Open Thread 2022-41 (Not Ukraine)
News and views NOT related to Ukraine ...
Posted by b on April 6, 2022 at 15:32 UTC | Permalink
Let’s get this started.
Finland and Sweden in NATO?? This may be a reaction to some discomfort by certain significant European powers who aren’t members of the Arctic Council, about the evolving/expanding security arrangements in the Arctic involving all members of the Arctic Council - and none of those who aren’t.
Here’s a brief clip of PM Trudeau’s recent meeting with PM Sanna. Are these words he is using a flowery way of saying “we need help getting the UK and France off our backs”?
https://twitter.com/FinGovernment/status/1506708049721012230
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 6 2022 16:07 utc | 2
I just received a stern response from the office of Canada’s ambassador to Finland, letting me know that this is a very sensitive matter, and mixing up the first and last names of the Finnish prime minister is *not* helpful, although they appreciate that I didn’t automatically write Niinistö.
Ok none of that happened except for the Finnish prime minister’s name part. I’m sorry — PM Sanna Marin.
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 6 2022 16:20 utc | 3
Russia on Wednesday said it had transferred $650 million worth of bond payments in rubles, raising fresh questions about whether the country is heading for an official default.
The move came after the US on Monday banned Russia from making dollar debt payments from accounts at American financial institutions.
Russia's Finance Ministry on Wednesday confirmed foreign banks had refused to process the $649.2 million payment in dollars, which were due Monday.
It said it had instead sent the money to the country's National Settlement Depository in rubles. The Ministry said it believes its obligations "have been fulfilled in full."
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/bonds/russia-default-debt-bonds-payment-rubles-us-dollars-treasury-sanctions-2022-4
Posted by: Sundial | Apr 6 2022 16:32 utc | 4
Parallel Stealth Narrative.
"Why can’t we just let people believe some things?", this thoughtful man or woman wanted to know. What is wrong, in other words, if thinking and believing nice things that aren’t true makes people feel better?
"America the beautiful, or something like that."
"Democracy"
Computer voting is safe? Computer anything is safe? Really?
They say the Russians hacked the elections. They say the Russians accomplished this by influencing the tender minds of all the American stooges. We are obliged to admit to being stooges, which is radically insulting.
That is what they say, but is not what we are intended to hear. We are actually hearing that the Russians hacked the sacred voting computers, even though that is not technically what they are saying. Because if they technically were to say that we would become obliged to go back to truly legitimate hand counted paper ballots.
Such is the awesome power of the Parallel Stealth Narrative.
Posted by: blues | Apr 6 2022 16:43 utc | 5
I just went outside for a cigarette and a woman went by me, walking her corgi dog. Bastards. IT’S NOT MY FAULT THE UK ISNT PART OF THE ARCTIC COUNCIL… I SAID I WAS SORRY! …
Whew, I think I need to take some time off (and drink a little less at the bar). Good day to the barflies.
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 6 2022 16:44 utc | 6
This week's Black Agenda Report (file under plus ca change)
"...After Angola gained independence in 1975, the US exacerbated an already tense civil conflict by beginning covert military operations to undermine the left-wing Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, or MPLA. The CIA funneled cash and arms and provided logistical support to UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) and to Roberto Holden’s FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola).
"In response, Cuba came to the aid of the MPLA, helping them to tilt the balance of power away from Angola’s US proxies, and their South African allies. Recognizing they were losing the conflict on the ground and in the public sphere, the CIA initiated a massive anti-Communist disinformation campaign meant to discredit the Cubans. They recruited journalists at international news services who planted fabricated reports about the presence of Soviet advisors in Angola and about the capture of Russian and Cuban soldiers. They made up a story that Cuban soldiers were raping Angola women, and circulated photos allegedly showing the women executing the Cubans after they had been captured and tried. Such stories appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, and other major papers, often with little in the way of either attribution or critical scrutiny. As historian William Blum has argued , they served to affirm the belief of a public already besotten by anti-Communism and an uncritical belief in the goodly powers of the West.
"By 1976, the US Congress restrained the CIA’s ability to engage in foreign paramilitary adventures. The CIA continued with the covert propaganda war under the new constraints. In Angola, this meant supporting a comprehensive disinformation campaign against the Cubans. Some of the strategies and tactics of this campaign were outlined in a 1977 memorandum from CIA director Stansfield Turner to Zbigniew Brzeziński, President Carter’s National Security Advisor. The memo, reproduced below, appears in the declassified volumes of the National Archives compendium Foreign Relations of the United States as “Document 16.” Turner suggested that the CIA use its “controlled media assets and influence agents” to place false but damaging stories about the Cubans in both the international and the African press. He also proposed providing Andrew Young, the Black US ambassador to the United Nations, with a script that he could use to help turn Africa and Latin America against Cuba.
"In short, the Cuban-Angolan case demonstrates that the CIA has long recognized that war is a battle over truth and that the media is one of its greatest military assets. It is a lesson we should not forget in the present. ....
https://www.blackagendareport.com/document-covert-action-exploitation-cuban-involvement-angola-1977
Posted by: bevin | Apr 6 2022 16:53 utc | 7
From TASS
Roscosmos is considering the possibility of separating the Russian segment from the International Space Station in order to fly over regions that are "teeming with passions," said Dmitry Rogozin, CEO of the state corporation.
Posted by: Boo | Apr 6 2022 17:07 utc | 9
Posted by: Boo | Apr 6 2022 17:07 utc | 9
Rogozhin, of course, was referring to Copacabana and Paris, not Bucha...
