Russel Brand, brit comedian and playboy who went anti-globalist on his youtube channel a few years ago and gained quite a following because of it, has had some Brit police service say he should be charged with five counts of rape from twenty years ago.

Posted by: UWDude | Apr 15 2025 5:32 utc | 103

Was it unprovoked? If so, he is going to prison.
Posted by: Spectator | Apr 15 2025 7:21 utc | 119
no he didnt beat her, he broke up with her by sending her a text message that said mean things or something like that. Also, this was a while ago, i think year and a half, but Brit newspapers are making it avstory today.
e.g. a character assassination campaign is on by the brit press.

Posted by: UWDude | Apr 15 2025 7:38 utc | 105

UWDude (116).
Yip character assassination is one of the oldest tricks to blackening someone’s name – its easy to dig up a few folk, to testify against someone – either pay them for doing so – or advance their careers – if all else fails, blackmail them – or threaten them and their families.
Trumped up sexual charges were brought against the late Alex Salmond – on one charge the accuser wasn’t even in the building at the time – as several eye witnesses stated – that person perjured themselves as did the others but none were charged and all received life-long anonymity from the courts – Salmond was acquitted by a jury of his peers made up mostly of women – however, the British media in a hurry to smear Salmond all through the episode and trial – did enough damage to put some folk off him – some mud always sticks – Salmond won a half a million pounds payout for his troubles.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 9:19 utc | 107

The US like RF has massive untapped reserves of oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, bauxite, etc., etc.
They like RF are an energy superpower onto their own right, yet under the obviously demented Joe Biden, those reserves were being sacrificed on the altar of green energy under the laughable Paris accords.
Having the Paris accords and the EU and the WEC dictate US energy policy was never acceptable, and DJT has agreed, and has withdrawn the US from the accords.
What DJT is attempting to do in Greenland and in Panama is to make sure that there is strong security agreements in place that preclude any foreign power from securing bases whether overt or covert in those vital regions. There is absolutely nothing wrong or illogical is those aims.
DJT will not tolerate Chinese front corporations running operations at the Panama Canal.
DJT will not tolerate RF having an absolute dominance over the Artic region (as the Obama and Biden group allowed RF to do over the last three decades – RF has a huge fleet of armed nuclear and non nuclear icebreakers capable of extending this dominance in any military or economic sense and the US is far beyond in the heavy icebreaker competition. That is just one reason he fired the Commandant of the USCG, because the new heavy icebreaker program is at least five years over schedule). Certainly in the future the rich mineral and petroleum resources of the Artic region will be explored and utilized by many countries, and DJT wants to make sure as shootin’ that the US in is the game.
Again nothing wrong with either game, these regions are on America’s doorstep, have vital economic and security parameters, and under the Monroe Doctrine we will be involved….got to live with those realities.
Please stop with the TDS stuff, its so boring. Yea we all disagree with the DJT support of Bibi …agreed….move on.

Posted by: tobias cole | Apr 15 2025 10:49 utc | 109

This needs to happen everywhere.
Here is the truth
Urgent: The President of the Maldives announces a ban on Israeli passport holders from entering his country in protest against the ongoing “genocide” in Gaza .
2.4Kviews
09:07

Posted by: Mary | Apr 15 2025 13:49 utc | 111

Trumpsters may have gone a bit overboard. Harvard U grew a spine & just said no to the letter they rcvd from Gruenbaum, Keveney & Wheeler, demanding massive & ridiculous actions they must take to get fed grants. Complete restructuring. Blatant discrimination against anyone who says anything pro-Palestinian or anti-genocide.
Almost funny in places where they demand “diversity” plus “Merit.”
Follow links to read the letter.
https://x.com/TheWarMonitor/status/1911864373510885436

Posted by: Mary | Apr 15 2025 15:05 utc | 113

One of the Neo-Nazi dictatorships strongest supporters Germany, looks likely to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
“Germany’s incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Berlin is willing to send Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine.
Germany, as Europe’s biggest supplier of arms and munitions to Ukraine, ranks second after the US.
Berlin has already provided Kiev with tens of billions of euros’ worth of military equipment, with billions more earmarked over the next few years.
Merz, who is set to take office next month, proposed sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine so they can strike vast amounts of Russian military sites in Crimea and hit the Kerch Bridge.
“Our European partners are already supplying cruise missiles,” Merz said in an interview with ARD television network. “The British are doing it, the French are doing it, and the Americans are doing it.””

