Debt Rattle December 18 2024
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@Oroboros: My Grandmother Day assured me that I am actually descended from Pocahontas and her one daughter. That was a lot of genetic halvings ago.
It’s The Economy https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/its-the-economy
Alex Krainer starts with a constructive note about investing, rather than asset-stripping: The magical essence of economic development That magic is us (+ credit)
Up until about ten years ago, Germany was the world’s No. 1 exporting superpower. But contrary to what one might assume, most of Germany’s exports were not products of known and recognized brands like Bosch, Mercedes or BMW. More than 50% of German exports were products and services developed by her (once) burgeoning small and medium-sized enterprises, most of them companies you may have never heard of. But such businesses were the engine of German industrial dynamism…
..Germany was the home base of the world’s largest number of hidden “champions” – market leaders that occupied either first, second or third spot in terms of the global market share of whatever product or service they produced. Some 1,500 German firms qualified as market champions.
For perspective, the distant second in terms of number of market champions was the U.S.A. which has about 300 such companies. So, how did Germany create fully 1,500 market champions? We always heard stories about the excellence of German engineering and the well educated and disciplined workforce, etc. But those are children’s tales that miss the mark and explain nothing…
..The secret of Germany’s success, which has had a 200-year continuity in spite of suffering through biblical crises over this period, is in her banking system which Werner said was the best in the world. American economist Michael Hudson also wrote extensively about German industrial banking. Germany had the largest number of banks in Europe: about 1,500 small, local banks.
Fully 70% of these banks were non-profit community banking institutions. Their core business was funding local small and medium-sized enterprises. They tended to have close relationships with their clients and actively participated in their business development. https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/the-magic-essence-of-economic-developmentUnder sustained attack… German economy is ‘unraveling’
Facing a second year of zero growth, the EU’s largest economy is on a path to decline that threatens to become irreversible, the outlet warned.
Estimates show that after five years of stagnation, the German economy is now 5% smaller than it could have been if the pre-pandemic growth trend had persisted.
The global economic slowdown, along with years of “poor” decisions has hit Germany hard, the article stated. Its export-driven industry, accounting for about 30% of its GDP, faces structural challenges, such as the loss of cheap Russian energy and the struggles of automotive giants Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, hit by soaring energy costs and increased competition from China. https://swentr.site/business/609422-germany-economy-unraveling/BINGO! German Politician Slams Anti-Russian Sanctions As ‘State Coup’ Against European Industry
The European Union’s continued sanctions against Russia harms member states that still import Russian oil and is akin to a “state coup” against Europe’s industry, Ralph Niemeyer, head of the German Council for the Constitution and Sovereignty, told Sputnik.
On Wednesday, the Hungarian EU presidency announced that ambassadors from member states had agreed on the EU’s 15th package of sanctions against Russia. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the new package of restrictions targeted Russia’s “shadow fleet.” https://sputnikglobe.com/20241216/anti-russian-sanctions-are-crazy-coup-against-european-industry—german-politician-1121183643.htmlThe European Council adopted its 15th package of sanctions against Russia on Monday, focusing on efforts to weaken Moscow’s military and industrial capabilities and targeting its export revenues. The measures address the “circumvention of EU sanctions” by targeting what is called Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, the Council said in a statement.
EU slaps new sanctions on Russia.
The EU targeted primarily Russian defense firms and shipping companies that transport crude oil and oil products by sea. A chemical plant and a civilian Russian airline, “an important provider of logistical support” to the Russian military, were also sanctioned.
A travel ban, asset freeze, and a ban on providing economic resources were placed on “various Chinese actors supplying drone components and microelectronic components” to Russia, stated the Council.
Some of the targeted entities are located in third countries such as China, India, Iran, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates, it added. The EU said it “remains ready” to consider “further sanctions.” https://swentr.site/news/609426-eu-slaps-new-sanctions-russia/“The Timing Is Absolutely Terrible”: German Government Collapses Just One Week After French Implosion
Just one week after Marine Le Pen precipitated the collapse of the French government, on Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German Parliament on Monday, a defeat that effectively ended the increasingly unpopular government he has led since 2021 and ushered in elections early next year.
German lawmakers voted to dissolve the existing government by a vote of 394 to 207, with 116 abstaining.
The collapse of the government just nine months before elections had been scheduled was an extraordinary moment for Germany, once Europe’s powerhouse but now a laughingstock at the mercy of both China and Russia. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/timing-absolutely-terrible-german-government-collapses-just-one-week-after-frenchMonopoly Round-Up: FTC Revives the “Magna Carta of Small Business”, The Federal Trade Commission went after the middleman economy.
The big news itself of the week is that the Federal Trade Commission finally attacked illegal price discrimination, after forty years of neglect. The FTC used an old and often neglect antitrust law, the Robinson-Patman Act, to sue a dominant liquor distributor you’ve likely never heard of, a company called Southern Glazer…
..Southern Glazer is the tenth largest private company in the U.S., with $26 billion of revenue, and it is the exclusive distributor in certain states of a host of liquors, such as Hennessy, Tanqueray, Bacardi, Captain Morgan, Grey Goose, Jameson, and Johnnie Walker. And the FTC’s allegation is Southern Glazer gives better prices to big stores than small ones.
Since at least 2018 and continuing today, Southern has repeatedly discriminated in price between disfavored independent purchasers—which include neighborhood grocery stores, local convenience stores, and independently owned wine and spirits shops—and favored large chain purchasers of wine and spirits, such as Total Wine & More, Costco, and Kroger…
..Price discrimination, like gambling, usury, or even liquor itself, is the kind of political question that used to provoke deep reservoirs of anger and righteousness, a touchstone of the American character.
