Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 1 2023 6:18 utc | 93
When I began watching an episode and evening last week, I was also struck by the way that the amerikan propaganda about the Ukraine conflict is virtually word for word the same as the tosh england spoke during ww1.
=============================================
England is still in the thick of it…
https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/will-they-try-to-assassinate-trump

In researching for my twice banned book, “Grand Deception,” I’ve come to realize that the main driver of imperialism, colonialism, coups, assassinations and permanent wars around the world is the still undead British Empire. Granted, the British Empire we learned about in school is long gone, but as with most of what they taught us, there’s more to that story. For starters, we should not conflate the empire with its host nation: the empire is a system of governance controlled by a parasitic network of vested interests which infiltrate a nation’s political, diplomatic, military and cultural institutions in order to use them for their own benefit.
About a century ago, this same network, centered around the western banking cartel, switched hosts and infiltrated American institutions. Today, it appears as the “American Empire.” Of course, the United States is merely the host to the same parasite, but whose ideological and spiritual headquarters remains the City of London.
Kissinger: I work for the Brits!
Here is how Henry Kissinger articulated the result of London’s infiltration of the American governing structures in a speech on British-American relations delivered at a May 1981 event at the Royal Institute for International Affairs (now renamed as Chatham House). Describing his collaboration with the British Foreign Office as US Secretary of State, Kissinger said that,
“The British were so matter-of-factly helpful that they became a participant in internal American deliberations, to a degree probably never practiced between sovereign nations… In my White House incarnation then, I kept the British Foreign Office better informed and more closely engaged than I did the American State Department.”
Kissinger’s statement reveals his loyalties, which are clearly with the parasite and not with the American people. That revelation goes far in explaining his illustrious career and influence which has remained considerable to this day.
But in spite of the matter-of-factly helpful guidance from the British, things haven’t been smooth for the US-led empire. In the recent years, it has sustained one defeat after another, finding itself incapable of effectively projecting power. ….

[no doubt to be continued…]
That definition of empire is bang on. Last year I passed by the City on the top deck of a double-decker tourist bus with my son and grandchildren and at some point we passed by the City. Maybe it is just projection on my part, but along with almost entirely empty streets, all the windows seemed dark even though it was a bright sunny day, and impossible to see into, but nobody inside gazing out either. There was more a sense of absence than presence; a dark hole or dark matter feeling…. Come to think of it ,I felt something similar in the main cathedral at the Vatican decades ago, a dark presence of absence….

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 1 2023 15:37 utc | 103

Posted by: john brewster | Sep 1 2023 14:59 utc | 99

I don’t think I have room on my hard drive for 5 hours x 3 worth of video.

—-
So, I downloaded one episode. A half hour uses 360 MB. So the whole series would only be 5.4 GB. I have plenty of room. The video is ~600 x 400 x 24 fps. Surprisingly, it is watchable at full screen on a 27″ monitor. Another surprise is that they retimed the old jerky video very well for the 1960s. Sound quality is perfect.
I will be watching.

Posted by: john brewster | Sep 1 2023 15:56 utc | 105

OK, will step away after this for today, but this BRICS stuff has been popping lately. Here are two more articles which just came out but analyzing the most recent declaration from BRICS from last week, whereas mine and karlof1’s above was from 2022.
https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/sustainable-development-its-what

Sustainable development: It’s what BRICS craves!
Can we talk about the Johannesburg II Declaration?

He then goes through several points from the document, which you can get as pdf via links, much as I did above with the 2022 Declaration. And concludes by recommending a second, more thorough article:
https://telegra.ph/BRICS—a-key-instrument-for-establishing-the-New-World-Order-08-29

BRICS – a key instrument for establishing the New World Order
Yourie Roshka August 29, 2023
After publishing two successive articles on the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg[1], in which I showed that this conglomerate of countries does not represent an alternative to unipolar globalization, the final document[2] of this meeting fully confirms my approach. The BRICS represents a key element in the globalist strategy of implementing a global coup d’état and establishing the New World Order.

These pieces are far more critical than I at this point, but I cannot say I disagree with their thrust. BRICS and Globalism are one and the same. And what they don’t cover is how or whether the West’s elites are aligned. On the one hand we have this tectonic struggle around Ukraine, but on the other hand both the West and Russia-China are all-in with WHO, WTO, IMF etc.
Something doesn’t add up. I smell foul play…

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 1 2023 16:25 utc | 107

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/two-years-after-its-afghan-withdrawal-us-credibility-is-at-rock-bottom
Two years after its Afghan withdrawal, US credibility is at rock bottom
On the second anniversary of the humiliating US exit from Afghanistan, those consequences have become clear. The substantial damage it wreaked on Washington’s reputation and soft power has US allies beating a path to improve relations with America’s global challengers.
Mohamad Hasan

Posted by: AW | Sep 1 2023 20:49 utc | 109

Alternative to American toilet-paper-substitute The NewsWeek…
https://www.mintpressnews.com/false-witnesses-sinister-plots-exposing-cia-connection-chinese-police-station-narrative/285021/
FALSE WITNESSES AND SINISTER PLOTS: EXPOSING THE CIA CONNECTION IN THE ‘CHINESE POLICE STATION’ NARRATIVE
JUNE 16TH, 2023
By KIT KLARENBERG
For months, mainstream media across the Western world – in particular English-language outlets based in the constituent members of the ‘Five Eyes’ global spying network – have been rabidly awash with terrifying news of secret “Chinese police stations” operating the world over.

Posted by: MD | Sep 1 2023 21:13 utc | 111

Use your translater:
https://publikumskonferenz.de/blog/hunger-als-waffe-baerbocks-gehaessige-zweckluege/#more-8475
Hunger als Waffe“: Baerbocks gehässige Zwecklüge
Hysterischer Russenhass zerfrisst das letzte bisschen Restverstand / Selbsttäuschung über die tödlichen EU-Sanktionen
Hunger As A Weapon – Baerbock’s nasty lies…
Hysterical hate of Russia destroys even the last little bits of remaining sound minds in Germany’s mass media.
Also, self-betray of deadly EU-sanctions.