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 15:48 utc | 115

We all know who funds and backs Daesh.
“The Daesh terrorist group in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the latest bombing attack that left at least five people dead and several others injured in the country’s northern province of Kunduz.
Daesh Khorasan (Daesh-K) made the announcement via the terrorist group’s Amaq propaganda wing after at least five people were killed when a bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body outside a bank in Kunduz.
The blast occurred at 8:35 a.m. (0405 GMT) near the Kabul Bank branch in the northern province on Tuesday, killing the bank’s security guard and four others, including civilians and members of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban group.
Provincial police spokesman Jumma Uddin Khakasr said seven people were wounded.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 16:04 utc | 117

No one should be the slightest bit surprised by this.
Deaths from terrorism in Africa have soared more than 100,000 percent during the US so-called “war on terror” in the continent, according to a new study by a Pentagon research institution.
The study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies revealed that during 2002 and 2003, when the US was just beginning its decades-long war, a total of just nine terrorist attacks were counted throughout all of Africa, leading to only 23 casualties.
But after about two decades of US intervention in Africa with the purported aim of helping the continent and making alleged counter-terrorism efforts, deaths from Takfiri violence in Africa increased to 23,322 last year, reaching “a record level of lethal violence,” according to the Africa Center.
The figure represents a 101,300 percent jump since 2002-2003 and a 20 percent increase from 19,412 in 2022, it said.
“These findings contradict claims by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) that it is thwarting terrorist threats on the continent and promoting security and stability,” said an article run by Responsible Statecraft on Monday.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 16:13 utc | 119

Re: Mobile Home Parks
The people living in Mobile Home Parks ( by and large ) are one step away from being homeless. They have been so downstrodden their entire lives, that they have little energy to fight back.
Unless one has spent time among the tertiary labor class in the U.S. – it’s difficult to fathom how brutally exploited they are. The gal at the gas station convience store likely holds down 2 horribly paying jobs……she lives with her long term BF in a shitty dingbat apartment in the middle of no where that costs 50% of their joint take home pay. Their cars cost another 20%. Leaving 30% for food etc.

Posted by: Exile | Apr 15 2025 17:10 utc | 121

Russel Brand, brit comedian and playboy who went anti-globalist
Posted by: UWDude | Apr 15 2025 5:32 utc | 116
—
People whose income stream isn’t sourced locally cannot be “anti-globalist”. Don’t let Brand’s eloquence blind you to the simple truth that he is a fast talker performing for a global audience and a share of the house take.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 15 2025 17:38 utc | 123

Now that DJT’s admin has frozen $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard, the president of the university Alan Garber said that “No government, regardless of which party is in power, should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can hire and whom they can admit—-and which areas of inquiry and study they can pursue.” Obama rushed to pat Garber on the back over his stance: good boy-!
But when donors give endowment money, they often name programs, departments, grand staircases and designate specific uses for the funds. Moreover, they occasionally *hover* over the outcome of the funding, practically overseeing proceedings and double-checking what gets produced. It is not unusual for university Foundations to hire babysitters who essentially chaperone high-maintenance donors and hold their hands through all the vicissitudes, in order to make certain nobody with Deep Pockets gets the yips.
A high percentage of endowment distributions—70%—-are restricted by donors, and only 20% of funds can be used for discretionary spending, like bailing out th programs & grants slashed by DJT’s admin.
For fiscal year 2024, Harvard’s endowment gifts are down $150 million on account of the campus climate, its permissive antisemitism, which DJT’s admin won’t tolerate. Short of freezing hiring, which it has already attempted, Harvard may have to issue bonds in order to raise funds. The tax-exempt bond market is the debt market.
Constrained from using donor funds as they would like, Harvard may have to go into debt in order to replace the $2.2 billion the government had been provided.
While Garber lauded “the government’s longstanding commitment to respect and protect freedom of thought and inquiry at Harvard,” he lambasted the “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”
The hypocrisy is hiding in plain sight. Naturally, the university can turn away funds from donors who would control & manipulate matters overly much. Ditto w/ governmental funding.
It makes sense for universities to get out of the ‘government business,’ by which I mean—-to stop accepting funds from donors, like the government, who make overweening demands.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Apr 15 2025 17:57 utc | 125

