered now. This time 12 young men and 12 women come from Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Franconia, Swabia and Upper Palatinate. Six girls come from Austria. The calendar is a joint project of the Bavarian Young Farmers Association and the Austrian Young Farmers Association.
The calendar pictures the different side of farmer’s life: dressing for the wedding, feeding a newborn calf, working in the fields or swimming in the nearby lake. The pictures were taken by the photographer duo “Die Abbilderei” on the farm of the Wunderl family.
How To Make Jamaican Jerk Chicken In The Oven *Homemade Jerk Sauce*
What a great woman! I can almost smell it a cooking from here!
Styles of Teenagers in the 1950s
‘Russia Started the War’ and Other Fallacies
On Monday, Putin delivered the annual “Victory Day” speech celebrating Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. The Russian president made none of the hyperbolic pronouncements the media had predicted but, instead, gave a brief recap of the events leading up to the war in Ukraine. There was none of the bravado you’d expect from a leader trying to gin up support for the ongoing war. Putin simply reminded the crowd that he had done everything he could to avoid the bloody conflict in which Russia is currently embroiled. Here’s part of what he said:
“Last December we proposed signing a treaty on security guarantees. Russia urged the West to hold an honest dialogue in search for meaningful and compromising solutions, and to take account of each other’s interests. All in vain. NATO countries did not want to heed us, which means they had totally different plans. And we saw it.”
This is an accurate account of what took place in the months preceding the war. Putin tried to avoid a confrontation by repeatedly asking the US to address Russia’s reasonable security concerns. Unfortunately, the Biden administration brushed off Putin’s demands without even providing a response. The US and NATO insist that Ukraine has every right to choose whatever security arrangement it wants. But that’s clearly not the case. The United States and every nation in NATO have signed treaties (Istanbul in 1999, and Astana in 2010) that stipulate they cannot improve their own security at the expense of others.
The principle underlying these agreements is called “the indivisibility of security”, which means that the security of one state can’t be separated from the security of the others. In practical terms, that means that signatories to these treaties are not free to develop their own military capability to the point where it poses a danger to their neighbors. These terms are especially applicable to Ukraine which is seeking membership in a military alliance that is openly hostile to Russia. NATO membership has always been a “red line” for Putin who has stated repeatedly that he will not allow NATO bases, combat troops and missile sites to be located on Ukrainian soil where they’d be just a stone’s throw from Moscow. As one critic from Texas put it, “You wouldn’t let a rattlesnake make its home on your front porch, would you?” No, you wouldn’t, and neither would Putin. Here’s more from a speech Putin gave in 2007:
“I’m convinced that we have reached the decisive moment when we must seriously think about the architecture of global security. And we must proceed by searching for a reasonable balance between the interests of all participants in the international dialogue.” Munich Security Conference, 2007
For Putin, security has always been the paramount issue. How do we create a world in which ordinary people can feel safe in their homes, their communities and their countries? How do we protect the weaker countries from the constant threat of intervention, invasion or regime change by an impulsive superpower whose behavior is guided by its own material interests and its own insatiable geopolitical ambitions? Concepts like the “indivisibility of security” might appeal to the sensibilities of idealists, but where’s the enforcement mechanism? And, how do we use these grand ideas to rein in an intractable hegemon rampaging across the planet?
These are questions that need to be answered, after all, if the United Nations actually worked the way it is supposed to work, Russia’s demands would have been thoroughly debated at emergency meetings before the first shot was ever fired. But that didn’t happen. International law and global institutions failed again. As everyone knows, most of these institutions have been hijacked by Washington which now uses them to provide a fig leaf of legitimacy for its serial depredations. That’s certainly how they are being used in the current war against Russia.