Posted by: MD | Sep 1 2023 22:15 utc | 113

From an Ex-American in Russia:
https://halfreeman.wordpress.com/2023/08/21/misinformation-updates-and-family-status/
As I have previously noted, Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Germany, and Francois Holland, then president of France, admitted they were lying all the time.
They wanted to trick Russia so that Ukraine could build up its military for a coming conflict. They were quite open about it after they left office.
Then Matthew Hoh goes on this program to discuss the conflict, and totally misrepresents how and why it began. I cannot say whether Hoh is just that ignorant or maybe he just wanted to adopt the safe route: Blame Putin! Was it ignorance, cowardice or both on Hoh’s part?

Posted by: MD | Sep 1 2023 22:31 utc | 115

https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-government-sued-hiding-information-afghan-refugees-detention-camps/5831022
US Government Sued for Hiding Information on Afghan Refugees in Detention Camps
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Muslim Advocates sued multiple United States government agencies that have refused to produce key information on thousands of Afghan refugees still living in limbo at secretive detention sites.
In August 2021, over 124,000 Afghan civilians were evacuated. Yet as described in a filed complaint [PDF], the “evacuees” were sent to “processing” sites for medical screening and security vetting. They were supposed to receive visas or parole that would allow them to enter the U.S., but numerous Afghans “remain stranded” at sites that are reportedly overseen or controlled by the U.S. government.

Posted by: AW | Sep 1 2023 23:19 utc | 117

https://www.globalresearch.ca/ny-times-admits-it-sends-stories-us-government-approval-before-publication/5681831
The New York Times has publicly acknowledged that it sends some of its stories to the US government for approval from “national security officials” before publication.
This confirms what veteran New York Times correspondents like James Risen have said: The American newspaper of record regularly collaborates with the US government, suppressing reporting that top officials don’t want made public.

Posted by: MD | Sep 1 2023 23:28 utc | 119

Another Knowledge Day has arrived and now mostly gone in Russia where some excellent events took place–speeches and interactions with students by both Putin and Lavrov that made for two very long articles that document those activities. They are in two parts–if I’d tried to post them here, they’d be four parts. The URLs will look the same but they aren’t. Part One, https://karlof1.substack.com/p/knowledge-day-2023-russias-unique
Part Two, https://karlof1.substack.com/p/knowledge-day-2023-russias-unique-6b5
The two leaders interactions with some of Russia’s brightest kids is very illuminating. The events show very well how Russia’s beating the West via educating its human capital to the nth degree.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 1 2023 23:42 utc | 121

Chinese officials are claiming Russian territories and https://ria.ru/20230831/mid-1893494661.html is the government’s response.
Vladimir Putin also announced schools should teach Mandarin. https://www.rt.com/russia/582244-russian-schools-chinese-putin
Boris Nemtsov was right when he said Vladimir Putin and his clique would turn Russia into Beijing’s ‘resource colony’.

Posted by: Slavy | Sep 2 2023 0:37 utc | 123

I believe in Chrome and Firefox you can use Ublock Origin to the same effect.
Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 1 2023 15:05 utc | 100
—
Opera (unfortunately Chromium kernel, but integrated ad blocker) + uBlockOrigin + AdGuard (both redundant, I know).
What is advertising? 🙂

Posted by: Nobody | Sep 2 2023 0:55 utc | 125

Hiya
Here as promised is BBC The Great War Pts 11-20
The next tranche will follow in about 24 hours. If people are downloading and watching this, on completion it could be worthy of a discussion about how closely that conflict has the same deceptions and terrible leadership as the current one in Ukraine has. Naturally it doesn’t delve too deeply into the role that the englander royal family played in the Tsar & his families deaths.
It is also rather dodgy on the Bolsheviks rise to power as well as the Russian peace settlement as although anti-soviet propaganda in england was less rabid in 1964 than the amerikan anti-soviet stuff of the same period, there is still some of that in the series, mostly however the series reflects the horror of the war while emphasising how much of that was kept out of the media at the time.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 2 2023 3:25 utc | 127

Posted by: Nobody | Sep 2 2023 0:55 utc | 126
Opera (unfortunately Chromium kernel, but integrated ad blocker) + uBlockOrigin + AdGuard (both redundant, I know).
=====================================
Strange… I wonder if it’s because am using Linux OS? I doubt but…. have never seen ads on Youtube.
What is advertising? 🙂
Ads = advertising. Americans say commercials. All the same. I think! Who knows. Vocabularies change quickly these days…

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 2 2023 3:53 utc | 129

Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 2 2023 3:25 utc | 128
Thank you for the next 10 episodes.
Much as I would like to discuss this, I haven’t got 13 hours to binge watch this. I can probably watch a few random episodes for the kind of observations Scorpion is making, though.

Posted by: john brewster | Sep 2 2023 4:44 utc | 131

What is advertising? 🙂
Ads = advertising. Americans say commercials. All the same. I think! Who knows. Vocabularies change quickly these days…
Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 2 2023 3:53 utc | 130
—
The question was rhetorical. In the sense that when using Opera, it is easy to forget that parts of the internet are ad-supported.

Posted by: Nobody | Sep 2 2023 4:54 utc | 133

@ Slavy | Sep 2 2023 0:37 utc | 124
On the bottom of your link to RIA Novosti .ru about China’s claim on Russia’s big inland Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island there is a reference to China’s claim on Indian Arunachal Pradesh and part of Kashmir: https://ria.ru/20230829/protest-1892987810.html
Moscow knows its eastern and southern neighborhood way better than most of this bar’s pundits because it stays sober. Keeps wishful views away from seeing reality. Why run from bully A to bully C? B serious.