The Neo-Nazi loving, Zio-Monster Kallas issues a threat.
“The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, is warning EU leaders against participating in the May celebrations of Victory Day in Moscow. She claims that such participation will not be taken lightly.
I will go to Moscow on May 9th. Is Ms. Kallas’s warning a form of blackmail or a signal that I will be punished upon my return from Moscow? I don’t know. But I do know that the year is 2025, not 1939.
Ms. Kallas’s warning confirms that we need a discussion within the EU about the essence of democracy. About what happened in Romania and France in connection with presidential elections, about the “Maidans” organized by the West in Georgia and Serbia, and how the abuse of criminal law against the opposition in Slovakia has been ignored.
Ms. Kallas, I would like to inform you that I am the legitimate Prime Minister of Slovakia – a sovereign country. No one can dictate to me where I can or cannot travel. I will go to Moscow to pay tribute to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died liberating Slovakia, as well as to the millions of other victims of Nazi terror. Just as I have paid tribute to the victims of the Normandy landings, or those in the Pacific, or as I plan to honor the RAF pilots. And let me remind you that I am one of the few in the EU who consistently speaks about the need for peace in Ukraine and does not support the continuation of this senseless war.
Ms. Kallas’s words are disrespectful and I strongly object to them.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 18:46 utc | 127

Don Bacon (133).
Just read, that China has cancelled $10 billion worth of Boeing 747’s (aircraft) along, with parts and maintenance – to rub salt into the economic wound, Boeing’s stock dropped 2.7% whilst AirBus stock rose 4%.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 18:52 utc | 129

The English governments, now failed Rwanda Scheme (that cost millions in taxpayers cash) looks like a holiday camp next Trumps scheme.
“During the first Trump administration, Donald Trump signed a ghastly deal—one that President Joe Biden quickly withdrew from—that agreed to send U.S. deportees into the custody of brutal far-right El Salvadoran dictator Nayib Bukele, an ally of the Trump family, rather than back to their home countries.
The deal was an example of the 1980s-born, oddly named, much criticized “Safe Third Country” (STC) principle, in which a nation can designate a country that’s not a given deportee’s home country as a safe place for them to seek asylum instead of the country they originally applied to. Historically, the most obviously noxious deployments of this institutionalized fiction at the heart of the international migration framework have come when a nation—in the case of Donald Trump, the United States—chooses to designate as a “safe third country” a country that is obviously unsafe.”
https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/breaking-news-america-is-back-in

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 19:07 utc | 131

Greenland seeking closer ties with China – maybe the plan is put off Trump from seizing the country – though I think it will only speed the invasion up – but what can the small population of Greenland do – to combat the Yankee invaders.
“Greenland’s foreign minister has said it is seeking deeper cooperation with China and potentially a free trade agreement, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
“China is very important to us, and we are eager to strengthen our cooperation,” Motzfeldt told Xinhua.
Motzfeldt said she had made a memorable trip to China in 2023 and noted that China was already one of Greenland’s largest markets for seafood exports. Motzfeldt formally opened Greenland’s representative office in Beijing in 2023 within the Danish embassy.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 19:13 utc | 133

Tourism to America is in freefall – the U.S. made $254B last year from foreign visitors alone.
Also I’ve read whatever JPM does the market almost always follows – “Jamie Dimon sells 133,639 $JPM shares at an average price of $235.68”
And then there’s this.
“global M2 money supply just exploded by $5 trillion in a matter of months, rocketing from $105T to $110T. That’s historically aggressive and would, in a textbook world, suggest a flood of liquidity into markets. But a deeper look reveals that this isn’t the kind of growth markets experienced during post-COVID QE it’s not organic, coordinated stimulus. This is defensive, fragmented liquidity, born out of systemic stress.
Here’s what’s really driving the spike:
•China has quietly restarted credit injections via local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) and bond market interventions to contain property sector collapse.
•Japan’s JGB market is in chaos, forcing Japanese institutions to sell U.S. Treasuries and reallocate capital domestically an internal liquidity event with external spillover.
•Europe is cushioning fiscal fragility through energy subsidies and lending backstops, adding to M2 through sovereign balance sheet risk.
•And in the U.S., while the Fed remains tight, liquidity is seeping in through the Treasury General Account (TGA) drawdown, reverse repo runoff, and a stealth rise in federal spending.
But here’s the critical nuance: this M2 isn’t evenly distributed, nor is it fully circulating. Much of it is getting absorbed by government bond issuance or hoarded by banks bracing for credit defaults. In some regions (like China), it’s trapped in broken transmission systems where banks are flush but unwilling to lend. In others (like Japan), it’s recycling through pension and insurer channels as they scramble to rebalance risk.
What comes next?
1. Markets may front-run this as bullish liquidity, especially in risk assets but expect divergence. Gold and crypto may surge, while credit spreads widen as capital avoids long-duration debt.
2.If this liquidity proves inert, and velocity stays flat, asset price inflation could hit a wall by summer triggering another rotation out of cyclicals.
3.The Fed’s response will be key. If they pivot amid rising Treasury issuance without structural M2 contraction, we may get a second wave of financial repression bullish for nominal risk, bearish for real returns.
4. Watch for FX pressure. If the DXY continues falling despite yield advantages, it confirms capital is flowing toward where liquidity is usable not just available”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 19:23 utc | 135