The western media is also being used as a weapon against Russia. For example, Russia has been universally blamed for starting the war, but Russia did not start the war and everyone on the Security Council knows it. Ukraine started the war, and the Observer Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has collected evidence to prove it. Check out this excerpt from an interview at the Grayzone with Swiss Intelligence officer and NATO advisor, Jacques Baud:
JACQUES BAUD: “I think we have to understand, as you know, that the war in fact hasn’t started on 24 February this year… what led to the decision to launch an offensive in the Donbas was not what happened since 2014. There was a trigger for that… The first is the decision and the law adopted by Volodymyr Zelensky in March 2021—that means last year—to reconquer Crimea by force… (And,also,) the intensification of the artillery shelling of the Donbas starting on the 16th of February, and this increase in the shelling was observed, in fact, by the Observer Mission of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe], and t hey recorded this increase of violation, and it’s a massive violation. I mean, we are talking about something that is about 30 times more than what it used to be... On the 16th of February you had a massive increase of violation on the Ukrainian side. So, for the Russians, Vladimir Putin in particular, that was the sign that the operation—the Ukrainian operation—was about to start. And then everything started; I mean, all the events came very quickly. That means that if we look at the figures, you can see that there’s…. a massive increase from the 16th-17th, and then it reached kind of a maximum on the 18th of February, and that was continuing. … And that’s why, on the 24th of February when Vladimir Putin decided to launch the offensive, it could invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter that provides for assistance in case of attack.” (“US, EU sacrificing Ukraine to ‘weaken Russia’: fmr. NATO adviser“, The Grayzone)
You can see that by the time Putin invaded Ukraine, the war had already begun. The shelling of ethnic Russians had already intensified by many orders of magnitude. People were being slaughtered in droves, and tens of thousands of refugees were fleeing across the border into Russia. And, all of this had been going on since the 16th of February, a full week before Russia crossed the border. (Moon of Alabama has compiled the data on the bombardment that took place in the Donbas preceding the invasion: “The February 15 report of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine recorded some 41 explosions in the ceasefire areas. This increased to 76 explosions on Feb 16, 316 on Feb 17, 654 on Feb 18, 1413 on Feb 19, a total of 2026 of Feb 20 and 21 and 1484 on Feb 22.”)
So, why does the media keep repeating the lie that Russia started the war when it is clearly false?
The fact is, Putin sent in the troops to put out a fire not to start one. If ever there was a situation where the Responsibility To Protect (R2P) could be justified, it’s in east Ukraine prior to the invasion. 14,000 ethnic Russians had been killed before the shelling began. Should Putin have looked the other way and allowed another 14,000-or-so to be slaughtered without lifting a finger?
No, Putin did what he had to do to save lives and defend Russia’s national security. Even so, he has no territorial ambitions and no desire to recreate the Soviet Empire. His “special military operation” is, in fact, a defensive operation designed to remove emerging threats that could no longer be ignored. Putin’s 83% public approval rating proves that the Russian people understand what he is doing and fully support him. (A political leader would never garner that level of support if the people thought he had launched a war of aggression.)
Some readers might remember that –before sending in the tanks– Putin invoked United Nations Article 51 which provides a legal justification for military intervention. Here’s an excerpt from an article by former weapons inspector Scott Ritter who defended the Russian action like this:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing Article 51 as his authority, ordered what he called a “special military operation”…. under Article 51, there can be no doubt as to the legitimacy of Russia’s contention that the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass had been subjected to a brutal eight-year-long bombardment that had killed thousands of people.… Moreover, Russia claims to have documentary proof that the Ukrainian Army was preparing for a massive military incursion into the Donbass which was pre-empted by the Russian-led “special military operation.” [OSCE figures show an increase of government shelling of the area in the days before Russia moved in.] .. The bottom line is that Russia has set forth a cognizable claim under the doctrine of anticipatory collective self-defense, devised originally by the U.S. and NATO, as it applies to Article 51 which is predicated on fact, not fiction. While it might be in vogue for people, organizations, and governments in the West to embrace the knee-jerk conclusion that Russia’s military intervention constitutes a wanton violation of the United Nations Charter and, as such, constitutes an illegal war of aggression, the uncomfortable truth is that, of all the claims made regarding the legality of pre-emption under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Russia’s justification for invading Ukraine is on solid legal ground.” (“Russia, Ukraine & the Law of War: Crime of Aggression”, Consortium News)