Posted by: Antonym | Sep 2 2023 8:34 utc | 135

And now, a tribute to the British media. From the Daily Mail:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12472421/Mohamed-Al-Fayed-buried-son-family-mausoleum.html
Mohamed Al Fayed is buried next to his son at the family mausoleum as former Harrods tycoon passes away at age 94 – almost 26 years to the day since Dodi died in car crash with Princess Diana
An excerpt:
“Mr Al Fayed went to his grave holding on to his obsession that his son and Princess Diana were murdered in a Paris road tunnel on August 31, 1997.
At Diana’s inquest in London, the bitter billionaire explosively accused Prince – now King – Charles of being ‘happy’ now that the Royal Family had ‘cleared the decks, they finished her, they murdered her’.
He spent more than a decade pedalling his bizarre and damaging conspiracy theories about the Royal Family’s alleged involvement in the car crash.
Mr Al Fayed was the world’s 1,493rd richest person, according to Forbes, worth an estimated $2 billion (£1.59 billion). He installed the Egyptian Room in his Knightsbridge store, which boasted several busts of himself, and he also created a memorial to Dodi and Diana, who were dating at the time of their deaths.
He is thought to have believed the couple were hours away from announcing their engagement.”

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Sep 2 2023 12:15 utc | 137

Posted by: MD | Sep 2 2023 12:03 utc | 137
From the link MD provuded:
“It has become increasingly commonplace amongst alternative media analysts to see efforts to reframe
the conflict between multipolar vs unipolar systems as little more than a chimera completely devoid
of meaning for those who are “wise” to the Great Game.” – Matthew Ehret
The poster Scorpion is one of those to whom Ehret is referring there.

BRICS and Globalism are one and the same. And what they don’t cover is how or whether the West’s elites are aligned. On the one hand we have this tectonic struggle around Ukraine, but on the other hand both the West and Russia-China are all-in with WHO, WTO, IMF etc.
Something doesn’t add up. I smell foul play…
Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 1 2023 16:25 utc | 108

The bar should be aware of Scorpion’s position as he expresses it frequently while
at the same time exhibiting an overbearing presence which tends to hide or obfuscate that.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Sep 2 2023 12:36 utc | 139

Latin America update
This podcast between Alan MacLeod and Ollie Vargas gives a very good and broad update on many countries in Latin America. Ollie is half Brit half Bolivian, lives in Bolivia, survived being targeted for assassination during the year of the coup and runs Kausechun news I think out of La Paz now. He is very well informed and networked throughout the region and gives lots of bullet points on what’s going on now. Here are a few.
Chile: Boric is total woke… very pro Zelensky, anti Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua. Venezuela.
Ecuador: really bad. U.S. is working with military on a coup.
Mexico: AMLO is amazing, threading many needles, positioning to join BRICS, reducing U.S. military footprint.
Bolivia: economy has been rapidly re-oriented to big public sector projects; very strong economy, will join BRICS.
Let me know if this link doesn’t work. It’s a podcast.
https://tunein.com/podcasts/News–Politics-Podcasts/MintCast-p1219238/?topicId=315751312

Posted by: migueljose | Sep 2 2023 13:02 utc | 141

ECOWAS counting on the support of the EU regarding Niger
An ECOWAS delegation that included the president of the commission Omar Alieu Touray was in Toledo, Spain, on Thursday, to ask for support from the European Union.
“My visit is to explain our position and inform the various measures that ECOWAS has taken and the collaboration we seek from all our partners,” Omar Touray said. “One event in a particular place affects the whole world. So that is why we find it important to talk to our partners from the EU so that they understand what we are doing and give us the support that they are able to give us.”
“African solutions to African problems. We are on listening mode, we are ready to consider to study any proposal. I want to repeat the idea that President Bazoum was the only authority democratically elected in the whole Sahel,” Josep Borrell said.
#ECOWAS #EU #Niger @africaintel

How’s that for ‘diplomacy’? Bah humbug!

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 2 2023 15:14 utc | 143

https://venezuelanalysis.com/
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15839
Caracas, August 31, 2023 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA has reportedly renegotiated the oil-for-debt deal struck last year with European firms Eni and Repsol in order to receive refined products while continuing to repay debt.
According to Reuters, Washington has already approved the new terms of the agreement and Caracas will get some 330,000 barrels of naphtha this week at PDVSA’s Cardón port (western Falcón state) from Italy’s Milazzo refinery, a joint venture between Eni and Kuwait Petroleum International.
Also
https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15833
Venezuela: Opposition Begins Primary Race as Far Right Threatens ‘Military Rebellion’

Posted by: AW | Sep 2 2023 15:39 utc | 145

@ Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 1 2023 16:25 utc | 108
I only had a quick peek at those refs you gave and my initial response is – boy what hyperbole. I think they have some serious comprehension difficulties or something else is going on. They take X and reprocess it into a cross between the Daleks and the Borg losing all semblance of the original meaning, and it;s framing within the context provided by the whole document and it’s key principles, the Summit’s work, and the RAISON D’ÊTRE of BRICS’ founding.
iow they have created a fantasy Exposé of the Declaration, imho. Sorry, I don’t get it. To me their commentary verges on paranoia by the sounds of the rhetoric employed. Oh well, to each their own.
If anyone wishes to view the 2023 15th BRICS Summit Declaration try this direct link
https://brics2023.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Jhb-II-Declaration-24-August-2023-1.pdf
Full Title
XV BRICS Summit
Johannesburg II Declaration
BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth,
Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism
Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa
Wednesday 23 August 2023

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 2 2023 16:39 utc | 147

Posted by: migueljose | Sep 2 2023 14:25 utc | 143
Thanks for your two posts, migueljose. BRICS is having an impact, and I appreciate your take on border issues for the US as well.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 2 2023 17:48 utc | 149

Posted by: MD | Sep 2 2023 12:03 utc | 137
Thank you for this and your other posts, MD. I have bookmarked Ehret’s link and look forward to a more careful read of it and his previous post linked therein. It is an important historical leadup to what is happening now, so even a quick glance through puts it first on my educational agenda. These are historical facts everyone needs to know, especially here in the US.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 2 2023 18:35 utc | 151

or…
Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 30 2023 19:09 utc | 43
Drinks for the bar.
Altogether now, PRESCIENCE! (shot) PRESCIENCE! (shot) PRESCIENCE! (shot)
OPRAH, Thank you for crowning that golum f*ck “America’s Mayor”.