Posted by: Boo | Apr 6 2022 17:09 utc | 10
youtube unmasked:
1) double paycheck spies traveling investigating next color revolutions around world, using youtube journalism as cover, gathering intel on locals differences in language dialects, religion, culture, clothing, and food. also surveying regions, roads.
2) youtube is also used for broadcasting number stations for international spies using word seed phrases. you can locate the open message broadcasts in title and image sequences out in the open for years! some temp accounts can be anayzed using "free action movies" query
3) also youtube is used for distribution of malware, viruses, and trojans via video codec encoding as company fails to scan uploads for signatures
Posted by: scv | Apr 6 2022 17:18 utc | 11
Michael Brenner says he's totally finished with the subject. Biden's underlings "walking it back", then Joe only "strolling" inspired one last missive of the subject of Jerks:
Jerks tend to be erratic in behavior, disjointed in their thinking, highly tolerant of inconsistency, unable to sustain a project and accident prone. They thrive in nihilistic and narcissistic societies like ours where embarrassment doesn’t exist. The jerk has a natural preference for a fluid decision process and ambiguous policy. For that spares him the need to discipline his own thoughts, to systematically weigh choices, and to make commitments to pursue a definite line of action.
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 6 2022 18:30 utc | 12
This year contracts will expire, covering 12% of EU gas imports from Russia.
I'm curious. If Russia lets the gas contracts with European Union countries expire, how long until the EU reaches the pain threshold? Can Russia ramp up sales to China at similar speed as the EU contracts wind down?
Posted by: Passerby | Apr 6 2022 18:32 utc | 13
3) also youtube is used for distribution of malware, viruses, and trojans via video codec encoding as company fails to scan uploads for signatures
hahaha how to admit not knowing how youtube works without directly saying it
Posted by: jouven | Apr 6 2022 19:30 utc | 14
There's no reason the infrastructure Russia needs to increase exports to China/India/Pakistan to replace their european customers would take any more time to build than the infrastructure the EU needs to replace Russian imports, I believe.
Posted by: ChasingGlowies | Apr 6 2022 19:41 utc | 15
- "Did CIA Director William Casey really say, "We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false"?
The link won't work anymore and the first comment
The first comment (at present) reads as follows:
This is pretty amazing. The #1 answer here used to be from Barbara Honnegger, who was part of the Reagan Administration and claimed to be in that meeting, confirming that Casey said it.
Now her answer is gone and the #1 answer is an overlong, rambling, extremely self-indulgent treatise from an “ex”-CIA guy that lukewarm endorses the concept being part of CIA perspective but does zero to confirm he said it.
This is followed by a bunch of bad takes, particularly people citing the quote to Mae Brussell, which I never heard before now.
This is clearly a disinformation campaign by intelligence, following their usual pattern of censorship followed by new misinformation.
I wonder what happened to Ms. Honnegger.
Posted by: Anne B | Apr 6 2022 21:03 utc | 17
Ukraine has sucked the oxygen out of every other story on the planet. The story in Pakistan does seem important nevertheless. What is happening there seems to be a major effort by the US to depose Imran Kahn as president of Pakistan. In normal times this would be a major story.
In short it appears that the US is directly trying to push Khan out of power by interfering in a Pakistan parliamentary dispute. It seems there is one Danial Lu, a US diplomat, who sent a very threatening message to Khan. Not sure what this is all about but it does sound like another effort by the US to bully another third world country.
Posted by: Toivos | Apr 6 2022 21:16 utc | 18
I use a text to speech engine (app: "voice alloud reader" but there are many available. Also the tone, pitch and speed should be adjusted to your liking)
In 2 or 3 taps, I get as many as 3 hours of the smartest commentary on the interwebs, often through an earpiece while working. I "read" every post that crosses the MOA page. I also like the "Vineyard of the Saker" posts and comments.
If you see a long post, know that I am a happy camper to have good content while I work or do whatever WHILE NOT STAIRING AT A SCREEN . hours of smart content, while my eyes and hands are free to do whatever!
Posted by: Carl | Apr 6 2022 21:23 utc | 19
Passerby @13--
No, exports to China are limited by pipeline capacity and numbers of LNG tankers. Power of Siberia Two will be the next major pipe to open. Russian gas that was destined for Europe will remain in the ground and thus extend the lifespan of Russia's reserves. Russia could build even more petrochemical plants to use that feedstock, but there's a balance to be had with such infrastructure as you don't want to overbuild. However, building such plants in near abroad nations to expand their economies and benefit their people is something else that must be considered as the lack of "inside" opportunity contributed to the coup possibilities in both Belarus and Kazakhstan. Expanding such "inside" opportunities is one reason why Khan is likely to prevail in Pakistan.
So I’ve decided to refrain from joining in the conversation at the bar for a while. I let Google lead me to some info on Her Royal Highness. After a brief stop at monarchist.ça I discovered that the Founcil for Coreign Erlations actually discussed this subject recently. On March 25, 2022. How about that.
Ta for now!
Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Apr 6 2022 22:31 utc | 21
"Congolese, congolese, congolese, congolese !"
I have had it with all the anti-congolese sentiment so prevalent everywhere.
It's not because we're good at economics, mathematics, compound interest, creative ethics, infiltration, subversion, social engineering, and lying etc. that we're not good people, and should be persecuted, because that's just even much worse than racism.
We Congolese are already permanent victims. Only a monster would persist in persecuting us. Are you a monster ?!
Then you should donate, by clicking here > <
(It's tax deductible.)
We Congolese are definitely not the problem.