And here’s more on the topic from author Danial Kovalik in his article titled “Why Russia’s intervention in Ukraine is legal under international law”:
“One must begin this discussion by accepting the fact that there was already a war happening in Ukraine for the eight years preceding the Russian military incursion in February 2022. And, this war by the government in Kiev… claimed the lives of around 14,000 people, many of them children, and displaced around 1.5 million more … The government in Kiev, and especially its neo-Nazi battalions, carried out attacks against these peoples … precisely because of their ethnicity. .. To remove any doubt that the destabilization of Russia itself has been the goal of the US in these efforts, one should examine the very telling 2019 report of the Rand Corporation… entitled, ‘Overextending and Unbalancing Russia, Assessing the Impact of Cost-Imposing Options’, one of the many tactics listed is “Providing lethal aid to Ukraine” in order to “exploit Russia’s greatest point of external vulnerability.”… In short, there is no doubt that Russia has been threatened, and in a quite profound way, with concrete destabilizing efforts by the US, NATO and their extremist surrogates in Ukraine…. It is hard to conceive of a more pressing case for the need to act in defense of the nation. While the UN Charter prohibits unilateral acts of war, it also provides, in Article 51, that “nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense… ” And this right of self-defense has been interpreted to permit countries to respond, not only to actual armed attacks, but also to the threat of imminent attack. In light of the above, it is my assessment.. that Russia had a right to act in its own self-defense by intervening in Ukraine, which had become a proxy of the US and NATO for an assault – not only on Russian ethnics within Ukraine – but also upon Russia itself. A contrary conclusion would simply ignore the dire realities facing Russia.” (Why Russia’s intervention in Ukraine is legal under international law”, RT)
Assigning blame for the current conflict is more than just an academic exercise. It is the way that reasonable people weigh the evidence to determine accountability. That might be a way-off, but it’s a goal worth pursuing all the same.
Finally, it should be clear by now, that the war in Ukraine was planned long before the Russian invasion. At every turn, Washington has orchestrated the provocations that were designed to lure Russia into Ukraine, drain its resources and, thus, remove a major obstacle to US strategic objectives in Central Asia. The ultimate goal– as US war planners have candidly admitted– is to “break Russia’s back”, splinter the country into smaller pieces, topple the government, seize its vast energy resources, and reduce the population to a permanent state of colonial dependency. Washington knows that it will not be able to encircle and control China’s explosive growth, unless it crushes Russia first. That is why it has embarked on such a reckless strategy that could end in an unprecedented catastrophe. Our miscreant leaders believe that preserving their grip on global power is worth the risk of nuclear annihilation.
Ukraine – Congress Passes The Bucks, Realism Sneaks In, Poland Plans For More War
After a lot of talk about defeating Russia in the Ukraine and an alleged lack of Russian fighting abilities Congress passed another $40 billion fund for weapons and economic support. That brings the total to some $53 billion for Ukraine.
Most of the money will go to the U.S. weapon industry, the CIA and to various Ukrainian oligarchs. Hardly anything will be received by those in need.
With that packet now passed reality is allowed to sneak into U.S. media reporting on the issue.
Not one but two reports in the New York Times suddenly lament about the huge area of land the Russian troops have taken in east Ukraine:
- How much of Ukraine does Russia hold?
- Ukraine War’s Geographic Reality: Russia Has Seized Much of the East
From the later:
Nonetheless, the Donbas seizure, combined with the Russian invasion’s early success in seizing parts of southern Ukraine adjoining the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, gives the Kremlin enormous leverage in any future negotiation to halt the conflict. And the Russians enjoy the added advantage of naval dominance in the Black Sea, the only maritime route for Ukrainian trade, which they have paralyzed with an embargo that could eventually starve Ukraine economically and is already contributing to a global grain shortage.
I have often pointed out that the Ukrainian frontline will have a huge number of casualties from Russian artillery strikes. It is even worse than I had thought:
At the main hospital in Kramatorsk, a city in Donetsk, ambulances stream in day and night, carrying soldiers wounded at the front, who describe being pinned down by near constant shelling. About 80 percent of the patients are wounded by explosives such as mines and artillery shells, said Capt. Eduard Antonovskyy, the deputy commander of the medical unit at the hospital. Because of this, he said, very few patients have serious injuries. Either you’re far enough from an explosion to survive or you aren’t, he said. “We either get moderate injuries or deaths,” Captain Antonovskyy said.