Posted by: sln2002 | Sep 2 2023 20:14 utc | 153

I am truly sad to hear of the death of Bill Richardson, whom I contacted when my daughter and her husband were once in a fix in China – his response was speedy and reassuring. The other thing I continually thank him for was putting in the train, the Railrunner, between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I love to ride it.
I had forgotten he ran for President when Hilary was the choice. I think he’d have won; his resume is stellar (not just my personal ‘likes’ by any stretch.) I looked around for his bio and the one Yahoo posted is my fave.
Rest in Peace, Governor.

Posted by: juliania | Sep 2 2023 21:14 utc | 155

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 2 2023 16:39 utc | 148
@ Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 1 2023 16:25 utc | 108
I only had a quick peek at those refs you gave and my initial response is – boy what hyperbole. I think they have some serious comprehension difficulties or something else is going on. They take X and reprocess it into a cross between the Daleks and the Borg losing all semblance of the original meaning, and it;s framing within the context provided by the whole document and it’s key principles, the Summit’s work, and the RAISON D’ÊTRE of BRICS’ founding.
======================================
I hear you, though I think your description is even more over the top!! The “BRICS – a key instrument for establishing the New World Order” by Yourie Roshka starts with a critical but not unreasonable analysis then the bulk of the piece is the Declaration itself with short commentary after some, but not all, of the articles listed therein. And he provides links to the full document too.
Also, in the spirit of ‘great minds think alike’ the following paragraph echoes, albeit more forcefully, my post about the 2022 Declaration to which karlof1 posted a link:

The second fundamental remark concerns the total affiliation of these countries with all the international bodies through which the globalist elite establish the New World Order: UN, IMF, WHO, WTO, The Bank of International Settlements and so on. As we have already noted, making firm and slavish commitments to implement the provisions of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, to blindly comply with all WHO orders related to false pandemics, etc., to obey the myth of ‘global warming’, to implement total digitization and total control over citizens etc., all reveal a relationship of subordination to a single command center that imposes itself through these international institutions.

Plus he linked to Iain Davis who writes extensively on multipolarity. His thesis is that multipolarity stems from old agendas (Quigley et alia) for a one world order. Recent globalization, fusing supply chains etc. went too far, so regionalization or blocization as Schwab calls it must first be established over which will preside a single authority of some sort (almost certainly financial IMO).
For example Putin advocates the following:

Putin is among those who favour a Eurasian pole in the world order, and he certainly doesn’t intend either it or the Russian Federation within it to be sovereign. He said:
Russia considers the creation of new international financial platforms inevitable; this includes international transactions. These platforms should be above national jurisdictions. They should be secure, depoliticized and automated and should not depend on any single control centre. [. . .] This rules out the possibility of abuse in a new global financial infrastructure. It would make it possible to conduct effective, beneficial and secure international transactions without the dollar or any of the so-called reserve currencies.

Sounds great – Putin always does. But for it to be great you have to believe an unspecified system will be put in place run by nobody (though AI is programmed) or Enlightened Saints. Possible, yes, but…
Iain Davis links:
https://iaindavis.com/who-are-the-new-world-order-a-brief-history/ (2018)
https://iaindavis.com/what-is-the-global-public-private-partnership/ (2021)
https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/who-wants-a-multipolar-world-order-part-i
iain davis
https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/who-wants-a-multipolar-world-order-part-ii

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 2 2023 21:39 utc | 157

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2023 21:30 utc | 157

So, while the clearing concept can be accomplished, if it’s associated with the BIS in any way it will be vulnerable to sanctions and choke points. The only safe hub mentioned is in Hong Kong. The BIS says its mission “is to support central banks’ pursuit of monetary and financial stability through international cooperation, and to act as a bank for central banks” and touts being owned by “63 central banks,” but most know it’s not neutral and acts to facilitate the Outlaw US Empire’s goals for the international financial system. So, again, the issue of trust arises regarding China’s motives. I can see temporarily aligning with BIS to see if the CBDC clearing system functions as theorized. But since China also depends on BIS to settle a large percentage of its trade, I see why many have said China’s fearful of secondary sanctions.

A possible explanation: the Western-based PTB in international trade and finance, having moved from Venice to Amsterdam to London to NY, are now moving to Beijing.
The petrodollar is on the way out and the petro-gold-yuan (or newfangled multicurrency gold-backed digital equivalent) is on the way in, and the BIS Corporation is the central bank behind it all as per your post.
BIS is a new type of Monarch. The very second the old king dies the immaterial Kingsip passes to the heir. The King never dies, only mortals channeling kingship wearing symbolic physical Crowns. Corporations are exactly the same, indeed early dissertations centuries ago reference the same Two Body doctrine first used about Kings over a millennium ago, indeed also about Christ going back to Roman times.
Simply put: corporations do not die along with their mortal members hence are virtually immortal. Rhodes’ Round Table keeps reincarnating and is now behind ‘multipolarity’ just as BIS is behind Glazyev’s post-US-Empire multipolar-financial wunderwaffen.
The good news is that the Empire – a Monarchy in secular corporate form – provides authority and thus order. The bad news is that the ‘peers of the Realm’ in this NWO aren’t bothered by the deaths of millions or more likely hundreds of millions (Exhibit 1: 20th Century -isms, all of which they promulgated and sponsored.)