“Let’s keep Hitler’s methods of government and business in Europe,” said Wright Patman in 1940, noting that consolidation wrought by price discrimination had the potential to turn America fascist. He was not alone. “I would rather have thieves and gangsters than chain stores in Louisiana,” echoed Huey Long. Chain stores, wrote Louis Brandeis in 1933, were “converting independent tradesmen into clerks” and “sapping the resources, the vigor and the hope of the smaller cities and towns.” Former FTC Chair Paul Rand Dixon once said of the law barring price discrimination, “I think it compares favorably with the Magna Carta or the Sherman Act.” https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-ftc-revives-theThe Global South Is on the Brink of a Disastrous Debt Crisis. Reform Is Urgent.
The coming debt crisis will surpass that of the 1980s and disproportionately impact women, economist Ilene Grabel warns.
Countries across the Global South are experiencing climate, poverty and development crises — all made worse by the unbearable costs of debt servicing. Indeed, according to Development Finance International, “Citizens of the Global South now face the worst debt crisis since global records began.” Low-income countries, which have seen the amount paid on foreign debt payment increase by 150 percent since 2011, are being hit especially hard. https://truthout.org/articles/the-global-south-is-on-the-brink-of-a-disastrous-debt-crisis-reform-is-urgent/Meryl Nass MD forwards this article about US government debanking nonconformists, like Melania Trump. Debanking and the Return of Operation Choke Point/ WSJ today
Allysia Finley provides the backstory to explain the wholesale debanking due to the USG pressuring banks, revealed recently by Marc Andreesen https://merylnass.substack.com/p/debanking-and-the-return-of-operationRats jumping overboard: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering interrupting Parliament (prorogation) or resignation according to unnamed sources.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/canadian-finmin-freeland-quits-warns-trudeau-trump-tariffs-are-grave-challengeCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was mercilessly heckled on Monday after a Liberal Party fundraiser at the Canadian Museum of History, as his administration teeters on the verge of collapse. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/youre-done-trudeau-mercilessly-heckled-government-implodes
Caitlin Johnstone on the impression that “wealth” just exists like air and gravity. Peter Thiel Reveals How Scared Oligarchs Are Of The People
Billionaire Peter Thiel had a fascinating televised moment the other day when asked by Piers Morgan what he thought about the public making a hero of the man suspected of murdering health insurance CEO Brian Thompson…
..“And to those who think this shooter is a hero, because he did it because he said this healthcare executive is presiding over a healthcare system which kills thousands of Americans by denying them cover, what would you say to them?” Morgan asked.
Thiel paused for a long time, and then stuttered for a long time, and then eventually got out the words, “It’s, I don’t know what, what to say? I, I think I still think you have, you should try to make an argument. And I, I think this is, this is you should, you know, there may be things wrong with our health care system, but you have, you have to make an argument, and you have to try to find a way to convince people and and change, change it by by that, and this is, you know, this is not going to work.”
For those who don’t know, Thiel is a proper deep state oligarch who owes his vast fortune to his enmeshment within the US military-intelligence machine. His company Palantir is a CIA-backed surveillance and data mining tech company with intimate ties to both the US intelligence cartel and to Israel, playing a crucial role in both the US empire’s sprawling surveillance network and Israeli atrocities against Palestinians. He backed Trump in 2016, and Vice President-Elect JD Vance was a protégé of his, so this man is thoroughly entrenched in the halls of power… [Thiel KNOWS what people are thinking.]
..As Michael Parenti once put it:
“I tell students when they say, ‘Oh they don’t care what we think. They ignore us’, and all that, and I say, ‘Oh no, no. That’s the only thing they care about you. The only thing they care about you is what you’re thinking. They don’t care if you eat correctly, they don’t care how your living conditions are, they don’t care that they’ve built up an inhuman and irrational traffic system that’s strangulating us and polluting our air, they don’t care about anything. The only thing about you they care about is what you’re thinking. In the morning, they start, ‘What’s going to be the story today? How do we manipulate, how do we control, how do we contain, how do we influence, how do we act upon what it is that they have in their minds?’” https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/peter-thiel-reveals-how-scared-oligarchsYves Smith: Tom Neuburger gives a wonderfully subversive argument as to why our CEOs and other overlords deserve only the very best in security.
Why CEOs and the Very Rich Should Receive Enhanced Protection
In keeping with Tom’s theme, the first time I saw snipers on rooftops (and yes, one more than one building) was in the nice suburb of Mexico City where McKinsey had its offices, I assume in the embassy district, in 1984. I thought it could not be very pleasant to be rich if you had to live that way. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/12/tom-neuburger-why-ceos-and-the-very-rich-should-receive-enhanced-protection.htmlNew Crisis Hotline for CEOs? Governor of New York wants to protect CEOs
New York state is considering creating a special hotline exclusively for CEOs to report perceived threats, CNN reported this morning. https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/new-crisis-hotline-for-ceosSimplicius has lots of updates as Ukraine waits for the ground to freeze for a last, mysterious winter-offensive. Negotiations Talk Curdles as Ukraine Loses More Territory
Last Friday Russia again launched a series of devastating energy grid attacks, proving once more that the latest campaign is in fact a systematic one to disable Ukraine’s grid rather than reflexive retaliation…
..Despite claims Gerasimov had spoken to head of Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown and that ATACMS strikes subsequently immediately stopped on Russian territory, Ukraine in fact launched another ATACMS strike on Taganrog, between Mariupol and Rostov…
..Either way, the MOD claimed negligible damage as the ATACMS were reportedly both shot down and deflected by EW.