Additional to those more realistic reports the NYT allowed one of it authors to write an opinion piece against the widening of the war:
At first, the Western support for Ukraine was mainly designed to defend against the invasion. It is now set on a far grander ambition: to weaken Russia itself. Presented as a common-sense response to Russian aggression, the shift, in fact, amounts to a significant escalation. By expanding support to Ukraine across the board and shelving any diplomatic effort to stop the fighting, the United States and its allies have greatly increased the danger of an even larger conflict. They are taking a risk far out of step with any realistic strategic gain. ... When I was in Ukraine during the first weeks of the war, even staunch Ukrainian nationalists expressed views far more pragmatic than those that are routine in America now. Talk of neutral status for Ukraine and internationally monitored plebiscites in Donetsk and Luhansk has been jettisoned in favor of bombast and grandstanding. ... What’s more, the invasion has led directly to greater military spending in second- and third-tier European powers. The number of NATO troops in Eastern Europe has grown tenfold, and a Nordic expansion of the organization is likely. A general rearmament of Europe is taking place, driven not by desire for autonomy from American power but in service to it. For the United States, this should be success enough. It is unclear what more there is to gain by weakening Russia, beyond fantasies of regime change. ... Diplomatic efforts ought to be the centerpiece of a new Ukraine strategy. Instead, the war’s boundaries are being expanded and the war itself recast as a struggle between democracy and autocracy, in which the Donbas is the frontier of freedom. This is not just declamatory extravagance. It is reckless. The risks hardly need to be stated.
Indeed. The current U.S. strategy will end in a catastrophe for Ukraine because it is based on false narratives. Lt.Col. (ret) Daniel Davis has consistently provided a more realist view of the military situation in Ukraine. His latest piece fits that record:
Over the past few days, a flurry of senior leaders in both Ukraine and Washington have issued defiant claims of not merely resisting Russian aggression, but pushing towards outright victory. While such aspirations are entirely understandable, it is unwise to set policy seeking a preferred outcome if there does not exist a rational path by which Ukraine could accomplish that objective. At present, most indicators, fundamentals of war, and current battlefield trendlines support the prospect of a Ukrainian defeat.
Davis correctly describes the current military situation on the ground and concludes:
By continuing to seek a military victory in Ukraine, Ukraine’s troops will continue fighting, no negotiated settlement will be realistically sought, and most likely Russian troops continue making progress. As a result, more Ukrainian civilians and troops will continue to be killed and wounded, more cities destroyed, and the economic and food crises – for both Ukraine and the world – will worsen. The most likely outcome will not change (a negotiated settlement, not a Ukrainian military victory), but the cost to Kyiv will be much, much worse.
Another former military man who has a realist view of the war is Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret). During the first Gulf war he led a unit in the Battle of 73 Easting:
Macgregor was the "squadron operations officer who essentially directed the Battle of 73 Easting" during the Gulf War. Facing an Iraqi Republican Guard opponent, he led a contingent consisting of 19 tanks, 26 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 4 M1064 mortar carriers through the sandstorm to the 73 Easting at roughly 16:18 hours on 26 February 1991 destroyed almost 70 Iraqi armored vehicles with no U.S. casualties in a 23-minute span of the battle.
The previously quoted Lt.Col. Davis was wounded in the same battle. As both men have seen real mechanized war it is not by chance that they have come to similar conclusions.
Macgregor warns of a widening of the war through a Polish intervention in west Ukraine which would eventually drag NATO into the war:
- The Threat of Polish Involvement in Ukraine
The war against Russia in Ukraine has evolved, but not in the way Western observers predicted.
Why would Poland, with the help of Lithuania, try to take western Ukraine? It is all about history:
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a country and bi-federation of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 1,000,000 km2 (400,000 sq mi) and as of 1618 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 12 million.
Here is how that commonwealth looked on a map with current borders:
There have been talks for a while that Poland would send a ‘peacekeeping’ force to occupy Galicia in west-Ukraine. I for one predicted it on February 24, at the very onset of the war:
Thanks to Stalin's additions to the Ukraine three countries, Poland, Hungary and Romania, have claims to certain areas in the Ukraine's western regions. If they want to snatch those up again it is now probably the best time to do so. Despite being part of NATO, which likely would not support such moves, those three will have domestic policy difficulties to withstand the urge.
An official looking document now says that a Polish/Lithuanian operation will start on May 22-24.