Global Times
3 US agents wanted with reward for involving in cyberattacks targeting 9th Asian Winter Games
Katheryn A Wilson, Robert J. Snelling and Stephen W. Johnson – all from the NSA’s Office of Tailored Access Operation – were involved in cyberattacks against the information systems during the Asian Winter Games, according to a police statement. Investigations revealed that the three participated in cyberattacks targeting China’s critical network infrastructures and enterprises, including Huawei.
Aside from the above three agents, the technical team also found that the University of California and Virginia Tech, both with ties to the NSA, also participated in the attacks. . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 15 2025 19:44 utc | 137

The Neo-Nazi loving, Zio-Monster Kallas issues a threat.
“The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, is warning EU leaders against participating in the May celebrations of Victory Day in Moscow. She claims that such participation will not be taken lightly.

I fear that next time the person shooting at Mr.Fico will aim straight. Or Ms. Kallas will stage a colour revolution before the summer holidays.
I’m really saddened to write this, but it is the way the EU goes.

Posted by: Louis | Apr 15 2025 19:48 utc | 139

When I was in my early thirties I happened to read a short essay by George Orwell called “Politics and the English language”.
My school English teacher was big fan of Orwell and we read quite a lot of his books and essays, but we didn’t read this one at school – I found it out later.
In my mid twenties I presumed that English language with its millions of words available to express your meaning was the ultimate in language. Chinese language with its ten or twenty thousand characters in use seems so restricted compared to the millions of words of English. But that was then.
In later years I changed my mind about the English language – there is far too much dishonesty in the English language. For example in English language you are encouraged to distort the truth. A simple example is sausage made from the blood of a slaughtered pig. In English this is called “black pudding” – presumably the pudding bit is to sweeten it up bit. In Germany the translation is blood sausage.
In the US it is possibly even worse – the “restroom”. No-one rests in a “restroom”.
“Spend a penny” might be an anachronism now. It used to be polite terms for visiting le pissoir or the shithouse.
In English language you are on a path to making bad things seem good. There is even a word for this – euphemism.
Changing the meaning of words in English is probably the end of it being a useful language. The proponents of changing the meaning of already accepted words may say that the language is “evolving”. Most people think and communicate with language, so it is a vital thing.
The Chinese language is relatively protected from this type of corruption as the written characters are absolute and maintained, and actually there are enough of them to be able to do complex things in a society, like the biggest wall ever built to high speed trains and space travel beyond warehouses et cetera.
Of course the irony is that I’m using English to make this message. Whilst it is my belief that nothing is perfect, that is also bringing in the thought that there may be nothing imperfect either. Stopped clocks and all that.

Posted by: MiGao | Apr 15 2025 21:30 utc | 141

The Atlantic – editor-in-chief is Jeffrey Goldberg, a Zionist who loves to dump on Iran
msn
Iran’s Negotiating Position Gets Worse and Worse