Trump has now stated allowing ATACMS to be launched into Russia was a big mistake…
..Now as we get closer and closer to Trump’s term, Ukraine scrambles for any propaganda edge possible. There are now even rumors that Zelensky plans to launch another ‘Christmas offensive’ into some remote part of the Russian border—perhaps Bryansk, or elsewhere in Belgorod region. There are ‘claims’ of Ukrainian buildups with photos of a new “tactical sign” on vehicles…
..The new 150-series reserve brigades Zelensky was putting together for future operations have been marred with problems. A new report highlighted how 1000 men have already deserted the 155th of this series, not to mention confirming that the brigades have already been utilized merely to fill gaps in critical areas of the Donbass…..Russia on the other hand is also rumored to be building up new strike forces in the Zaporozhye direction…
..Trump seeks to shift militarily to Asia, with Ukraine being left as Europe’s problem—a Europe too politically divided to stand any chance of guaranteeing or securing anything…
..A Foreign Policy article again demonstrates that Ukraine has no agency when it comes to its masters… The author argues for the US to negotiate with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf, lest Zelensky and co. prematurely set fire to the negotiations with unrealistic demands.
It further admits both sides have issues that are non-starters and the negotiations are unlikely to work anyway. For Russia, the stationing of foreign ‘peacekeeping troops’ is just as bad or worse than Ukraine joining NATO. And for Ukraine, the US forcing the AFU to abandon currently held territory in Zaporozhye, Kherson, etc., which Russia demands as part of its terms will be an impossible ask…
..On the front, Russian forces continue to make gains, including in Zaporozhye where the larger claimed offensive is set to debut…
..Lastly, there are gains in Kursk as well, but it is far more slow going because Zelensky continues to pump this salient with the most reserves, not to mention best trained and most experienced troops. As such, Russia is suffering much larger losses in Kursk than many other areas, but it still likely pales in comparison to Ukraine’s losses…
..Some may ask, by the way, why North Korean troops are necessary in Kursk if Russia is doing ‘so well’ with troop replenishment. And it is a good question, but my personal take is that the potential North Korean contingents don’t have as much to do with troop replenishment as they do with Russia cementing and formalizing the strategic partnership agreements with North Korea as a show of force against NATO. It is Russia’s way of showcasing the deepening of ties as deterrent, as if to send a message: see, if you invade us, we will stand together and become your worst nightmare…
..Secondly, the North Korean troops could have very well been sent at Kim’s request, not Russia’s. That’s because Kim—seeing the buildup of provocations and aggression against North Korea—was likely interested in getting real life combat experience for his own troops, so that they can return and seed it all back into the DPRK’s larger military structure…
..On Ukrainian TV, journalist Yuriy Butusov admits that the AFU is taking much larger losses than Russia on the Kurakhove front, given that the encirclement position is so unfavorable and causes retreating Ukrainian units to be struck from every side. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-121624-negotiations-talk-curdlesEU’s top diplomats to ‘fight’ over Ukraine arms supply
“A big fight” is looming in Brussels on Monday over the allocation of billions of euros earmarked to arm Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned… They “want to free up more than €6 billion” to purchase arms for Ukraine, Szijjarto wrote on Facebook, before the meeting began.
“Even the approach of Christmas cannot dampen the mood of war,” he claimed. “Even with the possibility of a Christmas ceasefire and mass prisoner exchanges on the table,” the EU’s top diplomats will nevertheless discuss further arming Ukraine, he lamented. https://swentr.site/news/609423-eus-top-diplomats-fight-ukraine-weapons/“Always accuse your opponent of what you are doing.” What we know about Russian general killed in Moscow blast
Kiev declared Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov a suspect in alleged use of chemical weapons against its forces
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces (RChBZ), has died in a blast together with his aide. According to investigators, an explosive device hidden in a scooter was detonated on Tuesday morning near the entrance of a residential building in Moscow’s south-east.
Here’s what is known about Kirillov:
From September 2014 to April 2017, he served as the head of the Military Academy of the RChBZ named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Timoshenko.
In April 2017, Kirillov became the chief of the RChBZ troops.
Kirillov dealt with anti-terrorism both domestically and abroad. He exposed the provocations of the controversial White Helmets volunteer organization in Syria, and participated in mitigating the consequences of natural and man-made disasters.
Since the beginning of the military operation against Ukraine in February 2022, Kirillov has spoken at briefings held by the Ministry of Defense, where he shared information about Ukrainian developments in the areas of radiological, chemical, and biological weapons. In March 2022, he announced that Ukrainian biolaboratories were studying the potential for transferring highly dangerous infections through migratory birds.
The same month, Kirillov presented copies of documents that, according to him, confirmed the Pentagon’s funding of biological laboratories in Ukraine.
In June 2024, Kirillov stated that spent nuclear fuel and hazardous chemical waste were being imported into Ukraine for a potential “dirty bomb” creation. He added that radiochemical substances were still being brought into Ukraine for disposal. According to him, these supplies were overseen by Andrey Yermak, Vladimir Zelensky’s right-hand man, with primary routes passing through Poland and Romania.
In October 2024, the UK slapped Kirillov with sanctions after he accused Ukraine of preparing a false-flag chemical weapons attack with the aim of framing Russia and undermining its position at the OPCW. Kirillov noted that NATO had provided Ukraine with a much larger amount of chemical protective equipment than the country actually needs, calling it further evidence of an impending plot.
In November 2024, Kirillov said that Ukraine planned to seize a nuclear power plant during its large-scale incursion into the Kursk Region.