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 6 2022 23:38 utc | 22
sickness is so boring.
none of this even matters (as found at wsws)
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/pandemic-report/
nor does it matter that if China listened to what the majority of nincompoops at MoA report about the coronavirus, millions more would be dead.
now back to hypersonic missiles and nazi tats, who gutted a maternity ward (or not) with a bomb instead of just gutting its finances, as in the UKUS. I read the comments at MoA about Ukraine and 1st thing I think of is Ben Affleck as not in costume Batman in "Batman vs Superman" where, at the very beginning of this tedious, endless and idiotic FX orgy, Bruce "Affleck" Wayne just casually drives and then walks thru the toxic waste dump that is the air of NYC ('Metropolis'), from the grand finale 'battle of the Kryptonians' (borrowed from the end of the equally stupid 'Man of Steel').
drool over the firepower, audience. and i fully support Russian's right to self-defense. it's still a lot of completely unnecessary ecological destruction going on with impacts for decades if not generations to come, along w/all the cultural destruction, waste of life, increasing barbaric militarism, etc.
but the coronavirus, as we are all about to rediscover in a huge way, has gone nowhere, except to worse.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 0:43 utc | 23
What is happening there seems to be a major effort by the US to depose Imran Kahn as president of Pakistan. In normal times this would be a major story.
In short it appears that the US is directly trying to push Khan out of power by interfering in a Pakistan parliamentary dispute.
Posted by: Toivos | Apr 6 2022 21:16 utc | 18
Pedantic correction: Imran is the Prime Minister, like Boris Johnson in UK. There is also a president, apparently an ally of Imran Khan. A non-confidence vote for PM allows, with some procedural impediments, to replace the government. Tellingly, the opposition does not want early elections. The decision to dissolve the parliament and call for new elections is in the hands of president who is supporting it, but the courts may decide otherwise.
A chief reason for Imran Khan to win parliamentary elections was that both hitherto dominant parties have the image of heavy corruption, plus Khan was very vocal against the use of drones by Americans in Pakistani Pushtun territories. Thus the accusations that deputies who switched from last year from the support to the opposition were bribed are bound to get traction (true or false, in the subcontinent this is how the things are done according to popular believes), so the choice is to believe in good intentions of bribe providers or to doubt them.
Posted by: Piotr Berrman | Apr 7 2022 0:46 utc | 24
@rjb1.5 - so where do you think they'll release the next version of Covid, or do you think it's naturally occuring ? What's your prediction?
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 7 2022 0:55 utc | 25
To the question of what is happening in Pakistan there is the posting title below at The Cradle
US ousts Imran Khan but his revolutionary narrative endures
By MK Bhadrakumar
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 7 2022 0:55 utc | 26
ChasingGlowies | Apr 6 2022 19:41 utc | 15
The big difference is during the interim period, Russia would survive comfortably and Europe would not.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2022 1:03 utc | 27
Featherless | Apr 7 2022 0:55 utc | 25
you are assuming there's some kind of dispute about the origins of the virus.
it's so much sexier and exciting and demobilizing and incapacitating and meaningless to believe that it's some gigantic plot.
rather than the ongoing live experiment w/ 1/6th of the world's population going on in China, everyday for over two years now.
thank god no one in china listens to commentators at MoA
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 1:09 utc | 28
@rjb - well I've not been convinced it's natural. So it is, in your opinion, indisputably ?
And a few times you've put us down, the bar's population. Then why do you still hang around here ?
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 7 2022 1:15 utc | 29
Featherless | Apr 7 2022 0:55 utc | 25
indeed, it is the coronavirus that is driving the war in Ukraine. it is such a serious threat to capitalism that the war drive have to be greatly accelerated.
the russian gov't doesn't deny anything about the severity of the coronavirus. perhaps they would have followed China's route, the scientific route, but surrounding events and hostilities precluded that option. they are also capitalists who don't let global disasters interrupt a spec of anything. they live w/the nightmare rather than changing anything, allowing the tiniest interruption, for any reason.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 1:15 utc | 30
We need to change the overall approach away from current confrontations between nations due to opposing geopolitical agendas. We must end the "Zero Sum" game, where one nation prospers to the detriment of less powerful nations. The current Economic System allows for prosperity for Oligarths from Wall Street , the City of London and elsewhere who manipulate the system and results in the poverty, disease, starvation and endless wars for the vast majority of people of the world. The only basis for world peace is thru a new security and economic architecture that will aim to protect and develop all nations . The US has turned it back on the positive foreign policy of Pres.John Quincy Adams , Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and President Kennedy. Millions of people , not just in Ukraine, are facing starvation,or death by war and disease.
Lets return the principles of the Hamiltonian /American System of economics that built the the United States.
Let us return to the founding principles of the UN Charter and of International Law that were established to prevent the current world crisis. The Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 ended 150 years of war in Europe and created an economic system that prospered for 100 years.
Join us this saturday for an International discussion of an outline of a new system and how to bring it into being.
https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2022/04/03/press-release-a-new-security-and-development-architecture-for-all-nations/
P
https://schillerinstitute.nationbuilder.com/convoke_an_international_conference_to_establish_a_new_security_and_development_architecture_for_all_nations
Posted by: Marty | Apr 7 2022 1:25 utc | 31
@rjb
As prepostrous as it sounds... I've been unwilling to mention to anybody I know "the great reset" as well as "controlled demolition of western economy". But as I witness it after each bit, it seems to confirm it. Billionaires made a lot of money during covid, fleecing the middle class, pushing them into the lower income class.
As for the relationship between Covid and Ukraine, it seems like what happened was all of that "mobilization" toward covid just got redirected to the Ukraine issue, and nobody is even hardly talking about covid anymore. Like its job was just to get us compliant. As surveys have showed : the same demographic that obeyed the covid measures and got dutifully "jabbed" also dutifully obey the "bad russia" diktat. That's the relationship I see.