In the first few weeks of Donald Trump’s second term, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, repeatedly rejected the U.S. president’s offer of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, just as he had during Trump’s first term. Tehran would not talk to this U.S. administration, Khamenei insisted. And even if it did talk, it would only do so indirectly. Talking to Washington was “not honorable,” the supreme leader claimed.
Khamenei’s objections collapsed on Saturday evening when Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, chatted with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff, in the residence of Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, in Muscat. Prior to this hallway chat, the two sides had spent close to five hours in two different wings of Albusaidi’s palatial home, exchanging written messages with Oman’s top diplomat as their mediator.
The direct discussion, long demanded by Trump but rejected by Iranian officials, showed just how well the initial talks via Albusaidi had gone. But it also underscored how weak, even humiliating, a position Khamenei finds himself in.
The U.S. and its allies in the Middle East want to ensure that Iran won’t build nuclear weapons; Iran wants to gain relief from harsh U.S.-led economic sanctions and avoid potential Israeli or American military strikes on its nuclear sites. Until recently, Khamenei was unwilling to consider making the concessions necessary for an agreement. But the pressure on Khamenei’s regime—both external and domestic—has grown to the point that he had no choice but to retreat. . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 15 2025 23:08 utc | 143

tobias cole | Apr 15 2025 10:49 utc | 122
*** Again nothing wrong with either game, these regions are on America’s doorstep, have vital economic and security parameters, and under the Monroe Doctrine we will be involved….got to live with those realities.***
Just for having such a megalomanic “exceptionalist” doctrine in the first place (and imposing puppet-gangsters to misrule and exploit countries throughout the entire continent on its behalf) the USA thoroughly deserves to be nuked into oblivion.

Posted by: Cynic | Apr 16 2025 0:26 utc | 145

MiGao | Apr 15 2025 21:30 utc | 154
*** “Spend a penny” might be an anachronism now. It used to be polite terms for visiting le pissoir or the shithouse.***
In the UK there used to be public toilets with one or more attendants — many with an admission fee, which is probably how (old coinage) “penny” came into the expression.

Posted by: Cynic | Apr 16 2025 1:20 utc | 147

Can’t blame the Greenlanders.
China doesn’t colonize and cuts win-win deals.
If America took Greenland, it had a Puerto Rico future to look forward to.
No healthcare, no investment, rule by DC.
At some point, Trump is going to snap. Everyone is out flanking him. Yemen, China, and Russia.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 16 2025 2:17 utc | 149

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 16 2025 2:17 utc | 162
————–
Maga creed

Chinese ports in Peru/Panama = Chinese imperialism in our hemisphere

While the US led 8NA , er, G7 have been conducting gunboat policy in China’s doorstep for ages !

Posted by: denk | Apr 16 2025 2:48 utc | 151

Posted by: Truth Hertz | Apr 16 2025 3:32 utc | 166
——————–
Yes it has been for ages , but Americans just found out from Tiktok they have been ripped off big time by their oligarchs !
Many are flocking to China to get their stuff direct from factories, minus the middle men !

Posted by: denk | Apr 16 2025 3:48 utc | 153

@Republicofscotland | Apr 15 2025 9:10 utc | 119
Thank you very much for this. Most interesting and some juicy snippets.
Looks like the RAF did not kill anyone in Ireland during this period – but their scouting definitely had some effect on the IRA – nor did the IRA kill any airmen – the story of the hospitality towards and subsequent release of one such airman in County Limerick a reminder of more gentlemanly times towards a prisoner of war.
Reading through it appears that the RAF did actually bomb Ireland during the Independence War – I stand corrected – it dropped 4 (yes, FOUR) bombs on a field in County Clare but they did not hit anything – probably frightened the cows and the rabbits all right!
Tobias will be delighted. He will probably report this wanton act as a war crime against these sacred Irish cows!

Posted by: Don Firineach | Apr 16 2025 5:24 utc | 155

“strategic humiliation.” You could also call it “instant blowback.”
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 16 2025 7:07 utc | 171
—
Nope. “Blowback” doesn’t imply shame.
The whole point of humiliation is to force the student to acknowledge their shame.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 16 2025 7:30 utc | 157

Whose shame are we talking about here, and why?
Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 16 2025 7:51 utc | 173
—
How is suffering guiltless defeat not a victory?
A conflict is not resolved until the vanquished changes their ways. That change either comes from the heart or the situation that caused the aggression is bound to repeat.
Take care to note that humiliation is a gentler cure than elimination, which can also be dealt by the victor.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 16 2025 8:14 utc | 159

4Chan has been hacked, still mostly down, 15 hours later.
Members of the Soyjak.party imageboard claimed responsibility for the attack and leaked personal information of 4chan admins, moderators, and janitors.