Lord Of War @lord_of_war____ - 14:46 UTC · May 10, 2022 🇺🇦🇵🇱The document was sent to the President of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Serhiy Daynek, stating that it is 22-24. May joint "Lithuanian-Polish peacekeeping contingent" consisting of 4 battalions, 9,500 soldiers and 279 units of military equipment [planned to enter the territory of Ukraine. Another confirmation of the development of plans for the occupation and further division of the country. Even if this particular document turns out to be false (which is not excluded), it does not change the general course of the West in relation to Ukraine.] picture
9.500 soldiers are way more than fit into 4 battalions. A battalion has typically some 400-800 soldiers. These are more like three small brigades with 3-4 battalions each.
A Polish/Lithuanian move is exactly what Col. Macgregor is warning of:
Ten weeks after the conflict began, it is instructive to re-examine the strategic picture. The war against Russia in Ukraine has evolved, but not in the way Western observers predicted. Ukrainian forces look shattered and exhausted. The supplies reaching Ukrainian troops fighting in Eastern Ukraine are a fraction of what is needed. In most cases, replacements and new weapons are destroyed long before they reach the front. Confronted with the unambiguous failure of U.S. assistance and the influx of new weapons to rescue Ukrainian forces from certain destruction, the Biden administration is desperate to reverse the situation and save face. Poland seems to offer a way out. More important, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have both expressed the desire to erase the borders between Poland and Ukraine. Unconfirmed reports from Warsaw indicate that after Washington rejected the proposals for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, along with the transfer of Polish MIG-29 aircrafts to Ukrainian pilots, the Polish general staff was quietly instructed to formulate plans for intervention in the Ukrainian conflict by seizing the western part of Ukraine. Naturally, military action of this scale would require Kiev’s approval, but given Washington’s de facto control of the Zelensky government, approval for Polish military intervention should not be a problem. Presumably, the Biden administration may hope that a collision involving Russians and Poles in any form—including air and missile strikes against Polish forces on the Ukrainian side of the border—would potentially call for the NATO council to meet and address Article V of the NATO treaty.
It would mean that NATO, or at least major parts of it, would actively join the Ukrainian proxy war against Russia. While I believe that Russia has withheld forces from the current war to eventually defend against NATO, any entry of it into the war would significantly extend the fighting and the danger of a nuclear exchange would become imminent.
Kodachrome Stories
We love Kodachromes and we love found photos. Lee Shulman shares those loves, recognising what he calls “the emotional value of these slices of life”. Since 2017, Lee’s collected around 700,000 found photographs, and compiled them into his Anonymous Project.
These snapshots taken in the mid-20th Century show us people posing for the camera, smiling in readiness for whoever’s behind the thing to press the button and capture the moment. Others are relaxed, caught off guard, their eyes blinked closed or shut in asleep.
Achieved: Russia introduces a total embargo on the export of goods
2 months after the introduction of restrictions by the West, Russia took appropriate measures. The other day, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the application of retaliatory special economic measures in connection with the unfriendly actions of certain foreign states and international organizations." According to the document, the export of raw materials and products from Russia to such countries has been stopped.
The decree comes into force on May 13
From the very beginning of spring, Western states imposed restrictions against Russia and its citizens. Russia, in turn, only modestly stated that payment for the raw materials needed by these countries should now be made in rubles.
The new decree shows that Russia has decided to act proactively. On May 13, the government will publish two lists: a list of individuals against whom sanctions have been imposed, and a list of goods that will be subject to an export ban. Vladimir Putin did not begin to impose restrictions against a specific country, it was decided to “hit pointwise.”
Explicit and hidden reasons for signing the decree
Some time ago it became known about the ambiguous position of the EU countries and the United States in relation to certain Russian goods. The former openly stated that they planned to impose an embargo on the supply of Russian gas and oil. The second acted differently.
Despite the fact that the United States imposed financial and trade bans on Russia, they were confident that they would receive Russian fertilizers. Therefore, restrictions were removed from fertilizer producers, without which their agriculture is unlikely to do. Moreover, these goods have been added to the list of vital.
Russia expressed its response in a new decree. Now there will be no Russian fertilizers in the US or Europe. The list of prohibited goods will include almost everything that is produced and mined on the territory of the Russian Federation.
The economic confrontation continues
We also recall that the exchange rate has recently been “jumping” against the backdrop of rash steps by Western European countries, and in a favorable direction for the ruble. And at one point, the euro was even cheaper than the dollar.