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 7 2022 1:27 utc | 32
rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 1:15 utc | 30
This is a war for continued anglo dominance of the world. China's the economic threat and Russia the military threat to that continued dominance. Trump's 'China virus' may very well have been the start of that war rather than the driver of the Ukraine theater.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2022 1:28 utc | 33
Featherless | Apr 7 2022 1:15 utc | 29
somebody need your permission for something?
i like to come here, inter alia, and note the casual anti-semitism and juvenile homophobia tossed around. paranoia about "woke-ism" and bullshit like that. like disney gives a shit about lesbians or black people, except as sheep like cash cows.
and correlate that w/ covid fantasies and denialism. military fetishism and trucker convoys as revolutionary vanguards.
i love the smell of gas and nuclear piles here.
think about how some of us (not you of course) can be so right about some or a lot of things and nuts about others. a condition called "blindness."
and i have no patience for people's indifference to the coronavirus, whatever their excuses. if that bothers you, please be a teacher's pet and report me to the principal's office.
you don't ignore the report i linked or what is happening in china b/c you are someone whose opinions means shit.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 1:30 utc | 34
@Peter
I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Covid was indeed US biowarfare against China. And I bet China's CPC agrees.
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 7 2022 1:32 utc | 35
Piotro, pedantic correction accepted. Nevertheless, it does look like the US is interfering in internal Pakistani politics with the goal of deposing Imran Khan. Perhaps you can explain that cable sent by Danial Lu to the Pakistani government. I noticed that the US denied sucha cable was ever sent, maybe Mr Kahn fabricated the whole story.
Posted by: Toivos | Apr 7 2022 1:38 utc | 36
@rjb - yeah, you're definitely pretty diesel. Hope you find yours.
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 7 2022 1:39 utc | 37
Featherless | Apr 7 2022 1:32 utc | 35
Russia now has documented evidence of the pentagon working on it in the Ukraine labs. Perhaps cooking up the next strain to do the rounds?
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2022 2:01 utc | 38
Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2022 1:28 utc | 33
i already get from people like grieved and norwegian and librul and c1ue that we cannot correlate the coronavirus to any other phenomena in the world, outside of the CPI, employment rates and cultural manipulations and schemes by nefarious and obscure gov't forces, little Fausts in global hell's kitchens, w/ nothing better to do than interrupt my life.
there are no other naturally occurring viruses, no other global ecological devastations that we can relate the virus to, as well as the denialism about the virus. b/c the virus is all part of some Soros NWO reset Fauci crap, not related to species extinction, deforestation, etc., etc., etc.
nothing else is relevant, i guess, since the virus was cooked up in some lab as part of a plot. maybe the West practices vaccine-hording because they are like Obama-level chess masters trying to trick the masses by not letting Iran & VZ and Peru and India and etc. have vaccines so that Americans will think the virus is serious, all the while it's not? how james bond of us.
but no one in the west is that smart.
do gov'ts even care about tobacco? diabetes? what kind of gigantic plot is needed to kill off a bunch of fat ass diseased Americans who won't stop drinking Pepsi even if it means they could stop dialysis? half the country's fresh water supply is undrinkable. meanwhile, have another scratch ticket. as long as it's mostly olds and retards dying, no one was ever going to notice anyway. baseball scores are more real than hundreds of thousands of US kids losing a primary caregiver.
people can surely eyeball the fireworks in Ukraine while driving themselves to their own funeral. are we doing anything else?
for whatever my little opinions are worth, i think the wsws is absolutely correct about the virus and totally full of shit about Russia's right to self-defense. i already got into heated arguments w/some SEP members about how pointless their perspective is, to anyone in the conflict in Ukraine. "build the international working class"?
i'm all for it. what does it mean in Mariupol right now? it means unconditionally supporting the right of self-defense, which means supporting Russia. i'm not going to comment again on how utterly duplicitous Counterpunch has become. they don't even try to be consistent.
the truth of the coronavirus, the truth of human mortality, is what the military hero worship, now w/more missiles, denies. the very simple boring truth.
there are currently 229 people in hospital in WA state in the Pacific NW, way, way down.
bets on how long before the US public health care system collapses? following Britain's, that is.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 2:15 utc | 39
rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 2:15 utc | 39
229 people in hospital in WA state - due to coronavirus, that is.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 2:18 utc | 40
. . .on Pakistan, from US embassy--
U.S. civilian assistance to Pakistan has delivered real results on the issues most important to all Pakistanis, including energy, stability, education, health, and economic growth. Since 2009, the U.S. government has committed over $5 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistan and over $1 billion in emergency humanitarian response.
During Pakistan’s 2019-2020 fiscal year, the United States was once again the top donor country to Pakistan of on-budget, grant-based assistance. U.S. assistance to Pakistan is always in the form of grants, which does not add to Pakistan’s debt burden or balance of payments challenges.
This commitment reflects our belief that if Pakistan is secure and peaceful and prosperous, that’s not only good for Pakistan, it’s good for the region and it’s good for the world. A stable, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan that plays a constructive role in the region will remain in the long-term U.S. national interest. . .here
Pakistan was supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan all this time, until Trump & Biden put an end to those US profits, and Pakistan moved closer to China with the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). So it's time for a change according to the US.
That might urge us to say 'China, get with the regime change program, plus or minus.' But that wouldn't agree with China which prefers not to get involved in other countries' internal matters (as the US does in spades).