Posted by: UWDude | Apr 16 2025 9:02 utc | 161

I like the Indian idea how to balance trade with the US.
Hindustan Times

Posted by: Passerby | Apr 16 2025 9:08 utc | 163

WSJ: Trump Plans Global Push to Isolate China in Exchange for Tariff Relief
Donald Trump is reportedly preparing a plan to pressure over 70 countries to limit their economic ties with China in return for U.S. tariff concessions, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the proposal.
Under the plan, the U.S. would ask these countries to stop buying cheap Chinese goods, avoid re-exporting American products to China, and prevent Chinese companies from using foreign registrations to bypass U.S. tariffs.
The goal is to weaken China’s global leverage and force it to return to the negotiating table under less favorable conditions.
Trump himself hinted at this strategy, stating he would consider forcing countries to choose between doing business with the U.S. or with China.

heh, looks like that colleague of mine with his crazy idea about the us trying to coerce nations to stop trading with china was not so far off after all…

Posted by: Justpassinby | Apr 16 2025 10:20 utc | 165

Bloomberg is one of the western msm media, right? It generates fake news much often now, like the one below.

(Bloomberg) — China wants to see a number of steps from President Donald Trump’s administration before it will agree to trade talks, including showing more respect by reining in disparaging remarks by members of his cabinet, according to a person familiar with the Chinese government’s thinking.
Other conditions include a more consistent US position and a willingness to address China’s concerns around American sanctions and Taiwan, said the person, who asked not to be identified to discuss internal thinking.

Who is this person, a Chinese or amerikkkan? There seems to me no amerikkkan familiar with Chinese government’s thinking at this time. Is it a Bloomberg reporter/editor like Ron Vara?
From the letter from Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong to SCMP (I know, it is SCMP… I don’t know why some Chinese agencies or officials would use SCMP. Maybe it is because westerners read SCMP??)

a tariff-wielding barbarian who attempts to force countries to call and beg for mercy can never expect the call from China.

It is unlikely that China will call amerikkka BEFORE amerikkka stops the tariff and behaves with respect.

Posted by: LuRenJia | Apr 16 2025 13:30 utc | 167

LMFAO
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-16/russia-seeks-to-buy-boeing-jets-with-frozen-assets-after-ukraine-ceasefire
But hey, Russia fights Western hegemony!

Posted by: Traitor Putin | Apr 16 2025 14:11 utc | 169

Russia fights Western hegemony!
Posted by: Traitor Putin | Apr 16 2025 14:11 utc | 182
—
Yeah. Russia is beating the Western Hegemons with their own stick.

Posted by: too scents | Apr 16 2025 14:34 utc | 171

Is it any wonder why young Syrians are angry, and commit crimes – Austria is a EU nation – and the EU backs the Zio-Monster’s, and the proscribed head-choppers (HTS) in Syria.
“Nearly half of all crimes in Austria last year involved foreign suspects, with a significant rise among young Syrians, according to the latest police statistics.
In 2024, Austria recorded more than half a million criminal offenses – a 1.2% rise from the previous year – data released by the Interior Ministry on Monday shows. Of the nearly 336,000 suspects identified, 46.8% were foreign nationals.
According to the statistics, more than 150,000 suspects did not hold Austrian citizenship. Among foreign nationals, individuals from Romania, Germany, and Syria were most frequently identified. The number of Syrian suspects, now exceeding 11,000, rose by around 30% compared to 2023.
Youth crime also saw a significant uptick, particularly among those 10-14. Since 2020, reported offenses in this age group have nearly doubled. Foreign nationals accounted for 48% of the young suspects, with Syrians showing a 35% increase in reported offenses from the previous year.
In response, the Austrian government has proposed stricter measures, including mandatory counseling for minors, case conferences for repeat offenders, and specialized residential communities with temporary mandatory stays under judicial oversight.
Austria was home to nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees as of early 2024.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 16 2025 14:53 utc | 173

First, the EU bigwigs send a veiled threat to Slovakia’s president (Fico) – not to attend, now they do the same to Serbia’s – bearing in mind the EU/US is in the process, of trying to coup Vucic of Serbia; the EU is now gangster ran bloc – Serbia, would do well to heed this threat – and drop its attempt to join the gangster bloc.
“EU member states have threatened to derail Serbia’s bid to join the bloc if President Aleksandar Vucic attends World War II Victory celebrations in Russia next month, the Financial Times and The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
Moscow will host its annual military parade on Red Square on May 9 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and its allies. Vucic confirmed on Monday that he plans to attend. ”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 16 2025 15:00 utc | 175