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 3 2023 4:22 utc | 159

re: China Red Line
Here we go with “unprovoked” again
Any unprovoked attack on Taiwan would result in a “resolute reaction” from Washington, US Representative Rob Wittman said during a visit to Taipei yesterday, adding that the US is working on expediting arms sales to the nation.
Aug 31, 2023
. . .the US has once again crossed a threshold and overstepped a red line in interfering in the Taiwan question. The US is gradually hollowing out the one-China principle through its salami-slicing tactics. With the increasing number and intensity of its intervention methods, the brewing and imminent storm of lethal consequences for Taiwan cannot be ignored.
. . .China’s response to the continuous provocations by the US on the Taiwan question will not be limited to mere statements. One of the main reasons why China does not promise to abandon the use of force is to counter foreign interference.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202308/1297375.shtml
Mar 7, 2023
BEIJING — Beijing warned Washington on Tuesday that interfering with Taiwan’s future is the “first red line” in Sino-U.S. relations, as ties plunge to new lows.
During a two-hour press briefing that touched on the Ukraine conflict, Japan-China relations and a recent spat over a suspected Chinese spy balloon, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang repeated Beijing’s claim that Taiwan was part of its territory and could be taken by force, if necessary.
Holding up a red booklet containing China’s constitution, the former ambassador to the U.S. said his country’s legal framework called for the “peaceful” reunification with Taiwan. Earlier in the day, the island’s defense minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng, said “repeated provocations” from China could trigger an armed response.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 3 2023 4:49 utc | 161

My son went to a couple of Burning Man festivals. He had an excuse though. On one occasion he was supposed to do be sound engineer for someone, but it turned into a shitshow. The second time, he was driving a tour bus for a prince of Denmark. Life can be very strange.

Posted by: Immaculate deception | Sep 3 2023 5:26 utc | 163

Thanks, karlof1 at Sep 2 2023 21:30 utc | 157 for Crooke’s assessment. It’s a quiet piece, but commendable for that as easier to grasp the fundamentals. Which seems to reflect the entire process: better to proceed cautiously than not to proceed at all. I’ve been thinking of the Rumsfeld dictum – ‘you go to war with the army you have’, which for many countries would not have been their favored course of action if it hadn’t been dictated by what the west was demanding and orchestrating, or attempting to do so.
Some of the African changes should remind us that even an army can have positive goals if the government has become corrupted, so armies are people as well in a best case scenario. They have families; they care about civil order. They care about trade and peaceful outcomes. They are not all bent on world domination.
From Crooke: “… BRICS are lining up commodity value-based currencies versus fiat monetary instruments that will devalue, as inflation eats away its relative value…”
We know there are economists out there who value this approach. If there is an alternative, I’m not seeing it. And Scorpion, your monarchy analogy is a bit of a stretch. Corporations may not die but that’s because they aren’t alive – they do change, more the way chrystals do, or stalagmites and stalagtites in caves – drip, drip, drip…
It’s people who are like the glow worms, those thousand points of light somebody sometime was talking about long ago. And a river runs through it.
😉

Posted by: juliania | Sep 3 2023 6:54 utc | 165

Let’s hope this lives up to its billing.
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/79470

📢🇷🇺 Lavrov Takes Center Stage: A Push for a Multipolar World at the UN 🌍
➡️Clear your calendars for September 19-26—the Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that Lavrov will be taking the UN General Assembly by storm. And what’s on the agenda? Oh, just a small matter of reshaping the world order into something truly fair and just.
➡️Don’t expect the usual diplomatic platitudes. When Lavrov speaks, it’s a call for a multipolar world, breaking free from unipolar illusions. Mark your calendars; this is more than politics, it’s a blueprint for the future. Time to shake things up! Onward!

Posted by: anon2020 | Sep 3 2023 7:28 utc | 167

Big move!

China’s central bank on Friday said it will cut the foreign exchange reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 2 percentage points from September 15.
The reserve requirement ratio will be reduced from its current 6 percent to 4 percent, the People’s Bank of China said in a short notice on its website.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202309/1297386.shtml
A 50% change in the requirement ratio is not “fine tuning”.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 3 2023 8:08 utc | 169

…
Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 3 2023 8:08 utc | 171
Sad but true.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 3 2023 9:16 utc | 171

@Scorpion #158 and my comment #165
RE Iain Davis in Nov 22 https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/who-wants-a-multipolar-world-order-part-i
presents the following “interpretative summary” of Xi and Putin’s Joint Feb 2022 statement

They intend to “deepen cooperation in the field of international information security”, and reaffirmed “the key role of the UN in responding to threats to international information security”. They wish to establish “a single mechanism”, at the global governance level, to police “the use of information and communication technologies” and they support the “internationalization of Internet governance”.

In my view, the bold sections in particular misrepresent the meaning behind and intentions of the text – they are not supported by a fair minded reading of the text within the broader context of the document and the normal meaning of the words being used as they were intended.
As a whole the paragraph above, in my view, does not accurately represent nor convey to a reader of Iain Davis’s article the true meaning being conveyed (nor the impression I obtained) by the relevant text which in full was as follows:

The sides reiterate their readiness to deepen cooperation in the field of international information security and to contribute to building an open, secure, sustainable and accessible ICT environment. The sides emphasize that the principles of the non-use of force, respect for national sovereignty and fundamental human rights and freedoms, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States, as enshrined in the UN Charter, are applicable to the information space. Russia and China reaffirm the key role of the UN in responding to threats to international information security and express their support for the Organization in developing new norms of conduct of states in this area.
The sides welcome the implementation of the global negotiation process on international information security within a single mechanism and support in this context the work of the UN Open-ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) 2021–2025 (OEWG) and express their willingness to speak with one voice within it. The sides consider it necessary to consolidate the efforts of the international community to develop new norms of responsible behaviour of States, including legal ones, as well as a universal international legal instrument regulating the activities of States in the field of ICT. The sides believe that the Global Initiative on Data Security, proposed by the Chinese side and supported, in principle, by the Russian side, provides a basis for the Working Group to discuss and elaborate responses to data security threats and other threats to international information security.
The sides reiterate their support of United Nations General Assembly resolutions 74/247 and 75/282, support the work of the relevant Ad Hoc Committee of Governmental Experts, facilitate the negotiations within the United Nations for the elaboration of an international convention on countering the use of ICTs for criminal purposes. The sides encourage constructive participation of all sides in the negotiations in order to agree as soon as possible on a credible, universal, and comprehensive convention and provide it to the United Nations General Assembly at its 78th session in strict compliance with resolution 75/282. For these purposes, Russia and China have presented a joint draft convention as a basis for negotiations.
The sides support the internationalization of Internet governance, advocate equal rights to its governance, believe that any attempts to limit their sovereign right to regulate national segments of the Internet and ensure their security are unacceptable, are interested in greater participation of the International Telecommunication Union in addressing these issues.
The sides intend to deepen bilateral cooperation in international information security on the basis of the relevant 2015 intergovernmental agreement. To this end, the sides have agreed to adopt in the near future a plan for cooperation between Russia and China in this area.

Then follows this comment by Iain Davis about the 2030 Agenda

Both leaders said that it was important to accelerate “implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. They identified the following as the key areas over which global governance would rule, in the supposedly new multipolar world order: […]
If this list seems identical to the rhetoric you might have expected to hear from any Western politician on the international stage over the last quarter-century, then that is not because it sounds like the same agenda. It is because it is the same agenda.

Well so what if it “seems identical” to Iain? The SD goals and areas of focus they listed are clearly the same, yet their approach is certainly is not, as far as China and Russia are concerned and their joint statement as a whole makes that very clear. As well as specifically where they say:

The Russian side confirms its readiness to continue working on the China-proposed Global Development Initiative, including participation in the activities of the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative under the UN auspices. In order to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the sides call on the international community to take practical steps in key areas of cooperation such as poverty reduction, food security, vaccines and epidemics control, financing for development, climate change, sustainable development, including green development, industrialization, digital economy, and infrastructure connectivity.

And it is quite clear it is the developed world that are emphatically dragging their feet and not meeting their commitments as usual. See https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/ and if Iain has any issues with any of THE 17 GOALS themselves then that’s his business to argue, not for Xi or Putin on his behalf when they obviously sincerely support the UN Agenda 30 goals. See https://sdgs.un.org/goals
And I find this paragraph which followed disingenuous and unhelpful to say the least:

China is currently arming the UAE and the Saudi régimes to attack the impoverished Yemeni people while looting the country’s oil, as has been described eloquently by Isa Blumi in the most recent edition of UK Column’s occasional Insight panel series. Russia is busy fighting another armed conflict, its sixth this century under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

Using a 2018 establishment news ref about made in China drones (so?) and a “for hire” Chinese flagged tanker does not imv equate to China the Nation nor it’s Government carrying out nefarious activity, let alone it undermining their Joint Statement on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development.
I’m unconvinced and dubious about this kind of irrelevant anecdotes being thrown in the mix and the overall ‘style’ and default bias against China too. What China has achieved in regard Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran and the Yemen war is remarkable, while simultaneously officially bringing these nations into the BRICS system as full members last week.
Now the above a mere examples of where I personally see issues with these kinds of approaches, no different than the general point I mentioned before. If these folks don’t like BRICS and see all these dire problems ahead, well fine, but so what? I see no problem with you or others having different views and interpretations about these matters than Putin or Xi. Everyone is welcome to their opinion. But it’s Xi and Putin driving this bus and what they have to say and exactly what they means much more than anyone else’s commentary because they are implementing these things with real Actions.
But for me, I am quite happy to rely upon the words of Xi and Putin themselves without requiring an intermediary or an interpreter t parse the “meanings” of their statements for me. I can see who and what they are as national leaders very clearly and what they hope for the world ahead. And I can say honestly it is no where near what these other people are saying.
The useless news media shills do this all the time on every subject — what Putin is trying to achieve is X, what Xi believes is Y. I am not interested in such unqualified interpretations. I already understand what Xi and Putin mean by what they say, and I can see where they are coming from and what they hope to achieve.
I do not have a problem with it at all, and I don’t need anyone elses help to “set me straight” on anything. So whatever Iain Davis’s and Yourie Roshka’s own agendas are (they clearly do not like BRICS or Russia or China) well I’m not buying what they are selling. I’m just not interested.
They can believe whatever they want of course, no problems. And they can keep on presenting their views, but I won’t be listening. I like what Putin and Xi have to say and how they say it. I am quite happy with what BRICS and the SCO and others are doing to create a better multipolar world and I hope they wipe this evil violent US/Western hegemony off the map forever and soon.
I have had enough of it my entire life. They can all go to hell and rot.

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 3 2023 11:15 utc | 173

FYI: US-Eng. repo is a colloquial abbreviation of repossession a/k/a asset forfeiture in the event of loan default or police arrest.

Posted by: sln2002 | Sep 3 2023 12:33 utc | 175

FYI EU-Eng. third-country denote any state that is not a TEU signatory and member of the EU Single Market a/k/a rest of world, including but not limited to members of the BRICS trade association.

Posted by: sln2002 | Sep 3 2023 12:36 utc | 177

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 3 2023 11:15 utc | 174 + 16:39 utc | 148 + 6:49 utc | 165
Thanks for all that as well as for taking the time, (time which I don’t have at this point
due to the fast approaching winter weather here in the Arctic). I can’t counter Scorpion anyway
since I’m one of those he has blocked, so it’s nice to see some of his tortured(imo) logic challenged.
I see a lot from him that needs to be refuted and wish others would speak up like you have. I suspect
though that a number have just given up posting as the volume from that source has just continued to increase.
It’s a big ask for those who have a life.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Sep 3 2023 13:05 utc | 179

Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 3 2023 7:16 utc | 167
Again, thank you for the effort.