Kirillov was killed in the blast one day after Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) formally declared him a suspect in the alleged use of chemical weapons against Kiev’s military. The general rejected claims that Russia had been attacking Ukraine with riot control agents and chemical weapons, recalling that the OPCW had confirmed the complete destruction of all Russian chemical weapons stockpiles in 2017. https://swentr.site/russia/609471-kirillov-explosive-blast-key-takeaways/Türkiye behind Syria regime change – Trump
Türkiye is behind the regime change in Syria, US President-elect Donald Trump claimed on Monday in his first press briefing since the November election. Trump called the overthrow of Bashar Assad and his government an “unfriendly takeover” by Ankara…
..“Those people that went in are controlled by Türkiye, and that’s OK,” Trump stated. He added that he considers Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “smart” and “very tough” guy for succeeding in the overthrow of the Syrian leadership.
“[Türkiye] wanted [Syria] for thousands of years, and he got it… Türkiye did an unfriendly takeover without a lot of lives being lost,” Trump added. He also praised what he described as Türkiye’s “major military force” which “has not been worn out with war.”…
..“Nobody knows what the final outcome is going to be in the region. Nobody knows who will rule in the final… Right now, Syria has a lot of indefinites, but I think Türkiye is going to hold the key to Syria,” the president-elect predicted. https://swentr.site/news/609469-turkiye-syria-regime-change-trump/Turkiye masses troops on Syria border, invasion ‘imminent’ https://thecradle.co/articles/turkiye-masses-troops-on-syria-border-invasion-imminent-report
Trump says he wants to talk to Putin. The incoming US president has refused to comment on whether any contact with the Kremlin has already taken place https://swentr.site/news/609500-trump-talk-putin-ukraine/
US affirms Türkiye’s right to go after PKK but dodges questions on YPG
State Department says it understands Türkiye’s ‘legitimate’ right to go after PKK terrorist organization but adds its Syrian branch the SDF plays ‘important role’ in fighting Daesh/ISIS https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-affirms-turkiye-s-right-to-go-after-pkk-but-dodges-questions-on-ypg/3426286Alastair Crooke, A new geo-political map is unfolding – The end of Syria (and of “Palestine” for now)
Syria has entered the abyss – the demons of al-Qa’eda, ISIS, and the most intransigent elements of the Muslim Brotherhood are circling the skies. There is chaos, looting, fear, and a terrible passion for revenge scalds the blood. Street executions are rife.
Maybe Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and its leader, Al-Joulani, (following Turkish instruction), thought to control things. But HTS is an umbrella label like Al-Qa’eda, ISIS and An-Nusra, and its factions have already descended into factional fighting…
..The Israelis – within days – totally eviscerated the defence infrastructure of the state in more than 450 air strikes: missile air defences, Syrian air force helicopters and aircraft, the navy and the armouries – all destroyed in the “largest air operation in Israel’s history”.
Syria no longer exists as a geo-political entity. In the east, Kurdish forces (with U.S. military support) are seizing the oil and agricultural resources of the former state. Erdogan’s forces and proxies are engaged in an attempt to crush the Kurdish enclave completely (although the U.S. has now mediated a ceasefire of sorts). And in the south-west, Israeli tanks have seized the Golan and land beyond to within 20 kms of Damascus. In 2015 the Economist magazine wrote: “Black gold under the Golan: Geologists in Israel think they have found oil – in very tricky territory”. Israeli and American oilmen believe they have discovered a bonanza in this most inconvenient of sites…
..As powerful states in the region, Israel and Turkey will wish to exercise control not just over resources, but over the vital regional crossroads and passageway that was Syria. Inevitably however, ‘Greater Israel’ is likely, at some point, to butt heads with Erdogan’s Ottomanesque revanchism…
..Moscow likely will draw the conclusion that ceasefire ‘deals’ such as the Astana Agreement on jihadist containment within the boundaries of the Idlib autonomous zone in Syria are not worth the paper on which they were written. Türkiye – an Astana guarantor – stabbed Moscow in the back…
..Iran seemingly, will revert to its earlier stance of gathering together the disparate threads of regional resistance to fight the Al-Qa’eda reincarnation. It will not turn its back on China, nor the BRICS project. Iraq – recalling the ISIS atrocities of its civil war – will join with Iran, as will Yemen. Iran will be aware that the remaining nodes of the former Syrian Army might well, at some point, enter into the fight against the HTS cartel. Maher Al-Assad took his entire armoured division with him into exile in Iraq on the night of Bashar Al-Assad’s departure.
China will not be pleased at events in Syria. The Uyghurs played a prominent part in the Syria uprising (there were an estimated 30,000 Uyghurs in Idlib, under training by Türkiye (which sees Uyghurs as the original component of the Turkic nation)…
..Western interests have been fighting over Middle Eastern resources for centuries – and ultimately that is what lies behind the war today.
Is he, or isn’t he, pro-war, people ask about Trump, since he has already signalled that energy dominance will be a key strategy for his Administration…
..The Anglo-Americans would love to have Iran’s oil again – as they did until the 1970s – to collateralise and build a new money system tied to the real value inherent in commodities.
But Trump says he wants to ‘end wars’ and not start them. Does the re-drawing of the geo-political map make some global entente between east and west more, or less, likely? …
..Seemingly, Trump has to secure the domestic ‘deal’ first, before he will know whether he has the scope for foreign policy deals.
It seems that the Ruling Structures (notably the ‘Never-Trump’ element in the Senate) will allow Trump considerable latitude on key nominations for domestic Departments and Agencies that manage U.S. political and economic affairs (which is Trump’s key concern) – and will also permit a certain discretion on, shall we say, the ‘warfare’ Departments that targeted Trump over the last years, such as the FBI and the Department of Justice.