The warmongering bullyboys club (Nato) – its Lord Haw Haw (Rutte), sticks a knife in the back of the little Neo-Nazi dictator of Ukraine with this.
“Ukraine was never promised NATO membership as part of any potential settlement of its conflict with Russia, the military bloc’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, has said. He made the remarks in an interview with the broadcaster MI Ukraina while on a surprise trip to Ukraine on Tuesday.
Rutte said that while Kiev’s Western backers have stated Ukraine would “one day” become a member of NATO, “no one promised Ukraine that NATO membership would be part of the peace agreement.””
“One Day” wow! one day the Earth will be swallowed by the sun as it turns into a Red Giant – but that’s billions of years from now.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Apr 16 2025 15:12 utc | 177

And the shell game continues. Iran talks moved back to Rome
Middle East Spectator – MES
Middle East Spectator – MES
—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷/🇴🇲 NEW: Due to the presence of American Vice President J.D. Vance in Rome at the same time as the second round of negotiations was supposed to take place, Iran has decided to move the venue back to Oman Therefore, the second round of indirect talks…
—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: Barak Ravid, a journalist for Axios, now reports that the location of Saturday’s Iran-US talks has been moved back to Rome, after it was changed to Muscat
@Middle_East_Spectator
10.8Kviewsedited
Apr 16 at 08:59

Posted by: Mary | Apr 16 2025 15:24 utc | 179

Newsweek
U.S. demands on Iran’s nuclear program are hardening ahead of renewed talks, with Washington now seeking the full elimination of uranium enrichment above what is needed for power generation and verification of missile stockpiles.
The tougher stance departs from earlier signals that limited civilian enrichment might be allowed. The shift is likely to complicate diplomacy and raises the risk of military action if talks fail.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 16 2025 15:40 utc | 181

Newsweek
U.S. demands on Iran’s nuclear program are hardening ahead of renewed talks.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 16 2025 15:40 utc | 193
†*********
Iran says fat chance, diplomatically. More at link. (Also above link has details of agreement with Russia)
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-fm-says-uranium-enrichment–non-negotiable—trump-urge
Iran FM says uranium enrichment ‘non-negotiable’, Trump urges halt
By
Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Today 13:28
Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi reaffirms that uranium enrichment is “non-negotiable,” ahead of renewed talks with the US in Oman, following a call by envoy Steve Witkoff to halt enrichment efforts

Posted by: Mary | Apr 16 2025 15:48 utc | 183

I disagree with PCR opinions about Putin but he is spot on about the Chinese manufacturing capability. As long as the dollar is valued not by the goods and services it buys but by its value as a settlement token the USA will not compete in manufacturing. The physical manufacturing facilities will not return to the USA. Nor can wages support the cost of 100% USA made goods.
The solution is common sense, less deficit. A localized military focus. less uni token creation. That seems to be unable to occur.
The USA actually is accordance with a physical and biological law. Maximum power principle. While efficiency can play a role in this it is not necessary if the consumption is large enough. Societies that consumes more generally outlast societies that consume less. This is in direct contradiction with a finite resources and that war is used to distribute resources. Both war and resource depletion spell the end now. A species resource depletion and ther ends is noted throughout biological study as the result of exponential growth. All growth is exponential its degree is a function of time as is the time until collapse.
Another interesting reality is that all economy’s are connected now. The last thirty years of Chinese manufacturing represent the maximum power principle for the whole world. Now resource depletion is being encountered whats attempted is maintaining the maximum power principle for the USA while other economies are denied this via the uni token. It is very questionable that one economy can continue at this consumption rate while others like the EU ans China are deliberately slowed. The last three decades have been all world economys cooperating in increasing consumption in a radical manner. All world economys have been in accordance with maximum power principle. It is not just war as a method of societies that is going obsolete. It is maximum power principle. Maximum power principle always hits limits and always collapses.
The price China payed was a very large step in coal depletion. The world however is looking at resource depletion and the end of the consumption that has been the principle of this era regardless. Limits are eventually hit of all resources as they are consumed. Ending energy transit would be a deliberate ending of maximum power principle.
No world economy is attempting to match there economic model to avoid the collapse inherent to maximum power principle, They would not be competitive if they did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pTo4lSicsA

Posted by: LosBanos | Apr 16 2025 16:06 utc | 185

The Gwahar oil field in KSA is very close to depletion. KSA Libya Iraq and Iran are all very mature fields. The things we witness may well be the preparation for when Gwahar production falling radically.