Posted by: john brewster | Sep 3 2023 13:38 utc | 181

@ sln2002 | Sep 3 2023 12:28 utc | 175
I’m assuming you are directing your comment to me. But I have no idea what you are talking about, what the short “ref to my prior comment” is supposed to mean to you (or to me now) nor what you are getting at, incl regarding “paranoia” – (I know what I meant when I said that myself), why you are throwing it back in my face now is a mystery to me.
So, unfortunately, nothing you say in your comment #175, incl the copy/paste quote, seems relevant to anything to do with me – and nor do I understand any of it.
So if you want to say something, to me specifically, if you have point you’d like to get across, you will need to be much much clearer and too the point. Otherwise, have a nice day anyway. 🙂

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 3 2023 14:52 utc | 183

“Any response just encourages them.”
Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 3 2023 13:46 utc | 183
Yeah, ANY. One of my first jobs included answering a phone where kids sometimes would be messing around making prank calls
like ‘Is your refrigerator running? Well you better go catch it!’ My boss instructed me to not say a word just
gently set the receiver on the hook. The simple click dampened their fun and usually that was the end.
That’s the strategy behind the ‘don’t feed the trolls’ advice as well although to me this is not a case of a troll
but a narcissist with an agenda.
Thanks for the good wishes. It’s only 95 days since we had our last snowfall on June 1 and now that Sep. is here it’s
best to get the lawn chairs stored, the painting and roof work finished, etc. But clean air is good and dry wood is on
the porch so I actually look forward to the light shows of winter and reading by the warmth of the fire and the light of
the Moon of Alabama.
You have a good winter too!

Posted by: waynorinorway | Sep 3 2023 16:20 utc | 185

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 3 2023 6:49 utc | 165

@ Scorpion | Sep 2 2023 21:39 utc | 158
Hi well, thanks for the reply. I hear what you and Yourie Roshka are saying in that post and I have to reject all of your descriptions, the interpretations placed upon others words (eg Putin) and of the official texts, and then the conclusions partly based on those (faulty) interpretations..

================================
Pity you don’t see fit to provide an example, merely proclaim from on high that we are wrong, but hey… Meanwhile, for any others interested:

We remind you that the UN signed a strategic partnership agreement with WEF in June 2019 (https://www.weforum.org/press/2019/06/world-economic-forum-and-un-sign-strategic-partnership-framework/ ), from which:
·      ”The UN-Forum Partnership was signed in a meeting held at United Nations headquarters between UN Secretary-General António Guterres and World Economic Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
·      The partnership identifies six areas of focus – financing the 2030 Agenda, climate change, health, digital cooperation, gender equality and empowerment of women, education and skills – to strengthen and broaden their combined impact by building on existing and new collaborations…”

https://telegra.ph/BRICS-Summit—the-last-nail-in-the-multipolaritys-coffin-08-26
First, the quote is accurate; you can check the document yourself.
Second: the six areas of focus are unambiguous in meaning.
Third: now it just boils down to opinion. Some are on board with these six areas of focus; I am most definitely not. Indeed, I think it is complete and utter globalist Grade AAA Bullshit!
Now, the above doesn’t link BRICS to the UN-WEF but earlier I posted multiple references to UN agencies and programs in the BRICS Declarations showing that BRICS and multipolarity are aligned with the UN in which case am now comfortable concluding that multipolarity is a bait and switch, just the latest iteration of one-world-government globalism in a new package. It took a while to get there, but reading through the BRICS Declarations from 2022 and 2023 (thanks karlof1!) finally made it easy to discern, that and contributions by two well informed authors.
Now: maybe BRICS leadership has a plan to secretly lead the globalists along and then ditch them at the altar and go onto to make a Glorious New World, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 3 2023 18:06 utc | 187

Posted by: Debsisdead | Sep 3 2023 7:16 utc | 167
I finally watched the first episode of The Great War. As all of the reviews say, it has a phenomenal amount of archival footage never seen before (or since, until TGW was re-released).
The picture quality is amazing! I played it back on a 48″ HDTV monitor; and it looked good, even though the digitization is at Standard Definition (600 x 400). If someone would take the trouble to clean up the “snow” and “streaks”, it would look fabulous.
I did some googling and discovered that videotape would not have been used for this in 1964. Therefore, it was made as a film. That film must have been put in an archive for 30+ years. Then around Y2k, it was digitized.
Can’t thank you enough for this valuable contribution.

Posted by: john brewster | Sep 4 2023 1:55 utc | 189

PS afterthought – This is of course only my own understanding, and others can and will see it differently. I can’t know everything. Xi and Putin could well be lying, I cannot know that if they are. I take them at their word in good faith. Because that is the history where these too are involved, in my opinion. I am not aware of any occasion where they were shown to be deceptive, intentionally manipulative or dishonest – to their own people or to other nations.

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 4 2023 4:45 utc | 191

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 4 2023 4:17 utc | 191
I am humbly suggesting if you do not see it, then you need to look much more closely to what THEY say and not what these other “commenters” are saying. Read the Text in full and pay attention the many qualifiers they apply to existing institutions and processes of the current “order”.
====================================
You are making the same (talking down) accusation. You ignore again that in my first post I pasted in many of the Articles from the 22 BRICS Declaration itself, forming my opinions mainly from that text and the later 2023 Declaration. Your insistance that my opinions come from other people is maybe your way of avoiding forming your own opinion from reading the Articles yourself. In any case, they state that they on fully board with the Paris accord, the WTO, the IMF, the WHO, ‘multilateralism,’ and so on.
Now that last UN-WEF quote, as I pointed out, does not directly link with BRICS, but again since the two BRICS Declarations affirm so many of the same UN initiatives that UN and WEF signed off on together, that’s enough for me. They all support the Climate Change, the public-private partnership (aka BlackRock and international oligarchs in West, Russia and China ruling the world), feminism, sustainability and all these things which both the ‘Woke’ corporations and Russia and China and these Declarations are all on board with. It’s globalism deja vu all over again. As evidenced by the coordinated globalist response to covid; and now the no less coordinated rise of the RoW and Fall of the West, two sides of the same coin. For those with eyes to see.
Let us just agree to disagree. You see different things in the Articles than I. No problem.