The putative ‘deal’ seems to be that his nominations will still need to undergo Senate confirmation and must broadly be ‘on-side’ with Inter-Agency foreign policy (notably on Israel).
The Inter-Agency grandees, however, reportedly insist on their veto over nominations affecting the deepest structures of foreign policy. And therein lies the crux of matters. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/12/16/new-geo-political-map-unfolding-the-end-syria-and-palestine-for-now/The U.S. Strategy of Controlled Anarchy: Syria, Ukraine, and Beyond
MICHAEL HUDSON: Well, the bigger picture is that, as you say, it’s much bigger than Syria. The United States says, “We are ending up with total war with Russia and with China.”
Russia is saying, “We hope that there’s peace in the Near East.”
China is saying, “We want peace. We don’t want war.”
I don’t understand why they’re saying this. Why don’t they say, “We realize that this is a war to the death.”
Russia talks about a proportional response, certainly in Ukraine, for instance.So if there’s just an attack and bomb, it will have a proportional response.
But what’s the real proportion at work? The proportion is the Cold War. “We want to control the whole world. We want to break up Russia into parts. We want to break up China into parts. And we’re going to make step after step after step until there’s a response.”
And the fact is, the Americans, if you’re a general, the Americans, you never know how far you can push until somebody else pushes back. And there really hasn’t been any pushback. And if you’re told by Russia that there is a proportional response, then Russia and the Americans and NATO can do whatever they want, step up and step up and know that there will only be a response to the local tactic, not to the overall strategy.
I don’t see any strategy on the part of NATO.
Well, your question is about Syria. And obviously, the whole country is now in motion. There really isn’t any Syria anymore, much as there probably won’t be a Ukraine anymore. You see Israel taking Western Syria. You see Turkey taking the Kurdish areas and what it can.
And the Americans saying, well, we’re taking all the oil to give to Israel, is our agreement.
You have the leaders of the ISIS al-Qaeda group wearing T-shirts made by Mossad. Apparently people have seen that.
So this has completely cut off Lebanon from support by Iran. I don’t know what Iran is thinking.
Probably Saudi Arabia is thinking, well, they’re really trying to grab the whole Near East. Maybe we should be very careful about joining BRICS and threatening to move our assets out of the dollar because we could be next.
America has turned on one so-called ally after another, you know, starting with Saddam Hussein, who was put in by the CIA originally, just all the way rest.
It looks like the U.S plan to take over all of the Near East and its oil is working, using Israel as its battering ram for that. Israel will get the land. America will get the oil and control of that. And that’s sort of the, it looks like the division of labor.
Now, what does all this mean for BRICS and for Russia and China? They’ve talked about having alternatives to the dollar, de-dollarization. They’ve been talking about having alternative institutions to the International Monetary Fund in the World Bank. But the question is now, do they need an alternative institution to NATO? Do they need some kind of coordinated military plan?
I can understand Russia not intervening in Syria at all because Assad was utterly incompetent, utterly rigid. He refused, he refused to make any kind of accommodation to anybody else. He was almost a nutcase.
And the Russians quite properly said, well, if the Syrian army will not fight, we’re not going to send our army into there because this really isn’t our fight. If we can keep our naval bases and our air bases there, that’s all we care about. Russia can lose Syria and it’s not serious. It’s not vital to them.
But what is vital is the United States being able to now move against Iran.
You’d think that China that gets a lot of oil from Iran would be worried and have some desire to intervene in the area. But China is sitting it out. And so the Americans think, well, we can pick off one country after another, one area after another. And it’s more than salami style. We’re now going in big chunks, much more than salami. I don’t know what a good medical or culinary metaphor there would be. But everything’s up in motion and all of the initiative is in NATO.
Russia and China have said, we will only react. We won’t act. We will react. And they’re not reacting. I don’t know what to make of that. I just, I don’t think anyone can foresee what’s going to happen in Syria, because all these myriad of special interests are now going to be fighting among themselves.
And even within the jihadis, one jihad group will fight against the other. And I’m sure they’ll be set against each other by the American and Israeli and British interveners. So it’s anarchy.
Anarchy is what the U.S. plan is. That’s U.S. foreign policy, to back terrorists everywhere and make it impossible for other regions to have a reasonable response.
And you’d think that the British countries would try to have an alternative to anarchy. I don’t see any alternative in sight. So I think the anarchy is going to continue moving further and further eastward. https://michael-hudson.com/2024/12/the-u-s-strategy-of-controlled-anarchy-syria-ukraine-and-beyond/US Conducts New Strikes In Syria & Yemen, Still With No Congressional Authorization https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-conducts-new-strikes-syria-yemen-still-no-congressional-authorization
The Assad regime was expensive for Iran. Other needs exist. There are workarounds. Iran’s Assad Calculus: Actual Costs of Support vs Benefits to Iran https://mahendrarajah.com/2024/12/15/irans-assad-calculus-actual-costs-of-support-vs-benefits-to-iran/
Russia defended its Syrian ally despite Al Qaeda’s siege
It is important to remember that the economic crisis, foreign sanctions and the lack of satisfactory reforms had created precarious conditions in the Syrian army. Syrian generals had extremely low salaries, of just a few tens of dollars, which explains why they were easily co-opted by foreign powers.
There was a betrayal of Assad, but it came from within Syria itself, not from external allies like Russia or Iran. Several factors could explain this. Assad had recently begun to engage with Gulf powers, traditional rivals of Iran, who pressured Syria to reduce foreign military presence. Some Syrian generals supported this narrative, creating pressure that limited Assad’s ability to seek further Russian and Iranian assistance during the terrorist offensive.