Economic “battles” continue. For many goods, the demand is growing along with their cost, as people are afraid of rising prices. In such circumstances, Russia was forced to take retaliatory measures. The West, apparently, does not yet realize who is harmed more by economic bans. The market-based pricing mechanisms that the EU has insisted on for decades are subject to speculation.
From HERE.
Chicken Curry with coconut milk/ Easy Chinese Cooking Curry Chicken/ Singapore style curry chicken
One of my all-time favorites. I eat this dish about once a week. I’ll tell you what!
Kodachrome Stories
We love Kodachromes and we love found photos. Lee Shulman shares those loves, recognising what he calls “the emotional value of these slices of life”. Since 2017, Lee’s collected around 700,000 found photographs, and compiled them into his Anonymous Project.
These snapshots taken in the mid-20th Century show us people posing for the camera, smiling in readiness for whoever’s behind the thing to press the button and capture the moment. Others are relaxed, caught off guard, their eyes blinked closed or shut in asleep.
BIDEN ADMIN ANNOUNCES OIL AND GAS LEASE CANCELLATIONS IN ALASKA AND GULF OF MEXICO
With gas prices soaring to all-time highs, it was announced tonight that the Biden Administration has issued fresh cancellations of oil and gas leases in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.
A top official with the American Petroleum Institute, the country’s largest oil and gas trade association, Frank Macchairola, called the cancellation of Alaska’s Cook Inlet lease “another example of the administration’s lack of commitment to oil and gas development in the US.”
Macchairola said that “The President has spoken about the need for additional supplies in the market, but his administration has failed to take action to match that rhetoric.”
“In the kind of price environment that we’re seeing, there are negative consequences to shutting off oil and gas development, both politically and practically,” Macchairola explained.
The Department of the Interior cited a “lack of industry interest in leasing in the area” for the decision to “not move forward” with the Cook Inlet lease sale, but canceling the sale would be in keeping with political promises Joe Biden made in the name of “halting global warming.”
As for the halting of two leases under consideration for the Gulf of Mexico region, the department said it was because of “conflicting court rulings that impacted work on these proposed lease sales.”
Breitbart’s Wendell Husebo suggested that “Gas prices to hit record highs again” once the news reverberates.
According to AAA, the national average price of regular gas hit an all-time high of $4.40 today.
HAL TURNER EDITORIAL OPINION
Gasoline and Diesel fuel have reached prices that are so high, they are unprecedented in American history. The law of supply and demand dictates that when supplies are low, prices are high. So what does Biden and company do? Cut off the drilling thereby keeping supplies low and prices high.
It’s almost as if the Biden people WANT to force high prices, to achieve their “environmentalist” goals of halting fossil fuel use.
This is the same crowd that warned us in the 1970 of “Global cooling” which then morphed in the 1990’s to “Global Warming” which then morphed in the 2010’s to “Climate change. Put simply, these environmentalists don’t know what they’re talking about and make it up as they go.
For all of you worried about “climate change” it may interest you to know that earth’s magnetic field, has moved farther west than ever before in recorded history. It has moved so far, and is moving so fast, that scientists are now wondering aloud if there may be a “pole shift” coming, where magnetic north and magnetic south, actually reverse!
It is the movement of earth’s magnetic field that has altered our climate. NOT fossil fuel emissions. Let that sink in.
Yes, our climate has been changing. It is noticeable. But the environmentalists tell us it is due to man-made activities, and they go on to claim that “greenhouse gases” are to blame.
Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, they claim, hold heat and are thus causing climate change.
These claims are fraudulent.
Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide do not hold any more heat than any other gas. The claim is a lie; the so-called science, is junk.
Now, I ask you: given the size of planet earth, versus the size of your car exhaust pipe, do you think your car exhaust is changing the climate, or is it the unprecedented move of earth’s own magnetic field that is altering the climate?
Most rational people, having just this moment learned that earth’s magnetic field has moved farther west than ever measured before, will instantly realize that the planet’s magnetic field is far more capable of altering our climate than a car tailpipe.
Most rational people will now also realize that these environmentalists, have “snookered” us. They snookered us with their false claims and their deliberately junk science.
Oh, and it wasn’t about preserving the environment, it was about selling their “green” energy.” Bottom line: It was about money.
Politicians jumped onto the bandwagon with their “carbon taxes” — never let a good crisis go to waste, gouge citizens for more money — and environmentalists pushed their “get rid of fossil fuels” mantra til they were blue in the face.