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 7 2022 2:30 utc | 41
"Amnesty International publishes policy and research on protection of sex workers’ rights" (from a goog of "legal sex trafficking"; i'm not linking those jokesters at AI)
global capitalism requires sexual slavery. Mars conquers Venus in the brothels around every military base on this planet. keep eros under wraps - by raping it. it's a kind of "ritual sex magick", as the Romans very well understood. women are already disenfranchised from the "household" of the global economy by men defining home-building (aka economics) as a form of warfare, competition. half the population has already lost the economic struggle (plus the young, old, disabled, etc). some percentage of that population will always be forced into sex trafficking under capitalism. always.
in response to this fact, the best do-goodie Amnesty International types have to offer is for society to hand out more condoms and TB tests and fewer citations for soliciting. when 99.99% of all sex trafficking could be ended very, very quickly. but it would require giving women economic freedom and that ain't ever going to happen. too many people would start screaming about "communism".
there's billions of pages of porn, the "legal" kind, already freely available. as distasteful and perhaps harmful as it may be, people looking at porn does not sustain the porn industry, since there's no lack already. so why is it still being made? what is the nature of the global economy that it constantly requires inputs of fresh meat into its abattoirs of voyeurism?
it furthers the corruption of society, for one. there's no economic need driving the porn industry. like the lottery and casinos. like the meth and opioids everywhere. these are tools of the ruling class.
Cronos is trying to devour the youth who will inevitably displace his rule. the US will not lift one finger to halt or slow global sex trade. au contraire, by its militarism, the USG is *knowingly* increasing such trade. it's a form of child sacrifice, the ritual that is the center of civilization.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 7 2022 3:24 utc | 42
Russia often unfortunately plays to it’s own Western stereotypes. Why can’t the Russian ambassador to the UN look like Maria Zakharova instead of a Bond villain? The West is very much about optics and superficial appearances, not substance.
Posted by: Moses22 | Apr 7 2022 3:34 utc | 43
Posted by: Toivos | Apr 7 2022 1:38 utc | 36, regarding the events in Pakistan
There is a short summary about this in this MOA article from last Monday.
At the Cradle, a couple of articles, the more recent one by MK Bhadrakumar: US ousts Imran Khan but his revolutionary narrative endures and slightly older by Ejaz Akram:Imran Khan takes on America. The matter is in the hands of the Constitutional Court, that might issue a ruling today. It doesn’t look to good for Imran Khan ATM although overall the people appear on his side. He presumably can make a comeback in a next election, when though? Daw.ncom is an important Pakistani newspaper to keep up to date.
Posted by: phiw13 | Apr 7 2022 3:58 utc | 44
The stories of Covid may be displaced from the news cycle, but the story of Covid's unraveling continues apace.
Colleen Huber, NMD offers an emerging story from Kansas that may indicate how the conservative sanity of the US will gradually push back against the corrupted insanity of the pandemic response, in this short post on her substack:
Covid Care About-Face - The Kansas legislature has no more patience for mistreatment of patients.
She illustrates a bill pending in the Kansas legislature that will: authorize the prescription of FDA-approved, off-label drugs for the early treatment of Covid-19 symptoms; prohibit pharmacies from discretion as to whether or not to fill a doctor's prescription; and prohibit institutions from inquiring into the validity or otherwise of a claim of religious exemption from vaccination for children.
Furthermore, Huber presents a letter from a Kansas senator (and doctor) sent to healthcare providers throughout the state, warning that failure to treat symptoms early, using FDA-approved, off-label drugs (whose names we are all familiar with, but which cannot be named at MoA) will result in a legal status not of "failure to treat" but of "wanton disregard" - an entirely different status.
This means that ignoring the way the wind is now blowing in Kansas will render any immunity from prosecution void.
It's an encouraging read.
~~
I suspect that, as you read this story, if you feel the anger rising, you are not alone. I suspect that payback is coming.
It doesn't matter what gets reported in the Vichy media. What matters is the law that gets enforced. There is great hope.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 7 2022 4:59 utc | 45
phiw13 @ 44
Thanks for reminding of the Pakistan story. Here's what I found very far down from news items at duckduckgo - short mention in the Indiatimes for April 7:
PTI | Islamabad | Published 07.04.22, 03:14 AM
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the minutes of the National Security Council meeting to know more about the alleged “foreign conspiracy”.The court adjourned till Thursday the hearing of the case on the rejection of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan through a controversial ruling by the deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri.
All other news items that I could see were similar to your links, though many pointed out that Khan is very popular.
Posted by: juliania | Apr 7 2022 5:23 utc | 46
Furthermore, Huber presents a letter from a Kansas senator (and doctor) sent to healthcare providers throughout the state, warning that failure to treat symptoms early, using FDA-approved, off-label drugs (whose names we are all familiar with, but which cannot be named at MoA) will result in a legal status not of "failure to treat" but ...Posted by: Grieved | Apr 7 2022 4:59 utc | 45
You may be a special kind of stupid, but championing legislated quackery to polish the wretched turd that is yourself is NOT EFFECTIVE ON COVID19.
Can COVID-19 symptoms worsen rapidly after several days of illness? https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-basics
A person may have mild symptoms for about one week, then worsen rapidly. Let your doctor know if your symptoms quickly worsen over a short period of time. Also call the doctor right away if you or a loved one with COVID-19 experience any of the following emergency symptoms: trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion or inability to arouse the person, or bluish lips or face.
In other words: People don't seek medical intervention until it's too late.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 7 2022 6:02 utc | 47
@ Grieved | Apr 7 2022 4:59 utc | 45 with the Covid follow up about Kansas
Thanks for that. I read the article and it talks about DeSantis in Florida having been supportive of this position for over a year and Florida is where I got my ivermectin through.