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 4 2023 5:39 utc | 193

This is a dead thread, I guess, but to round it off, the closing argument in the off-guardian piece linked above. Because it illustrates a very important point, one We The People often get trapped in. Think in terms of US politics: If you favor Trump that means you disfavor Biden. But then you find out Trump is bad and start saying so. That doesn’t mean you now favor Biden though most Trumpistas will accuse you of that. The writers of this piece are in the same bind. Having criticized the West & Empire for years and praised Russia-Putin, they are having a change of heart (as I have been first since covid especially but not only). But that doesn’t mean that they are now pro Empire.
What is really interesting about this is that it gives us a chance to examine our own overly simplistic mental habits, flipping from pro to anti, yes or no. In fact, situations are always far more muddled, nuanced, bipolar, mixed. As this excerpt shows very well.

So, we think the real question is – in this stark new post-2020 reality what does “pro-Russian” (or pro-American, or pro-any state anywhere) even mean any more?
What big moral questions divide them? What real options are we offered?
– Being coerced into getting poisoned by SputnikV rather than Astra Zeneca?
– Being locked up and lied to by Biden as opposed to Putin?
– Getting Agenda 2030 served up via Moscow as opposed to DC or London?
– Having your CBDC in programable dollars as opposed to programable rubles?
Currently to be “pro-Russia” is to be pro-Globalism, pro-Agenda 2030, pro-phony pandemic legislation and pro-clot shots.
We absolutely are not pro any of those options.
Are you?
So are you NATO shills now?
Yes. Yes, we are.
Even though we have literally never endorsed a single action NATO has taken. Ever. Even though we have only ever pointed out NATO is, and always has been, a force for chaos and evil in this world…
we are now “NATO shills”.
That’s the great function of the fake binary – it turns intelligent people into human on/off switches, blinded to nuance or free thought.
If you don’t side with Team A, then you must be siding with Team B. You have to pick a side even if the only difference between them seems to be the color of their jerseys. And if you refuse to pick a team someone will pick one for you and insist you are in it.
What we want to say to these people is this –
If you strip off your pre-2020 preconceptions, turn down the feel-good, psychologically manipulative speeches from beloved leaders – what government anywhere is currently working for a better world, or any world beyond the Great Reset, carbon-monitored Agenda 2030 New Normal hellscape?
I think the answer to that, dear binary-hugger, is – none of them.
This is where we are right now and why we are no longer saying things that can be defined as “pro-Russian”.
Our values haven’t changed. The situation has changed. The reality on the ground has changed.
But wait, I hear some of you cry, ok Putin may be shilling for covid and ok, he might be promoting the same globalist nightmare as every other major world leader..
but you can’t deny he’s fighting Nazis in Ukraine!
Surely this gives Russia back some small amount of moral ascendancy?
Well, in so far as Russia – or anyone – is genuinely fighting Nazis they will continue to have our support, which is why we were quick to point out last year the hypocrisy and deception of the Western media version of events in Ukraine.
But let’s not be hopelessly naive…
I mean that’s Propaganda 101 after all – if you want to quell dissent, divert attention from unpopular policies and rally faltering support – start a war.
Sorry, I mean a “special military operation”.
Do we agree Russia is suddenly absolved and suddenly a righteous cause again just because it moves some troops into Ukraine – while at the same time continuing the same anti-human agenda of lies and fear porn?
Well, surprisingly, no, we don’t. Any more than we think this is about Putin “defending humanity” against Schwab, Gates and the globalist hordes.
But we’ll be talking more about this curious, contradictory and puzzling “not-war” – and its stenographers and apologists amongst the alt media – very soon…

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 4 2023 6:15 utc | 195

” Xi is partner in the WEF, again this year: (2023) “
Posted by: Antonym | Sep 4 2023 5:14 utc | 193
Oh really? Where is he a “partner”? Where is his speech? Where is he waxing lyrical about how much he loves the WEF and Schwab and what they stand for? I’m not seeing it, and think sometimes we don;t look close enough to what the reality is – instead we buy into the PR / Propaganda without even thinking about it or wondering if it is true .. let alone actually looking at the factual details.
Hypothetical: If the WEF held their Entrepreuers Forum on a privately hired luxury cruise ship instead of in hotel in Tianjin, China, would this mean the Captain or the Company CEO was the “partner in the WEF”? 🙂
The Premier did speak- it is only the polite thing to do.

A shifting world can be revelatory in many ways. In a nutshell, what is lacking in today’s world is communication, not estrangement; cooperation, not confrontation; openness, not isolation; peace, not conflict. We must act on the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind put forward by President Xi Jinping, and jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. We need to press ahead by following the logic of historical progress, develop by riding the tide of our times, and work hard to build an even better world.
— Li Qiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China
“>https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/06/amnc23-premier-li-qiangs-opening-remarks-at-the-14th-annual-meeting-of-the-new-champions/

Where does he promote America’s or Europe’s or the WEFs version of uneven globalization for some not all, distorted market economies, unfree manipulated and blocked Trade with Unilateral Illegal Sanctions imposed across the board, a minority controlled unstable system with an unsustainable future?
Here is Chairman Xi’s 2022 remote Speech at the WEF
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx_662805/202201/t20220118_10629754.html
READ IT … where does he praise the work of the WEF or Schwab or their ideals? He does talk a lot about China and his own high ideals, as did the Premier this year.
Don’t believe me, make of it what you will.

Posted by: Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 4 2023 14:51 utc | 197

@ Lavrov’s Dog | Sep 4 2023 14:51 utc | 198
thanks for your posts, links and input… very generous and helpful..

Posted by: james | Sep 4 2023 15:45 utc | 199