The whole thing was — and is — a fraud.
Civilization functions and prospers with inexpensive energy. Civilization requires inexpensive energy to progress. The environmentalists have lied to so many, for so long, they have ignored the basic fact that without inexpensive energy, civilization fails.
The best is, they want us all in electric cars. But our electric grid is so tightly balanced to supply and demand, that when summer heat extremes, or even winter cold extremes, strike vast areas, the electric grid cannot handle it. There are rolling blackouts and even brownouts.
Where do the environmentalists think all those electric cars will get power to recharge if the power grid can’t handle things now?
Wait, what? “Build more power plants” they say?????? Oh, power plants that use . . . . fossil fuels . . . . to make electric?????? Idiots. They contradict themselves!
And they are such obsessed fanatics about their beliefs, they’ve even convinced a sitting president to cancel oil drilling at a time when the price of energy is causing people to have to choose between driving, and feeding their families.
This environmental insanity must be stopped.
I support clean air, and we can still have clean air using fossil fuels.
It’s time to send the environmentalists packing, and tell them to take their dementia-addled, diaper-wearing, election thieving, illegitimate “President” with them.
The Princely County of Tyrol in 1890
Nations come and nations go. And then, forgotten by all.
The Finland Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defense have begun to open and inspect, Nuclear War Bomb Shelters around the Country.Finland has one of the most robust and expansive Nuclear Bunker Systems in the World able to shelter nearly the entire Population.
It was announced earlier today that Finland intends to submit an Application to join NATO.
Russia says this is a violation of the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty which both Finland, Russia, and all the World War 2 nations, signed. That Treaty states emphatically “the parties undertake not to enter into alliances and coalitions directed against one of them.”
Intelligence Sources in Russia say “If the 1947 Peace Treaty is broken, then there is no longer Peace.”
Some of Finland’s Nuclear War Bomb Shelters are incorporated into the country’s subway system. Below is one such bunker, also being inspected, outfitted with food, water, medicine, tools, communications gear, and other supplies.
Do you want more?
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New Beginnings 4.
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The market is bouncing back a little this week. The FED speaks again 3rd week of June. Do the lockdowns in China end June 1st?
The lockdowns in China will not end. China is at DEFCON. China will stay at DEFCON, as will Russia, until the American threat ends.
The Chinese stance on “Coronavirus” is not at all about COVID. It is about securing the nation from bioweapon carpet bombing. As of today, China has withstood, 11 (separate) bioweapon attacks by the United States. Why should they drop their guard now?
More information on this stance and how serious China and Russia takes this threat can be found in their joint declaration of 4FEB22.
More information on American (and German) biolabs … not in Ukraine but Mongolia:
“The increased interest of Western bioweapons “experts” in Mongolia can be explained quite simply: the Mongols are closer to the Chinese, so the diseases that affect the Mongols are very likely to affect the Chinese as well. Incidentally, it cannot be ruled out that the key to the Asian genome has already been found by the US and its “allies”, since the Stealth-Omicron that has been raging in China lately seems to be mainly designed to attack Asians. And, as is well-known, this round of epidemic started in South Korea, also full of American biolabs and where more than 70 thousand people have died in the last 3 months, which is very impressive for this country.
In Mongolia, which rarely makes the news but shares borders with Russia and China, “experts” from the United States and Germany have been collecting biomaterial samples for years. Of particular interest for military specialists are endemic diseases spread by blood-sucking insects, as well as diseases transmitted from animals to humans.”
Will the US and Germany Turn Mongolia into a Biological Warfare Testing Grounds against Russia and China?
https://journal-neo.org/2022/04/20/will-the-us-and-germany-turn-mongolia-into-a-biological-warfare-testing-grounds-against-russia-and-china/
Touché.
Majority in the west still dont believe that bio-warfare today involves human genomes (simply because it is not publicize in msm).
Despite signing the UN Biological Warfare Convention (BWC) treaty in 1972 (& 1969 Nixon Executive Order), the US still continue to “research” on offensive bio-warfare with impunity & even rejected a new BWC monitoring protocol in 2001. Why reject monitoring? Because they don’t want the whole world to know about their nefarious activities.
The majority in the west probably can’t spell bio-warfare and think it has to do with “killing germs”
As congjing yu would say, “Sheesh!”