I write about DeSantis because it is clear to me that he is the next leadership push by the Reds...can't get much worse than Biden can we?.....gives political slime new definition
I am starting to lose hope that the Covid lies will come out in a meaningful manner but maybe wrong.....Its not like I totally agree with the values of politicians bringing out Covid lies...sigh
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 7 2022 6:08 utc | 48
Juliania @46
Yes Khan remains popular from all appearances. But at the moment, he is probably powerless, save for “the street” and an eventual election.
Posted by: phiw13 | Apr 7 2022 6:17 utc | 49
@ Laurence | Apr 7 2022 6:02 utc | 47 who has helped me know who else to not read comments by at MoA.
Thanks for that. It can be hard sometimes to judge the value of commenters as the numbers increase so your clear ignorance is so noted....enjoy your time at the bar.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 7 2022 6:18 utc | 50
@ Laurence | Apr 7 2022 6:02 utc | 47 who has helped me know who else to not read comments by at MoA.Thanks for that. It can be hard sometimes to judge the value of commenters as the numbers increase so your clear ignorance is so noted....enjoy your time at the bar.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 7 2022 6:18 utc | 50
"Covid lies"|"Russian lies" Two sides of the same Psychopathic coin. Go suck on your Ivermectin™ tube , ya slimy turd.
🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧NOT EFFECTIVE ON COVID19🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 7 2022 6:46 utc | 51
Why can’t the Russian ambassador to the UN look like Maria Zakharova instead of a Bond villain?
The West is very much about optics and superficial appearances, not substance.
Posted by: Moses22 | Apr 7 2022 3:34 utc | 43
Who gives a fuck about the mind dead west? 7/8th of the wold population are not interested in western unicorns farting glitter.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 7 2022 6:51 utc | 52
How about accountability and war crimes trials swiftly followed by sanctions for this bunch of murderers.
"Geneva – A survivor of an air strike during Israel's military attack on the Gaza Strip in May 2021 has called on the international community at the United Nations Human Rights Council to put an end to Israel's enjoyment of impunity and to bring justice to the victims.
Zainab Shukri Al-Qolaq, whose home was bombed by Israeli warplanes and who remained under the rubble for 12 hours before being rescued, said that the airstrike killed 22 members of her family, including her mother and three siblings...."
Posted by: Paul | Apr 7 2022 7:55 utc | 53
On ZH you can find this article,
"Bill Introducing 'Mandatory Vaccination' For All Germans Over 60 Expected To Pass
The COVID pandemic has largely subsided in Europe (although health authorities have warned about an uptick in cases caused by subvariants and hybrid variants of the omicron strain). But this hasn't stopped German lawmakers from pushing for a new law that would legally require people age 60 and older to be vaccinated."
Posted by: Tom_12 | Apr 7 2022 8:18 utc | 54
@Tom_12(54): It failed Yes/No: 296/378. Maybe there is a little bit hope left.
Posted by: Wolle | Apr 7 2022 12:16 utc | 55
A few of the new "members" here are very rude. Arguing one's POV is one thing, but blatant disrespect and insults are another matter.
If this were a real place, Laurence, I'd punch you in the face, and probably a bunch of people here would say "throw his ass out !"
Posted by: Featherless | Apr 7 2022 14:00 utc | 56
@ Featherless | Apr 7 2022 14:00 utc | 56
Just like the Council of Europe, NATO, the EU and the `Rules Based Order' of the UN, a bunch of asocial Covidiot losers' real motive for being here becomes apparent. Your turd polishing exercises are contemptible and insulting to reasonable human beings and so you must proceed to their real agenda. Just like Liberals and UkroNazis. Legislated quackery by the American Right won't shine.
Posted by: Laurence | Apr 7 2022 18:42 utc | 57
Shock Election Poll: Le Pen Leads Macron
https://youtu.be/BgHLQSb35Js
We all know how it ends...
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 7 2022 20:27 utc | 58
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 7 2022 4:59 utc | 45
Thank you, Grieved. You wouldn't think legislation needed on such an issue; we live in strange times indeed. Best wishes, hang in there (as a wise lady once counseled me - no longer with us, but I always think of her when I say it.)
Posted by: juliania | Apr 7 2022 23:53 utc | 59
@Wolle (55)
Thanks for that scrap of good news. There's been precious little of that these past months/years.
Here in Australia mandated anti-COVID-19 injections (for police, teachers and nurses) are being rolled back, little by little, but the state retains the power to re-impose them. They were very foolishly imposed; unvaccinated staff were summarily sacked, rather than being placed on furlough, or given other duties (such as remote-teaching, for teachers) with the result that there are now - surprise! - staff shortages. (Bad pay and conditions are also part of that mix, of course, as well as COVID-19 itself.)
The mandates imposed on nurses are currently being challenged in South Australia; the debates are not marked by calm reason (on any side) outside the courts. Let's hope that there is calm and reason inside the court.
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/coronavirus/aflw-players-sa-vax-challenge-kicks-on-c-6373689
Posted by: Hope | Apr 8 2022 0:02 utc | 60
Below is a Xinhuanet posting about the proposed visit by Pelosi to Taiwan....I have since read she has caught Covid....grin
BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday made clear China's solemn position on media reports that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would visit Taiwan.Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic counselor to French President Emmanuel Macron.
Noting that the current international situation is increasingly turbulent, Wang said that on the Ukraine issue, the United States urges respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of a country, but on the Taiwan question, it openly tramples on the red line of the one-China principle.
This is a blatant double standard, he stressed.
If Pelosi, a political leader of the United States, knowingly visits Taiwan, it would be a malicious provocation against China's sovereignty and gross interference in China's internal affairs, and would send an extremely dangerous political signal to the outside world, Wang said.