Posted by: LosBanos | Apr 16 2025 16:13 utc | 187

Stripes
Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman observe Passover . . .Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman observe Passover on April 12, 2025, with a traditional Seder, including a retelling of the story of the emancipation of Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. For more than a month, the Truman has conducted daily flight operations against Iran-backed Houthi militants as part of a U.S. campaign to undercut the group’s ability to attack military and commercial ships in the Red Sea. . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 16 2025 16:26 utc | 189

Ray McGovern & John Helmer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7enFebtNyOU
“The chaos continues: what connects Trump, Yemen, Iran and Ukraine?”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Apr 16 2025 16:38 utc | 191

“Conservatives and right wing ideologues think They can move people around the economy like ignots of steel.”
This ineither right or left wing, Thos are WWF teams.
People can be moved around the globe. People who have a belonging and a understanding of common good can not Generally the H1-b workers brought to the USA do terrible work and really a profound distaste for everything USA. The corporation that they contract with is ther enemy they have no interest in its success only the uni tokens it provides.
What can not be moved easily despite ideas to the contrary is manufacturing facilities, This includes a skilled local labor force, This is just one reason why the tarrifs will not bring manufacturing to the USA,. Its backwards. The faciliies exist first thent the manufacturing. The tarrifs do not exist to bring manufacturing back to the USA, . Thats a cover story. It took three decades to facilitate China. Even if they were to come home the processes and manufacturing secrets have been handed over. Along with a shit ton of technology that can be used in military weapons.
The corporations had their way here also. When technology that had military applications was sent to China the Corporation had to promise that the Chinese would not look at it. They had to promise the Chinese would not undertake understanding it. The greatest cloners ever and they had to promise- scouts honor.
You think the grunts didnt know? Technicians engineers managers. You think they didnt know how this little caper would end? If you refused you didnt have a job end of story. Of course they knew, Everyone knew.
Many times once trade secrets in manufacturing process were revealed to the Chinese they would never return to work for that corporation, They now had knowledge that made them a much more valuable asset. They would go to work knocking off the same product down the street for twice the pay the very next day. If there is one rule about China manufacturing it is there is no intellectual property. This was the issue in Trump 1.0 china would not agree to enforceable intellectual property law. Oh yea try to get that in place after the fact.
Chinese might be more loyal when it comes to their own. They have a sense of national pride perhaps more acute then the USA.
Once again. where is the accountability for the shareholders and CEOs who directed engineers to transfer intellectual property to foreign nationals? Where is the accountability for this wealth transfer? Why is this Chinas crime? You put a plate of meat in front of a dog he eats it. Is that the dogs fault?
Is the left demanding accountability? Of course not. Drama. Actors.
None of that matters. Its gone. Its not here, Not in your wallet. Not in your bank account. Gone. It aint coming back. You can have a nice pretend drama but the wallet is still empty.

Posted by: LosBanos | Apr 16 2025 17:28 utc | 193

“Spending a penny” derives from the days when the sit-down cubicles in British public toilets had a lock mechanism on the door that required the insertion of a penny coin to operate the lock and allow access to the facilities. This was in the pre-decimalisation days, when British coins were large and chunky affairs; even the old half-penny was larger than the 2p coin of today.
And I bet there are some Brits here who remember half-crowns, they were such a weight in my schoolboy pocket I couldn’t wait to spend one at the toy shop…
Actually, I suppose a diminution in the size of a nations coins and notes is a reflection of their actual devaluation.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 16 2025 18:41 utc | 195

@LosBanos | Apr 16 2025 17:28 utc | 205
Plausible. Agree with your final point: when it’s gone; it’s gone.
There is a lot of pie-in-the-sky stuff about bringing ‘manufacturing’ [which might need an updated definition] “back” to the USA. The requisite environment is quite simply seriously lacking.

Posted by: Don Firineach | Apr 16 2025 20:00 utc | 197

114 Suresh. If this info. not yet posted, next Iran/US meeting to be in Italy.

Posted by: Lavieja | Apr 16 2025 23:29 utc | 199