Numerous videos have surfaced showing Syrian soldiers frustrated that they were prohibited from fighting. Ordinary soldiers were ready to defend the country against Al Qaeda, but their commanders ordered them not to engage. There is enough evidence to support the claim that the betrayal of Assad came from within the Syrian military, with possible connections to external actors, including Turkey and the Gulf states.
From Russia’s perspective, aside from its commitment to traditional allies, there were pragmatic reasons to protect Assad. A pro-Russian Syria prevented the construction of a Qatari-Turkish gas pipeline that could have supplied Europe. Additionally, Russian military bases in Syria allowed Moscow to secure a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean and maintain a balanced relationship with Turkey.
More importantly, Russia had security concerns. Al Qaeda fighters in Syria had received training from Ukrainian instructors and were equipped with Western weapons from aid packages to Kiev. The HTS also included a significant number of Salafist mercenaries from Central Asia. Russia faces significant security risks from terrorist infiltration among Central Asian immigrant groups, making the return of war experienced terrorists from Syria a serious concern.
It was not in Russia’s interest to allow these experienced terrorists to return to Central Asia, nor to see the Kiev regime benefit from military reinforcements from Wahhabi militias that had fought in Syria. Had Assad remained in power and defeated the terrorists, these risks would have been minimized. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/12/14/russia-defended-its-syrian-ally-despite-al-qaeda-siege/Assad says he didn’t intend to leave Syria, statement claims
In it he says that, as the Syrian capital fell to rebels, he went to a Russian military base in Latakia province “to oversee combat operations” only to see that Syrian troops had abandoned positions. Hmeimim airbase had also come under “intensified attack by drone strikes” and the Russians had decided to airlift him to Moscow, he says. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yd0zz5edqoRussia warns Israel against annexing Golan Heights
Israel should avoid being “intoxicated by opportunities” presented by the ongoing crisis in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has warned after Israeli troops launched an incursion into the neighboring country. https://swentr.site/russia/609447-russia-israel-syria-annexation/Russia, Germany, Turkey Condemn Israeli Land Grab In Syria https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-germany-turkey-condemn-israeli-land-grab-syria
Narcissistic? Israel Closes Embassy In Ireland Over ‘Extreme Anti-Israel Policies’ And ‘Antisemitic Rhetoric’ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-closes-embassy-ireland-over-extreme-anti-israel-policies-and-antisemitic
Unusual Bomb? Ammo Depots? Both? Israel drops ‘earthquake bomb’: Colossal explosion ‘so big it registered on the Richter scale’ hits Syrian coast as air strikes target weapons depots after fall of Assad regime https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14195915/Massive-explosions-skies-Syria-Israeli-air-strikes-hammer-munitions-depots-major-port-city-heaviest-onslaught-decade.html
Media Mobs RFK. Jr Upon Arrival To Capitol Hill Screaming Out Provocations Demanding He Bless The Polio ‘Vaccine,’ Abortion, Vaxx School Mandates, or Vaccines Not. Being Cause Of Autism. Trump Says He Is A ‘Big Believer’ In Polio Vaccines, And That RFK Jr. Will Be “Much Less Radical Than You Think.” https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/media-mobs-rfk-jr-upon-arrival-to
Pfizer mRNA ‘Vaccinated’ Children Significantly More Likely to Get COVID-19 Than Unvaccinated Peers
New study finds Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 ‘vaccinated’ children are 159% more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and 257% more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 than unvaccinated peers. https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/pfizer-mrna-vaccinated-children-significantlySteve Kirsch, Pfizer’s own study shows their COVID vaccines increase your risk of serious adverse events (up to 71% higher)
The full study results were obtained via a FOIA request because Pfizer and the health authorities won’t voluntarily disclose it. https://kirschsubstack.com/p/pfizers-own-study-shows-their-covidCelia Farber, Biden Extends Liability Protection For Pfizer and Moderns For Covid Injection Damage or Deaths Until 2029—In The Wake Of RFK Jr. Saying He Is Exploring Removing These Protections They Sure Need A Lot Of Protections For A Bunch of People Whose Products Are “Perfectly Safe.” https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/biden-extends-liability-protection
We need peace.
We need peaceful power transfer.
We need peaceful regime change
We need friendly takeover
We need the collapse of the military,
We need End the armed opposition
We need End the seizing of power
We need End the overthrow of the leadership.
———–
WAR GIVES …
Too many people are being killed.
Too many people are being murdered.
Too much, resources are being misappropriated
Too many assets are being destroyed and wasted.
Too much pain
Too much suffering
Too much poverty
Too many secrets.
Too many lies.
—————
The lawsuit
The era of misinformation and disinformation by the Democratic Party, propped up by fake news, fake polls, and a government-sponsored censorship complex (and billionaire-funded: Soros), has infuriated the American people.
At the same time, prediction markets like Polymarket have emerged, which offer one of the best insights into electoral outcomes and signal a new tool in political forecasting.The lawsuit noted that Selzer’s more than three-decade run in the industry has led to her retirement “in disgrace from polling less than two weeks after this embarrassing rout.”
The lawyers argued that “left-wing pollsters have attempted to influence electoral outcomes through manipulated polls that have unacceptable error rates and are not grounded in widely accepted polling methodologies.”