If the United States insists on going its own way, China will surely make a firm response and the U.S. side will bear all the consequences, he added.
Which parts of the shit show we are seeing is out of Hollywood?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 8 2022 5:19 utc | 61
A violin competition named after a notorious Nazi sympathizer, namely Johan “Jean” Sibelius, has just eliminated Russian violinists.
How ironically appropriate.
Posted by: malenkov | Apr 8 2022 18:44 utc | 62
bluemoonofshanghai reports on the history of killer blood in the Canadian system and the absence of justice.
https://www.bluemoonofshanghai.com/politics/6585/
NOTE Safe to read as the J word is excluded ;)
This essay is part of my series on Big Pharma titled “A Litany of Pharma Crimes” (1) This is of special importance because it relates to our current COVID-19 catastrophe and all these separate segments form dots that need to be connected to fully appreciate and understand what is happening to our world today. In addition to my articles on COVID-19 specifically, these other segments illuminate the criminality that pervades the entire pharma industry but which includes collusion at the highest levels of Western governments and UN agencies like the WHO and UNICEF, Foundations like the Rockefeller Institute and individuals like Bill Gates.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 8 2022 22:47 utc | 63
@63 uncle tungsten | Apr 8 2022 22:47 utc
Thank you. Romanoff takes paths that are always worth walking with him. I just started the first couple paragraphs, and already it's clear that this is one of those paths that are actually broad boulevards. And they will lead to terrifying realities. And one will often prefer simply to turn back, rather than complete the journey.
And on we go.
Posted by: Grieved | Apr 9 2022 4:16 utc | 64
Russia often unfortunately plays to it’s own Western stereotypes. Why can’t the Russian ambassador to the UN look like Maria Zakharova instead of a Bond villain? The West is very much about optics and superficial appearances, not substance.
Posted by: Moses22 | Apr 7 2022 3:34 utc | 43
Why Foreign Minister of United Kingdom looks and behaves like a stereotypical dumb blond? Nothing wrong about blond, but...
On other non-Ukraine issues, manul a.k.a Pallas cat is a feline of the same size as a domestic cat, but potentially dangerous. As I am checking war news on You tube, I am plied with cute animal videos. A babushka in a Siberian town found a small kitten, took it home, raised it, and fed it with cream and other good food. Once, as she was out, the apartment was visited by three burglar. One was killed, bite through the carotid artery, one was hospitalized, and one fled. In the wild, manuls live in nooks among rocks or small caves and have the instinct to defend the dwelling.
BTW, manuls have easy to identify differences from domestic cats: the irises of the eyes are round, and the ears are round too, and small. Fur is very thick. They live on cold steppes and forests from southern Siberia to Tibet.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 9 2022 21:49 utc | 65
From Xinhuanet
ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The no-confidence motion filed by an opposition alliance against Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan succeeded early Sunday morning after a majority of members of the National Assembly voted against him, said an official.Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, member of the National Assembly, announced that 174 members voted against the prime minister in the 342-member house.
Sadiq chaired the session to conduct the vote for the no-confidence motion after Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser resigned from his post.
Members of the parliament from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party walked out of the house and did not participate in the voting process.
On March 28, an alliance of opposition parties presented the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan in the National Assembly.
Later on April 3, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly rejected the no-confidence motion over the alleged involvement of foreign hands in the conspiracy to topple the Pakistani government.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday declared the deputy speaker's action as a violation of the constitution of the country. The apex court ordered the National Assembly to summon a session of the house on Saturday and conduct voting on the no-confidence motion.
According to the procedure and rules, the house will send the result of the no-confidence motion to the country's president for approval and permission to start the process to elect a new prime minister.
Any barflies got the details on election process that will occur? Can Khan run again?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 10 2022 3:43 utc | 66
Below are quotes from a ZH posting
ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The no-confidence motion filed by an opposition alliance against Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan succeeded early Sunday morning after a majority of members of the National Assembly voted against him, said an official.Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, member of the National Assembly, announced that 174 members voted against the prime minister in the 342-member house.
Sadiq chaired the session to conduct the vote for the no-confidence motion after Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser resigned from his post.
Members of the parliament from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party walked out of the house and did not participate in the voting process.
On March 28, an alliance of opposition parties presented the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan in the National Assembly.
Later on April 3, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly rejected the no-confidence motion over the alleged involvement of foreign hands in the conspiracy to topple the Pakistani government.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday declared the deputy speaker's action as a violation of the constitution of the country. The apex court ordered the National Assembly to summon a session of the house on Saturday and conduct voting on the no-confidence motion.
According to the procedure and rules, the house will send the result of the no-confidence motion to the country's president for approval and permission to start the process to elect a new prime minister.
The minister blamed economic sanctions on Russia for “destroying the foundation of the existing international monetary and financial system based on the US dollar” and urged BRICS to rely more on their national currencies in foreign trade, integrate payment systems and create an alternative to the SWIFT payment messaging platform.
Siluanov on Friday told a ministerial meeting with BRICS that the global economic situation had worsened substantially due to the sanctions, a statement from his ministry said on Friday.
“This pushes us to the need to speed up work in the following areas: the use of national currencies for export-import operations, the integration of payment systems and cards, our own financial messaging system and the creation of an independent BRICS rating agency,” Siluanov said.
As The Statesman reports, central banks of the BRICS countries have already agreed to conduct the fifth test of a banking mechanism that will allow them to jointly pool “alternative currency” reserves to shield their economies from outside shocks, the ministry said.
It is going to be interesting to see just how big of a group can be brought together into a multipolar Reserve Currency
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 10 2022 4:01 utc | 67
Below is a ZH posting quote for all you Aussies, down under.