————-
“Federal law criminalizes witness tampering of varying degrees, and subjects a defendant to as many as 20 years in prison..”• House GOP Accuses Liz Cheney Of Tampering With J6 Witness (JTN)
Here is the report
https://cha.house.gov/2024/12/chairman-loudermilk-releases-second-january-6-2021-report
Chairman Loudermilk Releases Second January 6, 2021 Report
December 17, 2024
10. The Subcommittee conducted an extensive review of the investigation into the two pipe bombs on January 5 and 6, and that report is set to be released within the next few days.Click here or below to view the full report.
https://cha.house.gov/_cache/files/6/d/6dae7b82-7683-4f56-a177-ba98695e600d/145DD5A70E967DEEC1F511764D3E6FA1.final-interim-report.pdf
———-
Biden, using presidential pardons by granting “prospective” or “preemptive” pardons to political allies?
————Professor Anthony Hall, Dr. William Makis In the Spotlight
Alberta’s Dr. Makis is Emerging as a World Expert on the Role of mRNA Shots and the Growing Plague of Turbo Cancers. Why Can’t Our Canadian Authorities Support Him in This Vital Work? https://anthonyjhall.substack.com/p/dr-william-makis-in-the-spotlight “Long Vaxx Syndrome” can’t be medically coded for reimbursement. Post-Acute COVID Vaccination Syndrome (PACVS): Biomarkers Uncovered
New study links PACVS to the vaccine-induced Spike protein, uncovering autoimmune dysregulation and chronic, persistent symptoms. https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/post-acute-covid-vaccination-syndromeThis took a long time. Malaria can be diagnosed in the field by looking at microscopic slides of blood in a clinic. Congo’s Health Ministry Confirms ‘Disease X’ is Malaria
Outbreak began shortly after Congo’s rollout of the novel R21 virus-like particle malaria vaccine. https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/congos-health-ministry-confirms-diseaseDrone Activity Closes Airspace Over Wright Patterson Air Force Base https://www.zerohedge.com/military/drone-activity-closes-airspace-over-wright-patterson-air-force-base
President-elect Donald Trump called on the government to provide more information to the public on the drone situation.
“Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” he said during remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. “Something strange is going on and for some reason they don’t want to tell the people. And they should.”
When asked by a reporter if he had received an intelligence briefing on the drones, Trump said, “I don’t want to comment on that.”
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby pushed back on Trump’s characterization of the government’s knowledge of drone sightings, telling reporters Monday that the government is not “obfuscating” any information. https://abcnews.go.com/US/east-coast-drones-latest-somethings-new-jersey-mayor/story?id=116820553West’s mask is off in fight for the soul of humanity – Roger Waters
“Criminal lunatics” in the West want to bring about a future in which genocide is permitted, and it’s up to people who don’t agree with that to make a stand, Pink Floyd frontman and human rights activist Roger Waters has said. The rock legend is well known for his support of the Palestinian cause and criticism of Israel and its supporters. https://swentr.site/news/609412-waters-going-underground-interview/“Biotic Pump” Physicist Anastasia Makarieva, Amazon drought cries out from graphs but not mentioned in a Science paper on abnormal 2023 warming
Degradation of the biosphere is a major reason of climate destabilization https://bioticregulation.substack.com/p/amazon-drought-cries-out-from-graphsProfessor Ugo Bardi on planetary carbon sinks: Where is all that Carbon? https://livingearth.substack.com/p/where-is-all-that-carbon
Watch out Red.
You’re gonna be making them, and Drd and tkk nervous with The Terrorism.….because that agent is a master of Projective Identification and he impressed all The Innocents
“Fully 70% of these banks were non-profit community banking institutions.”
Really interesting definition, reminds me of non-profit hospitals. So, every year they work as a bank, they always LOSE money? No? They would be out of business and disappear, right? Right.
So they make NO money, they work 40 years of their whole career, go home in the same 1981 Volvo they started with as an intern, still eating ramen noodles at the dorm like they did then, right? No profit. No?
So then that only leaves #3, they DID get paid, the debtors DID pay them their money back with additional interest, and then the bank MADE money, that is: “Profit” and got larger and more able to lend to others, as well as paying their staff increasingly over the years as they grew larger? Yes? Pretty close to what these guys actually act like in practice?
Then how, pray tell, are they “Non Profit” entities? They exist. They didn’t vanish, they paid salaries. Nor are they the size and strength they were in 1954. They grew. That’s “Profit.” Newsflash. Definition.
I mean, I’m fine with them being different, but when your “Non Profit” CEO takes home $600k and owns a Bugatti maybe you should call them, “A Bit More Modest Profit” entities? Something a little more in line…
This goes with the “Capitalist” system and “Profits”. “Profits” just mean “We didn’t die”. When we did work, we got something for it. Anything. If you worked and didn’t, would you keep working? No, you would not.
What he’s really describing is Anti-Centralism, that is to say “Competition.” Where small people are free to exist to get a task done, without being destroyed or messed with by others. America used to be stuffed with these localizations, in banking as well as industry. In the largest sense, the Central Bank and equally controlled Central Market kills them all. You do know there used to be stock markets in all sorts of states, right? In Philly, Chicago, Pacific and Vancouver? And they were all killed by NY and the NY Fed?
“The Federal Trade Commission went after the middleman economy.” Ding ding ding.
“The coming debt crisis will surpass that of the 1980s and disproportionately impact women, economist Ilene Grabel warns.”
Yeah, ‘cause f—k those men if they have trouble, who cares, amirite? Let them have all the trouble we can make.
“As Michael Parenti once put it:
“I tell students when they say, ‘Oh they don’t care what we think. They ignore us’, and all that, and I say, ‘Oh no, no. That’s the only thing they care about you. The only thing they care about is what you’re thinking.”Completely correct. They only prosper by directing the herd, will always and only get trampled by the herd, we are their only real risk. So they need to be PAINFULLY aware of our every mood and outburst. And it pisses them off. They want to be better than us, not down in the dirt DIGGING with us, a bantha-herder.