Australia Announces NATO Cooperation
The news of the Pacific engagement comes as Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced that Australia will be cooperating with NATO to help the organisation better counter hybrid threats and disinformation and reinforce Australia’s support for NATO.Payne said on April 7 that Australia would partner with the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (SCCE) to deepen Australia’s insights into the strategic communications and security challenges facing NATO, NATO Allies, and partners.
“The importance of improving strategic communications has been underscored by Russia’s use of disinformation and propaganda during its illegal and unprovoked war against Ukraine,” Payne said.
“We will offer the Centre a clear-eyed view of the geostrategic dynamics in the Indo-Pacific and its implications for NATO.”
The SCCE, which is located in Riga, Latvia, is an international military organisation that has been accredited by NATO but is separate from the NATO Command Structure. Its focus is to contribute to enhancing the strategic communications capabilities between the member states of the NATO Alliance and other allied nations
Australia is an Enhanced Opportunities Partner of NATO, which means they work to enhance interoperability, take part in NATO military training and exercise programs, and share information on issues of mutual interest.
According to Payne, the cooperation will be kicked off by the secondment of one Australian official to the SCCE, from which Australia will then work to combat disinformation and other hybrid threats.
This came out of the just finished NATO circle-jerk....makes one want to wash after reading almost.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 10 2022 4:11 utc | 68
@Piotr Berman #65
Now I understand why the West has banned Russian cats from Western cat shows. It was actually a very prudent measure. Imagine a pack of SVR-trained manul assassins infiltrating the West under cat cover.
Posted by: S | Apr 10 2022 6:54 utc | 69
Posted by: Paul | Apr 7 2022 7:55 utc | 53
How about accountability and war crimes trials swiftly followed by sanctions for this bunch of murderers.
No can do. That would be anti-semitism, don't you know ?
*queue the hasbara bots and anti-semitism commissars creeping out of the woodwork any minute now*
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Apr 10 2022 7:02 utc | 70
According to Payne, the cooperation will be kicked off by the secondment of one Australian official to the SCCE, from which Australia will then work to combat disinformation and other hybrid threats.
This came out of the just finished NATO circle-jerk....makes one want to wash after reading almost.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Apr 10 2022 4:11 utc | 68
It doesn't make me feel dirty, it makes me feel dumb. How to say absolutely nothing in long sentences full of positive sounding words:
The SCCE, which is located in Riga, Latvia, is an international military organisation that has been accredited by NATO but is separate from the NATO Command Structure. Its focus is to contribute to enhancing the strategic communications capabilities between the member states of the NATO Alliance and other allied nations
NATO's propaganda arm, which is of course, independent from NATO, and military, not political, so that you can trust what it says.
I suppose they have to make themselves obvious to be understood at all.
Posted by: Bemildred | Apr 10 2022 8:19 utc | 71
Time to twirl a stick or strike a flint (depending on how advanced the beholder is).
Soros- jewish, worked for the nazis as a boy. Iran - the only Jewish community left in MENA. Zelensky - I see no indication of him being a Zionist. Many american Jews don't believe in zionism, they see Israel as apartheid.
I think it was Ralph named the religions of the current US cabinet. 25%. As a religion Judaism is 1% of the US religious demographic. Perhaps you could track down the religious demographics of the department of state Ralph.
Lira done a background on Nuland the cooky monster. The main instigator of the current war in Ukraine. Here grandfather left Ukraine during a Tsar era progrom. I don't know if Nuland considers herself jewish or if it is some hereditory hatred she learned off her grandfather.
The Roma as a minority suffered a similar fate in Europe under nazism as the jews but no one gives a f--k about them.
I haven't read the Torah, only the old testament of the bible, but from what I can see, that religion is somewhat similar to Sunni Muslim in that it can range from the mild and decent to extremist.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Apr 10 2022 9:23 utc | 72
Thank you for your dedicated work on these events.
If I may share something I came across:
This is an article from the empire side but it reveals some interesting details. So hold your nose before you click! -
European Conservative - The return of a different double eagle
- empire-friendly history of Habsburgs
- murky activities of Habsburg heirs today
- Habsburg vision of future Europe (spoiler: Catholic-Nazi-AustroHungarian-PolishLithuanian ...thing)
As a complete outsider, it has always seemed to me that the House of Habsburg harbours a special hatred for all Slavs, but particularly Russians.
--
Thanks for the forum!
Posted by: Browser | Apr 10 2022 10:42 utc | 73
The comments to this entry are closed.
LatinTimes: Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez's properties, financial holdings and other assets were seized by Honduran authorities on Friday. He is awaiting extradition to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Colombia Reports: Colombia’s election chief must be replaced to avoid chaos in the presidential elections, according to a coalition of election observers. The non-governmental Electoral Oversight Alliance (AVE) asked the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and the State Council to replace National Registrar Alexander Vega ahead of the presidential elections on May 29. Vega came under fire after irregularities in the March 13 congressional elections sunk public confidence in electoral authorities, according to Electoral Observation Mission.
Mercopress: Exxon Mobil is investing heavily off the coast of Guyana expecting future production of some 1,2 million barrels per day of oil and gas by 2027. According to the company the fourth oil project production off Guyana will receive an investment of US$ 10 billion.
Brasilwire: Interesting that Twitter is censoring @BrasilWire from appearing in searches just months before the Brazilian election. @BrasilWire played a vital role in exposing US interference into the last Presidential election which saw Lula jailed & paved the way for Bolsonaro's victory.
Posted by: Maracatu | Apr 6 2022 16:05 utc | 1