“New York state is considering creating a special hotline exclusively for CEOs “Some animals are more equal than others. Remember, if you kill someone for a reason, that’s terrorism. You have to be sure to kill them for no reason at all… ‘Cause that makes sense. Adding that killing someone is a perfectly sane thing for people to do, so you can’t usually plead “insanity.” Right.
“You have to be sure to kill them for no reason at all”
There are names for that too: War/police actiondo you remember when the term and concept “situational ethics” emermged?
do you remember the pundits arguing for the logical necessitiy of such a perspective?do you remember when an action or the person acting was either moral or they were not?
do you remember how easlily the citizens of the US adopted situational ethics?i remember
my memory is reinforced everydayi am fortunate in that i have no memory of friends i never had
there are many who cling desperately to authority to justify their lack of ethics““The assassination is a discriminate strike against an aggressor,” – The Times
a case in pointit is a changing of the guard and nothing more
not as artistic or entertaining as the changing of the guard at a major India – Pakistan border point, but a changing of the guard none the lessCovid was just a Beta test.
They’re still coming back for the kill shot…
No one puts their best efforts into rehearsals.
@ Dr. D
”
Speaking of, anyone have a short list of what’s wrong with the Luigi case? It’s not important enough to research but it also stinks right off.
”
class_struggles_worldwideand then there’s this remarkable
23:48
event you might have thought was
23:50
unconnected just like you thought those
23:52
other events were unconnected but
23:55
they’re not here I’m talking about the
23:58
ass assassination one morning
24:01
recently on the streets of New York City
24:03
of an executive of United healthc
24:06
Care by an unknown at least at this
24:09
point an unknown as salant who shot and
24:12
killed this
24:14
executive beyond the personal tragedy of
24:17
such a situation which I don’t need to
24:19
comment on what is important much more
24:22
important than the event
24:24
itself is what the reaction has been the
24:28
over overwhelming reaction of the
24:30
American people expressed in social
24:34
media which is where we find out how
24:36
Americans think at least we find out
24:40
what they honestly think because they
24:41
have the protection of the anonymity of
24:44
social
24:47
media the overwhelming majority of
24:50
people understand and
24:52
sympathize with what has been presented
24:56
as the likely motive of this
25:00
assassination those words written on the
25:02
shell
25:04
casings
25:06
delay
25:08
deny
25:11
defend there are obvious references to
25:14
the bitter anger reflected in those
25:17
social media of the American people who
25:21
have been going through for
25:24
years experiences I’ve had them myself
25:28
of struggling after we have a problem
25:31
with an injury or an illness struggling
25:34
with the insurance company as it adds
25:37
insult to our injury by nickel and
25:41
diming us about
25:44
coverage and so the people expressed
25:47
their
25:48
anger this moment this act on the street
25:52
of New York galvanized
25:56
provoked liberated we might say the
25:59
feelings of the American people of Rage
26:03
because they know they’re being ripped
26:07
off they know that the first priority of
26:11
the United Health Care and all the other
26:14
companies is profit how do they know it
26:17
because the companies say
26:19
so their first priority isn’t helping
26:23
you through the trauma of an illness or
26:26
an injury you can’t afford to deal
26:30
with no no
26:33
no the proof of it is so obvious I’m
26:37
actually going to give it to you
26:39
anyway it’s another company Anthem Blue
26:42
Cross Blue
26:43
Shield a few days before the
26:46
assassination happened they announced to
26:50
the astonishment even of those of us who
26:53
know how sad the situation is that they
26:57
were going to decide how many hours of
27:01
anesthesia you get if you need
27:05
surgery because they’re not happy with
27:08
the amount of
27:10
reimbursement they have to give to the
27:14
anesthesiologist who attends your
27:16
surgery to manage the
27:19
anesthesia they don’t want to spend that
27:21
money do they why because if they can
27:25
spend less on anesthesia while charging
27:28
everybody the same medical premium well
27:31
their profits go up makes perfect sense
27:34
doesn’t
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it so they proposed to cut the
27:38
anesthesia you could have an image if
27:41
you’re a comedian about being woken up
27:43
in the middle of your surgery saying
27:46
you’ve run out of anesthesia Jack you
27:49
want some more or you want to R in pain
27:52
I mean Beyond within hours after the
27:56
assassination Anthem with withdrew its
27:59
proposal it understands the Rage of the
28:03
people it understands it the way you
28:07
understand it when you’re the cause of
28:11
it American people were reacting against
28:14
being ripped off just like the workers
28:17
in Germany’s VW just like the people in
28:21
France reacting to macron just like the
28:25
grocery workers in Portland Oregon and
28:28
just like those in America beginning to
28:32
understand what Trump and tariffs are
28:35
all about yeah it’s about class struggle
28:41
and it’s coming to a head because the
28:44
old leadership of the capitalist system
28:48
is in ever deeper difficulty trouble and
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Decline and all of these are symptoms of
28:58
that
29:01
process thank you for your
29:03
attention I look forward to speaking
29:05
with you again next weekhttps://www.democracyatwork.info/economic_update_class_struggles_worldwide
Mental Illness and Money:
Notice that when the bankers are making plenty of money. there is no mental illness to be found.
Mental illness only pops up, when the bankers are not making enough money.If you are mentally ill, but have plenty of money, you are merely called eccentric.
If you are poor and homeless, you are called mentally ill.
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